EBRD Loan of 30 Million Euros: Government Says Water Supply Network Rehabilitation in Sarajevo Begins

“Project for the Rehabilitation of the Water Supply System of Sarajevo Canton” which was accepted today by the Government of Sarajevo Canton, worth 30 million euros, based on the accepted Loan Agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the EBRD, should be implemented in the next 36 months, announced the Government of Sarajevo Canton, reports the Patria news agency.

The KJKP “Vodovod i kanalizacija” today received the EBRD mandate letter defining the conditions for the loan implementation, its repayment, interest rates, and the established dynamics provide for an annual withdrawal of 10 million euros.

The first phase involves recording and precise detection of the condition of the water supply network by zones, of which there are 56 in Sarajevo, so that the first rehabilitation works can be undertaken in the most critical water supply zones. Within the entire project, regarding the rehabilitation of water pipes, 16 million euros are planned, eight million euros are planned for the rehabilitation and replacement of pumps, reservoirs, generators, etc., four million for improving the management of the water supply system, and two million for development projects.

This Project is aligned with the strategic commitment of the Ministry of Communal Economy and Infrastructure and will be incorporated into the Development Strategy of Sarajevo Canton until 2020.

The Government of Sarajevo Canton, together with the IFC group of the World Bank, launched the Project for Improving the Business Environment in Sarajevo Canton with the aim of improving conditions for work and investment for legal and natural persons through the simplification of administrative procedures such as issuing decisions, consents, permits, approvals, etc.

With the completion of the first phase of the Project, mapping, data show that in Sarajevo Canton there are 308 administrative procedures taking place in 21 institutions, which, as IFC representatives informed the Government today, is the largest number of procedures compared to other cantons in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

After this follows the phase of analysis and recommendations on where and what improvements need to be made to improve the business environment. A preliminary list of relevant cantonal laws and regulations that should be changed has been compiled, because the cantons are the instances on which the creation of business conditions most depends. Communal activities were singled out as a bottleneck in long and complicated procedures, so these areas will have to be regulated with special attention.

The Government of Sarajevo Canton today adopted its Action Plan for the implementation of the Reform Agenda for Bosnia and Herzegovina for the period 2015-2018, which defines the activities and legal acts that need to be adopted in accordance with the reform commitments of our country, the Government's announcement states.