Hungary to help with $156 million energy projects in Bosnia´s Serb region

Hungary to help with $156 million energy projects in Bosnia´s Serb region

The Hungarian government agreed on Friday to help finance 140 million euros ($152 million) of infrastructure and energy projects in Bosnia´s autonomous Serb Republic, the region's government said in a statement.

The projects agreed by Serb Republic Prime Minister Radovan Viskovic and Hungary´s Economy Minister Marton Nagy include a waste management programme and building wind and solar parks, the statement said.

Two of the projects were launched by the German government but it shut them down last year, along with two other energy projects, citing as the reason the secessionist aims of the region´s nationalist president Milorad Dodik.

Hungarian companies Veolia, MVM and Alteo will take part in implementing the projects, according to the statement.

On Friday, the two governments organised an economic forum in the Serb Republic's de facto capital of Banja Luka with dozens of companies attending and presenting investment projects.

Hungary´s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whom Dodik decorated with the Serb Republic's highest award, said he believed the Bosnian region could have impressive economic growth in the future, in which Hungary wanted to take part.

Orban criticised what he called "foreign meddling" in Bosnia's internal affairs, pledging to help the country on its path towards the European Union integration.