ĐOKIĆ: CONCESSION TRANSFER TO RiTE UGLJEVIK NEXT THURSDAY

BIJELJINA, JANUARY 15 /SRNA/ – The Minister of Energy and Mining of Republika Srpska, Petar Đokić, has said today that the transfer of concession rights from the Comsar Energy company to the Mine and Thermal Power Plant /RiTE/ Ugljevik will be completed at the parliamentary session next Thursday.

"Today, the Concessions Commission will also complete its part of the work. We cannot influence it, as it is a body of the National Assembly, but we cooperate and expect that they will adopt and prepare their act, which will be forwarded to the Government," Đokić told the press during a visit to Bijeljina. According to him, based on this, the Government will adopt a decision by which a new contract will be signed and the concession will be transferred to RiTE Ugljevik for the East Two area. "This will conclude an activity that has lasted longer than we expected, but it must be borne in mind that there are formal actions that must be undertaken. We must not put ourselves in a situation of violating the law, so that anyone could be held accountable tomorrow or create financial consequences for anyone involved, which could be significant," the line minister emphasized. He added that decisions cannot be made overnight and must go through certain procedures which may sometimes seem unusual to some, but must be respected. "We have done all of this. I personally have been very dedicated throughout this entire period to reaching a solution, and now we are quite at the very end," Đokić said. According to the minister, the contract will be defined on that day; on the same day an executive decision will be adopted on the basis of which the concession right will be transferred from “Comsar” to RiTE Ugljevik for the East Two area. Đokić says he had stated earlier, and has now, that within RiTE all preparations and work can begin to move to that site, noting that opportunities for this have existed for some time, as the Government had previously announced. "We were firmly committed to completing this, we worked on it, and now we have completed it. We have already entered 74 percent share in the registry, so we have unobstructed opportunities to make certain decisions that also relate to that area," the minister emphasized. Đokić stated that in this case “Comsar” is entering the structure of the Gas RS Company, which becomes its owner. Commenting on today’s protest by residents of villages around the Ugljevik Mine and Thermal Power Plant /RiTE/, Đokić says that he understands residents who react after problems that burden them have existed for a long time, and announced that he will personally take care and insist that the problems be resolved. "Especially in areas where exploitation was previously carried out or where it is still ongoing, there are problems related to roads, the power grid, and water supply. This is not easy to resolve overnight, but it is important to acknowledge that a problem exists and to begin resolving it," Đokić assessed. He added that from every public reaction, such as this residents’ protest, a clear conclusion should be drawn on how to act and ensure that the competent authorities, in this case the companies, adequately resolve and neutralize the problems.