Kostic and Miskovic the wealthiest – Forbes publishes the list of the most successful companies in Serbia in 2016
Forbes made its latest list using the data from financial reports for 2014, as the last year's data is still being published. Kostic made EUR 537 mil of income and had a loss of EUR 5 mil in 2014. Last year, however, his income was EUR 501 mil. Even with a decrease of 6.7%, Kostic still made EUR 47 mil of profit in 2015.
Miskovic's company made EUR 433.6 mil of income in 2014, and the operating profit was EUR 51.1 mil. They ended the last year with a profit of EUR 43.3 mil, which means a decrease of 15%.
Two years ago, the biggest surprise on the Forbes list was the owner of Knez Petrol Srdjan Knezevic. He placed 5th then, as his income increased by 200%. Now he's third on the list. In 2014, he had a turnover of EUR 334.2 mil, and this year he's planning to exceed these numbers by a considerable margin.
Velibor Djurovic, Ivica Vukelic and Sasa Glusac, owners of Veletabak, placed 4th. They own a distribution business and supply the market with, above all, tobacco products. Veletabak made EUR 322.6 mil of income in 2014, exceeding its 2013 income by more than EUR 70 mil. The earnings themselves were EUR 7.3 mil, EUR 2.4 mil less than in 2013.
Zoran Mitrovic and Milija Babovic, owners of Victoria Group, are in the fifth place. This is thanks to the company's turnover of EUR 306.9 mil. They, however, ended the year with EUR 15.6 mil of loss. This is their second year on the list while operating with losses, though in 2014 they were smaller by around 16 mil than in 2013.
Nelt debuted on the Forbes list last year, and went down two places this year. They had EUR 244.9 mil of income. Petar Matic went up one place this year. MPC had EUR 225.9 mil of income. Zoran Tirnanic of DIS, previously the seventh on the list, went down one place. Farmalogist is a new name on the list. Their turnover was EUR 176.3 mil. Another new entry is Mozzart, a chain of betting houses. They had EUR 145.5 mil of turnover and a profit of EUR 5.4 mil.
Knezevic the youngest among the successful
Srdjan Knezevic, owner of Knez Petrol, is 37, which makes him the youngest businessman on this year's Forbes list. His company employs 1,500 people. They own 85 gas stations all over Serbia, and they're planning to expand further. Knez Petrol is already doing business in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and if the opportunity presents itself, they will expand their business activities to Croatia as well. He also owns Knez Agrar, one of the most modern pig farms. He invested EUR 6 mil in that business and he produces 100,000 pigs annually.