Osmanagić Didn't Help Any of the 23 Struggling Companies: Workers Call Him a Charlatan!

If your advisor is Suvad Osmanagić, a pre-war grocer with a high school diploma, please, what does he advise you on? the FBiH Prime Minister Fadil Novalić was clearly asked by the host on N1, to which the prime minister replied:

- Osmanić is an advisor for companies in difficulty and he does that well. We have successfully resolved cases in Tuzla, and if we have time, we will also solve the problems of Krivaja and Agrokomerc – said Novalić.

However, he did not specify what exactly they did in Tuzla, nor could he, because they haven't resolved anything for a long period since the classification of companies owned by the FBiH was made, writes the Patria news agency.

The 23 business entities with operational difficulties were identified back in June 2015, and they include Agrokomerc d.d. Velika Kladuša, Binas d.d. Bugojno, BNT Tvornica mašina i hidraulike d.d. N. Travnik, Fabrika duhana d.d. Mostar, Feroelektro d.d. Sarajevo, Hidrogradnja d.d. Sarajevo, IP Krivaja d.o.o. Zavidovići, JP BH Airlines d.o.o. Sarajevo, JP Bosanskohercegovačke šume d.o.o. Sarajevo, JP Šume Herceg Bosne d.o.o. Mostar, Konfekcija Borac d.d. Travnik, KTK Visoko d.o.o. Visoko, Pretis d.d. Vogošća, PS Vitezit d.o.o. Vitez, Putevi BiH i Holding preduzeće Sarajevo, Remontni zavod d.d. Travnik, Sarajevoputevi d.d. Sarajevo, Šipad export-import d.d. Sarajevo, Tehničko remontni zavod Hadžići d.d. Hadžići, Unis Tools d.o.o. Sarajevo, Zavod za saobraćaj d.o.o. Sarajevo, Zrak d.d. Sarajevo and Željezara Zenice d.o.o. Zenica. 

In none of these companies has the situation improved; problems have only deepened and new debts have accumulated, as evidenced by the testimonies of embittered workers who have not received wages for years, have unlinked pension contributions, and cannot retire, while Osmanagić is unable to help or find solutions for the aforementioned companies. Although Novalić claims otherwise, the past tells a different story.

Osmanić was also involved in solving the problems of the Tuzla-based Transport Equipment Factory (TTU), and Mehmed Terzić, a representative of former TTU workers, in an interview with Patria, called Osmanagić a charlatan.

- Excuse the expression, but those people haven't solved anything. They have been lying to us for years, including the prime minister, and let the prime minister lie a hundred times! They think now that if they sell part of the assets, they have solved the problem, but they haven't given us any contracts to commit to solving the workers' problems with those funds. On Tuesday, December 20, we have a new workers' assembly where we have invited all government institutions to explain what is happening anymore. We are walking the streets hungry; this has gone beyond all measure – says Terzić.

Incidentally, next week a new sale of part of TTU's assets is scheduled, the fifth in a row, as all previous ones have failed. Although it was expected that JP Elektroprivreda Bosne i Hercegovine and Rudnik Banovići, which recently formed a joint company, would appear as buyers, this did not happen. Former workers expected enough money to be set aside from the sale to link pension contributions, so that some of them could retire.

Even in the case of Feroelektro, the situation is no better, although the privatization contract with Stanić invest, who had been plundering Feroelektro for years, was terminated. Only thanks to the workers' struggle did the Stanić family fail to sell all the properties and completely impoverish the 30 or so workers who still have no wages!

Senad Smajić, director of Feroelektro and a long-time fighter for this company, said that the accounts are still blocked, and the debt left from Stanić is 12.5 million KM. The Indirect Taxation Authority and the Tax Administration are seeking payment, and no agreement has been reached yet to unblock the accounts and arrange a repayment schedule.

- This way, all our rent payments are immediately blocked. Workers still have no wages, and they won't let us open a subsidiary company, while the Stanić family could do anything. We have filed countless criminal complaints, but what good will it do us when, for example, Stanić is held accountable in five or more years. We need the problem to be solved immediately so we can finally start living like human beings – emphasized Smajić.

If Novalić, together with Osmanagić, believes that the problem of Krivaja has been solved by refusing to honor the agreement that the former government made with the workers regarding the government's obligation to link pension contributions, it will not go easily for them.

Around 700 workers of Krivaja have said they are in shock after the FBiH Government, led by Prime Minister Fadil Novalić, ordered the relevant ministry to submit a report to the prosecutor's office on a criminal offense committed by former Prime Minister Nermin Nikšić and other unknown persons, employees of the Federation of BiH Government, due to reasonable suspicion that actions with the characteristics of a criminal offense were initiated and carried out.

Besim Hasić, a representative of the workers of Krivaja Mobel, very sharply stated that the municipality of Zavidovići is dead.

- Nothing functions in it. I would say I wish February 2014 would repeat tomorrow. Believe me, until the nation rises up, there is no bread here. Everything here goes by the national key, workers suffer, people starve, private entrepreneurs cannot survive. I also sent letters in 2014 warning about February – emphasizes Hasić.

It is high time that Osmanagić, besides having a taste for fashion and humor (a tie with motifs of the US flag on the day of their presidential elections), shows why he is an advisor for companies in difficulty, because otherwise, he could end his advisory career with great difficulties.