What is happening at Agrokomerc: Is the sales director selling company assets without Supervisory Board approval?

The former food giant Agrokomerc from Velika Kladuša once employed around 13,000 workers. Now it has about 250, and debts exceeding 120 million KM.

One of Agrokomerc's employees, who along with about 30 colleagues has been on strike for days within the company premises, explains to Patria that the Agrokomerc Supervisory Board repeatedly promises them that they have a plan to return the company to the market and resolve the issues of debt and employees, but that plan has never materialized. More than 20 years have passed since the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, many companies have been revived, but Agrokomerc employees still cannot go to work, nor can they retire.

This employee, like his colleagues, has dwindling hope.

Former Agrokomerc employees are most affected by the sale of company assets for small sums, even though they built them over the years. They claim that information reached them that Agrokomerc director Ermin Mujić recently sold an Agrokomerc property for 500,000 KM, even though the sale was previously agreed upon with the local authorities from the Municipality of Bužim, and for a million KM. That is, for a 50 percent higher price. Part of the employees was supposed to be retired with that money. Now the employees have neither the property nor can they retire. And they don't know who the property was sold to.

The Municipality of Bužim confirmed this information to Patria. One of the associates of the former mayor of Bužim, Agan Bunić, explains that the Municipality was supposed to buy the property from Agrokomerc, located in the settlement of Varoška rijeka. The entire process was almost completed, and then things took a different turn.

- Representatives of the FBiH Government, people from the federal Ministry of Agriculture, and representatives of the FBiH Tax Administration were involved in the activities to take over Agrokomerc's hall from the beginning, along with municipal authorities. It was estimated that the property is worth around one million KM, and that is how much the Municipality was supposed to take a loan for and pay Agrokomerc. The FBiH Tax Administration also agreed that Agrokomerc should sell this property to the Municipality. The money from the sale was supposed to be paid into PIO/MIO FBiH, so that some of Agrokomerc's employees could retire. Then a problem arose because the former mayor Bunić could not immediately get the consent of the Municipal Council for a bank loan. A year later, Bunić secured a majority in the Council, but Agrokomerc director Mujić had already sold the property to a private individual for 50 percent less than the price we agreed upon – says this source.

- Even if the property had been sold for the previously agreed price, i.e., for one million KM, or even at a higher price, the sale that the director concluded is still illegal because we have since received information that director Mujić did not have the Supervisory Board's consent for that sale – says this source. He adds that the Municipality will not give up on this property because they plan to use it for the needs of the entire community.

The employees say that every time they ask the director about malversations regarding the company's assets, they get the same answer - everything is done according to the law and in agreement with the FBiH Government.

The owner of Agrokomerc is the FBiH Government. Even the Government does not provide an explanation as to why they refuse to rectify the problems in the company or at least stop further theft. In response to Patria's inquiry about Agrokomerc's operations and the transparency of the sale of parts of this industrial complex, the Government briefly replied – everything is done according to the law.

However, the fact that the 'Bužim case' has ended up at the Cantonal Prosecutor's Office in Bihać indicates that the sale of Agrokomerc's property in Bužim is not entirely legal.

Employees speculate that director Ermin Mujić has signed several other contracts without the Supervisory Board's approval, which is also illegal. They will prove this in court.

Members of the Supervisory Board, contacted by Patria journalists, did not wish to confirm or deny this information. Everyone at Agrokomerc is tight-lipped. This has been particularly evident in recent days, after the war criminal Fikret Abdić, former director of Agrokomerc, won the local elections for the mayor of Velika Kladuša.

Malversations with the Development Bank of FBiH

At the beginning of the year, another major fraud attempt with Agrokomerc's assets was made. The Municipal Court in Velika Kladuša sold Agrokomerc's food industry, valued at around 25 million KM, to the Development Bank of FBiH for only 2.2 million KM.

Sarajevo businessmen Nihad Imamović and Mustafa Gadžo, along with the Development Bank of FBiH, were involved in this suspicious transaction. Federal Prime Minister Fadil Novalić and his advisor Suvad Osmanagić are also mentioned.

Imamović bought it for 12 million KM, but soon withdrew from Agrokomerc's food industry due to alleged threats. Mustafa Gadžo, as the second-best bidder for this property, also abruptly withdrew from the purchase, so, by pre-emptive right, the Development Bank, as the third-best bidder, acquired one of the most valuable parts of Agrokomerc for 2.2 million KM. Employees suspect that this whole story was pre-arranged. Fortunately for them, a few months later, the Cantonal Court in Bihać annulled this sale due to major irregularities discovered in the entire process! The employees' suspicions were confirmed.

Journalists also discovered that some former and current high-ranking SDA officials took a multi-million KM loan from Bobar Bank for a private company, and illegally pledged Agrokomerc's property to the bank as collateral.

There are other malversations concerning Agrokomerc's assets, which are currently estimated at around 170 million KM. If the plundering continues, the value of this former giant's assets will continue to fall.

Prime Minister Fadil Novalić's advisor, the controversial Suvad Osmanagić, and the director of BBI Bank, Amer Bukvić, have been seen in Velika Kladuša in recent months with alleged Arab investors who, they claim, are interested in Agrokomerc. Economists warn, however, that it is unlikely that Arabs could start production in Velika Kladuša even if they bought Agrokomerc. It is increasingly rumored that they are interested in hundreds of hectares of Agrokomerc's fertile land, on which they would build elite settlements. This would not bring prosperity to Krajina.

The people of Krajina have also lost hope in the federal Minister of Agriculture, Šemsudin Dedić. He is from Krajina. They counted on his help. Agrokomerc was even on the infamous list of companies that the Government claimed it would rehabilitate, but even two years after the Government was formed, this has not happened. Farmers from Krajina are now demanding the dismissal of Minister Dedić.

- We are slowly starting to lose hope that this will ever be a prosperous region again - says an embittered employee.

Why hasn't Mujić been dismissed?

In documents available online, it can be seen that the Supervisory Board did not approve the financial or the final report of Agrokomerc for 2015. Agrokomerc director Ermin Mujić should have been dismissed solely for this reason, but this has not happened to date. The Government has not provided an explanation for this precedent. The Law on Business Companies clearly states that if the Supervisory Board or the Management Board does not approve the financial or final report of the company, the Management must be dismissed.