The U.S. Treasury on November 16 imposed a broad set of sanctions on eight people and six entities across the Balkans accused of “perpetuating corruption and enabling Russian malign influence” in the region.
Included in the sanctions are Bosnian politicians who are accused of organized crime in Montenegro and firms and executives in North Macedonia tied to sanctioned Russians.
“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," Brian Nelson, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a news release.
Three of the individuals designated for sanctions are Republika Srpska politicians Savo Cvijetinovic, a member of the executive board of Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik’s political party; Petar Djokic, the minister of industry, energy, and mining in Republika Srpska; and Dusko Perovic, the long-serving head of Republika Srpska’s office in Moscow.
Cvijetinovic is a representative of the Republika Srpska-based company BN Inzinjering, which facilitated the illegal transfer of helicopter engines manufactured in Ukraine to Russia, the Treasury Department said.
Djokic was sanctioned for his backing of a pipeline from Croatia to a Russian-owned refinery in Republika Srpska, a deal that the Treasury Department said threatens the terms of the Dayton agreement that ended the 1992-95 Bosnian War.
The sanctions against Perovic were imposed because he has been integral in arranging interactions between Dodik and Russian officials, the department said.
Sanctions also were imposed against Miodrag “Daka” Davidovic in Montenegro, who, according to the department, has laundered money for decades for crime syndicates, and Branislav “Brano” Micunovic, who Treasury said for decades has been a leading figure in organized crime in Montenegro.
The Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on three people in North Macedonia -- Sergei Samsonenko, a dual citizen of Russia and North Macedonia and a wealthy businessman; his wife, Irina Samsonenko; and Ratka Kunoska Kamceva. In addition, several entities linked to Kamcev were designated for alleged corruption and ties to Russia.
The U.S. State Department on November 16 also announced sanctions involving individuals and entities in the Balkans, accusing them of having connections to “Russia’s malign influence in the region and the corruption that enables it.”
The State Department designated politicians Misa Vacic, president of the Serbian Right Party in Serbia, and Nenad Popovic, who served as a Serbia minister without portfolio from 2017 to 2022 and founded the nationalist Serbian People’s Party in 2014. In addition, 12 of their Russia-based business networks were blacklisted.
Vacic served as an observer in Russia’s sham referenda in 2022 for the purported annexation of the Moscow-occupied regions of Ukraine. Vacic claimed in interviews to be an international observer invited by Russian President Vladimir Putin and advocated for the annexation of the regions by Russia.
Popovic owns numerous companies and holdings in Serbia and Russia. Since the 1990s, he has used his Russian-based businesses to enrich himself and gain close connections with Kremlin senior leaders, the Treasury Department said.
The sanctions freeze any assets held by the individuals and entities in U.S. jurisdictions and generally bars Americans from dealing with them.