The Mayor of Banja Luka, Dragoljub Davidović, and the Mayor of Graz, Siegfried Nagl, signed on April 24 the Agreement on Partnership in Fields of Solar Energy, Water Management and District Heating. The agreement with the Austrian partners, i.e. the utilities Energie Graz GmbH & Co KG/Solar Graz and Graz AG was signed by the representatives of Banja Luka`s utilities "Toplana" (district heating) and "Vodovod" (water supply) too. It is through the cooperation between the above mentioned utilities that the Partnership Agreement between Banja Luka and Graz is expected to have effects on a more concrete basis.

"Graz is a city with which we have a very good cooperation. With signing the agreement we just wanted to continue with the cooperation process", Mayor Davidović said after the signing ceremony and added that the agreement was signed for the purposes of cooperation in three very important fields in which Graz have considerable potential at its disposal.

"As you already know, Banja Luka signed the Covenant of Mayors in Brussels, whereby we committed ourselves to mitigating the effects of climate change. The fields covered by the agreement signed today relate most directly to the fulfillment of the commitments taken to in the Covenant. Graz accomplished a lot in the field and their experiences will be of great use to us", Mayor Davidović said. He also said that some other ways of cooperation were discussed too, like the strict visa regime that citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina face.

Expressing gratitude to Mayor Davidović for the cordial reception, Mayor of Graz said that "politicians worldwide keep emphasizing the necessity to save natural resources in order to fight the climate change in the most effective way, making promises in that regard. But eventually, it all comes to local politicians when the promises are to be fulfilled".

"District heating, solar energy and potable water supply are the prerequisites for a comfortable and satisfying life in a city. I would hereby like to express my gratitude to the Mayor and all the citizens of Banja Luka for putting their trust in our assistance on the way to meet these", Mayor of Graz stressed out.

Graz wishes, as the Mayor of the Austrian city said, to expand the cooperation to the field of culture too.

Both Banja Luka and Graz are university cities where many young people live. That is why we agreed on developing a project through which it would be possible for university students from Banja Luka to visit Graz. It is only through our mutual cooperation and collaborative expanding our vision that we shall be genuine citizens of Europe.