Analysis: When will FBiH become a serious building site?

Federal government has been announcing massive works in energy and transport sectors for almost two years. They claim we are to become the biggest building site in the region!

Unfortunately, a number of independent and credible experts hold that FBiH is unable to become a 'building site' anytime soon. The capacity for the implementation of serious projects according to the international standards and procedures has been euthanized by the government's politics of 20 years that is entirely based on hiring incompetent people in public companies and institutions. For serious business one needs serious international knowledge and experience.

The 'Elektroprivreda BiH' started the story about building a thermoblock 7 in Tuzla during the term of Vahid Heco, back in 2006. Ten years later, they are still talking about building the block, without having used one single brick. Should the current government finalize the procedure of contract signing in the last two years of their mandate, it is only then that an immense work of several years will begin, starting with project development to technological challenges of the thermoblock itself. And there are no doubts that the challenges are immense too.

When it comes to implementation of strategic projects in FBiH, the Hydropower Plant Vranduk is another example of slow. Foundations were laid in September 2010 with Haris Silajdzic leading the ceremony. There has been no movement ever since. A few weeks ago, the coalition government of SDA, SBB and HDZ BiH announced starting of works at HP Vranduk. Ever since the municipal elections on 2 October, there has been no more talk about the plant. As if it does not exist.

It seems that many more years will pass before we see a completed and operational energy project in FBiH.

Building highways and fast roads in FBiH seems to share the destiny of electro energetic systems. At present, institutional capacities of Autoceste FBiH are somewhat better than those of Elektroprivreda BiH. That is because the former company is younger – it was started only in 2011 so there has been not enough time to hire hundreds of incompetent political party members. However, one ought to know that Autoceste FBiH are unable to make any further progress due to the lack of funding. Although we keep hearing statements about new investments and accelerated building of the Corridor 5C, the reality is entirely different. Not one new, serious project on the Corridor 5C can be implemented without introduction of additional excise tax on fuel. At the same time, introduction of excise taxes keeps being postponed.

Introduction of excise tax on fuel creates an opportunity for Serb and Croat government representatives to blackmail Bosniak politicians. The pressure is on the Bosniak politicians. Even if a decision on increasing excise tax on fuel is eventually adopted, the Bosniak politicians could be blackmailed through the Federal Parliament BiH, which will have to adopt a series of decisions that approve the debt with the international finance institutions, without which the highway construction is deemed impossible, even if the excise taxes are increased.

Any continuation of building the Corridor 5C through FBiH may be directly conditioned by the Law on soldiers' rights, a new Electoral law BiH, a third TV channel...

Media headlines about companies from Azerbaijan and China that talk about billions of EUR of investment in FBiH, do not reveal that the 'investments' are actually the loans for which the government first has to secure income that would serve as the basis for paying back the loan. As there is no such income, we can't even begin to dream about building fast roads.

Strengthening personnel capacities overnight in FBiH public companies is not possible, as it is not possible to reach an agreement with Dragan Covic without paying a high political price.