Meetings where opinions, suggestions, and comments related to the work and operations of entrepreneurs in our local community are exchanged are necessary in order to timely recognize and implement activities aimed at improving and enhancing business practices, it was emphasized at yesterday’s public discussion on the status of entrepreneurs in the municipality of Brod.
“Every meeting with our citizens, especially in this format—meetings that likely have never even been held before—can sometimes be uncomfortable or difficult, but in this case, I want to commend everyone who raised very concrete issues. I want to thank our entrepreneurs who, despite their daily business obligations, still find time to participate in our public life,” said the Mayor of Brod, Milan Zečević, after the meeting.
He emphasized that entrepreneurs are the most important segment when it comes to determining the main directions of action for initiating and developing economic activities in the municipality.
“Because how can we formulate an Economic Development Strategy if we don’t consult our entrepreneurs, if we don’t ask the end users of that strategy? In this case, the task of the municipal administration is to listen, to accept the guidelines, and we hope that by the end of the year we will adopt a more concrete direction of action and provide support to this category of the population,” Zečević said.
Also attending the meeting with the entrepreneurs were the Head of the Department of Finance, Radojka Popadić, and the Head of the Department of Economy and Social Activities, Draženka Duronja.
On Thursday, June 12, 2025, Eda – Enterprise Development Agency published a Public Call for Expressions of Interest to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the areas of energy transition, management, and digitalization, as part of the DESET – Digitally Enabled Sustainable Energy Transition of manufacturing SMEs project.
The call is open to export-oriented companies that meet the following profile:
They are registered as a business entity,
They fall under the SME category, according to the provided definition,
They operate in the manufacturing sector of wood processing, metal, food, or plastic industries (registered predominant activity according to the attached list of Activity Classification – Annex 3),
Their headquarters are located in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
They are willing to co-finance part of the activities within the mentioned types of support, particularly in equipment procurement, as specified.
The Public Call and Guidelines for the Public Call for SMEs for support in the field of energy transition and digitalization are available at the following link: https://bit.ly/43YrzzG
The Department of Economy and Social Affairs invites all entrepreneurs and representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises to participate in a public discussion, which will be held on June 25, 2025 (Wednesday) at 5:00 PM in the Assembly Hall of the Municipality of Brod (Post Office building).
Proposed Agenda:
Opening remarks,
Exchange of opinions, suggestions, and comments related to the work and operations of entrepreneurs in our local community,
Discussion.
The meeting will be attended by the Mayor of the Municipality along with associates. You can download the full invitation HERE.
By attending a two-day training in Neum on the topic “Preparation of Specific Documents for the Use of EU Pre-Accession Assistance,” representatives of the Municipality of Brod continued strengthening their capacities for the European integration process. This training marked the conclusion of a mini training cycle during which more than 20 representatives of local communities and members of the EU network from various municipalities and cities had the opportunity to acquire basic knowledge about the instruments and principles of using EU pre-accession assistance (IPA III).
Following earlier sessions held in Konjic and Bijeljina—where participants focused on strategic planning and project cycle management—the final training in Neum was dedicated to concrete elements of EU pre-accession programming. In cooperation with lecturers from the Directorate for European Integration, the representatives of Brod worked on practical examples of drafting key documents such as the strategic response, action document, and action fiche.
High levies and strict inspection controls are among the biggest challenges faced by self-employed entrepreneurs in Brod, according to the conclusion of today’s public discussion on the topic “Improving the Work and Status of Self-Employed Entrepreneurs in the Municipality of Brod.”
The public discussion was organized in the meeting hall of the Municipality of Brod by the Regional Chamber of Crafts and Entrepreneurship (PZPK) Doboj, which gathers entrepreneurs from seven municipalities and two cities in the Doboj region.
According to Zoran Gajić, President of the Board of PZPK Doboj, the region has about 2,400 self-employed entrepreneurs.
“Today’s event is focused on the work of entrepreneurs and improving their conditions. It’s about initiating discussions on how to reduce levies, taxes, and other burdens that jeopardize the work of entrepreneurs,” said Gajić, adding:
“If we succeed in getting the Republic of Srpska and relevant law-making bodies to consider our proposals and somewhat accommodate them, we could survive here and improve the work of entrepreneurs.”
He emphasized that improving the work of entrepreneurs also impacts the status of workers, leading to higher wages and consequently reducing the outflow of the workforce from the area.
“If we improve the conditions for entrepreneurs, we will improve the status of workers by enabling better salaries. There are ways and opportunities to unite all this and fight together for our people to remain in this area, and for small entrepreneurs to survive against large corporations,” Gajić stressed.
Public discussions on this topic have already been held in Petrovo and Derventa, and the plan is to organize them in other municipalities of the Doboj region by June 10.
“At the end, we will prepare a report that we will submit to the Government of the Republic of Srpska and to legislative bodies so they can review the relevant laws, taxes, and levies—explore what can be reduced, what can be abolished, and whether certain provisions or requirements can be extended, for example from two to five years,” said the PZPK Doboj Board President, adding:
“In this way, we will enable entrepreneurs to work better, to survive here, retain their jobs, and also hire new workers, ultimately helping to stop the outflow of our workforce abroad.”
According to him, entrepreneurs mostly complain about high taxes and levies, such as taxation on meal allowances, personal income tax, and the like.
“They complain about the work of inspection authorities and the high fines. Every country and system needs a tax administration and inspection services, but it’s easy to fine someone—what we should do is help them,” he said, adding that efforts should be made to support businesspeople striving to survive through their work.
Gajić added that one of the tasks of the Regional Chamber of Crafts and Entrepreneurship is to advocate for mitigating penalties in order to retain jobs and prevent further workforce drain.
He thanked the Mayor of Brod and the municipal administration for their hospitality and expressed appreciation for their interest in cooperation.
Draženka Duronja, Head of the Department of Economy and Social Affairs, expressed gratitude to all entrepreneurs from Brod who responded to the invitation and shared their problems as well as ideas for overcoming them.
“Active participation by entrepreneurs and craftsmen, idea exchange, and willingness to cooperate all contribute to strengthening our shared goal—to improve working conditions and support the development of crafts and small businesses,” she said, adding:
“The presence of all interested entrepreneurs confirms the importance of unity, dialogue, and mutual support in building a strong and sustainable entrepreneurial community.”
At today’s meeting, a cooperation team was appointed to work with the Regional Chamber of Crafts and Entrepreneurship, consisting of Biljana Kojić, Radmila Čečavac, Savo Kojić, and Siniša Kojić.
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