How budget funds are (not) distributed in Kragujevac: Secret decisions regarding public information.
While waiting for the official confirmation regarding the outcome of the repeated privatization of Radio-Television Kragujevac, the city authorities, in silence and without explanation, are reducing the amount of funds for public information as planned in the budget for 2025. This comes just a few weeks after they approved an increase in subsidies for RTK. Instead of the 47.5 million dinars that were supposed to be allocated to the media through a public competition, only nearly four times less money—12.6 million dinars—has been designated for this purpose, while just over 11.4 million dinars remain unallocated.
How the budgeted difference in the amount of funds allocated for public information has been repurposed is currently unknown, and there is also the question of what will happen with the undistributed funds and whether they have perhaps been "reserved" for RTK so that, when it changes ownership, it will immediately receive the appropriate subsidy for uninterrupted operation until the end of the year.
One thing said, another done
The fact that the city budget for 2025 allocated a total of 48.5 million dinars for public information in Kragujevac became noteworthy as soon as it was announced. This amount is four times greater than what was allocated in previous years, making it understandable why it became a topic for discussion; however, it is important to emphasize that it was not a cause for celebration for the local media community.
It was clear that independent media would not benefit significantly from such generosity from the city authorities, and it is reasonable to assume that the reason for the 400 percent increase in the media budget is the privatization of RTK, which, according to the Law on Public Information and Media, is supposed to be completed by the end of this year. After changing ownership, the television station owned by the local government will no longer be able to be funded through generous subsidies from the city budget, as is currently the case, but like other media, it will have to rely on funds obtained through public calls for co-financing media projects.
The program for the allocation of funds for financing the development of public information in the city of Kragujevac in 2025, adopted by the City Council in mid-December 2024, allocated a total of 48.5 million dinars, with as much as 47.5 million planned for the implementation of a public competition. Additionally, 730 thousand dinars were allocated for direct grants, and 250,000 for fees for members of the Commission for Evaluating Projects in the Field of Public Information. The program also included a line item of 20,000 dinars for fees to the APR for changing data in the Media Register.
At the same time, the annual Business Program of Radio-Television Kragujevac for 2025, which was adopted by the City Assembly at the end of December of the previous year, planned subsidies in the amount of 50 million dinars for the functioning of that company. In the previous year, RTK cost the city budget 66.6 million, so the reduced funds for subsidies indicated that the authorities considered the upcoming privatization during budget creation, and thus the inevitable change in the financing model of the only city television station.
By the very last day of February, it became apparent that the 47.5 million dinars for the media competition would remain just a figure on paper, as a public call for co-financing media projects in the amount of only 12.6 million was announced that day, which is in line with amounts from previous years. The decision on the distribution of funds revealed the clear intention of the authorities to completely eliminate funding for media that report critically. The most influential Kragujevac media outlets did not receive a single dinar from the fund contributed by all citizens of Kragujevac, while funds were approved for portals from Vranje, Belgrade, and Velika Plana. Additionally, 3.7 million dinars remained undistributed in the competition.
The question of what will happen with the remaining funds allocated by the Program for the Allocation of Funds for Financing the Development of Public Information was partially resolved by the decision of the City Council adopted at a session held on July 14. Without any explanation, the Program was amended to state that "the number 48,500,000 is replaced by the number 25,036,000," meaning that instead of 47.5 million for the media competition, only 12.6 million is allocated. Besides the reference to the change in numbers that conceals a drastic reduction in the budget planned for public information, the Program also added a provision stating "undistributed funds in the amount of 11,436,000 dinars."
A new "reservation" for RTK
This decision contradicted the statements made by the city councilor for finance, Nenad Stanišić, during the public presentation of the draft budget for 2025, that "the amount of 48.5 million dinars would be allocated for public information, regardless of RTK's status." In fact, the opposite has proven to be true. The decisions being made indicate that the privatization process and the status of Radio-Television Kragujevac critically affect the distribution of funds from the city budget.
This is further supported by the, to put it mildly, unusual decision of the city authorities to adopt a decision on the method, model, and starting price for the privatization of RTK in mid-June, while simultaneously approving an increase in subsidies for that enterprise by 10 million, just ten days before it was announced for sale. It is planned for RTK to spend 61 million dinars in subsidies by September 30, by which time it was presumably calculated that ownership would change.
In the coming days, an official confirmation is expected regarding whether Radio-Television Pančevo, as the only interested buyer, has become the new owner of Radio-Television Kragujevac.
The issues accompanying the privatization process are a separate topic, but it is noticeable that this time there is almost no public interest in the fate of the only city television station. RTK has been a subject of interest in recent years primarily due to the money spent on it from the city budget and the financing method that is not provided for by the Law on Public Information and is unique in Serbia. The fact that RTK costs the city budget nearly the same amount in just one year as all media competitions published from 2021 to the present, which have funded dozens of different media outlets, attests to its privileged status.
Therefore, it is a legitimate question whether the undistributed 11.4 million dinars in the Program on the allocation of funds for financing the development of public information is, in some way, "reserved" for RTK after it changes ownership and spends the already approved subsidies by September 30?
And whether, from the perspective of other media in Kragujevac, the publicly stated position of the former mayor Radomir Nikolić that the city has no money for the media competition and will only finance RTK because he believes it provides citizens with all the necessary information, or the actions of the current authorities, which formally fulfill legal obligations, but through various "acrobatics" essentially implement the same media policy, is "fairer," despite being contrary to the law.
Source: kragujevacke.rs
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