Andelija: EP BiH will reach a point where it cannot give money to mines

SARAJEVO, (Patria)  - Minister of Energy, Mining and Industry Nermin Džindić (SBB) said today at the session of the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament that talks with union representatives of miners could continue in the evening hours.

General Director of EP BiH Admir Andelija in his address to the deputies said that they are in a difficult moment when it comes to the energy sector.

He reminded that the mines became part of the company back in 2009 and that they were in a "neglected" state at that time.

„The mines had an excessive number of employees, huge debts and outdated equipment and technology. EP has invested over 320 million KM in machinery and equipment in the past ten or twelve years,“ said Andelija.

He pointed out that the effects of this investment are almost non-existent.

„Another type of support from EP to the mines is through advances, and EP has given 203 million KM, and this is a remark from the audit and that we record it as a cost of the company,“ said Andelija.

Andelija emphasized that the most surplus workers are in administration, while they are lacking in production itself. He assures that it is not foreseen that unions do not accept new rulebooks, but that they are consulted. He claims that the rulebooks were presented to the miners, but they said the documents are not acceptable to them. 

"Minister Džindić was a witness to the agreement and at that time I proposed to the President of the Union Sinan Husić to prepare the documents, and we never received those documents," he said. 

As an example of how bad the situation in the mines is, he pointed out that EP BiH gave the Kreka mine a loan of two million KM for the payment of net salaries for the month of October.

"The union gave up, we could no longer wait with Kreka because Kreka was threatened with bankruptcy. The Tax Administration issued a decision to block the accounts of the Kreka, Breza and Zenica mines. They were saved by the government's decision on a moratorium. That is why we started and here we got a strike and opposition to reforms. We again decided to talk. The union understood that the director of EP BiH is a threat to the current operation of the mines. The key thing is to remove this management and continue giving money to EP BiH. We will very soon reach a situation where even EP will not be able to give money and will not be liquid.  

How much do the union's demands cost. They are asking for a 20 percent increase in the price of coal. We are aware that the price of coal does not cover the costs of the mines," said Andelija.  

He repeated that the increase in the price of coal and the settlement of debts for the retirement of miners of 433 million KM will mean an increase in the price of electricity by more than 30 percent compared to the current price.

Andelija once again called on the union to talks, to "end the agony and commit to the restructuring of the mines for the benefit of the state". Otherwise, he claims that we will lose energy sovereignty.