Hamovic: "The Federation and Republika Srpska should jointly develop projects on the river Neretva"

Cooperation between the fedeeartion of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska on developing new hydroelectric power plants on the river Neretva is desirable and will bring numerous benefits to both entities", said Vuk Hamovic, the president of the EFT Group. EFT was recently awarded a concession to build the Ulog HPP on the river Neretva.

Ulog HPP can be developed to function on its own. It would make more sense however if it was developed as part of a system comprising the other planned power plants further downstream. Not only would the system as a whole produce better economic results, such an approach would ensure that their effect on the river Neretva and surrounding area is minimal. EFT is ready to cooperate with the Elektroprivreda Bosne i Hercegovine as well as all the other relevant institutions in both entities in developing these projects. I hope that in this case the politicians will overcome divisions which are hindering the economic progress of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Turning to the environmental aspects of the Ulog project, Hamovic said that the plant will have 35 MW installed capacity and will annually produce 86 GWh of energy. As with the Stanari TPP project, EFT will implement European Union environmental standards when developing Ulog HPP. The relevant EU directives in this case will ensure that the negative effects of developing this project are minimal and within acceptable limits, concluded Hamovic.