Miodrag Kostić (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...

: Миодраг Костић; 25 August 1959 – 13 November 2024) was a Serbian businessman. He was the founder and owner of

MK Group MK (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: МК Група) is a Serbian holding company which operates in the agriculture, banking, and tourism sector. The company was established in 1991, and has since expanded its business operations acr ...

, a diversified

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

focusing primarily on agribusiness, green energy, and tourism.

Early life and education

Kostić was born on 25 August 1959 in Vrbas,

FPR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

. Kostić graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the

University of Novi Sad The University of Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Универзитет у Новом Саду, Univerzitet u Novom Sadu; ) is a public university in Novi Sad, Serbia. Alongside nationally prestigious University of Belgrade, University of Novi Sad is ...

at the Department of

Information Technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

in 1983.

Professional career

In 1983, he began a

private business A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in their respective listed markets. Instead, the company's stock is ...

– initially as the owner of a private company for trade, import-export and manufacturing activities which in 1995 grew into

. Since 2000, MK Group has managed sugar factories (factories Pećinci, Vrbas, Kovačica), more than 10 agribusiness enterprises, trade and warehouse complexes ("Granex-port", "Žito Bačka"). As of December 2017, Kostić’s MK Group had a total of 29 companies within its holding, most of them in

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...

. MK Group performs a variety of services, such as

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit ...

, wholesale, real estate and banking. Some of the most notable subsidiary companies include Carnex Vrbas (

meat industry The meat industry are the people and companies engaged in modern industrialized livestock agriculture for the production, packing, preservation and marketing of meat (in contrast to dairy products, wool, etc.). In economics, the meat industry is ...

), Sunoko (sugar industry), Agroglobe (fertilizing and wholesale of agriculture products), PIK-Bečej (agribusiness) and others. Over the years, the media had labelled Kostić the 'King of Sugar'. Kostić was also the President of the Management Board of AIK Banka which, in June 2019, fully took over the ownership of Gorenjska Banka and thus successfully completed the takeover process in Slovenia. Being the first bank from Serbia to enter the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

market, AIK Banka has confirmed its plans for further regional expansion. In June 2020, Kostić’s MK Group completed the process of acquisition of 67% of the shares of

Victoria Group ADM Nutrition Holding, formerly known as Victoria Group ( sr-cyr, Викторија Група), was a Serbian holding company with the headquarters in Belgrade, Serbia. It was a majority owner by Netherlands-based ADM (company), ADM Europe. The ...

. With the integration of Victoria Group member companies, Sojaprotein, Victoria Oil, Victoria Logistic, Luka Bačka Palanka and VZS Stočna hrana, MK Group has acquired the status of the majority owner, while the previous shareholders Milija Babovic and Apsara Limited remained minority owners. In June 2020, Miodrag Kostić’s company completed the acquisition of the Slovenian branch of Heta Asset Resolution. At the end of 2019, MK Group was selected as the best bidder in the tender, meeting the formal requests for payment and purchase with the official approval of the Public Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Protection of Competition and the approvals of the Competition Protection Commissions of Serbia and Montenegro.

Miodrag Kostić Endowment

Miodrag Kostić Endowment – the Palace of Science, located in downtown Belgrade, will donate to society the first centre for research and the popularisation of science in Serbia, and the largest one in the region. This donation, worth more than EUR 25 million, is intended to provide support to scientific and technological development, young scientists and education, and it is one of the largest individual philanthropy contributions in this region. With scientific content and activities across more than 5,500 m², scientific work will take place in 19 research centres within this space, in partnership with the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the University of Belgrade. The second part of the space will be dedicated to bringing science closer to the general public, with a focus on nurturing curiosity in children, through a large number of interactive and educational exhibits.

Kostić Family Foundation

Kostić founded the Kostić Family Foundation in June 2013 with his mother Roksanda. He gave their family home as a present to the Provincial Institute for Protection of Health of Children and Young People of Vojvodina in Novi Sad and the National Association of Childhood Cancer Parents of Serbia for their exclusive use. Kostić transferred the ownership of the house to the Provincial Government of Vojvodina, which is responsible for using the house solely for the proposed purpose. The house has 1400 square meters and 16 acres of outdoor property.

Death

Kostić died on 13 November 2024, at the age of 65.

Awards and recognition

* 2015. Miodrag Kostić won the Medal of Honour Award as a sign of appreciation for his long-term support for SOS Children's Village * 2015. Miodrag Kostić won the Laureate Award for the Special Development of Entrepreneurship in Serbia from Mokra Gora School of Management * 2017. Serbian Association of Economists and the Serbian Association of Corporate Directors awarded Miodrag Kostić for outstanding contributions in the field of business economics and management * 2019 Miodrag Kostić won the Golden Sign Award of the Red Cross of Serbia for exceptional humanitarian work * 2023. Miodrag Kostić received a special award from the Serbian Association of Managers for an exceptional personal act – donating the Palace of Science to Serbian society. * 2023. The Association of Economists of Serbia awarded the Golden Charter to Miodrag Kostić for long-term cooperation, support and exceptional contribution in the organization of the Kopaonik Business Forum.

Memberships and functions

Kostić was the President of the Board of Directors of AIK Banka and for the second term – the President of the Serbian business club "Privrednik" which gathers 40 most successful entrepreneurs in Serbia. "Privrednik" cooperates with

chambers of commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to adv ...

and business associations in the country and abroad and the Government of the Republic of Serbia to improve entrepreneurship and management in Serbia and attract foreign investors. He was also a member of numerous local and international business associations such as

AmCham The United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC) is a business association advocacy group and is the largest lobbying group in the United States. The group was founded in April 1912 out of local chambers of commerce at the urging of President Willi ...

, British-Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Serbian-Italian Business Council, Swiss-Serbian Business Association, Serbian Association of Managers (SAM), National Alliance for Local Economic Development (NALED), etc. Kostić was politically active, serving as the General Director of Serbia's Democratic Party from 1996 until the overthrow of Milošević on 5 October 2000.

References

External links

MK Group
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kostic, Miodrag 1959 births 2024 deaths People from Vrbas, Serbia 20th-century Serbian businesspeople Serbian billionaires