Žika Petrović
Encyclopedia
Živorad "Žika" Petrović (born 1939 in Požarevac
, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
- died 26 April 2000 in Belgrade
, Serbia
, FR Yugoslavia) was a Serbian engineer and business executive. He was assassinated during spring 2000 while performing the CEO duties at Serbian flag carrier Jat Airways
. The crime remains unsolved to this day.
Petrović graduated from the University of Belgrade
's Faculty of Transport in 1968. He became Jat's CEO in 1992.
He was a member of Socialist Party of Serbia
(SPS), political party headed by Slobodan Milošević
.
, Petrović was killed by an unknown assassin/assassins while in front of his home at 20 Jaša Prodanović Street in Belgrade.
Due to his position, longtime CEO of a large state-owned enterprise, as well as his political connections through SPS party, the murder sparked a lot of international press coverage. Many speculated about the reasons for Petrović's murder, especially in light of the fact that it came amidst a 2000 crime wave during which many prominent figures in the country where assassinated including mobsters Željko "Arkan" Ražnatović
(15 January), Radoslav "Bata Trlaja" Trlajić (25 February), Branislav "Dugi" Lainović (20 March), Zoran "Ćanda" Davidović (23 March), and Zoran "Skole" Uskoković (27 April), politicians Pavle Bulatović
(7 February 2000) and Ivan Stambolić
(25 August 2000), even two unsuccessful attempts on the life of opposition politician Vuk Drašković
.
Požarevac
Požarevac is a city and municipality in eastern Serbia. It is the administrative center of the Braničevo District of Serbia...
, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
- died 26 April 2000 in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, FR Yugoslavia) was a Serbian engineer and business executive. He was assassinated during spring 2000 while performing the CEO duties at Serbian flag carrier Jat Airways
Jat Airways
Jat Airways is the national airline of Serbia and the former national airline of Yugoslavia, and has its head office in the Jat Airways Business Center in Belgrade. It was established in 1927 as Aeroput, making it currently one of the world's oldest airlines still in operation...
. The crime remains unsolved to this day.
Petrović graduated from the University of Belgrade
University of Belgrade
The University of Belgrade is the oldest and largest university of Serbia.Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-based departments into a single university...
's Faculty of Transport in 1968. He became Jat's CEO in 1992.
He was a member of Socialist Party of Serbia
Socialist Party of Serbia
The Socialist Party of Serbia is officially a democratic socialist political party in Serbia. It is also widely recognized as a de facto Serbian nationalist party, though the party itself does not officially acknowledge this...
(SPS), political party headed by Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
.
Murder and reaction
On Tuesday night, 26 April 2000, around 21:30 CETCentral European Time
Central European Time , used in most parts of the European Union, is a standard time that is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time . The time offset from UTC can be written as +01:00...
, Petrović was killed by an unknown assassin/assassins while in front of his home at 20 Jaša Prodanović Street in Belgrade.
Due to his position, longtime CEO of a large state-owned enterprise, as well as his political connections through SPS party, the murder sparked a lot of international press coverage. Many speculated about the reasons for Petrović's murder, especially in light of the fact that it came amidst a 2000 crime wave during which many prominent figures in the country where assassinated including mobsters Željko "Arkan" Ražnatović
Željko Ražnatovic
Željko Ražnatović , widely known as Arkan was a Serbian career criminal and later a paramilitary leader who was notable for organizing and leading a paramilitary force in the Yugoslav Wars...
(15 January), Radoslav "Bata Trlaja" Trlajić (25 February), Branislav "Dugi" Lainović (20 March), Zoran "Ćanda" Davidović (23 March), and Zoran "Skole" Uskoković (27 April), politicians Pavle Bulatović
Pavle Bulatovic
Pavle Bulatović, was Yugoslavia's foreign minister from 1994 and later defense minister, was shot dead in Belgrade on the evening of February 7, 2000. The shooting took place at a restaurant in the suburb Banjica and Bulatovic later died at a military hospital...
(7 February 2000) and Ivan Stambolić
Ivan Stambolic
Ivan Stambolić was a Communist Party of Yugoslavia official and the President of the Republic of Serbia in the 1980s who was later victim of an assassination....
(25 August 2000), even two unsuccessful attempts on the life of opposition politician Vuk Drašković
Vuk Draškovic
Vuk Drašković , leader of the Serbian Renewal Movement, is a Serbian politician who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Yugoslavia and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of State Union of Serbia and Montenegro and Serbia.He graduated from the University of Belgrade's Law School in 1968...
.