Chinese-Singaporean Investments of BAM 1.5 Billion: How the VE Trebinje 1 Project Became Leotar

(Patria) - Negotiations for the concession to build the "Trebinje 1" wind farm were conducted without public bidding, with a Chinese-Singaporean consortium of non-transparent ownership structure and limited public reporting obligations. After withdrawing from the project, the Government of Republika Srpska continued negotiations with similarly Singaporean-Chinese companies of questionable credibility. The lack of a transparent procedure and public data on investor due diligence indicates a significant risk of abuse and corruption in the process of disposing of public resources.

The project to build the "Trebinje 1" wind farm was presented to the public as one of the largest investments in the renewable energy sector in Republika Srpska. It included the construction of a wind farm with an installed capacity of over 500 MW near Trebinje, and its value, as officially announced by the Ministry of Energy and Mining of RS, was supposed to be BAM 1.5 billion, while the investor would pay BAM 7.8 million in concession fees.

However, from the early stages of negotiations, it became clear that the concession awarding process was not proceeding through a transparent and competitive process. Instead of issuing a public call, the Government of Republika Srpska opted for direct negotiations with the companies "China Power PTE.LTD" and "Zhongbo Group", presenting them as Chinese investors with extensive experience in the renewable energy sector.

On behalf of the RS Government, the Minister of Energy and Mining, Petar Đokić, signed a Strategic Cooperation Agreement in the field of renewable energy with the aforementioned companies in mid-August 2024. The RS authorities have never provided evidence of the companies' credibility, the interest of other potential investors, or the reasons for choosing a non-competitive negotiation procedure.

Instead of explanations, the Ministry of Energy and Mining of Republika Srpska, which is responsible for conducting negotiations on awarding the concession to the Chinese-Singaporean consortium on behalf of the RS Government, repeatedly stated that the RS Concessions Law allows for the awarding of concessions without public bidding if there is a cooperation agreement.

The company "Zhongbo group" d.o.o. Banja Luka" was founded on September 22, 2024, three months after the signing of the cooperation agreement with the RS Government. This company was owned by the Singaporean firm "Everest Power PTE. LTD", but later became owned by another Singaporean company, "Zodic Energy PTE.LTD".

Zhongbo Group(Z), according to limited available information, is a company founded in 1991 in Beijing. It employs over 10,000 people in 15 departments and has over 40 branches, but apart from the similarity in the company description found in the RS Government's statements, there is no other evidence that this particular company is in negotiations with the RS Government.

"China Power PTE-LTD" was founded on October 25, 2023, and according to available data, it is registered as an Exempt Private Company Limited by Shares, exempt from public reporting obligations.

Both companies, "China Power PTE.LTD" and "Zhongbo Group", or the parent company of the Banja Luka firm "Zhongbo group d.o.o. Banja Luka", use legal structures that allow for limited public reporting obligations and do not provide a clear insight into the actual ownership, financial capacity, and origin of capital. Despite this, the RS Government conducted negotiations on investing in a project with an estimated value of over 1.5 billion BAM, even though there is no publicly available evidence that thorough due diligence on the investors' credibility was conducted.

The City Assembly of Trebinje adopted the Decision on initiating the preparation of a zoning plan for the wind farm without debate, enabling the formal procedure for construction on rural and agricultural land. Environmental impact studies, technical specifications, or financial analyses of the project were not presented in this process. The Head of the Department for Capital Investments, Siniša Vučurević, appointed shortly before the concession contracting procedure was initiated, did not respond to questions about this process.

Despite the decisions of republican and local authorities, which suggested a clear intention to build the wind farm, the Chinese-Singaporean consortium "Zhongbo Group" and "China Power PTE. LTD" informed the Government of Republika Srpska in September 2025 that they were withdrawing from the project.

This only confirmed the criticisms regarding the investor selection process, highlighting questions about whether the selection was ever adequate and whether the financial and technical capabilities were thoroughly checked. Instead of initiating a new public and competitive procedure for selecting a new investor, the RS Government continued negotiations with other companies, changing the project name to "Leotar".

Instead of "Zhongbo Group" and "China Power PTE. LTD", "Zhongji Construction" and "Zodic Energy PTE. LTD" entered the new investment venture, with whom, as stated by the relevant ministry, a cooperation agreement was signed on October 3, 2025.

The office of the Minister of Industry, Mining and Energy of Republika Srpska, Petar Đokić, stated that the offer for awarding the concession for the construction of the "Leotar" wind farm in the Trebinje area was submitted by the company "Zodic Energy PTE. LTD", which was founded in March 2025 in Singapore, and just a few days after signing the cooperation agreement with the Government of Republika Srpska, it became the owner of the company "Zhongbo Group d.o.o. Banja Luka", which had previously withdrawn from the project implementation.

The absence of public bidding, combined with a lack of information on investor credibility, indicates an increased corruption risk and calls into question the legality and purpose of the negotiation procedure.

Due to these irregularities, the entire process, from the initial project announcements to the current concession awarding negotiations, shows a pattern of non-transparent governance where decisions about public resources are made behind closed doors. In such an environment, renewable energy projects do not represent a mechanism on the path to a sustainable energy transition, but rather an area of significant corruption risk.

TI BiH published a case study indicating a broader problem in the area of concessions, where the introduction of foreign investors under non-transparent conditions often has fatal consequences for the public interest.

Transparency International in BiH has previously pointed out that numerous projects where concessions were awarded to investors of questionable credibility have ended in multi-million dollar arbitration disputes, the damages of which are still being paid by citizens today. The most well-known case to the public is that of Vijadukt, which was recently paid over BAM 100 million in compensation due to a disputed concession for the Vrbas River Hydroelectric Power Plant project. Furthermore, Republika Srpska is still in the process of buying back the concession from the controversial company Comsar Energy, which was granted the right to exploit strategic coal reserves that are now essential for the normal operation of RITE Ugljevik.

TI BiH has previously warned about the lack of transparency in other projects for the construction of energy facilities intended to generate electricity from renewable sources.

Specifically, in the case of the SE Trebinje 1 construction, all construction deadlines have been missed, the concession has been transferred to a company that does not have the conditions to implement it, and a Hungarian investor who has since withdrawn has been brought into the business. A recent TI BiH investigation revealed that the new owner of the company holding a BAM 100 million concession became a Hungarian firm with no revenue or employees, whose website was launched a month before entering the business.

TI BiH has long pointed out the need to reduce corruption risks in the awarding and transfer of concessions for this and similar projects, and therefore it is necessary to improve the legal framework and transparency of procedures by publishing all relevant information, mandatory public bidding, and clearly defined evaluation criteria.

All changes in investors and concession rights should be accompanied by thorough verification of technical and financial capabilities, as well as previous experience, with the disclosure of ownership structures and the inclusion of the local community through public discussions. Due to the lack of this practice and poor government decisions, citizens have paid hundreds of millions in damages to investors of questionable credibility for projects that were never realized.