KOŠARAC: FORTO SHOULD SOLVE TRANSPORT COMPANIES ISSUE IN BRUSSELS

SARAJEVO, AUGUST 27 /SRNA/ – Staša Košarac, Deputy Chair of the Council of Ministers, has stated today that Edin Forto, Minister of Transport and Communications, would be better off going to Brussels to resolve the transport companies issues, instead of accusing Republika Srpska representatives of opposing his proposals - those that the transporters themselves said they would not solve their problems.

"What he's doing is, first of all, not fair - accusing someone of being against a decision, while he himself isn't implementing the decisions of the Council of Ministers. I'm talking particularly about the allocation and signing of contracts based on the distribution of funds from the Communications Regulatory Agency and others, where he signed contracts with the Federation of BiH, but not with Republika Srpska," Košarac said.

He told reporters in Sarajevo that the proposal to form a committee to help transporters, put forward by Forto, would be meaningless, which the transporters themselves confirmed.

"Imagine forming a committee with 20 members - when would those 20 people even meet? Can our people in the EU afford to wait for that? It would be much better for Forto to stop walking around hallways here and go to Brussels to solve the issue properly," Košarac stressed.

He also criticized the fact that BiH transporters are being detained in the EU, and then those same EU companies recruit them to work there.

"What has Forto actually proposed? Why isn't he in Brussels? Why doesn't he have the courage to say we will impose reciprocal measures on EU drivers? Why not block the EU border? If he can't resolve it in Brussels, then let's block the border," said Košarac.

Košarac, who also serves as Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations in the Council of Ministers, asked why Forto lacks the courage to say that the EU is deceiving BiH, adding that there is already a Trade Facilitation Committee in BiH with 40 members, which he claims is non-functional.

He emphasized that he doesn't wait for 40 people to meet when problems arise, but instead works directly with entity-level ministers to resolve issues.

"Remember the steel quotas that endangered our industry? I went and lobbied to solve the issue for `Mittal` in Prijedor and Zenica," Košarac recalled.

He stressed the need to stand behind the transporters, not EU bureaucrats.

The Logistika Consortium stated that Minister of Transport and Communications Edin Forto is misleading the public and acting against the interests of the transport sector, announcing protests starting on September 1 until their demands are met.