prijava
MOSTAR, May 20 (FENA) - The Federation of BiH Prime Minister Fadil Novalić said in Mostar on Thursday that the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton Government (HNC) is an example of how to make good use of the FBiH funds to fight coronavirus pandemic.
The delegation of the Government of the Federation of BiH, led by Prime Minister Novalić, held a meeting with the delegation of the Government of HNC to discuss projects to assist lower levels of government in resolving the consequences of the pandemic and infrastructure projects funded by the FBiH Government in the HNC.
Novalić reminded that at the end of last year, a meeting was held with representatives of all cantons where representatives of the cantonal governments could present their ideas when it comes to the FBiH budget, as well as economic assistance measures.
"The Prime Minister of the HNC Nevenko Herceg said that the cantons would not be able to bear the burden of financing this year either, given the revenues, and suggested that the FBiH Government continue to provide 200 million KM in grants to withstand this pandemic period," Novalić said.
According to him, such a proposal was adopted, so that the cantons can count on about 200 million KM of aid from the FBiH level this year as well.
"Last year, those 200 million KM and additional 30 million KM meant a lot to the municipalities, and the funds were best used here, in the HNC. Thanks to that, we have relatively good results in the fight against the pandemic, especially in the economic sense, but I don't think they have been bad in the health care sense either," said Novalić, noting that especially the clinical centers showed resoluteness and carried the majority of the burden.
Prime Minister of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton (HNC), Nevenko Herceg, after a meeting with a delegation of the FBiH Government, expressed expectation that support and cooperation with the FBiH Government would continue and announced the abolition of curfew in the canton.
"The measures that have been adopted so far, primarily the measures of restriction of movement, which have been abolished today, have yielded results. After this meeting, our canton will adopt certain measures so that we can expect to have a fairly normalized situation as of tomorrow," said Herceg.
When it comes to measures to help the real sector, especially tourism, which, according to Herceg, was the hardest hit during the pandemic, announced not only financial assistance but also assistance on the conditions for foreign tourists to enter the canton through more adequate regulation of cross-border traffic.
"We will send a strong message to the Council of Ministers to regulate the issue of arrivals, passages and stays of tourists and others in the area of the canton in the coming summer period," said Herceg.
He added that the meeting was also an opportunity to thank the FBiH Government for a number of grants in various areas.
Speaking about the economic results achieved last year, the FBiH PM Novalić said that they were not negligible.
"We have reinstated 27,000 lost jobs by May thiy year, and there are still 12,000 jobs left to recover. So, with our measures, we have restored practically two-thirds of the lost jobs in the Federation of BiH. When it comes to economic developments in the first four months of this year, they are better than any other quarter in the past. We had a 17.7 percent increase in exports and for the first time in the history of the Federation of BiH, we have an import-export coverage of 65 percent," he added.
In the same period, industrial growth of 17.6 percent was achieved in the Federation of BiH.
The sector hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis is tourism, and Novalić has announced additional assistance for the sector.
"We have specially created measures for tourism. We will have it this year as well and we are doing everything we can in a harmonized way to recover the branch. These days, visa exemption is currently underway for all those who visit our three main tourist destinations, namely the Herzegovina-Neretva, Sarajevo and Una-Sana cantons," said Novalić.
In that sense, he added, airports also received support, so this year the Mostar Airport received a subsidy of 3.5 million KM from the FBiH level.
"Grant support from the FBiH Government to the HNC was 60 million KM, which is the largest support per capita of all the cantons," he pointed out.
Out of the total amount, 19.2 million KM refers to the direct transfer of the Government of FBiH to the Government of the HNC, while the rest of the amount refers to aid to health care and aid to the economy through the pandemic law.
He also announced the imminent adoption of the law on health restructuring, worth 210 million KM, of which one-third refers to University Clinical Center Mostar.
Prime Minister Novalić reminded that some of the largest infrastructure projects in the Federation of BiH are being implemented in the HNC, such as the construction of the Stolac - Neum expressway.
"The motorway construction is also underway, and hundreds of millions of KM are being invested here and in Zenica area. The HNC is lucky to be in an important geographical position and we will not stop supporting it," said the prime minister.
Asked about the proposal to ban smoking in bars and restaurants and all indoor spaces, which is opposed by caterers, Prime Minister Novalić said that this is a law that is in line with the recommendations of the World Health Organization, and these recommendations are being implemented in 170 countries.
"The calculations have shown that smoking is the most influential factor on life expectancy and health and that it is much better to prevent smoking than to treat the consequences of smoking. We are ready to give up money, some 800-900 million KM through the excise tax, for the sake of people's health," said Novalić.
He also commented on the vaccination process, saying that 600,000 doses of vaccine have been secured so far, of which a small part was in donations, while most of the vaccines have been paid for.
(FENA) S. R.
