When it comes to upgrading vehicle fleets, increasing their own salaries, or enjoying other privileges, Bosnian and Herzegovinian (BiH) politicians, as past practices show, spare no expense – their appetites grow. Meanwhile, citizens face only rising living costs and continuous price increases, tightening their belts from month to month.
Every day brings higher prices and a growing cost of living, while wages and pensions remain minimal. Citizens say the hardest hit are pensioners, who are not living but merely surviving.
After 34 years of dedicated work, one pensioner said that she struggles to manage all her expenses and the rising prices with a minimal pension.
The coverage of the union consumer basket by the minimum wage is just 20.09%, leaving most BiH citizens torn between paying bills and buying food. Surveyed citizens confirm they are barely covering their expenses with their incomes.
Across BiH, 53 soup kitchens feed nearly 18.000 people. In Bijeljina, 297 individuals rely on the chance for a warm meal. In Mostar, the number of people seeking Red Cross support has grown significantly over the past year. The situation is no different in other cities across the country.
“Each year, we use 50.000 loaves of bread, 8 tons of potatoes, 6 tons of cabbage, 1.5 tons of beans, 3 tons of pasta, 1.5 tons of oil, and other products,” says Mitar Skoric, manager of a soup kitchen in Bijeljina.
“This includes food and hygiene aid, adult diapers – we’ve seen an over 200% increase in the number of beneficiaries,” adds Alen Kajtaz, secretary of the Red Cross in Mostar.
The exact number of impoverished people in BiH is unknown. The last time the Agency for Statistics of BiH measured poverty was in 2015. At that time, the European Union (EU) average was 24%.
“Statistics have always been an accurate sum of inaccurate data. We can see people on every corner living much worse than the statistics suggest. Citizens of BiH are definitely poorer than the EU average,” says Admir Arnautovic, president of the Consumer Club of Central BiH.
“In the EU, there is a far better support network for socially vulnerable categories, offering certain aid and various ways to reduce living costs. BiH lacks this – we don’t even have public services cards,” notes economic analyst Ivan Gavran.
Experts emphasize that poverty in BiH requires a systemic approach and long-term changes, not temporary measures. One such measure is the one-time assistance to pensioners in the Federation of BiH (FBiH), amounting to 50 or 100 BAM. Although payments began yesterday, the amount, insufficient even for a few meals, was, colloquially speaking, already spent the day before.
