152,488 Households Meet Conditions for EU Aid, Objections Can Be Filed Until December 12

(Patria) - Federal Minister of Labour and Social Policy Adnan Delić announced today that preliminary results of the public call for the selection of households for the distribution of EU aid to overcome the energy crisis are ready, and that citizens will be able to check the status of their applications from Wednesday on a link created exclusively for this purpose.

Delić stated that the largest number of applications meeting the conditions are in the pensioner category with 115,945 accepted applications, followed by households receiving child allowance (29,945). In the category of households where persons receiving permanent financial assistance live, there are a total of 5,558 successful applications, while in the category of households consisting of single parents, there are a total of 1,040 accepted applications.

Looking by cantons, the largest number of households that have qualified for this aid is in the Tuzla Canton, a total of 32,600, followed by Zenica-Doboj Canton with 32,038, Sarajevo Canton with 29,643, and Central Bosnia Canton with 22,808.

According to current data, 152,488 households have qualified for financial assistance across all four categories. For these applications, by matching them with relevant lists, it has been confirmed that they meet all the conditions stipulated by the public call.

"I emphasize that the entire process was automated, according to set criteria, which minimized any external influence and room for human error.
In line with efforts to make this process as transparent as possible, from Wednesday, December 6, 2023, all citizens will be able to check the status of their application online. The status of the application, according to the preliminary list of qualified households, can be checked on the website https://eupomoc.fmrsp.gov.ba/, no later than December 12, 2023, by simply entering the personal identification number (JMBG) of the applicant or one of the household members. After entering the JMBG, the application status will be displayed, along with confirmation of the granted right or a detailed explanation of the unmet conditions.

Citizens who, through the aforementioned check, find that they are not on the preliminary list of qualified households will be able to submit a written objection to the municipality or city where they submitted their application, requesting an additional check of the fulfillment of general and specific criteria established by the Public Call. In case of submitting such objections, the applicant is obliged to attach proof of recognition of the right or status based on which they request an additional check.

It is important to point out that, in case of submitting an objection, proof of meeting the criteria (decision on permanent financial assistance, child allowance, or proof of pension receipt) that was marked as unmet must be provided. It is important to note that all applications have previously undergone a detailed check in existing official records, and we expect a minimal number of applications that could be considered disputed on one of the aforementioned grounds," explained Minister Delić.

After the objection period ends and objections are resolved, a final list of aid recipients will be created, and after the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Policy prepares the Decision on the distribution of funds from this transfer by municipalities, it will be submitted for adoption by the Government of the Federation of BiH. It will be forwarded to local self-government units, in accordance with the established lists of recipients per local self-government unit, after which the funds will be transferred to the accounts of the household heads who applied for this Public Call.

During today's press conference, it was also highlighted that all 79 municipalities and cities in the FBiH actively worked on entering applications into the system, with 804 civil servants engaged in this process.

"We thank all mayors and city mayors and their officials for their dedicated commitment and swift entry of applications. This was a rather short deadline for a process that we carried out in this way for the first time and using a completely new digital tool. Everything, from the development of the application for which we especially thank our partners from UNDP, to the training of officials on how to use the application, then receiving, processing data, checks in existing records, and creating a preliminary list, we completed everything in just over a month. We also owe gratitude to the Tax Administration of FBiH, which did its part of the work in record time and efficiently," said the minister.

It was also emphasized that the entire process of checking application status is fully digitized, in order to avoid any manipulation of papers or errors by anyone involved in this process.

At today's press conference, it was reiterated that the Public Call was published on October 23, 2023, and closed on November 10, 2023. Each received application was entered into a specially developed digital tool, and after the call closed, checks were carried out with relevant lists and registers to create a preliminary list of recipients.

The total number of applications for the Public Call is 216,360 households, or 429,066 individuals.

Minister Delić emphasized at the end that by implementing this public call in this manner, the first register of households in the Federation of BiH has been created, comprising over 215,000 households and around 400,000 individuals, and that this register is a significant basis for creating the social card of the FBiH, which the Ministry plans to do during this mandate period.

Additional statistical information is available at the link:

https://fmrsp.gov.ba/download/pregled-primaoca-eu-pomoci-po-kantonima-i-jedinicama-lokalne-samouprave/

https://fmrsp.gov.ba/download/prezentacija-eu-pomoc/