Photo: Sara Pavkov and Dubravka Đedović Handanović, pictured second and third right, respectively, in the middle row (Slobodan Miljević / Government of Serbia)
The National Assembly of Serbia reelected Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović Handanović for her third term. The youngest member of the new cabinet, led by Prime Minister Đuro Macut, is the new Minister of Environmental Protection – Sara Pavkov.
Members of parliament voted in the new Government of Serbia today with 153 in favor and 46 against the proposal, while 51 lawmakers were absent from the session. The lineup under Prime Minister Đuro Macut, who has just entered the political arena now, includes Sara Pavkov, responsible for environmental protection. At 33, she is the youngest member of the cabinet.
Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Đedović Handanović was elected for her third mandate.
At 33 years old, Sara Pavkov is the youngest minister in the team of new Prime Minister Đuro Macut
Pavkov holds a graduate and master’s degree from the biology and ecology department of the University of Novi Sad Faculty of Sciences (FTN). She is a doctoral candidate and research intern at the faculty, according to her official biography.
Since 2022, she has served as a state secretary at the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Before that, she was the chief of staff since June 2021, after holding the position of special advisor for environmental protection from November 2020.
As one of the vice-presidents of the Bureau of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Sara Pavkov participated in the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow in 2021.
From 2013 to 2020, she coordinated more than 20 civil society projects for environmental protection. The new minister has authored or coauthored 11 scientific and professional papers in the same field.
She joined the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) since 2012. Since November 2021, Sara Pavkov has been a member of its presidency.
Third run for Dubravka Đedović Handanović as minister of mining and energy
Dubravka Đedović Handanović was first elected minister of environment and energy in October 2022 in the cabinet of Prime Minister Ana Brnabić. She was reappointed last May, when Miloš Vučević became the prime minister of Serbia.
Before becoming minister, she was a member of the Executive Board of NLB Komercijalna banka, responsible for corporate and investment banking. She has an international experience in banking of more than 16 years.
Minister Đedović Handanović, who remained in position in the new government, has worked in the EIB
Đedović Handanović has graduated in banking and finance from the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade and obtained her master’s degree in finance and management from SDA Bocconi University in Milan and the Anderson School of Management at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA).
She headed the Regional Office of the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the Western Balkans from 2016 to 2021, before moving to NLB Komercijalna banka.
Until the start of her tenure in Belgrade, Dubravka Đedović Handanović was the manager for Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia at the headquarters of the EIB in Luxembourg. It is the European Union’s main lending institution. She was also in charge of public-private partnership projects and project financing in countries including Ireland, France, the United Kingdom and the Benelux.
Before starting her career in banking, the reelected minister of mining and energy worked in the media and communications sector.
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