EU supports construction of a district heating plant based on renewable energy in Gjakova/Đakovica.
When it was built in the early 1980s, the Ngrohtorja JSC district heating plant was the pride of the city of Gjakova/Đakovica. This was the only city in Kosovo apart from the capital to have a modern district heating system which was reliant on heavy fuel oil. However, heating with oil became less financially efficient, and awareness grew about the pollution it caused. As a result, in the years immediately following the 1999 war in Kosovo, Ngrohtorja almost completely stopped offering heating to the citizens of Gjakova/Đakovica and later provided it only for some hours during the day.
A glimmer of hope that the company might once again offer sustainable heating appeared at the beginning of the past decade, when, with the support of the EU, the Ngrohtorja district heating company initiated a feasibility study on providing quality and environmentally friendly heating energy to local residents.
“When the idea first became public, we were thrilled, but at the same time there was a certain degree of scepticism, as for many years now the company had not provided quality heating.”
Albana Skivjani is the general manager of the company. When the feasibility study was initiated, she was not a manager, but as a citizen of Gjakova/Đakovica and a client of the district heating company she remembers the enthusiasm among the population well. “When the idea first became public, we were thrilled, but at the same time there was a certain degree of scepticism, as for many years now the company had not provided quality heating,” says Albana.
The feasibility study proved that there was a realistic opportunity to bring back a central district heating system to Gjakova/ Đakovica and at the same time use an environmentally friendly energy source.
The magic word was biomass!
Heating with biomass uses organic matter as the fuel for a power station for heating or for generation of electricity. In the case of Gjakova/Đakovica, the plan was to use wood waste (woodchips) and waste generated from vine pruning which is plentiful in the area. However, despite the availability of biomass in the area that could be used as fuel, the project was not an easy one to bring to life, as the cost of the technology was very high and also needed a high level of expertise to make it function. The European Union stepped in and supported the project with around €15 million.
The new plant which produces both heat and electric energy was inaugurated in the autumn of 2021, becoming one of the very few state-of-the-art systems working on biomass in the Western Balkans and a pioneer for the future of energy. This winter, the energy produced by the plant has provided 24-hour heating to the majority of Ngrohtorja JSC district heating company’s customers.
“Personally, and on behalf of the residents of our city, I express my deep gratitude to the EU for this huge project that will provide heating for decades to come, and serve as a good example for other cities.”
About the project
Through the Instrument for Pre-Accession assistance (IPA) 2015 programme, the European Union invested over €15 million in preparatory activities and in the construction of the biomass heating plant in the city of Gjakova/Đakovica. The project was also supported through WBIF with over €600,000 for a study which assessed the technology, financial and economic feasibility, biomass supply chain and the environmental impact assessment. The project will have a significant economic and environmental impact on the city: the annual operational costs for Ngrohtorja JSC are expected to decrease by 35 to 50%, while the overall pollution level in the area will decrease by over 90%.
According to Albana, one of the main challenges was to learn to operate the new technology, as most employees had no experience of it. However, this obstacle was overcome with the support of the EU-funded project that provided specialised training for the staff on using the new technology. Albana explains that this winter they were able to provide 24-hour regular energy to their clients for the first time in many years. “Our clients are thrilled, along with everyone in the city, because apart from having heating, the city is also not polluted by us like it was before,” Albana says. The steady heating coming for the plant was particularly important this year, because of the global energy crisis when energy prices increased and when there were also energy shortages at some points.
“Personally, and on behalf of the residents of our city, I express my deep gratitude to the EU for this huge project that will provide heating for decades to come and serve as a good example for other cities,” Albana says.
A Bosnia and Herzegovina agriculture company has increased its production capacity with EU support.
For more than two decades, Nebojša Radović from Bratunac in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been growing raspberries, and today his wife and three children help him out in the raspberry plantation. Because of the additional income they bring, Nebojša explains: “Raspberries mean a lot to us. My wife has no other job, and my regular job is not enough to cover all living expenses. We have been educating our children in growing raspberries too.”
Nebojša is one of many subcontractors of the family company, Herbos Nature, which has been collecting forest fruits since 2006. Since 2012 it has been engaged in the purchase, processing and wholesale of berries, mushrooms and herbs. Today, it has a network of over 1,000 subcontractors across the country.
“As we were growing continuously, we had issues, but with the pandemic the difficulties increased, in particular for our subcontractors.”
Supporting growth in time of crisis
Maida Hadžiavdić from Herbos Nature explains that the company had been growing steadily for years, but that, like other businesses, they faced difficulties when the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020. “As we were growing continuously, we had issues, but with the pandemic the difficulties increased, in particular for our subcontractors,” says Maida.
Just then, there was a call for proposals for supporting agricultural companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, launched by the EU-funded EU4AGRI project. Herbos Nature applied and received support including the purchase of equipment for the company and their subcontractors and other related assistance for improving working conditions, totalling over €114,000.
As one of Herbos Nature’s subcontractors, Nebojša received valuable EU-funded equipment to make the family’s work a little easier and more efficient. “As I now have my own tiller cultivator donated by EU4AGRI, my costs are lower,” explains Nebojša.
“EU4AGRI has helped us expand our market. In addition to Ustikolina and Bratunac, we now have a new branch in Travnik. We hired more employees and started working with additional subcontractors.”
About the project
The EU4AGRI project is a four-year initiative (2020-2024) aimed at modernising the agri-food sector, creating new jobs, as well as retaining existing ones, and supporting recovery from the COVID-19 crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The total value of the project, funded by the European Union, is over €20 million, and it is jointly implemented and co-financed by the United Nations Development Programme in BiH and the Czech Development Agency.
The project also enabled the company to benefit from new equipment and other support. “The EU4AGRI support has helped us expand our market. In addition to Ustikolina and Bratunac, we now have a new branch in Travnik. We hired more employees and started working with additional subcontractors,” says Maida. Through the EU4AGRI equipment the company has also modernised production processes.
As with 23-year-old Maida, the company’s employees are mostly young trained professionals, tasked to make sure that all work processes meet the highest quality standards. Over 95% of production is destined for export to countries such as France, Germany, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Turkey. “The new equipment has improved production conditions and helped us meet the requirements of our customers,” says Maida. “We are happy to have participated in the EU4AGRI project and thus contributed to the sustainability of the agricultural and food sector in BiH.”
For this year’s International Women’s Day on 8 March, WeBalkans and the Young European Ambassadors (YEAs) teamed up to promote the #BreakTheBias campaign.They did this through reels and other social media content and street actions across the Western Balkans including in Banja Luka, Belgrade, Kumanovo, Niš, Novi Sad, Podgorica, Pristina, Sarajevo, Skopje, and Tirana.
Over 1,500 women participated in street action activities aiming to break the bias of gender stereotypes. The included stopping women on the street and asking them to answer questions such as “Who am I as a woman in the Western Balkans?” and “How do you describe yourself as a woman?” and writing their answers on the totems placed by the YEAs on the street.
Some of the messages that women wrote on totems as part of the action, included: “I would like to see more equality”, “Wonderful”, “Never stronger”, “I am a woman in science”, and “Proud”.
The WeBalkans YEA network was launched in August 2020 as part of the Regional Communication Programme for the Western Balkans (WeBalkans), managed by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR). The platform is a creative network of future young game-changers from across the Western Balkans. These 120 visionary young people are interested in learning about EU values and promoting the opportunities that the EU offers, but also advocate for topics such as gender equality, intercultural learning, environment protection and human rights.
On 16 March, the second open discussion between the EU and US Ambassadors to Albania and the Young European Ambassadors and US Youth Council took place in Tirana. The parties discussed their cooperation since the first meeting held in June 2021, and possible future collaboration between the two youth networks.
The focus of the meeting was the EU Green Agenda for the Western Balkans and how young people can get involved in shaping the Green Agenda in a practical sense. In line with the ambitions of European Green Deal, the Green Agenda paves the way for a transformation towards climate-neutral and resilient, green and circular economies in the region.
Overall, the two Ambassadors encouraged them to engage, exchange ideas and participate in building a better and more secure future for their country, remembering also their place in the world and the difference they can make.
It was agreed that the YEAs and the US Youth Council would prepare a draft for a joint initiative on banning plastic bags in Albania. The next meeting between the networks will be to share the results.
Montenegrin wooden shipbuilding becomes a worldwide brand
For some time, Petar Bokovac was the only person along the Montenegro coast who used the ancient technique of making wooden ships. He had no formal training in shipbuilding but since the 1960s he has been offering repair services using the traditional craft of making wooden boats in his Bokovac Calafat workshop in Bar.
There was no significant profit in repairing boats, but twenty years ago, Petar and his son Nenad built their first 30-tonne fishing vessel. Then Nenad’s wife, Miroslavka, decided to join the company and take the business to another level, turning the Bokovac Calafat Workshop into a worldwide brand. Miroslavka offered marketing of the wooden ships produced by her husband and his father, promoting their craft – as an important element of cultural heritage and tourism potential – among the local community, to the authorities and to an international market.
“What we could share was our approach which is unique to us.”
Local art presented to the world
Miroslavka explains that when she first introduced the idea of promoting the production of wooden ships in traditional style, the local community had serious doubts about it. “They asked who would be interested in our wooden ships in these times of modern yachts and advanced technology,” she says.
However, she persisted. “I thought that what we could share was our approach which is unique to us.”
In order to maintain brand exclusivity, the Bokovac family must fulfil the condition that more than 80% of the material used in making a ship must be of Montenegrin origin. The wood they mainly use for construction is mulberry, which is well known along the Montenegrin coastline and which the Bokovac family call “Montenegrin teak”. It is extremely lightweight but also strong, which is key to the quality of the final product, as wood has to undergo significant processing before being used in the ship. Miroslavka says, “It’s not always easy to buy mulberry, but as more and more people in our area know that these materials are needed, there are more and more frequent calls from landowners who have mulberry trees on their property and who offer them for sale.”
The shipbuilding event that aroused the most media interest in Montenegro and the region over the past few years was the news that the Bokovac Calafat Workshop had been recognised by the royal family of Abu Dhabi, through an order for three ships: one small one with an engine, another just a metre longer than the first, and a third 10 metres long. Nenad and Petar worked hard with their team to fulfil all the requirements so they were able to finish the vessels on time. With the arrival of the boats in the Emirates, the Bokovac family had become a globally-recognised brand.
“The ReLOaD project helped us with further promotion of this skill to our community and to the world. More importantly, it helped us to pass on this skill to younger generations.“
About the programme
The Regional Programme for Local Democracy in the Western Balkans (ReLOaD) is funded by the European Union and implemented by the United National Development Programme. ReLOaD is now in its second phase, lasting until 2024.
Recently, the Calafat workshop has joined forces with the EU-funded ReLOaD project and started the mission of promoting their tradition along the entire Montenegrin coast. The Cattaro Sail Project offered training on shipbuilding to young people, and promotion of sailing through publications and social networks. The grand finale was the “Days of Sail” event and the Kotor Regatta. Models of sailing boats from this project were donated to the Maritime Museum, and a big step was made towards the preservation of this historical skill and its value for tourism. Miroslavka says that for the Calafat workshop, “The ReLOaD project helped us with further promotion of this skill to our community and to the world. More importantly, it helped us to pass on this skill to younger generations”.
The word calafat can be found in Greek and Arabic, and since ancient times has referred to a ship’s craftsman with expertise in maintaining a wooden frame. Later, this term began to refer to the most experienced and respected of shipbuilders. The Bokovac workshop is the only one in the world who has the right to use the name “Calafat”. For them, as well as for Montenegro, it is an honour to be keeping this tradition alive.
Five outstanding women who are making a difference in their fields while giving inspiration to society at large have been nominated by #TeamEurope in North Macedonia for the 2022 European Woman of the Year Award.
The five nominees are national transplant coordinator Maja Mojsova Mijovska, alpinist Ilina Arsova, film director and writer Dina Duma, National Gallery director Dita Starova Qerimi, and MaMa Organa company founder Natalija Burgieva. They were proposed by the ambassadors of Croatia (Nives Tiganj), Germany (Anke Holstein), Romania (Monica Axinte), Sweden (Kristen Forsgren Bengtsson) and the EU (David Geer), respectively.
“We mark International Women’s Day by honouring five extraordinary women who have shown that only the sky is the limit in pursuing dreams and in working for the common good. Their stories are inspiring. They break prejudices. They prove that gender has nothing to do with ability and that capacity and dedication have no gender,” said Ambassador Geer at the ceremony, also attended by First Lady Elizabeta Gjorgievska.
The Delegation’s European Woman of the Year Award – complementary to the European of the Year Award that the Delegation introduced in 2019 – aims to raise awareness of the obstacles to gender equality while giving recognition to women who lead by example and help in making the world more equal.
A group of young innovators launch a car-pooling app with EU support.
As a student in Prishtina/ Priština, Eroll Gorçi had to travel several times a week from his hometown of Peja/ Peć approximately 80 km away. Taxis were too expensive and buses were not very frequent. Like many other commuters he therefore tried alternative solutions, checking if any of his friends or relatives would be driving to the capital, so he could share a ride.
Eroll was a computer science and technology student and as he developed his IT skills he realised that filling the inter-city transport gap with a platform for car-pooling could be an interesting business opportunity. And thus began Udhë (the word means the “way” or” journey” in Albanian), the first car-pooling app in the southern part of the Balkansconnecting drivers with passengers.
“We wanted to test the approach first through social media before we went onto developing an app, and it worked.”
Eroll and his friends first discussed this idea a few years ago and initially agreed to launch a social media page where people who were interested in sharing a ride would be able to communicate and arrange joint travel. “We wanted to test the approach first through social media before we went onto developing an app, and it worked,” says Eroll.
The ride-share group on Facebook gathered around 10,000 members in a short period. This proved that people were interested, and the team recognised an opportunity for developing a professional service. They started to develop the app for drivers and passengers at the beginning of 2020. As they had very little experience in this type of endeavour, they applied to the EU-funded VentureUP project for technical assistance with a focus on prototyping. Eroll and his team benefited from webinars and tools for marketing, business modelling, and funding which were helpful in building their expertise. In addition, they focused on the systematic collection of data which offered a much firmer basis to build confidence in their business model and launch the app.
“The support provided by the European Union was crucial in developing and bringing our idea to life.”
About the project
The VentureUP – University of Pristina Venture Incubator project supported by the European Union in Kosovo provides students and start-ups the opportunity to develop job-creating businesses and increase their chances of meaningful employment in Kosovo. During the first incubation programme in 2019, seven starts ups with a total of 23 team members completed the programme. Of these, four start-ups registered as legal businesses generating revenues and employing a total of 15 people. In 2020, there were 12 start-ups with 31 team members who completed the second incubation programme. As a result of this, five legal businesses have been registered and are generating revenues and employing a total of 18 people.
The app has been on the market through Google Play and the Apple store since January 2021. The online community now has over 30,000 followers through social media, and close to 15,000 users of the mobile app. They solve transport problems for several hundred passengers daily. The four-person team is now looking for more significant turnover and help in securing an angel investment for expansion. They are planning to launch the service in Albania and in Balkan markets where the EU’s biggest ride-share platform has failed.
Eroll explains that in the Kosovo education system there is a lack of teaching on entrepreneurship and the ways of developing an idea into a product and on monetising ideas. For him, incubator projects are therefore crucial in enabling the first steps on business and entrepreneurship. “The support provided by the European Union was crucial in developing and bringing our idea to life,” he says.
Around 110 participants from the six Western Balkan partners took part in a hybrid TAIEX regional workshop in Montenegro from 7-8 March, focused on improving transport flows on railway border crossing points.
The Technical Assistance and Information Exchange (TAIEX) scheme offers peer-to-peer technical assistance and policy support from public specialists based in EU Member States to regional partners in the Western Balkans. Through TAIEX, the EU and public administrations in the region work together to create a better business environment.
Over the two days, experts from three EU Member States – Estonia, Poland and Romania – shared their experience and knowledge of relevant EU legislation and customs control procedures with representatives from ministries of transport and interior as well as customs and rail authorities
Only 5% of trade between Western Balkans and EU is transported by rail, with an overwhelming 95% transported by road. Rail freight emits far less CO2 than equivalent road transport. To achieve climate neutrality by 2050, a 90% decrease[1] in greenhouse gas emissions from transport will be necessary.
Average CO2 emissions by motorised mode of freight transport, EU-27, 2018
Source: Fraunhofer ISI and CE Delft for the European Environment Agency, 2020 Note: tkm = tonne kilometre
The Western Balkans also has an important role to play in the global value chains that supply the EU, and vice versa. Improving the efficiency of rail transport is therefore not only important for the environment and climate targets, but also for integrating the Western Balkans Common Regional Market into the European single market.
Organised in cooperation with the Ministry of Capital Investments of Montenegro, the Transport Community and the Central European Free Trade Agreement secretariat, the workshop covered the EU legal framework, necessary infrastructure upgrades and practical application of management principles, including the introduction of efficiency assessment tools. The project involved a site visit to a joint rail freight border crossing point in Tuzi, Montenegro – on the border with Albania.
Following positive participant feedback, TAIEX will organise additional assistance targeting individual partners in the region – to further support progress in regulatory reform and implementation on the ground.
High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/ Vice-President of the European Commission, JosepBorrell, was in North Macedonia on Monday before travelling to Albania on Tuesday and to Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday. His visit reaffirms the EU’s commitment and support for the region, particularly in light of the Russian war against Ukraine and its impact on the security of Europe as a whole.
HR/VPBorrell met in Skopje with President Stevo Pendarovski and Prime Minister Dimitar Kovačevski, Deputy Prime Minister of European Affairs, Bojan Marichijk, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bujar Osmani, and Minister of Defence, Slavjanka Petrovska. On Tuesday, the High Representative will travel to Tirana, where he will meet with Prime Minister Edi Rama and other representatives of the Albanian authorities and civil society representatives and visit the ongoing restoration works at the mosaic of the National History Museum, renovated under theEU’s post-earthquake recovery assistance.
On Wednesday, the HR/VP will be in Sarajevo where he will first pay a visit to the EUFOR Althea Operation whose troops’ capacity on the ground has been almost doubled recently. He will then meet with Bosnia and Herzegovina’s authorities, representatives of political opposition and civil society.
Following two exhibitions inspired by the pandemic, on the themes of turning boredom into creativity and on art as a way to escape from reality, the Residence of the EU Ambassador to North Macedonia is once again playing host for another display of art.
The exhibition, opened on 10 March by EU Ambassador, David Geer, and the First Lady, Elizabeta Gjorgjievska, is part of the EU Delegation to North Macedonia’s campaign to promote the goals – and the opportunities – of the European Green Deal. The Green Deal is about living, producing and meeting our needs at minimum cost for the planet and its resources. It is about tackling the consequences of climate change, saving biodiversity and making development sustainable.
The artworks are by Ozbek Ayvaz, Maja Kirovska, Zoran Todovikj, Nenad Tonkin, Vana Uroshevikj, and Velimir Zhernovski, and were selected by the Skopje Acanthus Gallery. They include reflections on recycling – not only as a way to preserve resources, but also to stimulate creativity, and raise awareness of our dependence on nature, and nature’s healing power. The exhibition will be open for the public until 20 May. Visitors can reserve a time slot and free-of-charge tickets via the EU za Kultura Facebook page
