VIPOTNIK: CONFRONTATION WITH CROATIA IN MAY, IMPORTANT STEP REGARDING TRGOVSKA GORA

BANJA LUKA, FEBRUARY 13 /SRNA/ – The Minister for Spatial Planning, Construction and Ecology of Republika Srpska, Bojan Vipotnik, told SRNA that Republika Srpska and BiH are on the right track to prevent Croatia from disposing of nuclear waste at Trgovska Gora, emphasizing that a confrontation of the parties before the ESPOO Convention has been scheduled for May in Geneva.

"We have completed field research on the side of Republika Srpska and the FBiH, laboratory analyses are underway, in the way of which we will finalize the segment of our argumentation, while the legal team is preparing the legal arguments," Vipotnik said in the SRNA podcast. He stated that the ESPOO Convention, based on submissions by the line ministry, opened the Trgovska Gora case even without a submitted environmental impact assessment study. "They realized that something was not right, called on Croatia to explain our allegations, asked us for additional clarification, and the result is that a confrontation with Croatia has been scheduled for May in Geneva," Vipotnik emphasized. Speaking about air pollution, he pointed out that local communities are obliged to take measures aimed at reducing pollution, noting that Banja Luka has around 10,000 individual heating units, and that inspections have found that some distributors sell low-quality fuel. Vipotnik also announced that a climate law should be adopted this year, stressing that it will be the first such regulation in the legislation of Republika Srpska. "This is the first time in the legislative framework of Republika Srpska that such a law is being adopted, due to the seriousness of the issue it addresses," Vipotnik said. The new episode of the SRNA podcast, featuring the Minister for Spatial Planning, Construction and Ecology of Republika Srpska Bojan Vipotnik will be available to users of the service, on social media and the YouTube channel tomorrow from 10:00 a.m.