No BiH Presidency Session: Adoption of the 2021 Budget Depends on Dodik

SARAJEVO, (Patria) – More than two months after the Draft Budget of Institutions and International Obligations for 2021 was submitted to them, the BiH Presidency has not adopted the draft, and the decision on temporary financing has already been made twice. The second decision is valid until the end of June.

The BiH Presidency has held only one session this year, on March 11, 2021, when it returned the initial Draft Budget of BiH Institutions and International Obligations for 2021 for harmonization to the Council of Ministers of BiH.

Funds for the fight against the coronavirus pandemic were to be added to the draft, which was done at the session on March 25, when the Draft was sent back to the BiH Presidency for adoption.

The Council of Ministers of BiH made a decision on temporary financing of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and international obligations of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the period April - June 2021 on March 17.

The budget provides 21,684,000 KM for the fight against the pandemic caused by the coronavirus, and the Council of Ministers of BiH will prescribe the beneficiaries, purpose, amount, and method of use of these funds by separate decisions. However, the fifth month of 2021 is already passing, and the planned funds cannot be used until the budget is adopted.

Regular sessions of the BiH Presidency are convened by the Chairman of the BiH Presidency in accordance with the Rules of Procedure.

In the first rotation of the chairmanship, Dodik also practiced the same approach of not convening BiH Presidency sessions. Given that he is aware that the pandemic is still ongoing and that funds are needed to fight the coronavirus, it remains unclear why Dodik is not scheduling a session to finally adopt the 2021 Budget, unless it is a targeted blockade.

It is also interesting that the other two members of the BiH Presidency, Željko Komšić and Šefik Džaferović, are not insisting that Dodik convene a session, nor has the BiH Parliament been overly concerned with the budget issue, nor has any parliamentarian asked when the BiH Budget will be adopted.

Whether the Budget will have to wait for the new rotation of the chairman (Dodik's eight-month term ends on July 20), and remain under temporary financing until then, will become clear very soon.