They break the laws, DISRESPECT THE CITIZENS, protect the Chinese (and themselves): Ministry of Finance HIDES INFORMATION about the highway from Banja Luka to Prijedor

When it comes to the details of the contract with the Chinese, we will still have to rely on the fifth, sixth... because our authorities, not that they don't care about the public interest, but also ignore court rulings.

The District Court in Banja Luka recently accepted the fourth lawsuit of Transparency International in BiH against the Ministry of Transport and Communications and again ordered that it must be clearly explained why the Concession Agreement for the highway from Banja Luka to Prijedor was declared exempt from publication.

 

"Trade Secret"

In the verdict, according to TI BiH, it was pointed out that the Ministry protected the commercial interests of the Chinese investor instead of the public one.

-According to the opinion of the Court, even if the commercial interests of the Chinese company are threatened, the Ministry was obliged to assess whether the publication of information from the Agreement regarding the method of financing the construction and the assessment of the profit from the collection of tolls on this highway, would bring a greater benefit to society and the public interest, in relation to the protection of confidential commercial interests of the concessionaire. Despite clear legal obligations and four court decisions, the Ministry continues to deny access to key information from the contract for the construction of the Banjaluka-Prijedor highway, citing blanket claims about business secrecy - TI BiH claims.

As they discovered, they asked the Court to inform the Republic Administrative Inspection because of the Ministry's continued non-compliance with the judgments. They also demanded that the Court resolve the matter itself. However, none of that.

 

Judiciary

The Government of Republika Srpska not only continues the practice of non-transparency, but also proves that judicial institutions are "in us", the extended arm of politics. And that's why, when a normal person wonders how it is that "someone" can, just like that, turn a deaf ear to court rulings, the answer, where we are, would be "easy".

 

Long-time lawyer Željko Bubić reminds that all the funds that are invested in public investments are the funds of the citizens of Republika Srpska, so it would be quite logical for them to know how they are spent.

 

- Since we strive to move in the direction of the EU, it would be logical and understandable to act in the way that is treated in the EU countries. All funds, which are invested in public investments, especially in these significant infrastructure facilities, are the funds of all citizens of Republika Srpska, who pay taxes, and then the enforcement authority directs and manages these funds. It would be completely justified if every citizen of Republika Srpska, all taxpayers, had the opportunity to see how their financial resources are spent, where they are invested and what amounts are spent for certain projects - Bubić points out.

In the European Union, he adds, it is a common way of communication, which, in a way, establishes control of the public towards the enforcement authority.

-Unfortunately, the practice that rules in the EU has not yet taken hold in our country, so it very often happens that the administrative body, in this case the Government of Srpska, at the request of various organizations and natural persons, turns a deaf ear and does not submit data related to investments, even though the law prescribed that all data, which are in the possession of public authorities, are available to everyone. It is a very bad practice, which has existed for years. All such data should be available, in order to be subject to review - he emphasizes.

 

Disrespecting citizens

Bubić asks why the law stipulates that all data is publicly available, if every citizen of Republika Srpska cannot get it?

 

- It is a very bad practice that the administrative body does not submit data, regardless of which department it is, regardless of who is the minister, deputy..., because in this way it is shown that the citizens of Republika Srpska are not respected. When a citizen does not receive data from the administrative body, the law stipulates that he can appeal through an administrative dispute to the District Court of Banjaluka, due to the so-called silence of the administration. In a large number of cases, the District Court accepts these claims and orders the administrative body to act on the request for the provision of information. The district court, as a judicial institution, would thereby complete its part of the work, but then a third legal issue arises, which is the issue of execution and compliance with legally binding court decisions - he points out.

A vicious circle

This, adds Bubić, is where we reach the peak of the vicious circle and the (non)functioning of the rule of law.

 

- Why a court decision, why a legal solution, if it is not implemented in practice? There is noise in the relations between the executive and the judiciary, which are completely independent of each other and which should respect and honor each other. This did not happen here, so the court decision remains a dead letter - says Bubić.

From all this, he says, we can conclude that the rule of law does not function in the way it should function.

- It is absolutely unacceptable that a court decision is not implemented in practice. The Law on Administrative Disputes stipulates that the District Court has the possibility to inform the competent Republic Inspectorate, which should initiate misdemeanor proceedings. That happens very rarely. It is necessary to raise the level of legal awareness, the level of legal security for citizens and achieve the highest possible level of functioning of the Republic of Srpska as a legal state and as a legal society - concluded Bubić.

 

From election to election

Let us remind you that the contract with the Chinese was signed in 2018.

In November 2021, before the extraordinary elections for the mayor of Prijedor, the government of Srpska formally made official the start of the construction of the highway.

Ten months later, just before the 2022 General Election, construction was announced again.

In September of this year and, by coincidence, again before the elections, the Government of Srpska again announces the start of works.

In addition to numerous attempts and court proceedings, all the details of the contract with the Chinese were never fully revealed. The most important part remained hidden. Finance, of course.

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

Non-transparent business practices, suspicions of corruption, and violations of the law have long been the main characteristics of the business practices of Chinese investors and creditors in the Western Balkan countries. Although there are four court rulings ordering the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Bosnian entity of Republika Srpska to disclose the details of the contract with the Chinese concessionaire related to the construction of the Banja Luka - Prijedor highway, this has not been done to date. The fact that the loan taken from the Chinese creditors will be repaid from the RS budget, that is, with the money of the RS citizens, makes the demands for the disclosure of the details of the contract that non-governmental organizations and the media reasonably suspect to contain unfavorable clauses that harm the public interest justified.

Additional doubt about this entire arrangement that the RS Government concluded with Chinese creditors is cast by the fact that to date, work on the construction of the Banja Luka - Prijedor highway section has not begun, although the start of work has been announced on three occasions. The problem is also the non-implementation of court rulings by the executive branch, which gives the right to all those who doubt the cooperation between the judiciary and the executive branch. The lack of any sanctions for those who prevent the implementation of final court rulings indicates that suspicions are justified that this is yet another non-transparent project, which contains elements of corruption.