Construction giants bankrupted due to individual greed

The construction company “Neimarstvo” and the firm “Izolater”, which specialized in hydro and thermal insulation from Trebinje, were pushed into bankruptcy because of the interests of a few individuals eager to acquire their money and exclusive properties at prices far below market value.

This is claimed by sources from the eTrafika portal, who highlight that the connection between the mentioned companies is Trebinje lawyer Dragan Škuletić, who initiated the bankruptcy proceedings for both firms. He did this personally in the case of “Neimarstvo”, and for “Izolater”, he acted as the legal representative of an accounting office registered in the name of his mother-in-law, Božana Lečić.

In both cases, our sources, who back their claims with documents, assert that it involved the payment of dubious claims for legal services: Škuletić's personal services in the case of “Neimarstvo”, and the services of the aforementioned accounting office in the case of “Izolater”. Škuletić attempted to collect the debts in cash and also sought to acquire exclusive property in Dubrovnik, which “Neimarstvo” co-owned with the Croatian company “Jadranski susreti”.

Bankruptcy of “Neimarstvo” Lasts Nearly 12 Years

The marathon bankruptcy process of the once state-owned company “Neimarstvo”, privatized with an exceptionally complex ownership structure in the post-war period, was initiated by Škuletić in 2013. He did so based on a notarial agreement with the mentioned company, concerning legal services worth 54,000 KM. However, no invoices were provided as evidence to support this claimed amount. Immediately after signing the notarial agreement, he filed for bankruptcy proceedings, although bankruptcy is typically initiated only when there is no possibility of payment, which was not the case with “Neimarstvo”. At that time, the company still had the capacity to operate and generate income, and possessed extremely valuable assets.

“The nature of these services is unknown, and the lawyer seized the opportunity to initiate bankruptcy proceedings, despite other creditors expecting much higher repayments. ‘Neimarstvo’ was a wealthy and major company, involved in construction across the country, with a contract worth 300 million KM with Libya for various buildings and hospitals, but then everything just stopped. If they had sold some machinery or scrapped a crane for secondary raw materials, they could have made the payments, assuming his claims were legitimate, but we believe they were not”, said our source.

It is reported that Škuletić's claims, which continued to grow due to default interest since the start of bankruptcy, soon reached 63,000 KM. Additionally, he added another 6,000 KM in fees after becoming a member of the Creditors’ Committee, a five-member body representing the interests of those seeking specific funds from the company in bankruptcy.

In the case of “Neimarstvo”, besides Škuletić, the Committee also included a representative of general creditors, Miroslav Vinduška, a workers’ representative, Jovo Klimović, and representatives from the Tax Administration and Pension Fund.

“To make the absurdity even greater, the same committee appointed Škuletić as the lawyer in most disputes during the bankruptcy proceedings, causing his claims to continue to increase by another 21,000 KM. Subsequently, he independently initiated proceedings to seize the property of ‘Neimarstvo’ in Dubrovnik, which the Croatian court recognized and halted, knowing that

the company was in bankruptcy and that its foreign properties were managed by the Investment and Development Bank of Republika Srpska. Therefore, he could not legally recover from that property as it belongs to Republika Srpska”, explained our source.

Almost simultaneously, Škuletić initiated bankruptcy proceedings in the company “Izolater”, as the legal representative of his mother-in-law's accounting office, Božana Lečić, due to a debt of 7,000 KM.

“This process did not last long because ‘Izolater’ was a wealthy company that should not have gone bankrupt at all, so everyone was paid off and there was still money and assets left. I think they just wanted to get their hands on property, business premises, and land, and now we are facing auctions where bids keep falling until the price is lowered to a certain level”, said our informant.

Both of these companies employed thousands of workers before the war and owned property in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Libya, and Algeria, but no one knew exactly what they possessed. With the bankruptcy, at least 1,400 workers were left without jobs and salaries.

We attempted to obtain a statement and comment from lawyer Škuletić on all these allegations. Although he answered the phone, he showed no interest in even acquainting himself with the topic of conversation.

“I cannot talk to you because you write about topics that have been fabricated and cause harm to people”, said Škuletić.

Jovo Klimović, the representative of 98 workers claiming eight unpaid salaries from the company, also declined to speak with us. They argue that the company's assets are now being attempted to be sold below their true value, making it definitively impossible to pay even a portion of their claims.

Suspicious Meetings, Even Worse Auctions

When it comes to the assets of “Neimarstvo”, we're talking about exclusive land covering approximately 14 acres in a prime location in Trebinje, earmarked for residential and commercial buildings totalling over 60,000 square metres. Although a court expert assessed the value of these parcels at around six million KM, Miroslav Vinduška, a member of the Creditors’ Committee of “Neimarstvo”, insists it's worth at least twice that amount.

He mentions that it's unclear what happened to “Neimarstvo's” assets in Libya and Algeria, as well as what will become of the properties it jointly owned with “Jadranski susreti” in Dubrovnik, managed by the Investment and Development Bank's Foreign Property Fund. Our source, representing creditors owed 11.4 million KM, tells eTrafika that delays in the proceedings have unnecessarily accumulated debts.

“The appraiser stated the assets are worth around six million KM. I believed and argued that it could be sold for 12 million KM because that's its true value and enough to cover the main claims. Of course, that hasn't materialized. Neimarstvo's plots are worth much more; they were appraised at 300 KM per square meter. Right next to them is ‘Industrija alata’, selling its plots for 417 KM per square meter”, Vinduška explains to our portal.

After 11 years of bankruptcy and legal battles, “Neimarstvo's” assets were finally registered in February this year. However, despite legal processes and unresolved property rights, the auction for its sale was announced several months earlier, in December of last year.

“It's unbelievable. Holding an auction before registration is illegal. However, the first one wasn't widely publicized and was announced during the holidays, so it failed, followed by others, and they kept lowering the price. They can drop it by five per cent, or even by 30 per cent if they really want to sell cheaply. Now I see they're trying to rush something, which I don't approve of and I protest, but they don't let me speak at the meetings”, says Vinduška.

Bankruptcy administrator Slavko Ilić says that the bankruptcy of “Neimarstvo” has gone so far that even he doesn't know what to do anymore. Earlier this year, he even requested the cancellation of the auction for the sale of assets and proposed hiring three licensed firms to re-evaluate the property's worth because the current appraisal of 6,328,426 KM satisfies no one except potential buyers looking to acquire prime building land cheaply.

“There's all sorts of things going on, and it's difficult to deal with this. Look, the previous bankruptcy administrator didn't pay himself his fee, so he sued ‘Neimarstvo’ for it, including interest. I'm going crazy with them. I'm drowning in lawsuits, unresolved lawsuits, and mortgages. It never ends. There's property in Dubrovnik and there's a lawsuit over it. IRB represents ‘Neimarstvo’ there. That lawyer won't succeed there, I'm telling you”, says Ilić.

Regarding “Neimarstvo's” land, he wonders why no one is bidding if the property is so cheap and being sold at a bargain.

“Property rights weren't resolved, there are a lot of complications that take a long time to resolve. There's some floor unresolved, then a power line in the middle of the plot that needs to be relocated and sorted out now”, says Ilić.

Regarding the company “Izolater”, where he also served as bankruptcy administrator, he says it failed because it didn't have workers.

“All creditors were settled in that bankruptcy, and it's true that Škuletić represented his mother-in-law and initiated proceedings in that company”, he says.

Additionally, the Tax Administration of Republika Srpska is seeking approximately 3,750,000 KM from “Neimarstvo”. All other creditors, including workers, are seeking 11.4 million KM.