The rules have changed, and the time to adapt is shrinking rapidly, especially for exporters. How companies are responding to this change, and where the role of the bank fits into all of it, was discussed by Srđan Ožegović, Member of the Management Board of ProCredit Bank.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina today, how much is sustainability still a matter of image, and how much has it become a concrete cost and a factor directly affecting companies’ competitiveness?
I think we’ve already moved past that dilemma. Sustainability has very concrete consequences, especially for exporting companies. CBAM is the most visible example, but it is far from the only one. The rules are changing, and this directly impacts costs and competitiveness. A few years ago, this topic could still be discussed in more theoretical terms. Today, if you are still dealing with theory instead of practice, it means you are already falling behind. You will certainly bear the consequences, sometimes unpleasant ones. Most often, these are direct increases in costs, loss of markets, or both. That is why the real question is no longer whether someone will address this topic, but how quickly they can adapt.
In that context, how does ProCredit Bank understand the concept of “impact”? You use the term often, but what does it actually mean in day-to-day business?
For us, it is actually quite simple, even though it sounds like a big word. We do not look at things solely through short-term profitability. We look at what a decision means three, five, or ten years down the line, both for the client and for the environment in which they operate.
In practice, this means that when evaluating investments, we do not look only at financial returns. We also assess how energy-efficient a project is, how sustainable it is in the long run, and how resilient it is to upcoming changes, especially in terms of regulation and costs. That influences everything, what we finance, how we talk to clients, and the questions we ask.
In some situations, it also means telling a client that something may make sense today, but perhaps not in two or three years. Honestly, that can make conversations more difficult at times, but they are also far more realistic.
What are the most concrete examples of this approach in practice? Where is this philosophy most visible?
It is best reflected in where the money actually goes. There is no single isolated “big project” that proves it. It is more about continuity. By the end of 2025, we had BAM 147 million in active loans dedicated specifically to projects contributing to a greener and more efficient economy. Today, we have more than 328 solar projects in our portfolio. Over the past ten years, we have invested more than BAM 400 million in green investments.
At the same time, we are also trying to broaden understanding. Money shows direction, but not the whole picture. Investments are only one part of the story. The ProImpact Challenge, for example, is a good example of this. Through this challenge, we work with students who come forward with very concrete ideas related to problems we all recognize, such as air quality, energy, and efficiency. The point is not the competition itself, but what happens afterward. Someone has to turn an idea into something real and take the first step. If that happens, then it all makes sense. What matters to us is shifting the way people think in that direction, less theory, more attempts.
The same applies to projects such as installing solar panels on schools. These are not massive systems, but their significance is not in their size. So far, systems have been prepared and fully designed for three schools, the Railway School Center, “Aleksa Šantić” Primary School in Sarajevo, and “Srednje” Primary School in Ilijaš, with completed main project documentation and all key permits obtained. Children in those schools will not learn about energy only from textbooks. They will see how it is produced, how it is used, and why it matters. That changes the way they think about resources.
If we want a serious transition, it has to begin earlier, in classrooms, not only in strategies. That is why projects like these may be small in scale, but large in the impact they can have in the years ahead. The energy transition will not begin in the energy sector. It begins here, in projects like these.
One topic increasingly mentioned among companies is CBAM. How prepared are companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina for what is coming?
I would say not sufficiently prepared, but not without reason. People know something is happening, but they often do not know where to begin. CBAM is not simple, even for large systems. For smaller companies, it creates additional pressure. The problem is that there is no longer as much time for gradual adaptation as people think.
That is why we tried to simplify things as much as possible. We created a free guide as a first step, to translate these issues into language people can understand. The CO₂ calculator we also made freely available is a continuation of that effort. Once you have a number in front of you, the conversation becomes more concrete. It is no longer abstract.
Today, hundreds of companies are already using it, and we see interest growing as deadlines approach.
To what extent are banks today going beyond financing and taking on an advisory role?
I do not think this is optional anymore. Companies today are looking for someone who understands the broader context. Capital is important, but it is not enough.
For us, this means spending a lot of time in conversations that are not directly related to loans, education, analyses, consulting, and concrete operational questions from clients. So far, we have worked in different ways with dozens of companies preparing for these changes. And we almost always come to the same question: “Alright, but what comes first?”
How does digitalization fit into this sustainability story?
Much more than it may seem at first glance. Digitalization removes unnecessary steps and shortens processes. It frees people from administrative tasks that do not create value. The qualified electronic signature (QES) is probably the most concrete example of this. You can sign documents with full legal validity without visiting a branch office, while having simple access to QES through the network of ProCredit branches across Bosnia and Herzegovina. For someone working with contracts every day, that quickly becomes a major difference.
Time is the most expensive resource companies have. Anything that saves time becomes the standard. That is why e-signatures make sense, especially for companies working with multiple partners, handling a large number of documents, or operating in several locations. Nearly 400 clients have already adopted QES, and we see habits changing quickly when there is a simple solution. Once you integrate it into daily operations, it is hard to go back to old methods. That is why we tell clients, try it in practice. Very quickly, you will see where it saves time and where it makes a difference, and it costs nothing.
How do you see the next few years? What will happen to companies that ignore these changes?
The difference will become visible quite quickly. Companies that adapt will have more options. Those that wait will have fewer. It is that simple.
The biggest risk is postponement, not because someone does not want to change, but because they think there is still time. In reality, there is less time than it seems.
The role of the bank in all of this is naturally changing as well. It is becoming less about the transaction itself and more about the quality of the decisions that come before it. That is where we see room to be useful.
ProCredit is different from many other banks in that sense. It is not just a bank in the traditional sense, but a partner that gets involved much earlier, at the moment decisions are being made.
