The head of the Civil Protection Crisis Headquarters in Bosnia’s Federation (FBiH) region would not discuss why the body was restructured by the FBiH Government but denied that it is because she blocked the purchase of coronavirus tests, as some local media reported.

“I have not at any moment, in any way, blocked the process of purchasing tests for the detection of the coronavirus or any other medical equipment, nor will I,” Jelka Milicevic, who is also the FBiH Finance Minister, declared on Thursday.

The FBiH Government decreased the number of members of the Crisis Headquarters, which used to count 21 officials, to nine and named some new members. The reason stated was that members should only be representatives of those institutions which are most relevant at this moment. Milicevic is still the head of the body.

According to FBiH Prime Minister, Fadil Novalic, the FBiH Government was not satisfied with the work of the Crisis Headquarters as it did not fulfil all of its tasks, especially regarding the purchase of medical equipment.

“We expect and demand from the new Crisis Headquarters to be a lot more efficient. We are gathering data on the needs of all municipalities and cantons. We are purchasing all medical equipment, including respirators and tests,” he said.

Some local media reported that the reason for the FBiH Government decision was that Milicevic blocked the purchase of coronavirus tests from South Korea – allegations she vehemently denied and condemned.

To prove this, she presented a document which says that 1,386,600 Bosnian Marks were approved for the purchase of 30,000 COVID-19 tests.

She said she would not discuss the reasons for the dismissal of the previous composition of the Crisis Headquarters at this point as “the time for that will come.”

She only pointed out that the FBiH Government approved all of the reports on the implementation of activities the body submitted until now.

The financial resources for the battle against COVID-19 in FBiH have been secured, she stressed, urging all government representatives, institutions and medical professionals to work together to protect the health of the public.