How did a company from Laktaši go from the St. George's Day Festival to a New Year's Eve celebration in Sarajevo worth 700,000 KM?

By: Amina Čorbo-Zećo

October 15 – the first public procurement attempt for organizing the New Year's Eve celebration in Sarajevo fails because no bids were received.

November 17 – the second procedure is annulled because no bidder even picked up the tender documentation.

November 26 – a third attempt results in only one bid, but it is unacceptable, so this procedure is also annulled.

November 28 – a new procedure is announced, with less than 20 days remaining until New Year's.

At that moment, after months of failed attempts and wasted time, the public procurement for organizing the city's biggest event enters its final stage, not through an open and competitive procedure, but through a negotiated procedure without a prior contract award notice, the most closed and legally restrictive model of public procurement.

The job, worth 700,000 KM, was awarded to the company "Prorent" from Laktaši, which appeared as the sole bidder in this procedure and which, additionally, waived its right to appeal, effectively concluding the process without any legal recourse for potential irregularities.

This presented the public with a "take it or leave it" model, where, after three annulled tenders, the job is awarded at the last minute, without competition and without a real opportunity to verify if the offered price or conditions are the most favorable for the city and its citizens.

The New Year's Eve 2026 celebration is planned behind Sarajevo City Center, with Croatian singer Jelena Rozga announced as the main performer. However, just a few lines below the entertainment announcements, the key question remains: was the entire process conducted in accordance with the Law on Public Procurement of BiH?

A negotiated procedure without a prior contract award notice can only be applied in exceptional circumstances, precisely listed in Article 21 of the Law on Public Procurement. Among these is extreme urgency, but only if caused by unforeseeable events, which in no way should be linked to the actions or inactions of the contracting authority.

In this case, the urgency arose only after weeks of delays, annulments, and obvious time-wasting within the procedure itself. In other words, the deadlines only "became tight" after they had already been missed three times.

Therefore, the key question arises: were the legal conditions for applying the most non-transparent public procurement procedure truly met – or did the urgency serve as justification for a solution that was already prepared?

According to available information, Prorent has previously handled significantly less demanding projects for JU Cultural Center Trebinje, JU Cultural Center Gradiška, and the Municipalities of Laktaši and Banja Luka, where they secured contracts for ambient lighting, sound equipment management, and equipment procurement. They also frequently collaborate with RTRS, including renting production equipment for the St. George's Day Festival and the 30th-anniversary celebration of RTRS.





All of this further intensifies the question of whether Prorent's experience and portfolio are sufficient for the realization of the biggest city celebration in the capital of BiH – and whether the entire procedure was truly in the public interest, or in the interest of a single bidder?