Brcko: Sava Demining Contracts Signed for Right Bank
Minister Edin Forto signed contracts with contractors for eight municipalities and cities along the Sava, from Kozarska Dubica to Orasje, with European Union funds paying for the work.
The Sava, the waterway linking Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, got contracts on September 29 in Brcko to demine its right bank, land that has stayed off limits because of mines for more than three decades. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Minister of Communications and Transport Edin Forto signed the contracts with the contractors, and the work covers municipalities in Republika Srpska, among them Kozarska Dubica, Srbac, Gradiska and Brod.
Speaking at the signing, Forto said the land in question is still out of people’s reach:
“Three decades after the war, we still have land that people cannot approach without fear.”
What do the contracts cover?
The demining covers 73 sites and a total of about 5,071,759 square meters of land. The work will be carried out in Kozarska Dubica, Srbac, Gradiska, Brod, Odzak, Domaljevac, Samac and Orasje, eight municipalities and cities along the right bank. Enis Horozovic, director of the Mine Action Center in Bosnia and Herzegovina, described the scale of the job this way: “Ahead of us is demining on more than five million square meters at 73 sites.”
About 700 mines are expected to be removed, along with 45 minefield records to be processed. Horozovic explained that part of the work in a wider context:
“This is an extremely complex area where we expect to remove about 700 mines and 45 minefield records. By carrying out this project, we are creating the preconditions for improving the waterway and preventing floods, and we are also meeting our international obligations under the Ottawa Convention.”
The Center’s director thus tied the demining to three things: the waterway, flood protection and the obligations Bosnia and Herzegovina took on under an international treaty.
Who pays, and how much?
According to statements at the signing, the contracts are worth more than 16 million convertible marks, all of it in grants. The money comes from the Western Balkans Investment Framework, with World Bank support, under a program to develop the Sava and Drina corridors. The size of the European share is reported differently: according to Glas Srpske it is 8.16 million euros, while the Croatian portal Index writes that the European Union set aside slightly less than 8.5 million euros.
Forto stressed that the money is a gift:
“Today we have more than 16 million KM of donated money that we are investing in the noblest cause, removing mines. In doing so, we are directly helping the Port of Brcko and creating the conditions for it to reach its full economic potential.”
The project had stood idle for a long time. Back in 2024, Bosnia and Herzegovina put about eight million euros of European money into operation for demining the Sava, and an international tender was announced last November.
What does demining mean for the Port of Brcko?
Brcko is home to the only river port in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is part of the European corridor network, so clearing mines along the river is a basic condition for its development. Forto estimated that demining and improving the Sava waterway could increase the number of navigable days at the Port of Brcko by up to 30 percent, and he also mentioned road construction and new investment:
“First and foremost this means safety, but also the chance to build roads here, develop transport, invest and open up new opportunities in general. Demining and improving the Sava waterway can increase the number of navigable days for the Port of Brcko by as much as 30 percent.”
The minister added that once the river route is improved, a project to modernize the railway linking the port with the rest of the country and the region will also need to be prepared.
The signing was attended by the Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Adebajo Babajide, the World Bank’s head of office for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, Lijang Vang, and the director of the Port of Brcko, Perica Josic. Vang said the benefit would not be limited to Bosnia and Herzegovina, since the project could open up more options for moving cargo by river in the other countries along the Sava, Serbia included:
“This is an investment in the future of the Sava River as a shared corridor that connects the region and brings benefits to its citizens.”
