Bosnian power utility Elektroprivreda HZHB said it paid eight local municipalities a total of BAM 12 million (EUR 6.1 million) in the first half of the year in compensation for using their hydroelectric storage facilities, SeeNews reported.
The company is legally obliged to redirect a portion of its revenues from the use of storage facilities, the company said in a press release. The municipalities are obliged to invest 50% of the money in infrastructure projects in areas damaged by hydroelectric storage, EP HZHB said.
HZHB’s chief executive told at a press conference that the compensation fees are not only the highest in the region, but also the whole world. The company said it will suffer damage after Fadil Novalić, prime minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, withdrew his predecessor’s decision to contest the disputed local water management law at the entity’s constitutional court.
Since 2009, EP HZHB has paid local municipalities EUR 60.3 million in compensation under this legal obligation. Elektroprivreda HZHB is based in Mostar, in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the larger of two entities, the other one being the Republic of Srpska. The company is the smallest of the three state-controlled power utilities, operating seven hydropower plants with a total capacity of 860 MW.
