Prosecutor's Office of BiH without response: Hotel Aura in Srebrenica not built, where have FDS millions disappeared

The Financial Police of the FBiH submitted a Report to the Prosecutor's Office of BiH back in 2013 regarding the existence of grounds for suspicion of the criminal offense of illegal operations in the Tobacco Factory Sarajevo, and one of the disputed points relates to the construction of the Hotel Aura in Srebrenica, reports the news agency Patria.

This concerns the period when the director of FDS was Edin Mulahasanović, whose name is also key in the Report.

Nine years ago, FDS purchased the administrative building of the former Energoinvest in the center of Srebrenica. At that time, it was announced that a four-star hotel with 70 apartments and rooms would be built, and that the value of this facility was 10 million KM.

The construction of the hotel, which has not been completed to this day, was accompanied by numerous scandals regarding the selection of contractors, illegalities, and numerous shortcomings.

At the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, they responded to the news agency Patria that they could not give any answer to the question of what is happening with the investigation based on the Report of the Financial Police, which relates to the construction of the hotel in Srebrenica, for which FDS allocated funds. 

The Report states, among other things, that the FDS Management abused its position by selecting the company Tehno d.o.o. Sarajevo as the contractor for the construction of the Hotel Aura in Srebrenica, which did not even specify a deadline for the execution of works in its bid.

This company was much worse than the other two bidders. Due to shortcomings in the execution of works, FDS suffered damage of 154,476 KM.

The supervisory bodies warned the FDS Management that the company Tehno was not carrying out works according to the project documentation and that it did not have adequate insurance for workers and the construction site, and in December 2009, the FDS Management concluded a contract with a new contractor, the company Meister d.o.o. Živinice. The value of the works amounted to 849,578 KM.

Ćazim Salimović, advisor to the mayor of the Srebrenica municipality, recently stated that he has information that FDS is considering selling this facility, because such a hotel is not economically viable. 

More than two months ago, we requested an answer from FDS regarding the construction of the Hotel Aura in Srebrenica, whether construction has been abandoned, and how much money has been invested so far. We have not received a response to this day.

According to unofficial information, some high-ranking SDA officials, close associates of party president Bakir Izetbegović, are involved in the affair surrounding the construction of this hotel.