Mostar's Aluminij workers are 11 times more valuable than workers of failed companies in cantons not dominated by HDZ

(Patria) - Workers of Mostar's Aluminij are at least 11 times more valuable than workers of failed companies in cantons not dominated by HDZ BiH, writes Istraga.ba.

Namely, federal auditors have determined that Aluminij d.d. Mostar, a company in which the Federation holds only 44 percent of the capital, with the remaining part belonging to Croatia and private entrepreneurs, was illegally paid subsidies for linking years of service.

Here are the concrete indicators.

The FBiH Government, led by Nermin Nikšić, approved 300,000 KM for the settlement of 19 Aluminij workers. Pension insurance was paid for them for a total of 436 months.

At the same time, workers of Krivaja from Zavidovići were paid 103,000 marks on the same basis. This amount was allocated for linking years of service for 37 workers, totaling 921 months.

This means that the base for Krivaja workers was minimal, while for Aluminij workers it was six times higher.

And, finally, this means that the settled Aluminij workers will have higher pensions than Krivaja workers.

Workers of Fortune from Gračanica fared even worse. For their 2,782 months of unlinked service, the Government allocated 170,000 marks. Monthly, 61 KM for pension and disability insurance, which is eleven times less than for Aluminij workers.



Therefore, Aluminij paid and calculated high salaries to its workers, and now the Federation is paying contributions on those salaries from the budget.

Krivaja and Fortune workers received lower salaries, and their contributions are lower. Which ultimately means that their pensions will also be significantly lower.

Now we quote the audit report:

"We draw attention to the fact that the company 'Aluminij' d.d. Mostar was approved an average monthly amount of funds per worker of 690 KM for the payment of contributions for pension and disability insurance, while other companies were approved 6 to 11 times less funds on the same basis".



By auditing subsidies to private companies for linking years of service, the auditors write, it was determined that funds in the amount of 300,819 KM under the Program for the use of funds for subsidies to private companies and entrepreneurs for linking years of service for 2023 were approved for the company "Aluminij" d.d. Mostar, although this company was not eligible for participation.

That is, the criterion for awarding funds that determined the right to participate was not defined from the perspective of majority private ownership in the capital of the financial aid recipient, as the funds were intended for private companies.

"The program stipulates that the beneficiary of the aid is a private company in whose basic capital the capital of the Federation of BiH or any level of government in the Federation of BiH is represented with less than 50% ownership.

Namely, the company 'Aluminij' d.d. Mostar has a mixed capital structure with ownership stakes: FBiH Government 44%, Croatian Government 12%, and individual shareholders 44% - capital in private ownership.

Accordingly, the company is not majority-owned by the FBiH, but it is also not majority privately owned, which is why it did not meet the basic criterion for participation and selection of financial aid recipients.

In addition to the above, the Program approved funds for linking years of service based on unpaid contributions for pension and disability insurance, which were calculated on gross salaries higher than the legally established minimums in the FBiH," the auditors stated.

Since the goal, the auditors write, is to resolve the social status of workers through retirement, and funds have been secured for these purposes in the FBiH Budget, we believe that from the perspective of efficient and rational public money management, it is not appropriate or justified to approve funds for the payment of contributions for pension and disability insurance that are calculated on gross salaries higher than the legally established minimum gross salaries in the FBiH.

We draw attention to the fact that the company "Aluminij" d.d. Mostar was approved an average monthly amount of funds per worker of 690 KM for the payment of contributions for pension and disability insurance, while other companies were approved 6 to 11 times less funds on the same basis.

In this way, private companies are stimulated, instead of being sanctioned for non-compliance with current legal regulations.