The Fiscal Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina will hold a session in Sarajevo today with one item on the agenda, which is the recently adopted conclusion on the debt that the Government of the Republika Srpska entity has to the Slovenian company Viadukt.
The Fiscal Council session should include a plan proposed and adopted by the Council of Ministers of BiH, by which the debt of the entity government would be paid from the budget of Bosnia and Herzegovina, that is, by redistributing funds from the Central Bank of BiH.
However, the right of veto is held by the Prime Minister of the Federation of BiH, Nermin Nikšić, who publicly reacted to this conclusion of the Council of Ministers, saying that he will exercise this right.
“I advise the Council of Ministers to look for other solutions, not to wait for Tuesday, because the debt of the Republika Srpska will increase by an additional 54,000 BAM by then. We will not give the Federation of BiH money for other people’s debts, period. When they need to pay their obligations, then the state of BiH and its budget are good for them. According to the 2017 agreement, the RS Government has unconditionally committed itself to covering the costs of fines,” said, among other things, Nikšić.
In addition to him, the members of the Fiscal Council are Borjana Krišto, as the Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of BiH, Srđan Amidžić, Minister of Finance of BiH, Radovan Višković, Prime Minister of the RS Government, Toni Kraljević, Minister of Finance of the FBiH, and Zora Vidović, Minister of Finance of the RS.
If Nikšić vetoes, the Fiscal Council will not approve this method of debt relief, and the Council of Ministers of BiH will hold a session tomorrow where one of the topics will be a new proposal for a solution to this situation.
As a reminder, the Slovenian company Viadukt sued Bosnia and Herzegovina for the unilateral termination of the concession agreement issued by the RS Government, which related to the construction of a hydropower system on the Vrbas River.
The amount of the debt is 110 million BAM, with this figure increasing by 9,000 euros until the debt is repaid due to interest.
EUROCONTROL (European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation) has been informed that it has been ordered by an executive order of seizure by court bailiffs from Brussels on March 21, 2025, to freeze and not make any further payments to Bosnia and Herzegovina and BHANSA.
This debt may result in the suspension of air traffic, job losses, damage to reputation, and numerous other negative consequences for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
