Conflicting Information: Mandić Still Blocks Appointment of Gavrankapetanović and Kapo to the Management Board of KCUS

SARAJEVO, (Patria) – The election of two members of the Management Board of the Clinical Center of the University of Sarajevo is still on hold because the Minister of Health of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Vjekoslav Mandić (HDZ BiH), has not yet forwarded the proposal of the Sarajevo Canton Government regarding two new members to further procedure. 

Although several sources from the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed to Patria that Mandić had done so, the Ministry of Health of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina stated today that procedures within the ministry are still ongoing.

„The Sarajevo Canton Government previously dismissed two members of the Management Board of KCUS, and Minister Mandić will, after reviewing the proposal of the Sarajevo Canton Government, act in accordance with the law,“ says a Patria source. 

The Sarajevo Canton Government, on August 22, dismissed Jasmin Kapetanović and Dželaludin Junuzović from the positions of president and member of the Management Board before the end of their terms and appointed Ismet Gavrankapetanović as president and Belma Kapo as member. Since then, the relevant Minister Mandić has not submitted the appointment proposal to the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which appoints the Management Board of KCUS. 

The Sarajevo Canton Government, i.e., the Sarajevo Canton, is a two-thirds financier of KCUS with an annual tranche exceeding 140 million KM. Due to the new situation and the avoidance of appointing two members of the Management Board on behalf of the co-founder Sarajevo Canton, it is possible that the Sarajevo Canton Government will resort to radical measures, including halting the payment of the tranche. Because of this kind of blockade, the Sarajevo Canton Government cannot have insight into the spending of money, and the two members of the Management Board who were dismissed have lost the trust of the Sarajevo Canton Government. 

The Management Board of KCUS is in a certain legal vacuum, but this has not prevented them from starting the tender procedure for the election of a new general director of KCUS. The tender is announced three months before the end of the term. Sebija Izetbegović was elected director of KCUS in January 2016 and was the only candidate for that position. According to the Statute, the general director can be re-elected for one more consecutive term.