CITIZENS OF SRPSKA AND FBiH PAID HIGH PRICE FOR KRNJIĆ’S OBSTRUCTIONS

BANJA LUKA, SEPTEMBER 17 /SRNA/ – Minister of Finance and Treasury in the Council of Ministers Srđan Amidžić has said today that citizens of both Republika Srpska and the FBiH had paid a high price because of obstructions by Zijad Krnjić, a member of the Governing Board of the Indirect Taxation Authority /ITA/.

"Citizens who were queuing, as well as those who waited six months for decisions on VAT exemptions when purchasing their first property, should know that this was because of Krnjić, who conducted a political campaign at the expense of people living in Republika Srpska and the FBiH," Amidžić told the press in Banja Luka.

Amidžić said that once the FBiH repays its debt to Republika Srpska, Srpska will also settle its debt to the FBiH.

"If those two debts are offset against each other, we will agree. Krnjić, however, never obstructed the work of the Governing Board over the FBiH's BAM 30 million debt to Republika Srpska, which was incurred 11 years ago," Amidžić said.

Director of the Indirect Taxation Authority /ITA/ BiH Zoran Tegeltija said that once the ITA Governing Board adopts a decision on the coefficients for the distribution of VAT revenues, it is the Authority’s responsibility to implement that decision.

"The members of the ITA Governing Board have always adopted all the decisions necessary for the operational work of the ITA, while resolving their disagreements in other ways. We now have a situation in which a member of the Governing Board, who should be acting in the interest of the ITA, has effectively blocked its work and is preventing the Authority from functioning," Tegeltija said.

Tegeltija stressed that the finance ministers would resolve the situation through an agreement, without consequences for the ITA.