Čović's son-in-law Davorin Primorac hides behind BHANSA employees, refuses financial data, demands reaction from OHR, EU, Krišto!

(Patria) - Director of the Air Navigation Services Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHANSA) Davorin Primorac, better known as Dragan Čović's son-in-law, sent a sharply worded letter to the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers of BiH Borjana Krišto, ministers in the Council of Ministers of BiH, the OHR, the EU Delegation to BiH, and the Chairperson of the Committee on Transport and Communications Jasmin Imamović, after the House of Representatives Committee on Transport and Communications set January 20th as the date for a public hearing of Director Primorac, and his deputies Sanjin Hadžiomerović and Tomislav Marinković.

In the letter, Primorac states that the Committee's actions have harmful consequences for the work and reputation of BHANSA, and that they are submitting illegal requests for data on the monthly amount required for BHANSA's operations, and the amount of monthly net income of employees, starting from the director and other employees.

BHANSA did not provide the Committee with data on monthly costs, justifying it by stating that it “does not have data on fixed monthly amounts required for BHANSA's operations” because the monthly dynamics of costs and financial obligations depend on the volume of activities carried out.

Data on employee salaries were also not provided, with the explanation that this is personal data protected by the Law on Personal Data Protection.

BHANSA does not accept the Committee's position that the BHANSA management is withholding financial data. They accuse the Committee of damaging the credibility of the complexity of the work performed by this institution with such claims in public.

In their letter, they state that the Committee is exerting pressure, and some members are making accusations against employees, thereby creating an atmosphere of fear and pressure among employees, especially air traffic controllers.

The Committee had previously requested data on the number of all employees in this institution, the Main Office in Mostar, and the names and surnames of employees. At the session held on Friday, the Committee requested copies of public procurement contracts from the beginning of 2023 to December 1, 2025. The BiH Administrative Inspectorate was asked to urgently conduct an immediate inspection of BHANSA.

In his letter, Primorac explains that BHANSA does not use funds from the Budget of BiH institutions, and that financial documents are approved at multiple levels, by both international and national authorized institutions. BHANSA warns that after the "Viaduct" case, when funds were blocked by EUROCONTROL due to debt collection by court order, they are facing the departure of expert staff.

"Dozens of air traffic controllers are leaving the Agency due to the disturbed stability of the system and the high demand for this staff on the international market, which currently lacks 80,000 air traffic controllers. The training of one air traffic controller takes more than three years, and the complete training cycle costs up to 350,000 KM per candidate. The departure of each trained controller represents not only a loss of significant financial investment for BHANSA but also a direct reduction in the Agency's capacity to ensure stable provision of air navigation services," it is stated.

Director Primorac states that the requests regarding employee salaries are not only illegal but also pose a serious threat to the legal and even physical security of employees.

Primorac requested that the BiH Parliament and the Council of Ministers of BiH urgently ensure the protection of BHANSA and its employees, and prevent the exceeding of authority, political pressure, and abuse of jurisdiction that harms the Agency's reputation.

Primorac also used this letter to point out that amendments to the Law on the Air Navigation Services Agency of BiH have not been adopted, and that BHANSA is unable to plan or establish flight control services at the airports of Trebinje and Bihać, without which "the airports of Trebinje and Bihać will not be put into operational function, as no airport can be integrated into civil aviation without flight control." Although this letter might give the impression that these airports have been built, this is not true, so it is unclear why Primorac is dragging unbuilt airports into the whole story.

The current law from 2009 limits BHANSA to providing services to the airports of Sarajevo, Mostar, Banja Luka, and Tuzla.

While Primorac, who has managed BHANSA for two terms, and the proposed amendments to the Law on BHANSA would allow an unlimited number of management terms, hides behind employees, he wants to hide other data that would reveal the connection of family and political ties. The annual budget of this institution is around 80 million KM, so the Committee members wanted to have transparent insight into public procurements, and the winners of tenders are often companies connected to the HDZ.

Delegate in the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliament Džemal Smajić previously stated that Director Primorac's brother, Ivica, is the head of finance at BHANSA. Marin Raspudić, who is family-related to the HDZ leader, is also a member of the BHANSA Council.

According to the Committee's information, the national structure of employees does not reflect the national structure of BiH, which is why information on the number of employees was requested.

Given that in this letter Primorac reveals that there are problems with employee departures, we hope that he has informed the relevant minister Edin Forto or the BHANSA Council, where Forto's chief of staff is Sanja Škuletić-Malagić, in a timely manner.