Focus on Energy, 2010 - Karanovic & Nikolic

“Sarajevo gas a.d” is a gas supplier in Eastern Sarajevo that is mostly owned by private shareholders. It islisted on the Banja Luka Stock Exchange. There are two refineries in the RS, the “Modrica” refinery thatproduces motor oils and derivatives and the “Brod” oil refinery, both of which are owned by the Russiancompany NefteGazInkor (a subsidiary of the Zarubezneft).There are around 800 petrol stations in thewhole of the BIH.REGULATORY FRAMEWORKElectric EnergyElectric energy activities are the production, distribution and trade of electricity. For each of these activitiescertain terms and conditions have to be fulfilled and relevant licenses and permits have to be obtained fromthe RCEFBH, RCERS and SERC. They are as follows:(“Energy Permit”), issued by RCEFBH or RCERS;“Energy Licenses”), issuedby RCEFBH or RCERS, which may be either an energy generation license or an energy distributionlicense;“Trading License”). These can be divided in several sub groups:(i) A Trading License for non-qualified buyers which is a first level license in the FBIH that is issued to asupplier that supplies only non-qualified buyers, or (ii) A Trading License for the supply of qualified buyerswhich is a second level license in the FBIH that is issued to any legal entity involved in the trade of electricity;(iii) A “domestic” Trading License, issued by the RCEFBH or RCERS which relates to trade within thearea of BH, and (iv) an “international” Trading License, that is issued by the SERC and that relates to thecross border trading of electricity.65In the event that an energy entity intends to provide more than one electric energy activity, it has toapply for each permit and license separately. A request for the issuance of a license has to be submittedto the competent regulator. As mentioned above, this must be accompanied with specified supportingdocuments and the regulator retains the right to ask for additional documents that it may deem asnecessary from time to time. Further information is available on www.reers.ba, www.ferk.ba, andon www.derk.ba.The RS Law on Electricity 19 provides that the trade of electricity in RS can only be performed by a companythat has been incorporated in RS and that such a company must have a domestic Trading License. The holderof a domestic Trading License is authorized to trade and supply electricity to qualified buyers and to otherenergy entities in BIH excluding non-qualified buyers (tariff consumers). Domestic Trading License’s can beissued for a period of 5 years or less and can be renewed. The authority issuing these licenses is the RCERS. Thedomestic trade and supply (except that of Non-Qualified Buyers) is based on the principles of free trade.FOCUS ON ENERGYThe trade of electricity in FBIH is regulated pursuant to the FBIH Law on Electricity. The main differencehere to the corresponding regulation regime in the RS is that in the FBIH, the authorized regulator for issuinglicenses for the trade of electricity on the domestic market is the RCEFBH and not the RCERS. A licenseis issued for a period of 5 years and can be renewed.GasIn the RS a license is needed to perform activities within the gas sector (e.g. gas transport, storage, distributionand sale). It is issued by the RCERS. It is issued for a period of 5 years and this can then be extendedfor a further five years. It is important to emphasize that a significant amount of documents needto be submitted with a request. The regulator retains the right to ask for other documents that it may19 The Law on Electricity (Official Gazette of the Republic of Srpska no. 8/08, 34/09, 92/09),