18.09.2024. / 19:34
BANOVIĆI – The past four years have been marked by the arrest of Mayor Bega Gutić (SDA), his conflict with representatives of the new majority in the Council, which culminated in a fight in front of the municipal building, but also accusations by individuals from the Municipal Council that the competent Prosecutor’s Office and the police are protecting the mayor.
PHOTO: Inforadar
For example, Gutić was arrested on suspicion of having committed the criminal offense of abuse of position or authority, and during his arrest, his mobile phone was taken away for expert examination. The arrest was carried out by members of the BiH Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) in mid-2022, who soon released Gutić.
According to the documentation that incriminates him, Bego Gutić, as the municipal head, carried out more than 90 percent of public procurements through non-transparent direct agreements, which was also written about by the Pratimo tendere portal.
Tender rigging
We remind you that InfoRadar announced that in 2021 alone, out of a total of 51 contracts of the municipality of Banovići (317,977 KM), as many as 45 of them were concluded directly.
Taxpayers paid 179,928 KM for this “imposition” of jobs to private individuals by Chief Gutić. Of those 45 deals, 23 were valued almost up to the legal limit of 6,000 KM for a direct contract. Several direct agreements represent the classic “procurement splitting”, which hides favoritism and tender rigging.
The chief made sure that part of it remained in the family, so he engaged the company on several occasions. Gutić transport of his cousin, who is given jobs “from needle to locomotive”. First, on April 1, 2021, the Municipality of Banovići from Gutić transport rented an ICB machine for 5,000 KM budget money. Then the chief hired his cousin’s company for excavations and earthworks, for which they were paid an additional 5,990 KM, and then Gutić transport revised and major projects code Tangrama from Lukavac, for which the Municipality allocated 5,900 KM.
In March 2022 Gutić transport as InfoRadar wrote, after conducting a tender and selecting a “commission” he also got the job of “creating jumbo posters, graphic products, advertising stands, invitations, thank you cards and congratulations”, which was paid for with about 16,000 KM of budget money. And this is all that is known.
Chief Gutić is, besides Gutić transportby the number of direct contracts per SDA line especially favored the company Tanović which was paid 5,950 KM for the arrangement of Alije Izetbegovića Street. 2,497 KM was paid to the same company for the renovation of the municipal premises and for that work. Tanović also repaired the retaining wall in the settlement of Čifluk for 5,969 KM, and the trough in Mrahorovići for 3,686 KM. Thanks to direct agreements, Tanović repairs and Information and educational center, and the work was worth 5,983 KM.
At the beginning of 2021, the Municipality of Banovići purchased 36 tons of coal, and the purchase was directly agreed with RM Company and paid 5,040 KM. In July 2021, the same company received a contract for the transportation of unknown goods and materials, worth 5,900 KM.
The kitchen furniture was purchased at Ading Commerca za 5.900 KM, a GO Team delivered office furniture for 5,840 KM. IT equipment was purchased from the company You gave and it cost 5,700. Gutić cashed the same amount (5,700 KM) to the company Same project for supervision during rehabilitation Dutch houses, InfoRadar reported.
The list of Gutić’s favorites is not exhaustive. The main project for the regulation of the bed of Lithuania PGP Hidroinženjering was paid 5,930 KM, while Gutić and the Municipality of Banovići paid 5,900 KM to the same company for the preparation of a study for water permits.
For banking and payment services NLB Bank KM 5,990 was cashed out, while the project for 15 apartments is being developed Atrius Project paid 5,900 KM. This company also made an elaboration for two housing projects for another 5,900 KM. Both jobs were done on the same day, May 24, 2021.
Of particular interest are multi-year suspiciously concluded contracts with the agency Inform.
Inform Namely, he was assigned to maintain the official municipal website, and during 2021 he was paid 5,999 KM of budget funds on a monthly basis.
Otherwise, the owner Informa is Emir Alibasic from Živinice. He has a degree in electrical engineering and is an employee of the Health Insurance Institute of the Tuzla Canton as an assistant director. Therefore, he is a person who represents a legal entity Agency Inform Živinice also receives a salary as an employee of a public institution.
It all started a few years ago when a new informational web portal appeared in Tuzla Canton nezavisni.ba. As the media announced, the domain owner of this portal is precisely Emir Alibasic.
As InfoRadar was then confirmed by several sources, Nezavisni.ba was formed with the task of preserving position and power SDAbut also the spread of party and family influence and everything that goes with it. It is no coincidence that the portal was founded with a donation from the Government of TK, that is, with the money of the citizens of this Canton, and that “in the name of services for the promotion of the municipalities of TK”. Which means an even greater familial spread of influence, as well as control over public procurement, because Alibašić is Gutić’s brother’s son-in-law.
Scheduled by the rule of law
The idea came at the moment when the Cantonal Television from Tuzla pointed out the illegalities of the then Prime Minister Bega Gutić, after which he hired Alibašić and his agency Inform and awarded them a donation from the Government of TK “for the promotion of municipalities in this Canton” (Official Gazette TK No. 16, 6 November 2017). All that time, Alibasic was an employee of the Health Insurance Institute of TK.
The culmination was the breakup SDA Tuzla Canton and the formation Democratic Action Movement (PDA) Mirsad Kukić, and after Alibašić, thanks to IT resources, bought all the domains with the extension.ba that contain the name PDA or PDA BiH.
As the media wrote at the time, the domains were purchased with the aim of preventing any promotion of Kukić’s new political party and later remained under the direct control of Bega Gutić.
A case was filed against Gutić, and his cell phone was examined, but the investigation has not reached an epilogue to this day.
Gutić’s opponents point out that the rule of law has failed in the entire case, and that the police and prosecutors are staying away. They point out that no one wants to investigate where Gutić got several business premises in Banovići, two apartments in Tuzla and houses in Omazići and apartments in Sarajevo.
Gutić, who is also a candidate for the elections in October 2024, according to the results published by Istinomer in September of this year, made 21 pre-election promises in 2020, of which he mostly fulfilled 11 and partially fulfilled the same number. To a lesser extent, one promise was kept, and one was broken.
The promise that the prices of utility services would be reduced was broken due to the fact that the prices were increased during the mandate. For the most part, the promises concerning the development of infrastructure have been fulfilled, including the construction of roads, the installation of public lighting, works on the water network and the construction of the city landfill. The mandate of Bega Gutić was also marked by several impeachment attempts, but they all failed.
In addition to the above, the Municipality of Banović was “shaken” by suspicious agreements and engagement with a company from Serbia, with which, according to Fokus, the management of the “Banovići” Brown Coal Mine brought a mobile crusher for the purpose of coal exploitation from the “Grivice” surface mine near Banovići. plant from Serbia. For that plant, the competent services of RMU “Banovići” retroactively issued a use permit and accompanying documentation, and the workers who work at this plant have not even been trained to work on this machine.
Gray eminence
RMU Banovići also came under the scrutiny of investigators. Namely, the president of PDA BiH and the former shadow ruler in Banovići Brown Coal Mines, Mirsad Kukić, was sanctioned for his involvement in significant corruption. The State Department announced at the beginning of 2022 that the sanctions against Kukić, first of all, entail a ban on entering the US due to corrupt activities in the operation of the mine in Banovići. He formally resigned from the post of president of the PDA after being put on the “black list”.
Namely, Kukić (who died in June of this year, op.a) was accused of misappropriating public funds for personal gain and meddling in employment and appointment decisions in order to gain political advantage. It is an open secret that Kukić gained political and economic power during the 16 years he held various functions in RMU Banovića. For years it was the gray eminence of the Banovići mine. Due to economic crime in the mine, he was sentenced to one and a half years in prison, and last year, due to the affair in the Bosnia case, he was sentenced to one year in prison, due to the criminal offense of receiving a reward or other form of benefit for influence peddling.
Kukić and Gutić have been in conflict for years, and the epicenter of everything happened in April 2021 during the attempt to replace Gutić. The close contact and conversation then almost turned into a physical conflict, which was prevented by the quick reaction of the police officers. MISBIH
Source: www.capital.ba
