The list of hotels that have received subsidies from the Serbian state for adaptation and reconstruction as part of preparations for the specialized international exhibition Expo 2027 includes the Union Hotel, for which as much as three million euros will be allocated from the budget. Although the money will go to the account of the company Prokopak (Procoopac) of Davor Macura, a businessman close to the SNS, which submitted a request to the Ministry of Economy, the XNUMX% owner of the facility is Vladan Miketić, president of the Red Star Boxing Club and vice president of the Board of Directors of the club's Sports Association.
It is indicative, however, that Miketić was arrested together with members of the criminal group "Vračarci", and in the media he was also labeled as a member of Keka's group and is currently on trial for aggravated murder in attempted murder and incitement. He owns a total of seven companies, and at least three of them he runs together with Slobodan Govedarica, business partner of Kostadin Terzić, son of Zvezdan Terzić, director of the Red Star Football Club, Radar reports.
In June last year, it was announced that the Union Hotel at Kosovska 11, in the very center of Belgrade, had been sold for 6,2 million euros. It was also announced at the time that 10 bidders had participated in the public auction, and that the new owner of the iconic building was the Belgrade-based company Loga plus, whose director and founder is "businessman" Vladan Miketić.
A "businessman" with a rather controversial biography
Even then, however, his biography was known, full of controversial details to say the least. For starters, at that time the trial of him and members of the criminal group "vračarci" of Nikola Vušević Džoni, which was considered one of the largest in Serbia, right after the clan of Veljko Belivuk, was well underway. At the same time as its members were arrested, in November 2022, Miketić was also detained as part of the same operation.
A year later, an indictment was confirmed, which included as many as 38 people and they are charged with three aggravated murders and five aggravated attempted murders. The owner of the Union Hotel, in particular, is charged with aggravated attempted murder and incitement. The indictment states that Miketić, acting on the orders of Uroš Piperski, and with the intention of depriving Andrija Zarić of his life, together with Stevan Mandarić, secured the amount of 50.000 euros for payment to the perpetrators of the criminal offense, Radar reports.
Miketić is the owner of seven companies, five of which he founded or purchased after the indictment was filed, and in at least three of them his partner is Slobodan Govedarica, business partner of Kostadin Terzić, son of the director of FK Crvena Zvezda, Zvezdan Terzić.
As further stated, while observing and tracking Zarić's movements, he found a suitable location to commit the murder, and then obtained information about the vehicle used by Zarić, and he also arranged the purchase of an automatic rifle for the direct perpetrator of the murder. Portal Nova reported that Zarić, who was once a member of the Vozdovac clan, was seriously wounded in front of the building, but eventually managed to escape.
Despite the serious and difficult charges, Miketić was released to defend himself after posting bail of 900.000 euros, with a ban on leaving the country. According to Radar, he was not returned to custody even after he attempted to cross the border into Bosnia and Herzegovina in November 2023. Although the Organized Crime Prosecutor's Office subsequently requested that he be remanded in custody, the Higher Court in Belgrade rejected the request.
The money was approved at record speed, and 900.000 euros have already been paid.
And just as he was "lucky" in the Belgrade High Court, so is he in his business. Namely, the hotel he bought a little over a year ago, in June 2024, received a subsidy from the state in the amount of 900.000 euros before the end of that calendar year. This is actually the first tranche for the adaptation and reconstruction of the Union, which was paid in December 2024, after a "positive auditor's report".
On paper, Vladimir Miketić did not receive the subsidy in the total amount of three million euros, nor did his company Loga plus, which is registered as the owner of the hotel in the Business Registers Agency. The state concluded the contract with the company of a much less controversial businessman Davor Macura, known for his closeness to the Serbian Progressive Party, whom the government has helped in various ways in recent years, and who has recently become known to the wider public, because in the future all consumers in Belgrade and some other cities will pay their electricity bills to the state-owned company EPS through his Alta Bank.
The contract was signed on December 20, 2024, between the Ministry of Economy and the company Prokopak, to provide incentive funds for the reconstruction and adaptation of the Union Hotel in Belgrade. Although the address of the hotel is not specified, Miketić's is the only one under that name in the capital.
Despite the serious charges, the owner of Union was released on bail of 900.000 euros to defend himself, with a ban on leaving the country, but he was not returned to custody even after he tried to cross the border into BiH in November 2023.
The contract also states that Prokopak is obliged to invest at least 15 million euros in the hotel within two years, counting from the date of submission of the application. Interestingly, the application was submitted on November 29, 2024, and was supplemented on December 11 of the same year, which means that the subsidies were approved in less than a month, which is very unusual for the Serbian administration.
The money for the reconstruction of the Union will be paid to the aforementioned company in three tranches. The first of 900.000 euros was already paid at the end of last year, and Macura's company was obliged to submit proof that it had invested 4,5 million euros. The money was paid, and in the Central Information System database on the website of the Business Registers Agency, it cannot be seen that approvals for the execution of works or a building permit for the reconstruction of the Union were requested. The hotel itself does not look like it has been recently renovated from the outside, although it is not excluded that some work was done inside the hotel.
The second tranche of 981.000 euros will be paid next year, and Prokopak is required to prove that it has invested another 4,9 million euros in the hotel in the meantime. In 2026, another 1.119.900 euros should be paid in subsidies for Union, but with the submission of evidence that an additional 5,6 million euros have been invested.
State subsidies to companies without a single employee
The Prokopak company was founded in March 2022, and the contract with the state itself states that it did not have a single employee at the time of submitting the application for subsidies. The majority owner in APR is Davor Macura's Alta Group, with a 51 percent stake. It is also listed in the official document as an investor in the hotel. The owner of the remaining 49 percent is Relja Štrbac, who is not known to the general public. He also owns the Maymedica company, which is engaged in wholesale trade in pharmaceutical products and with four employees managed to increase its revenue by as much as 676 percent last year, to around seven million euros.
Prokopak applied for incentive funds for the adaptation of the Union Hotel on November 29, supplemented the application on December 11, and after just nine days, on December 20, 2024, the Ministry of Economy signed a contract with the company.
It is not known what the exact connection is between the Union Hotel, or Vladimir Miketić, with Macura and Štrpce. That hotel is undoubtedly still owned by the president of the Red Star Boxing Club, and it is not ruled out that Macura's company is the tenant. However, there is no evidence of this.
Radar also sent questions to the company Loga plus, the formal owner of Union, as well as to the company Prokopak. We asked them what the arrangement was and whether they had any other joint projects, but by the time of writing Radar stated that they had not received a response. We also contacted the Ministry of Economy, which concluded the subsidy agreement, but they also remained silent.
Support from Zvezdan Terzić and partnership with Slobodan Govedarica
Although he is on trial for attempted and inciting aggravated murder as a member of the "Vračarci" criminal group, Miketić is still the president of the Crvena Zvezda Boxing Club, headquartered at Ljutice Bogdana 1a, on the Marakana. He was elected to that position four years ago.
"I will do my best in this challenge because Crvena Zvezda is a big, famous name and deserves to be at the very top of European boxing. This is certainly the biggest challenge in my career, but I believe that we can bring Red Star back to the glory days of the eighties and attract as many young boxers as possible," said Miketić when he was appointed to the position of BK president.
The condition for the payment of the first installment of 900.000 euros was that Davor Macura's company had to submit proof that it had invested 4,5 million euros, and there is no publicly available information that anyone had even requested a permit for the reconstruction of the Union Hotel.
He was also supported by Zvezdan Terzić, who, as the director of the Crvena Zvezda Football Club, visited the boxers during their preparations on Zlatibor. Their paths also crossed at the Red Star Sports Association. There, in May 2022, Terzić was elected president, while Vladan Miketić, judging by the data from the official website, was elected vice president of the Board of Directors.
This Zvezda official has a large number of companies, and Radar found seven that are registered in his name. In three of them, his partner is Slobodan Govedarica, who, together with Kostadin Terzić, the son of Zvezdan Terzić, owns the company Goter Konstrakšn, known for the large number of contracts it receives from the state and the drastic increase in income. Last month, the company publicly boasted on social media that it was hired to work on the stands of the future National Stadium in Surčin. "Our roller in full force on the eastern stands of the National Stadium in Surčin," reads a post by Goter Konstrakšn on Instagram.
Govedarica, as KRIK wrote, was once known as a passionate Red Star fan, close to the Ultra Boys, a hooligan team from Senjak led by Marko Vučković, known as Komandant. In 2006, he was accused of beating a man in a gym because he commented on his tattoo, but the case was dropped due to the statute of limitations. Today, Govedarica is the director of the Grafičar Football Club, which under his management, with the support of Terzić, signed a cooperation agreement with Red Star, which includes the exchange of players and coaches.
One of the companies in which Govedarica is a partner of Miketić is Alfa Construction United Project. Its headquarters are in Vase Pelagića Street and it is registered under the same number as Goter Construction. The main activity of this company is the construction of residential and non-residential buildings, and at the end of June this year they received a building permit for the construction of a residential and business complex in Petra Kočića Street in Zemun. It is an obviously luxurious building, in which 37 apartments and one business space will be built, and the estimated value of the works is around 11,2 million euros.
It is not known exactly what Vladimir Miketić's relationship is with Davor Macura and Reljo Štrpce. The hotel is undoubtedly still owned by the president of BK Crvena Zvezda, and it is not ruled out that Macura's company is the tenant.
Interestingly, this company of Miketić and Govedarica also had no employees last year, but it did have income. As of December 2024, it amounted to around 870.000 euros, and a profit of around 55.000 euros was made. However, this is not their only joint company. Miketić and Govedarica are also the owners of the company Wise Investments, which also deals with the construction of residential and non-residential buildings. It is also registered at the same address, on Vase Pelagića Street. It ended last year without a single dinar of income, and it had no employees.
Buying a bankrupt company
The "youngest" and third joint company, Cup Capital, is also engaged in the same activity, and its headquarters are at the same address as the previous two. Its results are yet to be seen, as it was founded in February of this year.
Miketić is also the owner of the company Monvel, whose main business is restaurants and mobile catering facilities, and in July this year he founded the company Savabej, which deals with entertainment and recreational activities. His list also includes Kablar Engineering, registered for consulting activities, which Miketić bought as a bankrupt company in November last year, with the exception of a number of business premises in Kumodraška Street in Voždovac.
He is still formally the owner of the company Hotel Union, but the procedure for its merger with the company Loga plus, of which Miketić is 2008% owner, has recently been initiated. The company is engaged in service activities and was founded in 2024, and at the end of 18.000 it had only one employee and revenues of slightly less than XNUMX euros.
All of this makes it clear that Vladan Miketić is not concerned about the court case against him, even though he is accused of attempted aggravated murder as part of the "Vračarci" criminal group, which experts claim is the most powerful after the Veljko Belivuk clan. Since the indictment against him, he has founded or taken over at least five companies, is soon to start building a residential and commercial building in Zemun, and has also bought a famous hotel in the very center of Belgrade.
The indictment charges Miketić with having provided 50.000 euros, together with Stevan Mandarić, to pay off the perpetrators of the criminal offense, on the orders of Uroš Piperski, with the intention of depriving Andrija Zarić of his life.
The indictment for attempted murder does not interfere with his sports activities. In Serbia, it is not a problem if you run a sports club or are on the board of the largest sports association, and at the same time are accused of the most serious crimes. On the contrary, you have privileges, and perhaps an office in the largest stadium.
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