Bratislav Gašić, known among his friends as Bata Santos, has been well represented in the few independent media in our country for many years: partly because of the scandals that followed his mayorship of Kruševac and ministership of the army, partly because of the small family media empire that successfully siphons taxpayers' money and thanks to he survives and develops, which is due to his problematic educational profile and dubious diploma, and partly due to the tragicomic appearance of his founder's image on church frescoes and "sacred" paintings.
This "knight of Čarapanija of the first order" (a title awarded to him in 2015 for his "charm and charisma" by his party colleagues from Kruševac) was then - after his forced departure from the head of the Ministry of Defense, and also after his election as the head of the BIA - marginalized by the media. Connoisseurs of Gašić's character and work say - unfair and wrong, because he is a man who occupies an extremely important place in Vučić's hierarchy. They claim that he is a person of great confidence of the president, a crucial operative in charge of "business of a special kind" and that therefore darkness and silence suits him. According to them, Gašić is decorated with endless loyalty to the leader and the party, and is also in charge of collecting funds for the party's work and various "manipulative expenses", as well as "processing" political opponents. He is especially important for the citizens of the Rasin district and its surroundings, because - regardless of the function he held - since 2012 he has been the undisputed master of this part of Serbia. And since the Serbian Progressive Party came to power, he was - let's remind - the mayor of Kruševac (2012-2014) and the minister of defense (2014-2016), and in May 2017 he was appointed director of the Security and Information Agency (BIA) despite scandals and opposition critical public.
Let us remind you that in the previous year, in 2016, Gašić lost his ministerial position due to a simple, sexist message sent to B92 journalist Zlatija Labović in Trstenik, a city of which he became an honorary citizen four years later. Everyone remembers that Gašić, in a "mangup" manner, said that he likes female journalists who "kneel easily", which caused protests from non-governmental organizations and journalistic and media associations. Some hoped that this was the end of his political career, at least in high positions, but Vučić rehabilitated him very quickly, despite everyone. He would not give up Bata's services at any price. The president's statement that Gasic "lasted a year and a half without office" and that it is time for him to be active is well known.
Connoisseurs of the situation claim that there are many currents within the BIA, among professionals, who are extremely dissatisfied with the way in which Gašić leads this institution. They blame him for his incompetence, and the fact that he turned it into a party branch, as well as numerous dubious deals in which his family is involved. Resistance, however, weakens over time, the older generations retire, and the younger ones who arrive are mostly proven progressive cadres. Given that the BIA is a completely closed institution, the public will soon find out what "managerial qualities" Gašić displays at its head.
Certain sources claim that Gašić and his brother Boban, before the SNS came to power, were in an extremely difficult situation for a long period of time, their businesses failed, they owed both God and the people. They themselves could not understand who all their creditors were. And then they decided to put everything on one ticket, on the Serbian Progressive Party, that is, Aleksandar Vučić. Rumors circulating say that Gašić borrowed 50 euros from certain racist circles associated with Zvonko Veselinović and gave it to Vučić, which was the donation that launched him to a high position in the Serbian Progressive Party. In the meantime, two "leaders" from these circles were liquidated. Generally, Gašić's investment in politics has paid off many times over, and now his family cannot grasp what everything - directly or indirectly - it owns, whether it is companies and businesses, whether it is movable and immovable property. Vučić allegedly highly appreciates Gašić because of his hyperactivity, which even his political opponents cannot dispute, but also as a man who knows how to keep secrets. On the other hand, Gašić is endlessly grateful and loyal.
BEFORE SNS a
Born in 1967, Bratislav Gašić moved with his family to Obilićeva Street in Kruševac in the early seventies, from the village of Dedina. He has a brother Boban, with whom he is very close and who is certainly his most important business partner. Apparently, the relationship between them is similar to the relationship between Aleksandar and Andrej Vučić, or Milo and Aco Đukanović. Neighbors from Obilićeva will say that the Gašić family was closed after moving in, and that the brothers avoided hanging out with other children from the street; the neighbors wholeheartedly helped Bata's father Radet during that difficult period.
Today, the Gašić family is extremely proud of their centuries-old Serbian heritage and Orthodoxy. Let's remember that the current head of the BIA and his brother are the founders of the church that was built a few years ago in Kruševac, on Bagdala. The two of them are also on the fresco inside the building, shown delivering the model of the temple to John the Baptist, to whom the building was dedicated. Gašić commented on the fresco in the media, saying that he never asked for it to be on the wall, but that it is a "century-old custom" among Serbs. He also showed his devotion to Christianity as the Minister of Defense, distributing prayer books and the New Testament to soldiers and officers.
It cannot be said that Gašić was a good student, that he was some kind of prodigy. On the contrary, learning did not go well with him, he barely got through school. After two classes of directed education, he enrolled in the "Bosa Cvetić" Educational Center. There are at least two public versions of what happened next. Some claim that he finished another class at "Bosa Cvetić" and became a craftsman, a ceramicist, as his nickname, which can often be found on social networks, reads. Then, they say, he completed the fourth grade at the "Veljko Vlahović" Educational Center, the former Technical School, now the First Technical School. Others, again, say that Gašić completed all four classes at "Bosa Cvetić", becoming in 1986 a "technician for high-rise construction, construction profession".
In both cases, the statement in his official biography, which states that the head of the BIA graduated from Kruševac high school, is not correct. There are also controversies surrounding Gašić's university degree. As a supporter of lifelong learning, Gašić enrolled in the Faculty of Economics in Niš in 2000, and graduated - as he says - in 2003. In the public, this diploma was questioned, and it is still not clarified whether it is completely regular. Gašić will also dispute the information that appeared in certain media that he worked as a ceramicist in Trajal in Kruševac as a young man. He says he was a gardener, and that for a short time. He will also dispute that he was a member of the Serbian Radical Party, which was once claimed by the local radical leader Momčilo Duvnjak.
Gašić got married very early and that's when his entrepreneurial spirit worked. He entered the coffee business, which is why he got the nickname Santos. He himself claimed that in 1994 he managed to bypass sanctions (read: smuggling) and import enormous quantities of coffee into Serbia, supplying smaller distributors and roasters. He says that the whole FRY drank his coffee. Allegedly, he bought goods from a Greek, who, according to Gašić's neighbors, appeared in Kruševac one day, trying to collect large debts. It is not known whether he succeeded in this. Gasic is proud of the fact that after the sanctions were lifted, he established a link with Brazil, buying coffee directly from the producer and distributing it throughout the country. According to some stories, during the nineties he also had business ties with the famous Marko Milosevic. For a period he was also a co-owner of the Grand Cafe, and later he expanded the business and began to deal with everything and anything, from security services and wholesale trade, as well as the trade in beverages and motor vehicles.
MEDIA BUSINESS
In the middle of 2005, Gašić entered the business with the media, realizing that there is great power hidden in them, which can help him in building his political career and influence, as well as in employing his family. Allegedly, he borrowed 100.000 euros and bought Kruševac TV Plus. Later, he said that he then invested another 700.000 euros in it. And in 2014, when he became the Minister of Defense, he transferred the management rights over the company Saco (the publisher of this media) to Dejan Miladinović, who was previously the head of the Local Press Association. The Council for the Fight against Corruption once dealt with this television and indicated that, while the Saco company was under blockade, business was conducted through ADD Production, which is owned by Gašić's wife Irene. In 2015, the Anti-Corruption Agency concluded that Defense Minister Bratislav Gašić was in a conflict of interest when, as the mayor of Kruševac, he signed contracts for work financed from the city budget with companies owned by members of his family, including the company his wife. Of course, there were no sanctions.
The Gašić family also owns Zona Plus television in Niš, as well as - admittedly, informally - part of Niška Television, which it shares with local media magnate Vidosav Vitko Radomirović. However, some claim that Gašić's media portfolio is much wider and that he is actually behind the businessman Radojica Milosavljević, who a few years ago appeared as an unknown and unexpected force and bought a lot of media all over Serbia. The head of the BIA denies this. However, the fact is that he and Radojica are close friends, who are also linked by origin. Namely, Milosavljević, like the Gašić family, is from the village of Dedina. Milosavljević shared a school desk with Gašić's mother.
According to the Center for Sustainable Communities, both Gašić's and Milosavljević's media receive serious funding through competitive media co-financing from the state and local governments. From 2015 to today, the media of the Gašić family (Zona plus and Plus) received almost 900.000 euros in this way, and researchers have yet to tell us how much money these media receive on other grounds from the state and budget users.
FROM HELICOPTER TO JUTKA
A novel could be written about Bata Gašić - he is certainly one of the key symbols of the progressive government, which is adorned with arrogance, numerous affairs, abuse of power and institutions, control of the media and (un)dubious deals that lead to enormous enrichment. Political opponents say that Gašić once bought a summer house from General Nebojša Pavković at the foot of the Jastrebac mountain, and that he then built an incredible, elaborate complex on that spot, reminiscent of the buildings of South American latifundists, all with security and other menagerie. They say that the presidents of all the municipalities of the district and beyond come to Gašić to pay homage, to submit reports and receive instructions, and that no serious business in this area can be done without his knowledge, his control or his participation.
Gašić's name is also mentioned in the "Jovanjica" affair, and some research centers linked him to the wild construction on Kopaonik. Oppositionists call Bata Gašić a "cowboy" who, together with his family, privatized everything that could be privatized in the Kruševac region. They state, for example, that the Gašić family leased a public city park in Kruševac and a luxury restaurant in it for 99 years. They point out that the Gašić family's particularly important business is active participation in the gasification of Kruševac and Trstenik, which is a business worth tens of millions of euros. Allegedly, he got the inspiration to deal with gasification during the period when he was the president of the Management Board of Srbijagas.
Of course, we cannot finish the text without mentioning two big affairs that disturbed the public during the period when Gasić ruled the Serbian Army. The first is, of course, the "Helicopter" affair. Everyone remembers the tragic event from March 2015, when seven people lost their lives when a military helicopter crashed near Surčin. The helicopter was engaged in the rescue operation of a baby from a vehicle that could not make it to the hospital due to a landslide on the road near Novi Pazar. It was speculated that the tragedy happened because ministers Gašić and Lončar wanted to use this action to make political promotion for themselves, which is why the aircraft was diverted to another airport in the fog, which was a very risky move. Doubts were fueled by the fact that some media reported that night that the helicopter had landed safely and that the baby was welcomed by the Minister of Health Zlatibor Lončar, and that everything was organized by the Minister of Defense. To date, no one has been held accountable for that tragedy.
Previously, there was an incident at the Pride Parade in 2014. Then there was a conflict between members of the Gendarmerie and two members of the military formation Cobra, who were guarding the brother of the then prime minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, Andrej. The Protector of Citizens, Saša Janković, then asked for the dismissal of Minister Gašić because the army provides security for civilians, but Vučić "didn't give it." The minister explained that it was actually Prime Minister Vučić's security that went with his brother Andrej to their parents' house for lunch. And that "not as security, but as an escort", whatever that means.
These days, Gašić's name has once again stepped into the media. The Krik research center announced that in one of the conversations that the police eavesdropped on, a member of the criminal group Zoran Jotić Jotka from Kruševla stated that Jotić had no reason to be afraid because "Gašić is at his place on the cauldron", which is a slang term for someone who is on one's payroll. The head of the BIA refused to answer the journalist's question about whether and what kind of relationship he has with the famous Kruševac mobster. However, this is not the first time that Gašić's name is next to Jotka's. Allegedly, in the nineties, Jotka's team tried to extort Gašić. Whether he didn't want to pay the racket or didn't pay enough, a fire was just started under his jeep. Gašić was questioned before the Special Court for Organized Crime regarding the incident, but then he stated that he did not know about the existence of the "famous" Jotka criminal group. He did not even recognize the person accused of setting the car on fire. Some say that actually already then, Gašić demonstrated that he is a man who knows how things are on the other side of the law, that is, that he is a man who knows how to keep secrets.
