SARAJEVO, JANUARY 11 (ONASA) – “We have reached the wall. Since the first of January, we have not had any financing, because there are no taxes on the accounts of Elektroprivreda BiH since the first of January.
So, here is already the eleventh day where we de facto have almost no income on the account”, said in the interview “Jedan” General Director of Radiotelevision Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHRT) Belmin Karamehmedović.
Karamehmedović points out that if the previous model of collecting and distributing the RTV tax was signed with Elektroprivreda BiH, the problem of insolvency of BHRT would appear again in three months, with even more drastic consequences.
This is why, says Karamehmedović, BHRT proposed an annex to the current contract with Elektroprivreda BiH, which refers to the method of collecting the RTV tax in the Federation of BiH entity.
“The only change is that, if the funds have been paid to the account of Federal Radio and Television for six years, now they are paid to the account of BHRT, and we take upon ourselves the responsibility of distributing these funds within the system as prescribed by law.
So that’s the only change.
But, obviously, that does not suit those who have been working the way they have been working until now. And then we see these days a persistent media racket where the merits of things are not discussed, but various conspiracy theories are invented.
The decision is in the hands of politics”, the general director of BHRT.
A loan as a (temporary) salvation?
Karamehmedović claims that the shutdown of BHRT is more certain than ever, unless the government takes urgent steps and helps solve the problem of collecting and distributing the RTV tax in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Until such an agreement is reached, BHRT management is considering the possibility of borrowing money.
“The matter has been brought to a wall, it will either be necessary to jump over that wall, or in a very short time, I think we are talking about days, not weeks.
Not even at the end of this month, unless some interventional aid appears, in the sense of some loan, or if I should say some miracle happens”
Are you waiting for a loan?
“Well, we will try to solve it that way, if possible. So let’s move on from verbal support and patting on the shoulder to something concrete.
Well, if we can solve the problem, then we will refund the money as soon as possible.”
Regarding the complex situation in BHRT, according to the information available to director Karamehmedović, a meeting will be held at the highest level tomorrow in the part of the Federation where the “Trojka” is in power.
“We will be constructive at that meeting, but we cannot go below what we have already set for the reasons we have explained.
I sincerely hope that there will be understanding and intelligence and wisdom, but also the courage to find a solution for both broadcasters, because the situation we were in in previous years, where only some people are doing well and others are not, is simply no longer sustainable”, categorical is the general director of BHRT, Belmin Karamehmedović.
BHRT is technically served by RTVFBiH
The debt of RTRS to BHRT has increased to 80 million BAM, while the debt of the RTV Federation of BiH is at the level of 20 million, claims Karamehmedović.
He notes that despite this, BHRT regularly provides technical services to Radio and Television of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Everyone forgets that, until the establishment of the Corporation, we still work for two television and two radio channels, because we provide technical support and support for broadcasting programs and all other services within the building of RTV and Radio-television of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is safe, and we don’t need to avoid the fact that in some positions there is probably an excess of people, but it is also certain that in some positions there is a serious shortage, especially in positions that are crucial for a company like this, such as Public Service”, says Karamehmedović.
Karamehmedović: I’m not in a personal conflict with Šabić, I’m asking where the 20 million is.
That the situation between the two key broadcasters (BHRT and RTVFBiH) proves public mutual accusations.
In part of the public, this was interpreted as a personal conflict between the general director of BHRT, Belmin Karamehmedović, and the director of Radio and Television of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Džemal Šabić.
“Well, I refuse it with indignation, at least as far as I’m concerned.
So, we talked about these problems very often in previous years.
We never promoted it at that level, I speak on behalf of BHRT, nor did I ever ask for it.
And, those who better follow the situation in public services know that I was the main star of the central daily of Radio and Television of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina several times. Recently I was in the first minute of that diary, and again the other day.
This is done because there are apparently no counterarguments for what we are talking about.
My question is clear, is one member (of the Board of RTVFBiH op.a.) Goran Samardžić legal and is the director of RTVFBiH Džemal Šabić legal after 2013 when their mandate expired?
Another question is what happened to the 20 million marks that were illegally withheld from their account.
I don’t have an answer to that question, and when you don’t have an answer to that question, then you push it into personal territory,” explains Belmin Karamehmedović.
He says that these days he is being accused of high treason, but he “doesn’t want to stoop to that level and talk about who was during the war”.
“I am fighting for an institution called Radiotelevision of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
I entered this building for the first time in 1988, at Radio Sarajevo 202. I am not behind any politics.
I grew up together with all these people and with this building, literally from a novice journalist to this position,” says, among other things, in the interview “Jedan”, the general director of Radiotelevision of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belmin Karamehmedović.