On the occasion of World Water Day Coalition for Sana reiterates that hydropower plant (HPP) "Medna" is bad both for people and nature.
The Coalition for Sana, a network of 23 citizens associations and the Municipality of Ribnik, has been trying for years now to prevent the construction of HPP “Medna” on the Sana river. Despite many court cases, evidence of the faulty construction permits and documents, a badly done environmental impact assessment study, and many facts in favor of preserving Sana, the investor “LSB Power plants” from Banja Luka, under the auspices of “Interenergo” doo Ljubljana (Slovenia), which is ownedby KI-KELAG International GmbH (Austria), started the construction of the plant.
Goran Krivić, Coalition for Sana: “In addition to all the arguments that we have presented to the public over last seven years, we would like to stress those related to financial unprofitability of this harmful project. World Water Day’s message stresses the importance of water and the lack of drinking water in many parts of the world. The Coalition for Sana presents a feasibility study for the construction of HPP “Medna” which was done by an economic expert. The study clearly shows exactly what we have been talking about for years – HPP “Medna” brings benefits only to individuals and not to the community."
The following are the conclusions of the feasibility study:
- Maximum gains for local and state budgets from the HPP operations are 12,081,612 KM
- At the same time, the state will pay the HPP owner subsidies in the amount of 13,137,600 KM,
- Subtracting aforementioned amounts shows negative effect for state and local budgets in the amount of 1,055,988 KM,
- After concession contract expires, the book value of the HPP will be exactly 0 KM,
- Current net value of the HPP is negative and is -3,490,794 KM, and
- There will be no employees working in the HPP facilities.
Having said that, the conclusion is that HPP "Medna" has negative financial effects on the community.
Nataša Crnković, Centre for Environment: “The Coalition for Sana disseminated the feasibility study’s results to all relevant institutions and municipalities in the Sana River Basin and at the state level. We believe that this economic analysis clearly counters the arguments of the government that this HPP brings progress and benefit to the local community and the entire Republic of Srpska “.
The Coalition for Sana also announces that it will organize a protest trip to the Sana springs this year too. The event will take place on April 23rd, and the Coalition invites everyone from environmentalists to representatives of authorities to join us. The details of the event will be made public in the coming days.
