The theft allegedly happened through “Elektrokrajina” in Banja Luka, the capital of the Serbian majority entity. “Elektrokrajina” is a distributor for the state-owned power company Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske and was once managed by Kovacevic.
CHP said Kovacevic admitted the theft under his watch to local television and also submitted as evidence a report showing the company had failed to collect on accounts with state companies.
On March 28th, Kovacevic told ATV news that a sophisticated network of employees in the industry are conspiring with buyers to steal energy. Kovacevic also claims that he filed reports with the police and the prosecution several times, with no results.
“We are talking about a highly sophisticated group that is [stealing electricity] in a very cunning way” said Kovacevic.
Among the buyers who have failed to pay their electricity bills in Republika Srpska are a number of state institutions such as hospitals, and water and heating companies, as well as private companies.
The former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader was recently charged with corruption involving the sale of electricity from the Croatian state power company to an aluminum producer in Bosnia.
