Bevanda "slashes" budget of the BiH Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces, numerous projects endangered!

(Patria) - HDZ's BiH Minister of Finance Vjekoslav Bevanda, with the draft budget of BiH institutions he proposed, has jeopardized the functioning and development of the Armed Forces of BiH.

The BiH Ministry of Defence requested a total of BAM 394,370,000 for the procurement of equipment. However, in the draft budget for 2022, Bevanda allocated a total of BAM 2,164,000 for the Ministry of Defence under the item – procurement of equipment.

"The total request of the BiH Ministry of Defence for funds from the 2022 Budget for equipment procurement amounts to BAM 394,370,000, of which BAM 2,404,000 is for the financed part, and an amount of BAM 391,966,000 is requested through an annex. The financed part relates to the basic renewal of furniture and computer equipment, data and voice transmission equipment, motor vehicles, as well as military equipment. Due to limited financial resources defined by the expenditure ceiling, multi-year projects and the Development and Modernization Plan of the BiH Armed Forces for the period 2017-2027 are largely included in the annex. The draft budget for 2022 allocates BAM 2,164,000 for equipment procurement for the BiH Ministry of Defence, which leads to the conclusion that projects will not be financed," the BiH Ministry of Defence told Patria.

Thus, the multi-year project "Ensuring and Improving the Operational Capability of BiH Armed Forces Motor Vehicles with a realization period of 2016-2018" cannot be financed, with a shortfall of BAM 5,844,000. The multi-year project for the procurement of helicopters for the Ministry of Defence and BiH Armed Forces, whose procurement is realized by pooling funds in Foreign Military Sales (FMS); $5 million (BAM 8,150,000) has been secured by a donation from the military aid program based on the Agreement between the Government of the USA and the Government of BiH on economic, technical, and related assistance for BiH. As of December 31, 2021, BAM 8,874,800 has been secured from the budget. BAM 47,975,200 remains unfunded, with the note that the Council of Ministers of BiH Decision stipulates that the dynamics of financing from budget funds in the next period are conditioned by the adopted Global Framework of Fiscal Balance and Policies in BiH for the medium-term period. The multi-year project that has a Council of Ministers decision approving it, but not financing it, "Procurement of equipment for performing tasks of assisting civil authorities in responding to natural and other disasters" amounts to BAM 1,777,000. The multi-year project that has a Council of Ministers decision approving it, but not financing it, "Ensuring and Improving Helicopter Operational Capability" amounts to BAM 9,000,000. The Development and Modernization Plan of the BiH Armed Forces 2017-2027 amounts to BAM 318,182,000. The public investment project "Upgrade of the Electronic Business System Platform of the BiH Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces" amounts to BAM 4,000,000.

"The remaining funds relate to the renewal of computer equipment and furniture, procurement of data and voice transmission equipment, continuation of motor vehicle procurement to continue with the partial renewal of the vehicle fleet and electronic equipment. At its 50th regular session held on May 26, 2022, the Council of Ministers of BiH unanimously adopted the BiH Budget Framework Document for the period 2022-2024, which contains the medium-term framework of the BiH institutions' budget and the preliminary draft budget of BiH institutions for 2022, along with preliminary expenditure estimates for 2023 and 2024. Based on this document, the BiH Ministry of Finance and Treasury prepared the Draft Law on the Budget of BiH Institutions and BiH International Obligations for 2022, which does not include the aforementioned projects," the Ministry of Defence of BiH responded to Patria.

Although there is a possibility that the budget will be amended at the proposal of the BiH Presidency, this would mean two things. The first is outvoting Milorad Dodik, who benefits from the weakening of the BiH Armed Forces, but also prolonging the procedure for adopting the 2022 budget, which jeopardizes the finances for the BiH General Elections.