Although it is the only country in Europe, along with Belarus, that has not imposed sanctions on Russia due to the war in Ukraine, Serbia has managed to avoid sanctions from the European Union (EU) and America for more than three years, but not a few Serbian companies.
Since May 20th, the company Sprokjur Doo (Sprocure), for alleged mediation in the export of aircraft parts to Russia, announced the European Council.
Previously, three more companies from Serbia were on this list.
The introduction of a new, 17th package of measures against Russia, as well as Serbian companies doing business with that country, "is not unexpected," says Stefan Vladisavljev, program director BFPE Foundations for a responsible society, for the BBC in Serbian.
"This is especially expected when a particular product may have a broader purpose in the defense industry."
"This move can also be treated as some form of secondary sanction against the producers of these goods, even if there is no evidence of communication with Russia through intermediary companies, and the aim is to break that chain," explains the international relations and security expert.
At the proposal of the EU External Action Service, sanctions await 31 companies and individuals, and the aim is to "increase the cost of the war (in Ukraine) for Russia and increase pressure" on the Russian economy, say the European Council.
Brussels remains "Russia's biggest critic with the harshest stance towards Vladimir Putin's regime," which is the reason for the new package of sanctions, Vladisavljev says.
"Since Donald Trump came to power in America, I would say that the stance in the EU has been even harsher and more cautious towards Russia," the international security expert believes.
Watch the video: Bypassing sanctions - how Russians continue to buy Big Macs and iPhones
Why is a new Serbian company targeted by Brussels?
The company Sprokjur is registered at Ljubana Jednak 1 in the Belgrade municipality of Voždovac and has one employee - director Erdan Ilhan, a Turkish citizen, according to data. Business Register Agencies (BRA).
The company deals with "intermediation in the sale of various products", but is site that company additionally stated that its main activity is "aviation procurement".
It was founded on July 27, 2022, at Šejkina Street, number 44ž, in the Belgrade municipality of Zvezdara, and Serbian citizen Zineta Mehmedi is listed as the representative in the APR.
The company was founded six months after the start of the Russian aggression against Ukraine.
The company name and company representative were changed in APR data in July 2024, when Ilhan became director.
The company's address was changed at that time.
Sprocure mediated the export of aircraft parts from a Canadian company to Russia Bombardier, which were manufactured in France and delivered to the Russian airline Lukoil-Avia, a subsidiary of energy giant Lukoil, reported by the Russian magazine Insider in August 2024.
Russian oligarch Vagit Alekperov, who was one of the top executives at Lukoil for almost three decades, also imported American parts for private jets, such as tires and lamps used by passengers, through a Belgrade company, it added.
Sprokyur exported aircraft parts to other Russian companies, such as the logistics company Kras Logistics and the airline Pobeda, Yakutia, Jutair, Red Wings i Smartavia, what he wrote about Radio Free Europe (RSE).
For the first five months of operations in 2022, the company had sales revenue of $1,7 million, and throughout that year it exported goods worth about $XNUMX million to Russia, it added.
The company did not respond to BBC journalists' questions about why they were included on the sanctions list and how it might affect their business.
The BBC also requested a more detailed explanation from the European Council as to why this Serbian company was on the list of entities under sanctions, but they had not responded by the time of publication of the text.
- US sanctions on NIS postponed again for 30 days, says Vučić
- A blow to the "shadow fleet": Why new US sanctions against the Russian oil sector matter
- Why Serbia has not complied with European sanctions on North Korea
What other companies from Serbia are under EU sanctions?
Since February last year, the company Koneks doo (Conex) with headquarters at Uzun Mirkova 7, in the very center of Belgrade.
Although the official name of the company states that it is a "production and trade company", according to according to APR data engages in "consulting activities related to business and other management".
The address given is Lomina 7, in the Belgrade municipality of Savski Venac.
The company had revenue of more than 2022 million dinars in 119, more than 2023 million dinars in 110, and on March 14 of this year, the APR announced that the company's liquidation had been initiated after it was left without a legal representative.
Kominveks doo company (Cominvex) was placed under EU sanctions in December 2024, and is listed in the APR as a "trade and engineering company" in the Belgrade municipality of Rakovica and has been operating since 2005.
From the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 to August 2023, in less than a year and a half of the war, it exported goods worth more than $140 million to Russia, according to data from Radio Free Europe (RFE) reports.
The company earned more than $50 million during that period by exporting electronic components that are under EU sanctions because they can be used in the defense industry, it added.
Serbian companies have been under EU sanctions against Russia for a long time Conex Doo, Cominvex, Soha Info, because, they say in Brussels, they support (through business) Russian war activities in Ukraine.
In December last year, the company Soha Info from Novi Banovci, a town near Belgrade, was added to the sanctions list.
It was founded in June 2022, after the start of Russian aggression in Ukraine, and has collaborated with Russian companies. Imcotrade, Bittereria i Protehmarket, exporting electronic products through China, Malaysia and Vietnam, RFE/RL wrote.
In just over a year after its founding, by July 2023, Soha Info exported goods worth $18 million to Russia, it added.
- What is an oligarch?
- Who is the richest Russian and "Serbian son-in-law" Andrei Meljnichenko, accused of alleged corruption
- The assets of sanctioned Russian oligarchs are worth hundreds of millions of euros
(Mis)alignment between Europe and America
The companies Kominvex and Soha Info were also included in the sanctions list of the US Office of Foreign Assets Control published in February 2024, and on that occasion measures were introduced against the companies. Goodforwarding Doo i TR Industries, also based in Serbia.
At that time, measures were also introduced against individuals. Dragan Dragaš, director of the company Soha Info, and Mark Svorcan, who Washington believes "have participated or are still participating" in work in the Russian economic sector related to the military, it is stated in the announcement.
In October of the same year company added to sanctions list Ventrade Doo from Subotica, due to connections with a Russian company Promsvjazradio and the alleged export of parts for radios used by the military.
The Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS) was also targeted by US sanctions due to its majority ownership by the Russian company Gazpromneft (and its parent company Gazprom), but the entry into force of the measures was postponed three times, most recently at the end of April. What did the BBC write about?.
French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with TF1 television that he hopes Washington will join Brussels in imposing new sanctions on Russia.
But this time, that is not certain, says Stefan Vladisavljev.
Trump's recent moves "do not give the impression" that America could impose new sanctions on Russia soon.
"I don't know how constructive the introduction of sanctions would be for the role of active mediator that Washington wants to take."
"But the lack of results in initiating peace processes could lead to disappointment in Washington and a potential aggravation of relations with Moscow," Vladisavljev concludes.
BBC is in Serbian from now on and on YouTube, follow us HERE.
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube i Viber. If you have a topic suggestion for us, please contact bbcnasrpskom@bbc.co.uk
- America imposed sanctions on the Balkans
- What does it mean when America imposes sanctions on individuals?
- From EU expectations to Russia's "disappointment": What would the introduction of sanctions against Moscow mean for Serbia?
- Where Putin's oligarchs hide their wealth
- Roman Abramovich - from an orphan to one of the richest people in the world
- Putin's daughters hit by US sanctions
Bonus video:
