Bih: Bosnia, the Land of Great Hydro Power Potentials
BiH: Bosnia, the land of great hydro power potentials Bosnia Herzegovina is one of the European countries with the richest water resources. Projects to build a series of hydroelectric power stations in Republika Srpska, however, are endangering a delicate environmental balance. Report. “In 2004 the government of Republika Srpska awarded a contract for the construction of two dams on the river Vrbas, a few kilometres from Banja Luka. We started a protest, forming a coalition against the project. Since then 8 years have passed and, also thanks to our mobilization, the dams have not yet been built.” Miodrag Dakić, of the Banja Luka Centre for the Environment , remembers one of the more successful civic battles in the recent history of Bosnia Herzegovina. The victory of the environmentalists could soon, however, be called into question. The Republika Srpska, RS, one of the two entities which, on the basis of the Dayton Peace Agreement, make up Bosnia Herzegovina, has now been governed for almost 10 years with little interruption by Milorad Dodik, the present President and leader of the SNSD party. During these years, the RS has transferred ownership of its precious assets to Serbia (Telekom Srpske), Russian business groups (Zarubezhneft, which bought the petroleum refinery at Brod and Yuzhuralzoloto, which has the Sase mine at Srebrenica) and global corporations (Arcelor Mittal, owner of the Liubija and Omarska mines at Prijedor). Energy – in particular the granting of river sections for building dams – seems to be the most recent strategy for attracting foreign capital. The story of the contracts for the dams on the river Vrbas, however, shows that not all takes place transparently.
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