Belgrade Insight, No. 10

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NEWS NEWS

Friday • June 13 • 2008

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Weekly Issue No.110, Friday, Oct. - Nov. 6, 2008 Issue No. / Friday, June 13,31 2008

EU Progress Report: Serbia’s FutureSplits Overshadowed

By Kosovo Lure of Tadic Alliance Socialists Belgrade Insight has obtained exclusive access to a draft of the European Commission’s Progress Report on the Western Balkans.

While younger Socialists support joining a new, pro-EU government, old Milosevic loyalists threaten revolt over the prospect.

Serbia still has much to do, says the report Socialist leader Ivica Dacic remains the Serbian peankingmaker integration structures have

By Gjeraqina Tuhina in Brussels

By Rade Maroevic in Belgrade

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espite the extradition of former ense negotiations on a new govBosnian Serb leader, Radovan ernment havetodivided the ranks Karadzic, the International of theofSocialist which holds Court Justice, Party, the conclusion of a Stability and Association Agreement, the balance of power between the SAA, EU, of main with blocsthe and hasand yetthe to election announce a more stable Europe-leaning governwhich side they will support. ment, Serbia still has much to do on “It looks if the Socialists will its path to EUasaccession. move led by Thetowards annuala government report highlights many of the samepolitical concerns in allMiof the Democrats,” analyst the countries, but, in addilan featured Nikolic, of the independent Cention to the common problems of cortre of Policy Studies, said. “But such ruption, money laundering, and judia move might provoke deeper divicial reform, is particularly critical of sions andtreatment even splitoftheminorities, party.” the Serbia’s country’s border management its Simultaneous negotiationsand held Kosovo with thepolicy. pro-European and nationalThe report praises Serbia’s adist blocs have drawn attention to a ministration and notes that Eurodeep rift inside the Socialists.

This divides “old-timers” loyal

strengthened. well placed to to “Serbia Serbia’s remains late president, Slobodan implement and the Interim Milosevic, the andSAA reformists who want agreement to its good adminthe party tothanks become a modern Euroistrative capacity,” the report states. pean social democrat organisation.

However, it notes the slow progress After eight years ofof stagnation, in the implementation the legislation necessary to take process the Socialists returned to the centre stage forward. after winning 20 of the 250 seats in In addition, haselections. been inparliament in the“there May 11 creased stability in government and Withconsensus the pro-European and nationgreater on European inalist blocs almost evenly matched, tegration”. adds thatnow Serbia hasthemade theItSocialists have final sigsay nificant progress cooperation with on the fate of thein country. the Nikolic Hague believes Tribunalthebut states that Socialists, led full cooperation is an international by Ivica Dacic, will come over to obligation and one of the key prioriTadic, if only out of a pragmatic deties of the European Partnership. is survival. strongly sireHowever, to ensure the theirreport political critical the ofgovernment’s Kos“The of group younger Socialists ovo policyaround notingDacic particularly, gathered seems to the be strengthening of parallel institutions, in the majority”, Nikolic said, adding that these reformists believe the party

POLITICS

THIS ISSUE OF MojsiIn an interview with Juliana lovic, Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic Belgrade Insight talks about Serbia’s EU future.

IS SUPPORTED BY:

Business Insight

Costs Mounting

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conomists are warning that prolonged uncertainty over Serbia’s future could scare off investors, lead NEIGHBOURHOOD to higher inflation and jeopardise prosperity for years to come.

The EULEX mission to Kosovo may “This year has been lost, from the fall under the auspices of the United standpoint of economic policy,” says Nations Mission, in the northern reStojan Stamenkovic of the Economgion of Kosovo. ics Institute in Belgrade. page 5

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including the establishment of an assembly of municipalities and the organisation of elections faces extinction unlesson it Kosovo changes.territory despite UNMIK However, a strongdisapproval. current also The in document further stresses led “it flows the opposite direction, is important that Serbia demonstrates party veterans enraged the aby constructive attitude towardsbyKosprospect of a deal with Tadic. ovo’s participation in regional initiativesMihajlo and international Markovic, forums”. a founder of further warned criticised “intheSerbia party,isrecently offor a crisis sufficient status if Dacic attention opts for to theresolving pro-European of refugees and internally displaced bloc, abandoning theissue Socialists’ “natpersons”.

The whole of the treatural” ideological partners. ment of minorities, and human rights in general, is subject to much scruMarkovic, a prominent supporter tiny.

The reportduring mentions number of Milosevic the a1990s, is ofseen incidents involving inflammatory as representative of the “oldlanguage and violence against civil timers”organizations, in the party who want to stay society human rights true to the former regime’s policies, activists and sections of the media.

“No has been made in the inevenprogress though these almost ruined vestigations murdered journalists Socialists forofgood. dating back to the 1990s or into the Some younger Socialist officials attempted murder of a journalist in have voiced frustration over the continuing impasse within their own

ECONOMICS EDITOR’S WORD Belgrade Insight takes a look at how Political Predictability Balkan countries are responding to the financial global slump.

By Mark R. Pullen

party over which way to turn.

“The situation in the party seems Page 4 extremely complicated, as we try to convince the few remaining lagOUT & ABOUT gards that we need to move out of Pat Andjelkovic explores Serbia’s Milosevic’s shadow,” one Socialist rich naive art scene.

Party official complained.

“Dacic will eventually side with Many of us who have experiTadic in a bid to guide his party into enced numerous Serbian elections the European mainstream, but much rate ourselves as pundits when it of the membership and many officomes to predicting election recials may oppose that move.” sults and post-election moves.

9 Nikolic agreed: “The question is We feel in-the-knowPage because will the party split or will the ‘oldour experience of elections in Sertimers’ back down,” he noted. bia has shownLIFE us that (a.) no single Fearing they might not cross the Autumn party oratcoalition will ever Kalemegdan.

Wegain takethe a look.

5-per-cent threshold to enter parlia- closer majority required to form a government, the Socialists teamed up with ment, and (b.) political negotiations the Association of Pensioners and the will never be quickly concluded.

United Serbia Party, led by businessEven when the Democrats man Dragan Markovic “Palma”. achieved their surprising result at Pensioners leader, Jovan Krkobalast month’s general election, it bic, Palma and Dacic are all pushing quickly became clear that the rePhoto by FoNet for a deal with the Democrats. sult was actually more-or-less the The reported price is the post of same as every other election result April 2007,” the paper says. deputy PM, with a brief in charge of in Serbia, i.e. inconclusive.

Incidents in Vojvodina in the aftermath independence, securityof forKosovo’s the Socialist leader.

This is likely to continue as long and In attacks on the addition, theAlbanian Socialistsminority are baras Serbia’s politiciansPage form10new ingaining Serbiafor areother highlighted andincludconministries, political parties every time they SPORT cerns over the worsening situation in ing capital disagree with their current party Sandzak are investments, also raised. Kosovo and Partizan victory over Real Madrid at education, Belgradehas media leader (there are currently 342 regThe government alsoreported. failed to the 13th attempt. make sufficient progress fight Tadic has denied talkinofitshorseistered political parties in Serbia). against drugmaintaintrafficktradingorganised with the crime, Socialists, Drawn-out negotiations are also ing laundering, according ingand thatmoney ministries would go only to the norm. One Belgrade-based to the report, which bemoans the govthose committed working for the Ambassador recently told me he ernment’s failure toto adopt a national government’s “strategic goal”. was also alarmed by the distinct strategy. Serbia is also seen as country of transit, destination At origin, the same time, and Dacic seems relack of urgency among Serbian Page 13 for trafficking human beings. with luctant to callinoff negotiations politicians. “The country is at a Despite praise for Serbia’s adminthe nationalists. standstill and I don’t understand istrative capacities, the report sees MY PICKS “If we don’t reach an agreement their logic. If they are so eager to reform of the independence, accountado you go forthe fresh withand the efficiency DSS and of Radicals, the syspar- Where progress towards EUfruits and and enbility the judicial after hours? tem vital, andwill criticises theon county’s ty as leadership decide future vegetables courage investors, how come they efforts implementation of its nationsteps”,at Dacic announced, following go home at 5pm sharp and don’t althe integrated border strategy, and first session of country’s new“the parwork weekends?” absence of relevant legislation”. liament on Wednesday.

Surely the situation is urgent enough to warrant a little overtime.

Source: Balkan Insight (www.balkaninsight.com)

BUSINESS

Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic Neighbourhood Matters talks about the country going into a possible ressesion next year.

Football Rebellion

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hile the football world watchPage 5 es events unfold at the European Championships in Austria and BELGRADE Switzerland, Bosnia is experiencing a soccer rebellion, led by fans, playThe Danube is stars getting but ers and former whocleaner, are enraged much work on see polution in theleaders river by what they as corrupt still needs to be done, a recent study of the country’s football association finds. leaders. page 10

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Source: www.weather2umbrella.com

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Jeremic: ‘Yes’ to EU, ‘No’ to Independent Kosovo Serbia sees itself as a future EU member but will never recognise the independence of its former province, says Vuk Jeremic.

INTERVIEW

by Julijana Mojsilovic in Belgrade

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uk Jeremic says Belgrade will agree to work with the European Union mission in Kosovo only if it receives UN backing and does not imply Serbia’s recognition of its former province as an independent state.

The Foreign Minister added that Serbia had made history in terms of the way problems were dealt with in the Balkans, by moving the Kosovo case from the political to the legal arena.

European Committment That, he argued, also demonstrated Serbia’s commitment to European values and its country’s readiness to be a part of the 27member club. “This was the first time in the Balkans that someone used diplomacy and not force to resolve a problem of such complexity as the issue of Kosovo,” Jeremic told Balkan Insight.

“We were elected on a pro-European platform. That was our main electoral promise and we will deliver,” he added, insisting that the issue of Kosovo and Serbia’s integration into the EU were “two separate processes both from Belgrade’s and Brussels’ points of view”.

Belgrade and Brussels have indeed been at odds regarding Serbia’s reaction to the countries that have recognised Kosovo following the declaration of independence in February. But Jeremic does not expect the EU to make Serbia’s membership conditional on Belgrade’s own recognition of Kosovo.

“You cannot ask an aspirant to do something you haven’t done yourself,” he says referring to the fact that five of the 27 EU states have not rec-

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ognised Kosovo: Romania, Slovakia, Greece, Cyprus and Spain.

He maintained that Serbia “cannot recognise Kosovo under any circumstances whatsoever and maintain democratic order in the country.”

“We are not going to give up our European future just as we are not going to give up our democratic constitution,” Jeremic added.

He said he was convinced this explanation would find understanding within the international community because “in a democratic country you cannot violate laws and the constitution”.

European future a must Speaking about the region, Jeremic said a European future was a must for the whole of the Balkans because “there is no other way to ameliorate the effects of wars, crisis, conflicts and their aftermath.

“The European Union is the most successful peace project in human history,” he continued, “and will not be completed before the whole Balkans becomes a part of it.”

At the same time, Jeremic reiterated that Belgrade would make approval of the EU’s EULEX rule of law mission in Kosovo conditional on it adopting a “neutral position regarding our province’s status”.

Ahtisaari plan not acceptable Belgrade did not flatly oppose the so-called reconfiguration of the international presence in Kosovo, but “EULEX has to have the UN Security Council’s backing and it cannot implement the Ahtisaari plan.” This was the plan drawn up by the UN envoy to Kosovo on the basis of which Kosovo declared independence.

The Finish diplomat’s plan envisaged “supervised independence” for Kosovo following internationallybrokered talks between Belgrade and Pristina. Belgrade consistently opposed the plan, maintaining it

would never go further than agreeing to a form of extensive autonomy for Kosovo.

“The UN took over in Kosovo in 1999 under Security Council resolution 1244 and any change has to be endorsed by the Security Council,” he said.

Meanwhile, Belgrade was pleased with the vote at the UN General Assembly earlier this month. This backed Serbia’s decision to seek the opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legality of Kosovo’s independence.

Jeremic said if the Court deemed Pristina’s move illegal “it is going to be very hard for those [countries] that haven’t recognised it so far to do so afterwards.”

In that case, Jeremic predicts Kosovo will not be able to substantiate its claim to statehood and “it will be very, very easy to block Kosovo’s accession” to other international organisations.

Serbia “ready to talk” Serbia remained “ready to talk to them [the Kosovars] at any place without any precondition, and at any time, when they come to terms with EU a priority, but no recognition for Kosovo, says Jeremic Source: MFA reality.

“We are trying to create a new after they recognised Kosovo’s inde- and stability in the region; and pracdimension of reality, a legal reality. pendence. tical because the decision to recogOnce we establish that, the only conSerbia however expelled the am- nise [Kosovo] a day after the vote structive way out of the situation will bassadors of two countries, Macedo- was a calculated decision, meant be to come and sit at the negotiating nia and Montenegro, when the two to diminish the effects of the vote,” table,” Jeremic said. neighbouring states recognised Kos- Jeremic said.

Both the Kosovo government and ovo one day after the vote at the UN The minister admits the expulits European and US allies have dis- General Assembly. sions have inflicted some collateral missed the idea of returning to new damage, but argued that Serbia faced talks on Kosovo after the previous Expulsions “Political and practical” almost uniquely difficult problems rounds failed. in terms of defending its sovereignty But Jeremic believes a Court rulJeremic justified the expulsions and territorial integrity. ing in favour of Serbia will make as a necessary signal to the world “Had we failed to react harshly it “obvious that Kosovo cannot that Belgrade took the defence of its [to Montenegro and Macedonia], it progress institutionally as a ‘country’ sovereignty and territorial integrity would have sent a signal to the world in terms of confirming its sovereign- seriously. “The reason [for the move] that now, after the [UN] vote, we are ty, and becoming a real state.” happy and you can go out and recogwas political as well as practical.

In the meantime, Belgrade has “Political because as neighbours, nise [Kosovo].” returned diplomats to those countries they have special responsibility from which they were withdrawn when it comes to maintaining peace Source: BalkanInsight.com

Serbia Seeks European Help In Organs Case

erbia will seek Council of Europe help to encourage Albania to allow Belgrade prosecutors to probe allegations of the trafficking of human organs taken from Serbs during the Kosovo war.

Serbia’s War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic said Albania’s Prosecutor General Ina Rama had rejected a request to allow an investigation into the allegations made by former United Nations war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte despite evidence presented earlier this week.

“We are going to bring this issue before the Council of Europe and present evidence we have collected,” Bruno Vekaric, a spokesman for Serbia’s war crimes prosecutor told Balkan Insight.

Vukcevic said Albanian authorities denied him access to a house in northern Albania believed to be a makeshift clinic for harvesting organs from captured Kosovo Serbs.

He also said that Serbian investigators have evidence about suspected mass graves in the area.

In her book The Hunt the former United Nations war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said that that her team had investigated reports that around 300 Serbians held in Albania had had organs removed, apparently for trafficking.

Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha had previously dismissed Del Ponte’s charges as fiction.

In a statement released earlier this week Albanian prosecutors said that the issue had already been investigated by local authorities as well as by an investigator from the United Nations war crimes tribunal.

According to local media, Berisha also dismissed Vukcevic’s allegations that he had asked the secret service “to destroy important documents on the instructions of Ramush Haradinaj,” a former Kosovo guerrilla leader and later prime minister.

“It was political pressure from Kosovo,” Vukcevic said earlier in a television interview.

In 2004, UN investigators found blood stains and syringes whilst dig-

ging in an area near the river flowing below the meadow near the suspected house in northern Albania.

They returned the next day with axes to open graves in a local cemetery but villagers protested they were the graves of their dead and stopped them from exhuming them. An Albanian prosecutor also took the villagers’ side.

Source: www.BalkanInasight.com

Vladimir Vukcevic

Serb Police Target Crime Group

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olice have mounted a major raid across Serbia arrested more than 20 people on suspicion of fraud and money laundering, a senior Interior Ministry official told Balkan Insight.

“At least 26 people were detained in Belgrade, Pancevo, Novi Sad, Nis and Smederevo,” the source said on condition of anonymity.

Police acted after they gathered “sufficient evidence that the group embezzled at least €4 million,” through bogus companies since 2007. “Investigative judges will now take statements from the suspects and decide on further moves.”

The group allegedly “used money for racketeering, lending with unfavorable interest and other criminal activities,” the official said.

He said that a number of people “involved in the group’s activities were either employed or closely related to some government bodies. One of them was a tax revenue officer,” the official said.

The source refused to elaborate further and to disclose the names of suspects pending the end of the police operation.

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business - the global downturn

Friday, Oct. 31 - Nov. 6, 2008

The Silver Lining in Serbia’s Poverty

Serbia will benefit from its relative poverty to ride out the impact of the global slump.

COMMENT

By Miroslav Zdravkovic

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urprisingly enough, Serbia may be less affected by the global slump than other countries because of its relative poverty in comparison to other states.

Agriculture, industry and civil engineering in Serbia provided only a modest contribution of 6.8 per cent to the overall growth of the economy between 2000 and 2007. The other 93.2 per cent came from growth in trade, transportation, finances and fiscal revenues.

Over 80 per cent of Serbia’s ecoSerbia’s poverty - a blessing in disguise?

Photo by Sophie Cottrell nomic growth has also been achieved in Belgrade and two other cities, Nis In comparison with Croatia, Hun- panies that have borrowed abroad, and Novi Sad, leaving 40 per cent of gary, Bulgaria, and Romania this fig- prompting them to shed workers and Serbia’s population worse off than in ure is tiny. And therein lies the basis cut down on business deals at home.

2000, immediately after the ousting of for the argument that Serbia stands to For other sectors, the looming former President Slobodan Milosevic. be less affected by the global finan- depression, as the Prime Minister In terms of annual income per cial crisis than most other East Euro- Mirko Cvetkovic suggested recentcapita, Serbia is amongst the poorest pean countries. ly, it will have favourable effect. countries in Europe, ahead of only Serbia’s economy is dominated Cheaper money will make Serbia Kosovo and Moldova. Profitable by tycoons with enviable positions in more competitive for investment and industry is focused on a few dozen Eastern Europe. However economic production. The private sector will major private and state-owned com- losses may show up in their com- benefit because it will find it easier panies involved in trade, finance panies. Their employees could lose to obtain workers at lower prices. and services with a workforce of their jobs and the mortgaged roofs The workforce will have to become some 80,000. over their heads. A similar fate may more mobile and more interested in Hence, less than 5 per cent of the befall employees in publicly owned finding what’s available, instead of 2 million workforce in Serbia has concerns if the dinar maintains its daydreaming about high salaries. seen any real growth in salaries. This current downward slide against the If this scenario is true, and Sernumber of employees can be linked euro, because of the ongoing pullout bia is less affected by the crisis than to the approximately 40,000 real es- of investers from supposedly volatile other countries, the country could get tate loans, worth a total some €1.5 markets. a “second chance” to restructure its billion, that have been approved over But the depreciation of the do- growth on the basis of production and the period. mestic currency mainly affects com- employment in the next few years.

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Albania Curbs Bank Exposure to Markets

lbania’s Central Bank will limit the investments the country’s foreign owned banks make in their parent companies, in an effort to thwart the effect of the global financial crisis.

According to the new regulations, foreign banks currently operating in Albania will not be allowed to invest more than 10 per cent of their capital in parent companies.

Previously the limit was 25 per cent.

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The move also aims to counteract economic slowdown by making sure that there is ample credit in the local market.

Foreign companies currently control 95 per cent of Albania’s banking market.

According to a recently published report, financial institutions in southeast Europe remain bullish about growth prospects, despite the global downturn.

The Balkan banking sector has registered strong growth rates over the past year despite the financial crisis in most of the rest of the world.

Low levels of regional exposure to international financial institutions, weak integration into international markets and the strong capitalisation of international banks operating in the region are some of the cited factors behind the region’s apparent immunity to the economic downturn.

Bosnia Reels from Market Slump

osnia’s business environment “seriously lags behind” both Balkan and EU countries, according to a recent World Economic Forum report, and the situation is likely to get worse.

The report looked at the business and financial environment in 16 European and central Asian countries, and compared their performance

with EU countries and EU-accession requirements.

According to analysts and economists, these results spell trouble for Bosnia, which has already been suffering from symptoms of the spreading global recession.

Two weeks ago, a sudden increase in deposit withdrawals - caused by panic among the population - caught

several commercial banks as well as country’s Central Bank, by surprise.

The Central Bank reacted swiftly, reducing obligatory cash reserves for banks from 18 to 14 per cent, which improved the banks’ liquidity. In addition, Bosnia’s state government has proposed to parliament an urgent law which would increase state guarantees on deposits from 5,000 Konvertible Marks (€2,500) to 20,000 KM (€10,000).

Some economists agree that these moves - however positive - are not enough, and that local leaders - who have been caught in political deadlock for the past two years - are completely ignorant of the seriousness of the crisis.

In addition to the disturbances in the banking sector and plummeting bourses, Bosnia’s industry is also facing trouble. Falling prices of iron and aluminum - which make up a major part of Bosnia’s exports - threaten these industries and could also jeopardise the country’s mounting foreign trade deficit.

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‘Black Monday’ for Macedonia Stocks

n what local media have dubbed “black Monday” Macedonia’s stock exchange, the MBI 10, comprising the ten biggest Macedonian companies, fell by 8.63 per cent, the biggest fall since the index was formed in January 2005. The fall came amid concerns over the future of the country’s key industries.

In a move designed to buoy up confidence in the financial system, after banks reported an increase in deposit withdrawals, the country’s National Bank Governor Petar Gosev said “the banking system and the banks in Macedonia are stable and there is no need for citizens to withdraw their savings”.

The country’s metal industry, which contributes nearly half of

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Croatia Stock Market Plunges 50% in 2008

roatia’s stock market index, CROBEX, has plunged around 50 percent this year, as the global financial crisis takes its toll on Croatia’s underdeveloped and sensitive economy.

Croatia has followed United States and European governments in guaranteeing customers’ bank deposits to prevent a mass withdrawal of savings pushing banks to the brink of collapse.

Zagreb has raised the amount of savings it guarantees from 100,000 kunas (€14,000) to 400,000 kunas (€57,000), a level slightly above the minimum agreed by other European governments.

Experts are also worried about Croatian banks owned by foreign companies that were exposed to the US subprime mortgage crisis – leaving their finances reeling after accumulating billions in toxic debt.

Italy’s Unicredit, which owns the largest Croatian bank, Zagrebacka banka, is particularly affected by this.

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Macedonia’s total annual exports, has also reported signs of trouble due to the global crisis.

Metal companies have already complained in public that their future export contracts may suffer as a consequence of declining global demand coupled with declining prices on international markets. Gloomy media reports suggest possible closures.

Macedonia’s other big export industry is textiles and here too local media report falling demand as well.

Larger textile companies are considering cutbacks in manpower to maintain profitability.

According to government statistics, these two industries employ around 60,000 people in this country of two million.

Croatia’s Central Bank governor, Zeljko Rohatinski, has sought to improve the stability of the banking system by releasing 4.5 billion kunas (€65 million) from the obligatory reserves that Croatia’s banks have to deposit with the National bank.

By releasing this money, Rohatinski looked to free up the credit market – which has been hit hard as banks introduce tighter lending criteria, while banks were also provided with the means to intervene in case of massive withdrawal of money by citizens.

Economists have praised Rohatinski for his swift action.

Croatia’s ship-building industry however, has suffered the most from the global slowdown.

According to local media, several of Croatia’s shipyards have seen their contracts cancelled because investment banks refuse to give loans to investors, fearing that they will not be able to repay them due to the sluggish global economy.

Bulgaria Cuts 2009 Growth Forecast

ulgaria will stick to its tight fiscal policy in 2009 and increase capital spending to soften the impact on its fast-growing economy from the global financial crisis, the government says.

The leaders of the Socialist-led ruling coalition approved the 2009 budget draft which targets a surplus of a minimum of 3 percent of gross domestic product in response to the credit crunch, the government said in a statement.

The country has already increased its target for a fiscal surplus to 3.5 percent of GDP for the current year.

Analysts and rating agencies have warned that the global financial woes, which have already slowed the inflows of foreign cash and have limited the credit expansion, will hit the country’s economic growth and may even lead to a hard landing.

The draft slashed the 2009 growth forecast to 4.7 percent from 6.5 percent previously and forecast that foreign direct investments would drop to €5.3 billion from over €6 billion in

recent years.

The government plans to increase capital spending by 20.9 percent to 5.192 billion levs (€2.7 billion) next year to partly make up for the expected slowdown in foreign investment.

Analysts say Bulgaria’s dependence on foreign cash to cover its huge current account deficit of over 20 percent of GDP and foreign debt of about 100 percent of GDP makes the country extremely vulnerable as credit conditions tighten globally.

Sofia has announced a package of measures including government guarantees for interbank loans to safeguarding banks, although Bulgarian lenders have no exposure to toxic assets and do not need emergency funding.

Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev said last week the government would use its hefty fiscal reserve, expected to reach 13 billion levs (€6.5 billion) at end-2008, to maintain stability and back the banking system in times of global financial turmoil.

business

Friday, Oct. 31 - Nov. 6, 2008

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Serbia Faces “Recession in 2009” PM Says

he global crisis will hit Serbia in 2009 and the impact will result in a significant drop in gross domestic product, Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic claims.

“This will clearly be a recession as the GDP will be lowered to 4 per cent in comparison to the 7 per cent we had in recent years,” Cvetkovic said at a panel discussion in Belgrade on Monday.

Cvetkovic used the the word ‘recession’ pointedly although this is usually regarded as as two financial quarters of negative economic growth.

“The wave of the crisis will hit our shores in 2009,” he said.

To combat the effects of this, Serbia must adopt more restrictive fiscal policies and cut spending, while experts from the government and the International Monetary Fund will intensify their work on the 2009 draft budget.

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Mirko Cvetkovic

Photo by FoNet

Serbia Seeks Money for New Power Plants

y the end of the year, Serbia’s government will invite bids to complete the development of key thermoelectric plants, the country’s Mining and Energy Minister Petar Skundric said.

Skundric said that a total of €1.65 billion will be required for the completion of two new blocks in Kolubara B and another one at the Nikola Tesla B power plant, both just outside the capital, Belgrade.

“Tender offers will be completed by the end of the year,” he said without elaborating further about the details.

The development of Kolubara B was initiated by the former communist government in 1988 but was halted in 1991 following the collapse of the former Yugoslavia and has not resumed since.

To maintain the operation of the

existing two coal-powered generator blocks at Kolubara B, Serbian authorities have so far invested some €300 million but its “completion to full operational status will require at least another €550 million” Skundric said.

Serbia is dependant on energy imports “particularly in winter months “and in the last two decades, “the country has not built a single new power generation facility,” Skundric said.

“Our key goal is to secure stable energy supplies,” he said and added that the government should keep “a dominant role in the ownership of Serbia’s power sector.”

Earlier this year, the Serbian government announced it wants to sell a minority stake in EPS and other major state-operated assets and deliver free shares to some 4 million people.

“Our mid-term goal is to keep the budget deficit below 2 percent of the GDP and to keep public spending below 44 percent of GDP,” Cvetkovic said.

Previously officials suggested that in 2008, GDP groath would be between 7 per cent and 7.5 per cent, while headline inflation will remain in single figures. Lawmakers are currently debating a proposed revision to the 2008 budget that will raise the budget deficit to 1.7 per cent of GDP from the previously set 0.5 percent of GDP. Earlier Finance Minister, Dijana Dragutinovic, said the revision of the budget was prompted by expenditures of €200 million needed for the establishment of a joint venture between Serbia’s Zastava carmaker and Italy’s Fiat, a €250 million allotment for the development of a motorway network dubbed Corridor 10 and a 10 per cent hike in pensions expected in November.

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Pension Hike To Be Delayed Until 2010

pensions increase due for 2009, may have to be delayed until 2010, due to the global financial crisis, the Deputy Prime Minister Jovan Krkobabic said.

He said the government’s plans that envisaged an increase in pensions to 70 percent of an average wage by the end of 2009 would not materialise as Serbia was bracing for the impact of the global financial slowdown.

“As we are encountering problems, we will not destabilise the state.

We have to delay the project, possibly until the end of 2010,” he said.

After the May election, Serbia’s ruling coalition comprised of a prodemocratic bloc loyal to Serbian President Boris Tadic and an alliance comprised of the Socialist Party of Serbia and Krkobabic’s United Party of Pensioners, pledged to boost all pensions by 10 percent in Novem-

Central Bank Warns of Hawala Transfers

erbia’s central bank and the country’s National Interpol Bureau have warned commercial banks, exchange booths and other organisations that handle foreign currency banknotes to remain vigilant over suspected money laundering and currency transfers used by organised crime groups or terrorist networks.

The bank and the Belgrade-based bureau of Interpol, a international body that liaises between police forces, said that “it is possible to recognise foreign currency banknotes which were marked by persons or groups involved in ‘hawala’ money laundering and funds transfers used by (Islamic) terrorists.”

The bank and Interpol said they were “particularly interested in uncovering methods used by ‘hawaladari’, or people who facilitate illegal money transfers, for mutual financial gain.”

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The centuries-old hawala system is based on Islamic law and it is a way of transferring cash through brokers who offer no promissory instruments. The transactions are based on the honour system. Brokers keep no records except a running tally of the amount owed by one broker to another.

“Their symbols for marking banknotes are sometimes visible only under ultraviolet light,” the statement said.

Hawala is frequently used for illegal money transfer and governments do not favour the system. In the past, several major probes have been launched in order to establish how much Islamic terrorist funding passes through hawala networks.The central bank and National Interpol Bureau also sent out warnings to customs and border police offices.

ber and to 70 percent of the average wage in 2009.

Krkobabic’s remarks came after Serbia’s Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic warned on Monday that the country will enter what he termed a “recession” in 2009 which will slow down growth from the current 7 percent to 4 percent.

The International Monetary Fund also warned Serbia to cut spending and prepare a restrictive 2009 budget.

Serbia currently has 1.63 million pensioners and an average pension amounts to 17,311 dinars (€211) although more than 450,000 pensioners including 200,000 retired farmers are receiving as little as 9,700 dinars.

The 10 percent increase in pensions will raise the average value to some 19,000 dinars, Krkobabic said.

Serbia Lowers Fuel Prices

F

uel prices in Serbia have dropped by an average of 9.45 per cent amid falling global crude oil prices, the Ministry for Mining and Energy said.

In a statement, the ministry said that prices of unleaded 95-octane fuel and D2 diesel have dropped by 9.7 per cent and 11.6 per cent respectively.

The drop is related to a significant decrease in crude oil prices in the past two weeks, the ministry said.

The move comes after a previous 5.5 per cent cut on September 23.

Companies & Markets Government To Keep Morgan Stanley For Telekom IPO The Serbian government intends to sign a contract with Morgan Stanley as an advisor in the initial public offering of shares in the state-run Telekom Srbija, a top official said.

“The government will not alter its intention” to sign the contract with Morgan Stanley, said Jasna Matic, the country’s Telecommunications Minister.

“That process is about to be completed,” despite the United Statesbased investment bank’s most recent market slump, she said.

Morgan Stanley’s shares have plummeted 74 per cent this year, compared with a 42 per cent decline in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

In September, the Serbian Cabinet selected Morgan Stanley as the privatisation advisor for Telekom Srbije’s IPO at the Belgrade and London stock exchanges. Under the provisions of the deal, Morgan Stanley will receive 1.35 per cent of the proceeds of the sale of Telekom Srbije’s shares as well as €250,000 for devising the strategy and preparing the appropriate documentation.

Matic said the government will delay the initial public offer of Telekom Srbije initially scheduled for next year because of the global crisis.

Serbia owns 80 percent of Telekom Srbije, while the Hellenic Telecommunications firm, SA owns the remainder.

Government Seeks Advisor for Galenika Sale The government plans to invite companies to bid to act as advisors for the sale of Galenika Pharmaceuticals, the country’s Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic says.

Bids will be invited next week, Dinkic said, without elaborating further on the details of the tender.

The minister also said that the privatisation of Galenika will be completed in the first half of 2009. He also said that the government still has to invite bids for 10 major publiclyowned enterprises and launch auctions for 209 state-owned assets by the end of 2008.

Galenika is 100 per cent owned by the state. It exports its entire production to Africa, Asia, Russia and southeastern Europe.

In 2007, Galenika’s profits recovered to 950 million dinars (€12.34 million), having dipped in 2006 to a low of 596 million dinars (€8 million). Net margins improved significantly from 8.1 per cent to 14.2 per cent of gross sales.

Two Bids for Prva Petoletka Holding Two international consortia have placed bids for a 71 per cent stake in Prva Petoletka Holding, a manu-

facturer of machinery and hydraulic components, the company’s general director Radomir Milic said.

“One (consortium) is from Russia and another one is a joint British and Ukrainian venture,” Milic said.

This is the third attempt to sell Prva Petoletka which in the 1980s was the key supplier of hydraulics for the now-defunct Yugoslav Association of Weapons’ Producers.

The first attempt to privatise the company fell through in 2004 after it failed to receive a single

offer. Two subsequent bids in 2007 and earlier this year were cancelled after two Russian companies failed to fulfill the conditions of the sale.

Prva Petoletka Holding, which is comprised of more than a dozen companies, was brought to a virtual standstill in the 1990s amid the Balkan Wars and international isolation.

It has since lost the subsidiaries in the now-independent Kosovo and neighboring Montenegro and shed 1,350 employees.

Belgrade Stock Market Drops to All-Time Low The BELEX15, the index of the most traded shares in the Belgrade stock exchange, dropped 18.58 per cent in the week ending October 30th to an historical low, amid investor pullouts from emerging markets.

Thursday saw further falls, with the blue chip AIK Banka, generating more than half of the daily turnover, falling to 668.99 points.

The composite BELEXline index also fell to 1,421.42 points, while the joint SRX index of the bourses in

Belgrade and Vienna dropped 4.01 per cent to 324.29.

The BELEXline index has declined

for the past three months and is headed for a 29 per cent slump, the biggest monthly drop since September 2004.

6

belgrade chronicle

Friday, Oct. 31 - Nov. 6, 2008

Construction to Start on Ada Bridge

W

orkers are finishing final preparations for the construction, and building of a bridge that will connect Ada Ciganlija to New Belgrade over the Sava River.

The project’s director says that excavation will start soon, once the site has been cleared and enclosed.

The bridge is expected to save as muchh as half an hour of traveling time betwen Old and New Belgrade and is projected to be completed in 2011. In addition, the bridge will clear up traffic on Belgrade’s other bridges and roads leading to them.

This beautiful suspension bridge will be 929 metres long, 45 metres wide and will carry six lanes of traffic and trams. Construction costs are estimated at €118,6 million.. No blockage to shipping is expected over the course

Workers clearing the site

A

Danube Cleaner, But More Work to Be Done

n analysis from the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River says that the river is cleaner than it was seven years ago but that large sections of the river are still heavily polluted.

Problems are related to the discharge of raw and partially treated sewage, pesticide and fertilizer run-off and the discharges from industry throughout the length of the river.

Serious organic pollution was detected in the section below Pancevo and although, local inspection agencies say that the part of the river that runs through Belgrade is okay for fishing and drinking, the report notes that the section between Budapest and Belgrade has the highest levels of bacterial contamination from human waste.

High levels of cadmium enter the Danube from the Tisza and Sava rivers and the report states that “as a result of the transport of this metal to the Danube, the impact on the Danube of SPM [suspended particulate matter] was obvious in the Danube 1000 km downstream of the confluence with the Sava River.”

Although technically not part of the remit of the ICPDR, the report also bemoans the huge amount of plastic bottles and other floating waste encountered during the survey of the river.

Quoted in Serbian daily Politika, Miroslav Tanaskovic from city’s health Photo by Sophie Cottrell agency seems seems less concerned

of the construction.

However elements of the project remain unclear with experts advising that developers should first consider where the Jugopetrol, storage and distribution facility close to the construction site, will be relocated and further that the developers should consider the network of connections to the existing road and rail infrastructure before building of the actual bridge.

Initial plans for the bridge were drawn up in 2006 and were finally signed off in April of this year.The bridge will be constructed by an international consortium of the following companies: POR Tecnobau und Umwelt AG from Austria, SCT d.d. from Slovenia, and DSD Bruckenbau GmbH from Germany.

than the ICPDR, “Our analyses show that the Danube from Banovac to Brestovik can be placed in another class.

We saw a difference in the microbiology parameters in this span of the river. This means that swimming in this part of the river is not recommended, but it’s not summer, so there’s nothing to worry about. When you take all of this into consideration, not much has changed for the better, but we can

agree with out foreign colleagues that the Danube is in a better condition than it was a decade ago.”

However, Tenaskovic added: “Industries in the world are responsible to measure how much waste leaves their factories and pollutes the environment. This is not the case in Serbia and our inspectors cannot determine how much waste comes from individual factories.”

Anyone for swimming?

Photo by Sophie Cottrell

US Hails Detention of Serb Fugitive Student

T

he US Embassy in Serbia has welcomed the detention of Miladin Kovacevic, sought

by Washington for allegedly assaulting an American student and fleeing the country.

The United States Embassy in Belgrade also said it is cooperating with Serbia’s request to investigate the case.

The Serbian government’s press bureau said in a statement that Kovacevic was taken in for questioning by an investigative judge at a Belgrade municipal court.

The statement also said Slobodan Nenadovic former Serbian Consul in New York, was also taken in for questioning.

Nenadovic was chief of the New York consulate when a temporary passport was issued to Kovacevic earlier this year, allowing the then student to leave the country and flee to his native Serbia.

Marina Klaric Zivkovic spokesperson for the Belgrade District Court, said that both Kovacevic and Nenadovic will be held in custody for 30 days, until November 29.

She added that Kovacevic has been remanded because of the risk that he may leave the country. Nenadovic, on the other hand, is being held because of the possibility that he may attempt to influence potential witnesses.

A Justice Ministry official told Belgrade Insight that ‘in Kovacevic case as in any other case, a prosecutor may act if there’s a reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed.

“The prosecutor probably asked

police to take Kovacevic into custody and question him both in connection with the incident in the United States and dealings of the Serbian diplomat in New York,” he said speaking on condition of anonymity.

He refused to elaborate whether US authorities have handed over Kovacevic’s case to their Serbian counterparts.

Temporary travel documents were issued to Kovacevic by Vice-Consul Igor Milosevic. Serbia’s Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic immediately suspended Milosevic and since then he has been put on trial in Serbia.

Kovacevic’s father, Petar Kovacevic, said his son was not taking the arrest well.

“How would you feel if you were before God accused of something

you didn’t do? How can a young person feel in such a situation?” Petar Kovacevic told Belgrade Insight.

Kovacevic, a former student and college basketball player at the University of Binghamton in New York State, was allegedly involved in a brawl with another student, Bryan Steinhauer at a campus bar.

Steinhauer was left in a coma and Kovacevic was charged with assault and inflicting grievous bodily harm.

He was released on bail of US$100,000 (€77,200) and ordered to surrender his passport to US authorities.

Since Serbia’s constitution bans the extradition of its citizens, Belgrade said Kovacevic could go back to the US if he decided so, or he could face trial at home if the US accepted that.

Kovacevic is not taking the arrest well

Source: www.javno.com

neighbourhood

Friday, Oct. 31 - Nov. 6, 2008

7

EULEX To Work Under UN in North Kosovo Confusion over the EU mission will be referred to the Security Council, diplomatic sources say.

By Krenar Gashi in Pristina

T

he EU mission in Kosovo, EULEX, will have to operate under a UN umbrella in the north and assume a “neutral” stance towards Kosovo’s independence, experts say.

This is the likely outcome of the UN Security Council meeting on November 7, when Lamberto Zannier, head of the UN mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, will report on developments in the country.

Diplomats in Pristina and abroad say the report will also mention deployment of the EU’s law and order mission, EULEX. The council is not expected to vote on any new resolution but to informally nod through the deployment of EULEX. It will then be up to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to endorse the mission’s deployment.

“Considering that some countries that are part of EULEX mission have not recognised Kosovo’s independence, there is no other choice but for the mission to work under UNMIK’s umbrella and be neutral as to Kosovo’s status,” a diplomatic source in Paris said.

Avni Zogiani, a Pristina-based political analyst, said if EULEX did operate under UN auspices it would have to obey UNMIK regulations.

“This would mean that once again we would have laws overriding the laws of the Kosovo Parliament,” he said. There would also be dilemmas

over day-to-day tasks, the judiciary, police and customs.

However, a source close to the International Civilian Office in Pristina said the arrangement might be less problematic than some fear.

“There will be space for interpretation, but so far, everything that was not clear has been interpreted in favour of Kosovo”, he said.

A Balkan Insight source in EULEX in Pristina said that “since some EU members have not recognised Kosovo, there’s nothing wrong with EULEX being neutral on Kosovo’s status… This would not interfere with the mission of EULEX.” Another Western diplomat in Kosovo said it was crucial for Serbia to accept the mission “to make the deployment possible throughout Kosovo,” including the problematic north.

Although Serbia has opposed the deployment of EULEX in majority Serb areas of Kosovo, one source predicted that Belgrade would “silently agree on its deployment”, in exchange for a speedier path towards EU accession.

Yves de Kermabon, head of EULEX, has also confirmed that Belgrade was sending “positive signals” regarding deployment.

The region, including the northern part of the divided city of Mitrovica and the municipalities of Zvecan, Zubin Potok and Leposavic, is not currently under the control of the government in Pristina – contrary to the UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari`s plan which was taken as a basis for Kosovo`s independence and was

Montenegro Serb Leader out of Hospital Podgorica _ A doctor at Montene- resolved by acceding to the opposigro’s main clinical centre has an- tion’s demands.

Earlier Djukanovic said in an innounced the leader of the opposition Serbian List Andrija Mandic was re- terview with The Associated Press news agency that there was no presleased from hospital on Monday.

Mandic, was hospitalised over the sure but “expectations” from the weekend after nearly two weeks on United States and some European Union countries for Montenegro to hunger strike.

He launched it in the National As- recognise Kosovo, the former Sersembly building to protest against the bian province which declared inderecognition of Kosovo by Podgorica pendence in February.

A large proportion of Montenegro on October 13. He and other opponents had demanded a referendum on citizens, about a third of the population, the issue, something Prime Minister declare themselves as Serbs, while ethnic Albanians also make up a sizeable Milo Djukanovic rejects.

Doctor Olivera Boskovic said minority in the coastal republic.

Mandic has lost at least 8 kilogrammes Montenegro, Belgrade’s tradiin weight during his hunger strike. tional ally, was in a loose union with She said that Mandic’s condition Serbia up until 2006 when it voted in has now improved and he was re- a referendum to become independent. leased to be cared for at home but he will have to be checked regularly.

Clashes broke out in the Montenegrin capital soon after Podgorica’s move, in which several people – most of them police officers – were injured while dozens have been arrested.

Belgrade also expelled Montenegro’s ambassador following the recognition.

Last week, opposition leaders met with President Filip Vujanovic, whom they told that Montenegro was in a political crisis that could only be Andrija Mandic Source: www.daylife.com

strongly opposed by Serbia.

“Kosovo’s government considers Ahtisaari’s plan as a whole and not modifiable,” Memli Krasniqi, a Kosovo government spokesman said.

“Serbia cannot impose any conditions on EULEX,” he added.

The government, in the meantime, is trying to avoid direct confrontations in the north by being extremely cautious about how it extends its authority in the region.

Last week, it decided that the Kosovo Security Force, which was planned to be based in all the seven regions of Kosovo, would now, not be based in Mitrovica.

One senior international official said that the idea for EULEX to work under UNMIK in the northern Kosovo, is viable.

However, this would mean the police and customs in the north operating under UNMIK, in violation of the

The Mitrovica bridge divides the two communities

constitution of Kosovo.

According to the same official, this might nevertheless be a better plan, because in this instance, the customs and police would be acceptable to the local Serbs.

Memli Krasniqi, the government’s spokesperson refused to comment on what he called a “hypothetical situation.”

Source: www.BalkanInsight.com

Source: pbosnia.kentlaw.edu

Macedonia Police Probed for ‘Criminal Links’ Skopje _ About 40 high and low-ranking police officers from Macedonia’s northeast town of Kumanovo, have been relieved of their duties over suspected involvement in crime, according to Macedonian media reports.

They have been redeployed to other positions, the Interior Ministry spokesman, Ivo Kotevski, told media, explaining that a new set of people have been appointed to fill their posts.

Although the official explanation for the reshuffle is that the officers showed “inadequate results, lack of initiative and absence of loyalty in fulfilling duty” media linked this to the recent police arrest of Kumanovo resident Bajrush Sejdiu and his associates, who are suspected of producing counterfeit tobacco products among other crimes.

Local A1 TV reported that police allegedly found a list with the police officers’ names while searching for Sejdiu’s assets.

“If the police officers were involved in criminal activities, they will face adequate criminal charges,” Kotevski said.

The chief of the police internal affairs department, the heads of criminal affairs, public order and peace and traffic safety in Kumanovo are some of the highest-ranking officers who were moved to other duties.

Sejdiu, and over 30 other people believed to be his close associates, were recently arrested in a police operation called “ash”.

During the hearing with the investigative judge, Sejdiu’s defence claimed their client was an innocent victim of the police’s fight against organised crime.

Police said they made the arrests

Ivo Kotevski

after building and working on the case for six months. The court placed Sejdiu and some of the arrested in detention after being questioned.

Sejdiu was known for owning businesses and other assets near Kumanovo, including several motels and a soccer club called Milano. His wealth has been estimated by the Macedonian media to be over €30 million.

Source: www.mvr.gov.mk

8

neighbourhood

Friday, Oct. 31 - Nov. 6, 2008

Croatia Holds 10 in Journalist Murder Probe

By Tena Erceg

C

roatia has arrested 10 people believed to be members of criminal gangs involved in the car bombing which killed a newspaper editor in Zagreb last week, police said on Thursday.

According to police spokesman Krunoslav Borovec, two of the suspects, Robert and Luka Matanic, were arrested in eastern Slavonia near the border with Serbia, while the police arrested others after raiding several apartments in Zagreb city centre.

The girlfriend of Robert Matanic, who was earlier charged at a Zagreb court for extortion, was also arrested in a bar in Zagreb.

Borovec also said that eight suspects are citizens of Croatia and two of Serbia.

The Jutarnji list daily reports that the Matanic cousins, Amir Mafalani and Slobodan Djuranovic are, from Thursday morning, official suspects in the murder of Nacional weekly boss, Ivo Pukanic and his marketing chief, Niko Franjic’s murder.

The double-murder, seen as an arrogant display of power by the Croatian underworld, came a few weeks after the brutal execution of a prominent lawyer’s daughter, Ivana Hodak.

According to the Index.hr news portal, the police were led to the suspected assassins through the identification number of the motorcycle

in which they hid the explosive that killed Pukanic and Franjic.

Robert Matanic allegedly bought the motorcycle several days before the murder.

Jutarnji list reports that Robert Matanic spent two-and-a-half years in a Serbian prison for the illegal possession of weapons and eight months in a Bulgarian prison for taking part in mafia executions.

His cousin Luka and Amir Mafalani were sought by the Bulgarian police in 2004, also for mafia executions in Sofia.

Borovec said three suspects had resisted arrest and had to be subdued by force and two of them “suffered only minor injuries” as a result.

However the Jutarnji list quotes Zoran Filipovic, the lawyer of Robert Matanic, who said that Matanic did not resist the arrest but the police nevertheless “repeatedly hit him with rifle stocks in the head” and that he “barely recognized his client because of the blood and bandages.”

Filipovic added his client “did not commit the murder of Pukanic, but circumstances could connect him to it” and that he would “fully cooperate with the police department in charge of fighting organized crime.”

Belgrade Insight was unable to obtain comment from the lawyers of other suspects before going to print.

Suspects will appear before the investigating judge on Thursday, while the police intend to search “dozens

Serbia-Bosnian Serb Soccer Match Banned Sarajevo _ The international soccer body, FIFA, has banned a friendly game between Serbia’s national football team and a selection of players from Bosnia’s Serb-dominated entity of Republika Srpska.

FIFA cited the “complex political situation” as a reason for its move.

Local media report that the Republika Srpska Football Association secretary general, Rodoljub Petkovic, has appealed against the decision and is demanding explanation from both FIFA and the Union of European Football Associations, UEFA. Petkovic told media he still hoped that the friendly would take place, and added that another match is planned with the national team of Macedonia.

The match between Serbia and Republika Srpska was previously approved by Bosnia’s Football Association, despite strong protests from

some Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) officials and media in the other entity of the Federation.

They claimed that staging such a match would represent another sign of Republika Srpska’s separatist drives and its disconnect from the rest of Bosnia.

These concerns have increased in Bosnia as a result of heightened tensions and animosities among local leaders and the political deadlock which has been choking the country for the past two years. This may have influenced FIFA in its decision to not allow the friendly.

However, Petkovic stressed that there are other regions in other western countries - such as Catalonia and the Basque Country in Spain - who also have their own sport teams and play friendly games with other countries.

Forensic officers at the scene of the blast of other houses, apartments and vehicles during the day,” Borovec told journalists.

National police chief Vladimir Faber was due to meet his Serbian counterpart Milorad Veljovic later on Thursday, as Zagreb and Belgrade stepped up efforts to crack down on

Photo by FoNet organised crime, well-established in both countries and whose members operate across national borders.

Zagreb pledged an all-out war against organised crime after a wave of unresolved violent incidents in Croatia, which have cast a shadow over its plans to conclude European

Union accession talks next year.

On Wednesday, it set up special courts, pledged to improve witness protection programmes, rebuild its police force and announced measures to confiscate convicted criminals’ property.

Source: www.BalkanInsight.com

Bulgaria ‘a World Leader in Obesity’ Bulgaria is among the world leaders for obesity, the Chair of Bulgaria’s Healthy Nutrition Association claims, with the problem increasingly starting from childhood.

Professor Svetoslav Handzhiev, speaking at a special press conference, explained that the main reasons for widespread obesity in the country were genetics and unhealthy lifestyle including the over consumption of fats, sugar and salt, lack of exercise and stress.

Teodora Durlenska, a nutritionist, stated Bulgaria ranks sixth in Europe for childhood obesity.

Five per cent of all Bulgarian children between the ages of 13 and 17 are overweight, and 22 per cent of the overweight children are considered obese. The reasons here are also lifestyle and a lack of exercise.

Durlenska explained that physical education was not sufficient in school curricula, there were not enough opportunities for children to practice sports, and that school dinners were not healthy and appropri-

The Bulgarian diet is unhealthy

ate for young people.

Also, many expectant mothers in Bulgaria tend to put on many more than the recommended norm of 15 kilogrammes during the course of their pregnancy.

Source: www.churchtimes.co.uk

Albania PM Under Fire over Business Ties Tirana _ The Albanian opposition has restated its demands that parliament hold a hearing to question the Albanian Premier Sali Berisha over his ties to Bosnian businessman Damir Fazlic.

“We won’t give up,” said the head of the Socialist parliamentary group Erion Brace.

“Berisha promised a session when he will be transparent about crime and corruption in this country and he has not shown up, or otherwise has been hiding,” Brace added.

The probe into the business activities of the Bosnian businessman has uncovered an intricate web, involv-

ing the family of the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha.

Prosecutors are looking at a series of transactions relating to the sale of one of Fazlic’s businesses, Crown Acquisitions. It was sold in June 2007 to a Cyprus-based company, Altaria Research Limited, for €1.75 million. However, according to the prosecutor’s office, because the company had no assets, it raised suspicions of money laundering.

Fazlic worked as a consultant with a US-based company, BG & R, which designed Berisha’s Democratic Party electoral campaign. The Albanian opposition has charged that

Berisha and Basha were involved in corrupt deals with Fazlic, allowing him to sell one of his companies for €1.75 million, with no assets and without paying €520,000 in VAT and income tax.

Berisha, has come under strong US and European Union criticism over alleged attempts to put pressure on the Prosecutor General Ina Rama, who has been investigating corruption.

Last week Fazlic denied this accusation. Both Basha and Berisha have also denied the accusations.

Berisha has also previously rejected opposition accusations and in turn threatened to open the “crime

archives” of the opposition.

“My family does not have any business with Mr Fazlic,” Basha said, adding that the accusations were a “hysterical campaign.”

Rama has launched investigations into the March 15 blast in an Albanian army depot outside Tirana and into corruption in the construction of the new Albania-Kosovo highway, which have led her into conflict with the centre-right government.

Meanwhile, while voicing support for the fight against corruption, Berisha is seeking to draft a new law that regulates the office of the Prosecutor General.

The law would strip prosecutors of the right to be protected from a police arrest without a formal indictment and limit their independence by allowing the Ministry of Justice to supervise investigations.

The bill has come under criticism from a wide range of interest groups, the opposition and the United States government, because it limits the independence of the general prosecutor, which is currently guaranteed by the Albanian constitution.

Recently, in a joint declaration, the association of prosecutors, judges, lawyers and public notaries condemned the bill.

out & about

Friday, Oct. 31 - Nov. 6, 2008

9

Simply Lovely

The multi-ethnic villages of Vojvodina and the town of Jagodina are home to fine collections of naive art.

By Pat Andjelkovic

L

ong ago in Paris, I lived near an art gallery that specialised in Yugoslav naive art. I immediately fell in love with the paintings’ rich colours and motifs, which reminded me of the vibrant hues of fulllength Disney cartoons. I remained a silent admirer, glimpsing the works only though the gallery window, since I couldn’t afford to pay their Parisian prices. Not long after my unrequited love affair, I travelled to Yugoslavia to attend a friend’s wedding, and since I thought I’d never venture back

again, my friend, her husband and his friend took me to Kovacica so I could buy my own naive painting. I ended up having Zuzana Chalupova do a painting just for me, which the friend of my friend’s husband brought to me later that year. Both the painting and I returned the following February, and we’re both still here, 31 years later.

What does “naive art” mean?

I found the following: “Artwork characterized by a simplified style, nonscientific perspective, and bold colours; an art form going back centuries through Chagall and Rousseau to peasant art and primitive art.”

I think the closest to the truth would be to call it an alternative to modern art. Naive painters paint the

Bogosav Zivkovic: Carving from a single tree trunk

Photo by Pat Andjelkovic

world in which they live. By painting their houses and fields, harvests and weddings, fruits, flowers, geese, and pumpkins, they either reveal the beauty of this world as it is, or add to it the beauty that they wished it possessed.

Nevertheless, their paintings are not so much naive as innocent, straightforward, simple, uncomplicated.

Kovacica, widely known for its naive art, lies 47 kilometres from Belgrade on the wide Pannonian plain in Vojvodina. It was founded in 1802, but there are records of a small settlement dating from 1458. It’s easily accessible by bus, train, or of course by car. The easiest way is just to drive on the old road to Pancevo, turn left at the first light, and follow the signs.

Kovacica is primarily a Slovak community that has preserved its identity, language and culture. Slovaks make up one of the 19 national groups in Vojvodina, a real Europe in miniature.

Well-known masters of naive art in Kovacica include Zuzana Chalupova and Martin Jonas, who have died but took on apprentices. Their works and those of other local artists can be seen in the Gallery of Naive Art and in several private galleries and studios beside it. It’s up to you to decide whether the apprentices’ style is truly naive or pseudo-naive, since some imitate the works of their mentors.

In Kovacica you may also visit the Evangelical church and the home of violin maker Jan Njemcek. Through-

Dusan Jeftovic paints busy village scenes

Photo by Pat Andjelkovic

out the year there are seasonal happenings too, such as “Kovacica October.”

Kovacica people are very welcoming, and if you don’t know Serbian or Slovak, that shouldn’t be a barrier.

Just before you reach Kovacica on the road from Belgrade, a turn-off leads to Padina, another home to naive artists. Padina, the Slavic word for “slope,” was also founded by Slovak immigrants and is well worth a visit.

In addition to the Gallery Mihal Babinka, where works by Padina’s artists are on display, there’s a church and an ethno-house. Once again, tourist info is lacking, so it’s best to practice up on sign language, take a Serbian speaker with you, or write down a few key phrases before you set out!

Just 10 kilometres to the north of Kovacica lies the ethnic Romanian community of Uzdin, a centre for Romanian cultural activities in Serbia, including naive painting, publication of a newspaper and other literature, and Romanian folk music and dance festivals. There is a gallery here too, but it’s less organised than the one in Kovacica, and isn’t always open. Check the links at the end of this article for information. In Uzdin you can also visit the church and an ethno-house.

An hour and a half south from Kovacica, in the other direction on the highway, towards Nis, you can visit the Museum of Naive Art in Jagodina, featuring over 2,500 paintings, sculptures, drawings and graphics, including classics of the old masters, such as Janko Brasic’s Portrait of My Mother. As in the gallery in Kovacica, a gift shop sells works from local naive artists like Dusan Jeftovic, whose work I admire, but now can’t afford, since his small, framed paintings at the gallery go for 80 to 200 euros.

Both galleries will provide names and contact information for artists who will welcome you into their homes and/or studios. Best to go with a Serbian speaker, for not all know a foreign language. On my last trip to Jagodina, I lunched at a good restaurant, featuring the standard grilled meat and salads. “Romansa” is located just near the park behind the gallery, near the town’s cultural centre. Whether you come home with a painting or just settle for a book of works by your favourite painter or some postcards, a trip to these towns will brighten your day.

Details: Jagodina: Museum of Naive Art, Boska Djuricica 10, tel/fax: 035 223419 mnujagodina@gmail.com Open daily 10am - 5pm, except Monday, Saturdays and Sundays 11am - 3pm.

Kovacica: Gallery of Naïve Art, Marsala Tita 50, Kovacica 26210 Phone: 013/611-122 office@took.org.yu Padina: Gallery Mihal Babinka, Trg Oslobodjenja 1, tel. 013 667235, e-mail: dkmb@panet.co.yu Useful web sites:

Museum of Naive Art in Jagodina

Photo by Pat Andjelkovic

Gallery/Gift Shop in Babka, Kovačica www.artgiftbabka.com/index.htm Tourist organization of Kovacica: http://www.took.org.yu/indexen.php

10

life

Friday, Oct. 31 - Nov. 6, 2008

Autumn at Kalemegdan

Once the site of bloodshed, chess feuds are the most violent thing you are likely to witness in the old fortress these days.

Text by Vanja Petrovic Photos by Sophie Cottrell

I

t can safely be said that Belgraders enjoy walks in the park. Unless it’s raining heavily, the city parks are filled with couples, children and pensioners.

Joining the city in this ritual one cold Saturday afternoon, we met people from all walks of life, including a man who claims he beat President Boris Tadic at chess, a writer who has come to what he calls “the end of the Balkans” for some inspiration, and children playing in the autumn leaves.

Together, these people are the fibre of this complex city.

Tourists from all corners of the world flock to this beautiful fortress. After their guides have finished leading them around the site, they disperse to take photos of themselves and others.

The fact that it was a bit cold didn’t stop Anita and Doroteja from making the most of the leaves covering the ground. Their fathers went to high school together and come here often with their two youngsters.

Sladja Milosavljevic and Djordje Deric are taking an afternoon walk through Kalemegdan. They met recently and say they came to the site to share their love for each other.

They gather in near silence every afternoon. After all, this is a serious game. In a green cap and jacket, their leader, Vlastimir Mladenovic, sits where he’s sat in the park for the last five years, playing chess. His titles are many, but he’s most proud of having beaten President Boris Tadic in 2004. “For the past five years, I’ve been playing the best chess of my life,” he says calmly and continues his game of speed chess.

Aca Jurisic, 29, is considered by some to be the best chess player at Kalemegdan. As he sits quietly, concentrating on his game, an onlooker comments, “He loves chess so much, he doesn’t even care about girls”.

“This fortress is the end of the Balkans, and I come to this view for inspiration,” says Mirutin Milovanovic.

This writer and former professor drove 150 kilometres from Cacak for the view.

When we met Milos Radovanovic and Danijela Cirokovic, they were sitting on a park bench, laughing. They only met in person a few hours ago, but had been talking over the Internet for months.

the belgrader

Friday, Oct. 31 - Nov. 6, 2008

Heads Up

L

ast summer, I was stuck in a The ornate - but often neseemingly interminable trafglected - facades of Beljam. The up-side was that grade’s older buildings are I was fic a passenger, and rather than like a window into the city’s grip the steering wheel, grit my teeth, soul. and stare at the cars surrounding me,

By Pat Andjelkovic

I contented myself by gazing out the sunroof of my exasperated companion’s car. As we inched along Belgrade’s bustling boulevards, I felt like a small child who always has to look up to see just about anything of interest. Staring back down at me from Belgrade’s facades were fantasy creatures and disembodied heads, surrounded by demure young girls and brawny men in various states of undress. Ever since that day, it’s

been “heads up” for me as I roam Belgrade’s streets.

Architecturally speaking, facades are often the most important part of a design, as they set the tone for the rest of the building. Many facades are historic, and in many cities, local planning regulations or other laws greatly restrict or even forbid their alteration. Unfortunately, that’s not the case here, for for the most part.

Belgrade’s face is marked with scars from past wars. The city was completely destroyed many times, which is why few buildings are more than 250 years old. Though it has a long history, Belgrade is young in architectural terms, and modern Belgrade exists only from the mid-19th century. But if you take the time to look around, you can find some striking houses that have miraculously managed to avoid fire, bombs, and man’s folly.

An old modern city

The devil and many other creatures are in the detail

Photo by Pat Andjelkovic

Always Travel Light

Leave your prejudices at home.

T

By David Dowse

hey say travel broadens the mind. Unless, that is, you find yourself travelling in Northern Dalmatia in a Belgrade registered car. The covert and overt expressions of bigotry that the mere letters ‘BG’ provoke in some places there are more likely to deaden the soul.

The post-Dayton policy of removing locality identification from car registration plates in Bosnia was an inspired move – a rare enough thing in the Balkans. The whole region would be a better place if all countries followed suite.

Having had the good fortune to have been born in Britain, I have never been subject to the shameful visa restrictions that continue to be pointlessly imposed on people here, so I have been able to follow my career wherever it has taken me; I lost count after around 30 different countries. Whether this experience has

broadened my mind is for others to say. However, I think I have learned one thing – if we judge other cultures based on our own value system, we do so at our own peril.

During an early visit to the Arabian Gulf, I was immediately struck by the division of labour. The local Arab people had a very clear definition of work. It involved (only) the men, dressed in immaculate white traditional clothes, full moustaches and expensive sunglasses. They sat in comfortable chairs, drinking tea and making endless mobile phone calls.

All work demanding more activity was carried out by an army of immigrant workers. Ex-pat Europeans ran the offices and the hotels, and every form of manual labour, from building sites to taxi-drivers was done by thousands of Indian workers.

One could have been forgiven for assuming that this society was totally single-sex. Arab women were virtually invisible. I recall waking after an early morning, jet-lag induced sleep at a hotel poolside in Qatar, to find the place completely packed with local weekend revellers. Having fallen soundly asleep almost alone, this was shocking enough. When my bleary eyes focused, it became clear that there was not a single woman among the hundreds of people in the pool. It was a strangely uncomfortable experience.

ism from the Soviet Union) and PostModernism, to name a few.

S.O.S. for Belgrade’s face Many of Belgrade’s facades have been restored with the help of photography. Old postcards have often helped architects to reconstruct an edifice’s original face. A good example of this is the House of the Society for the Beautification of Vracar, which dates from 1901.

But as I walk and admire Belgrade’s many crumbling façades, I am saddened that more is not done to preserve these dwellings that keep memories and the scent of the past alive. The fabulous figures, caryatids, stone heads, tile work, that adorn them reflect much more of the city’s soul and identity than any state-ofthe art glass and steel construction.

Pat Andjelkovic is a teacher, writer, and long-term expat.

Ornate detail is everywhere

In the early 1900s, Belgrade was a city that followed European trends in lifestyle and architecture, with notable families raising buildings in order to match the beauty of other notable cities such as Budapest and Prague. The capital was striving to transform itself into a European city, but never cast off the Oriental flavour it had imbibed during centuries of Ottoman rule. Skadarlija remained intact, as did the popular restaurant Znak pitanja (Question Mark), for example.

Belgrade, probably more than many cities, has undergone numerous architectural influences and schools: Turkish, Historicism, Art Nouveau, Neo-Renaissance, Neo-Byzantine, Functionalism, Modernism (which Compare and contrast. Pat’s not a fan. in the 1930s reflected Socialist Real-

My young, politically correct, British sensibilities were outraged by what I saw all around me in Arabia. Sitting in a taxi one evening, I struck up a conversation with my Indian driver. I fully expected him to react to my provocation by railing against his Arab masters and the third-class citizenship that was the lot of the Indian immigrant population. Far from doing so, he eloquently corrected me, explaining that he was extremely grateful to be allowed to come there and work 18 hours a day as a taxi driver. He was able to send money home, and his children (well,

Not welcome in Northern Dalmatia

11

the boys, anyway) would go to school, he proudly told me.

Having spectacularly failed to foment revolution, I retired to the 10th floor bar in my Western hotel (closed to locals) to try to reconcile my thoughts. For tragic evidence of what can happen when we ignore cultural sensitivities, we need look no further than Iraq, where the world’s most powerful military nation has destroyed many lives and spent trillions trying, and failing completely, to impose its cultural values on people who quite clearly do not want them.

Photo by Pat Andjelkovic

Coming back closer to home, the EU and other Western powers continue to demonstrate at every opportunity how little they understand about how the Balkans works. I certainly don’t claim to do so either, and I fully expect to spend the rest of my life learning. But recognition of what we don’t know, and that cultural and historical references do matter, is surely the direction in which we must travel.

David Dowse, is a Senior Partner at Webb Dowse Intelligent Corporate Communications.

Photo by Vanja Petrovic

12

the belgrader

Friday, Oct. 31 - Nov. 6, 2008

Going out

The Friday Night Escapade to Brodic

October is a transitional month on the party circuit, but while some spots are heading into their winter snooze, there’s yearround fun to be had on the river boats.

I

By Zoran Milosavljevic

t’s that time of the year when you put away your summer clothes and start preparing for a long, wet and dour winter in a city where even a few drops of rain or snow can turn Belgrade’s chaotic traffic into a royal mess of staggering proportions.

However, Friday nights out can be as exciting and entertaining in October as they are in July and August, when revellers flock to their favourite hangouts scattered across the city centre. While the summer scene comes alive in late May and early June, as blaring music engulfs the city from every outdoor night spot with a licence to torment grumpy old neighbours seeking peace and quiet, the Friday night escapade moves into the bellies of river joints lined

up along the banks of the Sava, and to more traditional nightclubs such as Plastic, Baltazar, Akademija and Magacin. October is a transitional month when outdoor joints head for a well-earned winter break, but not some imaginatively designed party rafts which offer fun and games until the early morning hours throughout the year.

Next to Lukas, a gigantic doublestorey rectangular object blasting a mixture of turbo-folk and mainstream hits to its fans, lies a seemingly ramshackle splav one might mistake for abandoned wreckage in daytime.

Brodic (Little Boat), is anything but.

In summer and winter alike, it is one of the most popular hangouts for the urban crowd in their thirties, seeking a relaxed yet lively night out. Another of its beauties is that there are

no bouncers to turn you away if you haven’t got a date or a reservation.

Drinks are very reasonably priced, while DJs take turns demonstrating their talents with house and drum & bass sequels as well as good old disco and rock anthems from the 1980s, depending on the night and the prevalent

mood on the dancefloor. Few come here before midnight as Brodic is one of those places where you go after you’ve done The Idiot, a must-see bar nicely tucked-in just above the botanical garden in Dalmatinska street.

Named after Dostoevsky’s famous novel, its dimmed lights, red-

Brodic - beware the zuta osa

brick interior, a pinball machine and a slight touch of noir, provide the perfect opening to a night out seven days a week. This is where Barbara Streisand and Annie Lennox lookalikes drop in to strike conversation with ever-friendly staff and secret admirers bold enough to approach those gorgeous and equally inaccessible Belgrade girls, the likes of which your regular club corespondent, Richard Wordsworth spotted at Funky Buda several weeks ago. “It’s my favourite joint and this is where I come to party on Fridays,” said Marija, one of the bar staff, as she downed a shot of zuta osa, a super strong spirit that will liven you up under any circumstances. One might imagine you don’t usually turn up at the place where you work on your night off but Marija does, regularly. “There’s no place I’d rather be right now,” she added, as her friend nods approvingly.

Me too. I’ve spent many a memorable night out here including one of the most unforgettable New Year’s Eve parties. Whenever I am not up to making the trip across the bridge to Brodic, after The Idiot goes to sleep at around 2.30 in the morning, Plastic and The French Chambermaid are just around the corner. But that’s another story.

Dining out

Violeta Kuca Stara

Forget the buffet, and stick to modern European cooking with a Serbian slant, at this unpretentious Vracar establishment.

By “Trencherman”

T

here is one word guaranteed to strike fear into the heart and soul of every gourmet the world over. A word so chilling that I go out of my way to avoid it wherever and whenever I can. The word is … “buffet”. To me, it does not suggest variety and endless re-fills, value and choice but over-cooked meats, under-refrigerated salads, dry baked goods, greasy fried foods and deep, deep dissatisfaction. So when I saw the word as we arrived at Violeta Kuca Stara, my heart sank.

Now, I’m sure many will find the 860-dinar brunch an excellent and good value way to feed and entertain the family on a Sunday but I was overjoyed, however, to learn that the a la carte menu was still available.

Established four or so years ago, Violeta Stara Kuca has built up a loyal following amongst locals and expats alike. The location, on a quiet sidestreet in Vracar, makes the summer garden particularly popular as a place for a lazy lunch. But autumn is with us and the shadows were getting long when we arrived, so we sat indoors.

There’s nothing pretentious about the inside, but it was presentable, clean, well ordered and the tables were spaced widely enough to ensure that our fellow diners’ conversations were their own.

Despite some comical spellings (shreamps, anyone?), the menu is

serious and wide-ranging, largely “modern European” in style with a Serbian slant, and our waiter was happy to take us through it. We chose a rolled steak with a pumpkin seed sauce and penne with a black truffle sauce to start. The presentation was overly-fussy. The beef was set amongst a chequerboard pattern of reduced balsamic vinegar with the occasional gap in the pattern filled with a dusting of turmeric or another colourful spice. The pasta came with dots of a sweet tomato-based sauce around the rim. Both dishes however, were competently cooked.

The worryingly green thick pumpkin seed sauce on the beef was flavoursome and complemented it. The pasta was al dente, creamy and whilst not over-generous, had enough truffle in it for the flavour to be upfront and bring some strong savoury notes to the dish.

Mains were a mixed bag.

Grilled chicken with mozzarella was generous – three large pieces of chicken breast – but it looked pale and unappetising. The lemon sauce it came with was very sweet and did not sit well with the cheese. Fillet steak was well cooked, with small chunks of equally well-prepared foie gras on top and a rich sauce made from the pan juices poured over. Altogether, there were traditional takes on grilled meat but it was none-the-less successful. Both came with grilled vegetables, which were fresh, varied and colourful but a little undercooked.

To follow, a crème brulée. This was creamy with a light but crispy sugar topping, which would have benefited from some vanilla to take away the overwhelming creamy sweetness. An interesting Toberlone

Good food, overly fussy presentation mousse was chocolatey and smooth with the occasional nutty nugget.

I’m still exploring Serbian wines but I was almost tempted away with this list, which was not extensive but well chosen and representative of most key wine-growing areas. With reasonable wines for less than 2,000 dinars, prices were not too outrageous. In the end however, I chose a Wow pinot blanc at 2,600 dinars.

Wow is one of a small band of local producers that have started to focus

Photo courtesy of www.restoranvioleta.co.yu on product quality and the way they brand and market their product. The package looks like a quality new world product and would definitely bear comparison on a retail shelf. A €35 bottle should also taste good and this was great upfront, floral, pleasingly acidic, a little fuller than I’d expected from a pinot. All in all, decent value for the price.

I’d come back here, particularly in the summer on a warm weekend when I could linger over food in the

garden with friends. Despite the 1980s nouvelle cuisine plate art, the food was in the main well executed, the service polished and the wine list accessible.

Details: Price Guide: 2,500 – 3,000 dinars for 3 courses with a modest wine Violeta Kuca Stara Topolska 4 Tel: 011 2431458

sport

Friday, Oct. 31 - Nov. 6, 2008

13

Ivanovic Back With a Vengeance The former world number one is looking forward to the Masters in Doha after winning her first title in four months.

By Zoran Milosavljevic

A

na Ivanovic endured four torrid months after capturing the French Open in June and just when it seemed her deepening crisis would provide a sour ending to a season that started so brightly, Serbia’s former world number one came back in style to win a top-level tournament in the Austrian resort of Linz last weekend with an emphatic 6-2, 6-1 whitewash of Russia’s Vera Zvonareva.

Ivanovic looked a pale shadow of the player that claimed her first Grand Slam title at the Roland Garros in the immediate aftermath of her success as she battled to overcome a thumb injury, poor results, a complete loss of confidence and fan resentment over her decision to pull out of the Beijing Olympics. Last Sunday, she was back to her best and took only 50 minutes to brush aside Zvonareva with a vintage performance which enabled her to stay fourth in the women’s WTA rankings.

“I played a perfect match and it really is a great feeling to start winning again,” said a delighted Ivanovic, who will turn 21 next month when she enters the Doha Masters along with the other seven top-ranked players bidding to end the season by clinching the showcase event.

The Roland Garros title turned out to be a mixed blessing for Ivanovic, who cracked under the pressure of great expectations from her fans and subservient local media, most of which declared Ivanovic the “beauty queen” of women’s tennis and then demanded that she never let go of a throne far more difficult to hold on to: the one her infuriated rivals always had every chance of snatching from her grasp. An early Wimbledon exit was followed by a seemingly innocuous thumb injury that forced her to pull out of the Olympics after she had already arrived in Beijing, a decision Ivanovic called one of the most difficult in her life.

Then came a string of first round exits against unheralded opponents and as experts and fans began to question Ivanovic’s resolve and ability to survive at the top, she got the push she needed from an unlikely source.

Fellow Serbian Jelena Jankovic, who openly admits she has never been best friends with Ivanovic, imposed herself as the season’s world number one with a hat-trick of titles in Stuttgart, the China Open and the Kremlin Cup Moscow.

When nothing else could, perhaps seeing her rival sweep to victory drove Ivanovic to come back with a vengeance and serve a timely reminder to the WTA circuit of what they will be up against in Doha and next season, not least when the Australian Open starts in January.

Apart from Jankovic and Ivanovic, the women’s masters will feature the Russian quartet of Dinara Safina,

Elena Dementieva, Vera Zvonareva and Svetlana Kuznetsova while the mercurial Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, carry the U.S. flag. Jankovic is assured of ending the season as the world number one no matter what happens in Doha but a threeway dogfight for the runners-up spot could reach boiling point in the Qatar desert as only 65 points – a gap easily bridged in a Masters tournament

W

ho says 13 is an unlucky number?

It was certainly lucky for Serbian champions Partizan Belgrade in their enthralling 81-77 Euroleague Group D win over Real Madrid, the first in 13 meetings with the Spanish giants who came to Serbia’s capital as firm favourites to collect the points. It wasn’t to be, as Partizan pulled off an upset on the back of 18 points from Aleksandar Rasic and 16 by the game’s MVP Milenko Tepic.

The two back-court players steered their team through thick and thin and into a good position to reach the last 16 of Europe’s premier basketball competition featuring the continent’s top 24 clubs.

Roared on by a frenetic 7,000 home crowd, Partizan opened the game with a 17-6 run and led 31-19 midway through the second period before the visitors, whose star player Louis Bullock failed to score a single point in the opening half, rallied to cut the deficit to 44-38 at halftime.

It was a slender lead given that Partizan thoroughly dominated the boards, having out-rebounded the Spaniards 18-11 largely thanks to eight offensive rebounds most of which resulted in crucial second-chance points.

A dramatic second half produced a see-saw thriller in which the lead changed hands several times before twin point guards Tepic and Rasic swung the tie Partizan’s way with a

pair of three-pointers and some cool free-throw shooting, enabling Belgrade’s Pionir to erupt in joy on the buzzer. Real had opened up a 55-47 lead early in the third period with a 17-3 run that silenced the vociferous fans but Tepic proved his worth when he needed to most, hitting crucial shots and feeding Senegalese forward Stephane Lasme, who chipped in 12 points and four rebounds. Power forward Novica Velickovic contributed with another hard-working performance capped by 13 points and six rebounds, including a pair of free throws that sealed the win in the dying seconds before Alex Mumbru’s final three-pointer for Real.

Real’s top players had a rather quiet evening as Bullock was held to just 9 points while playmakers Pepe Sanchez and Raul Lopez scored a miserable two between them. Quinton Hosley had 14 and 11 rebounds but their outstanding player of the evening was shooting guard Sergio Llull, who finished with 19 points and 8-of-9 shooting from the field. His majestic performance, however, was not enough to save the winners of 30 Spanish league titles from defeat by a young and hungry Partizan outfit eager to emulate last season’s success by reaching the quarter-finals.

Elsewhere, Poland’s Asseco Prokom romped to a 91-62 whitewash of French rivals Nancy thanks to a grand effort from their U.S. guard Daniel Ewing, who led the way with 32 points on 7-of-9 shooting from inside the arc and 6-of-8

Zoran Milosavljevic is Belgrade Insight’s sports writer and also a regional sports correspondent for Reuters.

Ana Ivanovic has rediscovered her winning form

Partizan Break Real Madrid Jinx

By Zoran Milosavljevic

– separate second-placed Safina from fourth-placed Ivanovic with Serena Williams between them in third. Serbia’s Sport Klub and the Eurosport channel will have full live coverage of this event, a perfect ending to what has been a most entertaining season.

from three-point range. Defending champions CSKA Moscow were just as ruthless in an 86-52 away destruction of Greeks Panionios Athens while Turkey’s Efes Pilsen eased to an 81-71 success at AJ Milan. The Istanbul side was led by their Serbian international point guard Milos Vujanic, who poured in 19 points, while Milan’s David Hawkins topped all scorers with 20. Partizan are at home to Milan next Wednesday in what should be another treat for basketball fans in Belgrade while Croatian powerhouse Cibona Zagreb entertain Olympiakos Piraeus on Thursday.

Photo by FoNet

TV Events Friday, Oct 31 Tennis: Men’s ATP Masters in Paris (Sport Klub 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and 7.45 p.m. to 11.45 p.m.); Soccer: Bundesliga - Bayer Leverkusen v WFL Wolfsburg (Sport Klub + 8.30 p.m.)

Saturday, Nov 1 Tennis: Men’s ATP Masters in Paris (Sport Klub 2 p.m.); Basketball: Regional NLB League: Cibona Zagreb v Red Star Belgrade (FOX Serbia 4.00 p.m.); Soccer: Manchester United v Hull City (RTS 2 at 4.30 p.m. note: kick off 4 p.m.), Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool (RTS 2 at 6.30 p.m.), Reggina v Inter Milan (Sport Klub 6 p.m.), Malaga v Barcelona (FOX Serbia 8 p.m.), Juventus Turin v Roma (Avala 8.30 p.m.), Lanus v River Plate (Sport Klub 9.20 p.m.),Valencia v Racing Santander (FOX Serbia 10 p.m.); NHL Ice Hockey: Buffalo Sabres v Washington Capitals (Sport Klub 11.55 p.m.)

Sunday, Nov 2

No way through for Real Madrid

Basketball: NBA Regular Season: LA Lakers v Denver Nuggets (OBN at 3 a.m.); Tennis: Men’s ATP Masters in Paris final (Sport Klub 4 p.m.) NFL: Tennessee v Green Bay (Sport Klub 7 p.m.), New York Giants v Dallas (Sport Klub 10.15 p.m.), Handball: Croatia v Hungary (HRT 2 at 1.30 p.m.); Motor Racing: Brazil Grand Prix (FOX Serbia 6 p.m.); Soccer: Bolton v Manchester

City (RTS 2 at 4.55 p.m.), Borussia Dortmund v Bochum (Sport Klub + 5 p.m.), Almeria v Real Madrid (FOX Serbia 8 p.m. note: kick off 7 p.m.), Italian League Match (Avala 3 p.m. and 8.30. p.m.)

Monday, Nov 3 Soccer: Premier League Highlights (RTS 2 at 8.00 p.m.)

Tuesday, Nov 4 Champions League Soccer: Liverpool v Atletico Madrid (B 92 at 8.45 p.m. followed by news of the day, highlights and Roma v Chelsea delayed) Wednesday, Nov 5 Champions League Soccer: Real Madrid v Juventus Turin (B 92 at 8.45 p.m. followed by news of the day, highlights and Celtic v Manchester United delayed); Champions League Volleyball: Red Star Belgrade v Lube Marcherata (RTS 2 at 6.00 p.m.); Euroleague Basketball: Partizan Belgrade v AJ Milan (RTS 2 at 8.40 p.m.)

Thursday, Nov 6 Euroleague Basketball: Cibona Zagreb v Olympiakos Piraeus (HRT 2 at 6.30 p.m.); UEFA Cup Soccer: VFB Stuttgart v Partizan Belgrade (RTS 1 or 2 at 6 p.m.), Tottenham Hotspur v Dinamo Zagreb (HRT 2 at 9 p.m.), Highlights (Eurosport 11.00 p.m.)

14

the belgrader

Friday, Oct. 31 - Nov. 6, 2008

My Picks

Tomato & Co. You know those days when you work till 9 p.m. and all you want to do is get home and cook yourself a fresh feast. But where do you go when all of Belgrade’s open markets have closed?

By Rian Harris

W

hile Belgrade’s green markets are overflowing with delicious fruits and veggies, their hours often make it tough for working folk to take advantage of their bounty during the week.

The produce at the larger supermarkets frankly often leaves a lot to be desired, so where does one go for the good stuff during the week?

I have come to depend on Tomato & Co. a lovely greengrocer located a stone’s throw from Kalenic market.

Tomato offers superior quality lettuces, fruits, and vegetables all year round. Some days you can find ripe avocados, pineapples, papaya, mango and other rare delicacies I don’t even recognise.

Tomato & Co. is on Njegoseva, at the corner of Baba Visnjina.While you’re there, you can take advantage of the recently opened branch of Hleb & Kifle, a bakery chain offering a yummy selection of breads and pastries.

Tomato & Co. Mon - Sun 8 a.m. until 10 p.m.

Tomato & Co. offers a great selection of fruit and vegetables

What’s On CINEMAS

CONCERTS

Roda Cineplex Pozeska 83A , tel: 011 2545260

Lajko Felix

Max Payne 18:30, 20:30 & 22:30 Turneja (The Tour) 18:00, 20:15 &22:30 The House Bunny 17:45, 20:00 & 22:15 Wall E 16:00 Journey to the Center of the Earth 16:00 Star Wars: The Clone Wars 16:30 Dom sindikata Trg Nikole Pasica 5, tel. 011 3234849 Turneja (The Tour) 16:00 & 22:00 Max Payne 16:30 & 22:30 The House Bunny 18:30 & 20:30 Ljubav i drugi zlocini (Love and Other Crimes) 18:00 & 20:00 Death Race 16:15, 18:15, 20:15 & 22:15 Ster City Cinema Delta City, Jurija Gagarina 16 (Blok 67), tel: 011 2203400 The House Bunny 12:00, 14:10, 16:20, 18:30, 20:40 & 22:50 Turneja (The Tour) 12:20, 14:30, 17:00, 19:10, 21:20 & 23:30 Death Race 13:50, 16:00, 18:10, 20:20 & 22:30 Tropic Thunder 12:40 & 18:50 Max Payne 14:50, 16:50, 21:00 & 23:10 Mirrors 21:40 & 23:50 Nim’s Island 11:40, 13:40, 15:40, 17:40 & 19:40 Mamma Mia! 13:10, 15:20, 17:50, 20:00 & 22:10 Tuckwood Cineplex Kneza Milosa 7, tel: 011 3236517 Turneja (The Tour) 15:30, 18:00, 20:30 & 22:50 Max Payne 15:45, 18:00, 20:15 & 22:30 The House Bunny 15:30, 17:45, 20:00 & 22:15 Milos Brankovic 21:00 Star Wars: The Clone Wars 17:00 Nije kraj (Will Not End Here) 19:00 & 23:00 Nim’s Island 17:45 & 19:15 Mirrors 21:15 & 23:30

Cabaret The 1966 Broadway production spawned a hugely successful movie and countless productions worldwide. Directed by Chet Walker

This amazing spectacle mixes kung fu, dance and showmanship

November 2, 19:30 Tickets available at Terazije Theatre ticket office

y ew b

Revi

O

ook

lic C

ca I Dusi

November 5, 19:30 Tickets available at Terazije Theatre ticket office

EXIBITIONS Nikola Pasic Square

Terazije Theater Terazije 29

Shaolin Monks

November 1, 19:30 Tickets available at National Theatre ticket office and Bilet Service, Trg republike 5

Farewell to arms Graphic exhibition by Ivan Jovanovic

THEATRE

EVENTS

The hunch-backed jester and the Duke do battle in three acts

Kiss me, Kate Cole Porter’s biggest hit, with a host of well remembered sing-along tunes.

November 6, 19:30 Tickets available at National Theatre ticket office and Bilet Service, Trg republike 5

Ilija M. Kolarac Foundation Hall.

Studentski trg 5 November 6, 20:00 Tickets available at Kolarac ticket office

Rigoletto Opera by Giuseppe Verdi.

The Troubadour (Il Trovatore) Opera by Giuseppe Verdi.

Fabulous arias in another of Verdi’s most famous melodramas

Don Quixote Ballet based on Miguel de Cervantes famous novel of the same name.

One of Europe’s most travelled orchestras under the baton of Tugan Sokhiev.

National Theatre Trg republike 1a

Gallery of THE Faculty of Fine Arts Knez Mihailova 53

National Theatre Trg republike 1a

Toulouse Capitol National Orchestra

OPERA

Terazije Theater Terazije 29

BALLET

REX Cultural Centre Jevrejska 16 October 31, 21:00 Ticket available at REX ticket office and Bilet Service, Trg republike 5

Sava Center, Great Hall Milentija Popivica 9 November 6, 20:00 Tickets available at SC ticket office and Bilet Service, Trg republike 5

National Theatre Trg republike 1a

November 5, 19:30 Tickets available at National Theatre ticket office and Bilet Service, Trg republike 5

The Hungarian virtuoso violinist entertains with his mix of contemporary and classic pieces

Photos by Sophie Cottrell

n October 29, I drove from Tuzla to Belgrade, after work, just to spend an hour or two listening to my favourite band – Queen. Although Queen without Freddie Mercury and John Deacon feels a bit like drinking wine mixed with water, I can’t say I was disappointed. On the contrary, it felt that I finally got a long lasting wish granted – I saw them live.

I was totally swept away with guitarist Brian May’s performance of my favourite song, Love of My Life, which I even managed to record on my tiny cam-

Silent society Thoughtful multimedia exhibition inspired by the problems of children with disabilities

by Mladen Hrvanovic

October 27 - November 5 Mon - Fri 10:00 - 20:00 Saturday 10:00 - 14:00

CLUBBING Boat Kolos Savski Kej, New Belgrade (under Branko’s Bridge) Freemasons Dance/House/Electronica team from England

October 23 - November 3 Mon - Sun 10:00 - 22:00

October 31, 22:00 Tickets available at Bilet Service and Kolos

Museum of African Art Andre Nikolica 14

Club Magacin Karadjordjeva 2 -4

Impressions, Morocco Exhibition of photographs by Marko Todorovic October 23 - November 23 Mon - Sat 10:00 - 18:00 Sunday 10:00 - 16:00 Gallery ‘73 Pozeska 83a

Martin Solveig Popular French house music DJ and producer October 31, 22:00 Tickets available at Bilet Service and Magacin Andergraund Pariska 1 Terry Frances

Terracotta Exhibit of sculptures by Kolja Milunovic

British Tech House DJ, resident at London’s Fabric, one of the largest and most popular night clubs in the UK.

October 24 - November 6 Mon - Fri 10:00 - 20:00 Saturday 10:00 - 15:00

October 31, 22:00 Tickets available at Bilet Service and Andergraund

I Have Seen the Queen! era (smuggled in). And, when lead singer all in this moment of unique musical exRoger Taylor did his magic on the drums, perience. combining it with the bass of Danny “I have seen the Queen!”

Miranda, I felt the Belgrade Arena was too small to accommodate my heart. But, when the voice of Freddie Mercury, looking out at us from the giant video screen, broke across every corner of the stadium, I knew their mission to help the audience relive the magic was complete.

Paul Rodgers and the accompanying musicians filled the gaps left by the missing Queen members, and we can only congratulate them for having the courage to join us

directory

Friday, Oct. 31 - Nov. 6, 2008

TAXI SERVICES

Beo Taxi 011 9801 Blue Taxi 011 555999 Joker Taxi 011 3971174 Lux Taxi 011 3033123 Pink Taxi 011 9803 Taxi Bell 011 9808 Yellow Taxi 011 9802

BEAUTICIANS

MIOLIFT STUDIO Trg Nikole Pasica 8 Tel: 011 3340554 www.centarlepote.co.yu NENA Terazije 42, 1st floor Tel: 011 3619115, 011 619577 WELLNESS CENTAR ZORICA Dobracina 33, Bulevar Despota Stefana 71, 2nd floor Tel: 011 3285922, 011 3243940, 063 356001 www.zorica.co.yu SPA CENTAR Strahinjica Bana 5 Tel: 011 3285408 www.spacentar.co.yu office@spacentar.co.yu

BUILDERS ENJUB Bulevar Mihajla Pupina 20 Tel: 011 2601673 www.enjub.co.yu info@enjub.co.yu

ESTATE AGENTS

INTERNET HOTSPOTS

AS-YUBC ESTATE Bul. Mihajla Pupina 10a Tel: 011 3118424, 063 371 879 as.yubc@sbb.co.yu EURENT Dobracina 21 Tel: 011 3038662 www.eurent.co.yu info@eurent.co.yu

123 wap Vase Pelagica 48 Absinthe Kralja Milutina 33 Backstage Restaurant Svetogorska 19 BAR Central Kralja Petra 59 Bistro Pastis Strahinjica Bana 52B Bizzare Zmaj Jovina 25 Café bar MODA Njegoseva 61 Café Biblioteka Terazije 27 Café Koeficijent Terazije 15-23 Café Nautilus Turgenjeva 5 Café Paleta Trg Republike 5 Celzijus Dzordza Vasingtona 12 Coffee dream Kralja Petra 23 Café Pianeta 27. Marta 141 Colonial Sun Bul. Vojvode Putnika 32-34 Cuba Café Kneza Viseslava 63 Extreme kids Cvijiceva 1 Gradski Macor Svetozara Markovica 43 Ice bar Kosovska 37 Idiott Dalmatinska 13 Insomnia Strahinjica Bana 66A Ipanema Strahinjica Bana 68 Journal Kralja Milutina 21 Koling Klub Neznanog junaka 23 Kontra Bar Strahinjica Bana 59 Langust Kosancicev venac 29 Mart Caffe Krunska 6 Monin Bar Dositejeva 9A Monument Admirala Geprata 14 New York, New York Krunska 86 Oktopus Brace Krsmanovic 3 O’Polo Café Rige od Fere 15 Pietro Dell Oro Trnska 2 Pomodoro Hilandarska 32 Que pasa Kralja Petra 13 Rezime Centar Cafe Kralja Petra 41 Veprov dah Strahinjica Bana 52 Vespa Bar Toplicin venac 6 Via Del Gusto Knez Mihailova 48

EVENTS & CATERERS Villa catering Krunska 69, Beograd Tel: 011 3442656, 3835570, 063 207976 www.villa-catering.com office@villa-catering.com

PARTY SERVICE Tel: 011 3946461 GODO Savski kej bb Tel: 011 2168101 BUTTERFLY CATERING Tel: 011 2972027, 063 7579825 office@butterfly-catering.rs Aleksandra-Anais Tel/fax: 011 4898173 063 7775889 office@aleksandra-anais.co.yu CATERING CLUB DB Tel. 065 8099819 Fax: 011 2980800 cateringclubdb@eunet.yu CATERING PLUS Palmira Toljatija 5 Tel: 011 2608410 office@catering.co.yu DIPLOMAT CATERING Josipa Slavenskog 10 Tel: 011 3672605 diplomatcatering@icomline.net EURO CATERING Prve pruge 2 11080 Zemun Tel/fax: 011 3190469 office@eurocatering.co.yu

FLORISTS

COSMETIC & HEALTH SERVICES KOMNENUS Kraljice Natalije 19 Tel: 011 3613677 www.komnenus.com office@komnenus.com ANTI-AGING CENTAR Nikolaja Ostrovskog 3 Tel: 011 2199645 www.aacentar.com EPILION dermatological laser centre Admirala Geprata 13 Tel: 011 3611420, 011 3615203 www.epilion.co.yu, info@epilion.co.yu

DENTISTS BIG TOOTH Mite Ruzica 10a Tel: 063 8019190 www.big-tooth.com dr.ilic@beotel.yu FAMILY DENTIST Bulevar Dr Zorana Djindica bb Tel: 011 136437 www.familydentist.co.yu ordinacija@familydentist.co.yu BELDENT Brankova 23 Tel: 011 2634455 APOLONIJA Stevana Sremca 13, Tel: 011 3223420 DUKADENT Pariske Komune 11 Tel: 011 3190766

MALA VRTNA RADIONICA Spanskih boraca 22g Tel: 011 3130300 www.mvr.co.yu mvr@verat.net CVET EXPRES Rajka Od Rasine 28 Tel: 011 2545987 INTERFLORA Vojvode Stepe 405 Tel: 011 462687 TELEFLORA Svetogorska 11 Tel: 011 03030047/048

HAIR STYLISTS

GYMS, LEISURE & SPORTS CENTRES

HAIR FACTORY Kosovska 37/10 Tel: 011 3227775 www.hairfactory.co.yu vlada@hairfactory.co.yu EXCLUSIVE UNISEX HAIR SALONE ALEKSANDAR Bulevar Despota Stefana 96 Tel: 011 2087602 www.aleksandar.weebly.com fsaleksandar@gmail.com

EXTREME GYM TC ABC Cvijiceva 1 Tel: 011 2768255 www.x3mgym.com extremegym@x3mgym.com LPG Centar YU BIZNIS Centre, Bulevar Mihaila Pupina 10b Tel: 011 3130806 lpgstosic@eunet.yu, www.lpgsalon.co.yu

RELAX PLATO Beogradjanka Tower Masarikova 5, 5th floor Tel: 011 3061765 www.relaxplato.com Golf Club Beograd Ada Ciganlija 2 Tel: 063 8963816 Partizan Shooting Club Tel: 011 2647942, 064 801 9900 Fax: 011 2647261 www.partizanshooting.rs info@partizanshooting.rs Hippodrome Belgrade Pastroviceva 2 Tel: 011 3546826

LEGAL SERVICES ILS Ltd. in association with Clyde & Co Gospodar Jevremova 47 Tel: 011 3038822 www.clydeco.co.uk clyde@clyde.co.yu HARRISONS SOLICITORS Terazije 34 Tel: 011 3615918 www.harisons-solicitors.com KARANOVIC&NIKOLIC Lepenicka 7 Tel: 011 3094200 www.karanovic-nikolic.co.yu info@karanovic-nikolic.co.yu

MASSEURS

HEALTHCARE BEL MEDIC Viktora Igoa 1 Tel. 011 3065888, 011 3066999, 063 206602 www.belmedic.com BEL MEDIC Koste Jovanovića 87 Tel. 011 3091000, 065 3091000 www.belmedic.com Dr. RISTIC HEALTH CENTRE Narodnih Heroja 38 Tel: 011 2693287 www.dr-ristic.co.yu zcentar@dr-ristic.co.yu LABOMEDICA Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra 193a Tel: 011 3088304 www.labomedica.net klinika@labomedica.net Privatna Praksa Petrovic Kralja Milutina 10 Tel: 011 3460777 Dom Zdravlja “Stari Grad” Obilicev venac 30 Tel: 011 635236 Dom Zdravlja “Vracar” Kneginje Zorke 15 Tel. 011 2441413

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VETS&PETS

NOVAK VETERINARIAN CLINIC Veselina Maslese 55 Tel: 011 2851856, 011 2851923 www.vetnovak.co.yu novak@ptt.yu Veterinarska stanica Lazarevic Zrenjaninski put 30 Tel: 011 3319 015, 063 216 663 Fax: +381 (0)11 2712 385 Oaza Miklosiceva 11, Tel: 011 4440899

Bookstores

PLUMBERS HAUZMAJSTOR Francuska 56 Tel: 011 3034034 office@hauzmajstor.co.yu HIDROTEK Ljutice Bogdana 2 Tel: 011 2666823 kontakt@hidrotek.co.yu

SOLARIUMS BEAUTY CENTAR Traditional Thai Massage Centre Knez Mihajlova 2-4 Tel: 011 3030003 www.menta.co.yu menta_bg@ptt.yu

ALLIED PICKFORDS SERBIA Zarka Obreskog 23 Tel: 011 8487744 www.alliedpickfords.co.yu movers@alliedpickfords.co.yu AGS Belgrade Niski autoput 17 Tel: 011 3472321 www.agsmovers.com belgrade@agsmovers.com

SUN FACTORY MEGASUN Maksima Gorkog 82 Tel: 011 3440403 sun.factory.megasun@gmail.com ORNELA MEGASUN Njegoseva 56 Tel: 011 2458398 ornelakbl@eunet.yu Studio miolift Beograd, Trg Nikole Pašica 8 Tel: 011 3033211, 064 2351313 Aleksandar team Bulevar Despota Stefana 34a Tel: 011 3225632 www.aleksandar-team.co.yu Sun look Makedonska 5 Tel: 011 3343810 www.sunlook-bg.com

OPTICIANS

TICKET SERVICES

MOVERS

EUROOPTIC Bulevar kralja Aleksandra 278 Tel: 011 2415130 www.eurooptic.co.yu OPTIKA BEOGRAD A.D. Cara Urosa 8-10 Tel: 011 2629833

PRINTERS DIGITAL PRINTING CENTAR Cvijiceva 29 Tel: 011 2078000 www.dpc.co.yu office@dpc.co.yu DIGITAL ART Tel: 011 3617281

BILET SERVICE Trg Republike 5 IPS & MAMUT MEGASTORE Knez Mihajlova 1 Tel: 011 3033311 www.ips.co.yu

TRANSLATORS TODOROVIC AGENCY Tel: 011 2188197 BELGRADE TRANSLATION CENTRE Dobracina 50/11 Tel: 011 3287388 www.btc.co.yu natasa.ralic@btc.co.yu LEXICA TRANSLATION AGENCY Beogradska 35 Tel: 011 3222750 www.lexica.co.yu office@lexica.co.yu

Akademija Knez Mihailova 35 Tel: 011 2627846 Antikvarijat Knez Mihailova 35 Tel: 011 636087 Beopolis Makedonska 22 Tel: 011 3229922 Dereta Dostojevskog 7 Tel: 011 3058707, 011 556-445 Kneza Mihaila 46 Tel. 011 3033503, 011 3030 514, 011 627-934 Geca Kon Kneza Mihaila 12 Tel. 011 622073 IPS Mercator, Bulevar umetnosti 4 Tel: 011 132872 Super Vero Milutina MIlankovica 86a Tel: 011 3130640 IPS BOOK & MUSIC STORE Beoizlog, basement, Trg Republike 5 Tel: 011 3281859 Plato Knez Mihailova 48 Tel: 011 625834 SKZ Kralja Milana 19 Tel: 011 3231593 Stubovi kulture Knez Mihailova 6 Tel: 011 3281851, 011 632384 The Oxford Center Dobracina 27 Tel. 011 631021 We welcome suggestions for inclusion in the directory.

Please send details to: belgradeinsightmarketing@ birn.eu.com

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Friday, Oct. 31 - Nov. 6, 2008