FBiH Government claims BiH is not poor: But how is there no money for children, the sick, and pensioners, yet there is for cars?

By: Amra Vrabac

The FBiH Government, led by Prime Minister Nermin Nikšić, did not like the media and public analyzing the list of 89 recipients of incentives for purchasing electric cars. Thus, on Friday afternoon, the FBiH Government sent a public statement that could be interpreted briefly as follows: "Yes, we gave, and we will give again. Others gave before, why didn't you question who received then, but you are doing it now."

Just a few hours later, Senad Hadžifejzović asked Nikšić about these same incentives on Face TV. However, the head of the FBiH Government, cornered, said that he "shares Senad's opinion that we are rewarding the already rich with subsidies."

"These are our obligations when we talk about the path to the EU. If we stop, people from the EU will come and say you are not fulfilling your obligations," Nikšić said.

But let's return to the FBiH Government's statement. They claim that incentives for purchasing electric cars are one of the obligations that BiH undertook by signing the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the Brussels Agreement, and the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Sofia Declaration on the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans 2021-2030.

However, environmental protection can certainly be addressed in other ways, as who can calculate how much our air will improve because there will be 89 electric vehicles in traffic, or how much less CO2 we will emit into the atmosphere, while, for example, we still have coal-fired stoves and so on.

The most interesting part of the reaction is the question the FBiH Government itself poses.

"Why would the EU admit a country into its membership that we present as a social case and that will only drain money from other EU countries, without being prepared to fulfill the obligations we have undertaken? Moreover, Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a poor country, and we will not present it as such. BiH has been devastated by corruption and organized crime, and that is why our priority is to fight against it, so that the money that ends up in the private accounts of criminals ends up in the budget, and so that we have enough money for all needs," say the FBiH Government.

But let's look at the facts that clearly show whether we are poor or not, and who is robbing this country.

If we are not a poor country, why do we treat children with donations and humanitarian numbers?
If we are not a poor country, why do we constantly receive donations for building renovations, equipping schools, and have no money for medication for critically ill patients. If we are not a poor country, why are some offered medication, while others are told to wait because the government has no money!

If we look at the astronomical monthly salaries of public enterprise directors, especially those financed exclusively from the FBiH Budget and which generate no profit, then we could say that we are not poor, but we will be.

The European Union's constant demand is the reduction and rationalization of public administration. The lowest monthly salary of a director of a company under the jurisdiction of the FBiH Government is at least three average paid salaries, which is almost 4,000 KM. With additional allowances that some directors set for themselves, plus meal allowances, these amounts reach a much higher figure. I still remember the former director of the Environmental Protection Fund, Fuad Čibukčić (SBB), who, in addition to a high salary, also paid himself an allowance of 400 KM because he has a "doctorate." Imagine what other allowances there are.

A review of the salaries of public enterprise management in FBiH, requested by the FBiH Government, was released to the public at a time when more than 200,000 registered individuals are awaiting a decision on the amount they will receive as assistance for heating bills, for which the European Union has provided funds. As things are going, they will receive this money after the heating season ends.

Giving incentives for purchasing electric vehicles to individuals employed in the public sector, judiciary, and companies that receive funds from the FBiH Budget raises questions of conflict of interest, and perhaps some other form of responsibility for those in judicial positions.

We are sure that Nikšić knows that Croatia has been a member of the European Union since 2013, and that he recently read that it faces a lawsuit from the European Commission for not yet harmonizing its legislation on packaging and packaging waste with the EU directive.

Therefore, Mr. Prime Minister, if you wanted to fulfill the obligations that the European Union has set for us, you could have started with what is stated in the latest report on BiH's (non)progress. There is no progress in the fight against corruption, public enterprises remain politicized, and appointments are made along political lines. Police agencies are susceptible to corruption, and the judiciary is not independent.

When the FBiH Government complains that the public is questioning the list of incentives, they should also remember that citizens fill that budget which is being squandered. The payroll taxes deducted from workers in FBiH are among the highest in Europe. These levies fund budgets for healthcare, pension funds, forest protection, the unemployed...

The bloated public administration, which constantly grows with each new ruling coalition, literally devours citizens' money. So, Mr. Prime Minister, we will continue to monitor what you are doing. And it is up to you now to make a decision and demand that the directors of public enterprises, both new ones and those leaving who will be replaced by personnel from the Troika, HDZ, and those upon whom your parliamentary majority depends, reduce their salaries. If there is a legal obstacle to doing so, then pass a conclusion that they are obliged to pay a portion of their income into the Solidarity Fund. This is both humane and an obligation towards the most critically ill patients.

If you can distribute state property, then as the head of the FBiH Government, you can also bring order to the extravagance of public enterprise directors.