The Chinese company “China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited” (CSCEC), which has been declared an international sponsor of the war in Ukraine and a financier of terrorism, is engaged in two large infrastructure facilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
The fact that this company has been declared an international sponsor of the war is stated on the official website of the Ukrainian National Agency on Corruption Prevention.
Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in February of last year, BiH has not had a unified position on this issue. The country has sided with the European Union’s (EU) sanctions against Russia because of the war in Ukraine, although its entity Republika Srpska (RS) insists on “neutrality”.
What does the Motorways of the Federation of BiH (FBiH) say about the Chinese company?
The Chinese company CSCEC, which Ukraine declared an international sponsor of the war, has also been engaged in the FBiH since 2019 in the construction of the Pocitelj – Zvirovici section on Corridor Vc, in the southern part of the country.
Motorways of the FBiH says that they are not aware of the fact that the Chinese company, which is currently building in the south of BiH, has been declared an international sponsor of the war in Ukraine.
“We do not have any official information, nor are we aware of the details,” Motorways of the FBiH stated.
What does the European Investment Bank (EIB) say?
The EIB, which is one of the financiers of the construction of the Pocitelj – Zvirovici section on Corridor Vc with around one hundred million euros, emphasizes that the list on which the Chinese company is, is not “a list of sanctions and has no legal force”, as well as that this Chinese company is not under the sanctions of the EU.
“When it comes to sanctions, the EIB complies with the current sanctions imposed in connection with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Also, the EIB’s support for Ukraine is unprecedented and unquestionable,” the EIB added.
Moreover, the bank said that the contract with the Chinese company for the construction of the Pocitelj – Zvirovici section on Corridor Vc was awarded in June 2019 and that in March of this year, the bank was informed that 90 percent of the work had been completed.
“The EIB monitors all its contracting parties, as well as all entities involved in the bank’s projects, and we have no right to make any official and public statement on the issue of Ukraine’s international sponsors of the war,” the EIB concluded, Radio Slobodna Evropa reports.
E.Dz.