Serbian businessman Miodrag Kostic’s ambitions to establish himself as a key player in the Slovenian tourist industry came one step closer to reality this month when it was confirmed that he had secured a majority shareholding in Portoroz Airport. The smallest of Slovenia’s three international airports, Portoroz is located right on the Croatian border and serves a number of Croatian and Italian tourist resorts including Trieste and Umag as well as Piran, Izola, Koper in Slovenia itself.
Already the owner of two major hotels in the region, Kostic has now built up a 53% stake in Aerodrom Portoroz and recently also attempted to take control of the nearby marina, the only one of its kind on Slovenia’s coastline.
One of the richest men in Serbia and the founder and owner of the MK Group diversified holding company that has traditionally focussed on the agribusiness sector, Kostic last year acquired a majority state in Slovenia’s Gorenjska Bank and appears to be intent on using it as a springboard for expansion into the country’s booming tourist industry. In 2017, tourism contributed €5.10bn or 11.9% to the national GDP and was expected to grow by more than 6% over the course of 2018.