Will electricity prices rise in Republika Srpska? According to the verdict of the Arbitration Council in Belgrade, the mine and thermal power plant “Ugljevik” must pay 131 million marks to “Elektroprivreda” of Slovenia, but also sell a third of the electricity production. The judgment refers to the pre-war investment in Termoektran “Ugljevik”.
RiTE “Ugljevik” must pay 131 million BAM. To sell a third of its electricity production to Slovenia. There should be no shortage of electricity on the Republika Srpska market. However, the monetary payment could affect the price of electricity for end consumers. This is how energy experts analyze the situation.
“Increasing the price of electricity is the only way for RiTE Ugljevik to pay its obligations according to this verdict. RiTE does not have that money, nor does Elektroprivreda RS as its owner. Therefore, the only way to provide money is to increase the price. There is no magic wand,” explains energy expert Damir Miljević.
It remains unknown whether the burden of the verdict will ultimately be borne by the citizens through an additional increase in the price of electricity. We have not received a comment on such a possibility from Elektroprivreda RS.
The execution model of the verdict is also unknown. There are several variants. Tens of millions of marks in debt to suppliers are additional problems, our sources warn. However, the answer also arrives that the workers, about 2,000 of them, should not worry.
“It is not as catastrophic as it is written, it is not the end of “Ugljevik”. Because of the two thousand people who are employed in that company, it should be said that one third of the energy is not given, but one third of the energy is sold to Slovenians”, says the executive director of RiTE “Ugljevik” Milutin Tasovac.
“I would personally advocate the path of negotiations. I think that the payment of the money as a whole is absolutely impossible. That and taking over the budget, you saw how many problems there were with the payment of those funds that were from bonds from the Vienna Stock Exchange2”, notes economic analyst Zoran Pavlović.
The verdict is final. The term for payment of money is 30 days. The assurance comes that everything will be respected.
“We can carry out this decision. TE Ugljevik will carry it out. Of course, it will be a burden for it, but in any case it should be borne in mind that this obligation arose during the period of the existence of the SFRY at a time when there was a self-governing agreement on the pooling of work and resources at the level of the state at that time,” says RS Minister of Mining and Energy Petar Đokić.
In parallel, there is a dispute within the International Center for the Resolution of Investment Disputes in Washington weighing 800 million marks. That procedure was frozen a few years ago until the end of the process in Belgrade. Its activation is expected, which would be an additional blow to RiTE “Ugljevik” and Elektroprivreda RS.
