Ratko Butorović
| Ratko Butorović | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Ratko Buturović 17 July 1956 Nikšić, PR Montenegro, FPR Yugoslavia |
| Died |
8 June 2013 (aged 56) Novi Sad, Serbia |
| Nationality | Montenegrin |
| Alma mater | University of Novi Sad |
| Occupation |
FK Vojvodina owner (2006-2013) Hotel Park owner (2004-2013) Hotel Leopold I operator (2006-2013) |
| Children |
Balša Butorović Bodin Butorović |
Ratko Butorović (17 July 1956 – 8 June 2013) (originally Ratko Buturović, also known as Bata Kan Kan was a Montenegrin businessman.
Born in Nikšić, Butorović found success in Novi Sad where he owned several hospitality venues and also had a stint as the owner of the city's football club FK Vojvodina. Known for his colourful clothing and eccentric ways, he also had alleged ties to various underworld figures in Serbia and Montenegro such as Đorđe Božović and Brano Mićunović.[1]
Early life
After completing high school in his hometown, still a teenager Buturović moved northwards to SR Serbia, first to Belgrade and eventually settling in Novi Sad where he enrolled at the University of Novi Sad's Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. He reportedly already had a knack for business, making his first money by selling clothing stolen in Italy and then smuggled into Yugoslavia.[2]
In his twenties he moved to Vienna where, having a strong physical build, he worked as bouncer and bodyguard.[3] He also spent some time in Paris. By mid-1980s he returned to SR Serbia where he modified his last name from Buturović to Butorović, reportedly due to transgressions committed abroad.[3]
Business career
Butorović's first foray into business occurred in 1987 in Novi Sad when he opened a retail store selling general goods.[4] Named 'Kan Kan', the store further cemented his by now widely known nickname.
The store soon expanded into a chain of shops around the city and he furthermore expanded his activities by establishing a rent-a-car company as well as an airport taxi service shuttling passengers between Novi Sad and Belgrade Airport.[4]
By now based out of a small office located in the state-owned Hotel Park in Novi Sad, Butorović was involved in various business activities during the early 1990s, including running a pawnbroker's shop and donating a medical vehicle to the Serbian forces fighting in the Battle of Vukovar.[5]
Following the controversial September 1995 death of 19-year-old beauty queen Jelena Molnar in a Hotel Park room that had been rented by Butorović's company and where she had stayed with her 23-year-old boyfriend Predrag Maričić, one of Butorović's bodyguards, Butorović left Serbia and FR Yugoslavia, settling in Greece.[5] Maričić got charged with murder, but got acquitted following the trial. The case then got appealed by the public prosecutor and it went before the Serbian Supreme Court where Maričić got acquitted again.[6]
Hospitality
From 2000 onwards Butorović became involved with larger business ventures in the hospitality industry. In Kumbor near Herceg Novi in Montenegro, he first opened a small 5-star hotel named Xanadu, which he sold several years later.
In 2003, he built and opened a 6,500 square meter shopping center in Novi Sad named 'Pariski magazin' on Kralja Aleksandra Street that houses a series of cafes, spas, beauty parlours, and retail shops.
Hotel Park
Then, in 2004, came his biggest investment, buying state-owned Hotel Park in Novi Sad at a privatization tender auction for RSD100 million.[4] In a way it was Butorović's expansion at a location that had been the seat of his business for more than a decade. Refurbishing and upgrading the huge venue that houses some 22,000 square meters of indoor space, Butorović turned it into Novi Sad's premier hospitality venue.
Hotel Leopold I
In August 2006, at an international tender auction, Butorović's company HTUP Park won 30-year lease rights to Hotel Varadin located on the Petrovaradin Fortress.[7] Under the terms of the lease agreement that was signed by then Novi Sad mayor Maja Gojković and HTUP Park representative Kosta Kliska, Butorović's company took on the obligation of investing at least €6 million into the 5,405 square meter property while it was under no obligation of paying a lease fee to the city for the first 5 years of the agreement.[7] Furthermore, once the first 5 years were up in September 2011, it agreed to pay the lease fee of €3.8 per square meter (€21,000 per month) to the city of Novi Sad.[7] Butorović reportedly invested €6.5 million in the hotel renovation and re-opened it as Hotel Leopold I in June 2007.[8]
On 15 November 2007, the 200 meter long protective rampart, located at the Gornja tvrđava part of the Fortress in the hotel's near vicinity, got demolished. It was unclear who ordered the demolition with fingers being pointed back and forth between Butorović and several state owned companies that have jurisdiction over the Fortress. Stjepan R., the worker who carried out the demolition using an excavator, even got arrested, but the responsibility for the event in terms of who ordered it never got cleared up.[7] The rampart was subsequently built again.
In January 2014, some six months following Butorović's death, his son Balša confirmed that the family is no longer involved in running the hotel on a day-to-day basis, having decided to sublease it to a foreign entity.[9]
FK Vojvodina
In 2006 Butorović became the owner of the struggling Vojvodina Novi Sad football club in Serbia. His investment triggered a revival in the club's fortunes, immediately breaking into the top three in the Serbian SuperLiga.
2008 arrest on match-fixing suspicion
On Tuesday, 29 January 2008, Butorović got arrested on suspicion of match fixing.[1] His apprehension came as part of a sweeping action by Serbian police aimed at dealing with widespread football corruption in the country. Police suspected that Butorović, along with FK Vojvodina managing board president Milan Čabrić, fixed football matches by bribing football referees Mihajlo Jeknić and Borislav Kašanski whom he established contact with through former referee Goran Kovačić.[1] Čabrić, Jeknić, Kašanski, and Kovačić were all also arrested on the same day. Butorović got taken in spectacular fashion as police stormed his villa in Stanoja Glavaša Street in the Telep neighbourhood around 4pm while some twenty investigators and plain-clothed policemen reportedly searched his house for relevant evidence before taking him to a police station around 7pm.[1] A small number of FK Vojvodina fans gathered in front of his house while police searched it, offering support by chanting "Don't give up, Bata".[1]
Butorović was later released with no charges pressed against him due to lack of evidence. Although Butorović was well known as the high-ranking member of the Montenegrin mafia in Novi Sad, this was the only time he was even investigated for any of his crimes. Reputedly he was protected by the Montenegrin president Milo Đukanović.
Butorović died of natural causes in 2013.[10] Butorović was known for his colourful lifestyle. He assumed the alias 'Bata Kan Kan', adopted an extravagant style of dress, and was reportedly friends with rapper 50 Cent.[10]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 V. N., E. (29 January 2008). "Udar na "fudbalsku mafiju"". Večernje novosti. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
- ↑ V., M. (8 June 2013). "Ko je bio Bata Kankan: Od "šanera" iz Nikšića do ekscentričnog fudbalskog menadžera". Blic. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
- 1 2 Telesković, Dušan (3 February 2008). "Ko je Bata Kankan". Politika. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
- 1 2 3 Vukmirović, Đ. (8 June 2013). "Bata Kan Kan umro u snu". Večernje novosti. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
- 1 2 Boarov, Dimitrije (7 February 2008). "Hotelijer sa biografijom". Vreme. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
- ↑ "Nerazjašnjenja smrt mis Vojvodine". NSkriminal.net. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 Šovljanski, Branislav (6 April 2011). "Kulturno-istorijski spomenik u opasnosti da ne dobije zaštitu UNESCO". Centar za istrazivacko novinarstvo Srbije. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
- ↑ Živković, S. (22 June 2007). ""Leopold Prvi" na Petrovaradinu". Politika. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
- ↑ "Zatvoren Hotel Leopold na Tvrđavi". Dnevno.rs. 24 January 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
- 1 2 "The Joy of Six: the ups and downs of football chairmen and owners". The Guardian. 1 August 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2014.