President of RS Željka Cvijanović Visited the Faculty of Forestry

On 31 May 2021, President of the Republic of Srpska Željka Cvijanović visited the Faculty of Forestry of the University of Banja Luka.

At the meeting, it was pointed out that the cooperation between the Faculty of Forestry and the corporate is of high quality, but that it should be improved due to additional economic development.

Cvijanović says that it is necessary to improve the cooperation between the Faculty of Forestry of the University of Banja Luka and the corporate, because that would improve the general situation in society.

,,It is very important that this Faculty pays attention to the recruitment of teaching staff, and we all fight together to increase the number of students. The fact is that students who graduate from this faculty do not wait long for a job’’, Cvijanović said in her statement to the media after the meeting.

She pointed out that it is good that there is a possibility for students of the Faculty of Forestry to further improve and get a job in the Public Utility Company "Forests of the Republic of Srpska", which currently employs 4,900 people.

,,The institutions of the Republic of Srpska will take into account the needs related to the additional improvement of the cooperation between the Faculty of Forestry and the corporate. It will be in the function of creating a better environment and material preconditions for the University of Banja Luka’’, Cvijanović said.

Rector of the University of Banja Luka Prof. Radoslav Gajanin, PhD, considers it very important that the professors of the Faculty of Forestry be associates of PUC "Forests of the Republic of Srpska", but that the cooperation takes place at the institutional level.

According to the rector, the plan is to build the first science and technology park in the University Campus, which will include a centre for the support of the wood processing industry.

Dean of the Faculty of Forestry Prof. Marijana Kapović Solomun said that forestry is a key branch for the economic development of the Republic of Srpska and that therefore scientific support is a must.

,,We have the support of the President of the Republic of Srpska and the institutions for our further development. Cooperation with companies is also good, but it is necessary to include science in forest management’’, Kapović Solomun emphasized and pointed out that this meeting was organized at the initiative of the Faculty of Forestry, and with the support of the University of Banja Luka.

As the Dean of the Faculty of Forestry pointed out, the visit of the President and ministers is one of the most important activities that have taken place at this Faculty in the past period.

The meeting was also attended by the Minister of Scientific and Technological Development, Higher Education and Information Society of the Republic of Srpska, Srđan Rajčević, MA, who emphasized that the RS institutions support the work of the Faculty of Forestry, which relies on the largest resource of the Republic of Srpska, meaning forests that account for 50 percent of the territory.

Rajčević states that they also discussed the provision of logistical and financial resources at the meeting in order to regenerate the teaching potential of this faculty, and to introduce young people to the teaching process.

Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of the Republic of Srpska Prof. Boris Pašalić, PhD, says that the Ministry, which he leads, helps the Faculty of Forestry in the procurement of equipment and improvement of work. He also emphasized that this support will be continued in the future.