Civil servants spent nearly 400 thousand KM of budget money on seminars!

How much funds from the Budget of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina have so far been allocated for covering the costs of education and professional training for civil servants and employees of Bosnia and Herzegovina institutions, no one can say with certainty, but everyone is aware that an enormous amount of money is being spent for these purposes, writes the Patria news agency.

This was also asked by SBB state MP Mirsad Đonlagić, who requested data on which civil servants and employees are involved, and what benefit the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina have had from paying for schooling and professional training, and on what legal basis the payments were made.

According to data from the Treasury General Ledger, the total amount for expenditures based on costs for professional education and training services in 2015 amounts to 376,829 KM and mainly relates to recording institutional expenditures based on employee participation in seminars and trainings in the fields of accounting, internal audit, and financial management and control (Revicon, Feb, Association of Accountants and Auditors), training or seminars in the area of judicial reform, legal counseling, education of judges, prosecutors, etc.

Among the most spendthrift institutions are the Directorate for Civil Aviation of BiH with 73,996 KM, the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council with 41,714 KM, the Prosecutor's Office of BiH with 27,878 KM, the Communications Regulatory Agency with 29,121 KM, and specific trainings and professional development were needed within the competencies of certain institutions.

In certain ministries, additional training is apparently also needed, with the most expensive training paid by the Ministry of Finance and Treasury of BiH at 26,563 KM, the Ministry of Security at 11,565 KM, the Ministry of Transport and Communications at 12,677 KM, the Ministry of Defense of BiH at 7,187 KM, and the Ministry of Human Rights at 1,586 KM.

Among other agencies, a significant amount was allocated by the Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices of BiH at 25,799 KM, while, for example, the Mine Action Center allocated only 497 KM.

However, as is usually the case, the Council of Ministers claims everything was done according to the law.

The legal basis for compensation for professional training and education is defined in Article 30 of the Law on Salaries and Allowances in BiH Institutions, where point 1 lists education and professional training as one of the allowances.

Article 44 of the said Law, titled Allowance for Education and Professional Training, states that employees in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina have the right to compensation for costs necessary for professional education, training, and instruction, in accordance with the bylaw adopted by the Council of Ministers, upon the proposal of the Ministry of Finance and Treasury of BiH – say from the Council of Ministers.