Will Radončić persist in stopping the plunder of public companies planned by SDA

The FBiH Government today made a decision to postpone the sale of shares of Fabrika duhana Sarajevo after SBB President Fahrudin Radončić called on the FBiH Government, Prime Minister Fadil Novalić and SDA to stop the hasty sale, writes the Patria news agency.

Radončić stated that during the post-war privatization of companies, great social and financial damage was done, and only a few valuable companies remained. He expressed doubts that the book value is underestimated and the value of firms is falsely presented.

- They would practically be stolen, and this must be stopped – Radončić said, announcing that he would fight to stop it by political means.

Today, a reaction also came from SDA, which justifies privatization with the Reform Agenda.

- The Party of Democratic Action insists that the entire privatization process of public companies be carried out transparently and in accordance with the law.

Precisely because of this, at the last meeting of the leaderships of the Party of Democratic Action and the Alliance for a Better Future, SDA President Bakir Izetbegović raised the issue of the privatization process. It was concluded that the privatization process should be reviewed, and a complete analysis of companies with state capital participation should be carried out in order to identify sustainable and unsustainable firms. This conclusion was reached in order to fulfill the obligations undertaken from the Reform Agenda, but also to best protect the interests of the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

SDA also announced that they are surprised by SBB's reaction and the unnecessary accusations against Prime Minister Novalić and the FBiH Government.

It is indicative that SDA now wants to "review the privatization process and carry out a complete analysis of companies with state capital participation, in order to identify sustainable and unsustainable firms". In July 2015, the SDA and HDZ BiH governments categorized companies into three groups, and numerous companies were included in the third category, ready for privatization, with "alleged analyses".

What kind of analysis are SDA talking about now? Weren't the "ministers from Mars and Pluto" sitting in the Government last year in July and making decisions about sales? It is more than obvious that Radončić's move has pulled them out of the hole from which they were hatching plans for the sell-off (plunder) of state capital, without previously conducting any strategic analyses and sales plans, nor considering the passive sub-balance (company assets outside the borders of BiH).

It is important to point out that the total capital of FDS is 220 million KM, and the state's share is 85.8 million KM. This is twice the amount requested by the FBiH Government, and an additional item is the undistributed profit of FDS, which amounts to as much as 46.6 million KM by the beginning of this year.

In addition, FDS is the majority owner of Vakufska banka with a 66.5% stake, as well as a portion of shares in Privredna and Bor banka.

FDS is also a co-owner of numerous companies, owns real estate in Vlašić and Srebrenica, has stakes in the Fund Management Company, and owns numerous real estate properties in neighboring countries worth millions.

FDS is just one on the list of companies with majority state capital that SDA and HDZ BiH decided to sell for next to nothing (not counting the multi-million dollar assets of these companies in Serbia and Croatia, to which BiH returned all their assets, and they returned nothing to our country).

Aluminij Mostar, ArcelorMittal Zenica, Bosnalijek, Energoinvest Sarajevo, Energoinvest Comet d.d. Sarajevo, Energopetrol d.d. Sarajevo, Fabrika duhana Sarajevo, and Sarajevo-Osiguranje are on the list of companies for privatization.

The decision was made when the Democratic Front ministers left the Government, principledly defending the law and procedures regarding privatization and other issues related to the economy.

For a full five months, ministers from SDA and HDZ BiH made decisions alone, until the third coalition partner, SBB, joined them in October.

What was done during those five months and how many harmful decisions were made is slowly beginning to surface.

SBB is trying to stop the non-transparent urgent privatization of public companies that are not loss-making, but whose financial operations are falsified (we are not going into the reasons). It is doing so through its minister Vesko Drljača, and not the line minister Nermin Džindić, thus Radončić has revealed what was already known, that he is not his man but an SDA player.

It will now be seen whether Radončić will act principledly as DF did, withdraw from illegal activities and the plunder of state property, or persist until the end and transparently transform the non-transparent process.

With his statement yesterday, he announced that he would fight with all political means - by SBB ministers leaving the Government, demanding the dismissal of SDA's Džindić and the appointment of his cadre, stopping the sale of companies in the FBiH Parliament, demanding that all decisions made during the five months when only SDA and HDZ BiH constituted the Government be reviewed...?