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O 161351Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0834
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE

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, 
 
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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 
 
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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