Dragan Sikimic. Photo: Printscreen/Youtube plusradio010

Dragan Sikimic, who was appointed director of Serbia’s Anti-Corruption Agency, an independent state body tasked with monitoring parties’ finances, on 17 January, is closely involved with Serbia’s ruling Progressive Party, BIRN can reveal.

Sikimic was on the list of the Progressives for the local elections in Zemun in 2016, and was also a member of the of the Electoral Commission for the Zemun municipality, proposed by the Progressive Party.

Sikimic name is among those who donated 40,000 dinars to the Progressive Party for last year’s presidential election, according to data from the Anti-Corruption Agency.

Last December, the agency that Sikimic is now supposed to lead called for a check on transactions made during Vucic’s presidential campaign, suspecting illegal donations had been made.

A BIRN investigation revealed in October 2017 that almost 7,000 individuals each donated 40,000 dinars – around 320 euros – to the Progressives for the presidential elections.

The investigation showed how the Progressives has used proxy donors to disguise the true source of campaign gifts – which are illegal under Serbia’s law on the financing of political activities.

The Administration for the Prevention of Money Laundering in 2014 found 135 bank transactions in which people had deposited 40,000 dinars into their accounts and had immediately transferred the same amount to the Progressives in the form of a donation, ahead of the 2014 general elections.

During the 2012 and 2014 elections, the media reported that political parties received donations from persons on welfare, raising suspicions that they were acting as covers for the true donors.

The Anti-Corruption Agency has called for a probe into those donations, suspecting that some of them came from illegal activities, including money laundering.

BIRN contacted Sikimic and the Progressive Party for a comment, but received no replay by the time of publication.

The board of the Anti-Corruption Agency in an press release on Friday said that they were not aware of the information regarding connections between Dragan Sikimic and the Serbian Progressive Party. They added that even if they knew of such information, it would not affect their decision.

The Anti-Corruption Agency has been without a director since 13 November 2017, when Majda Krsikapa resigned for unknown reasons.