Business zone

Members of the Economic Council discussed the “Skele” Business Zone, the draft budget for 2025, and the enrollment policy for the 2025/26 school year

At today’s 15th regular meeting of the Economic Council of the Municipality of Brod, the members of this advisory body discussed the possibilities for the construction of the “Skele” Business Zone. Also on the agenda were the draft budget for the Municipality of Brod for the next year and the enrollment plan for high schools for the 2025/2026 school year.

Speaking about the topic that attracted the most attention, the construction of the “Skele” Business Zone, the Mayor of Brod, Milan Zečević, said that “this issue, like all others, is being approached in a planned and systematic manner.”

“By the next Economic Council meeting, I hope that we will deliver cadastral extracts to clearly identify the ownership of all parcels within the ‘Skele’ Business Zone. We will determine where traffic routes are already prescribed, and together with the Electric Utility and our communal company, we will provide an estimated cost sheet so we know how much the installation of sewage and water collectors will cost, as well as a transformer station that could be expanded and developed to supply the entire future ‘Skele’ Business Zone,” he stated.

Another topic of today’s session was the draft budget for the upcoming year, the final proposal of which will be presented at the 2nd regular session of the Municipality of Brod Assembly, scheduled for December 25.

“It was very important for us, both from the perspective of the municipal administration and from the perspective of the economy, to clarify to all participants in tonight’s Council the exact situation. We still do not have the complete findings, as the audit process is ongoing. Therefore, we expect to hold a special thematic session on the same day as the regular session, with the audit findings,” said the Mayor of Brod and added:

“The audit will tell us the exact financial situation and will certainly provide some recommendations, the implementation of which we will consult with our councilors, as well as the Economic Council.”

Zečević said that it was of great importance for this advisory body to be informed about “the currently established situation in the financial sector of our municipality.”

“This time, the budget is significantly larger because we had to project and anticipate that, starting from January 1 next year, the Health Center will become part of our budget. The municipal budget is 14 million, and about 2.7 million marks is the Health Center’s budget, which tells us that the budget of Brod has increased to nearly 17 million marks,” he said and added:

“With this budget, we must be rational. 17 million marks is certainly an impressive figure, and it would be very easy to manage if it were sustainable, allowing us to be solvent and reach a positive zero. However, according to the handover report between me and the former mayor, we found 5.6 million marks in short-term obligations and about 1 million marks of withdrawn funds from various donors that were spent for unintended purposes, which we will either have to return or use for the intended purposes in the next year.”

Public Consultation Held for Citizens, Entrepreneurs, and NGOs on the “Cross Waste” Project

“By purchasing a crusher for construction waste, the municipality of Brod will be able to repurpose that waste into material for filling gravel roads and promote more responsible waste management practices,” it was announced during today’s public consultation for citizens, entrepreneurs, and the NGO sector, held in the Municipality of Brod’s Assembly Hall.

This is one of the activities within a project initiated by the Municipality of Brod and the company “EKO-DUNAV” d.o.o. from Borovo, which has been approved for funding under the first call of the INTERREG IPA VI-A Cross-border Cooperation Program Croatia-Bosnia and Herzegovina – Montenegro 2022-2027.

Participants had the opportunity to watch a presentation and learn more about the project from Aleksandra Džabić, a graduate ecologist, who shared details about the project itself and sustainable waste disposal practices.

The main goal of the project is to improve sustainable development and environmental preservation in the municipalities of Brod (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Borovo (Croatia) by applying innovative models and approaches for managing construction waste through repurposing that waste as material for gravel roads and promoting responsible waste management practices.

“The project will provide a joint intervention in the program area from two countries, addressing the challenges of waste management by promoting sustainable construction waste management. It aims to improve existing infrastructure and raise awareness of waste management in the cross-border area, contributing to the development and preservation of the environment,” said Jovana Popadić, the project’s communication manager.

The project will last for 24 months, from June 15, 2024, to June 14, 2026, and is being implemented by the Municipality of Brod and the company “EKO DUNAV” d.o.o. from Borovo as the lead partner.

The project is valued at €841,445.40. The European Union will finance 85% of the project (€715,228.59), while the remaining 15% (€126,216.81) will be funded by project partners.

The main expected outcomes are: improved waste management competencies in the municipalities of Brod and Borovo, active participation of local communities in promoting sustainable environmental practices and waste management systems, development of a cross-border partnership model for access and exchange of experiences and knowledge in the field of waste management, and increased public awareness and participation in waste management systems through an educational promotional campaign.

The consultation was also attended by the Mayor of Brod, Milan Zečević, who said, “This project is very demanding, and it is therefore very important for us to remain consistent in its implementation.”

“Given Bosnia and Herzegovina’s pre-accession status, I believe this is an opportunity for our municipality to take advantage of every possibility to cooperate with the European Union and secure funding from available EU funds. The project is very demanding, and it is crucial that we stay committed to its implementation. I am confident that in the next year we will fulfill all project tasks and improve our municipality significantly in terms of ecology and waste management,” said Zečević.

Support Program for Business Ideas: Social Banking for Startup Businesses

The “Mozaik” Foundation, in cooperation with other partner organizations and “Sparkasse Bank”, has launched the program “Step by Step” as a form of support for new innovative ideas and business ventures.

The program is designed for startup businesses that need support and incentives to achieve business success – including education, mentorship, and favorable credit lines.

Who is eligible to apply?

The program is intended for entrepreneurs aged 18 to 35, whose businesses have been operating for less than three years (as of the date of the credit application submission). Applications are welcome from companies registered as LLCs or craft businesses in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), as well as independent entrepreneurs in the Republic of Srpska (RS).

The program allows applicants to apply for up to 50,000 BAM with a fixed interest rate of 4.99% and a repayment term of up to 10 years, depending on the purpose of the funds. It is important to note that the business must provide collateral – equipment being financed or equipment already owned by the business.

Additionally, expert support is provided to assess the needs and possibilities of individual business ideas.

The full text of the call can be found at this link, and all interested parties can apply via this link.

9th International Cooperation Forum

The Forum is organized by Development Agency of the Republic of Srpska and Development Agency of Serbia with a support of several partners from the Region and EU.

This year’s event will be packed with experts who will share their insights and knowledge on innovation, digital transformation, sustainability and other challenges that SMEs are facing and solutions how to overcome that.

The event is a great opportunity to explore new project, find partners and collaborate with others in your field or industry. Participants can meet potential partners, collaborators, or even competitors and share ideas and insights.

Participation is free of charge and registration is open until November 13th, 2024.

The most important aspect of this Forum are B2B Matchmaking Meetings, which will be held on 15th November at the premises of Cultural Centre Bijeljina, organized for companies, clusters and institutions within the  Enterprise Europe Network. We expect that international B2B meetings  will bring together in person more than 200 companies from Bosnia and  Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Turkey, Hungary,  Austria, Italy, Germany, China and other EEN countries.

B2B Matchmaking Meetings are open for all companies from the following sectors:

  • ICT
  • Metal processing industry
  • Timber and building industry
  • Textile
  • The automotive industry
  • Agriculture
  • Energy efficiency
  • Plastics and plastic products
  • Tourism

Why participate?

  • As purchaser – find qualified Western Balkans and European suppliers during effective one-to-one meetings
  • As market/sales manager – find new Western Balkans and European customers
  • As a product developer – find partners to discuss new technology and innovative solutions

How can you benefit from this event?

  • Publish and showcase your products, projects, services or business needs to event participants
  • Initiate and arrange promising pre-scheduled 1:1 meetings at the event
  • Generate fresh leads and meet new contacts in a time and cost-efficient way
  • Stay one step ahead of your competitors by being seen and visibly present at the event

For further information, please contact at een@rars-msp.org or +387 51 247 516.

Registration form: Home | 9th International Cooperation Forum (talkb2b.net)

Call for proposals – Social economy enterprises: capacity building and business opportunities for social circular enterprises (SMP-COSME-2024-SEE)

This call for proposals aims to deliver on several elements of the transition pathway and the Social Economy Action Plan linked to the need to improve the professionalisation and organisational capacity of SMEs in the social economy as well as social economy ‘enabling organisations’ across several areas:

  • Organisational and management capacity,
  • (Place-based) innovation capacity,
  • Sectoral research and development of market knowledge,
  • Creation or strengthening (local) value chains,
  • Product and service development,
  • Assessment of social economy business model potential in (local) markets,
  • Start-up and incubation for social entrepreneurs,
  • Strengthening skills (e.g. management, employees, volunteers, target groups),
  • Networking and linking to mainstream sector organisations

Legal entities (public and private) can apply for this call.

The budget of the Call is 8 million Euros.

The online information session will be held on October 17, 2024. You can find more information about the information session and registration for it at the following internet address: https://eismea.ec.europa.eu/events/online-info-session-call-social-economy-enterprises-capacity-building-and-business-opportunities-2024-10-17_en

Detailed information about the call is available on the following link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/SMP-COSME-2024-SEE-01?order=DESC&pageNumber=1&pageSize=50&sortBy=startDate&isExactMatch=true&status=31094502&programmePeriod=2021%20-%202027&frameworkProgramme=43252476

The deadline for submitting project proposals is 10 December 2024, 17:00 CET

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