Prime minister, ministers and civil servants in the Government of Sarajevo Canton are becoming the users of the mobile network services of Banja Luka-based provider 'Mtel', whose majority shareholder is Serbian state-owned telecommunication operator Telekom Srbija, according to investigative news portal Istraga.ba.

The media outlet published the information alongside a document issued by the Sarajevo Canton's Office for Common Affairs, which proves that the cantonal authorities chose ‘Mtel’ as “the most favourable bidder” for providing the mobile network services for the Sarajevo Canton in 2021, terminating in that way the longtime contract with ‘BH Telecom’, Bosnia's state-owned telecommunication operator, in the part concerning the mobile network services.

According to Istraga.ba, the Sarajevo Canton Government has for years used the services of ‘BH Telecom’, both for mobile and landline networks. However, in February this year, the Government led by Prime Minister Edin Forto decided to announce separate public bids for these two services.

Istraga.ba also explained that the Sarajevo Canton Government acted in favour of the Banja Luka-based company, because ‘Mtel’ owns no landline infrastructure in the capital city, therefore would not be competitive if the public bid considered both services together.

In this way, the media outlet said, the money from the Sarajevo Canton budget will in the future be paid to the company that is owned by neighbouring Serbia.

N1 contacted the Office for Common Affairs for further explanation but got no response by the moment of publishing this article.