While the only refineries in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) face problems in business and mass layoffs, the company that manages them holds millions of euros of Russian investment.
Djordje Vidakovic worked in the Oil Refinery Modrica since 1989. Four years ago, he refused to participate in a test he considered illegal, because of which he was fired. After court proceedings, he was returned to work.
He is one of dozens of workers who lost their jobs in the refineries in Modrica and Brod, privatized in 2007, when they were bought by the Russian company Neftegazinkor, a subsidiary of the firm Zarubezhneft.
Billions in accounts
The Russians established the company Optima to manage the refineries, into which they paid 1.7 billion BAM in several tranches by 2021. This amount represents one of the largest foreign investments in the country, but is being questioned because of the origin of the funds.
Vidakovic describes the work of the refinery today: “The vacuum stopped working, the deparaffinization stopped working, the bleaching stopped working, the regeneration stopped working. The kitchen is now outside the circle, fenced with wire, and is rented out.”
The workforce in Modrica has been significantly reduced, and operations are mainly reduced to packaging, blending, maintenance, and administration.
Privatization under a veil of secrecy
The privatization agreement was signed by the then-President of Republika Srpska (RS), Milorad Dodik. Almost 20 years later, the details of the agreement are not publicly available. Srdjan Traljic from Transparency International (TI) points out that the non-transparency of the process and the concealment of key information are the key problems: “Everything took place under a veil of secrecy and key information was hidden from the public.”
Dodik admitted in one film that the sale of the refineries was agreed with the Russian authorities, in the presence of Vladimir Putin and Dusko Perovic, who in 2023 was put under United States (U.S.) sanctions for lobbying for Russian companies.
Optima Group and transfer prices
The company Optima Group, founded in 2008, allegedly profited from the collapse of the refineries. Capital of 50.000 BAM was increased to 1.7 billion BAM through recapitalization, while the refineries suffered losses. Sinisa Vukelic states: “They sucked out the entire capital from the Oil Refinery and the Oil Plant, and everything went in favor of Optima Group.”
Mika Nikic, a former refinery worker, confirms that transfer prices were used for the plundering of large companies. The Center for Human Politics filed a criminal complaint, which was later dismissed.
In January 2025, when sanctions against Russia were intensified, the U.S. Department of the Treasury put on the sanctions list Sergei Ivanovich Kudryashov, general director of Zarubezhneft, which owns Optima. A similar situation was with the Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) (eng. Petroleum Industry of Serbia), majority-owned by Gazprom, Detektor writes.
