No electricity price increase for households in 2022, miners return to mines

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - After the signing of the agreement between EP BiH and the Union of Mine Workers in FBiH, a press conference was held at the Government of FBiH.  

Admir Andelija, director of Elektroprivreda BiH, said that there will be no increase in electricity prices for households regardless of the 20 percent increase in coal prices. He also clarified that the price refers to 2022, and that after the end of that year he cannot guarantee how things will develop.

“The agreement was signed by all seven mine directors, the general director of Elektroprivreda and the Union representative. This is because, for the first time, this agreement also defines the obligations of mine directors,” he said, adding that he regrets they were in a situation to negotiate ‘over the barrel of a gun.’

“In the future, we will pay much more attention to some things that were missing this time,” he emphasized.

Andelija said that this agreement will not jeopardize the operations of Elektroprivreda BiH and will not incur additional costs for the company beyond what was agreed.

“I will remind you that a month ago I proposed to the Government to increase the price of coal by 20 percent for the mines, and this is a universally accepted demand of the miners’ union,” he said.

Union President Sinan Husić said that the agreement at this moment is “something that is jointly offered in the fight for workers’ rights,” although he is not satisfied.

“We are not fully satisfied, we offered a lot. Twelve out of 13 demands are being realized through this agreement. Analyzing everything, after consultations, we made a decision today to sign the agreement in which, through 11 defined points, 12 out of 13 demands are fulfilled. I will only say that for a long time we have not had the opportunity to see a group of workers with a list of demands,” said Husić.

With the agreement, EP BiH committed to replacing the director of the Kreka Mine within 7 days. 

Tonight at 10 PM, given the reached agreement, miners should end their work stoppage and return to the mines.