The watchdog in charge of state aid enforcement in Bosnia and Herzegovina – the State Aid Council – has cleared state aid to Tuzla International Airport.
The aid was cleared ex post, upon notification by the Ministry of Trade, Tourism, and Transport of the Tuzla Canton, one of the ten cantons in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. State aid is one of the rare areas of law which is regulated and enforced at the national level (the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina), rather than by the entities or cantons.
The state aid given to the airport was for the procurement of firefighting equipment, the total amount of the cleared aid being approx. EUR 150,000.
In 2018, the Tuzla International Airport served close to 600,000 passengers. Based on this, the maximum intensity of allowed aid to the airport would be 75%. The watchdog found that in the case at hand the intensity was significantly below this threshold (less than 10%), as the total value of the procured firefighting equipment was approx. EUR 1.8 million.
Upon examining the notified state aid under both state aid legislation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the relevant EU acquis, the State Aid Council found that the aid was compatible with the applicable regulations.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has had a state aid framework in place since 2012, when it adopted a Law on State Aid System. In addition, Bosnia and Herzegovina is bound by the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU, which, inter alia, contains state aid provisions.