Slovenian construction company Viaduct has submitted a formal payment request to Bosnian authorities following a recent ruling by an international arbitration court, with the specified account held at Bank of America, sources told N1 on Friday.
The move comes two weeks after Bosnia’s international peace envoy Christian Schmidt issued a binding decision requiring the state to pay over 110 million Bosnian marks (about €56 million) to Viaduct. The payment stems from an arbitration ruling in Washington over a long-running contractual dispute.
According to sources familiar with the matter, Viaduct submitted payment instructions last week, identifying an account opened at Bank of America. The firm is seeking enforcement of the court-ordered compensation, which Schmidt said would be deducted from road toll funds originally allocated to Republika Srpska, Bosnia’s Serb-majority entity.
Authorities in Republika Srpska have questioned the legitimacy of the provided account, claiming it is registered in the Channel Islands, raising concerns over transparency. In response, Bosnia’s Office of the Attorney General and the Central Bank are currently verifying whether the Bank of America account is linked to any suspicious activity.
However, the account has been certified by a court-appointed financial expert, which sources say minimizes the risk of fraud alleged by Republika Srpska officials.
Bank of America, headquartered in the United States, operates in over 40 countries and is widely recognized as one of the world’s largest and most reputable financial institutions.
Under Schmidt’s decision, BiH Finance Minister Srđan Amidžić (SNSD) has seven days—until Friday—to authorize the payment. If he refuses, the decision mandates that his deputy Muhamed Hasanović (SDP) will assume signing authority.
Amidžić and other Republika Srpska officials have strongly opposed the payment, calling Schmidt’s intervention unconstitutional. However, the envoy insisted the funds—120 million KM in total—be withdrawn from toll revenues held at the state level, originally earmarked for Republika Srpska.
The arbitration case relates to a stalled infrastructure project dating back several years. Schmidt’s imposition of financial measures bypassed political deadlock in the country, where disputes between the state and its two entities—Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina—have paralyzed decision-making.
The Office of the High Representative (OHR), led by Schmidt, retains sweeping powers to impose laws and decisions under the Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended Bosnia’s 1992–1995 war.