Siniša Mali

Siniša Mali
Синиша Мали
Minister of Finance
Assumed office
29 May 2018
Prime Minister Ana Brnabić
Preceded by Dušan Vujović
Ana Brnabić (Acting)
73rd Mayor of Belgrade
In office
24 April 2014 – 28 May 2018
Preceded by Dragan Đilas
Succeeded by Andreja Mladenović (Acting)
Zoran Radojičić
Personal details
Born (1972-08-25) 25 August 1972
Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia
Nationality Serbian
Political party Serbian Progressive Party[1]
Children 3
Education Faculty of Economics
Alma mater University of Belgrade
Occupation Politician
Profession Economist

Siniša Mali (Serbian Cyrillic: Синиша Мали, pronounced [sǐniʃa mâːliː]; born 25 August 1972[2]) is a Serbian economist and politician. He serves as the Minister of Finance in the Government of Serbia since 29 May 2018.

He previously served as the Mayor of Belgrade from 2014 to 2018, and as the President of the Temporary Council of Belgrade from 2013 to 2014.[3]

Education

Siniša Mali graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Economics in 1995, where he also received a Master of Arts degree in 1998. As a Ron Brown scholar, he received a Master of Business Administration degree in finance from Washington University in St. Louis, USA. He also received a Master of Arts degree from the Faculty of Economics, University of Belgrade. In 2013, he defended his PhD dissertation on the topic “Value Creation through Restructuring and Privatization - Experience of Serbia”, at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Organizational Sciences.

Business career

Mali worked for Deloitte & Touche in Belgrade between 1995 and 1997, and in its Prague office from 1999 to 2001. During his stay in the United States in 1998, he briefly worked in Credit Suisse First Boston in Mergers & Acquisitions group. In 2001, he was appointed assistant minister for privatization of the Serbian Government. He also worked at the Privatization Agency of the Republic of Serbia as a director of the Tender Privatization Center from 2001 to 2003,[2] where he was appointed by the Democratic Party as a young talent who just returned from the studies in the USA, though he wasn't a member of the party.[4] In 2004, he established his own consulting company, specializing in mergers, acquisitions and business consolidation.[5]

Mali has served as a chairman of several boards of directors, including Fiat Automobili Srbija, Komercijalna banka and Air Serbia.[6] He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and a member of CFA Institute, Serbian Business Angels Network, Fulbright Alumni Association of Serbia and British–Serbian Business Club. He is a licensed portfolio manager at the Belgrade Stock Exchange.[2]

Political career

In 2012, Mali became the advisor for economy to First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić. Following the ousting of Mayor Dragan Đilas in 2013, Mali was appointed President of the Temporary Council of Belgrade.[2] The Temporary Council was announced on 18 November 2013[7] and officially took over from Đilas on 20 November.

When the Temporary Council was formed, Aleksandar Vučić stated that Siniša Mali will not be Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) candidate for the next mayor.[8] However, after the 2014 election in Belgrade, Mali was voted Mayor in the City Hall, on the proposal of the winning SNS.[9] Although at the time, he was technically not a party member, he has been a close associate and a personal friend of the party's leader Aleksandar Vučić,[10] but apparently he took the mayoral duty unwillingly.[11]

On 18 November 2017, Mali became a member of the Presidency of the Serbian Progressive Party.[1]

On 29 May 2018, he was appointed as the Minister of Finance of Serbia in the cabinet of Ana Brnabić, after the resignation of Dušan Vujović three weeks earlier.[12][13] At the same time, his tenure as the Mayor of Belgrade ended and Andreja Mladenović took his former office as acting Mayor of Belgrade.[12]

Ph.D. thesis controversy

Siniša Mali obtained his Ph.D. in 2013 at the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Organizational Sciences (FON). The thesis was titled "Creation of the value through the process of restructuring and privatization - theoretical conceptions and experiences of Serbia". He originally submitted his thesis at the faculty where he studied, the Faculty of Economics, but his work was rejected. Mali then modified it and submitted it to the FON.[14][15]

In July 2014 the website "Peščanik" claimed that Mali had plagiarized at least one third of his Ph.D. thesis.[16] In September 2014, German publisher De Gruyter announced that the article published in their journal, which qualified Mali for the title, contains uncited paragraphs from a doctoral dissertation written in 2001.[17]

In November 2016 the FON formed the Ethics Commission which found that doctoral dissertation is not plagiarism, and that report was accepted by the Teaching - Scientific Council of the Faculty. The Ethics Commission concluded that it can not be challenged on the original scientific contribution of the doctoral dissertation.[18] On 18 January 2017, citing procedural reasons, the Senate of the University of Belgrade rejected the Ethics commission findings, instructing the faculty to form an Expert Commission instead, as it should have done in the first place by the university's rule book.[19] As of June 2017, the faculty has yet to form the commission.[20]

On 27 February 2018, a group of professors and doctors of philosophy delivered a request to the Belgrade University's Rectorate to prevent the promotion of Mali into the doctor of philosophy and to annul his PhD altogether. 339 doctors of philosophy, including 8 members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts signed a request, which also asks for the ethical scrutiny of three members of the commission which originally confirmed his doctorate.[21] On the same day, economist and professor Boško Mijatović, accused Mali of blatantly copying study "Novi model privatizacije u Srbiji" (New model of privatization in Serbia), published in 2000 by Mijatović, Boris Begović and Boško Živković. The study is available online and comparison showed that some sections were rewritten to the letter.[22][23] A day later, rector of the University of Belgrade Vladimir Bumbaširević announced that the National Council for Higher Education will soon name its representative to the commission, adding that Mali is not a doctor of philosophy, since he hasn't been awarded the doctoral diploma yet, nor has he been promoted to PhD, neither he will be until the entire process is over.[24] Still, on the Serbian Progressive Party's list for the local elections in Belgrade, set for 4 March 2018, Siniša Mali named "doctor of philosophy" as his "occupation".[25]

Personal life

Mali is divorced and has two sons and a daughter.[26] He is a keen sportsman, and expressed a desire to run the half-marathon race on the 2015 Belgrade Marathon.[27] He was a member of the presidency of KK Crvena zvezda.[28]

References

  1. 1 2 http://www.b92.net/info/vesti/index.php?yyyy=2017&mm=11&dd=18&nav_category=11&nav_id=1326844 Ničić već stigao do Predsedništva, izabrani i Mali i Vesić
  2. 1 2 3 4 Sinisa Mali becomes Belgrade mayor, Tanjug News Agency, 24 April 2014, archived from the original on 1 May 2014
  3. ↑ Službeni list Grada Beograda, Year LVII, No. 52. 20 November 2013. ISSN 0350-4727.
  4. ↑ Stevan Dojčinović, Dragana Pećo, Atanas Tchobanov (19 October 2015). "Siniša Mali tajno kupio 24 stana na bugarskom primorju" (in Serbian). KRIK.
  5. ↑ Izveštaj o doktorskoj disertaciji (PDF) (in Serbian), Faculty of Economics of the University of Belgrade, 6 December 2010
  6. ↑ "Siniša Mali, PhD, CFA". Official Website of the City of Belgrade. 18 September 2014.
  7. ↑ N.Pantić (18 November 2013), Mali, Čović, Mladenović, Pašić i Nikodijević upravljaju Beogradom (in Serbian), Večernje Novosti
  8. ↑ Nataša Latković, Lana Gedošević (19 November 2013). "Vučić: Siniša Mali neće biti kandidat SNS na izborima" (in Serbian). Blic.
  9. ↑ Siniša Mali gradonačelnik Beograda (in Serbian), RTS
  10. ↑ Sve o Siniši Malom (in Serbian), Telegraf, 12 February 2014
  11. ↑ Dejan Aleksić (29 April 2017). "Portret bez rama: Siniša Mali - Poplava afera" (in Serbian). Politika. p. 07.
  12. 1 2 Antonijević, M. (28 May 2018). "Mali od danas više neće biti gradonačelnik, evo ko će VODITI BEOGRAD do izbora novog". blic.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved 28 May 2018.
  13. ↑ "Mali izabran za ministra finansija". b92.net (in Serbian). Beta. 29 May 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  14. ↑ Beta, Danas (13 December 2017). "Italijanski profesor izašao iz komisije za doktorat Malog" [Italian professor quit the Mali's Ph.D. commission] (in Serbian). N1.
  15. ↑ Tezu Siniše Malog odbio Ekonomski fakultet, pa ju je odbranio na FON-u
  16. ↑ Velike tajne Malog majstora – Ili kako je Siniša Mali ukrao doktorat (in Serbian), Peščanik, 9 July 2014
  17. ↑ Iz Nemačke s ljubavlju (in Serbian), Peščanik, 8 September 2014
  18. ↑ Sandra Gucijan (29 December 2016), "Siniša Mali nije plagirao doktorat", Politika (in Serbian)
  19. ↑ Beta (18 January 2017), "Senat Univerziteta traži komisiju o doktoratu Malog", N1 (in Serbian)
  20. ↑ Beta (23 June 2017). "Četiri profesora odbila da uđu u komisiju za doktorat Malog" (in Serbian). N1.
  21. ↑ Beta (27 February 2018). "Profesori predali zahtev rektoru da poništi doktorat Malog" [Professors handed over a request to the rector to annul Mali's doctorate] (in Serbian). N1.
  22. ↑ Boško Mijatović (27 February 2018). "Siniša Mali nas je doslovno prepisao" [Siniša Mali literally copied us] (in Serbian). Danas.
  23. ↑ "Profesor Boško Mijatović o doktoratu: Siniša Mali nas je doslovno prepisao" [Professor Boško Mijatović about the doctorate: Siniša Mali literally copied us] (in Serbian). Nedeljnik. 27 February 2018.
  24. ↑ V. Andrić (28 February 2018). "Bumbaširević: Mali bez doktorske diplome do okončanja postupka" [Bumbaširević: Mali without doctoral diploma until the process is over] (in Serbian). Danas.
  25. ↑ Electoral list for the coalition Aleksandar Vučić - zato što volimo Beograd
  26. ↑ https://www.krik.rs/marija-mali-o-poslovima-bivseg-supruga-ofsor-skrivena-imovina-savamala/
  27. ↑ Mali: Prvi put na "severu" sa 18 godina (in Serbian), Večernje Novosti, 30 April 2014
  28. ↑ "Slobodan Vučićević novi predsednik Zvezde". rts.rs. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
Political offices
Preceded by
Dušan Vujović
Ana Brnabić (Acting)		 Minister of Finance of Serbia
2018–present		 Incumbent
Preceded by
Dragan Đilas		 Mayor of Belgrade
2013–2018		 Succeeded by
Andreja Mladenović (Acting)
Zoran Radojičić
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