"This area is a natural jewel, not only for Montenegro but for the whole world. Tourists come here for the wild nature, not to see concrete dams," says 33-year-old Miloš Lazarević from Žabljak. He has made his life connected to Durmitor.
Lazarević, who considers it both a privilege and a responsibility to live in the heart of a national park declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, is outraged by the renewed talk of the construction of the Buk-Bijela hydroelectric power plant in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He fears that it could destroy the Tara River ecosystem and irreversibly change the landscape of the area, which is crucial for the tourism industry.
"For the average resident of Žabljak, who relies on tourism revenue, this would mean fewer guests, less income and fewer opportunities for livelihood," says Miloš. He believes that preserving the environment in Žabljak is a moral obligation to future generations.
Montenegro: back on the table after 20 years
The Montenegrin government, led by Milo Đukanović, gave its consent in principle to the construction of the Buk-Bijela hydroelectric power plant with the Republika Srpska in 2004. The project envisaged a high dam whose reservoir would reach the confluence of the Tara and Piva rivers on Montenegrin territory.
The decision sparked protests from more than 30 non-governmental organizations, which in June 2004 began gathering under the slogans "Let it flow" and "I don't want a pond, I want Tara". This civic action soon resulted in the collection of more than 11.000 signatures, and the petition was submitted to the Parliament of Montenegro. In December of the same year, the Parliament adopted the Declaration on the Protection of the Tara River, which permanently banned any interventions or works in the canyon of the river. With this, the citizens of Montenegro put an end to the project.
Twenty years later, in March 2024, Montenegro received an invitation from the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, to join the construction of the Buk-Bijela hydroelectric power plant under new conditions. The new project for the same hydroelectric power plant envisages a lower dam height. This, they claim, would prevent the reservoir from entering the territory of Montenegro and would not have an impact on the protected area of the Tara River.
Montenegrin Energy Minister Saša Mujović is categorical in his stance that the Government of Montenegro will not participate in the construction of the Buk-Bijela hydroelectric power plant, and that the current documentation prohibits construction in that area. "The government has not discussed anything regarding the start of construction of Buk-Bijela," says Mujović.
The construction of the Buk-Bijela hydroelectric power plant is a joint project of Serbia and Republika Srpska, worth 250 million euros. It will be financed by the Electric Power Companies of Serbia and Republika Srpska. A joint venture, "Upper Drina Hydroelectric Power System", has been established, and in 2021 the foundation stone for the Buk-Bijela hydroelectric power plant was laid.
So far, more than 20 million euros have been invested in preparatory work, and premises for workers and access roads have been built. However, the work has been halted due to interstate and internal problems. The Chinese companies that applied for the construction tender do not want to interfere and are waiting for a solution to the situation.
The complicated organization of Bosnia and Herzegovina is put to the test again
The construction of the Buk-Bijela hydroelectric power plant has been on hold since May 17, 2021. One of the reasons is the complicated state structure of BiH. The two entities, the Federation of BiH and the Republika Srpska, have not yet resolved the dispute that is obstructing the construction.
The cornerstone was laid despite the rulings of the Constitutional Court of BiH. Republika Srpska is implementing the project in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Inland Navigation of the RS, which declares all rivers in that entity, including the Drina, as "internal waters of the RS".
The Constitutional Court of BiH, however, declared this legal solution unconstitutional in February 2021. The RS representatives had a ready justification for this decision: according to the state Constitution, the field of energy is the jurisdiction of the entities, which they justify by the location where the HPP will be built.
Namely, the Buk-Bijela HPP is being built in the upper reaches of the Drina River, which is not the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, but is located in the territory of the RS entity. This ignores the fact that the Drina River itself is part of the state border of BiH, which should make it part of state property, and therefore not subject to entity law. This is what the Constitutional Court stated in its decision from February 2021.
"The Constitutional Court considers that the Republika Srpska has the jurisdiction to regulate the issue of inland navigation, but exclusively on inland waters. The Constitutional Court considers inland waters to be those waters that are not, at the same time, state borders and international navigable rivers and public goods," explains Muharem Cero, an expert on state property issues, who was previously a member of the Concessions Commission.
This decision followed an appeal by 24 members of the BiH State Parliament to the Constitutional Court in 2021. Accordingly, the Court determined that there was a dispute over jurisdiction over the granting of concessions between BiH and its RS entity, and that it was not competent to resolve it itself. The BiH Concessions Commission, which is competent to assess whether a concession was granted in accordance with the BiH Constitution, was then ordered to resolve the dispute within three months, which it is unable to do because it practically no longer exists.
The situation is made worse by the fact that BiH does not have a law on state property. It cannot be passed without an agreement at the state level, and that is not possible without the consent of officials from the RS.
RS Assistant Minister of Energy and Mining Milan Baštinac assesses that the entire case initiated at the Constitutional Court is permeated with politics: "The construction of the HPP is absolutely in accordance with the Constitution of BiH and is within the full jurisdiction of the Government of Republika Srpska."
UNESCO: study results in May
The first "Environmental Impact Study for the Construction Project of the 'Buk-Bijela' HPP" was conducted in 2013, but Montenegro did not participate in its preparation.
The explanations of the judgments of the District Court and the Supreme Court of the Republika Srpska, in the proceedings conducted in 2020, 2021 and 2022 in the case of annulment of the Decision on the environmental permit issued for the construction of the Buk-Bijela HPP, state that "there is no evidence indicating the existence of a negative - adverse transboundary impact on the state of Montenegro, and therefore it was not necessary to apply the ESPOO Convention in a transboundary context."
Following complaints from Montenegro and its non-governmental organizations (NGO "GREEN HOME" and NGO OZON) regarding the implementation of the ESPOO Convention, to which Montenegro and BiH are signatories, the ESPOO Convention Implementation Committee based in Geneva, in October 2023, issued a recommendation that BiH implement a transboundary environmental impact assessment procedure, including Montenegro and, if necessary, other affected parties.
"We are currently carrying out activities to prepare a comprehensive ecological study according to the criteria and standards of the European Union, UNESCO and the ESPOO Convention. We expect the study to be completed in May," said Baštinac.
The draft study does not recognize the risks
Bosnia and Herzegovina has notified Montenegro of the initiation of a new environmental impact assessment procedure for the construction project of the Buk-Bijela HPP. Acting in accordance with the ESPOO Convention, it has published a document entitled "Data accompanying the request for a preliminary environmental impact assessment for the Buk-Bijela HPP, Foča Municipality". The public hearing in BiH has been completed, and the draft document assesses that the construction will not have a negative impact on the Tara River.
"The reservoir itself will contribute to the preservation of brown trout and brook trout populations, because in it, adult and larger specimens of brook trout and brook trout will be safe from poachers who use underwater rifles to decimate larger specimens of these fish in the Tara River every summer," the study states.
It is also estimated that the construction of the Buk-Bijela HPP would "reduce the negative impact that Montenegro has on the territory of the Republika Srpska (BiH) due to the operation and existence of the 'Piva' HPP".
In relation to this document, the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Northern Development has initiated a public debate in Montenegro. After the agreement, the main study on environmental impact assessment will be adopted.
Environmental groups are still warning
For years, environmental associations in all three countries have been warning about the negative consequences that the construction of the hydroelectric power plant could bring.
"The southern part of the reservoir will also submerge part of the proposed Natura 2000 area Maglić – Volujak – Zelengora. This would encompass the entire course of the Drina River within the site, destroying almost the entire habitat of two fish – the rudd (Hucho hucho) and the goby (Cottus gobio), as well as a large part of the habitat of the crayfish. Although not all areas are protected by national legislation, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro have an obligation to protect them under the Bern Convention," says Nina Kreševljaković, legal advisor to the eco-association AARHUS BiH.
Environmental activist Aleksandar Dragićević reminds that over 140 kilometers of the Tara River, together with Durmitor, form an inseparable whole and represent a unique bioreactor in Europe.
"Although the borders of the Durmitor National Park and the Piva Nature Park are clear, nature knows no borders, so the construction of a dam in BiH would disrupt the biodiversity of Durmitor, the Tara Canyon and a good part of the northern part of Montenegro. Any slowing down of the river, artificial obstacles, the formation of new reservoirs, have numerous harmful effects on the microclimate of the area, slowing down the water flow, preventing fish migration routes, preventing the natural flow of the river during floods. Since we do not have an official and independent assessment, nor field work from the Montenegrin side, we can only imagine the long-term consequences for biodiversity and the local community," Dragićević estimates.
Regarding the change in the height of the dam, he points out that, regardless of how high the dam is, the river is being dammed, the river ecosystem is being transformed into a lake ecosystem, the entire order in nature is being changed, as well as the very nature of the river that has been there for millions of years. "The Tara River has not yet recovered from the highway construction project where its bed was concreted and the course of the river itself was changed. One reckless project like this would change it forever," warns environmental activist Aleksandar Dragićević.
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