Page 78 - bne IntelliNews Southeastern Europe Outlook 2025

authorities carry out the necessary reforms, Bosnia’s industrial output could increase by between 2.2% and 4.8% in the next three years.
5.2.4 Major Sectors & Companies
Bosnia’s economy relies mainly on mining, energy and the processing
sector, with rising influence of tourism as well.
In November, UK-based Adriatic Metals said it will invest $5mn in the construction of the Veovaca tailings storage in Bosnia, after being granted permission by the local authorities. The Vares high-grade silver project in Bosnia, 100%-owned by Adriatic Metals, is the company’s flagship project. It is also focused on exploration at the Raska base and precious metals project in Serbia.
Adriatic Metals will launch the first phase of the project as it has received all the permits it needs from the Federal Ministry of Energy, Mining and Industry. Before that, in July 2024, the state constitutional court took a decision regarding access to state forestry land, which made it impossible for Adriatic Metals to implement its previous plan for the storage facility. Subsequently, the company identified an alternative location for tailings storage at the former Veovaca open-cast mine.
Currently, the company has an operating tailing storage facility at the Vares processing plant with a maximum capacity of approximately 133,000 tonnes.
The Vares plant should further increase production over the next few months. Production was supposed to start in November last year but the company needed more time for drilling and preparatory works.
Meanwhile, tourism has been attracting more attention as its share in the GDP has been constantly increasing. The number of tourists reported in Bosnia during the first ten months of 2024 increased by 10.3% y/y to 1.7mn visits, according to the latest available statistics office data.
In the structure of overnight stays by foreign tourists, the most overnight stays were achieved by tourists from Croatia (12.6%), Serbia (11.5%), Turkey (9.8%), Saudi Arabia (8.4%), Slovenia (5.7%), Germany (4.3%), the US (3.5%), China (3.3%), Italy and Poland (2.9% each), which represents 64.9% of the total number of overnight stays.
Another positive development is the plan of Austrian producer of sports exhaust systems Remus to relocate part of its production to Bosnia in 2025, investing in expanding its facilities in the municipality of Sanski Most. The company has been operating in Sansi Most for years. The company’s general manager, Stephan Zochling, announced the relocation plans during a meeting with Sanski Most’s mayor, Mensur Seferovic.
If implemented, the project would require significant investment in modernisation of existing facilities to improve their efficiency and competitiveness. The company also intends to invest in solar energy.
78 SE Outlook 2025 www.intellinews.com