The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said it is expanding sanctions against Republika Srpska after the corrupt patronage network evaded sanctions to accumulate personal wealth.
The OFAC said it was designating Igor Dodik, the son of Milorad Dodik, the U.S.-designation President of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) Republika Srpska. The OFAC said that Dodik has used his official position to accumulate wealth through companies linked to himself and Igor, and that their combined corruption has contributed to an undermining of public confidence in BiH state institutions and the rule of law.
“RS President Milorad Dodik, his associates, and his enablers continue to use their privileged position to erode public confidence in the regional peace frameworks and institutions that have brought stability and security to Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith said. “The United States remains committed to exposing the efforts of Dodik and his family to maintain their corrupt patronage networks.”
The Treasury Department said that the action bolsters previous designations against the Dodiks by exposing Igor’s attempts to evade U.S. sanctions and targeting the individuals who enable the Dodik family’s activities.
In January 2022, the United States designated Dodik for being complicit in or responsible for, or having engaged in an act that obstructed the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, as well as for corrupt activities. Dodik was previously designated in 2017 for obstructing or threatening to obstruct the DPA.
And in October of last year, Dodik’s adult children, Igor and Gorica, were designated for having materially assisted, sponsored or provided support for a person, Dodik, whose property and interests in property were blocked in the U.S.
Since the Dodik’s designation by the OFAC, their network has pursued an aggressive strategy to attempt to circumvent the effects of the sanctions, namely by restructuring and reestablishing corporate entities to hide his control and to transfer company assets away from designated entities.
As a result, all property and interests of property of Republika Srpska that are in the U.S. are now blocked and must be reported to the OFAC. Additionally, any entities that are more than 50 person owned by one of the designated entities or individuals are also blocked. And all transactions by U.S. persons or people within the U.S. that involve any property or interests in property of the designates are prohibited, unless granted a special license by the OFAC.