15th Annual Conference on Economic Reforms in Serbia: Grey Book 2023

Ana Brnabić was born in 1975 in Belgrade. She holds a master's degree (MBA) from the University of Hull from the United Kingdom and has worked for more than ten years with international organisations, foreign investors, local governments and the public sector in Serbia. In August 2016 she was elected Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, and she held that position until the election for the Prime Minister. She is President of the Council for Innovative Entrepreneurship and Information Technologies of the Serbian government and of the National Minorities Council of the Republic of Serbia, as well as Vice President of the Public Administration Reform Council of the Republic of Serbia. As Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, she worked on a faster systematic introduction of e-government in Serbia, with the aim of more efficient work of state administration and local self-government, direct raising of the quality of life of citizens of Serbia, building more modern and transparent administration and fighting corruption. Two most important projects implemented in this segment during her term are e-Baby ("Baby, Welcome to the World") and e-ZUP (full implementation of the Law on General Administrative Procedure). As President of the Council for Innovative Entrepreneurship and Information Technologies of the Serbian government, in day-to-day consultations with IT industry from Serbia, start-ups and innovative companies, she developed the Action Plan and started its fast implementation. In the fight against grey economy, she was in charge of the implementation of the "Take the Receipt and Win" raffle, in which more than 40% of Serbian citizens participated, which resulted in a significantly increased awareness of the importance of the fight against the grey economy. She is a member of the “New Leaders for Europe” group within the World Economic Forum. Prior to her election to the Serbian government, she was Director of Continental Wind Serbia (CWS), where she worked on the implementation of an investment worth €300 million in the wind farm in the municipality of Kovin. She took part in the establishment and was the first executive director, as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the non-profit foundation Peksim. She worked at various US consulting companies that were implementing the projects financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Serbia. She was Deputy Director of the Serbia Competitiveness Project, an expert on the Programme of reform of the local self-government in Serbia and a senior coordinator of the Programme for economic development of municipalities. She actively participated in the establishment of the National Alliance for Local Economic Development (NALED) in 2006. She became a member, and then the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of NALED. She has received numerous awards for the development projects she has worked on, for the promotion of social responsibility and tolerance.

Siniša Mali was elected Minister of Finance of the Republic of Serbia on May 29th 2018. He was Mayor of Belgrade from the year 2014. During his term, The Mayor achieved significant investments in municipal infrastructure, has led a vast financial reconsolidation program to achieve sustainable fiscal stabilization and made Belgrade “a city filled with cranes and hardhats.” Before becoming Mayor, Siniša Mali served as Special Advisor for economic and financial affairs to the Prime Minister of Serbia, Mr. Aleksandar Vučić.  Prior to this, he was a financial advisor and consultant in private practice and at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, where he specialized in transactional work in M&A, financial advisory, financial restructuring, and in business consolidation of private and public enterprises. In 2001, he was appointed Assistant Minister for Privatization at the Ministry of the Economy and Privatization.  Later he served as the Director of Tender Privatizations at the Privatization Agency of the Republic of Serbia.   Prior to his appointment as the Assistant Minister for Privatization, he worked for Credit Suisse First Boston in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group in New York, NY.  Siniša Mali obtained his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Belgrade, School of Economics, and as a Ron Brown scholar, he received an MBA, specializing in Finance from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri in the US.  In 2013, he defended his PhD dissertation on the topic of “Value Creation through Restructuring and Privatization – the Experience of Serbia,” at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade. Siniša Mali is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and a member of: the CFA Institute, the Serbian Business Angels Network, the Fulbright Alumni Association of Serbia and British-Serbian Business Club.  He is a licensed portfolio manager at the Belgrade Stock Exchange, and has served previously as President of various boards of directors including those of Fiat Automobiles Serbia, Komercijalna Banka, Air Serbia, and as a BoD member of the Clinical Hospital Centers of Serbia.

Tanja Miscevic was born in 1966 in Zemun, where she completed her primary and secondary school education. Miscevic is a full professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Belgrade at the Department of International and European Studies. She graduated from the Department of International Relations at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade in 1989, received her master's degree in 1997, and obtained her PhD in political science in 2002 at the same Faculty. She taught as a visiting professor at universities in the region, as well as at the Center for European Integration Studies of the University of Bonn, Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Rome III, Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Zagreb and the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Ljubljana. She taught as a guest professor at the Military Academy of the Serbian Armed Forces, at the Advanced Security and Defence Studies of the Ministry of Defence and at the Police Academy and led the International Organizations module at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia. She is the author of two books and a large number of scientific monographs and articles in the field of theory and practice of functioning of international governmental organisations, EU enlargement policy, Stabilization and Association Process, as well as relations between Serbia and the European Union. In the period from 2005 to 2008, she was the Director of the Serbian government’s Office for European Integration and a member of Serbia’s negotiating team for the conclusion of the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU. During 2007, she led the negotiation team of the Republic of Serbia in negotiations on the conclusion of the Visa Facilitation Agreement and the Readmission Agreement between the Republic of Serbia and the European Union. She was the Vice President of the Anti-Corruption Agency from 2009 to 2011. In the period from 2010 to 2012, she was the State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence of the Government of the Republic of Serbia. The Serbian government appointed Miscevic as the Head of the Team for Negotiations on the Membership of the Republic of Serbia with the European Union in August 2013 and she held this position until August 2019. From November 2019, she was the Deputy Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council. She is the recipient of the “Contribution of the Year to Europe” award, the Rainbow Award and the Knight of the Order of Merit of the French Republic. She speaks English and Russian.

Mihailo Jovanović, PhD was born in 1972 in Belgrade. He graduated and received his Master’s Degree from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Belgrade, as one of the best students of his generation. He obtained his PhD Degree in Economic Sciences in 2012, and went on to defend his second Doctoral Thesis in the field of Mathematics and Computer Sciences in 2022, at the University of Criminal Investigation and Police Studies. He spent the first half of his working life at the Post of Serbia, where he was also a scholarship holder, as the Director responsible for IT, electronic communications and development, where he contributed to the design and implementation of the new postal technology and information system and the construction of regional postal and logistics centres in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Niš. He is one of the most responsible experts for the fact that, owing to digitalization and the development of electronic business operations, the Post of Serbia achieved the best business results in its history in 2016. He contributed to the establishment of the Office for Information Technologies and eGovernment of the Government of the Republic of Serbia in 2017, when he also became its Director. He was responsible for the intensive development of eGovernment services and infrastructure, the digital transformation of public administration, the progress of the digital economy, but also the recognition, trust and faith of citizens in eGovernment. The construction of the Government Data Centre in Kragujevac, as well as the implementation of electronic services Baby, Welcome to the World, eKindergarten, eEnrollment, My High School, eMailbox, Electronic Signature in the Cloud and many other left a permanent mark on the digitalization of public administration in Serbia. He received an award from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Development of the Government of the Republic of Serbia in 2002 at a public call for the best young researchers and scientists who contributed to the development of science and technology, changes in the country, as well as initiated reforms, and who remained in the country and with their involvement contributed to its overall faster development and connection with the world. In 2022, he received the “Despot Stefan Lazarević” Award of the City of Belgrade, which is awarded for a work that represents the most valuable achievement in art, science, medicine, architecture and urban planning, agriculture, journalism, education, sports and environmental protection. He received the award for his outstanding contribution to the organization and implementation of vaccination of the population in Belgrade in 2021 in the circumstances of the declared global SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, he received a public recognition - the Plaque of St. George, the highest award of the city of Kragujevac for the assistance provided to this city and its citizens, for exceptional personal and professional commitment and achieved results in the field of digitalization, the construction of the Government Data Centre in Kragujevac and the initiative to build the Innovation District in Kragujevac, making this city the leading IT centre in the Republic of Serbia and Southeast Europe. He is married to Aneta, and is the father of Stefan and Aleksandar.

H.E. Emanuele Giaufret has been appointed the EU Ambassador to Serbia in September 2021. He took this position after serving four years as the EU Ambassador to Israel. Previous to that he served at European External Action Service as the Head of the Division for Democracy and Electoral Observation and as Political Assistant to the Managing Director responsible for North Africa and the Middle East. He was also posted at the EU Delegation to the United Nations in New York, and again at the EU Delegation in Israel, as Head of the Political and Trade Section. At the beginning of his career at European Commission, he worked at the Directorate General for External Relations, as desk officer for electoral observation. Before joining the EU, H.E. Emanuele Giaufret worked at the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. He has a PhD in History of International Relations from the University of Florence, and a Master in European Affairs from the College of Europe in Bruges. He is married and a father of three.

Nicola Pontara is the Country Manager for Serbia, based in Belgrade. Pontara, an Italian national, joined the World Bank Group in 2000 as a Young Professional. Most recently, he held the position of Country Manager for Lao PDR in the East Asia and Pacific Region. Prior to that, he was Country Manager for Bolivia in the Latin America and Caribbean Region. He also served as Head of Office and Program Leader based in Juba, South Sudan, in the Africa Region. Nicola Pontara holds a PhD in Economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Prior to joining the World Bank Group, he was an ODI Fellow at the Ministry of Planning and Finance in Maputo, Mozambique.

As of May 2021, Matteo Colangeli has been appointed to the role of Regional Director for Western Balkans at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), based in Serbia. In his 16 years at EBRD, Matteo held a number of country management and banking positions in HQ, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Albania. Prior to that, he worked in investment banking and consulting with roles in London and Milan. Matteo holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science.The EBRD has invested close to €16.6 billion in the Western Balkans to date, supporting the private sector, financial institutions, as well as energy and infrastructure projects. The Bank is working towards building green, inclusive, and digitalized economies in the region.

Dejan Đokić has been the Director of ASEE in Serbia since February 2017. He started the company engagement as Project Manager in 2005, and further career development led him to the position of Director of Profit center for infrastructure services. He has managed and took part in a number of projects of crucial importance for the company, in financial and public sector in the region, as well as major regional projects in the field telecommunications. Before joining ASEE, Dejan worked as engineer-associate in Jugoimport company and as technology engineer in Zepter International. He graduated from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Belgrade, earning a degree in the field of industrial engineering.

Vladislav Cvetkovic is Director of Advisory Services in “PricewaterhouseCoopers” in Belgrade since 2013. He served as the Director of Privatization Agency from 2009 to 2013, managing all activities on the Serbian privatization agenda, including the improvement of privatization-related legislation. From 2001 to 2007 he was engaged in the National Bank of Serbia and the Agency for Deposit Insurance, as Advisor to the Governor and the leading advisor for privatization of banks. During this period, he led a number of projects related to banking sector reform and was directly engaged in formulating and successful implementation of the strategy and privatization of significant financial institutions in the country, also leading on several of the largest privatization projects in Serbia so far. From 2004 to 2005 he was a Council member in the National Bank of Serbia, and the Managing Board President in Komercijalna banka AD Beograd from 2006 to 2009. His professional career started in financial consulting in “Deloitte”, Belgrade, in 1994-2000, as well as in academia, as he was a lecturer at the Faculty of Economy in Belgrade, at the Business Finance and Accounting department.

Borislav Despotović, born on December 5th, 1980 in Kikinda. A journalist and an editor in the Daily news program of Radio-Television of Vojvodina. A journalist and a presenter of the TV show Business Monitor, which deals with business research of entrepreneurs, micro, small and medium enterprises. In his journalistic career, he has created several hundred thematic TV reports and interviews with economic topics, with the most prominent interlocutors from the Government of Serbia, the Government of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, numerous international and state institutions, business associations, with representatives of the banking and academic sectors, as well as non-governmental organizations. Furthermore he has worked as a moderator of numerous conferences and panel discussions on the topic of economy, entrepreneurship and tourism, organized by various governmental and non-governmental organizations, media houses and business associations. He was awarded with the special award from the National Alliance for Local Economic Development (NALED) for his contribution to quality reporting on economic reforms for 2016, as well as the annual journalism award "Different from others" for 2019,awarded by the Standing Conference of Cities and Municipalities (SKGO).