Goran Knežević ( sr-cyr, Горан Кнежевић, ; born 12 May 1957) is a Serbian politician and former professional basketball player. His father is Vuksan Knežević (b. 1931), former Yugoslav political dissident and writer who was sent to prison camp Goli Otok at the age of 17. He served as the Minister of Economy of Serbia from 2016 to 2020. He previously served as Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management from 2012 to 2013. He also served as the mayor of

Zrenjanin Zrenjanin ( sr-Cyrl, Зрењанин, ; hu, Nagybecskerek; ro, Becicherecu Mare; sk, Zreňanin; german: Großbetschkerek) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Central Banat District in the autonomous pro ...

from 2004 to 2009 and shortly in 2012.

Early years and education

He was born in

Banatski Karlovac Banatski Karlovac () is a town located in the Alibunar Municipality, in the South Banat District of Serbia. It is situated in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. The town has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbers 5,820 people (2002 ce ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

. He graduated from the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade ( sr, / ) is a public university in Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-b ...

with a diploma in economics.

Basketball career

Knežević used to be a basketball player in

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

from

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

from

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

and Proleter from

. During 1978–79 season he won Yugoslav First Federal League,

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup ( hr, Pokal Jugoslavije; sr, Куп Југославије; sl, Pokal Jugoslavije, mk, Куп на Југославија), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Kup kralja Aleksandra, ...

and

FIBA Korać Cup The FIBA Korać Cup was an annual basketball club competition held by FIBA between the 1971–72 and 2001–02 seasons. It was the third-tier level club competition in European basketball, after the FIBA European Champions' Cup (later renamed th ...

with Partizan. Also, he used to be a president of

Basketball Federation of Serbia and Montenegro The Basketball Federation of Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Košarkaški savez Srbije i Crne Gore / Кошаркашки савез Србије и Црне Горе;), previously Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia, was a non-profit organization an ...

during a short period between 2005 and 2006.

Political career

Knežević became mayor of

municipality in 2004, and was re-elected in 2008. On 1 October 2008 Knežević was interrogated by Serbian police on suspicion that he was involved in "construction mafia" - helping individuals from organized crime circles launder money by investing it in construction and real-estate development. In 1 April 2009 the DS Mayor was charged with Abuse of Office. The Special Prosecution states that the Zrenjanin municipal budget suffered damages to the amount of EUR 1.6mn, as a result. On 23 April 2009 he was dismissed as a Mayor, since he was in custody since 1 October 2008. He was released from custody on 4 November 2009. On 11 August 2016, Knežević took the office of the Minister of Economy of Serbia, replacing Željko Sertić on that position. In February 2017, the

Prime Minister of Serbia The prime minister of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, премијерка Србије, premijerka Srbije; masculine: премијер/premijer), officially the president of the Government of the Republic of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, председница Влад� ...

Aleksandar Vučić Aleksandar Vučić ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Вучић, ; born 5 March 1970) is a Serbian politician serving as the president of Serbia since 2017, and as the president of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) since 2012. Vučić served ...

decided to run for the

2017 Serbian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Serbia on 2 April 2017. Incumbent president Tomislav Nikolić was eligible to run for a second five-year term, but opted not to do so. Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić was elected president in the first round ...

s. He won the elections in the first round and was sworn as the

President of Serbia The president of Serbia ( sr, Председник Србије, Predsednik Srbije), officially styled as the President of the Republic ( sr, Председник Републике, Predsednik Republike) is the head of state of Serbia. The curr ...

on 31 May 2017. Weeks later, he gave mandate to

Ana Brnabić Ana Brnabić ( sr-cyr, Ана Брнабић, ; born 28 September 1975) is a Serbian politician serving as the prime minister of Serbia since 2017. She is the first woman and first openly gay person to hold the office. She entered government a ...

to form the governmental cabinet. On 29 June 2017, the cabinet of Ana Brnabić was formed, with Knežević keeping his office.

References

External links

Official web-site of Goran Knežević
(in Serbian language) 1957 births Living people Serbian men's basketball players Serbian basketball executives and administrators KK Partizan players KK Vojvodina players KK Proleter Zrenjanin players University of Belgrade Faculty of Economics alumni Government ministers of Serbia Mayors of places in Serbia Members of the National Assembly (Serbia) Yugoslav men's basketball players {{Serbia-basketball-bio-stub