BOSNIA NEWS

SARAJEVO,BOSNIA - The Iranian Foreign Ministry Director General for Central and Northern Europe,Ali Baqeri called for expansion of trade and economic ties between Iran and Bosnia.

Ali Baqeri made the remark during a meeting with the Bosnian Minister of Trade and Economic Relations Slobodan Puhalac.

The Iranian official said grounds have been prepared for participation of Bosnian companies in Iran's economic affairs.

Establishment of a joint economic committee between the two countries as well as Iran-Bosnia Joint Chamber of Commerce would help boost bilateral cooperation in various economic fields,Baqeri said.

Puhalac, for his part, stressed the importance of promotion of bilateral economic ties and called for final conclusion of an agreement on trade preferential tariffs between Bosnia and Iran.

SARAJEVO,Bosnia – The Bosnian Embassy in Brussels informed the Bosnian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the North Atlantic Council has forwarded the consent for appointing Nikola Radovanovic as Head of the Bosnia's Mission to NATO.

Nikola Radovanovic previously received consent from the King of Belgium Albert II for appointment as Bosnia's Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium, said the Bosnian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

SARAJEVO,Bosnia – Two thirds of the Bosnian state institutions, 53 of them, have serious lacks in finances. This was stated at a press conference by Milenko Sego, the Head of the Bosnian State Office for Auditing, who presented the results of revision they conducted for the year 2006.

”The report was positive for 18 institutions, which is an improvement in financial discipline because a year earlier, only 13 institutions were positively marked”, Sego said.

Sego emphasized that the lacks of certain institutions are being repeated and that nobody is taking any actions to change that. In that sense he addressed the Bosnian Presidency,the Bosnian Ministry of Finances,the Bosnian Ministry of Civil Affairs, Ombudsmen,and the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA).

The revision was unable to determine the justification of car and phone expenses at the Bosnian Presidency.He also highly praised the CIPS Direction, which followed the instructions given by the previous revisions.

The Head of the Bosnian State Office for Auditing warned that revision is a responsibility for implementation of revision procedures at the Bosnian Parliament and the Bosnian Council of Ministers. In that sense, the Bosnian Parliament can sanction the institutions which violate the rules and regulations.

On the other hand, the report is available at the state Prosecutor’s Office, which can also press charges.Sego said that the revision is yet to determine the damage caused by those irregularities.