In the recent past, more and more European and other brands occur with the desire to open factories and plants in Srpska. They are interested in moving their production from Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia and other countries to Republika Srpska. This is the proof that we have made an environment that attracts foreign investment, Višković said.
The Prime Minister of the Republika Srpska Radovan Višković has estimated that the Government had good results in the first year of its mandate, which is confirmed by the data on the largest number of employees since the Republika was formed, the growth of the average salary, which is for the first time equal with earnings in the Federation of BiH /FBiH/, greater coverage of imports by exports, and an increase in the budget that has enabled the growth of salaries, pensions and other benefits.
“That is the role of the Government, and I experience it that way. My position from the beginning was that it can always be better, but if we look at things realistically, the Government has made results for this year, and this is best reflected through indicators that are relentless”, Višković said in an interview for Srna.
He also said that he was satisfied with the liquidity of the budget, stating that the Government regularly pays salaries, pensions, social security benefits, obligations to suppliers and subsidies.
CREATED ENVIRONMENT THAT IS ATTRACTIVE FOR FOREIGN INVESTMENTS
The Prime Minister of Srpska has reminded that the focus of his work was on the economy, which was shown through growth of income.
According to him, there is little talk in the public that Srpska has destinations such as Kotor Varoš, Derventa or Bijeljina where companies in various fields, from the production of auto parts to textiles and footwear, work for the world’s largest brands.
“Our economy entity from Kotor Varoš produces footwear for the strongest world’s armies. I am proud of these people and our workers because we have the work force and quality to produce the best brands. Recently, more and more European and other brands occur with the desire to open factories and plants in Srpska. They are interested in moving their production from Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia and other countries to Republika Srpska. This is the proof that we have made an environment that attracts foreign investment”, Višković emphasized.
The Prime Minister has added that the departure of the active workforce is worrying, and should work on it how to resolved this problem.
“It is a global problem and is not only happening in Srpska and BiH, but also in Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Germany and other EU member states. By the measures we have adopted and which we are planning to create we are trying to solve this problem. We need to give hope to the people, raise salaries, and deal with their life issues that we can send them a message – stay here, in your Republika, on your fatherland, and there is nowhere better to live than where you are. My mission is to work on that”, Višković said.
FROM JANUARY 1, HIGHER SALARIES AND PENSIONS
Talking about the proposed budget for 2020, the Prime Minister of Srpska said that BAM 108 million is higher than the revised budget for this year.
“With the rebalance, this year’s budget was increased by 60 million, and by the budget proposal for 2020 by an additional BAM 108 million. The budget proposal for 2020 is almost BAM 170 million higher than the draft budget for 2019. As soon as you have it on the revenue side such an increase is overflowing to the expenditure side as well”, Višković explained.
Thanks to this, he added, the salary increase for budget users in the range of five to 20 percent will take effect from January 1, 2020.
According to him, apart from the budget for 2020 and the Economic Reform Program for the period 2020-2022., the Law on Contributions, which aimed at a reduction the employment contribution rate from 0.8 to 0.6 percent, which will save the economy nine million BAM, will be discussed at the special session of the National Assembly on Monday.
THE GOVERNMENT OF SRPSKA WOULD DO MORE IF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS WAS FORMED IN TIME
According to him, based on the Economic Reform Program for the period 2019-2021. an action plan for 2019 was created, and the results show that more than 80 percent of that plan has been implemented or is in the phase of implementation.
“Less than 20 percent have not been realized. This is the result of other influences. The one year of the mandate of the RS Government has passed, without having formed a Council of Ministers and the FBiH Government during that time. This has made our functioning much more difficult. But we have successfully survived this year and this is another proof that Srpska can work independently, decide and fulfill its obligations without depending on others. They are causing us problems, but not to the extent that we cannot function without them”, Višković says.
He has expressed his belief that the Government of Srpska would have done much more planned things had the Council of Ministers and the Government of the FBiH been formed in time, but they had no interlocutor on the other side.
Speaking about the initiative of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers Zoran Tegeltija to hold joint meetings of the Council of Ministers with the governments of the entities in the future, Višković has emphasized that this is his idea, also.
“It is important for us to cooperate, because a significant number of projects in Srpska require the consent of other levels of the authorities. In order to do all this for the benefit of our citizens, cooperation of all levels of the authorities is necessary”, Višković concluded.
Source: srna
