Zoran Tegeltija

Zoran Tegeltija (Зоран Тегелтија; born 29 September 1961) is a Bosnian Serb politician serving as director of the Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ITA) since June 2023.

He previously served as Minister of Finance and Treasury from January to June 2023.

Tegeltija graduated from the School of Economics and Business at the University of Sarajevo in 1986, and later worked in customs services.

Tegeltija is a Serb and has attended schools in his native Mrkonjić Grad and then moved to Sarajevo, where in 1986, he graduated from the School of Economics and Business at the University of Sarajevo.

He worked at the Bosanski Brod oil refinery, the Tax Administration and the Customs Administration of Republika Srpska as an adviser to the director.

In addition, he was a lecturer at the RS Customs Administration training centre, and member of the Commission for the implementation of the Bosnian customs policy.

Tegeltija has been a member of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) since 1998.

A member of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, he was elected to the National Assembly of Republika Srpska in 2000.

He was first elected in 2000 in the town council of Mrkonjić Grad as well as a member of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska and later served as chairman of the State Commission for the Bosnia and Herzegovina borders.

In 2004, Tegeltija was elected mayor of Mrkonjić Grad and re-elected in 2008.

In the 2006 Bosnian general election, he was the head of the party's election headquarters.

Albeit a close ally of Milorad Dodik, Tegeltija has never engaged in nationalistic rhetoric, nor been embroiled in major scandals.

In 2006, he completed his postgraduate studies and in 2008 gained the title of Doctor of Economic Sciences from Alpha BK University in Belgrade.

Since 2009, he worked as a senior assistant and then assistant professor at the Faculty of Engineering and Business Management, University of Banja Luka, teaching public finance and monetary economics.

In 2010, Aleksandar Džombić appointed him Minister of Finance of Republika Srpska.

Tegeltija was elected mayor of Mrkonjić Grad in 2004 and re-elected as mayor in 2008, serving until 29 December 2010.

Tegeltija was appointed Minister of Finance of the Republika Srpska entity on 29 December 2010 in the government of Aleksandar Džombić, and was later confirmed in the post in the first and second cabinet of Željka Cvijanović in 2013 and 2014.

Tegeltija's government increased its capital in the latter by €15.000.000 in 2013, becoming majority owner of it.

The bank changed its name in Bank of Srpska, but was liquidated in 2016, with a loss estimated at €60.000.000 in public and private deposits.

The RS Banking Agency, under the jurisdiction of Tegeltija's entity ministry of Finance, was blamed for lack of supervision on the banking sector.

In 2017, the RS entity Public Sector Audit Office contested the official estimates of public deficit, claiming it was up to €87.500.000, and not €22.500.000 as reported by Tegeltija's ministry.

The audit office also found that the government had taken loans on behalf of funds and public institutions without their knowledge.

The Auditor-General Duško Šnjegota resigned soon after, and Jovo Radukić, a former assistant to Tegeltija was appointed in his stead.

The move was widely denounced as a clear case of political pressure on independent institutions.

He served as Minister of Finance until the entity government of Radovan Višković was formed in 2018.

He was re-elected in the National Assembly at the 2018 general elections.

During his ministerial tenure, three banks failed in Republika Srpska, including Bobar Banka and Balkan Investment Bank.

He also served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2019 to 2023.

In 2019, Tegeltija was appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers, following the 2018 general election.

Following the 2022 general election, he was succeeded as Chairman of the Council of Ministers by Borjana Krišto, but stayed in the cabinet as Minister of Finance and Treasury.

Tegeltija resigned as minister in June 2023, following his appointment as director of the ITA.

The RS entity Supreme Court ruled in July 2019 that the Agency had illegally hid data on banking operation and that the bankruptcies could have been prevented.

After a one year governmental formation crisis following the 2018 general election, on 5 December 2019, the national House of Representatives confirmed the appointment of Tegeltija as the new Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The whole government was confirmed by Parliament on 23 December.

At a national House of Representatives session held on 11 January 2021, a vote of no confidence in Tegeltija took place, due to poor results during his term as chairman of the Council of Ministers, but by the end of the voting, it was clear that Tegeltija was staying as chairman of the Council of Ministers.

Three months later, on 28 April, another vote of no confidence in Tegeltija took place at a House of Representatives session, again without success.

On 28 September 2021, Tegeltija's government unanimously adopted the decision on temporary financing, which ensures safe functioning of state institutions.

In October 2021, the cabinet, at the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, drafted a decision on temporary suspension and reduction of customs rates on imports of new electric and hybrid cars until 31 December 2022.

In February 2022, it was decided that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would inform neighbouring Croatian officials in diplomatic notes that it wants experts from Bosnia and Herzegovina to work together with Croatian experts on testing the soil of Trgovska gora, where a nuclear waste dump is planned to be built.

Tegeltija said that the "health of the citizens in that area and environmental protection are a priority" and also pointed out his interest in the "provision of funds for soil testing."