Mirko Cvetković

Mirko Cvetković Мирко Цветковић
9th Prime Minister of Serbia
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 July 2008
President	Boris Tadić
Deputy	Ivica Dačić Božidar Đelić Mlađan Dinkić (former) Jovan Krkobabić Verica Kalanović
Preceded by	Vojislav Koštunica
Minister of Finance of Serbia
In office 15 May 2007 – 7 July 2008
Prime Minister	Vojislav Koštunica
Preceded by	Mlađan Dinkić
Succeeded by	Diana Dragutinović
Incumbent
Assumed office 14 March 2011
Preceded by	Diana Dragutinović
Director of the Privatization Agency
In office 2003–2004
Preceded by	Vladimir Čupić
Succeeded by	Branko Pavlović
Personal details
Born	16 August 1950 (1950-08-16) (age 61) Zaječar, Yugoslavia
Political party	none (Endorsed by the Democratic Party)[1]
Spouse(s)	Zorica Cvetković
Alma mater	University of Belgrade
Profession	Economist
Religion	Serbian Orthodox
Nickname(s)	Deda Mraz

Mirko Cvetković (Serbian Cyrillic: Мирко Цветковић, pronounced [mǐːrkɔ tsʋɛ̂tkɔʋitɕ]; born 16 August 1950) is a Serbian economist and the Prime Minister of Serbia as well as the Minister of Finance.

Biography

Mirko Cvetković was born in the small city of Zaječar in eastern Serbia. His father Srboljub was economist, mother Stana worked as a pharmacist. His grandfather, Mirko, a school teacher, was killed in 1941, by German soldiers during the Kragujevac massacre.

He completed his elementary and high school education in Zaječar. Mirko Cvetković graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Economics where he also received his MComm and PhD.

Cvetković worked at the Mining Institute for ten years and later at the Economics Institute for another six years, followed by seven years at the advisory and research firm CES Mecon where he worked as a consultant.

In the 1980s he was external consultant for the World Bank on a number of projects in Pakistan, India and Turkey and worked on the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Somalia.

In the period 1998–2001 he was employed as adviser for economic issues at the Mining Institute, and in 2005 he became the Special Advisor at CEO Intercom Consulting.

He has published a number of papers and articles on privatization in Serbia and abroad.

Cvetković is married and has two children. Apart from his native tongue, he speaks English fluently and, as a hobby, plays piano, saxophone and clarinet.

Political career

Early years

After the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević, from January 2001 Cvetković worked as Deputy Minister of Economy and Privatisation in the Government of Serbia of Zoran Djindjić. From 2003 to 2004 he was the Director of the Privatisation Agency. After the fall of Zoran Živković's government on 2003 elections, Cvetković withdrew from politics.

Cvetković served as the Minister of Finance from May 15. 2007, until July 2008. in the coalition Government of Vojislav Koštunica.^[2]

He was best remembered as being the first to doubt the way money from the central budget was spent in Kosovo. Back then, he told his colleagues in the government: “You can raise the salaries of employees in Kosovo if you give up a part of your salary”.^[3]

Prime Minister

On June 27, 2008 President Boris Tadić named Mirko Cvetković as the new Prime Minister following the parliamentary elections that were held in May.^[4][5][6][7] Other possible candidates were the current Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić^[8] and the current President of the Executive Council of Vojvodina Bojan Pajtić.^[9]

Oath of office:

I swear to loyalty to the Republic of Serbia and bind myself with my honor to respect the Constitution and laws, to conduct my duties as the government member conscientiously, responsibly and with dedication, and to be committed to preservation of Kosovo and Metohija within the Republic of Serbia.[10]

Mirko Cvetković is the first prime minister of Serbia since the introduction of the multiparty system who had not previously been in a high position in one of the ruling parties.^[11]

He was officially sworn in on July 7 after taking the oath of office in the National Assembly. In his exposé keynote address Cvetković said that one of the first moves of the new Government will be to submit the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union to the parliament for ratification and that it will not accept Kosovo's unilaterally declared independence.

He also stated that the government will strengthen the economy and social responsibility and lead a decisive battle against crime and corruption, and in favor of international justice. He also said that one of the first lawmaking initiatives will be the ratification of the energy arrangement with the Russian Federation.^[10][12]

Cvetković is seen by many as an expert in the economy, a man of compromise, respected by the Democratic Party but by other political parties as well.^[13] Western news agencies describe him as a "Democrat" (indicating support for the pro-Western Democratic Party)^[14] and a "low profile technocrat" likely to prefer improving Serbia's economy rather than concentrating on difficult political issues.^[15]

His political policies combined authority and moderate economic liberalism — that is, the support of laissez-faire economic policies.^[12]

Cabinet of Mirko Cvetković is the longest-serving since the fall of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000^[16].

Quotations

Mirko Cvetković with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Mirko Cvetković with U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden.

Mirko Cvetković with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou.

“That night when we finally reached an agreement, I told the ministers: Gentlemen, this is your budget, I will be ready to accept resignations at 10 a.m.” he said of the 2009 budget much to the dissatisfaction of some ministers”.^[3]

“I wish everyone personal happiness and health in the next year, and, as our people say – the money will come by itself”, told the public at New Year”.^[3]

“There is no salvation, but we will survive”, he quoted Serbian Prime Minister Nikola Pašić from history”.^[3]

Cabinet

Agriculture, Trade, Forestry and Water Management	Dušan Petrović
Culture, Media and Information Society	Predrag Marković
Defense	Dragan Šutanovac
Diaspora and Religion	Srđan Srećković
Economy and Regional Development	Nebojša Ćirić
Education and Science	Žarko Obradović
Environment, Mining and Spatial Planning	Oliver Dulić
Finance	Mirko Cvetković
Foreign Affairs	Vuk Jeremić
Health	Zoran Stanković
Human and Minority Rights, Public Administration and Local Self-Government	Milan Marković
Infrastructure and Energy	Milutin Mrkonjić
Interior Affairs	Ivica Dačić
Justice	Snežana Malović
Kosovo and Metohija	Goran Bogdanović
Labour and Social Policy	Rasim Ljajić
Social Affairs	Jovan Krkobabić
Youth and Sports	Snežana Samardžić-Marković
Secretary-General	Tamara Stojčević

See also

• List of Prime Ministers of Serbia
• Government of Serbia

References

1. ^ Pajtić ili Cvetković umesto Koštunice
2. ^ Mirko Cvetković, ministar finansija Republike Srbije
3. ^ ^{a b c d} BalkanInsight.com: Mirko Cvetkovic - The Quiet Enforcer
4. ^ Cvetkovic appointed new Serbian PM
5. ^ Ex-finance minister Cvetkovic to head new Serbian government
6. ^ New Serbian prime minister named
7. ^ Cvetković to lead new government
8. ^ Jeremić: Foreign policy challenges ahead
9. ^ Blic: Pajtić favorit za mandatara
10. ^ ^{a b} "Parliament elects new government". B92. 2008-02-15. http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=07&dd=07&nav_id=51692. Retrieved 2008-07-07. 
11. ^ BalkanInsight.com: Mirko Cvetkovic - The Quiet Enforcer
12. ^ ^{a b} PM designate keynote address
13. ^ Blic: Cvetkovic or Pitic
14. ^ http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20080624/tpl-uk-serbia-coalition-43a8d4f.html
15. ^ Finance Minister Mirko Cvetkovic proposed as Serbia's next Prime Minister
16. ^ Bloomberg: Serbian Lawmakers Approve Cabinet Shuffle Focused on New Jobs

External links

• Official website of Government of Serbia: Prime Minister
• Keynote address of Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic. Belgrade, July 7, 2008

Government offices
Preceded by Mlađan Dinkić	Minister of Finance of Serbia 2007–2008	Succeeded by Diana Dragutinović
Preceded by Diana Dragutinović	Minister of Finance of Serbia 2011-	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Vojislav Koštunica	Prime Minister of Serbia 2008 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Cvetkovic, Mirko
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	16 August 1950
Place of birth	Zaječar, Yugoslavia (now Serbia)
Date of death
Place of death