Public enterprises and institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been entering into million-mark contracts with companies owned by elected officials for years, operating on the very edge of legality and frequently entering into classic conflicts of interest.
Data from the Integrity Watch BiH platform shows that these companies received 3,237 contracts between 2019 and 2025, primarily through direct agreements, whereby the least transparent form of public procurement is used as a tool to legitimize business relationships between authorities and private family companies.
According to this database, the company “Elvik” from Srebrenik, owned by SDA member of parliament in the Tuzla Canton Assembly Edin Vikal, is the definitive champion in terms of the value of contracts concluded with the state.
In July 2023, this company, as a member of a group of bidders together with two other companies, concluded a contract with Tuzla “Elektrodistribucija” worth just under four million marks for construction and electrical installation works on the connection, construction, and reconstruction of Eeo in the municipalities of Gračanica, Gradačac, and Srebrenik.
A contract for the same works, but independently rather than as part of a group of bidders, was also signed in May of last year with “Elektrodistribucija” from Tuzla through a restricted procurement procedure, with a value of 1,659,485 KM.
According to the “Integrity Watch” database, a substantial contract was also signed in 2019 when they concluded a deal with “Elektrodistribucija” worth 827,320 KM for construction works in the aforementioned municipalities of Gračanica, Gradačac, and Srebrenik.
Overall, when all is said and done, this company’s contracts concluded with the public sector over the past seven years total 9.4 million marks.
Million-Mark Deals of BiH Minister for Human Rights
The company “Nam” from Tuzla, owned by the Minister for Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia and Herzegovina Sevlid Hurtić, does not shy away from doing business with the state either. In 2022, they concluded a contract with the Ministry of Education and Science of Tuzla Canton for the procurement of textbooks worth 2,603,868.75 KM.
They also signed a contract for textbooks with the same ministry in 2023, worth 990,996.41 KM.
In 2022, they agreed with the Federal Ministry for Refugees and Displaced Persons on the procurement of textbooks for returnee students in RS for the national group of subjects, and they charged 739,180 marks for this work.
It is important to note that Hurtić chaired the Assembly of the City of Doboj from March 2021 to October 2022, then served as Minister of Trade and Tourism of RS from October 2022 to January 2023, and in January 2023 became Minister for Human Rights and Refugees of BiH.
As a reminder, Transparency International in BiH reported him for conflict of interest in 2023 due to business dealings with the state, and last year he was fined through a reduction in part of his salary. In total, Minister Hurtić’s company “Nam” has received contracts from the state worth over eight million marks.
The company “HNR” Kalesija is a family business employing Nihad Hamzić, a councilor of the “People and Justice” party in the Kalesija Municipal Council.
Last year, they concluded a contract with the Federal Ministry for Refugees and Displaced Persons for high-rise construction, renovation, and construction of economic, agricultural, religious, and social facilities for returnees as members of a group of bidders with several other companies, worth six million marks.
At the end of last year, they concluded a contract with the Municipality of Kalesija for the construction of wells and water supply networks worth 374,039.92 KM. They also concluded a contract for work on a sports hall worth 185,714 KM with the Municipality of Kalesija two years ago.
One Million Marks Worth of Meat from Councilor Semić
SDA councilor in the Visoko Municipal Assembly Esad Semić is the owner of the Meat Industry “Semić,” which is a regular supplier of meat and meat products to the Ministry of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Sarajevo Penitentiary.
In 2023, they concluded a contract with the Ministry of Defense of BiH for the procurement of fresh meat, for which they received 706,666.67 KM.
At the end of last year, they received a contract from the Sarajevo Penitentiary worth 830,407.18 KM, also for the procurement of meat and meat products.
One of the owners of the company “BH sigurnost” from Tuzla, alongside Naser Orić, is Smajo Mandžić, a representative in the Tuzla Canton Assembly. Mandžić has held this position since 2018 when he won his first mandate.
This did not prevent him from concluding a contract through his company in 2020 for security agency services worth 511,650 KM with “BH pošte” from Sarajevo.
In 2022, he also concluded a contract with the postal service worth nearly half a million marks including VAT, also for security services.
While “Forests” Are Declining, Local Power Brokers’ Companies Are Flourishing
SDS councilor in the Kalinovik Municipal Assembly Duško Stanić does not avoid doing business with public enterprises either, specifically with “Šume Srpske,” or rather with ŠG “Zelengora” Kalinovik.
This year alone, his company “MD” contracted two deals worth 478,000 KM for services of felling and processing forest wood assortments.
Previously, he received contracts from “Zelengora” whose value exceeds two million marks.
According to the aforementioned database, these are the most valuable contracts that companies owned by elected officials have concluded with public enterprises and institutions, but they are certainly not the only ones.
Among companies that conduct serious business with the state and are owned by officials, “Drvo promet Đurić” from Kneževo, owned by Manojlo Đurić, a councilor of the Socialist Party of Srpska in the Kneževo Municipal Assembly, also stands out with contracts worth approximately two million marks.
It should be emphasized that conflict of interest laws at all levels prohibit companies owned by elected officials from doing business with the state, but in FBiH there has been no competent body since 2013, while in Republika Srpska a small number of sanctions are imposed due to narrow interpretation by the commission.
The Integrity Watch platform for Bosnia and Herzegovina visualizes these tenders from 2019 onwards and helps the interested public see which companies regularly receive public contracts, what their value is, which institutions they originate from, and whether there is a connection between public officials and these companies or contracts.
The platform’s goal is to increase transparency and improve access to information, enabling the monitoring of potential conflicts of interest, illegal influence, and corruption.
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