Despite the court ruling, the Banking Agency the Republic of Srpska refuses to provide information on the sale of Sberbank: It is not in the public interest, but the aim is to cause panic among citizens

Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BIH) won a court case against the Banking Agency of the Republic of Srpska (ABRS), which persistently refuses to provide information about the sale of Sberbank and possible court cases that have been initiated due to this case. However, even after the court verdict, the Agency refused to submit this information, claiming that the purpose of its publication was ” causing panic among citizens”.

Sberbank a.d. Banjaluka was sold in March of last year, and TI BiH asked the Banking Agency of the Republic of Srpska for information on whether there are any legal disputes against this competent regulator in connection with this case. The agency persistently refused to provide this information, claiming that it represents a business secret and a confidential commercial interest, and on that occasion it did not perform the test of public interest, which, according to the Law on Freedom of Access to Information, is more important than the interests of individuals.

That is why the District Court in Banja Luka issued a verdict stating that ABRS made a mistake when it refused TI BIH’s request” with the incorrect application of substantive law, while the factual situation is neither correct nor fully established, given that the ABRS did not examine the public interest at all”.

However, even after the court verdict, the Banking Agency of the Republic of Srpska one more time refused to provide this information, and on that occasion, in the opinion of TI BiH, ignored the essence of the court’s decision and repeatedly avoided the implementation of the public interest test.

The publication of data on the initiated disputes against ABRS in connection with the sale of Sberbank and the delivery of copies of documentation of those disputes, if they were initiated, cannot possibly be in the public interest, but the aim is to cause panic among citizens and create distrust in the banking sector of the Republic of Srpska and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which may have large negative repercussions on the entity’s finances and budget,

it is stated in the new decision of the Banking Agency of the Republic of Srpska.

TI BIH reminds that „negative repercussions on finances and the budget” have already arisen in the event of the failure of Bobar banka, Banka Srpske and Balkan Investment Banka, and that competent institutions are determining the responsibility of ABRS. It is also important to point out that TI BiH has already won a dispute before the Supreme Court of the Republic of Srpska against the Banking Agency in the case of illegal concealment of information about the operations of Banka Srpske, and in the judgment itself, the Court states that the timely publication of data could have encouraged the Agency to detect illegalities in the banks’ operations in time and thus prevent their collapse, both in the case of Banka Srpske, and in the cases of Bobar banka and Balkan Investment bank.

However, despite previous court decisions stating that the regulator had no right to hide this information from the public, referring to business secrecy without any arguments, the Banking Agency continues with non-transparent practice and disobeying court decisions.

Press rls_3.3. 2023._