Tegeltija violated the BiH Constitution: Among four UIO assistant directors there were successful Bosniaks, but none were selected: Competition review to follow

(Patria) - The lists of successful candidates for four assistant director positions at the Indirect Taxation Authority included candidates from the Bosniak community, but UIO Director Zoran Tegeltija selected two Croats and two Serbs as assistants. Thus, out of a total of six UIO management positions, three are held by Serbs, two by Croats, while only one assistant, since 2018, is a Bosniak, Elvir Muminović.

On the ADS lists for two assistant positions were Sedin Mešinović (second-placed for head of the Tax Sector and third-placed for head of the Enforcement Sector). On the list of successful candidates for head of the Information Technology Sector, Emir Bešić was second-placed, and Muharem Mašinović was third-placed.

However, Tegeltija appointed all first-placed candidates without regard for national balance and ethnic representation as per the BiH Constitution.

Thus, he appointed assistants: Boris Spasojević to head the Customs Sector, Vinko Skoka to the Tax Sector, Ilija Anić to the Enforcement Sector, and Milorad Đurđević as assistant director of the Information Technology Sector. They assumed their duties during March 2026.

It is evident that the assistants were chosen by agreement between the SNSD and HDZ, some of whom also held political positions, and the names of the assistants were known months before the official competition.

At the session of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly on May 19, a representative initiative by Nihad Omerović was adopted to review the procedure of the Public Call for filling management civil servant positions in the Indirect Taxation Authority of BiH, published on June 13, 2025, on the UIO BiH website. The House also adopted the following conclusions:

1. The House of Representatives requests the BiH Prosecutor's Office to review the entire procedure of the Public Call for filling management civil servant positions in the Indirect Taxation Authority of BiH, published on June 13, 2025, on the UIO BiH website;

2. The Anti-Corruption Commission of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly and the Joint Commission for Human Rights of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly are tasked, each within their jurisdiction, to review the entire procedure of the Public Call for filling management civil servant positions in the Indirect Taxation Authority of BiH, published on June 13, 2025, on the UIO BiH website. In accordance with the above, a public hearing of all actors in this procedure is requested in order to examine the circumstances and, by the commissions, in accordance with their jurisdictions, determine any illegalities and violations of the BiH Constitution.

In addition to the review of this competition, the UIO BiH is short of about 220 employees from the Bosniak community.