The Croatian Foreign Ministry’s team monitoring compliance with international restrictions is gathering evidence of violations of sanctions in the case of the attempted sale and purchase of the Russian stake in Fortenova Group by the Russian bank Sberbank and Sheikh Saif Alketbi, Jutarnji List daily wrote on Sunday.
According to the newspaper’s sources, there is a growing amount of firm evidence indicating a gross violation of international sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, which is most likely to result in all legal and natural persons involved in this deal being placed under sanctions .
It is realistic to expect that over the next two weeks the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs will recommend to the European Commission to include the persons in question on the sanctions list. The Commission will put the proposal to a vote and then send it to the authorities around the world responsible for the enforcement of sanctions, Jutarnji List said.
According to available information and based on the results of the investigation so far, Croatia might recommend a blockade of the accounts and assets of at least two Croatian nationals, businessmen Kresimir Filipovic and Miodrag Borojevic, for whom there are reasonable grounds to suspect that they were actively involved in the deal. Both are currently in Dubai.
Croatia is also expected to recommend sanctions for the Dutch-registered company SBK ART, which is owned by Sberbank and whose equity portfolio includes only the stake in Fortenova Group. The Russian bank has said it has sold this company to Sheikh Saif Alketbi from the United Arab Emirates.
Another serious candidate for inclusion on the sanctions list is Roman Goltsov, a member of the Management Board and non-executive director of Fortenova, who is also believed to have taken part in this illegal operation. Sergey Volk, a former member of the Management Board, might also end up on the sanctions list.
Jutarnji List’s sources claim that putting these natural and legal persons on the sanctions list would be the best way for Croatia to show the United States and others its determination to comply with the sanctions against Russia.
“One of the most important questions in this case is the further operation of Fortenova. Our sources close to Fortenova’s ownership structure claim that the company is not in danger and that it is operating normally. They say that the situation is not pleasant, but that all that has happened is not having a negative impact on its business,” Jutarnji List reporters Kresimir Zabec and Marko Spoljar wrote.
