The director of the UNESCO Center for Cultural Heritage, Mehtild Resler, asked the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina to determine "regarding information on the laying of the foundation stone for the construction of a dam on the Drina downstream from the Durmitor National Park (NP) in Montenegro."
Resler requested this in a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in connection with the construction project of the Buk Bijela hydroelectric plant on the Drina.
BiH is called upon to respect the international Convention "and not to undertake any measures that could endanger the cultural or natural heritage in the countries that are signatories to the Convention".
Namely, in Foča, a municipality in the east of BiH, on Monday, May 17, the cornerstone was laid for the construction of the Buk Bijela hydroelectric power plant on the Drina river, the construction of which will be financed by the electricity companies of Serbia and the Bosnian-Herzegovinian entity Republika Srpska in the amount of 220 million euros.
The foundation stone was laid by the Prime Minister of the Government of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, and the Prime Minister of the Republika Srpska, Radovan Višković, and in the joint venture Hydropower System "Gornja Drina", Elektroprivreda Srbije will have a 51 percent share, and Elektroprivreda Republika Srpska 49 percent.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina will take measures within its jurisdiction and inform other competent institutions of UNESCO's requirements. BiH must respect international obligations and this is another indicator that such projects cannot be implemented without the consent of state institutions," she stated. on that occasion, BiH Minister of Foreign Affairs Bisera Turković.
Višković stated that Bosnia and Herzegovina is not competent for the construction of the Buk Bijela hydroelectric power plant.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs previously sent a note to Serbia, whose company is an investor in the announced project together with a company owned by one of the entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The construction of HPP Buk-Bijela is before the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina after 24 parliamentarians initiated proceedings at the end of last year, asking that judicial institution to invalidate the decision of Republika Srpska on granting a concession for the construction of hydroelectric power plants on the Upper Drina.
In the appeal, it was stated that decisions regarding state property such as rivers on international borders can only be made at the BiH level.
The hydropower project in the upper reaches of the Drina envisages the construction of three hydropower plants, Buk Bijela, Foča and Paunci.
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