Eighteen Million Euros for Agro-Business in Rural Areas of Bosnia

Deputy Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers and Minister of Finance and Treasury Vjekoslav Bevanda and President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Gilbert Houngbo signed today a financing agreement for the Agricultural Development and Rural Enterprises Project (READP).

The value of this project, which will be implemented in the next five years, is 11,787,000 Euros, and the loan will be allocated 60 percent to the Federation of BiH, which is 7,062,200 euros, and 40 percent to the Republika Srpska, which will be allocated 4,724,800 euros.

”It is important to say that this is a favorable arrangement with a repayment period of 18 years and a grace period of three years. The project will be implemented on the entire territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 90 municipalities. We expect that this project will improve the organization of smaller producers and their association in order to conquer the market more easily,” Bevanda emphasized.

He pointed out that the goal of the project is to increase the income of young people in rural areas and poor households by being engaged in profitable agro-businesses.

”This project is expected to directly include and benefit 8,650 beneficiaries from target households and about 5,000 indirect participants who will benefit from favorable investments in infrastructure,” Bevanda pointed out.

He thanked the representatives of IFAD who made it possible to reach this agreement and expressed hope that the entity governments will successfully establish communication with the municipalities where the project will be implemented.

The agreement was signed again this time, without the usual ceremonies, due to the measures taken to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus and the prescribed epidemiological measures.