BOSNIAN CIGRE COMMITTEE CONFERENCE HELD IN NEUM

NEUM, Bosnia (October 26,2007) – A plenary Assembly of the Bosnian Committee of the International Council for Huge Electrical Systems (CIGRÉ) was held in Neum. The Assembly sent a warning to BiH public about the problems of energy policy in the country.

More than 300 participants from the area of power industry at the Conference think that the non-existence of an integral power policy in Bosnia endangers the overall political, economic and cultural future of the country.

The present difficult situation in the power industry of the country is additionally complicated and deepened by the non-existence of any consultations of the executive political power in the country with the community of experts and scientists in this field on the power industry problems and priorities.

The existing interpretations and proposed decisions concerning the situation and development of power industry as espoused and proposed by some bodies of the current government are totally unfounded from the expert point of view, so that their possible imposition is dangerous and may in the log-run have devastating consequences for Bosnia's future. The present organisation of the electric power sector in the country does not meet the key conditions of the branch for an efficient functioning in this area, so it should be changed.

The fundamental and the first prerequisite for stopping the present destructive processes in the power industry of Bosnia is the preparation of an integral Bosnian power strategy. This is the responsibility both of politicians and experts in this field.

The power reform in Bosnia has been stopped, the participants of the Conference hold, and it is quite clear that it has come into a crisis. This calls for urgent changes. At the state level there are no bodies or institutions that would plan and manage the consolidation and development of the power sector. So the establishment of such bodies and institutions is an essential prerequisite for getting out of the crisis.

The present situation in Bosnia's power industry, with imposition of partial internal and external interests, threatens to marginalize the country in this sector within the instituted Energy Community of the Southeastern Europe. The members of the Bosnian CIGRÉ Committee are ready for cooperation and offer partnership with the responsible protagonists of energy policy in defining optimal short-term and long-term development programmes in this sector.