| CROAT RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (18:00 hrs) | BH TV 1 (19:00 hrs) | FED TV (19:30 hrs) | RT RS (19:30) |
| Trans-Adriatic conference | Trans-Adriatic conference | Attack on a Serb returnee | Trans-Adriatic initiative |
| SARS epidemics | Talks on Iraqi future | Return process in Vares | Italian FM with Ashdown |
| Hussein still alive? | SARS up-date | Revision of privatisation | BiH-Albania free trade |
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| Jablanica-Mostar road |
| RS NA on Bulldozer prop. |
| Oslobodjenje | Pay off of April pensions on Wednesday, increase in May; Soldiers suing Federation; FBiH MoI submitted criminal reports – money laundering damaged the budget by 4,5 million KM; Trans-Adriatic conf – 101 million Euro for co-operation; Trebinje Islamic Centre – frequent intimidation of Bosniak returnees |
| Dnevni Avaz | BiH and US start negotiation; Trans-Adriatic conf – 101 million Euro for projects; Federation PIO Institute – the pay off of April pensions tomorrow; Catic on veterans’ loans – lists being checked in cantons; Raguz reveals – The Hague handing over BiH Court 15 indictments |
| Dnevni List | Privileged status to countries of Eastern Adriatic in EU; Dissatisfaction of the HR over ruling structures in BiH – reforms in the Council of Ministers exist on paper only |
| Vecernji List | Discrimination of Croats in the traffic and roads construction business – 2 million KM for roads in Herzegovina and 100 million KM for roads in Bosnia; Mostar – four times more money to Bosniaks; SARS – Chinese from Slovenia return to BiH |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Lijanovic are importing sick calves; Interview – HDZ Vice President Dragan Covic admits after the HDZ Convention: conflict between Tomislav Grad and Livno is irresolvable for the HDZ |
| Glas Srpski | At Sizje near Lukavac – beating at Easter |
| Nezavisne Novine | Trans-Adriatic Conference in Sarajevo – Balkan states in the race for 100 million Euro; Dragan Mikerevic – confiscation of property owned by Mafia in the RS soon to commence; 100 days of the RS government’s work – they talked more than they did |
| Blic | Illegal building jeopardises potable water springs; Gojko Savanovic – million KM for two faculties; Jasmin Samardzic – the lack of money stops the building of houses for refugees |
Political Affairs | |
| Trans-Adriatic conf
| Avaz pg. 1 and 4 – Trans-Adriatic conf held yesterday in Sarajevo, which was attended by foreign ministers from BiH, Albania, Italy, Croatia and Montenegro. The conf marks the start of the latest regional initiative to connect regional countries with European institutions. Mladen Ivanic, BiH Foreign Minister, stated that yesterday was the official commencing of the nomination of regional projects for which the total of 101 million Euro has been allocated within the initiative. The money was allocated by the EC, Italian government and seven Italian, Adriatic provinces. Franko Fratini, Italian Foreign Minister, stated the biggest areas of interest were fight against organized crime, the improvement of institutional structures, legal and administrative cooperation. Oslobodjenje pg. 1, 4 and 5 – an insert ‘The quality will prevail’ informing that the ‘Program of Trans-Adriatic Cooperation’ was approved in 2000 within the INTERREG Initiative III and will last until the year 2006. The funds intended for the program will be allocated amongst countries on the basis of the quality of programs offered. Dnevni List pg. 1 and 5 – the project called INTERREG III A has been launched with an aim to improve the connection amongst countries in the region and further their stabilization as a pre-requisite to joining the EU. DL reports that Italian Foreign Minister, Franco Frattini, said that the successful implementation of the project was instrumental for strengthening of the privileged status the countries in region have en rote to joining the EU. Otherwise, there is a risk the funds will go elsewhere. Vjesnik pg. 2 ‘Ashdown: accession of Eastern Adriatic countries to the EU should not be an act of mercy’ – on the same issue carries the HR as saying that the joining of countries from the eastern Adriatic to the EU should not be an act of mercy, and that the countries needed to bring new values to the European family. Nezavisne Novine pg. 1 & 3 ‘Balkan states in the race for 100 million Euro’, Glas Srpski pg. 2 ‘Bidding for projects’ – according to an NN inset, the foreign ministers of the participating states yesterday signed the Joint Declaration, which declares their support to the initiative of the joint co-operation projects between Italian Adriatic regions and four East European states – BiH, Albania, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro. Blic pg. 6 ‘For borders without barriers’ – the continuation of the conference will discuss conditions for joint projects and other technical details so that tenders may be announced in June. |
| Milisic on civil service | Avaz pg. 2 ‘All possible appointments Ashdown would either freeze or annul’ – OHR Spokesperson, Oleg Milisic, stated that in case the SDA or any other party decided to appoint people in the FBiH Civil Service before the Law on the Service was adopted then the HR would be forced to either freeze such appointments of annul them. Milisic however added he hoped no such thing would take place. Oslobodjenje pg. 2 ‘No appointments before the law’ – recalled that Colak, Tihic, Halilovic and Hadzipasic agreed to put the appointments on hold until the law was adopted, and Milisic said the OHR believed they were men of their word. |
| Ashdown to address RS NA | Avaz pg. 2 ‘Intelligence services as the secret police from the time of communism’ – the daily again (see yesterday’s Media Round-Up) carries excerpts from a speech that HR Paddy Ashdown will deliver today at the RS NA. Amongst other thing, the HR will announce the time has come to establish state intelligence service. He will also talk about fight against organized crime and will warn that BiH has a simple choice – the rule of law or rule of lawlessness. Dnevni List pg. 1 and 3 – he will be criticizing the Federation government over their failure to enact a modern law on the state service and will express concern that many reforms to the BiH Council of Ministers are only existing on paper.DL notes that one could expect the HR to announce the next phase in the fight against crime through strengthening of institutions that are going to fight it. Nezavisne Novine pg. 6 ‘Paddy Ashdown responds to MP’s questions’, Glas Srpski pg. 3 ‘Bulldozer in Parliament procedure’ – at today’s regular 5th regular session, the RS Parliament is expected to pass changes to 12 laws in accordance with the recommendations of the Bulldozer Commission. The RS NA session will commence at 10:30 hrs with an address of the HR. The address will last for 20 minutes, and the HR will then respond to MP’s question for 40 minutes. Blic pg. 3 ‘Bulldozer pushes the changes to the Law on Privatisation’, Vecernje Novosti pg. 18 ‘The government to report’ – on today’s RS NA session and HR’s address. |
| Ashdown – Frattini | Avaz pg. 8 ‘Italy will support BiH’s entry to the European integration’ – Italian Foreign Minister, Franko Frattini, stated after meeting yesterday with HR Paddy Ashdown that the Italian government would support efforts by the HR in the process of implementing key reforms in BiH. Added that the fight against crime represented an absolute priority for Italy. Frattini further stated that Italy would give their support at the forthcoming summit in Solun to BiH’s entrance to the European integration. The two further discussed the speeding of economic reforms in BiH, and HR informed Italian FM on conclusions of the Bjelasnica meeting. Nezavisne Novine pg. 3 ‘Italy supports reforms in BiH’ – the hR stated after the meeting that a list of criminals who will be banned from entering the EU states, owing to their collaboration with the war crime suspects, includes 25 persons from BiH. Expressing thanks to his guest for all the assistance Italy provided to BiH so far, the HR reminded that, through various projects, Italy assisted in post-war reconstruction of BiH. |
| Commentary in Oslobodjenje | Oslobodjenje pg. 2 ‘The SDA without a compass’ by Zija Dizdarevic – heavily criticizing the SDA, starting with recent statement by Palavric regarding Hasan Murratovic’s failure to vote for Novakovic. She said that elected Spiric was a member of the SNSD whose President Dodik was advocating early elections. The author points out that Dodik indeed advocated early elections, but only in the RS not in the entire BiH. Thus, confirming that the SDA openly defended the SDS. The author recalls who dirty the SDA played their pre-election campaign using all means available to attack the SDP. ‘The amount of intolerance the SDA showed towards the SDP equals the amount of tolerance it showed for the SDS and HDZ whose anti-Bosnian actions includes the worst forms of obstruction.” |
| Trebinje Islamic Center’s open letter to OHR
| Oslobodjenje pg. 1 and 5 – Main Board of the Trebinje Islamic Centre sent an open letter to the Mostar OHR, more specifically to Mr. Pablo Barrera, telling about persistent provocations aimed at Bosniak returnees in Trebinje, especially against the Islamic Centre (IC) and its Head (Imam). The last in a string of attacks was on the night of April 26 when unknown perpetrators again vandalised a car of the IC’s Head. “Can You and the IC that you represent make additional efforts to stop incidents in Trebinje. Is there a way of protecting Bosniaks and their reps, who are constantly insulted and provoked before the eyes of the local and IC, from extremists who are not unknown.” |
| Ashdown in Euro info centre | Oslobodjenje pg. 4 ‘Connecting business partners in the region’ – HR Paddy Ashdown on his own initiative yesterday visited the European Information centre (EIC) that represents an official EU office in BiH for the promotion of idea, spirit and practice of the EU. HR stated it was an excellent thing that such an idea was being implemented in BiH, which helps connecting BiH with the EU in a practical way. Dnevni List pg. 4 ‘International community fuels wastefulness in BiH!?’ – reported on the visit |
| VL on parallelism in Mostar | Vecernji List pg. 1 and 4 – claims there are still parallelism in the administration of the City of Mostar stressing the parallelisms exist in the most sensitive area – allocation of money from the city budget. In this context, VL claims there is one joint account and two separate, Croat and Bosniak, sub-accounts. The money is allegedly paid into the joint account and is afterwards allocated to the sub-accounts on merit of who pays more into the joint account. VL notes that out of 7,945,000 KM that two elektroprivreda companies (Herzeg-Bosnia and BiH) pay, the Elektroprivreda of BiH will pay 6,477,000 KM and the Elektroprivreda of Herzeg-Bosnia will pay 1.468.000 KM. Out of that sum, according to VL, Bosniak beneficiaries of the city budget get 539,803 KM a month and Croat sub-account get 122,400 KM a month. |
| 100 days of RS govt | Nezavisne Novine pg. 1 and 5 – whilst the parties in power believe that the current authority of the RS will complete its mandate as planned, the opposition parties are of the view that the extraordinary elections represent a realistic possibility for the re-composition of the authority, mainly for the parliament majority and the election of a new government. Dusan Stojicic, Spokesperson of the SDS, does not exclude the possibility of seeing the RS government re-composed. SNSD firmly claim ‘the RS government experiment has failed’. Nevenka Trifkovic, PDP MP, regards the first 100 days of the RS government as ‘the days of adjustment, bearing in mind objective reasons, including the government composition, economic and social situation and affairs, which caused extremely bad working environment within the government’. Tarik Sadovic, SDA delegate, assessed that the RS government could have done more, adding that ‘it was not easy to rule under severe economic and social condition’. The RS Socialist Party did not give a passing grade to first 100 days of the RS government’s work. Tihomir Gligoric, SPRS Vice President, assessed that ‘the solution lays in early elections or the re-composition of the political scene within the parliament majority’. DNS (Mirko Banjac DNS Vice President) is of the view that the RS did not have its government in the past 100 days, but just a ‘flower arrangement’ (ikebana, as he put it). Serb Radical Party led by Radislav Kanjeric pledges in favour of the re-composition of the current authority in the RS and the holding of early elections. Dzevad Osmancevic, Party for BiH, is also of the view that the Cabinet of the RS Prime Minister failed to make progress in solving issues of crucial importance for the RS citizens. The SDP of BiH stated that the government failed to meet expectations, which is not surprising at all. However, Zekerijah Osmic, SDP MP, is of the view that the early elections ‘are not a solution because such would lead the RS and BiH into the deadlock’. |
| NHI supports SDP initiative | Dnevni List pg. 6 ‘BiH as normal and functional state’ – an NHI press release in which the party welcomes the dedication of the SDP Main Board related to the launching an initiative to change the current BiH Constitution to have BiH as a normal and functional state. The NHI calls on all political parties that expressed similar opinions on the current establishment in BiH to jointly start a project of adjustment of the BiH Constitution to the needs and interests of all BiH peoples and citizens. |
| Interview with Covic | Slobodna Dalmacija pg. 1 and 15 – an interview with a Croat member of the BiH Presidency and the newly elected Vice President of HDZ, Dragan Covic, where he mainly talks about the recently finished Congress of the HDZ BiH. Talking about statements by Jakov Perkovic, an HDZ member from Canton 10, who warned about the existence of different fractions within the Canton 10 HDZ, Covic acknowledged there were ‘unsolvable’ problems within the C10 HDZ. In that context, Covic says the new HDZ Presidency will tackle the issue in order to politically stabilize the situation in the Canton 10. |
| DL editorial on HDZ BiH | Dnevni List pg. 6 ‘Saga about Lijepa nasa’ (NB: ‘Lijepa nasa’ is a name often used by Croat(ian)s for Croatia, like ‘Blighty’ for England) says the 8th Congress of the HDZ BiH was different from the previous ones stressing that the Congress for the first time saw playing of the BiH national anthem, something that was not irrelevant, according to the author. Moreover, Kukic says one could hear from the stage a message ‘long live our one and only homeland BiH’. Kukic’s says that although Professor Sefkija Cekic made the statement on behalf of the SDA, HDZ delegates did not whistle after the statement. “And only a few years ago he would have gotten a bullet in the head,” says Kukic. |
Fight against Crime | |
| Commentary in Oslobodjenje
| Oslobodjenje pg. 2 ‘Small fish’ by Daniel Omeragic – on criminal reports against nine persons filed by the Federation Ministry of Interior within the fight against money laundering via fictitious firms. The author points out that the report about the nine persons says that they damaged the Federation budget by 6 million KM by evading paying taxes and other contributions. Omeragic however points out that they are nothing but small fish, because the big ones are protected under the immunity they won at the elections. “When journalists recently asked Dragan Covic, a member of the BiH Presidency, to respond to accusations against him listed in several criminal reports he said that he was proud of a period when he worked at the FBiH govt and served his people. BiH is probably the only country in the world where people with a thick criminal file, and proud of it, are holding top governmental positions.” |
| Mikerevic on fighting crime | Nezavisne Novine pg. 1 & 4 ‘Confiscation of property owned by Mafia in the RS soon to commence’ – in a short interview to NN, RS Prime Minister, Dragan Mikerevic, stated that the RS government planed to confiscate the property of all those who attained it through criminal actions. Mikerevic does not exclude the possibility of seeing the Office of the Special Prosecutor established and Special Prosecutor being appointed in the scope of a decisive fight against organised crime. He denied any knowledge of a list with names of criminals, stressing that the RS Interior Minister and police director know more about it. He also added that he observed a good synchronisation of the activities amongst police officials of BiH in providing security to BiH. Announced his visit to Belgrade on 9th May with FBiH PM and Chairperson of the BiH CoM. The meeting in Belgrade is to discuss the co-operation between these two states, and should include security issues. |
| Milisic on a list of unwanted persons | Glas Srpski pg. 3 ‘Europe adds names of personae non grata’ – Oleg Milisic, OHR Spokesperson, yesterday told SRNA news agency that the European Union will announce a list of persona non grata. He did not give any further details into the matter. Blic pg. 7 ‘List of personae non grata’ – “Names of persons from south-eastern Europe, who will be banned from entering the EU countries because of their support to war criminals and organised crime, will be proposed by the EU members in the region and EU Special Envoy to BiH Paddy Ashdown,” said Milisic. “Every name will be accompanied with a clear explanation as to why that person has been banned from entering the EU countries,” Milisic said, adding that the list of persona non grata would be presented by the EU. |
| Changes to the Law on Citizenship | Glas Srpski pg. 4 ‘Crime takes passport away’ – the BiH Ministry of Civil Affairs can take away BiH citizenship from all persons who committed serious crime acts. This possibility was given to the BiH Ministry of Civil Affairs through the recent changes and addenda to the Law on BiH citizenship. Zoran Tesanovic, Assistant to the BiH Minister of Civil Affairs, confirmed to Glas Srpski that the changes and addenda to the Law on BiH Citizenship introduced a new level of general security in BiH. According to Tesanovic, all naturalised citizens, suspected or convicted of serious crime acts that jeopardise the security, constitutionality and the international reputation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, could be stripped off their citizenship. According to him, two commissions were established to deal with this issue, one of which had the authority of taking away the citizenship. The result of the work of both commissions is a couple of hundreds of citizenship illegally acquired. Changes and addenda to the BiH Law on Citizenship represent a progress in solving this problem. |
| NN editorial | Nezavisne Novine editorial by Mirjana Kusmuk ‘An Englishman’ – the author makes a reference to the announcements that a lot of criminals, currently detained in Serbia and to be released, may flee to BiH (RS and FBIH). However, she also emphasises that a lot of criminals may have fled to BiH early on 13th March following the assassination of former Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic. No RS and BiH official however have made any reference to such possibility. She also mentions a list, which Djindjic mentioned shortly before his assassination. This list allegedly contains the names of 200 people supportive of Milorad Ulemek Legija, who live in the RS and are prepared to take up arms at any moment. According to her, nobody in the RS has ever mentioned this list with the names of persons, who, protected by Milosevic’s regime and Protocol on Co-operation signed by Vojislav Kostunica, robbed the Serb nation. “Mafia within the authority, the political mafia, the financial mafia, professional mafia (bribed doctors, members of the press, custom officials, policemen, judges), Mafia that kills – all these are malignant tumours of the BiH society. Owing to this reason, if the HR continues to act out as an Englishman, it is realistic to expect that BiH will be the only state in the world where criminals will become the prison guards.” |
Judicial Affairs | |
| BiH – US negotiations | Avaz pg. 1 and 4 – negotiation between BiH and US officials, on exempting US citizens from the International Criminal Court, should start sometime this week. ‘Through negotiation we will try to reach an agreement that would satisfy both sides. It is certain that parallel with negotiations wit US reps we will hold intensive consultations with reps of the EU and other European integration,” stated Fuad Sabeta Acting Secretary at the BiH Foreign Ministry. So far, the agreement has been signed by Romania only in Europe, but certain favouring of the agreement has been expressed by the UK, Spain and Italy. |
| BiH Court to get 15 cases from The Hague
| Avaz pg. 1 and 3 – Martin Raguz, President of the BiH Court, stated that the Court had been informed The Hague would hand over 15 indictments and 60 investigations to them. He however added the information carried no specific details such as when and under what conditions the cases might be handed over to the BiH Court. He further revealed that members of the BiH Court were not in contact with The Hague and that the OHR dealt with the matter, more precisely SDHR Bernard Fassier. The last paragraph of the article informs that a Court department supposed to deal with The Hague cases had not yet been established. Blic pg. 7 – “The BiH Court soon may get 15 new war crimes indictments from the Hague Tribunal, as well as some 60 cases where investigations have been initiated,” said BiH Court President Raguz. Glas Stpski pg. 3 ‘The Hague transfers 15 cases’ – although Raguz still does not know which indictments will be forwarded, he announced that the Special Criminal Unit at the Court, which should include some foreign judges, would be established to deal with war crimes. |
| Pajic | Avaz pg. 2 ‘The Criminal law in use from July 1’ – Zoran Pajic, Head of OHR Legal Reform Unit, said they expected the entity authorities adopt the criminal laws and laws on criminal procedures by the end of May. Added that the laws would then be harmonized with the same laws at the state level that were proclaimed by the end of January by HR Paddy Ashdown. Pajic hopes the laws would be in use by July 1. Vecernji List pg. 3 ’On criminal legislation’, Dnevni List pg. 14 ‘Application of new laws start in July’, Slobodna Dalmacija back page ‘Lawyers still lagging behind law-breakers’ – “We hope the laws will be enacted by the end of May and applied from July 1,” said Pajic. |
Military Affairs | |
| Reduction of entity armies | Avaz pg. 8 ‘The BiH Army will have between 9,600 and 12,000 soldiers’ by E. Sarac – the entity armies are facing 50% reduction of professional army structure, which is one of the first steps towards the establishment of the future BiH Army. According to the daily, reps of the entity defence ministries, joint FBiH command and RS Army have been holding intensive talks with SFOR Commander, General William Ward, on the process of reduction and establishment of a joint army. |
Police Affairs | |
| Cleansing of entity police forces
| Vecernji List pg. 2 ‘The Balkan FBI will clean police in BiH from crime’ – Deputy Head of SIPA, Dragan Lukac, said the ministries of interior in the Federation and RS have individuals connected to criminal groups. According to Lukac, this is something that needs to be eradicated. “If the entity police forces to do not clean up their ranks that will be done by the SIPA within the authorities given to it by the law,” says Lukac. VL notes that despite the verbal support from the BiH CoM, SIPA is yet to receive funds, some 10 million KM, and then it could start working properly. According to Lukac, the SIPA is not staffed yet and in that context, Lukac announces the void will be filled in two months time when the SIPA is to recruit 574 people despite the optimum figure being around 1,000. |
| Lukavac attack/ Reactions | Blic pg. 7 ‘Three Bosniaks beaten up the Kulisics’ – the Lukavac police have apprehended three persons suspected of attacking a Serb returnee family on Sunday in the Lukavac municipality, Tuzla Canton. Taib Alispahic, Adis Garagic and Dzevad Hodzic are suspected of having broken windows on a house of the Kulisic family, abused them verbally, and finally assaulted them using wooden bats. Glas Srpski cover page story, Nezavisne Novine pg. 3 ‘Assailants against returnees identified’ – report on the incident that took place at 05:00 hrs on the Orthodox Easter Day at Sizje near Lukavac, where a Serb returnee family of Kulisic (Stojanka and Todor) were beaten up in front of their house. Dailies also report that three persons were identified in connection with this incident, detained and later on released. “The attack on the Serb returnee family Kulisic in Sizje (Lukavac), especially as it came on the greatest Christian holiday, Easter, does not contribute to building toleration or co-existence, for which Serbs are prepared,” says a press release from the Office of Chairman of the BiH Presidency Borislav Paravac. The press release strongly condemns the attack in Blic pg. 7 entitled ‘Paravac: mild reaction’. High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, strongly condemns the attack on the Kulisics – OHR spokesman Oleg Milisic said. “The High Representative says that any attack on any returnee is unacceptable. There can be zero tolerance for the violence against returnees. These people have been brave enough to return and have put their trust in the institutions of this country to protect them from harm. We have a duty towards them, and to the principle of the multiethnic BiH, to make sure that all of us – the international community, the responsible politicians, and the law enforcement agencies – live up to that trust,” Milisic says. The High Representative calls for a full and through investigation with those responsible being brought to justice. (Blic pg. 7 ‘OHR’s condemnation’). Also reported in Glas Srpski. Association of refugees and DPs and Association of BiH returnees from Bijeljina strongly condemn the attack on returnee family Kulisic in village Sizje, Lukavac municipality. The attack is qualified as nationalistic and chauvinistic, with evaluation that the attackers still live in the past and cure their complexes by attacking returnees. The associations request competent bodies in the RS and BiH to condemn such and similar attacks and to punish perpetrators. (Blic pg. 7, Vecernje Novosti pg. 18 ‘To punish perpetrators’). According to a GS inset, Jon Oscar Solnas, EUPM Spokesperson, said that the assault by three young Bosniaks against Serb returnees was an accident, and it cannot be related with the return problems. According to him, ‘it can happen in any state in the world that drunken young men do such thing’. |
Economic Affairs | |
| Hercegovacka Bank
| Dnevni List pg. 1 and 7 – the LRC Loan Office and Hercegovacka Banka signed an agreement on ceding of the right for an access to information. This way, the database of the LRC Loan Office will have at its disposal information about bad clients who were parts of the Hercegovacka Banka system and who caused its collapse and introduction of the Provisional Administration. Hercegovacka Bank Provisional Administrator, Toby Robinson, confirmed that the aforementioned agreement was signed.”The information will be confidential and according to the contract they will not be published…Information are being sent only to institutions that grant loans at the moment when legal or physical entities apply for the loan and when the Loan Office demands information about their pay off of earlier loans.” |
| Interview with Maric | Vecernji List pg. 5 ‘The Federation government determines the price of electricity’ – an interview with Acting Manager of the Elektroprivreda of Croat Community of Herceg Bosna (EP HZ HB) Vlado Maric. Asked whether the special revision of the energy sector in BiH was related to its possible privatization, Maric said the following. “Officially, and according to people who carry out the revision, it is not related to the possible privatization. We, however, believe that it is the ultimate goal of all these moves.” Asked to comment on statements by IC representatives, who said that the BiH citizens were paying the most expensive electricity in Europe, Maric said that these statements were not grounded and the situation was quite the opposite. “As far as the reduction of prices is concerned, we do not have any influence because the Federation government determines the prices, and we have to respect its decisions.” Maric also says that a public tender for the election of a new General Manager of the EP HZ HB will be published in 10 days. |
| Bulldozer Commission | Nezavisne Novine pg. 6 ‘Bulldozer attractive for investors’ – Mirza Hajric, Director of the Agency for Promotion of Foreign Investments in BiH, stated that globally looking, the level of investments has fallen down in BiH in the past three years. However, the last year saw the increase of 114% of the foreign investments placed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, although there were no major investment projects. Hajric further expressed expectation that the foreign investments would increase in BiH as a result of the creation of more favourable business environment. He is of the view that activities of the BiH CoM and Adnan Terzic, following recommendations of the Bulldozer Commission, will create a good business environment for foreign investments. |
| SD on economic reforms | Slobodna Dalmacija pg. 16 ‘Economy in mud on bureaucracy’ – reads that ‘pompously announced’ enactment of the package of economic reforms might experience the destiny of previous projects of the IC (i.e. that the economic reforms might not provide results). Saying that the deadlines for the enactment have been already breached, the author questions when will the IC tackle the real problems, meaning the smuggling, tax evasions, copyright related issues and other real problems that endanger BiH and foreign companies. |