Zoran Janković (politician)
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Zoran Janković ( sr-cyr, Зоран Јанковић, ; born 1 January 1953) is a Serbian-Slovenian businessman and politician. He came to prominence in 1997 as the president of the Slovenian retail company
Mercator __NOTOC__ Mercator (Latin for "merchant") may refer to: People * Marius Mercator (c. 390–451), a Catholic ecclesiastical writer * Arnold Mercator, a 16th-century cartographer * Gerardus Mercator, a 16th-century cartographer ** Mercator 1569 ...
. From October 2006 to December 2011, he was mayor of
Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...
, the capital of Slovenia. In October 2011, he established the
Positive Slovenia Positive Slovenia ( sl, Pozitivna Slovenija, PS) was a centre-left political party in Slovenia, following April 2014 led by founder Zoran Janković. The party was founded under the name ''Zoran Janković's List – Positive Slovenia''. It wa ...
party, which won the plurality of votes at the early Slovenian 2011 parliamentary election. His function as a mayor ceased on 21 December 2011, when he became a deputy in the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
. After he failed to be elected as the prime minister in the National Assembly, he was re-elected as the mayor of Ljubljana and retook the position on 11 April 2012. He is the first mayor of Ljubljana to have served two terms since the end of World War II.


Early life

Janković was born in the village of
Saraorci Saraorci is a village in the municipality of Smederevo, Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the ...
near the town of
Smederevo Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, Belgrade. According to ...
in
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 ...
, then part of the
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, to a
Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
father and a Slovene mother. His parents moved to Slovenia for a better life, and left their son in poverty with his grandmother in Saraorci. In this time, his sister Jagoda was born. After finishing fourth grade of the primary school in 1964, he moved to Ljubljana so that he could learn English instead of Russian. He did not know Slovenian at the time. In Ljubljana, he attended the Valentin Vodnik Primary School in Šiška and the Kette and Murn Primary School in Kodeljevo in the last grade. Then, he attended the Poljane High School, where he learned French. There, he met his wife Mija, the cousin of
Gregor Virant Gregor Virant (born 4 December 1969) is a Slovenian politician and public servant. Between 2004 and 2008, he served as Minister of Public Administration in Janez Janša's first government, between 2011–2013 he was Speaker of the National Assemb ...
, who later became an influential politician. In 1971, he entered the
Faculty of Economics A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...
in Ljubljana, from which he graduated in 1980 with the thesis "Agricultural Goods Wheelers-Dealers in Our Country" ( sl, Prekupčevalci s kmetijskim blagom pri nas). During study, he built a house with the money he earned working for the AMD Moste (Auto-Moto Society Moste), with bookkeeping and with cargo transportation. In 1974, he married Mija and later had two children with her, Damijan and Jure.


Career as manager

Janković started his career in 1978 in the investment sector of Post of Slovenia (which is deficient information, as at the time the postal, telephone and telegraph services were still united within PTT Slovenija with several regional PTT branches and it is not clear in which of these organizations Janković was employed). Since 1979 till 1984, he was a representative of the company Grič Zagreb, and was appointed the acting director of the tourism and trade company Mercator Investa in 1984. As the company sponsors the basketball club Smelt Olimpija, he became also the vice-president of the club. Later, he became the general director of the company. After the merge of Mercator Investa and Mercator Inženiring in 1988, he was not appointed the director of the joint company, so he left. Since 1988 till 1990, he was the vice-director of SOZD Emona and the acting director of Emona-VPS. In December 1988, he survived a severe car crash without major injuries. In 1990, as he was not appointed the director of Emona, he founded the civil engineering and interior design company Electa and remained its director till 1997. He moved to
Golovec The Golovec District ( sl, Četrtna skupnost Golovec), or simply Golovec, is a district () of the City Municipality of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ...
where he jogged a lot. Electa sponsored several junior sports teams. Janković became the main sponsor in 1992 and the president of the handball club Krim, later renamed to HC Krim Electa. The club made extraordinary progress and then won the national handball cup for several years. In 1995, Janković stepped down from the position of the president of the club due to his dissatisfaction with the Ljubljana city distribution of money to clubs. In 1996, he became the president of the
Handball Federation of Slovenia '' , abbrev= RZS , logo= Rokometna zveza Slovenije Logo.svg , logosize= 240px , countryflag= Slovenia , iocnation= Republic of Slovenia (SLO) , url= http://www.rokometna-zveza.si/si/ , sport= Handball , historytitle=History , precedingorganisatio ...
. He retained the position till 2004. In 1995, Janković entered the Supervisory Board of Mercator as the representative of the
Slovenian Compensation Company Slovene or Slovenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe * Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia * Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Sloven ...
(, SOD), which was led at the time by
Tone Rop Anton Rop (born 27 December 1960) is a Slovenian politician. Currently, he is a vice-president of European Investment Bank. He was Prime Minister of Slovenia, from 2002 to 2004. Until 2005 he was also the president of the Liberal Democratic Par ...
, the then Slovenian
Minister of Labour Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...
and the president of the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (LDS). According to the magazine
Mladina ''Mladina'' (English: Youth) is a Slovenian weekly left-wing political and current affairs magazine. Since the 1920s, when it was first published, it has become a voice of protest against those in power. Today, ''Mladinas weekly issues are dis ...
, the main lobbyist for the entry of Janković into Mercator was Peter Rigl, who was also member of LDS. In 1997, after the Supervisory Board of the Slovenian retail company
Mercator __NOTOC__ Mercator (Latin for "merchant") may refer to: People * Marius Mercator (c. 390–451), a Catholic ecclesiastical writer * Arnold Mercator, a 16th-century cartographer * Gerardus Mercator, a 16th-century cartographer ** Mercator 1569 ...
deposed Kazimir Živko Pregelj as the chairman, due partly to the 2.5 billion tolars debt of the company, the board appointed Janković as the new director. In 2002, a recording by
POP TV Pop TV is a Slovenian generalist television channel operated by Pro Plus d.o.o., a subsidiary of Central European Media Enterprises (CME), which is in turn owned by Czech investment company PPF. News programs POP TV's current news programmin ...
was published, in which Rop scolded at Janković that he himself had enabled Janković to enter Mercator. Both of them claimed later that the recording had been torn out of context, and that it had been about the entry into the supervisory board and not becoming the president of the company. According to Miran Goslar and Janković himself, the appointment was not politically motivated but made exclusively by influential managers in Mercator. Goslar stated that not even one of the then politicians supported the appointment of Janković. The entry of Janković transformed the company Mercator to the biggest retail company in Slovenia and one of the biggest in the region. The company took over numerous companies, starting with Klas in 1998, and numerous others, among them the most controversial being the take-over of
Emona Merkur Emona (early gkm, Ἤμονα) or Aemona (short for ) was a Roman castrum, located in the area where the navigable Ljubljanica river came closest to Castle Hill,
. In August 1999, the first Mercator
hypermarket A hypermarket (sometimes called a hyperstore, supercentre or superstore) is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including ...
was opened in Šiška. Despite being a director, Janković actively helped his employees, for example with tidying
shopping carts A shopping cart (American English), trolley (British English, Australian English), or buggy (Southern American English, Appalachian English), also known by a variety of other names, is a wheeled cart supplied by a shop or store, especiall ...
. In December 2000, Mercator opened its shops abroad for the first time, in
Pula Pula (; also known as Pola, it, Pola , hu, Pòla, Venetian language, Venetian; ''Pola''; Istriot language, Istriot: ''Puola'', Slovene language, Slovene: ''Pulj'') is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, and the List of cities and town ...
, Croatia, and
Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...
, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in 2002, the largest one in
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 ...
, Serbia. In 1999, Janković became a member of the management board in the
Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia ( sl, Gospodarska zbornica Slovenije; acronym: ) is a non-governmental organisation representing the interests of the Slovenian economy. It has the function of an informational body in the sense of e ...
(, ), where he was appreciated as constructive and decisive. In February 2001, Janković received a prize for extraordinary economic and business achievements by GZS. In September 2001, an article is published in
Delo ''Delo'' (russian: Дело) is a business oriented online media in Ukraine, belonging to ekonomika+ media holding. ''Delo'' was the first daily in Ukraine, publishing its real print circulation (13.000 - 15.000) and trying to introduce Western e ...
describing Electa as being severely indebted, not paying its subcontractors, and making profit from business with Mercator. Several lawsuits were filed in but later withdrawn. Despite the accusations, Janković remained the director of Mercator and Electa fulfilled its obligations. In 2002, he was proclaimed the manager of the year by the management magazine
Manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...
. In 2003, Janković started his second term in Mercator. During this term, he actively opposed the act restricting the use of alcohol that prohibited the sale of alcohol to the youth and to drunk people and the sale of alcohol after 9 pm. He also opposed the closure of shops on Sundays, which was in September 2003 supported on a referendum. The magazine Kapital bestowed him with the title "The best director 2003" (). At the end of 2003, Mercator took over Živila. In January 2004, Slovenia hosted the 2004 European Men's Handball Championship and Janković announced his candidacy for the president of the
European Handball Federation The European Handball Federation (EHF) is the umbrella organisation for European handball. Founded on 17 November 1991, it is made of 50 member federations and two associated federations (England and Scotland), and is headquartered in Vienna, ...
. He was a favourite at first but fell out already after the first round. In 2005, SOD and KAD () sold a little less than 30% of Mercator to two suppliers of Mercator, Istrabenz and Pivovarna Laško. On 15 November 2005, the new owners removed Janković from his position for non-culpable reasons and appointed Žiga Debeljak, the financial director of
Gorenje Gorenje (); stylized as ''gorenje''), is a Slovenian major appliance manufacturer, founded in 1950 by Ivan Atelšek. It is based in Velenje, Slovenia. It is the fourth largest manufacturer of household appliances in Europe. Appliances are sold un ...
. Janković later accused Prime Minister
Janez Janša Ivan Janša (; born 17 September 1958), baptized and best known as Janez Janša (), is a Slovenian politician who served three times as a prime minister of Slovenia, a position he had held from 2004 to 2008, from 2012 to 2013, and from 2020 to 2 ...
of having conspired to achieve his removal as part of a political deal with the new owners of Mercator.


Mayor of Ljubljana

In September 2006, Janković announced his intent to run for the office of mayor of
Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...
as an independent candidate. He was elected with a landslide in the first round on 22 October 2006, with almost 63% of the popular vote. His list won 23 out of 45 seats in the city council, virtually guaranteeing the stability of his administration. He took the office on 17 November 2006. There were numerous campaign promises made before the elections – including the most prominent one, the building of the
Stožice Stadium Stožice Stadium ( sl, Stadion Stožice) is a multi-purpose stadium located in Ljubljana, Slovenia. It was designed by Slovenian Sadar + Vuga architects and is the biggest football stadium in the country. It is one of two main stadiu ...
, a new central football stadium and indoor sports arena, which was built in 2010, solving the decades-old issue of Ljubljana not having such facilities. On 10 October 2010, Janković was re-elected for another 4-year term, receiving almost 65% of the popular vote. His list won 25 out of 45 seats in the city council. The downtown of Ljubljana has been significantly redesigned during his terms, and closed for traffic. However, the debt of the City Municipality of Ljubljana significantly increased, and many promises were not or were only partly realised. During his term as the mayor of Ljubljana, the daily newspaper ''
Finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...
'' accused Janković of having abused his powers as mayor of Ljubljana to create economic benefits for his sons. Janković rejected these accusations as completely false and based on the journalists' imagination. At a celebration of his father's second victory at the Ljubljana local elections, his younger son Jure Janković publicly threatened to murder the ''Finance'' journalist Jaka Elikan, who investigated and wrote about the alleged corruption of the Janković family and who was present at the event; the threat was recorded by the journalists and made public. Zoran Janković publicly reacted to the threat by rejecting any use of violence and apologizing for his son's words; at the same time, however, he accused the journalist of being excessively provocative. Following the media allegations of Janković's abuse of power to create economic benefit for his son Jure, an Investigation Commission was formed by the
Slovenian National Assembly The National Assembly ( sl, Državni zbor Republike Slovenije, or ), is the general representative body of Slovenia. According to the Constitution of Slovenia and the Constitutional Court of Slovenia, it is the major part of the distinctively ...
, headed by the opposition MP Alenka Jeraj. In its final report, the Commission stated that there is a
reasonable suspicion Reasonable suspicion is a legal standard of proof in United States law that is less than probable cause, the legal standard for arrests and warrants, but more than an "inchoate and unparticularized suspicion or 'hunch; it must be based on "specif ...
that Zoran Janković abused his power as Mayor of Ljubljana. In an interview to the Croatian daily newspaper ''
Večernji list ''Večernji list'' (also known as ''Večernjak''; ) is a Croatian daily newspaper published in Zagreb. History and profile ''Večernji list'' was started in Zagreb in 1959. Its ancestor ''Večernji vjesnik'' ("Evening Courier") appeared for the ...
'' in October 2010, Janković stated corruption is not an important problem in Slovenia; this statement caused some controversy in the Slovenian media, and triggered a negative public response by the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption.


Entry into national politics

On 11 October 2011, Janković announced his candidacy for prime minister with his own party,
Positive Slovenia Positive Slovenia ( sl, Pozitivna Slovenija, PS) was a centre-left political party in Slovenia, following April 2014 led by founder Zoran Janković. The party was founded under the name ''Zoran Janković's List – Positive Slovenia''. It wa ...
, to "make a better world for all Slovenians, beyond current political doctrines and practices". When asked what made him decide to run for the Slovenian parliamentary election, Janković replied that his final decision was made upon his wife's insistence that he should run in order to protect their children from unjust persecution. The statement was made in regard of the committee established by the Slovenian
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
in order to investigate Janković's alleged misuse of power as mayor of Ljubljana; his both sons were summoned to testify at the committee, both availing themselves with the
right to silence The right to silence is a legal principle which guarantees any individual the right to refuse to answer questions from law enforcement officers or court officials. It is a legal right recognized, explicitly or by convention, in many of the worl ...
. The influential investigative journalist Bojan Traven raised a theory, according to which Janković's entry into state politics was conditioned by the concern over the financial status of his family. On 4 December, Positive Slovenia won the election with 28.51% of votes, thus gaining 28 seats out of 90 in the Assembly. In his first responses, Janković said that the victory of his party was a proof that Slovenians wanted an efficient state and that he would focus on economic growth. Shortly after the unofficial results became available, he stated he would invite all the parties to coalition talks. Analysts predicted the most likely coalition would consist of Positive Slovenia (PS),
Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...
(SD),
Gregor Virant's Civic List Civic List ( sl, Državljanska lista, DL) is an inactive classical liberalism, classical-liberal extra-parliamentary list of political parties in Slovenia, political party in Slovenia, led by Gregor Virant. LGV won 8.37% of the vote at the early ...
(LGV) and
Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia The Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia ( sl, Demokratična stranka upokojencev Slovenije, also known by the acronym DeSUS) is a political party in Slovenia led by Ljubo Jasnič. The party claims broadly liberal values with a strong focu ...
(DeSUS). On 5 January 2012, President
Danilo Türk Danilo Türk (; born 19 February 1952) is a Slovenian diplomat, professor of international law, human rights expert, and political figure who served as President of Slovenia from 2007 to 2012. He was the first Slovene ambassador to the United Na ...
proposed Janković as the candidate to form a government to the National Assembly. Two days before the scheduled voting, the Slovenian Association of Journalists and Commentators, the second largest journalists' association in the country, issued a statement raising the concern that Janković might abuse his power as prime minister by curtailing the freedom of media through intimidation. A coalition agreement between PS, SD, LGV and DeSUS was initialled on 7 January. However, in the evening of 9 January, LGV announced it would not support Janković as the new prime minister and also not join his coalition, due to large differences in the programs of the parties. On 11 January, Janković was not elected as the new prime minister by the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
. In a secret ballot, his candidacy only gained the support of 42 deputies, two less than expected prior to the voting, and four short of the absolute majority needed for his election. Following the election of
Janez Janša Ivan Janša (; born 17 September 1958), baptized and best known as Janez Janša (), is a Slovenian politician who served three times as a prime minister of Slovenia, a position he had held from 2004 to 2008, from 2012 to 2013, and from 2020 to 2 ...
as the prime minister in the second round of the voting, Positive Slovenia became an opposition party. When Janković got elected to the National Assembly, his function as the Mayor of Ljubljana ceased because of incompatibility of the two functions. In February, Janković announced he decided to run for the position of Mayor of Ljubljana again. He participated at the by-election for the mayor of Ljubljana on 25 March 2012 and was elected for the continuation of the second term with 61% of votes. He retook the leadership of the city council on 11 April 2012. His mandate of a deputy ceased on 16 April 2012. On 19 April, he was replaced by the former athlete Alenka Bikar. On 17 January 2013, Alenka Bratušek was replaced Janković as president of the Positive Slovenia party after Janković temporarily renounced all functions in the party following allegations raised by the official Commission for the Prevention of Corruption report. On 26 April 2014, Zoran Janković was again voted as the president of the party with 422 votes for out of 763 voters; his only opponent, Alenka Bratušek, received 338 votes. On 29 April 2014 Bratušek resigned from Positive Slovenia, and also announced her resignation as Prime Minister, to take effect on 5 May 2014. She became the first Slovenian Prime Minister to resign from office; her resignation went into effect on 8 May, and then on 31 May 2014 she formed her own party Alliance of Alenka Bratušek (''Zavezništvo Alenke Bratušek''; ZaAB).


Public perception

Throughout his presence in the public life, Janković has been mired in scandals. This is alleged by his detractors and acknowledged by his sympathisers. The latter say that while every politician is corrupt, at least Janković is "a man of action" and has finally done something for residents of Ljubljana. This normally refers to him having built the Stožice stadium. His opponents point out, however, that he built it with taxpayers' money and that his family and companies owned by them have benefited to the tune of many millions from backhanders paid by building contractors engaged to construct it, while subcontractors were not paid for their work, supposedly for lack of funds. In 1998, the left liberal magazine ''
Mladina ''Mladina'' (English: Youth) is a Slovenian weekly left-wing political and current affairs magazine. Since the 1920s, when it was first published, it has become a voice of protest against those in power. Today, ''Mladinas weekly issues are dis ...
'' accused Janković of having used his influence as businessman in order to secure his younger son's participation in the spring
matura or its translated terms (''Mature'', ''Matur'', , , , , , ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...
state exams, although he should have first passed two retake exams. In October 2011, a whole episode of the talk political show ''Pogledi Slovenije'', aired by the national broadcaster
RTV Slovenija Radiotelevizija Slovenija ( en, Radio-Television of Slovenia) – usually abbreviated to RTV Slovenija (or simply RTV within Slovenia) – is Slovenia's national public broadcasting organization. Based in Ljubljana, it has regional broadcastin ...
, was focused on Janković's alleged nepotism. He has been a target of satire, especially by the popular comedian Denis Avdić. In May 2012 it was revealed that the Slovene tax administration is investigating how 400 thousand out of the 15 million euros, paid by the City of Ljubljana to the Stožice Sports Park construction contractor (GREP), ended on the account of the ''KLM Naložbe'' company, which is majority-owned by Zoran Janković. Janković and his son Jure are under investigation by the tax authorities and the police in connection with the Cypriot company Blue Train of which Jure Janković has been revealed to be a director. He is perennially cited as one of the most influential people in the country.


References


External links


Further reading

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Jankovic, Zoran 1953 births Living people Eastern Orthodox Christians from Slovenia Mayors of Ljubljana Members of the National Assembly (Slovenia) Politicians from Smederevo Positive Slovenia politicians Serbian emigrants to Slovenia Slovenian businesspeople Slovenian people of Serbian descent Slovenian sports executives and administrators University of Ljubljana alumni Articles containing video clips