How their citizens vote may determine how easily towns in the RS can borrow development funds from a government bank.
How their citizens vote may determine how easily towns in the RS can borrow development funds from a government bank.
Then Finance Minister Igor Luksic promised that a bailout of First Bank would be overseen by regulators but instead, the first family’s bank was allowed to do whatever it wanted. And when it came time to pay back tax payers, the majority of the debt was simply switched to another governmental agency.
Vuk Rajkovic was one of the people in charge of overseeing First Bank’s operations and ensuring it was compliant with banking regulations in 2007. But Central Bank documents show his case represents one of First Bank’s flagrant violations of the rules.
Some of the loans given by First Bank were not issued according to proper banking practice, according to the Central Bank examiners. A significant number of loans, maybe even two thirds, were approved to family members, shareholders, business partners, and other parties connected to the bank, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Former Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic hasn’t been truthful about where his consulting firm Global Montenegro got its startup loan. It came from his family controlled First Bank, the same bank whose mismanagement led to a taxpayer bailout. Other family members also got great deals from the bank.
First Bank financed a huge €4.6 million line of credit in 2008 for Svetlana Micunovic, wife of controversial casino owner Branislav Micunovic, without checking her finances, without collateral and without paperwork. They also gave Micunovic’s company Dzek Pot, which had posted significant losses for two years, a €200,000 loan guarantee without conducting any financial analysis or guaranteeing the credit.
Montenegrin taxpayers wound up footing the €4.3 million bill for Madonna’s Balkan debut in 2008. And the real company behind the event was First Bank, according to documents obtained by OCCRP. The concert not only broke promises that no public money would be used, it also depleted First Bank’s resources at a time it was already unable to honor requests for money from its own depositors.
The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Ministry of Energy, Mining and Industry dispensed around 15 million KM in grants to private firms. At least 4 million KM of that was awarded to firms connected to the governing parties in FBiH.
Since the last statement of assets Chairman and members of the Council of Ministers: Vjekoslav Bevanda, Nikola Špirić, Sredoje Nović and Mirko Okolić have acquired new properties and summer houses in Donje Blatnice, Drvar, Pale and Doboj, while Zlatko Lagumdžija reported ___unknown co-ownership” of the family home and land in Trebinje.
Thanks to millions in loans from banks connected to the RS government, the family of entity President Milorad Dodik has acquired property worth 9.6 million KM. In the two years before the grace period to repay the loan recently ended, their orchard firm has been losing money.
After the Central Election Commission in BiH withdrew the politicians’ asset declarations from its web site—at the request of the Personal Data Protection Agency in Bosnia and Herzgovina–CIN decided to publish them.
Violating the law pays off for BiH’s leading political parties even when they are caught at it. Fines are so small, violations usually get repeated.
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