After the entire Board of Directors, and later all the directors of Elektroprivreda of the Croatian Community of Herceg-Bosna, resigned, reactions are coming from all sides. The same fate, according to announcements, awaits Elektroprijenos Bosnia and Herzegovina and HT Eronet.
The resignations from the Elektroprivreda of the Croatian Community of Herceg-Bosna for the leader of the HNS, Dragan Čović, are not surprising. As he says, he wants to give a chance to new people who can continue what was started in the new energy environment, and the resignations were previously agreed upon.
“It was agreed upon as a concept for a legal solution to the problem. I hope that we will get out of this very soon and that we will have an acting manager, the announcement of the competition and everything that follows when it comes to situations like this. Something that is expected, and this is just a formal and legal act,” Čović pointed out.
Journalist Kristina Spajić-Perić, who is a good connoisseur of the situation within HNS, and even in Elektroprivreda itself, believes that the resignations will fundamentally change nothing, not even regarding the issue of business.
“All the ministers should be cleaned up so that they don’t run out of ‘bread’. We need to promote our own relatives, so the departure of Marinko Gilja is only the promotion of some other members of the party, despite signals from the EU that public companies should be depoliticized.”
The state of the market is not the only cause of losses
One of the reasons for the resignations was the negative performance of Elektroprivreda in the past year. According to the allegations, the company’s profit was sacrificed in order to ensure the quality delivery of electricity.
“The negative business result is a consequence of the extremely unfavorable situation on the market, where electricity prices were up to ten times higher than the prices achieved in previous years. With the decision of the Government of the Federation to limit the increase in supply prices to a maximum of 20 percent compared to the previous year, our selling price is actually completely limited, and significantly below market prices. In order to ensure the continuous supply of customers, the missing quantities were only purchased at prices ten times higher than the selling prices. The loss was inevitable,” said Marinko Gilja, former director of Elektroprivreda HZ HB.
According to experts, apart from the state of the market, a number of factors led to the losses. The Federation is currently not effectively implementing reforms in the field of electricity, and at the same time more workers are employed in Elektroprivreda than are actually needed, according to Professor Vjekoslav Domljan. BH market was not regulated, so electricity was disastrously bought in other countries.
“If we had a market in Bosnia and Herzegovina in which three electricity companies participated and if it was coordinated at the regional level, then of course it would be achieved that the efficiency would be much higher and accordingly lower the prices, and then the costs.”
Resignations forwarded to the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Supervisory Board accepted the resignations and forwarded them to the Government of the Federation, which is the majority owner of Elektropriovreda. In the meantime, the work process in the company should not suffer due to the collective resignation.
“Until a new Management is elected, the current one will do its job in all business segments. Continuity continues,” said Marija Buntić, spokesperson for Elektroprivreda HZ HB.
The next step is for the Government, which should give consent to the Supervisory Board for the dismissal of the current administration, and give prior consent for the appointment of an acting administrator.
