'FBiH Government Supports Struggling Aluminij and Abandons Promising Agrokomerc'

By: A. Aljović

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In recent days, the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has had two burning issues in companies in which it holds shares: Aluminij from Mostar and Agrokomerc from Velika Kladuša.

The Government's approach to resolving the agony of these companies differs. Although it owns less than 50 percent of the shares in Aluminij, the Government has approved 1,100,000 KM of budget funds to the company, whose management is appointed by HDZ BiH, as a form of quick assistance.

On the other hand, although it has a majority stake in Agrokomerc, Fadil Novalić's Government is not commenting at all on the attempt by the Court in Bihać to sell Agrokomerc's multi-million euro property for a hundred times lower price?! Why is the Government not saving Agrokomerc, which has begun to recover, and is throwing money into Aluminij, which Čović and Dodik are trying to sell to the Russians, has a political-criminal and kinship background?

'Slaughtering an ox for a kilo of meat'

The Court in Bihać has embarked on an unbelievable move. Although the Management of Agrokomerc offers to settle debts to creditors, i.e., those to whom Agrokomerc owes money, the Court approves Agrokomerc to go into bankruptcy and for creditors to be settled by selling Agrokomerc's real estate. The debt for which the Court approves bankruptcy is 36,000 KM, while Agrokomerc's property is valued at over 200 million KM. There are a total of six creditors seeking these 36,000 KM from Agrokomerc; certain Asim Bećiragić, Safet Bašagić, “Bašo d.o.o.“, “KR promet“, “Ado promet.“ They acquired claims from Agrokomerc mainly by purchasing old claims that Agrokomerc had against its workers, or they had certain contracts with the Velika Kladuša giant that remained unpaid. The Management of Agrokomerc points out that some of these creditors have already been paid, while others are in the process of payment, but the Court in Bihać, completely inexplicably, still keeps them all on the list of creditors. “They do not want the money we are offering, but exclusively demand the company's bankruptcy. This seems somewhat unbelievable and suspicious,” emphasize Agrokomerc.

The Management of Agrokomerc recently spoke to Federal Television: “We are paying all current obligations, 115 workers retired last year with paid contributions since 1997.”

Explaining Agrokomerc's operations to Patria, they added: “Every next Agrokomerc employee who meets the conditions for retirement will be retired. If we go into bankruptcy, the public budget of the Federation will be poorer precisely for the taxes and contributions that we pay.”

'Unlawful bankruptcy trustee Smlatić?'

For the bankruptcy trustee of Agrokomerc, who is supposed to guide the company into the past, in September 2017, the judge of the Municipal Court in Bihać, Aladin Bajrić, appointed Šefik Smlatić. From 2005 to 2009, Smlatić was the director of several companies belonging to the Lijanović family, which owed the state millions of KM over those four years. Some of Lijanović's companies that did business with Agrokomerc to its detriment, and which Smlatić headed, are: “Lijanovići“, “Farmko“, “Laktal“, “Mesna industrija Farmer.“ In one of the contracts signed in 2007 between the company Mesna industrija Farmko and Agrokomerc, signed by Smlatić himself and the then director of AC, Mujo Milak, it states that the company Farmko will give Agrokomerc a loan of 50,000 KM, and Agrokomerc will pledge property worth around 27 million KM to Farmko. What does this mean in the current circumstances? If Agrokomerc goes into bankruptcy, instead of the money that Lijanovići gave to Agrokomerc, they will be able to take that property worth 27 million KM. Thus, the bankruptcy trustee Smlatić would pay off a debt of 50,000 KM with multi-million euro real estate to himself.

'The role of Belgrade'

Judge Bajrić, who approves the bankruptcy in Agrokomerc, is related to Kosta Mišić, former head of State Security in Bihać. Mišić is now in Belgrade and is connected to most of Agrokomerc's properties in Serbia. If Agrokomerc goes bankrupt, creditors from Belgrade could also become owners of Agrokomerc in Velika Kladuša. These are old pre-war debts that were bought up by suspicious individuals from Belgrade banks. Part of the real estate would also end up with creditor Fikret Abdić, convicted of war crimes.

How is it possible that Fadil Novalić's Government remains silent on the attempt to seize state property worth over 200 million KM, due to a debt of 36,000 KM that Agrokomerc offers to pay? The crime is greater, legally provable, and more obvious, especially since the Government's decree prohibiting bankruptcy in public companies until consolidation is carried out, which will show whether the company can recover or should be written off, is in effect until the end of 2019?!

Agrokomerc emphasizes: “We have started settling all our obligations, we have paid off debts incurred in the last four years, we have reduced our liabilities by 3.5 million KM. There is no need for bankruptcy...”

If Agrokomerc goes bankrupt, the legality of the sale of Agrokomerc's real estate will never be investigated, which could also reveal the illegal role of some government members? Therefore, Fadil Novalić's Government operates on the principle of petty criminals; they stole some value from the cash register, and in the end, they set fire to the entire market so that the fingerprints would not be visible. The responsibility of SDA is even greater because Agrokomerc falls under the jurisdiction of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, headed by Minister Šemsudin Dedić, president of SDA for the Una-Sana Canton.

Federal Public Attorney Jakov Dujić and other institutions are also silently observing the robbery of Agrokomerc's property.