The Government of the Republic of Srpska considered today during its 64th session the Information about the Initiative of the BiH Council of Ministers on establishment of “The Fund for Entrepreneurship and Development of BiH.
The Government of the Republic of Srpska rejects the Initiative referred above and finds it to be completely unconstitutional and moreover maintains that the solutions foreseen regarding the establishment, organization, competences and funding of “The Fund” are not in accordance with the number of legal solutions which regulate this matter in BiH.
The legal framework for establishment of “The Fund” would be the Law on Entrepreneurship and Development of BiH as the ‘Lex Specialis’ without further specifying of any law or reference to the constitutional grounds for its enactment.
The Council of Ministers of BiH in accordance with the CoM Chairman’s Statement, launched the Initiative and prepared the concept for establishment of “The Fund for Entrepreneurship and Development of BiH” which contains the comparative analysis of similar institutions in BiH and in the region and lists various models of its founding, organization, acting and financing. The same Document of the Council of Ministers foresees the establishment of the Fund as the first step in establishment of the Agency for Small and Medium Size Enterprises at BiH level. The Initiative on establishment of “The Fund for Entrepreneurship and Development of BiH” along with citing the program goals of the Council of Ministers has been justified in the same Concept Document with the necessity to “provide funds for the projects of state importance, regional and international projects and relevant inter-entity projects related to the sector of small and medium-size enterprises and for the purpose of improving the financial sustainability of projects which are funded by international donors and particularly by the European Union”.
The founder of “The Fund” would be BiH and the initial capital for its establishment would be provided from the sale of the assets of BiH institutions and surplus of the revenues of the Central Bank of BiH which average amount paid to the account of the BiH Ministry of Finance and Treasury in the last five years totaled 30 million a year, as well as the funds of international financial institutions, surplus of the foreign exchange reserves of the Central Bank of BiH and the funds used to support foreign investments from the Foreign Investors Support Fund based on some earlier decisions of the Council of Ministers. The initial assessment is that the funds from the sources mentioned above would be sufficient for the establishment of the Fund and for the first year of functioning.
The Government of the Republic of Srpska completely supports the stance of the President of the Republic of Srpska presented in the letters addressed to appointed and elected representatives from the Republic of Srpska in joint BiH institutions which point to unconstitutionality and unlawfulness of the Initiative in question.
The Government of the Republic of Srpska is requesting the elected and appointed representatives from the Republic of Srpska in BiH institutions not to support the Initiative concerned.
Source: Vladars.net