Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Holds Its 115th Session

COUNCIL OF MINNISTERS OF BIH URGES PRESIDENCY OF BIH TO DEFINE EPRPOSAL BUDGET AND SEND IT TO FURTJER PROCEDURE

The Council of Ministers of BIH reminded at today’s session that it adopted the Draft Law on Budget of Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and International Liabilities of BIH for 2026 at tis 111th session of May 25, 2026, sent it to the BIH Presidency, as authorised proposer for further legal procedure.

Since the BIH Presidency has not defined the Proposal Law on Budget of Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and International Liabilities of Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2026, nor the Ministry of Finance and Treasury of BIH has received any requests for corrections or amendments, and having regard that it was almost two months since the Council of Ministers adopted it, the Council of Ministers urges the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina to consider urgently and define, within its competences the Law on Budget of Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and International Liabilities of Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2026 and send it to further procedure, for the aim of securing smooth operation and functioning of Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and protection of employees’ rights.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO THE CITY OF MOSTAR

The Council of Ministers of BIH took the Ministry of Security-proposed decision no approving KM 500,000 from current budget reserves of Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the City of Mostar for rehabilitation from a technological-technical disaster - Depo Mostar.

A request to the Council of Ministers of BIH for financial support was sent by Mostar Mayor after a large fire broke within the Depo, Ltd. Mostar-run regional depo Uborak.- Buđevci, on June 22, 2026. Due to adverse weather conditions and difficult terrain, the fire caused huge damage to facilities necessary for the depo operation.

KM 2.5 MILLION SECURED FOR CONSTRUCTION OF INTER-GOVEMEMENT BRIDGE ACROSS RIVER TARA

The Council of Ministers of BIH took the Ministry of Communications and Transport-proposed decision on use of a part of unspent resources approved for construction and its monitoring of inter-government Bridge Svilaj, in amount of KM 2,500,00, with some corrections made at the session.

The funds will be used for additional financing of the “Construction of Inten-Government Bridge across the River Tara at Junction of Main Road M-I 8 at Hum (BIH) and Main Road M-3 at Šćepan Polje (Montenegro)”.

The aim is to harmonise the financial framework of the project with real costs of its implementation after change of market conditions caused by increased prices of construction works, material and labour, as earlier jointly agreed total price of works and monitoring services for the bridge construction financed by BIH was higher than KM 4.7 million.

The construction of the inter-government bridge across the River Tara at Hum – Šćepan Polje site represents an infrastructure project of special relevance for improvement of road communication between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, as well as for strengthening of regional cooperation and development of cross-border infrastructure.

REPEAT TO TARIFF QUOTAS FOR SUGAR

The Council of Ministers of BIH took the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations-proposed decision on a repeat of quantities of tariff quotas of 50,000 tonne relating to import of rude sugar from sugar lane for refining in 2026, in accordance with the Law on Customs Tariffs in BIH.

For the aim of protection of food industry in BIH, it strengthens the single domestic sugar factory, located in the Brčko District of BIH and protects domestic companies using sugar as raw material,

The tariff quotas cover sugar from sugar lane in solid form, raw sugar without additional aromas and matters for colour, for refining, and they may be applied by Dec. 31, 2026.

PUBLIC JOB VACANCY COMPETITION IN BIH INSTITUTIONS: ADVANCED EXAM TAKING AND ASSESSING OF EXPERT EXAM IN WRITING

The Council of Ministers of BIH took the Civil Service Agency-proposed decision on way of taking public expert exam, thus making additional improvement and normative preciseness of taking and assessing expert exam in writing, within public job vacancy competition in BIH institutions.

An expert exam in writing will be taken in form of a test and will have questions with option answers, which represents are more reliable and objective way if assessing relative to the previous essay (open) type of answer. Since every answer holds exact value (true or false), this should eliminate subjectivity of assessor and secure equal treatment of all candidates.

Texts for work places of civil servants will have 10 questions for expert assistants, higher expert assistants and expert advisors, and 20 questions for heads of internal organisation units and managerial posts.

2026 ACTIVE EMPLOYMENT PLAN ADOPTED

The Council of Ministers of BIH adopted 2026 Guidelines and Policies Plan of Labour Market and Active Employment Measures in Bosnia and Herzegovina, for the aim of a planned organisation of competent institutions’ actions, with corrections made at the session.

The plan proposal for 2026 was drafted by the Agency for Labour and Employment of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in cooperation with Employment Bureaus of the Federation of BIH, Republika Srpska and Brčko District of BIH.

The Bureaus plan for 2026 is to implement programmes for active employment policy in economy and agriculture, co-finance employment and self-employment and training and skill building for the needs of market, including and training for work with known employer.

The IPA-financed continue, along which the EU project for job of future, especially focused at transition to green and digital economy, in line with the EU standards.

SUPPORT TO WORKING ARRANGEMENT BETWEEN EUROJUST AND COMPETENT BIH BODIES

The Council of Ministers of BIH granted its consent unanimously to a text Working Arrangement between the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (EUROJUST) and Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Hercegovina for implementation of an Agreement between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Union on Cooperation between Bodies of Bosna and Herzegovina Responsible for Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters and EUROJUST.

The Ministry of Justice of BIH, as a holder of activities, should cooperate with competent bodies of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in taking needed activities for conclusion of the Working Arrangement.

The Working Arrangement serves exclusively for operationalisation and implementation of already concluded and ratified Agreement, and it includes issued referring to a liaison prosecutor, his assistants, administrative staff, exchange of information, communication channels, contact points and other operative issues.

RATIFICATION OF TWO AGREEMENTS

The Council of Ministers of BIH defined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs—tabled Proposal Decision on Ratification of Formal Agreement between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Right Academy in Triera (ERA) on Accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to ERA and will send it to the Presidency of BIH for further procedure.

This enables legal experts from BIH. especially from judicial institutions, to take an active part in programmes of this leading European legal network for the purpose of expert up-grading, with attaining a right to vote in the Academy Steering Board, in addition to privileged access to its services.

The formal agreement was signed in Sarajevo by Justice Minister Davor Bunoza on behalf of BIH, this May.

The Council of Ministers of BIH defined a Proposal Decision on ratification of a Cooperation Agreement in Defence between the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt and will send to Presidency of BIH for a further procedure.

The Agreement was signed on behalf of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Defence Minister Zukan Helez in Cairo, in early June 206, and it opens space for exchange of knowledge and experience, joint trainings and strengthening of bilateral cooperation in defence thus enabling further development of the Armed Forces of BIIH.

E-GOVERNANCE: TO IMPROVE COORDINATION FOR INTEROPERABILITY

The Council of Ministers of BIH Secretariat-General-tabled piece of information was adopted on issues about functioning of Coordination for Interoperability of the Council of Ministers of BIH.

The Ministry of Communications and Transport should cooperate with competent institutions on drafting a proposal decision on supplements to the Decision on Framework of Interoperability of Bosnia and Herzegovina for inclusion of the State-level Ministries of Justice, Finance and Treasury, and Coordinator’s Office for Civil Administration Reform into its operations.

The Ministry of Communications and Transport will supplement a Decision on adoption of the Interoperability Framework of Bosnia and Herzegovina, for the aim of securing continuity of both the Coordination for Interoperability of the Council of Ministers of BIH and Cross-Sector Work Group for Interoperability of BIH, with precise definition of membership.

The Ministry of Communications and Transport should, in three moth-time from implementation of the conclusion setting-up the Cross-Sector Work Group for Interoperability of BIH, draft a new proposal decision on its appointment, with introduced mandatory meetings.

The adoption of these conclusions will remove a problem of non-functioning of Cross-Sector Work Group, which has negative impact to operations of the Coordination of Interoperability, and it slows down development process for more effective e-governance.

15 PROJECTS DEVELOPED UNDER ARMED FORCES OF BIH DEVELOPMENT AND MODERNISATION PLAN

The Council of Ministers of BIH adopted a piece of information on implementation of both the “Defence Review” Implementation Plan and “2017-2017 Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina Development and Modernisation Plan” Implementation Action Plan and tasked the Ministry of Defence to continue implementation thereof according to the defined planned dynamics.

In accordance with the “2017-2027 Modernisation and Development Plan of Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, the Ministry of Defence developed 15 projects and submitted several budget requests for about total KM 2.2 billion. However, needed resources for implementation of the Modernisation Plan have not been realised thus far, and the level of implementation of the Plan remains as low as 8.5 per cent, and that mostly thanks to support by partner counties.

Among key activities from the “Defence Review” Implementation Plan Phase I, five activities were completed, among which the Drafted Development Plan of All Prospective Sites, in line with a new organisation and deployment of the Armed Forces of BIH. One more activity is in its final phase, since the Rulebook on internal organisation of the Ministry of Defence was sent for opinion provision.

2025 REPORT FROM OFICE FOR FREE OF CHARGE LEGAL ASSITANCE

The Council of Ministers of BIH adopted a Report on free of charge legal assistance in 2025, extended by the Office for Free of Charge Legal Assistance under the Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Over the reported rime, registered were total 127 procedures on files where free of charge legal assistance was extended, most of them (57) covered provision of general information on rights and obligations in family and heritage legislation, and in legal and labour relations.

Also, free of charge legal assistance was extended in 35 files in administrative procedures, which covered beneficiary representation before administrative bodies, as well as drafting various submissions (requests, appellations), and legal advises

The free of charge legal assistance was provided by officers from the Office for Free of Charge Legal Assistance under the Ministry of Justice of BIH.

Over the reported time, there were no requests for approval for free of charge legal assistance in criminal procedures and cross-border disputes, extended by lawyers from a relevant list, so no funds were paid for these purposes. The Office for Free of Charge Legal Assistance of BIH, as a competent body under the state-level Ministry of Justice, was founded under 2016 Law on Free of Charge Legal Assistance.

DEPUTY MANAGER OF ARCHIVES OF BIH APPOINTED

The Council of Ministers of BIH appointed Goran Batinić, the best ranked candidate from the list of successful candidates for Deputy Manager of the Archives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, following completed public job vacancy procedure.

TO IMPLEMENT SELECTION PROCEDURE FOR YOUTH REPRESENTATIVE WITH RYCO COMMITTEE

The Ministry of Civil Affairs will cooperate with three roof youth councils (Youth Council of the Federation of BIH, Youth Council of Republika Srpska and Youth Council of the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina) in starting a selection procedure for a new representative of youth NGOs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to be appointed to the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) Steering Committee.

Earlier adopted piece of information by the Ministry of Civil Affairs suggests that mandate of BIH youth representative serving position of a member of the RYCO Steering Committee expires on October 10, 2026.

Following completed relevant procedure, the proposal for a new representative of youth NGOs in the RYCO Steering Committee will be sent to the Council of Ministers of BIH. (end)

Link for Photos:

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