President of the Republic of Srpska and the Serb member and Chairwoman of the BiH Presidency meet with the Prime Minister and ministers in the new convocation of the Government of the Republic of Srpska

The President of the Republic of Srpska Milorad Dodik and the Serb member and Chairwoman of the BiH Presidency Željka Cvijanović met today, in the Palace of the Republic, with the Prime Minister Radovan Višković and ministers in the new convocation of the Government of the Republic of Srpska.

After the meeting, the President of the Republic held a press conference.

“We talked today about the Government’s obligations and responsibilities, about the challenges that await it”, said the President Dodik.

The President of Srpska emphasized that the new government has a significant number of new ministers, 11 of them, which requires a new dynamic.

The President of the Republic of Srpska stated that the degree of responsibility will be increased, above all of the public administration, and that the issue of people who are not grateful for working in some position in the public administration will be resolved.

“The Government will deal with it in the next seven days. We will start cleaning up all those who claim to be employed but do not come to work. They have to leave the public sector. We will see what it looks like in seven days”, said the President Dodik.

The President of the Republic pointed out that the main priorities are the preservation of political and social stability, jobs and the economy, and how to improve the public sector.

“We will focus on investments that will increase the gross domestic product. The Republic of Srpska continues with the growth of macroeconomic values, which is very significant, and we want to preserve the policy of salary growth”, it was added by the President of Srpska.

The President Dodik reminded that from January 1 next year, salaries will be increased by five percent and pensions by 14 percent, which also means an increase in veterans’ benefits.

“We are focused on strengthening the development and investment potential of the Republic of Srpska. This is a coalition Government and it continues to work that way”, said the President of the Republic and assessed that the decision to grant Radovan Višković the mandate as the Prime Minister was correct.

The President of Srpska reiterated that when it comes to the BiH level, we remain committed to preserving the constitutional position of Srpska, as well as preventing the transfer of any competences and the return of competences.

“We are ready for dialogue at the BiH level on these issues, with the condition of preserving the Republic of Srpska. We want to open up all possible forms of cooperation with the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, so we will wait for them to form their government in order to hold a joint session”, said the President Dodik.

The President of the Republic stated that it is necessary to wait for the formation of the Council of Ministers, in order for the Government of Srpska to request a joint meeting.

The President of the Republic of Srpska reminded that a joint session of the Government of Srpska and Serbia is planned in order to innovate the Agreement on Special Parallel Relations.