For 49 days now, since October 9th, Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS) is under US sanctions due to Russian ownership.
If it does not suspend operations for NIS, it could also be subject to secondary sanctions National Bank of Serbia (NBS).
But NIS is not the only one, there are 49 other companies and individuals from Serbia that are on the list of US sanctions - from arms dealers, businessmen from Kosovo - all the way to ministers in the government, he writes. Dunja Marić for the New Economy.
If it does not suspend business with NIS, NBS could find itself under secondary sanctions SAD- a. That would be the 51st company, person or institution from Serbia that is on this infamous list.
In addition to NIS, which is on the sanctions list due to Russian ownership, there are other companies and individuals on the sanctions list that are there precisely because of their ties to the Russians, specifically since it began in 2022 the war in Ukraine.
One of the companies that has been sanctioned for its ties to Russia is the Bassire group, which has been on the list for a year and a half, although it is in forced liquidation. The company was founded in February 2023 and is engaged in the wholesale trade of computers, computer equipment and software. As it was announced at the time, the director and owner of the company is Russian citizen Nikolai Levin.
Ivan Cvetić and the company of which he is the director, MCI Trading, have been on the sanctioned list since 2023 for, as stated at the time, material assistance, sponsoring or providing financial, material or technological support to the company AK Microtech. Cvetic, however, said after the introduction of sanctions that the Russian company he worked with was not on the American "blacklist" until that day, and that because of this his company "did not in any way violate regulations and procedures." The mentioned Russian company, AK Microtech, was placed under US sanctions due to accusations that it provided equipment to the Russian defense industry.
Dragan Dragaš, the owner of the Soha info brand, is also under sanctions due to the export of dual-purpose goods. As expected, the company itself is under sanctions. Among the shipments that Soha sent to Russia is electronics that, according to customs markings, have been placed on the "high risk" list. By the way, the company was founded a few months after the attack on Ukraine, in June 2022, and in just six months it achieved a turnover of more than 680 million dinars from the sale of goods abroad.
At that time, the company Goodforwarding, which was founded in Belgrade by the Russian Alexey Moskovkin, was also put under sanctions. As explained by OFAC, this company made hundreds of deliveries to Russia, including electronic goods necessary for the production of missiles, drones and ammunition.
There is also Kominvex, a company owned by Marko Svorcan, who is also on the list of sanctioned persons. The company was sanctioned for trading with Russia. As can be seen in the official documentation, this company had a business income of 16 million dinars in 2021, the year before the start of the war. In 2022, when the war began, Kominvex ended the year with an incredible 15 billion dinars in sales revenue.
Research and Development Company TR Industries is the next company under US sanctions for its ties to Russia. This company, however, changed its name to Onderon Systems a few days after the sanctions were imposed. Also under sanctions is Smart digital ideas, which OFAC has designated as a company used by the also sanctioned Russian firm Aeza to evade sanctions.
Ventrade, registered two months after the start of the war in Ukraine, was also sanctioned. In the first year of operation, the company generated an income of 480.000 euros, all from the sale of products and services on the foreign market. Ventrade is actually under sanctions due to cooperation with another sanctioned company, Promsvyazradio.
The Russian bank VTB, i.e. its branch in Belgrade. By the way, this bank changed its name to Api banka. Numerous companies that did business with Russia since the beginning of the war, and which were later put on the list of sanctions, had accounts in this bank.
Minister also under sanctions
It is also under US sanctions due to its connection with Russia Nenad Popovic, the current minister without portfolio in charge of international economic cooperation and the social position of the church in the country and abroad. As the US Treasury announced two years ago, Popović has been using his business in Russia since the 1990s to make allies among politicians in the Kremlin.
"He uses political connections in the Kremlin to secure business for his companies to increase wealth through embezzlement and tax schemes," the Treasury said at the time.
By the way, according to the data of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption, Popović is the owner of 16 companies and funds, some of which are in Cyprus and some in Russia.
I Alexander Vulin, at the time he was director of the Security Intelligence Agency (BIA), was blacklisted by the US. Vulin was sanctioned for alleged corruption and involvement in drug trafficking, abuse of public office, and ties to Russia.
It is under US sanctions due to its connection with Russia Misha Vacic, president of the Serbian Right, close to the ruling Serbian Progressive Party. The American authorities announced that Vacic, at the invitation of the Russian president Vladimir Putin, was "an international observer of the Russian fake referendums in the occupied regions of Ukraine in September 2022 and advocated that Russia annex these regions."
Tešić and associates
One of the more famous people from the "black list" is arms dealer Slobodan Tešić. He was sanctioned because, according to the US, he was among the biggest arms and ammunition dealers in the Balkans and was on the United Nations travel ban list for almost a decade for violating the arms export ban to Liberia. After being placed on the list, Tešić continued to deal in arms trade through the companies he owns and manages. That is why many of his companies and associates were sanctioned. Goran Andrić, Tešić's close associate, is one of them.
As the US Department of Finance announced five years ago, Andrić is one of Tešić's closest associates and represents him in various international sales, including negotiating on Tešić's behalf at a time when he was on the UN travel ban list. Working with Tešić, Andrić was involved in the implementation of the arms contract.
Additionally, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) believes that Velcom Trade is also owned or controlled by or intended to, directly or indirectly, act on Tešić's behalf. In fact, as seen in the APR, this company, which is in compulsory liquidation, is 100% owned by Tešić.
Due to its connection with Tešić, the Aranex company is also under sanctions, which, admittedly, has been shut down. And this company is owned by him. Namely, Tešić used Aranex to complete contracts for the delivery of weapons in Africa, as well as in agreements with another foreign government.
Želimir Petrović, the last director of this company, was also sanctioned.
Nikola Brkić was also sanctioned for his association with Tešić. In particular, he was previously the legal representative of the company Partizan Tech, whose owner is Tešić. Zoran Petrović, another former director of Partizan Tech, was also sanctioned, as was the company itself.
Sreten Cvetković is the next person to be sanctioned for his connections with Tešić. He was actually a director at one time, but he also had a 50 percent ownership stake in the company Falcon strategic, which is also under sanctions. The owner of this company, as in previous cases, is Tešić. The current director, Esad Kapidžić, is also under sanctions.
Ljubo Maričić, also connected with Tešić, is also under sanctions.
The list of sanctioned Tešić associates also includes Nebojša Šarenac, the director of Tešić's company Melvale Corporation - as well as the company itself. Technoglobal Systems, though another defunct company, was also sanctioned. This company was also owned by Tešić, and its director was also Šarenac.
Milan Subotić, the director of Tešić's company Vectura trans, which was shut down this year, and which is also on the list of sanctions, was also sanctioned due to ties with Tešić.
Businessmen from Kosovo
Zvonko Veselinović, a controversial businessman from Kosovo, is also on the sanctions list, although in the official OFAC database he is only on the list of sanctioned individuals and companies from Kosovo. He was put on this list because of, as stated, criminal and illegal activities. Also under sanctions is Milan Radoičić, Veselinović's godfather, who, through a lawyer, admitted that he was the organizer of the armed conflict in Banjska, Kosovo in September 2023, in which four people died.
As expected, Inkop, probably the most famous company owned by Veselinović, is also under sanctions. Specifically, he owns 60 percent, while his brother Žarko Veselinović holds 40 percent of the shares. This company, despite being under American sanctions, is doing well in Serbia. For example, from February 2022, this company has the consent of the Ministry of Construction to work on the section of the Danube Corridor from Požarevac to Golupac.
The next sanctioned company is Betonjerka from Aleksinac, a daughter company of Inkop. Novi Pazar-put, also wholly owned by Inkop, was also sanctioned. The company Dolly Bell, which owns the Gray Hotel, is also connected with Inkop. This company is also a daughter company of Inkop.
The Babudovac company from Kosovo, whose owner is Miljojko Radisavljević, is also on the list, a man whom the media reported to be Veselinović's associate. Another Radisavljević company, MM kom inter blue, is under sanctions.
Chivija Komerc is another company that is on the US sanctions list. This is actually an independent shop owned by Zvonko Veselinović. However, from the publicly available personal data of the owner (JMBG), it can be seen that the owner of this company is twenty years older than Veselinović, who is under US sanctions. Also, this company was deleted from the Agency for Economic Registers in 2021.
Also under sanctions are the companies Markom metal commerce and Metal-Robna kuća, whose owner is Siniša Nedeljković from the north of Kosovo, also due to their connection with Veselinović.
Furthermore, on the "black list" is the company Rad 028 from Zvečani, owned by Radul Stević. By the way, in the indictment in the Banjska case, the Special Prosecutor's Office of Kosovo charges him with money laundering, that is, that in the period from January 1, 2017 to September 24, 2023, through his company Rad 028, he helped Milan Radoičić to hide the origin of the money. According to the indictment, Stević knowingly, through his business entities and economic activities, helped Radoičić launder money by transferring immovable and movable property to third parties, with the aim of concealing the origin of the property.
Who else is under sanctions?
Luka Karadzic, Radovan Karadzic's brother, is also under US sanctions. Sanctions were imposed on him back in 2003, before the arrest of his brother. Also under sanctions is his company Komotko, which, by the way, is in forced liquidation, and which was engaged in "wholesale trade in solid, liquid and gaseous fuels and similar products".
From 2022, among the sanctioned persons is the former President of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro and former high-ranking official of the Democratic Party of Socialists Svetozar Marović. He was sanctioned "for responsibility or complicity, direct or indirect involvement in corruption related to the Western Balkans, including corruption on behalf of or associated with the government in the Balkans, or a current or former government official at any level of government in the Balkans, such as embezzlement of public property, or confiscation of private property for personal benefit or political purposes, or bribery." By the way, in 2017, Marović admitted before special prosecutors in Montenegro that he was the head of a criminal group, which damaged the budget of Budva by several million euros in eight corruption cases. He concluded two plea agreements with the prosecution, which were confirmed by the High Court. However, he fled to Serbia, and the Montenegrin authorities have been seeking his extradition for years.
The Casagrande Export-Import Representative Office is also under sanctions, due to its connection with the narcotics trade. It is a branch of the Montenegrin company of the same name.
Among the sanctioned companies from Serbia, the American OFAC lists the Global Relief Foundation. According to OFAC's official database, this Foundation is under sanctions under the program that sanctions individuals and companies associated with terrorism.
This Foundation, which is registered in the USA, however, has not existed for a long time (since 2001). The problem with her is that she claimed to be a humanitarian organization that provides aid to the Muslim population in war zones. However, in 2002, US authorities officially designated the Foundation as an organization with ties to terrorist organizations.
What does it have to do with Serbia? The American OFAC states that this Foundation had numerous branches around the world, so it was also registered at two addresses in Djakovica, Kosovo.
Finally, on the list of sanctioned companies is "Zdravo", a juice producer from Serbia. This company on the "black list" is part of the "Balkans" program, but it was not explained in detail why it was sanctioned.
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