Staša Košarac

Staša Košarac (Сташа Кошарац; born 19 March 1975) is a Bosnian Serb politician serving as Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations since December 2019. He is also the current Vice-chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, serving alongside Zukan Helez. He was previously a member of the national House of Representatives.

Košarac was born in Sarajevo in 1975. He holds a degree from the Faculty of Business and Industrial Management in Belgrade. He has been a member of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats since 1998. Košarac was elected to the National Assembly of Republika Srpska in 2004. He was a member of the national House of Peoples from 2011 to 2014. He was elected to the national House of Representatives in the 2014 general election. Re-elected in the 2018 general election, Košarac served as member of the House of Representatives until December 2019, when he was appointed Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations.

Early life
Košarac was born on 19 March 1975 to Bosnian Serb parents Milorad and Zoranka in Sarajevo, where he finished elementary and then high school Đuro Pucar Stari in Vogošća. He graduated from the Faculty of Business and Industrial Management in Belgrade in 2014.

Political career
Košarac is a member of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, and got his first public position when he was 25 years old as a councilor in the Municipal Assembly of Višegrad. In 2004, he got elected to the National Assembly of Republika Srpska. In January 2010, he became the head of the Team for Coordination of War Crimes Investigation and Search for Missing Persons of Republika Srpska by the decision of the government of Republika Srpska.

In 2011, Košarac became a member of the national House of Peoples. In the 2014 general election, he was elected to a parliamentary seat in the national House of Representatives. He was re-elected to the House of Representatives in the 2018 general election, obtaining over 37,000 votes.

On 23 December 2019, Košarac was appointed as Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations in the cabinet of Zoran Tegeltija. In October 2021, the cabinet, at the proposal of Košarac, drafted a decision on temporary suspension and reduction of customs rates on imports of new electric and hybrid cars until 31 December 2022. He stayed as minister in the cabinet of Borjana Krišto. Additionally, Košarac was appointed as the new vice-chairman of the Council of Ministers on 22 August 2023.

Personal life
Košarac lived in Istočno Sarajevo with his second wife Sanja and their three children. On 28 November 2020, it was confirmed that he tested positive for COVID-19, amid its pandemic in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

On 7 December 2020, Košarac's wife Sanja accused him of threatening and cheating on her. Košarac married Aleksandra Ivković, 17 years his junior, in October 2021, shortly after the completion of his second divorce.