A new “investment” of the citizens in the hydropower plant project “Medna” on the source of the river Sana

The conclusion of the Study shows that the operation of the hydropower plant will have a negative financial impact on the budget of the municipality and the Republic of Srpska in the amount of BAM 1.055.988.

A controversial construction of the hydropower plant Medna on the river Sana these days shows again that the money of citizens is used to financially support private project, although it will destroy one of the most significant natural areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

A public inspection of the Request for environmental permit for overground-underground cable 35kv „Medna-Cadjavica“ on the territory of Ribnik and Mrkonjic Grad municipalities length of 17,3 km was completed yesterday, which is another project being conducted in favour of the Austrian-German company Kelag that is building the hydropower plant Medna.

Center for Environment submitted on behalf of the Coalition for Sana comments on the Evidence filed along with the Request for environmental permit for overground-underground cable 35 kv „Medna-Cadjavica“ in which the Center indicates the number of disadvantages and flows of this project.

„We say new „investments“ of the citizens since this is another project financed by the citizens who are already paying for the construction of the hydropower plant „Medna“ through subsidies for renewable energy sources“, it was pointed out by Goran Krivic, Coordinator of the Coalition for Sana.

The Coalition conducted the Study on economic feasibility of the hydropower plant Medna to deny it and prove that Medna will bring benefits to only a few individuals. The conclusion of the Study shows that the operation of the hydropower plant will have a negative financial impact on the budget of the municipality and the Republic of Srpska in the amount of BAM 1.055.988.

Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) also pointed out the non-transparent process of contract awarding for the construction of 35 kv cable „Medna-Cadjavica“ worth more than BAM 3 million, that Elektrokrajina awarded to LSB Power Plants – the same company that is a concessionaire and the contracting authority of the hydropower plant Medna, and which is owned by Kelag. Although the Law on Public Procurement prescribes that contracts of this kind must be awarded through an open procedure, Elektrokrajina directly awarded it to LSB Power Plants through negotiated procedure without public notice. TI BiH requested from Elektrokrajina to submit the controversial contract on the construction of water, but Elektrokrajina refused that explaining that its announcement would endanger the construction. TI BiH is still in the procedure of using the available legal mechanisms to ensure the announcement of this contract.
„We addressed the Public Procurement Agency in this case, and it is obvious from the documentation that Elektrokrajina submitted to the Agency that the conditions of the contract are also disputable, since they specify that LSB shall become the owner of this cable in case Elektrokrajina fails to pay all the rates in the period of three years. If we take into account the fact that the Republic of Srpska will actually be at a loss because of this concession, and all irregularities observed from the very beginning, it is clear that everything was done in favour of this company and that the entire project was performed so to meet the private interests and bring benefits to individuals at the expense of citizens“, it was emphasized by Ivana Korajlic from TI BiH.

In the public this project has been announced as an important investment project, but it is essentially contrary to the attempt to preserve the most precious rivers of BiH, to protect the source and the headwaters of Sana and to declare it a park of nature in accordance with the Spatial Plan of RS, to save a part of our country’s wealth and not to sell it very cheap. The Coalition for Sana proved on several occasion in the past seven years that the hydropower plant will have a negative impact on the ecological, social and economic aspect of that area and the entire country.

The Request for environmental permit for overground-underground cable 35 kv „Medna-Cadjavica“ was submitted to the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Civil Engineering and Ecology by „Elektrokrajina“ a.d. Banja Luka acting as investor. The public inspection was completed on 18th August but the site works have already begun.

Press 19082016 eng