At its 11th regular session, the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH adopted a conclusion prescribing the obligation to review reports on the operations of public enterprises under the competence of the Federation of BiH. This decision marks the first step toward establishing stronger parliamentary oversight and control over the work of public enterprises in the Federation of BiH—key prerequisites for their improvement, particularly in the areas of transparency and accountability.
The Centers for Civic Initiatives (CCI) welcome the commitment of representatives in the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH to work on improving the public enterprise sector. Earlier, CCI submitted an initiative to the House of Representatives that called for the timely obligation of annual parliamentary review of all public enterprise reports that enter parliamentary procedure and fall under the jurisdiction of Federation-level institutions.
Although the Law on Public Enterprises stipulates that “the Assembly shall submit reports on the work and operations of public enterprises to the municipal council, cantonal assembly, or the Parliament of the Federation of BiH at least once a year,” the current situation in the House of Representatives is that reports are often reviewed with significant delays—sometimes even several years later. The importance of this initiative was also recognized by the Committee on Economic and Financial Policy, which in February adopted conclusions requesting the Parliament of the Federation of BiH and the Government of the Federation of BiH to define the obligation of annual review of all public enterprise reports and to hold a debate on this topic at a session of the House of Representatives. At the 11th session of the House of Representatives, this was done, and the conclusion was unanimously adopted with 90 votes, instructing the leadership of the House of Representatives and the Government of the Federation of BiH to define the obligation of annual review of reports of all public enterprises in which the Federation holds ownership shares, and to report back to the House of Representatives within 90 days.
The adoption of this conclusion is only one of many necessary steps to move the situation with public enterprises away from its current problematic state. According to previous CCI research, 48 public enterprises fall under the jurisdiction of the Federation of BiH, employing at least 22,000 workers, generating over BAM 4.2 billion in annual revenue, and holding BAM 5.2 billion in liabilities.
These figures indicate that public enterprises represent enormous social potential, but also that the legal framework regulating them remains underdeveloped. In this regard, CCI has previously submitted initiatives for amendments to the Law on Public Enterprises, including provisions on penalties for enterprise assemblies that fail to submit business reports to the Parliament as required by law, mandatory publication of the biographies of management and supervisory boards on websites, deadlines for adopting business plans, and other legislative changes to improve the sector. The authorities’ move to swiftly adopt amendments to the Law on Public Enterprises of the Federation of BiH has become imperative to avoid negative consequences for the economy, citizens’ trust, and the quality of life in the Federation of BiH.