How Former Pale Mayor Boško Jugović Hired Employees Ahead of the Elections

Only former mayor Boško Jugović knows exactly how many people were hired in the municipal administration during the 2024 election year.  At least 18, as he himself later admitted. Some were hired at record speed even after he learned he would be leaving office.  Although the inspection determined that certain employments were illegal, the court reinstated those who sued the Municipality. Jugović was rewarded with the position of President of the East Sarajevo City Assembly, while a criminal complaint against him, on another matter, remains in a drawer at the District Prosecutor’s Office in East Sarajevo.

Written by: Sanja Vasković

In February 2024, just before the local elections, the Municipality of Pale suddenly developed a need for new municipal administration employees.

As of December 31, 2023, the municipal administration employed 99 people, of whom 75 had permanent contracts and 20 were employed on fixed-term contracts.

Although six temporary workers had already been hired in 2023, former Pale mayor and SNSD member Boško Jugović initially planned in 2024 to hire 17 new civil servants and municipal employees on permanent contracts.

Most of them — five employees — were planned for the Department of General Administration.

In August of the same year, Jugović concluded that additional staff were needed to handle issues related to the veteran population.

By amending the rulebook on job systematization, a new position was introduced: Senior Professional Associate – Coordinator for Veteran and Disability Protection.

Even though the amended rulebook came into force only on the eighth day after publication in the Official Gazette of the City of East Sarajevo, the Municipality of Pale announced the job competition on the very same day it was published.

Veseljko Kapuran, who had previously worked at the Jahorina Olympic Center, was appointed to the position.

SNSD lost the elections in Pale

Despite hiring at least 18 people, as Jugović himself later admitted, reallocating 60,000 KM to electronic media, and conducting an intensive campaign led by Damjan Škipina — who only shortly before the elections remembered he was an MP “working in the citizens’ interest” — SNSD lost the elections in Pale.

Already on the evening of October 6, it was unofficially known that Jugović would be leaving the mayor’s office and would be replaced by Dejan Kojić, then a DEMOS candidate and now Vice President of the PSS.

A few days later, on October 10, Jugović continued hiring.

The February staffing plan was amended, and six more workers were brought into the Municipality, along with four interns through the Employment Institute program, headed by the aforementioned Škipina.

Vanja Jugović, the dismissed director of the “Buba-Mara” kindergarten, was employed in the professional service of the Municipal Assembly, i.e., the mayor’s office.

That same year, the same organizational unit also hired Nikola Milošević as Independent Professional Associate for Public Procurement, Predrag Klačar as Independent Professional Associate for Ecology and Local Economic Development, and Stefan Srdanović as Independent Professional Associate for Information and Media Relations.

The kindergarten previously managed by Jugović had already been the subject of media reports. One employee claimed in 2023 that “an SNSD membership card is the only way to get a job in one’s profession in this institution,” according to BN television.

The same employee stated that former mayor Boško Jugović was responsible for everything and that director Vanja “had no say in anything.”

The state audit also determined that there had been illegal hiring that year.

“In the Municipal Administration of Pale Municipality and the Public Institution Children’s Center ‘Buba-Mara’ Pale, service contracts were concluded during the year for jobs that constitute the employer’s regular activity, which is not in accordance with Article 205 of the Labor Law,” the report states.

Let us return to the pre-election hiring.

That same year, in 2024, Jovana Čeremidžić received permanent employment after completing her internship in the municipal administration as Independent Professional Associate for Agricultural Development, despite not passing the required professional exam for administrative work within the prescribed deadline.

But that was not all.

Although four employees had already been hired in the Department for Economy and Social Activities, a fifth arrived in November.

During that year, Sara Gavrilović was employed there as Independent Professional Associate for Agricultural Development, Nikolina Obradović as Senior Professional Associate for Program and Project Development, Aleksandar Kosorić as Independent Professional Associate for Analytical and Research Tasks in Sports, and Komo Simović as Professional Advisor for Economy and Social Activities.

Komo Simović was previously an SNSD candidate for mayor and a long-time director of a public company.

In addition to them, Darinka Antonić was later hired in November as Independent Professional Associate for Youth Issues and Cooperation with NGOs and Associations.

The urgency of the hiring process is illustrated by the case of Aleksandra Gluhović, who was hired even though the second-ranked candidate had filed a complaint regarding the hiring procedure and the appeal deadline had not yet expired.

Inspection Determined Illegal Hiring

Excessive hiring in the Municipality of Pale became the subject of an inspection.

Following reports of illegal employment practices, inspectors visited the municipal administration at the end of October.

The administrative inspector ordered the mayor to issue decisions terminating employment and deregistering the following officials/employees: Jovana Čeremidžić, Vanja Jugović, Veseljko Kapuran, and later Darinka Antonić and Aleksandra Gluhović.

The inspection orders clearly stated that the above-mentioned individuals had been hired illegally.

However, the court in East Sarajevo took a completely different interpretation and, based on a lawsuit filed by one employee, ordered the Municipality of Pale to reinstate her and pay her lost wages with interest.

The court stated that the administrative inspector does not have the authority to order local self-government bodies to terminate employment contracts.

Our source, however, claims that the inspection ruling is a final administrative act and had not previously been challenged because it concerns a matter already adjudicated.

It should be noted that this is a first-instance ruling of the Basic Court in East Sarajevo.

The manner in which dismissals were formally carried out is also illustrated by the fact that the employee in question, after her permanent contract was terminated, continued working for the Municipality under a temporary contract so that the work could be completed — which, as she stated, demonstrates the importance of her position.

The same employee also testified in court that she saw the vacancy announcement in daily newspapers and applied because she “absolutely met all the requirements.”

Although he lost the election, Boško Jugović was rewarded with the position of President of the East Sarajevo City Assembly.

A criminal complaint regarding the illegal transfer of one million convertible marks to the Jahorina Olympic Center in 2021 still remains in a drawer at the competent prosecutor’s office.