Major Russian oil companies “Zarubezhneft” and “Gazprom” are prepared to invest twenty million dollars in the search for oil reserves in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it was announced on Friday in Banja Luka where a memorandum of cooperation on oil exploration was signed.
The memorandum was signed by representatives of "Zarubezhneft", which owns the refinery in Bosanski Brod, and the Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS), which is owned by the Russian giant "Gazprom". The signing was attended by Serbian Minister of Industry Petar Škundrić and the President of the Government of the Republic of Srpska Milorad Dodik, who also indicated that the initial investments in the search for oil reserves should amount to twenty million dollars, and that the final amount could be ten times greater.
Dodik recalled the research on possible oil reserves in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina conducted about thirty years ago, which confirm the justification for investments by Russian oil companies. NIS Director Kiril Kravchenko announced that he expects the first explorations to follow during 2011. Russian oil companies plan to expand their research to the territory of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Russian Ambassador Aleksandar Bocan-Harčenko confirmed that the entire project also has the support of his country’s government. (H)
