Minister Staša Košarac placed on US blacklist

(Patria) - The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today announced new sanctions against officials from the smaller BiH entity.

OFAC has placed the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Staša Košarac, on its sanctions list, along with three other individuals and four companies.

Regarding Košarac, OFAC states that he often receives tasks from the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, to "abuse his official position for Dodik's benefit".

Sanctions have been imposed on the others because, as stated in the announcement, they are "part of the financial network of sanctioned Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik and enable the Dodik family to continue their attempts to evade sanctions".

In addition to Košarac, Aleksandar Dobrić and his father Mirko Dobrić, as well as Vlatko Vukotić, have been placed on the US blacklist, with OFAC noting that they have collaborated with Milorad Dodik's children.

Companies owned by them have also been sanctioned.

OFAC explains that Aleksandar Dobrić, Dodik's relative, founded the company "Best Service", originally named "Agape Best", and that it shares the same address as the previously sanctioned restaurant "Agape" owned by Gorica Dodik, and is engaged in the same catering business.

Mirko Dobrić, along with Igor Dodik, is the owner of the previously sanctioned company "Fruit Eco" from Bosanska Gradiška, which is involved in fruit farming, and he is listed as its director.

In April 2024, the company "Zelena jabuka" was founded at the same address, wholly owned by Mirko Dobrić, and it engages in the same business as "Fruit Eco".

Vlatko Vukotić, former editor-in-chief of the Banja Luka-based Alternativna televizija, a media outlet under sanctions since January 2022, has also been sanctioned. He was recently employed by the sanctioned IT company "Prointer ITSS", also linked to Igor Dodik.

The company "Nimbus Innovations" from Banja Luka, also linked to Igor Dodik, has also ended up on the blacklist.

"Dodik and his family continue to rely on trusted associates to conceal their connections to new businesses, through which they and their associates enrich themselves, and in the process try to circumvent US sanctions," said Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith.

He added that the United States will continue to expose these efforts and hold accountable individuals who enable these schemes.

We remind you that Milorad Dodik has been under US sanctions since 2017, for threatening the Dayton Peace Agreement, and was placed on the list again in 2022, also for threatening this agreement, but also for his involvement in corruption in the Western Balkans.

His children, Gorica and Igor Dodik, have been under sanctions since October 2023, when OFAC stated that they "enable the continuation of Dodik's corrupt activities in the BiH entity of Republika Srpska".