How the court butcher of the SDA won the favour of the Trojka

Muris Mujanović, owner of the company “Mujanović” from Vogošća, known as the intimate of Bakir Izetbegović, despite inspections and negative findings, received incentives of one hundred thousand KM from the federal and budget of the Sarajevo Canton

Muris Mujanović, owner of the company “Mujanovići.d.o.o” from Vogošća, whose name is associated with scandals involving the donation of sick heifers to returnees to Eastern Bosnia, and the export of rotten meat to Turkey, has been a favourite for years when it comes to distributing donations in the agricultural sector, at the federal level, as well as the Sarajevo Canton.

Thus, Mujanović, known as the intimate of the President of the Party of Democratic Action Bakir Izetbegović, but also a friend of the President of Narod i Pravda (the People and Justice)  Elmedin Konaković, used his connections extensively.

It is an eternal secret, and journalists from many newsrooms have insisted on it many times, how much money Mujanović received from incentives for agriculture from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, more precisely from the SDA cadre Šemsudin Dedić.

However, since the Register of Agricultural Incentive Beneficiaries in the Sarajevo Canton came out in public, it has been black and grey, because no one can confirm that this is the final data. First, the Minister of Economy of KS, Adnan Delić, praised the post on Facebook that all processes are “always public, transparent and accessible to all citizens.”

Incentive by incentive

Thus, according to the Register, the company of Muris Mujanović received more than 205,000 KM, for 2021 and more than 119,000 for the year before.

The Federal Ministers of Agriculture were generous
However, we will focus on the mandates of the current Government of NiP – Naša stranka (Our Party) – SDP and Minister Delić.

The Register shows that Mujanovići doo received an incentive for 33 points, for breeding calves, fattening cattle, greenhouse production, breeding heifers… The lowest tranche of incentives is 440 KM, and a maximum of 58,400… And so several times.

The register, says for Intereview.ba the head of the Office for Fight against Corruption and Quality Management of Sarajevo Canton Erduan Karedžić, was made precisely to avoid manipulation, multiple allocations of incentives, doubling of funds.

– This means that it is inadmissible for one agricultural entity to receive incentives from several levels. That is why I urge that a similar register be established in other cantons and that we put a stop to doubling funds – says Kafedžić.

From the Cantonal Registry

The latest information is that Mujanović also received great incentives from the Sarajevo Canton, where the new government of the “trojka” (trio) rules, many of whom were former members of the SDA, with whom Mujanović also had close relations.

The Government of the Sarajevo Canton has approved seven million KM for incentives in agricultural production this year, and according to the Register of Beneficiaries of Agricultural Incentives in the Sarajevo Canton, Mujanovići doo received more than 460 thousand KM.

We wanted to get answers from the Minister of Economy of Sarajevo Canton Adnan Delić on the criteria by which the money was awarded, whether the incentives were distributed to those who receive hundreds of thousands (and more) at the federal level, and whether they know that one of them is Mujanović. We also wanted to ask if the award has anything to do with the friendly ties that Mujanović has, and this was also discussed in the media, with the President of Narod i Pravda Elmedin Konaković.

Konaković and the top of NiP with friends, including Mujanović

We did not receive answers, but on his Facebook page, we have assurances that everything is just as it should be, transparent, legal and boastful in the current style.

According to verified, official information from the FBiH Ministry of Agriculture, Mujanovic’s company receives several hundred thousand KM in incentives every year, and inspectors do not have access or ability to check what is happening with his farms near Sarajevo.

Last year, according to the official website of the Ministry of Agriculture of FBiH (https://fmpvs.gov.ba/novcani-poticaji-u-poljoprivredi-proizvodnje-i-strukturne-mjere-pretraga/?pn=2&na=&co=12&mun=83&prodType=0&prod=0&payPos=0&mo=0&ye=2021&amFrom=&amTo= Muriz Mujanović’s company received more than 300,000 KM in incentives.

Otherwise, misdemeanour proceedings have been initiated against the company “Mujanovići” owned by Muris Mujanović several times due to irregularities on the farm in Podlugovi near Ilijaš, which was confirmed by the Administration for Inspection Affairs of the Sarajevo Canton.

At the end of November 2018, KS veterinary inspectors performed extensive (four days long) supervision of the farm and identified several deficiencies. Upon arrival, they were denied access, so the police had to intervene.

– It’s better I do not recall what inconveniences I experienced when I, as an official of the Ministry of Agriculture, stayed on the farm. I was threatened, some high-ranking SDA officials were mentioned, Minister Dedić – she told Interview. a federal ministry employee.

Lots of irregularities without consequences
At the same time, it was established that Mujanovići falsely reported the number of big and small cattle to the Register of Agricultural Farms, all in order to exercise the right to incentives from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry.

Worse than that is the fact that hundreds of cattle were not in health care programs, and the company is registered in the veterinary information system only as an importer and exporter of meat, but not for breeding and fattening cattle.

The president of the Association of Farmers of FBiH, Nedžad Bićo, also warned at the time that real producers suffer because of reporting and falsification.

– I am not defending Muris or Minister Dedić here. The company is registered in Vogošća or Kobilja Glava, and the farm is in Podlugovi, but again, not many large cattle can fit in that farm either. Because of all this, the real producers in BiH are suffering, because if it weren’t for those with a false number of cattle, then the incentive per head would not be 350, but 600 KM. And that would be fair. Thus, the Ministry pays incentives for cattle that do not exist – Bićo emphasized.

For years, data on millions of KM that this company received from SDA ministers have been published, and the Central Election Commission in 2018 asked the then Minister of Foreign Trade, as well as several other institutions, to submit data on whether they concluded public procurement contracts with the company “Mujanovići” Vogošća, or whether they used the services of this company and in what amount.

Incentives from FBiH for Mujanović

This company was (and obviously remained) exclusive to the parties in power. For years, they earned millions (more than 7 were calculated) for the delivery of meat and meat products to state institutions and got an exclusive job with meat exports to Turkey, which was suspended after it was established that the meat was spoiled and that Mujanović exported meat worth more than one million euros to Turkey in the span of two years.

That Mujanović is the main court butcher was confirmed back in 2017, while the Prime Minister of the Sarajevo Canton was Elmedin Konaković, a then an ardent member of the SDA.

The story was published by Žurnal, and it resembled a good play. The company Mujanović received 40 thousand KM from the Government of the Sarajevo Canton. The money was awarded to him on the basis of two projects established at the session of the KS Government, which was also attended by Prime Minister Konaković.

The Sarajevo Canton government, led by Konaković, has decided to “subsidize Mujanovic’s interest on loans” in the amount of 35,500 KM.

As an “incentive in the application of technical norms and quality standards”, the Government gave an additional 4400 KM to Muris Mujanović – which totals almost 40 thousand KM, Žurnal reported.

Women’s Entrepreneurship

Butcher Mujanović received 40 thousand non-refundable KM from Konaković’s Government, and with the same Decision, he set aside 30 thousand KM for the complete project “Stimulus for the Development of Women’s Entrepreneurship”.

Konaković then claimed that he was on Hajj and that he did not know about these (and other suspicious decisions), but it was established that the decision was made three months after his return from pilgrimage.

However, texts, misdemeanours and evidence were piled up, and Mujanović was not held accountable for the inspection findings, nor for the claims of farmers, who pointed out irregularities in the work of Mujanović doo.

– Mujanović is known for this, because he is a good friend of Bakir Izetbegović. I personally addressed Bakir and his Minister Šemsudin Dedić, just to provide me with the conditions to cultivate the land. I didn’t ask for anything else from them. They told me I talk a lot – Jusuf Arifagić from Kozarac, one of the best and respected European breeders of Norwegian cows, told the media indignantly.

After this, Mujanović called this successful farmer a loser, a failure and a world fraud.

Five families will rule Bosnia

The company “Mujanovići” is owned by Muris Mujanović, a longtime intimate, some say the godfather of the president of the Party of Democratic Action Bakir Izetbegović.

From the anonymous butcher, Muris Mujanović became famous overnight after he said in the Parliament in May 2017, ready for a physical confrontation, that “five families will rule Bosnia for another hundred years”.

The only one who spoke publicly was the delegate of Klub Hrvata (Club of Croats) in the House of Peoples of BiH, Mario Karamatić, who stated that meat worth more than one million euros had been exported to Turkey in the past two years.

– It worked nicely following the idea of making ten Bey families that will run BiH without any procedures. Thus, Muris Mujanović, who has one butcher’s shop, gets a job worth 20 million euros. In this country, it is important to be a house friend of Bakir Izetbegović and Šemsudin Dedić and you will get a job exporting to Turkey – said Karamatić at the time.

Nobody denied it.

The years go by, and in some places, the authorities change, but the connection between Mujanović and those who share (the people’s) money remains strong and unbreakable.

Everything can be changed except – the court butcher.