Convicted Vjekoslav Vuković heads Foreign Trade Chamber of BiH

SARAJevo, (Patria) - The Assembly of the Foreign Trade Chamber (VTK) of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the mandate period from July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2022, recently re-elected Nemanja Vasić and Ahmet Egrlić to the positions of president and two vice-presidents of the Chamber, while Vjekoslav Vuković was elected from among the Croat people.

They will assume their duties on July 1, 2018, along with the elected members of the Management and Supervisory Boards. Vuković, Vasić, and Egrlić were appointed by secret ballot. The first president of the Chamber from July 1 this year is Nemanja Vasić, while after the expiration of the sixteen-month period, in accordance with the principle of rotation, Vjekoslav Vuković will take over the function of president, followed by Ahmet Egrlić in the last sixteen months of the total four-year term.

The Foreign Trade Chamber of BiH has an annual budget of nearly eight million KM and is responsible for representing BiH companies domestically and abroad.

According to the Law on VTK BiH, Article 2, the Chamber is an independent, non-governmental, non-political, and non-profit public legal association of business entities and business associations from the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with functions aimed at the development and improvement of economic relations of the BiH economy with foreign countries, including partnership and representation of members' interests with competent bodies of Bosnia and Herzegovina and relevant associations abroad.

This article of the law has been frequently violated so far, and this also happened during the selection of the new leadership of the VTK BiH. Vasić and Egrlić are politically active. Egrlić is a member of the Executive Board of the Party of Democratic Action of Una-Sana Canton, while Vasić is the SDS municipal board president in Prnjavor.

Businessmen are particularly confused by the appointment of Vjekoslav Vuković. He has been convicted in Croatia, though the verdict is not final. In 2009, Vuković was arrested in Rijeka on charges of allegedly mediating the procurement of explosives, which were supposedly intended to be used in an assassination attempt!

According to the Croatian weekly Nacional, Vuković was arrested for alleged involvement in the procurement of weapons and explosives with which retired HV officers Ivan Filipović and Robert Dragin were supposed to carry out an assassination attempt on Agan Gluhačić and Davor Maričić. In the meantime, Vuković was also convicted in the first instance to 9 months in prison. The verdict was overturned, and the retrial was never concluded.

Vuković holds a PhD in criminal law, making his appointment to a position in the Foreign Trade Chamber of BiH even more surprising.

He previously held the position of Assistant Minister of Security of BiH for the fight against terrorism, organized crime, corruption, war crimes, and drug abuse. He is currently the president of the Committee for citizens' complaints against the work of police officers.