Balkan Green Summit 2026: Why We Are Sponsoring, and the Three CBAM Questions We Are Bringing to Sjenica

Sarajevo, 5 May 2026

From 20 to 22 May 2026, the Western Balkans' green-transition community meets at Hotel Borovi in Sjenica, Serbia for the second Balkan Green Summit, organised by the Chamber of Commerce of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PKFBiH). wis.dom|bridge™ is attending as sponsor and industry partner, and we are bringing one specific topic to the table: the real, costed financial impact of CBAM on Western Balkan exporters, and how to manage it before it lands on the P&L.

Why this Summit, and why now

The Summit's 2026 agenda - CBAM, ESG, EU funds, digitalisation, AI, energy efficiency - is not coincidental. As of 1 January 2026, CBAM has been in its definitive phase. The first surrender of CBAM certificates is due by 30 September 2027. Free allowances, the buffer that has so far softened the cost, phase down to 0% by 2034.

Translation for any factory owner in BiH, Serbia, North Macedonia, or Montenegro selling steel, cement, aluminium, fertiliser, hydrogen, or electricity into the EU: the cost is not theoretical anymore. It is a line item.

The three questions most boards have not yet costed

1. How many tonnes of embedded CO2 are actually in your product?

Not the average. Not the industry default. Your tonnes, per CN code, per shipment, per customer. Most exporters in the region are still relying on default values, which the regulation explicitly penalises over time. The gap between your real emissions and the default is, in many cases, the gap between staying competitive and pricing yourself out of the EU.

2. What carbon price will those tonnes be charged at?

CBAM certificate prices are tied to the EU ETS. The trajectory through 2027, 2030, and 2034 is not flat, it rises as free allowances phase out. A cost model built on today's price is already wrong for tomorrow's contract. The question is not "what does CBAM cost today?", it is "what does it cost across the life of the supply contract you are about to sign?"

3. What can be done now, operationally, contractually, and on the certificate side?

This is where the Western Balkans conversation usually stops. Most consultancies will help you measure. Far fewer will help you manage. Cost reduction levers exist on three sides:

• Production side - process, fuel, and electricity-mix changes that lower embedded emissions per tonne.
• Contract side - how the cost is structured between exporter and EU importer, and which side of the border it sits on.
• Certificate side - how exposure is hedged through the EU ETS and CBAM certificate market itself.

What we are bringing to the Summit

At the wis.dom|bridge™ table in Sjenica, exporters can sit down for an operational review covering:

• CBAM cost modelling using the actual regulatory defaults, country-specific grid factors, and the full phase-in schedule through 2034.
• Operational gap diagnostics mapping what your data is today versus what the EU importer and the verifier will require from 2027 onwards.
• CBAM certificate strategy through our partnership with Aither, a Swiss-based carbon market specialist with 15+ years in EU ETS, UK ETS, Swiss ETS, CORSIA, and voluntary carbon markets, serving 6,000+ industrial and financial clients.
• IACBAM-aligned training for the in-house teams who will own CBAM reporting from 2027 onwards.

The structural point

Most Western Balkan exporters are doing CBAM in two halves: a consultant who measures the emissions, and silence on what to do with the cost. That is the gap wis.dom|bridge™ is built to close, measure, model, and manage, so that CBAM stops being a compliance exercise and starts being a costed, hedged, board-level decision.

That is the conversation we are bringing to Sjenica.

Meet us at the Summit

The wis.dom|bridge™ delegation will be on-site all three days, including the Gala Dinner on 21 May 2026. If you are a manufacturer, exporter, chamber of commerce, or EU funding intermediary working on CBAM exposure, we welcome a one-to-one review.

Media contact: info@wisdombridge.biz · www.wisdombridge.biz