The purpose-built industry of Bosnia and Herzegovina records a significant drop in profits, and the data for the first seven months of this year raises the question of the business of companies in which the government is the majority owner. According to the data presented in the attachment of the BHRT, the profit in this industry fell by about 50 million KM. At the same time, it is one of the rare branches of the B&H economy that realizes many times more exports than imports.
Line minister Vedran Lakić presents a different picture. In the first half of the year, eight dedicated industry companies made 31 million KM in profit and employ a total of 3,826 workers. Lakić claims that production is growing, that new jobs are being created, and that the goal is to build a strong and stable dedicated industry as one of the drivers of the economic development of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
However, the data of the Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina show a decline in exports. Exports decreased by 16 percent, or by about 56 million KM, while imports increased by 10 percent. In particular, a decrease in exports to the markets of the USA, Serbia and Slovakia was recorded.
One example is the company Pretis, in which the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has 51 percent ownership. According to the data of the external auditor, the company operates at a loss, while the management claims that it initiated a criminal complaint due to alleged irregularities in the reporting of financial data. Former federal minister Nermin Džinić claims that data in such companies is deliberately corrected.
Economists single out the management of state-owned companies as one of the key problems. Professor of the Faculty of Economics in Zenica, Dženan Kulović, warns of excessive political interference, incompetence and lack of responsibility for business results. Experts cite changes in the markets of Saudi Arabia and the USA as possible reasons for the drop in profits, with the expectation that the situation could improve in the coming months with the opening of new markets.
