The Government of the Republic of Srpska passed today during its 47th session held in Banja Luka, the Decision on co-financing the projects of small and underdeveloped municipalities so that the funds shall be allocated to the municipalities of Vlasenica, Višegrad and Petrovo.

Minister of Administration and Local Self-Government of Republic of Srpska Lejla Rešić stated that in 2019, the Government provided additional BAM 300,000 for co-financing projects in the least developed municipalities.

"Thus far, there is one Government decision on the basis of which more than BAM 100,000 had been allocated to the municipalities of Nevesinje, Berkovići, Jezero, Pelagićevo, Kalinovik, Kneževo and Rudo. Today, we have allocated money for Vlasenica, Višegrad and Petrovo. The Ministry has given BAM 165,000 for co-funding the projects whereas in total we have attracted investments worth one million BAM in those municipalities which are very important for them", Minister Rešić said and added that by the end of the year another BAM 100,000 was available.

"We already have projects which are evaluated by the commission and we expect to assist them and give those communities the remaining money", the Minister said.

Commenting on the alleged complaints by some mayors that their municipalities were dissatisfied with the distribution of funds and that the amounts they received were small, Minister Resic stated that they had no official remarks.

"There is a grant and strict rules and criteria by which the funds are distributed for the past 10 years. Over those 10 years, more than 36 million BAM have been allocated to underdeveloped municipalities. We never received official report that we did something wrong, that the money had not been received or that the audit established that the funds had not been spent for a designated purpose, misused or that the rulebook was not good", Minister Rešić said.

The Minister of Administration and Local Self-Government emphasized that the information on allocation of 1,000 BAM to some local communities was taken out of context because in 2012 when the central base of registries became operational, the Ministry was obliged to help underdeveloped municipalities to purchase equipment so that they could be included in the electronic database.

"At that time we provided more than BAM 200,000 for that purpose. However, the telecom operator did not cover all local offices in rural areas with a secure connection. The obligation remained, once a secure connection is established, to complete this process. During this year, we have been informed that those offices now have a secure connection and that they literally need one computer and that is why the decision was made", the Minister of Administration explained. Minister Rešic further said that the Government passed a Decision which classifies the municipalities in the Republic of Srpska according to their development status.

"It is our legal obligation to make this decision by the end of the current year for the coming year. In September, the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska adopted nine criteria for determining the development status. Based on those criteria, in 2020 there are 18 developed units of local self-government, 10 middle-developed, 15 underdeveloped and 20 least developed municipalities", said Minister Rešić.

The Minister said that the difference from last year was that the municipality of Novi Grad had been transferred from the category of middle-developed to underdeveloped and the municipality of Pelagicevo from underdeveloped to least developed.

"These are not large fluctuations and in case of Novi Grad it is related to the demographic situation. It is not a permanent category and could be changed. For example, Doboj and Samac were in the category of underdeveloped municipalities but have been reinstated among the middle developed and developed ones. This is a changing category, depending on the criteria and is determined on a year by year basis", Minister Rešić said.