The Agency for Management of Seized Assets of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has taken control of three public car parks the former mayor of the Stari Grad Municipality, Ibrahim Hadžibajrić, leased to private companies.
These are the car park Tekija Čikma, located behind the Stari Grad municipality headquarters, car park Kovači in the eponymous settlement, and car park Mošćanica on Safvet Bega Bašagića Street. The closure of these car parks was ordered by the Sarajevo Cantonal Court.
Hadžibajrić leased the Tekija Čikma car park, with approximately 28 spaces, to the Sarajevo-based company Telal, owned by the family of Alija Begić, a councilor of the Stari Grad municipality.
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Speaking to the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIN), Begić asserted that he had been the tenant of this car park since 2017, securing it through an unsolicited bid for a monthly fee of 5,000 BAM. He mentioned that he became a councilor for the National European Alliance (NES) party, led by Hadžibajrić, later on, and departed from the party in the summer of 2023 following Hadžibajrić’s arrest.
Hadžibajrić leased the Kovači car park, with approximately 15 spaces, to the Sarajevo-based company Logic, owned by Ajdin Brković and Mersad Vejzović, while the Mošćanica car park, with ten spaces, was leased to the company Plaza Group, owned by Hadžibajrić’s friend and business partner, Elmedin Karišik.
These car parks are owned by the Stari Grad municipality and are currently under investigation by the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor’s Office for suspected abuse of position and money laundering involving Hadžibajrić, Karišik, and others.
Last year, other car parks near the Army House, Bistrik, and Telali near Vijećnica, which Hadžibajrić had leased to companies linked to Karišik, were also closed down, as previously reported by CIN.
