The Chief Prosecutor of Tuzla Canton has accepted the complaint from Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) and revoked the Order to suspend the investigation against the former management of Kreka Mine Tuzla, who distributed contracts worth over one million KM without tender.
TI BiH filed a criminal complaint about this case back in 2019, as there were grounds for suspicion that mine managers avoided conducting public procurement for mining equipment rental and awarded over 200 direct agreements for the same procurement subject to companies Junuzović-Kopex, MHI KOMPANI, Cayenne company, and Titanic d.o.o.
According to the law at the time, direct agreements could only be used for up to 6,000 KM annually for the same procurement subject, but about 1.1 million KM was spent, constituting a clear violation of the law. The Tuzla Canton Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation in July 2022, but a year later suspended the investigation, concluding that while the law was violated, there were no elements of criminal offense.
This decision by the acting prosecutor was overturned by the Chief Cantonal Prosecutor, who ordered the implementation of “specific actions in this case, after which a new prosecutorial decision will be made.”
What is controversial in this case is that the acting prosecutor suspended the investigation, concluding that while there was a violation of the law, it was “in the interest of service” despite evident significant illegal financial gain obtained by the mentioned companies.
It is evident that the suspects acted contrary to the provisions of the Public Procurement Law and Public Procurement Regulations, but that their actions were not contrary to the interests of service. For this reason, although all other legal elements of the criminal offense of Abuse of Position or Authority were met, due to the absence of intent aimed at obtaining benefits for others and the fact that they did not act contrary to service interests but rather in the interest of Kreka Mine, not all essential elements of the stated criminal offense were fully met, stated the acting prosecutor.
We also emphasize that the acting prosecutor in this case did not deliver the prosecutorial decision for a year, which they were obligated to deliver to TI BiH as the complainant within three days. This denied the complainant the possibility of filing an objection, and it is even more controversial that the decision was delivered only after several inquiries and complaints about not providing information. TI BiH has also filed a complaint with the Office of the Disciplinary Prosecutor of HJPC due to all this.
Millions invested in external machinery
Scandals involving the rental of external machinery at Kreka Mines Tuzla have been ongoing for many years, and this public company has spent millions on renting external machinery and equipment despite being in an extremely difficult financial situation.
TI BiH submitted to the Tuzla Canton Prosecutor’s Office a report from Elektroprivreda BiH which concluded that certain machines of this public company were taken out of service immediately after the warranty period expired, creating an even greater need for renting external machinery. The report also states that it is highly unlikely that these machines broke down just 10 days after the warranty expired, and that there were significant breakdowns and many hours of bulldozer downtime even during the warranty period.
It is important to remember that one of the reported managers has already been sentenced to a year and a half in prison specifically for cooperation with Junuzović-Kopex, for fictitiously reporting the working hours of this company’s machines.
The Prosecutor’s Office was also provided with a report from the Audit Office of the Federation of BiH Institutions which expressed doubt about the justification of spending millions on renting external machines and workers, as the mine could have purchased a significant number of necessary machines with those funds, while having 2,400 employees at that time. Nevertheless, the mine continues to invest millions in machine rental today, and the same bidders almost always get the business.
Kreka Mines Tuzla ended last year with about 1,780 employees, 86 million in revenue and a loss of over 38 million, while paying over 10.6 million to Junuzović Kopex for excavation, transport, and overburden disposal services.
Meanwhile, this private company, which operates with this and other mines within Elektroprivreda BiH, ended last year with 240 workers, 92 million in revenue and 27.7 million in net profit.
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