According to the National Bank of Serbia’s (NBS) register of debtors under forced collection, the company “Jovanjica” doo is no longer under financial blockade as of July 10.
The blockade had been in place since November 28, 2019, shortly after the arrest of the company’s owner, Predrag Koluvija. At its peak, the blockade amounted to nearly 200 million dinars before the company’s accounts were released this Thursday.
A review of the account register showed that several accounts of “Jovanjica” still had a “blocked debits” status on Friday; however, this does not necessarily mean those accounts remain blocked.
Efforts by the media outlet Nova Ekonomija to contact Predrag Koluvija following the unblocking were unsuccessful.
Koluvija was arrested on November 13, 2019, after police stopped him for reckless driving on the highway, during which he presented a police ID suspected to be fake. The same day, authorities raided the “Jovanjica” farm and seized nearly 660 kilograms of dried marijuana and over 60,000 cannabis stems.
Two legal proceedings have been initiated against Koluvija, with prosecutors accusing him of organizing a criminal group involved in marijuana production.
Despite these events, Serbian government officials frequently downplayed the “Jovanjica” case, with President Aleksandar Vučić publicly calling it a “fake affair.”
