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Illegal land grab in Bosnia-Herzegovina? - Chinese company built wind farm on private property without the owner's consent (www.dw.com)

submitted 3 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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

The Chinese wind farm company, headquartered in the capital Sarajevo, declined to comment on camera. In an email, they stated they relied on Bosnian documents that confirmed the concession's legality and claimed there were no unresolved ownership issues.

Ivkovic, with the help of his lawyer, is pursuing legal action to prove his ownership. His lawyer is gathering evidence from archives to build the case.

[...]

Chinese wind energy companies have been aggressively expanding into the European market, undercutting European competitors by significant margins, thanks to state subsidies. This is evident not only in Bosnia, but also in neighboring Croatia.

[...]

The EU has taken notice. Under Ursula von der Leyen's leadership, the EU is scrutinizing Chinese wind farms, investigating whether state subsidies are giving them an unfair advantage over European competitors. Lobbyists warn that with every new wind farm, China tightens its grip on Europe's energy supply.

"On a modern wind turbine there are around 300 sensors on the different components of the turbine, which are giving information to the wind farm owner and operator, and to the turbine manufacturer about the performance. And many people in Europe are saying, 'do we want to give that power to entities outside of Europe to control the functioning of wind turbines?'," says Giles Dickson, the CEO of WindEurope.

[...]

Will a retiree be able to assert his rights against a 160-million-euro project? This case will help determine how much property rights are worth in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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[–] [email protected] -1 points 3 days ago (7 children)

"One part is an economic issue of overcapacity in China, and the Communist Party is encouraging Chinese companies to move out into the world, to move production into the world," says Zoltan Feher from the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub

Ah, wow, what a scandal that the commis came up with the idea of economic expansion.

"On a modern wind turbine there are around 300 sensors on the different components of the turbine, which are giving information to the wind farm owner and operator, and to the turbine manufacturer about the performance. And many people in Europe are saying, 'do we want to give that power to entities outside of Europe to control the functioning of wind turbines?'," says Giles Dickson, the CEO of WindEurope.

“many people in Europe are saying…” says the CEO of WindEurope. What’s his name? Trump?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 days ago (6 children)

This is still seemingly a case of a Chinese business developing on land they don't own. Even if they do own it, economic expansion into other territories SHOULD worry some people when it comes to the major powers (US included) as it's been shown they don't play nice when they have access to your Major resources.

Germany couldn't give up Russia for Oil, don't make the Baltic states rely on China for electricity. Subsidize builds in your own country the best you can, but competing with government-backed foreign entities is a good way to lose a bidding war.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago (5 children)

Difficult to say what’s exactly happening with the land ownership in this case. Probably the local government fucked over this guy, but not the Chinese.

About economic expansion. We do acknowledge that Capitalism is what makes the world go ‘round, but we don’t want others to be successful with it. Because if you are successful you need new markets. That’s why we want the Chinese to open up their markets for us more, we want Africa to open their markets for us more. If we close everything up, like the US under Trump and the EU under Von der Leyen, we are doing what most countries were doing 100 years ago. Part of which led to whatever we should have learnt by now.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

I acknowledge that capitalism is an inherently evil system designed to extract all value from an object, I do not recognize that's what makes the world go round.

And I'm not saying to close the borders and prevent all foreign trade. But I'm staunchly against any land purchases by foreign entities. China has already shown it's hand in how it handles international disputes about its purchased land, we've seen how they behave in Africa, along the Indian border, their investment and meddling in the housing markets of Australia. You want Lithuania or Poland or Uzbekistan to have some business deals, sure, with regulation have at it. But keep China's land grabs and the US's military bases within their borders.

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