Transparency International BiH again sued the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Republika Srpska because, in accordance with the Law on Access to Information, they do not allow inspection of the contract on the construction of the Banjaluka – Prijedor highway.
Last year, the district court ordered the ministry to make a new decision, because it is clearly a matter of public interest. A few days ago, some portals in Republika Srpska published information that the Government of Republika Srpska originally bought certain plots on this route from citizens, and then sold them to a Chinese company.
We have not received an answer from the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the RS as to whether it is true that some plots on the section of the future Banjaluka – Prijedor highway were sold to a Chinese company, which is also the concessionaire and is building this highway. Transparency International says that they have again received a refusal to access the details of this contract, and have again initiated a lawsuit.
SRĐAN TRALJIĆ, Transparency International BiH: “They refused us access to that information again, so we are going to a new court case with them, but the clear position of the court is that this is a public interest and that the government must explain to the citizens under what conditions it entered into this business.”
Earlier, Republika Srpska Prime Minister Radovan Višković told the media, when asked why the contract was secret, that the request of the Chinese partner was being respected. No answer today. Višković is currently on a multi-day visit to China, where he will also meet with representatives of Chinese companies.
“The Chinese partner has exclusivity on the contract. If they allow it to be published, we can publish it today,” Višković said earlier.
We did not receive a response from the regional unit of the Administration for Geodetic Affairs in Prijedor on the question about the ownership of the plots, which the Government bought in the process of expropriation, but they only forwarded our inquiry to the headquarters of the Administration in Banja Luka. At the end of last year, the District Court in Banja Luka also said that it is a matter of public interest and that the data cannot be kept secret.
According to that contract, as pointed out in TIBiH, the Chinese company should earn about 975 million euros from the investment of almost 300 million euros during the 30-year concession by collecting tolls, and the missing funds should be settled from the budget of Republika Srpska, which this non-governmental organization considers exceptional. harmful.
