Minister of Defence
Born in 1967 in Kruševac. He graduated from the Elementary School "Jovan Jovanović Zmaj" in Kruševac. He received his high school education and construction technician diploma at the "Bosa Cvetić" Educational Centre. He earned the title of an economist at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Niš.
Since 1989, he has been engaged in private entrepreneurship, first as the owner of the private company Santos, and later as a co-owner of the mixed Greek-Serbian company Saco d.o.o.
He lived and worked in Greece for many years, and was co-owner of the famous Serbian brand Grand Kafa.
He was a deputy on the list of the Serbian Progressive Party until August 2012.
From March 2013 to December 2013, he was the Chairman of the Management Board of the public utility company Srbijagas.
From June 2012 to April 2014, he served as the mayor of Kruševac.
From April 2014 to February 2016, he was the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Serbia.
From May 2017 to October 2022, he was the Director of the Security and Intelligence Agency of the Republic of Serbia.
From October 2022 to May 2024 he served as Minister of the Interior.
He is a prominent sports worker. He was a member of the Assembly and Board of Directors of the Volleyball Federation of Yugoslavia, several times on the Board of Directors of the Football Club "Napredak" Kruševac, he was the owner of the women's volleyball club "Kruševac Santos", and he was also the director of the football school of the Football Club "Napredak".
Until the founding of the Serbian Progressive Party, he was not politically engaged, nor was he a member of another political party.
He is one of the founders of the Serbian Progressive Party, in whose presidency he has been since 2009.
He was the president of the Municipal Committee of the Serbian Progressive Party in Kruševac and the president of the District Committee of the Serbian Progressive Party for the Rasina District.
He was elected a Member of the Serbian parliament.
In the period from 2012 to 2016, he was one of the vice-presidents of the Serbian Progressive Party.
By appointing him to the position of Director of the Security and Information Agency on 29 May 2017, he froze his membership in all positions in the Serbian Progressive Party.
In 1998, he received the award of the Kruševac City Manager of the Year. In 2012, NALED's Management Board granted him a special award for the reforms he had implemented in the city administration and his contribution to the improvement of the economic environment.
The award "Captain Miša Anastasijević", as the person of the year of the city of Kruševac, was granted to him in 2012 by the Kruševac Chamber of Commerce and "Media Inventa".
He was declared Person of the Year of the Rasina Administrative District by the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia and "Media Inventa" in 2013, and he was also the winner of the St. Vitus award of the city of Kruševac in 2014. In the same year, he received the Golden Coat of Arms of the Municipality of Brus, the highest recognition for his contribution to development of the municipality.
He is the recipient of the Plaque of the municipality of Varvarin for his sacrifice and assistance and remediation of the consequences of floods, as well as the Charter with a gold plaque of the municipality of Krupanj for achievements of exceptional social importance for the all-round development of the municipality of Krupanj.
He received the award "Euro Step" for his contribution to the development of the city of Pirot, the Charter of the municipality of Mali Zvornik for helping to rehabilitate the consequences of floods, as well as the Certificate of Appreciation from the city of Užice for his personal involvement and involvement of the Ministry of Defence and members of the Serbian Army in eliminating the consequences of natural disasters and emergency situations in that city.
He was granted the Special Recognition of the Municipality of Obrenovac for his exceptional participation in the rescue and evacuation of the population, as well as his assistance in the rehabilitation of the consequences of floods, as well as the recognition of Honorary Citizen of the Municipality of Trstenik for 2019, Aleksandrovac for 2021, Varvarin and Ćićevac for 2023 and of the Niš municipality of Crveni Krst for his exceptional contribution to the development of these municipalities.
He was awarded the Order of Njegoš of the first order, for recognized public work and personal results, merits in international cooperation, as well as contribution to the development and strengthening of overall relations between Republika Srpska and Serbia.
He is the holder of several decorations of the Serbian Orthodox Church: the Order of King Milutin (as the great founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church), the Order of Saint Sava of the Second Order, the Order of Saint Simeon the Myroblyte and the Order of Venerable Prohor Pčinjski.
He speaks Greek and English.
Married to Irena, father of Vladan, Milan and Nikola.