Consultants

Aleksandar Andrija Pejović has more than 19 years of project management and institutional building experience in international affairs, European affairs, government initiatives, strategy drafting and public administration reform, EU and other international projects in Montenegro and the Western Balkans on various positions as Minister of European Affairs, Chief Negotiator, State Secretary for European Integration, National Coordinator for the Instrument for Pre-Accession, Ambassador of Montenegro to the EU as well as a diplomat holding key positions in the Montenegrin MFA. More than 10 years of leadership experience by leading a number of Government bodies, such as Negotiation Team, National Commission for European Integration, College for Negotiations, Rule of Law Council, PAR Council etc. He has been involved in substantial dialogues and communication with the EU institutions, the EC, the Council, the EP, as well as Member States conducting dialogue and negotiating his country’s path towards membership in the EU. As Chief Negotiator responsible for the establishment and setting up of the negotiation structure of Montenegro of over 1300 people he prepared and oversaw the opening of 30 and closing of 3 chapters of the acquis as well as oversaw the programming of €225 M of national IPA I funds for the period 2007-2013; as well as the €270,5 M of IPA II 2004-2020 funds. He was also the initiator of the creation of the first system of strategic planning and multi-annual work programme coordination in the Government.

Aleksandar holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Academy of Applied Arts and began his career in theater. He has served as Technical Director and Production Manager at the Belgrade Drama Theater, Technical Director at the Duško Radović Theater, and Acting Director of JP Beogradska Tvrđava. A significant part of his career was spent at Pink International, where he led the scenography department with a large team of assistants, numerous workers, workshops, and transport units.

In 2013, Aleksandar transitioned to entrepreneurship by founding Studio Pellegrin, focusing on organizing corporate events. Since 2016, he has supported NALED in organizing various events. He has successfully organized numerous international and domestic corporate events and has collaborated with numerous local and international organizations and institutions, including GIZ, KAF, UNDP, British Council, Serbian Chamber of Commerce, and the Ministry of Environmental Protection. He is also the founder and author of the Belgrade Berry Festival and the Pelleview platform and holds a certification as an environmental protection expert. He joined the NALED team in March 2024 as an Event Organization Advisor.

Aleksandra completed Bachelor and specialized studies in the European Union legislation at the Faculty of Law, University in Belgrade. She worked in the Serbia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and from 2005 to 2008 she served in the EU Cooperation Bureau, as a Coordinator for TAIEX Program and an Advisor for private sector education on the topic of EU accession process. In 2008 she joined the team of Serbian European Integration Office (from July 2017 the Ministry of European Integrations) as the Head of Internal Market in the Sector for coordinating Serbia's EU accession process and monitoring the Stabilization and Association Agreement. In this period, she was appointed by the Government of Serbia as the Secretary of two Subcommittees for the implementation of the Stabilization and Association Agreement - the Subcommittee for Internal Market and Competition Policy and the Subcommittee for Trade, Industry, Taxes and Customs. She is the author of numerous publications for the Serbian European Integration Office, as well as articles in the expert magazine “Pravni instruktor” (Legal Instructor) of the company Paragraf, on the topics of EU accession negotiations. From 2015 to 2017 she was engaged as a lecturer in the course "Serbia's EU Accession" within the Master studies of EU integration at the Faculty of Law in Belgrade, dealing with the issues of competition policy, state aid and consumer protection. She joined NALED in January 2018 at the position of Public-Private Dialogue Advisor.

Daniel became in July 2015 Director EBRD in Serbia, which is responsible for annual investments averaging Euro 480 million per year. Daniel joined EBRD in 1995, coming from the US Department of Treasury, and served as Advisor in the US Executive Director for three years. In 1997, he transferred to full-time EBRD staff within the Banking Department, where he worked for the Financial Institutions Team. In 2000, he moved to Almaty Kazakhstan, where he developed the Bank’s operations across sectors. From Kazakhstan, in 2004, Daniel became Head of Office in the Kyrgyz Republic, managing the office and overall operations. He was then asked to assume a similar role in Albania in 2007, followed by a Director’s position for Bulgaria. In August 2015, he took over the role of Director for Serbia. Daniel is educated in the US, at Rutgers College and Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Goran Svilanović is an expert on economic and political developments in South East Europe. He served as Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council (2013-2018). Between 2008 and 2012 he was Co-ordinator of the OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities. In November 2004, he became Chairman of Working Table I (democratization and human rights) of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, where he served until the end of 2007. From 2000 to 2004, Goran Svilanović was Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia/State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. Between 2000 and 2007, he was a Member of Parliament. With Ph.D. in Law, from the Union University in Belgrade, Masters and undergraduate law degrees from the University of Belgrade, Goran Svilanovic has also studied at the Institute for Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, the University of Saarland in Germany, and the European University Center for Peace Studies in Staadtschlaining, Austria.

Igor is in his final year of study at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences, majoring in management. Igor gained his first work experience at Ipsos Strategic Marketing as a field researcher. Igor then moved to the position of marketing intern at Marklab, where he worked on web design, social media management, as well as testing and optimizing user experiences. His last engagement was in of the biggest media agencies in Serbia Media House, where he, as a marketing assistant, mostly dealt with media planning and leasing of online and offline media. He joined NALED in February 2022 as a communications intern in the Communications and Development Department.

Jelena Mićić, lawyer, completed her undergraduate and master's studies at the Faculty of Law at the University of Novi Sad, majoring in internal affairs, and obtained the title of Master of Law. She worked as a trainee lawyer in Novi Sad. After that, she passed the bar and bar exams and was registered in the directory of Vojvodina lawyers and worked as a lawyer in the field of civil matters, obligations, labor relations and commercial law. In April 2014, she was appointed Secretary of the Pećinci Municipal Assembly and held that position for almost two terms. She also worked as the Secretary of the Municipal Election Commission of the Municipality of Pećinci. In the meantime, she completed the "Management of regional development through EU funds" program, organized by AP Vojvodina, the University of Novi Sad and the "European Affairs" Fund of AP Vojvodina, and at the same time performed the function of coordinator of the project team of the municipality of Pećinci, where she participated in all phases of implementation projects in the field of infrastructure, education, culture, sports, as a leader and as an equal member of the team. Since November 2018, Jelena has been engaged in the Support Unit for the Coordination Commission for Inspection Supervision, first as an advisor for regulatory issues, and then as an advisor for inspection reform and coordinator of the Alliance for Fair Competition of NALED. In October 2023, she enrolled in doctoral studies at the Faculty of Security at the University of Belgrade. In 2023, he became the leading advisor of the Competition Unit of NALED, and in 2024, he became the Coordinator of the expert group for combating the gray economy.

Jelena graduated from Faculty of Economics of the Belgrade University in 2002, department Statistics and Informatics. Jelena has gained professional experience with the Ministry of finance, in the Department for Macroeconomic and Fiscal Analysis and Projections, where she has been working for 17 years. She got professional development on numerous courses and seminars, in country and abroad, organized mostly by the International Monetary Fund. Jelena has been Assistant Minister in the period September 2007 – March 2016. Main duties and responsibilities were focused on preparation of strategic documents, such as Fiscal Strategy, Economic Reform Program, Budget Law, Budget System Law, etc. Also, she was involved in the process of introduction fiscal responsibility principle, fiscal rules, defining the fiscal measures related to the public finance consolidation Program, improving the process of statistical reporting on the fiscal position of the country in line with the international standards. Jelena was active member of working groups related to the negotiating process on the EU enlargement (chapter 17 and 33). She had a very proactive relationship with Serbian and foreign organizations and institutions, such as the IMF, World Bank, European Commission, Rating Agencies. From March 2017, Jelena has continued to work as a Senior advisor for coordination and managing of the EU own resources, related to the chapter 33. She joined NALED in September 2019, as Policy advisor.

Maja Pinjo Talevska is a Senior Policy Analyst, with a long track of work in the sector of political organizations. She has worked in the Office for Monitoring IPA and Other Funds in North Macedonia since 2006, where she specialized in the area of strategic planning and programming of IPA and other bilateral donor funds, monitoring of strategies, programs and projects, coordination with donors and establishing national and regional coordination mechanisms for successful implementation of relevant strategies. In 2014 she joined the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), where she further specialized in international relations, government and non-government organizations, policy analysis and research. She graduated with a bachelor degree from the Faculty of Economics in Skopje, and earned a Magister degree in the field of European Union Institutions and Policies, at the Faculty of Law „Justinijan I“ in Skopje, and at Modern European Studies of the European Research Institute, University in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

Marija completed her basic and master's studies at the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade. After her studies at the faculty, she was engaged as a teaching assistant in the course "Principles of Economics" and at the same time she did an internship as an analyst at Yettel. She continued her work experience in the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, where she worked on the preparation of activities for the Action Plan for Public Administration Reform and led a team of two analysts in the process of reforming the salary system in the public sector. Marija's further experience is at the Center for Advanced Economic Studies, where as an analyst she worked on analyzing and summarizing the key points of strategic documents, assessing the impact of the implementation of the circular economy in Serbia and promoting EU values ​​in Serbian society by creating examples of improving the everyday life of citizens. After that, Marija returned to the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, where she worked as an advisor (in the field of analytics) to the assistant minister. She joined the NALED team in June 2023 in the position of Digitalization Advisor.

Milan is an expert in inspection oversight, administrative and criminal law, regulatory reform, business regulations and related topics. Milan graduated with a Master degree in law, holding a bar exam certificate. He completed bachelor studies at the Faculty of Law in Novi Sad (2004), later undergoing post-graduate studies at the Faculty of Law in Belgrade (2010), and passing the bar exam in 2006 in Belgrade. He completed a large number of trainings and curses in the field of law, economy and regulatory reform. He is an active user of English in daily business communication and tasks. Milan used to work in the judicial system, law offices, businesses, the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development, the Government’s Unit for Comprehensive Regulatory Reform and a legal consultant for a number of international projects. From 2011 to late 2017 he served as a Senior Expert Advisor for USAID Business Enabling Project, being in charge of inspection reform. He is the author of numerous expert publications and articles, including the guides for the implementation of inspection, administrative and business-related laws. He held numerous trainings, seminars and presentations. As Policy and Inspection Oversight Advisor, Milan provides his expert contribution to continuing reforms and takes part in numerous activities for drafting and implementation of laws, other regulations, guidelines, methodologies and other documents in the field of inspection oversight, administrative and criminal law.

Milica is an experienced regulatory expert and researcher with over 9 years of experience in practical policy research and large database processing. Milica participated in about 30 projects (EU, GIZ, USAID, EBRD) as a regulatory expert, researcher/analyst or project manager. She managed teams of domestic and international researchers and independently carried out the entire research process, from developing methodology, methodological tools (questionnaires, databases, etc.), through collection (through surveys, interviews, focus groups), to data processing, development of practical " turnkey" recommendation and presentation to decision makers. Her main area of ​​expertise is "business process" analysis and GAP analysis with a focus on digitization and optimization of public services, as well as research in the field of demographic trends and the labor market. She participated in the development and/or implementation of numerous public reforms, including the introduction of a system for the electronic issuance of building permits and the introduction of a system for digitizing procedures for registering and approving subsidies in agriculture - eAgrar. She gained managerial experience leading the Research Unit at NALED, after which she moved to the position of Research Advisor, where her main focus is providing research support for the implementation of regulatory activities that are horizontal and include multiple sectors. Milica holds a master's degree from the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade, where she worked as an assistant on the courses Basics of Economics and International Economics. She speaks fluent Serbian and English, and also speaks Spanish.

Nikola graduated from the Faculty of Law, University in Belgrade in 2019, the department of law theory. During his studies he took part in Moot Court simulation competition titled „Judge the discrimination“ organized by the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality. After completing his studies, he gained the first professional experience in Law Office Goran Petronijević, as attorney intern. After a year, in July 2020 he continued his career in NALED as Legal Affairs Officer. Nikola is actively engaged in the work of cultural and artistic association „Srem“ from Jakovo, being a dancer for many years, and currently acting as a memebr of Managing Board, taking part in the reliazation of several tours. He has also actively engaged in horseriding since elementary school, in the equestrian club „Bojčin“ from Progar, where he now takes part in the association's management as a Managing Board member. 

Stephan CORVERS has over 25 years of experience in the field of European Procurement. He obtained his Master’s degree in Commercial and company law in 1990 at the University of Leiden in The Netherlands. He was co-founder and vice-chairman of the NVvA (Dutch Association for procurement and law) and since 1998 member of the advisory board of the NvvA. 
He is the founder, owner and managing director of Corvers Procurement Services, based in the Netherlands and Greece - and author of multiple publications. Corvers is a private company operating in the field of European Procurement existing since 2000. Corvers is the contractor for the EAFIP-initiative of DG CONNECT (www.eafip.eu). Corvers has been involved in a wide range of procurement projects, relating to e.g., new markets, new products or services, new distribution channels, and new technology. One of these projects is the EUIPA awarded PCP-PPI procurement project of Waterschapsbedrijf Limburg (WBL). 
Since 2022, Stephan has been involved as expert to the Community for European Research and Innovation for Security (CERIS) and advices several innovation procurement projects at EU level, including the EAFIP initiative, PREVENT CSA and PREVENT PCP, Procure4Health, PROTECT and IMPRESS PCP.

Vuk graduated from the Faculty of Law, University in Belgrade in 2002. He earned his Magister degree in international post-graduate studies at the European Center for Peace and Development (ECPD), United Nations' University of Peace - department of European Union law and international commercial law. He started his careeer in 2002 in the City Administration of Belgrade, where he worked until 2012. During this period, he went the path from an intern in the Finance Secretariat, to the Coordinator of Utilities and Residential Matters Secretariat. In May 2012 he joined the newly established company Wholesale Market Belgrade, as the Head of Legal Department, where he stayed until late 2013. In January 2014 he was appointed Assistant Director of the Investment and Residential Matters Agency of the Belgrade City Administration, where he stayed until February 2015. He worked in NALED from March 2015 to May 2016, being engaged on various legal issues significant for businesses and local economic development, most notably he took part in the construction permitting reform. He joined Serbian Chamber of Commerce in July 2016, first as the Head of Normative Matters and Agreements Department, and since September 2020 as the Director of Legal Affairs Directorate.

Đorđe Vukotić graduated from the Faculty of Law in Belgrade, department of Commercial Law, and specialized in International Trade Agreement at the same Faculty. He attended professional development programs abroad on several occasions (European College in Burge, World Bank Institute). He started his professional lawyer career in 1989 in Belgrade and specialized in the field of commercial and coprorate law. Since 2002, he has been engaged as independent legal advisor on multiple projects in the field of deregulation, regulatory reform, business registration reform, corporate restructuring and improving the business conditions in Serbia, under the auspices of the World Bank, USAID and other international organizations. He took part in the development of laws in the field of economic regulations. From 2004 to 2011 he was the lead legal advisor of the Government of Serbia's Regulatory Reform Council, being engaged in the analysis and providing opinions to more than 350 draft laws. He is a regular coauthor of NALED's quarterly reports on the regulatory reform status, also being engaged on he development of NALED's Grey Book.