MIND DIVERSION Kapidžić: I am the owner of my company, but I have nothing to do with it

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Minister of Spatial Planning of Sarajevo Canton, Faruk Kapidžić, is an architect by profession. He is the owner of the Architectural-Design Studio ADS. Studio ADS is a user of budget funds from the Government of Sarajevo Canton, the same Government in which Kapidžić is a minister.

By: B. Mrkić-Radević/Žurnal

His company received exactly 3,248 KM from the Ministry of Economy of Sarajevo Canton to finance part of the minimum monthly net salary for April and May. Funds for this purpose were allocated from the economic support fund due to the consequences caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Minister Kapidžić says that the allocation of subsidies to the company he owns does not represent a conflict of interest for him:

- I have nothing to do with the company. I am the owner, but I have nothing. I know they applied because the accountant informed me, but I do not consider this a conflict of interest.

He says he was called to the Ministry of Spatial Planning to fix the situation:

- I left the job I had there and those people. If they hadn't had contracts and worked independently, I wouldn't have come to the Ministry because they are more important to me than this here.

He says he is not a party man, so he is not obliged to act according to someone's dictates. We have heard a similar story many times before: let's recall how the Minister of Education, Anis Krivić, claimed upon taking office in March that he was not a member of SBB, and that he was not, again, a "party man". On August 7, 2020, Anis Krivić was elected the new president of the SBB Cantonal Board.

LAW ON CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Since Minister Kapidžić does not see a problem with the government in which he participates making a decision to allocate funds to his private company, perhaps after reading Article 2 of the Law on Conflict of Interest in Government Bodies in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it will at least slightly "spark" why this procedure is, if nothing else, ethically questionable.

Paragraph 6: Elected officials, holders of executive functions, and advisors must not use public office for the personal gain of persons connected to them. Elected officials, holders of executive functions, and advisors must not be in any relationship of dependence towards persons who could influence their objectivity.

Paragraph 8: In performing their functions, elected officials, holders of executive functions, and advisors are obliged to use the property, work tools, and financial resources entrusted to them exclusively for the purpose for which they are intended and in an efficient manner.

A particular problem at this moment is the non-enforceability of the Law on Conflict of Interest in Government Bodies in FBiH, which resulted from amendments to the state law on conflict of interest. In such a situation, even obvious and evident conflict of interest situations remain without legal sanction.

Seven and a half million KM were allocated for financing part of the minimum monthly net salary in FBiH for April and May.