For flood damage recovery in BiH: EC could approve over 60 million euros

The Council of Ministers of BiH adopted the Information of the Directorate for European Integration on current and planned IPA funds for flood recovery, stating that the EU flood recovery program for BiH has been launched in the amount of 42.24 million euros, which will be implemented through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in BiH by October 2016.

Within this project, the renovation and reconstruction of school, public, social, and health facilities, critical water supply and sewage systems, as well as local roads and bridges in flood-affected areas are planned, along with the creation of 2,000 new and retention of existing jobs. The program is intended for the renovation of 4,000 housing units for approximately 14,000 people, 90 educational institutions, four healthcare facilities, and four social protection centers, three municipal buildings (Šamac, Maglaj, and Doboj), and 100 local roads and bridges. We remind you that the funds in the amount of 42.24 million euros were redirected from IPA 2011-2013.

At the same time, the European Commission could approve over 60 million euros for flood damage recovery in BiH from the regional IPA program 2014 after Bosnia and Herzegovina completes the procedure for the entry into force of the IPA II Framework Agreement for BiH. These funds would be realized through special measures and savings from the state IPA 2012 program.

We remind you that the Council of Ministers of BiH agreed in June 2014 to allocate 15 million euros from the IPA 2014 package for the removal of consequences caused by floods through special measures. Of these funds, the European Commission allocated 2.5 million euros to Civil Protection for improved emergency intervention capacities, nine million will be directed to a project for strengthening the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises and municipalities affected by floods, and two million euros are intended for civil society for social and economic recovery projects in flood-affected areas.

The remaining 1.5 million euros will be realized within the project for flood protection and prevention and will be implemented through the regional IPA program of BiH and Serbia, from which 15 million euros will be secured for flood protection and prevention for BiH, plus an additional 20 million euros for BiH and Serbia for the preparation of a regional project in this area.

4.88 MILLION EUROS FOR FLOOD RISK MAPPING

The Council of Ministers of BiH adopted the Information of the Directorate for European Integration on the European Commission's initiative to finance the creation of flood hazard and risk maps from the funds of the Investment Framework for the Western Balkans (WBIF).

In this way, a total of 4.88 million euros will be secured for the Flood Hazard and Risk Mapping project for the entire territory of BiH, and part of these funds has been redirected from two previously approved projects that were not realized.

It was also concluded that the Directorate for European Integration should obtain additional information for the Council of Ministers of BiH regarding the activities of domestic and international institutions in relation to the removal of flood consequences in Bosnia and Herzegovina.