BHRT loses long-running lawsuit against RTRS, must pay over 17 mil. marks

By the decision of the second-instance court, BHRT's appeal was rejected in its entirety. The precise amount of 17,763,933.61 Bosnian marks (approx. €9,082,533) must be settled within one month from the moment of receiving the court decision, which is dated 12 May 2026.

The structure of the total debt, according to the legally binding ruling of the Higher Commercial Court, is divided into the following items:

• 7.39 million marks (approx. €3.78 million) – debt incurred on the basis of the exploitation of fixed radio links;
• 7.39 million marks (approx. €3.78 million) – statutory default interest on the aforementioned debt, which over time accumulated to equal the principal amount;
• 2.01 million marks (approx. €1.03 million) – funds belonging to the entity broadcaster based on the distribution of marketing earnings;
• 844,030 marks (approx. €431,544) – corresponding interest on the undistributed marketing profit;
• 119,675 marks (approx. €61,189) – amount intended to cover the costs of the judicial process.

It is worth recalling that in April of this year, the same court ruled in favor of the state television, confirming the earlier stance of the District Commercial Court according to which RTRS has an obligation to pay BHRT 5.5 million marks (approx. €2.81 million) for withholding undistributed money from collected RTV fees, RTRS reports.

However, given the new epilogue and the drastic difference in the financial ratios, this verdict represents a massive blow to BHRT and will further jeopardize the already unstable and critical economic situation in which the Public RTV Service of Bosnia and Herzegovina has found itself for years.