A European Union program did little to bolster small and medium sized business in BiH or to create new jobs. A poorly administered and unmonitored grant program gave equipment to failing or fake companies.
Owners site extortion and inability to collect debts as two reasons their businesses failed.
When thugs and blackmailers target small businessmen, they cannot rely on police or courts to protect them. Businessmen say police never seem to catch criminal and courts are too slow and lenient.
Even when caught in the act of helping smugglers — and recent cases show they are — it is difficult to prosecute or punish customs officers and border police.
Smuggling has gotten sophisticated. A recent case in the Court of BiH offers a look at the relationships and methods that bring illegal goods into the country under the eye of customs and border authorities.
You might as well kiss your money goodbye instead of trying to collect debts in BiH. Rather than relying on courts, small businessmen have become creative when they need to get paid.
Chinese retailers who want to sell cheap goods in BiH must contend with suspicious tax authorities and armed thugs demanding cash.
Long lines, silly rules and a needlessly complex 12-step procedure that only a lawyer could understand make an ordeal of getting a new business officially recognized in BiH.
A look at what it takes to achieve entre-preneurial success in BiH today.
Everything seems to be stacked against small business operators in BiH. Entre-preneurs can expect little or no help from banks or government bureaucrats to get started, and once on their feet, they face high taxes and tariffs. Small businesses can often power a vibrant economy, but it is not happening here.
Newspaper ads promising easy college degrees seemed too good to be true. As it turns out, the degrees are legal, but mostly worthless.
The part of the FBiH Railroad that operates the trains and lucrative freight business has been privatized for a small fraction of its worth. But railroad officials have not bothered to tell anyone. The move deprives the people of BiH money back from their huge investment planned for the railroad to fix tracks and other decaying infrastructure.
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.
