NO LINK BETWEEN VIJADUKT AND THE COMPANY TO WHICH BAM 110 MILLION SHOULD BE TRANSFERRED

BANJA LUKA, JULY 10 /SRNA/ - The Minister of Finance and Treasury in the Council of Ministers Srđan Amidžić said he is not willing to transfer BAM 110 million into an account that has no connection with the parties who initiated the Vijadukt case, as there is no documented link to the claimants or the company to which the money is supposed to be transferred.

"The company is registered on the Channel Islands, which is a tax haven. Its legal form is that of a professional association, which could be an association of accountants or virtually anyone," Amidžić said, emphasizing the need to put an end to arbitration tourism in BiH.

He added that the Ministry’s investigation determined that the name of the company to which the money is supposed to be transferred is "Project Havre des Pas PC," based on the Channel Islands, and that it is one of 40 associations ultimately owned by Vening Capital, whose ownership structure is quite complex.

"These dealings are neither clean nor normal," Amidžić emphasized at a press conference in Banja Luka.

He explained that Vijadukt did not provide a link to the company whose account is being proposed for the payment.

“At the last session of the Council of Ministers, the issue of the account to which the funds are to be transferred was raised. I asked the Office of the Attorney General whether the account provided for the money transfer was valid. I received a direct answer that it is not possible to transfer the money to the account submitted by the lawyers, as part of the proposed enforcement,” Amidžić explained.

He stated that the plaintiffs in this arbitration dispute have no connection whatsoever to the account provided for payment.

"There is no link. The people from the Ministry and I are not willing to take part in actions of this kind or to transfer money into an account that has nothing to do with the people who won the arbitration case, because that is not normal," Amidžić said.

According to him, the account to which the payment is being requested was provided by the law office Bičakčić & Partners. When directly asked by the Office of the Attorney General whether they had purchased Vijadukt's debt, they replied that it was not a matter for the Attorney General.

"The Office of the Attorney General, nor any BiH institution, has ever approved funds in this way if there is no direct link to the party that sued BiH. They told us that they currently cannot provide that link," Amidžić emphasized.

He added that the court should have rejected their enforcement request as incomplete.

Amidžić noted that while it is known that a debt can be transferred or sold, the Office of the Attorney General was not provided with any information indicating that the debt had been sold or transferred to this offshore company.

"Even if it has been sold, don't we in BiH have the right to know and see how those BAM 110 million will be distributed? Who is trying to hide something? If everything is above board, wouldn't it be normal for BAM 110 million to be transferred into one of the commercial banks in BiH or Slovenia, so we can trace the flow of money?" Amidžić emphasized.

He emphasized that there is unusual pressure to transfer the money into their account within a very short timeframe, questioning whose interests that serves.

"The question is how that money is being divided and whose interests are being served in this particular case. Why aren't we allowed to ask whose account the money is supposed to be transferred to? Whose interest is it to have the money sent to this company? I don't see how that can be in the interest of anyone in BiH," Amidžić said.

He added that the Prosecutor's Office, aside from asking who is to blame in the Vijadukt case, should not be asking why it hasn't been paid until now, but rather why it should be paid and to whom.

Commenting on speculation that Christian Schmidt might impose a decision for the debt to be paid from the Central Bank’s funds, Amidžić said it would be interesting if someone who has no authority to impose decisions were to impose one under these circumstances, especially one involving a money transfer with no clear trace.

Amidžić said that the draft budget, which Presidency members Denis Bećirović and Željko Komšić are keeping to themselves, includes an allocation to settle obligations under the arbitration ruling, which is why, he said, the question of whether there is money is irrelevant.

He asked who was promoting arbitration tourism in BiH to such an extent, giving the impression that anyone who came here could start an arbitration case, collect the money, and never show up again.

"This must not be allowed. It is time to put an end to this arbitration tourism, which in this case would `channel` BAM 110 million from BiH to the Channel Islands," Amidžić concluded.