In the area of the municipality of Berkovici, in the extreme south of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the construction of the Hrgud wind farm, which would help its development, has been stopped. It is one of the least developed municipalities in the Republika Srpska (RS), according to the estimates of the Government of the RS from 2021.
The project is worth about 64 million euros, and the decision to suspend it was made by Germany, on April 15th. It is one of four projects financed by the German government in the total amount of 105 million euros, RSE writes.
Namely, the reason is the decisions of the RS Assembly on the transfer of competencies from the state to the entity level and the adoption of the Law on Property of the RS, which provides for the registration of state property in the ownership of the entity.
Nenad Abramovic, the mayor of Berkovici, did not want to comment on the decision of Germany. He briefly commented for Radio Free Europe (RFE) that he will hold a press conference in the next few days when he “collects enough data”.
But, Milorad Dodik, a member of the BiH Presidency and leader of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), the ruling party in RS, mentioned that Germany would be given six months deadline to decide on the Hrgud wind farm.
“We will lose loans from Germany, we will find them in China, a country that is ready for expansion,” Dodik told in an interview with “Politika” published on April 18th, agency Srna reports.
Apart from the Hrgud wind farm, Germany has announced that it is suspending projects for the rehabilitation of the HPP Trebinje IV hydropower plant, the rehabilitation of the Trebinje HPP phase III, and the Gradiska wastewater supply.
There are four hydroelectric power plants in the “Hydroelectric Power Plants on Trebisnjica” system and they form the basis of the electric power system of the RS – HPP Trebinje I, HPP Trebinje II, HPP Dubrovnik, and Pump Hydroelectric Power Plant (PHPP) Capljina.
The mayor of Gradiska, Zoran Adzic, noted that he has not yet received any notification from Germany about the suspension of financing of a very important project of reconstruction and extension of the sewerage network and construction of a city purifier.
While companies and municipalities who are affected by the sanctions avoid any political comment on German sanctions, economic analysts are clearly warning of the possible economic isolation of RS.
E.Dz.
