30 Facts About Zoran Tegeltija

Zoran Tegeltija is a Bosnian Serb politician serving as director of the Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina since June 2023.

Zoran Tegeltija previously served as Minister of Finance and Treasury from January to June 2023.

Zoran Tegeltija served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2019 to 2023.

In 2004, Zoran Tegeltija was elected mayor of Mrkonjic Grad and re-elected in 2008.

Zoran Tegeltija served as Minister of Finance until the entity government of Radovan Viskovic was formed in 2018.

In 2019, Zoran Tegeltija was appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers, following the 2018 general election.

Zoran Tegeltija resigned as minister in June 2023, following his appointment as director of the ITA.

Zoran Tegeltija is a Serb and has attended schools in his native Mrkonjic Grad and then moved to Sarajevo, where in 1986, he graduated from the School of Economics and Business at the University of Sarajevo.

Zoran Tegeltija worked at the Bosanski Brod oil refinery, the Tax Administration and the Customs Administration of Republika Srpska as an adviser to the director.

Zoran Tegeltija has been a member of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats since 1998.

Zoran Tegeltija was first elected in 2000 in the town council of Mrkonjic Grad as well as a member of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska and later served as chairman of the State Commission for the Bosnia and Herzegovina borders.

Zoran Tegeltija was elected mayor of Mrkonjic Grad in 2004 and re-elected as mayor in 2008, serving until 29 December 2010.

Albeit a close ally of Milorad Dodik, Zoran Tegeltija has never engaged in nationalistic rhetoric, nor been embroiled in major scandals.

Zoran Tegeltija was appointed Minister of Finance of the Republika Srpska entity on 29 December 2010 in the government of Aleksandar Dzombic, and was later confirmed in the post in the first and second cabinet of Zeljka Cvijanovic in 2013 and 2014.

Zoran Tegeltija was re-elected to the National Assembly in the 2018 general election.

The Auditor-General Dusko Snjegota resigned soon after, and Jovo Radukic, a former assistant to Zoran Tegeltija was appointed in his stead.

At a national House of Representatives session held on 11 January 2021, a vote of no confidence in Zoran Tegeltija took place, due to poor results during his term as chairman of the Council of Ministers, but by the end of the voting, it was clear that Zoran Tegeltija was staying as chairman of the Council of Ministers.

Zoran Tegeltija served as chairman of the Council of Ministers until 25 January 2023, when a new cabinet headed by Borjana Kristo was formed.

On 23 July 2020, Selmo Cikotic became the new Minister of Security in Zoran Tegeltija's cabinet, succeeding Radoncic.

On 12 March 2021, Zoran Tegeltija dismissed Milos Lucic from his duties as Minister of Human Rights and Refugees, following the abolishment of the coalition between Zoran Tegeltija's SNSD party and Lucic's DNS.

Since March 2020, as head of government, Zoran Tegeltija has been one of the high-ranking officials that has led Bosnia and Herzegovina's ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 21 May 2020, the government headed by Zoran Tegeltija adopted a decision which allowed entry and stay of a foreigner who entered Bosnia and Herzegovina due to business obligations, provided that they have an invitational letter from a legal entity from Bosnia and Herzegovina that hired them in the country and a certificate of a negative test for SARS-CoV-2 virus from an authorized laboratory, not older than 48 hours from the time of entry.

On 24 May 2021, Zoran Tegeltija met with Montenegrin Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic in Sarajevo.

On 3 December 2021, Zoran Tegeltija met with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic at the Central European Initiative forum held in Budva, Montenegro.

At a Council of Ministers session held on 23 June 2021, Zoran Tegeltija's cabinet, much to his disapproval, supported a new law regarding the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a legal solution, which is a condition for obtaining European Union candidate status, as well as other tranches of EU microfinance support.

On 30 June, Zoran Tegeltija spoke in a telephone call with German chancellor Angela Merkel about the future of EU potential enlargement, ahead of the 2021 Berlin Process Summit.

On 14 September 2021, Zoran Tegeltija met in person with Merkel at a Western Balkans meeting in Tirana, Albania, where they talked about the COVID-19 pandemic, Berlin Process, EU enlargement and the political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In November 2022, alongside other Western Balkans leaders and in the presence of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Zoran Tegeltija signed three agreements on mobility at the Berlin Process Summit, which enable travel with an ID card in the region, mutual recognition of university diplomas and professional qualifications.

On 25 January 2023, following the formation of a new Council of Ministers presided over by Borjana Kristo, Zoran Tegeltija was appointed as the new Minister of Finance and Treasury and as vice-chairman of the Council of Ministers within Kristo's government.

On 15 June 2023, Zoran Tegeltija was officially confirmed as the new director, therefore resigning as a government minister.