House of Peoples of the FBiH Parliament supported borrowing for Block 7

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The House of Peoples of the FBiH Parliament today supported the decision on borrowing for the construction of Block 7. 

During the discussion on Block 7, delegate Žarko Vujović said that “without the construction of this block, we will find ourselves in a situation where from electricity exporters we become importers”.

“Likewise, cities that are heated with thermal energy from the thermal power plant will be in trouble. There is not a single Chinese bank in BiH, and the banks that exist in BiH have withdrawn 380 million KM this year,” added Vujović.

As he said, Poland is also building two thermal power plants, “and they are also drawing money from a Chinese bank”.

“Probably in some strategies we are not foreseen to be electricity exporters and to become a waste dump, and to be tenants in our own country. It was never a problem to take loans for budget funds, and the first time we took a loan for the real sector it became a problem,” said Vujović.

As he says, “he fears that they will try to turn Elektroprivreda into a loss-maker and through privatization take natural resources, renewable energy sources, and thus get to the most important resource of the 21st century, which is water”.

Vujović finally called for the adoption of the decision on borrowing for Block 7.

Delegate Zvonko Marić also supported the project, saying that the European Investment Bank could have also provided a loan under the same conditions, and questioned why it did not.

Ivo Tadić said that in recent days there had been a lot of pressure regarding the Block 7 project.

“What particularly concerns me is the warning from Johannes Hahn. I am also concerned about the procedure of the Energy Community against BiH and I wonder if we will suffer certain sanctions,” says Tadić.

As he says, although there is concern about environmental consequences, “he believes there are also pressures from both East and West”.

A large number of delegates participated in the discussion, and the essence related to the warning from the EU, the European Energy Community, and the impact of Block 7 on the environment.

The Croat Club requested a break towards the end, after which Ivo Tadić, the president of the Club, announced that they would support the decision on borrowing.

The proposal for a decision on granting prior consent for the credit borrowing of the public enterprise “Elektroprivreda BIH” d.d. Sarajevo from the Export-Import Bank of China for the Project of construction of Block 7 – 450 MW TPP Tuzla, received the support of the House of Peoples of the FBiH Parliament.

Support was also given to the Proposal for a decision on approving the Decision on issuing a guarantee of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in favor of the Export-Import Bank of China for the credit borrowing of the public enterprise “Elektroprivreda” of Bosnia and Herzegovina d.d. Sarajevo.

The session of the House of Peoples has ended.

The Director of "Elektroprivreda" of BiH for capital investments, Senad Salkić, said that this is a project of great importance, and that everything has been done in accordance with procedures so far. 

As he said, today's expressed doubts about the environmental impact will be taken into account, but there should be no problems regarding that.