The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on three more Bosnian citizens, one of whom is Petar Djokic, the Republika Srpska (RS) Minister of Mining and Energy. The list also includes Savo Cvijetinovic, a member of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) Executive Board, and Dusko Perovic, the long-time head of the RS representative office in Moscow. Pročitaj više

“Russia has continued to use its influence in the Western Balkans to stymie the region’s integration into international institutions and organizations, as well as leverage key jurisdictions to facilitate its aggressive destabilizing activities,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “Today’s action reaffirms the U.S. Government’s wider efforts to promote peace, stability, and functional democratic governance in the Western Balkans region.”

Savo Cvijetinovic is a member of the executive board of Republika Srpska (RS) President Milorad Dodik’s political party, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), in the RS entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). He is also a representative of RS-based company BN Inzinjering, which is owned by a former deputy chief of military air transport in the Russian Armed Forces and a former commander of the Russian military’s air transportation component. BN Inzinjering facilitated the illegal transfer of helicopter engines manufactured in Ukraine to Russia via BiH.

BN Inzinjering is being designated under E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the aerospace sector of the Russian Federation economy. Cvijetinovic is being designated under E.O. 14024 for being or having been a leader, official, senior executive officer, or member of the board of directors of BN Inzinjering, a person whose property and interests in property are blocked under E.O. 14024.

Petar Djokic is currently the RS Minister of Industry, Energy, and Mining. In 2017, Djokic signed an agreement with the Croatian Minister of Environmental Protection and Energy to build a pipeline from Croatia to the Bosanski Brod refinery, which is owned by a Russian company, in the RS. Entering into such an agreement is a threat to the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement. Sanctioning Djokic sends a clear signal that the United States will not tolerate anti-Dayton behavior.

Djokic is being designated pursuant to E.O. 14033 for being responsible for or complicit in, or having directly or indirectly engaged in, a violation of, or an act that has obstructed or threatened the implementation of, any regional security, peace, cooperation, or mutual recognition agreement or framework or accountability mechanism related to the Western Balkans, including the Prespa Agreement of 2018; the Ohrid Framework Agreement of 2001; United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244; the Dayton Peace Agreement; or the Conclusions of the Peace Implementation Conference Council held in London in December 1995, including the decisions or conclusions of the High Representative, the Peace Implementation Council, or its Steering Board; or the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, or, with respect to the former Yugoslavia, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.

Dusko Perovic is the long-serving head of RS representational office in Moscow, Russia. Perovic has been integral to arranging interactions between RS President Milorad Dodik and his party SNSD and Russian officials. Specifically, he has routinely lobbied for meetings between Dodik and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Perovic also served as the go-between for the Dodik-led RS government and a prominent Russian billionaire. Despite being an RS government employee, Perovic was employed by two of the billionaire’s firms during the same time that the billionaire was in the process of concluding a profitable deal with the RS government. Perovic additionally owned shares in at least one of the billionaire’s offshore entities.

Perovic is being designated pursuant to E.O. 14033 for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Milorad Dodik, a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 14033.

The U.S. designated Dodik on January 5, 2022 pursuant to E.O. 14033 for being responsible for or complicit in, or having directly or indirectly engaged in, a violation of, or an act that has obstructed or threatened the implementation of, the Dayton Peace Agreement (DPA) as well as for being responsible for or complicit in, or having directly or indirectly engaged in corruption related to the Western Balkans. The U.S. also previously designated Dodik on July 17, 2017 pursuant to E.O. 13304 for obstructing the Dayton Peace Agreement.

As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. All transactions by U.S. persons within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons are prohibited unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt. The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any blocked person, or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.

In addition, financial institutions and other persons that engage in certain transactions or activities with the sanctioned individuals may expose themselves to sanctions or be subject to an enforcement action.