Electricity

Government defiant on Tuzla 7 coal project, as Energy Community launches dispute settlement procedure

Photo: Tuzla power plant

Published

March 29, 2019

Comments

comments icon

0

Share

Published:

March 29, 2019

Comments:

comments icon

0

Share

The Energy Community Secretariat has sent an Opening Letter to Bosnia and Herzegovina for non-compliance with the state aid acquis regarding the Tuzla 7 project, in what is the first step in the dispute settlement procedure. In the meantime, Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH Mirko Šarović said that the new unit of the Tuzla coal power plant will be built regardless of the procedures conducted by the EnC Secretariat.

The Opening Letter follows the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (FBiH) approval of a guarantee for a EUR 614 million loan from the Export–Import Bank of China (Chexim – China Exim Bank) to Elektroprivreda BiH (EPBiH) to build a new, 450 MW unit of the Tuzla power plant.

The Secretariat has repeatedly called on BiH authorities not to approve the guarantee, last time on February 26, a few days before the vote in the Parliament of the FBIH.

By sending the Opening Letter, the Secretariat initiated a preliminary procedure, the purpose of which is to give BiH the opportunity to react to the allegation of non-compliance with EnC law within two months and to enable the Secretariat to establish the full background of the case.

The Secretariat came to the preliminary conclusion that the State Aid Council’s assessment does not comply with the state aid acquis and that the guarantee for the Tuzla 7 project constitutes state aid in the sense of Article 18(1)(c) of the Treaty, the Secretariat said in a news release.

Secretariat’s procedures will not stop the construction of unit 7 – Šarović

Mirko Šarović, the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations at the Council of Ministers of BiH, said that the new unit in the Tuzla coal power plant will be built regardless of the procedures launched by the Secretariat.

The minister more or less repeated what was said by FBiH Prime Minister Fadil Novalić after the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the FBiH supported the investment.

Šarović said that the Secretariat is wrong, insisting that the financing of this investment is in line with the BiH regulatory framework.

The procedure regarding this investment has lasted for 9 years and the Secretariat had the opportunity to react earlier, Šarović said, adding that without the new unit, BiH’s energy security would be brought into question.

According to him, the Secretariat went out of the scope of its competencies by contacting institutions other than the local point, which is the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations.

Comments (0)

Be the first one to comment on this article.

Enter Your Comment
Please wait... Please fill in the required fields. There seems to be an error, please refresh the page and try again. Your comment has been sent.

Related Articles

Serbia drafts just transition action plan public debate

Serbia drafts just transition action plan

30 May 2025 - The Ministry of Mining and Energy has published a draft just transition action plan and launched a public debate

Regional Power Sector Exchange Western Balkans disitribution system operator dso grids ohrid giz

Third Regional Power Sector Exchange in Ohrid: Power grids at core of energy transition

30 May 2025 - The third Regional Power Sector Exchange of the Western Balkans gathered over 80 energy professionals from the Western Balkans

two solar power plants egesa enerji vojvodina

Turkey’s Egesa Enerji to build two solar power plants in Serbia’s Vojvodina province

30 May 2025 - Turkish company Egesa Enerji has launched a project to build two solar power plants in Vojvodina, with a total nominal capacity of 8.6 MW

Green for Growth Fund partnership Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency Sida

Green for Growth Fund launches partnership with Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency

30 May 2025 - GGF and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency are expanding green lending in the Western Balkans and the EU's Eastern Neighborhood