The U.S. Treasury Department on November 6 added an individual and a company to the sanctions list for their alleged roles in helping Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik and his son evade U.S. sanctions.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the individual and the company added to the sanctions list belong to Dodik's "patronage network."
"This corruption has undermined public confidence in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) state institutions and the rule of law," Miller said. "The Dodik network has pursued an aggressive strategy to circumvent U.S sanctions, namely by restructuring and reestablishing corporate entities to obfuscate control and transfer company assets from designated entities."
The announcement came shortly after Dodik congratulated Donald Trump on his victory in the U.S. presidential election.
Dodik is already under U.S. and U.K. sanctions for actions that Western governments say are aimed at the secession of Republika Srpska from Bosnia-Herzegovina.
He met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in February and reaffirmed that Republika Srpska would not join Western sanctions against Moscow over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
SEE ALSO: Edward Lucas: 'Georgia Is Heading In The Direction Of Belarus'The Treasury Department said that the individual designated for sanctions, Vladimir Perisic, is general director of the company Prointer ITSS, which was sanctioned in June. The company has continued to execute business decisions based on guidance by Milorad Dodik's son, Igor Dodik.
The company added to the sanction list is called Elpring, which the department said is effectively controlled by Igor Dodik. The company changed its name in June from Kaldera, a company previously designated by the United States for sanctions.
"Today's action further exposes Igor Dodik's blatant attempts to evade U.S. sanctions," Millier said.
The United States says Milorad Dodik has undermined the 1995 Dayton agreement that ended the 1992-1995 Bosnian War.
Milorad Dodik has denied that Republika Srpska has ever pursued a policy of secession or disputed the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia under the Dayton agreement.