Miner Sejad Plasto and electrician Amir Mlinarević from Kakanj travel to Brazil

At a ceremony in the building of the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo today, Federal Prime Minister Nermin Nikšić and General Director of JP Elektroprivreda BiH  Elvedin Grabovica presented tickets for a prize trip to the World Cup in Brazil to two employees of the EPBiH Concern, Sejad Plasto and Amir Mlinarević, reports the Bosnian news agency Patria.

This decision was made after the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, at its 114th session held on 13 May this year, gave consent to a sponsorship agreement between Elektroprivreda BiH and the Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina worth 350,000 convertible marks for 2014.

The Miners' Union proposed Sejad Plasto, employed at the Haljinići facility of the Brown Coal Mine Kakanj, for the trip to Brazil, and the Union of Elektroprivreda BiH workers proposed Amir Mlinarević, an employee of the Elektrodistribucija Zenica Branch, Donji Vakuf Business Unit.

Presenting the award to Plasto, Prime Minister Nikšić emphasized that this is an arrangement by the management of Elektroprivreda  BiH, and the Union chose one miner and one worker of this company who will travel to Brazil, and wished them to contribute to the success of our national team with their cheering.

Director Grabovica, who presented the award to Mlinarević, stressed that the management left the decision on who would travel to Brazil to the Union, expressing confidence that it is fair and that the employees, who are most deserving of the positive results of Elektroprivreda, truly deserved the award.

- The employees of our company are most responsible for us having the financial ability to help our sport and athletes. I think this is a good choice, because there were no objections or comments on it - said Grabovica, who wished them a safe trip to Brazil and success for our national team.

Thanking them, Plasto said that at first he could not believe he had received this award and that he cannot describe his joy.

- Thank you to all those who made it possible for miners and power company workers to attend this great event such as the World Cup, and thank you to those who nominated me for this award - said Plasto.             

Fifty-one-year-old Sejad Plasto from Kraljeva Sutjeska has been at the Kakanj Mine since 1981, where he worked as a pit loader, then as an electrician in the Assembly Electrical Group, and then as a duty electrician on a mechanized longwall face. After a work injury, after which he lost his lower leg, he moved to the position of electrician for maintenance of measuring instruments, where he remains today.

Amir Mlinarević was born in 1979 in Bugojno. He completed secondary vocational school and works as an electrical fitter-electrician. He lives in Donji Vakuf. He is one of the most ardent fans of the Bosnia and Herzegovina football team, whose all matches he regularly followed during the qualifiers for the World Cup in Brazil.

Encouraging the development and improvement of sports in the Federation of BiH, Elektroprivreda BiH in 2014 also sponsors the Basketball Federation of BiH with 110,000 KM, the Handball Federation of BiH with 60,000 KM, and the Sitting Volleyball Federation of BiH with 60,000 KM.

Today's ceremony was also attended by representatives of other sports associations with which EP BiH has concluded sponsorship agreements.