TI BIH reported nine parties for receiving donations from companies that were awarded tenders by the state.

Political parties in BiH reported around 550,000 KM in donations from private companies, and nine parties received contributions prohibited by law from companies that were awarded tenders by executive authorities. As a result, Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) filed reports with the Central Election Commission against SDP BiH, SDA, HDZ BiH, NiP, Stranka za BIH, HRS, Socijaldemokrati BiH, Republička stranka Srpske, and Pokret za modernu i aktivnu Krajinu.

The largest number of prohibited contributions was received by the Social Democratic Party of BiH (SDP BiH), which reported around 83,000 KM in donations from private companies in the post-election report for the last general elections. Among the donors were 14 private companies that had contracts with the state. This is prohibited by the Law on Financing Political Parties, and it is noteworthy that most of the prohibited donors conducted business with authorities where the SDP is part of the government.

Thus, “DINALSA” d.o.o. Sarajevo, which financed the SDP, signed two contracts last year for public works with the City Administration of Sarajevo worth over 113,000 KM, two contracts with the Municipality of Centar Sarajevo worth over 400,000 KM, four contracts with the Municipality of Ilidža worth over 550,000 KM, and numerous other contracts with other institutions whose value far exceeds the legal limit of 10,000 KM, which is why this company should not have been a donor to a political party. The SDP donor Dinamico d.o.o. from Kalesija also received contracts last year from the city of Tuzla, the Government of Tuzla Canton, and other executive authorities, which is prohibited by law. Among the SDP donors is also JATA Group, which received dozens of contracts worth over 3.1 million KM from the City of Srebrenik alone. The company Behic Sanny boy d.o.o. Bihać also received contracts from the City of Bihać, among others, and besides financing the SDP, it also funded the Movement for a Modern and Active Krajina of Bihać Mayor Šuhret Fazlić. The same is true for the companies Babilon and Terakop, which received public procurement contracts from executive authorities and donated to both the SDP and SDA. Additionally, the company Amitea received significant contracts from the City of Mostar and other public authorities, and appears among the donors of the SDP and Stranka za Bosnu i Hercegovinu.

The Party of Democratic Action (SDA) reported the highest individual donations from private companies – 137,800 KM, and among the donors of this party are six companies that conducted business with executive authorities. In addition to the aforementioned two, among the prohibited donors of the SDA is the company AGI from Konjic, which received six contracts worth over 650,000 KM from the city administration of Konjic, where the SDA has the mayor. Also, the SDA donor is Širbegović Engineering from Gračanica, which conducted business with local communities throughout BiH.

Parties do not report donations

Other parties reported only minor donations, and many large parties did not report donations from private companies this year either. For example, SNSD, which according to TI BiH estimates spent over 2 million KM on the campaign, did not report a single mark of donations from private companies in their reports.

HDZ BiH reported only 6,000 KM in donations from private companies, and among the donors of this party is Vodoprivreda Posavina, which received contracts worth over 84,000 KM from the municipality of Odžak and the Ministry of Agriculture of Posavina Canton, where HDZ BiH is in power. Narod i pravda (NIP) reported several smaller donations, and the company Conram is controversial as it signed multiple public procurement contracts with local communities last year.

A particular issue is the case of Tehnički remont Bratunac, which financed the Republican Party of Srpska with 12,000 KM, whose president Slaven Risitić is also the director of this company. This donation is controversial for two reasons: the Republic of Srpska still holds a significant minority stake in Tehnički remont Bratunac, which states on its website that RS “provides support in concluding commercial contracts.” Additionally, it is controversial because Tehnički remont has been receiving valuable contracts from the RS Ministry of Interior for years, and last year alone received a contract worth 49,000 KM and should not have been among the party donors.

Also, smaller donations from private companies that conducted business with executive authorities were received by the Croatian Republican Party and Social Democrats of BiH, and in these cases, TI BiH forwarded the reports to the CEC. Unfortunately, the law prohibits parties from receiving donations only from companies that conducted business with executive authorities, while many party donors also conducted business with public institutions and public companies where political parties have control over all decision-making processes, which the law does not address.

Although this year parties reported 552,510 KM in donations from private companies, which is significantly more than in previous years, many large political parties that have long been in power have not reported donations from private companies for years. In addition to SNSD, it should be noted that, for example, United Srpska and the Socialist Party did not report a single mark of these donations. On the other hand, political parties find it difficult to justify the enormous costs of the election campaign, as according to TI BiH data, SNSD, United Srpska, and six other political parties concealed at least 1.5 million KM in costs from the past election campaign. TI BIH has long pointed out that due to the poor Law on Financing Political Parties, parties manage to hide their real financiers and the amounts of income they have, especially expenses that even the CEC cannot determine.

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