Ilija Gecev, the owner of the “IGM Trade” company from Kavadarci, is the only billionaire in Macedonia, reported the Serbian magazine “Nedeljnik”, which compiled a list of the 100 richest people in the region for the first time. “Nedeljnik” emphasizes that the list does not show how much money the businessmen have in their accounts, but how much their companies are worth and how much money they could potentially get if they sell them today.

Gecev ranked 18th place on this list, with an estimated fortune of 1,054,946,440 euros. It closes the circle of billionaires in the former Yugoslavia, led by the Croatian “king of insurance” Dubravko Grgic, who has a fortune of 2.84 billion euros.

“IGM Trade” has existed since 1994 and is considered one of the largest export companies in Macedonia. It produces steel and welded pipes and profiles, and in this area, it is one of the largest companies in Southeast Europe.

“Nedeljnik” concludes that the list shows that the former Yugoslav division of developed and underdeveloped is still valid, because the economies of Montenegro, BiH and Macedonia are far behind those of Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. Inequality is most pronounced in Montenegro, where the assets of the five richest are worth 1.7 billion euros, which is 35.4% of GDP, while in Macedonia this amounts to 23.9% of GDP.

“Nedeljnik” compiled the list of the 100 richest people in the region in cooperation with two renowned consulting firms working on the New York Stock Exchange. With the exception of Gecev, only businessmen from Croatia and Serbia are among the richest 20.