Air on Credit: How Sarajevo Breathes Debt

(Patria) - While the "Trojka" talks about a "green future," Sarajevo is going into debt for the air it breathes, warns the Member of the Parliament of Sarajevo Canton (KS) Faruk Selmanović (SDA).

This is Selmanović's reaction to the Proposal for a decision on accepting debt under the Loan Agreement between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) for the "Air Quality Improvement" Project, which will be the seventh item on the agenda at tomorrow's session of the KS Assembly.

In a statement to the Patria News Agency (NAP), Selmanović says that if this decision is adopted, Sarajevo Canton is preparing to take out the most senseless loan in its history – 44 million marks to "improve air quality".

- So, not for factories, not for infrastructure, not for schools and children, but, imagine, for air. And a loan, 44 million on paper, in reality more than 70 million KM, which we will repay until 2057, with an eight-year grace period.

In other words: they are borrowing today, and our children and grandchildren will repay it. If this is a "development vision," then we have truly entered the zone of political fantasy - emphasizes Selmanović.

According to him, Nihad Uk's government is trying to sell this loan as a "project of the future".

- But anyone who understands economics knows that this is a survival project. An attempt to patch budget holes and buy a few more months of peace before the elections - notes Selmanović.

He also emphasizes that the Federal Ministry of Finance has already warned that Sarajevo Canton is late in repaying previous loans, "but the Trojka doesn't care, debt has become their way of governing".

- The principle is simple: borrow, spend, run away. Under this government, the Canton's debt has increased fourfold, and the accumulated deficit has reached 180 million marks. And this with a record budget of 1.88 billion.

So, never more money, and never fewer results. The air is worse, the roads are in disrepair, heating is more expensive, public transport is falling apart. And now, at the end of their term, they are talking about a "loan for clean air." Haven't we heard this before? - asked Selmanović.

He reminds that back in 2019, Edin Forto said that "the problem requires a strategic solution".

- When nothing happened, he blamed the citizens. His successor Nihad Uk in 2023 promised that "by 2026, the air will be clean".

And here we are in 2025, taking out a loan as if the air and memories will be cleared by the end of the year. If that's the plan, they could have easily named the project "borrow and clear" - says our interlocutor.

Let's recall, adds Selmanović, the minister Adnan Delić, who in 2022 announced a "cantonal pellet plant" as a symbol of new green policy.

- It was supposed to bring cheaper heating, jobs, and cleaner air. Three years later, there is neither the pellet plant nor the minister. He went to the Federal government, leaving behind only headlines and empty folders. That is the doctrine of the Trojka: marketing instead of results - underlines Selmanović.

He assesses that the situation is no better with "green energy" - Sarajevo Canton is the only one in the Federation that has not regulated the legal framework for the use of solar panels for years.

- While other cantons encourage the production of clean energy, here people paid concessions for the sun. Instead of solar power plants, we have solar promises and a budget that burns faster than the pellets we never produced.

This loan of 44 million KM will not clean the air, but it will poison the finances of Sarajevo Canton. Because 44 million taken today means 70 million repaid tomorrow.

And "tomorrow" in their vocabulary means - when they are no longer in the Government. There are no magic formulas for air. There is only systematic work and responsibility - and that is the last thing this government knows how to do - Selmanović is of the opinion.

While they hide behind "eco slogans," he adds, the budget is emptying, debts are growing, and citizens are breathing poison.

- Therefore, let's be clear: this is not ecology, this is economic panic. A loan for air is not a solution, but a symptom of a government that doesn't know where its money is going or where it will get it back from - Selmanović is clear.

For those who vote for this loan at the session, he says they are voting for Sarajevo to breathe debt, not clean air.

- Sarajevo Canton does not need another loan. It needs a government that knows the difference between development and waste. Because air is not cleaned by interest, but by plan, knowledge, and work. And if they continue like this, we won't even have air anymore, everything will go towards paying off their mistakes - concludes Selmanović in an interview with NAP.

(D.K.)