RS Railways receive 25 million KM for infrastructure, but it's not enough to pull the company out of crisis

The Government of Republika Srpska will finance railway infrastructure in RS with slightly more than 17 million KM in 2016, and will co-finance several projects in railway transport in this part of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the amount of nearly 8 million KM, it was confirmed today at the RS Government, reports Patria.

Experts warn that this money is nowhere near enough to pull this public company out of the deep hole it has fallen into.

Republika Srpska Railways have been operating with millions in losses for years. Last year alone, RS Railways paid about 15 million KM in interest to banks. There are also millions in debts to workers, who are filing lawsuits because the company does not regularly pay their salaries and contributions.

The director of RS Railways, Dragan Savanović, recently told the Belgrade-based "Novosti" in an interview that RS Railways owes banks about 70 million euros, and that the company will not be able to operate if the Government does not take over this loan.

More than 3,000 workers are currently employed at RS Railways, and only their salaries require about 49 million KM annually, writes Patria.