In Bosnia and Herzegovina alone, around seven million marks were spent on limousines for politicians this year, while around twelve million marks were made available from the budget for all vehicle types.
The most expensive vehicle that year was bought by Elektroprivreda HZHB, the value of which, excluding VAT, was 133 thousand marks.
With limousines there is of course never a lack of money. Despite the pandemic, the cost of sedans this year is back as high as it was years before the pandemic.
Three times more money is spent on politician limousines than on fire engines and ambulances.
Research shows that politicians in BiH do not save when buying limousines. The politicians’ fleet is adorned with expensive cars.
In the last three years alone, according to BIRN research, politicians have provided around 36 million BAM for the purchase of limousines.
The problem with buying a limousine is the procurement process itself, which points to corrupt actions, explain the interviewees.
Denis Dzidic, director of BIRN BiH, says that with fairly open tenders, you end up with only one or two bids, which really suggests that a large number of bidders have now entered these corrupt practices.
“They literally have geographically dispersed suppliers who deliver vehicles to whom, and that always the same suppliers for the institutions in Banja Luka, the same for the institutions in Mostar, the same for the institutions in Sarajevo, where it is obvious that there is a certain type of agreement between the bidders, since on average all bidders receive one or two bids, writes BHRT.
