Two Years After the Floods: Stop the Misuse of Aid Distribution to Businesses in Doboj

Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina has appealed to the City of Doboj to ensure that funds from a credit debt of 3 million KM, approved by the Doboj City Assembly for the purpose of direct aid to businesses that suffered damage in the 2014 floods, are distributed transparently and based on clear criteria, announced TI BiH, as reported by the Patria news agency.

TI BiH had previously warned that part of the funds, in the amount of 6 million KM, had been distributed to businesses in Doboj without clearly established criteria and in violation of procedures, which is why it has now addressed the Doboj city administration with an appeal that the distribution of the new tranche of 3 million KM does not lead to new abuses.

For the record, the RS Solidarity Fund in July 2015 approved funds in the amount of 6 million KM to aid flood-affected businesses in the Doboj area and made these funds available to the Association of Entrepreneurs "15 May" Doboj, which distributed them arbitrarily and without any criteria.

This association was founded in June 2014, immediately after the floods, and has no public authority. The association distributed public funds in a non-transparent manner, without clearly established criteria, and a recommendation was also issued by the Institution of the Ombudsman for Human Rights of Bosnia and Herzegovina, stating that these funds were paid out illegally, based on a proposal made by a non-state entity not subject to control by the Fund.

TI BiH then obtained data showing that most of the founders of the Association were actually beneficiaries of these funds, and that 10 out of 12 founders of the Association appear on the list of fund beneficiaries, which in practice represents a clear conflict of interest. The total amount of funds that the founders of this association practically awarded to themselves amounts to 488,000 KM, a significant percentage given that the funds were distributed to over 600 businesses.

The same 2015 conclusion, which made 6 million KM from the Solidarity Fund available to the Association of Entrepreneurs, also stipulated that additional funds for aid to flood-affected businesses in the amount of 3 million KM would be secured through credit borrowing, and it was stated that these funds should also be distributed in accordance with the Proposal prepared by the Association of Entrepreneurs "15 May" Doboj.

TI BiH believes that the new 3 million KM must not be distributed in the same way, and has appealed to the Doboj City administration to, when distributing the next tranche of funds, establish in advance clear criteria for determining which businesses are entitled to aid and how individual aid amounts are determined. It is also necessary to ensure that priority is given to businesses that did not receive funds in the distribution of the first tranche but meet the conditions, so as to avoid a situation where some businesses receive aid multiple times while others who meet the conditions are again denied aid.

It is also necessary to ensure that the criteria for the distribution of funds are established by a public body with clearly defined public authority to dispose of public funds and decide on the rights of citizens, and to establish the possibility of reviewing the legality and purposefulness of decisions on the allocation of funds. In this way, citizens would have greater assurance that the funds will be used for their intended purpose, in a spirit of solidarity, and distributed to those who truly need them.

To prevent the continuation of illegality in the distribution of aid for flood victims, even two years after the floods, TI BiH has also addressed the Working Body for Supervision over the Collection and Distribution of Funds provided for by the Law on the RS Solidarity Fund in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, submitting all collected documentation regarding the distribution of funds to businesses in Doboj, the TI BiH statement said.