BANJA LUKA, Aug 30 (Hina) - Unofficial reports that the Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina has spent its entire budget for this year in this year's first six months were confirmed on Friday evening by the Presidency's Serb member,
Borislav Paravac. According to an extensive report in Saturday's issue of Banja Luka's Nezavisne novine daily, Paravac was the most wasteful in comparison to his colleagues, Croat Dragan Covic and Bosniak Sulejman Tihic.
BANJA LUKA, Aug 30 (Hina) - Unofficial reports that the Presidency
of Bosnia-Herzegovina has spent its entire budget for this year in
this year's first six months were confirmed on Friday evening by the
Presidency's Serb member, Borislav Paravac.
According to an extensive report in Saturday's issue of Banja
Luka's Nezavisne novine daily, Paravac was the most wasteful in
comparison to his colleagues, Croat Dragan Covic and Bosniak
Sulejman Tihic. #L#
In the first half of this year, the country's presidency spent 1.035
million convertible marks (KM) -- more than half a million euros.
Most funds, totalling some 457,000 convertible marks, were spent by
Paravac's office; Covic's team spent some KM321,000, while Tihic
was the most thrifty with KM257,000.
The daily explains that apart from his office at the state
presidency, Paravac has branch offices in Lukavica and Banja Luka,
while the head of his cabinet, Simo Bazalo, dismisses claims about
his wastefulness. He claims that the state presidency does not have
a plan on how funds should be spent, so "one cannot exceed what has
not been defined".
The Presidency's Bosniak member, Sulejman Tihic, recalls it was
agreed that the offices of all presidency members had to spend the
same amount of money, and says his covering Paravac's costs is out
of the question.
Tihic says that under the presidency's rule book, every member can
employ 11 staff at the most, while Paravac at one time had as many as
30 employees.
The costs of accommodation of presidency members are not
insignificant either.
Tax-payers pay KM2,500 every month for Paravac's accommodation in a
house in Lukavica alone.
Covic is slightly more modest -- he is using a luxury apartment
owned by the government of the Croat-Muslim federation, while Tihic
lives in an apartment he bought with a loan which he is paying off
from his salary.
Tihic's proposal for finding a way out of the current situation is
also the most radical -- he has told the Banja Luka daily that
Paravac and his team should not receive salaries because they have
already spent available funds for this year.
(hina) rml