In a time of uncontrolled price increases, where even the most basic necessities of life become luxuries for citizens, the help for citizens would be the withdrawal of commodity reserves from warehouses.
Commodity reserves in the Federation of BiH are far from the level, even from 1995.
And no one knows exactly what he has at his disposal because everything is classified as secret. In Republika Srpska they went bankrupt.
Tončo Bavrka, Director of Commodity Reserves of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, told Faktor that the FBiH Government has not yet adopted the work plan and that he does not know how and what will happen to Commodity Reserves until the Government makes a decision and adopts the program and work plan.
– The government has not yet adopted the plan for 2026, so we are also waiting – said Bavrka.
Bavrka points out that he has already spoken about this and that, unlike earlier crises, such as the coronavirus pandemic, the commodity reserves of the FBiH are now somewhat fuller, but the quantities of food in the commodity reserves and oil and oil derivatives in the FBiH Terminals are only sufficient for short-term interventions.
– We have approximately 40 million KM worth of goods in stock. Looking at the geopolitical situation in the world, the tendencies of price growth, it is clear that more should be allocated for commodity reserves – explains Bavrka.
According to him, there are proposals to provide interventional support from commodity reserves to socially vulnerable categories of the population, but this year the FBiH Government has not yet made decisions in this regard.
Commodity reserves in the shadow
When it comes to this year’s budget of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Commodity reserves remained in the shadow of dominant expenditures, with no visible increase and no political emphasis that would indicate a strategic turn in the management of security stocks.
The total budget of the Federation for the next year is projected at approximately 8.9 billion convertible marks, and the largest part of the funds is directed to the payment of pensions, social benefits, financing of the health system and transfers to lower levels of government.
In such an arrangement of priorities, commodity reserves remain only a marginal item, present in the budget primarily due to a legal obligation, but without the ambition to be a more important instrument of economic and security policy.
From the available budget reviews and public presentations, it is not possible to see a significant increase in funds for this purpose, nor the initiation of special programs that would indicate a more serious strengthening of the commodity reserve system.
This suggests that the Federation is still not investing in the development of commodity stocks as a protection mechanism in case of market disruptions, price rises or possible crisis situations.
This approach is particularly evident in the context of recent economic challenges, including inflation and instability in the energy and food markets, where commodity reserves in many countries have regained importance.
Focus on short-term social stability
In the Federation of BiH, however, the budget framework for 2026 shows that the focus remains on short-term social stability, while the long-term resilience of the system, at least through the segment of commodity reserves, is not treated as a priority.
A more detailed insight into specific amounts for commodity reserves is possible only through technical budget tables and financial plans of competent institutions, where this item is managed without much public emphasis. This discrete position in the budget additionally confirms their secondary importance in relation to the key expenditure categories that shape the fiscal policy of the Federation in 2026.
Whoever survives will talk
Haris Šabanović (SDA), a representative in the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, tells Faktor that it is already April 15 and that the FBiH Government has not yet adopted the Work Program, if it cannot even start that procedure yet.
So, at a moment when the world has been rocked by the biggest economic crisis, the energy crisis, for a month and a half, the Government is not discussing commodity reserves at all. They are dealing with some kind of appointments, dismissals, personnel issues and mutual fights and they have not done anything on what is crucial, which is the protection of the citizens of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina – emphasizes Šabanović.
He adds that the citizens of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina are left to their own devices, and prices are skyrocketing day by day.
– There is no reaction from the authorities, there was talk of excise taxes, then nothing, and the citizens and the economy are left to their own devices and circumstances, and there is no regulator, and that is the role of the state, so whoever survives will talk – concludes Šabanović, he states Factor.
