Authorities are killing us with electricity, the prime minister's shoulder to cry on will help no one

By: Ernad Metaj

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Citizens of BiH are prisoners of the government they elected. That government is not gentle at all and increasingly resembles the villains from action movies where electrocution as a method that causes the most pain has become a classic. The authorities in BiH, in both entities, have loomed over entrepreneurs, and thus over all citizens, and are sparking before their eyes, announcing the pain to come.

Drastic increases in electricity prices for businesses have been announced. In the Federation of BiH, up to 300 percent, and in RS, up to 240 percent. The increases are not accompanied by rational explanations, other than that the price of electricity has increased many times over in Europe. Given that BiH produces electricity from its own natural resources, such an explanation is pure eyewash and an underestimation of citizens' intelligence. An objective increase in electricity prices is justified only by the demands of miners in FBiH and the RS Elektroprivreda union for a 12 percent salary increase.

We find justification for these claims primarily in the fact that ERS has been behaving like a marketplace in recent days, changing offers for new electricity supply contracts for businesses. The result is that it is normal for ERS to continue selling electricity to some at a price of 40 euros, and to others at a price of 90 euros. The situation is similar in FBiH, where no one has yet explained why electricity would be 70 percent more expensive for some and even 300 percent for others.

Europe had a problem with a drop in electricity production from wind farms, which account for a negligible three percent of total production in BiH. Gas has become more expensive in Europe, and BiH does not produce electricity from gas. Europe has taxed carbon dioxide polluters, which has not yet happened in BiH.

Considering these factors, as well as the fact that BiH exports a third of its electricity, it is clear that Elektroprivreda is making excess profits on European stock exchanges and that there is no reason for drastic increases for consumers in BiH. By that logic, Russia should also enormously increase the price of gas for its citizens, which has become its weapon against the EU, or countries that produce oil should have export prices on the domestic market. Neither of these happens in practice.

That is why citizens in RS have a shoulder to cry on. It is offered to them by the prime minister who has no other solutions. In FBiH, the government has been playing dumb for months and engaging in useless talks with entrepreneurs who are announcing layoffs. The issue has been moved to Parliament, proving that the executive branch does not care about citizens. The request for amendments to the Law on Electric Energy came from Elektroprivreda BiH, which at this moment, it seems, is most aware of the difficult position of both citizens and itself.