PUHOVAC: THE TOURISM BUDGET MUST BE INCREASED TO AT LEAST BAM 10 MILLION

BANJA LUKA, JUNE 12 /SRNA/ - The Minister of Trade and Tourism of Republika Srpska, Ned Puhovac, stated to SRNA that one of his main goals in the coming period will be a significant increase in allocations for the development of tourism, stating that the current budget is not sufficient to utilize the huge potential that Srpska possesses.

Puhovac said in the SRNA podcast that the line ministry currently has about BAM 500,000 at its disposal for tourism grants, which, as he assessed, is insufficient for a more serious development of this economic branch. "For next year, I plan to discuss with the Prime Minister and all those who make decisions on this matter that the budget for tourism should be at least BAM 10 million, because without investing in tourism, you have no future," stated Puhovac. He emphasized that Republika Srpska has exceptional natural resources, but they are insufficiently utilized. Puhovac stated that the institutions are trying to find a model by which platforms like "Booking" would be obligated to operate through a registered representative office in BiH and be subject to the same obligations as domestic business entities. "When someone charges you for an accommodation service, they also charge VAT, and the state gets no benefit from it. We will strive for these companies to establish their representative offices and operate in accordance with regulations, just like all other companies," said Puhovac. He also assessed that spa tourism is currently the most developed segment of Srpska's tourist offer, but also that a huge part of the natural potential has not yet been sufficiently utilized. Puhovac points out that the Government of Srpska has implemented the necessary measures so that citizens feel the crisis caused by the unrest in the Middle East and the increase in the price of a barrel of oil as little as possible. "We limited the margin to 25 pfennigs per liter of fuel at the pumps and six pfennigs in wholesale. That was the best decision at the given moment, and especially for farmers," said Puhovac. In the podcast, Puhovac also spoke about his life and professional path, stating that he was born in Brčko, holds a master's degree in economics, and during his career worked various jobs in several countries. Among other things, he worked for five years as a taxi driver in Mannheim, Germany, which he assessed as one of his most valuable life experiences, and then he and his family went to Australia, where he lived and worked for more than a decade. A new episode of the SRNA podcast, whose guest is the Minister of Trade and Tourism of Republika Srpska, Ned Puhovac, will be available tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. to users of our service, as well as on social networks and the YouTube channel.