House of Representatives also approves electricity price cap at maximum 20 percent

(Patria) - At this evening's extraordinary session, the House of Representatives of the Parliament of FBiH agreed on the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Electric Energy, which was adopted by the House of Peoples yesterday, capping electricity price increases at a maximum of 20 percent.

At the session, which featured more rebuttals than discussions, 77 delegates voted for this law, one voted against, and one abstained. The law had to be reconciled due to amendments by Elmedin Konaković and Aner Žuljević, which were ultimately accepted this evening.

A special debate opened regarding the conclusions proposed by the SDA Club, particularly the part stating that the Government should compensate Elektroprivreda BiH and Elektroprivreda HZHB for losses from the Budget. The SDA Club's conclusions did not receive support.

Otherwise, the adopted amendment mandates that the Federal Government must intervene and limit the increase of electricity prices for business entities if the broader market sees an increase in these prices exceeding 20 percent compared to the previous year. The original proposal in the text of the law was for this parameter to be 50 percent.

Meanwhile, Elektroprivreda BiH stated today that if the amendments to the law adopted by the House of Peoples, along with the deputies' amendments, are approved in the same text by the House of Representatives, the amendments will be "completely unenforceable and will not lead to a solution to the problem due to the legal ambiguities they contain.".

"The implementation of the amendments to the law, with the submitted amendments, means JP Elektroprivreda BiH will operate at a loss of 85 million KM next year," stated Elektroprivreda BiH.

It is expected that this law could enter into force earliest on January 8, 2022.

Deputies adopted, with 52 votes, the conclusion by Mirsad Pindžo, obligating the FBiH Government to analyze the application and effects of the electricity price limitation decision by March 31, 2022, and propose potential corrections, submitting them to the Parliament of FBiH.

Otherwise, the session was marked by numerous rebuttals, as well as attempts to find those responsible for the newly created situation.