High Representative launches State Property Inventory

The High Representative, Valentin Inzko, today launched the process by which the OHR will compile an inventory of real property on which the former Socialist Republic of BiH had disposal or management rights on 31 December 1991 and of real property handed down to Bosnia and Herzegovina as a result of the international treaty on succession issues of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

The property that is to be included in this process and the date from which the review is to begin are defined by the unanimous Decision the BiH Council of Ministers adopted on 9 April 2009.

It is now clear that the Council of Ministers-mandated Inventory Working Group will not be able to complete the property inventory by the 30 September deadline as the Inventory Working Group has not been able to agree even on a methodology for collecting data.

“The prospect of completing the state property objective before the November meeting of the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council should not be missed,” the High Representative said today.

The inventory is a technical process of collecting information primarily from Land Registry Offices and Cadastres. This information is already publicly available.

By collecting this information the OHR will in no way determine the outcome of the political agreement that will have to be reached on the apportionment of this property.

As part of the process, the OHR will gather data from each of the 48 land registry offices in BiH. When all the necessary information has been collected, the OHR will provide a report to the Council of Ministers and the Entity Prime Ministers, who must then decide on how to apportion the property through an intergovernmental agreement between State and Entity governments.

Finding an acceptable and sustainable resolution to the issue of apportionment of property between the State and other levels of government is the first of the five objectives laid down by the PIC Steering Board as a prerequisite for the closure of the OHR. The Steering Board has instructed the High Representative to undertake all appropriate measures to ensure that the five objectives are delivered in full.

“Anyone who objects to this move should explain why they are against a transparent process of information gathering that will determine the status of property that belongs to the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” the High Representative said.