Anti-Corruption Commission Determined to Stop the Purchase of the "Godfather's" Building

(Patria) - The Anti-Corruption Commission of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina is determined to stop the purchase of a building for the Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Banja Luka.

They find the move by the BiH Prosecutor's Office problematic, which, according to their claims, prematurely sued the Authority for the disputed purchase of the building from Mile Radišić, which is why the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina dismissed the lawsuit. Can and how can the state and its institutions stop this 100 million convertible mark worth, and from the beginning suspicious, building purchase, or is it a done deal?

One godfather got a position - another is still waiting for 100 million convertible marks of budget money, which the Indirect Taxation Authority is supposed to pay to the company Grand Trade, owned by Milo Radišić. Due to suspicions of tender rigging, the State Prosecutor's Office appealed to both the State Court and the Authority, which forwarded the appeal to the Appeals Review Office. The outcome is still pending, which is why the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina dismissed the lawsuit as premature.

“We will certainly request a special performance audit in which we will see how this price came about, and we have a lot of arguments related to the public hearing process where we saw how it was all done, that the square meter ends up costing 14,500 KM,” stated Branislav Borenović, Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission of the House of Representatives of the PSBiH (PDP).

“Through the legal opinion of the Public Procurement Agency, there are indications that the tender documentation favored the selected bidder and discriminated against all those who took the tender documentation but did not further participate in the bidding process because they were most likely discriminated against,” stated Jasmin Emrić, member of the Anti-Corruption Commission of the House of Representatives of the PSBiH (NES).

“When we put everything in the context of the latest events, referendum announcements, and so on, it seems to us that all this fuss is in function of camouflaging this event – the final purchase of that 'godfather's' building,” said Safet Kešo, member of the Anti-Corruption Commission of the House of Representatives of the PSBiH (SDA).

The BiH Prosecutor's Office justifies the premature and dismissed lawsuit as a conscious step to stop the building purchase. Only when the Appeals Office makes a final decision, which will provide an epilogue to the story of fraud, favoritism, and corruption, which, claim members of the Anti-Corruption Commission, apart from those from SNSD, in the story of Godfather and Building – exists.

“We prevented the Authority's decision from becoming final, which is not a small thing, because when a decision becomes final, we give the selected bidder the right to sue us if we do not conclude the contract within 14 days. If we are not satisfied with the decision of the Appeals Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, we will file a lawsuit with the Court and request a temporary measure to suspend the contract award,” explained Magdalena Papić, prosecutor at the BiH Prosecutor's Office.

“I have a feeling that everyone expects a negative decision from the Appeals Office and that this will open the door for the Prosecutor's Office to give consent for signing this contract. That is why it is very important that we, as Parliament, request and instruct the Prosecutor's Office not to do so until all these performance audits are completed,” emphasized Borenović.

Has the path for the enrichment of a pre-known bidder been opened due to procedural errors by those who should protect the state interest, or will the Appeals Review Office and the Anti-Corruption Commission put an end to what, by suspicions, was corruption in the making?