Progress on the Southern Gas Interconnection project between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia remains uncertain due to administrative and legal steps that have not been completed. A 30-day deadline expired on 25 May for signing an agreement between the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the US-based company AAFS. Unresolved issues continue to slow the process.
The agreement is expected to cover outstanding matters, including procedures for obtaining urban planning permits. Uncertainty also persists over how state property issues will be handled, which continues to complicate approvals. The remaining issues are linked to the broader implementation requirements for the interconnection.
Urban planning permits and expert documentation bottleneck
Available information indicates that a government commission tasked with technical assessments for urban planning approval has not submitted required expert documentation to the Federal Parliament. This delay is described as a key bottleneck within the institutional approval chain. The documentation is tied to the interconnection pipeline’s urban planning process.
As preparations continue, the timeline for completing remaining steps depends on whether the expert materials are provided to the Federal Parliament. The status of these submissions is part of the wider set of administrative actions needed before further progress can be made.
Unratified interstate agreement and project governance uncertainty
A major obstacle remains a still-unratified interstate agreement between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. The agreement is treated as a fundamental precondition for further development of the project. Without it, the legal basis for advancing the pipeline is described as incomplete.
In parallel, institutions involved in the process have reportedly not received formal requests to amend project documentation. The proposed changes would remove BH-Gas from the initiative and officially designate AAFS as the new project operator. This institutional ambiguity affects governance and clarity on project ownership.
Contract finalisation timeline and construction expectations
The combination of pending administrative tasks, unresolved legal questions, and ongoing political procedures has created significant uncertainty over whether a contract can be finalised within an expected timeframe. Additional delays are described as possible if required steps remain outstanding.
Earlier expectations that pipeline construction could be completed by the end of 2027 now appear increasingly difficult given incomplete regulatory procedures. The current pace of preparations has not closed gaps in administrative approvals or legal prerequisites.
