University of Sarajevo to switch to treasury operations at the beginning of 2019

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Planning the preparation of the Budget Framework Document - BFD for the period 2019-2021 was the reason for today's meeting between the Minister of Finance of Sarajevo Canton Jasmin Halebić and the Vice-Rector for Finance of UNSA Željko Šain with representatives of the finance services of the university's organizational units, which was held at the University of Sarajevo Rectorate.

- The Law on Higher Education was passed in 2017 and its implementation in the part of treasury operations is following, which is why we organized this meeting with you who are the key link in creating and implementing financial support for each of the organizational units in the overall higher education system - stated Minister Halebić.

He explained that the budgeting process is a very detailed process in the Canton, which is carried out in accordance with the Law on Budgets in the Federation of BiH. This is a systemic law that applies vertically throughout the FBiH, at all levels of government, with which everyone must comply, and it defines deadlines for certain activities, which were discussed during today's meeting.

- Although we are at the beginning of 2018, when the annual financial statement for the previous year is still being prepared, certain activities for budget preparation have already begun, which we will work on together in order to be ready for 2019, because with that year we plan for UNSA to fully switch to treasury operations - announced Minister Halebić.

According to him, several challenges lie ahead for all actors in this process. The academic year does not coincide with the financial year, which requires joint coordination, and in addition to the Law on Higher Education, a series of normative acts must be adopted, primarily the Statute of the University and amendments to the regulation on own revenues, as well as the rulebook on criteria for the distribution of budget funds among the organizational units of the University.

- Our strategic commitment is that the own revenues generated by UNSA remain at the University - emphasized Minister Halebić.

- This year's Budget of Sarajevo Canton amounts to 769 million KM, and with deferred revenues from the previous year that will not be spent, the total budget amount for 2018 is around 830 million, excluding revenues generated by the University's organizational units. About a third of the total budget funds belong to the Ministry of Education, Science and Youth of KS, of which 38 percent is allocated to the primary education sector, and about 30 percent to the University. Then, in terms of the amount of funds allocated, the secondary education sector follows, and then the Public Institution ‘Children of Sarajevo“ - informed Minister Halebić the attendees.

The integration of education also implies the financial integration of all budget users. Education, as emphasized by Minister Halebić, is a challenge for every society, and it is in the general interest of the citizens of KS for it to be organized as well and as high-quality as possible.

Domestic and international projects of the University were also discussed, and it was stated that this issue will also be resolved during this year, in order to smoothly transition to treasury operations. The proposed solution will be in the spirit of creating motivation for work on domestic and international projects.

Everyone agreed that the current international position of the University of Sarajevo, which according to the latest webometrics data is ranked 2039th, is unacceptable to anyone, and that UNSA has the potential for better success.