The House of Peoples of the Federal Parliament yesterday, in the continuation of the session, accepted the reports of the Federal Fund for Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities, as well as the Environmental Protection Fund.
The delegates of the House did not support the proposed conclusions and recommendations from the thematic session of October 22nd, organized by the Parliamentary Commission for Youth Affairs, held in cooperation with the Youth Council of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), the Institute for Youth Development KULT, and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, with the aim of strengthening dialogue between institutions and young people and creating preconditions for systemic changes that will enable better support for young people in the FBiH.
Along with representatives of the House of Representatives, the October thematic session of the Commission for Youth Affairs brought together more than 80 representatives of youth organizations, associations working with young people, and umbrella youth bodies from across the FBiH. Participants pointed out the necessity of establishing a functional and sustainable system of support for youth, which would recognize their needs and interests in all sectors – from education, employment, and housing, to social protection and health.
The conclusions required a set of measures for the federal and lower levels of government in the mentioned areas.
Unlike the delegates in the House of Peoples yesterday, members of the House of Representatives of the Federal Parliament supported these conclusions on October 28th by a majority of votes, but for operationality, the support of both houses is required.
The delegates of the House of Peoples yesterday also did not adopt the report on the work and financial-material operations of the Federal Agency for the Management of Seized Property for the second half of 2024 and the first half of 2025. However, the report of this agency for the first six months of 2024 was approved.
By a majority of votes, the decision on determining the area of significance for the FBiH – Sarajevo International Airport – was also accepted, the goal of which is, among other things, the protection of the area around the airport from unplanned construction.
The House of Peoples yesterday also gave majority support for a loan borrowing of 79.9 million euros from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) for the implementation of a Project related to coal-rich regions in the FBiH, specifically in the areas of the Zenica, Tuzla, and Banovici mines.
The House of Representatives recently withheld support for this decision, so its proponents yesterday in the House of Peoples expressed hope that it would nevertheless be adopted there as well, because otherwise, it cannot enter into force.
Of the 79.9 million euros of borrowing, about 50 percent relates to the FBiH, about 20 percent to the Public Enterprise Elektroprivreda BiH, and about 30 percent to the Banovici Brown Coal Mine.
The planned loan repayment period is 32.5 years, with a seven-year grace period.
According to the explanation of the Federal Government, which proposed this decision to the Parliament, as well as that of the Federal Minister of Energy, Mining, and Industry Vedran Lakic, who addressed the delegates yesterday in the House of Peoples, the borrowing relates to the implementation of the Project called “Just Transition in Selected Coal-Rich Regions in the FBiH.”
The essence is to support the development of micro, small, and medium enterprises in coal-rich regions, strengthening the institutional framework for Just Transition – the closure of the Zenica brown coal mine, reclamation and repurposing of land for new use, introduction of clean energy, as well as support for miners and communities for economic transition.
In the Project, priority is given to the mine that is ready for closure, and that is the Zenica Brown Coal Mine, which is not the case with the Tuzla and Banovici mines. In Banovici, gradual closure of inactive areas is planned, while the Tuzla Kreka mine has already closed open-pit areas, with potential for renewable energy.
According to Minister Lakic, the Zenica mine has an urgent need for support in order to responsibly close the Raspotocje shaft and provide support in finding new jobs for workers. The Project also foresees funds for obligations towards workers, including those related to the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund (PIO).
At the Banovici Brown Coal Mine, the installation of a photovoltaic power plant (PV plant) will be launched, a pilot program for voluntary departure from the mine, as well as pilot community activities aimed at early measures of economic diversification. The installation of the photovoltaic power plant will be implemented by the Public Enterprise Elektroprivreda BiH, as well as in the area encompassing the Kreka mine in Tuzla, as foreseen by this project.
The loan funds will also be used to raise awareness about the upcoming transition process in Zenica, Tuzla, and Banovici, as well as about the positive impacts of the Project (reduction of pollution, remediation and repurposing of land, production of renewable energy, resilience, and adaptation to climate change in the light of the just transition process), the Federal Government as the proposer of the decision also stated.
The House of Peoples of the Parliament of the FBiH yesterday did not support, by majority vote, the borrowing for the project related to road infrastructure. This concerns the proposed borrowing of the FBiH from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the construction of the Poprikuse-Nemila road subsection on Corridor Vc.
Had the decision been accepted, the borrowing would have amounted to 95 million euros, with a repayment period of 11 years and a four-year grace period. The planned length of the Poprikuse-Nemila subsection is 5.5 kilometers, and the final debtor and project implementer would be the company Motorways of the FBiH.
There was no majority vote for this decision either in the secret electronic voting or in the requested repeated oral vote based on the individual roll call of the delegates.
The decision was recently approved in the House of Representatives, but cannot enter into force without the support of the House of People as well.
In the first part of the 22nd session of the House of Peoples, which concluded yesterday, the delegates on October 30th, after a lengthy discussion, accepted by majority vote the new Statute of Radio-Television of the FBiH.
Also adopted were the Law on the Protection of the Right to a Fair Trial within a Reasonable Time in the FBiH, the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Parent Caregivers in FBiH, and the Strategy for the Improvement of the Rights and Status of Persons with Disabilities in the FBiH for the period 2025-2030 were accepted.
The delegates were also informed of the Report on last year’s implementation of the Strategy for the Prevention and Combating of Domestic Violence.
