The EU welcomes yesterday’s decision of the Brcko District Assembly to finance essential improvements in the Brcko port infrastructure that will benefit both the overall economy in BiH and its citizens. This is also a step forward in implementing the Connectivity Agenda in BiH, by creating a multimodal transport corridor on the River Sava, a priority inland navigation connecting BiH with Croatia and Serbia, and further to the whole EU.

The Brcko District Assembly decision will also unblock a previously reserved €3.1 million in EU grants through the Western Balkans Investment Framework, a joint facility of the European Commission, financial institutions, bilateral donors and the countries in the region, created to deliver funding for strategic investment projects in beneficiary countries. The funds will complement the €7 million loan provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

This investment in the Brčko port is part of the first phase of a complex rehabilitation programme including construction of the 2.5 km of the new harbour crane track and asphalt plateau on the port premises, as well as the full rehabilitation of the industrial railway track to the Brčko Novo station and the access road to the port.

The project is part of the package of four EU-financed infrastructure investments in Bosnia and Herzegovina agreed in 2017 at the Western Balkans Summit in Trieste for a total grant of €46 million, including the construction of three sections of Corridor Vc and the Brčko port project. The BiH connectivity pipeline to date consists of 10 transport projects for a total amount of €120 million in EU grants.