No miner will lose his job, FB&H Minister of Energy, Mining and Industry Nermin Džindić said at a press conference after a meeting held today between representatives of the ministry, Elektroprivreda B&H (B&H Electricity Company), as well as representatives of the Independent Trade Union of Coal Miners of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The meeting was adjourned, and according to Džindić, they agreed only on the first of the eight items of the agreement that the Union proposed to the other two parties this morning as their demands.

Most of the misunderstandings were related to the planned dismissal of employees in the mines, based on the restructuring plan, which, according to Džindić, are staff and not miners. If a plan for the dismissal of a miner was made by mistake, that will be corrected quickly, he stated.

The Minister believes that an agreement is still possible and expresses readiness for resumption of talks as soon as possible.

He also believes that the negotiators could reach a draft agreement between Elektroprivreda and the Trade Union today, but he also adds that the future agreement should contain not only the expectations of the trade union, but also the demands from Elektroprivreda.

At this press conference, Director of Elektroprivreda B&H, Admir Andelija, stated that today's meeting unfortunately had to be adjourned after half an hour and that the Union did not have understanding from the beginning.

The problem arose, he said, when they discussed about 1,700 employees from all mines that are not essential personnel at the mine.

The Director, as well as Minister Džindić, stated that Elektroprivreda B&H will make a decision on allocating 115 million KM for a set of loans to mines for redunducy pay for those employees.