Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BIH) filed a criminal complaint against responsible individuals in the City Administration of Banja Luka and the company “Gradip” d.o.o. Prnjavor, due to reasonable suspicion of “rigging” the tender, i.e., giving advantages and possible pre-arranged agreements in the public procurement process for the construction of the “Predah” house.
TI BIH reacted after evidence was published in the public domain showing that the name of the company “Gradip” was listed on a board placed at the construction site as early as October 2024—almost a year before the tender was announced and the contractor officially selected.
This, as stated in the complaint, raises the question of how the City Administration could have known in advance who would be the contractor, indicating a possible criminal offense of unlawfully granting advantages to economic entities and other illegalities described in the Law on Public Procurement of BiH and the Criminal Code of the Republic of Srpska.
It is particularly contentious that the laying of the foundation stone and the announcement of the start of work on the “Predah House” on October 3, 2024, was timed to coincide with the end of the election campaign for the Local Elections, which were held three days later, where Mayor Draško Stanivuković was a candidate for a new term.
TI BIH had already during the monitoring of the election campaign pointed out the increasingly frequent occurrence of abuse in opening or scheduling public works during elections as a way to promote candidates, with an estimated value exceeding 139 million KM.
The “Predah House,” announced as a facility intended for children with developmental difficulties, was then presented as a priority social project, and the mayor publicly promised the completion of the work in record time. However, almost a year after the foundation stone was laid, the tender was only announced, and the contract with the company “Gradip” was signed in September 2025.
TI BIH demands that the competent prosecutor’s office investigate all circumstances of this case as a possible violation of the provisions of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Srpska related to the unlawful granting of advantages to economic entities, abuse of official position, and collusion in the public procurement process.
