Belgrade Insight, No. 18

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NEWS NEWS

Friday • June 13 • 2008

9 ISSN 1820-8339

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Issue 1 / Friday, 13, 2008 Jan. 15, 2009 Weekly Issue No. 18,No. Friday, Jan. June 9 - Thursday,

Serbia Celebrates Christmas in the Cold

Lure of Tadic Alliance Splits Socialists Thousands were left without heating due to the natural gas row between Russia and Ukraine, home to a pipeline which sends Russian gas to the Balkans.

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

“The situation in the party seems extremely complicated, as we try to convince the few remaining laggards that we need to move out of Milosevic’s shadow,” one Socialist Party official complained.

“Dacic will eventually side with Tadic in a bid to guide his party into the European mainstream, but much of the membership and many officials may oppose that move.”

Nikolic agreed: “The question is will the party split or will the ‘oldtimers’ back down,” he noted.

Fearing they might not cross the 5-per-cent threshold to enter parliament, the Socialists teamed up with the Association of Pensioners and the United Serbia Party, led by businessman Dragan Markovic “Palma”.

Pensioners leader, Jovan Krkobabic, Palma and Dacic are all pushing for a deal with the Democrats.

The reported price is the post of Socialist leader Ivica Dacic remains the Serbian kingmaker

by FoNet deputy PM, with a briefPhoto in charge of The gas supply crisis has left many Serbians searching for alternative ways to keep warm.

Across the country, many stocked up on firewood, electric space heaters and radiators, as more than a security for the Socialist leader. faces extinction unless it changes. to Serbia’s late president, Slobodan By Rade Maroevic in Belgrade hundred thousand people were left without heating. Worst hit were the northern Vojvodina cities of Novi Sad and Pancevo.

In addition, the Socialists are barHowever, a strong current also Milosevic, and reformists who want gaining for other ministries, includI do? Iahad to go Eurohome with the possibility of Journalist Michael Stuermer reflowsRussia in theabout opposite direction, led the“What party could to become modern ense negotiations on a new govBy Vanja Petrovic and light a fire,” she said.

“Right now, transporting some natural gas via the cently told BBC Radio 4Kosovo that both ing capital investments, and by party veterans enraged by the pean social democrat organisation. ernment have divided the ranks Reporting from Belgrade is okay heat- Belarus is, however, Russia and Ukraine to blame for education, Belgradeare media reported. prospectpipeline, of a dealwhich with Tadic.

After eight yearsandof we’re stagnation, of the Socialist Party, which holds everything the crisis. However, he added that the ing the house with wood. But we are currently working at full capacity.

Tadic talk of Mihajlo a founder of crisis the Socialists centreifstage the balance of power between the afraid will has not denied last longer thanhorseone of whatreturned might to happen the He added Markovic, that Serbia has dealt well s the first serious snow of trading with the Socialists, maintainthe party, recently of a crisis after winning 20 of the 250 seats in with main blocs and has fell yet to week. grid collapses, because people the first wave warned of this crisis and more the season onannounce January power ing that is ministries go only to starting to electric and while negotiations withpro-European Russia are “This not the would most transparent if Dacic opts for the parliament in use the May 11 heaters elections. which side they will support.

8th, Serbia was caught in the are justthe may not be enough supply going on, Belgradethewill compensate conflicts and as to farworking as we can middle of a gas Russia committed fortell, the bloc, abandoning Socialists’ “nat- ofthose With pro-European and nation“It looks as ifrow thebetween Socialists will there for that.” with reserves of heating oil and elecboth sides are trying to pressure and Ukraine, which left thousands government’s “strategic goal”. the ural” ideological partners. alist blocs almost evenly matched, move towards a government led by other side with the help of the west In the city of Pancevo, where heat- tricity, importing power if necessary. of people across the country without At the same time, Dacic seemsare reMarkovic, prominent supporter the Socialists now have the final say the Democrats,” political analyst MiStuermer said. “Both The naturala gas shortage in the Europeans,” heating. In an eleventh-hour move, ing plants don’t have the capacity luctantthe to position call off negotiations of Milosevic during ofthethe1990s, is putting the fatetoofheating the country. lan Nikolic, of the independent Cen- toonswitch forward that with bais a side-effect row beoil, over 40,000 region Serbia clinched a deal with Hungary the nationalists. the west Europeans will need had believes to go without heating.led In tween Russia and Ukraine.

Russian seen as representative of the “old- sically Nikolic the Socialists, trebuy of Policy said. “But such people to some Studies, of the excess reserves they up an andagreement that the residents Novi export monopoly, Gazprom, cut gas,“If held by its northern neighbor, we will don’tpay reach timers” in the party who want to stay

by Ivica 100,000 Dacic, will come of over to gas a move might provoke deepersecurdivi- addition, west European pressure on Ukraine Sad were left in the cold because the all supplies for Ukraine’s domestic ing between one and two million cuwith the DSS and Radicals, the partrue to the former regime’s policies, Tadic, if only out of a pragmatic desions and even split the party.” city’s western heating plant ran out of use on New Year’s day in a row over or vice versa on Russia will help to bic metres of gas every day. ty leadership even though these almost ruined the sireon to the ensure their political survival.

Simultaneous negotiations held gas the crisis.”will decide on future night of Serbian Orthodox gas prices - affecting spplies to the solve But this amount is not nearly steps”, announced, Socialists for good.

“The group of younger Socialists rest with theaspro-European national- Christmas. of Europe, which receives one As to Dacic the question of whyfollowing Ukraine enough, Serbia needsand an additionthe been first session of country’s parof its younger gas from Socialist pipelines officials through has avoiding paying anew market In the around southernDacic Serbian town of fifthSome gathered seems to be blocsmillion have drawn attention to to a alistthree cubic metres daily for gas, he said: “Ukraine would Gornji Milanovac,Nikolic on the said, morning of Ukraine. meet liament on Wednesday. have voiced frustration over the con- price in the majority”, adding deep its riftneeds. inside the Socialists. pay its bills if they had the 8th, after thebelieve town’sthe heating Supplies of Russian gas via Ukraine As more and “old-timers” more cities inloyal the January tinuing impasse within their own probably that these reformists party This divides Source: Balkan Insight (www.balkaninsight.com) Serbian province of Vojvodina started plants ran out of gas, the city’s hospi- to Balkan countries were reduced or money ... Ukraine still has to pay the high prices ... which were prevalent unslowly turning of their heating plants, tals started sending patients home. Also halted on January 6th.

Russian President Dmitrij til half a year ago. ” residents were scurrying to find wood, in southern Serbia, 3,700 homes in the of Arandjelovac has said Moscow “Ukraine is a very poor country, THIS ISSUE OF demand town amid fears that the increased Business Insightwere left in the Medvedev Neighbourhood Matterswill from electrical heaters could lead to cold and residents rushed to find an al- not renew its gas supply to Ukraine badly run, the leadership is deeply Belgrade Insight until Kiev agrees to pay a market split over the relationship with ternative source of heating. the collapse of the power grid.

IS SUPPORTED BY: As many Serbs went to bed in cold price for Russian gas. Another con- Russia and also over the relationLjiljana Knezevic, a judge, had to leave work when the heating went out homes, Prime Minister Mirko Cvetk- dition would be for Kiev to allow ship with the West. So it’s a lot of conomists are warning that pro- international hile theinspectors football world watch- politics, finance, energy, it’s all a the country’s gas situation to control in her home city of Nova Pazova. She ovic said be “normalised” within days, the flowesofevents natural gas through the big mix up and a mess but it will be uncertainty over Serbia’s unfold at the Eurolives with her 88-year-old mother, who wouldlonged adding that scare Serbia negotiating is not able to light a fire on her own. future could off is investors, lead country. pean Championships in Austria and sorted out.” to higher inflation and jeopardise Switzerland, Bosnia is experiencing NEIGHBOURHOOD LIFE prosperity for years to come. a soccer rebellion, led by fans, playThe violence in the flashpoint town Sandzak region, Serbian “This year has been lost, from the Inersthe andrural former stars who are enraged of Mitrovica continues with the rebachelors are learning that love – and standpoint of economic policy,” says by what they see as corrupt leaders cent buring of two cars earlier this the hope of family life – comes from Stojan Stamenkovic of the Econom- northern of the country’s week.

Albania.football association ics Institute in Belgrade. leaders. page 5 page 10

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Costs Mounting

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Football Rebellion

POLITICS EDITOR’S WORD Belgrade may have wasted its chances to speed up its EU membership process and may not be able to make Mark Pullen upBy time nowR.that Europe is facing an economic crisis.

Political Predictability

Many of us who have experi3 enced numerous SerbianPage elections rate ourselves as pundits when it BELGRADE comes to predicting election reBelgrade not be facing such a sults andmay post-election moves. big heating crisis as the rest of the We feel in-the-know because country because of the city’s ability of elections in Sertoour useexperience alternative energy sources. bia has shown us that (a.)Page no single 4 party or coalition will ever gain the OUT & ABOUT majority required to form a government, and (b.)ski political The Kopaonik resortnegotiations offers reliwill snow, never be quickly concluded. able good infrastructure and reasonable So, why Even accommodation. when the Democrats travel furthertheir afield? achieved surprising result at last month’s general election, it quickly became clear that the result was actually more-or-less the same as every other election result in Serbia, i.e. inconclusive.

This is likely to continue as long as Serbia’s politicians form new political parties every time they disagree with their current party leader (there are currently 342 registered political parties in Serbia).

Drawn-out negotiations are also the norm. One Belgrade-based Page 9 Ambassador recently told me he was also alarmed by the distinct lack of GOING urgency OUT among Serbian politicians. “The country is at a Club Francuska located in standstill and Sobarica, I don’t understand the centre of Belgrade, may just be their logic. If they are so eager to the kind place to let go and have a progress good time. towards the EU and encourage investors, how come they go home at 5pm sharpPage and 12 don’t work weekends?”

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

Partizan Belgrade team mates Adem Ljajic and Zoran Tosic have joined compatriot Nemanja Vidic at Manchester United.

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Serbia Will Pay For Year of Missed Opportunities Serbia Belgrade wasted its chances to speed up the EU membership process in 2008 and will not be able to make up time now that Europe is facing an economic crisis.

By Branka Trivic

Reporting from Belgrade

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erbia missed a chance in 2008 to accelerate towards the EU, leaving its own citizens, and European observers, to wonder whether its much vaunted commitment to Europe was sincere or just lip service.

Some observers say that Belgrade has again showcased its well-known capacity to shoot itself in the foot when everybody thought it would finally make a breakthrough.

Aside from the issue of the still incomplete cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, Serbia has also failed to do even some simple chores, such as adopting bills, and strategies to enable Serbian citizens to travel visa-free in Europe.

Brussels offered Serbia a roadmap on visa liberalisation back in May 2008, but the parliament in Belgrade was then hijacked by political posturing and by lengthy, inflammatory debates on unrelated issues. As a result, the adoption of the bills needed to facilitate the visa liberalisation process was delayed.

While Montenegro’s parliament adopted 220 bills in only two-anda-half years, aimed at harmonising the country’s legislation with European norms, the Serbian parliament passed only 15 Europe-related bills in the same period.

In November 2008, the European Commission stated, in its enlargement strategy paper, that it should still be possible to grant Serbia candidate status in 2009, if all necessary conditions were met.

But while repeating that the country had shown it had the capacity to progress on the path towards EU membership, the commission noted that reforms had been delayed over the past year.

Sources in Brussels say Serbia’s recent failure to deliver on Europe could be seen as a message that the country neither does what it says, nor says what it means, when it comes to the EU. At home, pro-EU opposition leaders go further, charging that the Serbian elite is not truly committed to its stated European agenda.

Among the growing chorus of sceptics is Jelko Kacin, the EU Parliament’s Rapporteur for Serbia. He told Balkan

Insight that events last year showed Serbia lacked the political will to free its citizens from visa restrictions.

He defines the issue as a litmus test. “When Serbia shows it really cares for the visa-free travel of its citizens, it would perhaps be easier to convince Dutch public opinion that it is willing to do whatever is takes to become an EU member,” Kacin said.

Critics say Serbia’s government has resorted to populist demagoguery to explain the failure to bring about visa-free travel, placing blame for the delay on the EU. In addition, Serbia has started pressuring Brussels to accept its own set of conditions, much as if the EU were seeking to join Serbia, not the other way round, critics say. Serbia now says if it is made to recognise Kosovo, Belgrade will say “goodbye” to its EU agenda.

“Serbia’s main strategic priority is to accelerate integration into the EU”, Serbia’s Foreign Minister, Vuk Jeremic, said at the Humboldt University in Berlin at the end of last year. But in the same breath, he said any attempt to link recognition of Kosovo’s independence with Serbia’s EU prospects would result in an immediate cessation of his country’s EU accession bid.

The Foreign Minister spent a hectic year globetrotting in 2008, lobbying countries not to recognise Kosovo.

By his own recent admission to the “Press” tabloid newspaper, he spent most of the year outside Serbia on such business, taking 222 flights abroad.

Not one of those flights took him to The Netherlands, an EU source told Balkan Insight, although this EU country holds the key to Serbia’s EU progress, having made it clear it will not ratify an EU Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Serbia, or even “unfreeze” an interim trade agreement, unless and until Serbia has handed over two remaining war crimes indictees – Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic – to the ICTY. The same source noted that the Foreign Minister could have met his Dutch counterpart, Martin Verhagen, or even have addressed the Dutch parliament, asking for its support and offering assurances that Serbia would do its best to arrest the two fugitives.

Milica Delevic, head of the Serbian government’s Office for European integration, told Balkan Insight that the Foreign Minister was taking

EU Must Press Serbia On Kosovo, Says Doris Pack German MEP Doris Pack says the European Union should put pressure on Serbia to normalise its relations with Pristina or the country will risk a continuation of the inter-ethnic violence in northern Kosovo.

Serbia Not Seeking Kosovo Partition, Says Vuk Jeremic

Source: http://sites.etleboro.com

The Foreign Minister, Vuk Jeremic spent most of 2008 out of the country marshalling support for Serbia’s position on Kosovo and consequently, EU issues slid down the agenda.

“Serbia would be best advised not to bargain with the EU on already set conditions but invest its maximum efforts to meet them.”

Milica Delevic, Office for European Integration the wrong approach.

“Serbia would be best advised not to bargain with the EU on already set conditions but invest its maximum efforts to meet them,” she said.

As for cooperation with the Hague tribunal, even if the EU agreed to postpone a deadline for Mladic’s delivery, an eventual handover would still remain a “sine qua non” for the accession process over the long term.

Delevic stressed that individuals accused of grave crimes like Mladic and Hadzic would have to be apprehended and made to face justice at some stage, regardless of the EU issue.

Vladimir Todorich, a legal expert, believes Serbia squandered important opportunities last year. The year 2009, he warns, will bring more obstacles, so that even if Serbia now meets all the set conditions, it will not gain candidate status before 2010 at the earliest.

The global economic crisis, he argues, means EU member-states will be busy with their own challenges,

and relationships with non-EU countries will become less important.

Todoric says the Czech EU presidency, which began in the New Year, may push Serbia onto the so-called Schengen “white” list, the list of countries deemed positive for visafree travel by the EU. But visa-free travel will not begin before the beginning of 2010.

Serbia’s liberal opposition, meanwhile, has accused both the coalition government and President Boris Tadic of effectively abandoning the drive to join the EU. “They are not interested at all in joining the EU,” Vesna Pesic, a parliamentary deputy for the LiberalDemocratic Party, said. Instead of embracing real politics, she adds, the government has chosen to concentrate on Kosovo, “over which Serbia no longer exercises either sovereignty or territorial integrity”.

Other observers – local and European – share her downbeat assessment, as well as casting a critical eye over the government’s ever closer ties to Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

“Serbian voters did not gain what they were promised in the run-up to the election: either The European Union or Kosovo”, Nikola Samardzic, an historian, said in a recent interview with Radio Free Europe.

Source: www.BalkanInsight.com

President Tadic Asks UN and EU to Protect Kosovo Serbs

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erbian President Boris Tadic has sent a letter of protest to the United Nations and the European Union asking them to protect the Serb population in Kosovo from what he said were deliberate attacks by “the Kosovo government and Albanian extremists”.

In a recent incident, two Kosovo Serbs were attacked by a group of Albanians in Mitrovica, the latest skirmish in the tense, divided town.

The previous week a knife attack on a Serbian teenager caused a massive Serb protest leading to the damage of dozens of Albanian shops and cars.

In the letter, sent to the UN Security Council member-states, UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon,

and to the EU, said that the “real intention of the Kosovo government and Albanian extremists is to use violence to provoke conflicts with Serbs in order to stop the implementation of the six-point agreement reached between Serbia and the United Nations, and confirmed by the Security Council.”

Tadic wrote that KFOR, EULEX and UNMIK did not react in time in order to stop the attacks on Serbs in Mitrovica and demanded immediate measures to protect the Serbs who are in danger.

“There was a lack of adequate reaction by the peacekeeping forces which are obliged to protect and keep safe the Serbs who are the most endangered in Kosovo,” Tadic wrote. “Such incidents can lead to

in Brief

a worsening of the overall security situation in Kosovo and I am therefore asking for officials of the international community to immediately increase the level of security and to prevent attacks against Kosovo Serbs.”

Mitrovica has been a flashpoint since Kosovo’s Albanian majority declared independence from Serbia last February. Some 20,000 Serbs live in the north of the town but refuse to deal with Kosovo institutions and see Belgrade as their capital.

However, one moderate Kosovo Serb politician said Belgrade should be held accountable of the trouble in the north.

“Belgrade is constantly telling us that Northern Kosovo is under its control, therefore Belgrade is respon-

sible for all the incidents”, said Rada Trajkovic, a local leader who many Serbs see as being close to Kosovo’s international authorities.

She said citizens in north Mitrovica are very worried that “people from their own community are being obviously used”.

The Kosovo government said it is coordinating its police services with KFOR and EULEX forces in order to promote security in north Mitrovica and called on Serbia to stop inciting violence in the area.

“Our … obligation is to contact the international community to pressure the government in Belgrade not to undertake destructive and violent actions within the Republic of Kosovo’s territory”, said deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuci.

Serbia’s Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said that the Serbian government has no plans to partition Kosovo, but wants to reopen negotiations with Pristina on the status of the Albanian-majority territory.

Rumours of partition plans began to resurface after the recent violence between ethnic Albanians and Serbs in the northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica.

Serb Hackers Deface Two Kosovo Government Web Sites Serb hackers attacked Kosovo government servers on Orthodox Christmas Day. The main Kosovo government portal www.ks-gov.net was temporarily unavailable due to attacks by a group of hackers who identified themselves as ‘CoNsT’.

The web site of Kosovo’s Ministry of Energy was hacked and its index page changed, as was the web site of Kosovo’s statistical office.

Messages reading “You’ve been hacked” and “Merry Christmas” were uploaded by the hackers.

Serbian Budget Passed at the Eleventh Hour The Serbian parliament adopted the 2009 budget an hour and a half before the expiration of the legal deadline, on December 29th, ushering in measures designed to cut spending to combat the effects of the global financial slump.

The relief in the ruling coalition was evident after the budget passed with support from 129 of the 250 deputies. The 129 deputies are all members of the ruling coalition. All members of Former Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica’s Democratic Party of Serbia voted against the budget, while the opposition’s Radical Party and its offshoot, the Progressive Party, abstained.

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belgrade chronicle

Friday, Jan. 9 - Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009

Belgrade Heating Problems Unlikely Profile of Even before Serbia struck a vital deal to buy gas from Hungary, Belgrade heating and power the Week plants had taken measures to make sure the capital would stay warm despite the gas crisis

Archbishop Amfilohije Radovic

caused by the rift between Russia and Ukraine.

By Slobodan Georgijev Reporting from Belgrade

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Photo by FoNet

Despite the plummeting temperatures and gas supply problems caused by the rift between Russia and the Ukraine, officials from Beogradska elektrana have assured Belgrade residents that the city’s heating systems will be unaffected.

By David Galic

Reporting from Belgrade

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he Beogradske Elektrane public company says Belgrade residents will have no problems with their heating for the time being because the heating plants providing heat for the capital have successfully switched from gas to crude oil.

They called on residents to be understanding, saying temperatures in flats will be several degrees colder, but heating will be available.

“Thanks to an incredibly fast response from everyone involved, all state institutions and the city assembly, we were able to secure the necessary alternative heating sources,” the company’s public relations office told Belgrade Insight.

They said heating oil will be available for at least the next seven days.

“All of the heating plants are working, providing heating to 300,000

flats in Belgrade and 9,000 offices and businesses,” a Beogradske Elektrane spokesperson said. “We have been working 24 hours a day since December 28 to provide adequate heating for the city, and through excellent cooperation with NIS Petrol, we have been able to secure enough heating oil. We do not expect any problems for the time being.”

Despite the confidence of the state and heating companies, many Belgraders are rushing out to buy electric heaters.

“They should have reacted earlier, and prepared themselves, because the problems between Russia and Ukraine have been going on for a long time.

The government should have been prepared for this a lot earlier,” a Belgrade local told Balkan Insight, adding that “it is ridiculous that half of Europe is being held hostage by a conflict between Russia and Ukraine.”

Elektrodistribucija Beograd, a power company, stated that the elec-

tricity situation in Belgrade is stable, but they are calling on residents to save electricity, to use heat responsibly and turn off radiators located in rooms that are not being used.

Company officials told the Beta news agency that all of Belgrade has electricity and that there are no problems in the network.

There are heating problems, however, in Pancevo, 15 kilometres northeast of Belgrade, where some 40,000 people do not have heating because the heating plants there are only able to work on gas.

There are several small heating plants in the area that can work on heating oil, but they are very old and will need several days to be prepared for switching over from gas.

As a result, restrictive measures have been introduced in most public companies and institutions and daily working hours will be cut as a result.

illing in for sick Serbian Patriarch Pavle, his deputy Amfilohije already acts as though he has been elected to lead the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Archbishop Amfilohije was born in Montenegro at Orthodox Christmas in 1938, as Risto Radovic. He finished his studies in Belgrade, his post-graduate studies in Switzerland and Italy, and his doctorate studies in Greece. He speaks five languages and is considered one of the most educated priests in the Orthodox Christian world. His spiritual father was Justin Popovic, a famed priest who also taught Atanasije and Artemije, two of the most influential figures in the Serbian Orthodox Church in the last twenty years.

Since 1991, the year he was appointed as the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro, Amfilohije’s profile as a politicalmedia star has outshone his religious vocation. His appointment to the position coincided with the beginning of the war in former Yugoslavia, which influenced his career significantly. Using the affection of the Montenegrin administration in early 1990s, represented by Momir Bulatovic and Milo Djukanovic, Amfilohije reclaimed the church’s influence on society, while promoting himself as one of the ideologists of “new values”. Often presented as an authentic

anti-Communist, Amfilohije raised the significance and influence of the church, leaning on the nationalist politics of the Serbian and Montenegrin leadership in the 1990s. Also, he did not hesitate to emphasise his fascination with war: in November 1991, he encouraged Montenegrin reservists at the Dubrovnik battlefield by playing gusle. The Cetinje monastery was visited by notorious paramilitary leader and crime lord Arkan and members of his Serbian Volunteer Guard on St. Peter’s Day in 1991, as well as on Christmas Eve in 1992.

During the war, he did not hesitate to publicly support Serbian forces fighting in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, calling the Republic of Srpska a “Serbian Piemont”.

He assessed the end of war in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia as rotten peace: “Such peace is no peace at all, but an illusion of peace, based on alienation from the source of peace and justice. As such, it would always be a source of horrible bloodshed,” he said at the time.

He never stopped being vocal on secular matters, deeming the results of Slobodan Milosevic’s wars as not good enough. When Milosevic was extradited to the Hague Tribunal, he said it was a shame, because he should have been tried in Serbia.

“It would have been more honourable to take him to Terazije and publicly execute him by firing squad for his own sins and the sins of others,” said Amfilohije, although he still visited Milosevic in prison.

Since the fall of Milosevic in Serbia in 2000 and Montenegro’s resolve to work on its independence, Amfilohije was ever more present in the political life of these two countries. By now in Montenegro he was seen as a Serbian spy and traitor of Montenegro, the enemy of Milo Djukanovic, while in Serbia many see him as the only possible successor to Patriarch Pavle. Contrary to many other Church leaders, Amfilohije demonstrated a more pragmatic stance on Kosovo, being the only senior representative of the Church to say a rational policy was needed and the interests of people should be defended.

In between his religious duties and seeking the spotlight with comments on all possible political and social topics, Amfilohije even found the time to assess the performance of the Rolling Stones in 2007 in Montenegro: “Mighty is a man who lives in fear of God,” he said. “Those who brought this heathen group to Montenegro and Serbia to sing demonic songs and made the youth applaud, should be aware of this.”

Everything You Need to Know About Belgrade Taxis

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When coming to a new city, it’s often difficult to figure out how to deal with taxi drivers, which taxis to take and whether or not to tip.

nnie Nieman was visiting a friend in Belgrade.

She arrived by train, and flagged down a taxi to take her to her friend’s apartment near Cvetkov open market on Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra. The ride should have cost no more than 600 dinars, but the driver charged Nieman €50 (roughly 4,600 dinars).

What Nieman didn’t know that it’s not always a good idea to take a taxi from right in front of the train station, bus station, or airport because these drivers may not be with a trusted company, and often have rigged metres.

Nieman says that her friend threw a fit when she found out how much

she had paid for the ride.

“But, how was I supposed to know? No one told me how much a taxi is supposed to cost, and the driver said my friend’s apartment was far away,” Nieman told Balkan Insight.

There are many such horror stories, and many newcomers to the city are often taken advantage of by shameless drivers. And though Belgrade taxis are cheap when compared to those of many other capital cities, if you’re not keeping an eye out, you may be ripped-off like Nieman was.

In addition, many taxi drivers in the city are often reckless, driving on tram rail lines, or in between lanes during rush hour, and often speeding.

They also very much dislike taking

passengers on short journeys.

It is important that you only take taxis that are licensed. The quick way to tell if a driver is licensed is to pay attention to their marker on the top of the car. If a car is licensed, they will have the company name and the driver’s identification number on them. Unlicensed drivers usually only have a white marker with the word “TAXI” on it.

Inside the taxi, a price list and the driver’s identification card, with the city’s blue coat of arms, must be clearly displayed. The fare should be displayed on the meter, which should also be in clear view.

Since July of 2008, the starting fee for a taxi is 119 dinars. The per-kilo-

metre rate is 49 dinars at the low tariff (Mon to Sat 06:00 - 22:00) or 52 dinars at the high tariff (Mon to Sat 22:00 06:00, Sunday and public holidays).

It is often cheaper to call a taxi by phone, and some taxi companies offer a 20 per cent discount. The Beogradski taxi company uses normal daily rates for trips during the night, weekends and even on public holidays. They also offer fixed rates to the airport.

Generally speaking, there should be no extra charge for luggage, but if the driver wishes to charge you he is required to say so before the ride or you don’t have to pay. In addition, some drivers may agree to transport pets, though they are not required to do so.

As far as tipping is concerned, it is not expected, though it is appreciated if you round off the fare. The tip may be as little as 10 dinars.

Have you been wondering where to sit in the cab, since many Belgraders sit in the passenger’s seat with the driver? There is no social norm about where to sit, and you will not be considered rude if you sit in the back.

Licenced Taxi Companies: Beotaxi, 011 970, Beogradski taxi, 011 9801, Lux taxi, 011 303 31 23, NBA taxi, 011 318 57 77, Pink taxi, 011 9803

business

Friday, Jan. 9 - Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009

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West Balkans Braced for Economic Ice Age

Southeast Europe faces a return to instability as inconsistent governments and fragile economies wrestle with imminent economic and social hardship caused by the global crisis.

By Srecko Latal

Reporting from Sarajevo

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rom finance ministers to miners and metal workers across Southeast Europe, the most common wish sent to Santa this Christmas and New Year was surely for urgent rescue from imminent economic and social meltdown.

“In 2009, I wish everybody much happiness and health, personal success and of course to keep their jobs and the living standards that they now enjoy,” Bosnia’s Central Bank governor, Kemal Kozaric, told Balkan Insight.

But like most other experts, Kozaric doubts anything except a miracle can save the Western Balkan countries from economic hardship in 2009.

Commercial banks in the region survived the first wave of the global financial crisis but the worldwide recession is now hitting the industrial sector throughout the region.

Many firms have cut production and have started to lay off workers but experts warn that the full effects of the global deflation have yet to come.

As modern economic theory has no experience with a crisis of such proportions, economists can only speculate how long it will last. Global financial institutions, such as the IMF and the World Bank, expect normality to return no sooner than late 2009.

But some economists, looking back to the decade-long Great Depression of the 1930s and the prolonged Japanese economic crisis in the 1990s, fear global recession could turn into an economic Ice Age , which may last for years to come.

They note that some countries’ economies needed at least 10 years to recover from the depression of the 1930s, while a full 15 years after its economic crash, Japan has still not fully recovered.

As no one really expects miracles, all eyes are directed towards governments. The hope is that swift use of fiscal, monetary, social and other instruments may help populations weather the calamity.

There is no doubt that everybody already does, or will feel, some of the effects of this crisis. But experts fear most for the most vulnerable sectors of the population – the unemployed, single parents, the elderly and others who depend heavily on state benefits.

If not protected properly, their very survival could be in jeopardy.

Declining living standards overall may also cause social problems, including violent disturbances.

In this situation, regional cooperation and mutual assistance would appear to be of the outmost importance.

Yet, the atmosphere in the Western

“The world will be preoccupied with its own troubles, its own crisis, its own recession, its own lay-offs and its own power struggle ... It will have neither the will nor the capacity to resolve the Balkan mess.”

Sead Numanovic, editor of Sarajevo daily Dnevni Avaz

Balkans is still tense from past conflicts and the worry is that countries will opt to compete rather than cooperate, further stoking regional friction and tensions. In the past, the American and EU diplomatic, financial and military presence helped mitigate such tensions, but as the global crisis worsens, that may no longer be the case.

“The world will be preoccupied with its own troubles, its own crisis, its own recession, its own lay-offs and its own power struggle,” the editor of the influential Sarajevo daily Dnevni Avaz, Sead Numanovic, said. “It will have neither the will nor the capacity to resolve the Balkan mess.”

The Tsunami Reaches the Balkans Most developed Western countries are now expected to register negative economic growth in 2009, but they are still better equipped than many others to protect their economies and populations from the worst effects of the recession.

Emerging economies, including low and middle-income countries in Southeast Europe, on the other hand, are expected to register higher growth levels, but their economies are less protected and more susceptible to job losses and social turmoil than those in the West.

The banking sector across the region – dominated by some of the strongest European banks such as ERSTE, Unicredit and Raiffeisen – survived the first tremors of the financial earthquake mostly unscathed.

But the wider economy is now struggling under the effects of the global auto and metal industries’ slowdown. The full blow of the global recession is expected to come in the next few months, but Balkan economies are already in trouble.

Most countries in the region share similar problems, which include high

“The political situation, infrastructure problems, rule of law, corruption and organized crime are the main challenges for Kosovo.”

Shpend Ahmeti, economic expert rates of public spending on often inefficient administrative and social services, medium to high foreign debts and hefty foreign trade deficits.

Most local economies, especially those in Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia, are based on heavy industry and so a major proportion of their exports are linked to and dependent upon European manufacturing.

Suppliers to the automotive industry could see their contracts in 2009 reduced by 30 per cent in relative terms and as much as 50 per cent in absolute terms (calculating in the reduced prices of metal products and spare parts), Fikret Causevic, a leading Bosnian economist, said.

Serbia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic has said the biggest problem in the looming crisis would not be what to produce but how to sell it – amidst reduced demand on the global market.

Source: www.ebeijing.gov.cn

Justin Lin, chief economist and senior vice president at the World Bank, believes that the current global financial crisis will turn into the most serious recession since the Great Depression of the 1930’s.

However, Vladimir Gligorov, of the Vienna Institute for International Politics, identifies another source of trouble for the region – lack of diversified production. “If there is no diversified production, you have nothing to offer to the market”, Gligorov told Novac magazine.

Furthermore, most Balkan countries still depend on each other as key trade partners and economic troubles could easily spill over from one country to the next.

In Macedonia, where the unemployment rate already stands at 34 per cent, some 2,500 miners could soon lose their jobs as several copper, zinc and led mines consider reducing or temporarily closing down production, citing reduced demand for these metals, mostly used in the automotive industry. “We have already seen lay-offs at several companies and announcements of more to come,” trade union leader Milan Manevski said.

This could have devastating effects on the country, where metals comprise almost half of its exports. If this negative trend continues in 2009, as is expected, it would further aggravate Macedonia’s already worrying €1.9 billion trade deficit and even trigger macroeconomic instability as well as the devaluation of Macedonia’s currency.

Economic and social frictions could also further aggravate political and ethnic tensions that linger in Macedonia.

The same applies to Bosnia and Kosovo. Both states depend heavily on remittances from citizens living and working abroad. As some of these workers face layoffs, they could soon move from being generous foreign benefactors to disgruntled beneficiaries of poor and ill-targeted local social services.

To make the situation worse, many Kosovo residents have been investing in Western pension funds that have been hit hard by the collapse of the global financial sector. It is estimated that Kosovars have already lost some €120 million in Western pension funds, Hasan Abazi, vice

Source: www.057info.hr

Croatian shipyards have been hit hard by the financial crisis in the country. At five heavily indebted shipyards, over 11, 000 jobs may be at stake.

president of the Independent Unions of Kosovo, told Balkan Insight.

Shpend Ahmeti, an economics expert from the Institute for Advanced Studies, GAP, said the troubles expected in 2009 are not limited to the economic sector. “The political situation, infrastructure problems, rule of law, corruption and organized crime are the main challenges for Kosovo,” Ahmeti told Balkan Insight.

“Very probably, the current financial crisis will turn into the most serious recession since the Thirties.”

Justin Lin, Chief Economist, World Bank As in Kosovo, political deadlock in Bosnia and Herzegovina has blocked several key privatization and development projects, slowing economic development in 2007 and 2008. Meanwhile, several mines and bigger companies, such as the Sase mine in Srebrenica, Aluminum

smelter in Mostar and ASA Prevent holding in Sarajevo, have announced cuts in production or jobs, or both.

In Croatia, the single biggest problem is the plight of five heavily indebted Croatian shipyards, where some 11,000 jobs are at stake. The leader of the Independent Croatian Unions, Kresimir Sever, predicts that 2009 “will be a year of hardship” with between 30,000 and 50,000 jobs losses expected nationwide.

The worsening economic situation has forced the Croatian National Bank, HND, to lower economic growth expectations for 2009 from 2.5 to only 1 per cent, the Bank’s Governor, Zeljko Rohatinski, said.

“The first effect of the crisis will be a decrease in credit financing of citizens and firms by banks. Then, construction will shrink as will some export industries, like the car parts industry”, said Ljubo Jurcic, a leading economic expert.

“By the middle of the year, declining numbers of travellers will affect the tourism industry, one of the mainstays of the Croatian economy.

By the end of year, all sectors will feel the crisis,” Jurcic predicted.

Continued on Page 6

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business

Friday, Jan. 9 - Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009

Companies & Markets Royal Eco Food Awarded Organic Certification “Royal Eco Food” has become one of the countries first internationally recognized organic producers following certification from “Ecocert” one of the worlds leading organic certification bodies. The company has spent three years developing its organic systems in cooperation with the agricultural school in Leskovac. Organic products command a significant premium on European supermarket shelves and this certification will help to open up international markets for Royal Eco. Trade Agreement Between Serbia and the EU Must Wait Source: www.images.ibox.bg

The mining sector has been particularly hard hit by the downturn. Reduced demand for raw materials and a decline in world prices have led to layoffs and short-time working at mines throughout the region. Workers at the Bobov Dol mine in Bulgaria have been protesting over unpaid salaries and have been temporarily laid-off.

Continued from Page 5

West Balkans Braced for Economic Ice Age Serbia’s heavy industry is already burdened with an excessive work force and low productivity. In consequence, Serbian experts predict economic growth in 2009 of only 3.5 per cent – almost half the rate in 2008.

Some economists believe that out of all the Balkan countries, Albania may fare better than others, as its industrial and financial sectors remain undeveloped while its agriculture is still pretty reliable.

Montenegro, has been riding on a real-estate boom over the past two years and is on the fast track to becoming an EU candidate. Some predict that its small population of just 600,000 may be an advantage in

“If there is no diversified production, you have nothing to offer to the market.”

Vladimir Gligorov, Vienna Institute for International Politics weathering the storm, but the realestate boom has recently turned into bust as prices slumped, and the 2009 tourist season seems destined to suffer as a result of plummeting salaries worldwide. This could spell trouble

for Montenegro, which has linked its development almost exclusively to these two sectors.

Calls for Joint Action Concerned by the approaching crisis, all of the region’s central banks attended a summit in Bulgaria in late October, to discuss the implications and counter-measures.

The banks agreed to improve regional cooperation and allow crossborder supervision, providing each bank with better information about the economic situation in the other countries and serving as a joint earlywarning system for any financial disturbances.

Over the past couple of months, the central banks have all further cut obligatory reserves for commercial banks to improve their liquidity and free-up resources for lending. They have also increased state guarantees for deposits in order to head off panic and a rush to withdraw deposits.

These manouvres have protected most banks across the region from some aspects of the financial crisis, but the banks have few weapons against the fast-approaching recession and governments must step forward and use their powers to protect domestic economies.

Many economists in the Balkans and elsewhere agree that govern-

“In this situation, Santa Claus should be coming from EU headquarters, not the North Pole.”

Fikret Causevic, leading Bosnian economist ments should reduce public spending. Economies need to become more competitive to attract a share of shrinking foreign investment. Local agriculture needs better support and privatisation needs speeding up, they say. Conversely, governments need to launch infrastructure and other bigger developments projects which employ a large number of people. There needs to be improved funding for, and targeting of, social welfare systems.

“The year 2009 will be difficult, but just how difficult, will depend on external factors as well as on governments’ reactions,” Bosnian Central Bank governor Kemal Kozaric said.

Governments must act fast to implement the basic strategies mentioned earlier, as well as develop additional ones, playing on their countries’ comparative advantages.

But some governments in the region seem more willing or capable to handle this situation than others.

Serbia’s President, Boris Tadic, has said government, employers and trade unions should - as soon as possible - reach an agreement to cut wage levels, in order to save at least some workers and companies from insolvency. “We will set up weekly meetings with businessmen in order to reach the best decisions”, Tadic said during his New Year interview for state television, RTS. Serbia’s government also set a new and more austere tone by cancelling traditional New Year parties for civil servants and other social events, to save tens of thousands of euros spent on them each year.

These measures have triggered mixed reactions from local econo-

mists and other experts. While some welcome the measures to stimulate business, others say they are “too little and too late”.

Croatia’s government has undertaken some largely symbolic austerity measures, for example by cancelling free parking for ministers and deputies, who will have to pay for their own parking spaces in the capital.

On the other hand, the governments of Bosnia and Kosovo are accused of doing little to mitigate the effects of the recession. Vjekoslav Bevanda, finance minister of the Bosniak–Croat Federation, one of the two entities in Bosnia, recently admitted that Bosnia’s government has “no efficient mechanisms” to mitigate the consequences of the recession.

The opposition in Macedonia also criticises the Skopje government for keeping to a budget policy that it says will fail to reduce the high trade deficit.

Officials disagree. “Like everywhere else, we are worried, we are on alert,” Macedonia’s Finance Minister, Trajko Slaveski, said. Slaveski said Macedonia’s 2009 budget contains a record €500 million earmarked for transport and energy infrastructure projects. Explaining the rationale behind the spending, he said these projects would employ companies that might otherwise go out of business due to lower demand on world markets.

Amidst all the concern for turmoil in 2009, however, some economists believe the situation could be turned into an opportunity for Balkan countries to make their economies stronger and their governments more capable and efficient.

They also look to the international community, meaning the EU, to take a pro-active role. “In this situation, Santa Claus should be coming from EU headquarters, not the North Pole,” Fikret Causevic said.

Source: www.BalkanInsight.com

Implementation of the trade agreement between Serbia and the European Union, due for 1st January will not happen until the Serbian parliament ratifies the necessary changes to customs tarrifs, the Serbian Government President, Mirko Cvetkovic told a press conference recently. The necessary legislation will once again be presented to parliament for ratification during January. The agreement is a crucial element in Serbia’s progress to eventual EU membership.

Postal Service Price Hike The price of sending a standard letter has been increased by 2 dinars to 22 dinars. The 9.7 per cent rise, the first for almost two years is well below the rate of inflation over the same period, which has moved ahead by some 18.3 per cent. Charges for other postal services have also been increased and PTT Serbia estimates the overall increase in prices at 9.5 per cent.

Postal charges in Serbia remain amongst the most competitive in the region.

2009 Wheat Harvest is Sign of Producer’s Confidence The Serbian Chamber of commerce reports that 560,000 hectares of land were sown to wheat over the autumn. This represents an increase of some 90,00 hectares over last year and is a sign that producers are confident in the continued opportunities in the international market.

Wheat prices reached record levels in 2008 following poor harvests in many major producing countries and the soaring price of fuel and this has prompted the increased planting. The Chamber reports that the harvest is likely to more than meet Serbia’s domestic needs and provide a substantial surplus for export.

New Ski Development Opens New artifical snow making equipment has been installed in Iver, high in the Tara mountains to guarantee skiing throughout the season.

The small resort consists of 4 ski runs alongside the Mladost Hotel, with further accommodation in nearby Mecavnik.

neighbourhood business

Friday, Jan. 9 - Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009

7

Violence Continues in Kosovo Flashpoint In Brief

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wo cars were torched following the latest inter-ethnic clash in Kosovo’s ethnically divided city of Mitrovica, according to statements by the Kosovo police.

The violence between Kosovo Serbs, who dominate the northern part of the town, and Kosovo Albanians, who dominate the south, started around 19:30 hours CET on January 6th.

The row started when a group of Serb youths met up with a group of Albanian young men, police say.

The town of Mitrovica has been a flashpoint since Kosovo’s Albanian majority declared independence from Serbia in February. Some 20,000 Serbs who live in the north of the town reject the secession. In the last two weeks tensions have spilled over into violent protests, street fights and ambushes that have injured several people and caused extensive property damage.

Earlier in the day, Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu and Prime Minister Hashim Thaci met with senior security officials. The President’s cabinet said in a statement that Kosovo authorities and representatives of international organisations agreed a united stance was needed to deal with the situation in Mitrovica.

“A joint effort by the Kosovo Police, the police of [EU rule of law mission] EULEX and [NATO peacekeeping mission] KFOR, would be an appropriate response to the situation,” the statement said.

This is just the latest in a series of clashes between the two ethnic groups in the region. The latest bout of unrest erupted after a Serb teenager was hurt by two knife-wielding Albanian teenagers on December 30th, prompting hundreds of Serb protesters to riot, burning and damaging Albanian shops and cars.

Oliver Ivanovic, Serbia’s Mitrovica-based state secretary for Kosovo, said that more was needed from the NATO-led peacekeeping force, KFOR, to keep the situation calm

One Worker Dead In Albania Army Depot Blast Tirana_A 45-year old woman died in an accidental blast at an army depot in the southern Albanian town of Polican.

According to Albania’s Ministry of Defence, another worker was wounded and is recovering in a local hospital.

Teenage Crime Back In Spotlight In Bosnia Sarajevo_Outraged Bosnians are calling for judicial reform following the case of a 15-year old boy who was convicted of murder, then released, only to commit more violent crime.

The case is one of the most highprofile incidents among the growing number of teenage crimes in Bosnia.

Since Bosnian law does not allow convicts under 16 years of age to go to an adult prison, and the country has no special prison for juvenile delinquents, the 15 year old was released.

Bulgaria Issues Fines For Not Clearing Up Snow

Photo by FoNet

KFOR and EULEX personnel guard the dividing line between the two ethnic communities in the city of Mitrovica in Kosovo, following violent clashes between rival groups of youths.

given the amount of weapons circulating in the region.

“It is very important at the moment to preserve peace and stability and that the population doesn’t give in to provocations,” Ivanovic told ethnic Serb Radio KIM. “There are many weapons in this town and a KFOR presence would restrain these people from using them.”

The moderate Kosovo Serb leader, once a member of Kosovo’s Albanian-majority parliament, said the lat-

est series of incidents was actually a sign of more tensions to come in the spring.

Most of the 120,000 Kosovo Serbs living in isolated enclaves among two million ethnic Albanians still look to Belgrade as their capital. KFOR troops and the European Union police (EULEX) are on alert throughout the area, deploying soldiers and armoured vehicles on frequent patrols.

Earlier in the week, the head of

Kosovo’s Ministry of Internal affairs said the situation in northern Kosovo would remain a challenge for the ministry.

Pajaziti said that his ministry will not let the situation escalate into a conflict that would put a dent in the government’s authority.

“We have been careful to not create situations which will impair the political image of our country,” said Pajaziti during an end-of-year press conference.

Balkans Collateral Victims In Russia - Ukraine Gas Row

Photo by FoNet

A Sarajevogas employee, inspects gas supply systems. The Bosnian company distributes Russian gas across the country.

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he impact of the RussiaUkraine gas dispute on the Balkans reached crisis point on Thursday, leaving hundreds of thousands without heating and forcing businesses to cut production or shut down altogether.

Many Balkan countries have no alternative supply and rely almost en-

tirely on Russian gas, which stopped flowing completely on Wednesday after declining steadily since New Year’s Day. Bosnia was among the hardest hit in the region, with some 100,000 households without heating and some schools forced to close. There was panic buying of electric heaters

in the capital Sarajevo, and demand for wood and coal soared.

Bosnia’s Foreign Minister Sven Alkalaj wrote a letter of protest to Moscow and Kiev, saying the row “jeopardises 4 million people who should not be hostages of a dispute between the Ukraine and Russia”.

The country consumes around 350 million cubic metres of gas annually, most of it imported from Russia, and has no gas reserves.

In Bulgaria, some 65,000 households were without central heating.

Kindergartens and many schools were closed and trams and buses in the capital Sofia switched off heat.

In the coastal city of Varna, residents protested in front of the Russian Consulate with placards saying “Stop Putin’s gas war.”

The state limited or cut gas supplies completely to industrial consumers and retailers were reporting a run on electric heaters, prompting authorities to appeal for moderation in power use.

“Electricity distribution will not survive another hike in consumption,”said a spokesperson for CEZ, the key power supplier in western Bulgaria.

Russia supplies one-quarter of Europe’s natural gas, and about 80

per cent of that is shipped through pipelines crossing Ukraine. Other smaller pipelines run through Belarus and Turkey.

On Wednesday, all Russian gas supplies to Romania were cut and Bucharest declared a state of emergency.

“Under the state of emergency, in current conditions, natural gas supplies to households will be unlimited.

Other customers must, according to how the situation develops, be ready for possible limits in supply”, said Economy Minister Adriean Videanu, adding that Romania has gas reserves for the next 60-80 days.

The impact of the row was felt by businesses across the region. Maksteel, Macedonia’s largest steel exporter, shut down and sent some 1,000 workers on forced leave. Bosnia’s sole aluminium plant, Birac, in the town of Zvornik, halted production and steel maker Arcelor Mittal Zenica partially suspended operations.

The EU has appealed for an end to the blockade, while the U.S. accusedMoscow of flexing its energy muscle to intimidate its neighbours.

“Cutting off these supplies during winter ... is just something that is unacceptable,” said State Department spokesman Robert Wood.

Sofia_City hall inspectors have issued more than 1,400 fines of 20 leva each, to people who failed to clear up the snow around entrances to their buildings, local media reported.

The city hall said that the amount of snow that fell over the weekend of January 3-4 did not oblige the authorities to clean small alleys and side streets.

Slovenia: Croatia EU Timetable Not Set In Stone Zagreb_The timeframe for the end of Croatia’s European Union accession negotiations should be seen as flexible, said Slovene President Danilo Tuerk, pointing to the outstanding issue of Slovenia’s border dispute with its southern neighbour.

Montenegro To Pay Bosnia War Crime Victims Montenegro’s government has agreed to pay partial compensation to the families of Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) and Serbs who were expelled from Montenegro at the beginning of the 1992-1995 war and handed over to the Bosnian Serb forces.

Most of those expelled from the country were killed, while others were held in prison camps until they were released or exchanged.

Macedonia To Finance “Baby Boom” For every second, third or forth child born after January 1, 2009, families in Macedonia will receive a monthly allowance of between €80 and €200.

This measure is aimed at boosting the number of newborns, and is part of the government’s demographic policy strategy to tackle the increasing low birthrate trend in the country, the state-owned MIA news agency reported.

8

life

Friday, Jan. 9 - Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009

Albanian Brides Revive Serbia’s Dying Villages In the depopulated rural Sandzak region, Serbian bachelors are learning that love – and the hope of family life – comes from northern Albania.

pastures and herds. But the ageing parents of those men just want to see grandchildren and know their farms

By Zoran Maksimovic Reporting from Novi Pazar and households will not end up abandoned.

As for the Albanian girls, they, too, often lack suitable partners for he village of Budjevo, on the marriage in their home district. Povhigh Pester plains of Serbia’s erty forces most village boys around Sandzak region, is a deso- Shkoder to depart to work in Greece late place, with winter temperatures or other countries. They often marry plunging down as far as minus there and remain abroad. That is how -40oC. a similar fate has connected boys But the air of emptiness and aban- from south-west Serbia with girls donment may be changing at last. from northern Albania.

Little Milos Matovic, the first baby Brides usually meet their future born in the village for many years, husbands in one of the villages near is now a year old, and Budjevo has Shkoder. After, the parents of the welcomed several more children into brides-to-be go to check up on where its ranks in recent months. their daughters will live.

There is nothing unusual, per“The boys from our villages go haps, in local bachelors getting mar- to Greece to work and also get married and starting families. ried there, so we don’t really have What is more unusual, given the a choice,” one Albanian bride extraditional intolerance in the Balkans plained. “We want husbands, kids, between Serbs and Albanians, is that and family harmony.” several recent marriages in this vilAferdita Crnisanin, the only court lage have been mixed, with Serbian interpreter in the Raska area who grooms marrying Albanian brides. speaks Albanian, told Balkan Insight The villagers insist that it doesn’t that she had attended the weddings Source: /www.glas-javnosti.rs matter that the brides come from of more than 20 such couples, mostly Vera Matovic with her son Milos. More and more marriages are bridging the ethnic divide, almost always with positive outcomes. northern Albania. The important in the municipalities of Novi Pazar, thing is for local boys to get married Sjenica and Tutin.

Such decisions were in the hands of and have children.

Crnisanin admits that most of the family elders, so the fact that brides Little Milos is himself the fruit brides do not speak a word of Serbian are marrying boys today that they of one of these mixed marriages. on their wedding day, but says that barely know is nothing unusual.

His father, Radeta Matovic, is a clearly does not represent an obstaThe idea to find wives for local well known local Serb, while his cle. “The good thing about it is that bachelors was originally promoted mother, Vera, comes from a village everyone is satisfied in these cases,” by the humanitarian organisation in northern Albania, near Shkoder. she said.

Stara Raska (Old Raska), which is Vera is still learning Serbian, while She says some marriageable girls based in Belgrade.

Radeta has learned a few words in come to Serbia for a “test” period to Mainly financed by the Serbian Albanian too. live in their new home for a couple community in Canada, Stara Raska Until recently, the only words of months, and only then get married. is trying to counter the effects of Vera could say in Serbian were “fine” According to her, there has not been depopulation and the rural flight of or “great” and she mainly communi- a single divorce so far as a result of Serbs from this part of the country. cated with her husband through hand these mixed marriages, which speaks “There are several thousand Sergestures. volumes about the practice. bian Orthodox bachelors aged beToday, she speaks more fluently Radisa Savic, a Serb from Sopo- tween 25 and 45 in this region but to her husband, though in Serbian cani, says his wife did not need a test ‘the white plague’ [contraception] is that is still clumsy. run. His home yearned for a woman’s having dire consequences, primarily “Communicating is not a prob- touch, he says. He had lived with his on the Orthodox population, changlem,” says Radeta. “Vera has ad- father for years until an Albanian ing the whole demographics in the justed as if she was born here. Now named Pamvera agreed to marry Raska area,” Vojin Vucicevic, the orwe do all the chores around the house him. “She is so hard-working that ganisation’s president, said. together.”

I couldn’t get on without her now,” “Stara Raska does not undertake Source: www.kurir-info.rs Marriages like Radeta’s and Ve- Savic said. a classic matchmaking role but… Marko Novcic, 46, and his family in Budjevo. His son was one of the first children to be born in ra’s are becoming increasingly freSemiha Kacar, president of the helps them,” Vucicevic told Balkan this southern Serbia town after nearly two decades had passed with no new births. quent in the remote corner of south- Sandzak Committee for Protection of Insight. west Serbia known as the Sandzak, Human Rights, says the recent spate complained.

He said that in the beginning or Raska, region.

But Stara Raska disagrees, adding of local mixed marriages is helping it had been very difficult to set up Apparently, about 80 such mar- to keep struggling villages alive.

Aferdita Crnisanin, the only that men from the Raska area have no contacts between local bachelors riages have taken place in the last court interpreter in the Raska other choice, and this way of choos“It’s good that rural households do and marriageable girls from further two years alone between Serbian not fold, because the migration of the afield, but now it was easier, thanks area who speaks Albanian, ad- ing their life partner is quite acceptbachelors and Albanians brides. population from the villages to the to the help of the new Raska wives mits that most of the brides do able if it prevents the death of family Though well aware that relations cities is very pronounced,” she said. who have come from Albania. not speak a word of Serbian on households. between Serbs and Albanians are about ‘Albanianisation’ Kacar notes that women from vilVucicevic said that his organisatheir wedding day, but says that are “Claims usually poor, in this area, circum- lages in this part of Serbia have been tion was expanding its activities. denied by the fact that these clearly does not represent an women give up Catholicism, take stances have forced people to think marrying for centuries without know- “Having realised the importance differently. obstacle. “The good thing about up Orthodoxy, marry in Orthodox ing much about their future husbands. of our role in assisting marriages Most local Serbs applaud the pheit is that everyone is satisfied in churches and give their children Serin Sjenica, several months ago we nomenon, though a minority fear the bian names,” Vucicevic said. these cases,” she said. founded the Association of Grooms practice of marrying Albanian wom“Communicating is not a prob- from Stara Raska, which includes Mirko Popovac, a local journalen could lead to the area becoming ist, agreed that fears of “Albanianilem. Vera has adjusted as if she all the mixed marriages,” he said.

‘Albanianised’. sation” are exaggerated. “This phewas born here. Now we do all “Members of this Association will from Albania, said.

The stories of most of the grooms The same man said the Associa- nomenon is not so widespread that it play a crucial role in the creation of the chores around the house are similar. The local girls leave the tion of Serbs and Montenegrins in Al- can endanger the national identity of new marriages.” together.” villages to go to school and then find Milinko Rakonjac, from the vil- bania, which has around 30,000 mem- this part of Serbia,” he said. jobs in the cities and stay there.

He said it was commendable that lage of Stavalj, was one of the first bers in Ljes, Drac, Korca, Elbasan and Radeta Matovic in these parts to marry an Albanian. Tirana, also plays a role in helping to marriageable girls wanted to live in The boys, on the other hand, remain at home, obliged to help their the Serbian countryside and give He said he was persuaded to set fix up potential life partners. parents, eventually inheriting the Not everyone is delighted by the birth to children there. off to a village near Shkoder by a It is not a good thing if marriages woman who specialised in match- influx of Albanian wives, however.

Some believe it will eventually mean are made without love, he went on. making.

However, he added, the fact most Other groups and individuals, the ‘Albanisation’ of the region.

“These Albanian women who families speak highly of the experifrom clergy to local associations, are now also involved. “It is no se- marry our people often do not ence proves that these marriages are We fly for your smile. cret that a priest from these parts is speak a word of Serbian and when working out. involved in matchmaking,” one local they have children, their native groom who recently married a bride tongue will be Albanian,” one local Source: www.BalkanInsight.com

T

Friday, Jan. 9 - Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009

out & about

9

Photo by Sophie Cottrell

Even during the busiest holday periods, Kopaonik’s slopes still feel empty by the standards of many other European resorts. Lift queues are usually minimal and the pistes are, for the most part, well maintained.

Kopaonik The Kopaonik ski resort offers reliable snow, good infrastructure and reasonable accommodation.

Why travel further afield?

By Vanja Petrovic

Reporting from Kopaonik

W

ith visas to international destinations difficult to obtain, most Serbs get their skiing experience at home. And most choose Kopaonik.

To be fair, Kopaonik is quite a trek from Belgrade, especially if the weather is bad. The first hour or so of the roughly 5 hour journey is along the motorway but from there on, the roads deteriorate and the surface becomes uneven and pitted. You’ll need to pack a set of snow chains for your car and you’ll need them for at least the final half hour of the journey up into the mountains. There’s no need, however, to get your hands dirty putting them on, as there are willing workers waiting in almost every lay-by to do it for you, for a few hundred dinars.

Your first problem, on arrival, could well be where to park your car. Some hotels and apartments will reserve you a place – try to insist on this when you book. Otherwise you’ll have to squeeze into the public parking spaces which are inadequate and chaotic.

Accommodation at Kopaonik includes vikendica (cottages to let) along with more traditional selfcatering apartments and a range of

hotels. Don’t, however, expect to be able to turn up and book. The resort is always busy and often fully booked. Almost every travel agency in Belgrade will be able to book on your behalf, or of course you can also check the options online (kopaonik. net or eng.infokop.net are both good sources). Don’t expect to get a bargain; a week’s accommodation for a family of four in Zermatt, Switzerland, with a view of the Matterhorn can be had for as little as €400, but expect to pay at least another €100 for a vikendica in Kopaonik. The best hotel in town, the 4-star Grand, charges around 5,000 dinars per person per night for a double room, depending on your travel dates.

Unless you possess silver-tongued charm or have money to waste, don’t even think about trying to book a weekend’s skiing. Nobody, it seems, will sell you a hotel room, a self-catering apartment or a vikendica for less than a week. I’ve tried to reason. I’ve begged. I’ve shouted. But it seems that the local hoteliers would rather hope against hope that someone will take a week’s booking rather than take even a last minute booking for a weekend.

The British, it seems, are here in force. Yugoslavia once rivaled Spain as a package destination for British holidaymakers and after its breakup, the British have been amongst the first to return. Most of the big UK tour operators offer ski packages to Kopaonik, and their bulk buying means that they can offer prices under £500 (€520) for a week in the Grand Hotel, including flights and transfers, so you’re as likely to hear a Birmingham accent as you are a Belgrade accent on the slopes.

Kopaonik is a great place to learn.

Although the 60km of ski tracks do include one two more challenging pistes, the majority of the resort is easy skiing – perfect for beginners and families. The two official ski schools are professional, good value and English-speaking. There are also a number of qualified guides available to provide private lessons.

Instructors and their students get priority on the lifts too!

At 8,500 dinars ski passes are cheap by international standards and about on a par with resorts in neighboring Bulgaria. There are 10 chair lifts and 13 drags and the infrastructure seems to be in good condition. Pistes are well marked but safety standards are not always at the highest levels. Support pillars for chairlifts are not always padded where they cross a piste, and one or two outcrops could be better protected. The pistes are wide, well maintained and by the standards of many European or US destinations very quiet, even at weekends. Lift queues are not unknown, but not particularly long either. The pistes are dotted with good value bars and cafes. Check out the small, rustic cafe at the top of the “Karaman” lift for great cevapcici cooked over the open fire.

Nightlife is a little muted by the standards of some of the big European destinations and this is definitely not a place to come to if après ski is a priority. There are some good bars and there are restaurants aplenty, but this is not Verbier.

Once you get over being stung for your accommodation, you could quite come to like Kopaonik. It has a provincial charm, but has also almost all of the facilities that you’d expect from some of the biggest resorts across the world, with none of the pretensions.

Photo by Sophie Cottrell

Kopaonik’s two accredited ski schools provide professional instruction for skiers of all standards and all ages.

10

the belgrader

Friday, Jan. 9 - Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009

Dining Out

Zodiac

Following its refit, Trencherman checks out this Senjak favourite

By Trencherman

Reporting from Belgrade

O

fficials from some western embassies, I understand, banned their teenage children from going there because of its unsavory reputation. There were stories of gangland slayings taking place nearby and often when one would look in, there were huddles of shaven-headed men dressed in black, nursing coffee and cognac. But the atmosphere was lively, the food was good and the service efficient, so it was a bit of a shame when Zodiac closed late last year.

Although its rebirth as a pizzeria may have been a shock to some, as the owners also own Caffe Caffe, a more upmarket Italian eatery in the same block, I suppose we should just view it as an exercise in market segmentation.

The re-fit has rather bravely placed the pizza ovens and a preparation area in the window. This adds a little “theatre” to the dining experience, watching the pizza bases being

spun to shape and the paddles going in and out of the oven. But it comes with the drawback that everything is on show. Every dropped olive, every stained apron, every licked finger.

When we visited however, everything was spotless and in order.

Apart from the kitchen, some Italian themed wall coverings and some huge pendulous lights, everything is pretty much familiar inside. Nothing overly fussy, but all relatively tasteful.

The menu is comprehensive for a pizza restaurant, a good range of salads, pizzas with just about every combination of topping and a small selection of grilled dishes. We picked a Caesar Salad, an ocean salad, a margarita pizza and a calzone and a couple of beers to wash it down.

Now, it’s difficult to pretend that pizza is gourmet food, so I shan’t try.

But, suffice to say, the salads were fresh, generously portioned and tasty and the pizzas were amongst the best I’ve had in town. Hot, crisp but still doughy bases, generous fillings and toppings, the margarita still bubbling as it arrived, the calzone leaking just a little scaldingly hot cheese and ham from one corner. I am often critical of pizzas in Belgrade for the way they come dripping with oil. Not here.

I could talk about the improvement that a better quality of ham would have made to the calzone, or way in which a good Buffalo mozzarella would have browned a little better and given the cheese topping a fuller flavour but really…

I have a small confession to make.

I promised not to review a crème brulee for some time, just a few weeks ago. My dining companion, I’m afraid, had other ideas. This one was, in fact, one of the best we’ve come

We Recommend

Source: http://1.bp.blogspot.com

Zodiac’s transformation from a good, but somewhat notorious, eatery into a pizzeria has been a success. The pizzas are great. What more can you say?

across so far. A good caramelised top, creamy underneath, with a genuine vanilla flavour that only a vanilla pod can bring to a dish. The parfait which accompanied it was acceptable if not exceptional and some good espresso finished the meal off well.

Service was polished throughout, attentive but not invasive, and the

kitchen kept the tempo up well for lunchtime diners with pizzas arriving smartly after starters and desserts arriving soon after the order.

Zodiac’s reinvention has been largely successful. The re-fit has smartened up what was becoming a tired interior, the new menu works well and the old eclectic mix of

customers still seem to be coming through the doors. Above all, and this of course should be paramount for a pizzeria, they know how to make a pizza.

Price guide: 1,750 – 2,250 for three courses with drinks Zodiac, Vase Pelagica 48

Every week we feature a selection of restaurants picked by our team. They give a flavour of what’s out there on the Belgrade restaurant scene and should provide you with a few alternatives to get you out of your dining rut. Our choices may not always have had the full Trencherman treatment but you can be sure that one of us has eaten there and enjoyed it.

Dalong

Galla

Bajka

One of the greatest pluses of Dalong is that the décor is significantly less tacky than in most Chinese restaurants in Belgrade.

The restaurant is intimate, seating a maximum of 30 people and offering regular Chinese fare, such as including Peking duck and other traditional meals.

This is a very cosy restaurant, with soft colours and old black and white pictures giving it a very comfortable feel. There are great breakfast meals to be had here for under 200 dinars, while exceptional Bavarian cakes and fruit salads round out a fairly extensive and varied menu.

This traditional Serbian restaurant is recommended mainly for its terrific location, in the wooded Belgrade suburb of Kosutnjak, ensuring a quiet and peaceful dinner. The restaurant has live music on three days each week.

This quiet restaurant is a nice place to take the family for a Sunday dinner. The restaurant’s speciality is a dish featuring several types of meat, mushrooms and vegetables. The Sjenica cheese in marinade is recommended as a starter.

A small, restaurant tucked away in a street close to the Botanical Garden in Belgrade.

The atmosphere is very comfy, with soft music and friendly staff adding to the relaxed ambience. Italian dishes are their specialty, with risottos and salads recommended.

Trise Kaclerovica 27 011-2467034

Bulevar Arsenija Carnojevica 95 011-3131078

Kneza Viseslava 88 011-3543603

Vukasoviceva 21B 011-3510344

Vojvode Dobrnjca 4 011-2759092

Mali Boem

Giardino

Infusion

Balance

Amigo

Milagro

Maximiljan

Infusion is located within the IN Hotel in New Belgrade and specialises in Mediterranean cuisine. The chefs have all had experience working throughout Europe and offer different menus every season. There is also an extensive selection of vegetarian dishes.

This Italian restaurant’s interior was designed by a Spanish artist and is full of interesting paintings, clocks and hanging plates.

Those check tablecloths were getting tiresome anyway, right?

This is both a good place to have a light lunch or to stop for coffee in the morning.

The restaurant was named by the Mexican ambassador to Belgrade in 1985 as a sign of friendship.The décor is very folk oriented, with loud colours and ornaments. The range of Mexican food is however sadly limited.

Milagro is located on the shore of the Danube in a one-storey house with a great view of the river. Spanish cuisine is the specialty of “Miracle”, particularly the chuleton steak and the Iberian smoked ham. They also offer a children’s menu of smaller servings.

This is the perfect place for an important business dinner or lunch. Located in the heart of genteel old Belgrade, the restaurant is peaceful and tiptoes the line between homely and elegant, with paintings by famed local artists adorning the walls.

Bulevar Arsenija Carnojevica 56 011-3105314

Pozeska 118 011-3058692

Mladena Stojanovica 2A 011-2663366

Kej oslobodjenja 55 011-3160160

Majke Jevrosime 23 011-3225568

the belgrader

Friday, Jan. 9 - Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009

11

We Recommend Friday

Room With a View Exhibition

Saturday

Urban Slope Style Snowboard Competition

The Italian Culture Institute in Belgrade presents an art exhibition showcasing the work of contemporary artists from Naples. The focus will be visual art, specifically video, and will show the work of someone of the most creative new artists Italy has to offer. Ozone Gallery, Andricev Venac 12 Saturday, Jan. 10, 2009.

Once again this year, a street in the Belgrade community of Dorcol will be turned into the scene of a snowboarding extravaganza. Not only will local snowboarders be battling for the €1,000 prize, but spectators can come to enjoy the show, which will be accompanied by DJ sets and a nightclub-like atmosphere under the glow of bright lights. The event takes place along Kapetan Misina street.

Sunday

Monday

Still not sick of Christmas? For another dose of Christmas-related fun, be sure to check out this exhibition displaying Christianized variations of ritual processions of young Serbian boys who in earlier times would visit households to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Ethnographic Museum, Studentski Trg 13

Belgrade Culture Centre kicks off its 2009 program with a night of classic music performed by duos. There will be two performances on the opening night, first by piano duo Tea Dimitrijevic and Dejan Subotic, followed by the duo of violinist Gordan Trajkovic and pianist Jasna Tucovic.

Artget Gallery, Trg Republike 5

Tuesday

Wednesday

Vertep or Bethlehem Exhibition

Smoke ’n’ Soul & MC Milovan

What better way to usher in the Serbian New Year than with a night of reggae? Smoke ‘n’ Soul is a local roots reggae group drawing inspiration from Rasta philosophy and Jamaican roots culture. They will be supported by another popular local reggae and dancehall artist, MC Milovan, along with DJs Dusha & Gaggie Selecta. Yeah Mon! Akademija, Rajiceva 10

Thursday

Ljubica Stojanovic

The SANU gallery at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, on Knez Mihailova, organises a regular programme of concerts and other cultural events every Monday and Thursday evening.

This Thursday, Serbian pianist Ljubica Stojanovic will be playing solo pieces by composers Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Ravel. Admission is free. SANU Gallery, Knez Mihailova 35

Classical Music Duos

John Coltrane Night

Belgrade jazz enthusiasts and promoters Al’ JAZZira have organised a presentation of the life and music of jazz great John Coltrane. The legendary saxophone player’s career will be chronicled through video and audio presentations, along with guest speakers showcasing the influence of Coltrane on the world of music. Dom Kulture “Student City“, Bulevar Zorana Djindjica 179

Skabo

As one of the leaders of the influential Belgrade hip-hop group Beogradski Sindikat (Belgrade Union), Skabo has left his mark on Serbian rap music both as a rapper and producer.

He will be promoting his new album for the first time. Expectations are high, given the name of the album Remek Delo Boska Cirica Skabe (The Masterpiece of Bosko “Skabo” Ciric).

Skabo will also be debuting two new videos from the album and has

announced that there will be special guests at the show, which can only mean someone from Serbia’s hip-hop elite given Skabo’s status on the scene.

The rapper and beatmaker stood out immediately with his wit and style in the early days of Beogradski Sindikat, making a solo career inevitable.

Supporting Skabo are two young rappers representing the blocks of New Belgrade, Zobla and Marlon Brutal. Zobla made a wave on the scene with his single Felne (Rims), a tribute to the gleaming metal armour of his car wheels. Music before and after the performances will be provided by DJ Iron, bringing fans the best in contemporary hip-hop and r’n’b.

Hektor, Skadarska 40c Friday, Jan. 15.

Camerata Serbica

Camerata Serbica is an elite collective of the most esteemed classical music soloists in Serbia. The group, featuring 45 permanent members, was created in 2004 from the most renowned soloists, professors and teaching assistants from the Belgrade Musical Arts University.

The orchestra has toured the world, playing with some of the bestknown classical instrumentalists and vocalists and led by some of the biggest names among conductors.

It was recognised by the United Nations in 2006 and given the role of

promoting human values and Millennium development goals through the universal language of music.

Returning from another highly successful tour across Europe, Camerata Serbica will be presenting its New Year programme to classical music fans in the great hall of the Sava Centar, playing both a standard repertoire of classical pieces and works by domestic composers.

Sava Centar, Spanskih boraca 74A Saturday, Jan. 10.

Yves Larock After two weeks of relaxation, Serbia celebrates it’s second New Year’s Eve on January 13 with a dance party of epic proportions. The star of the night is DJ Yves Larock, know for breaking out on the scene with his huge club hit Zookey in 2005 and his even bigger single Rise Up in 2007, both a fusion of reggae and house music.

Warming the party up for Larock are some of the best DJs from the party capital of the world – Ibiza. Baby Marcelo is an Ibiza icon, and one of the most important and popular resident DJs of Ibiza’s most decadent dance club, Amnesia.

He is known for his singles La Hormona dell’Amore, and Trabajame.

Baby Marcelo and another Amnesia resident, DJ Oliver, will warm up

the crowd, giving Serbian dance fans a sneak peek at the most authentic parties from the infamous Spanish island.

DJ Oliver is also a very prolific producer, with some 10 dance music compilations under his belt.

Expo Centar, Vojvode Dobrnjca 40 Tuesday, Jan. 13.

12

the belgrader

Friday, Jan. 9 - Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009

Local Promoters Help Keep Indie Spirit Alive

Source: www.myspace.com

Young members of the label recently put out a record for a Belgrade post-punk trio Cut Self Not. Each CD had unique cover art, an example of the creativity that makes this label stand out.

By David Galic

Reporting from Belgrade

A

group of young promoters from Belgrade working under the name of Super Size She Records shine like a beacon of hope for the Serbian independent music scene, putting their time and effort

into promoting music solely for the love and joy it brings them.

“As a group of 19 year-olds in mid-2005, we began this project trying to bring in a new dose of enthusiasm in the struggling world of today’s independent, underground music,” said group member Nemanja Knezevic.

These friends and music fans began working first under the name of

Haslo Tu Mismo, ( Do it Yourself in Spanish), with a blog promoting underground punk groups, writing concert and album reviews and columns about the local scene.

Later the collective began thinking about organising and booking concerts in Belgrade, with the initial desire being to connect bands from the former Yugoslav republics and promote youth reconciliation through music.

Aspirations grew after bookings of bands from around the region, such as Croatia’s This Day Will Burn and Course Over Ground, and Super Size She began looking outside of the region for exciting and innovative underground bands to book and present to the Serbian audience.

Sccessful concerts followed with shows from Belgian post-punk trio Hitch, New York indie rockers Rahim, Paris’ lo-fi group Jordan and probably the most successful show yet, the recent concert of French screamo band Daitro.

“Of course, at all of those concerts we included local bands we like in the line-up such as Unison, Cut Self Not, Temple of the Smoke,” fellow SSSRer Stefan Unkovic said.

“With time all genre restrictions disappeared, but the focus remained on independent bands,” Unkovic said.

Further evolution came in December 2007, when the Super Size She record label was born. The first ever release was a promotional EP by the Belgrade post-punk trio Cut Self Not.

Going Out

with give us,” Knezevic said.

“As a record label we still want to continue to support all dedicated, honest, innovative bands and people, giving them support with the same level of enthusiasm,” he said, adding that the label also wants to offer to the public “a different kind of promotion for the releases themselves, different from the regular “plastic, paper, and a little more plastic inside” of regular CDs. “Our stance is that music and perspective are important, but the way in which these things materialise also speak volumes about the band,” he said.

As far as booking new shows is concerned, Knezevic said that their successful track record thus far will enable them to be more active concert promoters in the near future.

“The bands we bring are firstly bands that we like,” he said, adding that this is why it does not seem like work to them, even though the process of promoting a concert for a foreign band is strenuous.

Knezevic said that the troupe will continue to organise shows with diverse line-ups so that “people who are not too lazy to look beneath the surface can see bands that perhaps they have never heard of but would probably enjoy.”

“There is plenty stirring in the SSSR pot, but from earlier experience we have learned that it is better not to say anything until we are definitely sure,” he added.

Vladimir Lalic

Francuska Sobarica

By David Galic

Reporting from Belgrade

By Vanja Petrovic

S

Reporting from Belgrade

E

veryone’s always been a bit suspicious of my obsession with gay clubs. I’m not talking about gay and lesbian clubs, I mean clubs for gay men. The charm of a place where no one will even turn to look at you, much less check you out and where you don’t feel that you’re always on display. Where, as a woman, you don’t see anyone as a prospective “life partner”! Knowing this gives you endless freedom to act, well, like yourself, which makes for an infinitely more beautiful night than a visit to a standard Belgrade meat market.

While Francuska Sobarica is not a gay club, the mix of truly odd and “unique” patrons, produces the same effect! I was definitely only going to leave with the people I came in with.

The last time I visited the Sobarica, approximately 45 per cent of the crowd was over 45, according to my infallible head count.

However, on the dance floor, was a 17-year-old, wearing his grandma’s track suit top and tennis shoes from the early ‘80s and white framed sunglasses, doing something which to me looked like an aerobic workout, in the middle of the crowd.

At the back of the dance floor was a group of trashed metal-heads swaying and screaming.

Five truly “hip” twenty-somethings, wearing shawls, unimagina-

What separates this release from the pile and gives Super Size She an independent and interesting personality, is the packaging of the album.

Super Size She enlisted about ten young Belgrade artists to work on the cover artwork for the release, making every single copy of the EP being sold completely unique, each having different artwork on the album cover.

Such moves show Super Size She as an authentic indie spirit, promoting artists of all fields in a united effort to jumpstart the Belgrade creative scene and bring back the glory days of the 1980s when the city was a Mecca for alternative culture and innovative independent music.

“Cut Self Not gives us hope that something will finally happen here that will be fresh in the field of independent guitar-oriented music,” Knezevic said, adding that the band’s debut album will battle it out with another band, the dark post-hardcore group Plus Life, to see which album will be the second official release by the label.

Both are expected in the first half of 2009.

Despite moving from a blog to a record label, the independent spirit remains the same for Super Size She. “We are still strictly non-profit oriented, relying on our own enthusiasm and the satisfaction that these wonderful and creative people who we work with and plan on working

Source: www.nadlanu.com

Francuska Sobarica is not your average Belgrade nightclub. Don’t be afraid to let yourself go, everybody’s just here to have fun.

bly tight trousers and perfect shined shoes were standing in another corner.

It was in this unimaginable mix of people that I realised that I could do no wrong. My friends and I decided, since there was absolutely no prospect of meeting a sane human being that night, to act like the biggest fools there, and therefore had a good night.

Sobarica is a bit difficult to find.

It’s on Francuska street in the centre of town. There are no signs to guide you in from the outside of what looks like an abandoned residential building. But, once you walk through the door, and go through the courtyard of the building, through another door straight in front, down the stairs and you finally find yourself in the basement club.

The decor is nothing special as far and looks like any average club

anywhere in the world. It’s my recommendation that you avoid the place at the weekends and go there on Tuesdays, when the music is not the standard techno from the late ‘90s, but rather a mix of indie and ‘80s pop.

However strange it seems for me to say this, I do recommend the place, though I may be a bit biased.

Why? Well, I was never a very nostalgic person, but, recently, I’ve been looking for a place that reminds me of those run-down, back alley places in somewhat dangerous parts of town that you find in provincial America, because, well, you’re that kid. The Sobarica reminds of these places, and has, over time, become close to my heart.

Francuska Sobarica Francuska 12

ometimes it is hard to pinpoint where exactly inspiration and the desire to become an artist comes from.

“Both of my parents are electrical engineers…But my first memories take me back to preschool, I always loved to draw,” said Vladimir Lalic, a budding painter and graphic artist from Belgrade.

His love for drawing as a child led him to study design at high school and later graduate from the Belgrade Fine Arts University, where he currently works as an expert instructor.

Lalic’s works are often dark and abstract, though when asked to describe his style, he said that he would rather “leave that to art historians” to decide.

“When I was really young, Michelangelo and his drawings were a big influence. He also lists Irish figurative painter Francis Bacon and the German impressionist Kirchner as influences.

“They are all great painters and I learned a lot from all of them,” he said.

At the young age of 25, Lalic has had some 20 group exhibitions already, and recently had his first independent exhibition at the Kragujevac Student Cultural Centre in July of last year.

As far as what he sees himself doing in the future, Lalic said that he is “currently in between phases.”

Source: Vladimir Lalic

‘Maska’, one of Vladimir Lalic’s works displayed at a recent exhibition

“After graduating I enrolled in specialised studies at the university.

This change in scenery and people has been good for me, because I like change, so I think my works will change as well,” he said.

“An artist should not be static, they must keep moving and discovering in order to avoid falling into a routine,” Lalic said.

Lalic added that he never plans what he will be doing next, especially in the distant future, but wants his work to continue developing “in a similar tempo as it has been over the last two years, with new discoveries and great productivity.”

As for the art scene in Belgrade, Lalic said that it is “full of variety,” but that not enough attention is being given to graphic artists in general, especially compared to the 1980s.

“Galleries in busier and more popular places are needed, especially ones for promoting young artists,” he said.

the belgrader

Friday, Jan. 9 - Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009

Live Bands, Underworld, Corner of Ruzveltova and 27. Marta, 23:00

What’s On Friday, January 9 Music: Toca and band, Mr. Stefan Braun Garden, Vojislava Ilica 86, 23:30 Extra orchestra, Lava bar, Kneza Milosa 77, 23:00

Other: Gramaphondzije, Energija, Nusiceva 8, 23:00

Zeitgeist: The Movie, Magacin in Kraljevica Marka, Kraljevica Marka 4, 18:00

House Night, Mamolo, Ilije Garasanina 26, 21:00

Mobile (play), Belgrade Drama Theatre (BDP), Milesevska 64a, 20:00

DJ Ike & Prema, Plastic, Djusina 7 , 23:00

Monday, January 12 Piano Duo (Tea Dimitrijevic and Dejan Subotic), Artget Gallery, Trg Republike 5, 20:00

Kraljevski Apartman, Fest, Majke Jevrosime 20, 22:00 Nightlife:

Nightlife:

Double Trouble Band, Skandal, Visnjiceva 9, 22:30 Sweet Fridays @ Lazy Room, xLagoom, Svetozara Radica 5 23:00 Barthelemy Vincent & Shwabe, Energija, Nusiceva 8, 23:00

Music:

Wandered in From a Rave, Francuska Sobarica, Francuska 12, 22:00 DJ Marko Gangbangers, Underworld, Corner of Ruzveltova and 27.

Marta, 23:00 House Fever, Mr. Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4/9, 23:00 Disco House Night, White, Pariska 1a, 23:00

Partizan – Hemofarm (basketball), Pionir Hall, Carli Caplina 39, 20:00 Disco Plastic, Plastic, Djusina 7, 23:00 DJ Stevie (Gothic), Underworld, 23:00 Vocal House, Mr. Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4/9, 23:00

Discount Night, Fest, Majke Jevrosime 20, 22:00 House Party (DJ Kobac), Blue Moon, Knegilje Ljubice 4, 23:00

Diesel Party, Mr Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4/9, 23:00 Discount Night, Fest, Majke Jevrosime 20, 22:00 Kinky Acoustic, Miss Moneypenny, Ada Ciganlija (Makiska side 4), 21:30

Dark Wave, EBM, Electro, Akademija, Rajicevca 10, 23:00

A Little Bit of 90s, Mistique, Aberdareva 1b, 23:00

Weekend Warm Up, Fest, Majke Jevrosime 20, 22:00

Istvan Balind (sculptor), ULUPUDS Gallery, Uzun Mirkova 12, 19:00

Nightlife: Booki/Kinetic Vibe, Mamolo, Ilije Garasanina 26, 21:00

Marina Markovic and Marija Sujica (multimedia), Magacin in Kraljevica Marka, Kraljevica Marka 4, 18:00

Live Bands, Blue Moon, Kneginje Ljubice 4, 23:00

Sunday, January 11

Chicago (musical), Terazije Theatre, Trg Nikole Pasica 3, 19:30

Sportsman Night, White, Pariska 1a, 23.00

The Resident, Bitefart cafe, Skver Mire Trailovic 1, 22:30

Other:

Music:

Music:

90s YU Rock, White, Pariska 1a, 23.00

Music:

Karaoke Night, Gaucosi, Dunavska 14, 23:00

An American in Belgrade (play), Slavija Theatre, Svetog Save 16, 20:00

Nightlife:

Thursday, January 15

Zex Kazanova, Bambo Bar, Strahinjica Bana 71, 22:00

Wednesday, January 14

Makao Band, Mr. Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4/9, 23:00

Closeness (play), Belgrade Drama Theatre (BDP), Milesevska 64a, 20:00

Riffs, Francuska Sobarica, Francuska 12, 22:00

X + Y = 0 (play), Belgrade Drama Theatre (BDP), Milesevska 64a, 20:30

Belgrade Association of the Cultural Artistic Society (KUD) 60th Anniversary Concert, Sava Centar, Milentija Popovica 9, 20:00

Other:

Serbs Build a Home (play), Slavija Theatre, Svetog Save 16, 20:00

Jagoda Karac (painter), Singidunum Gallery, Knez Mihailova 40, 19:00

Soul Touch, Blue Moon, Knegilje Ljubice 4, 23,00 Other:

Psychodelic Tuesday, Underworld, Corner of Ruzveltova and 27 Marta, 23:00

13

DJs Krsh and Lom, Underworld, Corner of Ruzveltova and 27. Marta, 23:00 Marko Zujovic & a little bit of 90’s, Mistique, Aberdareva 1b, 23:00

Bla Bla Band, Vanilla, Studentski trg 15, 22:30

Tropico Band, Lava Bar, Kneza Milosa 77, 23:00

Other:

Playground Radio Show Live, Tapas Bar, Dositejeva 17, 22:00

Exhibition: Mihailo Stanisavac (graphics), Graphic Collective Gallery, Obilicev venac 27, 19:00

Ladies’ Night, Mr Stefan Braun Garden, Vojislava Ilica 86, 23:30

Gas Light (play), Belgrade Drama Theatre (BDP), Milesevska 64a, 20:00

Other: Small Format Mosaic (international exhibition), Feniks Gallery, Tadeusa Koscuska 28, 20:00

Nightlife:

Bone Marrow (play), Slavija Theatre, Svetog Save 16, 20:00

Shaker Party, Mr. Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4/9, 23:00

Saturday, January 10

Lazy Sunday Afternoon, Fest, Majke Jevrosime 20, 22:00

Music: Camerta Serbica, Sava Centar, Milentija Popovica 9, 20:00 Frankestra Band, Gaucosi, Dunavska 17a, 23:00

Live Bands, Blue Moon, Kneginje Ljubice 4, 23:00 Karaoke Night, Miss Moneypenny, Ada Ciganlija (Makiska side 4), 21:30

Cocktail Wednesdays, Mamolo, Ilije Garasanina 26, 21:00 DJ Ike & Prema, Plastic, Djusina 7, 23:00 Perversion in Chicago (play), Slavija Theatre, Svetog Save 16, 20:30

Tuesday, January 13 Music:

Other: Milk (play), Belgrade Drama Theatre (BDP), Milesevska 64a, 20:30

Popular Science, Underworld, Corner of Ruzveltova and 27. Marta, 23:00 Karaoke Challenge, Mr Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4/9, 23:00 Salsa Night, Havana, Nikole Spasica 1, 22:00

No Comment Band, Lava bar, Kneza Milosa 77, 23:00

Slobodan Trkulja “Music on 15 instruments,” Madlenianum, Glavna 32, 20.00

Nightlife:

Nightlife:

Samba, Bossa, Jazzy, Salvador Dali, Hilandarska 20, 21:00

Psy-trance party, xLagoom, Svetozara Radica 5, 23:00

Atmos Digital structures, xLagoom, Svetozara Radica 5 23:00

Danijela Trkulja & Milan Radjen, Mistique, 23:00

Art (play), Atelje 212, Svetogorska 21, 20:00 Ranko Pecikozic (installations), DKSG Gallery, Bulevar Zorana Djindjica 179, 20:00

14

sport

Friday, Jan. 9 - Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009

Old Trafford Goes Serbian as Duo Arrive Partizan Belgrade team mates Adem Ljajic and Zoran Tosic have joined compatriot Nemanja Vidic at Manchester United.

By Zoran Milosavljevic Reporting from Belgrade

I

t is truly beyond me that three Serbs will be playing together for European and world champions Manchester United, but there you go: after protracted negotiations, attacking midfielder Adem Ljajic and left wing Zoran Tosic have joined their more established compatriot Nemanja Vidic at Old Trafford, for a combined fee of Є16.3 million.

While 21-year old Tosic, a full Serbia international with 12 appearances under his belt, is expected to make his debut before the season ends, 17-year old Ljajic has been loaned back to Serbian champions Partizan Belgrade for the rest of 2009.

The anticipated move of Partizan’s two most promising home-bred players came after the deal nearly fell through, with their agents demanding better personal terms than United’s board was initially prepared to offer.

Sir Alex Ferguson, chasing an elusive treble of domestic trophies as well as a second successive Champions League title with United, must have seen something most pundits don’t in the diminutive Tosic and the talented but frail-looking Ljajic, who is still ineligible to drink or have a driving licence.

Sir Alex Ferguson poses with his two new signings, accompanied by stalwart Nemanja Vidic and the club’s Serbian scout Budimir Vujacic. United will now have three Serbian internationals in their squad after Adem Ljajic (far left) and Zoran Tosic (far right) joined the English, European and world champions last week.

“Tosic is a wide left player and we like wide players at this club,” Ferguson said after Partizan’s duo finally hammered out their wage demands with United’s senior officials. “We’ve been watching him over a year and our scout in that area Budimir Vujacic has been telling us about him for quite a while. We hope that he will do well here,” added Ferguson, the most trophy-laden manager in club football.

One must imagine he sees Tosic, a nifty dribbler with a sweet left foot from set pieces, as a long-term replacement for the ageing Ryan

Giggs, who has at best 18 months of top-level football left in him - if he can avoid injuries and keep his weary body in shape. However, it may be a while before Tosic starts making those darting runs down the left flank, to the roar of the Old Trafford faithful. “He will need time to get used to the tempo of our game and also the training so we will give him that,” Ferguson said. “Ljajic will join us next year, he is a very good player although he is very young and we always look to develop young players here,” he added.

Shipping Ljajic back to Partizan for

Partizan Edge Closer to Last 16 Overawed by a capacity crowd 16 with a 3-6 record. Partizan, who and a brass-band in the Pionir now have four wins and five defeats in Group D, are away to defending Arena, Panionios cracked.

By Zoran Milosavljevic Reporting from Belgrade

S

erbian champions Partizan Belgrade appear poised to reach the Euroleague last 16 after Czech forward Jan Vesely inspired them to an 80-57 home rout of Greek rivals Panionios Athens on Wednesday.

Vesely poured 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as Partizan, who needed a win to keep alive any hopes of qualifying, overcame an early 7-2 deficit and took a commanding 30-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The 18-year old forward led a 20-0 run as the home team, roared on by their 6,500 fans in the Pionir Arena, demolished the visitors with arguably their best Euroleague performance of the season.

Stephan Lasme and Uros Tripkovic scored 12 points each for Partizan while centre Slavko Vranjes added seven points and 13 rebounds. Aaron Miles led Panionios with 14 points, but the Greeks are effectively out of the reckoning for a berth in the last

champions CSKA Moscow in their final preliminary stage game next week.

A win will certainly see the Serbian champions through to the second stage of the competition while defeat won’t cost them if other results go their way.

“We pulled away in the first quarter and that was crucial,” Partizan coach Dusko Vujosevic told reporters after the match. “I can only salute my players for an effervescent performance and the fans for turning up in droves once again,” he added. CSKA, for their part, did Partizan a huge favour with a 74-55 away demolition of Efes Pilsen Istanbul thanks to Trajan Langdon, who scored 27 points on 7 of 9 shooting from three-point range.

Elsewhere, Spanish contenders Joventut Badalona shot themselves in the foot with a 79-75 defeat to Alba Berlin, enabling the German side to leapfrog them into fourth place in Group C. Alba guard Immanuel McElroy led the unlikely upset with 26 points, shooting 4 of 4 from threepoint range and 6 of 7 from inside the arc to earn the Most Valuable Player of the week award. Alba will progress if they beat Slovenian writeoffs Olimpija Ljubljana at home next

Photo by FoNet

Vesely was unstoppable as Partizan excelled

week, no matter what Joventut do at Spanish champions TAU Ceramica.

Barcelona strolled to a 76-64 victory at Poland’s Asseco Prokom, as Ersan Ilyasova and Roger Grimau netted 14 points apiece for the Group B leaders, who have secured the top spot with one game to spare.

another year is probably the best thing United could have done for the boy, who can hardly be expected to live up to expectations at Old Trafford without playing at least a year of first-team football elsewhere.

Admirably enough, Ljajic appeared completely unperturbed by the trip back to the ramshackle Serbian league, which is exporting its talents to Europe’s greener pastures at an alarming rate. “I look forward to staying here another year because Partizan gave me so much and it’s time for me to give something in return by helping the club win some

silverware this season,” Ljajic said.

He will not have to wait long to start returning the favour, as Partizan are at home to bitter city foes Red Star in Serbia’s “eternal derby” when the league resumes from its two-month long winter break on February 21. It will be Ljajic’s first Belgrade derby and should he miss the reverse fixture through injury or suspension, it may well be his last.

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

Live Sports on TV Friday, Jan 9: Tennis: JB Classic (Sport Klub 9.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.), Doha ATP tournament (Eurosport 2.45 p.m.), Brisbane Open (Sport Klub 02.00 a.m. Saturday); Rugby Union: French Top 14 – Dax v Toulouse (Eurosport 2 at 8.30 p.m.); Soccer: Reading v Watford (Sport Klub 9.00 p.m.); Basketball: NBA Regular Season – Cleveland Cavaliers v Boston Celtics (OBN at 2.00 a.m. Saturday).

Saturday, Jan 10: Basketball: NLB Regional League – Partizan Belgrade v Hemofarm Vrsac (FOX Serbia 4.00 p.m.); Alpine Skiing: World Cup Giant Slalom (HRT 2 and Eurosport 9.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m.); Tennis: JB Classic (Sport Klub 8.00 a.m.), Doha ATP tournament final (Eurosport 2 at 4.30 p.m.)

Soccer: Arsenal v Bolton (RTS 2 at 4.00 p.m.), Genoa v Torino (Sport Klub 6.00 p.m.), Stoke City v Liverpool (RTS 2 at 6.30 p.m.), Burnley v Swansea (Sport Klub + 6.20 p.m.), Deportivo La Coruna v Sevilla (FOX Serbia 8.00 p.m.), Inter Milan v Cagliari (OBN at 8.30 p.m.), AJ Auxerre v Olympique Marseille (Sport Klub + 9.00 p.m.), Valencia v Villarreal (FOX Serbia 10.00 p.m.).

Sunday, Jan 11: Basketball: Spanish League – Bilbao v Pamesa

(Sport Klub 12.30 p.m.), NLB Regional League – Cibona Zagreb v KK Zagreb (HRT 2 at 4.00 p.m.); Alpine Skiing: World Cup Slalom (HRT 2 and Eurosport 9.00 a.m. to 2.30 p.m.); Tennis: Brisbane Open Final (Sport Klub 5.00 p.m.); NFL Playoffs: Philadelphia Eagles v New York Giants (Sport Klub 7.00 p.m.), San Diego Chargers v Pittsburgh Steelers (Sport Klub 10.30 p.m.); Soccer: Juventus v Siena (OBN and Avala 3.00 p.m.), Various Italian League matches (Sport Klub 3.00 p.m.), Manchester United v Chelsea (RTS 2 at 5.00 p.m.), Espanyol v Almeria (FOX Serbia 7.00 p.m.), Roma v AC Milan (OBN and Avala at 8.30 p.m.), Bordeaux v PSG (Sport Klub + 9.00 p.m.).

directory

Friday, Jan. 9 - Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009

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

15

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

16

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Friday, Jan. 9 - Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009

Latest news from across the Balkans, in-depth analysis and investigations from our journalists in nine countries.