SLOVENIA: LJUBLJANA'S MAYOR A MAN TO WATCH: ZORAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LJUBLJANA 000046

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/NCE (SSADLE)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/26/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM ECON SI
SUBJECT: SLOVENIA: LJUBLJANA'S MAYOR A MAN TO WATCH: ZORAN
JANKOVIC

REF: LJUBLJANA

Classified By: COM Thomas B. Robertson for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: Zoran Jankovic, previously CEO of
Slovenia's largest retail company, Mercator, is now mayor of
Ljubljana, and he has a mission. He has 45 projects for the
city, 22 of which are high priority, including building
several parking garages, widening key avenues, building
50,000 more apartments, and moving much of the traffic out of
the city. The biggest obstacle will be getting the necessary
funding, since a recent bill for funding municipalities cut
Ljubljana's budget by 847,000 euros. Jankovic has written PM
Jansa to try to negotiate a bigger piece of the pie. Another
obstacle is bureaucratic intransigence within his own
administration, but Jankovic is alternatively cajoling and,
where necessary, firing staffers to get his team serving the
city. Close to former President Kucan, Jankovic claims not
to be a politician or to have his eye on higher political
goals, but he is an obvious candidate to fill the gaping void
in the center left LDS. From our perspective, he has the
leadership skills and charisma to go far and is a man to
watch. end summary


2. (C) Jankovic and his wife invited COM and wife to dinner
outside Ljubljana January 22, at one of Slovenia's best
restaurants, which, as it happens, is also former President
Kucan's favorite. Upon arriving, it was clear that Jankovic
has known the owner and his wife, the chef, a long time. In
fact, the restaurant was closed except for this dinner. Also
there, as if to underscore the special relationship, was
Spela Kucan, Kucan's daughter, helping to prepar the meal.

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An admirer of America, and American leadership
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3. (C) Right off the bat, Jankovic asked about the prospects
for the US Presidency in 2008, interested especially in
Hillary Clinton's and Barack Obama's chances. As dinner went
on, Jankovic made clear his admiration for the United States.
He remembered with some delight a Presidential debate
between President Carter and Ronald Reagan in 1980 during a
first trip to the States. He made clear that Sam Walton had
been his model for building up Mercator in the 80's and 90's,
and he spoke fondly of American patriotism, noting Americans'
respect for the flag and positive national identity, as well
as America's readiness to be a leader around the world. He
and his wife spoke fondly of President Clinton, whom he had
met during Clinton's visit to Slovenia in 1999. Standing in
the rain, Jankovic said the President had gone around the
crowd and made each person he met feel special. His speech to
the crowd, quoting Slovenian national poet France Preseren,
had been a real pleaser. He complimented the United States
for being so rich in real leaders, both in politics and in
business.

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Kucan as mentor
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4. (C) Jankovic said Slovenia did not have many political
leaders, while on the other hand it had had a rich crop of
business leaders, mentioning the CEO of Gorenje, and former
CEOs of Petrol, and the Port of Koper, among others. On the
political side there had only been Kucan, Drnovsek, and now
Jansa. He has known Kucan for over 25 years. At some point
in the early 80's Kucan had been president and Jankovic vice
President of the Ljubljana premier sports club, Olimpija.
Jankovic spoke of Kucan as someone who truly enjoyed meeting
people, working the crowd - a true politician. Drnovsek, he
exclaimed, had not been a personable politician in the past,
but he had become a new person as a result, in part, of his
illness. Jankovic noted that Drnovsek had gone out to meet
with the Roma family, the Strojans, and had even reached out
and hugged them, something completely out of character
before. He said it would be interesting to see who might win
the Presidential battle later this year, Social Democrat and
EU Parliamentarian Borut Pahor, or former PM and also EU
Parliamentarian, Alojze Peterle. Jankovic said he had once
had dinner with Peterle, pointing out to him that it wasn't
his party affiliation that was important in running, but
rather his name and character. He noted that Peterle was
more accessible and friendly, and was known as a family-man,
something that helped.

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The challenge of running the city
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5. (C) Asked about his own plans as a politician, noting
particularly the disarray in the LDS, Jankovic smiled and
said he was not a politician. As to LDS, he remarked that
Kucan was much beloved and still very popular in the country,
but at 66 would not run again. Perhaps he would continue to
stay active through his foundation. He, Jankovic, had four
years to perform as mayor. He was keeping long hours each
day, often bringing work home, similar to his practice while
at Mercator (although he made clear that he makes time to
take walks and have dinner with his wife). He noted that he
came in with 45 projects before him. Twenty-two were
priorities, including putting in several new underground
parking garages in the next 3 years to deal with Ljubljana's
parking crisis, widening key thoroughfares to help with the
traffic problem, and building 50,000 new apartments. A major
problem, Jankovic said, was that the Jansa government had
redirected central government funds from Ljubljana to other
municipalities, with cuts totaling 847,000 euros. He said he
had just sent the Prime Minister a letter requesting funding
be restored, and he thought that negotiations to that end
might begin soon. He said that he had 11,000 employees
working for the city of Ljubljana (versus the 15,000 he had
had with Mercator) but that only 500 were really part of the
central city administration. He had that morning spoken to a
group of employees, making clear to them that they were all
working to serve the citizens of Ljubljana, and that they
needed to work together, encouraging them to speak out, while
not pushing private agendas. He said he had already fired a
handful of employees who had tried to block initiatives.

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Comment: Jankovic is one to watch
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6. (C) Despite his comments about not being a politician,
Jankovic is someone to watch. He understands what makes
people tick, and he has natural people skills. People tell
stories about him at Mercator - working crowds of employees
and customers, and helping the latter pack their bags.
Mercator employees missed the annual Christmas party this
year, where in the past Jankovic put on festivities for both
current staff and retirees and stayed until 4 am spending
time with all the people. His offer to assist in the Roma
situation with the Strojan family was generally well
received, and at a separate meeting Minister of Environment
Podobnik even praised Jankovic's role. Even PM Jansa, on the
opposite side of the aisle politically, recently told COM
that Jankovic "will be good for Ljubljana." At one point, in
discussing former SecState Powell's leadership style,
Jankovic expressed himself a fan of "managing by walking
around." It is a matter of trust, he emphasized, between
those leading and those being led, that is key to effective
leadership. Given Jankovic's overwhelming first round
victory as mayor, he has a strong mandate to make changes in
the city. Whether he gets tripped up by budget challenges or
inability to get results remains to be seen. But we expect
to see him as a major player on Slovenia's political scene
for some time to come.
ROBERTSON