The wild horses meandering through the rock-strewn hills of western Bosnia-Herzegovina amid towering white windmills make for a tranquil scene. And one of the last places one would expect to find China’s monolithic Belt and Road Initiative BRI embedded in the landscape. But those gentle hills near the Adriatic Sea are part of a fierce battle for land and a clash of interests as Chinese investment penetrates deep into the heart of the Balkans.
Capital Co. Limited Hong Kong and Sinohydro Hong Kong in 2017 for an undisclosed amount.According to Ivan Rimac, who co-founded the original company with Ivan Matkovic, the concession was sold for $8 million. But he said he filed a lawsuit against Ivan Matkovic and his relatives after he said he was defrauded.
owns a 39 percent share. is a state-owned engineering firm with alleged links to China’s State Security Ministry, the country’s principal civilian foreign intelligence agency.The remaining 10 percent is owned by Ekrem Nanic, a Bosnian businessman who relocated to Austria during the war in the 1990s. Little is known about his private businesses and Nanic did not reply to RFE/RL’s request for comment.