TI BiH: RS Airports entered into an agreement with the company of the Supervisory Board President of this enterprise

Airports of the Republic of Srpska made a Decision on the selection of the most favorable bidder for the development of the international airport strategy in Trebinje on 24.8.2017, according to which the consortium led by the company „WAY2GO“ was selected as the most favorable bidder for the offered price of 74,900 KM without VAT, announced Transparency International BiH, reports the Patria agency.

The company WAY2GO only recently started operating, and one of its two founders is Zoran Injac - the president of the Supervisory Board of Airports of the Republic of Srpska.

According to the Law on Public Procurement, a contracting authority must not conclude public procurement contracts with an economic entity if a member of the Supervisory Board of that contracting authority is simultaneously a „owner of a business share, shares or other rights based on which they participate in the management, i.e., in the capital of that economic entity with more than 20%“.

At the time of the contract award, Zoran Injac owned 50% of the company WAY2GO, and it is interesting that in the Conflict of Interest Statement, which he was obliged to submit, he stated on 5.6.2017 that he does not own any company that, according to the Law on Public Procurement, should not conclude contracts with Airports of RS, even though the accounts of „WAY2GO“ were activated on 22.5.2017, which implies that this company was already registered.

Furthermore, Airports of RS made the decision to initiate this procurement as early as 30.3.2017, which allowed Injac to use privileged information to register the company, apply for the tender as the sole bidder, and be selected, despite legal limitations, in the period from the decision to the publication of the procurement notice.

In addition to the limitations under the Law on Public Procurement, the Law on Public Enterprises of RS also contains provisions on conflict of interest, and stipulates the obligation for members of the supervisory board to allow insight into all relationships or transactions that could lead to a conflict of interest. Injac filled out the statement, but did not disclose his ownership of the company he had just founded.

Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) has informed the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Srpska about all of this, which, according to the Law on Public Enterprises, as the line ministry, supervises the application of this Law, and has also forwarded the information to the Public Procurement Agency.