Bujanovac – Saip Kamberi, the Mayor of Bujanovac, talked with representatives of the local media about the budgetary resources for financing their work in 2017.

Although the instructions of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia for the preparation of the budget are still expected, the above-mentioned talk with representatives of the media was the first in a series of talks that had been planned as part of a public debate on the municipal budget projection for the next year.

“We want to adequately consider the media from the financial viewpoint. However, the point at issue here is the citizens’ money, so that we do not currently know whether we will have any room to increase this year's budgetary funds for public information by 6.6 million dinars, "said Mayor Kamberi, adding that there were 12 media outlets in the municipality of Bujanovac, which included television and radio stations, newspapers and Internet portals.

The Mayor of Bujanovac said that, when planning the 2017 municipal budget, they would try to increase the budgetary resources for economic development by 5 to 6 times, as well as those for agricultural production by one hundred percent.  

“Of course, this doesn’t mean that we won’t consider the possibility of increasing the funds for financing the media. Furthermore, priority should be given to those media outlets that produce local news according to the parameters of this society. Also, strict criteria and parameters for financing the media’s work should be set, which will be done by the competent commission. We will try to evaluate the quality and consistency of the program, "said Mayor Kamberi at the end of the meeting with media representatives.

Source: Bujanovac News and Coordination Body