Viaduct affair: Slovenian security firm owner linked to Dodik's network surfaces in RS arbitration scandal

Viaduct had filed the claim after RS authorities unilaterally terminated a 2013 concession for the construction of hydroelectric plants on the Vrbas River. The arbitration outcome sparked public alarm across Bosnia and Herzegovina. Without the funds to pay, Viaduct moved to seize state assets, including property belonging to the Central Bank. The company even blocked payments for aviation fees, threatening air traffic across the country.

Soon, suspicions began to swirl around the Slovenian company, which allegedly received the lucrative €165 million concession under questionable circumstances in 2004. Investigative reporters from Necenzurirano.si followed the trail and found it leads to individuals closely tied to Republika Srpska’s ruling elite — including a Slovenian lawyer with past ties to RS security structures.

That person is Damjan Belic, a bankruptcy administrator and former chairman of Slovenia’s state asset management agency, Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SDH), during the government of Prime Minister Miro Cerar. Belic is also professionally linked to Boris Goljevscek, Viaduct’s majority owner. In the past, Belic owned a security firm in RS that was reportedly involved in a para-intelligence network controlled by RS leader Milorad Dodik.

A troubled energy deal

The original concession to build two hydroelectric plants on the Vrbas was awarded in 2003 to Serbian company GP Gradjevinar, which had partners from Bosnia and Italy. When the company failed to secure bank guarantees, Viaduct, owned by Goljevscek and Vladimir Zevnik, took over in 2004 during the government of then-Prime Minister Dragan Mikerevic.

Despite winning the concession, Viaduct had minimal business operations — with only €1.8 million in revenue the year it was granted the €165 million deal. The project was eventually halted due to a lack of permits and environmental protests. In 2013, RS awarded a new concession to state-owned Elektroprivreda RS, just a few kilometers from Viaduct's original site. That triggered the arbitration claim.

At the time, Zeljka Cvijanovic was Prime Minister of RS and Milorad Dodik was President — both key political figures today.

Shadowy networks and security ties

Today, Viaduct is a shell company — no employees, no revenue. Its only asset is the claim against Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, according to reliable sources, Damjan Belic has played an active role in recent years helping Viaduct collect on the award. He reportedly attended meetings in both Slovenia and Bosnia, sometimes without Goljevscek.

Though Belic declined to confirm or deny his involvement, he stated:

“In line with business ethics, I do not publicly discuss or disclose business activities.”

Why does Belic’s involvement matter? Because his past business activities in Republika Srpska raise serious questions.

In 2006, the same year Milorad Dodik returned to power in RS, Belic — via his company VK Holding — became owner of Centurion, a security firm based in Bijeljina. In 2009, Centurion was blacklisted by the Office of the High Representative (OHR) in Bosnia, prohibited from doing business in the Brcko District for violating the Dayton Peace Agreement.

Intelligence reports alleged Centurion played a key role in surveillance operations targeting international officials in Bosnia. The firm had political protection in RS, including from former RS Prime Minister Aleksandar Dzombic, and was reportedly linked to Alpha Security, a company tied to Dodik’s inner circle. Employees included former members of the Drina Wolves, a military unit involved in the Srebrenica genocide.

Centurion’s director, Niko Sjeric, a former senior officer in an RS army unit, is today a vice-president of the local chapter of Dodik’s SNSD party in Bijeljina. Six months after losing its operating license, Belic sold Centurion to Sector Security, a company owned by businessman Slavisa Krunic, who was assassinated near Banja Luka in 2019. The motives for the sale — and the assassination — remain unclear.

Cross-Border Business Ties

Belic and Goljevscek also share a long-standing business connection to a small office building in Umag, Croatia, where for over two decades Goljevscek’s now-defunct company Bofrost Adriatic was headquartered. The building now houses Dua Invest, co-owned by Belic’s VK Holding.

According to Croatia’s Anti-Money Laundering Office, Belic provided €200,000 in loans to Dua Invest last year. The majority shareholder is Uros Vujic, a Slovenian businessman who recently purchased land in Umag for development.

Most companies once controlled by Goljevscek and Zevnik are now either dormant or bankrupt.