Ekaterina Girnyk22:03, 11/16/23

The US Treasury noted that such sanctions will help limit Russia’s influence in the Balkans

The United States on Thursday imposed new sanctions on 10 people aimed at curbing Russian influence in the Western Balkans.

According to the US Treasury Department , sanctions have also been imposed against 20 organizations, including 11 registered in Russia, associated with the Western Balkans and Russia. Other sanctioned entities are located in North Macedonia, Liberia and the United Arab Emirates. Three Liberian-registered oil tankers were also targeted.

The sanctions included citizens of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia.

Most of the sanctioned persons are in Serbia

The sanctions included Savo Cvijetinovic , a representative of the political party led by Serbian President Milorad Dodik, who is already under US sanctions for possible corruption. Tsvietinovic is also a representative of a company owned by a former deputy chief of the Russian Air Force that “facilitated the illegal transfer” of Ukrainian helicopter engines to Russia, the statement said.

Also targeted was Petar Djokic , Dodik’s Minister of Industry, Energy and Mining, who signed an agreement with his Croatian counterpart to build a pipeline from Croatia to a Russian oil refinery in Serbia.

The head of the Serbian representative office in Russia , Dusko Perovic, was also subject to sanctions . He was sanctioned for lobbying for meetings between Serbian President Milorad Dodik and Russian President Vladimir Putin. He also acted as an intermediary between the Serbian government and an unnamed Russian billionaire and worked for two of the billionaire’s firms, the Treasury Department said.

In addition, Misha Vacic , president of the Serbian Right Party in Serbia, was included in the sanctions list. In September 2022, Vacic was an observer at Russian sham referendums regarding the alleged annexation of Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine.

The agency also imposed sanctions on party founder Nenad Popovic and his numerous companies and holdings in Serbia and Russia that help the Russian economy.

In Montenegro, US sanctions included crime bosses Miodrag Davydović and Branislav Mikunovich , whose activities contributed to Russian attempts to compromise the independence of democratic institutions in the Balkans.

In North Macedonia, businessman Sergei Samsonenko , who has dual citizenship of Russia and North Macedonia and is involved in money laundering, was sanctioned . His wife Irina is also included in the sanctions list.

It is noted that the sanctions freeze all property and other assets that are the subject of a crime in the United States or controlled by US citizens, and generally prohibit Americans from doing business with them.

Sanctions against Russia

As UNIAN reported, the European Commission has prepared  the 12th package of sanctions against Russia , which includes an embargo on Russian diamonds, tougher requirements for compliance with previously imposed sanctions, restrictions on the export and import of a number of goods worth about 5 billion euros. The sanctions will also affect about 120 individuals and legal entities. Among them, as determined by the media,  is the son of Dmitry Medvedev and the niece of Vladimir Putin .

(C)UNIAN 2023