Bosnia and Herzegovina has created an environment of minimal financial burden for companies with foreign capital investing in renewable energy sources through minimal concession fees and network fees. Conversely, state-owned electric utility companies bear the weight of millions in compensation from lost arbitrations, investing substantial financial resources into revitalizing outdated systems. The lack of a strategy and persistent delays in energy industry development will inevitably lead to increased electricity bills for citizens.
Thanks to political and interest connections, the Chinese state company DEC has positioned itself as an indispensable player in the implementation of multi-million projects with Elektroprivreda BiH, which is currently operating at a loss of 331 million.
The electricity generated in the Ivovik wind farm will not be used by domestic consumers; instead, it will be sold on the foreign market. In this way, Chinese investors will make millions in profit at the expense of Bosnian citizens. From the production of green energy from 20 wind turbines, the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina will only receive minimal amounts from concession fees, while the smell of burnt coal from electricity will continue to be consumed despite declarative increases in the percentage of energy obtained from renewable sources in statistical reports.
The Chinese companies that submitted bids for the construction of Buk Bijela hydropower plant requested additional guarantees of Republika Srpska Government in order to sign the contract for this 250 million Euro worth project. As CAPITAL portal learns, the reasons provided in the request are disputes that have been brought up before the BiH Constitutional Court and UNESCO concerning this hydropower plant
The Government of Republika Srpska has been persistently hiding the contract related to the construction of the Banja Luka-Prijedor highway entrusted to the Chinese company Shandong. SPIN Info has learned that before signing the mentioned contract, which obligates the government to allocate certain funds to the Chinese company or provide certain guarantees that favour the company, the government was required to submit an application for approval of state aid to the competent authority, namely the Council for State Aid, which they did not do. Therefore, state aid granted in this manner would be considered illegal and subject to recovery.
The construction project of Block 7 has been on hold for 17 years, during which only preparatory work has been carried out at the planned site. This investment has cost the citizens 233 million KM so far, and the new Government of FBiH and the relevant ministry have no answer to whether this project will continue. It remains to be seen whether the SDP Minister of Energy, Mining, and Industry shares the views on dealing with the Chinese, like his party colleague Grabovica, under whose tenure EP BiH signed a cooperation agreement.
In Banja Luka, on February 24th, a contract was signed with a Chinese consortium for the construction of a 17-kilometre section of the highway Brčko - Bijeljina, in the presence of Dodik
We investigated the background of the introduction of Chinese investors in the construction of the thermal power plant, which was supposed to cost 500 million KM. The main investor, Branka Montenegro, was liquidated in mid-2020, and the ZDK Prosecutor's Office suspended the investigation after six years in September 2022.
At least three sawmills in the area of Brčko and Pelagićevo have been leased by Chinese citizens and they cut lumber and pack it in containers for further export, that is, to send it to the home country.
