Imamović: In Sarajevo, there is always someone who blocks new investments and projects

Bosnia and Herzegovina is eager for new investments and million-euro projects, but whatever is attempted in this country, someone blocks, challenges, criticizes it... That is not good. Investors waste time and money, and often give up on their ideas – says Šemso Imamović, owner and director of the construction company „Butmir“ from Sarajevo, in an interview with the Patria agency.

Just these days, he himself faced difficulties during the construction of a residential-commercial building on Čengić-Vila. An investment worth around nine million KM is being slowed down by a group of citizens, even though Imamović is building on his own plot and has the necessary documentation for the project.

A smaller group from neighboring buildings claims that the new Butmir building will destroy their green area and close the children's playground, and according to some, increase air pollution. Imamović rejects all these complaints.

- That is how it always is with us – says Imamović.

- This city must be built. Space must be created for people who come to live here. But there is always someone who is not interested in that. Besides, my company employs about 200 workers, who need to receive their salaries every month for their work, from which they feed their families. It is enough for something to go wrong on one big project, and it can destabilize the entire company. Others do not care about that. For the sake of their minor interests, they are capable of jeopardizing the lives of hundreds of other people.

Stopping large projects in BiH is most often politically motivated. Although Imamović did not want to comment on this, insiders claim that his company is also collateral damage. A group of citizens, directed, wants to harm the mayor of Novo Sarajevo Municipality, Nedžad Koldžo, and they use the Butmir construction site on Čengić-Vila only as a pretext for an attack on the mayor. They accuse him, albeit without arguments, of allowing illegal construction.

Imamović says that Butmir solved its problems by changing some parts of the method and dynamics of work execution at the construction site. This increased their construction costs, but it was the fastest way to reach a solution. As for foreign investors, he says, may God help them.