Vedran Lakic, Federal Minister of Energy, Mining, and Industry, said that in the near future, branches of the military industry companies Binas and Pretis will be opened in Cazin and Tuzla, with the aim of expanding production.
Lakic claims that both projects are progressing according to plan.
“We will soon make a business decision to purchase a commercial building in Cazin where a part of the Binas plant will be installed in the coming period. It is very likely that we will complete this project even earlier than we had planned. As for the second project in Tuzla, we received the necessary documentation a few days ago, which was essential for us to continue with the implementation. I can say that I am very satisfied with the pace of realization of these projects. We will inform the public about everything very soon. Everything is going as we planned,” said Lakic.
When asked whether these are new companies, Lakic explains that these are branches of the companies Binas and Pretis. One – Binas – will be located in Cazin and the Pretis branch in Tuzla.
“These will be existing companies that will open their business units in Cazin and Tuzla. We have assigned our companies the obligation to implement new projects through new business units, but in other areas of the Federation,” explained Lakic.
The minister claims that, when it comes to the price of electricity, all the Ministry’s efforts are aimed at keeping the price of electricity unchanged.
“I must say that unfortunately ten years of neglecting investments in the energy sector have led to this situation, and we will probably have a certain period of problems in terms of remedying missed opportunities. Our effort is to avoid an increase in the price of electricity, and as long as we can maintain it, it will remain so. We are doing everything in our power, both with our mines and with Elektroprivreda, to try to fix everything that has not been done in the past ten years,” says Lakic.
When it comes to the mines, Lakic claims that the Zenica mine is being closed, while the other mines are showing signs of recovery.
“All the mines, except for the Zenica mine, we must help to increase their level of production and to deliver more coal to the thermal power plants. I must say that all have increased their level of production. Unfortunately, Zenica tried and failed, which is why the decision was made to close this mine. The World Bank approved 150 million BAM through the project for a just transition for our three mines: the Kreka mine, Banovici, and the closure of the Zenica mine,” Lakic concluded.
