The color of money

Apart from classical war profiteers, the richest Serbs also include people who got rich in the West, came to the country to help its economic development and, of course, to earn some more. There are also those who have acquired their initial capital by robbing banks in Europe, and additional capital by stealing from civilians in the "liberated" towns of Slavonia and Bosnia. Then there are also those who have been directors of socially-owned firms for years and who have made use of the transformation of property, as well as the skillful ones who have gained their money by carefully listening to the pulse of the market... All they have in common is - wealth.

The development of the new class could be followed on the example of Dedinje, and elite part of Belgrade. The structure of the residents of this most elite Belgrade quarter is changing for the third time in the past fifty years. First the partizans drove away the previous residents from better Belgrade families and radically destroyed the fragile citizens' class. The past decade was marked by a breakthrough of show business - folk music singers, TV stars and rare football players did everything to get hold of a villa in Dedinje, without asking for the price.

In civilized countries there exist status rules which most rich people abide by: it is known which cars or airplanes are in, and the same applies to clothing, jewelry, restaurants, summer resorts and so on. This, of course, is not the case in Serbia.

It is interesting that apart from master-Jezda, Mrs.Dafina Milanovic and, to a certain extent, the Karic family, (all owners of privete banks), the other millionaires do not show off that much. True, they all live nicely and comfortably, but throwing away money is mostly reserved for those "in the second division". Only two "Rolls Royces" have been noticed in Belgrade. There are also very few big American cars, and the most famous is the "Dodge". At one time Belgrade also boasted one "Ferrari". The "Porsche" is much more popular, but not among businessmen - it is mostly driven by the "tough guys" like the recently killed Aleksandar Knezevic Knele. The most popular of all is the "Mercedes", and Mrs.Dafina was left without two such cars in a short period of time - one was stolen and the other she gave to the doctor who delivered her daughter's baby. One can only guess how many more are left.

The newly created Serbian rich people look different, they act differently and enjoy themselves in different ways. One can see all sorts of things: from the blinding glitter of jewelry, to the loose ties of tired people who work as much as sixteen hours a day. They often do not have much time left to enjoy themselves, and when they go out, they usually sit in restaurants with music. Some have fun in big European cities, and they can also be seen in some of Belgrade's elite places. It should be pointed out that these are places at which one can rarely see those of the "biggest caliber" - their visitors and those who spend the most are criminals and "second class" rich businesspeople.

It is difficult to make a portrait of a classical Serbian rich person on the basis of scarce information. Still, they all have in common investments in sport. Just a glance at some of the sports charts is enough to come to this conclusion, because along with the more or less famous names of clubs there also stand the names of private firms which appear in the roles of sponsors or owners. The sports fever hasn't avoided anyone: master-Jezda has spent millions of dollars for organizing the Fischer-Spasky match on the island of Sveti Stefan, and for some time the first football division carried the name of his firm. Dafina is the sponsor of the Belgrade marathon. This kind of interest in sport is somewhat surprizing even though, according to the Americans, this is the most profitable branch of business. However, domestic clubs are badly affected by the economic sanctions, the interest has dropped, and some of "Red Star's" matches didn't even make enough money to pay the people working at the stadium. Nevertheless, domestic businesspeople have found it more profitable to buy a sports club that would constantly keep showing the auditorium the name of the firm, than to pay expensive TV commercials. There is also another way to make money - Ratko Radovanovic, the owner of "Sint - trade", decided to finance young talented tennis players from Novi Sad on condition that, when they become professionals, they give him one quarter of their income. Therefore, if he creates a new Monika Seles, most of the problems are resolved. People invest in sport also because of the possibility of "laundering money", because of prestige, but, as some claim, also for the love of it.