# NITES: contracts of the firm of Kuburović's husband and Kisić Tepavčević's brother

Category: Money and deals  
Period: from 2013  
Outcome: No one investigated (as of 14 May 2020)  

According to BIRN, companies of the NITES group, one of whose directors is the husband of then justice minister Nela Kuburović and the brother of Darija Kisić Tepavčević, have signed 27 public procurement contracts worth about €26.8 million since 2013. According to Transparency Serbia, there is no data on any breach of procedure, but most of the tenders drew only one bidder; Kuburović denied any link to the company, and Kisić Tepavčević denied that her brother is a director. The Anti-Corruption Agency was not able to examine the business of spouses' companies, and the institutions that ran the tenders did not comment.

## NITES group contracts

According to a BIRN investigation from May 2020, companies in the NITES group, where one of the directors is the husband of then justice minister Nela Kuburović and the brother of Darija Kisić Tepavčević, had signed 27 public procurement contracts in Serbia since 2013, worth around €26.8 million, either alone or in consortiums with other companies.

Since 2016, consortiums including NITES had won twelve contracts from the Ministry of Health, worth around €14 million, and in April 2020, during the state of emergency, NITES and Telekom Srbija signed three more with that ministry, worth €3.2 million.

## Denials and unchecked tenders

Kuburović denied any link to the company and said that conflicts of interest are a matter for the Anti-Corruption Agency. Kisić Tepavčević, then deputy director of the Batut Institute of Public Health, did not answer questions about the tenders.

The Agency did not tell BIRN whether it was examining the tenders; according to Transparency Serbia, it concluded there were no grounds for proceedings against the minister, and under the law at the time it could not examine the business of spouses' companies at all. Transparency Serbia says there is no data showing the contracts were awarded in breach of procedure, but also that most of the tenders drew only one bidder, and that the institutions that ran them did not comment.

## A contract with EPS

In March 2021, Marinika Tepić presented a contract under which NITES, together with another company, was awarded a job worth almost three million euros by EPS in January 2021.

Kisić Tepavčević, then labour minister, denied that her brother was a director and said he was one of the engineers, while the company's website, according to N1, listed him as chief executive officer.

## Participants

- [Nela Kuburović](https://odgovornost.rs/en/osobe/nela-kuburovic): She denied any link to her husband's company, which had been winning public contracts (commented on the case)
- [Darija Kisić Tepavčević](https://odgovornost.rs/en/osobe/darija-kisic-tepavcevic): She did not answer questions about the tenders, and in 2021 she denied that her brother was a director (commented on the case)
- [NITES (NITES Group; NITES d.o.o. Belgrade and NITES a.s., Prague)](https://odgovornost.rs/en/organizacije/nites): Since 2013 it has won 27 public contracts worth about €26.8 million, while its director was the husband of the Minister of Justice and the brother of Kisić Tepavčević (responsible)
- [Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia](https://odgovornost.rs/en/organizacije/ministarstvo-zdravlja): Since 2016 it has awarded NITES consortia 12 contracts worth about €14 million; according to Transparency Serbia, mostly with a single bidder (responsible)
- [Electric Power Industry of Serbia (EPS)](https://odgovornost.rs/en/organizacije/eps): According to contracts shown by Marinika Tepić, in 2019 and 2021 it awarded work to NITES, where the brother of Minister Kisić Tepavčević works (responsible)
- [Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Serbia](https://odgovornost.rs/en/organizacije/ministarstvo-pravde): It said it had no contract or cooperation with NITES and that the company had only acted as an intermediary for the trip to Berlin (commented on the case)
- [Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (until 2020 the Anti-Corruption Agency)](https://odgovornost.rs/en/organizacije/agencija-za-sprecavanje-korupcije): It did not tell BIRN whether it is examining the procurements; according to Transparency Serbia, there are no grounds against the minister (oversight and the public)
- [Transparency Serbia](https://odgovornost.rs/en/organizacije/transparentnost-srbija): She said there was no data on any breach of procedure, and that most procurements had only one bidder (oversight and the public)
- [BIRN](https://odgovornost.rs/en/organizacije/birn): It reported that NITES group companies had won 27 public contracts since 2013 (oversight and the public)
- [Marinika Tepić](https://odgovornost.rs/en/osobe/marinika-tepic): She showed a NITES contract with EPS and claimed that the minister's brother was its chief executive officer (oversight and the public)

## Sources

- [N1: BIRN: Kisić family's deals worth millions with public companies](<https://n1info.rs/biznis/a594825-BIRN-Milionski-poslovi-porodice-Kisic-sa-javnim-preduzecima/>): 1 May 2020
- [BIRN / Balkan Insight: The Kisić family's deals](<https://birn.rs/poslovi-porodice-kisic/>): 1 May 2020
- [BIRN / Balkan Insight: Agencija za borbu protiv korupcije u Srbiji ignoriše BIRN-ovo istraživanje o poslovima supruga ministarke](<https://balkaninsight.com/2020/05/07/serbias-graft-agency-ignores-birn-probe-into-ministers-husbands-deals/>): 7 May 2020
- [BIRN / Balkan Insight: Firma povezana sa suprugom srpske ministarke dobija državne ugovore](<https://balkaninsight.com/2020/05/01/poslovi-porodice-kisic/?lang=sr>): 1 May 2020
- [021.rs: BIRN: State delegation travelled abroad at the invitation of Bojan Kisić's company](<https://www.021.rs/info/srbija/243145/birn-drzavna-delegacija-putovala-u-inostranstvo-na-poziv-firme-bojana-kisica>): 12 May 2020
- [Transparentnost Srbija: Public procurement from the minister's husband's company – is there a conflict of interest, and what is the main question?](<https://mail.transparentnost.org.rs/images/dokumenti_uz_vesti/Analiza_-_NITES_i_ministarka.pdf>): 14 May 2020
- [Radio Slobodna Evropa: Tepić: A three-million-euro contract for Minister Kisić Tepavčević's brother](<https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/tepi%C4%87-bratu-ministarke-kisi%C4%87-tepav%C4%8Devi%C4%87-ugovor-od-tri-miliona-evra/31180184.html>): 31 Mar 2021
- [N1: For Kisić Tepavčević it is “not the time” to talk about her brother, while Tepić “clarifies” his position](<https://n1info.rs/vesti/za-kisic-tepavcevic-nije-vreme-za-pricu-o-bratu-tepic-pojasnjava-funkciju/>): 2 Apr 2021
- [N1: Kisić Tepavčević and Tepić give conflicting accounts of the minister's brother's position at NITES](<https://n1info.rs/vesti/kisic-tepavcevic-negira-da-je-njen-brat-sklopio-ugovor-sa-eps/>): 2 Apr 2021

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Source: Odgovornost, https://odgovornost.rs/en/afere/nites-ugovori-kuburovic-kisic  
As of: 4 Nov 2026  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)