Workers wrote to Jašarević: Can one get a job at Elektroprivreda BiH without party assistance

Elektroprivreda BiH has hired about 150 workers from 2015 to date. In the first six months of 2016 alone, 60 people were hired.
Elektroprivreda BiH confirmed to Patria that they hired a total of 148 workers during 2015 and the first six months of 2016. Some of them were hired on a permanent basis and some on a fixed-term contract.

A group of workers wrote to the company's director, Bajazit Jašarević, warning him that they suspect a large number of people were hired at Elektroprivreda BiH and its subsidiaries bypassing the official recruitment process. The letter, which was also made available to the Patria agency, lists nearly 40 names that the group of workers suspects were hired outside of official procedures and lack the appropriate qualifications for the jobs they hold in this public company.

Among the names that workers suspect were hired thanks to political support, primarily from the SDA, are also family members of some prominent figures in Bosnia and Herzegovina, such as Tanja Cikotić, wife of SDA President Bakir Izetbegović's advisor Selma Cikotić. The list also includes the name of Alen Ajnadžić, son of the Mayor of Centar Municipality Nedžad Ajnadžić, as well as close family members of Seid Fazlagić, former driver for SDA secretary Amir Zukić.

List of names that an anonymous group of workers suspects were hired at EP BiH bypassing public recruitment

"We apologize for wishing to remain anonymous, as we fear for our lives and the lives of our families," the letter states.

When asked by Patria whether the names mentioned in the letter are employees of Elektroprivreda BiH or its subsidiaries, Elektroprivreda Bosne i Hercegovine neither confirmed nor denied. EP BiH also declined to comment on when the named individuals started their employment or whether they were hired through a public competition or by other means.

The letter to director Jašarević also states that most of these individuals were hired at EP with the help of the former director of Elektrodistribucija, Esed Džananović.

Civil Society Organizations have been running the campaign "Honest Public Competitions – Equal Opportunity for Everyone" in BiH for months, as part of the campaign "Competent, Not Compliant." The goal of the campaign is the depoliticization and de-partisanship of appointments and employment in the public sector.

"Systemic hiring is occurring in all public and state institutions we have surveyed across the country. This means that thousands of workers were hired into the public sector during 2016, despite an overstaffed public administration and public sector," stated Slaven Divčić, project coordinator at CCI, recently.

"We believe that whoever deserves a position should depend on their knowledge, not on their family or blood ties," is the opinion of most surveyed citizens.

In the last year or so, around 370 people have also been hired in another government company, Elektroprivreda HZHB, and most of them were hired bypassing public recruitment. Employment at Elektroprivreda HZHB is coordinated by HDZ BiH.

Esed Džananović was arrested in August last year in the "Bosna" operation, along with several other individuals, and is charged with abuse of position or authority. He was released to defend himself from freedom in May this year. In the same case, SDA Secretary General Amir Zukić was also arrested, and the indictment was extended to Asim Sarajlić and Mirsad Kukić, two also high-ranking SDA members.

The European Commission has long pointed to non-transparent hiring in public companies in BiH. It considers such practices frightening and unacceptable. The general assessment is that authorities deliberately hire relatives and friends to secure a voting machinery for local and general elections, NAP reports.