Milorad Mišković (politician)
Milorad Mišković (Serbian Cyrillic: Милорад Мишковић; born 1948) is an entrepreneur and former politician in Serbia. He was the general manager of the Jabuka retail chain and was a cabinet minister in Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. During his time in government, he was a member of the Socialist Party of Serbia (Socijalistička partija Srbije, SPS).
He is not to be confused with Miroslav Mišković, the owner of Delta Holding, whose name has sometimes been misrendered as "Milorad Mišković" in the Serbian media.[1]
Private career
[edit]Mišković holds a Bachelor of Laws degree. He was the director-general of Jabuka prior to entering political life.[2]
Politician
[edit]Yugoslavian cabinet minister
[edit]Mišković was appointed as Yugoslavia's minister of domestic trade in the administration of Radoje Kontić on 20 March 1997.[3] In June, he announced that the federal and republican governments in Yugoslavia would target the grey economy that had grown during the Yugoslav Wars and international sanctions of the previous years, via a crackdown on smuggling routes and by other means.[4] He said that the government's goal was to reduce the grey economy's share in the social product from forty per cent to between ten and twenty per cent.[5] Later in the same year, he urged the adoption of a value added tax to unify existing tax regulations and reduce evasion.[6] He generally encouraged trade liberalization as a means of countering the domestic monopolies that had emerged in the upheavals of the 1990s.[7]
Mišković rejected suggestions that the Yugoslav dinar would be devalued in September 1997, arguing that an increase in the money supply over the summer months was grounded in hard currency inflow from the sale of Serbian Telecom.[8] He approved a significant increase in meat imports to Yugoslavia in the same period, to address a market shortage and to prevent price hikes.[9] In October 1997, he announced that Yugoslavia would impose a state monopoly on cigarette imports and radically cut taxes to curb the illegal economy in the field.[10]
In 1998, amid concerns about new international sanctions, Mišković indicated the government would sell official food reserves to prevent the prospect of shortages.[11]
He kept his position in cabinet when Momir Bulatović succeeded Kontić as prime minister in May 1998,[12] although he stood down following a shuffle on 18 January 1999.[13][14] He later served as vice-president of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce.[15]
Mišković received the second position on the Socialist Party's electoral list for Voždovac in the 2000 Yugoslavian parliamentary election. The list won two seats in the division. This did not give him an automatic mandate under Yugoslavia's electoral law at the time, and it does not appear that he served.[16]
Serbian cabinet minister
[edit]SPS leader Slobodan Milošević was defeated by Vojislav Koštunica in the 2000 Yugoslavian presidential election, which took place concurrently with the parliamentary election. This was a watershed event that prompted major changes in Serbian and Yugoslavian politics.
After the fall of Milošević, a transitional government was established in Serbia pending new parliamentary elections. The government consisted of members of the SPS, the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (Demokratska opozicija Srbije, DOS), and the Serbian Renewal Movement (Srpski pokret obnove, SPO). Mišković was appointed to the government as a SPS representative, serving as minister of trade.[17] On assuming office, he accused the outgoing ministry of deliberately encouraging inflation by removing price caps in its final days in office, so as to undermine the new administration.[18] To stabilize the market, he called for the state to sell commodity reserves and to further liberalize international trade.[19] During the same time, he announced an agreement with Serbia's oil companies to reduce consumer prices.[20]
Mišković appeared on the Socialist Party's electoral list in the 2000 Serbian parliamentary election.[21] Shortly before the election, though, on 19 December 2000, he submitted his resignation as trade minister, resigned from the Socialist Party, and announced that he was withdrawing his candidature for the Serbian parliament. He did not provide a reason for his actions.[22] He has not returned to political life since this time.
Return to the private sector
[edit]Mišković returned as general manager of the Jabuka retail chain after leaving politics.[23] In December 2001, he announced price reductions for a variety of products, arguing that prices of food products in Serbia were too high relative to surrounding countries.[24]
In 2009, he opened a number of "SOS Market" outlets in Belgrade, for the benefit of lower-income citizens during an economic downturn.[25]
References
[edit]- ^ The most egregious example of this may be "Serbian businessman on Forbes list", B92, 9 March 2007, accessed 14 December 2021.
- ^ Skupština Grada Niša, Archived 1998-01-28 at the Wayback Machine, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, accessed 14 December 2021.
- ^ "BIOGRAPHIES OF NEW YUGOSLAV CABINET MEMBERS", Yugoslav Daily Survey 97-03-21, HR-Net, accessed 14 December 2021.
- ^ Amra Kevic, "Yugo government vows clamp down on 'grey economy'," Reuters News, 11 June 1997.
- ^ "Trade minister outlines measures to combat 'grey economy'," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Service: Central Europe & Balkans, 21 August 1997 (Source: Tanjug news agency, Belgrade, in English 1547 gmt 15 Aug 97).
- ^ "Yugo trade minister calls for unified VAT law," Reuters News, 24 October 1997.
- ^ "Yugo anti-monopoly fight depends on republics," Reuters News, 29 August 1997.
- ^ "YUGOSLAV MINISTER SAYS DEVALUATION OF DINAR OUT OF THE QUESTION", Yugoslav Daily Survey 97-09-23, HR-Net, accessed 14 December 2021.
- ^ "Yugoslavia approves 6,000 tonnes meat imports," Reuters News, 16 October 1997.
- ^ "Yugoslavia says to monopolise tobacco imports," Reuters News, 24 October 1997.
- ^ "Panic-buying empties shelves as Serbs guard against further western sanctions," Financial Times, 16 April 1998, p. 3.
- ^ "Federal premier designate proposes old ministers for new government," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Service: Central Europe & Balkans, 21 May 1998.
- ^ "Former Milosevic critic is named Yugoslav vice premier," Agence France-Presse, 18 January 1999.
- ^ "SPO ušao u Saveznu vladu", Glas javnosti, 19 January 1999, accessed 14 December 2021.
- ^ Gordana Filipovic, "Yugoslav firms urge action as company debts surge," Reuters News, 16 November 1999.
- ^ Ko su poslanici, Archived 2003-02-01 at the Wayback Machine, Vreme, 28 September 2000, accessed 14 December 2021.
- ^ Vlada Republike Srbije, Archived 2000-12-07 at the Wayback Machine, Srbije Info, 7 December 2000, accessed 14 December 2021.
- ^ "Serbia must act to avoid hyperinflation-minister," Reuters News, 1 November 2000.
- ^ "Serbian trade minister says urgent measures being taken to stabilize market," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 2 November 2000 (Source: Tanjug news agency, Belgrade, in English 0704 gmt 2 Nov 00).
- ^ "Litar ulja 45 dinara", Glas javnosti, 2 November 2000, accessed 14 December 2021.
- ^ He appeared in the 147th position. See Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 23. децембра 2000. године и 10. јануара 2001. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (Социјалистичка партија Србије – Слободан Милошевић), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 27 July 2021.
- ^ "Serbian trade minister resigns from posts, Socialist Party," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Political - European, 19 December 2000 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1203 gmt 19 Dec 00).
- ^ See Milorad Mišković, direktor "Jabuke" - Beogradski trgovinski lanac održali SOS marketi, eKapija (source: Politika), 13 October 2009, accessed 14 December 2021.
- ^ Hleb umesto 13 košta 11 dinara, Glas javnost, 17 December 2001, accessed 14 December 2021.
- ^ Radovan Borović, "Otvorena prva prodavnica za socijalno ugrožene", Radio Free Europe, 25 March 2009, accessed 14 December 2021.