May 9 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development plans to back private sector, infrastructure and green city projects in Bosnia with financing of 200 million euro ($223.8 million), the country's foreign trade minister said on Thursday.
"The EBRD and Bosnian institutions are wrapping up the administrative procedure for 200 million euro in loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as for projects in Banja Luka, Bijeljina, Zenica, Sarajevo and Mostar," Mirko Sarovic told reporters on the sidelines of the EBRD 2019 Annual Meeting and Business Forum in Sarajevo.
A total of 100 million euro of the financing will support the private sector, while a further 100 million euro will back infrastructure and green city projects, Sarovic added.
"This confirms EBRD's announcement that Bosnia and Herzegovina will count on 400 million euro financing this year," Sarovic said.
In a separate statement on Thursday, the EBRD said it plans to extend a 210 million euro loan to Bosnia for the construction of bypass road in Doboj, part of Corridor Vc, a branch of European transport Corridor V with a total length of 700 km that will connect Hungary and eastern Croatia to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Adriatic Sea.
The 14-kilometre section will start at the Rudanka interchange in Bosnia's Serb Republic entity and bypass the town of Doboj at the Medakovo interchange in the country's other entity, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
($ = 0.893766 euro)