Following the latest US sanctions, which included 13 officials from Republika Srpska, the president of this entity, Milorad Dodik, announced that banks will have to unblock the accounts of those sanctioned. While economists claim that neither the Banking Agency nor Dodik can order banks, political analysts do not expect a change in the new US administration’s policy towards Bosnia and Herzegovina.
There has been no change in the announcement by the president of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, that banks will have to unblock the accounts of blacklisted individuals from Monday, for now.
“As for Murphy’s pressure on banks, we will find a way to protect our citizens. From Monday, all banks will have to open accounts in convertible marks for all individuals,” Dodik wrote on the X platform.
Economic expert Svetlana Cenić points out that Dodik does not have the constitutional authority to give such orders and directives to the banking sector. He believes that the Banking Agency of Republika Srpska should have immediately contacted OFAK about how to pay the salaries of those sanctioned.
“The President of Republika Srpska has no constitutional authority over banks, nor over the Banking Agency. There is a Banking Agency that regulates their work. The Banking Agency cannot act in an orderly manner either,” notes Cenić.
We have not received a response from the Banking Agency of Republika Srpska whether they received a request from the President of RS Milorad Dodik to unblock bank accounts of persons who were on the US blacklist and whether a possible order has a legal basis.
The Banking Agency of BiH is also not stating whether Dodik’s announcement has a legal basis.
“At this moment, we do not have more information than what has been published in the media, so we cannot essentially give or take any specific position,” said the President of the Association of Banks of BiH Edis Ražanica.
Milorad Dodik’s address to the outgoing US administration and Ambassador Michael Murphy on the social network X was also commented on by state ministers.
“These are not decisions or the whim of one man in the US. Let those who celebrate how sanctions are imposed and what the path to lifting sanctions is, and what kind of administrative process and procedure is involved in which multiple levels of the US administration, a part of which is not even politically biased, participate,” said BiH Foreign Minister Elmedin Konaković.
“I think we should spread hope and optimism that there will be no such reckless behavior in the US administration in the future,” says BiH Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Staša Košarac. Adventure tourism in BiH
Despite the optimism of officials from Republika Srpska, analyst Tanja Topić does not expect significant changes or a turnaround in US policy towards Bosnia and Herzegovina, because, she believes, it is not in her focus.
“It is very difficult to find arguments for expectations and quick removal from the sanctioned list because we know that some of the sanctioned received confirmation of sanctions during Trump’s first term and were not removed from the list,” Topić said.
The Investment and Development Bank has not responded either. We have not learned whether the IRB has begun implementing the set of laws adopted by the National Assembly, which allow it to carry out payment transactions and receive cash deposits, as an aid to companies on the “black list”, BHRT writes.
