Bosnian Serb Entity Denies Ignoring Illegal Power Plants

Authorities in Republika Srpska, RS, Bosnia's mainly Serbian entity, have denied that investors are using a lack of oversight, owing to the situation with coronavirus pandemic, to illegally build small hydropower plants on some of the country's unspoiled but increasingly endangered watercourses.

The Coalition for the Protection of Rivers in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Save the Blue Heart of Europe said lack week in a statement: "While Europe is in lockdown, investors are increasingly taking advantage of the unusual situation to build controversial hydropower projects in secret. This is particularly true of rivers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, BiH. South of the capital Sarajevo, the construction of five dams has now begun or is being pushed, in some cases without permits." 

The RS Ministry of Energy said in response that it earlier granted concessions for the construction of small hydropower plants on three of five rivers mentioned in last week's statements by a coalition of Bosnian and regional environmental organisations. 

The ministry said the RS government gave the go-ahead for the construction of power plants on the rivers Bjelava, Vrhovinska rijeka and Zeljeznica. The Mlada Bjelava river, which is also mentioned in the statement of the environmental groups, is a tributary of the Bjelava river. 

"Concession agreements regulate the dynamic for the construction of the plants, as well as the time framework the concession-holder must respect to meet the terms of the concession," the ministry said in its email response to BIRN, adding the law on concessions mandates it to oversee the fulfillment of the concession agreement's terms.  

In the case of a national emergency, which was declared in Republika Srpska last month, the oversight...