The Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Srpska Continues to ignore court decisions, despite the fourth verdict in favor of TI BiH

The District Court in Banja Luka has upheld the fourth lawsuit filed by Transparency International in BiH (TI BiH) against the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Republika Srpska, once again ordering the Ministry to clearly explain why the concession contract for the Banja Luka–Prijedor highway was classified as exempt from disclosure. The ruling emphasized that the Ministry prioritized the commercial interests of the Chinese investor over the public interest, without conducting a public interest test or providing specific evidence of commercial harm from disclosing information from the Financial Model, thus misapplying the Law on Freedom of Access to Information.
According to the Court, even if the commercial interests of the Chinese company were at risk, the Ministry was still obligated to assess whether disclosing details of the contract – such as financing methods and projected toll revenues – would serve a greater public benefit than protecting the concessionaire’s confidential business interests.
Despite clear legal obligations and four court rulings, the Ministry continues to deny access to key information from the highway construction contract, relying on vague claims of business secrecy.
In addition to these violations, the Ministry also denied the right to appeal its decision, thereby breaching not only the Law on Freedom of Access to Information, but also the Law on Administrative Procedure and the Constitution of Republika Srpska, which guarantees the right to appeal. TI BiH recalls that in this case, the Institution of Human Rights Ombudsman also issued a recommendation in 2022, ordering the Ministry to act on the submitted appeal.
Since 2021, TI BiH has been seeking access to all essential elements of the contract for one of the most important infrastructure projects in RS, citing public interest and suspicions that the deal was concluded under detrimental conditions for the entity.
In this case, TI BiH has been denied access to information despite four administrative disputes resolved in its favor and the annulment of all Ministry decisions. TI BiH requested that the Court notify the Republic’s Administrative Inspectorate due to the Ministry’s continued non-compliance and asked the Court to resolve the matter itself, but the Court refused, even though it is evident that the Ministry is abusing procedural powers to the detriment of TI BiH.

Press rls_29.11.24