Businessman Beko seriously wounded in attack

Businessman Beko seriously wounded in attack

The doctors at Belgrade's Emergency Center said that Beko's condition after surgery was stable, but serious, and that his prognosis was "uncertain."

His family and friends, including Toplica Spasojević, Miodrag Kostić, Milorad Vučelić, Manojlo Vukotić, and Čedomir Jovanović all gathered at the clinic when they learned of the incident.

A large number of police officers have also been deployed there, while reporters said the police had stepped up checks throughout the town and on the country's border crossings, in a bid to find the attacker.

Beko is one of the richest men in Serbia. The 53-year-old, born in Montenegro, was never a member of a political party, but served in the cabinet of Prime Minister Mirko Marjanović during the rule of Slobodan Milošević, and later as minister in the federal government under Momir Bulatović.

He also cooperated with the Democratic Party (DS) in the early 1990s, and was said to have had connections with many political options and personalities in Serbia during the past 20 years.

Beko worked with Vladimir Popović Beba in the Spectra agency, and later indirectly took part in many of the most significant business deals in the country. He had a role in the sale of the 49 percent stake of Telekom, in the Development Fund, in the drafting of the Privatization Law, and either directly or indirectly in the privatizations of dairies, and of companies Knjaz Miloš, Večernje Novosti, C Market, and Luka Beograd (Port of Belgrade).

He was sometimes referred to as "the man in the shadow."

Lately, Beko was mentioned as a possible future director of Serbian Railways.