The Czech Republic, through the Czech Development Agency ("CzDA"), continues to assist Bosnia and Herzegovina.

As part of the support for energy efficiency projects in construction, the directors of CzDA and the Czech company "KASTEN" from Neratovice, as the contractor, recently signed a contract for the design and implementation of boiler room reconstruction for 3 schools in Banja Luka:

• "Đura Jakšić" Elementary School in the suburb of Šargovac,
• "Stanko Rakita" Elementary School in the Vrbanja neighborhood, and
• Agricultural High School, for which a completely new boiler room facility will be designed and built.

Both elementary schools currently use coal as fuel in their worn-out boilers, while the Agricultural High School uses light heating oil. The reconstruction of the boiler rooms in the schools is intended to enable heating with renewable energy sources, specifically wood pellets.

The approximate value of the Czech Republic's donation is around 2,500,000 KM (Bosnian Convertible Mark) excluding VAT. The realization of this project was prepared in cooperation with the City of Banja Luka and the City Development Agency of Banja Luka (CIDEA), which will co-finance the project activities, primarily the construction of the boiler room for the Agricultural High School. Additionally, the City of Banja Luka will provide all necessary approvals and permits for construction based on the documentation that will be delivered to them in accordance with local regulations.

On June 20th of the current year, the first operational meeting for the implementation of this significant project took place at the CzDA headquarters in Prague. The meeting was attended by representatives of the Czech Development Agency, engineers from "BFS Industry" as internal supervision for CzDA, the main contractor "KASTEN" company, and a representative of "Grijanjeinvest" Pale, which was selected as a local contractor due to its excellence in the field, being one of the best companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The entire project will be implemented in stages, with the development of detailed plans and obtaining permits planned for this year. The next operational meeting is scheduled for June 27th of this year at the headquarters of the City Development Agency in Banja Luka.