Development Bank becomes owner: In whose hands will Agrokomerc end up, which could revive Kladuša

More than a month has passed since the Development Bank of FBiH became the owner of the company Agrokomerc from Velika Kladuša, but more details about the future of this former food giant cannot be learned, reports the Patria news agency.

Federal Prime Minister Fadil Novalić said at the beginning of April that three investors are interested in Agrokomerc, two domestic and one foreign, but did not reveal who the potential buyers of the former food giant are. Their names are still unknown today. The Development Bank of FBiH is also silent.

The sale of part of Agrokomerc has been controversial from the very beginning. Agrokomerc's assets were devalued from about 25 million KM to only 2.2 million KM. No one from the Government of FBiH reacted to this. On the contrary, negotiations on the sale of Agrokomerc were led by the Prime Minister's advisor Suvad Osmanagić and Minister of Agriculture Šemsudin Dedić. Prime Minister Novalić himself was involved in the entire process.

Two Sarajevo businessmen, Nihad Imamović and Mustafa Gadžo, first submitted their offers for Agrokomerc through their companies "Ein Natural" and "Silsila". At the oral sale of Agrokomerc held before the Municipal Court in Velika Kladuša at the end of February this year, Imamović appeared as the best bidder with 12 million KM, Gadžo was second with 5.5 million KM, while the Development Bank of FBiH was third with 2.2 million KM.

Just a few days before he was supposed to pay the money, Imamović withdrew from the purchase of Agrokomerc, due to alleged telephone threats. The Ministry of Interior of the Sarajevo Canton never solved this case, nor is the public aware of how far the police investigation has progressed. In fact, no one talks about this threat to a prominent businessman anymore, which is indicative.

Then, without public explanation, and confiding to friends that he allegedly feared he too might be threatened, Gadžo also withdrew, and in the end, the Development Bank of FBiH bought Agrokomerc for only 2.2 million KM.

The offer of a Turkish businessman of 30 million KM, which was rejected even before the sale began, is not mentioned by Novalić or anyone else, just as the potential buyer of the former heart of Velika Kladuša's economy is still not mentioned in public.

As a reminder, Turkish businessman Ismet Ozturkmen, director of the successful Turkish company BiOil, which has a sister company in Doboj, BiOil d.o.o. Doboj, sent a letter to Prime Minister Novalić and Minister Dedić in November 2015, offering 30 million KM for Agrokomerc, infrastructure renovation, and the opening of at least 1,000 direct jobs, with the engagement of 5,000 indirect workers.

Even Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked the Chairman of the Presidency of BiH, Bakir Izetbegović, not to create obstacles for Turkish investors in BiH, and that the owner of BiOil had submitted an offer for Agrokomerc. Izetbegović left everything to Novalić and Dedić, and deceived Erdogan, to whom he promised that everything would be fine.