Miroslav Mišković

Miroslav Mišković
Born Miroslav Mišković
(1945-07-05) July 5, 1945
Bošnjane, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Residence Belgrade, Serbia
Nationality Serbian
Education Finance
Alma mater University of Belgrade
Occupation President of Delta Holding
Net worth €507.3 million
Spouse(s) Ljiljana Mišković
Children Ivana, and Marko
Website www.miroslavmiskovic.rs

Miroslav Mišković (Serbian Cyrillic: Мирослав Мишковић) (born July 5, 1945) is a Serbian business magnate, investor, and owner of Delta Holding. Mišković is considered to be the second richest person in Serbia, after Miodrag Kostic, with an average net worth of 507.3 million euros.[1]

Mišković's net worth was estimated to be $2 billion in 2007, according to the list of 100 wealthiest persons of the post-communist countries made by Polish magazine Wprost.[2] Mišković holds 42nd place on this list, but is fifth among the tycoons outside the former Soviet Union. According to the 2007 list of the richest people in the world, published annually by Forbes magazine, Mišković is a newcomer to this list, taking the 891st spot, with a net worth of $1 billion. He is the first person from Serbia to enter this list.[3]

Early life

Mišković was born in 1945 in the small village of Bošnjane, Central Serbia. He was raised and lived on his family's farm.[4] At age eight, Mišković was almost blinded in his left eye when a playmate accidentally struck him with a rock while playing with a slingshot, losing 90% of his vision.[4] Mišković completed his high school education in the nearby city of Kruševac and graduated from the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Economics branch in Kragujevac in 1971, majoring in finance and economics.[4] Afterwards, he worked at Jugobanka and Trayal until 1977, when he found work at Župa Chemical Industries (ZCI).

Business career

Mišković became financial director of ZCI in 1984, and chief executive in 1987 until 1990, when he briefly served as deputy prime minister in the government of Serbia for only six months in office. Meanwhile, Mišković founded Delta M (Delta M being a sort of abbreviation of his initials - double M) in 1991, a company that became very successful in the following years, during the Yugoslav wars and under the regime of Slobodan Milošević. Soon afterwards, he launched Delta banka (sold to Banca Intesa in 2005), that was to become the first part of Mišković's extremely successful Delta Holding corporation that is involved in agribusiness, retail sales, distribution, financial brokerage, real estate development and insurance.

Mišković's connection to Slobodan Milošević was never obvious, except for his short stint as deputy prime minister in 1990. After the overthrow of Milošević's regime, Mišković was linked to Dušan Mihajlović, the minister of police at the time, and the other leaders of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia coalition.

After 5 October 2000, Mišković took an advantage of privatisation and started building his empire. As he has managed to purchase most of large companies post Djindjic murder, it is often argued that Mišković was 'buying Serbia' with money that was taken out to Cyprus during Milosevic reign.

Mišković is today considered to be a figure of great influence on the leading politicians in Serbia.

Mišković was abducted on 9 April 2001, but was released the next day, when the ransom (estimated at about 7 million Deutsche Mark's) was paid 18 hours later. After the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić on 12 March 2003, the abduction of Mišković was attributed to the same group that has been convicted of the death of the prime minister and other similar crimes.He was owner of Maxi and Delta stores but sold to Belgium company Delhaze for 1 billion euros

Criminal investigation

On 12 December 2012, Mišković was detained along with his son Marko and eight others in connection with the privatization of several public road maintenance companies in 2005 during which the suspects “gained illegal profit” of about €30 million ($38.98 million).[5] Mišković and Milo Đurašković, who has also been arrested, were “co-owners in privatized road companies between 2005 and 2010” and they “usurped money and property of those companies worth about 2.87 billion dinars at the time,” Serbian Special Prosecutor for Organized Crime said in a televised statement, adding that the partnership between the two began in 2005 when Mišković’s Cyprus-based company Hemslade Trading Ltd. purchased a road maintenance company based in Belgrade for €23 million.[6]

Mišković was released from custody on 22 July 2013, after posting a €12 million bail.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Pogledajte ko su najbogatiji Srbi i koliko su "teški"!" (in Serbian). Blic. 30 May 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  2. ↑ The wealthiest in post-communist countries
  3. ↑ 2007 Forbes' annual billionaires' list
  4. 1 2 3 "Who is Miroslav Miskovic?". miroslavmiskovic.rs. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  5. ↑ "Serbia’s retail tycoon held in anti-corruption sweep". The Globe and Mail. 12 December 2012.
  6. ↑ "Police Arrest Serbia’s Richest Man as Fraud Suspect". BloombergBusinessWeek. 12 December 2012.
  7. ↑ "Serbia Tycoon Miskovic Pays 12 Million Euro Bail". BalkanInsight. 22 July 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.

External links

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