Miloš Savčić (Svilajnac, 26 July 1865[1] – Belgrade, 9 March 1941[2]) was a Serbian politician, businessman, engineer, banker and entrepreneur who was one of the richest Europeans of his time.

In the beginning, he was engaged in surveying the terrain, based on his recordings, other engineers made a study, then marking all the buildings and curves, and when the construction of facilities began: sewers, intersections with trams, electrical plants and a 30 km long railway, he worked as supervising engineer on the construction of one of the bridges, on which reinforced concrete arches were made for the first time.

[1] After that, they hired him to make an extensive and detailed study, because of which he travelled all over Bavaria, and he had assistants in the business, to whom he showed the recording and tracing of the terrain.

Since the job was supposed to start in May next year, in order to use his free time, he went to serve his military service, which by law should have lasted five months or less, in case he passed the officer's exam earlier.

After a year, he decided, with the financial help of his father, uncle and brother, to start his own business, opening the Engineering and Architecture Office in Belgrade, [4] together with a friend from Munich, the architect Gaspar Becker, in 1893.

Also, the state did not have enough funds for major technical works, such as roads, railways, sewers, bridges, therefore, his firm initially devoted itself to making housing projects.

[9] He was hired by rich merchants Jovan Jovanović Šapčanin and Milan Pavlović, and cassation judge Milutin Marković, all for the purpose of building private family homes.

During 1895 alone, the border was closed three times, and a similar situation was repeated in the following years, forcing the Serbian government to begin the struggle for economic liberation from Austria-Hungary.

Sausages longer than a meter and thicker than a muscle, raised and clenched fists and knives, united citizens, butchers, peasants, guardsmen, workers, and in the background special wagons of the Serbian state railways transported meat in ice to their destination as quickly and efficiently as possible.

[4] The opposition, led by the president of the Association of Engineers of Serbia, Todor Selešković, opposed the favouring of Savčić and his company, demanding that more experts be sent abroad.

[13] In addition, the entire complex played a significant role in the struggle for economic independence during the Customs War, when Serbia emerged the winner.

[15] Working at the slaughterhouse, he quickly became aware of Serbia's economic dependence on foreign countries, especially the import of timber construction materials from Austria-Hungary.

[16] Two years later, the first major steam-powered sawmill in the Kingdom of Serbia was built on the banks of the Danube, which was constantly expanding its capacity until the outbreak of the First World War.

[18] In 1902, the bank received from the state the right to exploit the forests on Tara near the rivers Derventa, Crni Vhr and Zvijezda, and the material was brought by rafts on the Drina, Sava and Danube, to the canal that had a sawmill (Serbian: strugara) in Belgrade.

Shortly after that, the savings bank received the right from the state to exploit Rbarska Spa (Ribarska Banja), for which Savčić prepared a situation, levelling and regulation plan.

[34] Thanks to Savčić's skilful management, in 1909 the bank expanded its business to include shipping and river transport of sand and gravel, which were in great demand in the construction industry.

[35] First, two wooden boats were procured, and later ships, trucks, tugboats, an excavator and an elevator, which were used to transport and unload sand, gravel, as well as timber, which arrived from Tara.

Construction was interrupted during the Balkan Wars, and continued in 1915 at a forced pace, due to its strategic importance, in order to connect Niš with the Danube.

From 1909 to 1915, only tests were carried out,[38] and in 1915 Savčić received a privilege from the state to exploit 150 ore fields in that territory, which had to be postponed due to the war and the undeveloped railway.

[38] In 1930, Prometna Banka took over from Đorđe Vajfert the privilege over the mines Podvis (north of Timok and Tresibaba) and Blagovesti, in which over 800 miners and officials worked.

The children at the Podvis mine attended a state primary school, the construction of which was financed by the Fuel Exploitation Society with all the necessary inverters.

[48] In 1921, a consortium was established, which bought mining fields from Petar Vujan for the exploitation of the Kosovo ore basin, and research began on the right bank of the Sitnica, near Crkvena Vodice.

After the joint-stock company passed into the hands of Prometna Banka, the mine began to prosper, and production and consumption increased, especially with the development of industry in Skopje.

[58] After the enforcement of the Sixth of January dictatorship (1929), the king dissolved the municipal administration by decree in 1926 and appointed Miloš Savčić mayor of Belgrade.

His greatest merit in the function of the mayor is having liberated the city of unfavourable short-term loan, which is due to penalty interest threatened to quell the capital.

[64] At a public auction, Privredna Banka bought the Wagon and Iron Structures Factory in Kruševac (later "October 14" [42]), of which it was previously a creditor, and which immediately before that went bankrupt.

[68] Recognition for the entire activity in the field of economy and construction was given to him at the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of his work, held on 21 October 1939, in the House of the Transport Bank.

[71] On the eve of his death, he bequeathed his valuable property, three hectares of land and a share in two mills, to the Serbian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas in Svilajnac, of which, together with his wife, he was one of the largest donors.

[7] The system consisted of concrete girders in the form of shorter or longer flat beams (post), which are brought to the building ready-made and laid at a distance of 33 cm upright.

He determined the spatial organization and dimensions of his own building by applying a system with Herbst girders for mezzanine structures, and the façade assembly, composed of three unequal segments, was designed by Evgeny Gulin [ru], a Russian civil engineer living in exile in Serbia.