Belgrade Doles Out Deals To Firms Despite U.S. Sanctions For Alleged Crime Ties, 29 July 2022

Companies linked to Serbian nationals who have been blacklisted by Washington for alleged organized-crime ties and activities continued to win the equivalent of millions of dollars in state contracts by Belgrade, an investigation by RFE/RL’s Balkan Service has found.

Firms registered to Radule Stevic, Zvonko Veselinovic, and Milan Radoicic won construction contracts in Serb-dominated northern Kosovo as well as inside Serbia, RFE/RL reported.

Those deals were inked after the three were named among a group of 13 Serbian nationals sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in December 2021 for their alleged ties to organized crime and corruption.

The United States imposed the sanctions under the Magnitsky Act, which enables Washington to impose sanctions on individuals and entities responsible for human rights abuses...