BHANSA management recovers after failed public hearing, will they catch a cold again at the start of the week?

(Patria) - The management of BHANSA, director Davorin Primorac and his two deputies Tomislav Martinović and Sanjin Hadžiomerović, did not appear at the public hearing before the Commission for Transport and Communications of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina on January 20 because all three were on sick leave.

A few days later, Primorac, Martinović and Hadžiomerović apparently recovered, so on January 28 they held a meeting at BHANSA regarding preparations for the 2026 summer flying season, with a special focus on maintaining a safe and continuous system of air traffic management services.

In the past period, eight air traffic controllers left BHANSA and continued their careers outside Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the same meeting, the BHANSA director confirmed that the Financial Plan for 2026 and the Salary Regulation were adopted, with all key documents previously agreed upon with the representative BHANSA union. The plan envisages significant improvements in the material standard of operational staff, including salary increases for controllers and other operational staff of up to 25% compared to 2025.

The Commission for Transport and Communications scheduled a new hearing for February 11, with the invitation this time extended not only to Primorac, Martinović and Hadžiomerović but also to the Chairperson of the BHANSA Council, Sanja Škuletić-Malagić.

Primorac tried in every way to avoid the public hearing, so in mid-December he sent a sharply worded letter to the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Borjana Krišto, the ministers in the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the OHR, the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Chairperson of the Commission for Transport and Communications, Jasmin Imamović, opposing the public hearing of BHANSA management members.

In the letter, Primorac stated that the Commission's actions produce harmful consequences for the work and reputation of BHANSA, and that they submit illegal requests seeking data on the monthly amount needed for BHANSA's operations, the amount of monthly net salaries of employees, starting with the director and other employees.

BHANSA never submitted data on monthly costs to the Commission, justifying this by stating that it "does not have data on fixed monthly amounts needed for BHANSA's operations" because the monthly dynamics of costs and monetary obligations depend on the volume of realized activities, nor on employee salaries, citing that these are personal data protected by the Law on Personal Data Protection.

BHANSA does not accept the Commission's views, which stated that BHANSA's management is withholding financial data.

The Commission had previously requested data on the total number of employees in this institution, the Main Office in Mostar, and the names and surnames of employees. The Commission requested that copies of public procurement contracts from the beginning of 2023 to December 1, 2025, be submitted. The Administrative Inspectorate of Bosnia and Herzegovina was requested to urgently conduct a direct inspection supervision at BHANSA. The inspection supervision was carried out on December 23, but the Law on Administration does not apply to this institution, so the inspector had no basis for ordering administrative or other measures.

Primorac persistently claims that BHANSA does not use funds from the budget of Bosnia and Herzegovina institutions, and that financial documents are approved at multiple levels, both by international and national authorized institutions. BHANSA warns that after the "Viaduct" case, when funds from EUROCONTROL were blocked due to debt collection based on a court ruling, they are facing a departure of expert staff. On February 4, BHANSA announced a competition for air traffic controllers.

However, as the date of the public hearing approached, the management fell ill and went on sick leave.

Primorac has been at the head of BHANSA for a second term, which expires in March this year. He is the son-in-law of Dragan Čović, the president of HDZ BiH. Amendments to the BHANSA Law, which were supposed to allow the management to remain in their positions, did not pass in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina. But, as they do with other institutions, Primorac's mandate will be extended by not announcing a competition for a new director, as has been done with several other institutions where directors' mandates have expired. And where the entire procedure has been completed, the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina does not make appointments (RAK, SIPA, Agency for Higher Education).

According to information from the Commission, the national structure of employees does not reflect the national structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and for this reason, information on the number of employees was requested.

Whether a public hearing of the management of this institution will finally take place, or whether some virus will prevail again, will be known on Monday.