Bosnia and Croatia will do everything they can to solve the issue of Bosnian property in Croatia, Bosnia's Justice Minister and Croatia's Minister of State Property said after a meeting on Wednesday.

Property that Bosnia built in Croatia during the time the two were republics in the joint country of Yugoslavia has turned into a burning issue.

Although a succession agreement from 2001 has defined how such properties are to be distributed, Bosnia and Croatia never signed a bilateral contract on how to implement that agreement.

Bosnian companies own nearly 200 properties across Croatia’s coast, including hotels, ‘Energopetrol’ gas stations, and business buildings. Most of the structures are run down and are a burden to local communities in Croatia.

The ownership remains unclear as some were built by Bosnian companies that no longer exist.

In May, Croatia adopted a law on state property which allowed the country to rent out the buildings for up to 30 years, but some Bosnian officials fear that those who invest in the structures will eventually become their owners.

Some Bosnian companies that still exist have sued Croatia at the European court in Strasbourg and expect to win their cases. But if the facilities are rented out in the meantime, it will be difficult to implement the verdicts.

Bosnia’s Justice Minister Josip Grubesa, a Bosnian Croat, said after meeting his Croatia’s State Property Minister, Goran Maric, that Croatia’s call for bids was legal but that Bosnia will nevertheless insist the objects remain the property of their Bosnian owners.

“We will do our best to sign a contract that will define the legal ownership,” he said.

“The ownership status of those hotels remains undefined,” said Maric. “They have been neglected for 30 years, destroyed and are dangerous for their environment.”

He pointed out that renting them out does not imply a change of their ownership status. Renting them “creates the possibility for their reconstruction and the increase of their value. Whoever owns them in the future will have a reconstructed and more valuable property,” he said.

“The ministers agreed that ownership is a right that cannot be taken away and that future owners (of the properties) will not be able to realise any ownership rights nor gain them through usucaption,” the Justice Ministry said.

“It was agreed that the renting contract will include a clause in which the party renting the property is rejecting usucaption rights,” they said.

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