Canton Sarajevo Government also deceived the Cantonal Assembly: There will be neither the subsidy difference for 1,000 young people nor a new public call

Written by: Amra Vrabac

After the Government of Canton Sarajevo adopted and sent the Draft Budget for 2025 to public consultation, it became clear that more than 1,000 young people have been deceived and will not receive the subsidy difference according to the conclusion adopted by the Cantonal Assembly in June this year. The conclusion specified that additional funds should be found in the budget rebalance for 2024 and that an additional 5,200 KM should be paid to young people who had exercised the right to a subsidy for the purchase of their first property.

Let us recall, for the first time since the project has been implemented, young people were paid only 4,800 KM out of the promised 10,000 to 12,000 KM. However, there will be nothing from the difference.

Last week, the Prime Minister of Canton Sarajevo, Nihad Uk, said that there are tens of thousands of young people who bought apartments before 2017 and did not receive a single mark.

During 2024, the deceived young people organized protests demanding that the promised money be paid to them.

For 2024, no public call was even announced, and according to the budget, 500,000 KM was planned. About 5 million KM was spent for 1,000 young people, and about 5.5 million KM was needed for the difference, which the government could not find.

Canton Sarajevo is in deficit, and the projected budget for 2025 is smaller by 52.5 million KM.

At the beginning of October, on social networks, the head of the NIP and informal head of the Government of Canton Sarajevo also spoke about the problem of these young people, stating that there will be no new public calls until the issue of the previous public call is resolved.


"We have spoken out several times. If we were thinking about votes in this pre-election time, it would be easier to say what could all be solved with those few million that the state should pay you. That would bring us more votes. We do not work that way, that would not be fair. I still believe that you should get that money, we will fight for it to the end and we will not support new public calls until yours is resolved," said Konaković.

However, there is obviously nothing of that promise.

The Government of Canton Sarajevo also deceived all those representatives who voted for the proposed conclusion, while the representatives of Our Party did not support it, as well as the young people who committed to staying in Canton Sarajevo for the next five years. Many of them are ready to return the allocated 4,800 KM and seek their future elsewhere.

While Bosnia and Herzegovina is facing a massive outflow of the working and even reproductive population, and the number of pensioners is increasing enormously, the government in Sarajevo, with its arrogant attitude, is driving this population as far away from Bosnia and Herzegovina as possible.

Although Prime Minister Uk tells us that they are not giving up on maternity benefits, transport subsidies, free textbooks, and improvements to public transport, it would be commendable if one of the priorities of this government were also the population expected to be the driver of development in Canton Sarajevo.