More than a year has passed since the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Dabar Hydroelectric Plant (HED) in the village of Vrijeka near Bileća. The work is progressing according to the planned schedule. The contract for construction and financing with Chinese partners remains hidden from the public, while several lawsuits against the relevant ministry related to this project await their conclusion before the District Court in Banja Luka. Meanwhile, a new director, Danilo Ilić, has been appointed to replace the former director of HED, Slaviša Stajić, and another legal proceeding regarding the concealment of the contract is still ongoing before the District Court in Trebinje.
For the construction of the Dabar Hydroelectric Plant (HED), the contractor selected was the renowned Chinese company, China Gezhouba Group Co (CGGC), as stated by the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, Radovan Višković, a little over a year ago. A contract worth approximately 224 million BAM was signed with them.
Radio Free Europe reported just before the groundbreaking ceremony that the Federation of BiH Motorways confirmed that this company was disqualified from being chosen as the contractor for the Prenj tunnel due to allegations of submitting false documentation and attempted fraud.
Our inquiry to Liu Hualiang, the director of this group, for a statement on these allegations went unanswered.
While 100 Chinese workers and 30 local workers perform their tasks, the civil sector has consistently warned about the project’s environmental harm and expressed doubts about the intentions of the authorities and investors, given the lack of transparency from the start. However, the HED administration assures that there is no cause for concern and that this “historical project” preserves nature.
“We cannot undertake this project and suspect that it is harmful to anyone”, asserted the new director of HE Dabar, Danilo Ilić.
Lawsuits Against the Relevant Ministry
The associations Center for Environment (CZŽS) and Aarhus Center have filed multiple lawsuits with the District Court in Banja Luka against the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Construction, and Ecology of Republika Srpska regarding various issued construction permits for the implementation of the Dabar Hydroelectric Plant (HE) project, as confirmed to Direkt by these associations.
As explained by the Aarhus Center, the first lawsuit, which related to the environmental permit, was dismissed by the District Court in Banja Luka and is now before the Supreme Court of RS.
The Aarhus Center has filed five more lawsuits against the relevant ministry for issuing multiple construction permits for the implementation of HE Dabar.
Similarly, the Center for Environment in Banja Luka has also submitted five lawsuits to the District Court due to disputed construction permits.
In the proceedings so far, as confirmed by the Aarhus Center, three lawsuits from Aarhus and CZŽS have been consolidated, while decisions on the remaining two lawsuits are still pending.
“The purpose of all the lawsuits is the same, and we are challenging the construction permits issued at different times. In other words, we sued the relevant ministry for not properly issuing the construction permits. In our opinion, they do not contain all the elements they should according to the Law on General Administrative Procedure”, CZŽS told Direkt.
Emina Veljović, the executive director of the Aarhus Center, explains that the first lawsuit, filed by this organization in June last year, and now before the Supreme Court of RS, related to the renewed environmental permit. She states that the relevant court ruled that the organization should have been involved in the process earlier, that is, when the initial permit was issued, ignoring the fact that the Aarhus Center did not exist at that time.
“However, we have the right to challenge any administrative act at any time. There are also environmental issues, proposed measures, and questions about how they were determined, as well as the ignoring of the fact that the white-clawed crayfish, an extremely endangered species recognized by our laws and regulations, exists in that area”, Veljović explained to Direkt.
We sought a statement from the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Construction, and Ecology of RS, but we did not receive a response by the time this text was published.
What is Controversial?
In the lawsuits awaiting resolution at the District Court in Banja Luka, issues of environmental protection and the impact of the Dabar Hydroelectric Plant (HE) on the entire area are being questioned.
Valter Portal and Spin Info have written in detail about these issues, and the Aarhus Center outlines what they see as the main objections regarding the construction of HE Dabar.
Additionally, the Aarhus Center argues that citizens were not adequately involved in the decision-making process, so they were unaware of what was happening until construction began.
“The second very important thing is that the data used as the basis for issuing the construction permit is outdated, from the end of the previous century. Therefore, climate change, decreased water flow, and the cumulative effect that will occur in the context of the impact on the Neretva River and all other rivers were not taken into account”, Veljović specifies.
She also points out that there is no precise data on how the construction permit affects other ecosystems and other hydroelectric plants.
“We have concluded that there is a violation of the Aarhus and Bern Conventions on the protection of species and natural habitats, which our country has signed. Then there is the Ramsar Convention concerning wetlands. This area will affect protected areas and bird habitats. They did not consider the impact on the Federation of BiH or Croatia, which means that, according to our interpretation, there is a violation of the Espoo Convention, which relates to transboundary impact”, states Emina Veljović, highlighting the problem of the Neretva River basin, which is already “slowed down” and into which seawater is already penetrating.
“So, when you build these other plants, you will further slow it down, and seawater will enter the Neretva even more, destroying not only the unique biodiversity but also the livelihoods of the locals who live there and survive from agriculture”, says Veljović, adding that due to all this, there is pressure on the judiciary since these are very large investments.
The director of HE Dabar, Danilo Ilić, dismisses all claims of negative environmental impact and states that the project was done according to all regulations and has passed all necessary revisions.
“I think there is no reason to doubt the expertise. Some judicial bodies have confirmed these decisions. We will respond to all proceedings, of course. This concept was established in 1953, and the entire history of this project spans over 50 years. Experts in the former Yugoslavia also showed that there was no harm, even presenting various benefits of this project, which is not only energy-related. Energy is the basis driving this project, but it provides benefits for human resources, agriculture, and more”, explains Ilić.
Regarding the Zalomka River, he claims that its bed is dry 80% of the time annually.
“Our obligation is also to fulfil the ecological minimum, which we will do. During the dry period, the downstream basin will have additional water. Additionally, during periods of high water, downstream flooding will be prevented. All preliminary studies have been conducted for years, hydrological research, and hundreds of studies. This is not a basis for further speculation”, he says, responding to Direkt’s questions.
To clarify the entire system and plans, the management of HE Dabar organized a visit for journalists to key points of this project.
Currently, work has begun on the Pošćenje dam, the Grebak embankment, and the machinery building, which is part of the contract with the Chinese company.
“We are preparing further works because this contract includes eight structures. Besides these, there is also the Vranjača embankment, the water reservoir, the pressure pipeline, the channel through Dabarsko Polje, and the expansion of the Dabar-Fatnica tunnel. We are now preparing for the start of concrete works on Grebak, and initial works on the excavation of the machinery building are ongoing. We have relocated the water supply and power lines, and, of course, they are working on organizing their construction site and the Divin camp”, explains Ilić.
The construction of the Dabar tunnel, he says, is being financed from their own funds.
“We have completed the tunnelling, with about 90 meters left to finish, and we have about two kilometres of lining to complete within the contracted time frame to hand over to the Chinese company”, Ilić emphasizes and adds, “This is the only project in RS where the financial structure is fully closed. HE Dabar has secured 15% of the advance funds, and the rest is financed by Exim Bank, so we have no obstacles in carrying out the work. This amounts to about 224 million BAM”.
One Verdict and a New Process Due to Concealed Contracts
In January this year, the District Court in Trebinje ruled in favour of CZŽS for the first time and annulled the decision of the Electric Power Industry of Republika Srpska (ERS), which had refused to provide this organization with the construction contract with the Chinese company, as well as the financing contract for this project with Exim Bank.
After ERS complied with the verdict and addressed the previously identified shortcomings but still did not provide the contracts, CZŽS initiated another lawsuit.
“The case is awaiting its turn for resolution, as cases in this court are resolved based on the age of the initial act”, the District Court in Trebinje responded to Direkt.
Redžib Skomorac, a lawyer from CZŽS, explained to our portal that in the first proceedings, the District Court upheld their lawsuit because ERS, specifically HE Dabar, did not provide sufficient valid reasons for censoring the construction contract and the credit agreement, given that it is a public project using public funds.
“ERS issued a new decision but again refused to provide the requested information, further explaining the reasons that were not in the previous decision. They believe that by doing so, they have complied with the verdict and that this decision is in accordance with the ruling, but we are still prevented from obtaining information about the credit agreement and the contract”, Skomorac explains, adding that he hopes that after the new court decision, the public will finally have access to the disputed contracts and that it will then become clear why they have been hidden from public view all this time.
Director Ilić first states that the contracts are not being concealed from the public but does not respond to our question of whether he can then provide us with access to the contract.
“We have signed agreements with the Chinese company, which we must uphold and respect the principles of the contract. The public procurement was open and transparent. We are acting according to the company’s business policy and the signed agreements with the companies”, he states.
Chinese: It’s Not Up to Us
In response to our question about why their contracts for the construction of the Dabar Hydroelectric Plant are secret, CGGC’s Deputy General Director Tang Jan Bing states that, from their perspective, there is no reason for secrecy and that the issue likely involves the clients, which he cannot discuss.
“From our side, there is no problem, and as far as we are concerned, CGGC has no issue. Whether there is a problem on the other side, we do not know, but I don’t think it should be a general problem”, said the Deputy General Director of CGGC.
After the press conference, Direkt was advised that Tang Jan Bing might not be the right person to address our question about the secrecy of the contracts, as he is primarily responsible for the technical aspects of the project.
Investors and contractors hope that HE Dabar will be operational by the scheduled date, which is 2027, and that approximately 180 Chinese workers and around 300 local workers will be employed at the construction site in the future.
The total value of all works on the HED is approximately 661 million BAM, and it will have an installed capacity of 159 megawatts.
