Grant of €500,000 will fund feasibility study as part of broader redevelopment plan
The European Investment Bank is providing a €500,000 grant to support the planned redevelopment of the University of Sarajevo campus, located in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in what is the EU bank’s first investment in the country’s education sector.
Signed off on 25 May, the grant will fund a study into the feasibility of integrating research and education units into a consolidated site, as part of a broader regeneration plan for the city that has an estimated cost of between €120 million and €160m, according to the EIB.
The plan would entail redeveloping former army barracks in the city centre, and constructing faculties and institutes to “ensure improved facilities for students and academic staff, as well as effective collaboration between faculties, academies and research institutes”, the EIB said.
“We hope this investment will enable the University of Sarajevo, as the largest and oldest institution of tertiary learning in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to have an even greater impact on the country’s development,” said EIB vice-president Lilyana Pavlova, while the university’s rector, Rifat Škrijelj, expressed his institution’s “endless” gratitude for the grant.
The prime minister of Sarajevo Canton, Edin Forto, said the vision to redevelop the campus had existed for more than two decades. “This project is beyond all political and individual interests,” he said. “Our society needs to have a foundation of knowledge and without solid, well-planned and bold investments, this vision would not be possible.”