The continuation of the construction of highways in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina could be questioned after it was confirmed that representatives of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) in the Public Enterprise Autoceste FBiH conducted official activities to collect documentation.
It is about documentation related to projects on Corridor Vc and public procurement procedures carried out according to international procedures in the period from 2018 to 2022.
Autoceste FBiH reminds that the deadlines for the completion of certain sections of Corridor Vc have been postponed several times, and they state that now is an opportunity to shed light on all the circumstances that accompanied the implementation of certain infrastructure projects.
“Irregularities that may have arisen over a long period of time cannot be eliminated in one move, nor can all answers be obtained in one day,” said Autocest FBiH.
Investigative journalists have been reporting on possible irregularities and corruption during the construction of sections of Corridor Vc for years.
Fokus.ba journalist Amil Dučić points out that this is not the first time that OLAF exempts documentation from the FBiH Highway.
“These are projects financed by European investment banks. In this case, the focus is on the section Poprikuš – Nemila. In research articles, we pointed out suspicions of corrupt activities, especially when it comes to the excessive allocation of funds for the contractor Cengiz, which was allocated 54 million KM for one part of the Golubinje tunnel. Also, on the section Ozimica – Poprikuša, which has not even started construction yet, there was an exchange of bids and suspicions of corruption during the awarding of construction supervision, which OLAF is also investigating,” said Dučić.
Transparency International BiH warns that public companies are especially exposed to the risk of corruption due to the large financial resources at their disposal, but also that the supervision of their work is not efficient enough.
“When information about irregularities appears, it is generally not investigated until there is serious pressure from the international institutions on which these companies depend, because these institutions are their financiers,” said Damjan Ožegović from Transparency International BiH.
Dučić believes that the consequences of possible corrupt activities are ultimately felt by the citizens the most.
“If we look at the history of highway construction from 2001 until today, almost all deadlines have been exceeded. It used to be said that the highway would be completed in 2009, then in 2013, and then in 2016. I think that we should no longer come out with deadlines, given that the projects are bogged down in corruption scandals. Several directors were arrested, and the current management is facing serious charges,” Dučić pointed out.
Suspicions of irregularities are now the subject of checks by the European Anti-Fraud Office, and the results of the investigation could be important not only for determining eventual liability, but also for the continuation of the implementation of infrastructure projects on Corridor Vc, BHRT writes.
