Do Bosnia and Herzegovina need railways? To this question, representatives of the Trade Union in the Railways of Republika Srpska demand a clear answer from the authorities. The business of the entity railways has made it difficult to shut down the Koksara in Lukavac, while the eyes of the railway workers are now turned towards the possible cessation of production in the facilities of the Zenica Ironworks as well. Trade unionists are looking for a solution for both railway operators in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Redirecting part of the money that is taken from citizens through excise taxes to oil derivatives would be a possible solution for financing both railway companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“This is the only way to regulate permanent funding for the Railways and ensure safe traffic”, believes the President of the Union of Railway Workers of the RS, Jelenko Dobraš.
“Investment in the infrastructure of the Railways must happen. Now, on the basis of which allocations from the budget, whether through excise taxes or grant funds, it is necessary for the Railways of the Republic of Srpska as well as the Railways of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, points out the vice president of the Independent Union of Traffic and Transport Industry, Goran Petković.
“Our goal is not to introduce new fees, but only what is currently collected based on the law, just to make a fairer redistribution, so that one part goes to the roads and one part goes to the Railways”, says the president of the Independent Trade Union of Train Drivers of the Railways of the RS, Simo Cvjetković.
This is also requested by the management of the Entity Railways, where, as they also say, they see one of the key solutions in changing the legal provisions, which would enable the transportation of dangerous goods to be carried out exclusively by rail. Due to the shutdown of the Koksara in Lukavac, RS Railways were left without an annual income of five million marks.
The monthly income of the Railways of Republika Srpska is not even enough for the salaries of around 1,700 employees. If production stops at Nova Željezara Zenica, this company will be in an even more difficult financial situation. The annual income from Zenica amounts to almost 20 million marks. The head of entity Railways recently warned about this.
“We have come to a situation where Acting General Director Dragan Zelenković is appealing publicly and for the first time in such a way that he is addressing all competent institutions that help is needed for the Railways”, reminds the Vice President of the Independent Trade Union of Traffic and Transport Industry Goran Petković.
“Indeed, we have a big problem if the Željezara and the Ljubija mine are shut down. These are our basic incomes. What we are trying to say to the government is that we cannot solve the issue ourselves,” believes the president of the Independent Union of Train Drivers of Railways RS, Simo Cvjetković.
Business has been difficult before. The liquidity of Željeznica was also threatened by the Government of Republika Srpska, which three years ago reduced the grant for this company from 20 to ten million marks, stated in a written answer the Acting General Director of Željeznica Dragan Zelenković, reports BHRT.
