Greece–Bosnia and Herzegovina Friendship Building

Greece-Bosnia and Herzegovina Friendship Building
Zgrada prijateljstva između Grčke i Bosne i Hercegovine (Bosnian); Зграда пријатељства између Грчке и Босне и Херцеговине (Serbian)
The Greece-Bosnia and Herzegovina Friendship Building
General information
Type	Office tower
Location	Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Address	TRG BiH 1, Sarajevo 71000, Bosna i Hercegovina
Coordinates
Completed	1974 Initial 2007 Reconstructed
Owner	Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Technical details
Floor count	21
Design and construction
Main contractor	Vranica d.d. (original construction) Domotechniki S.A. (reconstruction)

The Greece–Bosnia and Herzegovina Friendship Building (Bosnian, Croatian: Zgrada prijateljstva između Grčke i Bosne i Hercegovine, Serbian: Зграда пријатељства између Грчке и Босне и Херцеговине, Greek: Κτήριο Φιλίας Ελλάδας Βοσνίας-Ερζεγοβίνης) is an office building located in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The building houses the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is often erroneously referred to as the Parliament building. This is due to its proximity to the actual 5 story parliament building which is adjacent to the Greek-Bosnian Friendship building.

History

The Executive Council Building burns after shelling in the spring of 1992. Photo by Mikhail Evstafiev

The Executive Council Building before reconstruction

The building was completed in 1974 and occupied by the government of the erstwhile Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was originally named the Executive Council Building (Zgrada Izvršnog Vijeća). It served as the principal government building in Bosnia and Herzegovina until it was extensively damaged by Serbian shelling in May 1992 in the first few weeks of the Siege of Sarajevo, part of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. After the end of the war the building was gutted and remained vacant until reconstruction began in 2006.

Reconstruction

In 2006, the government of Greece provided 80% of the funding for the reconstruction of the building. The total cost of the project was 17,057,316 euros. Reconstruction was completed by the Greek company DOMOTECHNIKI SA in just over one year and the building was opened on July 23, 2007.