PRESS RELEASES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

TI BIH PRESENTS AN ANALYSIS ON THE TRANSPARENCY OF JUDICIARY IN BIH: HALF OF JUDICIAL INSTITUTIONS DO NOT PROVIDE INFORMATION TO CITIZENS

Press releases ● 06 December 2022

Sarajevo, December 6, 2022 – The openness of judicial institutions is important in many ways when strengthening citizens’ trust in public institutions, but also for ensuring the prerequisites for participationof citizensin the decision-making process, as well as in order to establish functional mechanisms of responsibility, is the message of the “Transparency of the Judiciary in BiH” conference, which was held today in Sarajevo, organized by Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) and the Balkan Investigative Report Network of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIRN BiH).

The analysis on the level of transparency of judicial institutions was presented at the conference, and contains the first results of transparency Index of courts and prosecutor’s offices measurement, based on the methodology developed in the project “Improving accountability through strengthening civil society networks – SANCUS”.

During the presentation of the Analysis, it was pointed out that the courts and prosecutor’s offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina did not respond within the deadline to almost half of the requests for access to information and that they respond differently to the requests of civil society organizations and citizens, as well as that it is visible that they respond less to media inquiries. The analysis highlights a different treatment of judicial institutions in relation to the applicant’s profile as a particularly worrying practice. While the “silence of the administration” was recorded in only one case on requests sent by Transparency International, at the same time citizens’ requests were ignored in more than 30 percent of requests.

“Most courts publish annual work plans, while only half publish annual work reports on their websites. The worst results are in terms of financial transparency, 73 out of 74 courts do not have a published annual budget, while only one court has a published but not updated one,” said Emsad Dizdarević, program manager at TI BIH.

During the analysis of the obtained results, it was determined that there are different practices when it comes to reactions of courts and prosecutor’s offices to media requests for information. Almost 40% of the courts submitted the requested verdicts, while almost 45% of the courts did not even comment on the media requests. Over 55% of the courts did not respond at all to the media’s request to provide information regarding detention, and only 12% provided decisions. Only five courts submitted the requested recordings of hearings, while 69 courts did not submit this information. The attached results show different practices of the courts for the same requests, that is, different practices when requesting the same type of information, which shows us that additional engagement is needed in order to standardize the practices of the courts in reactions to media requests for information.

“These results indicate that we have a transparency problem in the judiciary, and this problem is reflected in two important things for the media. One is a problem in reporting and informing the public, and the other is a reduced level of control over the work of the judiciary through the observation of their work by the media,” said Semir Mujkić, BIRN BiH editor.

Representatives of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Basic Court in Banja Luka, the Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office of Tuzla Canton and representatives of BIRN BiH and TI BiH participated in the conference at the panel discussion “Transparency of the Judiciary in BiH – how to improve the situation”, during which they tried to identify the key problems and possible solutions for improving the transparency of the judiciary..

The conference was made possible by the financial support of the European Union.

Media release_6.12.2022.

Analysis of the transparency of judicial institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina

TI BIH PRESENTED THE AGENDA OF GOOD GOVERNANCE 2025: IN A STATE OF INSTITUTIONAL PARALYSIS, IT IS NECESSARY TO ACT ON THE CAUSES OF CORUPTION

Press releases ● 01 December 2022

Sarajevo, December 1st 2022. “The paralysis of institutions caused by systemic political corruption managed by the highest public office holders has brought Bosnia and Herzegovina to a situation of complete captivity of political, social and economic processes” is the key message of the “Priorities in the fight against corruption in BiH” conference, which was held today in Sarajevo, organized by Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH).

Political structures, which prioritized their actions on personal wealth at the expense of citizens, are directly responsible for denying basic human rights and freedoms to the citizens of BiH, which had and will have incalculable consequences during the pandemic, crisis and inflation, bringing into question the realization of the basic needs of citizens.

At today’s conference on the occasion of International Anti-Corruption Day, TI BiH appealed to political parties and the international community for concrete action by presenting the “Agenda of Good Governance 2025”, which proposes a different approach to solving systemic management challenges and reducing opportunities for corruption in BiH.

The agenda, based on 20 years of practical experience spent by TI BiH in researching the causes and consequences of corruption, as well as modern theoretical concepts dealing with corruption suppression, is based on the position that it is necessary to act towards the key causes – hot spots of corruption.

“The Agenda of Good Governance 2025 is an attempt to provide answers to the problem of entrapment of the institutional apparatus in BiH and its liberation from the negative influence of political elites”

pointed out Srđan Blagovčanin, chairman of the TI BiH Board of Directors, at the opening of the conference “Priorities in the fight against corruption in BiH”, which was held today in Sarajevo.

The agenda, among other things, proposes directions for the reform of public administration through its reduction, rationalization and depoliticization, centralization of the public procurement system, introduction of compulsory voting and democratization of political parties, and advocates the introduction of vetting in the judiciary – procedures for checking the assets, competences and connections of judicial office holders with organized crime.

The aim of the presented proposals is to reduce the possibilities for corruption while at the same time encouraging more active participation of citizens in the decision-making process, in order to enable the creation of policies in the public interest, as well as strengthening the capacity of institutions and restoring public confidence in their ability to combat systemic corruption, for which support of key local and international actors is necessary.

On that occasion, the Ambassador of Sweden to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Johanna Strömquist, welcomed the initiative of Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina to think in new, innovative ways about how we can fight corruption and how to take small steps that will make a big difference in the long run.

In addition, the conference was dedicated to the priorities in the fight against corruption set before BiH, and on this occassion the integrity of the election process, laws on conflict of interest, amendments to the law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, protection of corruption whistleblowers at all levels were highlighted as key issues on which BiH’s European path depends.

In this regard, the Head of the EU Delegation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Johann Sattler, emphasized that the fight against corruption must be a priority of the authorities, civil society and citizens. He said that it is certainly a priority for the EU. The fight against corruption and the rule of law are at the center of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s accession process to the European Union, and this is clearly stated in the 14 key priorities from the European Commission’s Opinion on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s application for membership.

The ambassador of the United States of America to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Micheal J. Murphy, said that we must work together to detect corruption when we see it and experience it.

“We must support citizens who insist on eradicating corruption; we must demand that those responsible for corruption are punished.”

ambassador of USA in BiH, Micheal J. Murphy,

It was emphasized that the next period is a key opportunity that must be used for all recommendations and priorities that have been unfulfilled for more than a decade, which is impossible to do without political support, and which will certainly be the first test for the newly elected authorities, regardless of their final composition.

Representatives of the Central Election Commission, the Ministry of Justice, the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH, the Agency for Public Procurement, UNDP, the EU Delegation to BiH and the Office of the Coordinator for Public Administration Reform participated in the panel discussion at the conference.

The conference was made possible by the financial support of Sweden and the American Agency for International Development – USAID.

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The Ministry of Justice of BiH is trying to legalize the conflict of interest, the new law allows BiH MPs to perform dual functions

Press releases ● 14 November 2022

Banja Luka, November 14, 2022 – Banja Luka, November 14, 2022 – The Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina is trying with the new Law on Conflict of Interest, which has been submitted for consultation, to practically legalize the performance of dual functions and to adopt a solution that is worse than the existing one. Transparency International in BiH (TI BIH) warns that the proposed law exempts all elected MPs and delegates in the BiH Parliament from the restrictions related to the performance of dual functions in the management of public companies, and the proposal is that they will no longer be prohibited from having private companies that operate with the state and to sit in the management of associations and foundations financed from the budget.

It is absurd that such a proposal, which will certainly worsen the state of corruption in BiH, is trying to be adopted under the guise of meeting the requirements of the European Union for obtaining candidate status, which states that, as part of the fight against corruption, laws on preventing conflicts of interest at all levels must be improved.

In addition to proposing the abolition of numerous restrictions on elected officials, even fewer restrictions than existing ones are being introduced. According to the previous law, all holders of public offices were prohibited from being the head of associations or foundations that are financed from the budget of any level of government, and now the Ministry of Justice proposes that only financing of such associations from the BiH level is considered a conflict of interest. It is a big step back because officials in state institutions can exercise their influence for personal interests and at lower levels of government.

An additional problem with the proposed law is that it narrows the concept of close relatives compared to the existing law and narrowly treats the concept of related persons with formulations that will be difficult to prove. The proposed solution, apart from the fact that it is largely worse than the existing one, brings almost no improvements, and low fines remain in case of violation of the provisions of the law, which will not achieve their purpose.

A special problem is that the new law does not guarantee the independence of the Commission for deciding on conflicts of interest, and it introduces a complicated procedure for appointing members of the Commission as well as the method of determining conflicts of interest. In some cases, when a conflict of interest is determined, the person who is superior to the official is even given the opportunity to impose measures, which will lead to a completely uneven practice.

TI BIH submitted comments on the controversial provisions of the proposed law to the Ministry of Justice and requests its withdrawal from the procedure because numerous provisions, in addition to establishing lower standards than the existing ones, further complicate the process of determining conflicts of interest. Of particular concern is the fact that by submitting to the procedure of such a law, an attempt is made to fulfill the EU condition for obtaining candidate status.

TI BIH reminds that the Law on Prevention of Conflict of Interest, which is in line with international standards, has already been adopted in the House of Representatives and subsequently blocked in the House of Peoples of the BiH Parliament. For this reason, the attempts of the Ministry of Justice to delay the procedure by persistently proposing solutions that are worse than the existing ones and make meaningless the essence of reforms that should improve the mechanisms of the fight against corruption, are inadmissible.

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Court decided: Ministry of Transport and Communications of the RS is illegally hiding the contract on the construction of the Banja Luka – Prijedor highway

Press releases ● 19 October 2022

Banja luka, October 19, 2022 Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BIH) won a court case against the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Srpska, which illegally hid the concession contract for the construction of Banja Luka – Prijedor highway. The District Court in Banja Luka issued a verdict ordering the Ministry to deliver to TI BIH the contract concluded in 2018 with the Chinese company Shandong Hi-Speed International (SDHS).

According to the information published by the portal Capital.bathe concession contract, which should last for 30 years, defines that the Chinese company will invest about 297 million euros in the construction of the highway, and should earn about 975 million euros through toll collection and the missing funds that will be settled from the budget of the Republic of Srpska. Due to the suspicion that this contract was concluded under harmful conditions for the Republic of Srpska, TI BiH asked the Ministry for a copy of the contract, but this request was rejected with the explanation that the publication of the contract could harm the commercial interests of the Chinese company.

As the government in this case clearly put the interest of the private investor above the interest of public, TI BIH filed a lawsuit with the District Court in Banja Luka, which accepted the lawsuit and ordered the Ministry to re-conduct the procedure with a very clear instruction that its task is to serve the interests of the citizens, and not to worry about the trade secrets or any other financial combinations of the contracting party which is given to exploit and collect public revenues for 30 years.

The judgment also states that the Ministry has replaced the role of a public body that disposes of public money and acts to protect the public interest, with the role of a protector of a business partner.

“It is undoubtedly in the public interest to have complete insight and knowledge on whether favorable conditions have been agreed for the Republic of Srpska and its citizens, whether the conditions are in accordance with the public interest, and to compare whether better conditions could have been agreed; on the contrary, the interest of the public is not concerned with the protection of the legal entity business with whom the contract was concluded, i.e. whether its business will be profitable in a period of three decades or not” the judgment states. The court accepted the argumentation of TI BiH stating that the Ministry did not specify what damage would result from publishing the requested information.

When the Ministry refused TI BIH’s request to publish the contract, it stated that it contains confidential information about the methods of collecting toll revenue, formulas for calculating cash flows, and the concessionaire’s financial plan. They also state that the economic value of this data lies precisely in the fact that it is not widely known to the public.

The court states that the decision has nothing to do with the law, but is based on the defendant’s need to put himself in the service of protecting the concessionaire and reminds that one of the basic principles of the Law on Concessions is transparency, market competition, equal treatment for everyone. The contract with the company SDHS was not concluded through a public invitation, but through a negotiation procedure, which the Government of the RS has often used so far, bypassing public bidding, and such contracts often caused damage to public finances.

TI BiH reminds that a similar practice has been observed with other authorities when concluding contracts with Chinese companies, where they offered us almost the same reasons for not submitting the contract, and this court decision confirms the warnings of TI BiH that the commercial interests of Chinese companies should not be placed above the interests of the citizens of BiH .

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TI BiH welcomes the recommendation for conditional candidate status, but warns that the situation in BiH has deteriorated dramatically

Press releases ● 13 October 2022

Banja Luka, October 13th, 2022 – Transparency International in BiH (TI BIH) welcomes the decision of the European Commission to recommend the conditional granting of candidate status, which is positive news for Bosnia and Herzegovina in the context of new geopolitical relations, but warns that the state of corruption and the rule of law in the country has dramatically deteriorated since the publication of 14 priorities. 

Since the publication of the Opinion of the European Commission on BiH application for EU membership, BiH has fully fulfilled only one of the 14 priorities, while in the area of the rule of law and the fight against corruption, to which most of the priorities refer, the situation has dramatically worsened. According to research by Transparency International, BiH is globally ranked among the countries with the most serious decline in the fight against corruption, and is among the three worst countries in Europe according to the Corruption Perception Index. 

A key part of the priority regarding strengthening the integrity of judiciary not only was not implemented, but the situation in that segment has further deteriorated. An illustrative example of this is the process of appointing the Chief Prosecutor of BiH, which was carried out in a way that causes serious doubts about the integrity of the process itself, which makes it compromised and not credible basis for the appointment of the top person of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH. Even the EU report that was published yesterday states that “political leaders and judicial institutions have failed to tackle widespread corruption and have actively blocked progress, leading to long-term stagnation and increasing signs of political state capture“. 

It is further stated that the overall results in preventing and suppressing corruption (including high-level corruption) remained insignificant, due to operational inefficiency and political interference in the judiciary. 

In the period since the publication of the Opinion of the European Commission, the government at the state level was almost completely blocked, while in the Federation of BiH it was not even constituted since the General Elections in 2018. The arbitrary actions of High Representative, which are in contrast to fundamental democratic standards and human rights and according to which changes to the Election Law and the FBiH Constitution during the election process were imposed, further distanced BiH from fulfilling the conditions for EU membership and contributed to a deep institutional and political crisis in the country. 

The elections that were held in Bosnia and Herzegovina on October 2 were neither fair nor honest, they were marked by brutal misuse of public resources, threats, manipulations and violations of the integrity of the electoral process. 

TI BiH calls on the EU to intensify the support, as well as the pressure on the BiH authorities, with a special focus on rule of law and democratization, since granting the candidate status in itself will not bring much significance for a country that is in a deep institutional and political crisis, apart from BiH formally becoming “captured state candidate for membership” instead of a “captured state potential candidate for membership “. 

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Before the elections, 278 million BAM from the budget was distributed to voters. The parties have spent 9.6 million BAM on the campaign

Press releases ● 29 September 2022

Sarajevo, September 29, 2022 In the past three months, Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) recorded over two thousand examples of the use of public funds for election promotion, and the Central Election Commission (CIK) received the first reports regarding this occurrence, which is prohibited by the latest amendments to the Election Law. TI BiH has so far submitted 70 reports to CIK, of which 16 refer to the misuse of public resources, which are regulated by the newly imposed provisions of the Election Law, which apply only during the official election campaign.

The reports mostly relate to the abuse of public institution events where some candidates campaigned, and how widespread this phenomenon is shows the fact that 76% of the 532 monitored public events involved candidates participating in the elections.

Two reports refer to the mayor of Zenica, who gave a pre-election speech during the official presentation of the new bus line to the citizens, while at the opening of a new playground, after the official ceremony and football tournament, he continued with the pre-election rally and concert where the candidates of his list were presented. Due to a similar case, the mayor of Laktaši, who organized a ceremony for the beginning of infrastructure works, where the city and SNSD were listed as organizers of the event, was also reported. HDZ was reported because officials of this party had party signs during an official visit to the hospital in Novi Travnik.

Also, the use of public companies’ equipment during the campaign was reported to CIK, and we single out examples from Drvar, where Public Company “Elektroprivreda HZ HB” put up pre-election posters of SNSD, while at the “Food Festival in Derventa” organized by this party, a vehicle from the fire department in Derventa was used. PDP was reported for misuse of a city billboard on which a poster promoting the mayor of Banja Luka and the candidate of that party was placed, promising citizens free legalization of residential facilities. Due to a similar situation, director of the University Clinical Center of the RS was also reported after placing dozens of billboards with his image promoting the RTRS film “From Vision to Victory”.

However, CIK rejected this report because the University Clinical Center stated that it did not pay for the billboards, but that they were rather donated by three companies that provide services for this type of advertising. The report was also rejected in the context of an early campaign with the explanation that it does not contain a pre-election message that could influence voters, even though CIK punished for similar cases in the previous period. That is why TI BiH also reported this case in the context of the Law on Financing of Political Parties.

Unfortunately, what TI BIH considers to be the biggest abuse of public resources, and is related to the increase in public spending before the elections, is still not punishable by the Election Law. In the past three months, according to TI BIH data, BAM 278 million was distributed through one-time aid to different categories of population, and among the most recent examples we single out the donation of 100 BAM from the Government of Federation of BIH at the end of the campaign to all unemployed persons, one-time aid to all employees of the Federation of BIH Railway in the amount of BAM 800, as well as two new tranches of BAM 100, to war veterans and youth in the Republic of Srpska. The SNSD president even directly admitted, at one of the pre-election rallies, that this money was given for the sake of the election, which was also reported to CIK in the context of misuse of public resources for election purposes.

Also, TI BIH published a map of pre-election works which shows that in the past three months, 334 opening ceremonies for completed public works before the elections were recorded, the value of which is about BAM 266 million. In the same period, 345 new projects worth BAM 1.1 billion were recorded, of which over 900 million refer to two sections of the highway, where start of construction is timed before the elections.

Election campaign costs

TI BIH also published the results of monitoring of the election campaign expenses, which show that the parties spent about BAM 9.6 million in the first three weeks of campaign. This amount was spent on billboards, advertisements in the media (television and print media), Facebook advertising and pre-election rallies, and by far the largest amounts were spent by SNSD (BAM 1.6 million ) and SDA (BAM 1.5 million ), followed by PDP and SDP, which have spent BAM 600,000 each on the campaign so far.

These amounts do not sum up to a total, because they do not include the costs of advertising and pre-election rallies in this last week of the election campaign, as well as the other forms of advertising that TI BiH did not monitor, but it can already be said that this is one of the most expensive election campaigns in BiH, because according to CIK data, the parties have never reported larger amounts.

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See more

More on the costs of party promotion in the election campaign at Transparentno.ba: The most expensive election campaign – Parties have spent 9.6 million so far

More on the field and media monitoring process of pre-election activities of political subjects in BiH

Interactive map for monitoring the activities of political entities in the pre-election period

An overview of the placed advertising areas for external advertising of political entities during the 2022 election campaign.

Criminal Charges Against Minister Vojin Mitrović: Illegal Regulations Enable Millions from Vehicle Registration to be Directed to a Private Company

Press releases ● 16 September 2022

Banja Luka, September 16, 2022 – Transparency International in BiH (TI BIH) filed a criminal complaint against the Minister of Transport and Communications of BiH, Vojin Mitrović, two days ago, for illegal adoption of a new Rulebook on Vehicle Registration, which opens up the possibility of directing significant revenues charged by the state to private companies in the future.

With this Rulebook, which came into force on September 1, Mitrović enabled the Ministry to hand over the work of purchasing stickers, which until now had been handled by state institutions, to an “expert institution” that would be selected through a public competition.

For drivers in BiH, it is now also possible, when registering their vehicles in the future, to pay the fee to that “expert institution” chosen by the Ministry, which practically means that significant public funds would be diverted to a private company.

Everything was done illegally, because the minister with a rulebook, which is an act of lower legal force, can only prescribe provisions on the appearance and content of the sticker, and only the law can give public powers. However, not a single article of the Law on the Basics of Traffic Safety on Roads in Bosnia and Herzegovina stipulates that the minister has the authority to prescribe who will procure stickers and collect public revenues.

That is why TI BIH believes that Mitrović committed the criminal offense of abuse of official position or authority from Article 220 of the Criminal Code of BiH, which can be committed by an official if he/she exceeds his/her authority in order to obtain benefits for himself/herself or others. The proof that there is a clear intention to benefit others is reflected in the very precisely set conditions in the Rulebook that must be met by the “expert institution”. As one of the conditions, it is stated that persons employed as team members in a “expert institution” must possess certain certificates, which a few years ago, during the million-dollar procurement of software for the company Forests of the Republic of Srpska, awarded by only one company, which in recent years received tens of millions of marks in tenders in the Republic of Srpska.

Also, this Rulebook requires the bidder to possess the ISO standard 18000-63, which is stated on the website of the International Organization for Standards ISO as a standard withdrawn from use. By setting such conditions, they are obviously trying to favor certain bidders and limit competition, and a particular problem is that a private company is given the competences already held by the state Agency for Identification Documents, Records and Data Exchange (IDDEEA). The Agency previously announced that the Ministry ignored their opinion, which states that the introduction of new stickers with RFID technology is unnecessary because the competent Ministries of the Interior have already acquired a large number of cameras that check whether the vehicle is registered via license plates. For this reason, IDEEA states that the introduction of expensive new technology, that would do the same thing, is unnecessary and will cost drivers more, but will also require additional investment in equipment for reading new chips. Additional problems are seen in security

issues, because the Rulebook allows a private company to dispose of citizens’ data, and this can lead to the misuse of technology that allows locating and tracking vehicles.

Bearing in mind all of the above, it is evident that this is again about passing regulations tailored to individuals, as we already had the opportunity to see, with the passing of the Law on Games of Chance in the Republic of Srpska, where the exclusive right to organize games was given to a private company connected to the persons at the top of the government.

This move is an obvious example of how a captive state functions, where institutions serve the interests of individuals and the ruling elite instead of the public.

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TI BiH: Misuse of public resources for the election campaign is still dominant, a map of pre-election works and spending is also presented

Press releases ● 31 August 2022

Sarajevo, August 31, 2022 In the past two months, Transparency International observers in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) recorded over 1,300 examples of the use of public resources for the promotion of parties and candidates and a significant increase in public spending in the pre-election period. 36 reports were sent to the Central Election Commission due to early campaigning, violation of the Law on Financing Political Parties and abuse of public resources, which unfortunately is not adequately regulated even by the latest amendments to the Election Law imposed by the OHR.

Thus, Central Election Commission rejected the first charges of TI BIH, because the ban on abuse of public resources only applies to the period of the official election campaign that starts on September 2, and everything that happened in the past period will go unpunished. For now, Comission has sanctioned only instances of early campaigning, and eight sanctions have been issued based on the charges of TI BIH.

TI BIH has been warning for a long time that the election campaign is being conducted with public funds, and one of the most recent examples is the paid promotion of the documentary movie “From vision to victory” broadcast by RTRS for the promotion of which dozens of billboards were placed with the image of the director of the University Clinical Center of the RS, Vlado Dajic, who is also a candidate for parliament. The same case applies to the paid billboards of the Public Institution “Drina National Park” promoting the director of this institution, Radomir Pavlovic, who is also a candidate for parliament, and both cases were reported to Central Election Commission. Although the campaign lasts 30 days, political parties have long since started holding open pre-election rallies, the largest number of which was held by the SDA. In a large number of them, the participation of employees in public institutions and even police officers was noticed.

In the past period, a large number of examples of abuse of events organized by public institutions for the promotion of parties and candidates have been recorded, but unfortunately this phenomenon is prohibited by law only during the official election campaign. TI BIH observed 350 public events organized by institutions, and 67 percent were attended by candidates in the elections. As many as 32 events in the past two months refer to concerts organized by local communities, and at one of them, during the “Zenica Summer Fest”, Mayor Fuad Kasumovic gave political speeches and indirectly called for voting.

At concerts at “Zvornik Summer”, graphic solutions in the colors of the SNSD were used, while at one of the concerts in Banja Luka, the audience was shown a video with the fulfilled pre-election promises of the current mayor. In Banja Luka and the surrounding local communities, a series of “Krajisko vece” events were held, where SNSD candidates were directly promoted, and these events are organized by an agency that receives significant public funds through a tender.

Unfortunately, unlike neighboring countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina did not introduce a limit on public spending in the pre-election period, which is again this year a key resource that is being misused when buying votes and promoting candidates.

That is why TI BIH has published an online map of pre-election works, the beginning or end of which has been promoted in the past two months. The data show that in the entire BiH from July 1st, 249 works worth BAM 845 million started, 227 works worth BAM 175 million were completed, and the total value of public works in these two months has already exceeded the annual value of all works that, according to the data of the Public Procurement Agency, were contracted all last year. An additional practice that has been introduced is the presentation of construction plans for infrastructure facilities, for which procedures have not yet been initiated, and in the previous two months the value of such promised projects is over BAM 500 million.

A significant increase in one-time financial help aimed at various population groups was also recorded, where in most cases it was done as the indirect purchase of voter support with public funds. Thus, since July 1, over BAM 200 million have been distributed to citizens through one-time grants from all levels of government, and the most significant are the entity governments’ allocations of over 100 million for one-time aid to pensioners, veterans, youth and social categories. In addition to these, which TI BiH has already reported, one-time electricity subsidies of BAM 100 are issued for 70,000 users in FBIH, assistance from the Government of Tuzla Canton to all pensioners in the amount of BAM 100 each, assistance from the Government of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton to the unemployed in the amount of BAM 100, assistance from the Municipality of Prnjavor for young people going on excursion and one-time help to medical workers in Banja Luka, Drvar and Prijedor. There were also 17 cases of salary increases for employees in the public sector, as well as 41 examples of increased employment in public institutions and companies.

TI BiH points out that all these examples, as well as the significant increase in public spending in the pre-election period, show that the conditions for fair and honest elections have not been created in BiH, because candidates and parties with public resources have a significant advantage. Even after the official start of the election campaign, TI BiH will continue to monitor the activities of officials, parties and candidates, especially focusing on violations of the rules of conduct in the campaign, abuse of public resources, pressure on voters and other phenomena, and will also monitor the campaign expenses of individual parties.

TI BiH therefore once again invites citizens to report all these irregularities via the mobile application Reflektor: Izbori 2022, which enables quick and easy registration, and which can be downloaded via the link: https://reflektor.ba/

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TI BiH presented POPULUS: digital platform for citizens’ participation in public debate

Press releases ● 30 August 2022

Banja Luka, 30/08/2022: The participation of citizens in the process of making decisions concerning their daily lives represents the essence of democracy as a partnership between citizens and authorities. With the idea of promoting a culture of transparency and active citizenship and the goal of developing relations between local authorities and citizens, TI BIH, with the financial support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, he developed a digital platform that was presented today at the conference ” You are not just a letter on paper – participation in public discussion at the local level through the POPULUS platform” .

The key results of cooperation with the cities of Lukavac, Goražde and Bijeljina, the Brčko District Government, the Municipality of Novi Travnik and the Municipality of Foča were presented at the conference, which in the previous period improved communication with citizens through the digital platform POPULUS and made decision-making processes in local communities more transparent.

Ernest Imamović, the mayor of Goražde, one of the 6 local self-government units that introduced the POPULUS digital platform, pointed out that: ” The POPULUS platform enables discourse and two-way communication about everyday problems – from landscaping to replacing public lighting bulbs in neighborhoods.”

 Igor Ćurčić, representative of the Municipality of Foča, pointed out that such projects are inevitable for the functioning of public authorities, and that the POPULUS platform should be further developed and promoted, precisely for the purpose of solving problems in the community.

The POPULUS platform itself is integrated into the websites of local governments in these 6 local communities and consists of three parts: e-information (with information for citizens about the work of local municipalities ), e-consultation (documents and proposals of municipal and city assemblies/councils, with space for citizens to give comments, proposals and suggestions) and e-voting (special issues related to the work of local authorities of particular importance to citizens).

The Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which supported this project, Jan Waltmans pointed out that the use of digital tools and technologies can improve processes, and enables citizens to ask questions, and that the platform should be a promise that they will receive an answer to them within a reasonable time.

The chairman of the TI BIH Board of Directors, Srđan Blagovčanin , pointed out that: ” The level of Internet penetration in BiH is 90% and citizens expect that local self-government units and other bodies follow the trend of technology development.”

The POPULUS platform is available in all units of local self-governments, and TI BIH called on the authorities in other local communities to adopt it and thus improve the participation of citizens in public debates and decision-making processes.

Press rls_30.08.22_2

TI BiH: Such changes to the Law on Public Procurement will not fundamentally advance the fight against corruption, even though it was a priority of the EU

Press releases ● 30 August 2022

Banja Luka, August 30, 2022 The agreed text of amendments to the Law on Public Procurement of BiH, which was confirmed by the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly in BiH, will not fundamentally improve the fight against corruption in this area, which was a key requirement that the European Union set for Bosnia and Herzegovina through 14 priorities.

Despite certain improvements brought by the Law on Amendments to the Law on Public Procurement, which primarily relate to the segment of conflicts of interest, collusion and transparency, some of the key mechanisms for the prevention and fight against corruption did not find their place in this regulation.

Thus, after five years of work on amendments to this law and international pressures, the mechanisms for sanctioning law breakers, both in the area of misdemeanor and criminal liability, have not been improved, the possibilities of protecting the public interest by the competent bodies were not expanded, political influences on the appointments and work of the members of the Appeals Review Office were not eliminated, and the further development of the e-procurement system and the accompanying transparency were extended for another year by changes in the law.

In addition, capacities and mechanisms of supervision of the public procurement institutions system in BiH have not been strengthened, which is particularly problematic from the point of view of the latest amendments that were adopted in the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH and which will allow contracting authorities to increase their value during the duration of the contract, due to unforeseen circumstances for an additional 30% without conducting a new procedure.

Bearing in mind the numerous abuses that occur in practice in the segment of contract implementation, as the most non-transparent phase of the public procurement cycle, Transparency International in BiH warns that these changes, although under the auspices of reforms, could open up additional space for corruption and extraction of public money through privileged companies . Also, with the agreed amendments, the annual threshold for awarding contracts through direct agreements without public bidding increases from BAM 6,000 to BAM 10,000.

In this way, through the long-term procedure of adopting these changes, and especially through the amendments made by the representatives in the Parliament, under the pretext of implementing reforms and fulfilling the priorities of the EU, which states that BiH will strengthen the prevention and fight against corruption in the field of public procurement and strengthen the capacities for public procurement, there were changes to the Law that open up additional space for corruption.

TI BiH reminds that the amendments to the Law on Public Procurement should have been adopted a few years ago, and only as a temporary solution until the adoption of a new, complete Law and accompanying by-laws, which would be harmonized to the maximum extent with EU directives, and significantly improve transparency, prevention and fight against corruption. Therefore, after 5 years of work on reforms in this area, these changes can be considered not only cosmetic, but in certain segments encouraging for potential abuses and corruption. In this way, the representatives of the ruling parties in BiH once again showed that they use the so-called reform processes to introduce harmful provisions, while at the same time presenting them as great progress and fulfillment of EU priorities.

TI BiH once again warns that adoption of any solutions under the excuse of fulfilling EU priorities it must not be allowed, but that it must be ensured that they really go in the direction of preventing corruption and meeting international standards.

Press rls_30.08.22_

Semi-annual report of the TI BiH Legal Assistance Center: Citizens witness corruption more often

Press releases ● 22 August 2022

Banja Luka, 08/22/2022: The Center for Providing Free Legal Aid in the Fight Against Corruption Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) acted in 154 cases related to corruption reports in the first half of 2022, and recorded 817 toll-free calls at 0800 55555 from citizens reporting corruption.

State administration continues to represent the sector in which the most irregularities were recorded, and in the first 6 months of 2022, 104 reports were recorded in this area, which represents an increase compared to the same period last year (66).

Judiciary (11), education (11) and private sector (14) are the areas in which the Center records a constant number of cases, while in the field of health, a decrease in the number of corruption reports (3) was noticed in the period from January to July 2022, compared to the previous year when the COVID-19 pandemic put negative pressure on this area.

The largest number of cases in this period refers to reports of persons who witness corruption, namely 84, which is an evident increase compared to previous years. Reports of whistleblowers (17) and persons who are victims of corruption (43), although relatively numerous, do not show a significant increase compared to the previous period, which suggests that citizens are more aware of the corruption they witness in their environment, but still lack the necessary institutional and legal protection to encourage them to report situations where they are victims of corruption or when they feel that they can suffer the consequences of reporting.

Based on the actions of the Center, in this period as many as 12 verdicts were passed in favor of TI BiH against public authorities at all levels of government in BiH, namely against: the Banking Agency of the Federation of BiH, Elektroprenos BiH, the Federal Ministry of Displaced Persons and Refugees, Republic Administration for Geodetic and Property-Legal Affairs of RS, Assembly of the Zenica-Doboj Canton, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of RS, Public Enterprise “Putevi RS”, KJKP “Rad” Sarajevo, Vodovod Kozarska Dubica, City of Trebinje, Municipality of Hadžići, and RTV Velika Kladuša.

In the same period, 3 recommendations of the Institution of Ombudsman for Human Rights of Bosnia and Herzegovina were issued based on the Center’s petitions, and 11 administrative disputes were initiated against public authorities for failure to provide information of public importance.

Through the Center, TI BiH participated as an “intervenor” in proceedings against the Indirect Taxation Authority of BiH due to discrimination against Emir Mešić, a whistleblower who sued this institution for retribution that occurred as a reaction after his reports on corruption. As an interested party in one of the most significant proceedings in the field of whistleblower protection in BiH, TI BiH provided assistance and legal support to Mešić in protecting his rights as a person who reports corruption.

Apart from this case, the Center was also active in cases of appointment to public positions of persons who do not meet the requirements, and after the action of the Center for Providing Free Legal Aid, some of the appointments were annulled. Thus, in one of the cases, the Administrative Inspection of the RS established that Branislav Zeljković was illegally employed as an expert advisor in the Republican Administration of Civil Protection of the RS. He was appointed to this position even though he did not meet the requirements, and after he was dismissed from the position of director of the Institute for Public Health of the RS due to procurement irregularities during the COVID-19 pandemic, as TI BiH also pointed out.

In the same way, TI BiH reported to the Administrative Inspection of RS that acting director Nenad Ćuk, deputy director of the Republic Administration of Civil Protection of the RS, does not meet the requirements to be in that position, which was confirmed by the call to dismiss him from this position.

As a result of the Center’s actions, the BiH Border Police conducted a disciplinary procedure and confirmed the responsibility of a border police officer who demanded a bribe while performing his duties at the Brod border crossing.

TI BiH Center for Providing Legal Aid in the Fight Against Corruption provides advisory legal assistance to citizens, who can contact the Center via the toll-free number 0800 55555 or via the platform prijavikorupciju.org.

Press rls_22.08.22_

TIBIH published monitoring results: Huge increase in pre-election public spending, numerous examples of abuse of public resources for electoral purposes

Press releases ● 02 August 2022

Sarajevo, August 2, 2022: Political parties have already started holding pre-election rallies and paid election campaigns, which are prohibited by the Election Law before the official start of the election campaign, which is why TI BIH sent 22 reports to the Central Election Commission. In addition to the premature campaign, abuses of voter list as well as violations of the Law on Financing Political Parties were reported to the Central Election Commission.

However, the key abuses of public resources that take place in the election campaign are not prohibited by law, or even by the imposed amendments to the Election Law by the OHR, which, as it was said, were supposed to improve election integrity. With these changes, among other things, running a campaign at events organized by public institutions is also considered abuse of public resources, and in the past period, a large number of examples of official campaigns and abuse of institutions’ events for the promotion of candidates have been recorded.

Of the 175 public events monitored by TI BiH observers, which were organized by public institutions and companies and financed with public funds, 76% featured candidates in the General Elections, and in many cases, it was about their direct promotion. We highlight the example of the “spectacular concert” on the occasion of the Day of the Municipality of Čelinac , where the concert of five pop artists was paid for with public funds, and before their performance, four SNSD candidates appeared on stage and sang, gave speeches and invited the gathered citizens to vote.

A similar thing happened at the Days of Return event supported by the FBiH Government, where their names were highlighted on the ice billboard behind the podium where Bakir Izetbegović and Edin Ramić were speaking, along with a graphic solution similar to the one under which the SDA had already started the election campaign. Through the monitoring of public events, TI BiH observers also recorded cases of hate speech.

Unfortunately, unlike neighboring countries, BiH did not introduce a limit on public spending in the pre-election period, which is a key resource that is misused to buy votes and promote parties and candidates. TI BiH observers recorded 353 public works that were started or finished in the past month, and their value is 429 million KM. This is about 20 million more than was spent on public works, according to the data of the Public Procurement Agency, in the second and third quarters of last year.

Also, 138 cases of extraordinary and one-time budget payments to certain categories of the population were recorded, where in most cases it is indirect vote buying. For this purpose, just for the recorded examples, 191 million KM was distributed, which includes two large cases where entity governments allocated over 100 million KM for one-time assistance to pensioners, veterans and young people, and everything will be realized before the elections.

In addition, an additional 90 million KM was distributed through other benefits, and among the most significant benefits are the assistance of the Government of Tuzla Canton to pensioners of 100 KM (a total of 3.5 million), the assistance of the Government of Zenica-Doboj Canton to mothers in labor of 1000 KM (a total of 11 million KM) and a one-time assistance to the unemployed persons of 100 KM in the Herzegovina-Neretva canton. This canton also provided payment of health insurance to religious officials, while something similar was announced in the Republic of Srpska.

There were also 11 cases of salary increases or one-time payments to employees in public institutions and companies, as well as 19 cases of increased employment in the public sector. Although it is not in dispute that the salaries and incomes of budget beneficiaries are increased, in a large number of cases, these are one-time benefits and are used to collect electoral support.

In addition, 24 cases of providing special benefits and providing numerous public services that became free before the elections were recorded. We single out examples where UKC RS organized a free trip for retired workers of this institution, where the director, who is also a candidate for parliament, distributed cards offering priority during medical examinations.

The municipality of Jablanica provided free transportation for young people to the Jablanica lake, the municipality of Kozarska Dubica stopped charging for parking, municipality of Zavidovići formed a team for free verification of documents for educators without permanent employment, etc. There were also 19 cases of increased employment of workers in the public sector before the elections.

At the press conference in Sarajevo, TI BiH also presented the mobile application Reflektor: Izbori 22 , with which all citizens can report election irregularities, violations of the law and misuse of public resources in the campaign, and specifically appealed to citizens to report all forms of pressure on voters, vote buying and threats to voters.

Press rls_02.08.22_ (en)

TI BiH strongly condemns the imposition of amendments to the Election Law

Press releases ● 28 July 2022

Banja Luka, 28 July 2022 – TI BiH feels that the imposition of amendments to the Election Law by the High Representative is completely unacceptable, and strongly condemns this step, considering it to be irreconcilable with the principles of democracy.

The imposition of amendments to the Election Law, even if they are only “technical”, a mere two months prior to election day, is a breach of the fundamental principle that legislation impacting the holding of elections should not be changed after the call for elections has been issued, and is instead a total suspension of democratic procedures, public debate and participation of relevant institutions which are normally involved when devising solutions so pertinent to the integrity of the election process. In addition, if the imposed amendments are expected to be implemented during the current election cycle, they can seriously jeopardize the ability of the election administration to hold the elections, which can cause legislative uncertainty and bring about additional issues in holding the elections.

Unfortunately, this practice is just a continuation of electoral reform processes previously set in motion by the international community in BiH, which have proven to be highly non-transparent and exclusive, leaving room for manipulation and raising tensions.

Furthermore, the imposed amendments, except in the segment on penal provisions, do not bring any essential improvements to the election process, but instead represent merely superficial and partial solutions, not even including proposals already made by the relevant institutions and organizations. For example, the imposed amendments cover the issue of trading in seats on election boards, but do not in any way address the manner of selection of members to the election boards and to municipal election committees.

Provisions on preventing the misappropriation of public resources do not cover key forms of misuse through employment and public expenditure, nor do they address other issues relevant to monitoring the behaviour of political subjects, independence of the election administration, and transparency and objectivity of the election process. Having in mind the nature of the imposed amendments, which do not essentially resolve key issues, it even less clear that why such amendments should be imposed by a decision from the High Representative.

In addition, announcements of impositions and other amendments to the Election Law and FBiH Constitution, which would endanger the core rights of BiH citizens and work towards ethnic nationalist policies, have only served to needlessly open up room for destabilization and raising tensions in the already strained political situation in BiH. This is contrary to the very role originally assigned to the institution of the High Representative, and seriously endangers the credibility and justifiability of the continued existence of the Office of the High Representative as an institution, since it is becoming part of the problem, instead of the solution, for issues of the utmost importance to the citizens of BiH.

TI BiH would like to reiterate that as far back as in 2004, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe warned that the fact that the High Representative has a broad mandate and yet is not accountable to the citizens of BiH is contrary to basic democratic principles, while the 2005 Opinion of the Venetian Commission warned that the longer such mandate remains in place, the more problematic it becomes, because it leaves long-lasting effects on the development of democracy, i.e. it fosters a situation in which local institutions and political parties shy away from assuming responsibility for reforms, let alone making compromises.

Press rls_28.07.22_en

TI BIH has started monitoring the pre-election process: Invitation to citizens to report election irregularities

Press releases ● 07 July 2022

The focus of the monitoring will be the behavior of parties and candidates, misuse of public resources for party promotion, assessment of election campaign costs, as well as the behavior of public institutions and companies in the pre-election process. Also, all violations of the rules of conduct in the pre-election period, as well as threats to voters and all forms of pressure on voters, will be monitored.

TI BiH will report all observed irregularities to the competent institutions, and based on the first reports from the field, the Central Election Commission has already been sent the first reports about potential irregularities regarding voter lists as well as premature campaigns by parties and candidates. In addition to field observation, this year special attention will be paid to monitoring the digital and online space, and in order to determine violations of the rules of conduct in the pre-election period, the costs of online advertising will be calculated and all examples of premature or inappropriate paid advertising will be recorded.

During the monitoring of the pre-election process in 2020, Ti BiH recorded over 2,400 examples of abuse of public resources for the election campaign, and during the monitoring of only two forms of advertising, it was determined that the parties concealed at least 1.6 million KM of election campaign costs. In that period, TI BiH sent more than 120 reports to the institutions, and based on numerous reports, the CEC imposed penalties on political entities under its jurisdiction.

That is why TI BIH calls on citizens to report all cases of irregularities, which includes buying votes and offering public services in exchange for votes, manipulation of voter lists and election engineering, threats to voters, misuse of public funds for party promotion, paid advertising before the start of the election campaign and all other election irregularities.

TI BIH has also developed the free application “Reflektor: Elections 22” for easier registration, with which citizens can quickly, easily and

anonymously report all irregularities and abuses during the election process. The application is adapted for all Android and Apple smart devices, it can be downloaded from this link as well as from the website reflektor.ba.

TI BiH hereby appeals to all participants in the election process to adhere to the rules and laws that define the behavior of political subjects in the period from the day of the announcement to the holding of the election itself, in order to enable the elections to be held in a just and fair atmosphere.

Monitoring of pre-election activities is carried out by TI BiH within the framework of the project “Support to citizens in the fight against corruption”, which is financially supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which is carried out together with partner organizations, the Centers for Civil Initiatives (CCI) and the Center for Media Development and Analysis (CRMA).

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After reporting to TI BiH, the inspection found: Zeljković does not meet the requirements to be an adviser to the director of Civil Protection of the RS

Press releases ● 01 July 2022

The former director of the Institute of Public Health of the RS, who was arrested due to an affair related to the procurement of equipment during the pandemic, got a job without a competition as an expert advisor after being released from custody.

However, Zeljković did not meet the requirements regarding professional education for this position, because the Faculty of Pharmacy he graduated from is not intended for the position of expert advisor according to the Rulebook on Internal Organization and Systematization of Workplaces. TI BiH informed the Administrative Inspection about this, which then ordered the Director of Civil Protection to hand Zeljković a decision on termination of employment within 15 days.

Zeljković, as claimed by Civil Protection in the response to TI BiH, was employed in a specific position “due to the increased workload” for a certain period of time, and was previously dismissed from the position of director of the RS Public Health Institute due to his detention. Against him, and due to the conclusion of disputed contracts with the companies “Procontrol” and “Travel for fun”, TI BiH is still in 2020. filed a criminal complaint for illegal procurement of medical equipment during the pandemic. In that case, the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of RS is still conducting the investigation, and Zeljković was released from custody on the 16th. in February of this year after spending five months.

Already in April, the media announced that he was employed as an adviser to his party colleague Milan Novitović, who is the director of the Republican Administration of Civil Protection of the RS, and TI BiH sent the application to the inspection in May, because Zeljković did not meet the requirements for that position according to the regulations. A position in an administrative body can be filled only if it is provided for in the rulebook on internal organization and systematization of positions and if its filling corresponds to the personnel plan of the republican administrative body for the current year.

Furthermore, according to the same rulebook, the acting deputy director of Civil Protection, Nenad Ćuk, does not meet the requirements to be in that position, because he is a graduate economist. TI BiH also requested inspection supervision in this case, and the Administrative Inspection found that the Government of the RS appointed Nenad Ćuk to this position more than three times for a period of 90 days, which violated the Law on Civil Servants. In the notification of the inspection that was delivered to TI BiH, it is stated that the inspection informed the Government of RS about the irregularities found and called on it to act according to the law, that is, to dismiss Nenad Ćuk from this position. TI BiH calls on the RS Government to comply with the inspection order because this provision of the law is often not respected during the successive appointments of numerous heads of republican administrative bodies in Republika Srpska.

Press rls_01.07.22_

Message from the EU-Western Balkans conference: Credibility needs to be restored to European integration, decisions from last summit will have negative consequences for region

Press releases ● 25 June 2022

The decision of the European Union not to grant candidate status to any new country from the Western Balkans at the last summit did not give a positive signal to the region and further undermined the credibility of the accession process, it was said at the conference Banja Luka organized Transparency International in BiH. International experts, former diplomats, decision-makers from BiH and the surrounding area, representatives of academia and civil society spoke at the conference, and the common conclusion is that the region needs stronger EU engagement, new impetus for integration and support in key reforms such as the rule of law.

The complete halt in the process of European integration in the region came due to the increasingly pronounced authoritarian tendencies of domestic leaders, accompanied by the violation of the rule of law, civil and media freedoms. The desire of the political elites in the countries of the Western Balkans is obviously to maintain the current situation, and the previous approach of the Brussels administration has many times led to rewarding those who violated the European path, the rule of law and fundamental civil liberties.

On the other hand, internal problems in the EU itself have led to a blockade of the European path and those countries that have met difficult conditions, and the result is a decline in public support for the European integration process, which will certainly be an aggravating factor in the future.

In the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina, only one of the 14 key priorities met the technical condition of setting up a Parliamentary Committee on European Integration, while authorities blocked all key reforms to enable the rule of law and the fight against corruption. Despite the fact that the vast majority of political actors are committed to European integration, everything that has happened in recent years clearly shows that the key goal of the ruling elites is to obstruct these reforms, preserve the levers of power and the current state of widespread corruption. The participants in the conference also criticized the EU’s approach so far, which has spent huge funds on judicial reform and other reforms that have not yielded results because solutions that are not adapted to the situation in the region have been forced.

Therefore, the message is that the EU should insist more strongly on fulfilling the key conditions in the area of the rule of law, democratic transition and the fight against corruption, because the latest developments among domestic leaders are understood as a message that candidate status can be obtained without fulfilling these conditions.

The conference also stressed the need to strengthen regional cooperation in order to build mutual trust and strengthen the civil society sector, which is a prerequisite for creating the preconditions that will enable a deep democratic transition. The tendency to violate media freedoms is present both in the countries waiting for accession and in the EU member states from the region, which requires a special approach in resistance to authoritarian tendencies.

Goran Svilanovic – former Minister of Foreign Affairs of FR Yugoslavia and former Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council, Kori Udovicki – former Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia and Chief Economist of the Center for Advanced Economic Studies in Belgrade spoke at the conference organized by TI BiH with the support of the Embassy of Sweden in BiH , Emir Đikić – CEFTA Director, Maja Sever – President of the European Federation of Journalists, Neven Anđelić – Professor Regent of the University of London, Katarina Peović – Member of the Croatian Parliament, Drago Kos – Chair of the OECD Anti-Corruption Working Group.