OHR DISMISSES IZETBEGOVIC'S CLAIMS THAT THERE IS NO CORRUPTION IN BH

SARAJEVO, June 22 (Hina) - The Office of the High Representative (OHR) in Bosnia-Herzegovina believes the problem of corruption is very dangerous and therefore dismisses claims by a BH Presidency member Alija Izetbegovic that corruption in the country was present only on a small-scale and is under control, an OHR official said on Tuesday. Hundreds of millions of German marks are being lost from public funds annually due to corruption, spokesman James Ferguson told reporters in Sarajevo. Ferguson reminded that the administrative board of the Council for Peace Implementation had last week warned about the growing rate of corruption. In a discussion with Deputy High Representative Jacques Klein in the press, Izetbegovic refused claims that corruption was deeply rooted in the country and presented World Bank assessments of two years ago saying there had been no abuse of funds intended for reconstruction. The first man of the World Bank in Bosnia, Rory O'Sullivan told the news agency ONASA yesterday that his organisation was also worried about corruption and possible abuse of office for personal gain, especially during the privatisation of companies and the purchase of socially-owned flats. O'Sullivan said reconstruction funds remained under strict international control. However, he said smuggling and tax evasion in the country were becoming increasingly frequent. OHR spokesman Ferguson said the problem of corruption was not connected only with Bosniaks, because corruption was present in all parts of the country. According to him, a special anti-corruption team within the OHR is investigating five to six major corruption cases and the public should be informed about their results in the next several days. (hina) rml