A new case of illegal land allocation in Bratunac

After Spin-info published the story about the illegal lease of land for 20 years, which the impeached mayor of Bratunac, Srđan Rankić, granted to his son-in-law, we bring a new story about the irresponsible and illegal management of citizens’ property.

Namely, the land allocated to the company “ECO PRODUCT” is not the only one that was allocated by the former mayor of Bratunac, Srđan Rankić, despite the decisions of the local parliament and without the necessary consent.

Although at first, it seemed that Rankić bypassed the procedures and allocated the land only to his son-in-law Milovan Bojić – Rankić’s sister’s husband, it seems that this was not the only case. According to our knowledge, Rankić made at least one more contract like this, which is the subject of this text.

Namely, Rankić on behalf of the Municipality of Bratunac on June 27, 2022, signed a contract with the director of “MILRAD Group” from Bratunac, Miloš Radivojević. As in the case of the contract with “ECO PRODUCT”, Rankić signed the contract referring to the Decision of the Bratunac Municipal Assembly on the amount of rent for land within industrial activities, which is certainly not an adequate decision.

The contract lasts until June 24, 2042, and with it, MILRAD leases the land and facilities located in the Bjelovac Local Community and obligates the company to use the land and buildings exclusively for the purposes of hospitality and tourism, and the rent is 0.30 KM per m2 per year.

“That is, the annual rent for 6,090 m2 is 1,827 KM. The rent will be paid quarterly for each of the past three months”, states the Agreement, which cannot be terminated unilaterally.

However, half a year later, on December 29, 2022, the Bratunac Municipal Assembly voted on a document stating that Rankić leased the land arbitrarily and without the knowledge of the Assembly.

The councillors voted on the Conclusion, which establishes the absence of consent for the conclusion of a contract on the lease of land with associated facilities for the performance of economic activities.

“It is established that there is no consent of the Bratunac Municipal Assembly for the conclusion of the Agreement on the lease of land with associated facilities for the performance of economic activities, number: 02-020-150/22 dated 06/27/2022”, it was stated in the Decision of the Assembly signed by the President of the SO Jovo Čelanović.

The councillors believe that the decision is not in accordance with the Law on Local Self-Government of Republika Srpska, but also that it is against the Municipal Statute.

“Article 67, paragraph 1, point 18) and point 20) of the Statute of the Municipality of Bratunac stipulates that the mayor concludes contracts on behalf of the municipality, but in accordance with acts of the Assembly, and that he decides on the use and disposal of the property of the municipality, in accordance with the law and decisions of the Assembly”, it is stated in the Decision of the local parliament from the end of last year.
However, in an earlier statement to Spin info, the impeached mayor Rankić said that he does not think that he needs special decisions of the assembly and that the statute allows him to enter into such contracts.

“From an earlier period, the Bratunac Municipal Assembly adopted a rulebook on the basis of which interested legal entities can work, and perform their registered economic activities on the territory of the Bratunac municipality with the possibility of leasing land. This rulebook defines all the conditions that must be fulfilled in order to be able to conclude a contract. It is about a lease, it is not about the alienation of property, so their (Municipal Assembly’s) position on this is unfounded and contrary to the rulebook that the same assembly passed. The deadline, the price, and all other conditions have been defined”, said Rankić for Spin, justifying the award of the contract to Eco PRODUCT, which our portal previously wrote about.

Attorney’s Office: The law was not respected

However, Rankić is also denied by the Municipal Assembly, as well as by the Republic’s Attorney’s Office.

Deputy Ombudsman of Republika Srpska, Vladan Pejanović, is of the opinion that Rankić needed the approval of the Municipal Assembly, that is, a special decision, and the opinion of the Ombudsman.

“Taking into account the subject of the lease, and taking into account the provisions of Article 39, paragraph 2, item 13) of the Law on Local Self-Government of Republika Srpska and the provisions of Article 36, paragraph 2, item 13 of the Statute of the Municipality of Bratunac, which stipulates that within its jurisdiction The Municipal Assembly makes decisions on the acquisition, management and disposal of municipal property, we are of the opinion that, in this particular case, it was necessary that, before the conclusion of the aforementioned contract, the Bratuanc Municipal Assembly passes a decision giving consent to lease the subject immovable property and that the mayor of the municipality is authorized to, on behalf of the municipality of Bratunac, conclude a lease agreement”, the opinion of the deputy ombudsman states.

Pejanović also stated that Rankić was obliged to submit a draft of the Lease Agreement and accompanying documentation for the opinion of the Attorney General of Republika Srpska before signing the disputed contract.

But Rankić did none of this. He believes that he did everything in accordance with the Law. Judicial institutions should have the final word on this, considering that criminal charges have been filed against Rankić.

Several employees of the Municipality of Bratunac and the Municipal Assembly who confirmed the allegations from the documents obtained by the Spin portal did not want to speak publicly about these events.

A contract awarded to a company without a single employee

Regardless of the fact that the Agreement on the lease of land for the performance of economic activity was granted outside the law, the company “Milrad Group” itself, which was founded in August last year, is disputed, and according to the available data, it does not have a single employee, even though it is an activity that includes hotel accommodation services.

It is also interesting that the company of Miloš Radivojević, founder and director, operated with a loss of 600 KM in 2021, while short-term liabilities amounted to 16,583 KM.

The question arises, on what basis did the impeached non-leader of the municipality of Bratunac, Srđan Rankić, allocate the land and related facilities for use to a company operating at a loss and without a single worker? In addition, the citizens of Bratunac have almost no benefit from this way of disposing of municipal land, given that the municipality’s income will amount to only 1,827 KM per year.