Mirko Butulija, President Of The Automobile And Motorcycle Association Of Serbia

Germany’s ADAC is one of the world’s best organised national auto-motor alliances, and AMSS, despite its growing competition, is its only authorised partner in our country. In order to get the lowdown on the problem of wild tow trucks on the roads of Serbia and their impact on road safety and the international reputation of the association, we spoke to AMSS President Mirko Butulija.

“The international reputation of AMSS has never been brought into question, but the fact remains that there is an existing problem of wild tow trucks, or vehicles carrying the faked marking of our AMSS and Germany’s ADAC, who extort money from people, and that problem is most common during the summer season. The most common targets of scams are precisely drivers who are members of Germany’s ADAC, and that doesn’t only damage AMSS, but also the reputation of the entire Republic of Serbia, which is a transit country.

“With the aim of resolving this problem, AMSS has standardised the way it provides services, clearly marked all vehicles and employees, in accordance with agreements reached with foreign clubs. At the meeting with the management of ADAC, we defined the procedures of cooperation and concluded that Serbia is ready for drivers from Germany during this year’s summer season.

AMSS acts as the most socially responsible and operationally successful organisation in Serbia in the fields of automobiles and traffic

Our efforts and investments, and not only when it comes to these moves, are recognised and acknowledged by the international community. This is also supported by the fact is that at the last session of the Assembly of FIA Region 1, in Belgium, I – as AMSS president – was elected to become a board member. This is the first time in history that the governing body of the FIA has included someone only from Serbia, but from anywhere in the Balkans, and that person was directly elected by the Assembly’s delegates.”

What comprises all elements of AMSS today?

– AMSS’s complex business system, which has been developing for more than 90 years – via subsidiary companies – has unified all services required by the modern driver: service, technical inspection, registration, all types of vehicle and passenger insurance, and – as of a few years ago – real estate property, driver training through manuals for passing driver’s tests, issuance of international driving documents, credentials and ADR certificates, then checks on the origin and estimates of vehicle worth, checking and obtaining tachygraphy, selling TAG devices and updates for electronic pay toll collection, recording and assessing the safety of roads in accordance with the EuroRAP/iRAP Methodology, organisation of 24/7 roadside assistance, tourist and freight forwarding services.

In which does AMSS, in terms of travel assistance and insurance, monitor European trends and succeed in maintaining a high position on the market?

– Over the previous year, we have paid special attention to improving and developing the membership of AMSS, and we have done that through the development of adequate packages of roadside assistance services, discount schemes for members, and the development of new sales channels. Drivers have good reason to believe in AMSS, which now has a family of drivers that includes the largest number of members in the last 10 years: 100,000!

Simultaneously, AMS Osiguranje (Insurance) holds the position of a stable and leading domestic insurance company, the biggest asset of which is both in its wide sales network and the speed at which damages are paid to insured parties. We are exerting great efforts in the development of property and travel health insurance, in order for the key of “all in one place” to enable people to be worry-free in the right sense of that term, both on the road and in the home.