KOZARSKA DUBICA – The company “Titanium Power” from Kozarska Dubica, owned by Radenko Reljić, former mayor of that municipality, spent months stealing electricity and then feeding it back into the system while falsely presenting it as energy produced by a solar power plant, the CAPITAL discovered.
Due to this criminal offense and other irregularities, Reljić’s company has lost its right to receive subsidies for electricity generated from renewable energy sources.
“Titanium Power” was recently subjected to an extraordinary inspection by the Regulatory Commission for Energy of Republika Srpska (RERS), which decided to revoke the company’s certificate.
As a result, Reljić’s facilities will be disconnected from the grid, and the police and the prosecutor’s office have already been informed of the case.
The inspection was triggered by alarming data showing that “Titanium Power’s” plants were producing twice as much electricity as their installed capacity allowed.
According to information obtained by CAPITAL, the power plants were inspected in an unannounced operation in order to prevent any potential concealment of evidence.
Even employees of “Elektrokrajina” (Power Utility for Banja Luka region), who were called in by the Regulatory Commission for Energy to intervene, were not informed in advance about the reasons for their engagement.
Impossible to Produce Such an Amount of Electricity
A well-informed source says that Reljić installed additional equipment at his power plants.
“Electricity was stolen from the power grid, passed through the plant’s meters, and then returned to the grid as electricity allegedly produced by solar panels,” the source told CAPITAL.
The source adds that one of the power plants had been shut down for a year, yet production was regularly recorded as if it were operational.
This is also confirmed by an on-site inspection report reviewed by CAPITAL.
“The situation found indicates that at all relevant locations there was improper registration of electricity production using unknown electrical equipment, through which electricity was taken from the distribution grid and then routed through the delivery meter, which consequently recorded a significantly higher amount of electricity that it was technically impossible to generate at the production facilities,” the report states.
Due to suspicions of fraud, the police and the competent prosecutor’s office have been notified.
RERS states that the reported annual electricity production at all power plants owned by “Titanium Power” was significantly higher than planned, or than what had been officially approved.
“It is well known that at this geographical longitude and latitude, taking into account climatic conditions and solar radiation levels, it was technically impossible to produce even approximately the registered amounts of electricity during the disputed period at each of the production facilities using the equipment and installations listed in the certificates and approval decisions,” RERS said.
The commission confirmed that unauthorized electricity consumption was established, as well as damage to the main power line and inverter, and that equipment affecting electricity measurement was found.
“This indicates that the company knowingly carried out unlawful activities with the aim of achieving and presenting significantly higher electricity production, thereby obtaining unlawful financial gain,” the RERS decision states.
Reljić: We produce electricity, we don’t steal it
In a statement to our media outlet, Reljić denies any illegal activities. He says he owns eight power plants (five rooftop installations and three ground-mounted) and claims they are all connected in accordance with regulations.
“It is impossible for a power plant to steal electricity. It produces electricity and feeds it into the grid,” Reljić said.
He did confirm, however, that one meter was removed and sent for calibration, adding that it had been sealed.
“That’s why the police were present as well. Those are the rules,” Reljić explained.
He also said that a voltage stabilizer was removed because it did not comply with applicable regulations.
“Everything was in order, except for some damage to the cables. Nothing was done outside the law,” Reljić concluded.
According to official registry data, Reljić’s company experienced a true business boom last year, recording revenues of more than 245,000 BAM (around 125.000€) and a profit of 108,830 BAM (around 55.600€), which is its best year since the company was founded.
By comparison, from 2015 to 2023, revenues ranged between 60,000 (around 30.000€) and 100,000 BAM (around 50.000€), while profits varied from 25,000 BAM (around 12.700€) to just under 43,000 BAM (around 22.000€).
Reljić served as mayor of Kozarska Dubica from 2016 to 2024 as a member of the SNSD party (the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats), from which he was expelled in 2021.
For a long time, he was under investigation by the prosecutor’s office over suspected abuse of office amounting to 800,000 BAM (around 400.000€), related to the time when he served as director of the local Health Center, prior to becoming mayor. The charges were later dropped.
CAPITAL also reported on Reljić in 2020, when, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he co-founded the “RVRD Company” with several partners, which constructed a residential-commercial building in the center of the municipality.
His business partners at the time included Health Center director Vlado Karagić and his wife Milica, Mlječanica Spa director Dragan Brdar, and Smilja Jevrić-Topić, the wife of Rodoljub Topić, Executive Director for Economic Affairs at Elektrokrajina.
Reljić later withdrew from the ownership structure of this company.