Saša Vlaisavljević

Saša Vlaisavljević (born April 27, 1968 in Bihać, Bosnia-Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia) is a Serbian engineer, business executive, and politician.

Vlaisavljević obtained his transport engineering degree from the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Transport, at the Air Traffic Department. He is a member of the Democratic Party (DS).

Career

Jat Airways

He started working at Jat Airways, Serbian flag carrier, in 1995. He soon rose to the position of sector chief and later ground control director. On October 31, 2007, Serbian government named him to the post of Jat Airways CEO (generalni direktor).[1] Early into his tenure as the airline head, Vlaisavljević benefited from the encouraging business results he inherited in terms of passenger increase so that Jat finished the year 2007 with a profit and 1.3 million passengers transported, its best results since year 1990.[2] He also presided over three new destination additions: Oslo, as well as Pula and Thessaloniki during 2008 summer season.

However, the privatization efforts were ultimately unsuccessful despite some public interest from Aeroflot and Air India. The privatization tender was opened on July 31, 2008 by the Serbian Government's Privatization Agency with a starting price for 51% stake set at US$51 million.[3] Prospective buyers could buy from 51% up to 70% stake in the company. But, until the tender's closing date on September 26, 2008, no one submitted an offer.[4] As a result, Serbian Government decided to restructure the company, rather than calling another tender with a lower starting price.

Earlier, in March 2008, Vlaisavljević estimated Jat's fleet to be worth around US$100-120 million. He also mentioned on the same occasion that the amount owed to Jat by other parties (MAT Macedonian Airlines, Nigerian Sosoliso Airlines, unused advance paid to Airbus, General Sales Agent for Middle Eastern destinations, etc.) adds up to a combined US$50 million. Among the additional assets in company's ownership, he listed 14 slots at London's Heathrow Airport as well as slots at other European airports.[5] On the other hand, he confirmed Jat's debt to be around US$209 million.[6]

Overall, calendar year 2008 was very bad for Jat with an annual posted loss of US$80 million,[7] mostly because of high fuel prices and decreased passenger loads during the 2008-09 global financial crisis.

City of Belgrade

In early July 2009, Vlaisavljević started working for the City of Belgrade administration as their city manager, answering directly to mayor Dragan Đilas.[8] Đilas actually hired him in late 2008, but Vlaisavljević remained at Jat for another 6 months due to the company's ongoing restructuring effort at the time following its failed privatization attempt amidst the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. He resigned after only after three weeks in office due to personal dispute with mayor Dragan Đilas.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Novi direktor "JAT ervejza" Saša Vlaisavljević, Blic, October 25, 2007
  2. ↑ „Jat“ mora da ostane nacionalni brend, Blic, March 8, 2008
  3. ↑ Raspisan tender za Jat, B92, July 31, 2008
  4. ↑ Nema kupca za Jat?, B92, September 27, 2008
  5. ↑ Tender za Jat po planu, B92, April 10, 2008
  6. ↑ Tender za Jat po planu, B92, April 10, 2008
  7. ↑ Očerupani avioni, Blic, July 12, 2009
  8. ↑ Grad dobija pojačanje, Press, July 6, 2009
  9. ↑ Đilas ne oprašta greške

External links

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