Marko Selakovic

Marko Selaković
Personal details
Born	(1977-10-16) 16 October 1977 Kragujevac, Yugoslavia (now Serbia)
Nationality	Serbian
Political party	United Regions of Serbia
Spouse(s)	Nikolina Ljepava
Children	Dimitrije Ksenija
Religion	Serbian Orthodoxy

Marko Selakovic (Serbian: Марко Селаковић/Marko Selaković) is Serbian consultant, public relations strategist, writer, sports worker and former politician. He is resident of Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Early life

Marko Selaković was born in Kragujevac, as the first child of Ljutomir, mechanical engineer and Jelica, biology professor. He attended primary schools "Mirko Jovanović" and "Sveti Sava", finishing it prematurely, accomplishing 7th and 8th grade in one school year and winning numerous awards on local, regional and national competitions. He continued education in his hometown, attending Prva kragujevačka Gimnazija, and being regular on chemistry courses of Petnica Science Center. Simultaneously he played drums and percussion in "Abrašević" orchestra and number of local bands.

In 1995 Selaković moves to Belgrade, where he started studies of chemistry. He continued playing drums in АКУД Бранко Крсмановић and Bora Dugić Folk Ensemble. After 1996-97 Protests in Serbia, he was elected into Student Parliament of the University of Belgrade, and acted as a spokesman of Student Protest for Kosovo 1998.^[1] Between 1998 and 2002, Selaković attends various Council of Europe programs, such as Democratic Leadership Programme and Training for Trainers. He was co-founder of Centre for Training, Analyses and Resources and manager of various projects, such as "Rule of Law in Media" and "Balkan-Caucasus NGO Network".

Business career

Marko Selaković started his career in strategic communications and public relations in 2004, joining Austrian consultancy company "Hauska&Partner". By the end of 2004 he became member of Serbian Public Relations Society, where he acted as vice-president (2008-2010) and Board member (2010-2012).^[2] Selaković continued on senior positions in Vinarija Čoka and Logos Public Relations, and later became one of founders and managing director of "StratCom" agency. "StratCom" achieved significant success, winning National PR Awards in 2010 (for corporate communications) and 2012 (for crisis communications), and providing strategic advisory to number of important institutions, business and sports entities and individuals, including Snežana Samardžić-Marković and Nađa Higl.^[3] Also, he was engaged as consultant for vocational education reform by GIZ.^[4]

Following formation of United Regions of Serbia Selaković was invited by party leader Mladjan Dinkic to provide strategic advisory and manage communications of the newly established movement. Between 2010 and 2012, he was involved into set up and implementation of various election campaigns on national, regional and local level.

Political career

On the United Regions of Serbia congress in December 2012, Selaković was proposed for the professional spokesperson of the party and was welcomed by acclamation of the delegates. He remained on this position until March 2014, when he resigned on personal request. Selaković was recognized for his eloquent and outspoken style. He had sharp polemics with Dragan Djilas, leader of Democratic Party (Serbia) ^[5] and put strong accent on decentralization topics.^[6]

In 2013 and 2014 Selaković participated into Konrad Adenauer Foundation Media Program South-Eastern Europe.^[7]

Return to consultancy

In 2014 and 2015 Selaković advised director of the Pharmaceutical Chamber of Serbia. He also provided support in set up and management of the campaign for "Izbor" - political movement led by Montenegro businessman Dušan Radović Krušo, winning more than 25% percent of seats in Herceg Novi City Assembly.^[8]

In August 2015 Selaković announced his relocation to Dubai, UAE. Also, he announced the book "PRodaja političara", depicting political leaders of Serbia between 2000 and 2015.^[9] Although Danas (newspaper) confirmed that book is ready and even published the feuilleton, the book is not issued yet.^[10]

Career in Dubai

In Dubai, Selaković established strong relations with UAE Handball Federation, being responsible for preparation of the training camp of United Arab Emirates National Handball Team and acting as staff member and goalkeeper coach on the 2016 Asian Men's Handball Championship in Bahrain.

In April 2016 Selaković was considered to play important role into establishing twinning agreement between Al Jazira Club and Red Star Belgrade.^[11]

From October 2015, Marko Selaković is member of MEPRA - Middle East Public Relations Association. In 2016 Selaković announced that he took over supervisory role on the American University in the Emirates (AUE).^[12]

In August 2016, Selaković became member of the International Association of Business Communicators GCC Chapter Board. In September 2016, Serbian media speculated about Selaković as a new ambassador of Serbia in the UAE.^{[13] [14]}

Personal life

Marko Selaković is married to Nikolina Ljepava, PhD, University teacher. Between 2005 and 2013 he was married to Bojana Selakovic, NGO activist. He has two children from the first marriage: Dimitrije (son, b. 2006) and Ksenija (daughter, b. 2012).

Marko Selaković and former Serbian Minister of Justice Nikola Selakovic are relatives.^[15]

References