Saga continues: BHRT accuses Šabić of withholding money in RTVFBiH account that belongs to them

(Patria) - The Management Board of Radio Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina informs the public that RTV FBiH has been holding funds from the last payment by Elektroprivreda BiH on its account for six days, funds that belong to BHRT, from invoices issued up to and including December 31, 2023, which still included the RTV fee, before its removal at the beginning of this year.

Based on the concluded Agreement on business cooperation in collecting the RTV fee no. 101-1022/17 (Annex 2 number: 101-1972/21 dated November 24, 2021), as well as Article 23 of the Law on the Public RTV System and Article 57, paragraph (4) of the Law on the Public Service of Radio Television of the Federation, Radio Television of the Federation of BiH, as a contractual party, undertook the obligation to immediately distribute the collected RTV fee to public RTV services and is responsible for its fulfillment.

By acting in this manner, i.e., failing to act, RTV FBiH is failing to fulfill its legal and contractual obligation to distribute the RTV fee in the legal ratio, thereby depriving BHRT of its primary source of revenue, further jeopardizing the stability of the entire operations of this public broadcaster, and leading to the impossibility of paying meal allowances during work and salaries to employees, who are already on the brink of existence.

Džemal Šabić, whose mandate expired in 2013, and the executive director of the economic and financial affairs sector of this entity's public broadcaster, Džemal Vatreš, are in this way, by violating both laws and contracts, trying to put additional pressure on BHRT and prevent its further operation.

Despite BHRT sending them an official request to transfer the funds that do not belong to them, this has not happened so far, so RTV FBiH is the sole culprit for the fact that BHRT employees will not be able to be paid at least part of the debts for their work in the previous month.

After Šabić did not accept the proposal from the meeting with the leaders of the Troika held on Friday, January 12, regarding a fairer and more lawful distribution of the fee collected through Elektroprivreda BiH accounts, wanting to maintain the situation that, along with the huge debts of RTRS, over the past six years brought BHRT to the brink of survival, this is a new type of pressure aimed at forcing the public service of Bosnia and Herzegovina to agree to the continued violation of the Law and the illegal appropriation of part of public revenue by the Federal Radio Television.

Given that since January of this year, the RTV fee has not been on the accounts of Elektroprivreda BiH and that there is currently no main source of funding, Goran Samardžić, Džemal Šabić, and Džemal Vatreš are directly responsible for the illegal appropriation of public revenue and the impossibility of settling at least part of the obligations to BHRT employees that were fairly earned in the previous month, among other things, by providing services, i.e., working for the needs of the Federal Radio Television.