The reform agenda could forever change the bleak picture of the public enterprises.
The mass party employment and accumulation of losses on the account of the citizens should become a thing of the past. The most important strategic document on which the authorities pledged envisages the separation of public enterprises to the sustainable ones and the ones that cannot withstand the market competition.
“The public enterprises will be divided into those that are sustainable and those that are not, with the foreseen publication of the list of such companies. These lists will form the basis for the comprehensive programs of restructuring and the privatization program, i.e. liquidation over the medium term. Special attention will be paid to the restructuring of the railways (in both entities) and mines (in FB&H), which includes a new organization and a number of employees”, it is stated in the reform agenda.
That the number of employees is the biggest problem of public enterprises was admitted yesterday by the entity prime ministers as well. Nevertheless aware that the final solution is on the long shot, they did not mention the dismissal of workers or the ultimate fate of the long-term loss-makers.
Both entities will start the reform from the Railways, to which the restructuring is being announced and for what the financial support of the World Bank is expected.
“We have jointly analyzed some enterprises in both the Federation and Srpska, to put them together and say which are those whose business is doing well and which are in major problems that we need support for. We definitely have a problem of surplus workers”, said Zeljka Cvijanovic, the Prime Minister of the RS.
Only the privatization of BH Telecom is planned, but it is a less important issue for the Federal Prime Minister. Prime Minister Cvijanovic boasted with the fact that the possibility of the privatization of Elektroprivreda was excluded from the final text, and pointed out that the agenda does not foresee any frightening reforms. It is stated in the consolidated version of the text that the governments of the entities will arrange the eventual destiny of the public enterprises with the international creditors.
(Source: novovrijeme.ba)
