Sanctioned firms, once co-owners of Radochiki, won millions of euros

This is witnessed by recent financial reports published on Serbia's commercial registry site in late April, as well as tenders and other documents that analysed Radio Free Europe.

Construction of fast highways, maintenance of local roads, and building pillars for transmission lines were just some of the millions of jobs of these companies.

Until the publication of this article, Serbia's Ministry of Construction and Infrastructure did not answer Radio Europe's free question about why companies from the US blacklist are involved in carrying out these works.

Neither did the two public companies “Putevi Srbije” and “Electricreda”, which, as it revealed, REL, they've been sharing jobs with companies sanctioned through public procurement.

The response to jobs and profits did not even provide companies “Incop”, “Novi Pazar-put” and “Betonerka”.

“Incope”, most profitable company

“Incope”, company registered in the town of Quprija in central Serbia, achieved the highest profit of about 17m euros.

Its profit in 2023 remained at the same level as the year before, financial data showed.

In October 2023, after taking responsibility for the attack on Banjska, Radojic left his co-ownership with millions.

He left the job to his former business partners, the Zarko brothers and Zvonko Veselinovic, businessmen from the north of Kosovo, who, just like Radojciq, have been on the US sanctions list since 2021, due to allegations of involvement in organised crime and corruption.

Radoiciq shared it with the Veselinovic brothers, in “equal parts”, 40 percent of its shares in “Incope”.

They both exceeded 20 percent of their property without compensation.

Zvonko Veselinovic now has a 60 per cent stake in “Inkoque”, while his brother, Zarko, has 40 percent of the rest.

As “Incope” and companies as sisters with new/old owners continue work without being hampered, Radoic is wanted by the international police agency, Interpol, while Kosovo and Serbia make separate investigations into the Banjska attack.

Radoic is allegedly found in Serbia and the international community calls on official Belgrade to prosecute all those responsible for Banjska.

Machines East of Serbia

The financial report does not reveal details of who the company has been doing business with “Incorpus” in 2023, nor did the Ministry of Construction respond to Radio Free Europe as to which state projects this company is currently engaged in.

However, a “Incope” job, which is paid with state money, can be seen on the company's website, “Novi Pazar-put”.

Their machines are building the Pozarevac-Gollubac route east of Serbia, dubbed “Danube corridor”.

On that road, “Incorpus” is subservative of the Chinese construction company “Shandong”

Based on an interstate agreement between Serbia and China, “Shandong” won the job of building this road under direct contract, without tender.

The company selects the subcontinents itself, while the state's consent is needed for their commitment.

REL reported even earlier than “Inkop”, from February 2022, has the consent of the Ministry of Construction to work in the section from Pozharevci to Golubac.

According to recent reports by officials, that route is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

Chinese company “Shandong” did not answer REL's question if companies from the US blacklist, “Inkop” and “Novi Pazar-put” were business partners.

Kilometers of roads from Pribji, via Sjenica, to the Zihica Monastery

The sister company of “Incope”, “Novi Pazar-put”, won around 5.7m euros in 2023, the financial report said.

The profit is slightly lower than in 2022, when the company registered a profit of about 6.5m euros.

Local roads in Priboj, Tutin, Prijepole, Kralev, Sjenica, Novi Pazar and around the medieval Zihica monastery are the current “project” Like the company describes on her website.

Jobs are paid with state money.

The investor is the public company “Putevi Srbije”, but, from information on the company's website “Novi Pazar-put”, it is not known at what stage the works are currently at and how much they will cost.

In 2023, “Novi Pazar-put”, as it says, had over ten projects completed on local roads in several municipalities.

The company also financed “Putevi Srbije”.

This public company told Radio Europe free of charge that “Novi Pazar-put” is committed to regular maintenance of state roads, as well as “rehabilitation and emergency operation”.

But, she didn't answer the question of how “Novi Pazar-put”, as a US-sponsored company, has been selected for accomplices.

The state-owned road network that maintains this company in the Novi Pazar area of Kralev, Raska, Sjenica and Tutin is 800km long.

At the end of February, “Novi Pazar-put” boasted of the record “=x2x3>, saying that because of favourable weather conditions during the winter, it added activities to local shipyards.

For rice and salt, 650 thousand euros

Company co-operation “Novi Pazar-put” with “Putevi Srbije” is also seen in the annual financial documentation of 2023.

“Putevi Srbije” paid a advance of about 650 thousand euros.

This company told the REL that the compensation is divided for “the purchase of salt and rice” for winter maintenance of roads.

And, at the end of November 2023, the company “Novi Pazar-put” announced that the rebuilt bridge in Adrane, near Kraleva, was set in motion “before the” deadline.

For this job, worth about one million euros, it agreed with “Putevi Srbije”, on September 27th, 2023 -- three days after the armed attack on Banjska, when Radoiciq was still co-owner of the company.

Asked by Radio Free Europe why “Novi Pazar-put” took a job and if the decision was revised after the attack on Banjska, the company “Putevi Srbije” said the Public Procurement Law “does not provide revision of the decision to contract” in that case.

She also said that “does not matter who the owner of the company participates in public procurement”.

According to “Putevi Srbije”, the company “Novi Pazar-put” also built a ring around Novi Pazar in 2023, worth about 2.25m euros.

In the same year, it completed another job entrusted to the state: the rehabilitation of the road from Raska to Novi Pazar, worth about 14m euros.

Millions' advance from a Chinese company

In 2023, “Novi Pazar-put” continued co-operation on other major state projects, such as building highways at high speed.

The financial report shows the continuation of company co-operation “Novi Pazar-put” with the branch of the Chinese company “Shandong”

“Sandong” paid the company “Novi Pazar-put” a advance of about 1.7m euros in 2023. What work was involved is unknown.

As REL's Balkan Service reported earlier, “Novi Pazar-put”, by 2022, is under contracter on the fast-speed route from Valeva to Ljjkovac, which is being built by “Shandong”

The deadlines for completing the works on this channel were extended several times, and, according to recent reports by government officials, the road should be completed by the end of this year.

Company machines “Novi Pazar-put”, as reported on its website, are building another transmission, where the main contractor is the “branch. Shandong”

In the Pozharevc magistrate é Gollubac, through “Inkop”, it was taken for granted.

What is Serbia's position on “blacklists”?

Since the establishment of Radoichiqi, the Veselinovic brothers and their companies in “blacklist” of the United States of America, official Belgrade has not implemented those sanctions because there are no international obligations for that.

Sanctions include freezing their assets and accounts in the US, if they have, as well as stopping American businesses and citizens from doing business with them.

By December 2022, Radoicic and Veselinovists are also under the sanctions of Great Britain.

Millions - worth concrete poles

The company “Betonerka Aleksinac” closed 2023 to about 950 thousand euros in revenue.

The profit was about 200,000 euros better than in 2022.

An analysis of Radio Europe Free Radio found that “Betonierka” was in the group of companies that contracted work jointly with the state-owned company responsible for the power supply of “Electricity Srbije”.

The two-year deal on building concrete pillars for transmission lines worth about 2.5m euros was linked in early September 1923.

From your documentation it turns out that work is still going on.

Through a public procurement check, REL found that the latest procurement in a series of contracts for the job was made at the end of April of this year.

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With the new owners, in the years to come, “Betonerka” linked large contracts to Serbian electroditribution, while its revenues began to increase, financial reports and documents from the public procurement portal show.

The energy company didn't answer REL questions about the deals associated with the company “Betonerka”.

The latter is also under US sanctions from December 2021.

Hotel in Copaonium at minus

Unlike other companies of the Veselinovic brothers, which scored profits last year, the company “Dolly Bell” operated on the minus.

This company manages the luxury hotel “Grey” in Kopanik, Serbia, which shares the name with Radoiciqi's sequist restaurant in North Mitrovica.

According to the financial report for 2023, the company “Dolly Bell” operated on a loss of about 1.47m euros.

Thus, her minus doubled by a year earlier.

Charge in Kosovo, work in Serbia

In the Serbian public for years, Milan Radociq and Zvonko Veselinovic were represented as business partners originally from Kosovo.

Until the armed attack in Banjska, where a Kosovo police officer was killed, Radojic was deputy chairman of the Serbian List ʹ the main party of Serbs in Kosovo, which enjoys the support of official Belgrade.

When he admitted responsibility for the attack on Banjska on 29 September, he also announced he resigns from his position in the Serbian List.

Even before that, Radojic was on the run from Kosovo authorities, but because of allegations of corruption.

Kosovo Interior Minister Xhelal Svechla named it one of the leaders of the criminal structures in northern Kosovo.

Kosovo's prosecution links Veselinovic and Radoiciqi with the Kosovo Serb politician's murder, Olliver Ivanovic.

They are mentioned as alleged masterminds of the criminal group, but no charges were filed against them, since they were then on the run.

Kosovo's law does not allow the establishment of charges against fugitives, unless they were previously investigated.

In December 2021, when commented on the US decision to put Radoicicin and the Veselinovic brothers, the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vuciq, said competent authorities would investigate everything if there are “serious charges”.

However, in the months following that statement, the opinion in Serbia did not know whether the charges were investigated.

Neither the government nor the Serbian Presidency answered that question of Radio Free Europe.

After Interpol, at Kosovo's request, issued a warrant for Radojcicin, due to Banjska, Serbia's leaders said his extradition is “impossible” and that all judicial procedures will be conducted “before local courts”.

Any charges, however, still do not.

Due to participation in the attack on Banjska, Radojici's property in Kosovo was seized by Kosovo institutions in early April.

Among the assets seized are a flat and restaurant in northern Mitrovica and a villa in Lake Weyman.

Even in Kosovo, there is still no indictment against Radojici, though it was warned that it would rise by the end of March of this year. /Radio Free Europe