HOW THE CORRUPT NETWORK WAS FINANCE:: Companies Connected to the Dodik Family Earned 144 Million KM Last Year!

“Infinity International Group”, “Prointer”, “Kaldera Company”, “Infinity Media”, “K-2 Audio Services”, “Una World Network”, and “Sirius 2010’’, companies linked to the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, and his family, were sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury and identified as sources of income for a corrupt network. Last year alone, these companies earned 143,782,377 KM.

In a year when American sanctions were increasingly tightening around Dodik, and his children, Igor and Gorica Dodik, were placed on the blacklist, the influx of money into these companies significantly increased by tens of millions of KM, evidently from domestic sources. However, all these business entities, along with their formal owners and responsible persons, Đorđe Đurić and Milenko Čičić, can expect their bank accounts to be closed in the coming months.

Financial reports for the past year reveal a frantic accumulation of money. Tender reports for previous years are also clear – 1,887 contracts worth 541,325,485 KM.

The now-famous statement by the president that his son Igor is neither the owner nor an authorized person of Prointer, but rather a collaborator with the company, working with new technologies, collaborating with foreign firms, and earning income from it, made on July 18, 2019, confirmed everything that had been discussed publicly until that moment. The network of companies that had been a significant source of income for the family was being exposed through ownership, transfers, and an insatiable appetite for contracts awarded through tenders. The public sector, mainly managed by SNSD personnel, was generous.

FROM ABNORMAL GROWTH TO COLLAPSE

Prointer, the perpetual IT tender champion, reported an incredible inflow last year – 79,967,341 KM and a profit of 25,534,630 KM. Just a year earlier, the figures were much lower, with a revenue of 49,341,008 KM and a profit of "only" 6,040,751 KM.

Since its founding in 2015, Prointer was mostly the only bidder for the public sector. That single bid was always acceptable. The result is 1,147 contracts worth 330,810,460 KM. Due to corruption and undermining the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, members of the Dodik family were slowly added to the "blacklist", and globally renowned partners such as Microsoft, IBM, and SAP turned their backs on the company. In 2019, IBM sought an explanation for the large number of public sector contracts, but the company could not justify it. Subsequently, Prointer blamed Žurnal for the beginning of its downfall and bombarded our editorial office with SLAPP lawsuits, each of which has been dismissed by the Basic Court in Banja Luka.

Kaldera Company officially became Prointer's partner in acquiring public funds in 2020 when it became its majority owner. This was formalized with a grand contract signing for business cooperation. Both companies then announced an "attack on the energy sector of Republika Srpska".

"We decided on this step primarily because we assessed that there is room in our business expansion to enter other sectors such as energy. In this context, we sought an adequate partner with whom we could exchange knowledge and best practices, and 'Kaldera' was our choice", said Bojan Vujić, then director of Prointer, now head of the also-sanctioned Infinity International Group.

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He revealed that Prointer was acquiring a 65 per cent ownership stake in Kaldera. The former owner, now the "blacklisted" director Milenko Čičić, added that Kaldera would work on hardware solutions while Prointer would handle software.

Earlier, it was announced that Prointer would take over Kaldera after Elektroprivreda RS, managed by SNSD's Luka Petrović, paid over 10 million KM for a stake in Hidroelektrane Bistrica. Sources from the portal Capital stated that the goal was for Prointer to take over Kaldera and then carry out work on the power grid for ERS's dependent companies.

Twelve years earlier, RS sold Hidroelektrane Bistrica to Kaldera for 6.8 million KM and then repurchased it for around 20 million KM.

Kaldera had a revenue of 30,554,939 KM last year, up from "just" 19,666,423 KM the previous year. Its profit also grew, from 222,741 KM in 2022 to 1,932,983 KM in 2023. According to tender records, the company has registered 263 contracts worth 151,049,780 KM since its inception.

MULTI-MILLION IT TENDER FOR AN IT COMPANY WITHOUT A WEBSITE

Both Žurnal and other media have reported on the connections between Sirius 2010 and Milorad Dodik for years.

"'Sirius 2010' is the founder of 'Zekstra' Banja Luka, one of the two largest shareholders of 'Boska', whose privatisation in 2008 was signed by then-Prime Minister of RS Milorad Dodik and the owners of 'Zekstra' and 'Delta' from Belgrade, Dragan Đurić and Miroslav Mišković", the public recalled.

In one of the latest entanglements around the department store in the centre of Banja Luka, ownership was taken over by the company "Kaboss pro" from Belgrade, behind which stands the newly sanctioned Đorđe Đurić, the formal owner of the company "Infinity International Group". Within this group also operate "Prointer" and "Kaldera Company"...

The tender ascent of Sirius is not a mystery. In 2017, it was announced that the RS Tax Administration had paid the company 10.1 million KM for an integrated information system up to that point.

"According to contractual obligations and upon completion of this job, the Belgrade and Banja Luka 'Prointer' and 'Sirius 2010' are owed another 6.6 million KM. Adding to this the 730,879 KM worth of IT tenders for that year, the calculation is clear – the modern IT system will cost RS citizens 17.4 million KM", wrote Capital.

The story of the SAP integrated information system began in 2012 when a contract was signed with a group of bidders, including "Program" from Belgrade and "Sirius 2010" from Banja Luka, for the purchase of necessary licenses. This cost around 5.7 million KM. However, the same year, a contract for the implementation of software licenses was signed with the firm "S&T Serbia" from Belgrade, worth about 5.5 million KM. According to this contract, and upon completed works, this firm was paid around 2.7 million KM. As "S&T Serbia" did not fulfil all obligations and the contract expired on September 17, 2016, the RS Tax Administration initiated a dispute against this firm.

"In 2017, a contract was signed to continue the implementation of the integrated system with a consortium of firms, including 'Sirius 2010' Banja Luka, 'Prointer ITSS', and 'Prointer ITSS' Belgrade. This contract, apart from covering unimplemented functionalities from the previous contract, also included new functionalities. This entails the implementation of a unified system for registration, control, and collection of contributions and the fiscal register of real estate, which influenced the increase in the initial project cost. The contract was signed for a total amount of 7.1 million KM excluding VAT, of which 1.5 million KM excluding VAT has been realised so far", stated the RS Tax Administration.

Interestingly, the IT company "Sirius 2010", with which the RS Tax Administration signed a multi-million contract for one of the most advanced systems, did not have a website in 2017. It was founded ten years earlier and had only one to two employees.

Last year, it reported a revenue of 17,718,313 KM, compared to 5,450,204 KM in 2022. A profit was also recorded, with the latest report showing 2,172,640 KM, compared to 1,271,523 KM the previous year. Citizens financed a total of 213 tenders with 57,039,980 KM.

ALTERNATIVE, RIGHT, RIGHTER

In the new package of sanctions, the company K-2, which is one of the owners of Alternativna Televizija (ATV), was included. Its finances are insignificant compared to those reported by the media, with a revenue of only 6,000 KM. However, the story around ATV is much more profitable.

This Banja Luka-based television station "saw the light" at the beginning of 2018 when it was acquired by tycoon Slobodan Stanković, the late owner of the "Integral Inženjering" empire and also a person on the US blacklist. His company was removed from the list after his death. Igor Dodik, as a representative of Integral's capital, was present at meetings with journalists at that time.

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ATV ended the previous, alternative, 2017 with a revenue of 3,651,318 KM and a profit of just 87,850 KM. In 2018, there was an inflow of 861,197 KM more – totalling 4,512,515 KM.

When the government takes control, republic credits are quickly approved. The Investment-Development Bank of Republika Srpska received, processed, and approved ATV's loan request of 2,250,000 KM in just three days in May 2018. The TV management submitted the request on May 8, and the credit committee approved it on May 11. The contract was sent for signature on May 14.

In March 2019, Grand Trade, owned by convicted criminal and Dodik's godfather Mile Radišić, acquired a 24% stake, while the majority owner of ATV, with a 51% share, was "Integral Inženjering" owned by Slobodan Stanković's wife, Slavica Stanković. Subsequently, Prointer purchased everything. The same IT firm also bought the remaining stake of the company "K-2", thereby completely taking over Alternativna Televizija.

In 2019, ATV reported an inflow of 4,227,675 KM but also a loss of 389,088 KM. The pandemic year of 2020 ended with a revenue of 4,896,946 KM and 2021 with 3,584,505 KM.

In January 2023, ATV changed ownership again, and in the court register, the founder is now Prointer's sister company, Infinity Media. As everything was brought under the Dodik family's roof, the financial report was highly favourable, with revenues reaching almost 11 million KM.

The "progress" of the once-alternative media outlet was significantly aided by contracts with the public sector. In addition to framework agreements worth hundreds of thousands of marks, the media also benefited from directly negotiated contracts.

In the explanation of the sanctions imposed by the United States on this media outlet, it was stated:

"ATV is owned by a company closely associated with Dodik's family, but Dodik himself personally controls the media behind the scenes, for example, by approving media stories on politically sensitive topics. ATV has been engaged deliberately and explicitly to advance its own agenda, which includes efforts to discredit other political figures, smooth its public image, and advance its personal and political goals. Dodik awarded contracts related to ATV directly to his family members, using this as another avenue for corruption. He funnelled money from public enterprises directly to ATV for corrupt reasons. In recent years, he has significantly increased funding for ATV and engaged in malign media influence campaigns through ATV to publish content that promotes his political and personal goals".

To recap, ATV is the founder of the company "A media", which operates the pro-regime "Faktor Magazine". Additionally, in 2019, Alternativna Televizija purchased the radio station "Igokea", which was owned by Gorica Dodik, daughter of Milorad Dodik and the Basketball Club "Igokea". The radio station previously carried the name "Agape", like the restaurant owned by Gorica. It then changed its name to "A Radio" and was relocated from Laktaši to Banja Luka, into the ATV building. The directorship was taken over from Ivana Dodik, wife of Dodik's son Igor, by Drahmi Miskin.

After the new package of sanctions, they announced they would be even louder, with journalistic objectivity likely to remain sidelined.

REGIONAL PROJECT

Bojan Vujić, the former director of "Prointer" who admitted in court in Banja Luka the connection of Igor Dodik with this company, has now taken the position of director of the group named "Infinity International". This group includes the sanctioned companies. Notably, it operates with a substantial profit. Last year's revenue was nearly five million KM, almost a million more than in 2022, and a profit of 2,038,471 KM was reported.

The revenue of "Infinity Media" also grew throughout the year, from 509,187 KM in 2022 to 1,273,677 KM.

"Una World Network", according to the Akta database, has no registered employees but still reported revenue of 796,056 KM last year, about half a million more than in 2022.

Evidence of the connection between the highly touted regional media project and the Dodik family was visible through the registers of the District Commercial Court in Banja Luka.

(zurnal.info)