SIPA Special Unit Base Being Built in Lukavica: Audit Office Warned Ćulum of Inefficient Project Management

(Patria) - The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, at its session on December 21, 2012, adopted a decision approving the “Project for the Construction of the Base for Accommodation and Training of the Special Support Unit of the State Investigation and Protection Agency”.

Year after year, the Audit Office of the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina warns that this project has not been completed, and the latest audit for 2024 shows that there has been some progress. The future facility of the Special Support Unit will be located in the municipality of East Novo Sarajevo.

The total value of the project was set at 9,263,000 BAM, and at the end of 2024, the total available funds in 2024 amounted to 7,750,382 BAM (6,750,382 BAM carried over from the previous year and 1,000,000 BAM approved by the budget for 2024). During the reporting period, 88,211 BAM was spent, including 14,622 BAM for the fee for issuing a building permit and 73,589 BAM for the preparation of the project for part of the services performed under a 2017 contract. An advance from 2017 in the amount of 143,142 BAM, related to the project preparation under the 2017 contract, was closed. Available funds under this item as of December 31, 2024, amount to 7,519,029 BAM.

“The implementation of the project in the previous period did not proceed according to the planned dynamics due to difficulties in purchasing adequate land for the construction of the base for accommodation and training of the Agency's Special Support Unit. During 2024, after obtaining the building permit, the Agency conducted a procedure for selecting a contractor for the construction of the first phase of the Base for Accommodation and Training of the Agency's Special Support Unit and a procedure for selecting a supervisory board. Contracts were concluded in January 2025. The contract stipulates that the investor is obliged to introduce the contractor to the work within 15 days from the date of signing the contract. The contract was signed on January 14, 2025, and the deadline for performing the works is 320 days from the date of introducing the contractor to the work.

Since the execution of works, i.e., the introduction of the contractor to the work, was preceded by the staking out of the building (transferring and marking the designed dimensions on the ground), the Agency sent a request to the competent municipality for the provision of the said service on January 20, 2025. As it did not receive feedback from the municipality, the Agency concluded a contract for the provision of the said service with a private company on April 9, 2025. According to the submitted information and evidence, the Agency introduced the contractor to the work on May 21, 2025. From the above, it is concluded that the management of this project is not efficient, because the actions that are a prerequisite for the execution of works were not completed in a timely manner, which led to non-fulfillment of contractual obligations in terms of failing to meet the deadline for introducing the contractor to the work. Such conduct can lead to uncertainty regarding the start of the deadline for performing the works, which can further affect the efficiency of the implementation of the concluded contract. Bearing in mind that these are investment activities for which significant budget funds are allocated, professional attention in planning, contracting and monitoring the implementation of contracts for all investment activities is of particular importance,” the auditors' report states.

By a decision of Director Darko Ćulum, an open procurement procedure was initiated for the execution of works on the construction of the Base for Accommodation and Training of the Special Support Unit, with an estimated value of 5,760,000 BAM. By the defined deadline for submission of bids, three bidders submitted their bids, which the Procurement Commission deemed acceptable. Based on the Report on the course and completion of the e-auction, the Commission determined that the most favorable bid, reduced by 17.33%, amounts to 4,705,000 BAM. A contract for the execution of works with the most favorable bidder based on a consortium agreement was concluded on August 5, 2024, in the amount of 4,705,000 BAM. The contract defines the obligation of a bank guarantee for the proper execution of the contract, and the contractor submitted it within the prescribed period in the amount of 10% of the total contracted works. For the preparation of the technical documentation for the said works, which preceded the public procurement, a designer's price was secured, which was a prerequisite for forming the estimated value for the execution of works.

“We are of the opinion that market research for investment activities solely by obtaining a designer's price does not represent complete market research in terms of obtaining and analyzing data from several available sources and informing potential bidders about their plans and requirements regarding the procurement. Although the preparation of bills of quantities and cost estimates by a relevant expert designer is very useful, we believe that it does not necessarily constitute market research,” the report states.

Although several years ago there was an idea, before the location for the construction of the Base was officially determined, that it would be built in Sarajevo, support from the authorities was lacking.

That is why today the State Investigation and Protection Agency is entirely located in the territory of the RS entity, including the Sarajevo Regional Office.

When SIPA was founded in 2004, its headquarters were in Sarajevo. Amendments to the Law on SIPA in May 2012 moved SIPA's headquarters to East Sarajevo. SIPA also has four regional offices: Mostar, Banja Luka, Tuzla, and Sarajevo, which is located in East Sarajevo.

After the events in March of this year, when Darko Ćulum stepped down from the position of SIPA director, heeding the political order of the RS leadership and participating in the attack on the constitutional order, all the shortsightedness of pro-Bosniak or pro-Bosnian politics was shown when it agreed that candidates from the Serbian people should always be elected to the head of this agency, and for the deputy director from the Croatian people. Even for these positions, candidates from the Bosniak people never apply for the competitions.

Ćulum returned to the head of SIPA after four months of absence, and the Council of Ministers of BiH never dismissed him.

This case also showed all the shortcomings of the Law on SIPA because it is not specified who manages SIPA when there is neither a director nor a deputy, as happened this year, but Ćulum authorized several people who signed documents and mail.

Instead of the Council of Ministers of BiH initiating amendments to the law so that it could appoint an acting director in such cases due to the complexity of the work of police agencies, this was done by state prosecutor Jasmin Emrić. But his initiative did not receive support.