RHMZ Director Nikolic Arrested on Money Laundering Charges
Prosecutors suspect Jugoslav Nikolic and two people identified as O. N. and Dj. N. of moving assets worth at least 650,000 euros between 2019 and 2024. They are held for up to 48 hours.
Jugoslav Nikolic (71), director of the Republic Hydrometeorological Institute (RHMZ), was arrested today, November 3, 2026, on the order of the Special Department for Combating Corruption of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office (VJT) in Belgrade. Officers of the police Service for Combating Corruption carried out the arrest, and two more people, identified by the initials O. N. (71) and Dj. N. (45), were detained as well. All three are suspects, and no guilt has been established.
According to a VJT statement, the three are suspected of transferring and converting assets worth at least 650,000 euros between November 2019 and November 2024 in Belgrade, Cacak, Uzice, Bajina Basta and Montenegro, knowing the assets came from a criminal offense and intending to conceal their illegal origin.
What do prosecutors charge them with?
All three are suspected of money laundering under Article 245, paragraph 2, in connection with paragraph 1, of the Criminal Code. Nikolic is also charged under Article 101 of the Law on Prevention of Corruption, for failing to report assets and income or for giving false information about them.
According to the prosecution, Nikolic paid cash into accounts at one bank that is not covered by his lawful income: 41,878,195 dinars, 43,150 euros and 44,760 Swiss francs. The money was allegedly used to buy real estate in Belgrade, Uzice and Montenegro. Prosecutors say that, as a public official, he did not file reports on material changes in his assets with the Anti-Corruption Agency, although Article 69 of the same law required him to.
Who moved what, and how did the property end up with Dj. N.?
O. N. is suspected of transferring at least 227,548 euros of unlawful origin between June 2021 and 2023, using it to buy several apartments, a garage space and business premises in Cacak and Montenegro. Dj. N. is suspected of transferring at least 1.5 million dinars in June 2021 to buy an apartment in Montenegro.
The final part of the suspicion concerns November 2024. Prosecutors say Nikolic and O. N. signed a contract on the transfer and distribution of property during their lifetimes before a public notary in Cacak on November 22, 2024. Under it, they handed Dj. N. ownership rights to several apartments, garage spaces, cadastral plots and one business premises. For November 28, 2024, the statement mentions only a transfer of property in Montenegro, with no contract and no notary.
What did Nikolic report to the Agency?
The last report he filed with the Anti-Corruption Agency, in late March 2025, lists a monthly income of 370,000 dinars, co-ownership of a 66-square-meter two-room apartment, a 13.5-square-meter garage space and two cars: a 1996 Skoda Felicia and a 2008 Nissan Tiida. A 2015 report put his salary at 153,911.64 dinars, and besides the apartment and garage he reported a 551-square-meter forest plot.
Nikolic has headed RHMZ since June 2014. He first served as acting director, and after a public competition the Government of Serbia formally appointed him by decision. Under government decisions he is a member of the Republic Headquarters for Emergency Situations and of the National Council on Climate Change, and he is Serbia’s permanent representative to the World Meteorological Organization and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
The suspects have been ordered held for up to 48 hours. Within that period they will be brought in for questioning at the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgrade.
