The Karic Brothers, Businessmen

by Dragoslav Grujic

General information: Bogoljub Karic was born on January 17th, 1954. His father Janicije, a salesman, had raised eight members of the family: his wife, his five children and his mother Jefimija. The Karic family sponsored the building of a church near Pec and gave financial contribution to the erection of the Pec Patriarchate. Their family patron saint is St. John. Bogoljub's mother Danica (born Kuzmanovic) raised five children: Sreten, Dragomir, Zoran, Bogoljub and Olivera. The children were brought up in the Orthodox Christian spirit as well as in an entrepreneurial manner that reigned in the family. They were very poor at the beginning. They were eating scarce amounts of bread and warm milk for breakfast. However, even today, their numerous family members are still having meals together. At the age of six, Bogoljub was selling claqueur. When he became rich, he did not restrain from showing off with his wealth. Yet, he was generous with his presents. Bogoljub Karic likes to call himself a 'donor and humanist'. At the age of forty, he discovered his inclination towards the art of painting. He is married to Milanka, with whom he has four children: Nebojsa, Nadezda, Jelena and Danica. Milanka released a cassette with old city music.

Education: Bogoljub attended both elementary and high schools in Pec. He graduated in Geography (at the Faculty of Natural Sciences in Pristina, after which he acquired a Master degree in 'Organisation and development of micro economy' at the Faculty of Economics in Nis.

Career: He is very determined and believes that 'money rules the world'. In the seventies, it occurred to him to found his own company. It was the firm 'Tehnicar' (dealing with crop-growing tools) from which the first private factory in East Europe, known as 'Kosovo Univerzum' sprang. Regardless the names, people always called their firms 'Braca Karic' (The Karic Brothers). And that's how that name was spontaneously brought to life, which at first referred to some small private businesses, and today to a big company that encompasses civic engineering, media, telecommunications, banking, insurance companies, trade and education.

Bogoljub Karic was appointed Minister without portfolio in the Government of Serbia, on October 20th (he was in charge of privatisation of 75 biggest state companies and some capital projects) and was dismissed in November 1999.

About music: During the sixties, the brothers founded a band Plave Zvezde (Blue Stars). It was the first vocal-instrumental ensemble in Pec. The youngest of them, Bogoljub (at the age of sixteen) was playing a bass guitar and had the role of a band manager. 'I can say without restraint that Blue Stars opened a way to rock music, the Beatles, the Shadows and the Rolling Stones in Kosovo and Metohija. It is said today that I was a first accordion player. Actually, I never played that instrument. I can only regret for that. And they say it as if it is something shameful. What a funny people we are. Can you imagine that here, playing the accordion means doing something bad and disgraceful? I cannot understand it.'

Familial order: 'We (the Karics) have our own unwritten constitution in which the major obligations and duties of all family members are set. The person in charge is my mother Danica. The main rules regard our mutual solidarity, rallying around to each other and offering support.'

How he became rich: 'I was already rich during Tito's time. I earned my first big money as a young man. I cam across some abandoned steel shock absorbers and got the idea to have the steel reused for some other necessary tools. And so it happened, and the new tool for pulling down concrete walls overflowed both local and international shops. That was my first immense profit.'

Does he owe his wealth to the regime: 'No! I was born in a poor family. We never avoided tough physical labour, and we commenced our first business in a small garage. We have worked and are still working at least sixteen hours a day. At the age of 23, I already had a house (800 square meters) built in my hometown of Pec. My brothers and I have been working hard all our lives, investing in modern technologies and institutions which have altered the face of Serbia. These days, I have engaged an international auditing agency to inspect the business of my firms and make public all that we have both benefited from it and invested in it. However, about 90% of my overall business still remains abroad.'

Why he accepted appointment in Mirko Marjanovic's Government: 'Believe me, I would have accepted to be a courier in any government, had it been for the general good and towards the realisation of common interests. Have you noticed one detail - all MPs in the Parliament of Serbia, both coalition and opposition orientated voted my election.'

About power: 'If you are not in power, or at least close to it, you are on the lowest rank of servants. Power can bend anyone and use him for manipulations.'

Mirjana Markovic and Bogoljub: The SK (the Communist Alliance) Movement of Yugoslavia had intentions to sell a share of the building in Usce (the building of the former Central Committee). The person in charge was Mirjana Markovic. The intermediary person that introduced Mrs. Markovic to Bogoljub Karic was Dusan Mitevic. As soon as Bogoljub entered Mirjana's office, he saw Tito's portrait hanging on the wall, so they had no problems establishing a close relationship: 'Tito's portrait. I respect that!' Afterwards, the two families would spend their summer holidays on Crni Vrh or in Crete together, and Slobodan Milosevic would always enjoyed an honoured position in the Karic family, sitting between father Janicije and mother Danica. He was Mirjana's promoter: 'At the time of media attacks on the Serbs as Balkan butchers, Mira was writing on peace, so I said to Dusan that her book might represent a good defence of the Serbs and a proof that in reality they were not even close to what they were presented by the mass media. My companies around the world managed to find appropriate publishers and helped the publishing process.'

About Milosevic: 'I was very close to him, that is true; I also helped him in many ways; I brought about 870 respected individuals from abroad to see Serbia from within, at the time when our diplomacy was almost lifeless and that was what brought me on the black list of American administration. However, I believed that a successful reform of Serbia will follow immediately after the lifting of the burdening sanctions and that's what I had courage to say aloud. And that's why people approach me in the street to congratulate me for everything my brothers and I have done for this country. That's quite enough reward for me.'

Titles: On one occasion he admitted that he had acquired certain titles thanks to a higher protection. Dragan Karic's business card includes a title of PhD in Philosophy, while Bogoljub is an honoured Ukrainian academician.

Future: The Karics are even planning where their new offspring will be born. Instead of London, one of Karic's daughter-in-law gave birth to a child in New York, because only he who is born in America can become its president. At a cocktail party in Big Apple, Bogoljub announced the birth of a future President of the Unites States, Janicije II John Karic.

About media: 'The amount of falsehood published about our companies is enormous. They do not bother about the truth. However, there is a court.'

Why he would like to become President of Serbia: 'I'm tired of watching Serbia decaying like this. Serbia is a rich country, and its citizens are poorer and poorer every day. I will nominate in favour of Serbia's official stepping in the new millennium, not in 2050, but 2001.' He would often say: 'I am not a big politician; you have plenty of those in this country. My nomination is linked with my aim to say aloud that the essence of progress lies in accepting the principals of the world market and respecting the basic economic law: there is no free lunch. Everyone must work and no one is entitled to take anything from those who do work. That's all.' However, he did not nominate for the president.

Political orientation: 'I can openly say that we have always been more inclined to the left wing, but we have never been members of any political party.'