World Report

obar Group, one of the biggest private sector conglomerates in Bosnia and Herzegovina, could almost be considered an economy on its own, such is the broad range of the goods and services it produces.
The span is impressive, covering insurance, banking, engineering, construction, agriculture, trading in oil and petroleum products, transport, freight forwarding, tourism and catering, processing equipment, wooden goods, mass media and informatics.

Bobar
‘You have to believe in your ability – without it, you have no chance’

It all began with one man who set up business with a garage. That man was Gavrilo Bobar and he built his company up from scratch as the country began the movement towards a free market economy in the late 1980s.
By then, Mr Bobar had been involved in politics for about 12 years. “In 1989 I felt that the dissolution of the political system in former Yugoslavia was very close and I disagreed with the growing nationalism that was breaking out all around me,” he says. “So, I moved into the private business sector.”

Mr Bobar takes pride in belonging to a family with a reputation for keeping up with the times. “We have always been famous for being a step ahead of the others,” he says.
While others pondered what was going to happen to the economy, Mr Bobar was building up his business in his home town of Bijeljina in the Serb Republic.
His first big move was to set up the first insurance company, entirely backed by private capital. Soon he had a substantial source of revenue to finance further investment.
Journalists frequently ask him to explain the secret of his success, to which he has several practical answers. “There is no secret formula,” he says. “You have to believe in your ability. If you don’t have faith in your ability, you stand absolutely no chance of succeeding.”


From small acorns: Bobar Group, which began with one garage, has grown into a big private sector conglomerate with an extensive range of interests

The second factor is hard work. “No matter how much you believe in your ability, if you sleep 10 hours a day you’re not going to achieve very much. My working hours have always been 12 hours a day and nowadays it can be up to 18 hours.
“I am very happy working that much because it is a pleasure for me. You have to learn a lot and you have to invest in people who will make your ideas happen,” he adds.
Mr Bobar believes he has been instrumental in helping to create a diversified and competitive economy in Bijeljina. “Before I started up my bank, I lent a huge amount of money to people who were starting their own business. Why did I do that? Well, there is no point in having only one Bobar and having him as the strongest businessman,” he says. “I want to see 5,000 Bobars so that we can do business together, “I have never wanted to destroy competition because once you create a monopoly, development stops. The greatest danger that business faces is the existence of a monopoly.”

Mr Bobar wants the government to focus less on political issues and more on economic reforms to create the right climate for investment. “We need foreign investors to invest on a more significant scale,” he says.
“It is logical for them to invest here – we don’t have anything and we need everything. They can make a profit here better than anywhere else in the world.”
For all his reforming spirit, Mr Bobar eschews any suggestion that he might return to politics. “I have never started dealing with politics again,” he says. “I quit that once and I will never be a part of it again.”