Bosnia to apply for IPA funds for environmental protection

Bosnia-Herzegovina (BIH) will apply for financing from the European Union IPA funds 2018 for environmental protection projects, BiH Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Minister Mirko Šarović said after a meeting of the Council of Ministers.

Minister Šarović said that Bosnia-Herzegovina will request a total of EUR 50 million and specified that EUR 20 million of the amount will be used to finance environmental protection projects while the remaining EUR 30 million will be invested in agriculture and the development of rural areas.

Most of the money for environmental protection projects will be invested in water resource support and the management of solid waste, Šarović said and added that the country’s leaders failed to reach an agreement on the agency which will be used to channel the money. The money will also be used to implement European Union environmental directives along with the management of waste water and solid waste.

Part of the money from the IPA funds will be used for mine clearing, a statement issued after the Council of Ministers session said.

Agreement for Zenica waste water project adopted 

The BiH Council of Ministers also adopted a draft agreement on the financing of a project to manage waste water in the Zenica area. That project will receive a grant of EUR 4.75 million from the government of Switzerland. The setting up of a system to collect, transport and treat communal waste water will be implemented by the German development bank KfW.

The Zenica town authorities received a grant from the KfW bank late in 2017 to finance a project to manage and separate communal from industrial waste water by separating the town from the industrial sewer network used by the local coal mine and Arcelor Mittal complex. The German bank secured EUR 18.3 million for a long-term solution to the problem through a project directly linked to a regional water supply project.

Representatives of the KfW bank visited Zenica early in March 2018 to meet with the local authorities and discuss plans to build a collector and waste water treatment plant. The construction of that plant and necessary infrastructure is planned to start early in 2019.