Politicians' Assets
How their citizens vote may determine how easily towns in the RS can borrow development funds from a government bank.
Centar za istraživačko novinarstvo (CIN)
04.6.2012
How their citizens vote may determine how easily towns in the RS can borrow development funds from a government bank.
Then Finance Minister Igor Luksic promised that a bailout of First Bank would be overseen by regulators but instead, the first family’s bank was allowed to do whatever it wanted. And when it came time to pay back tax payers, the majority of the debt was simply switched to another governmental agency.
The government of Una-Sana Canton has failed to collect concession fees even from the firms that have quarry concessions. Local politicians own some of the firms illegally extracting stone .
Vuk Rajkovic was one of the people in charge of overseeing First Bank’s operations and ensuring it was compliant with banking regulations in 2007. But Central Bank documents show his case represents one of First Bank’s flagrant violations of the rules.
Some of the loans given by First Bank were not issued according to proper banking practice, according to the Central Bank examiners. A significant number of loans, maybe even two thirds, were approved to family members, shareholders, business partners, and other parties connected to the bank, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Former Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic hasn’t been truthful about where his consulting firm Global Montenegro got its startup loan. It came from his family controlled First Bank, the same bank whose mismanagement led to a taxpayer bailout. Other family members also got great deals from the bank.
First Bank financed a huge €4.6 million line of credit in 2008 for Svetlana Micunovic, wife of controversial casino owner Branislav Micunovic, without checking her finances, without collateral and without paperwork. They also gave Micunovic’s company Dzek Pot, which had posted significant losses for two years, a €200,000 loan guarantee without conducting any financial analysis or guaranteeing the credit.
Montenegrin taxpayers wound up footing the €4.3 million bill for Madonna’s Balkan debut in 2008. And the real company behind the event was First Bank, according to documents obtained by OCCRP. The concert not only broke promises that no public money would be used, it also depleted First Bank’s resources at a time it was already unable to honor requests for money from its own depositors.
Even though it had been proved at the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina that three major wholesale firms evaded paying taxes of at least 1.1 million KM between 2003 and 2005, they have not been prosecuted. The firms which handled the money got into trouble, while wholesalers keep growing, sometimes with the help of state loans and public bids they win.
FBiH auditors have warned for years that during the Vahid Hećo’s term at the Ministry of Energy, Mining and Industry, the criteria for grant disposal were not clear. Also, some companies never accounted for the money they received.
The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Ministry of Energy, Mining and Industry dispensed around 15 million KM in grants to private firms. At least 4 million KM of that was awarded to firms connected to the governing parties in FBiH.
Along the Mediterranean coast of France, in the city of Montpellier, prosecutors are quietly putting on trial an ancient French tradition – the fishing and trading of the majestic Eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna, a sushi delicacy sold in restaurants from New York to Tokyo.
The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIN) in Sarajevo is unique in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the first organization of its kind to be established in Balkans. CIN is dedicated to investigative reporting, aimed toward providing fair and unbiased information, based on evidences and solid proof, to BiH citizens who need to make educated decisions.
Downloading of the content of the CIN is permitted with the mandatory reference to the source at www.cin.ba.
Svojim anonimnim prijavama doprinosite integritetu naše zajednice. Molimo vas da iskoristite ovu formu kako biste sigurno prijavili bilo kakvu sumnju u korupciju ili nezakonitu aktivnost koju primijetite. Vaša hrabrost ključna je za očuvanje naših vrijednosti i promicanje transparentnosti.
