Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) owes Russia $104.8 million in gas debt, according to the BiH Ministry of Finance and Treasury. This amount includes $22.7 million of pre-war debt and $82.1 million accumulated during the 1992–1995 war.
A commission was formed in 2006 to determine the exact amount of debt owed for gas deliveries, covering the period from 1992 to 1995. The commission’s task also involved allocating gas consumption by end user. Following the investigation, both of BiH’s entity governments—the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) and the Republic of Srpska (RS)—agreed on the total debt figure. Russia confirmed this total as well.
However, a key issue remains unresolved: how the debt should be classified and divided. The two entities have differing views on whether the debt is a commercial liability of the energy company Energoinvest or a state-level external obligation of BiH. In 2007, the Council of Ministers adopted the commission’s report but concluded that a final decision on the matter should be reached through agreement between the entity prime ministers and the competent ministries of finance and energy at both the state and entity levels.
In a separate financial arrangement, Russia paid BiH $125 million in 2017 as part of a clearing debt settlement related to the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia. The funds were distributed as follows: $72.59 million to the Federation of BiH, $36.29 million to the Republic of Srpska, $3.75 million to the Brčko District, and $12.51 million to BiH state institutions.
To address remaining issues in the energy sector, BiH established a working group to engage with Russian counterparts. In a 2019 meeting between the BiH and Russian energy working groups, the Russian side emphasized the need for BiH to clarify how and when it plans to settle the wartime gas debt. The issue remains open as internal consensus on the debt’s nature and payment responsibility has yet to be achieved.
