Radoman Bozovic, New President of the Serbian Government

In these difficult times for Serbia, Slobodan Milosevic, the president of Serbia, is accumulating all the power and keeping away from the public eye to such an extent that he has chosen a man in his own image for the new president of the Serbian Government, the youthful Radoman Bozovic. Milosevic qualified his choice by saying that it is "an example and provides an incentive for the appointment of the young people for the highest positions within the state apparatus. At the same time, he is placing his future right arm in the rank of his now notorious "executers", who are supposed to merely breathe in "the capability and efficiency" to the state apparatus and economy, the performance of which is increasingly falling short of his expectations.

It could also be that Vojvodina (whose autonomy was withdrawn three years ago) passed Milosevic's "yes man" exam with distinction, since it was subjected to fierce selection at which the famous immigrants excelled (Dragutin Zelenovic, his predecessor, is originally from Eastern Herzegovina, and Radoman Bozovic spent his childhood in Montenegro).

Speculation concerning Milosevic's weakness towards "the outer Serbs", as well as his inferiority complex with regards to the natives, could be expressed in a metaphor that Milosevic has always been known to pick the ones who "do not have an alternative homeland", only the carrier which he benevolently enabled them to pursue. The mistrust which the president of the Republic of Serbia is harbouring towards the ones who have single-handedly made their name in the centre of Serbian business and trade deserves to be analyzed in more detail: one of its symptoms refers to their provincialist fear of fierce market competition, the prevalence of interests and money, and the invincible spirit of liberalism of the only Serbian metropolis. Such an "analysis" could be better at discovering the real cause of the Serbian economic disaster than the classic economic parameters which Milosevic wants to dismiss when this war ends. In the meantime, his needs an assistant in his own image.

Whether Radoman Bozovic will fulfill the expectations of his mentor and be satisfied just with executing the orders of his political promoter is a question which only superficially has an obvious answer. Bozovic resembles Milosevic in his assumed determination, affected seriousness and far reaching goals, as well as in his eagerness to forget the scruples when power is to be seized. There is the notorious case of the first "victim" of Bozovic, the young Bosko Kovacevic, a former party chairman from Subotica, who first introduced the young professor of economics to the world of politics, and who after the "anti-bureaucratic revolution" in Vojvodina in 1988 made him his successor. Two months later, Kovacevic realized that he is an odd man out in Milosevic's team and after he was fired, dr. Radoman Bozovic started "differentiating" his friend and promoter in such a way that the top Serbian party politicians had to worn his about overstepping his authority. It would be in bad taste to contemplate prematurely Bozovic's aims. Thus we should consider in more detail the "meager" explanation Slobodan Milosevic gave concerning the election of the new president: "Radoman Bozovic has proved to be a highly capable businessman and an efficient administrator", says Mr. Milosevic in his opening lines of his expose.

Bozovic, of course, has never been a businessman. He was born in 1953 and, after finishing his primary school in Montenegro, he moved to Vrbas (Vojvodina) where he finished his high-school. He graduated from the Faculty of Economics in 1975, where he was soon given the position of an assistant. He did his Phd at the Belgrade Law Faculty in 1981. He did his doctorate thesis under the guidance of prof. dr. Ivan Maksimovic, and academic prof. Dragutin Soskic, entitled "Social Ownership and the Economic Relations within the System of Socialist Self-management". The author of the thesis supported strongly "the non-property ownership of social property", so he managed to circumvent the theoretical pitfalls of the so-called income based economy.

Bozovic, theoretically speaking, has nothing to be ashamed of even now. Noticing correctly that the society without property ownership is in effect society without motive, he says that "there is no property and working incentive, therefore there is no property ownership responsibility, so the government is in effect 'in search' for the painless solution to the crisis, which obviously does not exist".

It would be ridiculous even to assume that dr. Radoman Bozovic is some kind of giant of the Yugoslav economic science, although he published numerous books, articles and essays. The way dr. Bozovic was applying his profit making motive when he was elected chairman of the Vojvodina government does not speak too favourably of his consistency. His only real achievement is reflected in the fact that his political authority made all the creditors right off part of the debt and ascribed the second half to the firms in financial difficulties. So far so good: he even thanked the advocates of social property ownership on their "cooperation", and recommended his model to the leading politicians, expressing his surprise that they are hesitating with "transferring the money from one pocket to another". Milosevic' s praise of his "businessman qualities" must have referred to the above, since as an administrator he was executing certain entrepreneurial tasks. Milosevic has not forgotten that he entrusted Zelenovic with the task of cutting down on the red tape. Zelenovic could not fulfill his expectations, so he was replaced by Bozovic, who dismissed around 600 civil servants from Vojvodina, who were left without work when Vojvodina lost its autonomy status.

The appointment of Bozovic could be understood as a thank you for his diligent undermining of the federal government and Ante Markovic personally. Such a conclusion is based on Milosevic's opinion that Bozovic "significantly improved the relations with the farmers".

It is well known that Milosevic's dispute with Ante Markovic was intensified in summer of 1989, when Bozovic complained that Markovic's government is pursuing "the anti-agriculture policy" and when Serbia, badly in need of credits from the National Bank of Yugoslavia, arbitrarily raised the price of wheat. Bozovic encountered severe difficulties when paying out the farmers, to whom he had promised more than he was able to fulfill. As a consequence, billion dollars of Vojvodina's working capital in food was lost and it has severely affected the sowing season, both last and this year.

It should also be remembered that Bozovic has in the past year and a half been at odds with Markovic's cabinet, showing disregard even for the fact that his government won a decisive vote of confidence in parliament. Radoman Bozovic simply retorted that the federal government should be immediately dismissed.

Understanding correctly Milosevic's success formula that controlling the media is of paramount importance, Bozovic appointed himself as the "editor-in-chief of Vojvodina". This incident with the press indicates that, although it is hard to predict what the consequences of his policy on the Serbian economy will be, it is certain that the state controlled media will portray it as being successful.

Radoman Bozovic may well think he can alleviate the present Serbian problems. But the ones who think that Slobodan Milosevic can do nothing more, take the appointment of Bozovic to be the appointment of the transitional government.