General mess in the “Zelengora” Agricultural Cooperative Kalinovik

From April 2016 to January 2021, the position of acting director of the “Zelengora” Agricultural Cooperative in Kalinovik was held by Đorđe Sladoje, who took on this role immediately after completing his studies and internship. Sladoje could not be appointed as a regular director because the law stipulates that a regularly appointed director must have a five-years of work experience in a managerial position. And here, from the very beginning, the illegalities in “Zelengora” started, writes Infoveza.

If we look just one step further, we will see that all structures, starting from the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, Radovan Višković, then the former director of “Šume Srpske” Risto Marić, to the current director Slaven Gojković, silently condoned all the illegalities and the criminal activities that were taking place in “Zelengora”.

None of the responsible parties (not even the ministry) reacted to the long-standing financial losses that Đorđe Sladoje recorded during each financial year in a managerial position at “Zelengora”. On the contrary, the losses were tolerated and even desired. And when the labour inspector ordered Sladoje’s removal on December 12, 2017, the company ignored the order and started paying penalties, which, to be honest, were meagre – 600 KM.

Even the director of “Šume Srpske,” Slaven Gojković, did not abide by the law and behaved recklessly. The union organization of the “Zelengora” Agricultural Cooperative in Kalinovik informed Gojković numerous times about the illegalities and criminal activities taking place in the company, but Gojković remained silent. Not only that, he allowed Sladoje to extend his directorial contract month after month, turning months into years of negative business performance, which, according to the union organization’s data, amounted to four million marks by the end of Sladoje’s term!

None of this was helped by the fact that the republic’s forestry and hunting inspection, as well as the labour inspection, issued numerous misdemeanour fines, totalling 120,000 convertible marks, against the “Zelengora” Agricultural Cooperative in Kalinovik. However, in the end, Sladoje did face a criminal report for abuse of official position and negligent work in service, which, to this day, has not resulted in a legal conclusion or his accountability. The criminal report was filed in 2020 by Zoran Šupeta, a forestry engineer employed in the mentioned company.

Šupeta states in the report that Sladoje did not comply with the Forest Law. He conducted logging in mined compartments that were not planned and were classified in the Forest Management Plan (ŠPO) as unsuitable for exploitation. He performed logging in the so-called road belt along the Kalinovik-Miljevina regional road. He sold beech firewood to O.P.Z. “Zadrugar” from Modriča for an amount of 70,000 KM. He conducted illegal logging in compartment 22 of the GJ “Gornja Neretva,” where five thousand cubic meters of beech logs were felled more than allowed, and in compartment 28 of the GJ “Meždra,” two thousand cubic meters more than allowed by the ŠPO, and so on. Šupeta substantiates these claims with material evidence and calls on the prosecutor’s office to verify them on-site.

Šupeta also mentions that unlawful payments were made through barter (goods) to contractors from the same compartments where logging took place. Harmful contracts were made with local wood processors (note by the author: BLONDI, a company owned by the mayor of Kalinovik), who resold the same logs and made extra profits due to price differences.

Of particular interest is the fact that before the local elections in 2020, Sladoje indebted the forestry enterprise to the amount of 40,000 marks at the “Blondi” gas station owned by the municipality mayor. He provided signed promissory notes to individuals, enabling them to obtain fuel and lubricants in exchange for, as stated, votes.

As a result of all these irregularities, the employees had a four-month salary backlog and over a year’s backlog in paid contributions at the beginning of last year!

During that period, the union demanded that all arrears be paid as soon as possible. They addressed the Government of Republika Srpska, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Veterinary and Phytosanitary Administration of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Chief Prosecutor of Republika Srpska, Transparency International Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Radio Television of Republika Srpska, and the presidents of parliamentary clubs in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska.

Zoran Šupeta, speaking to the Infoveza portal, states that the former acting director of “Zelengora”, Đorđe Sladoje, was appointed to that position by politics, specifically by the mayor of Kalinovik, Radomir Sladoje, also known as Deba.

“Let me tell you straight away, both Sladojes are related and involved in criminal activities. When Đorđe Sladoje came, serious abuses began in the forestry enterprise. People who didn’t use their own brains started to be harassed, while the three of us senior engineers started to protest against the criminal activities, abuses, and irregularities. However, they had support from the company’s management, the supervisory board, the ministry, the Government of Republika Srpska, and so on”, emphasizes Šupeta.

He is adamant that there is widespread looting and criminal activity taking place in the “Zelengora” Agricultural Cooperative.

“The looting is carried out in various ways. They hire people who think like them and place them in positions of receivers or dispatchers to do their ‘shady’ jobs. Can you believe that just last year, 40% of the forest quota was sold by Mayor Radomir Sladoje through his two sawmills? Although the contracts clearly state that roundwood cannot be resold when purchasing timber assortments for sawmills, in practice, Sladoje sold over 70%. Moreover, even though one sawmill is registered under his daughter’s name, that sawmill doesn’t even have a valid permit! Can you imagine what’s going on there?” Šupeta categorically states, adding that he will not stop exposing the crimes in “Zelengora.”

After Đorđe Sladoje left the position of acting director of “Zelengora,” instead of being held accountable, he received a reward – he is currently serving as the deputy mayor of Kalinovik.

Our portal has officially reached out to both the “Zelengora” Agricultural Cooperative and the municipality of Kalinovik on multiple occasions. In our communication, we requested official statements from Đorđe Sladoje and “Zelengora.” However, at the time of publishing this text, we have not received any response from them.

It is astonishing to note that the “Zelengora” Agricultural Cooperative in Kalinovik has not had a regularly appointed director since 2012!