Recent reporting has focused attention on Vista Rica, an Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) formed in 2023, and on a legal change a year earlier that critics say opened a route for wealthy individuals to channel tax payments into private investment vehicles. A 2022 amendment to Serbia’s Law on Personal Income Tax lets high earners divert up to half of their annual tax bill into an AIF rather than pay that money directly to the state. The government presented the change as a way to boost investment; opponents argue it reduces public revenue and disproportionately advantages the rich.
Although AIFs are lawful, investigations by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) and the Serbian weekly Radar have raised suspicions that Vista Rica has become a vehicle for members of Serbia’s political and business elite. Radar’s 2025 probe linked the fund’s management and investor base to people close to President Aleksandar Vučić and his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).
Radar reported that two of the three owners of the firm managing Vista Rica — and a significant share of the fund’s investors — have ties to figures associated with Vučić and the SNS. The investigation named Tatjana Vukić as the largest co-owner with a reported 50% stake; she is described in reporting as a close associate of the Vučić family. Journalists quoted by Radar say the fund’s ownership and investor list includes senior SNS politicians, businessmen who have won large state contracts, and entrepreneurs whose companies expanded rapidly after the SNS came to power in 2012.
Another named shareholder is Vojislav Nedić, reported to hold a 25% stake and identified as the brother of Novak Nedić, the government’s long-time secretary-general. Novak Nedić has been the subject of media investigations over alleged ties to a criminal group facing charges including murder, drug trafficking and money laundering. Radar’s coverage also lists other investors said to be connected to the president’s family, Finance Minister Siniša Mali, and parliamentary speaker and former prime minister Ana Brnabić.
The reporting highlights companies that reportedly prospered after 2012, sometimes through public procurement. Examples cited include IT firm Prointer, which reportedly won one public tender in 2012 and about 150 in the following five years, and construction company Millennium Team, which has been awarded contracts totaling nearly €250 million. The fund’s investor roster, Radar says, also includes individuals who have faced criminal investigations or court proceedings.
One high-profile name linked in media reports to the network is former handball player Vladimir Mandić, detained in Montenegro on suspicion of carrying large sums of cash and of attempting to influence elections. Mandić has been reported as tied to circles of SNS loyalists accused of intimidating protesters and voters.
Journalists working on the probes describe Vista Rica as emblematic of how tightly interwoven political and business networks tied to the SNS have become. Vuk Cvijić of Radar told reporters he views Vista Rica as effectively an SNS-linked fund that appears to enjoy protection across state institutions; he said police failed to act in some instances and that investigators were withdrawn from inquiries.
The story gained renewed attention after Serbia’s Administration for the Prevention of Money Laundering (APML) reviewed Vista Rica following a bank alert. A former APML official, Danijela Miletić, has said an internal inquiry began after a bank reported a suspicious transaction in which an individual attempted to withdraw roughly €1 million in cash. Miletić told media that the person owned a company that had repeatedly won public tenders and that some of the cash had been funneled into Vista Rica, with others following similar patterns.
Miletić has alleged she faced political pressure after the probe started. She says she was detained on suspicion of revealing official secrets — a charge she denies was supported by evidence — and that she received a threatening call she attributes to Tatjana Vukić, who allegedly said she would “call Siniša” (a reference to Finance Minister Siniša Mali, whose ministry oversees the APML). Miletić was removed from her post and later dismissed; she also told media the administration’s director warned her to leave the country, citing threats to her and her child.
President Vučić has downplayed criticism of his family’s links to the fund, saying people have the right to save and invest, including his brother. Financial experts interviewed by Deutsche Welle and other outlets have argued the core issue is not private saving but the legal framework that permits tax diversion into AIFs and the weak scrutiny of the origin of funds invested in them.
According to Radar, Serbia’s Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime has started to examine financial flows connected to some Vista Rica investors. Observers say the crucial question is whether inquiries can be pursued independently and thoroughly, including tracing where invested money originated and whether laws on money laundering and taxation have been violated, given the political influence surrounding the individuals involved.