Uncertainty at BHRT - from World Cup broadcasts to employees' existence

(Patria) - Following the qualification of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team for the World Cup, it is uncertain whether BHRT will manage to obtain the broadcasting rights for certain matches, primarily due to the difficult financial situation it is in.

Who is responsible and are there solutions to save BHRT?

Although a stable and independent state Public Service is one of the 14 priorities for Bosnia and Herzegovina's entry into the European Union, BHRT is facing closure.

RTRS owes BHRT 105 million marks for withholding the RTV fee since 2017.

While court proceedings are ongoing, debts are accumulating, and politicians are ignoring the financial abyss the Public Service finds itself in.

The Minister of Finance of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Srđan Amidžić, is against helping BHRT because, as he says, it is not a budget user. Amidžić did not blame RTRS for the debt, but he did blame the management of BHRT.

"We fear that the EBU will initiate enforcement of the judgment we received against BHRT, amounting to 22 million in account blocking. If that happens, all discussions are superfluous."

"Those funds were foreseen in the budget adopted last year, and then that minister went public and boasted about how he managed to exclude BHRT and seven cultural institutions, and that it was his great victory," says the acting General Director of BHRT, Belmin Karamehmedović.

The Minister of Transport and Communications, Edin Forto, will propose to the Council of Ministers of BiH to allocate 10 million marks in emergency funds for BHRT. Before being sent for processing, a positive opinion from the Ministry of Finance and Treasury is required.

"I have not received a signal that we will not get that opinion because it is a technical matter, and then everyone in the Council of Ministers expresses their stance. I sincerely hope that reason will prevail here," Forto points out.

Minister Amidžić believes that "what is being requested now and what Forto is proposing is to deceive all BHRT employees."

"He is proposing illegal solutions to say that he has proposed something and to absolve himself in front of BHRT employees," Amidžić assesses.

One of the proposals for more stable financing of BHRT is a mixed financing model – partly from the RTV fee and partly from the BiH budget, while preserving independent editorial policy. Until then, some politicians are calling on the High Representative to resolve the issue of BHRT.

"Schmidt resolved the Viaduct issue. More than 100 million was taken from indirect taxes from the Central Bank account and paid out. If it can be done for Viaduct, it can be done for BHRT," said delegate in the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliament, Dženan Đonlagić.

Former delegate in the Federal Parliament, Sanela Prašović-Gadžo, appealed to all parties in the House of Peoples to support the Law on Enforcement Procedure, which would also include the RTV fee.

She asked why Elektroprivreda Hrvatske zajednice Herceg-Bosne does not collect the RTV fee, but only Elektroprivreda Bosne i Hercegovine does.

"Why doesn't the FBiH Government react, meaning it is legalizing something that is illegal, or rather, enabling a part of the country not to pay the RTV fee. That is scandalous. Both are public companies, why don't both collect, why is this being ignored and swept under the rug?" asked Prašović-Gadžo.

There are two months left until the start of the World Cup in football. It is uncertain whether citizens will watch the BiH national team on BHRT, but also whether employees will receive financial compensation for their work.

The alarms for urgent action by the authorities have long been sounded, but there is still no political will to help BHRT.