In the District Court in Banja Luka, two lawsuits were filed today against the decisions of the Government of the Republic of Srpska which decide on concessions in the area of the City of Prijedor, namely against the Decision on the selection of the most favorable bidder and the awarding of a concession for coal exploration at the “Bukova kosa” site and against the Decision on the initiation of the procedure for granting a concession for the exploitation of coal in the locality “Bistrica” near Prijedor.
The lawsuits are based on almost identical allegations, namely the absence of a valid Document on the policy of granting concessions in the Republika Srpska, which is fundamental for the legitimate granting of concessions and disposal of public goods, and which is adopted by the National Assembly of the Republika Srpska. In addition, the reason for the lawsuit regarding the Bukova Kosa project is the existence of court proceedings against the Government’s earlier decision regarding the same project, and the proceedings are still ongoing.
By the way, the Policy Document was last adopted in 2006 for a period of three years and it ceased to be valid a long time ago, and a new one was not adopted even after 17 years. Therefore, the Government of the Republika Srpska had no legal basis for making disputed decisions, which it nevertheless made with the aim of granting concessions in the localities “Bukova kosa” and “Bistrica”. Together with the locals who oppose the controversial projects, a media conference was held earlier.
“In the lawsuits, a special request for delaying the execution of both Government decisions was highlighted, which would order the suspension of further government actions by force of law, and which would eventually legalize the situation on the ground, which is a serious source of legal uncertainty. We hope that this request will be respected, because the decision of the competent court would certainly be expedient with the conclusions of the Prijedor City Assembly adopted at a special session, which primarily requests the temporary suspension of all actions concerning both projects,” said Redžib Skomorac, legal advisor at the Center for the environment, it was announced from the Center for the Environment.
Photo: illustration
