From sewage to gas business: VIK Kiseljak becomes concessionaire for gas network construction

Written for Istraga.ba by: Almir Bečarević, former director of BH-Gas and energy expert

At the 25th session of the SBK Government, held on December 8, 2023, the following decision was adopted:

"Decision on granting a concession to the company JP 'Vodovod i kanalizacija' d.o.o. Kiseljak for the construction of a distribution system and gas distribution in the municipality of Kiseljak".

The decision was adopted at the proposal of the Ministry of Economy.

Incidentally, according to the audit report of the Office for Audit of Institutions in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the company "Vodovod i kanalizacija" Kiseljak uses water from wells without a issued water permit, in accordance with Articles 34 to 36 of the Law on Waters of the Central Bosnia Canton, on which water meters have not been installed, so there is no reliable data on the total amount of water abstracted.

Adequate records are not kept on losses in the water supply network and illegal connections, which may affect the company's revenues (point 6.1.1.1 of the Report).

The Office noted that the company has been illegally using water from wells since its establishment, without previously obtained water permits, in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Waters of the Central Bosnia Canton.

This practically means that VIK Kiseljak has been illegally using water from wells since its establishment, but this was not an obstacle for it to be granted a concession for the construction of a distribution system and gas distribution in the municipality of Kiseljak.

The municipality of Kiseljak is also known as the birthplace of the President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lidija Bradara, who is again known for carefully reading audit reports of federal companies.

Lidija Bradara's knowledge also extends to assessing who is responsible for building the network towards Kiseljak, so in one of the media she spoke negatively about the development projects of the company BH-Gas, which is not capable of building that network.

The fact that part of the transport gas pipeline reached Brnjaci, and that from that point to Kiseljak only a distribution pipe can go, was not an obstacle for Mrs. Bradara to direct criticism at a company that can neither build nor manage the distribution system, all according to applicable regulations.

Regardless of that, the concession for the distribution gas network was granted to the company "Vodovod i kanalizacija" Kiseljak, and the logical question is what does sewage have to do with the gas network. In the world of Mrs. Bradara, it apparently does, because while she directs criticism at the federal company, that company from Kiseljak receives a concession, which is well known to the President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This is a unique example in the world where a company that illegally uses water from wells now receives a concession for a gas network, and this does not bother the President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Nor does the company "Južna plinska interkonekcija" bother her, but everything done by the only federal transport company bothers her.

Given that the trend in Kiseljak is to go from sewage to the gas business, it would not be surprising if you went from funeral services to electricity distribution. Everything is possible 20 kilometers from Sarajevo, but in Sarajevo even the Law on the Southern Interconnection is not possible, because from sewage you "can" build a distribution gas system, but the only transport company cannot build a transport gas system.

Factually, the significance of animal manure has already been proven through projects in the energy sector, but I doubt Mrs. Bradara had that in mind.

This is another example of what is being done in the energy sector, and on territory designated as Croatian territory of importance for the Croatian people.

Let me now pose a question to the President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina - did she influence the SBK Government in granting the concession, does VIK have registration and approval to engage in the gas business, which should be issued by the Energy Regulator in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the only competent authority according to the adopted Law on Energy and Regulation of Energy Activities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina)?

Does it have expert staff for the implementation of construction and maintenance of the gas network, and does VIK have secured financial resources given its low revenues of 1.5 million KM and profit of around 50,000 KM, it would be superfluous, because the President reads federal audit reports, not audit reports from her birthplace.

I leave it to imagination how the HDZ would realize the formation and construction of distribution gas systems, because looking at the case from Kiseljak, bizarre ideas would certainly not be lacking.