The Commission for Deciding on Conflicts of Interest determined, following a report by Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH), that the former councilor in Prnjavor, Bogoljub Saničanin was in a conflict of interest while serving as the president of the municipal Veterans’ Organization funded by the budget. Saničanin was reported because the Veterans’ Organization received around 120 thousand KM annually from the municipal budget while he was a councilor in the assembly that adopted the budget and decided on the allocation of funds.
Such a situation is prohibited by the Law on Prevention of Conflict of Interest in RS, and the data published by TI BiH in the first public Registry of Grants paid to associations and foundations show that the Municipality of Prnjavor paid the Veterans’ Organization of Prnjavor 127 thousand in 2020 and 119 thousand in 2019. The Law on Prevention of Conflict of Interest in RS prohibits all elected officials from being members of bodies or responsible persons in associations funded by public funds in amounts exceeding 100 thousand KM annually.
The Commission for Deciding on Conflicts of Interest initially rejected the report against Saničanin with the explanation that at the time the report was considered, in March 2022, he was not performing the function of councilor as his mandate had expired, ignoring the fact that at the time the funds were paid to the association he chaired, he held a public function that put him in a conflict of interest.
TI BiH appealed this decision to the RS Appeals Commission, which annulled the first-instance decision and ordered a new one, ultimately determining that Saničanin was in a conflict of interest. However, it should be noted that the Commission did not impose any penalty on Saničanin which, according to the law for such cases, ranges from 500 to 1500 KM.
Due to the same case, TI BiH also reported his predecessor at the head of the Veterans’ Organization in Prnjavor, Vlado Živković, who was also a councilor in the local assembly deciding on the amount of funds to be allocated to this organization. In this case, the Commission has not yet made a decision.
Since the establishment of the registry for monitoring the allocation of grants to non-governmental organizations and associations, TI BiH has identified 47 public officials in BiH who are at the head of associations and foundations receiving money from the budget, leading to some associations and organizations having a privileged position when it comes to the distribution of public funds. However, the provisions that would prevent this are not harmonized in laws at all levels, and their application depends, as evident from this example, on a case-by-case basis and the interpretation of competent bodies.
Therefore, TI BiH has long advocated for amendments to legal provisions that better define conflicts of interest, provide for greater sanctions, and establish more efficient and politically independent bodies that should monitor, record, and penalize potential conflicts of interest, as this is one of the 14 key priorities set by the EU for BiH on its path to candidate status.
