The account of the Radiotelevision of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been blocked again, which further complicates the operation of the public service and the fulfillment of obligations to employees and suppliers.
The blockade is the result of a final court ruling according to which BHRT should pay RTRS about 18 million BAM with interest. In BHRT, however, they remind that the same court ruling also obliges RTRS to the state public service.
According to data published by BHRT, RTRS owes BHRT about 15.6 million BAM based on non-transferred funds from RTV tax. BHRT therefore requests that both obligations be fulfilled and that the debts be offset against each other.
“So, the difference is about two and a half million. We have come to a situation where the Sarajevo Municipal Court blocks the BHRT account, that the RTRS account for that amount of 15.6 million is not blocked, and we are only asking that the judgment be fully executed, and we are ready to pay the difference of two and a half million, the same moment when that decision is made”, said acting general director of BHRT Belmin Karamehmedović.
The Board of Directors of BHRT warns that account blocking threatens the regular functioning of the public service, including obligations to workers and suppliers.
From BHRT they state that they do not dispute the obligation towards RTRS, but at the same time they request that a legally binding decision be executed by which RTRS is obliged to pay the funds to BHRT.
“We had a meeting of the Board of Directors today. Our lawyer, who represents our team, spoke to us. He told us that he has also objected to this execution as RTRS, to this blockade that RTRS initiated, and will request that these two items be countered,” said BHRT Board of Directors member Elvir Lemeš.
The dispute between the two public broadcasters has been going on for years, and the latest blocking of accounts has reopened the question of the financial viability of the public service of Bosnia and Herzegovina, BHRT writes.
