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Railways
of the Republic of Srpska JSC. (ZRS)
Address: Svetog Save 71 74000 Doboj
Republic of Srpska (RS), Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H)
DATE OF FOUNDATION: May, 12 1992
UIC CODE: 0044
MEMBERSHIP: UIC, CIT, RIV, RIC, FTE, SERG (UIC Special Group)
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: approx. 4000
· Phone:+387 53 241 368, +387 53 241 322
· Fax: +387 53 222 247, +387 53 224 743
Activities of the ZRS within international framework from
its foundation until nowadays (1992-2004)
After the dissolution of former Yugoslav national, legal, economic
and political system, well-known events occurred in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
followed by the plebiscite, referendum and proclaimed independence
resulting in the civil war among three nations, and establishment
of constitution of the Serbian Republic in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
At the time, eminent railway experts from among the Serbian people
who joined
its people on May 12, 1992 (on the day of Saint Vasilije Ostroski
- now the celebration of patron saint-the “Slava”, since
2001) endorsed an initiative to establish a railway company within
territory of the Serbian Republic, so the Government of Serbian
Republic of B&H at its session held in Pale on May 24, 1992
made the decision to establish the railway company named “Serbian
Railways of B&H), with the headquarters in Banja Luka.
The Railway Company, along with its people, was actively involved
during the, where available, in transportation of material properties,
manpower and military engineering, and it should be noted that the
railway traffic kept operating consinuously.
As the war ended and the Dayton Peace Agreement was ratified (November
21, 1995), peace had been established in B&H, and conditions
were created for transformation from the wartime to civilian business
management.
During the years 1996 and 1997, thanks to the Office of the High
Representative (OHR) and the Stabilization Forces in Bosnia and
Herzegovina (SFOR), the first international contacts were made,
assets collected and damaged facilities repaired (the bridge on
rivers Una and Sava), in order to establish interentity and international
traffic.
In the second half of the year 1997 and the first half of the year
1998, the negotiations started between the OHR, SFOR, ZBH (Railways
of the Federation Bosnia and Herzegovina, ZHB (Railways of the “Herceg-Bosna”),
the ZRS and entity Governments in order to regulate the legal status
of the railway comapnies and establish interentity and international
traffic (Let us provide some important dates:
· October 14, 1997 SFOR- ZBH – ZRS, practical arrangement
for establishment of transportation;
· October 20, 1997 OHR - ZBH - ZHB – ZRS, discussions
on annex 9 of the Dayton Agreement;
· October 24, 1997 OHR - ZBH - ZHB – ZRS - Ministries
of Transportation, international transportation and regulations;
· January 8, 1998 at the ZRS headquarters in Doboj, the Prime
Minister of Republic of Srpska, Mr. Milorad Dodik and Prime Minister
of FB&H Mr. Edhem Bicakcic reached an Agreement on Establishment
of Railway Transportation, which was followed by the ratification
of Memorandums on February 7, 1998 in Sarajevo;
· February 17, 1998 OHR - ZBH - ZHB – ZRS, regulations
and establishment of tranasportation; February 19, 1998 OHR - ZBH
- ZHB – ZRS, The Commission for the fast development of regulations
(participants: Mr. Spremo –Mr. Radic – Mr. Jovanovic);
· February 20, 1998, new Management Board of the ZRS was
appointed and introduced with the activities;
· February 22, 1998, SFOR-ZRS, on possibilty of transporting
military shipments from Zagreb, Croatia to Republic of Srpska;
· February 22, 1998, the ZRS Management meeting with the
Chairman of the Council of Ministers Spasoje Albijanic regarding
establisment of transportation;
· February 23, 1998 OHR - ZBH - ZHB – ZRS, preparation
for the first train, documentation, regulatory rules, corporation;
· February 24, 1998 OHR - ZBH - ZHB – ZRS, reached
agreement on the first train Banovici-Sarajevo-Ploce, consisting
of 12 loaded wagons (Eas) of coal (600 tons) and 18 empty wagons
(Tad) meant for wheat from Ploce-price DB 50%, locomotive 661-232;
· February 28, 1998, operation of the first interentity and
international train Banovici-Ploce weighing 1340 tons, arriving
in Doboj at 11:40AM, departing at 12:10PM, press conference held,
attended by the highest government and political authority representatives,
as well as the OHR and theSFOR).
During the process of diplomatic activities, the ZRS made an application
on July 27, 1997 for admission to the International Railway Union
(UIC), with a conclusion that we are a separate company and that
Bosnia and Herzegovina Railways (ZBH) as a member of UIC since February
10, 1992 cannot legimately represent us.
The UIC continued with its activities, assessing the status on site,
consulting with the OHR, seeking legal interpetation and, on March
10, 1998 the first international document was made, «The Paris
Declaration», defining the railway sector on territory of
Bosnia and Herzegovina, accepting property division and granting
the ZRS an international membership.
In accordance with The Paris Declaration and the legal interpretation
from the OHR, the ZRS was granted admission with the UIC after the
following conditions were met:
- divided rolling
stocks and traction units
- divided inherited debt
- change of the company's name from «JODP ZRS» to
«JOP ZRS»
In accordance with the conditions that ZRS met, and also according
to the OHR's
legal opinion, the Management Board of the UIC, on its 187th session
in Brussels, on June 16, 1998, reached a decision on temporary
admission of the ZRS with the UIC, confirmed by the UIC General
Assembly on October 27, 1998, in Berlin.
After the admission at the UIC, ZRS received its code (full name)
0044, and became the member of RIV and RIC on January 1, 2000,
and also the member of EFTE and other organizations.
During the process of admission at the UIC (technical regulations),
ZRS submitted the request for admission at the International Railway
Committee (CIT, Bern, Switzerland) and renewed its membership
on May 18, 1999.
During the year 1999 and in the first half of 2000, a consultation
meeting took place between OHR-ZRS-UIC-CIT discussing our legal
status, accompanied by the direct negotiation with ZBH on April
24, 2000 in Sarajevo, regarding the membership of ZRS in CIT.
The Railways of Federation of B&H (ZFBH) disputed this membership
as well as they disputed the membership in the UIC. However, with
a full support and understanding of the Management Board of CIT,
the General Assembly of CIT, on its session on May 18, 2000, made
a unanimous decision to promote ZRS to a member of CIT.
By entering the UIC and CIT, ZRS created conditions for an unobstructed
transportation of passengers and goods with all the railway companies,
members of the foregoing organizations and more, earning worldwide
recognition.
The major activity has been undertaken since 1999 until nowadays
to solve the problem of inherited debt from the Yugoslav Railways
(JZ) in the amount of 14 million Euros for B&H (global 10
+ additional 4), which, along with the interests totaled twice
more. We managed to achieve the following: decrease the capital
amount by 50%, write down the interest until the ratification
of contract on debt clearance, perform debt repayment in 5 years,
arrange debt cancellation for the amounts smaller than 10,000
EUR, not cancelling early given discounts (for instance DB 800,000EUR).
Out of 31 railway companies, 5 of them cancelled the debts, 13
signed an Agreement and 3 of them request a bilateral negotiation.
In past few years the ZRS has become the member of several organizations,
namely:
TCV since 2001,
SERG (Railways of Southeastern Europe) since November 15, 2002,
SET (organization of passengers’ tariffs in Southeastern
Europe) since April 23, 2002,
TEA (Europe-Asia Tariff) since October 15, 2002,
BCC (Brussels Clearing Center) since January 1, 2004,
InterRail since 2003,
FIP (Association dealing with International Travel Facilities
for Railway Staff) since June 8, 2004.
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