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BANJA LUKA, January 23 (FENA) - Head of the European Union Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Johan Sattler, said today that combating money laundering is very important for countries that are in the EU accession phase and that he expects intensification of activities in this regard in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“After a positive opinion on BiH's application for EU membership is delivered, we expect in the coming period intensification of the activities of local officials in fulfilling their obligations on this issue,” Sattler told reporters in Banja Luka at the final conference of the project "Support to the fight against money laundering in BiH".
He noted that hundreds of people in BiH have gone through various trainings under this project, and "expressed hope that this would contribute to BiH's removal from the EU’s gray list."
Money laundering, he said, knows no bounds.
“Three to five percent of GDP globally goes to money laundering. That is more than 700 billion euros,” Sattler warned.
Austrian Ambassador to BiH Ulrike Hartman said that European practices show the importance of cooperation between countries in the field of combating money laundering and expressed hope that the institutions of BiH would cooperate better with each other.
Deputy Minister of Justice Nezir Pivić hopes that the amendments to the Law on Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorist Activities would go into parliamentary procedure in line with EU’s 4th and 5th directives.
He stressed that it is important for BiH, its image and business climate not to be on the EU's gray list, which also refer to money laundering and terrorism financing.
Director of the RS Police Darko Ćulum said the RS MoI detected 17 money laundering offenses in 2018 and filed out 17 reports against 29 individuals and one legal entity.
The unlawful property gained by the perpetrators of these crimes amounted to some 202 million KM.
Last year, 17 money laundering offenses were recorded, and the illicit property gained by the perpetrators of these offenses was significantly less than in 2018.
Deputy Director General of the Slovenian General Police Tomaž Pacjak said that police agencies in the region have successfully cooperated in the area of combating money laundering and economic crime, which should be continued.
During the two-year twinning project of the European Union "Support to the fight against money laundering in BiH", certain legislation in BiH has been amended and harmonized with the EU standards.
The police agencies and the BiH judiciary took part in the project.
(FENA) S. R.
