January 28 (SeeNews) - Bosnia's Serb Republic prime minister Radovan Viskovic said on Tuesday the construction of the 160 MW hydro power plant (HPP) HE Dabar, in the southern Herzegovina region, is expected to begin this year.
"I hope that this year we will launch initial works on the construction of the dam and the machine unit," Viskovic said in a statement after meeting with the management of HE Dabar and of its owner, state-controlled hydro power producer Hidroelektrane na Trebisnjici (HET).
The total estimated value of the HE Dabar project is 600 million marka, the head of HE Dabar, Zeljko Zubac, said in the same statement.
More than 100 million marka ($56 million/51 million euro) have been invested so far in the project - in the construction of tunnels, access roads, power substations, water supply, and other activities, according to Viskovic.
Viskovic also said he expects that a strategic partner in the construction of HE Dabar will be named next month, adding that a Chinese company is due to submit by February 14 its final offer for participating in the project.
He did not name the Chinese company.
However, local media reported earlier in January that China's Sinohydro Corporation has registered a subsidiary in Bosnia's Banja Luka to run projects that might also include the construction of the HE Dabar.
In 2017, Bosnia's Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA) said that China's Dongfang Electric Corporation was also interested in the construction of HE Dabar.
The Serb Republic is one of the two autonomous entities that comprise Bosnia and Herzegovina. The other is the Federation.
(1 euro = 1.95583 marka)