A new blow to the economy is announced – the price of electricity could increase by 70 percent. True, the procedure has not officially started, but employers are already warning to be careful when signing new contracts. If there is an increase in prices, in practice it means a loss of jobs, and ultimately a new blow to citizens’ pockets.
“For the past two years, we had an increase of 44 percent – two times of 20 percent each. Taking from the economy will increase this year. A new Law on Electricity was adopted, which enters into force on January 1. A significant number of business entities will move from this universal supply to the market, where prices are significantly higher,” warns Adnan Smailbegović, president of the Employers’ Association.
Elektroprivreda BiH does not want to talk to the media about this for now. In an informal conversation, they say that the meetings are ongoing, the procedure has not started and there is no final decision. But with the announcement, they clarify the new Law on Electricity in the Federation.
The criteria for the status of a small customer are precisely defined: “The right to a public supply service can only be granted to legal entities and craftsmen who have less than 50 employees with a total annual income of less than 8 million BAM, and whose facilities are connected to a voltage lower than 1 kV and whose consumption did not exceed 50,000 kWh. Customers who do not meet the mentioned criteria will not be able to be supplied with electricity within the public supply service, and will be obliged to choose one of the licensed market suppliers of electricity on the market for supply purposes.
Energy experts also believe that there should be no increase in prices.
“Nobody knows if there will be an increase in prices and how much it will be. I can say that this year there will be no price increase for households because the tariff procedure has not been initiated, and even if it is, it cannot be finished in 60 days”, explains Amer Jerlagić, an energy expert.
If there is, the price increase would have long-term consequences, such as the loss of jobs, but ultimately, everything would spill over to citizens through an increase in product prices.
“Of course, the Elektroprivred public electric utility has ambitions to increase electricity to the entire economy. We know it and the public knows it, they are in trouble because of the mine and everything, and they are in the red,” adds Smailbegović.
Jerlagić also points out that the prices of production in power companies in FBiH are significantly below the market price of electricity: “If we take those two things, add them up and divide by two, then the middle is halfway and under such circumstances we should talk, and not exclusively talk about the market price “.
The epilogue of the whole situation should be known during the next week, when everyone will again sit down at the table and try to find the best solution with the power of arguments.
