AMIDŽIĆ: FEDERATION JEOPARDIZES COOPERATION WITH IFAD

SARAJEVO, JUNE 12 /SRNA/ - The Minister of Finance and Treasury in the Council of Ministers Srđan Amidžić stated that this morning he received a letter indicating that cooperation with the International Fund for Agricultural Development /IFAD/ is at risk, due to the Ministry of Finance of the Federation of BiH /FBiH/ violating the agreement by avoiding or refusing to fulfill obligations toward IFAD project team staff, as well as tax payments, as defined by the international agreement.

"I take this opportunity to call on my colleagues from the FBiH to return to the framework of the signed agreement and to stop endangering 30 years of successful cooperation with this organization, which has implemented projects here worth more than BAM 100 million," Amidžić emphasized.

He announced that the Ministry of Finance and Treasury will settle the obligations from the single account on behalf of the Federation of BiH if they fail to do so.

Amidžić also stated that this move implies the cancellation of upcoming projects worth 14 million Euros, as well as the loss of a 10 million dollar grant from IFAD.

"This represents a flagrant violation of the human rights of employees in the project implementation unit in the Federation of BiH. At the same time, it prevents farmers from receiving certain subsidies they were supposed to obtain through the aforementioned projects," Amidžić told reporters.

He explained that the Presidency of BiH, as the proposer of the budget, should have submitted amendments with technical corrections and allowed the budget to proceed through the legislative process if it believed that the proposal from the Council of Ministers, and not just the Ministry of Finance and Treasury, was inadequate.

Amidžić compared the work of the Council of Ministers over the past six months to elementary school.

"If we were to compare the Council of Ministers to a school, say, an elementary or secondary school, our colleague, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmedin Konaković would have to take a make-up exam. Because he's almost never present at Council sessions, he has too many unexcused absences, and by doing so, he shows a lack of seriousness regarding both the Council itself and the duties he is supposed to perform," Amidžić stated.