In the „Politicians’ Assets“ database, information on the education, careers, and assets of state ministers for human rights and refugees, justice, and civil affairs – Sevlid Hurtić, Davor Bunoza, and Dubravka Bošnjak, has been published.
Before taking on the ministerial position, Bunoza practiced law, while Bošnjak worked in the financial sector, and for both of them, this was their first political engagement. Both were appointed on the proposal of the Croat Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HDZBIH). In the statements they filled out before assuming office, they both reported owning an apartment as part of their assets, with Bunoza’s in Mostar and Bošnjak’s in Sarajevo.
Sevlid Hurtić, who transitioned to the role of state minister from the Ministry of Trade of Republika Srpska (RS), reported the most valuable assets, totaling nearly 14 million convertible marks.
He is the owner of the publishing house NAM from Tuzla, which he assessed to be worth 10 million marks. This company publishes textbooks in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it concluded its operations in 2022 with a profit of 2.6 million BAM.
Apart from the company, he owns six apartments and nine garages in Tuzla, Sarajevo, and in Vlašić, a commercial space in Doboj Istok, land and a cottage in Lukavac, and a tourist complex in Stolac. His wife owns one garage.
Entrepreneur, lawyer, and economist
Before his political engagement in 2016, Hurtić’s address was in Tuzla, where his publishing house NAM is headquartered. In this company, founded in 1996 by Muamer Spahić from Zenica, Hurtić initially served as a director, then a co-owner, and since 2005, he is the sole owner.
The NAM publishing, which employs ten workers, had been successful in its operations earlier as well. However, since Hurtić entered politics, it has experienced a significant increase in profits. In 2017, the company finished the year with a profit of 537 thousand BAM, and in 2022, it recorded a profit of 2.6 million BAM.
From his former business partner Muamer Spahić, i.e., his publishing house Vrijeme from Zenica, Hurtić bought part of the property in Stolac for 22,500 BAM in 2021, which he reported in his asset declaration as a tourist complex. In January of this year, Hurtić said for CIN that it includes three stone houses that he restored, and the property also features a pool, sauna, and a landscaped beach.
Hurtić participated in local elections twice during his seven-year political career, in 2016 and 2020, and an equal number of times in general elections, in 2018 and 2022. He commenced his political career as a city assembly member in Doboj. During this term, he also ran in the 2018 elections but did not win enough votes to become a delegate in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska (NSRS). He was more successful in the 2020 elections, where he was re-elected as a city assembly member and served as the president of the City Assembly of Doboj for the next two years. In the 2022 elections, with 4,043 votes, he won a seat in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska.
However, a month after taking the oath as a national delegate, Hurtić was appointed as the Minister of Trade and Tourism in the RS Government. The following month, in late January 2023, he assumed the position of state minister, receiving a monthly salary of around 5,900 BAM, along with an additional allowance of 300 BAM for living away from home.
Although politically active for only a few years, Hurtić signed his SDA party membership card back in 1990. He spent thirty years in this party, and in 2020 he founded the Independent List of Doboj, which changed its name to Bosanskohercegovački zeleni [BH Greens] in 2022.
In the statement he filled out before assuming the position of the state minister, he indicated to have graduated from the School of Economics at the International University in Travnik in 2013. Despite being in his 50s, Hurtić continued to invest in his education. He completed his master’s studies at the same faculty in 2015, and four years later, he earned a Ph.D. in economic sciences with a focus on management.
Hurtić declined to speak with CIN journalists, claiming that everything he owns is documented in his asset declarations and he felt no need to justify his wealth.
Although they initially agreed to an interview, neither Bunoza nor Bošnjak responded to an interview invitation, and they did not find time to speak with journalists before the article was published.
In the statement he filled out before taking up the position of the Minister of Justice, Bunoza stated that he graduated from the Law School in his hometown Mostar in 2005. Three years later, he passed the judicial exam, and in 2011 the bar exam, after which he started his legal practice. In 2015, he opened a joint law firm with Darislav Paponja, where he worked until the beginning of 2023 when he was appointed minister. He owns a 60-square-meter apartment in Mostar and drives a Citroen C4. His monthly ministerial salary is around 5,500 BAM, plus an allowance of 300 BAM for living away from home.
His colleague from the Council of Ministers, Dubravka Bošnjak, stated in her statement that she graduated in 1998 from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Sarajevo and obtained a master’s degree in 2008. She earned a Ph.D. in Economics in 2013 from the Faculty of Economics in Zenica.
From 2017 until she was appointed the Minister of Civil Affairs, Bošnjak served as the Deputy Director at the Banking Agency of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where she had a salary exceeding nine thousand BAM. Before that, she worked as an advisor at the Operator-Terminal of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and as an executive director at the Development Bank of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Throughout her career, she also worked in the private sector, focusing on administrative-technical and financial tasks. In terms of property, she owns a 75-square-meter apartment in Sarajevo, which she bought in 2002 for 80,000 BAM. In her role as the Minister of Civil Affairs, she receives a salary of around 5,800 BAM. Although HDZ Bosnia and Herzegovina proposed her for this position, she claims not to be a member of the party.
The “Politicians’ Assets” database is a unique repository of data on the careers, education, assets, legal proceedings, and party affiliations of 226 politicians and public officials. Since 2009, CIN journalists have been collecting and continuously updating the data with new profiles. The database includes profiles of politicians currently in office, as well as those who have finished their political careers.
