Commission Determines: Žiko Krunić in Conflict of Interest, Must Resign Within One Month

The competent commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina dealing with conflict of interest determination today established, after a verification procedure regarding the President of the Independent Board of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, Žiko Krunić, that he is in a conflict of interest, fined him, and gave him a 30-day deadline to eliminate the reasons that led to the conflict of interest, reports the Patria news agency.

- It is determined that Žiko Krunić, while serving as President of the Independent Board from March 17, 2014, to December 24, 2015, simultaneously held the position of director of the mixed holding company Elektroprivreda RS, parent company A.D. Trebinje, independent company mine and thermal power plant Ugljevik, and that from February 3, 2016, he held the position of acting executive director for corporate affairs, and from May 20, 2016, to the present, he holds the position of executive director – said Jasmin Emrić, Chair of the Commission for Decision on Conflict of Interest.

Krunić is imposed a sanction of suspending payment of part of his net salary in the amount of 30 percent, which he receives as Chair of the Independent Board, for a duration of six months.

Krunić is given a 30-day deadline to eliminate the reasons that led to the conflict of interest, i.e., to resign from the position of executive director for corporate affairs and submit proof thereof to the commission – added Emrić.

Also, Miroslav Škorić, while serving as a member of the Independent Board from March 17, 2014, to the present, simultaneously holds the position of member of the Supervisory Board in the company Vodovod i kanalizacija Bijeljina, even though he was required to resign within three days after assuming the function in the Independent Board.

- Škorić is imposed a sanction of suspending payment of part of his net salary in the amount of ten percent for a duration of three months. Škorić is given a 30-day deadline to eliminate the reasons that led to the conflict of interest – added Emrić.

We recall, earlier the Minister of Security of BiH, Dragan Mektić, requested Krunić's removal given that in previous years he blocked the removal of the Director of the Agency for Investigation and Protection of BiH (SIPA), Goran Zubac.

In April this year, at a session of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, the Report of the Temporary Joint Commission of both houses of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH for reviewing the work of the Independent Board was discussed, which noted a series of irregularities in the work of the Independent Board.

The Independent Board is responsible for conducting the procedure for selecting candidates and proposing the removal of police chiefs and deputy chiefs of police bodies in BiH, publishing competitions and reviewing candidate applications, selecting and submitting to the Minister of Security of BiH the names of up to five candidates for chiefs and up to five candidates for deputy chiefs of police bodies in BiH, as well as reviewing complaints about the work of chiefs and deputy chiefs of police bodies in BiH.

This board has nine members who are elected from among representatives of judicial institutions, retired police officers, retired and active civil servants, and prominent experts from other areas of public life, in the fields of law, criminal sciences, and police affairs.

The Law on Independent and Supervisory Bodies of the Police Structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina clearly specifies that a candidate for a member of the Independent Board cannot be a member of a political party.