Serbian Army Minister Probed Over Relatives' Contracts

Serbia's Anti-Corruption Agency is investigating whether Bratislav Gasic, the Defence Minister and vice president of ruling Progressive Party, broke any laws by awarding contracts to companies connected to his family when he was mayor of the town of Krusevac.

A BIRN investigation published on Thursday revealed that in 2013 and 2014, when Gasic was mayor, Krusevac awarded advertising contracts to companies linked to his family.

Gasic, who ran Krusevac from June 2012 till April 2014 when he became a minister, personally signed some of them.

He told BIRN that no conflict of interest had taken place. "Well, I cannot renounce my family," he said.

The investigation revealed that two companies ADD Production, owned by Gasic's wife, Irena, and BNZ-Higijenic, co-owned by Gasic's son, Vladan, were awarded three contracts worth ?4.2 million dinars [about ?35,000] in 2013 and 2014 to report on the work of the town administration.

BIRN also revealed that although ADD Production had similar contracts with the town in 2011 and 2012, while Dragan Jovanovic from the Democratic Party was mayor, the value of contracts awarded to the company significantly increased after the Progressives took over.

Serbian law defines a conflict of interest as "a situation where an official has a private interest which affects, may affect or may be perceived to affect, actions of an official in discharge of office or official duty in a manner which compromises public interest".

The same law states that officials "may not subordinate the public interest to private interest", which means giving any kind of benefit or advantage to the official or associated persons, including a spouse or close blood relative.

Aleksandar Vucic, the Prime Minister, has said...