Canton Sarajevo Government still owes young people the difference in subsidies for first-home purchase; will payment be made by year-end?

(Patria) - Although the next session of the Canton Sarajevo Assembly is scheduled for October 14, aside from the dismissal of Higher Education Minister Adna Mesihović and the appointment of a new minister, it is not known what else might be on the agenda.

Elvedin Okerić, Speaker of the Canton Sarajevo Assembly, recently told TVSA that some materials from the Canton Sarajevo Government should be ready for that session, but did not specify what they are about.

Although a law enabling the payment of the subsidy difference for the purchase of a first home for young people under the 2023 public call was reportedly ready back in July, the Canton Sarajevo Assembly has not yet considered it.

Prime Minister of Sarajevo Canton (KS) Nihad Uk has repeatedly stated that a solution is being worked on, and after Mladen Pandurević was appointed as the new Minister of Communal Economy in April, a legal solution for paying the subsidy difference was sought.

Recall that in January 2024, about 1,000 young people received 4,816 KM each, and subsequently about a hundred more. According to the public call, subsidies were supposed to amount to up to 12,000 KM.

Young people have repeatedly protested, and as a solution, they were offered the difference up to 10,000 KM. This means that each applicant should receive an additional approximately 5,200 KM.

Uk said he expects that this law will be on the agenda of the next session of the Canton Sarajevo Assembly, and its adoption would enable young people to receive the difference in money by the end of the year.

However, to receive the difference, they will also have to meet additional conditions, namely to prove that the property is still in their ownership.

The Government of Sarajevo Canton in July 2025 adopted a Proposal for a Law on the supplementary payment of funds to subsidy beneficiaries under the public call for subsidizing the housing issue of young people for 2023. Now it is up to the Canton Sarajevo Assembly and the majority that needs to vote for it.

Incidentally, the Canton Sarajevo Government has discontinued this practice, so there were no public calls for the allocation of subsidies in either 2024 or 2025.