BELGRADE, February 28. /TASS/. Bosnia’s sentencing of Milorad Dodik, President of Republika Srpska (a Bosnia and Herzegovina region), and sanctions by the US against Serbia’s oil major NIS are part of the West’s hybrid war against Belgrade, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin said at a meeting with Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin in Moscow.
"The deputy prime minister has informed the SVR director that an attempt to organize a 'color revolution' in Serbia and destabilize our country is being made by Western special services. Vulin also pointed out that the indictment against the president of Republika Srpska and the sanctions against NIS are part of the hybrid war against Serbia, the end goal of which is the overthrow of President Aleksandar Vucic and the legally elected government of Serbia," the press office of the Serbian government said.
On February 26, a court in Bosnia and Herzegovina sentenced Dodik to one year in prison and imposed a six-year ban on his political activities for ignoring the decisions of High Representative of the International Community in the country Christian Schmidt. This ruling is a first-instance judgment and is subject to appeal. A final decision will be rendered by the second-instance chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina by the end of this year. Republika Srpska, Russia, and China do not recognize Schmidt’s powers, as his appointment in 2021 was not authorized by the UN Security Council.
On January 10, the US Department of the Treasury put Russia’s Gazprom Neft and its CEO Alexander Dyukov, as well as more than 20 of its subsidiary structures, including NIS, on its sanctions list. NIS is one of southeastern Europe’s largest vertically integrated energy systems. Its activities include prospecting for and production of oil and gas, oil refining, selling oil products, generating and selling electricity, and implementing petrochemical projects. Its production facilities are located in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary. Its majority stakeholders are Gazprom Neft (44.85%), Serbia (29.87%), and Gazprom (11.3%). Recently, the Serbian authorities were informed by the United States that there would be a 30-day delay in the sanctions taking effect.