After a long legal battle, the city of Zenica has regained possession and is selling again the resort in Duće in Croatia. Although the public invitation for sale has been announced, the complex is still under an administrative ban. The question arises as to what happens to the property of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Croatia and why so much legal battle is needed to return it.
The Duće resort near the Croatian town of Omiš once again belongs to Zenica. More than 10,000 square meters of attractive location is sold for slightly more than 5 million euros. An international tender has been announced.
FUAD KASUMOVIĆ, mayor of Zenica
“Just eight years ago, that legal battle with the Croatian Government was ongoing and Croatia simply tried to use legal violence to take it away from this city and we returned. We also returned the beach and the resort, which unfortunately was devastated. The city of Zenica has no intention of building hotels in another country, resorts, and that’s why the City Council decided to sell it and use those funds to build something in Zenica.”
Namely, the High Commercial Court in Zagreb confirmed the decision of the County Court in Split, which ordered the Republic of Croatia to delete the regime of maritime property on the coastal part of that complex. But the administrative ban remained on the plot.
MIRSAD HELEG, Commission for the preparation and implementation of the public call of the City of Zenica:
“The Croatian Government adopted the decision that the Croatian Minister of Justice exclusively decides on the lifting of the ban on disposal. The Municipal Assembly of Zenica bought all those plots in 1961 and 19662, so that land was acquired through a fee-based legal transaction. According to all possible European laws, no one owns that land cannot take away.”
FUAD KASUMOVIĆ, mayor of Zenica:
“The Minister of Justice of the Republic of Croatia just needs to give his consent. I believe that they are waiting for someone to buy it, I won’t say who because it wouldn’t be good let me say that, and to take it down, simply for the city of Zenica to get the money.”
There are dozens of such examples. Resorts of lesser value are hostages of not solving the issue of the property of our country or companies from our country in Croatia, which is of much greater value, such as Šipad’s port in Šibenik, Hidrogradnja facilities, Agrokomerc’s parts of the port in Rijeka and the like.
Even though the Succession Agreement states that all property owned by owners from Bosnia and Herzegovina and other republics of the former Yugoslavia in Croatia on 12/31/1990 must be returned. Although Croatia even passed a law in 2004 that it would comply with the Agreement, so far examples show that it has not.
However, it all boils down to politics and sluggishness in the work of certain institutions, more specifically the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Justice, according to Muharem Cero, an expert on state property.
MUHAREM CERO, expert in state property
“There is a possibility to apply a mechanism that is truly incorporated into the succession agreement, and it seems to me that Croatia is going in that direction to compensate us financially. Of course, that monetary compensation would be only a small part of the total claims. I know that the president EU commission Von den Leyen informed about the issue of non-return of property to the Republic of Croatia to Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also that she requested to be provided with lists of property and for BiH’s claims to be provided to her. Did the line ministries, Kristo and the other two assistants act in that direction , we don’t see the effects.”
According to some estimates, the property value of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Croatia exceeds 10 billion BAM. The question asked by the profession is whether with the start of the work of the federal Uskok, better times will come for neglected property in Croatia, BHRT writes.
