The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated a network that provides important sources of income for Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik and his family on Tuesday. The designation leads to all property and interest in property of the two designated individuals and seven entities that are in the US or in the possession or control of US persons being blocked and having to be reported to OFAC.

According to OFAC, Dodik benefitted from companies connected to himself and his son Igor Dodik by using his position as president. Furthermore, OFAC states that Dodik threatens the safety and security of the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina by threatening to pursue secession of the Republika Srpska from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Earlier, in 2022, the OFAC sanctioned Dodik and a television outlet he controls for being complicit in undermining the stability of the Western Balkans region through corruption and threats to the Dayton Peace Accords (DPA). The DPA in 1995 brought an end to the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian E. Nelson said:

The United States condemns Dodik’s continued efforts to erode the institutions that have ensured peace and stability for Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region.

We will continue to expose the fraudulent schemes that enable Dodik and his family to exploit their own people for their personal benefit.

The US Treasury added that financial institutions and other persons involved with the sanctioned organizations or individuals are at risk of being sanctioned themselves.