DOCUMENTED BUSINESS CASE – CROATIA

Berislav Kekez – Business Conducted Through Our Company, Advances and Outstanding Obligations

This publication describes a multi-year cooperation in which Berislav Kekez participated in selected SmoothieBarmen and AZbar projects and received agreed shares, advances and private payments, while invoices, supplier obligations, tax liabilities, financing, customer collection and business risk remained with our company.

The cooperation ended without a final reconciliation of the multi-year accounts and without payment of a separate invoice issued for goods and services to the company under which Berislav had confirmed that the delivery should be recorded.

Key Recorded Facts

  • open commercial and private items had been recorded since 2022;
  • earlier accounts were not regularly settled before new projects and additional payments;
  • funds were repeatedly paid in advance, before the collection or completion of individual projects;
  • according to the latest internal working calculation, the open balance attributed to Berislav amounted to €20,101.23;
  • a separate invoice of €4,996.68 was issued to Šankomati i usluge d.o.o. and, according to our records, remains unpaid;
  • the cooperation ended without a jointly confirmed final calculation or settlement of the stated obligations.

The amount shown in the internal calculation represents our working business calculation and not a claim finally determined by a court or other competent authority. The separate invoice issued to Šankomati i usluge d.o.o. is an accounting document relating to specifically recorded goods and services.

Background of the Cooperation

For approximately three years, Berislav Kekez participated in some of the activities of the SmoothieBarmen platform. For one period, he was employed by the company, while in practice he also acted as a collaborator on selected projects.

He was particularly associated with AZbar system projects, which were presented as an area of his interest and work. At the same time, through SmoothieBarmen, he participated in servicing, equipment sales, trade fairs, presentations, customer development and other projects from our broader portfolio.

This relationship did not mean that he was a partner in, or held rights to, the entire SmoothieBarmen portfolio, its suppliers, customers, infrastructure or other projects of Novus Vita Distribution.

A significant part of the business that Berislav arranged or carried out for clients was processed through our company. Our company issued invoices, purchased and paid for goods, financed imports, taxes, transport, marketing, trade fairs and other investments, and carried the risk when a customer failed to pay or a project was not completed.

Agreement on Earnings and Payments

Berislav had an agreed share of the earnings from selected projects. However, the actual profit could only be determined after the customer had paid, suppliers had been settled, the goods had been delivered, the service had been completed and all related costs had been recorded.

In practice, payments were frequently requested before those conditions had been met. The correspondence contains repeated requests for urgent payments due to personal needs. Funds were therefore transferred to his personal account or provided as an advance against his expected future share of earnings.

The issue was not that a collaborator should receive an agreed share of profit that had actually been earned. The issue arose because funds were paid before the final calculation, while earlier open items, unpaid goods, costs and uncollected projects remained unresolved.

A Working Method That Created an Increasing Open Balance

The internal calculations show that the open items did not arise only at the end of the cooperation. They date back to the earliest stages of the joint work and were recorded throughout 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Instead of closing the revenue, purchase value, costs and distribution of profit after each project, new projects were often continued while earlier items remained unresolved.

At the same time, requests for additional payments continued. Berislav received funds in advance on the basis of expected future earnings, although at that time some customers had not yet paid, the goods had not been fully accounted for or the project had not been completed.

As a result, the open balance attributed to him increased over time. According to the latest internal working calculation, the balance recorded on Berislav’s side amounted to:

€20,101.23

This amount did not arise from a single invoice or event. It represents the combined total of multi-year open commercial and private items, advances, payments, joint investments and calculations relating to individual projects.

The calculation was never jointly concluded and has not been finally determined by a court or other competent authority. It also did not include all costs borne by our company during the cooperation, including administration, financing, storage, marketing, infrastructure and the time required to manage the projects.

However, its chronology clearly shows the central issue: earlier items were not settled, additional advances and private payments continued, and the total open balance increased over the years.

Income for the Collaborator, Responsibility for the Company

In practical terms, Berislav could request and receive his share or an advance, while he was not personally responsible for most of the formal obligations arising from the same business activities.

The following obligations remained with our company:

  • invoices and obligations towards suppliers;
  • VAT and other tax liabilities;
  • import, transport and storage costs;
  • financing of goods before customer payment;
  • responsibility towards customers for delivery, servicing and complaints;
  • the cost of employees, administration, trade fairs and marketing;
  • the risk of unpaid or incomplete projects;
  • collection procedures when customers or associated persons failed to settle their obligations.

Berislav was neither the owner nor the director of our company and, after the cooperation ended, he did not remain responsible for those obligations. They remained with the legal entity through which the projects had been invoiced, the goods purchased and the business activities financed.

Šankomati i usluge d.o.o. – Separately Issued Invoice

During 2025, Berislav stated that the company through which he planned to continue his business activities would be called Šankomati i usluge d.o.o. In the correspondence, he confirmed that the goods and services should be recorded under that company, and the company name, address and Croatian tax identification number were provided.

According to our agreement, Berislav was expected to take over or purchase the company and continue his own business activities through it. According to the information available to us, this was not completed.

On the basis of his instructions and confirmation, the following document was issued:

  • Invoice and delivery note No. 205/01/1
  • customer: Šankomati i usluge d.o.o.
  • date: 14 July 2025
  • total value: €4,996.68

The invoice covers recorded goods and services, including products, ingredients and equipment collected or intended for business activities organised by Berislav.

According to our business and banking records, the invoice has not been paid.

This claim is separate from the multi-year internal calculation of €20,101.23. The internal calculation records the open relationship between the parties during the cooperation, while the invoice issued to Šankomati i usluge d.o.o. constitutes a separate accounting document.

Communication Ended Without a Final Settlement

Despite the long-standing open calculation, the cooperation did not end with a joint review of all projects, payments, advances, goods and costs.

Berislav ceased regular communication and withdrew from the joint activities before the relationship had been finally settled. In the correspondence, he also stated that he would be unavailable and would not respond until he had “sorted things out”.

After that, no final reconciliation of the internal balance was completed, the invoice issued to Šankomati i usluge d.o.o. was not paid, and other matters relating to goods, projects and previously received payments remained unresolved.

At the same time, he continued developing new business relationships and projects through other individuals and legal entities in which he was again not necessarily formally registered as an owner or responsible person.

Why This Case Is Being Published

The purpose of this publication is not to allege that a criminal offence was committed or to replace a court decision. We are publishing our documented business experience so that persons considering cooperation with Berislav Kekez can verify:

  • through which legal entity the business will be conducted;
  • who assumes formal and financial responsibility;
  • who finances the goods and costs before customer payment;
  • whether previous suppliers, partners and collaborators have been settled;
  • whether advances are paid before profit has actually been earned;
  • what happens to the obligations if the project ends or the collaborator leaves.

Our experience shows that an oral partnership arrangement, personal trust and an informal allocation of future earnings do not provide sufficient protection when one party receives funds while another remains formally responsible for the company, goods, taxes, suppliers and customers.

Available Documentation

The complete evidence will not be publicly disclosed on this website in order to protect personal data, business information and the content of private communications.

The documentation includes:

  • multi-year internal calculations relating to individual projects;
  • records of payments, advances and private items;
  • business and WhatsApp correspondence;
  • invoices, quotations and delivery documentation;
  • banking records and payment confirmations;
  • supplier and customer documentation;
  • Invoice and delivery note No. 205/01/1 issued to Šankomati i usluge d.o.o.

Relevant documentation may, subject to the protection of personal and confidential information, be provided to competent authorities, legal representatives, directly involved parties and business entities conducting a justified due-diligence review of a potential partner.

This text represents an account of our documented business experience and open claims. It does not constitute a legally binding determination of liability, an allegation that a criminal offence was committed or a substitute for proceedings before a competent authority.