Development Bank of FBiH as SDA's exclusive property

Documentation submitted to the executive and legislative authorities in the Federation - which the Patria agency has seen - mentions conflicts of interest of the heads of the Development Bank of FBiH, direct violations of the Law on the Development Bank, and abuse of official position in one of the largest state banks in the Federation.

The material and accompanying letter were submitted at the beginning of the year to the Supervisory Board of the Development Bank, the Assembly of the Development Bank (Government of the Federation), and the chairpersons of the parliamentary clubs of the Federal Parliament, but none of these government institutions have made a public statement to date.

What do the anonymous, but apparently well-informed individuals about the events at the Development Bank of the Federation state in the letter:

- Out of a total of seven, SDA has three members on the bank's Supervisory Board. These are Amir Avdić, Semir Fejzić, and Asim Omanić. Fejzić is a member of the Supervisory Board of the Development Bank and at the same time the head of the Development Bank's branch in Tuzla, which is contrary to the provisions of the Law on RB FBiH. The Law on the Development Bank of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Article 18, Paragraph 3, defines that members of the bank's Management Board cannot hold any other position during their mandate at the Development Bank, especially not a party position.

The appointment of Asim Omanić to its Supervisory Board is particularly risky for the Bank's operations, the letter further states. Omanić was the director of the Investment Bank of FBiH until 2006. The legal successor of the Investment Bank is the Development Bank of FBiH. During Omanić's tenure, the bank disbursed funds to some then-respected private companies such as “Jata”, owned by Hamzalija Ibrić. After leaving the position of director of the Investment Bank, Omanić was employed by “Jata”, a company to which he had previously approved loans.

Omanić returned to the Supervisory Board - now of the Development Bank - in mid-2015, after which it was observed that the business entity, now registered as JATA GRUP d.o.o. Srebrenik, began to submit applications for credit funds from the Development Bank of FBiH more frequently again. Since Asim Omanić's arrival from JATA GRUP d.o.o. Srebrenik to the position of member of the Supervisory Board of the Development Bank of FBiH in 2015, the bank has again allocated very significant and respectable funds to this business entity in the form of loans, advances, and guarantees.

In 2017 alone, RB disbursed around one million KM in loans to Jata!

Asim Omanić's conflict of interest at the Development Bank of FBiH is also evident in the fact that - as published in the Official Gazette of FBiH of June 17, 2016 - Omanić was officially confirmed for a period of five years as a member of the Supervisory Board of the Development Bank of FBiH, although during that period he was also the president of ŽGP, which is partially state-owned. Even before being appointed as a permanent member of the Supervisory Board of the Development Bank, Omanić had been elected as a temporary member of the Supervisory Board of this bank twice for three months.

“By the decision of the Securities Commission of FBiH of 10.09.2015, Omanić was again registered in their records as a member and president of the Supervisory Board of ŽGP Zenica, of which he had been president for four years prior, and only a few days later, on 23.09., after the Government of FBiH dismissed the previous Supervisory Board, he was appointed to the temporary Supervisory Board of the Development Bank of FBiH. At the same time, the Development Bank approved loans, advances, and guarantees to Jata Group d.o.o. Srebrenik, whose related private individuals included ŽGP Zenica, which means that Omanić was 'approving funds for himself', i.e., he directly abused his position”, the letter states.

The secretary of ŽGP, Kasim Alić, had previously warned about these irregularities, but there was no specific reaction from either the Government or the Development Bank. In a letter to the Securities Commission of FBiH, Alić stated that Article 252 (incompatibility of functions), Paragraph 2 of the Law on Business Companies, explicitly stipulates: “The president or member of the supervisory or management board of a company with state capital participation or an institution cannot simultaneously be the president or member of the supervisory or management board of another company or institution.”

In addition to irregularities in the Supervisory Board, there is now talk of illegal dismissal of members of the bank's Management Board.

“Members of the bank's Management Board were illegally dismissed by the President of the Management Board, Salko Selman, although he did not have the consent of the Bank's Supervisory Board for such a decision. Furthermore, while Senija Bubić was a member of the bank's Management Board as executive director for business support, she held that position illegally, given that it is not known whether Bubić resigned from her position as president of the SDA Women's Association after being appointed to the Development Bank. The official SDA website still states that Bubić is a member of the party's Presidency.”