One of eight companies that bid for Aluminij d.d. Mostar, has filed a criminal complaint against the members of tender commission overseeing the privatization of the plant. A consortium led by UKIO Bank Investment Group (UBIG) from Lithuania alleges the commission misused its authority when it illegally acted to favor certain bidders and eliminate UBIG, which was the highest bidder. They said previously the commission prevented them from appealing the decision and provided no explanation for why the consortium was eliminated. The Consortium’s bid was thrown out in the second round of bidding and the agency has refused to make public the official scoring of the companies admitted into the second round.
Aluminij accounts for almost 10 percent of BiH’s exports. Center for Investigative Reporting in Sarajevo (CIN) reported on the privatization and found that not only were the actions of government officials not transparent but they used an unusual procedure for the privatization which is not mentioned in Bosnian law. The procedure has been criticized by the World Bank and other experts on tenders.
