Ministry of Finance and Treasury of BiH 'corrects' Budget of BiH Institutions and International Obligations for 2025 before session

(Patria) - The Ministry of Finance and Treasury of BiH is technically refining the proposed Budget of BiH Institutions and International Obligations for 2025, it was unofficially told to Patria.

Minister Srđan Amidžić is not participating in these activities and is attempting to obstruct this process, while the review of the Budget is planned for an urgent session on October 15.

We remind you that the Budget Proposal was submitted by the Presidency of BiH, and the proposal itself was adopted by the votes of Željko Komšić and Denis Bećirović, while Željka Cvijanović voted against it.

Komšić and Bećirović added certain items to the Budget, such as 20 million KM for BHRT's debts, 11 million KM for cultural institutions of state importance, and the budget of the Ministry of Defense of BiH was increased...

This Budget was already on the agenda of the session on September 1st, when it was returned to the Presidency of BiH for refinement. However, the same Budget document was also on the agenda of the session on September 24th, but the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina refused to discuss the Budget Proposal for this year because authorized proposers, the Presidency of BiH or the Ministry of Finance of BiH, were not present at the session, which is mandatory according to the Rules of Procedure.

At the session on September 1st, the Deputy Minister of Finance and Treasury, Muhamed Hasanović, stated that the budget in its current form, if adopted, would be unexecutable. He did not appear at the session on September 24th, and told N1 that he had sent a letter to the Presidency informing them that he would not present the budget and that they should send someone competent who worked on the document to present it.

The pressure to adopt the Budget for 2025 is growing day by day, and according to legal provisions, the Budget for 2026 should already be in preparation. However, it is still questionable who will present the Budget to the state representatives at the session on October 15.

Trade unions of state institutions also issued a warning to the authorities at a meeting on October 6th and called for the adoption of the Budget. They also presented their demands, and in addition to adopting the budget, they are seeking the payment of a one-time financial aid for all employees in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, excluding elected and appointed officials, in the amount of 2,000.00 KM each from funds intended for salary payments in the Budget for 2025 that have not been paid from January to date, with a payment deadline of November 30th.

“Adoption of the Budget for 2026 in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Financing of Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina by December 31, 2025, at the latest;

By December 31, 2025, at the latest, the adoption in the House of Peoples of the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Salaries and Allowances in the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was adopted in the House of Representatives (number: 01-02-1-1628/25 of July 17, 2025). This Law will enable the retroactive payment of salary differences to all employees after the adoption of the Budget, in accordance with the adopted base for salary calculation for the current year, and would apply from January 1, 2026,” stated the trade union organizations.

If the budget is not adopted and other demands are not met, trade unions will undertake activities to organize protests of employees in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and organize them in mid-November in front of the Presidency of BiH building and in front of the institutions building at Trg Bosne i Hercegovine number 1.

“If, even after that, the demands of the Trade Unions are not met within one month of the protests, a warning strike will be held in accordance with the Law on Strikes and the agreed timeline,” it was announced.

Although the Council of Ministers of BiH determined the base for both 2025 and 2026 in state institutions, salary increases have never occurred because the Budget has not been adopted.

Next week, the day before the session of the House of Representatives of the PS BiH, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will visit BiH. As European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, who visited BiH last month, stated, the Budget must be adopted.