AMIDŽIĆ: COUNCIL OF MINISTERS COMPLETED GROWTH PLAN OBLIGATIONS, PRIORITY PROJECT LIST STILL AWAITED

SARAJEVO, MARCH 5 /SRNA/ – The Minister of Finance and Treasury in the Council of Ministers Srđan Amidžić stated that the Council has completed all obligations related to the Growth Plan and the withdrawal of EU funds, but that it is not possible to proceed with borrowing or put those funds into use until the Directorate for European Integration defines a list of priority projects.

“As Republika Srpska, we cannot enter into borrowing since these are largely loan funds, without having a list of priority projects and without knowing which projects will go to Republika Srpska and which to the FBiH,” Amidžić said.

He pointed out that this is the key issue that no one is currently addressing, even though the task falls under the jurisdiction of the Directorate for European Integration, which is not headed by a representative of either SNSD or HDZ.

Commenting on statements by Minister of Communications and Transport in the Council of Ministers Edin Forto, Amidžić said that Forto is "unfortunately lost in both time and space", reminding that he had previously claimed that BiH would receive one billion euros after the adoption of the Reform Program, which did not happen.

Amidžić said that the most important thing is to define the projects that will be implemented in BiH so that it is known which share belongs to Republika Srpska and which to the FBiH, enabling citizens to understand what they can expect from EU funds.

"If the list of priorities includes various consultancy contracts, feasibility studies and similar items, those are not efficient and people living in BiH gain nothing from them", Amidžić stressed.

He explained that BiH is currently carrying out tasks typical for all countries aspiring to join the EU, which include concluding a loan agreement and an instrument agreement, as well as communicating with the European Commission to harmonize these documents.

"We now have these two documents harmonized and, before we receive the final version from the European Commission, we must submit a request for pre-financing. These are all the tasks that have been completed", Amidžić told SRNA and RTRS.

He added that it is unrealistic to expect the funds to be withdrawn and put into use in a short period of time, noting that the process does not move quickly and that there are many unknowns, such as the level of interest rates and the treatment of fee costs.

As an example, he cited Montenegro, which has withdrawn pre-financing funds for the first and second half of the year under the Growth Plan but is still not using them precisely because of uncertainties regarding financing conditions.