Zoran Janković (manager)

Zoran Janković (Serbian Cyrillic: Зоран Јанковић) (born January 1, 1953 in Saraorci, SR Serbia, Yugoslavia) is a Slovenian businessman and present mayor of Ljubljana.

Early life and business activity

Janković was born in the village of Saraorci near the town of Smederevo in Serbia, then part of Yugoslavia to Serb father and Slovene mother. He moved to Slovenia with his parents in 1964. He attended the Poljane High School in Ljubljana and in 1971 entered the Economic Faculty of the University of Ljubljana, where he graduated in 1980. He started his career as director of Mercator Investa in 1984. Later he founded a company called Electa and he used to be the chairman of the Mercator since 1997, the biggest retail company in Slovenia. He was replaced from this position in 2006.

Entry into politics

In September 2006, he announced he would run as an independent candidate as mayor of Ljubljana. He was elected with a landslide in the first round on 22 October 2006, with 63% of the popular vote. His List won 23 out of 45 seats in the City Council, guaranteeing the stability of his administration. He took the office on November 17, 2006. Among other things, he promised to improve Ljubljana's transport infrastructure and to complete various other projects, among them a new central Football Stadium.

Other activities

He was the founder of a handball club Krim Electa and its president for 5 years, since 1992-1997 "Krim Electa", [http://www.mladina.si/tednik/200404/clanek/nar-kdo_je_kdaj--vanja_pirc/ "Mladina newspaper - in Slovene language"] , by Vanja Pirc,
January 6, 2004.] He was the president of the handball association of Slovenia for 8 years, since 1996-2004. He was also the vice president of the basketball club Union Olimpija for 6 years, since 1984-1990.

Controversy

In the year 1998, he was involved in the so-called "school affair". Several media, among which the influential liberal magazine "Mladina", accused him of having taken advantage of his influence as a well-known bufor businessman helping his younger son Jure to pass his final high school exams. "school afair", [http://www.mladina.si/tednik/200404/clanek/nar-kdo_je_kdaj--vanja_pirc/ "Mladina newspaper - in Slovene language"] , by Vanja Pirc,
January 6, 2004.]

References