The management of Vodovod, led by former director Zoran Popović, damaged this company by over one million KM, according to a document that the Gerila editorial office had access to, and refers to the control of documentation, performed works and prices of works and materials on new premises of Vodovod bought from ZIBL in mid-2017. The control was performed by a court expert in the field of construction and architecture, who was hired by the General Directorate of Banja Luka for the needs of the Audit Team.
In the document on the expertise of the adaptation and rehabilitation of the new space of Vodovod, and the content of which we are exclusively publishing, work was done by an expert and it is stated that after the purchase of the said real estate, Vodovod started the adaptation and reconstruction of the real estate, according to the project documentation.
This document states that the Project Documentation has not been prepared in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Physical Planning and Construction and bylaws arising from this Law. The prices in the project documentation, referring to the bill of quantities and estimate, are identical to the prices from the bid of the most favourable bidder, which indicates possible abuse and negotiation of prices and works before the conclusion of the contract with the contractor. The prices of the construction, electrical and mechanical parts of the works, as well as the prices of the interior, are twice as high as the market prices of the works and materials, according to the expert's opinion.
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A certain number of works was not performed, but was charged:
- Demolition and dismantling works were charged 53,842.00 KM, but works were performed in the amount of 26,222.00 KM – a difference of 27,620.00 KM
- Masonry works were charged 52,148.00 KM and nothing was done – the difference is 52,148.00 KM
- Interior wooden joinery (interior doors) were charged 19,549.20 KM, but the built-in doors are worth 11,484.00 KM (listed more doors than installed and what is needed) – a difference of 8,065.20 KM
- Locksmith works – collected 199,341.54 KM, and done for the value of 162,456.84 KM – a difference of 36,884.70 KM
- at position 18 aluminium interior doors, a door measuring 431 × 230 cm with a price of 10,957.05 KM is planned, and the said paid door is not installed at all
- incorrect quantities of ceramic works charged 188,639.00 KM, and performed in the amount of 155,727.00 – a difference of 32,912.00 KM
- Plaster works (incorrect quantities) charged 79,120.00, and performed in the amount of 46,720.00 KM – a difference of 32,400.00 KM
- Painting works (incorrect quantities) charged 53,568.00 KM, and performed in the amount of 40,972.50 KM – a difference of 12,595.50 KM
- Other works (incorrect quantities) collected 53.3334,40 KM, and performed in the amount of 35.802,00 KM – a difference of 17.532,40 KM
- The total difference only on construction and craft works is 216,783 KM, or even 29% of the total amount paid, which is 758,553.95 KM!
It is further stated that the electrical phase (ie electrical installations, fire alarm, computer installation, preparatory final works, records of working hours, video surveillance, servers, telephony, UPS) was charged 507,780.00 KM, and performed in the amount of 494,280.00 KM, and here we have a difference of 13,500.00 KM.
Heating, cooling and ventilation were charged 353,822.08 KM, and it was performed in the amount of 348,902.08 KM – a difference of 4,920.00 KM, and it is interesting that the prices from the bill of quantities and estimates are identical to those on offer.
It is further stated that the furnishings (ground floor, first and second floor) were charged 547,885.00 KM, and performed in the value of 535,995.00 – a difference of 11,890.00 KM.
Also, it is stated that the total value of the collected works is 1,981,472.00 KM, as well as that the total value of the performed works according to the expert is 1,734,378.42 and there is a difference in the amount of 247,093.50 KM!
Based on the findings of the expert, it was further determined that the prices of construction, electrical and mechanical works, as well as the prices of furniture increased by 50% in relation to their real market prices and the quality of materials. When this is expressed in numbers, we come to the conclusion that the total value of construction, electrical, mechanical and interior works performed at the prices from the contract (1,612,117.42 KM) is reduced by 50%, or by 806,058,71 KM!
The conclusion is that the total value of actually performed works and installed materials at the market price is 928,319.71 KM, but a total of 1,981,472.00 was paid, which brings us to the difference, ie to the figure of as much as 1,053,152.29 KM!
“Based on all the above, and in accordance with the findings of the construction expert, it can be determined that the works were actually performed and the equipment and materials were installed, and calculated at market prices, prepaid for the amount of 1,053,152.29 KM. Accordingly, it is necessary to initiate criminal proceedings against the responsible persons in order to determine criminal liability and compensation for damage to the company Vodovod a.d. in the form of the return of illegally obtained money“, is in the conclusion of the expert (name and surname known to the editorial office).
Zoran Popović, former director of Vodovod, is explicit in his statement for Gerila that everything was done according to the law, regardless of what the expert, ie the Audit Team of the Banja Luka General Directorate, established.
“The space adaptation project was done in accordance with the law. Based on the project, a public announcement was published, and the public announcement was an open procedure in which about 20 companies applied, two companies passed, and one company got the job. How can I influence the open procedure? People are fighting for 100, 200 KM who will make a lower offer. Why didn’t someone offer for a facility that cost about two million, why didn’t someone offer a million KM? He can't, because he has project documentation. If you want better, higher-quality furniture, of course, it costs more. The supervisory body was formed, the company did it, the work was done, the man was paid, the supervisory body confirmed it all, the public procurement commission opened all the bids, selected the contractor, the job was done”, said Popović.
At the beginning of March 2020, the company “Korićanac” from Banja Luka was awarded a job on the rehabilitation and adaptation of business premises worth over two million and 250 thousand KM without VAT, in competition with another company. “Koricanac's” offer received a maximum of 100 points from the commission.
Unofficially, we learn that the furniture for the workers, such as tables and cabinets, was made by a worker of Vodovod who has a carpentry company, and after this job, he asked Vodovod to declare him redundant.
We remind you that Vodovod a.d. bought a part of the office building located at 4 Marija Marsać Street from ZIBL Banja Luka.
In 2017, this public company bought a part of the business space, the ground floor and the first floor of the “Zavod za izgradnju” (translation: Institute for Construction) Banja Luka (ZIBL), which is located at 4 Marija Bursać Street, and rented the second floor of the same building, to eventually buy that part as well. For the ground floor and two floors in this building, “Vodovod” Banja Luka set aside about 2.6 million KM. Branka Trninić was the director of Vodovod when buying most of the space in the ZIBL building, and Popović became the director on November 13, 2017, and during his tenure, the second floor of 365m2 was purchased at a price of just over 850,000 KM.
Popovic told our portal that Vodovod had been in the barracks for 40 years and that this had to change.
“The former administration and the then-mayor made the decision to buy the premises of ZIBL and to equip it, to equip a chemical building and to make automatic chlorination. Why didn't the audit team invite me to analyze what I didn't do right. None of them ever contacted me,” Popović told us.
Popović learned from our journalist that the Audit Team of the Banja Luka General Directorate will soon come out with the results of the analysis of the work of the administration headed by him. He points out that all this, as he says, is a “political dance”.
“That audit team can write whatever they want, no decision was made there outside the law. It is on the Vodovod website – there is every single public procurement that was done in Vodovod, whether it is a dictation procurement, an open procedure, a negotiation procedure, it is all published on the Vodovod website and on the Public Procurement website. Nothing has been done outside the law in the past four years. They can write whatever they want and whatever they ask for, after all, there is a report from a real auditing company. Well, they have been dealing with me for six months now, they are not doing anything else in Vodovod, it has become a mess there now”, said Popović for our portal, commenting on the work of the Audit Team.
Interestingly, after the election for the director of Vodovod, Popović announced he's leaving the board mandate in the city assembly due to, as he himself stated, “conflict of interest”.
In mid-January 2021, Draško Stanivuković, Mayor of Banja Luka, submitted to the Republic Commission for Determining Conflicts of Interest in Authorities of Republika Srpska an initiative to initiate proceedings for determining conflicts of interest in the authorities for Zoran Popović, director of Vodovod and newly elected SNSD councillor in the Assembly City of Banja Luka.
“Since Zoran Popović retained his board mandate and did not resign from the position of director of “Vodovod ” a.d. Banja Luka, there is no doubt that he is in a conflict of interest. I suggest that, as the competent independent body in this particular case, you initiate a procedure and make a decision on the existence of a conflict of interest, in order to consistently apply and respect the law”, the mayor's initiative said at the time.
The saga surrounding the removal of Popović lasted several months, and he was finally removed on August 26, 2021, about which our portal was the first to write about.
The supervisory board of the company “Vodovod” fired the director Zoran Popović, and this information was confirmed by the mayor of Banja Luka Draško Stanivuković on his Facebook profile.
“The next step is a revision of his action, or rather, inaction! We said that nothing will be the same again and it really is like that!” Stanivuković wrote.
“This is how he will ‘fly away’, leave and remove any director who abuses his position and who is guided by all public procurement,” Stanivuković told the media at the time.
As he said, when talking about the business of “Vodovod”, the clearest data is that this company has 20 million in revenues, and barely 200,000 thousand KM in profit.
“That means that those 19 million and 800 thousand end up in someone's pockets. Immediately after the appointment of new directors, the Audit Team enters, and a special Audit Team, an audit company from Belgrade, which is coming tomorrow, to comb absolutely everything,” Stanivuković points out.
“Serious crime is happening in Vodovod and the Dodik family is here again. That's why we started the dismissal of the director. Tomorrow, the audit team will enter, and then the auditor from Belgrade. Those who committed crimes must fly away. Someone will have to answer for all this. I would like everything to go faster, but we must follow the procedures. We will be efficient”, said the mayor of Banja Luka on this occasion.
Predrag Duduković, an economist with a master's degree in management and a long-term member of the Association of RS SWOT Economists with many years of experience in the private sector, was appointed acting director.
At the end of January 2022, scant information was published that the new management of Vodovod, headed by Duduković, had filed criminal charges against Popović.
Duduković, as well as the members of the Audit Team of the Banja Luka General Directorate, were not willing to give a statement for GERILA until the results of the audit are officially announced.
The District Public Prosecutor's Office briefly replied that the report against Popović was filed due to the criminal offence of Abuse of Official Position or Authorization, as well as that extensive documentation was submitted, which we still cannot get access to because we are not a party to the proceedings.
“Anyone can file a criminal complaint against anyone, and in the end, my claims will be proven. It will be proven that the management headed by me reduced the number of employees, that it increased the income, and now I have to face an audit team there. Every single decision was in accordance with the law and the statute. They violated the law when they appointed the Supervisory Board and will now annul all decisions of the Supervisory Board where they made the appointment of both the Director and the Management Board and the Supervisory Board. This is a political dance and a media chase, and I told that to the mayor as well,” said Popović.
The Annual Business Report for the business year 2020 states that Vodovod successfully operated in the financial plan in 2020, achieving a total income of 20,497,786 KM, which is 10% higher than the previous year. On the other hand, the total costs amounted to 20,157,074 KM and they increased by about 9.3% compared to the previous year, so Vodovod ended 2020 with a net profit of 249,634 KM.
“From all that, a scenario is being made. Just look at the report on the operation of Vodovod from 2017, which you have on the Stock Exchange, what was the income and how many employees were employed, and what was the income at the end of 2020 when I left Vodovod. Revenues have increased by two million KM, I have reduced the number of employees, unlike now, ie the new management of Vodovod and the mayor, who hired at least 40 new workers in three months. Look at the report from September 1, 2021, when I left the position of director, that three month quarter, I then left 1 million and 200 thousand KM more for Vodovod and not Duduković, nor the mayor”, Popović told us.
In the coming days, the official announcement of the results of the Audit Team is expected, which, according to the information obtained by our portal, severely accuses Popović of abusing his official position.
