The United States (U.S.) continues to tighten its grip on Milorad Dodik, individuals, and companies associated with him.
The surname Dodik is clearly seen by the U.S. as synonymous with accumulating personal wealth, primarily through companies directly or indirectly owned by the Dodik family members.
Consequently, the list of individuals and companies on the U.S. blacklist is growing, including some of the most prominent IT companies with contracts and collaborations with institutions and budgets. Re-registrations and new accounts have not fooled the U.S., who continue to trace the connections back to Milorad and Igor Dodik.
What are the consequences?
Prointer, Sirius, Kaldera, and four other enterprises, as well as two individuals who control them, were added to the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC) sanctions list two days ago.
These are companies that have secured contracts worth hundreds of millions of BAM in recent years and are alleged to be part of Milorad Dodik’s network and his family’s.
Statement from the U.S. Department of the Treasury:
“Dodik has leveraged his official position to direct Republika Srpska (RS) government contracts to a network of private companies overseen by him and Igor. While Igor controls many companies in this network, he conceals his personal connections by relying on various nominal owners and directors.”
The new sanctions list represents the harshest financial blow yet, as there is practically no institution in RS, and even in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), that does not cooperate with these companies. Among other things, one of these companies was awarded the fiscalization contract.
“For the first time, they said, ‘We know what you are doing, and all your attempts to avoid sanctions are being carefully monitored and will end up on the blacklists.’ They are now certainly facing account closures. These companies employ several thousand people, who will likely not be able to exercise their rights,” said Sinisa Vukelic.
The Government of RS issued only a terse statement, but the reactions from politicians were much sharper.
Statement from Radovan Viskovic, Prime Minister of RS:
“This is nothing but another pressure on the leadership of RS, aimed at slowing economic activity through economic pressure and direct attacks on our entrepreneurs and weakening the political stance of the RS leadership. Neither will happen.”
“It’s an attack on RS’s constitutional rights, an attack on our right to defend the constitutional order of BiH, to defend Dayton. They clearly want to tame us, to silence us,” stated Nenad Nesic, Minister of Security of BiH (DNS).
Two media companies also associated with Milorad Dodik and owned by sanctioned enterprises have been sanctioned. Among them are UNA WORLD and “ATV-K2,” the legal entity formed after Alternativna TV (ATV) was sanctioned two years ago.
Statement from ATV:
“The arbitrary qualifications and new sanctions affecting our 150 workers are clearly the result of individual whims at the U.S. Embassy, but we cannot shake the impression of domestic actors who dislike what we say and write, which is the truth. The management of (ATV-K2) will not allow any foreign power to leave a single worker jobless.”
For political analysts, the new sanctions list, statement, and the language used by the U.S. Department of the Treasury are a clear message to domestic authorities.
“Without sugar-coating, without diplomatic packaging… The word ‘robbery’ was often avoided in the past. This is also a message to the citizens of RS,” assessed Tanja Topic, a political analyst.
Topic adds that despite the announcements of new sanctions, it is still a shock to see which companies have been sanctioned, and it is likely that the OFAC list will soon be expanded again.
E.Dz.
