Director of the Indirect Taxation Administration (ITA) of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zoran Tegeltija, said that no additional funds for the purchase of a building to house this institution in Banja Luka were approved by the BiH Council of Ministers at the last session, held on Tuesday.
In his first interview since heading the ITA, for Bloomberg Adria, he clarified how much space is needed for the functioning of the management’s employees, what kind of offers they have received so far, at what price, how much money they have available, and when there will be a new call for investors to offer them a suitable facility.
“There was no decision on additional funds and no decision was made about it. The money of about 70 million BAM, which is available to the ITA for dealing with accommodation in Banja Luka, was in two positions and at the session of the Council of Ministers it was consolidated, so that it stands at one position. This was done due to the simplicity of carrying out the procedures and safety in the event of a failure in the acquisition of the building, that the money would remain in the ITA in order to continue the procedures to get the necessary space,” Tegeltija pointed out.
He said that the opposition in both entities is trying to deal with the parties that are currently in power at the BiH level over the issue of the procurement of the building for the ITA.
“It would be bad if the Administration did not manage to solve that issue, the conditions in which the employees work are below the minimum required for work. The issue of building acquisition is being politicized, this was not done during the acquisition of buildings in Sarajevo, Tuzla, Mostar. All those who politicize should go to the Regional Center in Banja Luka to see what kind of conditions they work in,” said Tegeltija.
The administration tried on several occasions to buy an accommodation facility in Banja Luka, and at the last public invitation they received an offer to pay 84.2 million BAM without VAT, or 98.5 million BAM with VAT, for 17,020 square meters of business space. The offered facility is within the complex that is being built by the Grand Trade company in the center of Banja Luka.
