Željko Kerum

Željko Kerum (born September 25, 1960 in Ogorje , Yugoslavia , today Croatia ) is a Croatian entrepreneur and was the owner of the former supermarket chain Kerum and from May 2009 to 2013 mayor of the Croatian coastal city of Split .

Life

Kerum graduated from technical high school and worked from 1981 for a state-owned company in the melioration as a machine technician and worked for this company in 1983 in Iraq. After there was no more work for this company, he founded his first business in 1989. Both the decline of the socialist system and the lack of large supermarkets had a significant impact on the subsequent business development: within the first three years after the first store opened, five more supermarkets were opened. According to its own statement, the Kerum chain was in Split for six years without competition from other supermarkets.

In 2002 Kerum owned five wholesalers and 29 supermarkets, the strategy being aimed at being present in the most attractive parts of the city and tourist centers. The turnover in 2002 was 800 million kuna (at that time about 110 million euros) and the growth in turnover was estimated at 30–35%. In the following years Željko Kerum also got into tourism and in 2007 he opened what was then the largest department store in Croatia, called Joker . Kerum is now one of the 50 richest Croatians with a fortune (as of 2007) of 52 million euros.

Željko Kerum has a relatively good reputation in Split, which he allegedly earned by the fact that his company pays duties / taxes and wages punctually and accurately, which is unusual for Croatian standards (and due to the relatively young market economy system).

In autumn 2009 Kerum announced the separation from his previous wife Ankica Kerum. The reason was the pregnancy of his long-term affair and new partner Fani Horvat. Ankica Kerum is entitled to half of the joint property.

politics

Željko Kerum ran for the election of the mayor of Split in 2009. He headed an "Independent List" whose election program focused primarily on the development and expansion of urban and economic infrastructure as well as social services (e.g. kindergartens) . In the first ballot on May 17, 2009, Kerum received 40.21% of the vote. His "Independent List" became the strongest force. In the subsequent run-off elections between Željko Kerum and Ranko Ostojić (SDP), Kerum achieved 56.87% of the votes cast and thus an absolute majority. In 2013 he was replaced by Ivo Baldasar (SDP) as head of the city.

Anecdotes

On his first day at work, Željko Kerum sat in a café opposite the town hall and in the following hours noted which town hall workers came to work and when - then he reminded them to be punctual.

Kerum aroused excitement through his statements on the political program "Sunday at 2" on September 20, 2009. He said in extracts that he would neither do business with Serbian companies nor accept Serbs or Montenegrins in the family. Serbs and Montenegrins have caused great harm and pain to the Croatian population. The Serbian embassy then submitted a protest note.

swell

1. ↑ Željko Kerum - biography ( memento of March 7, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (Croatian)
2. ↑ Croatia's 50 richest citizens ( Memento from September 22, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), Nacional.hr from April 24, 2007 (Croatian)
3. ↑ The separation from the wife , Vecernji.hr of October 26, 2009 (Croatian)
4. ↑ Local elections in Croatia 2009 , 24sata.hr of June 1, 2009 (Croatian)
5. ^ First working day of Kerum , Metroportal from June 8, 2009 (Croatian)
6. ↑ Kerum in "Sonntag at 2" ( Memento from September 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), Javno.hr from September 20, 2009 (English)

Web links

• Željko Kerum's website