Illegal land grab? Chinese wind farms in Bosnia-Herzegovina

DW (English)

Ante Ivkovic herded sheep in Bosnia-Herzegovina with his father as a child. Years later, without his consent or knowledge, a wind farm was built on his property by a Chinese company.

Transcript

00:00As a child, Ante Ivkovic from Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina herded sheep with his father

00:08on these hills.

00:10Now without his knowledge or consent, a Chinese company has built a wind farm here worth around

00:16160 million euros.

00:22One morning I went outside and saw an excavator digging up my field.

00:29When I approached it, a Chinese construction manager made it clear, using his phone, that

00:35I had no business there and that I needed to leave.

00:47Now 73, the retired farmer explains how it all began.

00:53An influential politician, Matkovic, secured a wind farm concession from local authorities

00:58for just a few hundred euros.

01:02This concession was later sold to a Chinese company for millions, all without Ivkovic's

01:08knowledge.

01:10Key documents proving his ownership have since vanished, leaving him without any current

01:15deeds to the property.

01:19Matkovic got the concession in 2007.

01:26He was a minister in the district government and his plan was to build 12 turbines.

01:42Horses that were once raised by villagers still roam free and graze near the wind farm.

01:48Many residents, including Ivkovic's family, left Livno over 30 years ago for work abroad,

01:55leaving behind their homes and land.

01:59Now some are returning, renovating their properties and reclaiming their land.

02:09I'm a pensioner, you know, a Bosnian retiree, and now I have to fight with the authorities

02:16to get my land back.

02:19It's absurd.

02:23The Chinese wind farm company, headquartered in Sarajevo, declined to comment on camera.

02:31In an email, they stated they relied on Bosnian documents that confirmed the concession's

02:37legality and claimed there were no unresolved ownership issues.

02:43Ivkovic, with the help of his lawyer, is pursuing legal action to prove his ownership.

02:51His lawyer is gathering evidence from archives to build the case.

02:59They could have easily checked this, it really wouldn't have been all that hard.

03:07They could have checked the land registry or hired an expert to confirm who owns the

03:12land, all of this property within the wind farm area.

03:19Chinese wind energy companies have been aggressively expanding into the European market, undercutting

03:25European competitors by significant margins, thanks to state subsidies.

03:30This is evident not only in Bosnia, but also in neighboring Croatia.

03:35One part is an economic issue of overcapacity in China, and the Communist Party is encouraging

03:43Chinese companies to move out into the world, to move production into the world.

03:48It's also part of Chinese expansion into Europe.

03:54They want to have stronger influence, politically and economically, in the European Union.

04:00But they know that one of the jumping boards, so to say, for their influence efforts into

04:10the European Union is the Western Balkans.

04:13The EU has taken notice.

04:17Under Ursula von der Leyen's leadership, the EU is scrutinizing Chinese wind farms, investigating

04:23whether state subsidies are giving them an unfair advantage over European competitors.

04:32Lobbyists warn that with every new wind farm, China tightens its grip on Europe's energy supply.

04:39On a modern wind turbine, there are around 300 sensors on the different components of

04:48the turbine, which are giving information to the wind farm owner and operator and to

04:54the turbine manufacturer about the performance.

04:58Many people in Europe are saying, you know, do we want to give that power to entities

05:03outside of Europe to control the functioning of wind turbines?

05:10But in the village of Livno, such global concerns seem far removed.

05:15Retiree Ivkovic doesn't expect the wind farm to be dismantled, but he is determined to

05:19fight for fair compensation.

05:26I just want them to contact me.

05:33What's done is done.

05:38But I want them to come forward so that we can reach an agreement.

05:48Will a retiree be able to assert his rights against a 160 million euro project?

05:53The case will help determine how much property rights are worth in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Category

Transcript

Recommended