Projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Project Summary Documents

Project Summary Documents (PSDs) are disclosed for each project prior to Board consideration. They contain project descriptions, financial details, client information, environmental issues, tender guidelines, and contact details. PSDs for private sector projects are disclosed at least 30 days prior to Board consideration and for state sector projects, at least 60 days.

Project Summary Documents

Signed projects

Board approval is the final stage in the project approval process. After Board approval, the EBRD and the client sign the deal and it becomes legally binding. Signed project lists reflect year-end data.

Signed projects  (0.1Mb) 

Case studies

Raiffeisen Bank Bosnia and Herzegovina senior syndicated Loan

In December 2003 the EBRD concluded the first-ever international syndicated loan for €45 million in BiH with Raiffeisen Bank d.d. Bosnia and Herzegovina (RB-BiH) Sarajevo, the largest bank in the country, that will enable RB-BiH to provide private-sector clients – primarily small and medium-sized businesses – with medium- to long-term financing that is otherwise scarce. 

This EBRD-led syndication represents a milestone event in putting Bosnia and Herzegovina on the map of international commercial banks, an area they have previously been reluctant to consider for investment. The transaction is contributing to new funding opportunities for Bosnian financial institutions. By attracting commercial financing, RB-BiH will be in a position to significantly expand its business, further improve its product range and better serve the needs of Bosnian enterprises, thereby benefiting the whole country’s economy.

The EBRD directly provided €15 million, and the remaining €30 million was syndicated to nine banks from five countries. Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij Voor Ontwikkelingslanden took €10 million and Portugal’s Caixa Geral de Depositos, Germany’s Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank and Austria’s Österreichische Volksbanken each took €3.5 million as co-arrangers. Acting as lead managers, State Bank of India took €2.5 million, while American Express Bank, Raiffeisen Zentralbank (RZB-Austria) and WGZ-Bank took €2 million each. Austria’s Adria Bank AG took €1 million as a manager.

The EBRD has supported RB-BiH operations since 1997 through various facilities, including credit lines - to support the bank’s small business lending and consumer loans, through the trade facilitation programme - under which the EBRD can fully guarantee the political and commercial risk of trade-finance instruments, and until recently, through an equity investment in the bank.

Greater phone coverage for Republika Srpska

Less than 20 per cent of the homes and businesses of Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina have a fixed phone line, and just 10 per cent of the population own a mobile phone. Poor infrastructure and slow connections to the Internet hamper both business growth and foreign investment. To meet the strong demand for new and better services, Telekom Srpske is installing with EBRD assistance new fixed lines and extending its mobile network.

The EBRD has led the reconstruction of the telecommunications sector. Following extensive donor funding, the Bank has undertaken an emergency reconstruction project. The latest example of this is a €30 million seven-year loan to Telekom Srpske to finance the development of its network. The pre-privatisation financing for Telekom Srpske is the EBRD’s largest loan in Bosnia and Herzegovina without a sovereign guarantee. It will be used to provide long-term financing that will allow the company to modernise and expand its infrastructure, convert local exchanges from analogue to digital, expand local networks, eliminate party lines, and extend mobile coverage. The project will help the company to attract a strategic investor, which will bring the finance and know-how to achieve world-class standards of service.

Electric power reconstruction project (Power III)

Residents throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina can now enjoy a reliable supply of electricity thanks to EBRD support of the power sector. The Bank has provided a €50 million sovereign loan to improve and integrate the country's electricity network.

The loan is a continuation of the EBRD's Emergency Power System Rehabilitation Project, which supplied essential power to the country's big cities, as well as small and remote villages, following the end of the war. It is also part of the Third Electric Power Reconstruction Project (known as Power III), which is being implemented under the Stability Pact's "Quick Start" programme. Led by the World Bank, Power III involves total financing of about US$ 234 million and includes contributions from the World Bank, the EBRD, the European Investment Bank, the European Commission, and bilateral donor countries including the US, Switzerland, Norway, Spain, the UK and Italy.

The EBRD has also provided €20 million for power generation sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This loan will support environmental upgrades in four thermal power plants: Tuzla and Kakanj in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Gacko and Ugljevik in Republika Srpska.