US billionaire to invest in energy sector in Bosnia

A US power company has agreed to invest billions of dollars to build hydropower plants in Bosnia, local media reported on Friday. Chirinjeev Kathuria, president of the New Generation Power, on Wednesday signed an agreement with the government of the Republika Srpska (RS) to build four hydroelectric power plants with a combined value of about 1.3 billion euros (1.65 billion U.S. dollars) in the lower part of the Drina River. If the feasibility studies justify this project, the government of RS, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, will support establishment of a joint venture between the U.S. giant and a local power company to implement the project with a potential of 1,588 gigawatt hours of electricity per year. Kathuria, an American citizen of Indian origin, said that his goal is to launch one of the largest energy projects in Southeast Europe. With numerous mountains and speedy rivers, Bosnia possesses great potentials in the field of renewable energy sources. Tarik Kupusovic, director of the Institute of Hydraulic Engineering Sarajevo, said Bosnia currently uses only 40 percent of its renewable energy potentials. (1 euro = 1.27 U.S. dollars)