Serbian Tycoon's Bail Refund Demand Disputed

Zoran Ivosevic, a legal expert and former president of Serbia's Supreme court, told BIRN that there was no direct link between the demand by Miskovic's legal team for his bail payment to be refunded and a court ruling that his rights had been violated by extended custody.

"There is no direct connection between those two things. Violations of custody and bail payments are different issues," Ivosevic said.

Born on July 5, 1945, Miskovic grew up in the central Serbian town of Krusevac and graduated from Belgrade University's Faculty of Economy in 1971.

He briefly entered politics in 1990 as Serbian deputy PM under the late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic but left the post after less than six months and started Delta M company which became very successful.

In 2007, Forbes Magazine named Miskovic as the richest man in Serbia, with a fortune estimated at about billion euro.

Delta Holding, which includes land, a major stake in the Port of Belgrade, shopping centers and car dealerships, employs thousands of people, making it the largest non-government employer in the country.

The company works in Bulgaria, Bosnia, Macedonia and Cyprus.

Investigations into Delta's businesses and allegations of monopolies controlled by Miskovic have dominated the country in the past decade, but still without judicial outcome.

The "Miskovic case", resurfaced on Sunday when his defence requested the refund of 12 million euro bail, which the tycoon paid to be released from custody.

Miskovic, owner of the largest privately-held company in Serbia, Delta Holding, was dubbed "the richest Serb" by Forbes Magazine.

He is on trial in a corruption case involving the privatization of several construction companies in December 2012.

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