A Billionaire Out of Nowhere

Ranko Mimovic (BetaPhoto/STA/Daniel Novakovic)

A report by Reuters that a recently established company by unknown Serbian businessman Ranko Mimovic has offered EUR2 billion for a majority stake in the Naftna Industrija Srbije oil company from the Russian Gazprom Neft giant, which has been leading negotiations with MOL for months on selling its stake, sent ripples through the Serbian public last week. Given that no one had heard of Mimovic until last week and that his companies have either been liquidated or are blocked, in addition to his first degree sentencing to 12 years in prison in Slovenia, the public rightly doubts that he is a credible buyer.