Ratko Butorovi

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Ratko Butorovi
Born Ratko Buturovi
17 July 1956
Niki, PR Montenegro, FPR Yugoslavia
Died 8 June 2013 (aged 56)
Novi Sad, Serbia
Nationality Montenegrin
Alma mater University of Novi Sad
Occupation FK Vojvodina owner (2006-2013)
Hotel Park owner (2004-2013)
Hotel Leopold I operator (2006-2013)
Children Bala Butorovi
Ratko Butorovi, (17 July 1956 8 June 2013) also known as Bata Kan Kan was a Monte
negrin businessman.
Born in Niki, Butorovi found success in Novi Sad where he owned several hospitality
venues and also had a stint as the owner of the city's football club FK Vojvodi
na. Known for his colourful clothing and eccentric ways, he also had alleged tie
s to various underworld figures in Serbia and Montenegro such as ore Boovi and Brano
Miunovi.[1]
Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Business career
2.1 Hospitality
2.1.1 Hotel Park
2.1.2 Hotel Leopold I
2.2 FK Vojvodina
2.2.1 2008 arrest on match-fixing suspicion
3 References
4 Additional sources
Early life[edit]
After completing high school in his hometown, still a teenager Buturovi moved nor
thwards to SR Serbia, first to Belgrade and eventually settling in Novi Sad wher
e he enrolled at the University of Novi Sad's Faculty of Mechanical Engineering.
He reportedly already had a knack for business, making his first money by selli
ng clothing stolen in Italy and then smuggled into Yugoslavia.[2]
In his twenties he moved to Vienna where, having a strong physical build, he wor
ked as bouncer and bodyguard.[3] He also spent some time in Paris. By mid-1980s
he returned to SR Serbia where he modified his last name from Buturovi to Butorov
i, reportedly due to transgressions committed abroad.[3]
Business career[edit]
Butorovi's first foray into business occurred in 1987 in Novi Sad when he opened
a retail store selling general goods.[4] Named 'Kan Kan', the store further ceme
nted his by now widely known nickname.
The store soon expanded into a chain of shops around the city and he furthermore
expanded his activities by establishing a rent-a-car company as well as an airp
ort taxi service shuttling passengers between Novi Sad and Belgrade Airport.[4]
By now based out of a small office located in the state-owned Hotel Park in Novi
Sad, Butorovi was involved in various business activities during the early 1990s
, including running a pawnbroker's shop and donating a medical vehicle to the Se
rbian forces fighting in the Battle of Vukovar.[5]
Following the controversial September 1995 death of 19-year-old beauty queen Jel
ena Molnar in a Hotel Park room that had been rented by Butorovi's company and wh
ere she had stayed with her 23-year-old boyfriend Predrag Marii, one of Butorovi's
bodyguards, Butorovi left Serbia and FR Yugoslavia, settling in Greece.[5] Marii go
t charged with murder, but got acquitted following the trial. The case then got
appealed by the public prosecutor and it went before the Serbian Supreme Court w
here Marii got acquitted again.[6]
Hospitality[edit]
From 2000 onwards Butorovi became involved with larger business ventures in the h
ospitality industry. In Kumbor near Herceg Novi in Montenegro, he first opened a
small 5-star hotel named Xanadu, which he sold several years later.
In 2003, he built and opened a 6,500 square meter shopping center in Novi Sad na
med 'Pariski magazin' on Kralja Aleksandra Street that houses a series of cafes,
spas, beauty parlours, and retail shops.
Hotel Park[edit]
Then, in 2004, came his biggest investment, buying state-owned Hotel Park in Nov
i Sad at a privatization tender auction for RSD100 million.[4] In a way it was B
utorovi's expansion at a location that had been the seat of his business for more
than a decade. Refurbishing and upgrading the huge venue that houses some 22,00
0 square meters of indoor space, Butorovi turned it into Novi Sad's premier hospi
tality venue.
Hotel Leopold I[edit]
In August 2006, at an international tender auction, Butorovi's company HTUP Park
won 30-year lease rights to Hotel Varadin located on the Petrovaradin Fortress.[
7] Under the terms of the lease agreement that was signed by then Novi Sad mayor
Maja Gojkovi and HTUP Park representative Kosta Kliska, Butorovi's company took o
n the obligation of investing at least 6 million into the 5,405 square meter prop
erty while it was under no obligation of paying a lease fee to the city for the
first 5 years of the agreement.[7] Furthermore, once the first 5 years were up i
n September 2011, it agreed to pay the lease fee of 3.8 per square meter (21,000 p
er month) to the city of Novi Sad.[7] Butorovi reportedly invested 6.5 million in
the hotel renovation and re-opened it as Hotel Leopold I in June 2007.[8]
On 15 November 2007, the 200 meter long protective rampart, located at the Gornj
a tvrava part of the Fortress in the hotel's near vicinity, got demolished. It wa
s unclear who ordered the demolition with fingers being pointed back and forth b
etween Butorovi and several state owned companies that have jurisdiction over the
Fortress. Stjepan R., the worker who carried out the demolition using an excava
tor, even got arrested, but the responsibility for the event in terms of who ord
ered it never got cleared up.[7] The rampart was subsequently built again.
In January 2014, some six months following Butorovi's death, his son Bala confirme
d that the family is no longer involved in running the hotel on a day-to-day bas
is, having decided to sublease it to a foreign entity.[9]
FK Vojvodina[edit]
In 2006 Butorovi became the owner of the struggling Vojvodina Novi Sad football c
lub in Serbia. His investment triggered a revival in the club's fortunes, immedi
ately breaking into the top three in the Serbian SuperLiga.
2008 arrest on match-fixing suspicion[edit]
On Tuesday, 29 January 2008, Butorovi got arrested on suspicion of match fixing.[
1] His apprehension came as part of a sweeping action by Serbian police aimed at
dealing with widespread football corruption in the country. Police suspected th
at Butorovi, along with FK Vojvodina managing board president Milan abri, fixed foo
tball matches by bribing football referees Mihajlo Jekni and Borislav Kaanski whom
he established contact with through former referee Goran Kovai.[1] abri, Jekni, Kaans
ki, and Kovai were all also arrested on the same day. Butorovi got taken in spectac
ular fashion as police stormed his villa in Stanoja Glavaa Street in the Telep ne
ighbourhood around 4pm while some twenty investigators and plain-clothed policem
en reportedly searched his house for relevant evidence before taking him to a po
lice station around 7pm.[1] A small number of FK Vojvodina fans gathered in fron
t of his house while police searched it, offering support by chanting "Don't giv
e up, Bata".[1]
Butorovi was later released with no charges pressed against him due to lack of ev
idence. Although Butorovi was well known as the high-ranking member of the Monten
egrin mafia in Novi Sad, this was the only time he was even investigated for any
of his crimes. Reputedly he was protected by the Montenegrin president Milo ukan
ovi.
Butorovi died of natural causes in 2013.[10] Butorovi was known for his colourful
lifestyle. He assumed the alias 'Bata Kan Kan', adopted an extravagant style of
dress, and was reportedly friends with rapper 50 Cent.[10]