HDZ and SNSD outvoted Bosniaks in the Council of Ministers of BiH: Pay debt to Viaduct from the profit of the Central Bank of BiH?

Ministers from HDZ and SNSD outvoted Bosniak ministers at today's session of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and adopted a proposal by Minister of Finance and Treasury Srđan Amidžić (SNSD) to pay 116 million KM from the profit of the Central Bank of BiH to settle a debt owed to the Slovenian company "Viaduct", confirmed for N1.

BiH Minister of Human Rights and Refugees Sevlid Hurtić stated that he and BiH Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmedin Konaković were outvoted, and the proposal in question is Amidžić's to adopt a new budget that would allocate the profit of the Central Bank to pay the debt in the "Viaduct" case.

However, this proposal, adopted by the Council of Ministers of BiH, goes further for confirmation to the Presidency of BiH and the Parliament of BiH, but it is increasingly likely that it will not receive support. Earlier, some politicians were against this proposal, such as Nermin Nikšić, Prime Minister of the Federation of BiH, and Deputy Prime Minister of FBiH Toni Kraljević, since this allocation involves withdrawing 200 million KM from the profit of the Central Bank of BiH, and after paying the debt to Viaduct, 90 million KM would be distributed to the entities.

Amidžić's proposal states that the Federation of BiH would receive 59 million KM, and the Republika Srpska 29 million KM.

Likewise, the debt that would be paid to Viaduct in this way would draw the most funds from the federal budget, which is why representatives of this level of government are protesting.

Also, it is important to note that from the beginning of this story, Borjana Krišto, Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of BiH (HDZ), was in favor of making adjustments in the state budget and allocating money to pay the aforementioned debt.

At today's session of the Council of Ministers of BiH, Edin Forto, Minister of Transport and Communications of BiH, and Zukan Helez, Minister of Defense of BiH, who is also Deputy Chair of the Council of Ministers, were not present. The two are on a trip to the USA.

Regarding the Viaduct case, it is important to note that this concerns, as already mentioned, a debt of the Government of the RS, which is now over 110 million KM, given that daily interest amounts to 18,000 KM.

However, the problem arose when the Government of the Republika Srpska did not respect the contract on granting a concession for the construction of hydroelectric plants to this company.

This was followed by a dispute before the Arbitration Council in Washington, and then a ruling in favor of Viaduct. According to the Agreement signed in 2017, the Government of the Republika Srpska unconditionally committed to paying all fines. The agreement was signed by Željka Cvijanović, then Prime Minister of the RS. The unpaid debt is already causing huge problems for BHANSA because it will not be able to receive funds from Eurocontrol.

In addition, the collateral damage in this process is the Central Bank of BiH, and a notification has already formally arrived from the Municipal Court in Mostar for the seizure of its property in this city.