Lawmakers on Budget at the End of October: Čović Not Opposed to Funds for BHRT, but is to Cultural Institutions Despite OHR Order

By Amra Vrabac

At the end of this month, the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament will again consider the Proposal of the Budget for BiH Institutions and International Obligations, but with amendments. While SNSD openly states that the BiH Presidency's proposal to allocate 22 million KM for BHRT and 7.9 million KM for cultural institutions of state importance that lack funding is unacceptable to them, the President of HDZ BiH has a somewhat different opinion, even though he himself stated that many things in the proposed budget bother him and that it needs "fixing" because it is not implementable.

Speaking on the show Jutro za sve on BHRT on Thursday, Čović said that "as far as BHRT is concerned, we have never had any doubts about it".

"Regarding cultural institutions, it needs to be precisely defined which cultural institutions are of importance to BiH. Very precisely," Čović said.

If Čović is unclear about which cultural institutions are of importance to the state, the decision of High Representative Christian Schmidt of November 21, 2024, is available to him, by which he ordered the Council of Ministers of BiH to resolve the issue of management and financing of seven institutions of state importance: the National Museum, the Historical Museum, the National and University Library of BiH, the National Gallery of BiH, the Museum of Literature and Theatre Arts of BiH, the Library for the Blind and Visually Impaired of BiH, and the Kinoteka BiH. It is listed very precisely, and the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers of BiH, Borjana Krišto, has never put this decision on the agenda.

Although SNSD disagrees with the planned funds for BHRT, which has found itself in a difficult financial situation due to RTRs' debts to BHRT for not paying money from the collected RTV tax, most of these funds will be used for the debt to EBU. Around 800 people work at BHRT, and most of them have a salary of 1,000 KM, and that is only after the minimum wage in FBiH increased.

If SNSD were to look at the transcript of the session of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament held on June 12 this year, it would see that the proposal of the BiH Presidency is not an arbitrary decision by members Željko Komšić and Denis Bećirović.

At that session, the proposal of measures and conclusions for overcoming the current alarming financial collapse, as well as establishing an effective long-term model for financing and functioning of BHRT, submitted by the Committee on Transport and Communications of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament, was adopted. As stated by the Committee President Jasmin Imamović, bankruptcy is increasingly likely for BHRT if something does not change soon. He noted that more than 60 percent of BHRT employees earn the minimum wage of 1,000 KM.

- The House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament notes that the Public Radio-Television Service of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHRT) is in serious danger of ceasing operations and declaring bankruptcy after prolonged denial of stable financing, which is a result of the non-implementation of the Law on the Public Radio-Television System of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2005.

- Due to the extremely complex financial situation at BHRT and the inability to pay its debts on various grounds (debt to the European Broadcasting Union, debt for salaries, contributions, utilities, etc.), the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament instructs the Council of Ministers of BiH to plan and allocate financial resources in the amount of 20,000,000.00 KM for the needs of BHRT in the budget of BiH institutions.

- The House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament requests the Council of the Communications Regulatory Agency of BiH to submit to the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH for parliamentary procedure, within 15 days, based on Article 22, paragraphs (1), (2), and (4) of the Law on the Public Radio-Television System of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a Proposal for a decision on the amount of the RTV tax, especially considering the fact that the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, acting on the proposal of the Agency, adopted a Decision on the amount of the RTV tax which entered into force on June 5, 2015 ("Official Gazette of BiH", No. 45/15).

- The House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament reminds the Government of the Federation of BiH that at its 22nd session, held on October 22, 2024, it adopted a conclusion proposing that the Government of the Federation of BiH urgently amend Article 29, paragraph (2) of the Law on Enforcement Procedure of the Federation of BiH, in such a way that an account for the RTV tax or an excerpt from business books for the price of the RTV tax also has the status of a credible document, which would enable an increase in the collection rate of the RTV tax in the Federation of BiH.

- The House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament requests the Management Board and management of BHRT to prepare a Rationalization and Consolidation Plan for BHRT within 60 days and submit it to the House of Representatives.

Given that the Council of Ministers of BiH did not act on the conclusions of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament, the BiH Presidency did so and planned funds for both BHRT and cultural institutions.

Čović announced that the Budget should be considered at a session of the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliament in November, provided it is first adopted by the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament.

Regarding BHRT, at the same session in June, candidates for the BHRT Management Board were appointed: Dževdet Tuzlić, Jozo Pavković, Kosta Petrušić, and Ljubomir Zuber. The House of Peoples of the BiH Parliament must also confirm this appointment, and the decision has not yet appeared on the agenda. In his conversation with BHRT, Čović announced that he would review all decisions with the services that should pass through this house, including the appointment of the BHRT Management Board.

Until that happens, the previous Management Board is still working, which includes Valentina Rupčić from Večernji list BiH, as proposed by HDZ. And how much HDZ cares about the media is shown by the appointment of Valentina Rupčić as president of the Management Board of the Federal News Agency for a period of three months instead of Marija Medić Bošnjak, who resigned. Medić Bošnjak is also a journalist from Večernji list, and Pavković, who is proposed for the BHRT Management Board, also comes from Večernji list, while Zoran Krešić from Večernji list is on the Management Board of RTV FBiH.

It should be noted that due to savings, a reduction in the fees for members of the BHRT Management Board from three to two minimum wages is also planned. Thus, their fee would amount to 2,000 KM instead of 3,000 KM, which they have been receiving since January of this year when the minimum wage was increased. However, these amendments to the Law on the Public RTV Service must also pass the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliament.