Union Defends Director Hadžialjević, While Concealing That Energoinvest Would Be a Dead Company Without Gas!

By: A. Čorbo-Zećo

The Energoinvest Trade Union issued a statement requesting an extension of the mandate for the current acting director, Bisera Hadžialjević, for another three months, and in the meantime, to announce the promised competition for the selection of the Energoinvest director, noting that Energoinvest was on the verge of bankruptcy twice due to the appointment of politically suitable candidates.

What they failed to mention is that the business report for last year clearly shows that Energoinvest is still not far from bankruptcy, and only gas is preventing it!

“We will fight with all available means to have our demands met and we will not allow our efforts and sacrifices to be erased so easily. The Trade Union of Metalworkers of FBiH - Cantonal Committee of Sarajevo Canton, as well as the Trade Union of Metalworkers of FBiH, have given full support to the actions and implementation of the planned activities of the Energoinvest Trade Union in order to preserve the company and the fate of the workers,” the statement concluded.

And the fate of Energoinvest, unfortunately, is not good, especially after the Arbitration Court in Zurich, Switzerland, made a decision according to which "BH-Gas" and the company "Energoinvest" are obliged to pay the Hungarian transporter "FGSZ" 11.16 million dollars due to the change in the route of gas supply to Bosnia and Herzegovina from Russia.

Energoinvest tried throughout the process to push the narrative that they would not lose this case and that they would even recover millions of USD. If two federal companies have to pay FGSZ 11 million USD, what happened to the public promise that they would pay nothing based on this arbitration proceeding?

In 2020, they convinced the FBiH Government of something that did not happen, nor could it happen, and irreparable damage was done to Energoinvest and BH-Gas, as well as to the FBiH Government. They spoke of 'force majeure' at the time, which did not exist, and the Court in Zurich finally ruled on it.

We remind you that in the Letter of Assurance, which Bisera Hadžialjević signed on behalf of Energoinvest, it is stated:

"...they jointly declare that they will not terminate the concluded Long-Term Gas Transportation Agreement with FGSZ. The termination of the agreement with FGSZ is not in the interest of either company, as the FBiH Government, by its Letter of Assurance, ordered that the agreement be fulfilled by the end of 2023."

And that's all that needed to be done - to fulfill the contract with the Hungarians by 2023 according to the decision of the FBiH Government, which all parties signed. And now a multi-million dollar compensation must be paid.

The switch to TurkStream additionally cost the FBiH 22 million KM and resulted in a 105% increase in gas prices for consumers. And it is precisely from more expensive gas that Energoinvest increased its revenues, so the union members boast about paid salaries.

But, let's return to the Business Report, according to which it is evident that Energoinvest exists solely because of gas.

Namely, the balance sheet shows that Energoinvest almost has no revenue from abroad anymore. Revenue from abroad is 25 million out of approximately 190 million KM. Energoinvest once had total revenues of over 350 million KM, and now it has fallen to approximately 190 million KM, of which only 25 million KM comes from the foreign market!?

Energoinvest's Income Statement Report

Well-informed sources of Patria reveal that the projects Energoinvest is currently completing and boasting about are actually projects that are several years late!

The project in Tanzania was concluded in 2017, and the deadline for completion was 24 months. The value was around 54 million euros, with contractual penalties of 10 percent.

The project in Algeria was concluded in April 2013, with a deadline for completion of works agreed at 24 months.

The value was 52 million euros, and it was subsequently increased, likely due to landslide remediation. A record delay of about 9.5 years was recorded in this project.

“Penalties will certainly apply to both contracts. The contracts have been put into operation but have not been finally handed over. No one knows how long the warranty period will be extended due to Energoinvest's inability to rectify the investors' objections. What is certain further is that Energoinvest cannot expect new contracts in these countries,” reveals Patria's source from Energoinvest.

A curiosity of the project in Tanzania is that, in addition to people from Energoinvest, Hadžialjević also hired experts from Serbia, who have enormously high salaries.

Otherwise, Bisera Hadžialjević was appointed director of Energoinvest in February 2016 for a mandate period of four years.