GRMUŠA: LAW ON SOUTHERN GAS INTERCONNECTION ENDS STATE PROPERTY SAGA

BANJA LUKA, APRIL 17 /SRNA/ – With the adoption of the amended Law on Southern Gas Interconnection in both houses of the FBiH Parliament, the so-called saga on state property has efficiently been ended, said legal expert Milko Grmuša.

Federal politicians had claimed that the Southern Gas Interconnection project would not be implemented unless the so-called state property issue was resolved, but this was, says Grmuša, cut short by the Americans, and amendments to the law were not allowed. "There is no so-called state property in the law. Instead, its provisions explicitly state that there are real estate assets owned by the FBiH, cantons, cities, municipalities, public companies and institutions, as well as private individuals," Grmuša told Glas Srpske. He pointed out that this implies that holders of publicly owned real estate can, without any issues, be the FBiH and other levels of government, but not BiH. He also recalled that the FBiH Government rejected an amendment to the law that mentioned "state property". Grmuša assessed that it is disheartening to observe SDA and SDP, which in less than ten days shifted from firm positions of not abandoning the concept of so-called state property to quickly yielding at the first American signal and aligning accordingly by tying the horse where the sheriff orders. He believes that the property issue will be reopened during the pre-election campaign for political gain. "The essence of the matter is that Sarajevo latched onto a topic they do not understand at all. They have never grasped the concept of public property," Grmuša concluded.