The cornerstone was laid, but after two and a half years, theconstruction hasn’t started. This is the situation with the hydroelectric power plant on the Drina, in the southeast of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), which was announced as a joint project of the Republika Srpska (RS) and Serbia.
The foundation stone for the Buk Bijela hydroelectric plant was laid in May 2021, and it should have been built in the area of Foca, in the upper reaches of the Drina River, which separates Serbia and BiH.
It is a joint electric power project of the RS and Serbian power companies, worth around 250 million euros.
Last summer, three Chinese bids were submitted for the construction of the hydroelectric power plant. However, the contractor has not been chosen to date and everything has been extended until the spring of 2024.
What disputes precede construction?
The signing of contracts with Chinese companies became questionable due to the unresolved dispute about concessions, which was initiated more than two years ago before the Constitutional Court of BiH.
This is not the only dispute that hinders the construction of the “Buk Bijela” hydroelectric power plant. The second was launched before UNESCO, initiated by Montenegro, concerned about its possible negative impact on the Durmitor National Park.
The Constitutional Court of BiH is waiting for the Commission’s decision
The dispute before the Constitutional Court was initiated after the RS Government granted a concession for hydropower plants on the Drina River.
In mid-2021, more than 20 representatives of the state Parliament addressed that court, warning that the hydroelectric power plants “are planned on state property that the RS entity has no right to dispose of”.
After that, the Constitutional Court determined that it was a dispute about concessions between BiH and the RS entity and that it was not competent to resolve it by itself.
The case was transferred to the BiH Concessions Commission, which is competent to assess whether a concession was granted in accordance with the Constitution of BiH, but this has not yet been done, Radio Slobodna Evropa writes.
E.Dz.
