Delić announced incentives for farmers in KS and reduction of parafiscal charges

(Patria) - In order to better acquaint business entities with the activities of the Ministry of Economy, Minister Adnan Delić held a press conference today where he presented new measures to facilitate business for KS entrepreneurs in the conditions of the pandemic.

The Ministry of Economy of KS today announced a Public Call for obtaining incentive funds for the preservation of old traditional crafts-trades for 2021. All applicants who perform old and traditional crafts-trades as their primary activity are eligible to participate. The criteria for obtaining funds are that they provide services and produce products of old and traditional crafts with a predominant share of manual labor, in small series, creating a final product; that they perform the craft activity-trade as their primary occupation; that they have professional qualifications for performing the trade or have been performing the trade for at least five years, and that the seat of the trade and the residence of the craftsman are in the Canton of Sarajevo. The deadline for submitting applications for this public call is 30 days from the date of its publication.

"What is important to note is that the funds have been increased by 100,000 KM compared to last year, and a total of 250,000 KM will be allocated through this public call," emphasized Minister Delić.

He further stated that in the coming period, subsidies for minimum wages for June and July 2020 will be paid. As he stated, if all conditions are met, a list of business entities that have met the criteria for subsidies will be published today, all with the aim of mitigating the negative consequences of the pandemic. At the request of the Ministry of Economy, the Chamber of Commerce of KS was responsible for data processing and is realizing the payment of approved funds, which we expect to be completed within the next 10 days.

"8,650,000 KM has been allocated for these purposes. There were many applications, 4,315 of them, but additional reviews found that 3,321 business entities met the public call criteria, while 994 applications did not meet one or more conditions," emphasized Delić, adding that those rejected have the right to appeal within seven days.

The Ministry of Economy is in the draft decision phase for stimulating agricultural production for 2021. A preliminary decision should be published today regarding the amounts of financial incentives, minimum conditions for starting production, for investment, and the deadlines for submitting applications for 2021.

"I take this opportunity to invite all agricultural producers from the Canton of Sarajevo to submit their proposals and remarks on this draft decision to the Ministry, either via email [email protected], by mail, or in person at the registry office of the Canton of Sarajevo. We will also organize a public discussion on this topic on February 27th. After we accumulate all suggestions and remarks by March 8, 2021, the Ministry will make a final decision. Larger funds have been allocated for this purpose compared to the previous year. The obligations of the Ministry of Economy are approximately 500,000 KM, and they will be paid from the Budget for 2021," stated Minister Delić.

Regarding the reduction of fees for legal entities for general forest functions by 50%, the KS Government adopted a Conclusion yesterday which will be sent to the SKS in order to relieve business entities of this parafiscal charge. Based on this, about six million KM was collected for the Budget in the past few years, and with this reduction, entrepreneurs will be relieved of about three million KM. The main message is that the forest ecosystem must not suffer due to this change, and if there is a shortage of funds, they will be covered from the KS Budget.