Dragoljub Vukadinovic, chairman of Managing Board of Metalac holding - I am a free man

(Dragoljub Vukadinovic)

He was almost always late to his first job and then waited with a newspaper in his hand for the factory gate to open again. But then he said to himself: "Dragoljub, you're done with this". As he admits, that was a "click" in his head that changed his life. Nearly four decades have passed since that happened and not only has he never been late to work again, but he has also become one of the most respected businessmen in Serbia.

He is a patriot and a passionate fan of Partizan and finds freedom his greatest achievement in life. The success of making Metalac a European brand is the third most important on that list.

Dragoljub Vukadinovic was born in Mojkovac, Montenegro, to a family with seven children. His father was the only person with a job in that family and he was doing his best to provide education for all of them.

- My father first wanted me to be a pilot and then to study law, but I was interested in technical sciences, which is why I was first enrolled in the Technical School in Podgorica and later in the Faculty of Technology in Belgrade.

Stop being late

He was a scholar of the Copper Mill in Sevojno so that he got his first job at that plant after graduating from the faculty in 1972.

- During the first two or three month, I was almost always late to work. Workers were able to enter the factory grounds first at 6 AM and then at 7 AM. Every time I got late, I was reading a newspaper, but there was no coffee to drink or cigarette to smoke. After about 3 months, I said to myself: "Dragoljub, you have to work for 40 years, this has to stop". Ever since that day I have never been late to work again and, since I was lucky to be healthy, I have never been absent due to sickness either – Metalac CEO tells his story for eKapija.

Even as a director, he has always come to work on time.

- If I returned from a business trip at 4 AM, I would still come to work at 7 AM. That was my "click" in the head, telling me that when I do something, I should do that seriously and responsibly.

And why don't you do that for me, I know your family...

He met his wife, Master of Pharmacy, while he was still a student. Since he was unable to find her a job somewhere in Uzice, and her father was a personnel officer at Sisak Forge, Vukadinovic packed his things in two traveling bags on May 7, 1973, and started working in Sisak the very next day. That is where his elder son was born.

He says that, after two years and three months, he wanted to come and work in Serbia.

- I did not want to stay in Montenegro because, although I am a Montenegrin of the Serbian origin, I do not like that approach to work and responsibility - if you do someone a favor 100 times and refuse to do it the 101st time, that someone will tell that you are worthless and that your ancestors were the same.

All Montenegrins originate from a tribe, and so does Vukadinovic. His family is from Drobnjak tribe, from Cev, who came to the area near Mojkovac 300 years ago and changed their last name into Vukadinovic.

He has two sons he is proud of and both of them are working at Metalac.

Story called "Metalac"

At the time when he wanted to move from Sisak to Serbia, Metalac announced a job contest, seeking a technology engineer. While a student, he read that Milanovac was constantly developing and the passengers traveling by bus from Montenegro to Belgrade always took a break in that town. In addition to the fact that he knew the town, his decision to move to Milanovac was also affected by what he once read - Metalac was paying its workers every week.

However, when he came, the company was in bankruptcy. He got an apartment, took the well-paid job and settled down in Gornji Milanovac.

- I worked responsibly and the results were noticed so I got offers to assume some responsible positions – says Vukadinovic.

Dragoljub Vukadinovic thus advanced from the position of an engineer and the Development Director to the Director General. He was the director general of Metalac for full 16 years, until that position was assumed by his long-time first associate Petrasin Jakovljevic in 2005 and he became the chairman of the Managing Board of the holding. With Vukadinovic at its head, Metalac entered the major league of the most successful companies, while he personally became part of the business elite.

He was "preparing" Jakovljevic for the position of Director General for years. When Jakovljevic assumed that position, he gave him three envelopes, advising him not to open them until a problem occurs. The letter in the first envelope read: If workers are complaining about their salaries, you must find a way to satisfy them, to make a promise and then fulfill that promise. The second letter read: If something similar happens again, try to reorganize the company and promise that things will be better after that. The third letter read: If you've opened the third envelope, you should write three new letters, put them in envelopes and give them to your heir…

Although this move was not invented by Vukadinovic, his positive spirit cannot be disputed. He intends to retire next year, but his complete withdrawal from the life of Metalac will mainly depend on shareholders since, as he says, "there are many who would like him to stay or, at least, visit the factory occasionally".

(Metalac's administrative building)

The moment when he almost gave up

Although it seems to him that, after three decades he spent working for the Gornji Milanovac-based plant, everything has always been going smoothly, Vukadinovic says that he thought at one moment that he could not do anything with Metalac.

- After two ambitious directors who always worked for the benefit of the plant, there was one who did not do anything for four years. Then my friends and me bought machines and seriously engaged in the production of plastics and plastic packaging. At the moment when I already resigned from the position of the Production Director at Metalac and when I was about to leave in one month, workers went on strike, after which the director resigned. At one of the workers' meetings, people said: "Vukadinovic is the only person who can solve that". Although my business with plastics was profitable, I wanted Metalac to succeed. I took some time to think and came up with 7 conditions under which I would accept that position and presented them to the Workers' Council.

He demanded that the salary for employees be increased by 30 percent, that the director general's salary be maximum 7 times higher than the minimum salary at the company, and that the number of employees with a faculty diploma be increased. He also asked for the product portfolio diversification, production modernization and introduction of information technologies. He also insisted that Metalac should enter the privatization process through recapitalization.

His famous seventh condition was that if workers ever went on strike again, the keys to his office would be hung at the factory's gate.

Refused to play a vegetable in the government

He has recently rejected the offer to assume the position of the Deputy Prime Minister for the Economic System.

- There are about 30 businessmen who deserve that position. I don't want to be modest and say I am not one of them. However, I could not accept a position in the government that makes only superficial changes, mainly after the adoption of the budget for that year. I could not accept the invitation when it was uncertain for how long that government would last because I understood that a businessman was meant to play a vegetable in that government so everybody could say: "We got a businessman and he failed to do anything".

- But I accepted to be an adviser to Deputy Prime Minister Verica Kalanovic so they could not say that the economy sector had rejected everything…

Free man

Although his name has become a synonym for Metalac, he finds his personal freedom his greatest success.

- My greatest success is freedom. I am not involved in any affair, my name is not associated with corruption, and I have never been criminally charged. I am free to talk to you and all the journalists, to say what I think. And I always think what to say.

His second greatest personal success is his family.

- We are a harmonious family, my kids grew the way I was growing.

Although he married at 26, he denies that he was young at the time. He says it was the high time for him to get married.

He has never scheduled meetings on weekends because that time belongs to the family. People at his house always have breakfasts and lunches at the same time.

He loves to travel. His wife and he have recently visited Istanbul. Before that, he spent 25 days getting familiar with the countries of South America. He has promised his wife that they will visit the USA soon.

One of his passions is skiing and he has so far spent all his winter vacations on a mountain.

Partizan at heart

One can often see Dragoljub Vukadinovic at football stadiums. He is a passionate fan of Partizan, but he also travels a lot with our national team as the vice president of the Football Association of Serbia. Having in mind a well-known fact that the company Metalac sponsors local clubs in many sports and that it will soon start the construction of a football stadium in Milanovac, when asked to choose between Metalac and Partizan, he always chooses Partizan because "first love never dies".

Although he was an active football player before he became a student, his main recreation today consists of a walk and table tennis matches with his sons.

He loves cafes, but only for maximum two or three hours.

- Every weekend I go to cafes Kod Gruje, Mocart or Jabuka in Gornji Milanovac to talk with my friends for two or three hours.

In his opinion, a man's wealth is measured by the money spent and not the money earned. He says he is not a skinflint because he believes that "the one who has never shared has never multiplied either".

J.Đ.

Metalac a.d. Gornji Milanovac

Valjaonica bakra a.d. Sevojno

FK Partizan Beograd

Fudbalski savez Srbije

Vlada Republike Srbije

Dragoljub Vukadinovic

Dragoljub Vukadinovic resume

Sisak Forge

Petrasin Jakovljevic

Drobnjak

Cevi

Verica Kalanovic

Istanbul

skiing

Gruja cafe

Mocart Gornji Milanovac

Jabuka Gornji Milanovac

water heater

dishes