Nacional: Wealthy betting shop owners finance Čović and HDZ BiH, who protect them from paying taxes

(Patria) - Croatian Nacional investigated the background of the connection between HDZ BiH and the owners of the largest betting shops in BiH, among whom is Renato Korać, who last year gave Zdravko Mamić 44.5 million kuna with which Mamić settled his debt to the Croatian state and avoided the seizure of his property.

HDZ BiH legally protects the staggering profits of betting shops and casinos, which offer one of the most socially destructive profit-generating activities in the Federation of BiH, by refusing to introduce taxes on a large portion of their revenue.

Nacional investigated this topic, which was recently brought up again by SDA President Bakir Izetbegović in an interview with Nacional, and revealed how hundreds of millions of euros, instead of flowing into the budget of the Federation of BiH, are ending up in the pockets of betting shop owners in that BiH entity.

This happened because HDZ BiH, along with some other parties, blocked the law on taxing all betting and gambling profits back in 2017, thus supporting the non-taxation of a large part of an activity that, in the Federation of BiH alone, systematically destroys tens of thousands of families, driving their members into gambling-debt slavery.

At the same time, sources following these non-transparent dealings and their devastating social consequences told Nacional that it is a "public secret" that betting shops generously reciprocate political parties for this legal protection, which can be concluded from the undisguised closeness of some betting shop owners with high-ranking officials of HDZ BiH and HDZ from Croatia.

Furthermore, as reported by the media, Renato Korać, owner of Premier World Sport, one of the largest betting companies in BiH, gave Zdravko Mamić a huge sum of 44.5 million kuna (more than 11 million marks, according to "SB") last year so that this fugitive from Croatian justice could settle his debt and thus avoid the seizure of his property in Croatia.