The Administration for Indirect Taxation is under a veil of suspicion because of the national imbalance, which is becoming more and more obvious. After the last competition, the director of Zoran Tegeltija decided to appoint three assistants. There are no Bosniaks among them, which is not the only such case when we talk about institutions.
The strongest financial institution of Bosnia and Herzegovina – big appetites, many interested parties. The Directorate for Indirect Taxation of BiH has been a part of the political loot for years, mainly in the hands of HDZ BiH and SNSD. According to the same principle, employment became the party’s booty. Zoran Tegeltija, a longtime associate of Milorad Dodik, is currently at the helm. The last move, seemingly harmless. The decision to appoint three new assistants.
“For one candidate, the security check procedure has been initiated, and for two candidates, decisions have been made on appointment starting from March 1, 2026, for a mandate period of four years. The Director of the ITA has not yet made a decision for the fourth assistant position, namely for the Tax Sector”, stated the Directorate for Indirect Taxation of BiH.
This position is currently held by Muharem Mašinović. For now, Tegelti is delaying the appointment of his replacement – but the question is for how long. The names of the other appointed assistants are not officially known either, but they were published in the media a long time ago.
Boris Spasojević, Miloran Đurđević, Ilija Anić, Vinko Skoko – these are people who will receive important positions in a few days. There are no Bosniaks among them and there won’t be any during this mandate. If they are confirmed, criminal charges for violating the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina are ready.
“The position of assistant director will be filled by people who have been evaluated in an essay. I express my objective suspicion that the competition was set up for Čović’s and Dodik’s people, but they will not succeed,” says NiP representative in the House of Representatives of the PSBiH Nihad Omerović.
So, another one in a row. Political appointments are not new, but lack of transparency is an additional motive for suspicion.
“For me, it is unacceptable that the ITA hides the results of the competition. Only in this way do they raise even more questions over the entire process,” said the representative of the PDP in the House of Representatives of the PSBiH Branislav Borenović.
But it is not only this institution that is controversial. In the State Agency for Investigations and Protection, there has been a long-standing attrition of Bosniak personnel. It is managed by Darko Ćulum, SNSD. Only two Bosniaks, managers, remained. Edin Malkić and Jasmin Gogić. Both about to retire. The head of the Tuzla Regional Office is in an acting mandate, and Vahidin Šahinpašić is about to leave. Most often, new ones are not appointed to the positions of those who leave, and retirements change the national relationship. Croats are in a similar position here.
“Any of the Bosnian political subjects does not understand what it is about, he does not need to be involved in politics. They work very wisely in a way that they announce a competition, members of the Commission are appointed to the competition procedure who are very obedient and who implement the policy of the SNSD and HDZ. And the director of the Agency has the final say,” points out Šemsudin Mehmedović, representative of the Naprijed Party in the House of Representatives of the PSBiH.
SIPA assesses the allegations as tendentious. They say – retire in accordance with the law, not by blood cells:
“In 2025, 33 police officers in various ranks met the termination of their employment according to the aforementioned criteria, of which 14 are Serbs, 10 Bosniaks and nine Croats. In 2026, on the same basis, termination of employment is planned for 53 police officers, of which 35 are Bosniaks, 13 Serbs and five Croats.”
Bosniaks were previously without the position of head of the SIPA Special Unit. Enes Karić was replaced by Dalibor Milošević. The problem could become much more serious. If the number of one is significantly higher than the number of the other two nations, the national structure according to the 1991 census will be violated.
“We want to count. It is a constitutional category. It is not a matter of political determination, but of the implementation of laws and the constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” adds Mehmedović.
“There is no good here for either the Croats or the Serbs. There are only benefits here for two people, namely Dragan Čović and Milorad Dodik. And their close circle of friends,” adds Omerović.
A narrow circle of friends and increasingly party-national privatization of a number of institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. There is also BHANSA, whose employees refuse to speak, and for which there are suspicions of a national imbalance. And so on.
