Kajganić: Viaduct's lawyers reported members of BiH Presidency and Council of Ministers for failure to execute court ruling

(Patria) - At today's public hearing before the Finance and Budget Committee and the Anti-Corruption Committee, Chief Prosecutor of the BiH Prosecutor's Office Milanko Kajganić spoke about the current situation regarding the Viaduct case.

He stated that the establishment, execution, and termination of the concession agreement fall under the jurisdiction of the Republika Srpska Public Prosecutor's Office because the concession was established by the institutions of Republika Srpska and authorized persons in Republika Srpska.

“The special department of the prosecutor's office in Banja Luka issued an order not to conduct an investigation at the end of 2024 based on the report filed by the Ministry of Justice of Republika Srpska.

Where there might be certain abuses is whether the amount of the claim is this high and whether that amount is possibly a consequence of criminal offenses.

For that part, there is a case in the District Public Prosecutor's Office based on the report from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska, and it is against three individuals. I am in communication with the chief prosecutor, and information about that case and its status should be requested from the District Prosecutor's Office,” said Chief Prosecutor Kajganić.

He stated that the BiH Prosecutor's Office received a report from the legal representatives of Viaduct due to the failure to execute a court ruling against members of the BiH Council of Ministers and the BiH Presidency.

"The arbitration award was recognized in BiH as a domestic award by the Cantonal Court in Sarajevo and confirmed by the Supreme Court of the Federation of BiH, and we now have an Arbitration Court ruling that has been accepted. Since the failure to execute the ruling constitutes a criminal offense, the BiH Prosecutor's Office has formed a case based on the report from the legal representatives for failure to execute the ruling,” said Kajganić.

He emphasized that the prosecutor in charge is working on the case and exchanging information with the entity prosecutor's office.

"Certain information was also provided by Zlatko Miletić regarding abuses. Through SIPA, some legal representatives were questioned about the arbitration proceedings. The prosecutor will continue to gather information. The prosecutor's office will make a prosecutorial decision,” he stated.

Kajganić said that all facts and information regarding the Viaduct case, which fall under the jurisdiction of the BiH Prosecutor's Office, are being verified. They were also provided with the transcript of the public hearing of the legal representatives and the governor of the Central Bank of BiH.

Kajganić answered questions from committee members but also pointed out that it is not the BiH Prosecutor's Office that should decide whether something should be paid or not.

"We are verifying all information and whether someone has committed a criminal offense. We are not verifying the concession period because we do not have that information. If BiH fulfills this obligation, will we act if Republika Srpska refuses to act according to the 2017 agreement? Of course, we will if we receive a report,” said Kajganić.

MP Zlatan Begić stated that his address today can be considered as filing a criminal complaint, given that the chief prosecutor confirmed that they have not yet received any criminal complaint.

We remind that BiH is obliged to pay 110 million KM according to the arbitration ruling, and with interest, that debt is even higher. The budget of BiH institutions has not yet been adopted because the BiH Presidency returned the draft for revision because the BiH Ministry of Finance and Treasury planned to pay the debt from the profit of the BiH Central Bank, which is opposed by the CB BiH and the BiH Legal Representative's Office, as well as two members of the BiH Presidency, Željko Komšić and Denis Bećirović.

However, the Ministry did not make the correction, so the BiH Presidency refused to support the Draft Budget and send it to the parliamentary procedure.