Matthew Perkins, new First Vice-president of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham)

The Board of Governors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Serbia (www.amcham.rs) has confirmed the promotion of Matthew Perkins, U.S. Steel Serbia’s General Director, from the position of the Second Vice-president to the position of the First Vice-president of the Chamber. Mr. Perkins was appointed as General Director of U.S. Steel Serbia in March 2008. Between 2003 and 2006 he worked for U.S. Steel in Serbia, after which he returned to the ironworks in Detroit, and was transferred to the position of Vice-president of Slovak ironworks "Kosice" in 2007.

Bojan Radun, new President of the Serbian A ssociation of Managers (www.sam.org.rs)

Bojan Radun began his career during his college days when he joined the family business Nektar (www.nectar.rs) in 1999, where he worked as an assistant on the company’s marketingrelated business. Upon completing his studies at the Faculty of Economy in Belgrade in 2001, he was promoted to Marketing Manager, and in 2004 to Sales Director. He currently holds the position of Executive Director at Nektar, and in 2006 he also became member of the Board of Directors of Radun Group, which incorporates all companies owned by the Radun family.  He has been a member of the Business Council of the Ministry of the Economy and Regional Development since 2007.

Tibor Jerger, Samsung Electronics Adriatic new Senior Regional Sales Director

Mr. Jerger comes with 16 years of experience in the Croatian market, and was previously the President of the ECOS d.o.o. Croatia holding company. Prior to this he was employed at Podravka and Ericsson Nikola Tesla, as the Vice-president of Marketing & Sales and was in charge of professional solutions. He has also been the President of Volvo Trucks Corporation in Croatia, Slovenia and BiH, and moved from Sweden to be the President of Electrolux for Croatia in 1995. He is a member of the Nordic Chamber of Commerce. As Senior Head of Consumer Electronics (www.sva.rs), Jerger will lead the Consumer Electronics sales teams in Zagreb and Belgrade.

Mileta Radojević, new Director of GSP Belgrade (www.gsp.rs)

Mileta Radojević, until recently a member of the Belgrade City Council, has been appointed as the new acting Director of GSP Belgrade. He is a Master of Technical Sciences with lengthy experience in the area of traffic and passenger transport. From 1981 to 1988 he was deputy director in the traffic company ‘Strela Lazarevac’, between 1988 and 1990 he was the Secretary in the association of ‘Janko Stajčić’, and then became the Director and later on the President of the Board of Directors until 2008, Mr. Radojević is a member of the Socialist Party of Serbia.

Michael Rhoads, Executive Director of Operations at U.S. Steel Serbia (www.cs.uss.com)

Mr. Rhoads graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1995 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. He obtained his master’s degree in business administration from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh in 2002. Mr. Rhoads began his career at U. S. Steel in 1994 as a student co-op at Mon Valley Works’ Clairton Plant, the company’s coke making facility located just outside Pittsburgh. Upon completion of his undergraduate degree, he was hired as a staff associate at Clairton and progressed through a series of increasingly responsible positions at the facility. In 2004, Mr. Rhoads was named senior process leader-galvanizer, tern and maintenance at Mon Valley Works’ Irvin Plant.

Vladan Mihailović, Plant Manager - Primary Operations at ironworks “Great Lakes Works”

Vladan Mihailović, has been appointed as the new Plant Manager - Primary Operations at Great Lakes Works. In his new position Mr. Mihailović will oversee all iron and steel making operations at the Detroit-area facility and will report directly to Scott Coleman, the General Manager of Great Lakes Works (www.ussteel.com). Mr. Mihailović, 46, a native of Smederevo, Serbia, joined the former Sartid Steelworks in 1993 in the Iron Making Division.

Vladan Živanović, new President of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham)

Vladan Živanović, who prior to this latest appointment was the First Vice-president of AmCham (www.amcham.rs) and the General Manager of Microsoft Serbia (www.microsoft.com/sr-latn/rs), has been named  as the Presidentof the American Chamber of Commerce in Serbia. Before being appointed as the General Manager of Microsoft Serbia in September 2008, Mr. Živanović was Microsoft’s Sales Director for major companies and state institutions. Prior to commencing his role at Microsoft in 2003, he held leading positions in IT companies, all leaders in the domestic and regional market.

Krzysztof Lipka, new Tax and Legal Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (www.pwc.com)

Krzysztof Lipka is a lawyer and tax adviser with almost 20 years experience in the ‘Big Four’ accounting firms. He has practised tax advisory in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and specialises in corporate taxation. He has lead several major cross-border restructuring, tax optimisation, due diligence and transfer pricing projects in Poland, the Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Mr. Lipka has gained practical knowledge of tax interpretation as well as experience in the application of tax laws with an emphasis on direct cooperation with CFOs, in-house tax directors and legal counsels.

H.E. Michael Davenport, new British Ambassador to Serbia

Prior to his appointment as Ambassador to Serbia, Michael Davenport was Director for Russia, Central Asia and the South Caucasus in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London. Between 2007 and 2010 he advised successive Foreign Secretaries on Britain’s relations with Russia and the wider region and was responsible for the FCO’s network of twelve diplomatic missions. His first foreign posting as a British diplomat was to Poland in 1990. In the mid-nineties he headed the FCO’s UN Peacekeeping Section and in 1996 became the First Secretary to Moscow. In 2000 Michael returned to Poland as Commercial Counsellor and Consul-General in the run-up to Polish accession to  the European Union and in 2004 was appointed Deputy Ambassador to Cairo. The new ambassador is married to Dr Lavinia Davenport, and they have three children. He is a keen tennis player.

H.E. Charles Sheehan, new Irish Ambassador to Serbia

The new non-resident Ambassador of Ireland to Serbia is also currently serving as the Ambassador of Ireland to Greece.  H.E. Charles Sheehan was educated at B.C.L. and LLB University College and B.L. Kings Inns in Ireland. He entered the Irish Diplomatic Service in 1981 with his first role as the Third Secretary in the Department of Foreign Affairs and then continued his diplomatic career in countries such as Denmark, USA and Italy. In 2007 he became the Director of the National Forum on Europe (on secondment), and in 2009 was the Head of EU Secretariat & Communication, in the European Section. On 28 September, 2010 he became the Ambassador of Ireland to Greece.

Claus Graggaber, co-Director at Erste Group Immorent Serbia

Born in Austria in 1977, Claus Graggaber has a PhD in Law from the University of Vienna. Prior to joining Erste Group/ Immorent in 2005, he practiced law in Austria and the CEE. In 2009 Mr. Graggaber was appointed as the Head of Real Estate Finance within Immorent d.o.o. Belgrade. He was promoted to Managing Director of Erste Group Immorent Serbia in 2011. Mr. Graggaber is fluent in German, English, French and Romanian.

Aleksandra Čupić, co-Director at Erste Group Immorent Serbia

Born in Belgrade in 1972, Aleksandra Čupić holds a degree in Economics from the University of Belgrade and a Certified Accountants degree of Economy and Banking Institutions. Before joining Erste Bank in 2006, Mrs. Čupić worked in the credit departments of several banks within Serbia. In 2008 she was appointed as the Head of the Real Estate and Special Finance department within Erste Bank a.d. Novi Sad and in January 2011 she was appointed as the Head of the newly formed Erste Group Immorent Serbia. Mrs Čupić is fluent in Serbian, English and Russian. She is married and has two children.

H.E. Semuel Samson, new Ambassador of Indonesia to Serbia

Prior to his term as the Ambassador of Republic of Indonesia to Serbia, H.E. Semuel Samson has been active in  both the Indonesian political scene and business world. The Ambassador has been engaged in many political organisations and in numerous activities encompassing internal and international affairs. He has been involved with an oil and gas company, a state owned enterprise, and his most  recent political position was as Secretary General (demission) of the Indonesian Justice and Unity Party, a coalition party of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (2004-2009 and 2009-2014). Born in Ambon, Moluccas in 1968, Ambassador Semuel Samson was educated at Gunadarma University in the Computer Engineering faculty, and later completed a post graduate programme at the University of Indonesia, in the Faculty of Political Science.

H.E. Abdul Aziz bin nasser Al Shamsi, new Ambassador of the UAE to Serbia

H.E. Abdul Aziz bin Nasser Al Shamsi is currently the Ambassador of the UAE to Italy (since March 2008) and is also the  new non-resident Ambassador of the UAE to Serbia. Prior to this he was the Director of Protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the United Arab Emirates between August 2007 and March 2008 and served as the Permanent Representative of the UAE to the United Nations between September 2001 and July 2007. The Ambassador is married and has six children.

Bratislav Dikić, Gendarmerie Commander and new General of Police

Bratislav Dikić, has a Ph.D. in Crisis Management, and is the active General of Police - the only other person with this ranking is Mladen Kuribak. Dikić commenced his role at the head of the Gendarmerie at the beginning of June 2009, before this he was commander of the Nis  police detachments and formations. Prior to joining the gendarmerie, he spent ten years in an elite anti-terrorist Special Unit (SAJ). Dikić is the holder of a medal for bravery, the Order of Merit in Defence and Security of the Country, the Air Force Cross and plaques from the Serbian Orthodox Church and a special plaque for the most noble accomplishment for 2008.

Jelena Sribar, new HR Director at BAT Serbia and Montenegro

Jelena Sribar has been employed as the Head of Human Resources Serbia and Montenegro at British American Tobacco (BAT), effective as of January 2011. She has been with BAT since 2005, when she joined the company as a Management Trainee. She has held various positions within HR, including those of HR Business Partner Marketing and Change Manager in Serbia, as well as various roles in Talent and Organisational Development projects across Europe. She graduated in Psychology from the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade. Jelena is an alumna of the Belgrade Open School, and is trained in Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy.