Serbian Minister of Energy Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic said preparatory work has been completed on the disputed Buk Bijela power project on the Drina river, which is being jointly implemented by state energy utilities from Serbia and the Serb-dominated entity in Bosnia, Republika Srpska.

“We still have to eliminate certain deficiencies … and we need to continue to complete all studies on environmental impact assessment and of course choose the main contractor,” Djedovic Handanovic said on Thursday, after meeting her counterpart from Republika Srpska, Petar Djokic and Montenegro’s energy minister Sasa Mujovic

She added that they were talking about removing obstacles and about ways of “coming to sustainable solutions”. She also said they talked about more possible common projects on the Drina with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, such as hydropower plants Krusevo and Komarnica.

Montenegro’s Minister of Energy, Sasa Mujovic, said after the meeting that Montenegro “will not be a stumbling block or barrier to the realization of the project” – but will not allow anything that will harm Montenegro and endanger the Tara river and Durmitor national park.

According to the portal Pobjeda, Mujovic said he respected the decision of the parliament of Montenegro and the “long-standing struggle of generations” to protect “the pearl of Europe and the tear of Europe, the Tara and the Durmitor National Park”.

He added that Montenegro will seek scientific opinions on whether that project endangers Montenegro and Durmitor. “If it does not endanger, you will absolutely have no problem in Montenegro,” he said.

Montenegro’s Ministry of Energy and Mining on Thursday told Podgorica’s Vijesti newspaper that, for Montenegro, “building the ‘Buk Bijela’ hydropower plant was closed as early as 2004 with the parliamentary Declaration on the Protection of the Tara River, as well as the UNESCO report from 2005, which put an end to the ideas of building hydropower plants in this area that could affect the ‘tear of Europe”.

Montenegro thereby rejected Republika Srpska president Milorad Dodik’s invitation in February, for Montenegro to participate.

The Minister of Energy and Mining of Republika Srpska, Petar Djokic, said after Thursday’s meeting that the entity has no intention of stopping work.

“Today we heard that the [RS] government and Elektroprivreda Srbije are working on the project, but we must address the issues that cause concern,” said Djokic.

“Those who tried to slow down and stop this project did not think benevolently towards development, but for selfish reasons tried to use the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina to slow down the project. They turned to the [Bosnian] Constitutional Court at the moment when they saw that Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske and Elektroprivreda Srbije were decisively moving forward with the development of the Buk Bijela project,” Djokic added.

Despite Montenegro’s repeated refusal to join the project, which threatens to destroy the ecologically sensitive stretch of the Drina and Tara rivers, Republika Srpska has insisted that it will continue construction of the 200-million-euros joint project with Serbia.

“The Buk Bijela is an important project that brings great benefits and I regret that this is not recognized in Montenegro. Republika Srpska will continue to work on that part of the issue where it is possible,” Republika Srpska president Milorad Dodik wrote on X on Thursday.

“As for Montenegro, we will continue to strengthen cooperation with those structures that want such cooperation. It is important for us that Montenegro is independent, stable, and strong and that it frees itself from the influence that is directed against Serbs,” Dodik added.

Montenegro complained to the UN’s Espoo Convention in 2019 and 2023 about Bosnia’s failure to consult Montenegro about the environmental impacts of the upper Drina hydropower plants. A group of NGOs submitted a complaint to the Committee in May 2020, as did the Montenegrin government in December 2020.

The environmental impact study used to provide ecological permits for the plants was conducted back in 2012, and the permit expired in 2018, Balkan Insight reports.