Bozidar Djelic
Man with a Mission
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| Djelic Photo by Le Figaro/Jean Jacques Ceccarini |
When Bozidar Djelic turned 37 last April, the musicians cutting loose at his birthday soiree boasted some pretty impressive days jobs. The one hundred guests at the celebration, including Serbia's Prime Minster Zoran Djindjic, were treated to a performance featuring the governor of Yugoslavia's central bank on rhythm guitar and Serbia's minister for foreign economic relations on lead vocals. Djelic himself, along with several other government ministers, sang back-up. According to the Wall Street Journal, the party broke up at 4 a.m., not much later than a normal bedtime for most of the guests. “There is great pressure in this job,” says Djelic. “There are so many needs and so little money. Letting off steam is important for me and my colleagues.”
The go-go pace of his work life can serve a useful political purpose, Djelic notes. “At first, I was concerned that I would be under relentless pressure from various political parties,” he says. “But that has not happened, in part I think because my team moves so fast. It's important to be in the driver's seat when you propose measures and set the economic policy agenda, because if you slow down and wait for approval from all over, that can bring everything to a halt.”
Djelic adds to the pressure by placing himself very much in the public eye. “Communicating is a big part of my job,” he explains. “In this small country, we have 350 television stations serving a population of ten million. I do a lot of TV interviews and also spend two or three days a week on the road, out in the countryside, having direct contact with citizens. I attend local council meetings, talk with entrepreneurs, visit trade unions — I've intervened to stop about eighteen strikes; that's become something of a specialty. All this activity keeps you connected and also gives people a sense that you are not aloof in Belgrade. They can see you, complain to you, and give you ideas and recommendations.”
Such visibility and accessibility have made Djelic one of the more popular members of the reformist government. But he's not overly impressed with his personal accolades or policy successes. “One shouldn't think one is irreplaceable,” he says. “My real goal is to leave the ministry as a much-improved institution with better-trained and better-paid people, with established procedures and policies. Everything matters here, even something as basic as a new building for the ministry. It's important that people in Belgrade, as in other world capitals, have a sturdy, reassuring Ministry of Finance that they can see and have confidence in.”
An Internet and IT specialist during his McKinsey days, Djelic also wants to enhance the use of IT as a tool of government. “When I was still at McKinsey,” he recalls, “I moved to Silicon Valley in 2000 at the height of the Internet bubble, where I saw all the beautiful excesses of irrational exuberance. Yes, it was a bubble, but it was very fun! Now I think people are overreacting the other way. The Internet has profoundly changed the way people think about business. What's important about it to me today are its applications as a way to organize society and as a basis for Œe-government' supported by broadband and other technologies.”
Technology is a critical component of Serbia's push for development, but people are the key. Djelic points out that Serbia is offering incentives for talented people to return. And although billions in international assistance and private-sector investment have been promised, Djelic smiles and says, “I'm not ashamed to beg — we need a lot more of everything. Bulletin readers can contact me at bdjelic@mfin.sr.gov.yu or visit our Web site at www.serbia.sr.gov.yu.”
Profile: Banishing Balkan Ghosts: Bozidar Djelic and the Rebirth of a Nation
