More weekend visitors than usual were observed on March 9 outside the Optima Group company's headquarters in Banja Luka as it became a polling station for early voting in Russia's presidential election. The firm, based in the administrative center of Republika Srpska -- Bosnia-Herzegovina's Serb entity -- belongs to NeftegazInKor, a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned oil and gas company Zarubezhneft. The Russian Embassy in Bosnia-Herzegovina rejected RFE/RL's request to film the voting in Banja Luka. Russia considers RFE/RL an "undesirable organization."
