Junior Balkan Olympiad in Informatics 2026

The 19th Junior Balkan Olympiad in Informatics (JBOI 2026) was held in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, from September 22 to 28. This event marked the first time the country hosted the international algorithmic programming competition.

The competition brought together approximately 55 participants from 13 to 14 countries—including Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, North Macedonia, Slovenia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom—to solve complex algorithmic programming tasks focusing on logical reasoning, mathematical skills, and data structures. The opening ceremony took place at the Sarajevo City Hall (Vijećnica), with the Sarajevo Canton Ministry of Education and Culture providing 120,000 KM in financial support.

Regional students achieved several notable successes. Moldova secured a silver medal through Cristian Pleșca, while Serbia earned two bronze medals, awarded to Filip Jandrić and Danilo Atanasković. Romania’s Vlad Muntoiu also won a bronze medal, and Macedonia earned one bronze medal and an Olympiad Honorable Mention.

Beyond regional participants, the Saudi Arabian informatics team, participating for the first time as part of the Mawhiba International Olympiads Program, secured six international awards. The team earned four silver medals—awarded to Fares Yasser Al-Raddadi, Hashem Ibrahim Basyouni, Ahmed Mohammed Al-Hussein, and Iyad Emad Al-Khalifa—and two bronze medals, earned by Mohammed Abdulkhaliq Al-Battat and Al-Reem Ali Al-Mutawa.

Serbian team leader Ognjen Tešić also authored one of the competition’s algorithmic tasks. Previously, Professor Vladimir Milovanović, leader of the Serbian team, noted that student performance is often driven by organizational efficiency and population size rather than GDP, and remarked that the rapid development of artificial intelligence may present new challenges for future programmers.