Bosnia and Herzegovina got close to the membership in the World Trade Organisation (WTO), said Bosnia's Foreign Trade Minister Mirko Sarovic, assessing this moment as historic.

“We are close to the WTO accession, we only need to adopt a decision on liquid petroleum gas. That decision is not necessary only for the WTO accession. Bosnia and Herzegovina is obliged to implement those standards,” Sarovic explained.

Speaking for N1, the minister explained that the decision was removed from the agenda of the Council of Minister's last session but that he insisted on putting it back on the table.

“There are those who think everything should stay the same, but I believe this is in the interest of citizens and will help us to reach this historic moment,” said Sarovic.

Bosnia applied for the WTO membership in 1999 and its accession has been in a deadlock since 2013 due to the market-related talks with some of the member states. At the moment, the only remaining country Bosnia is still negotiating with is Russia, which insists on harmonisation of Bosnia's petroleum-related regulations.

“Russia insists on adoption of the decision because of the several energy facilities this country has in this region,” Sarovic added.

Mirko Sarovic has been acting as Bosnia's Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Minister in the 2014-2018 term. Asked if the new convocation of the Council of Ministers will encounter obstructions in its work he briefly replied.

“There always were some obstructions, it will be interesting,” Sarovic said.