Dodik threatens again: First the distribution of excise revenue, then we can talk about the budget of BiH institutions

(Patria) - President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik stated on May 9 that he can always talk with partners at the BiH level, but that he does not know what they would discuss given that even earlier agreements were not respected.

“There are ten things we agreed on, and they have fulfilled none. When they fulfill what we agreed on, regarding the distribution of excise funds, then we can talk about the budget. Before that, we cannot talk about the budget,” said Dodik.

He said that at previous meetings it was agreed that Republika Srpska would be allocated 36 percent of the funds.

"We have been waiting for five months for this to be completed, but in the Federation of BiH they refuse to vote in the Management Board of the Indirect Taxation Authority of BiH for what was politically agreed," said Dodik.

The last session of the Management Board of the ITA BiH was supposed to be held on March 21, but the Federal Minister of Finance Toni Kraljević (HDZ BiH), without whom there is no distribution of accumulated excise funds, did not attend that session. The same happened at the session on February 9, when Kraljević left the session. It concerns slightly more than 255 million marks.

According to information from Patria, Kraljević does not want to support a decision he considers harmful to the entity of the Federation of BiH.

The calculation methodology has not existed for years because there is no agreement among the members of the ITA Management Board, and all parameters show that the entity of the Federation of BiH has contributed significantly more than it has received (59 percent).

Allegedly, an agreement was reached on a 64:36 distribution between the Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska, while the Brčko District was excluded from this distribution.

For the distribution of excise money to be adopted, both entity ministers of finance and the state minister must vote for it.