Siniša Mali ( sr-Cyrl, Синиша Мали, ; born 25 August 1972) is a Serbian economist and politician serving a
First Deputy Prime minister of Serbiasince 2024 and as
minister of finance
A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position .
A ministry of finance's portfolio ...
since 2018. A member of the
Serbian Progressive Party
The Serbian Progressive Party (, SNS) is a major populist, catch-all party, catch-all List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. It has been the Ruling party, ruling party since 2012. Miloš Vučević, the former prime mi ...
(SNS),
[http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2017&mm=11&dd=18&nav_category=11&nav_id=1326844 Ničić već stigao do Predsedništva, izabrani i Mali i Vesić] he previously served as
mayor of Belgrade
The mayor of Belgrade () is the head of the City of Belgrade (the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia). The mayor acts on behalf of the city, and performs an Executive (government), executive function in th ...
from 2014 to 2018, and as the president of the Temporary Council of Belgrade from 2013 to 2014. Following the dismissal of
Rade Basta in June 2023, he also served as acting
minister of economy.
The discovery of
plagiarism
Plagiarism is the representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 ''Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close ...
in Mali's doctoral dissertation was one of the triggers for the
anti-government protests leading to the 12-day students' blockade of the university's main building and the decision of the
University of Belgrade
The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, 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 me ...
to revoke his doctorate. Believing that his doctorate was unjustly revoked, Mali initiated court proceedings, and in March 2023 the Administrative Court issued a verdict that annulled the decision of the University Senate to revoke his doctorate on technical grounds. As of 2025, the university has not complied with the court's order.
Early life and education
Siniša Mali was born on 25 August 1972, in
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
.
He graduated from the primary and secondary school – the 5th Belgrade Grammar School. In 1995, he completed his undergraduate studies, while in 1998 he received his master's degree at the
Faculty of Economics, University of Belgrade. During the undergraduate studies, Mali received the award as the student of the generation, and after completing his studies, he received the award for the best undergraduate dissertation.
He enrolled in doctoral studies in 2020, "Finance" study program, at the
Technical University of Košice, Slovakia. In August 2022, he passed the dissertation exam, which approves the topic for his doctoral thesis. He obtained his doctorate in June 2023.
As a Ron Brown scholar, in 1999, he received his master's degree in finance (
Master of Business Administration
A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...
) from
Washington University
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...
in
St. Louis
St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
, United States of America.
During the studies, Mali worked as an assistant on five courses in the field of
business finance
Corporate finance is an area of finance that deals with the sources of funding, and the capital structure of businesses, the actions that managers take to increase the value of the firm to the shareholders, and the tools and analysis used to allo ...
. After studying, Mali received the award as the best student in the field of finance, as well as the award for being among the top 10 students of the top 20 business schools in the United States that year.
Business career
Prior to his political career, Mali was a
financial adviser
A financial adviser or financial advisor is a professional who provides financial services to clients based on their financial situation. In many countries, financial advisors must complete specific training and be registered with a regulatory ...
in the
private sector
The private sector is the part of the economy which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government.
Employment
The private sector employs most of the workfo ...
. He worked in several private companies that were engaged in advising in the field of
financial services
Financial services are service (economics), economic services tied to finance provided by financial institutions. Financial services encompass a broad range of tertiary sector of the economy, service sector activities, especially as concerns finan ...
. Between 1995 and 1997, Mali worked for
Deloitte
Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wi ...
&Touche in
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
, and in its
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
office from 1999 to 2001. During his stay in the United States, he worked at
Credit Suisse First Boston
Credit Suisse First Boston (also known as CSFB and CS First Boston) was the investment banking affiliate of Credit Suisse headquartered in New York.
The company was created by the merger of First Boston Corporation and Credit Suisse Group in 1 ...
in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group in New York City.
In 2001, he was appointed the Assistant Minister of Privatisation in the Ministry of Economy and Privatisation. During his tenure, Mali was in charge of the execution of the
privatisation
Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...
process in the Republic of Serbia and preparation of the various laws in this field. At the end of that year, he moved to the Privatisation Agency, where he was the director of the Centre for Tender Privatisation. He remained in that position until the end of 2003.
From 2005 to 2008, Mali was the chairman of the real estate company "NCA Investment Group Doo Beograd".
Mali has served as a chairman of several boards of directors, including Fiat Automobil Srbija and Komercijalna banka,
as well as chairman of the Supervisory Committee of Air Serbia. Additionally, he was a chairman of the Organising Committee of the 2017 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade and the 2018 EuroLeague Final Four.
He is the
Chartered Financial Analyst
The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program is a postgraduate professional certification offered internationally by the US-based CFA Institute (formerly the Association for Investment Management and Research, or AIMR) to investment and financia ...
(CFA) and member of CFA Institute, Serbian Business Angels Network, Fulbright Alumni Association of Serbia, British-Serbian Business Club, as well as a member of the Golf Club Belgrade and a holder of a
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
green card. Also, he is the holder of the portfolio manager license, issued by the Serbian Securities Commission.
Political career
In 2012, Mali was appointed the advisor for economic affairs to the First Deputy Prime Minister
Aleksandar Vučić
Aleksandar Vučić, (born 5 March 1970) is a Serbian politician serving as President of Serbia since 2017. A founding member of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), he previously served as President of the SNS from 2012 to 2023, Deputy Prim ...
.
A year later, Mali was appointed the Chief Negotiator with investors from the
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...
. He conducted negotiations on a strategic partnership between the then state-owned company JAT and
Etihad Airways
Etihad Airways is one of the two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates (the other being Emirates). Its head office is in Khalifa City, Abu Dhabi, near Zayed International Airport. The airline commenced operations in November 2003, and ...
that resulted in the establishment of
Air Serbia
Air Serbia (stylised as ''AirSERBIA''; ) is the flag carrier of Serbia. The company's headquarters is located in Belgrade, Serbia, and its main hub is Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. The airline was known as Jat Airways until it was renamed a ...
.
Mayor of Belgrade
Following the ousting of Mayor
Dragan Đilas in November 2013, Mali was appointed the President of the Temporary Council of
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
. After the
2014 election in Belgrade, Mali was elected as a Mayor on the proposal of the winning
Serbian Progressive Party
The Serbian Progressive Party (, SNS) is a major populist, catch-all party, catch-all List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. It has been the Ruling party, ruling party since 2012. Miloš Vučević, the former prime mi ...
.
From the very first moment of his appointment in 2014, Mali initiated a comprehensive financial
consolidation program in order to achieve sustainable fiscal stabilisation. During his tenure as the Mayor of Belgrade, Mali managed to halve the debt of the city of Belgrade, which in 2014 amounted to 1.2 billion euros, and to reduce the budget deficit by four times. Mali conducted a debt consolidation of
public utility
A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and ...
companies, which in the first three years of his tenure resulted in the net profit of 9.5 billion dinars. He managed to galvanize a significant number of investments’ projects that contributed to low unemployment. The most significant is the new hub project “
Belgrade Waterfront
Belgrade Waterfront (), is an urban renewal development project headed by the Government of Serbia aimed at changing Belgrade's cityscape and economy by revitalizing the Sava amphitheater, between the Belgrade Fair and Branko's bridge, includin ...
” (total worth 3.5 billion euros), the opening of the first
IKEA
IKEA ( , ) is a Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in Sweden that designs and sells , household goods, and various related services.
IKEA is owned and operated by a series of not-for-profit an ...
store and
Hilton Hotels & Resorts
Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton Worldwide.
The original company was founded by Conrad Hi ...
’ brand in Serbia, as well as the opening of the Chinese automotive parts factory MEI TA Europe Ltd. During Mali's tenure, Moody's Public Sector Europe (MPSE) upgraded the City of Belgrade's long-term issuer rating to Ba3 from B1; the rating's outlook has been changed to stable from positive.
Mali's tenure as the Mayor of Belgrade was marked with numerous significant infrastructure projects such as completion of the
Pupin Bridge over the river
Danube
The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
, Košare's heroes Boulevard, water factory "Makiš 2", as well as the complete reconstruction of
Slavija Square, Boulevard of Liberation, Roosevelt Street and Mije Kovačević Street. The railway station "
Belgrade Center" (Prokop) started to operate after 40 years. The projects of expansion of the pedestrian zone in the city of Belgrade and facade restoration were initiated. Agreements were signed for the construction of a waste processing plant in
Vinča
Vinča ( sr-cyr, Винча, ) is a List of Belgrade neighborhoods, suburban settlement of Belgrade, Serbia. It is part of the municipality of Grocka. Vinča-Belo Brdo, an important archaeological site that gives its name to the Neolithic Vinča c ...
, wastewater treatment plants in Veliko Selo and for the construction of the
Obrenovac
Obrenovac ( sr-cyr, Обреновац, ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. According to the 2022 census results, the municipality has a population of 68,882 inhabitants, while the urban area has 25,380 inhabitants. The old name for Obreno ...
-
Novi Beograd
New Belgrade (, ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade. It was a Planned community, planned city and now is the central business district of Serbia and South East Europe. Construction began in 1948 in a previously un ...
heating plant.
Minister of Finance
On 29 May 2018, he was appointed the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Serbia in the cabinet of
Ana Brnabić, after the resignation of
Dušan Vujović three weeks earlier. Mali was elected four times as Minister of Finance, and currently holds the position of First Deputy Prime Minister, to which he was elected in May 2024. At the beginning of his tenure as the Minister of Finance, Mali has emphasised the two main goals; maintenance of the
macroeconomic
Macroeconomics is a branch of economics that deals with the performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole. This includes regional, national, and global economies. Macroeconomists study topics such as output/ GDP ...
stability and achievement of the greater economic growth. In the first year of his tenure, the new set of laws has been passed with the aim to contribute to a better economic environment, reduce the tax burden on labour, incentive beginners in business, increase pensions and public sector salaries and the modernize Tax Administration.
During his mandate, Serbia became one of the fastest growing economies in Europe, unemployment is at a historically low level, and employment is at a historically high level. Serbia attracts a record number of foreign direct investments, and a number of reforms have been implemented to improve the economic environment, such as e-invoices, e-fiscalization, e-shipping forms. Thanks to good results, the Ministry of Finance during the corona virus pandemic helped the economy and citizens with a package of nine billion euros, which preserved the level of economic activity. Accordingly, the Ministry he leads is an investor in the construction project of the Expo complex and the National Stadium, and also leads the working group for the construction of the Belgrade metro, which began after several decades.
Mali led comprehensive fiscal reforms and strategic initiatives that resulted in Serbia achieving its first-ever investment-grade credit rating, improving fiscal discipline, managing public debt, and boosting investor confidence. Collaborated with international financial institutions and credit rating agencies to secure this historic milestone, enhancing the country's economic stability and global financial standing.
As Minister of Finance, he was appointed Governor of Serbia in the World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. He is the President of the Coordination Body for the Prevention of Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism. He is also the President of the Coordination Body for the Suppression of the Gray Economy. He is a member of the Council for Economic Developmen
Mali held the position of a member of the Presidency of the
Serbian Progressive Party
The Serbian Progressive Party (, SNS) is a major populist, catch-all party, catch-all List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. It has been the Ruling party, ruling party since 2012. Miloš Vučević, the former prime mi ...
until November 2021, when he was elected as one of the vice presidents of the party.
Corruption investigation
Mali's private business was being investigated by the Serbian Administration for the Prevention of Money Laundering (APML) in 2016. Earlier, during 2015, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and Serbian investigative journalism outlet KRIK discovered that Mali controls 42 bank accounts, registered under himself, his wife, and his three underage children. These accounts were holding sums of money far exceeding his official salary. In addition, OCCRP/KRIK discovered and reported his purchase of 24 apartments on Bulgarian Black Sea coast in 2012 and 2013. APML suspected Mali's accounts and apartment purchases as a money-laundering scheme and reported it to the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade. The prosecutors dismissed the case, as they did not find evidence of criminal activity and therefore rejected to launch an investigation. On 3 October 2021, when the
Pandora Papers
The Pandora Papers are 11.9 million leaked documents with 2.9 terabytes of data that the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published beginning on 3 October 2021. The leak exposed the secret offshore accounts of 35 ...
documents were released, it was confirmed that Mali "definitely owned 24 apartments in Bulgaria". The Pandora Papers discovered the missing link that Mali was indeed the owner of the two offshore companies that owned 24 apartments in Bulgaria. Mali responded by claiming that "it is a lie". The minister also stated that he does not own 24 apartments, but only one that is properly registered and where he has been vacationing with his family for ten years. The prosecution remained passive, however, and despite Mali's previous rejections of these accusations, Prime Minister Ana Brnabić claimed that this case does not constitute corruption as it occurred before he entered politics. Yet Mali was, indeed, a public official at that time and did not report the properties as obliged by law.
Three of Mali's children attended a private school where the tuition far exceeded Mali's official income. It was revealed that the tuition was paid by three offshore companies. One of the firms was owned by Mali but Mali said he did not know the owners of the other two companies.
Plagiarism scandal
Personal life
Mali is divorced and has four children.
Mali was awarded the "Best European 2014" award for the project of development and reconstruction of Belgrade. In 2017, the European Movement in
B&H awarded him the "Most Tolerant City in the Region" award. Also, Siniša Mali is th
Reformer of the Year for 2022
He is a keen sportsman, and a regular participant in marathon races. In November 2018 he ran the full
Athens Marathon and in September next year Mali ran full marathon in Berlin. Also, he ran full marathon in Boston, New York, Chicago, London and Tokyo. By finishing the Tokyo Marathon in March 2023, Sinisa Mali earned th
Six Star Medal award.
He was a member of the presidency of
KK Crvena zvezda
Košarkaški klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Кошаркашки клуб Црвена звезда, ), usually referred to as KK Crvena zvezda or simply Crvena zvezda, currently named Crvena zvezda Meridianbet for sponsorship reasons, is a men ...
and he is the honorary holder of the black belt in
taekwondo
Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...
5th dan for contribution to the development of sports. During his high school days, Mali played guitar in a heavy metal band.
He was awarded the Order of the Great Martyrs of Kragujevac of the first degree. It was handed to him with the blessing of the Serbian Patriarch
Irinej, in October 2019, by Bishop of the Diocese of Šumadija, Jovan.
Mali was awarded the highest honor of the City of Kruševac, the 2024 Vidovdan Award, for his outstanding contribution to the economic and social development of the Republic of Serbia and the City of Kruševac.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mali, Sinisa
1972 births
CFA charterholders
Deloitte people
Finance ministers of Serbia
Government ministers of Serbia
KK Crvena Zvezda executives
Living people
Mayors of Belgrade
Olin Business School (Washington University) alumni
People named in the Pandora Papers
Politicians from Belgrade
Serbian economists
Serbian Progressive Party politicians
University of Belgrade Faculty of Economics alumni