Proposal sent to the Supreme Court: POSKOK requests ban on duties for Supervisory Board members and Sarajevo Airport Director

(Patria) - The prosecutor of the Special Department for the Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime (POSKOK) has proposed to the Supreme Court of the Federation to impose a ban on performing duties on three members of the Supervisory Board of JP Sarajevo Airport, as well as a ban on performing duties for the Director of Sarajevo Airport, Sanin Ramezić, Istraga.ba has learned.

A hearing for the determination of the prohibition measures was held this morning, and a decision on the measures is expected in the coming days.

We remind you that searches were recently conducted at JP Airport in connection with this case. The search order was issued by the Special Department for Corruption, Organized and Inter-Cantonal Crime of the Supreme Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the criminal case of the Special Department of the Federal Prosecutor's Office of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina against B.M. and others, for the criminal offense of "Abuse of Office or Authority" from Article 383, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of the Federation of BiH, in conjunction with Article 31 of the Criminal Code of the Federation of BiH.

We remind you that at the beginning of October, members of the Supervisory Board of JP Sarajevo International Airport were summoned to the POSKOK premises for questioning in the investigation.

In the Official Gazette of the FBiH 70/25 of September 12, a decision was published whereby the Government of the FBiH gave its consent to the adoption of the Decision on Amendments and Supplements to the Statute of JP Sarajevo International Airport d.o.o. Sarajevo.

The Government of the FBiH held an emergency session on September 9, and at that session, it authorized Tomislav (Mile) Stapić to represent the Government of the FBiH as an authorized representative at the 95th session of the Assembly of J.P. Sarajevo International Airport d.o.o. Sarajevo, which was held on September 10 and at which the amendments and supplements to the Statute were adopted.

The decision in the Official Gazette of the FBiH did not specify the amendments to the Statute, which opened the door for suspicion. Even the members of the Trade Union of JP Sarajevo International Airport are not aware of the amendments to the Statute.

Sarajevo International Airport issued a statement on October 13 regarding media reports about the POSKOK investigation, and besides explaining the procedure for adopting the Statute amendments, they did not deny the claims that the conditions for the Director of JP Sarajevo International Airport and executive directors have been changed.

The Statute amendments were timed a few months before the expiration of the mandate of the current Management, which is one year. The Supervisory Board appointed the new Management at the end of last year, and the one-year mandate began on December 5, 2024.

The Management of the Company consists of: Sanin Ramezić, acting director of the Company, Amadeo Mandić, acting executive director for traffic, and Slobodan Kadijević, acting executive director for airport development, i.e., cadres from NIP, SDP, and Naša stranka.

The members of the Supervisory Board are: Benjamin Mešak, president, and Adnan Mahmutović, Vlado Džoić, Žan Matić, Adil Halilović, and the Government of the FBiH appointed them for a four-year term in February 2024.

Faktor portal reported during September that the Statute amendments relate to changes in the conditions for the positions of director and executive directors, and that the company director no longer needs to have experience in air traffic, nor a degree from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, nor five years of experience in air traffic. In addition, the conditions for holding other positions have been reduced.