How Were Apartments in Istočna Ilidža Resold Multiple Times?

Buyers of apartments in Istočna Ilidža claim they were defrauded. The number of apartment buyers and preliminary sales agreements they signed with the developer does not correspond to the actual situation, indicating that some apartments were sold multiple times. The developer and the landowner are still in court disputing ownership of the apartments that have been built. The developer refuses to speak to our journalists, while the owners of the land, whose company is registered in Istočno Sarajevo, reside in Belgium. Nevertheless, nothing stopped buyers from moving into the building on their own initiative. First come, first served. Whoever gets there first gets the apartment. How did it all begin?

By Sanja Vasković

At the end of 2021, N.N. (identity known to the editorial team) purchased an apartment in the Dobrinja neighbourhood of Istočna Ilidža while it was still under construction. According to the preliminary sales agreement concluded with the developer, his apartment was supposed to be completed by the middle of the following year, i.e. 2022.

For years afterwards, N.N. visited the apartment, being repeatedly told that it would be “finished soon.”

When, a few months ago, he finally tried to open the door to his apartment, he was met with an unpleasant surprise. Strangers had opened the door and claimed that the apartment was theirs, saying that the developer had told them to move in. Their apartment, it would later turn out, was actually the one on the floor above. At least, that is what their documents showed. And that apartment was already occupied as well.

N.N. realized that he had been deceived. “Now the neighbour refuses to leave and says that it is his apartment. The developer tells me that it is my apartment, while obviously telling them that it is theirs,” N.N. told SPIN Info.

This is not the only such case.

N.N. claims that neighbours told him that multiple people were appearing as owners of the same apartment, and that the same situation was repeating itself. Since it was unclear which apartment belonged to whom, people moved into the building on their own initiative, with those who were quickest taking possession. Put simply, whoever installed the apartment door first took the apartment. Construction and finishing work on the building has still not been completed, and residents are investing their own money.

“There are many apartments like that. It literally turns out that the principle is: whoever puts the door in first gets the apartment. I never even entered my apartment. All this time I thought the apartment was still under construction and that was why I couldn’t take possession of it,” N.N. says.

Photo: SPIN Info

He says he never suspected that something like this could happen, given that the developer had been extremely cooperative at the beginning.

“I thought things like this could no longer happen. I have a notarized preliminary sales agreement, and it never even crossed my mind that the apartment could have been sold to someone else. All this time the developer kept telling me, ‘It’s your apartment, I’ll sort it out.’ He kept stringing me along and lying to me for months,” the buyer says.

After that, he decided to sue the developer.

SPIN Info has also learned about other buyers who are experiencing problems related to purchasing apartments in this building.

Who Is the Developer?

The developer of this residential-commercial building is Branislav Janković from Banja Luka. However, the owner of the land on which the building was constructed, i.e. the 2,889-square-metre construction site, is the company “Plan” d.o.o.

In 2019, the company and the developer entered into a preliminary agreement for the purchase of land with a total area of slightly more than 3,000 square metres, created by merging several plots, for a price of KM 2.1 million.

The deadline for payment was two years.

Meanwhile, Janković began construction of a building consisting of two wings near the promenade in Istočna Ilidža.

He obtained a building permit from the Municipality of Istočna Ilidža in July 2020, although construction work had begun in March of the same year — before the permit had actually been issued.

Due to problems during construction, rising prices of construction materials and rent, a shortage of workers, as well as the coronavirus pandemic, Janković was unable to fulfil his contractual obligations and pay the landowners within the agreed deadline.

Consequently, in 2023, the company “Plan” d.o.o. asked the Municipality of Istočna Ilidža to revoke Janković’s building permit. At the same time, the developer was already actively selling apartments, even though the building had not been completed and did not have an occupancy permit.

At that time, one wing was largely constructed, while the other had only begun to take shape as a building.

Without a technical inspection of the building, residents began moving in on their own initiative.

Photo: SPIN Info

Disagreements between the landowners and the developer over who owed whom how much, how the money should be paid, whether a loan could provide a solution, and whether the existing agreement could be extended were not resolved.

The mayor of the municipality, Marinko Božović, also became involved.

In August 2023, he initiated a joint meeting aimed at resolving the disputed issues and addressing the issued building permit.

After the meeting ended unsuccessfully, the company “Plan” d.o.o. sued Branislav Janković based on the 2019 preliminary agreement, under which he had been required to pay the money within two years.

Janković defended himself in court by arguing that the preliminary agreement was actually an arrangement for a joint investment, under which the price of the land would be paid after construction through the division of profits from the sale of apartments, commercial premises, garages, and so on.

Moreover, Janković filed a counterclaim seeking to be registered as the sole owner (1/1) of the properties, claiming that he had acquired ownership rights through construction.

However, in 2025, the Basic Court in Sokolac rejected his claim and ruled that Janković was obliged to hand over possession of certain properties to “Plan.”

It should be noted that this judgment is not final.

It is also interesting that Aleksandar Golijanin, an SDS councillor, appeared as a witness in the case and testified about the agreements between the company and the developer.

Branislav Janković did not answer our journalists’ calls for days. He also did not respond to messages. According to the registration records, he is registered as a developer at an address in Banja Luka. Some documents list his residential address as being in Gradiška.

The conflict between the developer and the landowner has resulted in problems concerning both the construction and ownership of the apartments.

Who Owns the Company “Plan” d.o.o.?

The company was established more than 15 years ago.

Its founders are Marc Gabrielle Raoul Dubaere, Ockier Ludo J.D.G., Patrik Gossens, as well as companies from Sarajevo (IMMOHOF d.o.o.), Belgium (Creon R.E.D.) and Cyprus (ORDCOMBE LTD).

The current director of the company is listed as Patrick Van Den Eynde. In conversations, the Belgian owner was most frequently mentioned.

The fact that Istočna Ilidža appears to attract investors from around the world is also demonstrated by the fact that the company’s owners chose to establish their registered office on Vojina Komadine Street in Mladice, Istočna Ilidža.

At least according to official documents, this was the company’s registered address.

Meanwhile, the location was changed, and the company is now registered at 4 Jovana Raškovića Street, Istočno Novo Sarajevo.

Another interesting detail is that the company Park.ing Istočno Novo Sarajevo was registered at the same address before it took over the management of part of the parking areas in this municipality without references or a single employee — something we reported on extensively years ago.

That’s not all. The company “Limited Charm”, owned by the Sarajevo-based company “Monetized,” is also registered at the same address. The company has been the subject of media reports as well as investigations by the authorities concerning alleged fraud.

Two other companies are currently registered at the same address.

The address belongs to a commercial building constructed on land owned by the Municipality of Istočno Novo Sarajevo.

It is apparent that “Plan” d.o.o. is not commercially active. For years it had only one registered employee and operated with virtually no revenue. Last year, its revenue amounted to KM 0, while its business result was a loss of KM 1,800.

First Come, First Served

In addition to the court dispute between the developer and the landowner, N.N., the buyer mentioned at the beginning of the story, who has paid the full price for an apartment that he cannot move into and has no evidence proving that it belongs to him, will also seek his rights in court in Istočno Sarajevo, where he will be represented by attorney Din Tešić.

In an interview with SPIN Info, Tešić explains that the notary was concluding preliminary sales agreements without any right to register a notation of those agreements in the land registry.

“When you look at the property records, you have only the agreement between the landowner, Plan d.o.o. Istočno Sarajevo, and the developer, Branislav Janković. There is no notation of a single preliminary sales agreement — not even one — and there are, it seems to me, dozens, if not hundreds, of apartments at the site… The developer refused to conclude the final agreements, and buyers now have nothing. When you open the land registry, more precisely the property title sheet, you can see that there are no encumbrances, which allows the developer to sell the apartments multiple times,” Tešić says.

Photo: Moja Hercegovina

Obviously, anyone who fails to prove their rights in court risks losing the apartment.

“Those who remain passive will unfortunately lose their rights. It is already clear that there are grounds for suspicion that this is a case of fraud and that the building will never be completed,” Tešić says, adding that his law firm has filed a criminal complaint against the developer, the landowner, and other individuals who participated in the entire process. They are asking the prosecutor’s office to determine who all the responsible persons are.

This is not the only example of irregularities and violations of the law in the construction and sale of apartments in Istočno Sarajevo, which has undergone rapid urbanization. The resale of land and amendments to spatial and development plans have often benefited developers at the expense of professional standards and the public interest. Some buildings are being constructed without building permits, public spaces are being compromised, regulations are being circumvented, while inspections remain silent and the penalties imposed on developers are negligible.

For the defrauded citizens, who in this case are still waiting to move into apartments they have already paid for, the only option left is to seek their rights through the courts.