While European countries have long since embarked on the development of e-mobility, Bosnia and Herzegovina continues to lag behind the Western region in this process. Nevertheless, despite slower progress, certain advancements are visible. Are these steps sufficient, and in which direction is Bosnia and Herzegovina heading in terms of e-mobility? Anela Karahasan, Secretary of the Association of Authorized Representatives and Car Dealers at the Chamber of Commerce of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, shared her insights.
She emphasizes that Bosnia and Herzegovina is significantly behind Europe regarding the number of registered electric vehicles, infrastructure development, available incentives, and legal regulations.
“In BiH, subsidies still exist only at the Federation level, with no concrete strategy or incentive measures for development across most administrative levels. Despite this complex system, some progress has been made in a short time, but not enough. This situation allows us to observe examples of good practices and ways to overcome challenges from EU countries and the region, and to respond quickly by introducing tax relief, incentives, infrastructure development, and improvement of urban transport,” Karahasan stated.
The Association for E-Mobility and the Association of Authorized Representatives and Car Dealers at the FBiH Chamber of Commerce introduced subsidies to motivate individuals and legal entities to purchase environmentally friendly vehicles. They followed good EU practices, so incentives were available for electric cars, plug-in hybrids, and hybrid vehicles in the first two years. However, hybrid vehicles were excluded from the incentive program last year, leaving only electric vehicles (an incentive amount of 10,000 BAM) and plug-in hybrids with CO2 emissions below 50 g/km (7,000 BAM).
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“There is a clear increase in interest, especially among legal entities, due to the savings they achieve, particularly in electricity consumption compared to fuel costs for internal combustion engine vehicles. Subsidies are necessary and very important, especially in the initial stages of e-mobility development, but they are not sufficient. In addition to subsidies, a range of other incentives is needed, particularly in terms of infrastructure, because the growth in the number of vehicles increases the need for more chargers, high-speed DC chargers, their availability, and the supporting infrastructure,” Karahasan stressed.
Among other incentives, she highlights the suspension of customs duties on importing electric vehicles and the reduction to five percent for hybrid vehicles. These incentives have been active for several years at the BiH level, while subsidies, unfortunately, have only existed in the Federation.
When it comes to the infrastructure needed to support the number of electric vehicles, the main obstacles are the complex administration in most cantons in FBiH and the connection cost, which often serve as a discouraging factor.
“We can say that there is a significant number of private, semi-public, and public AC charging stations in BiH. What is lacking is a network of DC chargers along highways and busy main roads. For example, so far on the partially completed international Corridor Vc highway, there is only one DC charger,” she explained.
While almost half of all new urban buses in the EU in 2024 were zero-emission, BiH is only taking its first steps in this direction.
The Association for Electromobility, along with its member organizations and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BiH, initiated the suspension of customs duties on importing electric buses. They emphasize the need for parallel infrastructure development, which requires financial incentives.
The Association includes over 50 entities from both public and private sectors, spanning the automotive industry, energy, electrical engineering, transportation, environmental protection, oil and fuel distribution, as well as other industries. According to Karahasan, this sectoral diversity and expertise make the Association strong and unique compared to similar organizations. The Association’s key topics include customs suspension, subsidies, infrastructure, and promotion, each with numerous subtopics.
“In addition to bringing together a large number of members from different branches of the economy, the greatest success of the E-Mobility Association is undoubtedly the initiation of legal and incentive frameworks for e-mobility in BiH. Notably, we highlight the adoption of customs suspension on electric vehicle imports at the national level, the introduction of subsidies for the purchase of EVs in the Federation, achievements in individual cantons in easing charger installation procedures—based on the Association’s proposals,” Karahasan concluded.
Prepared by Jasna Dragojević
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