NEW IGMAN SHAREHOLDERS: Is Herbos Fund opening the door to Croatian capital in BiH's defense industry?

By: Amina Čorbo-Zećo

A significant trade in the shares of the Konjic-based company Igman took place on the Sarajevo Stock Exchange on Monday, Biznis info reported. The transaction value was 273 thousand KM.

Seemingly just a technical change in ownership structure, however, it has raised a series of questions about possible political-economic backgrounds.

According to information from the BiznisInfo.ba portal, the shares were sold by OIF Lilium Global, which thus completely exited Igman's ownership, while the buyer was ZIF Herbos fond Tuzla, which had not been among the shareholders of this company until now. It concerns 1,616 shares, which make up 0.28 percent of Igman's total capital, but the entry of a new fund into the ownership structure of the defense industry is never without broader significance.

So, we checked who is behind ZIF Herbos. It is an investment fund managed by director Marsela Kotaranin, with a supervisory board consisting of Danijel Grubeša (president), Antun Luburić, and Ivana Soldo.



Although it formally operates as an independent fund based in Tuzla, Herbos is financially and commercially connected with Intesa Sanpaolo bank Mostar and Privredna banka Zagreb – institutions traditionally associated with capital of Croatian origin.

Because of this, the question immediately arose in business circles whether Herbos's entry also means the beginning of the presence of the so-called "H-component" in the ownership structure of Igman, a strategically important factory from BiH's defense industry sector?

The timing of the transaction further fuels suspicions. Lilium Global decided to sell its stake after Igman was forced to suspend production in early September due to the interruption of gunpowder supplies from Serbia. This event caused a sharp drop in share value by more than 13 percent, from 195 to 169 KM, and opened the door for new investors to enter cheaply.

Although production has since resumed, the company continues to record losses; in the first half of the year, a deficit of 19.8 million KM was recorded, while revenues fell by as much as 24.3 million KM.

It is precisely at this moment of financial weakness and uncertainty that Herbos fund appears, ready to take the risk and invest in the struggling factory.

Analysts interpret such a move as the fund's long-term positioning in an industry that, despite current problems, has high strategic value. Igman is one of BiH's largest arms exporters, with NATO certificates and global partners, making it desirable for anyone wishing to influence BiH's security-economic sector.

If the crisis were to prolong and the share price were to fall further, Herbos could continue buying and increase its stake, which could, in the long run, open the door to greater influx of Croatian financial capital into this factory.

The largest shareholders of Igman remain the Federation of BiH. Nevertheless, market experience shows that minority stakes, if strategically distributed and linked to political interests, can have a disproportionately large influence.

Therefore, the question today is not just who bought Igman shares, but what that purchase means for the company's future, and who is behind this seemingly "technical" investment.