CONDITIONS MET FOR OPENING TWO BORDER CROSSINGS IN GRADIŠKA AND NEW ONE AT RAČA

SARAJEVO, OCTOBER 7 /SRNA/ - Minister of Finance and Treasury in the Council of Ministers Srđan Amidžić said that conditions have been met for opening two border crossings in Gradiška, and soon also a new one at Rača, after the Governing Board of the Indirect Taxation Authority of BiH adopted the Rulebook on Internal Organization.

Amidžić said that the new border crossing in Gradiška would no longer be treated as temporary, while the prerequisites had also been created for the opening of the old border crossing.

He stressed that this would increase the number of border crossings and improve the flow of people and goods.

"Regarding today's session of the Governing Board of the Indirect Taxation Authority, a decision was adopted through the staffing structure, which was also a prerequisite for opening the new Rača 2 border crossing, scheduled to open on October 15," Amidžić told reporters in Sarajevo.

He noted that this would mean another crossing with Serbia, in addition to the existing Rača border crossing, and that both would remain operational.

"That is what makes me happy, because I think this is something normal and something that should have been done long ago," Amidžić said, describing it as a victory of reason and patience over destruction.

Amidžić said that under the adopted rulebook, seven border crossings with Croatia had been assigned a different category, changing their previous status as border crossings for cross-border traffic to the status of border crossings for international road traffic.

He added that there would be no new hiring in the Indirect Taxation Authority in connection with the new border crossings, but rather a redistribution of existing staff.

"As far as the Council of Ministers is concerned, another decision by the Governing Board of the Indirect Taxation Authority received support today, concerning benefits for the import of vehicles for persons with disabilities," Amidžić said, specifying that the benefit had been increased from BAM 30,000 to BAM 45,000, or by 50 percent.

According to him, the amount of BAM 45,000 will be automatically adjusted each year in line with the inflation rate determined by the Agency for Statistics of BiH.

He said that these decisions benefited all people living in Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH, and that there had been no need to wait for the outcome of the elections for them to be adopted today.

Amidžić noted that this was BiH, which very often demonstrates its absurdities, but that the policies of Republika Srpska, through patience and perseverance, had today received confirmation and been adopted to the benefit of all people living in BiH.