Millions of debts on a non-existent rubble machine have been broken

Last year, “Sume Srpske” borrowed 3.5 million marks in order to buy a used machine for preparing the land on the karst, a tender was announced, a contract was signed, and then they realized that the machine did not suit them. In just one month, “Šume” signed a contract with the company “Lager” on the purchase of a used machine, then they expressly borrowed from the state bank with a secret bond issue, and then terminated the purchase contract.

Petrovic and Mirjanic after the session of the Center for Agrarian Development of the Mediterranean Area of Herzegovina in Trebinje

The story of buying this machine began in late 2017. year, when the then mayor of Trebinje Luka Petrovic and the then Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of RS Stevo Mirjanic pompously announced that the “Center for Agrarian Development of the Mediterranean Area of Herzegovina” would be established to work on improving agriculture in Trebinje, Bileca, Ljubinje and Berkovic.

Petrovic then stated that the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management will provide specialized machine for so-called bringing the land into use, worth about 3 million marks, which will be able to cultivate land that is not pure arable land. It is envisaged that the purchase of the machine will be financed by “Sume Srpske” , and that it will be managed by the “Center for Karst Management” in Trebinje, which is a public forestry company.

“RS Forests” received approval for a loan of 3.5 million marks from the RS Government in early June 2018. years, and the tender for the purchase of the machine was announced at the end of the same month . Since it weighs 69,000 kilograms, the tender also included the purchase of a platform for transporting this machine , the so-called “swan”, as well as a swan tractor and a three-axle tipper truck . “Forests of RS” were ready to give almost 3.4 million marks with VAT for all of the above.

Stevo Mirjanic and Luka Petrovic, August 28, 2018 years, after the second session of the “Center for Agrarian Development of the Mediterranean Area of Herzegovina” in Trebinje, they announced that the machine will arrive at the “Center for Karst Management” by the end of September . On the same day, “Forests of RS” in the tender annulled the lots for the procurement of low loader tractors and three-axle tipper trucks , allegedly because none of the received bids were acceptable.

Petrovic and Mirjanic tour the field before announcing “big investment”

The tender with the two remaining lots – for the purchase of a machine for preparing the land on the karst and a platform for its transportation, was finally won by the company “Lager” from Posusje , which was the only bidder. The contract, worth 2,631,330 marks with VAT , was concluded by “Sume RS” with “Lager” on September 11 , and the machine was to be delivered to Trebinje no later than four days later . But that did not happen.

On the other hand, although the agreement for the loan arrived already in July, “Forests of RS” took out a loan only after concluding a contract with “Lager” , 17. October 2018 . It is interesting that the Decision on long-term indebtedness of the company, made by the Supervisory Board of “Forest RS”, prescribed the issue of bonds on the domestic capital market, but on the Banja Luka Stock Exchange there was no trace of the issue declared successful by the RS Securities and Exchange Commission. to be entered in the Register of Issuers. It turned out that the bonds in the amount of 3.5 million marks were secretly bought by the Investment and Development Bank (RBI) of the Republic of Srpska.

They changed their minds after signing the contract

The contract with “Lager” was terminated on November 6 , ten days before Risto Marić was removed from the position of director of “Forest RS”.

In response to our inquiry, Zoran Stojčić , who came to Marić’s place, claims that the contract was terminated because, after visiting “Lager” and inspecting the machine and platform, they realized that “A machine of that type and technical norms will not fully satisfy the needs and purpose for which it was purchased.” According to Stojčić, the contract was terminated by mutual agreement, so this public company will not have to pay any compensation to “Lager”. Stojčić did not answer why the lots for the purchase of a low-speed tractor and a three-axle tipper truck were previously excluded from the tender.

Damir Ćorić from “Lager” confirmed to us that the contract was terminated by mutual agreement.

Buying a machine planned for this year?

Regardless of everything, the director of “RS Forest”, Zoran Stojčić, claims for our portal that “the investment project for the processing of stone surfaces in Herzegovina, which was initiated by the RS Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Agriculture, is still relevant.”

In the upcoming period, an adequate machine should be found to increase the arable land on rocky terrain, producing a substrate that is conducive to raising permanent plantations of vines, olives, figs and other crops, and which would also be used in the construction of forest, truck roads in within a public company “ , states Stojčić.

Assistant Minister of Forestry and Hunting in the RS Government, Goran Zubić , who was involved in the story about the purchase of the machine from the beginning, also claims that they did not give up on the project.

“In the production and financial plan of the RS Forest, funds have been reserved this year for the purchase of machinery for the preparation of land on the karst. Whether it will be specifically such a machine or some other, combined machine, we will see, but the idea was not given up. “, claims Zubić.

The position of the Ministry, says Zubić, was that the machine must be new, because they are not sure in what condition it was used. To our statement that we received information in “Lager” that the new machine is very expensive, Zubić says that he does not know how much the new one costs and that he will fit into the purchase with the money they have so that they do not have to take out another loan. However, he could not specify exactly when the tender for the purchase of the machine will be announced again this year.

President of the Supervisory Board of “Forest RS” Biljana Markovic told “Direct” that the decision on long-term indebtedness of this public company clearly states that the loan funds will be used exclusively for the purchase of a mechanized line for preparation and cultivation of karst land.

“This line will be managed by the Center for Karst Management in Trebinje, and that money cannot be used for other purposes,” Markovic points out.

Is the investment profitable?

In 2017 year, “Forests of RS” took a loan of almost 26 million to settle the debt to the municipalities on the basis of unpaid fees for forest exploitation. At the end of last year, this company owed the RS Tax Administration 438,906 marks . Therefore, the question arises as to the justification of the new loan of 3.5 million, which “Forests of RS” will repay in three years, with an interest rate of 4.5 percent.

Director Stojčić sees the credit indebtedness as justified.

“The decision on the purchase of the machine was preceded by the preparation of a study on the economic justification of the purchase, so that economic profitability was one of the main preconditions for starting the project,” he claims for “Direct”.

On the other hand, the Trebinje “Karst Management Center” did not want to talk about this topic . The fact that the machine was supposed to be given to them for use was presented to the public as a positive item for this public company, which should bring it profit. However, our well-informed source from the “Karst Management Center” says that the effect would be completely opposite.

“Since we would manage the machine, we would also have to pay its depreciation, which would amount to an average of 15 percent of its price on an annual level.” That’s a big expense for us. “, says our source.

He also thinks that it is unrealistic that the study of economic justification states that the “Center for Karst Management” would earn 3.5 marks per square meter of land that he would cultivate with that machine.

“Who would give so much money for cultivated land on the karst, when he can buy ready-made land somewhere else in the city for that money?” In addition, in order to prepare the land for permanent crops, it is not enough to just buy this machine for its cultivation, it is necessary to slow down the irrigation system and much more, which in itself, in the end, costs a lot and the big question is how much profitable “, concludes our source.

* The story was published as part of the USAID-funded IMEP Press Support Program

Skršeno milionsko zaduženje na nepostojeću mašinu za krš