Brussels, 29/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - On 28 January, the deputy director general for energy at the European Commission, Fabrizio Barbaso, met Bosnia and Herzegovina's Minister for Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Boris Tucic, and the two prime ministers from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska, Nermin Niksic and Zeljka Cvijanovic respectively, in order to strengthen their efforts to integrate Bosnia and Herzegovina into the European energy market. Representatives from the European Commission reiterated that by signing the treaty setting up the Energy Community, Bosnia and Herzegovina has committed to ensuring the security of energy supply.
Niksic, Cviljanovic and Tucic pledged - within the scope of their powers - to contribute to “the operational safety, functionality and viability” of Transco (the company for the transmission of energy).
The Commission took note of the ongoing negotiations on an intergovernmental agreement between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Russia on the South Stream gas pipeline. The Commission underlined the need for this agreement to be in line with the legal framework of the Energy Community - “in particular with regard to the principle of third-party access and unbundling between transmission system operation on the one hand, and gas production and supply, on the other”. (CG/transl.fl)