Stop abuse in the distribution of aid for the flooded entrepreneurs in Doboj

TI BiH has appealed to the City of Doboj to distribute the planned funds in the amount of BAM 3 million intended for the aid to the entrepreneurs who suffered floods, in accordance with the clear criteria on the basis of which it will be determined who is eligible for the aid and in which way the individual aid amounts are defined.

Banja Luka, 16th May 2016 – Transparency International in BiH has appealed to the City of Doboj to distribute the funds obtained on the basis of the credit borrowing in the amount of BAM 3 million approved by the Assembly of the City of Doboj, for the purpose of direct aid to the entrepreneurs who suffered floods damage in 2014, in a transparent way and in accordance with the clear criteria. TI BiH has already issued a few warnings that a part of the funds in the amount of BAM 6 million had been distributed to the entrepreneurs in Doboj without clearly determined criteria and by violating procedures, due to which it now addresses the city government of Doboj appealing for a distribution of a new tranche of BAM 3 million that would not lead to new abuses.
Just to remind you, the Solidarity Fund of the Republic of Srpska approved in July 2015 the funds in the amount of BAM 6 million as the aid for the flooded subjects in the area of Doboj and provided these assets to the Association of Entrepreneurs „15. maj“ Doboj to their disposal, which then distributed them randomly and without any criteria. This Association was established in June 2014, immediately after the floods, and it has no public authority. The Association conducted a distribution of the money in a non-transparent way and without any clearly defined criteria, and there was a recommendation of the Institution of the Ombudsman for Human Rights of BiH which indicated that these funds were paid out in an illegal way, on the basis of the proposal provided by a non-state entity that is not subject to control by the Fund. TI BiH then obtained information that most of the founders of the Association was actually using these funds, and that 10 out of 12 founders of the Association were on the list of the fund users, which is clearly a conflict of interest in practice. The overall amount of funding that the founders of this Association practically allocated to themselves is BAM 488.000, which is a high percentage, considering the fact that the funds were distributed to more than 600 business entities.
The same conclusion adopted in 2015 on the basis of which the Association of Entrepreneurs was allocated BAM 6 million from the Solidarity Fund, envisaged also that the additional funds in the amount of BAM 3 million for the flooded entrepreneurs would be provided by the credit borrowing, and that these funds should be distributed in accordance with the Proposal made by the Association of Entrepreneurs „15. maj“ Doboj.
TI BiH believes that the additional BAM 3 million should not be distributed in the same way, and it appealed to the authorities of the City of Doboj to define clear criteria prior to the distribution of the next tranche of money on the basis of which it will be determined which entrepreneurs are eligible for the aid and in which way the specific amounts will be determined. It is also necessary to provide the priority for the entrepreneurs who were not allocated any funds in the distribution of the first tranche, and who meet all the requirements, in order to avoid the situation in which some entrepreneurs will be allocated funds several times, thus leaving those who meet the requirements deprived of aid.
It is necessary to ensure that the criteria for the distribution of the funds are determined by a public body with clearly defined public powers to dispose the public funding and to decide on the rights of the citizens, as well as to establish the possibility of reviewing the legality and appropriateness of the decisions on the allocation of funds. In this way the citizens would have better guarantee that the funds will be used for the right purpose and jointly, and that they will be distributed to those who really need them.
In order to prevent the continuation of illegality in the distribution of the aid for the flooded subjects two years after the floods, TI BiH addressed the Working Body for the Collection and Distribution of the Funds prescribed by the Law on Solidarity Fund of the Republic of Srpska in the National Assembly of the Republic of Srpska, submitting to it all documentation regarding the distribution of funds to the entrepreneurs in Doboj.

Press rls – 16 5 2016 eng