In 2015 the European Union launched the Connectivity Agenda and set aside up to €1 billion of EU funds until 2020 to finance as a priority key transport and energy links in the region. The EU Connectivity funds are investment grants provided through the Western Balkans Investment Framework and complementing loans from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The Western Balkans partners have made the Connectivity Agenda one of their highest priorities, with focus on the preparation and financing of regional infrastructure investments, and the implementation of the so-called Connectivity “reform measures”. These require all countries to adapt their regulatory and legal frameworks to make infrastructure sustainable in the long-term, for instance, by improving road safety or border procedures.
Following the Berlin Process summits of Vienna, Paris, Trieste, London, Sofia and Poznań, the Connectivity Agenda project pipeline in Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of thirteen approved transport projects for a total amount of €212 million in EU grants, leveraging nearly 1 billion investments. Eleven such projects pertain to the construction of the motorway on the pan-European Corridor 5C on the Extended TEN-T Core Network to the Western Balkans Corridor. The EU grants allocated so far for the acceleration of construction of the Corridor 5c, one of the most ambitious multi-annual infrastructure investments in the country, amount to €202 million.
The most advanced and symbolic Connectivity projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina are the international bridges with Croatia in Svilaj and Gradiška. They will directly contribute to the facilitation of cross-border trade in goods and services in the region and with the EU. The investment in Svilaj worth €25 million in EU grants consists of a motorway from Svilaj to Odžak (10 Km), already completed, as well as a cross-border bridge with Croatia in Svilaj under construction, and planned border crossing facilities. A second cross-border bridge with Croatia in Gradiška is under construction since October 2019 and is worth € 7 million of EU funds. All other projects pertain to the construction of various sections of Corridor 5C motorway at the stage of preparation, procurement or implementation.
Connectivity in the Western Balkans, and between the Western Balkans and the European Union, is a driver for growth and jobs and creates opportunities for the economy and the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region.
