Draft Budget of Sarajevo Canton for 2022 Adopted with 18 Votes

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Sarajevo Canton Assembly adopted the Draft Budget of Sarajevo Canton for 2022 with 18 votes, amounting to 1,101,295,480 KM after a day-long debate and discussions on the budget.

A public debate will be held in cantonal bodies, local self-government units, scientific and professional institutions and will last for 21 days. Objections, proposals, suggestions from assembly members and opinions of the Assembly's working bodies are to be submitted to the proposer, who will organize and conduct the public debate. The proposer is obliged to submit a Report on the results of the public debate to the Assembly after the public debate has been conducted, which will contain objections, proposals, and opinions, as well as an explanation of the reasons why certain objections, proposals, and opinions were not accepted in the preparation of the Draft Budget of Sarajevo Canton for 2022.

The Draft Law on the Execution of the Budget of Sarajevo Canton for 2022 was also adopted with 18 votes, along with accompanying conclusions. 

Interestingly, the 18th vote, in addition to the 17 assembly members from the 'trojka' coalition (NIP, SDP BiH, Naša stranka), was cast by independent assembly member Bilsena Šahman, who recently left SBB. We remind you that assembly member Nejra Dizdarević is on maternity leave, so Šahman was the 18th vote needed for decision-making today. 

The Minister of Finance of Sarajevo Canton, Davor Čičić, emphasized that the largest budget expenditures are planned for salaries of public sector employees, around 470 million KM.  Through loan borrowings, 120 million KM are planned for capital projects. The budget provides for borrowings of 34 million KM for transport infrastructure projects, including the continuation of works on the First Transversal and the Southern Longitudinal. 

Borrowings of 7.2 million KM are planned for the adaptation and construction of a new building for the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Sarajevo Canton, as well as for the procurement of police equipment, and three million KM are allocated for the procurement of a helicopter for the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Sarajevo Canton. 

The draft budget also includes infrastructure projects for the Ministry of Economy amounting to 23 million KM, including resolving property-legal relations in business zones, support for KJP "ZOI '84", renovation of existing infrastructure on the Olympic mountains, as well as improving the tourist potential of Igman and Bjelašnica.

“Among the important capital projects for next year is certainly the purchase of apartments for the veteran population, for which we have allocated about 12 million KM. The Government of Sarajevo Canton allocated about seven million KM for the purchase of apartments for the veteran population this year, and with an additional 12 million KM, the housing issue for members of the veteran population in the Sarajevo Canton who have realized this right under the Law on Additional Rights of Veterans will be resolved,” stated Minister Čičić. 

Funds in the amount of 15.7 million KM will be allocated for assistance to small businesses and farmers, and slightly more than 75 million KM are planned for cantonal public utility companies.

Funds are also planned for the reconstruction and procurement of equipment for all healthcare institutions, in the amount of 6.5 million KM. 

For the education and upbringing sector, borrowings in the amount of about 11.2 million KM are planned, for co-financing the construction of schools in Pofalići and Stup, for the reconstruction of the Kolibri and Šareni voz kindergartens, as well as for the procurement of equipment in other schools.

For the communal economy and infrastructure sector, borrowings of 9.8 million KM are planned, for co-financing loans for the purchase of apartments for young married couples, for the construction and reconstruction of communal facilities, as well as for the reconstruction of the Faculty of Health Studies building.

An allocation of three million KM is planned for the payment of funds from final court decisions based on labor relations of employees in the public sector of Sarajevo Canton.