Prime Minister of the Republic of Srpska Savo Minić, together with the Minister of Energy and Mining Petar Đokić met today in Banja Luka with representatives of the Power Company of the Republic of Srpska, Ugljevik Mine and Thermal Power Plant and GAS-RES Company.

After the meeting, Prime Minister Minić announced that the Government of the Republic of Srpska had approved the proposal for a final agreement on the takeover of the majority ownership share in the company "Comsar" by the company "GAS-RES".

"In accordance with the agreement reached, all funds towards 'Comsar' will be paid by Thursday, which will also complete all obligations towards the previous owner. As of today, the mine and thermal power plant Ugljevik have consent to enter the 'Istok 2' exploitation field which shall ensure continuity of production and stability of electricity supply. On October 9, the Government adopted the conclusion according to which any sale of coal from our thermal power plants without the consent of the Government of Republic of Srpska is banned bearing in mind that mines and thermal power plants are interconnected systems and that it is necessary to establish a single business model", the Prime Minister said.

He added that the final proposal for the contract on the takeover of 'Comsar' was sent today and GAS-RES will hold a Supervisory Board session during the day to give its consent.

"After that, the contract will be submitted to the relevant ministry in order to initiate the procedure and if everything is in order with previous agreements, the Government will give its consent to conclude the main contract on Thursday. It is planned that complete administrative and legal procedure will be completed within ten working days and the contract may be concluded as early as Friday. From that moment on, the 'Istok 2' exploitation field will be fully made available exclusively to the Ugljevik Mine and Thermal Power Plant", the Prime Minister  said.

He further stressed that the main priority was to ensure the continuity of electricity production. Speaking about the Gacko power plant, he said that the situation there was more stable, but the use of fuel and auxiliary energy sources was still poor, especially when regarding the fuel oil and other supplementary energy sources.

"We are talking about a complex issue, but what I want to say clearly is that I will not allow any improvising. Every step must be taken seriously, responsibly and professionally. I have called on the workers of the Ugljevik Mine and Thermal Power Plant to return to work and to continue with production and mining. The Director informed me that the time was used for regular maintenance, which was planned to last two to three days by the end of the year anyway. If production is restored according to the plan, we can expect that electricity production will resume and that the workers would return to their jobs as early as Friday," Minić emphasized, concluding that all these measures have one goal - a stable and sustainable energy system of the Republic of Srpska and safety for the workers and citizens.

Prior to this meeting, Minister Đokić held a meeting with the management of Power Utility Company of Republic of Srpska and RiTE Ugljevik, and then with representatives of the GAS-RES Company.