Works Starts on Disputed Dam in Bosnia, Despite Protests

After a joint session of the Serbian government and the government of the Bosnian Serb entity, Republika Srpska, in East Sarajevo, the two prime ministers, Ana Brnabic and Radovan Viskovic, on Monday laid the foundation stone for the construction of a hydroelectric plant that environmentalists have condemned as a threat to the river Drina.

In March 2019, the RS and Serbia agreed to cooperate on the construction of the Buk Bijela plant, besides already agreed joint projects on hydropower plants at Foca and Paunci on the Drina river.

Buk Bijela will be the largest and most important of the three hydroelectric power plants, with a dam length of almost 200 meters, a height of 57 metres and an artificial lake measuring 11.5 kilometres.

Non-governmental organisations and river sports enthusiasts have slated plans to build three dams on the upper stretch of the Drina in Bosnia, saying the river should be protected.

The Drina and its tributaries are the most important habitat for the globally endangered Danube Salmon and an increasingly popular outdoor tourist destination.

"An adequate environmental impact study has not been conducted. The study was done more than 10 years ago with data that are more than 30 years old and as such, it should not be subject to approval," Viktor Bjelic, from the Centre for the Environment, an NGO from Banja Luka, said on Monday.

Reacting to the protests, Brnabic said the project had been awaited for more than three decades and it was important as the power would be renewably sourced.

"It is important because it is electricity from renewable sources," Brnabic told a press conference after the joint government session, adding that thermal power plants need replacing.

"Everything has an...