SDA relents: Kukić replaced Block 8 Kakanj with construction of thermal power plant in Banovići through blackmail

The construction of Block 7 in Tuzla and Block 8 in Kakanj are the backbone of the energy system of the Federation, i.e. the state of BiH, however, we are a land of wonders, so now we have different views, said for the news agency Patria Nezir Begić, former president of the Union of RMU Kakanj, who, as he says, was sent into retirement in August last year.

Since then, less and less has been said about Block 8.

However, instead of the construction of Block 8 in Kakanj, the construction of a thermal power plant in Banovići is being mentioned more and more often. This project is also listed in the SDA Program Platform 2014 – 2018, as an investment measure for accelerated economic development prepared by the Federal Prime Minister of FBiH Fadil Novalić. Although Prime Minister Novalić himself mentioned the construction of Block 8 until a few months ago, due to the lobbying of certain factions within the SDA, priorities changed and this project fell out of the game.

Everything changed rapidly after Mirsad Kukić, the head of the Tuzla faction of the SDA, exerted pressure. It is known that Kukić, who is currently on trial for influence peddling in the Bosna case and illegal employment, threatened protests by nearly 10,000 residents of Banovići if part of the infrastructure from the Reform Agenda was not in Banovići.

Bakir Izetbegović, leader of the SDA, told a Patria journalist after the publication of this information that he no longer knows where such stories come from, and now we expect an answer as to why he no longer mentions Block 8, and how the thermal power plant in Banovići became a priority.

Incidentally, all mines in the Federation of BiH operate within the framework of Elektroprivreda BiH and are all 100% state-owned. The only exception is the Banovići Mine, the most valuable mine in all of BiH, which is in mixed state and private ownership in a ratio of 67 to 33.

It is difficult to reliably determine how this mine in BiH remained “outside the concern,” but it is quite certain that behind this mysterious operation stand Mirsad Kukić and his political patrons from the SDA.

This has been going on for years and continues today. It is interesting that all of this is approved and kept silent about by the SBB's Minister of Energy and Mining Nermin Džindić. Sources from the Government of FBiH claim that Džindić is well aware of this scenario.

As important as Block 7 is, so is Block 8, for the local community and the Mines of Kakanj, Zenica, Breza and other smaller mines. However, as political lobbies lean, so it is done, i.e., whoever has a stronger lobby, that way it goes. Neither the benefit of the state nor the community is considered. Private interests probably settle everything. The problem in BiH is that every village and influential person wants to have almost their own state and blackmails regardless of whether their ideas have logic. Since I retired, the miners' union has been silent. They are no longer in the media nor are they fighting for anything. It is evident that people are flirting with those in power, in a certain way they are selling themselves – says Begić.

The general director of Elektroprivreda BiH, Bajazit Jašarević, was the last to mention the construction of Block 8, back in February this year. Since then, everyone has been silent, including him.

- Elektroprivreda BiH will turn to the preparation for the construction of thermal Block 8, TE Kakanj – said Jašarević.

Since then, only this statement remains alive, but there is no implementation. It is increasingly clear that the SDA is pursuing a policy of personal interests, which ultimately costs the state dearly, for which representatives of this political party only declaratively advocate.