KS Government Adopts Decree on Allocation of Transfers to Non-Profit Organizations and Individuals from KS Budget

(Patria) - The Government of Sarajevo Canton, at its 24th session today, adopted the Decree on the Allocation of Transfers to Non-Profit Organizations and Individuals from the Budget of Sarajevo Canton.

The decree was adopted at the initiative of the Office for Combating Corruption and Quality Management of Sarajevo Canton.

In 2019, the Office prepared an Analysis of the System for Financing Programs and Projects of Non-Profit Organizations and Associations from the KS Budget. This analysis included an examination of the legal framework governing the procedure for allocating funds for financing/co-financing programs and projects of non-profit organizations and associations from the KS Budget, as well as an analysis of the procedures for allocation and control of fund utilization in 2018, which budget holders allocated to the aforementioned entities during 2018.

Based on the conducted Analysis, the Office identified evident shortcomings and corruption risks in the existing legal framework regulating this area. As an optimal solution, it proposed the adoption of a new Decree that will regulate the issue of allocating transfers to non-profit organizations and individuals from the Budget of Sarajevo Canton.

The Government of Sarajevo Canton accepted the aforementioned Analysis back in 2019, by Conclusion dated December 19, 2019.

The Office also provided the same recommendation in the document Analysis of the Anti-Corruption Environment in the Public Sector in Sarajevo Canton, which pertained to the adoption of this new Decree that will comprehensively regulate the area of transfer allocation.

The goal of adopting this decree is the prevention of corrupt activities and the increase of transparency, which is reflected in the elimination of possible abuses that can occur in the process of allocating funds, arbitrariness, capriciousness, and randomness in decision-making regarding fund allocation, as well as achieving optimal results during the implementation of these funds, and the need for this process to be as clear, precise, and transparent as possible.

Only in this way can the true intended use of public funds allocated to non-profit organizations and individuals be fully achieved.

The steps and actions that each participant in the allocation procedure must take must be precisely defined, with known procedures for budget holders in case of non-fulfillment of conditions.

One of the significant activities prescribed by this decree is the establishment of an online Register of Transfers to Non-Profit Organizations and Individuals from the Budget of Sarajevo Canton, and the Office is responsible for its implementation.
With the support and assistance of the Embassy of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Office has established the aforementioned Register, which is an integral part of the Office's Information System. It will be published on the website of the Office's Information System (www.anticorrupiks.com) within no more than 10 days from the date this decree comes into force, in accordance with its provisions.

The Office will maintain the Register based on data on all allocated funds to non-profit organizations and individuals, which will be directly entered by authorized persons of the budget fund providers.

The purpose of this Register is to establish a centralized, high-quality, and efficient overview of allocated transfers to non-profit organizations and individuals from the KS Budget, and to further ensure transparency in the allocation of transfers, as well as the possibility of timely action and prevention of possible corrupt activities in this process.