SENTENCED IN THE FIRST INSTANCE IN SLOVENIA: Revealed who is behind the mysterious Serbian company offering two billion euros for the Russian share in NIS!

Since Reuters reported that another potential buyer has appeared in the race for the Russian portion of capital in NIS, we wondered who Ranko Mimović is, who confirmed to the world-famous agency that he offered 2 billion euros for co-ownership in the largest domestic oil company through his company “Senator Dva” registered in Subotica.

The story of the “Serbian Podravka”

Domestic and regional media first “met” him in 2010 when “Kurir” headlined his statement about acquiring a block of shares in “Podravka” by claiming that the famous Croatian company would become Serbian.

As reported by the portal Vesti.rs, Mimović, a “businessman from Serbia and president of the Fia group,” stated for “Kurir” that by purchasing the company “Fima Ami,” registered in Malta, he acquired 10.6 percent of “Podravka’s” shares, but “that he would not stop there.”

The portal B92 then relayed a report from Jutarnji List that the value “Fia” was ready to invest for “Podravka” shares amounted to 400 million kuna (55 million euros), and those funds would be used to service “Podravka’s” debts to the Hungarian OTP bank and other creditors.

Only a few days after information about the “Podravka” shares appeared, the Croatian “Večernji List” published that Mimović’s “Fia Invest” was “in serious business difficulties” and had been blocked for more than 200 days due to a debt of 160,000 euros.

Trials in Slovenia

The media “rediscovered” Mimović in 2014, this time in Slovenia, where he had in the meantime become the owner of the road construction company “Cestno podjetje Ljubljana” (CPL).

The company ended up in bankruptcy, and he was sentenced to 2 years in prison and a fine of nearly 100,000 euros. Ranko Mimović then, as reported by the Slovenian Finance, pleaded guilty in court to a fraud worth 2.2 million euros. The indictment charged him and the former director of CPL with extracting money from subcontractors by claiming that the money would “save CPL.”

Mimović is otherwise known in Slovenia for filing a report against the Mayor of Ljubljana, Zoran Janković, claiming that Janković had asked him for a bribe.

As reported by the portal Reporter.si, citing Delo, Mimović claimed that Janković asked him for 10% of every deal his road companies contracted with the city of Ljubljana. In the meantime, Janković received acquittals for charges of corruption and tax evasion in several major court proceedings.

In 2017, Ranko Mimović was sentenced in the first instance to as many as 12 years in prison for additional fraud and money laundering, but the Higher Court in Slovenia overturned that specific verdict in 2018 and returned it for a retrial, as recorded by Dnevnik.si.

What do we know about the company that wants to enter NIS?

To start with, Ranko Mimović is listed as the founder and owner of two companies with very similar names – KFT Senator Treasury G.T.7. Jedan (Senator One) and KFT Senator Treasury G.T.7. Dva (Senator Two).

According to Reuters, Senator Dva (Two) is precisely the legal entity that, according to Mimović’s words, offered 2 billion euros for the Russian capital in NIS.

Both of Mimović’s companies were registered in Subotica on August 18 last year, but “Senator Dva” already went into blockade for 8 days in November last year, and as of May 6, it has spent a total of 16 days in blockade, according to data from the National Bank of Serbia which “Nedeljnik” had access to.

The amount of the blockade, i.e., the debt because of which “Senator Dva” ended up in the register of debtors, is 9,507 dinars or slightly more than 80 euros. That company entered its latest blockade on May 4 this year, and it is still ongoing.