Ante Markovic, the last prime minister of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), died in Zagreb in the night between Sunday and Monday at the age of 87, his family confirmed on Monday morning.
Markovic was born in Konjic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on 25 November 1924. He graduated from the University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering in 1954.
He worked in the Zagreb-based 'Rade Koncar' company from 1961 to 1984. He entered politics in 1982 and became President of the Presidency of the Socialist Republic of Croatia in 1986.
Markovic was appointed President of the SFRY Federal Executive Council in March 1989. Later that year he launched economic reforms in Yugoslavia, including stabilization of currency and privatisation of state-owned self-managed companies through the allocation of shares to workers. His reforms halted the rampant inflation that hit the SFRY in the 1980s.
Markovic was perceived as a new, modern Western-style politician.
