Bosnia Prepares Ground for Donor Conference

The European Union, the World Bank and the United Nations, together with the Bosnian authorities, are still carrying out estimates of the damage done to the Balkan country by recent catastrophic floods.

The chief of EU delegation to Bosnia, Peter Sorensen, on June 4 said that they plan to announce the results of the probe in two weeks.

The bill will include the cost of repairing traffic infrastructure, energy, housing, agriculture, water and utility infrastructure and other sectors.

Sorensen on Wednesday said it was too early to talk about figures, and that they had to be careful with them, as they would form the basis on which a donor conference is to be organized.

“We have been very careful not to discuss numbers before we have a recovery needs assessment,” he said. “We will wait until June 18 to say what that would be.”

Sorensen said that on the basis of the awaited estimate, a donor conference would be held to gather funds to help the country.

Bosnia, as well as other countries in the region affected by the floods, have enough friends who will help, he said.

Bosnian Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija said he had discussed the idea of the conference with representatives of international missions and embassies in the country.

“We told representatives of the diplomatic corps that two or three weeks after we have an estimate of the damages – or five weeks from today – we will try to organize a donor conference,” Lagumdzija said.

The minister said that international financial institutions had made it clear they will allow loans to be given to Bosnia under favourable conditions.

“Some international financial institutions, such as the World Bank, are ready to...

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