The City Council accepted the transfer of ownership and possession of the SPO (Socio-political organization) building and became the owner, possessor, and manager

At the 18th session of the City Council of the City of Sarajevo, which was presided over by Jasmin Ademović, the chairman of the City Council, the city councilors honored the murdered victims of genocide and war crimes in Srebrenica and Prijedor by reciting Fatiha and observing a minute of silence.

Having adopted the agenda, the session’s work began with the adoption of the Decision on the dismissal of a member of the Commission for Human Rights and Freedom. The Decision on the election of a new member of this working body of the City Council of the City of Sarajevo was also adopted.

In the continuation of the session, the City Council unanimously passed the Decision on accepting the transfer of ownership rights and possession free of charge and giving consent to the Mayor of the City of Sarajevo to sign – conclude the Agreement on the transfer of ownership rights and control without compensation, at the address Hamdije Kreševljakovića 3 (SPO building), of the statutory seat of the City of Sarajevo, and after the Government of the Canton of Sarajevo accepted in its conclusion the initiative of the Institute for the Construction of the Canton of Sarajevo to start the procedure for the transfer of ownership rights and possessions of the Institute for the Construction of the Canton of Sarajevo to the City of Sarajevo, all at the request submitted by the City of Sarajevo as legally interested parties in this procedure and after all formal-legal prerequisites for making this Decision have been met.

It is necessary to remind that the City Council, at the very beginning of the mandate, initiated the resolution of the status of the SPO building. A process followed that resulted in the adoption of the Decision.

The city councilors adopted the Decision by which the City Council decided to join the City of Sarajevo to the CIVITAS network of European cities. The Mayor of Sarajevo, Benjamina Karić, will, on behalf of the City of Sarajevo, sign the Declaration by which the City of Sarajevo will become a member of one of the leading programs of the European Union in promoting the goals of sustainable mobility and traffic, after this Decision enters into force. With the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) for Sarajevo and the Cooperation Agreement signed between the City of Sarajevo and the Ministry of Transport of Sarajevo Canton, membership in CIVITAS will open up additional possibilities and opportunities for improving the quality of urban mobility in Sarajevo. So far, over 350 cities have signed the Declaration.

The Decision to give consent to the Mayor of the City of Sarajevo to sign the Memorandum on Cooperation between the City of Sarajevo, the NGO “Naša perspektiva” and the Sarajevo Regional Development Agency (SRDA) was adopted. All three parties expressed their desire to formalize cooperation with the aim to support investments from the diaspora in BiH, joint promotion of the city of Sarajevo as an investment and tourist destination, promotional activities, including the organization of business meetings of investors from the diaspora and potential partners from BiH, and networking of the BiH diaspora through the development of a sustainable local platform that will provide services to the diaspora and facilitate the investment process.

The City Council also adopted the Decision to give consent to the Mayor of the City of Sarajevo for the conclusion of the Twinning Agreement between the City of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the City of Ljubljana, Republic of Slovenia. The ties between the two cities developed to mutual satisfaction in various areas, such as economy, culture, tourism, sports, archives, infrastructure projects, and university and youth cooperation. The city of Ljubljana, governed by Mayor Janković, participated in the renovation of the Sarajevo City Hall in 2008. One of the streets in Ljubljana has been named Sarajevska since 2021. The twinning agreement will further strengthen this long-standing friendship between Sarajevo and Ljubljana.

In the continuation of the session, the Decision establishing the standards and criteria for the appointment of attorneys and deputy attorneys of the City of Sarajevo Prosecutor’s Office was adopted, as proposed and amended in accordance with the submitted amendments.

The City Council adopted the Decision on acquiring the status of an association of particular importance for the City of Sarajevo “SOS – KINDERDORF INTERNATIONAL.” The activity of the Association “SOS – KINDERDORF INTERNATIONAL” is aimed at creating assumptions and conditions for social inclusion and overall affirmation of children without parental care while promoting non-discrimination, tolerance, and equality, as values ​​that are in the interest of the city of Sarajevo and its citizens.

At today’s session, following an urgent procedure, the Decision was adopted on the lease of a part of the Bistrik Railway Station facility, which completes the revitalization of the facility and further enriches the tourist offer of our city with museum content and new catering facilities.

Under the urgent procedure, the Decision was adopted by which the City Council of the City of Sarajevo gave consent to the Mayor of the City of Sarajevo to sign an Agreement with the City of Sanliurfa, the Republic of Turkey, on the installation of two masts with the flag of the City of Sarajevo and the flag of the official mascot of the XIV Winter Olympic Games – “Vučko” at the location at Koševo stadium in Sarajevo.

The city councilors considered and adopted the Report on the Implementation of the Decision on Scholarships for High School Students from the Budget of the City of Sarajevo, according to the competition for scholarships for high school students from the Budget of the City of Sarajevo for the school year 2021/2022. year, from which it is evident that in the school year 2021/2022, the City of Sarajevo, in accordance with the criteria for scholarships for high school students, established by the Decision on Scholarships for High School Students from the Budget of the City of Sarajevo, i.e. the conditions specified in the Competition, awarded 352 scholarships in the total amount of 317,100.00 CM. At the initiative of the joint Commission for consideration, processing and analysis of applications received for the Competition, it was proposed that, for the next school year, changes and additions to the current Decision should be made in order to eliminate ambiguities and other difficulties that hindered the Commission’s work on processing applications.

The Report on the implementation of recommendations from the Report on the Financial Audit of the City of Sarajevo for 2022, the Report on the Expenditure of Current Reserve Funds from the Budget of the City of Sarajevo for 2022, for the period from 01/01/2022 to 30/062022 were considered and adopted. In addition, the Information on the adopted Document of the tentative Budget of the City of Sarajevo for the period 2023-2025 was duly noted.

Information on the implementation of the extraordinary investment maintenance of the fountain for the murdered children of Sarajevo in 1992-1995, Information on the performance of the project of cleaning and removing silt from the bed of the Miljacka River, which is an integral part of the Unique Project “Clean Miljacka River,” were also noted. 

The Information on the completed public call procedure for leasing part of the building “Bistrik Railway Station,” the Information on general traffic safety in Canton Sarajevo, and the Information on the implementation of council issues and initiatives for the current year were also received.

At the end of the session, specific council questions were addressed, and initiatives were initiated. Thus, the chairman of the City Council, Jasmin Ademović, on the occasion of the adoption of the Decision on accepting the transfer of ownership rights and possessions without compensation and giving consent to the Mayor of the City of Sarajevo to sign – conclude the Agreement on the transfer of ownership rights and possessions without compensation, submitted initiatives and the City Council adopted conclusions which the Mayor is in charge:

• • For the realization of the Agreement on the transfer of ownership rights and possessions without compensation and the completion of all necessary activities to register ownership rights, registration of controls, and creation of other conditions for the management of the real estate in the capacity of the owner.

   

  • For the next City Council session to propose the accession to the project of reconstruction and adaptation of the SPO building, and to obtain a feasibility study of the task of rebuilding the SPO building by the end of the current year and to propose the funds needed for the preparation of project documentation for a complete renovation when presenting the Budget of the City of Sarajevo for 2023 SPO buildings, as well as funds for the start of works.

   

  • For the next City Council session, to propose the adoption of a decision by which the building “SPO” – Building of socio-political organizations of the City of Sarajevo” will be renamed “Administrative building of the organs of the City of Sarajevo.”

   

The initiative of city councilor Toni Vukadin was adopted for the City of Sarajevo to initiate activities on the study of the revitalization of the old Jewish cemetery, a national monument that is in a much neglected state, and which could be one of the most exciting tourist destinations in Sarajevo in the future.

City councilor Nihad Uk submitted an initiative for the City of Sarajevo to consider installing new public drinking fountains, especially in the parts of the city used by recreationists and walkers.