Terzić: We are hungry for new successes and we know how to achieve them

- Dear members of the Assembly, Dear friends,

First of all, allow me to greet you and wish you successful work at today's session. I can say with particular pleasure that we have repeated the fulfillment of the basic strategic goals set by the Club Assembly according to the following:

The first goal - absolute dominance in results in Serbia and relevance in Europe.

The second goal is financial stability and growth.

The third goal - investing in modern infrastructure.

The fourth goal - the talents of our primary school.

There is no time for rest in Zvezda. We are aware of high expectations. We are hungry for success, we are hungry to be even better and to grow and improve the club every day.

1. The continuity of Red Star in top sports results, which is the main goal of the club, is the first and basic measure of our work and the fulfillment of the set goals. For the first time in the history of the club, we won three double crowns as well as six titles in a row. The seventh group stage of the UEFA competition in a row, of which three group stages of the Champions League are a confirmation of our strength in Europe. Such sports results are also a generator of large incomes that, above all, provide us with financial stability.

The generated coefficient allowed us a direct placement in the group stage of the Champions League. This is the result of our work over the past nine years. In those nine years, we won seven championship titles and reached the group stage of UEFA competitions seven times.

For the first time in history, our club is in the third hat for the Champions League. Crvena zvezda is again very important in Europe today. Our stadium Rajko Mitić is a reality on the football map of Europe. Crvena zvezda is today a team that other teams in Europe will be afraid of during the draw.

Absolute dominance in Serbia is our obligation, the winning streak we are in will not be able to be stopped by anyone. You are witnessing the creation of a new strong Red Star that we have not had in the recent history of our club.

Crvena zvezda is today the 42nd European club in the UEFA ranking, and I want to repeat so that it is not forgotten that in 2014 the club was ranked 210th in Europe. In the Champions League, we are among the best 24 clubs of the Old Continent.

Crvena zvezda will continue with successes. At the very beginning of this year's preparations, we have an almost completely formed team for the next season. The decision to expand the club's scouting service, invest more in it and hire Marko Marin as the club's technical director is already paying off. According to our strategy, we increasingly balance the team structure with our young players.

We brought in a coach who is young, hungry for new successes, but already very experienced, with results behind him that deserve respect. We believe that he will be able to meet all our demands, which are winning the championship title and even better results in Europe.

We made large investments in the team for our circumstances, while the same are modest by European standards, but we are a financial outsider used to having to fight against much richer clubs.

Zvezda, regardless of its financial base, must chase passage through the Champions League against much richer than itself and thus prove that we know better than others how to manage the club.

2. Regarding financial stability and growth, it is important to point out that we receive the UEFA license as a confirmation of good business in parallel with the three-month UEFA monitoring. The club is financially stable with constant growth and development that requires large investments, above all in the team. We are proud of the fact that we settled all tax obligations towards the state in full, in the amount of more than 13 million euros.

We are also proud of the following achieved results:

▪ In the previous nine years, we generated revenues of over 300 million euros for the club, of which around 85% came from abroad, primarily from UEFA and transfer revenues.

▪ In that period, the club paid about 33 million euros in taxes to the state.

In parallel, the financial contribution to other Serbian football clubs amounts to over 30 million euros.

When I arrived, Zvezda was capable of earning 10 million euros, while currently the club earns over 50 million euros a year.

This year we expect an income of over 50 million euros, but again primarily as a result of income from UEFA and a smaller part from the sale of players.

In contrast, the basis of our income should be commercial income - tickets, TV rights and sponsors.

Crvena zvezda has income from TV rights in a symbolic amount, which for years was below 1% of the income structure, and now it is less than 2%. Until that is corrected, we will have a problem with the stable financing of the club.

Also, sponsorships are only 15% of our club's income. Crvena zvezda has no significant stable sources of income.

We are convinced that we represented all our sponsor partners more than worthily throughout Europe and that we fully justified every euro invested by them. We hope that we have earned their trust and for increasing contracts in the future.

Tickets and other match day revenues make up a significant percentage of club revenues in Europe. Except for UEFA matches, we have very little income. Also, when there are big matches, we unfortunately have low prices because Zvezda has a social responsibility towards our people.

So, we are left with two alternative sources of income that are uncertain sources and depend on many factors. These are income from transfers and income from UEFA bonuses.

We have interest in more of our players, but we will not sell anyone below what we feel is a fair and marketable price.

The transition period in Europe started today and will last until September 1. There will certainly be outgoing transfers in the amount of around 12 million euros, as foreseen in the financial plan.

Income from transfers was low in the previous period and below the planned plans because the transfer market stopped completely in one period due to corona, but also because we sometimes refused offers because we did not want to sell the best players in order to save the team.

By selling the best players, we are eating our own substance, and from season to season we would have a weaker team, and thus weaker results. The income from the UEFA bonus directly depends on the achieved results, and the results depend on the quality of players we have.

To be dominant in Serbia and partially competitive in Europe, Red Star needs 50 million euros.

We have a basis for financial long-term sustainability, but we have to continue with the development strategy, which is that every year the club grows and becomes more competitive with European teams. Especially since the reform of the UEFA competition is planned from next season. An increase in income of about 40% is planned and we must use it, I hope also next season through the Champions League. Next season we have qualifications for the Champions League, only in the playoffs and that as holders.

It is also extremely important to solve the urban planning and property issues at the location and thereby get access to capital. We also plan to increase commercial revenues in the next three years with new staff, investments in technological development and strategic repositioning of the brand.

When it comes to obligations, I must emphasize that we have no debt that burdens the functioning of the club. The debt as of today, July 1, amounts to 38 million euros. As long as the net financial obligations are less than the annual income, it is considered acceptable and sustainable. And our debt is much less than our annual income. At the moment, our priority is building a team that can produce sports results and new income. And we always keep the debt under control.

3. Crvena zvezda has a modern infrastructure today, even without solving the strategic location issue, thanks to large investments every year. We invested over 10 million euros from current operations and raised the conditions for the work of our players and employees, as well as the comfort of our fans. Today, as you can see, our stadium and training center is one big construction site. We are still working to further modernize the infrastructure.

As we informed you at the previous assembly, the strategic issue of the location is something that the club is working on in parallel, and the assembly committee for infrastructure is actively involved in its work. As we have already mentioned, the final decision on that topic, which includes the stadium, will be made by this Assembly as the highest body of the club.

In order to present a concrete proposal, detailed analyzes and further discussions with all relevant structures are needed, and above all with fans, expert services, urban planners, architects, and potential financiers.

I will repeat that the stadium will certainly remain at the same address, Ljutice Bogdana 1a. We also leave the possibility of reconstructing the existing stadium.

4. I said at the last Assembly, and I will say it again today, that the Youth School works well, but it can always do better. We have to speed up the formation process of our players. Our talents must become players and have more value in the market. We must work better with the players and pay more attention to the part outside their training process. For this reason, a decision was made on certain organizational and personnel changes in the primary school. A decision was made to form an elite group of players who will be given special attention and for whom a boarding school will be established within the framework of our training center using the hotel facility that until now was used by the first team.

By correcting the perceived mistakes, we must increase the market value of our team and maximize transfer revenue. Our elementary school is full of Serbia's greatest talents, and I believe that in the coming period we will materialize investments in the elementary school system and our B team.

Finally, I would like to thank all the sponsors of our club, and above all the companies Gazprom, Telekom and Mozart.

We are champions, we are a big European club, and we must do everything to be that way in the future with further stability and constant growth.

Thank you for your attention.