Western Balkans Investment Framework

The results of the first year of the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) were presented at the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday. Under the program 81 grants with a total value of 139 million Euros have been awarded to 73 infrastructure projects across the Western Balkans.

These grants have already encouraged international financial institutions to approve investment worth more than 3 billion Euros, contributing to total inward investment of more than 6 billion Euros.Ten separate projects that have received grants totalling more than 34 million Euros are expected to leverage investment worth more than 580 million Euros for projects that will have a total investment of 775 million Euros.

„The WBIF is a coordination and cooperation project between the European Commission and the Council of Europe Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the European Investment Bank,” explained Yngve Engström, Head of the Brussels based Regional Programmes Unit at the Enlargement Directorate-General of the European Commission.

„The program is for all the countries in the Western Balkans,” he said, „and it helps to coordinate and prioritize infrastructure investment in the region.”

The WBIF was launched in December 2009 and focuses on transport, energy, environment and the social sector.

Nevenka Savić, Director of the BiH Directorate for European Integration, highlighted the WBIF’s contribution to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s economic development.

„These projects involve joint financing,” she said. „Funding is partly in the form of a loan from the relevant international financial institution and partly a grant.”

Nermina Skejović- Hurić of the BiH Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations cited a number of actual projects realised under the program, including the Plava Voda regional water supply project, which will secure a sustainable water supply for 150,000 inhabitants in five municipalities in the Central Bosnia region, and the Bijeljina Waste Water Treatment Plant, which will serve approximately 40,000 inhabitants.

Other projects include the construction of the State Prison, and the Foča- Hum reconstruction upgrade, a road which is a part of the Core Network Route Sarajevo- Podgorica-Tirana.

Europa.ba