Solar panels in Mokro co-owned by Member of Parliament Damjan Škipina

Damjan Škipina, a member of the National Assembly, director of the Employment Institute of Republika Srpska, and former SNSD candidate for mayor of the Municipality of Pale, entered the solar energy business two years ago, i.e. electricity production. The company “DN Solar,” of which Škipina is a co-owner, built solar panels in Mokro, Municipality of Pale. A co-owner of the company is also the wife of Nemanja Milinković, a member of the Supervisory Board of Elektrodistribucija Pale and a former SNSD municipal councillor. Elektrodistribucija Pale issued the energy approval.

By: Sanja Vasković
Cover photo: SPIN Info illustration

The “solar fever” has not bypassed SNSD officials from Pale.

Damjan Škipina, together with four other individuals, is a co-owner of the electricity production company “DN Solar,” headquartered in Mokro, Municipality of Pale.

The solar panels have an installed capacity of around 400 kWp.

The company was founded in 2023 and has no registered employees.

Financially, the previous year was not particularly successful. According to official data, the company generated no revenue. More precisely, in 2024 they ended with a loss of 640 BAM.

Solar projects financed by loans

Damjan Škipina told SPIN Info that he entered the solar business at the invitation of a friend.

He says the construction of the solar panels in Mokro was financed through loans—a mortgage loan in the amount of 362,000 BAM.

He claims that party affiliation and connections within SNSD had no influence on obtaining construction permits from the Municipality of Pale or the energy approval from Elektrodistribucija Pale, headed by Aco Stanišić, his colleague from the assembly benches.

At the time when the company was seeking approval, Stanišić was an official of DEMOS. DEMOS and SNSD competed for the mayoral position in the last local elections.

“All of that (permits) went through—we have no connection with the state or subsidies. We operate on the market, negotiating and agreeing on the best price. Sometimes that price is 0 BAM—there are days when electricity is produced but no one takes it, so there is no profit. Besides that, we have no connection with subsidies, although I know that option exists,” Škipina explained.

He says that “DN Solar” has a contract with one of the largest electricity producers in the region, Vuk Hamović.

Co-owner of solar panels is a member of the Elektrodistribucija supervisory board

The solar panels were built on land owned by one of the company’s co-owners, Draško Kovačević. Other co-owners include Borka Kovačević, Slaviša Zarić, and Vedrana Milinković.

Milinković is employed at the institution headed by Damjan Škipina—the Employment Institute.

However, the solar business is reportedly more actively managed by her husband, Nemanja Milinković, who has also appeared as an SNSD candidate and councillor.

While he was head of the Pale unit of the forestry company “Jahorina,” Nemanja Milinković was once accused of violating the Law on Forests and applicable regulations during an investigation into timber theft in the Jahorina area back in 2011, as reported by the Capital portal.

Although Škipina claims that Milinković “was not involved” in obtaining approvals from Elektrodistribucija Pale and Aco Stanišić, it is notable that his associate Nemanja Milinković—who registered the company under his wife’s name—is a member of the Supervisory Board of Elektrodistribucija Pale.

Additionally, the company “Stanišić” Ltd. has strong cooperation with the forestry company “Jahorina” and Nemanja Milinković.

At the beginning of last year alone, they were awarded 200,000 KM through tenders and were often the sole bidder.

SNSD officials from Pale are not the only ones who have entered the electricity production business.

Our portal has previously written in detail about solar panels in Toplik owned by the father of Mayor Ljubiša Ćosić, solar projects owned by the family of MP Aco Stanišić, as well as electricity production companies linked to members of the cabinet of Staša Košarac.

The story of solar energy in Bosnia and Herzegovina is evidently reserved for investors close to those in power, far from the idea of democratizing renewable energy sources that would allow every citizen equal opportunity to produce and exchange surplus electricity on the grid.

Instead of democratization of a public good, what is taking place is “tycoonization.”

This is the view of energy expert Almir Muhamedbegović, who writes about the “tycoonization” of green energy on the NOMAD portal.

He previously explained to SPIN Info that he does not see what benefit citizens have from the current model of electricity trading, as it does not ensure secure public supply but rather guarantees enormous profits for investors.