This is the historic day for gasification of the Republic of Srpska and our goal is to provide gas to all local communities", stated Prime Minister of the Republic of Srpska Radovan Višković in Jakovice near Šekovići, where the official start of the works on construction of the main gas pipeline Šekovići-Vlasenica-Milići and the Vlasenica-Igrišta-Han Pijesak branch was announced.

The main gas pipeline will be 48 kilometers long, for which the Government had allocated 74 million marks.

"Perhaps we are not even aware of how significant this project is for Republic of Srpska. It is not just about connecting these four or five municipalities. Our vision is to continue in one direction towards Bratunac and Srebrenica, and in the other direction the final goal is Trebinje", the Prime Minister said.

He emphasized that the Government was working on balanced development of Republic of Srpska, and that the issue of gasification from Brod to Banja Luka and Novi Grad, and also to Bijeljina, will be on the agenda.

"The goal is for Republic of Srpska to be fully covered by gasification. We want to have a gas pipeline through the territory of Republic of Srpska and we will not stop at Han Pijesak. In the next phase, we are already moving towards Sokolac and Pale, to reach the Pale-Jahorina branch, and then to descend to East Novo Sarajevo and from this Jakovice substation to the East Sarajevo substation through our territory", Prime Minister Višković said and added that Republic of Srpska today had cheap energy sources, but also the lowest tax rates, and everything that can and should attract potential investors.

On this occasion Prime Minister Višković thanked Russia for providing that the Republic of Srpska and the whole of BiH had the best possible price for the gas and continued by saing that the Republic of Srpska was economically stable, that emplyment rate and salaries were increasing as well as pensions and that those facts had to be acknowledged. 

The ceremony marking the start of the construction works on the gas pipeline was attended by the President of Republic of Srpska Milorad Dodik, the Minister of Energy and Mining Petar Đokić and the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Bosnia and Herzegovina Igor Kalabukhov.