prijava
SARAJEVO, March 6 (FENA) - Director of the Energy Community Secretariat, Janez Kopač told reporters today in Sarajevo that the Energy Community does not oppose the construction of Block 7 of the Tuzla Thermal Power Plant.
He explained that the investment in the Block 7 is good because it is a replacement investment, which means it has been high time for this to be done since the emissions from the existing blocks are too high and unsustainable.
“The Secretariat of the Energy Community does not mind the fact that a Chinese bank will provide a loan for it, nor does it oppose investing in coal, although we are not very happy about that, but we insist that BiH respects the European Union regulations regarding state aid, which are also the regulations of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well,” said Kopač.
He stated that state aid in the form of a loan guarantee is allowed, but that the guarantee can only cover up to 80 percent of the loan amount.
Kopač added that this loan contract stipulates that the Federation of BH will repay the loan in case ‘Elektroprivreda BiH’ is not in a position to do so, but also that it will cover all other related costs.
He pointed out that the Secretariat of the Energy Community insists that it be clearly specified what all the other related costs are and how much they can amount in total.
Kopač is taking part in the Conference on Obligatory Energy Efficiency Schemes organized by the USAID project “Investment in the Energy Sector” and under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH.
(FENA) S. R.
