Federal Minister of Environment and Tourism Nasiha Pozder signed today in Sarajevo Memorandums of Understanding with the Minister of Communal Economy, Infrastructure, Spatial Planning, Construction and Environmental Protection of the Sarajevo Canton, Mladen Pandurević, and with the Assistant Minister of Transport of the Canton of Sarajevo, Emir Hot, which define mutual obligations in the implementation of the Air Quality Improvement Project in the Federation, which is being implemented with the support of the World Bank.
The agreements were concluded on the basis of the Loan Agreement between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), which provided a total of 46.1 million euros for the implementation of the project in the territory of the Federation of BiH. Of this amount, 22.7 million euros are intended for activities in the Sarajevo Canton. The loan funds were approved under favorable terms, with a repayment period of 31 and a half years and a grace period of eight years.
Within the project, the Ministry of Municipal Economy, Infrastructure, Physical Planning, Construction and Environmental Protection of Sarajevo Canton is responsible for the component of air quality monitoring, and the improvement of heating systems and energy efficiency, for which 13.5 million euros have been planned. It is expected that this component will include the replacement of between 4,000 and 5,000 individual furnaces in households, which would significantly reduce emissions of harmful substances from households.
The Ministry of Transport of Sarajevo Canton is responsible for the component of green and urban mobility, for which 9.2 million euros have been planned. Within this component, the procurement of ten buses has already been initiated, of which five are electric, with the accompanying charging infrastructure, which represents the first introduction of electric buses into public transport in Sarajevo Canton.
Also, within this component, the improvement of cycling infrastructure and the development of special city zones with reduced vehicle emissions in the inner city are planned.
Financial agreements between the cantonal ministries and the Federal Ministry of Finance were signed earlier, creating the preconditions for the operational implementation of the project. A similar implementation model is already being implemented in the Zenica-Doboj Canton, where a public call for heating equipment manufacturers has been prepared and finalized, followed soon by a public call for citizens to replace their stoves.
The implementation of the project is expected to improve air quality in the Sarajevo Canton, through the modernization of the heating system, increasing energy efficiency in households, and the development of sustainable and environmentally friendly public mobility, the Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism announced, according to the FBiH Government’s Public Relations Office.
