Following recent news about the fate of the "Southern Stream" pipeline, the public has apparently developed a keen interest in information about the progress in the implementation of this project thus far.

After a surge in the number of requests received from journalists interested in obtaining various information of this type, the Commissioner would like to recall that the correct procedure under the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance is to first submit a freedom of information request to a competent public authority or public enterprise. Only if the authority or enterprise in question refuses to provide access to information can a requester file a complaint with the Commissioner.

That said, the Commissioner would like to recall it is now almost two years since he issued a decision in March 2013 ordering Public Enterprise "Srbijagas" to make available to a requester – a journalist with the B92 media outlet – all information relating to the purchase, transport and storage of natural gas, as well as information relating to the Agreement and the Feasibility Study for the Southern Stream pipeline, including information that reveals the value of the agreed investment and the amounts paid to date.

Public Enterprise "Srbijagas" refused to comply with the Commissioner's final and binding decision, prompting the Commissioner to first impose two fines to the tune of RSD 200,000 pursuant to a report by the requester and then to demand of the Government to enforce compliance with his decision. This, however, has proved to be an exercise in futility: the decision has not been complied with and the public has not been able to access the requested information.

The purported reason for denying access to the information, namely the allegation that any disclosure of information required the consent of the enterprise's foreign partner, had no legal merit two years ago and nothing has changed in that regard. From the viewpoint of the public's rights guaranteed by the Constitution and the law, the idea that, in any line of business, a foreign partner has a say in deciding whether the Serbian public has the right to know how much of its national budget is invested in a particular deal or how vast material resources owned by the country's government (and thus by all Serbian citizens) are managed cannot be seen as anything but absolutely unacceptable.