Bosnia’s Republika Srpska (RS) entity government adopted a Draft Budget Monday for 2022 amounting to roughly 4.2 billion Bosnian marks (some €2.1 billion), with no earmarked funds for the RS army or the entity indirect taxation authority whose formation was announced earlier by the country’s Serb Presidency member Milorad Dodik.
The budget plans for a salary increase for employees in entity institutions and entity-owned companies and services, as well as increases to pensions, veterans’ supplement, healthcare and a reduction of contributions and income taxes.
RS Finance Minister Zora Vidovic confirmed this by saying:
“Specifically, we couldn’t include such items because they don’t exist. We didn’t plan them with this budget, but that’s why we left certain reserves in certain positions, if certain things happen, which we have to finance from those areas, of course, we are ready for that.”
In early October, Dodik said the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska (RS) will withdraw from agreements on the establishment of the state Indirect Tax Administration (ITA), Armed Forces and the state judicial institution known as the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJCP), making their own institutions, such as the RS army, taxation authority and intelligence agency.