Mirko Cvetković, Prime Minister and new Minister of Finance

Mirko Cvetkovic was born in Zajecar and graduated from the Belgrade Faculty of Economics where he also gained his MComm and PhD. He was employed at the Mining Institute, then at the Economics Institute, after which he worked as a consultant at the advisory and research firm CES Mecon. He has also previously been employed as an external consultant for the World Bank and the UNDP. From January 2001 he was the Deputy Minister of the Economy and Privatisation, and from 2003 to 2004 he was the Director of the Privatisation Agency and in 2005 he became the special advisor at the Intercon consulting agency. Mirko Cvetkovic was the Minister of Finance from May 2007 until July 2008, and since that time he has been the Prime Minister of Serbia and is now also the Minister of Finance. He ismarried, and has two children.

Dušan Petrović, new Minister of Agriculture, Trade, Forestry and Water Management

Dušan Petrovic completed elementary and high school in his hometown of Šabac, and graduated from the University of Belgrade’s Law School. From 1992 to 2000 he worked as a lawyer, and from 2000 to 2004 he was the mayor of Šabac, as well as a deputy in the House of Citizens in the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In the National Assembly of Serbia, where he was elected in the 2003 elections he held the position of Chief of DS Deputy Group, and between 2003 and 2007 he was the Vice-President of the Assembly. Mr. Petrovic was also the Minister of Justice from 2007 until 2008.

Nebojša Ćirić, new Minister of the Economy and Regional Development

Nebojša Ciric was born in Bor in 1974.He has a BSc in Management from London School of Economics and Political Science (1996), an MBA from HEC University, Paris - Faculty of Economics, Belgrade (2005), and Corporate Finance qualification, from the London Institute of Chartered Accountants (2006). His career has included such positions as: Special Foreign Investment Advisor at the Ministry of International Economic Relations (2001-2002), Director for Financial Consulting at Deloitte, Belgrade (2002-2007), Assistant Minister of the Economy from 2007 to 2008. From July 2008 until now he has been the State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy.

Predrag Marković, new Minister of Culture, Media and Information Society

Predrag Markovic was born in 1955, in Cepure near Paracin. He graduated in 1980 from the Faculty of Political Science in Belgrade, and later studied history and culture in Madrid and Barcelona. He is one of the founders of G17 Plus. He held the position of the President of the Parliament of Serbia between March 2004 and February 2007. He is one of the initiators and the author of the Programme of the political union of the United Regions of Serbia (URS). Predrag Markovic is a holder of the Royal Order of the White Eagle of the first degree; he also formed the publishing company Stubovi Kulture in 1993.

Verica Kalanović, new Deputy Prime Minister

Verica Kalanovic graduated in 1977 from the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy in Belgrade, where she also gained her master’s degree in 1980. From 1980 to 1993, she worked in Prva Petoletka in Trstenik. From 1993 to 2003, she was a professor at the post-secondary technical school in Trstenik, and from 2003 to 2006, she was head of G17 Plus caucus in the parliament of Serbia-Montenegro. She was the State Secretary in the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development from 2007 to July 2008, and on July 7, 2008, she was elected as the Minister for the National Investment Plan. Ms. Kalanovic is married and has two children.

Zoran Stanković, new Minister of Health

Mr. Stankovic graduated from the Medical Faculty in Nis in 1980 and completed graduate studies in forensics in 1988 at the VMA. In 2002 was appointed to head the VMA, a position which he held until April 2005. He was appointed to replace the deposed Prvoslav Davinic as the Minister of Defence in 2005 and remained in this role until May 2007. After his departure from the office of Minister of Defence, he continued to work in a teaching role at the Police Academy and College of Home Affairs.

H.E. Alexandre Addor Neto, new Ambassador of the Fed. Republic of Brazil to Serbia

The career of the new Ambassador of Brazil to Serbia has included roles in the Ministry of External Relations in Brazil such as Advisor-Asia and Oceania Department (1989), Director-Immigration Division (1990), Executive Coordinator-Economic Department (1991), Chief of Cabinet-Under Secretariat of Economic Affairs (1992), Chief of Cabinet- Under Secretariat of Political and Economic Planning (1993), Ministry of External Relations (2005-2006). His diplomatic and consular postings have included Minister-Counsellor (Deputy Chief of Mission)-Embassy of Brazil in Moscow (1993-1995), Ambassador of Brazil to Angola (1995-1999), Consul-General of Brazil in Chicago (1999-2005), Secretary for Multidimensional Security at the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington (2007-2010). He has also worked as a journalist, a university professor and a project analyst.

H.E. Carmen Ibanez, new Ambassador of the Republic of Chile to Serbia

The new (non-resident) Ambassador of Chile to Serbia is also currently the Ambassador of Chile to Greece and is based in Athens. H.E. Carmen Ibanez has previously been the Deputy of the political party ‘Renovación Nacional’ (RN), District 13 (2001-2005); as a parliamentarian she was a member of the standing committees of Foreign Affairs, National Defence, Mining, and Energy, as well as of Family Affairs and at the special committees for Youth and Tourism Development. Between 2001 and 2004 she was the Vice-President of RN, and as a Social Communicator she worked at Radio Agricultura, as Director of Communications and for ‘Cosas’ magazine. She has also worked in the agricultural field in the Aconcagua Valley.

H.E. Iurie Renita, new Ambassador of the Republic of Moldova

After presenting his credentials to Serbian President Boris Tadic on 17 February, H.E. Iurie Renita became the new (non-resident) Ambassador of Moldova to Serbia. H.E. Iurie Renita was born in Abaclia in 1958 and was part of the first graduating class of Moldovan students at the Bucharestbased National School of Administration and Political Sciences. During 1996-1999 he was counsellor at the Moldovan Embassy, Washington, D.C., after which he served as advisor to Foreign Minister Nicolae Tabacaru. He also worked for several years with the OSCE Mission to Croatia and was a manager of British American Tobacco, Moldova. He is also currently the Ambassador of Moldova in Romania, and has held this position since June 2010.

H.E. Gagik Ghalatchian, new Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia

Previous foreign service postings of the new (non-resident) Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to Serbia include: Second Secretary, Embassy of Armenia in the Hellenic Republic (1997-1999), Head of Secretariat, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1999-2000), Head of Military-Political Cooperation Division, Arms Control and International Security Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia (2000-2001), Counsellor at the Armenian Embassy in Russian (2001-2004), Member of the Permanent Council of the CSTO (2003-2004), Director, Asia-Pacific and Africa Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia (2004-2007) and Director, External Relations, Administration of the President of the Republic of Armenia (2007-2009).

Ivan Šramko, new representative of Banca Intesa’s Managing Board

Ivan Šramko will represent Intesa Sanpaolo in the Managing Boards of Banca Intesa Belgrade, Hungarian CIB Bank, Privredna Banka Zagreb, Banka Koper from Slovenia and Intesa Sanpaolo Bosnia and Herzegovina. Mr. Šramko was appointed as the Governor of the National Bank of Slovakia on 1st January 2005, and three years earlier, was named as the Vice Governor. In addition, in February 2010, he was appointed as a standing representative of Slovakia in the OECD in Paris.

Marija Draškić, new Vice-President of the Constitutional Court

Constitutional Court judge, Prof. Dr. Marija Draškic has been appointed as the Vice-President of the Serbian Constitutional Court. She was born in Belgrade in 1954 and graduated in 1976 from the Belgrade Faculty of Law magna cum laude. Ms. Draškic worked briefly as a legal intern at the Second Municipal Court in Belgrade, and in 1978 she was appointed as a teaching assistant trainee in family law at the Faculty of Law. Ms. Draškic received her PhD in 1987 and was hired to work as a university professor in 2000. She was appointed as a Constitutional Court judge in November 2007. She is married and has two children.

Aleksandar Nikitović, new coach of BC Red Star

Aleksandar Saša Nikitovic was an assistant to the national basketball team coach Dušan Ivkovic at two important championships in Poland and Turkey, as well as the coach of Serbia’s cadet basketball team. Three years ago, Mr. Nikitovic coached the BC Red Star’s junior team when they became the champions of Serbia. He graduated from the Junior Basketball College where earned his coaching degree and became a basketball coach in 2004.

Marina Jovićević, new Serbian Consul General in Herceg Novi

Mrs. Marina Jovicevic graduated from English language in 1995, and enrolled into PhD studies at the Belgrade Faculty of Political Sciences in 2007. She worked as the First Secretary in the Ministry’s OSCE and Council of Europe Directorate in 2002 and 2003. In 2008 and 2009, she was at the helm of the Directorate for Regional Initiatives in the Foreign Ministry. As of May 2009 she has been an Assistant Foreign Minister and Director General of the General Directorate for the European Union in the Ministry. She is married and has three children.

Andrea Simoncelli, new Chairman and CEO of Delta Generali Insurance

Andrea Simoncelli was born in Rome, and has a law degree from the University of Rome, an economy degree from the University Luiss of Rome and a postgrad from the London School of Economics. His early career (1983-1996) included various Managing Director roles at Fiat, and in 1996 he was made responsible for Foreign Operations at Toro Assicurazioni S.p.A. and Le Continent Assurances, Guardian Vie in France, Benefia in Poland, Phenix Seguradora in Brasil and Toro Targa Assicurazioni in Italy. In 2001 he became the CFO of Toro Assicurazioni Group, and in 2009 when Toro Assicurazioni and Alleanza Assicurazioni merged into Alleanza Toro S.p.A., he became the Deputy General Manager.

Marko Mrzel, Gorenje Management Board member in charge of finance and economics

At today’s meeting, Gorenje Supervisory Board appointed Mr. Marko Mrzel as the new Gorenje Management Board member in charge of finance and economics. From 2003 and until his appointment to the Management Board, Mr. Marko Mrzel was the director of Gorenje’s sales subsidiary in Belgrade. His career at the Gorenje Group started in 2001 when he was appointed head of complementary program. After completing the university studies, he earned in 1999 the title of Master of Science in Business Administration.