In late August 2023, the District Public Prosecutor’s Office in Istočno Sarajevo and the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) received a criminal complaint from businessmen Dragan and Bojan Đordan against the owners of the apartment complex ‘Vučko’ in Jahorina, Aleksandar Prović, Milomir Prović, and Mirko Tica, as well as the director of the complex, Marko Uskoković.

They have been reported for criminal offenses of abuse of power, conspiring to commit offenses, and committing offenses as part of a criminal enterprise. The complaint also relates to ‘jointly taken actions aimed at alienating the property of the company ‘Club Aparthotel Vučko,’ as well as the acquisition of unlawful property gain.

The District Public Prosecutor’s Office in Istočno Sarajevo confirmed to CIN that the criminal complaint against Prović, Tica, and Uskoković is related to the operations of the company ‘Club Aparthotel Vučko Ltd.’ which manages the ‘Vučko’ complex.

The Provićs and Tica founded this company with Dragan and Bojan Đordan, businessmen from Russia, with whom they agreed to invest and contribute money for the construction of apartments in Jahorina. The plan was to repay the investment through the sale of apartments, with the profits from the company to be divided among their children as co-owners of the firm.

The Prosecutor’s Office in Istočno Sarajevo had previously received a criminal complaint against Mirko Tica and Marko Uskoković, more precisely in June 2022, which also related to the operations of ‘Club Aparthotel Vučko, but even after more than a year, the Prosecutor’s Office had not reviewed this complaint.

“After analyzing the materials submitted in both cases and conducting all necessary measures and actions prescribed by the Criminal Procedure Code of Republika Srpska to collect all relevant evidence and facts related to these complaints, the case prosecutor in charge will make appropriate decisions”, said the District Public Prosecutor’s Office in Istočno Sarajevo.

In June 2023, CIN uncovered that for decades, falsifications, deceived partners, and million-dollar debts have accompanied the construction and operation of the Vučko complex in Jahorina, managed by father and son Milomir and Aleksandar Prović. Municipal authorities allowed them to appropriate state land, and entity authorities granted them million-dollar loans, which are now being repaid by Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the same time, the father and son concealed million-dollar profits.

The Pale Municipality gave them state land, which, according to the Law on the Temporary Prohibition of Disposing of State Property of Bosnia and Herzegovina, could not be privatized. On this land, they built apartments together with investors Mirko Tica and Dragan Đordan, who, according to the partnership agreement, were supposed to invest proportionally in the construction. However, after years of collaboration, it turned out that only Dragan Đordan had invested the agreed amount. Tica paid half of the agreed sum, and the Provićs’ investment remained a dead letter.

“I gave more than 13 million BAM with 63 payments from my personal account, on which I had previously paid all due taxes. They only returned me 235,000 BAM”, said Đordan.

In 2012, the properties they shared with the investors the Provićs pledged for a loan of six million marks using falsified documentation, all done without the investors’ knowledge. The loan was taken out in the name of their company, B&B Vučko, and was approved by their longtime friend Aleksandar Džombić, then the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska and President of the Credit Committee of Investment and Development Bank (IRB).

IRB approved a loan to the company B&B Vučko from the funds of the European Investment Bank (EIB), which Bosnia and Herzegovina borrowed to finance investment projects of companies in Republika Srpska. However, the Provićs never repaid the loan, which the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina is currently repaying, as it had committed to do so to the EIB.

“What problem do you or anyone else have with that? The state is repaying it, and the state will collect it”, said Aleksandar Prović.

CIN also uncovered that the Vučko aparthotel in Jahorina had been running a “parallel ledger” for years, concealing the actual revenue from apartment rentals and restaurant operations to avoid paying taxes and residence taxes for guests.

Apartment owners in 2019 reported to the police in Republika Srpska (RS) that Aleksandar Prović had rented out their apartments outside of the hotel’s reception, causing a loss of over one million marks in taxes to the budget.

Former and current employees also reported the Provićs for tax evasion, document forgery, and fraud, stating that “tax evasion is a standard practice” at this hotel. Đordan also reported them for economic crime, tax evasion, document forgery, and fraud. However, the Istočno Sarajevo District Public Prosecutor’s Office suspended the investigation into all reports in 2022.