The EBRD is lending Bosnia and Herzegovina 16.5 million Euros, which will finance the widening of two key road sections running through Sarajevo city.

The sovereign loan will help the Sarajevo Canton Roads Directorate finance the works on sections of the 12^th Transversal Road (0.9 km) and Southern Longitudinal Road (2.4 km).

The road development project will help relieve traffic congestion, reduce emissions and noise, thus improving the living conditions in the area, and improve the accessibility of Sarajevo.

"The EBRD has a lot of experience in important infrastructure projects in the Western Balkans, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, and we have always done our best to ensure that the much-needed road construction is conducted according to the EBRD's environmental and social standards", said Giulio Moreno, the EBRD’s Head of Office for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The preparation for the road works will be conducted within the EBRD's Resettlement and Compensation Framework designed to bridge the gaps between the local law and the EBRD's rules.

The EBRD has also committed €850,000 in technical cooperation projects connected with Sarajevo roads, which range from traffic demand modelling to transforming the Roads Directorate into a public agency. These funds have been made available on a grant basis, with funding coming from the European Union and the government of Austria.

Since the beginning of its operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Bank has committed over €1.3 billion in various sectors of the country’s economy, mobilising additional investment of over €1.5 billion.