Miners will say goodbye to 'Good Luck'

The economic noose has been tightening around Bosnian-Herzegovinian mines and miners from the war until today, and saviors, at least well-intentioned ones, are likely no longer around. And while the miners gave their maximum all the time and broke records, someone squandered their hard-earned money wherever they could. Like mushrooms after rain, heads multiplied in mine offices, and for every new head, a miner had to dig twice as much. The deeper the miner dug, the less he had.

There are no salaries or warm meals for the miners. Today they are on the streets or on strike in the mine shafts. Employees of Elektroprivreda are receiving their holiday bonuses, and the largest ones at that.

The authorities have been hiring wives and mistresses, children and relatives in the mine offices all these years. And all of them had salaries that miners could only dream of. No one took care of the mines' operations, debts, and obligations until the threat emerged that the jobs of those already listed would be jeopardized. Bosnian-Herzegovinian mines are over-indebted and operating at a loss, the equipment is from Tito's era, and the miners are at the end of their strength. The administrative fairy tale of the employed is coming to an end, but the authorities will first send the miners, the most innocent in the story of millions in debt, into the abyss of bankruptcy.

Who is to blame for the current situation in the mines, which employ more than 8,000 workers in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina?

The debt of the mines in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina arose because the voter base of the most powerful Bosniak party - SDA - was being fed. Those responsible for the constant accumulation of debts and obligations are today rewarded with positions - from minister to parliamentary representative.

When on November 16, 2009, the directors of seven mines and the then director of Elektroprivreda BiH, Amer Jerlagić, signed the agreement on the Elektroprivreda Concern, the relevant minister Vahid Hećo, the directors of the mines and EPBiH announced that it was a historic project.

"This agreement regulates the rights and obligations of the contracting parties relating to management, profit distribution, loss coverage, risk-bearing, responsibilities, and other issues in achieving successful business integration and creating conditions for more efficient and economical operations. The Concern will bring about a turnaround in the further development of the Federation. The greatest project for the country since the war has been achieved. This is the first step towards a more promising future. We have a difficult path ahead and great responsibility in the production of coal and electricity," said the representatives of the mines," reads the statement, which is still current on the Elektroprivreda BiH website.

However, the historic project, which Jerlagić, Hećo, and others announced at the time as the foundation for the development of the economic system, became a system for plundering the mines.

From that year 2009 until today, the federal government has silently watched as one of the fundamental economic branches in the history of this country is wasted. Resources were squandered on the backs of miners, political points were scored, and tycoons were strengthened. Institutions responsible for fighting crime have forgotten about ex officio actions, and political powers and rulers have never cared about economic development in this country. It is similar with mines like the one in Banovići; they are not in the Concern, but they have been turned into a one-person company, regardless of the fact that they are majority publicly owned. Although Banovići was saved from Hećo's project with Elektroprivreda, the extraction of capital did not bypass them. Mirsad Kukić owns life in Banovići, as long as he completely controls RMU Banovići.

Everything suggests that there is no salvation for the mines. Because all discussions have started in the direction of - how to get rid of the mines.

Emir Aganović, advisor to the general director of EPBiH, stated on September 11 before the deputies in the FBiH Parliament that coal production can only decrease in the future and that the only question is what to do with the mines in the future.

The shoes of federal parliamentarians today cost almost twice as much as a miner's salary. Parliamentarians are not the problem; money must be found for their salaries. And that is easy; gas, electricity, water will become more expensive, if nothing else, new taxes will be introduced on something.

What is hidden in the "bad future" of the mines could be concluded to some extent from the discussion on the state of the mines at the last session of the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament. According to the data presented by the deputies, thermal power plants have the largest share in the export of electricity in the EPBiH system. Research has shown multi-century coal reserves in some mines, so it could easily happen that foreign capital enters the mining sector and extracts Bosnia and Herzegovina's natural resources with machines instead of Bosnian miners. On the other hand, if we close the mines and thermal power plants, and Elektroprivreda states this as an option "out of necessity," it could easily happen that BiH goes from being an exporter to an importer of electricity from the European Union, which is building new thermal power plants in Poland.

The question arises why Elektroprivreda and the BiH authorities would not invest more money in decarbonization and bringing our thermal power plants closer to EU environmental and all other standards. If we did that, the mines and thermal power plants would certainly have a much brighter future.

Considering the history of decisions made by our rulers, it is most likely that lobbyists will finish their job, and foreign capitalists will collect the "jackpot" by selling electricity to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In that case, it is very likely that we will say goodbye to mining "Good Luck" forever.