Nikola Špirić heavily involved in "sugar affair", state damaged by 60 million KM!

Nikola Špirić, current BiH Minister of Finance and Treasury and SNSD MP, is heavily entangled in one of the biggest "sugar affairs" in BiH, which has damaged the state coffers by more than 60 million KM, writes the BiH news agency Patria (NAP).

According to statements by Kemal Čaušević, former director of the Indirect Taxation Authority of BiH, who as a cooperating witness in the Prosecutor's Office of BiH this year revealed how the highest political circles of Bosnia and Herzegovina enriched themselves through fraud and tax evasion, Špirić, as the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH, enabled the company Studen-Agran to be exempted from customs duties on sugar imports into BiH, thereby damaging the BiH budget by about 10 million KM in a single year!

The former director of the ITA BiH was arrested in June this year, along with a large number of customs officers. In the largest post-war investigation by the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, Čaušević and other suspects are accused of organized crime, customs and tax evasion, money laundering, and abuse of office or authority in connection with the import of textile and other goods into Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Shortly after Čaušević's arrest, it became apparent that he was just the tip of the iceberg, and that the highest political circles of BiH were directly involved in organized crime in BiH. Among the names Čaušević mentioned to investigators is the name of state Minister of Finance Nikola Špirić, who Čaušević claims, according to his knowledge, is involved in several major affairs that have damaged the BiH budget by millions of KM.

- Ilija Studen (co-owner of the company "Studen-Agran", "Bimal", but also several other companies, author's note) approached me... His wish was for unrefined sugar to be... exempted from customs duties. I explained to him that this was within the jurisdiction of the Council of Ministers of BiH (Nikola Špirić was then the head of the Council of Ministers of BiH, author's note) – Čaušević admitted to investigators.

- Soon, he (Ilija Studen) indeed got the opportunity to import raw materials without customs duty in the amount of 50 million kg, which leads to a damage of 10 million KM for BiH on an annual level or 60 million for six years.

This case led to the monopolistic position of the company "Studen-Agran" in relation to other companies in BiH, which brought Studen-Agran a multi-million benefit, writes Patria.

Čaušević told investigators that, according to his knowledge, Studen adequately rewarded Špirić for the favor he did him, allegedly through Špirić's daughter who lived or was living in Vienna during that period.

PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE OF BiH: CASE IN INVESTIGATION PHASE

The Prosecutor's Office of BiH confirmed to the Patria agency that the case in the Čaušević file is in the investigation phase. Asim Crnalić, Kemal Čaušević's lawyer, also told the Patria agency that more details regarding this case will be known after the New Year holidays, writes Patria.