A new gas supply source via Turkey would mean safety and that would also lead to competitiveness on the market, former Foreign Trade Minister Mirko Sarovic said on Friday, adding that Bosnia's connecting on the TurkStream is still not likely to happen due to the lack of political agreement.

“Another even larger problem is the fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina has not met the obligations from the agreement with the Energy Community, it didn't implement the third energy package and doesn't have state-level legislation treating the gas sector,” Sarovic told N1.

The attempt to pass necessary legislation at the state level failed a few years ago, he recalled, noting that it is up to Bosnian authorities to seize the opportunity and pass the necessary legislation, which would meet European standards in the way prescribed by the Energy Community.

“It is necessary to reach an agreement on joining the TurkStream and, in my opinion, it is important to make decisions towards this southern connection, which is TAP, a pipeline going from Azerbaijan via Turkey, Greece, Albania, Montenegro and further towards Croatia,” said the former minister.

TurkStream is a mega-project composed of two pipeline legs, where Russian gas would be delivered to Turkey and then further to Europe. Both legs have a capacity of 15.75 billion cubic metres each.

Turkey would be supplied via one leg, while another leg would be used to supply Europe.

The second leg that goes to Serbia has not started operating yet as Bulgaria is still working on the stream construction through its territory.