A company in Laktaši municipality was prepared for the new wave of floods which has recently hit the municipality. They have taken the protection measures defined by the flood risk action plan. The preparation of this plan was enabled by the European Union and German Government through the EU ProLocal Programme.
As part of the support to the 2014 floods recovery, the EU ProLocal Programme has assisted 28 of BiH companies in development of the flood risk action plan. The companies have identified their internal weaknesses concerning the protection of employees, infrastructure and equipment, and have defined a number of steps which need to be taken once a flood hazard is identified. This, among other, includes the employee evacuation plan, relocation procedures for equipment and products, protecting buildings from water, etc.
“We have identified and eliminated the weaknesses and shortcomings by raising the equipment, machines, finished products and semi-finished products onto a safe level throughout the entire production plant, and by building a support wall surrounding the company premises where we previously had issues with water penetration. This has now proven to be an effective measure in the prevention of damage from floods and the unfortunate experience from 2014”, said Mr. Vedran Koprena, the owner of the company Bravarija Pile d.o.o. from Laktaši.
The European Union has awarded 4 million Euros as grants in order to improve the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises through the EU ProLocal Programme. Nearly one million of the funds have been awarded to companies having faced floods in 2014. Thus, the production process has been modernized and the product range expanded, which enabled the enterprises to enter new markets and increase their share in the existing ones.
