WHEN THE PROSECUTION FAILS: From a Criminal Suspect to a Prominent Businessman

It has been a year and a half since the criminal complaint was filed with the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the Securities Commission of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina regarding illegal activities in the trading of ŽGP shares. According to the Commission, these activities involve the formation of a group for committing criminal offences—abuse of authority, reckless economic management, receiving rewards for trading in influence, money laundering, and market manipulation through the disputed trading of ŽGP Sarajevo shares, that is, activities that led to a drastic decrease in the value of ŽGP's assets, eventually causing a deliberate bankruptcy.

The list includes several individuals and companies from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, Switzerland, Austria, Slovakia, and Liechtenstein.

For a long time, there have been claims that certain companies are being purchased through investment funds or fund management companies at "inflated" prices, using the fund's money, which is then funnelled into the accounts of individuals. The same company continues to be managed through that fund, which essentially means the misuse of money, mostly belonging to small shareholders. From these numerous allegations, the Commission focused on one case—the destruction of the once-powerful construction company ŽGP Sarajevo. Despite numerous projects, equipment, and workers, the company gradually accumulated millions in debt, leading to the initiation of bankruptcy proceedings in January last year. 

It is well known that local prosecutors often take years to investigate far simpler financial cases, so it will likely take some more time before we see the outcome—unless the prosecutor soon disproves this by concluding the case, dropping the investigation, or possibly proceeding with arrests and indictments.

Where is ŽGP now, along with its workers and equipment? In the bankruptcy proposal submitted by the employees of this company, it was noted that most of the workers have already been laid off from ŽGP Sarajevo or were transferred to companies like Pont, Bossil, LKW-service, and other associated firms under the threat of dismissal.

The answer to which companies are connected can be found on a website that clearly belongs to the company Bossil.

"The consortium ŽGP, BOSSIL, PONT, and our sister companies: LKW SERVIS, LUČENICA KOP, D-INVESTING, and HOLZ BLAŽ, are here for transport, excavation, material installation, as well as for specialised transportation. We also have a service for the procurement and sale of work machines and trucks, and our Lučenica Kop is responsible for stone exploitation", it is stated on that website.

Who are the owners of the mentioned companies? According to the court registry, they are brothers Dragan and Josip Blaž.

On the list of individuals from the aforementioned criminal complaint by the Securities Commission of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the initials D.B. from Vitez and J.B. from Vitez, as Žurnal has learned, belong to the Blaž brothers. Dragan Blaž is also listed as a member of the Supervisory Board of ŽGP.

Yes, that is the same Dragan Blaž, one of the "controversial businessmen" whom Žurnal wrote about in the past (THE CASE OF BINELA KOMERC (Video): Save 250 thousand marks and everything will be sorted out!)

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Since the much-anticipated large-scale investigation—which included criminal acts such as money laundering, tax evasion, potential corruption of state officials, shell companies, threats, and blackmail—it's evident that, years later, nothing has come of it. All that remains are SMS messages exchanged with the responsible prosecutor regarding the case.

Instead of being prosecuted back then, Blaž has gone from being "controversial" to becoming a "respected" businessman, making significant strides in construction projects—from highway works and residential developments to solar and mini-hydropower plants. According to Žurnal's sources, he now has a new protector and advisor in the Indirect Taxation Authority, specifically tasked with schemes involving VAT obligations, particularly for businesspeople under the patronage of the HDZ. But more on that another time. Blaž's fortunes significantly improved after his entry into the structures of ŽGP...

In addition to construction projects in Vitez, Blaž has found real estate dealings in construction land in Vitez to be equally profitable. One of the controversial issues is how the Municipality of Vitez sold state-owned land, which belonged to PD Vlašić, for the location of a business zone.

Dragan Blaž seized his opportunity, with the wholehearted support of HDZ personnel, by purchasing plots of land in the area designated for the business zone known as PC96-2, which he then partially resold.

According to available data, some of the plots were purchased by the former director of the company Bossil, only to later appear in the land registry under the ownership of Blaž's company, D-investing.

An equal mystery, but only for the prosecutors, is how Dragan Blaž's LKW service became the owner of a property in Porječanima during the bankruptcy proceedings of Asfaltgradnja and its company, Asfaltplant, which it is now selling.

A special story involves the "disappearance" of a work machine—a digger belonging to LKW—from the customs terminal in Zenica. A police investigation has been ongoing for years regarding a new digger that was brought to the customs terminal for clearance. This digger allegedly performed some work for the Zenica Ironworks, for which an invoice of just over 200,000 KM was issued. This was the first illegal act involving some former managers of the Ironworks.

One night, that digger was loaded and taken away, and in its place, a faulty digger was unloaded! This part could not go unnoticed by the staff of the Indirect Taxation Authority (UIO), as the digger was "waiting for clearance", which never happened.

According to Žurnal's police sources, there are video recordings of this "operation", but the license plates of the so-called "swan" vehicle used to take away the digger have not been identified. After that, LKW sued the Ironworks for "storage fees", "destruction of the digger", and lost profits of 1.5 million KM!

The accounts of the Ironworks, now in bankruptcy, were blocked by a decision of the Municipal Court in Novi Travnik, so the Ironworks had to make a payment to Blaž's company. If the investigation is ever conclusively resolved, Blaž will have to return the "little million" to the Ironworks...

In addition to the aforementioned companies, there is another firm that our reliable sources indicate is under Dragan Blaž's control. The company Sigma-SK from Zenica has no registered owner in the court registry. The company's phone numbers are disconnected. The reported location of the company's headquarters does not give the impression of active operations.

However, when we look at the tender projects, the Zenica company is quite active and profitable, particularly in the municipality of Vitez and in contracts with institutions where the HDZ line prevails. Dragan Blaž has recently become an important option for that line.

This is just a glimpse into the work profile of a person who is of particular interest to the prosecutors and is becoming a high-level entrepreneur, dealing in millions. Dragan Blaž has not responded to Žurnal's calls and messages for an interview. And we have so much more to ask, not just about ŽGP, but also about other businesses and partners, from Brod to the Adriatic coast...

(zurnal.info)