Explosion at the MB Namenska factory in Lučani

Category: Victims of negligence

Period: from 14 Jul 2017

Outcome: Guilty verdict (as of 5 Oct 2026)

Workers Milojko Ignjatović and Milomir Milivojević were killed in an explosion and fire on 14 July 2017 at the state-owned factory Milan Blagojević – Namenska in Lučani, while barrels of gunpowder waste were being unloaded. An indictment against the director and two managers was filed only after almost two years, following a meeting between the family of one of the dead workers and President Vučić. Only Tomo Stojić received a final conviction, with a sentence of two years in prison for an offence committed through negligence. According to several media outlets, he is the very person Vučić pardoned before his resignation.

Explosion at the factory

On Friday, 14 July 2017, an explosion and fire broke out while barrels of gunpowder waste were being unloaded at the state-owned Milan Blagojević – Namenska factory in Lučani, part of the defence industry under the Ministry of Defence. Workers Milojko Ignjatović, 55, and Milomir Milivojević, 25, were killed.

Indictment after two years

The case sat in the pre-investigation phase for almost two years. An indictment against general director Radoš Milovanović and managers Vladimir Lončarević and Tomo Stojić for an aggravated offence against public safety was filed in June 2019, after the Milivojević family met President Vučić.

Hundreds of workers came to the first hearing in Ivanjica to support the director, and some of them insulted the dead worker's family. Milomir's father, Milovan Milivojević, himself a worker at the factory, is publicly fighting for those responsible to be held accountable.

Director Milovanović

Milovanović, director since 1982, under whose leadership 21 workers died at the factory, died in April 2022, and the proceedings against him were dropped. President Vučić and the defence minister attended his funeral.

Three verdicts

The Basic Court in Ivanjica twice convicted Lončarević and Stojić, in 2023 and 2024, sentencing each to three years in prison in non-final verdicts. The Court of Appeal in Kragujevac overturned the first verdict because the cause of the fire and the causal link had not been established.

In a final verdict of the Court of Appeal on 14 May 2025, Lončarević was acquitted and Stojić was sentenced to two years in prison for an offence committed through negligence.

Pardon for Tomo Stojić

Stojić is on the list of 49 people whom Aleksandar Vučić pardoned before resigning, published by the Ministry of Justice on 3 November 2026. According to Vreme, Insajder, IZLAZ, N1, Nova.rs and Danas, he is the manager from Lučani, the only person in this case sentenced to prison. According to Nova.rs, the pardon spared him from serving the rest of his sentence.

On 4 November, according to Vreme, Milovan Milivojević said on TV Nova that Stojić had never even been in prison and that Vučić was using the pardon to take revenge on him and his dead son; he hopes someone will send the case back for review.

Memorial plaque, no answer

In September 2026, Milovan Milivojević again asked the president and the defence minister for permission to put up a memorial plaque where his son was killed; by October 2026 he had received no answer.

Participants

Radoš Milovanović: As general director he was charged with a serious offence against public safety; the proceedings were dropped when he died in 2022 (responsible)
Vladimir Lončarević: He was twice convicted in non-final verdicts and sentenced to three years in prison over the deaths of two workers, and in 2025 he was acquitted in a final verdict (responsible)
Tomo Stojić: As head of occupational safety, he was convicted in a final ruling and sentenced to two years over an explosion that killed two workers; Vučić pardoned him (responsible)
Aleksandar Vučić: He pardoned Tomo Stojić, the only manager sentenced to prison over an explosion that killed two workers (responsible)
Aleksandar Vulin: After the accident he visited the factory and ordered an extraordinary inspection of all defence industry factories (commented on the case)
Nebojša Stefanović: He attended the funeral of director Milovanović, together with the president and the BIA director (commented on the case)
Bratislav Gašić: He attended the director's funeral, and by October 2026 had not replied to the request from the father of a killed worker for a memorial plaque (commented on the case)
Milan Blagojević – Special-Purpose Industry: A Ministry of Defence report found that 11 occupational safety measures at the factory had not been carried out in line with regulations; two workers were killed (responsible)
Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia: After the accident it ordered an extraordinary inspection, and its report, classified as strictly confidential, found 11 workplace safety failures (oversight and the public)
Serbian Progressive Party: Together with the SPS, it voted in the Lučani Municipal Assembly to rename Radnička Street after director Milovanović (commented on the case)
Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Čačak: It indicted the director and two managers and sought prison sentences. (investigation and courts)
Basic Court in Ivanjica: Twice, in non-final rulings, it convicted Lončarević and Stojić over the death of workers and sentenced each of them to three years in prison. (investigation and courts)
Court of Appeal in Kragujevac: In 2023 it overturned the first verdict because the cause of the fire had not been established, and in 2025, in a final ruling, it acquitted Lončarević and convicted Stojić of negligence, sentencing him to two years. (investigation and courts)

Victims and others harmed

Milojko Ignjatović
Milomir Milivojević
Milovan Milivojević: Father of the late Milomir Milivojević