Zvizdić and Cvijanović signed an agreement in 2017 obligating the RS Government to pay all debts in the Viaduct case

(Patria) - On the same day that the Council of Ministers of BiH tasked the Ministry of Finance and Treasury of Bosnia and Herzegovina to submit a proposal to the Council of Ministers without delay, and no later than 15 days, for the execution of the arbitration award of the ICSID Tribunal in Washington, case no. ARB/16/36 of April 18, 2022, taking into account the regulations on the financing of institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, another decision was made that the public is not aware of.

Namely, representatives of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH participated in the same session, and within this agenda item, upon further information and insistence by the Prosecutor of Bosnia and Herzegovina regarding the initiated enforcement proceedings in Brussels based on the proposal of Viaduct d.o.o. Vladimir Zevnik and Boris Goljevček against Bosnia and Herzegovina based on the ISCID Tribunal's award of April 18, 2022, the Council of Ministers adopted the following conclusions.

"The Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina is tasked with concluding a Representation Agreement with the law firm NautaDutilh – Sophie JACMAIN, Jean Francois VAN DROOGHENBROECK and Stan BRIJS and granting a power of attorney to represent Bosnia and Herzegovina in the enforcement proceedings conducted before the competent court in Brussels based on the proposal of Viaduct d.o.o. Portorož, Vladimir Zevnik and Boris Goljevšček against Bosnia and Herzegovina based on the ISCID Tribunal's Award of April 18, 2022.

The Ministry of Finance and Treasury of Bosnia and Herzegovina is tasked with preparing, in cooperation with the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a proposal for a decision on the method and amount of financial resources for the costs of engaging the law firm referred to in point 2 of this conclusion," the minutes from this session held on March 27 state.

Given that the award has become enforceable, meaning the state of BiH must pay the debt, it remains unclear for what purpose the law firm is now being engaged. Furthermore, the new composition of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH was appointed at the beginning of September 2023, consisting of Magdalena Papić, Jelena Cvijetić, and Almina Pilav, for a four-year term.

On the other hand, today before the House of Representatives of the PS BiH is the report on the work of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH for 2024, and the report only mentions the Viaduct lawsuit case in a few sentences, so a discussion is expected regarding the responsibility of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH in this lawsuit, due to which BiH and its institutions face serious consequences.

We remind you that the total debt that has become due after the lost dispute is over 110 million KM, and the interest for each day of non-payment is 18,000 KM.

Incidentally, regarding the current situation, as early as July 2017, Bosnia and Herzegovina - the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, chaired at the time by Denis Zvizdić, and Republika Srpska - the Government of Republika Srpska, represented by Željka Cvijanović, signed an agreement according to which the signatory parties agree that "all potential monetary amounts (damages and/or lost profits with interest, compensation, etc.), which Bosnia and Herzegovina would be obliged to pay to the claimant based on the final arbitration decision rendered in the Arbitration proceedings, upon receipt of a documented request from the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, the Government of Republika Srpska unconditionally undertakes to pay within the period specified by the arbitration decision."

Parts of the agreement signed in 2017, published in the Official Gazette of BiH

The same Agreement also obligated the Prosecutor's Office of BiH to cooperate directly with the Prosecutor's Office of Republika Srpska and the selected and authorized law firm for providing international expert legal services in the Arbitration proceedings, specifically concerning:

a) monitoring the work and actions of the lawyers regarding all steps taken in the Arbitration proceedings,

b) providing appropriate approvals, suggestions, instructions, guidelines, etc., for the lawyers' actions in the Arbitration proceedings,

c) reporting to the Council of Ministers of BiH and the Government of Republika Srpska.

The proposal presented yesterday at the Fiscal Council of BiH on how to pay the debt was not acceptable to the Federal Prime Minister Nermin Nikšić or the Minister of Finance of FBiH Toni Kraljević, as it would oblige FBiH to pay two-thirds of the debt that it did not incur, but was solely incurred by the Government of RS.

The 2017 agreement clearly outlines the timeline of how the dispute between the Slovenian Viaduct and the Government of RS arose, and for which the state of BiH is now bearing the consequences.