KS Government determined the Bill on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on Concessions

(Patria) - The Government of Sarajevo Canton at yesterday's session, at the proposal of the Ministry of Economy, determined the Bill on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on Concessions, which will be submitted to the Assembly of Sarajevo Canton for consideration and adoption.

By the Conclusion of the KS Assembly, at the session held on October 30, 2019, the Draft Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on Concessions was determined, and the KS Government was tasked with conducting a public debate on the Draft of this law in cantonal bodies, municipalities, scientific and professional institutions. After the public debate on the Draft of this law was conducted, the Ministry of Economy prepared a Report from the public debate, as well as a Bill for which positive opinions from competent authorities were obtained.

As stated by the Minister of Economy Adnan Delić, this is an important law for improving the business environment and regulating this area, in which work has been done from the first day of the mandate to reduce receivables and increase revenue.

“The foreseen amendments and supplements to this law, among other things, specify the subjects of concessions and the competencies for their awarding, i.e., the rights, obligations, and responsibilities of the relevant ministries for concession matters within their jurisdictions are specified, in order to remove any dilemmas and ambiguities regarding the competencies of any of the ministries,” said Minister Delić.

He also emphasized that this Law is very complex, and that with these amendments and supplements, in addition to the above, the current system of supervision over the implementation of the law and concession agreements is redefined, the issue of financial security of concession agreements is further regulated, the adoption of regulations that will determine the method and criteria for defining public goods is specified, as well as the recording and opening of a register of assets that have the character of public goods.

Also, in order to protect public goods that are the subject of concessions, these amendments and supplements to the Law have significantly shortened the deadlines for taking action in the concession awarding procedures, and the adoption of necessary bylaws, i.e., regulations, which regulate the procedures for awarding concessions in more detail, as well as regulations that remove certain obstacles in order to speed up the process of their awarding, have been prescribed.

One of the important amendments, in addition to all of the above, as the minister pointed out, is certainly the one related to the exemption from the obligation to sign a concession agreement for legal or natural persons who are owners and/or users of micro-power plants for the production of electricity from renewable energy sources in the Sarajevo Canton, with an installed capacity in total up to 23 kW.

“It is important to emphasize that these are micro-power plants and that electricity is produced from renewable energy sources, so-called 'green energy', which improves environmental aspects in Sarajevo Canton, and thus improves the health segment for the citizens of the Canton. In addition, this concession facility also stimulates investment in the construction and use of renewable energy sources, i.e., electricity generation facilities, which, in addition to the above, also achieves economic effects and a reduction in unemployment,” explained Minister Delić.

He also noted that entities that build and/or use these micro-power plants have certain additional benefits prescribed by other acts, such as the Law on Electricity in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Law on the Use of Renewable Energy Sources and Efficient Cogeneration.

"The Bill on this law will be considered at one of the next sessions of the Assembly of Sarajevo Canton," announced Minister Delić, and noted that three draft laws from the Ministry of Economy are already on the agenda of the KS Assembly at the session scheduled for December 14.