Predrag Bošković

Predrag Bošković (; born 12 March 1972) is a Montenegrin politician and sports administrator. Currently he is a member of the Parliament of Montenegro, and the former Minister of Defence of Montenegro. Bošković is an economist and has been involved in politics since 1997. He was a member of the Montenegrin Parliament, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Government of Serbia and Montenegro. He served also as Minister of Economy, as Minister of Labor and Social Welfare and as Minister of Education in various Montenegrin governments.

Concurrently, he is the Vice-President of the European Handball Federation and member of the International Handball Federation Council.

Early life and education Predrag Bošković was born in Pljevlja, Yugoslavia, as the second child in the family of Milenko and Milana Bošković.One year before he was born his parents and brother Dragan were supposed to move to Germany, but they ultimately decided to stay in Pljevlja . Father Milenko has greatly influenced Predrag's life and still remains an important source of his inspiration.

At the age of 7, Bošković moved to Podgorica where he finished both primary and high school.

In 2000 he became a member of the Podgorica City Council and later a member of the Montenegrin Parliament from 2001-2004, after which he got elected the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Government of Serbia and Montenegro.

From November 2005 to September 2006 he served as the Minister of Economy in the Government of Montenegro.

From September 2006 to August 2008 he was the president of the Board of Directors of Montenegrobonus (a prominent Montenegrin oil and gas trade company).

In December 2012 he was elected Minister of Labor and Social Welfare. He remained at this position until March 2015, when he became Minister of Education.

On 28 November 2016 he was elected as Minister of Defense of the Republic of Montenegro, leaving his previous post as Minister of Education.

Handball Being sportsman himself, Bošković got involved in Montenegrin handball in 2005 when he became a board member of the Women's Handball Club, Budućnost. In December 2006 he became the president of the club. After his election, he set the European Champions League title as a medium-term goal. Starting from his election, all the decisions were made keeping this goal in mind, for which general public criticized him quite often. Prior to this historical triumph, the club lost seven EHFCL semifinals. During Boskovic's presidency the club also won the second Champions League title in 2015, eleven domestic championships (2007-2017), six regional league titles (2010-2015), one Cup Winner's Cup (CWC) title in 2010 and was also the semifinalist of the EHFCL in 2011, 2016 and 2017 and the finalist in 2014. Due to obligations in EHF, Boskovic resigned as president of Handball Club Buducnost on 12 March 2018.

In 2011 he was the elected president of the Montenegrin Handball Association and held this position until September 2016 when he stepped down due to the candidacy for the vice-president of the European Handball Federation. In 2012 both men's and women's national teams accomplished the best results in their history. The men's national team qualified for the World Handball Championship, that was held in Spain in 2013 Few months after that, on 11 August, women's national team won the silver medal at the London 2012 Olympics. This medal is viewed as a historical achievement since it is the first Olympic medal for Montenegro since its independence in 2006. The great year for Montenegrin handball was crowned with the European Championship title which Montenegrin Women's Handball Team won on 16 December 2012.

Many analysts and organizations, including the International Handball Federation (IHF), agree that Bošković is one of the people who have contributed the most to the immense success of the Montenegrin handball. The IHF even referred to him as the "father of success". Recognizing his stellar work, the European Handball Federation (EHF) elected Boskovic as an Executive Committee (ExeC) Member in June 2012. Furthermore, he was elected as the EHF Vice President and IHF Council Member in November 2016.

Contribution to Serbian Church For his contribution to the Serbian Orthodox Church Bošković was awarded with the Order of St. Sava. He was excommunicated by the Serbian Orthodox Church in late December 2019, when he gave support to the newly proclaimed religion law which de jure transfers the ownership of church buildings and estates from the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro to the Montenegrin state. "I will be pleased to return award" stated Bošković after the law passed in the Parliament of Montenegro.