Dodik’s son-in-law becomes co-owner of two well-known banks – “They won’t open an account for me either”

Pavle Ćorović’s company Agro Destil and the company Fruit Eco, founded by Igor Dodik and Mirko Dobrić, were left without 200,000 marks of incentives for the production and processing of fruit.

Pavle Ćorović, son-in-law of the President of the Republic of Srpska, Milorad Dodik, founded a new company – Djedovina. The company was established in Bakinci near Laktaš, at an address without a number, with a registered capital of 1 mark. According to official data from the Business Register, Ćorović is the owner of both Djedova rakija and Agro destil and co-owner of Monte blok.

Payments have dried up

None of these companies have active accounts, according to the Central Bank of BiH. Ćorović was also for some time the owner of Agro voće, which was run by his wife Gorica and has since been closed.

Ćorović bought shares in Unicredit Bank and NLB Bank a few days ago to prevent the closure of his accounts after he was blacklisted by the US at the end of January.

But he failed because these banks refused to work with him, precisely because of the so-called reputational risk. According to Ćorović himself, he now finds himself in the absurd situation that, as a co-owner, he cannot open an account with these very banks.

– I bought shares in Unicredit Bank Banja Luka and NLB, which were free. Now I am a co-owner of these banks, but they refuse to open an account for me. Unicredit Bank refers to its internal procedures and policies, and NLB Bank has been informed that they do not work with persons on the OFAC list, Ćorović said.

But this is not the end of the “torture” of Dodik’s immediate and extended family. Ćorović’s company Agro Destil and Fruit Eco, founded by Igor Dodik and Mirko Dobrić, were left without a 200,000 mark incentive for fruit production and processing. Agro Destil was to receive 176,822 and Fruit Eco 46,240 marks from the Agrarian Payments Agency of the Republika Srpska. The accounts of both the first and the second company were closed and the money was returned to the single treasury account.

Corruption flourishes

Agro Distil’s accounts were closed 15 days after it was blacklisted by the US. Fruit Eco was sanctioned last December, along with Best Service and Vorto. At the same time, Nimbus Innovations, which was a spin-off of the previously sanctioned Sirius, was also sanctioned. In April 2024, the company Zelena jabuka, owned by Mirko Dobrić, was established at the same address and is engaged in the same activity as Fruit Eco.

Milorad Dodik has been under US sanctions since 2017 for threats to the Dayton Peace Agreement, and was re-listed in 2022, also for threats to that agreement, but also for links to corruption in the Western Balkans. His children Gorica and Igor Dodik have been under sanctions since October 2023, when OFAC stated that they “facilitate the continuation of Dodik’s corrupt activities in Republika Srpska”./Oslobodjenje.ba/