Bosnia Institutions Spend Millions on Office Rent

The audit, adopted by parliament on February 2, was conducted last year and revealed that none of the offices rented are chosen by public procurement rules. Instead most deals are made by negotiating with those who respond to calls advertised in the newspaper.
 
It also said there are no strict rules on the conditions under which offices can be rented.
 
The institutions of Bosnia spend around three per cent of their budgets on renting offices, with that amount rising every year as more public workers are employed and new state agencies are funded.
 
Amounts being spent on rent, and also on parking places, have steadily increased from around seven million euro in 2005.
 
Most offices are rented in Sarajevo, Banja Luka and Mostar with the average space per employee around 17 square meters. The average price per square meter of offices rented is 10-20 euro.
 
The auditors said that by cutting one square meter per employee, Bosnia could save around 100,000 euro a year and an additional 80,000 euro if rent was lowered by 0.5 euro per square meter.
 
Rents are not regulated in Bosnian institutions, so it is possible that two state agencies renting space in the same building could pay different prices.
 
In an attempt to solve the problem, parliament has adopted an amendment saying that rather than renting, offices should be bought with money from credits from international institutions.
 
Office space is a contentious issue in Bosnia as the ownership of many buildings is disputed between the state, entity, cantonal, municipal and other levels of government. The audit report said that although the problems are known to state officials, no regulations have been implemented to solve them.