Member of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Saša Magazinović, stated today in Sarajevo that, according to estimates, around one billion BAM is stolen annually in the public procurement process in BiH. He added that this is why a group of members of the House of Representatives have submitted to the parliamentary procedure the Draft Law on Amendments to the Public Procurement Law and the Draft Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code of BiH, which should be considered at an emergency session scheduled for May 28. He emphasized that in this way they want to prevent the theft of public money. He says that the laws must be changed because “public money is being brutally stolen, and sanctions are difficult, and even when it is obtained, it is financially symbolic in a way that motivates thieves to steal even more”.
People rig the tender, favor others, join forces to cheat, independently declare themselves a company that does not have to comply with public procurement, give huge jobs to friends, rig the tender documentation, forge documents and what else do they do, and steal millions, and what happens in the end? Nothing. They pay a symbolic fine, a misdemeanor, and continue. That is the current situation – stated Magazinović. Explaining what will happen when the proposed laws are adopted, he said that what were monetary violations will become criminal offenses.
For everything they got away with paying a few hundred marks in fines, now they will go to prison. In addition, the law provides for the dismissal of ministers and directors, and those civil servants who participate in this will also be dismissed, members of tender committees, and companies that participate in these criminal activities will be banned from carrying out their activities. In addition to all this, both individuals and legal entities will also pay severe fines – emphasized Magazinović.
He stated that, according to the profession, this is the most significant step in the fight against abuses in public procurement in the last 20 years, and in his opinion, one of the biggest steps in the fight against institutional crime and corruption. Magazinović said that in this procedure they will face fierce opposition from “criminalized elites from the business world and their allies from politics”.
These laws will be undermined in every possible way. They will try to stop it, they will try to bribe MPs, they will do everything they can to stop this. Their advantage is that they have a lot of money. Our advantage is that there are more of us and that we are fed up with their arrogance, untouchability and arrogance – Magazinović emphasized.
Finally, he stated that these laws were proposed by the parties that recently signed the platform, because they committed to it. However, all parties support this, talk about this in their campaigns, make promises, have it in their programs. At this point, I don’t want to doubt anyone, I think everyone will support this, to show their consistency.
Director of the Public Procurement Agency Tarik Rahić said that “we are all fed up with rigged tenders, laundering of public money in public procurements”.
We are fed up with one and the same bidder always winning tenders without any competition. A small criminal group is practically robbing budgets at all levels in BiH – stated Rahić. Speaking about the proposed amendments to the Law on Public Procurement, he said that the offenses are clearly demarcated, the eight most serious offenses in public procurement have been determined, and the penalties have been significantly increased.
Instead of 1,500 to 15,000 BAM, as is currently the case for an institution, we are going to 3,000 to 30,000 BAM. Instead of the current meager 300 to 3,000 BAM for a responsible person in an institution, we are going to 4,000 to 20,000 BAM. We have introduced a measure that has not existed before, which is called a ban on performing a profession, activity or duty – said Rahić.
He added that people use certain spaces to commit crimes and then get away with symbolic fines.
We have clearly defined who is considered a responsible person in an institution for a misdemeanor, which has not been the case so far. It is not just the minister, it is not just the director. There are no untouchables. These are also those persons who participate in initiating the procurement process, in its implementation, members of the procurement commission… We have covered almost the entire public procurement process by defining misdemeanors – said Rahić.
Representative of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH Emil Pinkas said that there is a need to take action regarding the current legislation.
The Prosecutor’s Office of BiH was aware of this. Since 2022, we have been actively cooperating with the Public Procurement Agency in terms of improving the legislative text. We believe that this proposed text represents a significant step forward in terms of protecting public funds and in terms of fighting corruption – stated Pinkas.
Member of the House of Representatives of the BiH PA Nihad Omerović said that the proposed laws establish a new model in the system of fighting corruption.
No anti-corruption law, if not accompanied by amendments to the criminal code, can have substantial effects. Through these two laws, an effective and measurable system of combating corruption is established. It enables, above all, prevention, strict restrictive misdemeanor and punitive prison measures for those who violate public procurement laws and, what is very important, by adopting these legal solutions, BiH is closer to EU legislation when it comes to combating corruption – stated Omerović.
MP Jasmin Emrić said that this law also has the role of deterring what is currently happening in the public procurement system.
This is not only new sanctions and the regulation of criminal liability, but also deterring abuses of the public procurement system. All cases leading to abuse of the public procurement system have been identified, sanctions have been prescribed and this is a tool or sword for cutting the corrupt public procurement system and corrupt chains that, unfortunately, exist from the local level to the state level – said Emrić.
The House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina should, at an urgent session scheduled for May 28, consider the Draft Law on Amendments to the Public Procurement Law and the Draft Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina. These two legal solutions were proposed by: the Chairman of the SDPBiH Parliamentary Group, Saša Magazinović, the Chairman of the SDS – PDP – For Justice and Order Parliamentary Group, Mira Pekić, the Chairman of the NiP Parliamentary Group, Nihad Omerović, the Chairman of the NS – BHI KF Parliamentary Group, Sabina Ćudić and the Chairman of the Mixed Group, Jasmin Emrić, with a request for urgent consideration, Federalna writes.
