Number of multimillionaires in BiH increased: These are their names

Bosnia and Herzegovina has 90 multimillionaires, at least according to the American portal Wealth-X. According to the same source, their wealth is estimated at nine billion dollars, reports the Patria News Agency, writes Slobodna Evropa.  

Compared to 2012, the country gained five new billionaires. According to Wealth-X's methodology, any individual whose wealth exceeds 30 million dollars falls into the multimillionaire category. This includes cash, real estate, art, airplanes, helicopters, luxury cars, as well as stocks.

Interestingly, in BiH, from 2012 to 2013, the number of super-rich increased from 65 to 85, and their total assets from eight to nine billion dollars.

Among the richest are entrepreneurs from Herzegovina: Marijan Primorac, known for representing and distributing cigarettes from Tvornica duhana Rovinj in BiH, and Mirko Grbešić, owner of Mepas group. The former has a capital of 60 million euros, and the latter 90 million euros.

Among the wealthy are also Nijaz Hastor, owner of ASA Prevent group, the late Gavrilo Bobar, a businessman from Bijeljina, and Fahrudin Radončić, until recently the owner of the daily newspaper Avaz and a state minister of security.

Citizens believe that BiH politicians are the wealthiest.

People here are not far from the truth. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, 27 politicians have amassed huge wealth while holding office. At least three of them have assets worth over half a million euros. Among them is Kemal Čaušević, former director of the Indirect Taxation Authority. During his seven years in that position, Čaušević bought nine apartments and commercial spaces and 20 dunams of land. But he is not the only one.

According to the Center for Investigative Journalism (CIN), the assets of Zlatko Lagumdžija, Minister of Foreign Affairs and leader of the SDP, exceed one million euros. Among the wealthiest Bosnian-Herzegovinian politicians are Milorad Dodik, President of Republika Srpska and SNSD, Nikola Špirić, State Minister of Finance and Treasury, and the second man in Dodik's party.

- The total value of the Lagumdžija family's assets today exceeds two million convertible marks, with more than half acquired after 2002. These include three apartments in Sarajevo, an apartment in Dubrovnik, and an estate in Poljine. The President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, stated that he supports his son Igor, who at the time had no income but possessed assets worth 2.6 million convertible marks. Dodik also took out a loan of almost 1.5 million convertible marks, with a monthly installment exceeding 19,000 convertible marks, states Ermin Zatega, a CIN journalist.

- The entire movable and immovable property of the Dodik family is valued at 5.7 million convertible marks, which includes apartments in Belgrade, an estate in Laktaši, and a number of other properties. Nikola Špirić acquired a family estate and a luxury car in just two years, and his savings increased by about 80,000 convertible marks. Špirić stated at the time that he owns a family estate in Drvar, a three-and-a-half-room apartment in Banja Luka, a two-and-a-half-room apartment in Novi Sad, while his son and daughter each own two-and-a-half-room apartments in Belgrade and Vienna, points out Zatega.

Using the examples of the named politicians, it is not difficult to conclude how politics and money are intertwined in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, the question arises – how does one become rich in a country where 600,000 people live below the general poverty line, and every fifth citizen survives on one and a half euros a day?

- None of those I know got rich through their entrepreneurial idea or some good venture. Everything was connected, either based on fraud, corruption, or position and status, linked to politics. Among the 20 or so I know, about 10 were in very high political positions, up to the level of prime minister, says Ivan Šijaković, a professor at the University of Banja Luka.

Last year, the Court of BiH blocked the assets of Kemal Čaušević, former director of the Indirect Taxation Authority, who is linked to organized crime. And that is all that the Bosnian-Herzegovinian judiciary has undertaken in all these years, despite numerous media reports about the possible illegal acquisition of assets by leading figures in BiH's political life. Cases like Ivo Sanader in Croatia and Miroslav Mišković in Serbia are a theoretical concept in this country.

- The BiH judiciary is under political control. The best proof of such a claim is the fact that not a single case involving high-ranking politicians has been brought to a conclusion, states Srđan Blagovčanin from Transparency International BiH.

Many in BiH associate the opening of investigations into the enrichment of BiH politicians "overnight" with the country's approach to the European Union and the fulfillment of the standards that institution sets for every country, which was also the case with Croatia and Serbia.

However, considering the fact that BiH is moving at a snail's pace towards the European Union, it seems that the wealth of certain leading figures will not be scrutinized for a long time to come.