Transparency International in BiH has filed a complaint with the Commission for Deciding on Conflict of Interest against Slobodan Župljanin, who in previous years served as an advisor to the then-President of Republika Srpska Željka Cvijanović, while simultaneously heading an association that was financed with public funds exceeding the permitted amount.
Župljanin is the president of the Veterans of the Army of Republika Srpska organization, which according to a report published on its website received over 140,000 KM from budgets at various levels of government during 2022. Since the Law on Prevention of Conflict of Interest prohibits all elected officials, holders of executive functions, and advisors from heading associations that are financed from the budget in amounts exceeding 100,000 KM annually, it is evident that Župljanin was in a conflict of interest while performing these two functions.
TI BiH has long warned that public funds are distributed to civil society associations without measurable criteria, often along political lines, and numerous officials openly violate conflict of interest laws by being part of the government that decides on fund distribution while simultaneously leading associations that receive public money.
In this case, it should also be noted that numerous members of the VRS Veterans organization have in the recent period publicly claimed that Župljanin, with the help of politics and police assistance, took control of this organization that receives significant funds from the budget.
TI BiH has received numerous complaints from dissatisfied members of this association warning that funds from the budget allocated to this association were spent non-transparently, which TI BiH attempted to verify by requesting information from the Ministry of Labor and War Veterans Protection of RS about which non-governmental organizations are financed from the budget as well as reports on the control of fund expenditure, given that auditors have also warned that certain associations spend money inappropriately. However, the Ministry still refuses to provide TI BiH with this information despite a court ruling confirming that the Ministry violates the Law on Freedom of Access to Information.
While the government hides information about which associations it finances, according to reports by the Srpskainfo portal, numerous associations that received public funds were headed by party colleagues of the current Minister of Labor and War Veterans Protection Duško Milunović (SP). One of them is Slobodan Župljanin, who while performing these two functions was also a Socialist Party candidate for mayor of Kotor Varoš municipality.
At the same time while information about associations financed from the RS budget is being hidden, Župljanin is the loudest public advocate for the Law on Transparency of Non-Profit Organizations that the current government is announcing, whose goal is to stifle criticism and target organizations financed through international projects, from which the Government of Republika Srpska itself is also financed.
This and other examples clearly show that it is necessary to ensure transparent distribution of public money with strict compliance with the provisions of the Law on Prevention of Conflict of Interest, as there are numerous indicators that public funds are distributed along political lines.
TI BiH research showed that at the beginning of 2022, 47 officials and over 800 candidates from electoral lists were heading associations that received public funds, and audit institutions have been pointing out for years that this money is distributed without clear and measurable criteria.
