It is stated that in certain periods, during election years, since 2016 they had write-offs of up to two million annually.
„In those years, the company operated negatively or at zero, so these arrears in collection, partly due to intentional obstructions in the collection process from within, affected the company losing funds, meaning that certain citizens were privileged and their obligations were written off, while others regularly settled their obligations. If that money had remained in the company, if that money had been invested in the company, with 18 million we could have built another Water Supply, or completely changed the entire network which in some parts of the city is over 50 years old,“ said Nišavić.
Citizens bore the costs of filling the pools of certain officials
Negligent performance of duties in the previous period has left, Nišavić emphasizes, lasting consequences that are not easy to rectify, especially not in a short period. He points out that it concerns tens of thousands of citizens whose bills were written off for various reasons, while the Water Supply did not initiate collection procedures.
„Among them are former officials, both in terms of debt write-offs and in canceling the bills themselves, especially during the summer period when the use of pools at homes is noticeable and current. We had certain random failures precisely with those individuals which affected the cancellation of certain bills, presumably after filling the pools. In this way, citizens pay on behalf of those who had the greatest ability to settle that bill,“ Nišavić stated.
The director of the Water Supply states that all this has had consequences for the company.
„The then management was focused on individuals for some reason and primarily financed them, rather than a public company. It did not strive to keep money in the public company and thereby improve the quality of life for all citizens, but for some reason, individuals were prioritized,“ emphasized Nišavić.
He says it mostly concerns people from the local government, but also from certain ministries.
„These are people who were able to settle their obligations, but simply abused their position, as did some employees within the company. All these activities have left consequences on the company’s operations,“ said Nišavić.
Authorities to investigate debt write-offs
In response to the host’s observation that it is noticeable that the largest write-offs occur in election years, Nišavić states that a write-off of 2 to 3 percent is normal and expected for the company, due to technical impossibilities of collection and reaching every consumer, while during that time the write-offs were between 10 to 20 percent.
„These are tens of thousands of citizens. This resembles that scenario ‘vote, and we will write off your bill’, I believe that was the mantra that was present earlier in the Water Supply, which is why we had write-offs in election years at the level of around 2 million euros. About 20% of the Water Supply’s budget is written off annually, and in the same year, you operate negatively,“ emphasized Nišavić.
He called on the authorities to investigate such operations, considering that it concerns citizens’ money and the most important service for citizens.
„There is no real reason for this to happen, and therefore the authorities should investigate it. Two to three percent is a realistic write-off. Last year we had a write-off of around 240,000 euros, and if we compare it to 2020, when about 2 million was written off, that is ten times less in receivables write-offs. It is noticeable that there was some reason why those same colleagues did not implement all collection measures, including forced collection and court claims,“ said Nišavić.
He states that in the previous two years, about 700,000 euros of debt was written off, and that the problem for this company also represents a poor database, which has not been maintained and improved for years, so at one point they had less than 20 percent accurate and precise data about consumers.
„That no one in the company deals with some consumer for two or three years is simply impossible if you do not have some other intention, i.e., to consciously participate in that process,“ Nišavić noted.
At the end of 2023, he found 570 employees in the company, while now there are 540 and they are trying to further reduce that number. The problem, as he says, is that about 100 employees are on sick leave on average.
„The commission turned a blind eye to irregularities in the allocation of apartments, an obvious intention for individuals to obtain an apartment“
Nišavić states that several categories of irregularities were identified in the allocation of apartments.
„We had a housing fund that involved the construction of about 90 apartments for the needs of Water Supply employees. A rulebook and a commission were formed, but in that process, we noticed that the scoring and awarding of points to certain employees were inadequately interpreted, while others were excluded from the allocation process without reason. We informed the prosecutor’s office about this and expect a conclusion,“ said Nišavić.
It has been noted, he says, that some employees received points without documentation, while others were excluded, contrary to the rulebook and procedures.
„We have a case where some employees transferred property a month or two before the allocation, so they could pass and participate in the competition itself. Certain employees received points without documentation for documents that do not exist. Also, we have the allocation of an apartment, which the Water Supply received in compensation, which was not subject to allocation. That apartment, valued at around 100,000 euros, was sold by one employee immediately after allocation and purchase for that price, while he received it from the Water Supply for about 6 or 7 thousand euros. It is clear that this was not done legally, but that some individuals were given the opportunity to obtain another apartment and real estate that they sold,“ emphasized Nišavić.
According to him, the criteria were not realistic, and the rulebook that they themselves created was not respected by the Water Supply, but was changed, and even then, Nišavić says, it was not respected.
„That the commission turned a blind eye to irregularities shows that there was an intention for some reason for a certain part of employees to be privileged, while those who truly needed to resolve their housing issues did not pass the list. Huge irregularities were noticed and everything has been forwarded to the competent prosecutor’s office. Certain employees have been questioned, members of the commission, and I hope that this case will also reach a conclusion,“ said Nišavić.
Citizens owe nearly 4 million euros for water
“At this moment, citizens owe just under 4 million euros for water and this is a debt that has been carried over from the previous period, and somewhere we have a good number of regular payers, but simply in one part there is a backlog that we are trying to resolve and we are succeeding to a good extent. We are updating the database, reaching every consumer, and in this way, we aim for all consumers to be equal and to regularly settle their obligations. However, due to previous backlogs, we are not able to collect all of this in a short time,“ said Nišavić.
He emphasizes that they have more than 2,000 lawsuits annually due to unpaid obligations for consumed water.
„It is an expressed activity but unfortunately, there was not enough in the previous period, so we had certain statutes of limitations and huge amounts of limitations, so we are trying to recover that part and in this way, by filing lawsuits, initiating forced collection procedures, mechanisms that are legally permitted to collect funds,“ emphasized Nišavić.
He reminds that the company, due to several years of operating at a loss, has come to a situation where it has an accumulated loss of around 2.4 million euros.
„However, 2025 is the first year, after four years, that ended with a profit, i.e., we achieved a profit of around 920 thousand euros. This result, above all, is the result of the work of all services, better organization of work, better collection of receivables, partly due to price increases, but mostly due to cost reductions and responsible planning and spending of money,“ said Nišavić.
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