ŠOLAK’S HEAD OF SECURITY IS A TRUSTED OPERATIVE OF MIRA MARKOVIĆ! JUL member from the State Security is one of the founders of UG’s main dirty businessmen

The structure of United Group, built over decades by the company’s founder Dragan Šolak, was designed to facilitate Šolak’s modus operandi. His business had to develop without hindrance and his personal wealth had to grow enormously, which required his corporate empire to rely on unfair business practices, violations of the law, bribing people within competing firms and regulatory bodies, bugging not only competitors but also his own associates...

One such person is Miloš Bujaković, Šolak’s head of security and a former high-ranking official of the State Security Service (RDB) during the time of Slobodan Milošević. At first glance, it seems incredible that Šolak, with the image of a pro-Western businessman presenting himself publicly as a great opponent of Milošević’s regime, should choose Bujaković, who was at the very heart of the repressive state apparatus in the nineties, and who is suspected of maintaining ties within security circles to this day. However, as with everything else he does, the motives behind Šolak’s personnel choices are to be sought primarily in personal and financial interests. For Dragan Šolak’s philosophy is clear – anyone can be used in the right way to consolidate and expand the business. Thus, as Kurir’s sources reveal, Bujaković has been and remains extremely useful, and has earned his place in Šolak’s inner circle.

“Bujaković was a staunch loyalist of Milošević’s regime. He was a JUL member, but also a security operative connected to Mira Marković’s personal guard. He had the reputation of being one of Comrade Mira’s men. Even after the changes of 2000 he kept ties in security circles, although he formally left the apparatus. It is said that he is one of Dragan Šolak’s chief operatives, in the sense that he takes care of certain awkward, not to say dirty, business, particularly standing out in this after 2010. They say he was in charge of debt collection in Šolak’s name, using blackmail and threats,” a Kurir source from security circles relates.

Bugging even his own employees

According to our information, it was precisely Bujaković whom Šolak tasked with bugging the offices at United Group’s headquarters in Belgrade, so that he could at any moment listen to what his business partners, associates and employees were saying. The methods employed by Miloš Bujaković to meet Šolak’s business ambitions and goals indicate that he was an instrumental, though shadowy, figure behind the rise of United Group. The presence of such a profile in Šolak’s closest circle also confirms the well-known pattern whereby a post-Yugoslav tycoon engages state operatives to do the work in a turbulent business environment. In view of all the available knowledge and information about Bujaković in United Group, the role of this former state security operative appeared as that of a powerful behind-the-scenes intermediary, who turned his knowledge and experience from state security into business influence – something Šolak found valuable, though at odds with the polished image of his United Group.

Bujaković’s career development well illustrates the “repackaging” of regime people during the transition and change of power. He was a JUL member under Mira Marković, a regime party that in the nineties guaranteed secure career advancement or unhindered enrichment, or both. As a loyal man of Slobodan Milošević’s dark regime, Bujaković held key roles in the security sector. The wider context of Milošević’s pro-Russian milieu and post-Yugoslav networks, i.e. the circumstance that former security service officers and party officials, often with ties reaching actors close to the Kremlin, found roles in the private sector, can lead to various implications regarding Šolak’s and United Group’s business while he was pulling the strings. Let us recall, Kurir in an extensive investigation of United Group also wrote about the Russian connections Šolak used to expand his business – which is rather problematic in the context of the pro-Western narrative underpinning this group’s media, especially bearing in mind the American link, namely that N1 is an affiliate of CNN. (More on this will be published in a new article).

Lieutenant colonel’s rank in service

At the end of the 1990s, while Radomir Marković headed the RDB, Bujaković was appointed deputy chief of the Department for the Protection of Republican Officials. In that sector the main figure was Aleksandar Aca Đorđević, who was directly responsible for Mira Marković’s security. As his deputy, Bujaković was closely involved in the personal protection of the regime’s top figures. He held the rank of lieutenant colonel in service until 2001. After Milošević’s fall in October 2000, the new democratic government carried out purges in the security structures. According to Kurir’s findings, Bujaković’s employment was terminated in July 2001, allegedly for being absent from work for more than five days, whereupon he automatically lost his rank, a common pattern in removing personnel loyal to the former regime.

Bujaković sued the state and conducted court proceedings for over a decade, but lost all appeals up to the Supreme Court of Serbia. In 2016, however, the Constitutional Court ruled that his right to a trial within a reasonable time had been violated (the process lasted 13 years) and awarded him compensation of around €1,200, but did not annul his dismissal or reinstate his rank. Thus his career in state security formally ended, and he fully shifted to the private sector and security-consulting work.

Owner of several companies

According to documents we have obtained, Bujaković is the owner and director of a private security and consulting company operating under the name Gonestra BG 007. The company was founded in 2019 in Belgrade and, according to its registered activity, deals in the rental and leasing of cars and light motor vehicles. In the same year Bujaković also founded the company Gonestra Gold d.o.o., registered for construction services. This business entered into liquidation proceedings this year. Bujaković is also registered as a sole trader under the name “Miloš Bujaković PR Consulting Services Agency Gonestra Line, Belgrade-Vračar”. This agency, founded in 2013, is still active and registered for consulting services in business and management.

Brother in the Ministry of the Interior at the centre of a scandal

Given Bujaković’s role in Šolak’s business, other members of his family are also of interest. Above all his brother Goran Bujaković, who built a career in the Ministry of the Interior (MUP) and reached a significant position, albeit surrounded by controversy. In the early 2010s Goran Bujaković was head of the Foreigners Administration, the MUP unit overseeing immigration and visa procedures. As a high-ranking police official he was responsible for enforcing immigration laws. Reports from 2013 presented Goran Bujaković as an example of entrenched corruption in the police. His name at the time surfaced in the media in connection with a major scandal concerning an investigation into the so-called immigration mafia, which under his supervision was extorting substantial sums from foreigners, mainly Chinese, in exchange for Serbian visas.

At the time the media wrote that it was discovered that “policemen in the Foreigners Administration, under Bujaković’s supervision, twice rejected a foreigner’s visa application, whereupon a ‘saviour’ would appear to resolve it for money”. Chinese businessmen and immigrants were asked to pay between €5,000 and €6,500 per visa – a bribe investigated by the Ministry of the Interior. The ministry’s internal investigation and the statement of Belgrade police chief Stevan Bjelić confirmed that Goran Bujaković was involved in the extortion of asylum seekers and foreigners, effectively running a visa cartel within his department. Despite this, Goran remained in office for a time, suggesting protection or political cover. The media dubbed him a “tycoon in the MUP” after his personal assets were revealed. He had bought a Mercedes-Benz ML 350 CDI (then worth €70,000) and a luxury 55-square-metre flat in Belgrade (then worth €110,000), which could not possibly be justified by his MUP salary.

Employment of the Bujaković family

Although Goran Bujaković does not work at United Group, his reputation, contacts and standing may have influenced the employment of his relatives, and at least two other Bujaković’s besides his brother Miloš are employed in this company. These are Nemanja and Jovana Bujaković, whose family ties to Goran and Miloš (father and uncle) fall into the grey zone of United Group’s business policy and raise questions about nepotism and meritocracy.

According to our information, Jovana Bujaković joined United Group in Belgrade as a graphic designer in December 2022. At the time of her employment she was still studying at the Metropolitan University in Belgrade. Although she was a student or recent graduate with limited experience, she obtained a creative position in one of the region’s largest media conglomerates. Nemanja Bujaković is also employed at the company and, like Jovana, lacks particular qualifications or skills that would justify his employment, suggesting that opportunism based on family connections was decisive.

Such a practice is incompatible with the framework United Group has at least on paper and in public set as its ethical standards. The company officially has a conflict-of-interest policy which explicitly discourages nepotism and requires transparency in all situations where personal connections overlap with corporate interests.