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US Sanctions Companies from Serbia, Montenegro for Military Exports to Russia

Borislav Visnjic

Podgorica, BIRN

The company from Montenegro allegedly providing goods to Russia that aid its war in Ukraine is owned by a Russian national, while the Serbian company is run by a Hungarian national.

The US Treasury Department late Wednesday sanctioned 275 people and entities involved in supplying Russia with advanced technology and equipment for its war machine, among which are two companies from Serbia and Montenegro.

In a press release, the US revealed its targets included individuals, companies and sprawling sanctions-evasion networks, across 17 jurisdictions, from Switzerland and Turkey to Thailand, India and China. 

Montenegro-based Russian national Sergey Kokorev and his International Business Corporation Bar (IBC), registered in Montenegro, was one of the companies added to the US sanctions list.

“Kokorev has used IBC to trans-ship European-origin machining centers and ball bearings to Russia-based end-users, including US.-designated, Russia-based manufacturing company Limited Liability Company AMS Tekhnika, which is involved in the wholesale distribution of industrial machinery and equipment,” the Treasury Department said.

Kokorev also used IBC to export military equipment from Montenegro to Russia. Kokorev and his Montenegro-based company are under sanctions for operating or having operated in the manufacturing sector of the Russian economy.

The US Treasury Department said it also established that the Serbian company Ventrade DOO, from Subotica, a city in the north of the country on the border with Hungary, is connected with the company Promsvyazradio from Russia.

Ventrade reportedly exported military-grade radios to the Russian firm Promsvyazradio, which manufactures radio broadcasting equipment and imports high-priority dual-purpose technology into Russia.

The company from Serbia was marked for sanctions based on the executive order of the US government because it provided financial, material, and technological support to the Russian company Promsvyazradio, or sent it goods and services.

According to data from the Register of Business Entities of Serbia, the company is owned and run by Zsolt Lajgut, a Hungarian citizen. Lajgut took over from Renata Meznerics, who founded the company in April 2022, around two months after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with some 1,000 euros in founding capital.

Because of their cooperation with the Russian military, several Turkish companies as well as a Turkish citizen, Ozgur Hasan Celik, were put on the sanctions list too. 

Celik, chairman of Turkey-based company Mirex, full name Mirex Havacilik ve Savunma Sanayi Ticaret Anonim Serketi, has been involved in contracts with Russian government-affiliated defence companies to deliver and facilitate electronic warfare system demonstrations in Russia, stated the US report.

Deputy Secretary of the US Treasury Wally Adeyemo said the United States and its allies will continue to take decisive action worldwide to stop the flow of critical tools and technologies that Russia needs to wage what he called an “illegal and immoral” war against Ukraine.

“As evidenced by today’s action, we are unyielding in our resolve to diminish and degrade Russia’s ability to equip its war machine and stop those seeking to aid their efforts through circumvention or evasion of our sanctions and export controls,” he said.

https://balkaninsight.com/2024/10/31/us-sanctions-companies-from-serbia-montenegro-for-military-exports-to-russia

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