Central Bank as a Family Business: Wives of Both Božić and Kulina are Managers at the Central Bank of BiH!

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Presidency of BiH recently appointed three new members to the Management Board of the Central Bank, Radomir Božić, Dragan Kulina, and Danijela Martinović.

Božić and Kulina were appointed to the Management Board of the Central Bank almost a year ago at the suggestion of the BiH Presidency member Milorad Dodik, but the Court of BiH blocked their appointment. Now that they have been appointed far from public view, seemingly in a phone session, the question is whether these two are in a conflict of interest, and the Central Bank of BiH seems to be becoming a family business.

Namely, the wives of both appointees, Božić and Kulina, work at the Central Bank of BiH. Both Verica Božić and Nada Kulina hold management positions; one is a head of service, and the other is a head of department.

Both Božić and Kulina are proposals from SNSD and are expected to replace Trivo Marinković (PDP) and Ljubiša Vladošič (SDS).

It is particularly interesting that Kulina, as confirmed to us by the Central Bank of BiH, currently works at the Central Bank, so it is unclear how he was appointed a member of the Management Board of the Central Bank before his status was resolved.

Last year, Kulina was a candidate for the Chief Auditor of Republika Srpska, and his application for the public competition was initially rejected because he did not have citizenship of BiH and RS, but of BiH and the Federation. The commission later changed its decision and considered his application, but Jovo Radukić was ultimately elected as the Chief Auditor of Republika Srpska. Kulina is also a professor at the Faculty of Economics, and during the competition for auditor, he stated that he was employed at the Central Bank of BiH as an economic researcher – expert. He previously held the position of Chief Internal Auditor at the Central Bank.

Božić was previously the Vice-Governor of the Central Bank of BiH representing Republika Srpska and is a professor at the Faculty of Economics of the University of East Sarajevo. Božić was dismissed from the position of Vice-Governor in 2016, but was reinstated by a decision of the Court of BiH. His term expired in August 2017.

Incidentally, the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina appoints members of the Management Board according to strict criteria set by the Law on the Central Bank of BiH.

Members can be removed from the Board if they violate the currency board rule established by this law, if they are convicted of an offense for which they were or could be sentenced to imprisonment without the possibility of paying a fine, if they become insolvent or bankrupt and have not been rehabilitated, or if they have been disqualified or suspended by the competent authorities for professional misconduct due to bad behavior.

“Upon learning of and upon proposal by the majority of the Management Board members, any member of the Management Board may be dismissed by the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina if the person proposed for removal from office is unable to perform their duties due to physical or mental illness lasting more than one year, if the person proposed for removal from office has attended less than half of the Management Board meetings held during the last twelve months, or if the person proposed for removal from office has participated in a serious violation of the Law or a serious workplace offense that significantly harms the interests of the Central Bank,” the Law states.

The conflict of interest that Božić and Kulina have certainly violates the reputation and interests of the Central Bank, especially on the international stage.

It is known that, according to the Law, the Central Bank can participate in international organizations working to strengthen financial and economic stability through international monetary cooperation, and that as a representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Central Bank can assume responsibility and carry out transactions related to Bosnia and Herzegovina's participation in international organizations.

It remains to be seen whether the IMF itself will react to these appointments.