BHRT employees' contributions unpaid for 84 months, lawsuits filed, Karamehmedović could end up in court

By Amra Vrabac

At the end of May, the heads of BHRT and RTV FBiH, Belmin Karamehmedović and Džemal Šabić, signed an agreement that allows the distribution of collected RTV fees that were held in the account of JP Elektroprivreda BiH. This resolved a five-month agony, and the BHRT employees suffered the most, as their salaries were delayed or non-existent.

Although Karamehmedović refused to sign the agreement, insisting on a "legal distribution" meaning RTV FBiH would ultimately receive less money, he suddenly changed his mind when the FTV management filed criminal charges due to the signal being shut down on May 8th, when only news programs were broadcast on the entity public service. By court order in the evening, BHRT was instructed to restore the RTV FBiH signal.

It should be noted that the agreement was signed under the same money distribution conditions as before the end of December, with the difference that FTV will give more money to BHRT, but the scope of services they provide will also increase. For Karamehmedović, the distribution suddenly became legal, and in return, he demanded that the criminal charges be withdrawn, to which Šabić agreed.

However, regardless of the withdrawal of these charges, Karamehmedović could face another court process. Namely, contributions for BHRT employees have not been paid for 84 months. Just a few days ago, a patient from the hospital had to call BHRT because her health insurance card could not be validated due to unpaid contributions. And this is not the first time BHRT employees have faced such problems. The same applies to those who are supposed to retire, but their employment record and contributions have not been paid.

"We are trying to settle all obligations towards employees, so all net salaries, meal allowances, and transportation allowances have been paid, while the issue of pension contributions remains open," was the response from BHRT to Patria on April 16th this year.

According to Patria's information, inspections have been carried out multiple times by both the Cantonal Administration for Inspection Affairs and the Tax Administration of FBiH. Numerous fines have been issued, but the situation has not changed. If we look at the period for which contributions have not been paid, it is clear that this has been happening during Karamehmedović's management of BHRT.

In the corridors of the "Grey House" (referring to BHRT headquarters), it is rumored that there is a "list of privileged individuals" whose contributions have nevertheless been paid.

What is problematic is that employees are regularly provided with signed payslips showing all calculated taxes.

A portion of the employees has sued BHRT for unpaid obligations, and Karamehmedović could also appear in court as the responsible person at BHRT, because someone made the decision not to pay contributions for the employees.

Karamehmedović has one year left until the end of his term, after which he will turn to a private company he has already established with several individuals. However, Karamehmedović publicly offered to resign his mandate once the issue with RTV FBiH is resolved.

While the agony with the money was ongoing, the BHRT Collegium abolished more than 15 programs, shortened some, and even after the agreement was signed, the program schedule remained in a "reduced mode".

The departure of Belmin Karamehmedović from BHRT should finally be demanded by the Union, which is clearly closer to the management than to the employees whose rights it should be fighting for.

The Union should specifically demand a review of the contracts that Karamehmedović has made with private productions, individuals, and other companies for carrying out tasks that, according to the law, the Public Service should perform with its own capacities, and publicly ask why BiH Public Service does not have its own outside broadcast vans and has to rent them. In this way, BHRT has lost significant funds that have flowed into private pockets, even though BHRT has 800 employees.