New hundreds of millions of marks could be charged to institutions, and ultimately to citizens, due to previously concluded disputed contracts. Unlike the earlier “Viaduct” case, which cost taxpayers 110 million marks, in the “Trusina” and “Rudoplast” cases, after a warning before starting the arbitration procedure, the BiH institutions decided to start the negotiation procedure earlier. The Council of Ministers should appoint negotiating teams. BHRT brings new details in these two cases.
Five investors associated with the company Polyester group from Serbia demand the return of the right to dispose of the property that belonged to the company Rudoplast in Rudo or compensation, because BiH. the RS entity allocated the property to the local community more than four years ago. After the warning before the initiation of the arbitration procedure sent by the legal representative, the Office of the Attorney General of Bosnia and Herzegovina informed the Council of Ministers and asked the other party to agree to extend the deadline for a peaceful resolution of the dispute until December 15 this year, the Office of the Attorney General said.
“The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the Information of the Attorney General’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the Request for amicable settlement of the investment dispute, and tasked the Negotiating Body of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the peaceful resolution of international investment disputes, as well as other bodies in BiH to immediately get involved in the resolution of the Request in question. The Negotiating Body has already adopted certain guidelines in connection with the above, and the representatives of the institutions from the entity of the RS will be involved in the negotiations,” said the Attorney General’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
If the property were to remain in the hands of the local community, the investors are seeking compensation based on the estimated market value of the location and the three-year profit of the companies, as the period required for the relocation of production, explained the Council of Ministers.
The Council of Ministers was recently supposed to form an ad hoc team to negotiate. The assurances are that the burden of the dispute should fall on the RS, according to the recipe applied in the Viaduct case, the authorities stated.
“There is no danger to the state budget, but it is also bad when any entity pays instead of building new infrastructure projects, helps people with employment and builds new schools, while filling the pockets of individuals,” said Elmedin Konaković, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Another negotiating team of the Council of Ministers should try to prevent an arbitration dispute related to the former holder of the concession for the construction of the Trusina wind farm. The company Kermas energija from Zagreb, as the owner of the concessionaire, is demanding 200 million marks after the RS government unilaterally terminated the concession agreement six years ago, the Council of Ministers stated.
“Formal conditions have now been created, which did not exist before, to be able to enter into discussions with the representatives of Kermas, who were the owners of the company with the concession for the Trusina wind power plant, and to conduct discussions, which I believe, in a professional manner, so that arbitration can be avoided,” says Petar Đokić, RS Minister of Energy and Mining.
It is difficult to assess whether the negotiation process will succeed in eliminating or reducing the damage to taxpayers’ money. It is certain that, unlike the Viaduct, negotiations are entered into before the initiation of arbitration or executive judgment, the Council of Ministers pointed out.
“Definitely these things will end badly for us, it is hard to imagine any other scenario, and of course there is huge corruption behind everything”, says Igor Crnadak, head of the Club of Representatives of the PDP in the NSRS
Regarding the accusations about the causes of what is now a series of expensive arbitrations, the judiciary should have a say. It is noted that Bosnia and Herzegovina is among the last countries in Europe in terms of effective prosecution of high corruption, it says BHRT.
