On 13 March, the kick-off meeting for the Technical Assistance (TA) ’Secondary Sewerage Network for Mostar City – Phase 2: Updated Feasibility Study, ESIA, Detailed Design, Tender Dossiers’ was held in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The European Union has provided a €700,000 grant through the Western Balkans Infrastructure Framework (WBIF) for this TA project. The EU grant will be implemented by Infrastructure Project Facility 11 (IPF 11) with loan financing planned to be provided by the European Investment Bank.

The City of Mostar, located approximately 120 km southwest of Sarajevo, is one of the largest cities in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The city is located on the banks of the Neretva River, which runs through the Neretva Valley in the southern part of the country, prior to discharging into the Adriatic Sea.

This project is an integral part of the programme for improving the sewage disposal of the area of Mostar 'Mostar Urban Environmental and Water Quality Plan' developed in 2004, with the main objective to ensure adequate living conditions for the population of Mostar.

The Project would allow for stopping currently untreated wastewater discharges into the Neretva River and, at the same time, would significantly increase the flow to the wastewater treatment plan and enable it to reach full design capacity and efficiency.

The purpose of the TA and engineering services under this assignment is to develop the technical documentation with activities consisting of the update of the Feasibility Study, elaboration of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Study, development of the Detailed Design and preparation of the Tender Dossiers for construction works and supervision of works in full conformance with the legal framework in BiH, EU and EIB requirements and standards.

This project is expected to contribute to the achievement of the following specific objectives:

• Construction of secondary sewerage networks at an estimated length of 46 km.
• Connection of 10,000 households to the sewerage system.
• Increase the population served by improved wastewater treatment by 30,000.
• Improve current living conditions of the population (approx. 100,000 inhabitants) in the Municipality of Mostar and ensure adequate hygienic conditions in water supply and wastewater treatment.

Mario Kordić, Mayor of Mostar, said: "The city of Mostar, as the end user, expresses great satisfaction with the start of the implementation of the project 'Secondary Sewerage Network for Mostar City'. We consider this Project extremely important for the City of Mostar, because it will pave the way for further improvement of the existing system for collecting and treating waste water in the central city zone, which was largely implemented during the past 10 years, but still not fully completed. The City of Mostar, together with its water supply company and the Project Implementation Team, will provide all the necessary support to the Consultant implementing this Project, so that we all achieve results that will ultimately contribute to the improvement of living conditions for the City's residents."

Peter Szappanos, European Investment Bank representative, said: "We see this kind of projects as essential for the country’s path to green transition and higher resilience to climate change. By providing both investment grants and technical assistance for the preparation of sustainable projects, EIB Global, together with the European Commission and the WBIF, aims at improving public health and living conditions for people in the country, while decreasing pollution and protecting the environment. By investing €250 million in BiH water sector to date, we helped increase access to drinking water, sanitation services and safety in case of floods."