ST. PETERSBURG, June 18. /TASS/. Serb member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Milorad Dodik thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for extending the current Russian gas price for Republika Srpska during their Friday’s meeting on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

"We are trying to preserve our policies, we did not want to join the sanctions. I thank you for making it possible to maintain the gas price for Republika Srpska at the previous terms. We see no alternative to Russian fuel," he said.

"We would like to continue investments. Today, we discussed building an extension of the [Balkan Stream] pipeline with [Gazprom CEO Alexey] Miller," Dodik added.

On Thursday, Dodik said he had agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin that the current price of gas for Republika Srpska would remain unchanged at least until 2023. According to him, Putin also supported the idea of building an extension of the Balkan Stream gas pipeline to the Republika Srpska.

On January 1, 2021, Gazprom began supplying gas to Bosnia-Herzegovina using a new route. Gas from Russia is transported via the Turkish Stream offshore gas pipeline and further through Turkey. Further, through the national gas transmission system of Bulgaria, it goes to Serbia, where it is distributed and supplied to consumers in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.