TI BiH reported the new director of BH Telecom due to conflict of interest

Banja Luka, October 12, 2023 – Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina sent a report to the BiH Conflict of Interest Commission against the new director of BH Telecom, Amel Kovačević, former advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Elmedin Konaković. Kovačević was appointed general director even though the BiH Law on Prevention of Conflict of Interest does not allow advisers of elected officials to manage public enterprises six months after the end of their term in office.

According to media reports, Kovačević held an advisory function until recently, and the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed the decision of the Supervisory Board of the public company BH Telecom JSC, Sarajevo at the session held on September 21, which elected the acting directors of this company, among them Kovačević.

Amel Kovačević is a member of NiP, and his appointment from a political position directly to the position of a director of one of the most important public companies is contrary to both the Law on Conflict of Interest of BiH and the declarative determination of the new government in FBiH to fulfill the conditions from 14 priorities, among which a particularly emphasized the need for depoliticization of public enterprises.

It should also be recalled that the work of the Commission for Deciding on the Conflict of Interest at the BiH level, which should make a decision in this case, is often blocked due to the political way of decision-making and that numerous infringements from an earlier period have not yet been resolved. This was confirmed recently when the session of this commission was canceled due to lack of quorum, and the agenda included draft decisions on sanctions against several officials, including those against the current Prime Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nermin Nikšić, and the Director of the Communications Regulatory Agency (RAK), Draško Milinović, while a decision has been pending against Milorad Dodik and other politicians who were reported by TI BiH for conflict of interest.

Conflicts of interest passes unhindered even at lower levels because in the Federation of BiH the existing law in this area is not applied and the draft of the new one has been withdrawn from the procedure, while the new amendments to the law in the Republic of Srpska have practically legalized conflict of interests, which indicates that politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina, despite their proclaimed support for the European path of Bosnia and Herzegovina, are moving in exactly the opposite direction.

TI BIH reminds that the process of European integration requires BiH to improve key anti-corruption laws, among which is the one that regulates conflict of interest, and that this issue can be solved by thoroughly harmonizing laws at all levels of government in BiH and by establishing bodies that are politically and in every other way independent for deciding on the conflict of interest of public officials.