Crisis in the military industry: Džindić-Novalić are looking for a new culprit!

Amina Čorbo-Zećo

Motivated by party politics to show the excellent situation in the military industry, the FBiH government has been cheating for years and falsely emphasizing news about the alleged flourishing of the military industry, which, like the energy and gas sectors, was ruined by SBB Minister Nermin Džindić, together with the Prime Minister Fadil Novalić (SDA) who is most responsible for the work of the FBiH Government and its ministers.

In order to cover up the theft and serious managerial failures, the Government also adopted the report for 2020 of the Federal Ministry of Energy, Mining and Industry on the operations of companies associated with the military industry registered in the FBiH.

But other than the report, there’s really nothing else. Proof of this is the story we have witnessed in recent days, which puts pressure on the FBiH Development Bank and which some interest centers accuse of not wanting to respond for four months to requests from the head of the Federal Directorate for Military production, who asked the Development Bank for an advance guarantee of 20 million KM.

And so the bubble has burst, because all the statements and praises by Džindić showed that nothing is flourishing in the military industry, except that it hints at the downfall of this important branch, which would be a catastrophe at this moment!

I would like to single out only some of the statements that Džindić gave in the past, which created a false image.

Nermin Džindić (August 27, 2018)

‘In the last period of time, the military industry employed 1,000 new workers, the turnover and at the same time exports were increased by 60 percent, while the total profit increased by 30 million KM every year.’

Nermin Džindić (Decembar 2, 2020)

‘As far as FBiH is concerned, the military industry has seen a slight growth and by the end of the year we will have 100% execution of the plan, and we will exceed it. The corona virus has negatively affected the military industry. Already in March, with the appearance of the first cluster in 'Igman', we made appropriate corrections and changes, and coordination is performed on a daily basis. There were cancellations of some components, but there were also increases in some other products. This year will be one of the most successful.’

Nermin Džindić (June 27, 2021)

‘The military industry is an extremely important sector of the industrial production in our country, and we have, accordingly, treated all companies in the field of military industry from the very beginning of the mandate. Unfortunately, what we found was discouraging because all the companies were in trouble up to their neck. For that reason, we made an ambitious plan and after four years we had a turnover of 300 million KM. It was an indication to us that we did not work in vain, and after that we made an even more demanding plan that we will try to achieve, with a target turnover of one billion dollars.’

And all of these statements were actually part of a plan that included Development Bank assistance.

The FBiH government expected that the Development Bank would continue to provide favorable loans and grants for the military industry companies.

As an example, Bugojno's Binas already has 6.1 million of loan indebtedness with the Development Bank and the loan is not being repaid. They even failed to pay back the previous one, which the Development Bank agreed to reprogram.

But Džindić and Novalić, supported by Fahrudin Radončić, are aware that there is no other way out.

That is why, after years of illegal leadership, they appointed Mensud Bašić as acting Director of the Development Bank, who could end up as collateral damage to all that risky lending may bring down the road.

Bašić was appointed director of the Development Bank, which had been preceded by an agreement between the SDA and SBB, in which they switched positions. The SDA thus took over the management of the FBiH Autoceste (Motorways), and the SBB took over the management of the Development Bank.

In this regard, there is also party responsibility for everything that happens, which hints at a black scenario of failure.

The modus operandi of the duo from the FBiH Government is visible through the business of another company from the military industry Pretis. The company management and Minister Džindić are manipulating the workers and the union. First they rob and destroy the company, and then they involve the union to complicate the situation so they can escape the responsibility! The workers held several protests in the past few months because neither were their salaries paid regularly, nor their length of service was correctly registered, after which the Management paid the back wages.

In the gas and energy sector, they found culprits in Jasmin Salkić, Almir Bečarević, Admir Andelija ... and now Mensud Bašić should be presented as the most responsible for the difficult situation in the military industry!?

Although Bašić was formally nominated on behalf of SBB, it was clear from the beginning that the goal was one, to ensure smooth flow of money from Development bank!?

However, it seems that Bašić is rationally setting his priorities, and that he will not allow himself to be a scapegoat for the policies of the SDA and SBB, which bring the military industry to its knees.

Poor choice of strategic partners

The importance of having a strong strategic partner was shown through the commitment of the owners of Pobjeda Rudet from Goražde, who sold part of the company to a Turkish investor.

They claim that the current production capacity would not be achieved with any domestic investor. Pobjeda Rudet is in the same compound as GINEX; in front of its HQ, next to the BiH flag, there is the Turkish one. There are no foreign flags in front of GINEX building, only black suspicions that the brokerage contracts and transfer prices altered for the sake of personal gains will eventually defeat one of the most potent companies in the military industry.

The American flag, or the German flag, in front of GINEX, would symbolically connect the whole complex with the NATO industry, but would also confirm the commitment of the authorities in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to truly fight for the state.

Thus, the military industry best depicts the political mentality of the authorities in the FBiH, which would like the US and the EU to save their country, while they keep the profit exclusively for themselves and a small circle of people through whom they trade in third country markets.

The best example is the strike of Binas Bugojno workers and the cessation of production in this company. The knowledge from it was being stolen for years and used for the business of private companies built by former executives, and how and with whom they did business shows SIPA's interest in contracts with customers from Egypt.

This is a company where Bakir Izetbegović once bragged about grenades and other weapons ‘in case of the worst scenario’.

High treason by SDA and SBB

This attitude towards the military industry could be called a betrayal by the SDA and SBB, considering that their staff (Fadil Novalić and Nermin Džindić) are responsible for this vital segment of the industry.

High treason can be viewed in the context that the defense power of the state has been called into question!

And the collapse of the military industry began through the 'cleansing' of the Federal Directorate for the Military Industry, where Džindić, together with Novalić and with the approval of Izetbegović and Fahrudin Radončić, installed personnel who would attune to their way of working.

In their current mandate, they have silently installed a large number of their staff in the military and metal industries. These staffers were brought from Cimos and TDM, in which the Prime Minister, the Minister and related persons have ownership shares. These are mostly family members and persons with shared interest, mostly from the Tuzla Canton.

It was clear on July 15, 2021, that something ‘started cooking’ in the military industry when the Trade Union of the company Igman Konjic made a decision to suspend production for five minutes that day, from 11:55 to 12:00. In this way, they wanted to give support and draw attention to the pressure on PD Igman, the Management and the director of the Company, who resigned because of this.

Given that Džindić does not have excessive influence (and therefore room for machinations) in Igman Konjic, they tried to get rid of the director of PD Igman Đahid Muratbegović at any cost, who very successfully leads this economic giant with over 1,000 employees.

Whenever Džindić has a say on staffing, we get the Pretis case. It is known and it has been written many times about how the federal company Pretis d.d., that is managed by Novalić and Džindić, bought goods from the private company TMR, whose owners are Novalić (family members) and Džindić.

The business of Pretis and TMR was also documented by the BiH Indirect Taxation Authority. With the money extracted from Pretis, Novalić and Džindić also bought a hall in the Unis Tools company. Everything was reported to the Prosecutor's Office of the Sarajevo Canton, but the case has never been officially formed and it is not known at what stage it is.

The intertwined connections and the long and complex history of the military industry companies should alert the investigative bodies to get involved in the case as soon as possible.

One thing is for sure, that Džindić's story, and then Izetbegović's and Radončić's, about the success of the military industry was an inflated balloon, because along with Pretis and Igman, there is also the story of the company Zrak, which is on the verge of collapse.

The situation in the military industry is catastrophic, as indicated by unpaid salaries and contributions for pension and disability insurance, but also criminal embezzlement in certain companies, which will result in multimillion losses.