Zvonko Veselinović, a controversial businessman from Kosovo and a close associate of Milan Radoičić, remains a key figure on the United States sanctions list for his involvement in organized crime. Veselinović and Radoičić have been blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury since 2021, and in December 2022, the United Kingdom also imposed sanctions on them.
Veselinović is viewed differently across the region — hailed as a businessman in Serbia, but considered a criminal in Kosovo. His alleged activities include illicit trade, vehicle theft, narcotics, illegal gravel extraction, and building barricades at border crossings such as Jarinje and Brnjak.
Kosovo MP Armend Muja (Vetëvendosje) had previously published a list identifying Serbian criminal organizations and their leaders, including Veselinović, Radoičić, and other northern Kosovo figures. Muja stated that entities such as the Civil Protection Unit and Northern Brigade—allegedly created by high-profile Serbian figures, including Andrija Vučić (brother of President Aleksandar Vučić)—should be declared terrorist organizations.
Veselinović’s name has also surfaced in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he and his brother reportedly traveled frequently. According to Bosnia’s security services, his helicopter was allegedly used for transporting individuals linked to Russian and Serbian intelligence, including a former GRU officer. His helicopter, a Sikorsky S-76, painted in Serbian flag colors, is stationed at Batajnica airport, the same type used by Serbia’s president.
According to journalist Predrag Popović, President Vučić and Veselinović both use such aircraft for security, though they have started flying in separate directions, symbolically hinting at diverging agendas.
Veselinović is widely known as a loyal ally of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. Both Vučić and former Prime Minister Ana Brnabić have publicly defended him. In Brnabić’s words:
“Unless there’s a formal ruling against Veselinović and Radoičić, don’t criminalize Serbs from the Srpska List.”
Despite repeated media investigations and allegations, neither Veselinović nor Radoičić has been formally convicted, though they are frequently described as godfathers of northern Kosovo’s underground networks. The U.S. Treasury Department has called Veselinović a “notoriously corrupt figure”, who has been arrested multiple times but evaded prosecution.
His criminal career was first noted in Serbia’s 2000 White Book of Organized Crime, where he was described as leading a gang that stole vehicle parts from Albanian-majority areas and operated in both Kosovo and Serbia.
