Analysis: The secret Agreement regarding the Chinese Highway in BiH
Summary
Date Reported: 7 Jul 2022
Location: Bosnia and Herzegovina
Companies
Shandong International Economic & Technical Cooperation Group (part of SDHS) - Client , Shandong Hi-Speed International (SDHS) - SponsorProjects
Banja Luka – Prijedor highway - SiteAffected
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Public: ( Number unknown - Bosnia and Herzegovina , Road-building , Gender not reported )Issues
Access to Information , Corruption , ComplicityResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Business and Human Rights Resource Centre
Story containing response: (Find out more)
Source type: News outlet
Summary
Date Reported: 8 Feb 2021
Location: Bosnia and Herzegovina
Companies
Shandong International Economic & Technical Cooperation Group (part of SDHS) - Client , Shandong Hi-Speed International (SDHS) - SponsorProjects
Banja Luka – Prijedor highway - SiteAffected
Total individuals affected: 100
Community: ( Number unknown - Bosnia and Herzegovina , Road-building , Gender not reported )Issues
Land Rights , Displacement , Social Security , ProtestsResponse
Response sought: Yes, by Business and Human Rights Resource Centre
Story containing response: (Find out more)
Source type: News outlet
07 July 2022
Work on the construction of the highway in the northwest of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) should begin in mid-July, under the shadow of criticism due to the secrecy of the concession contract concluded with Chinese investors.
The Banja Luka – Prijedor highway, about forty kilometers long and worth about 297 million euros, will be built by the Chinese company “Shandong Hi-Speed International (SDHS)”.
With that company, the Government of BiH entity Republika Srpska (RS) signed a concession agreement in mid-December 2018.
However, despite the insistence of the civil sector and opposition parties that the Entity Government publish the details of the agreed deal with Chinese investors, the contract is still not available for public inspection...
At the beginning of this year, Transparency International (TI) in BiH launched an administrative dispute against the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the RS. [It] decided to take this step after its request to submit a copy of the concession agreement concluded with the Chinese company was rejected. The representative of TI in BiH, Damjan Ozegovic, told Radio Free Europe (RSE) that he expects a court verdict in favor of this organization, given that it is about data that is hidden from citizens despite being of public interest...