The domestic public once again proves to be gullible, credulous, superficial, short-sighted, uncritical, and even greedy. The euphoria surrounding the qualification for the gas South Stream is the latest proof
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Written by: Miodrag Šajatović |
Croatia needs to embed energy into export products with high added value. Everything else is just another adventure that citizens will pay dearly for. |
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My people, is this possible! We qualified! And in the last round! Not just in the last, but in extra time! A phenomenal away victory, and against the leader in the standings! A memorable victory that turns a new page! Once again, we have proven that we are the best when it is the hardest! Enthusiastic fans have taken to the streets of our cities, cars with waving flags are circling the city streets celebrating a great victory! Which? In what sport? Well, it’s not exactly a classic sport, but thanks to the ‘goal’ of Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor on the visiting field in Moscow, Croatia qualified at the last moment for the South Stream league. For those who are not fully informed – South Stream is the pipeline through which Russian gas will come to Europe. And that’s not all. If everything goes as it should and the pipeline passes through Croatia, we will sit on a bill of about a hundred million dollars every year from the transit of gas to the West. Great! Victory! Victory! The reactions of the Croatian public to Croatia’s accession to the Russian gas pipeline are typical. The public is constantly waiting for some deus ex machina solution that will, without us having to make an effort, end this tedious recession that has engulfed us. The same public that a few years ago scornfully rejected Russian energy projects now, when it has gotten tough, no longer listens to (already silenced) environmental protectors. Who cares about the environment, we need to ensure energy so we don’t freeze in winter, and if we can also earn something from charging for transit, let’s not bother with trifles. The excitement of qualifying for South Stream is just a warm-up for the euphoria that is being created around energy. The government, but also the opposition, have come up with almost identical recipes. If economic growth was ‘revved up’ a decade ago by building roads, tunnels, and bridges, now the same recipe just needs to be applied to the construction of thermal power plants, hydroelectric plants, solar and wind power plants. Energy will save us. Builders will have work with earthworks and building construction, and when everything is built, ‘we will sell energy expensively to foreigners’. The public, fueled by shallow political rhetoric, once again confirms itself as gullible, credulous, superficial, short-sighted, uncritical, and even greedy. Croatia needs to ensure energy sustainability, but investing in energy infrastructure cannot and will never lead to a healthy and sustainable recovery and development. We will build energy facilities. But where will the heavily indebted Croatia get billions of euros? Well, we will invite foreign investors. O.K., but haven’t we been convinced a hundred times that they, logically, look after their own interests, not ours? There will always be some Sanader or Polančec in the government who will sign strange contracts far from the public eye, for which we will draw the short straw in a few years. Columnists, you who advocate for exports, some reader will now tell me that this energy can be exported! Dear reader, I respond: It won’t work! When foreigners build power plants on Croatian soil, they will sell electricity to domestic consumers. Guess at what price! Responsible authorities (but also the opposition) should first assess the overall growth of the national economy, and only then adjust energy needs and investments accordingly. Instead, politicians who can’t be bothered to warm their seats are pushing Croatia into a new foggy adventure. Charging for transit should be for as much and such energy that will be embedded in products with high added value and which will then conquer foreign markets. Thus, energy can and must serve the growth of GDP and employment. What good is it that a huge number of people will be engaged in the construction of energy facilities for several years, who will, like builders, afterwards be left without jobs and prospects? Long-term employment can only be ensured by a strong Croatian export-oriented industry. Everything else is an escape from responsibility, when it comes to politicians, and from acquiring new knowledge, when it comes to the workforce that would not work cheap jobs, but would not bother to acquire new knowledge that guarantees success in the international market. It is particularly noteworthy how the media, as well as the public that consumes them, relish the fact that every year about a hundred million dollars in ‘gas fees’ could be ‘skimmed off’. This is an old, irreparable, rentier syndrome that plagues this region. Why work? Well, we have a geographical position, it is easiest to live off charging ‘taxes’ from those who want to transport goods, gas, oil, etc. through this area. Or want to enjoy our beautiful sea. It is pleasant to live off rent. However, Croatia can forget this story. Rent is collected by owners, and soon that will be – foreigners. |
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