Federal Mediator Called to Facilitate "Power Politics"

Among Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian Electric Utilities

Commissioner Peter Swanson is comfortable mediating contract negotiations, or showing a company and its employee union how to build a better workplace relationship. He is experienced at bringing citizens and federal agencies together to negotiate government regulations or work out thorny public policy issues. But this year, Swanson took his mediation skills to a new arena; in fact, to a new nation.

Under contract with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Price Waterhouse Privatization Advisory Team, Swanson went to Sarajevo, Bosnia to facilitate the Power Sector Seminar of the Bosnia Privatization Project. The power in this seminar did not refer to political power, but electric power; and the issues dealt with creating an integrated electric power network among three independent utilities in Croat, Muslim and Serb-controlled Bosnia and Herzegovina: Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske, Elektroprivreda Bosne I Hercegovine and Elektroprivreda Mostar. The three utilities used to be part of one state-controlled electric generation and distribution system, but were separated and disconnected from each other after the war in Bosnia

The Price Waterhouse Team, under contract to USAID, is focusing on moving the electric utilities toward privatization to promote competition and to help teach and establish other efficient industry practices common to utilities operating in more developed economies. Critical to the project’s eventual success is that the three utility entities understand and appreciate the importance of a stable power network to the region’s economic growth and its potential to attract outside investment.

The Power Sector Seminar brought together for the first time representatives of the Croat, Muslim and Serb-controlled utilities to provide information and discuss the many issues relating to system efficiency and reliability, capacity expansion, environmental concerns and investment capital. Swanson worked extensively with translators as he crossed language and cultural boundaries in search for common ground among the parties.

The use of facilitators in such multi-ethnic, multi-lingual meetings is relatively new. But USAID and Price Waterhouse have realized the advantage of having skilled facilitators and see an increasing need for skilled mediation and facilitation practioners in these sensitive meetings.

Commissioner Swanson traveled to Bosnia as part of the agency’s International Affairs Program. FMCS receives no appropriated funds from Congress to offer such services overseas and therefore recovers costs through interagency agreements with other government entities. Most FMCS International programs entail training or technical assistance in labor-management relations and conflict resolution systems to management, labor and government leaders in other nations, especially in countries with newly-developing economies.

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Last modified: February 19, 1998