The Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation into Ibro Berilo, the head of Trnovo Municipality, for extensive illegal construction on state land in Bjelašnica and for favoring a construction company that allegedly provided him with an apartment in one of its developments, reported CIN.

The investigation revealed that the Municipality of Trnovo, amid various other urban projects in Bjelašnica, appropriated state land that was subject to temporary disposal restrictions, and then facilitated the construction of apartment complexes without the required regulatory plans.

The land was primarily acquired through expropriation procedures from the Cantonal Public Utility Company Sarajevo-šume, which was authorized to manage state property but not to sell it. The prosecution suspects Nermin Demirović, the former director of this company, of unlawfully selling the land.

After the expropriation, the Municipality resold the state land to private construction companies at prices 50 times higher than the original purchase price. Private individuals constructed apartment buildings on these plots.

One such building, the Aroma, located next to the roundabout near the Maršal Hotel, was constructed by the Sarajevo-based company Lok-Pil. The Prosecutor’s Office asserts that the building was constructed with the assistance of Mayor Berilo. With the help of SIPA and OSA, the Prosecution uncovered evidence that Adis Mulaosmanović, the company’s founder, provided Mayor Berilo with an apartment in the same building. To hide the true ownership, the property was registered in the name of another person.

The Prosecution launched an investigation against Berilo after CIN uncovered in July 2020 that the mayor had unlawfully ordered the logging and reclassification of state forest land to construction land for the Business-Sports Center Trnovo Urban Development Project in Bjelašnica. Subsequently, Berilo issued permits for the construction of apartments and other buildings, following the illegal acquisition of state land.

Mayor Berilo undertook all these actions without approval from the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Construction, and Environmental Protection of Sarajevo Canton (KS) and without a permit from the Ministry of Economy of Sarajevo Canton.

Although the Municipality presented the Bjelašnica project as a sports and recreation center, a substantial portion of the area was allocated to developers for 14 apartment buildings and one aparthotel.