In April, the Serbian Open tournament was organized by the Tennis Association of the Republika Srpska. It gathered numerous participants, as well as visitors. After all, the question remains as to what exactly the 55 million marks were spent on and how much it really cost to build the complex. The opposition and analysts point to irregularities and non-transparent spending of budget funds.
The Tennis Association of the RS never answered the questions regarding the manner in which millions were spent for the construction of the tennis complex and the organization of the tournament. The president of the association, Draško Milinović, has not yet fulfilled his promise to submit everything to the public for inspection. The opposition in the RS requests the same information from the Government of the RS.
“Okay, there was a tournament, it had some effect, but tell us that the people know: 55 million – to whom, to which companies, for what and how much was it paid? There is still no answer,” says Igor Crnadak, PDP deputy in the NSRS.
While there is no answer, the president of NSRS, Nenad Stevandić, believes that the Government will, nevertheless, soon answer the parliamentary questions regarding the same topic.
“It was a parliamentary question. The answer is late, but I have information that it will come soon,” he said.
The tennis tournament in Banja Luka, in which the world’s best tennis player Novak Djokovic participated, was followed by numerous speculations. From questioning all the necessary building permits to shelling out huge sums of money for a one-time tournament.
“Fifty-five million marks were spent on a tennis tournament, on the construction of a sports hall, a sports arena without permanent construction permits. It was made as a temporary object, and we see that it is not. The state found a loophole in the law to do it overnight, with direct deals with contractors, and nothing happens,” says journalist Siniša Vukelic.
He reminds that the Banja Luka city administration, whose mayor is Igor Crnadka’s party colleague Draško Stanivuković, gave ten million marks for the construction of the tennis center.
“Although the City Administration gave 15 million, the money was dominantly spent by republican authorities, including theirs,” says Crnadak.
The complex was not completely finished after the tournament. Banja Luka councilors who are not part of the government, neither at the republican nor at the local level, warned that tens of millions of marks are being given to hold just one sports event in the city, while the allocations for sports are decreasing year by year.
