At its most recent session, the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted decisions on the amount of the salary base and holiday allowance for employees in state institutions for 2026, at the proposal of the Ministry of Finance and Treasury. Both the new base salary and holiday allowance have been set at 690.86 BAM and are scheduled to apply from January 1 to December 31, 2026.
While this marks an increase from the base of 631.50 BAM projected for 2025, it has little real effect for employees due to the current budget deadlock. The salary base from 2024—set at 600 BAM—remains in use because the 2025 state budget has yet to be adopted.
Union Discontent: “Nothing Has Increased”
Union leaders were quick to voice dissatisfaction with the decision.
Edin Kahrimanović, President of the SIPA Trade Union, stated:
“Nothing has increased for us. This is merely a technical alignment with the collective agreement and the average salary in 2024. The law clearly says the base must be set by June 30, so they’re already late.”
Concerns are mounting among unions over the growing consequences of delayed budget adoption for this year, which continues to affect salary payments and allowances.
Radenko Marković, from the Trade Union of Civil Servants and Employees in BiH Institutions, criticized political interference:
“We are not politicians. We are trying to provide for our families, but they are forcing us into a situation where, before elections, we will have to tell people who supported us—and who didn’t.”
Mario Krajinović, spokesperson for the police union, added:
“They keep passing the buck—from the Council of Ministers to the Presidency, the ruling party to the opposition. We don’t care who’s responsible. We just want the budget adopted so we can get what is legally ours.”
Law Exists—But Implementation Lags
Although the House of Peoples adopted a new Law on Salaries and Remunerations in April—allowing salary increases for civil servants (excluding politicians)—the law is not being implemented due to the unresolved budget issue.
Džemal Smajić, a member of the Committee on Finance and Budget of the House of Peoples, was blunt:
“The base for 2025 hasn’t even been applied, and now they’ve adopted one for 2026. This is just the ruling coalition buying social peace.”
The ongoing delays in budget adoption not only hinder the implementation of key laws but also jeopardize the operational stability of state institutions and the livelihoods of their employees. Despite repeated calls from unions and civil servants, political disagreements continue to block progress.
