Serbia's "Spring Coalition" Government

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BELGRADE 000676 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL SR SUBJECT: Serbia's "Spring Coalition" Government ¶1. The following is the new cabinet sworn in on May 15, 2007 in Serbia. It consists of 22 ministries in addition to a Prime Minister from the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS),a Deputy Prime Minister from the Democratic Party (DS) and a minister without portfolio. ¶2. Prime Minister: Vojislav Kostunica (DSS) was born in 1944 in Belgrade. He studied law at Belgrade University. In 1989 he helped found the Democratic Party and in 1992 he set up the Democratic Party of Serbia. Opposition parties united to choose him as the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) candidate against Milosevic in the 2000 election for President of Yugoslavia. From 2003-2007, Kostunica was PM in a minority coalition government that ruled with support from Milosevic's Socialist Party. He speaks excellent English. ¶3. Deputy Prime Minister for EU Integration: Bozidar Djelic (DS) was born in 1965 in Belgrade. He is a graduate of the Institute of Political Science in Paris and earned an MBA from Harvard University and a second Master's at the College for Social Science in Paris. From 1993 to 2000, he worked for the McKinsey consulting firm, helping to devise the privatization programs in Russia and Poland. From 2001-2003, he was Finance Minister in the DOS coalition government. After the formation of the DSS-led Serbian government in early 2004, Djelic went into private consulting. In 2006 he became CEO of Meridian Bank, a Serbian bank sold to the French banking giant Credite Agricole. Djelic is fluent in English, French, German, Russian and Polish. ¶4. Foreign Minster: Vuk Jeremic (DS) was born July 3, 1975 in Belgrade. He is currently a Doctoral candidate of the University of London in Quantitative Finance. He has a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University and a Bachelors degree in Theoretical Physics from the University of Cambridge in England. Most recently he has been serving as a senior advisor to President Boris Tadic heading his foreign policy team. In addition, Jeremic is secretary-general of Serbia's International Advisory Council, SIPDIS Montreal/Washington (which is chaired by former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney) and is part of the Kokkalis Foundation Leadership Network. He is fluent in English and German. ¶5. Minister of Defense: Dragan Sutanovac (DS) was born on July 24, 1968 in Belgrade, where he completed elementary school and high school. He is a mechanical engineer, specializing in hydroenergetics. In November 2000, he became special advisor in the Federal Ministry of the Interior and from April to May 2000, he worked as a trainee within the European Parliament in Strasbourg. He is a deputy of the City Assembly of Belgrade and one of the vice presidents of the Democratic Party as well as a member of its Presidency and Main Board. From November 2001 to February 2003, he was the assistant Federal Minister of Interior Affairs. From 2002 to 2003, he was the chairman of the Defense and Security Committee in the Serbian Parliament. He is fluent in English. ¶6. Minster of Economy: Mladjan Dinkic (G-17+) was born in 1964 in Belgrade. He has his BA and MS from the Faculty of Economics of Belgrade University, where he later worked as a professor. Dinkic was named Serbia's Minister of Finance and Economy in March 2004, following the formation of a minority government coalition between DSS, G-17, and SPO/NS. Dinkic has pursued what he terms an "anti-recessionary" fiscal policy that he said seeks to balance growth and social spending. He has also called for a more progressive tax regime that shifts the tax burden more toward those with higher incomes. Dinkic is the president of the G-17 Plus party. He speaks fluent English. ¶7. Minister of Justice: Dusan Petrovic (DS) was born September 8, 1966 in Sabac, Western Serbia. He graduated from the Faculty of Law in Belgrade and practiced law from 1992 -2000. He joined the DS in 1992 and was elected to its Sabac municipal chapter in 1996. In 2003 he became an MP in the Federal Parliament and in 2004 he was elected as a member of the DS Main Board and Presidency. He was elected the Vice-president of the DS in March 2004. He speaks fluent English. ¶8. Minister of Finance: Mirko Cvetkovic (DS) was born August 16, 1950 in Zajecar, Eastern Serbia. He graduated and obtained his Masters and PhD at the Faculty of Economics, Belgrade University. He started his career at the Mining Institute in Zemun (a Belgrade municipality),where he worked for ten years. After that he worked at the Economics Institute for approximately six years and another seven years as a consultant at the CES MECON construction company. From 1998-2001 he worked as an advisor on economic issues at the Mining Institute and from January 2001 as a Deputy Minister for Economy and Privatization under former Privatization Minister Aleksandar Vlahovic. From 2003 to 2004 he was a Director at the Privatization Agency and in 2005 he worked as a Special Advisor at the CEO Intercon Consulting/CES Mecon. He has been a World Bank consultant on projects in Pakistan, India and Turkey. He has also worked as consultant with USAID. He speaks English. ¶9. Minister of Infrastructure: Velimir Ilic (New Serbia Party) remains minister of a downsized version of the former Ministry of Capital Investments. As mayor of the city of Cacak in central Serbia, Ilic played an important role in the downfall of Milosevic BELGRADE 00000676 002 OF 003 in October, 2000. He is the founder of the New Serbia Party which has a populist appeal and he is closely aligned with DSS. He does not speak English. ¶10. Minister w/o Portfolio and National Investment Plan Coordinator: Dragan Djilas (DS) has a degree in aeronautical engineering from Belgrade University but made his success in advertising. He was known in the 90's for standing up to Slobodan Milosevic as a student leader but then withdrew from politics and concentrated on developing his advertising agency Ovation. He is the head of the Belgrade chapter of the DS. He speaks English. ¶11. Minister of Agriculture: Slobodan Milosavljevic (DS) was born in Belgrade in 1965. He has a B.Sc, M.Sc and Ph.D from the Faculty of Economy - University of Belgrade. From 1991 to 1996 he worked in the Institute for Market Research. From 1996 he was a director of the Center for Conjunctive Research and Macroeconomic Analysis. He was Zoran Djindjic's advisor for economic matters and on January 25th, 2001 was elected as Serbian Minister of Trade, Tourism and Services, a position he held until March 2004. Since then he has been the president of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (SCK). He speaks fluent English. ¶12. Minister of Labor and Social Affairs: Rasim Ljajic (SDP) was born in 1964 in Novi Pazar. He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of Sarajevo University. In 1990 he was elected Secretary General of the Democratic Action Party of SandQak. In 1994 he founded the SandQak Coalition that developed in 2000 into the SandQak Democratic Party of which he is currently President. He was elected as Minister in the Federal Government in 2000 and in the same year became Vice-Chairman of the Coordinating Body for Southern Serbia and Vice-Chairman of the Coordinating Center for Kosovo and Metohija. He was appointed Minister of Human and Minority Rights in March 2004 where he served until the dissolution of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro in 2005. His small party is aligned with Tadic's DS. He does not speak, but understands, English. ¶13. Minister of Health: Tomica Milosavljevic (G-17+) was born in 1955 in Krusevac. He graduated in 1979 from the Medical University in Belgrade. He received his PhD in 1988. He served as the Minister of Health from 2004 to 2006. He was Assistant Director of the Serbian Clinical Center and Director of the Gastroenterology Clinic. Milosavljevic was elected president of the Yugoslav Society for Gastroenterology Endoscopy in 1996. He was formerly the Minister of Health under the Zivkovic's Government established on March 18, ¶2003. He speaks English. ¶14. Minister of Youth and Sports: Snezana Samardzic-Markovic (G-17+) was born in 1966 in Belgrade. She graduated from the Faculty of Philology specializing in literature. She is working on a masters in drama. She has worked in marketing and as a literary critic, and for the Norwegian Embassy in their culture and information department. She was appointed Assistant Minister for Defense Policy in the SAM Defense Ministry in 2004. She speaks English and Norwegian. ¶15. Minister of Culture: Vojislav Brajovic (DS),the renowned Serbian actor was born May 11, 1949 in Belgrade. He graduated from the Faculty of Drama Art in Belgrade and as of 1969 has been a full time member of the Yugoslav Drama Theatre in Belgrade. Brajovic has perfomred in over 50 theater plays and in 30 movies. He holds numerous prestigious art and acting awards. He is still active in the film and television industry. He speaks English. ¶16. Minister of Ecology: Sasa Dragin (DS) was born June 10, 1972 in Sombor. He obtained his BSC and MSC from the University of Novi Sad in Agriculture and has been working as Deputy of the Provincial Secretary of Agriculture in Vojvodina in the water management and SIPDIS forestry sectors since 2004. He was one of the founders of the International Association of Agriculture Students in Serbia. He also was the President of the Provincial Agriculture Department Board of the Democratic Party. He was sent to the U.S. on an IVLP program this year. He is fluent in English. ¶17. Minister of Science: Ana Pesikan (G-17+) was born July 24, 1959 in Feketic, Serbia. She is a lecturer at the Diplomatic Academy and the Faculty of Chemistry. She graduated from the Philosophical Faculty in 1981 and in 2000 received her Ph.D. in psychology specializing in the active learning of elementary school age students. ¶18. Minister of the Diaspora: Milica Cubrilo (DS) was the former Director of the Tourist Association of Serbia. She has an MSc in Law and Anthropology, specializing in African Law. She worked as a correspondent for La Le Point, Le Figaro, La Croix, Diplomatie Judiciarie, Radio France Internationale, Figaro and France Soir, and also as the editor of Svet. She worked as a consultant for the World Bank and French cooperation in West Africa and Madagascar, and also as an assistant lecturer at the Law Faculty, University of Asmara, Eritrea. She is fluent in English and French and fair in Italian and Spanish. ¶19. Minister of Telecommunications and Informatics Society: BELGRADE 00000676 003 OF 003 Aleksandra Smiljanic (DS) has a degree in electrical engineering from Belgrade University. She went on to Princeton for an M.A. and Ph.D. in the same field. She conducted research at AT&T Labs in the U.S. from 1999 until 2004. Smiljanic is a professor who teaches at the Belgrade University and two universities in New York (Stony Brook University and Polytechnic University of NY). She is fluent in English. ¶20. Minister of State Administration and Local Self Government: Milan Markovic (DS) was born 1970 in Belgrade. He graduated in law from Belgrade University and is a member of the bar. He has been a member of DS since 1996 where he held a number of top positions, and was elected to the executive board in 2006. He was the mayor of the Belgrade municipality Palilula from 2000-2004. He has served as an MP in the Serbian parliament since 2001, counselor in Belgrade city assembly from 2000-2004 and Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Serbia from 2003-2007. He is a part-time lecturer at the Faculty of Security in Belgrade. He speaks English. ¶21. Minister of Interior: Dragan Jocic (DSS) will remain as Minister. Jocic was born in 1960 in Belgrade. He graduated with a law degree and worked in the legal profession. He is one of the five vice-presidents of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and a member of the main and executive committees of the party from its early days. He was first elected to the presidency of the executive committee in 1996. He was a Belgrade city assembly councilperson, and from 1992 to 1996 a member of the executive council (i.e. local government) of the municipal assembly of Zvezdara (one of Belgrade's municipalities). In the 2000 elections, he again was elected to the city assembly of Belgrade for which he served as vice president. He does not speak English. ¶22. Minister of Kosovo: Slobodan Samardzic (DSS) was born in 1953 in Belgrade. He received both his M.A. (1983) and Ph.D. (1986) from the Faculty of Political Science, University of Belgrade. Kostunica selected Samardzic as an advisor when he was FRY President. He has been a vocal member on the negotiating team for Kosovo. He speaks English. ¶23. Minister of Trade: Predrag Bubalo (DSS) was born in 1954 in Vladicin Han. He received his PhD from the Faculty of Law, Novi Sad University. Bubalo was the general manager of Kikinda-based foundry Kikinda. He served as Minister of Economy in the Kostunica government from 2004-2007. He does not speak English. ¶24. Minister of Religion: Radomir Naumov (DSS) was born in 1946 in Coka. He graduated from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Belgrade University. He is the director of the Centre for Electric Energy Facilites at the Nikola Tesla Electrical Engineering Institute. Naumov is also head of the Belgrade office of DSS. He served as the Minister of Energy in the Kostuncia government from 2004-2007. Speaks German and English. ¶25. Minister of Education: Zoran Loncar (DSS) was born in 1965 in Novi Sad. He received his PhD in law and works as an assistant professor at the Faculty of Law, Novi Sad University. He joined the Democratic Party of Serbia in 2000. Loncar was a legal adviser in the commission that drafted the Constitutional Charter of Serbia-Montenegro and in the drafting of a new Serbian constitution. In the previous government, he served as Minister for State Administration and Local Self-Government. He was a member of the Serbian Electoral Commission (RIK) in its previous two convocations. Speaks French and English. ¶26. Minister of Energy: Aleksandar Popovic (DSS),the Minister of Science, Technology and the Environment in the previous Serbian government (2004 - 2007),was born in Belgrade in 1971. After graduating from high school in Moscow, Popovic returned to Belgrade where he majored in chemistry at the University of Belgrade. He received his MA in chemistry in 1996 from Florida State University at Tampa. In 2002, Popovic received a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Belgrade, where he teaches as an associate professor. He has been the president of the youth branch of the DSS (SDOS),head of external relations for the DSS, and president of the DSS Political Council. In January 2003, he was elected vice-president of the party as well as the deputy president of the executive board of the DSS. Popovic speaks English and Russian. POLT