Minister Knezevic: New CEOs in public companies soon
Serbian Minister of Economy Goran Knezevic announced the public companies will get professional management in the following days, which could mean that Serbia will finally begin implementing its Law on Employment in Public Sector.
Knezevic stated on Wednesday that, in the coming days, Serbian public companies will get new CEOs chosen through competition, unlike the previous practice of appointing to these positions the members of political parties or those close to them.
“The CEOs selected in the process will be appointed in the next couple of days or immediately after 1 May,” said Knezevic.
Serbian Assembly passed the Law on Public Companies in February 2016, which requires public competition for the CEO position in public companies.
Despite the fact that, in accordance with the law, professional management in 37 public companies should have been appointed by 4 March 2017, only three of them got new CEOs so far.
In February, Minister Knezevic said that the deadline for the election of new CEOs will be missed, but that it didn’t matter.
The Ministry of Economy is in charge of competitions for CEOs of public companies. The Ministry delivers sealed applications to the Government Commission, which decides on the best candidate.
However, there were no open competitions for many public companies since they are run by Acting CEOs appointed by the Government.
Some of the largest and most important Serbian public companies will have a new management, including the Electro Distribution of Serbia, which is the biggest single employer in Serbia.
Natasa Bogovic