Distributors, heating plants and large industrial producers in Bosnia, which imports all its gas from Russia, are working together on a contingency plan to offset expected gas cuts, a top official said on Monday.
"We are all up on our feet and co-operating as much as possible," said Almir Becarevic, the general manager of the country's chief gas distributor BH Gas.
After Hungary's natural gas imports from Russia via Ukraine dropped by more than 40 percent, oil and gas group MOL said on Monday it would cut gas transit to Bosnia and Serbia by a similar amount.
Bosnia, which does not produce gas and has no gas reserves, is fully dependent on supplies from Russia. It has ordered 54 million cubic metres of gas for January.
Becarevic said that the heating plants and large industrial consumers have been instructed to switch to alternative sources of heating, such as mazut.
"The highest priority is not to endanger individual consumers," he said, referring to the capital Sarajevo, which had switched a major part of its heating system to the gas during the 1992-95 siege, because of a lack of electricity.
Other big gas consumers are the steel, alumina and aluminium companies.
"The situation is difficult but we are fortunate with this mild weather right now," Becarevic said, adding that the biggest problem was the uncertainty oover how long the Russia-Ukraine dispute would last.
Russia cut gas supplies to Ukraine on Sunday as the two nations failed to resolve a price dispute by a Saturday's deadline.
Mountainous Bosnia and Sarajevo in particular are known for harsh winters, with temperatures below zero most of the time. At the moment, the temperature is at unusually high 10 degrees Celsius.