The Board of Directors of Bosnia’s state emitter Radio Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHRT) appealed to the domestic and international public regarding their inability to continue operating because of the blockade of their bank accounts.

“All those who should and can help, but are not doing so, will be remembered as accomplices in the shutdown of the Radio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has gone through various trials over the past 77 years since its founding,” said in a statement from BHRT.

The BHRT Management Board informed the public that, unfortunately, the Radio Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina will have to cease operation after its accounts have been frozen for the third week, which has prevented their continued functioning and existence.

The main reason for the blockade of accounts, they said, is the inability of BHRT to receive legally guaranteed income from the radio and television fee, as regulated by the Law on the Public RTV System of BiH adopted by the BiH Parliament in 2005.

“The Radio Television of Republika Srpska -RTRS (entity public emitter), which collects taxes in the Republika Srpska entity and Brcko District, has been violating the said Law since 2017 and failing to pay BHRT the 50 percent of funds collected. That debt has grown to over 63 million Bosnian marks (some €32 million) at the end of 2021, which is why BHRT is unable to meet all its obligations, including regular payment of taxes and contributions for pension and health insurance to its employees,” the statement said.

Despite all relevant levels of government, representatives of international institutions in BiH, the Tax Administration of the Federation (FBiH) entity being aware of this problem and the legal position of BHRT, which has no direct contact with its source revenues, and the fact that they are seeking their rights in court, the statement said that BHRT's accounts have been blocked for the third time in the 12 months.

Given the current situation, they warn that this could be the last time their accounts have been frozen and that Radio Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina would not survive.

“We call on the founder of BHRT, as well as other levels of government in BiH, to take responsibility and inform numerous institutions, agencies and companies in state or entity ownership of the reasons why they will no longer be able to use BHRT's infrastructure to perform their regular activities, in case a solution is not found in the next few days that will enable the regular operation of BHRT,” the Management Board’s statement concluded.