Borislav Paravac

Member of the Presidency, Bosnia and Herzegovina

(Official Website, SEE Online, RFE/RL, Tanjug)

Borislav Paravac was confirmed as a member of Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH) tripartite presidency on 10 April 2003, filling the post left vacant by the resignation of Mirko Sarovic. Representing the country's Serb community, Paravac also succeeded his predecessor as the presidency's rotating chairman.

Born in Kostajnica on 18 February 1943, Paravac graduated from the Economic Faculty in Zagreb in 1966. Until 1990, he filled various senior positions at industrial, commercial and other enterprises. He then served as mayor of Doboj.

Paravac was a member of the Republika Srpska Parliament from 1996 to 2002. He became a member and first deputy chairman of the BiH Parliamentary House of Representatives following the country's general elections on 5 October 2002.

In April 2003, Sarovic resigned over an arms exports affair and the Serb Democratic Party nominated Paravac as his successor to the presidency.

A certified accountant and financial auditor, Paravac said economic reforms would be his chief priority.

Paravac is married and the father of two grown-up children.