Igor Dodik, the son of Milorad Dodik—prime minister of the Republika Srpska (RS)—is a millionaire who did not earn one mark last year. According to a financial disclosure form the son signed last July, he had no revenue — but he did have property worth nearly 2.7 million KM. In his form, the prime minister declared that he was financially supporting his son.
The son stated that he owned 50 percent of the Fruit Eco company that he estimated to be worth more than 2.6 million KM. In addition, he listed a car worth 50,000 KM and 10,804 KM in an account at Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank.
Fruit Eco received a 3 million KM loan from the RS Investment and Development Bank in 2008 after the Credit Board of the bank’s shareholders approved it. The prime minister presides over that board.
This is only a part of the assets that the four-member Dodik family declared in 2010 asset cards.
They were, as are all families of candidates for the October elections, obliged to fill in the asset declarations and file them with the Central Electoral Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Unlike previous years, this time they had to break down income into different sources, savings and shares as well as their credit, real and moveable property and specify what they were worth.
The Dodiks have estimated their real and moveable property at 5,760,867 KM. If 305,220 KM from salaries, farming and rents are added in, the figure jumps to 6,066,087 KM which is the sum of the Dodiks’ declared wealth in 2009.
The senior Dodik, leader of the Alliance of Independent Social-Democrats (SNSD) and this year’s candidate for the RS president leads in terms of income and the value of his property.
According to his declaration his property is worth more than 2.8 million KM. This includes a mansion in Belgrade worth 1.7 million KM, a house in Laktaši worth 300,000 KM, two apartments in Belgrade worth in total 600,000 KM and an apartment in Laktaši worth 110,000 KM. These pieces of property Dodik declared four years ago as well, but their value has significantly risen. Last year the Belgrade apartments were valued at 160,000 KM, and the Laktaši apartment, 30,000 KM.
Milorad Dodik reported his last year’s salary as 59,220 KM, revenue from farming at about 80,000 KM, and rent for a house in Belgrade to be worth 100,000 KM.
He owns a car worth 100,000 KM. He, with three family members, each own shares of the Laktasi Spa, which are worth 505 KM. Milorad Dodik also reported 10,000 KM in an account at Nova Bank in Banja Luka.
The Center for Investigative Reporting in Sarajevo (CIN) published a story last year revealing that the prime minister took a loan for nearly 1.5 million KM from Pavlović International Bank in 2008. The loan had a term of 8.5 years. In this year’s asset card Dodik reported he owed 1.7 million KM to the bank and that the loan has been rescheduled to be paid over 20 years.
Declarations have been also filed by Dodik’s wife Snježana and daughter Gorica Dodik Trišić.
His wife reported income last year of 45,000 KM as co-owner of the family farm. She also has an interest in the spa, and she declared business premises worth about 100,000 KM, and a Peugeot 407 worth 30,000 KM. Offsetting that, she declared a debt of 100,000 KM to the company which owns the business premises.
The daughter owns Trinity Media & Consulting worth 92,874 KM. Last year she earned 21,000 KM, but she reported that her account in NLB Development Bank holds only 74 KM.
Like her father, Gorica has some long-term debt. She has two loans from Komercijalna Bank coming due: 95,000 KM by 2022 and 47,417 KM by 2018.
Doubled the value of property
The Dodiks are not the only family to benefit from politics.
Šemsudin Mehmedović of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) and Ekrem Ajanović of Party for BiH, have profited during eight-year term in the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly.
Mehmedović estimated his property at 232,000 KM in 2002. It consisted of a studio worth 50,000 KM, shares worth 150,000 KM, and 22,000 KM in cash. This year Mehmedović estimates his property at 451,275 KM. He owns two apartments worth a total of 351,275 KM, land in the municipality of Doboj Jug worth 40,000 KM, and an Audi A6 worth 60,000 KM. He also declared money in bank and shares, without stating the amounts.
The value of Ajanović’s property also doubled in the past four years. Ajanović reported real property worth 380,000 KM in 2006, including a 100,000 KM house, a 40,000 KM summer home, land worth 180,000 KM and two shops worth 60,000 KM.
In this year’s asset card he declared 805,000 KM worth of property and a salary last year of 89,409 KM. Meanwhile, Ajanović also became the owner of a studio, a one-and-a-half room apartment in Sarajevo and a one-and-a-half room apartment in Tešnaj, while the value of his house has risen to 250,000 KM. He also declared 60,000 KM in savings.
Ajanović’s wife Dževdeta, a tenured professor in the Sarajevo School of Humanities, earned 61,000 KM last year, while in her 2010 asset card she declared an apartment in Sarajevo worth 220,000 KM. She didn’t declare this property in 2006.
Nikola Špirić, chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers and an SNSD candidate for the BiH Parliament, in 2002 reported a car worth 20,000 KM, savings of €102,258 in one account and 83,383 Swiss francs in another, and a prewar foreign exchange savings worth 50,000 KM; an apartment in Sarajevo, plus land and part of a family house in Drvar, whose value he didn’t specify.
In his 2006 asset card he declared only an apartment and a car, without specifying their worth. However, in an asset declaration he was bound to submit with the Commission of the BiH Parliament as a candidate for the Council of Ministers, he revealed more. In four years the amount of his saving almost tripled – it had been around €378,300 and 18,140 KM. He reported a three-and-half room apartment in Banja Luka, a two-and-half room apartment in Novi Sad, and a two-and-half room apartment in Belgrade owned by his son.
In his 2010 asset card, Špirić shared this information for the first time with the public. Apart from two apartments of his own worth 120,000 KM and 75,000 KM respectively, and his son’s worth 150,000 KM, he reported an Audi A6, and family estate with an estimated value of 40,000 KM.
The combined value of savings has decreased to €48,060, $38,600 and 85,000 KM, but this time he declared his daughter Jovana owned an apartment in Austria worth 400,000 KM.
Over the past eight years, the assets of Borjana Krišto, president of the Federation of BiH and the Croatian Democratic Alliance (HDZ) candidate for the BiH Presidency, have incrementally increased. In her 2002 asset card, apart from income for herself and her husband Branko, she declared savings of 60,000 KM, and apartments and real property in BiH, without reporting their value or location.
Four years later, she declared a house under construction, without reporting its value. Her husband, an HDZ candidate for the municipal council of Livno in 2008, declared the house to be worth 400,000 KM.
Her savings increased from 60,000 KM in 2002, to 70,000 KM in 2006 to 100,000 KM in 2008 to 150,000 KM in 2010.
Hamdija Lipovača, head of Bihać municipality and a Social Democratic Party (SDA) nominee for the BiH Parliament, didn’t declare property in his 2002 asset card. Two years later he reported inheriting an apartment worth 60,000 KM. He also reported owning a Laguna II car worth 52,000 KM, and 28,000 KM in savings.
In 2008 the value of the apartment increased to 80,000 KM, while the amount of money in the bank has increased to 200,000 KM. He also reported a car worth 60,000 KM, half of a family house worth 150,000 KM, a seaside house worth 100,000 KM and land worth €5,000. In that asset card he also reported a 200,000 KM loan with a 2028 due date.
In his 2010 asset card, Lipovača reported inheriting two apartments with a combined value of 160,000 KM. He also reported that his house on the coast had doubled in value and he declared a weekend house worth 30,000 KM, a Hyundai worth 40,000 KM, half of an inherited house worth 150,000 KM and business premises worth 10,000 KM, which he said was a gift from his father.
His bank account and loan remained the same – 200,000 KM each.
Another party colleague and a deputy with the Brčko District Assembly Izet Banda, reported 25,000 KM worth in savings in his 2004 asset card, plus a house worth 100,000 KM, a weekend house worth 20,000 KM and a Golf 2 worth 2,000 KM. Four years later he declared only a house of the same value and a weekend house whose value increased to 30,000 KM.
However, in his latest asset card, the value of Banda’s house has doubled – to 200,000 KM. He also declared land worth 50,000 KM, business premises estimated at 35,000 KM, a Škoda Fabia worth 15,000 KM, and a 70,000 KM bank account.
The latest asset declaration from Mirko Okolić, a member of Serb Democratic Party (SDS) in the BiH Parliament, has been beefed up in terms of the number of reported items and their value.
Okolić reported an apartment worth 106,000 KM in 2006, a car worth 20,000 KM, and a 18,000 KM bank account. Four years later the apartment is worth 180,000 KM. He drives an Audi A6 worth 30,000 KM, has around 30,000 KM and €58,681 in the bank. This year his daughter Neda also declared property. She owns a business premises worth 180,000 KM. She also reported a Golf 6 worth 40,000 KM and salary for 10 months of last year in the amount of 4,600 KM.
