In just four years, only three law firms – those of Nemanja Aleksić, Igor Isailović and Vladimir Đukanović – generated revenues of nearly 40 million euros, while the finances of their colleague Dragan Palibrk remain hidden, as he operates under a lump-sum tax scheme and is therefore not obliged to publish financial reports.
What they have in common is that they are undeniably close to, or work directly for, the SNS. They are currently engaged in the two largest cases – the Army General Staff building and the Novi Sad railway station canopy case – and represent current and former ministers Nikola Selaković, Goran Vesić and Tomislav Momirović, who are under investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office for Organised Crime.
An investigation by Radar has shown that almost all of them obtain their income with the help of the authorities, as they are paid by state-owned companies, banks and institutions such as Elektromreža Srbije, Poštanska štedionica, Expo and Dunav Insurance, while some are paid directly by President Aleksandar Vučić and his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).
Almost every prominent defendant in Serbia – an SNS member, a businessman close to the authorities, or a “compliant” public official – is defended by at least one of the four aforementioned lawyers. In fact, it appears that Đukanović, who is also an MP and likes to say that he is not a politician but a journalist, has the most work.
Vladimir Đukanović’s VIP clients
Indeed, he is regularly seen at the entrances to courts and prosecutors’ offices. He is currently representing Minister of Culture Selaković, accused of abuse of office and forgery in the General Staff building case, along with two other defendants: Slavica Jelača, a secretary at the Ministry of Culture, and Goran Vasić, director of the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments.
Đukanović also represents Dijana Hrkalović, a former state secretary at the Ministry of the Interior, who is on trial for influence peddling; Aleksandar Papić and Milorad Grčić, over alleged irregularities at EPS; as well as Predrag Koluvija, the primary defendant in the “Jovanjica” affair, one of the largest drug trafficking cases in recent decades. Although at first glance it might seem that this is perhaps too heavy a burden for a not particularly experienced lawyer, who passed the bar exam only in 2018, Đukanović is doing very well financially. In just four years, around 915,000 euros flowed into the accounts of his law office, in which, according to 2024 data, he is the sole employee, and he generated a net profit of around 651,000 euros.
In the meantime, the number of his properties has increased dramatically, and it cannot all be explained by income from legal practice alone. In his first asset declaration, filed in 2010, he owned none, and it was only in February 2020 that he reported to the Anti-Corruption Agency ownership of a 35-square-metre flat. That remained the case until 2023 when, as published on the Agency’s website, he became the owner of three penthouses in the luxury Park Villa Residence complex in Voždovac, as well as three garage spaces. He also purchased two apartments in Zlatibor, measuring 27 and 29 square metres, which, as he stated, he acquired through his law firm.
Unofficially, it can be heard that Đukanović also provides “legal advice” to state-owned enterprises or businessmen under pressure from the authorities. Such contracts cannot be seen on the public procurement portal, but one was nevertheless published. As reported by Danas, Đukanović concluded a representation contract with the Gamzigrad Special Rehabilitation Hospital. For these services he received around 90,000 dinars per month plus VAT. The contract was terminated after the information became public.
“Since I see that many people are bothered by the fact that I have the most regular contract that almost every lawyer in the country has, and on which I duly pay tax, but that it is apparently a terrible problem because it is with a state institution, I would like to inform you all immediately that as of today I have terminated that contract,” Đukanović posted on Twitter. It remains unknown whether and how many such contracts he still has. Radar attempted to contact him on this matter via a known telephone number, but he was unavailable.
Isailović: “Thank you, but please don’t call me again”
Alongside Đukanović, Nikola Selaković is also defended by two other lawyers, one of whom is Igor Isailović, who is said to be close to Finance Minister Siniša Mali. To the surprise of many, he appeared on the first day of the culture minister’s trial. According to financial reports, his firm employed between eight and ten people over a four-year period, during which it generated approximately 6.7 million euros in revenue. During the same period, Isailović made a net profit of around 2.3 million euros.
On two occasions, he obtained legal advisory work from the company Expo 2027, both independently and together with several other lawyers, and the investigation showed that he also represented Elektromreža Srbije. The details are not public, nor therefore are the contract values. As such work is most often not awarded through public tenders, Radar asked him which other state-owned enterprises and institutions he has similar contracts with.
“You expect me to tell you that? Thank you for the call, but please don’t call me again,” Isailović replied.
His connections with Siniša Mali were discussed by the finance minister’s former wife in an interview with KRIK. She spoke about pressure to submit a statement to the Anti-Corruption Agency to justify the origin of 95,000 euros in cash. “Siniša and his lawyer, Igor Isailović, came up with the idea of claiming that after my father’s death I found the money and then used it for everyday needs. I received a message from Isailović: ‘Marija, you need to sign a statement for the Agency.’ I refused,” Marija Mali recounted at the time, describing Isailović as her former husband’s closest associate.
According to KRIK, Isailović managed the affairs of offshore companies behind which Mali and his then wife stood. He himself owned an offshore company, New Moments Consulting, registered in the British Virgin Islands, which was revealed as part of the international Pandora Papers investigation. He has represented or done business with numerous figures close to the authorities. He was a business partner of Ana Brnabić in the company Energy & Innovation.
His list of clients also included Boban Rajić, the buyer of Večernje novosti; Nikola Petrović, the Serbian president’s best man; and the controversial Kosovo businessman Zvonko Veselinović. According to BIRN, Isailović also assisted in establishing companies linked to Veselinović and Milan Radoičić, including changes to the ownership structure registered with the Serbian Business Registers Agency for the company Inkop. He represents almost all pro-government tabloids, such as Alo, Novosti and Politika.
Palibrk: “It’s not important how much I earn.”
This duo at the General Staff building trial was joined by Dragan Palibrk, a lawyer best known for representing President Vučić. He handled Vučić’s case in a lawsuit filed by the leader of the Freedom and Justice Party, Dragan Đilas, and then responded with a counterclaim. He was also engaged in the case between Vuk Jeremić and Vučić, and Palibrk is likewise a lawyer for the SNS. He also represents the company Serbia Zijin, partly owned by the Republic of Serbia. It is not known how much he earns on that basis, but it can be assumed to be a substantial sum, given that the company generated revenues of more than 1.7 billion euros in 2024 alone.
Palibrk told Radar that he does not represent any state-owned enterprise and that he has been a private practitioner all his life and has never held public office.
“Let me ask you something – is this some kind of investigation against me? I don’t represent any state-owned company. I’ve been a private businessman my entire life. Do you know how many of those experts who appear on your programme are on the state payroll?” Palibrk said.
He confirms that he is Vučić’s lawyer and that he represents the SNS. Asked whether this engagement is connected to the fact that the Serbian president is his university friend, Palibrk replied that Vučić is not just his friend but his best friend: “I represent the SNS as well, but only since 2018. Vučić is my best friend, and I believe that goes both ways. He has invested incomparably more in our friendship.”
We also asked Palibrk about his annual income, given that his financial reports are not publicly available.
“Well, now, that’s a bit cheeky. How much I earn is in my bank account. Those who need to know, know. No journalist has ever asked me that. I don’t think it’s important; it’s absolutely superfluous to our conversation. I have never sponged off the state. Think about why everyone hires me. As of today, my client is also Dejan Vuk Stanković, and I have defended Otpor as well,” Palibrk told Radar.
Nemanja Aleksić, record-holder for revenue and profit
A reading of the financial reports makes it clear that the highest earnings belong to Nemanja Aleksić, the lawyer of Goran Vesić, the former construction minister who is under investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office for Organised Crime. Aleksić had previously been close to Vesić and, during the election campaign, lent him a vehicle that the then deputy mayor used as a mobile office.
Aleksić’s law firm employs 91 people and, over four years, generated as much as 30.3 million euros in revenue, with a net profit of around 6.7 million euros. Among others, he has been engaged by the Development Fund, Dunav Insurance, Poštanska štedionica and the public enterprise Vojvodinašume. According to available data, he won two public procurement contracts – one from the office of the minister without portfolio responsible for innovation and technological development, Nenad Popović, and one from the public utility company Miloš Mitrović in Velika Plana.
Given that he has received numerous engagements from the state, we asked Aleksić how such work is obtained if not through public tenders. “First of all, I do not give statements to the press; secondly, you are not the press, you are ordinary propaganda. And that’s the end of the conversation.”
If private lawyers are involved, what is the purpose of the State Attorney’s Office?
Nemanja Nenadić, programme director of Transparency Serbia, says that there are several potential problems when it comes to the engagement of lawyers by public institutions. For what constitutes classic legal work, such as court representation, Nenadić notes that there has been no obligation to conduct a public procurement procedure since amendments to the Public Procurement Law in 2015.
“One of the consequences is that payments to lawyers for such services are not visible on the Public Procurement Portal. Some of that data can only be seen in court decisions awarding litigation costs, in cases where the dispute ends favourably for the public authority. This allows heads of institutions to choose a lawyer whom they believe will represent them best, but at the same time it opens up enormous scope for discretionary decision-making and privileged engagements based on personal connections or party affiliation,” Nenadić believes.
He also points out that in some cases it may be questionable whether there was a legal basis for a state body or other public institution to engage a lawyer for representation in a dispute, given the competencies of the State Attorney’s Office.
“Data on other forms of engagement of law firms, for example, for consultancy services, are visible on the Public Procurement Portal. However, there is often another type of problem here – namely, whether those services were needed at all, or whether something is being paid for that public authorities could have done themselves, and whether this is a fictitious job,” Nenadić warns.
It is now easy to believe that consultancy services provided by lawyers close to the authorities to state institutions are most often unnecessary, and the question arises as to why companies that have their own legal departments engage them at all. And it is hardly surprising that few believe Đukanović has no other contract similar to the one with the Gamzigrad Special Rehabilitation Hospital. After all, we live in Serbia, a country everyone tries to sponge off. Pardon – everyone who can.
(Radar, 12.02.2026)
https://radar.nova.rs/drustvo/sns-advokati-isailovic-dukanovic-palibrk/