CONTROVERSIAL DECISIONS OF THE FORMER MAYOR: How Were Chosen Tycoons Allowed to Choke Sarajevo?

The decision by Mayor Benjamina Karić, in the final days of her mayoral term, to urgently request the City Council to annul the decision concerning the restriction of future construction in the Novo Sarajevo municipality area has caused significant public controversy and once again drew attention to the procedures for adopting regulatory plans for Quadrant C - Marijin Dvor and Novo Sarajevo - Centar. The reason these regulatory plans are particularly important is that they are the only plans covered by the Study on Ventilation Corridors.

The study has determined that the intensity of airflow along the Main Road corridor is lower compared to the flow intensity along the Miljacka corridor. The reasons for this are the wider width of the Miljacka corridor, as well as the presence of the river, which promotes air circulation in the East-West direction.

“Results on a local scale show that the presence of high buildings located close to the corridor negatively impacts air circulation along the corridor", stated the Study on Ventilation Corridors.

It is precisely in this area that the draft regulatory plans for Quadrant C - Marijin Dvor and Novo Sarajevo Centar propose the construction of several high-rise buildings.

The company MDC Ltd. Sarajevo has informed the public of its plans to build the World Trade Center (WTC) Sarajevo complex. The complex is to be located on land in the Novo Sarajevo municipality, on the site currently used as parking near the Raiffeisen Bank headquarters and the Importanne Center. The director of MDC, Edin Sefo, stated that the investment is valued at 250 million, and construction of the project is expected to begin next year.

"There will be no such high-rise buildings because experts say so, the Institute for Planning of the Sarajevo Canton says so, and other experts involved in the creation of that regulatory plan agree. There will be no such high-rise buildings on Vilsonovo šetalište (promenade). Our building will be located directly next to the Zmaja od Bosne Street. There are about five dunums of empty, undeveloped space between our project and Vilsonovo šetalište", said Sefo, noting that the complex will be 12 stories high at its highest point.

In addition to the WTC building, an extension of the existing Importanne Center is planned on the neighboring parcels. The new building would be connected to the existing one and would be built on the side, on the space between the current Importanne building and Raiffeisen Bank. It would have over 12 stories with a maximum height of up to 50 meters. The parcel size is 2,096 square meters.

How Much Do Authorities Care About the Air in Sarajevo?

At the end of February this year, the Sarajevo Canton Assembly adopted the Draft Urban Plan for the urban area of Sarajevo (Stari Grad, Centar, Novo Sarajevo, Novi Grad, Ilidža, and Vogošća), with a conclusion to place the draft plan for public insight and public discussion lasting 60 days, which was done in March of this year. While awaiting the completion of the procedure and adoption of the new Urban Plan, a public discussion was announced for the end of the month regarding the Draft Regulatory Plan for the "Quadrant C - Marijin Dvor" area.

In the meantime, the Prime Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nermin Nikšić, hosted a delegation from the World Trade Center Association (WTCA) and representatives of MDC company, led by WTCA's Executive Director for Business Development, Robin van Puyenbroeck. They informed the prime minister about a multifunctional business residential complex that will operate under the WTC license.

"This is an important investment and development project. It is a message to the entire community, both here and worldwide, that Sarajevo offers a favorable security and legal environment for investment", said Prime Minister Nikšić, emphasizing the Federation Government's commitment to creating a "favorable environment for investment" that opens new jobs and stimulates the development of the Bosnian economy.

The Prime Minister expressed his satisfaction that they had decided to invest in the country and expressed his hope that the project would be realized as soon as possible. Prime Minister Nikšić did not mention wind corridors or the impact of construction on them.

Just a few days earlier, the Prime Minister's party colleague, the former Mayor of Sarajevo Benjamina Karić, attempted to remove the protective measures for the wind corridors from the Draft Regulatory Plan for Novo Sarajevo Centar. This regulatory plan covers the area around the Importane Center and the location where the WTC building is planned to be constructed.

"The decision on amendments to the decision on the initiation of the development of the regulatory plan for Centar Novo Sarajevo, published in the official gazette of the Sarajevo Canton in 2021, contains guidelines related to the protection of ventilation corridors, specifying that the maximum construction coefficient within the plan area is one and the maximum height of planned buildings is 20 meters above the ground level. As a result, the planning activities were temporarily halted", Karić will tell the city council members, requesting the cancellation of this decision, justifying her request with the need to resume the plan's development and address the needs of the citizens.

Although the city councilors approved the proposal from Mayor Karić, a few days later, following public reactions, councilors from Naša Stranka requested that the adopted proposal be annulled at the next City Council session.

"Based on the introductory statement of the proposer, the Mayor of the City of Sarajevo, the majority of councilors understood that this was a procedural decision. Also, the written explanation for the urgent procedure clearly states that adopting the act in the regular procedure would lead to unnecessary delays in decision-making on this matter. The consequences of hastily made decisions can be far-reaching, and part of the responsibility for this hastiness is also taken by the proposer of the decision at the 44th regular session", stated Naša Stranka.

Let us remind the public that in September 2015, the City Council of Sarajevo adopted the Decision on the initiation of the development of the Regulatory Plan "Centar Novo Sarajevo". Article four of the decision defined the basic guidelines for the creation of the Plan and prohibited the construction of new buildings until the Regulatory Plan was adopted. Six years later, at the end of February 2021, the City Council made a decision on amendments and additions to this decision, one of which was that the maximum height of planned buildings should be 20 meters, while the maximum construction percentage of the newly planned plots remained at 60%. In November 2024, Mayor Karić requested that these amendments be annulled through an urgent procedure by the City Council.

In an attempt to minimize her request, she stated that “the guidelines established by the 2015 decision and the amendments to the 2021 decision differ by only two additional provisions, which relate to measures for the protection of ventilation corridors, namely: the maximum construction coefficient within the Plan area is Ki=1 and the maximum height of the planned buildings is 20 meters above ground level".

These very protective measures, which favor investors, were what Mayor Karić sought to remove from the regulatory plan, as they are factors that most affect the wind corridors and were prescribed as one of the protection measures. Žurnal spoke with experts in this field who worked on the development of the Urban Ventilation Corridor Study.

"Apart from height, the key focus of the public should be on the degree of construction and the coefficient of utilization. These are extremely important and likely the most crucial parameters, even though the height of the buildings is also quite significant, its impact can be corrected by the shape and position of the building. This is where we need to insist, as the interests break down here – how much profit is at stake", experts warned.

They warn that while the construction of new buildings cannot be stopped, it is possible to limit the damage they can cause. When it comes to the impact on air circulation, the height of the building is not the only problem in construction.

"If the plot is 100 square meters and you build a house of 100 square meters, the construction coefficient (Ki) is 1. However, if you have Ki 7, as is the case with SCC, you have seven times the surface area of the building compared to the plot's area. That coefficient should, in extreme situations, be around three and a half", the experts state.

The built-up percentage of the WTC building and part of the Importane Center according to the Draft Spatial Plan of Quadrant C Marijin Dvor is 47% and 57%, while the construction coefficient is 4.5 and 5.4. The Urban Ventilation Corridors Study, with the goal of their protection, recommends that the maximum construction coefficient (Ki) be 1 or less.

Experts in this field see the solution in the new Urban Plan for Sarajevo, which should finally bring order to this area. They also warn that Sarajevo is a city with special needs due to its basin-like topography and unfavorable microclimate. They emphasize that there should be no construction in the urban part of the city if we want to address pollution and air heating problems.

"We have an unfavorable microclimate in terms of circulation. The air often stands still here naturally. However, if we don't build smartly, if construction goes ahead recklessly, we will have problems in the summer as well. It's not just a problem in winter when episodes of high pollution occur. It's also important in the summer when there are high temperatures. Whether you will have a more comfortable atmosphere to live in or feel like you're in a pot depends on that", they point out.

Who's Building There?

The World Trade Center building will be constructed by the Sarajevo-based company MDC. The owners of the company are mother and son, Vahida and Amer Bukvić, along with Edin Sefo, who is also the company's director. According to the Center for Investigative Journalism in Sarajevo, retirees Fikreta Gavrankapetanović and her relative Vahida Bukvić started a private business in which they invested millions of BAM. They invested the money in real estate purchases, a joint company, and the buyout of shares from business partners. During this entrepreneurial venture, these two retirees bought a dilapidated villa in Ilidža for 1.2 million BAM, which was later rebuilt into the luxurious Krone Hotel. After several years, the mothers of the well-known sons grew tired of the business. Gavrankapetanović sold her share to Vahida, who then handed the business over to her son, Amer Bukvić.

In the spring of 2006, two companies were founded – "Emirates Investments" and MDC. Their common connection was BBI Bank and a friend and former colleague from the bank, Edin Sefo. Sefo founded MDC, and two years later, he transferred the majority ownership to Bukvić’s mother, Vahida. In 2016, Amer Bukvić invested 150,000 BAM into MDC, which until then had formally belonged to his mother, Vahida, and thus became the majority owner of the company. Along with the two of them, Edin Sefo remained in the company.

Several years later, Bukvić's company, MDC, will be in the public spotlight precisely because of the plot where they now plan to build the WTC building. Let us remind you, Žurnal warned three years ago that individuals from the "Narod i pravda" party, the so-called "Malaysian cadres", who had studied in Malaysia just like Bukvić, were particularly active in lobbying for MDC's project.

Coincidentally or not, during this period, the Government of the Sarajevo Canton annulled the Decision on Temporary Measures for the Protection of Ventilation Corridors, which had previously prevented the construction of high-rise buildings in the central areas of the city.

In early 2021, the Municipal Court in Sarajevo registered the land under the name of MDC, despite a prior decision from a higher court that prohibited the transfer due to suspicions that the previous owners had acquired it unlawfully. Let us remind you that at the time, an indictment was confirmed in the “Profit” case, and 19 individuals were listed as accused.

According to the allegations from the prosecution, from 2006 to 2014, they organized a group that unlawfully gained the financial benefit of approximately 30 million BAM through the fictitious purchase of shares, market manipulation, and the withdrawal of money through fictitious legal transactions.

The Prosecutor's Office simultaneously sought the confiscation of assets acquired through these actions, not only those owned by the accused but also those transferred to family members. The most disputed property has since changed ownership, with the new owner being MDC company, despite a court order that prohibited its disposal. This was the plot of land where the construction of the WTC building is now being announced.

The Cantonal Prosecutor's Office told Žurnal that they had appealed the Municipal Court's decision to transfer ownership, but that the Cantonal Court upheld their appeal.

In the decision of the Cantonal Court regarding the rejection of the Prosecutor's appeal, it is stated that "the Land Registry office of the Municipal Court in Sarajevo, considering the fact that the basis for the transfer of ownership rights to the execution requester MDC Real Estate Sarajevo is a final and enforceable court decision made in enforcement proceedings, rather than a legal transaction through which the executor disposed of the property, according to the provisions of the Law on Land Registers, did not have the authority to reject the registration of ownership rights in favor of the third legal entity".

In addition to the Bukvić family, another investor whose building dimensions do not meet the criteria for protecting wind corridors is well known to the public. The owner of the Importane Center is the Čaušević family. In addition to Importane Center, they own several companies, the most well-known being Teleoptic and Milkos Dairy.

In 2016, Sarajevo Canton initiated a lawsuit against Teleoptic for the illegal exploitation of water at the Vilenac spring for three years. The Canton sought payment of a debt of 438,000 BAM through legal means. In 2011, the company applied for a concession in the Canton but was denied. Despite this, they decided to continue using the concession illegally for three years and then sued the Canton. This behavior did not anger the responsible ministry. On the contrary, Teleoptic was even rewarded with a 30-year concession contract! The owner of Teleoptic is Nedim Čaušević. Media extensively covered Čaušević’s dubious business dealings involving the sale of mobile phones and optical cables for BH Telecom. Coincidentally or not, immediately after this suspicious collaboration with Čaušević, the then directors of BH Telecom became owners of apartments in the Importane building.

(zurnal.info)