Tešanj enters the year 2026 with announced record infrastructure investments and a series of strategic projects that will shape the further development of the local community.
According to Mayor Suad Huskić, more than 15 million KM is planned for roads, water supply, sewerage, public areas and improvement of business zones. In parallel, the Municipality is preparing new spatial and regulatory plans, strengthening support for the economy and announcing important environmental projects. In the New Year’s interview, the chief talks about key priorities, challenges and expectations for the coming year.
ZOS Radio: What infrastructural projects will be the priority of Tešanj Municipality in 2026, and what can citizens specifically expect when it comes to roads, water supply, sewage and public areas?
Chief Huskić: Every year, the Municipality of Tešanj invests around 45 to 50% of the Municipality Budget in infrastructure (roads, water pipes, sewerage, halls, clinics, schools, etc.) By the end of December, we plan to adopt the Budget for 2026, with a current projection of around 34 million KM. This means that more than 15 million KM will be new investments in infrastructure.
In the coming year, we expect that the Corridor route will be completed almost entirely. Road reconstruction projects, as well as new investments, are on the way. We are concluding negotiations with Autocesta on the Friendly Environment Agreement. We have agreed with the Administration a large number of projects, we are waiting for the approval of the banks. We are talking about multi-million sums that will be financed by Autoceste FBiH. We are also negotiating with contractors for a similar agreement, and a part will be financed by the Tešanj Municipality. Currently, we cannot provide details and a list of projects before the signing of the Agreement.
In 2026, we will continue investing in the Karadaglije-Jablanica water supply system and the Tešanjka water supply system. The design of thresholds on the Usori River, which would raise the water level, protect the bed and improve the water supply, is underway. According to current information, investments in 2026 should amount to more than a million KM. We will continue the construction of the sewage system.
Together with the Ministry of Transport, ZDK, we are preparing the reconstruction of Braća Pobrić Street, from the Colorful School to the MUP building. This includes a completely new asphalt surface, new sidewalks on both sides, but also the reconstruction of the water supply network, heating pipes and lighting with the relocation of poles. We are designing the expansion of the roundabout in Bukva. We are preparing several projects in business zones.
We will complete the investment in the space for the special police in Tešanj. In all local communities, we plan to implement over 50 projects worth approximately 2 million KM.
We are expecting works on the auxiliary fields of TOŠK and Borac, worth approximately 1.6 million KM. We are preparing an athletic track project. We are planning to prepare new content in Gradina with a summer garden and new content in Kiseljak. We have a lot of work ahead of us!
ZOS Radio: Tešanj applies to an environment with a developed private sector. What steps does the Municipality plan to take in order to retain existing investors, but also to attract new ones, especially at a time when BiH is experiencing a large labor force exodus?
Chief Huskić: Our plan is to adopt the new Spatial Plan 2025-2045 in February or March. The new Spatial Plan will enable new locations for investment. New business zones have already been planned for the development of the economy. In addition, in these two years we are working on five new regulatory plans: Jugozapad Tešanj, Jelah, Bukva, Ciglana and Glinište. With each of these strategic documents, space is opened for new investments by the private sector, as well as by residents. We will continue investing in business zones. Those investments amount to close to a million KM every year. We are doing all this in preparation for the opening of Corridor 5c, because we expect further development of interest in investing in Tešanj.
After the opening of the Tech Lab, our Agency for Development is implementing the project of establishing a metal laboratory in the following year. We implement several projects on the development of personnel and knowledge. In 2026, we are expecting the jubilee 20th Business Fair.
It was confirmed that investments and jobs retain residents and “bring” people from other areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The weather and circumstances in Europe and the region are serious and uncertain and preserving every job and opening a new job is an increasingly difficult and serious job.
ZOS Radio: What steps does the Municipality plan to take in the field of ecology – especially in relation to air quality, waste management and protection of green areas – in order to improve the daily life of citizens?
Chief Huskić: We are currently on over 11,000 contracts for waste removal, and every year we record an increase in coverage. This is the basis for reducing illegal landfills. In 2026, we plan to build a system for the purification of leachate from the landfill in Bukva. The landfill in Bukva will become sanitary in 2026, which means that it will be among the 6 most organized landfills in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I remind you that BiH has 79 municipalities and cities. Until 2030, we have all the permits for the operation of the landfill. We are working on plans and activities for managing the waste dump in Bukva after 2030. The options are planned closure, which costs a lot, or expansion, which is also a big investment. The future depends mostly on the reform of waste management throughout BiH and FBiH.
With regard to the development of the sewage network and the construction of a wastewater treatment plant, we applied for a project in which, with an EBRD loan and donor co-financing, we would invest a new approx. 25 million KM in the sewage network and invest in the construction of a drinking water factory. The project was submitted to Brussels in 2025. When it comes to the heating plant, we are preparing some projects in 2026, and we are analyzing the transition from coal to other energy sources with an investment through a public-private partnership or debt.
ZOS Radio: Will Tešanj Municipality consider increasing subsidies for children’s stay in kindergartens in the coming years, given that parents increasingly point out that the prices of preschool institutions are high compared to the average salaries in the local community?
Chief Huskić: In supporting young people and families, we have gone through many steps, from scholarships for all, support for business ideas of young people, support for solving the housing issue, support for the third and next child, etc. We supported the opening of a larger number of kindergartens and playrooms. Now we intend to direct support towards parents. We published the first public invitation in 2025. I would say relatively cautiously, because we want to give support to those who really need it. We are not able to support everyone. In the coming year, we will further develop this support program, increase the amount of funds and the coverage of families that can be included.
ZOS Radio: Considering the example of Bihać, which by increasing communal fees for the organizers of games of chance reduced the number of betting shops and ensured higher incomes for the local community, does the Municipality of Tešanj plan to review the current regulations and introduce more decisive measures towards this industry, in order to protect the interests of citizens and ensure a fairer distribution of the profits that are made here?
Chief Huskić: Games of chance (I would say games of chance) are a topic that keeps coming back to the agenda. The gaming law is federal and was passed sometime in 2014 or 2015. As Mayor, during the adoption of the Law, I asked for stricter criteria, limiting the number of betting shops and casinos according to the number of inhabitants in each municipality (such as a limited number of taxi drivers, the number of technical inspections or the number of pharmacies). As a Municipality, we wrote the Amendment to the Law, which unfortunately was not adopted! So far, enormous and irreparable damage has been done to our society, some families have become impoverished, there have been suicides, and some people have become addicts or are in “debt slavery”. I would now compare the situation to that, if we let a burglar into the house by law, and then told the children that everyone should try to defend themselves in their own room (according to some municipal decisions). Or that we let the fox into the henhouse, and told the hens to guard the nest and the chicks. I say this because municipalities have tried to reduce the harmful effects of games of chance. Unfortunately, there are more than twenty judgments of the Constitutional Court in which decisions of municipalities have been annulled. Unfortunately, the municipalities returned the money later with late interest. In fact, it happened that the games of chance indirectly helped those who organize them. Many do not know this, nor do they research it. Mostly news is shared on social networks. We are monitoring the situation. During 2015, there were 30 locations for games of chance in Tešnje (paying places of bookmakers and club machines), and at the end of November 2025, a total of 15. As the Mayor, I appointed a working team with several lawyers and economists to investigate the practice in the entire FBiH. In the case of Bihać, this is one of the steps in the whole process. There is an opinion of the Cantonal and Supreme Courts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but we do not yet have the opinion of the Constitutional Court. I will remind you that Bihać already lost proceedings before the Constitutional Court and returned the money.
ZOS Radio: What is your message to the citizens of Tešnj at the end of this year and before the beginning of the new one?
Chief Huskić: We often use the time of transition to a new calendar year to analyze what happened in the previous period, plans, and what we expect in the coming year. If we look at the municipality, then it should be said that the implementation of the biggest project in the last 100 years is underway, that it temporarily brings a lot of burden, but that it guarantees the development of the municipality and the country in the long term. Currently, as a local community, we are at the highest level of development in our history (economically, infrastructurally…). However, there are still many needs and a lot of work ahead of us. I want to thank everyone who spread positive energy, contributed to our common good with their knowledge, work, and finances.
And in 2026, I wish all the citizens of Tešanj municipality, first of all, good health, family happiness and satisfaction. I wish all of us a successful and stable 2026, without stress, crises, with as few worries as possible…
