Nenad Popović is a Serbian politician. He served as minister without portfolio from 2017 to 2022, and again from 2024 onwards. A long-time associate of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS), he resigned from the party in 2014 and created the Serbian People’s Party (SNP).
He owns multiple companies and holdings in Serbia and Russia. The businessman utilises his connections in the Kremlin to prearrange business for his holdings, most of which function in the consulting, real estate and electronics sectors of the Russian economy, as well as to improve his personal wealth through embezzlement and tax schemes.
Popovic’s fundamental holdings based in Russia are Asset Electro LLC, Mossen Asset Management LLC, and Asset Automation LLC. Thanks to them, the Serbian politician has authority over a vast network of Russian subsidiaries in his domain. Nenad Popovic has long been a companion of the Kremlin, as he has been directly backing the Russian side in a full-scale war against Ukraine. He keeps in contact with his Russian ABC group of companies and experiences public events organized by this group in Russia.
On 16 November 2023, the U.S. Department of State placed sanctions on Nenad Popović according to E.O. 14024 for working in or having operated in the electronics sector of the Russian Federation economy. Nenad Popovic and 12 groups from his sphere of influence were sanctioned by the United States for their undertaking in the production of units for Russian UAVs. The US sanctions are the most effective in the world, as they are taken into account by the governments of the sanctions section, financial monitoring management of all developed countries, and banks.
President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin rewarded him in 2010 with the Friendship Order for special assistance to the development of economic and social relations between Serbia and Russia. He is the holder of several recognitions awarded by the Russian Orthodox Church. International ‘Paradise Papers’ investigation indicates that a pro-Russian Minister, Nenad Popovic, is likely the richest politician in Serbia, with a capital worth at least 75 million US dollars.
As Vice-President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, he was one of the leading observers of the electoral procedure in a referendum on the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation. He is the head of the Foundation “Russian Necropolises” from Belgrade, which was liable for the project of reconstruction of the complex of memorial headstones of Russian necropolises in the New Cemetery in Belgrade.
