Marinko Umicevic, director of the Banja Luka-based factory Bema, told BIRN on Wednesday that he had been having sleepless nights since receiving an invitation to one of the inauguration parties for new US President Donald Trump on January 20.
“On a Monday evening, I got a phone call from the agency that said it was organizing the humanitarian inaugural ball. They said that I'd caused them troubles. Apparently, I was invited to the VIP ball, but they forgot to send me an invitation earlier,” Umicevic said.
He said he had not slept all night because of that phone call, which had raised a new set of problems.
“I need to figure it out what kind of present to give Melania, what to buy for her. I don’t care much about [Donald] Trump. But I need to bring something nice to her,” Umicevic said.
Umicevic said he had asked the agency if he could somebody along, and when he received an affirmative answer, he said he would like to take Milorad Dodik, President of the Bosnian Serb entity, Republika Srpska.
“My wife didn’t like that. She is angry now and she doesn’t want to iron my shirts anymore,” Umicevic said with a smile.
“It is not easy to go to America, I have got lots of things to prepare,” said Umicevic who spend a better part of the Tuesday preparing documents for a US visa.
President Dodik's own application to go to Washington for the events was turned down by the US embassy.
But, it seems like the shoemaker will get closer to America's new President and First Lady than the President of Republika Srpska.
Before his visa was turned down, Dodik boasted of having received several invitations for the inauguration of the new President.
It later turned out that the invites were for the accompanying events that take place in Washington on inauguration day, not the actual inauguration ceremony.
In late August, while the American presidential race was still on and most of the polls favoured Democrat Hillary Clinton, Bema sent two pairs of shoes for Melania Trump designed by factory’s best designers: a pair of comfortable shoes with memory foam insoles and a leather-made high heels.
