It appears that BHRT, the national broadcaster of Bosnia & Herzegovina, is in a deep financial crisis that it can’t get out of. At today’s meeting, the Management Board concluded that unless a strong, functional and long-term of financing is found, BHRT might stop broadcasting and shut down completely, making Bosnia & Herzegovina the only country in Europe with no national broadcaster.
The costs of BHRT seem to be growing more and more, and it appears that the broadcaster needs extra 500,000 BAM (approx. 255,000 EUR) for the minimal working conditions. Labor and other costs have been lowered by 1 million BAM in the last year, and is now functioning with minimal resources that hardly provide the normal functioning of the programmes.
The stability of the financing of public services can only be solved by adopting a new model of collection of taxes, and that is the responsibility of the competent authorities. However, these proposed changes to the law have not yet come on the agenda of the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Management Board of BHRT concluded today’s meeting by recommending the Accounting Board to accede to the gradual reduction of the program until its complete extinction. We shall see in the coming days whether there will be any reactions from the Government regarding this matter.
All of this happens just over three months before the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 will take place, and Bosnia & Herzegovina are set to come back to the Contest after a three year absence.
