Belgrade Insight, No. 21

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NEWS NEWS

Friday • June 13 • 2008

9 ISSN 1820-8339

771820 833000

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Issue 1 / Friday, 13, 2008 Feb. 5, 2009 Weekly Issue No. 21,No. Friday, Jan. June 30 - Thursday,

Dinar’s SlideAlliance Worries Consumers Lure of Tadic Splits Socialists

With investors fleeing emerging markets in the aftermath of the global credit crunch, and little light at the end of Serbia’s political tunnel, the dinar slid to a new record low of 97.50 to the euro this week, having lost a quarter of its value in four months.

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

Socialist leader Ivica Dacic remains the Serbian kingmaker

faces extinction unlessmore it changes. to Serbia’s president,

By Rade Maroevic in Belgrade Serbs who have fixed salaries in dinars have seen their purchasinglate power drop as theSlobodan weak currency has made imported goods expensive.

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ense negotiations on a new govBy David Galic ernment have divided the ranks Reporting from Belgrade of the Socialist Party, which holds the balance of power between the main blocsost andSerbs, has yet to announce who have salaries in dinars, which sidefixed they will support. feel by will the “It looks as bewildered if the Socialists fall oftowards a currency that wasledconmove a government by sidered stable political until only a few the Democrats,” analyst Mimonths ago. Having seen their lan Nikolic, of the independent Cenpurchasing power slide as the tre of Policy Studies, said. “But such weak dinar made imported goods a move might provoke deeperabout divimore expensive, they worry sions and even split the party.” meeting their mortgage payments held or Simultaneous being able to negotiations repay consumer with theusually pro-European and nationalloans, denominated in ist blocs have drawn attention to a euros.

“My dinars, so this deep rift wage inside is theinSocialists. is killing me,” Tomislav TomaseThis divides “old-timers” loyal

M

vic, a graphic designer in his 20s, told Belgrade Insight.

“Realistically, I OF have lost THIS ISSUE more than 10 per cent of my pay Belgrade Insight since I started my job a couple IS SUPPORTED BY: of months ago.”

As part of an inflation-targeting policy which sees a managed float for the dinar, the central bank has been intervening modestly but

Milosevic, and reformists who want the party to become a modern Euroalmost daily, with little effect. It peanspent socialsome democrat has €300organisation. million supAfter eight years of last stagnation, porting the dinar in the month the Socialists returned to centre stage alone, a policy that has landed it winning 20 ofbetween the 250 econoseats in inafter a tug of war mists and the government. parliament in the May 11 elections.

“The amount of money that With the pro-European and nationcan stability the exalistsecure blocs the almost evenlyofmatched, change rate does exist, the Socialists nownot have the because final say we need an unlimited on the fate of the country.amount of money which we used to get from Nikolic believes the Socialists, led selling property and getting into

by Ivica Dacic, will come over to debt,” said economist Ljubomir Tadic, if only out of a pragmatic deMadzar.

“Everything has its exsire to ensure their political survival. piration date. Exports must pick groupisofthe younger Socialists up “The and that government’s gathered around IDacic seems be responsibility. believe thattothe NBS affect the trend of the in thecannot majority”, Nikolic said, adding dinar’s fall, even ifbelieve it spends all that these reformists the party

of its foreign reserves, it can only contain the swings.”

Milan Kanjevac of the InstiBusiness Insight tute for Market Research said the current exchange rate “is not realistic”.

“The realistic exchange rate is conomists warning thatstate pro150 dinars to theareeuro, and the longed uncertainty Serbia’s and National Bank ofover Serbia are future could scare off it,” investors, lead fighting to decrease Kanjevac

Costs Mounting

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to higher inflation and jeopardise prosperity for years to come.

“This year has been lost, from the standpoint of economic policy,” says Stojan Stamenkovic of the Economics Institute in Belgrade. page 5

However, a strong current also flows in the opposite direction, led said. “I think that the dinar does by have party to veterans enragedbecause by the not be defended prospect of a deal with Tadic. that hurts exporters and works Mihajlo a founder of in the favorMarkovic, of importers, which the party,our recently of a crisis damages localwarned industry.” reluctant to if Although Dacic opts usually for the pro-European meddle in the central bank’s busibloc, abandoning the Socialists’ “natness, government has pushed ural” the ideological partners. the Markovic, other way,a taking the supporter unusual prominent step of counseling that the sink-is of Milosevic during the 1990s, ing dinar would do better with seen as representative of the “oldmore aggressive central bank intimers” in the party who want to stay tervention. true the former regime’s Ipolicies, “IftoI were the governor, would even though these almostusing ruinedour the have intervened more Socialists for good. hard currency reserves” instead Some younger Socialist of officials of waiting to see inflows fresh capital, saidfrustration Deputy Prime have voiced over theMinconister Mladjan Dinkic, the tinuing impasse withinhimself their own

predecessor of current central bank governor Radovan Jelasic.

“The governor has been reNeighbourhood Matters luctant to spend them, but the reserves are there to be spent in a time of crisis. It is important for the dinar to be stable, and the rehile the world watchserves will be football replenished.” es events unfold atcriticism, the EuroJelasic has deflected pean Championships Austria and saying the central in bank would

Football Rebellion

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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 deputy PM, with a brief in charge of Source: www.daylife.com security for the Socialist leader.

In addition, the Socialists are bargaining for other ministries, includcontinue trying to limit extreme ing capital investments, Kosovothat and daily swing, but conceding education, Belgrade media reported. there is only so much it could do.

Tadic hasthe denied talkis of horse“Clearly market looking trading with the Socialists, maintainfor a new balance,” he told daily Blic, “and the central bank needs ing that ministries would go only to tothose weigh both the issue of committed to working forthe the exchange rate“strategic and the goal”. volume of government’s foreign currency reserves.”

At the same time, Dacic seems reAftertoDinkic that with deluctant call off noted negotiations fending a fixed dinar rate would the nationalists. cost “a maximum of €1.3 bil“If we don’t reach an agreement lion”, officials started offering with the DSS the partheir two centsand onRadicals, how to resolve ty leadership will decide on future the crisis. steps”, following SomeDacic help announced, could come from the first session country’s newmilparthe inflow ofof the €400 lion owed Belgrade by Russia’s liament on Wednesday.

Gazpromneft for (www.balkaninsight.com) the sale of a maSource: Balkan Insight jority stake in state oil monopoly NIS – an amount Energy Minister Petar Skundric said would be paid this week, as opposed to later in the year.

Finance Minister Diana Dragutinovic pointed to the IMF loan cushion and said that if the

EDITOR’S WORD POLITICS

Political Predictability

According to a recent poll, two-thirds of Serbs would not turn in fugitive genocide suspect Ratko Mladic.

By Mark R. Pullen

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BELGRADE

Many of us who have experienced numerous Serbian elections rate ourselves as pundits when it comes to predicting election reEvery Sunday, the Illegal Cinema sults and post-election moves. puts on a film which has never been We feel in-the-know because regularly distributed.

But, although ourscreenings experienceare of elections in Serthe free, there are strings attached. bia has shown us that (a.) no single Page party or coalition will ever gain4 the majority required to form a government, OUT and (b.)&political negotiations ABOUT will never be quickly concluded.

This week, Belgrade Insight takes Democrats you Even to thewhen Golijathemountain in achievedSerbia, their surprising resultun-at southern which offers touched countryside, andit last month’s general skiing election, hiking. 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 alarmedOUT by the distinct GOING lack of urgency among Serbian If you like bowling, the Colosseum politicians. “The country is at a bowling alley in Zemun is the perfect standstill I don’tBut understand place to playand the game. if you are logic.

If they to antheir ex-pat looking forare the so fulleager experience, it fallstowards just a tadthe short. progress EU and encourage investors, howPage come12they go home at 5pm sharp and don’t work weekends?”

SPORT Surely the situation is urgent Novak Djokovic, Ana Ivanovic and enough to warrant a little overtime.

Jelena Jankovic underachieved at the Australian Open while Jelena Dokic made headlines with a fairytale return to top-level tennis.

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Switzerland, Bosnia is experiencing NEIGHBOURHOOD a soccer rebellion, led by fans, playersMiroslav and formerLajcak stars who areout, enraged As bows the international is leaders underby what theycommunity see as corrupt taking consultations to find of the urgent country’s football association the right candidate to ensure its conleaders. tinued presence in the crisis-ridden page 10 country.

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Source: www.weather2umbrella.com

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politics

Friday, Jan. 30 - Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009

Serbia’s Jeremic Lobbies UN On Kosovo

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erbia’s Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic visited the United Nations on Thursday for meetings with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and other top diplomats to discuss the implementation of the sixpoint plan in Kosovo and the formation of the Kosovo Security Forces.

Jeremic has also sent letters to 80 countries around the world asking them to submit statements on Kosovo to the International Court of Justice, which in the coming 2-3 years is due to consider whether Kosovo’s independence declaration was in line with international law.

“I would kindly ask you to consider submitting a written statement to the Court of Justice expressing your country’s official position on this matter of paramount importance by April 17, at the latest,” states Jeremic in the letter quoted by local media The minister stresses that the ICJ’s ruling will “establish a powerful premise with far-reaching ramifications” as “the outcome will either strongly discourage other separatist movements from attempts at secession, or will bring a result that could encourage them to act similarly.” .

Jeremic repeats that the “attempt at secession by the Albanian authorities is a clear violation of the UN Charter that guarantees sovereignty and territorial integrity to all internationally recognized states” “As a result, separatist groups

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Radovan Jelasic

By Slobodan Georgijev

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Photo by FoNet

Jeremic and Ban Ki-moon discussed implementation of the six-point plan in Kosovo and formation of the Kosovo Security Forces.

throughout the world will receive a fresh example of how to realize their ambitions. The international system will become unstable, uncertain and unpredictable,” he notes.

On October 8, 2008, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution

Serbia And Montenegro Tackle Dual Citizenship erbia’s Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said Belgrade will shortly begin new negotiations with Montenegro on the issue of dual citizenship.

Some one-third of Montenegro’s citizens identify themselves as ethnic Serbs, and their right to hold dual citizenship has been a hot topic since Montenegro voted to leave the union of Serbia and Montenegro in May 2006.

Dacic said that the only stumbling block to an agreement was the fact that Podgorica insists that Montenegrins who want Serbian citizenship must give up their Montenegrin citizenship, something totally contrary to Serbia’s approach. “Serbia has a free approach, which means that it

Profile of the Week

gives its citizens the opportunity of having a dual citizenship, without having to let go of their Serbian citizenship,” he said. “Also, citizens of other countries can become Serbian citizens without having to give up the citizenship of their motherland.”

Serbia has until January 21 to give an answer to Montenegro’s drafted agreement for dual citizenship.

It is estimated that there are tens of thousands of Montenegrins who hold citizenship in other ex-Yugoslav countries, either by birth, marriage or family ties. The government tried to take them off the list of registered voters recently, but the motion was denied by the courts.

seeking the ICJ’s advisory opinion on the legality of Kosovo’s independence declaration. Of the total 192 General Assembly members, 77 voted for, six against, while 74 abstained.

Jeremic’s letter is addressed to UN members that have still to recognize Ko-

sovo, that endorsed Serbia’s initiative at the UN General Assembly, or stayed neutral. Local media said Spain and Russia have officially confirmed that their legal teams are preparing statements for the ICJ, while Venezuela and Cyprus are also about to follow suit.

Poll Says Serbs Would Not Turn In Mladic

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wo-thirds of Serbs would not turn in fugitive genocide suspect Ratko Mladic according to a poll released on Friday.

Belgrade-based Strategic Marketing said only 14 percent of people answered “yes” when asked whether they would provide information leading to the capture of the wartime Bosnian Serb commander, whose arrest comes with a multi-million reward.

Sixty-five percent responded “no.”

The rest said they wouldn’t know what to do if they had information as to his whereabouts. The poll was conducted throughout Serbia among 1,050 people in December.

Mladic is indicted for the 43-

month siege of Sarajevo and the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Muslim males. The Hague tribunal believes he is hiding in Serbia with help from hardliners who see him as a hero and defender of Serbdom.

“In a choice between a hero and a villain, it is hard to expect from people a straight ‘yes’ when asked whether they would turn him in,” said Gordana Logar of Strategic Marketing. “The authorities still have not managed to explain to the people the gravity of the crimes he was charged with.”

Brussels has said Serbia must arrest Mladic if it wants to move closer to European Union membership.

Weekly Press Roundup Politika - The expenses of Serbia’s parliamentarians are increasing, with most money spent on business trips at home and abroad as well as on daily allowances.

Politika - Following his visit to Iraq, Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac said that in the past year alone Serbia exported some $100 million of weapons to Iraq. Belgrade is now eyeing new arms export contracts with the Middle Eastern country.

Vecernje Novosti - Union leaders at the Zastava car plant say that unless they receive exact details on Fiat’s plans for their factory by the end of this week, they will organise massive protests.

Danas - Serbia is starting to unilaterally implement an interim trade agreement with the European Union as of January 30.

Politika - Many pregnant women in Serbia do not take their pregnancy leave because they cannot afford to only receive the state-mandated 65percent portion of their salary.

Danas - Central bank governor Radovan Jelasic said the bank sees “inflation slowing on slower credit activity and lower wages,” but it is still under pressure by the weakening dinar, government spending and rising state regulated prices.

Vecernje Novosti - Serbian power monopoly Elektroprivreda Srbije is negotiating the construction of a new hydropower plant on the Danube river with regional firms as partners.

Danas - Slovenian ambassador to Serbia Miroslav Luci said that Serbia is maikng progress toward having the visa regime for travel throughout the European Union lifted.

Blic - The daily reports that there are still signs that point to the fact that tycoons and large corporations have an influence on Serbian politicians, demonstrated most recently by the amendments adopted to the law for excise taxes on cigarettes.

Blic- The Economy Ministry will anounce plans to appoint 17 ‘economic ambassadors’ tasked with promoting the Serbian economy in countries that Serbia has strong economic relations with.

Blic - A new wave of price hikes begins this week, with gas, beer and cigarettes among goods that will become more expensive.

Borba - The average time it takes Serbian students to complete university studies is 7.84 years, which is almost twice the amount of time envisaged for such studies to be completed by the Bologna Declaration.

ith the dinar touching new record lows daily, the Serbian central bank Governor keeps his head cool and his words blunt.

Radovan Jelasic, 41, belongs to a group of technocrats and politicians who rose to prominence after the fall of Slobodan Milosevic in October 2000, many returned from abroad where they had waited out the 90s.

He says he came back to Serbia to help at a time when the country was stumbling towards normality, needing people like him to restore the ramshackle economy.

Born in Hungary, Jelasic moved to Serbia after finishing his secondary education, went to university in Belgrade, then moved to the US for further studies, finally working at Deutsche Bank and the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. He first joined the National Bank of Serbia as vice governor at age 32, and four years later stepped into the post of governor, a lightning rod post previously held by his mentor Mladjan Dinkic, now Economy Minister.

He has made it clear that his first priority is the numbers not love.

“I was not voted to power through elections, so citizens do not need to like me,” he likes to say, “they just need me to tell them how things really are.”

The opposition and the tabloids do not see it that way, and have accused him of corruption, alleging he bought his house in the Dedinje suburb with money from kickbacks.

He dismissed the attacks and promptly published his salary and the salaries of his associates in the National Bank of Serbia. Despite the fact that his hair has turned grey, he appears unflappable and immune to mud-slinging.

“You can check my accounts and see how much I’ve earned during my career,” he says.

He is credited with remaining approachable, often seen strolling downtown with his family, and usually avoiding society events. He has also tried to speak simply to a people with little economic education and a traumatic experience of capitalism.

From his first day as governor, he was assuring citizens they should hold their savings in dinars, and in the last several months he has been warning the public to be careful about stretching personal finances in a tough year.

“I would not recommend citizens to take loans, because interest rates are too high,” he advised. As the dinar went on a downhill slide, he tried to prop it up with near daily interventions and new restrictive measures that earned him many critics in the banking sector. A situation he sums up by saying, “Right now it would be very difficult for me to find a job in a bank.”

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politics

Friday, Jan. 30 - Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009

Tennis Clashes Show Hatred Lives on in Diaspora

Outburst of gang violence at Melbourne tennis tournament suggests ethnic animosities, born in past conflicts in former Yugoslavia, pass from one generation to the next.

By Srecko Latal

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s the ex-Yugoslav diaspora far more embittered and hard line in its nationalism than the “folks back home”, and if so, why?

The question has reasserted itself, demanding answers from sociologist and psychologists as well as political analysts, following last week’s ugly scenes at a Melbourne tennis tournament, where young Australians of Croat and Serb descent insulted and attacked each other, forcing police to intervene.

The scuffles on January 23 between rival teen gangs whose members were dressed in Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian colours marred the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park. It was the third year running that violence involving gangs of youngsters of former Yugoslav descent had occurred.

As the out-of-control youths threw chairs, rocks and bottles at each other, singing nationalist songs and screaming insults, some viewers, watching the affray on television “at home” found it painfully reminiscent of the infamous football match in Zagreb on May 13, 1990 between Dinamo of Croatia and Serbian favourite Crvena Zvezda (Red Star).

After fans of the two teams clashed violently in the stadium, many – in hindsight – saw the event as an opening salvo in the bloody Yugoslav civil war of the 1990s.

Many TV viewers, including people from the former Yugoslavia, felt shamed. “I watched this match in Zagreb and was embarrassed,” one viewer wrote in the chat exchange on the Australia Open website. “This is sport, people! Croats and Serbs co-exist peacefully in many cities in Croatia and Serbia.”

“It is an interesting phenomenon - that the diaspora has always been more radical than those who remained in their home countries,” Bosnian sociologist Saida Mustajbegovic told Balkan Insight on Tuesday. “This is being passed from one generation to the next.”

Croatian analyst Davor Gjenero agrees. “Here we see that even many years after the Second World War, the second and third generation of immigrants have remained contaminated with the politics and culture of their ancestors,” he told Balkan Insight.

“Their beliefs have remained frozen and much more radical than the opinions that prevail in their countries of origin,” he added.

The phenomenon of SerbianCroatian tension is especially present in countries like Australia, Argentina and Canada, which received waves of immigrants from Yugoslavia after the Second World War. Many were followers of extreme nationalist groups, such as the Croatian

“Novak and I are tennis players, playing in one of the greatest settings in the world of tennis. I am only hoping for a fair fight that all the fans will enjoy, with the key word being ‘enjoy.’

That’s what we are all here for, to enjoy moments like these.”

Amer Delic, tennis player

“It is an interesting phenomenon - that the diaspora has always been more radical than those who remained in their home countries. This is being passed from one generation to the next.”

Saida Mustajbegovic, Bosnian sociologist Ustasha or the Serbian Chetniks, who had fled Yugoslavia after the Communists took power in 1944/5.

Some returned to Yugoslavia in 1990s and took an active part in its breakup. One was Gojko Susak who made a career leap from managing a pizza parlour in Ottawa, Canada, to becoming Croatian defence minister during the war in Croatia.

The collapse of the former Yugoslavia and the conflicts in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, created new waves of emigrants, as tens of thousands of ethnic Serbs, Croats, Muslims and Albanians sought shelter and a new future among the diaspora.

Most experts agree that in contradiction to the slow but gradual thaw in relations between Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia, national feelings among the various emigré communities remain sharp.

These feelings started coming out into the open “down under” three years ago, when about 150 Croatian and Serbian fans brawled in the middle of the Australian Open competition. Police had to intervene and kick out the hooligans.

Incidents between Serbian and Croatian fans continued last year but this year they were joined by Bosnians who came to support Amer Delic, a Bosnian who plays under the US flag.

As a result, several matches that included Bosnian, Croatian or Serbian players in the first few rounds were marred by incidents and clashes. Two people were arrested last Wednesday after scuffles at a bar following a match between Croatia’s Marin Cilic and Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia.

With ethnic tensions running high, last Friday’s match between Delic and the world’s third seeded player, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, was declared “a high risk event.” Both players tried to calm their supporters and Australian police deployed additional forces to prevent incidents.

“I don’t want this match with Djokovic to turn into World War III and I will try to tell my supporters that we should not embarrass ourselves in this way,” Delic said before the match.

“Bosnians and Serbs have had their differences in the past but this is neither the place nor the time to settle those differences,” Delic wrote in a message to supporters posted on his website.

“Novak and I are tennis players playing in one of the greatest settings in the world of tennis,” he added. “I am only hoping for a fair fight that all the fans will enjoy, with the key word being ‘enjoy.’ That’s what we are all here for, to enjoy moments like these.”

After the match, although Delic and Djokovic embraced and hugged each other as a demonstration of

Teenagers carrying Serbian and Bosnian flags fight outside the Australian Open tennis tournament.

“The Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian diasporas in Australia are large and I have the impression that the mutual hatred there is even stronger [than at home]. They still live in 1945 or 1991.”

Dragan Tomovic, Belgrade-born US resident sportsmanship and friendship, some of their fans turned a deaf ear to those messages.

Outside the arena, dozens of Serbian and Bosnian fans began throwing chairs and trading punches and kicks. Police arrested two men for riotous behaviour and ejected 30 from the grounds.

One woman was knocked out in the scuffle after being hit on the head by a chair, though she was not seriously injured.

“I’m really sad to hear about that,” Delic told a news conference. “There is absolutely no place for that here.

This is a tennis match.”

Ivan Ljubicic, the world’s former

No 4 and another Bosnia-born player who now plays under the Croatian flag, said such incidents only been happen in Australia.

“I have the impression that some of them [the rowdy fans] come to the tournament for political reasons and not to support tennis players from their home countries,” he told the media.

Dragan Tomovic, a Belgrade-born US resident who returned to Serbia this summer, watched all the matches involving Serbia’s tennis players and said he was not surprised by what occurred in Melbourne.

“The Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian diasporas in Australia are large and I have the impression that the mutual hatred there is even stronger [than at home]. They still live in 1945 or 1991.

Australia’s honorary consul in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mirsada Muzur, told Balkan Insight the TV footage of clashes in Melbourne saddened her.

An emigrant herself, she moved to Australia aged 18 months only to return to Bosnia 26 years later to run a leading research and analytical NGO and act as honorary consul for her new homeland.

Photo by FoNet

Mirsada said she remembered the “good old days” when many Bosnians, Croats, Slovenes and Serbs visited each other’s cultural centres in Australia and threw parties together.

Yet even then, as now, some were infected with the nationalist ideas of their forefathers and caused incidents and started fights. After returning to Bosnia, Muzur noticed the difference between the way people in the Balkans and those in the diaspora expressed their nationalist feelings.

“People here are much more careful when expressing their ideas,” she said. “In Australia they do it much more openly and bluntly. I guess that’s the price of democracy. People there feel safe and secure … it’s the dark side of a true multicultural society, such as Australia is.”

Belgrade sports sociologist Dragan Kokovic said sporting events appeared to awaken the suppressed frustrations of members of the diaspora, dating back from the time when they or their ancestors left the motherland.

“Sporting events give them an opportunity to identify themselves in front of the home audience,” he said.

Source: www.BalkanInsight.com

Advertorial

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he company Termoelektro has concluded a contract with the Htachi Power Europe company for boiler pressure parts installation in TPP Boxberg, block R. From the 1980s to the present this has been the first project of such scope performed by Termoelektro or any other company in the region. The goal of the project is the installation of approximately 10.000 t equipment and around 60,000 welded joints on the latest steel products, which very few companies have the experience and know how to work with. All this should create great development opportunities for the company and a basis for negotiating other contracts. This important project comes at a crucial time because the Federal Republic of Germany plans to invest significantly in the construction of thermal power plants within the next decade.

The implementation of the project commenced in March 2008. Most of the works including the plant hydrotest are planned to be completed by September 2009, and the contract’s realization is to be finalised in April 2010. There are 180 employees working fulltime on this project, including engineers, fitters and welders with a wide range of certifications for different welding procedures. It is important to note that the complex welding and construction work on this project is being conducted according to state of the art standards, a level of work made possible by Termoelektros depth of experience in the field of engineering.

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belgrade chronicle

Friday, Jan. 30 - Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009

Underground Film Scene: Small, But Thriving

Photo courtesy of the Illegal Cinema

The Illegal Cinema in the Magacin on Kraljevica Marka Street encourages not only the screening of rare films in Blegrade, but also lively discussions afterward.

Every Sunday, the Illegal Cinema puts on a movie that has never been regularly distributed.

But although the screenings are free, there are strings attached.

By Vanja Petrovic

Reporting from Belgrade

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ix o’clock had already come and gone while people were still piling in and taking their seats in the small 25-square-metre room that no one would dare call a theatre. There are enough plastic chairs to cozily seat 24 people, however, and as the need arose, the organisers added more.

A group at the back of the room huffed and puffed over a laptop, trying to get the DVD to work and project the film onto a white section of an otherwise grey wall. “Where is the full screen option?” one member of the group asked.

For the next 15 minutes, the audience watched and waited as the group set up the computer, picked the appropriate DVD and manually loaded the subtitles. But no one seemed to mind and one member of the audience even got up to help. The atmosphere was relaxed as people chatted away to one another.

Welcome to the Illegal Cinema, which takes place every Sunday at 6pm in the Magacin on Kraljevica Marka street. The name is a bit misleading, though because there is nothing illegal about the screenings.

“In this project, ‘illegal’ means making space for contents, procedures and modes that are removed from local cultural production and distribution,” Marta Popivoda, the project coordinator who came up with the concept, said.

Screenings are free but come with two strings attached. The person who picks the movie has to introduce it and talk about why they picked it, and the people who attend have to take part in the discussion afterwards.

“It is important that the person who chooses the film talks about it because each individual treats each film in his or her own way,” Popivoda said. “This is part of our self-education process. We want to encourage discussion about, and understanding of, film instead of a passive consumerist approach to it,” she added.

As the time to begin the screening approaches, Bojan Djordjev, who had picked the film Histoire(s) Du Cinema, by French director Jean-Luc Godard, came up to the front and began to introduce it.

“The subtitles don’t follow throughout the entire film because

We fly for your smile.

this is part of Godard’s theory in this case,” Djordjev said, giving a short biography of the director.

“I chose to play this film for you guys tonight because he not only uses film here but also employs photography, sound and text, which crosses the boundaries between film and language.”

Djordjev explained that the film would be shown in three parts over the following three weeks and a discussion would follow then. However, he encouraged people to speak up and comment during the actual film if they so wished.

Djordjev is on the mailing list of the 400-member Illegal Cinema. It is through this mailing list and the various discussion boards that members suggest films appropriate for screening each month.

What the films they screen have in common is that they have never gone into regular distribution in the country. They have included titles like Zeitgeist the Movie, A Place Called Chiapas, and Auf Der Strecke.

“The project was conceived as an open self-educational arena in which people can exchange and contextualize auteurs and documentaries, and queer, anarchist, censored and other marginalized and - in the local context – barely accessible, films,” Popivoda said.

She believes the alternative film scene in Belgrade is growing. Popivoda also said the project, which began in June 2007, had come about because although there are now many film festivals in the country, no place in Belgrade showed “alternative” films on a weekly basis.

There is still no other outlet in the city for such films. However, Popivoda said the growing popularity of the Illegal Cinema has made her realise

Photo courtesy of the Illegal Cinema

Photo courtesy of the Illegal Cinema

Nearly every Sunday, the small room where screenings take place fills up to capacity.

there is an audience in Belgrade for alternative films and she is hopeful the scene will continue to flourish.

“In this country, there are many fads and many projects of this sort come to life and die out very quickly,” she said.

“But the fact that we’re still around and that there is a large audience here every week is proof of the fact that there are people in Belgrade who are genuinely interested in films that are not produced by Hollywood.”

belgrade chronicle

Friday, Jan. 30 - Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009

Serb MPs Stop Work, Protest Over TV Tennis

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erbian MPs stopped working for three hours on Thursday in protest at the decision of stateowned television RTS to broadcast an Australian Open tennis match instead of the equally combative live parliament session.

The success of Serbian tennis players such as world number one Jelena Jankovic and world number three Novak Djokovic have made tennis extremely popular in Serbia.

Even though Djokovic was eliminated in the quarter-finals, RTS still showed the semifinal between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick, a boon for advertising revenue.

Parliament president Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic said she had scheduled a meeting with the director of RTS, Aleksandar Tijanic, to talk about the issue. Several MPS have formally

asked RTS to broadcast parliament sessions live in their entirety, and over the past few days, parliament has been keeping shorter sessions, scheduling them only when RTS had an open slot for broadcasting live.

Serbia is among the few countries in Europe not to have a dedicated parliament channel.

Tijanic has been combative about the station’s right to choose its own programming, and recently told reporters that RTS cannot always broadcast every session of parliament live.

“We don’t think there is a concrete reason to directly connect parliament’s session with whether or not they are being broadcasted live,” Tijanic said. “Secondly, parliament has taken channel three from us and then the station was sold to two Serbian

Belgrade to Hunt Illegal Taxi Drivers

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tarting from February 1st, Belgrade police will launch an operation to get illegal taxi drivers off the streets. The taxi drivers union recently announced they will sue the city if police fail to carry out the plan to the end.

“The city is interested in finally solving this problem,” said Dejan Mali, a member of the city government, adding that the city will have to find innovative ways to deal with the issue.

Taxi drivers that are not licensed with a company, and therefore not paying taxes and fees to the city on their work, can be recognised by the fact that the markers on their cars do not have a company name and are generally white with only the word “TAXI” written on them. In addition, in the vehicle, they do not have their

license identification card clearly displayed.

Aleksandar Bijelic, a representative of the taxi drivers, told B92 that he expects the city’s judges to apply the law accordingly and fine illegal taxi drivers with the maximum fine of 70,000 dinars. He added that he expects the city to soon adopt a law which would enable the confiscation of illegal taxis.

“Currently, our biggest problem is illegal taxi drivers, who are taking bread off the table of those of us who are paying regular taxes and fees as part of our work,” Bijelic said. “The city has made it more difficult to get a taxi licence, but they have not decreased the number of taxi drivers.

This is a problem because there are too many taxi drivers, as studies have proved.”

Firefighters Save Woman And Cat From a Tree

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tycoons. Third, I am being asked to choose between my fear of parliament and a law that states that a national station can choose autonomously what to broadcast and when.”

Consistent filibustering means Serbian parliament sessions are noto-

riously drawn out, confrontational and off-topic, with sessions often drawing long into the night as MPs take the stand to the maximum of their allotted time for what essentially amounts to rants. The parliament is months behind schedule on its agenda.

Handicapped Climber Hopes to Conquer Mountain Peak

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anijela Jovanovic, who does not have hands or feet, this week began her long trek up the Aconcagua mountains.

Located in Argentina, the Cerro Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Americas, and the highest mountain outside Asia.

Jovanovic already has similar impressive achievements under her belt, being the only person with a physical disability to climb the highest mountain in Europe, Mount Elbrus in Russia. Her trek up to the 6,946 metre peak is expected to last at least

21 days. Jovanovic has been training for over two years in order to achieve her goal.

“I know I will make it. I have prepared very well physically, so I know that there will be no problems,” she told Belgrade daily Blic.

She will be accompanied by her coach and a team of ten people, including medical personnel. A farewell ceremony before her expedition was organised this week in front of the St. Sava Church in Belgrade.

5

elgrade firefighters were called on last weekend to save a woman who got stuck in a tree while trying to get her cat down.

The cat was stuck in the tree, 20 metres off the ground, for a full three days before locals tried to get the animal down.

Fifty-eight year old Belgrader Gordana B. was the first person who tried to climb the tree and get the cat but got stuck between two branches some 15 metres up.

After neighbors reported the incident, firefighters showed up to the scene. Using a hydraulic platform, it took seven firefighters to get down both the cat and Gordana, who said she would do it all again to help another stranded feline .

6

business

Friday, Jan. 30 - Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009

Serbia Unveils Package for Ailing Exporters Measures focusing on low-interest loans are greeted warmly in some sectors of industry, while others warn of likely corruption.

“If those measures were any good and could have helped Serbia’s exports, the government would have adopted them before the economic crisis ... It is an open invitation for corruption.”

Aleksanadar Stevanovic, economist

Source: www.g17plus.org.yu

Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic says exports are the top priority in the government’s stimulus package.

By Nenad Vulovic

Reporting from Belgrade

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n a move to cushion Serbia from the worst impact of the world economic crisis, Belgrade has announced an economic stimulus package worth more than a billion euros.

Mainly intended to boost exports, and to save jobs, the package allows companies to take out bank loans in the second half of February at low interest rates and with five years to repay.

Mladjan Dinkic, Minister of Economy, said exporters would receive priority when seeking the loans, on interest rates of around 6 per cent, as opposed to approximately 12 per cent today.

“The condition [for the loans] will be that companies sign an agreement obliging them to maintain current levels of employment,” he said.

The measures are aimed at protecting planned GNP growth rates of 3.5 per cent, restoring liquidity to

the economic system, easing foreign currency flows and stabilising the national currency, the dinar.

While some economists are moderately optimistic and believe the package will be useful, others claim the effects will be limited and that it could encourage corruption.

Serbia has been running up a high foreign trade deficit for years and has found placing products on foreign markets increasingly difficult.

The latest data from the Statistics Bureau said that last year Serbia imported goods worth around 31.6 billion US dollars while exports amounted to only 10.2 billion US dollars.

Serbia’s largest exporting market is the EU, where around 55 per cent of its products end up. Exports to the countries of the region, which signed the CEFTA agreement establishing a free trade zone, are around 35 per cent.

In order, Serbia’s main export items last year were iron and steel, worth 1.4 billion US dollars, fol-

lowed by coloured metals, at 686 million dollars.

The country’s largest exporters also suffered the greatest losses.

The export of iron and steel last year dropped by 26 per cent, and coloured metals by around 19 per cent.

Dragan Pejcic, from the Agency for Foreign Investments and Promotion of Exports, told Balkan Insight that the figures reflected the crisis in world metal markets.

“Companies such as US Steel Serbia, the country’s biggest exporter, and Impol Seval from Sevojno were forced to temporarily stop or reduce production, so as not to create unwanted stockpiles during this period of low demand.” he said.

For this reason, some economists believe Serbia’s metal exporters cannot be helped much, though the government’s package of measures is certainly more welcome to the food industry.

Goran Nikolic, of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, told Balkan Insight that although the measures would not be of much help to companies exporting metals, chemical and plastic products and pneumatics, food industry exports could be expected to rise.

“While those sectors [metals, etc] will suffer a considerable drop in exports, loans with long-term deadlines for payment will be of much use to other sectors,” he noted.

Nikolic said the latest estimates of the Economic Institute in Belgrade suggested exports would total about 7 billion euros in 2009, only 4 per cent down on 2008 levels. “If those evaluations turn out to be true, it will be a great success for the Serbian economy,” he said.

Meanwhile, food exporters have lauded the government’s measures.

Miroslav Miletic, general manager of Bambi, in Pozarevac, said the stimulus package would help export

companies like his own because the confectionary industry was among the rare industries to have generated a profit in recent years.

“The most important thing right now is for the government to carry out its measures as soon as possible because any help is precious to us,” he said.

Experts emphasize that the Balkan region will be an increasingly important field for Serbian exporters in 2009, as EU countries go into recession.

“The chance [for Serbia] lies in stimulating exports to South-east European markets, which will have reduced growth now than in previous years but will still be in the positive,” Dragan Pejcic said.

Statistics Bureau figures show the impact of the world economic crisis on Serbia could be considerably reduced by growth in export of agricultural and food products, primarily to the CEFTA market.

The signatories to that agreement are already the main market for the food industry in Serbia.

But other experts remain skeptical that the government’s measures will improve exports and cushion Serbia from the impact of the economic crisis.

Aleksandar Stevanovic, an economist at the Centre for Free Market, doubts the government package will help exporters much and fears it may even cause more corruption.

“If those measures were any good and could have helped Serbia’s exports, the government would have adopted them before the economic crisis,” he said.

He warns of the dangers of the government behaving like a bank and deciding who should be entitled to receive loans. “It is an open invitation for corruption because companies close to the government will obviously get those loans,” he said.

“The most important thing right now is for the government to carry out its measures as soon as possible because any help is precious to us.”

Miroslav Miletic, general manager of Bambi in Pozarevac

“The chance [for Serbia] lies in stimulating exports to South-east European markets, which will have reduced growth now than in previous years but will still be in the positive,” Dragan Pejcic, Agency for Foreign Investments and Promotion of Exports

business business

Friday, Jan. 30 - Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009

Companies & Markets

German KFW Loan To Finance Energy and Infrastructure Projects The German Development Bank, KFW, has signed a contract with five Serbian banks for a loan of €75 million for the improvement of energy efficiency and public infrastructure.

Local government bodies and small and mid-sized enterprises will be able to apply for the loans.Germany has allocated €30m for cities and municipalities that want to modernise their schools and hospitals. The remaining €45m have been allocated for energy efficiency projects and renewable energy sources. The governor of the National Bank of Serbia, Radovan Jelasic, said the loan’s favourable terms would enable local governments to finance these projects during a time of global financial crisis.

Decision on South Stream Investments By End of 2009 Deputy President of Gazprom, Aleksandar Medvedev, said negotiations with Austria on its participation in the construction of the South Stream pipeline are underway, and that a decision on investments in the project will be made at the end of the year. The pipeline is due to become operational in 2013 or 2014. He said that that Russian company had designed projects for construction of gas storage facilities in Hungary, Serbia, Germany, Netherlands and Great Britain, and he announced that the gas storage facility in Haidach, Austria, would be expanded and transformed into the second largest storage area in Central Europe.

Philip Morris Will Not Close Factory in Nis Philip Morris has announced it will not close its tobacco factory in Nis. “Information on the alleged closing of the factory in Nis, which has been published by certain media, did not come from official company sources,” it said in a statement. However, the statement added that certain changes in the country’s laws may lead the company to “re-examine the company’s former plans regarding the number of employees and all investments in Serbia”.

Duties on Goods Imported From the EU to be Lowered Finance Minister Diana Dragutinovic announced that duties on goods imported from the European Union will be lowered on February 1st. Duties on imports of new and used automobiles would be cut from 20 to 10 per cent in accordance with the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. Serbia is applying the agreement unilaterally.

EBRD Sees Glum Forecast For Balkans

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per cent growth from the previously forecasted 2 per cent.

A forecast for Kosovo was not included in the report.

The bank says it made this revision due to the impact of the global economic crisis that hit these countries sooner than expected. All of these states already reported serious problems including production decrease and lay offs.

EDRD Chief Economist Erik Berglof said that all 30 countries where EBRD invests are “feeling the full impact of the global slowdown, mainly because of the region’s increased integration within the global economy”.

“The ability of these countries to withstand such a major external shock over the longer term will depend largely on the speed of the recovery of the global economy, the combined efforts of individual governments and international financial institutions, including EBRD, to safeguard financial systems in the region, and the support of foreign banks to their eastern subsidiaries,” Berglof concluded.

EBRD now expects an average growth in 2009 of 0.1 per cent in these countries, compared with a prediction of 2.5 per cent based on country forecasts made in November of last year.

Slovenian Bank Puts Off Macedonia and Serbia Deals

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C

KOF Economic Institute

bania 103rd, while Montenegro and Serbia trail at 190 and 197 respectively.

Belgium and Ireland are the world’s most globalised countries, followed by the Netherlands, Austria and Sweden. On the bottom of the 2009 general ranking is the West Bank and Gaza, while Montenegro comes last at the index of Political Globalisation.

he New Credit Bank of Maribor, the second largest bank in Slovenia, has decided to postpone its planned expansion in Macedonia and Serbia while it waits for political and economic uncertainty to pass.

NKBM previously said it was interested in expanding its operations in the Balkans, looking to boost its profitability and follow in the steps of its rival, Nova Ljubljanska Banka, which is already present in many Balkan states.

“This is a period of uncertainty and many challenges,” board president Matjaz Kovacic was quoted as telling Slovenian media.

Kovacic said that the bank will wait a while and complete the planned acquisitions in Serbia and Macedonia within the next two years, depending on the developments on capital markets now deeply affected by the global economic downturn.

dinar continued to fall, Belgrade should consider withdrawing from the €402.5 million loan approved by the Fund earlier this month – a loan Serbia said at the time was just precautionary.

Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic went even further, saying that the government would extend cooperation with the IMF if necessary as support for foreign currency reserves.

“I want to inform you that I have initiated negotiations with our European partners, the European Commission, for receiving macrofinancial support, which means receiving €400 million that we can use for the budget as well,” Djelic said.

“These funds will be available starting February, and exporters can count on them in these and complicated economic times.”

But analysts said that neither the IMF funds nor the NIS payment would be enough to change the trend, not without steady and regular capital inflows.

“If the supply of foreign currency on the domestic market increases, the dinar could be stable, but for only three to five months,” said Aleksandar Stevanovic of the Center for a Free Market. “For a longer period, we need direct foreign investments and improving the business atmosphere in order for foreigners to bring their money here.”

The timing could hardly be worse, as the global financial crisis means tighter loan conditions that scupper the investment and expansion plans of many firms. As part of its downward revision the economic outlook for most Eastern European countries, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development also cut its forecast for Serbia’s 2009 growth to 2 percent from 3 per cent in its latest report.

“I am concerned because I don’t know how far it will go and whether we are entering a longer period of insecurity again,” said Ivana Hercigonja, a Belgrade psychologist in her 50s. “The worst thing is that we do not know when it will end. This is not only tied to the situation in Serbia, like it was in the 1990s, the whole world is in crisis.”

BELEX: Chances of Recovery Still Seem Far Off as Trade Volume Increases

Novi Sad Cable Factory Sold to Cyprus-Based Holding Company Serbia’s privatisation agency announced that the Novosadska fabrika kablova (Novi Sad Cable Factory) has been sold to a Cyprus-based company, East Point, owned by Serbian businessman Zoran Drakulic, for €112.9 million. According to the announcement, the price was equal to 100 per cent of the capital of the Novi Sad-based company.

Source: www.nes.ru

EBRD Chief Economist Erik Berglof says the region is feeling the full impact of the global slowdown.

Serbia Fares Poorly on The Globalisation Index roatia is the most globalised country in the Balkans, and Serbia the least, according to the 2009 Index of Globalisation, which measures the economic, social and political scope of globalisation in 208 countries and territories.

The report is compiled by the Zurich-based KOF Economic Institute.

The economic dimension of the index measures flows of goods, capital and services. The social dimension measures the free-flow of ideas, information, images, and people, while the political dimension captures diffusion of government policies.

Aside from EU-member Slovenia, Croatia is the highest ranking state in the broader Balkan region, coming in at 25th place. Greece is 32nd, Bulgaria 39th, Bosnia 43rd, Macedonia 89th, Al-

Continued from Page 1

Dinar’s Slide Worries Consumers

By Sinisa-Jakov Marusic he European Bank for Reconstruction and Development revised its projections for the economic growth of Balkan states, with Bosnia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Croatia expected to grow by 2 per cent or less this year due to the global financial crisis.

The whole region of South Eastern Europe, including most of the Balkan countries, is expected to post an annual growth rate of 1.9 per cent, the EBRD said, some 1.5 percentage points less then the projection made by the bank in November.

Albania is expected to mark 4 per cent instead of a projected 5 per cent.

The Bulgarian economy will grow by 2 per cent instead of 3.8 per cent.

Montenegro will post 3 per cent instead of 5 per cent, while Serbia can count on only 2 per cent from the previously predicted 3 per cent of economic growth.

Romania can hope for 3 instead of 1 per cent. The projected economic growth of Macedonia is now revised from 4.7 in November to 3 per cent.

According to the bank, Bosnia will be the hardest hit by the downturn, posting only 1.5 per cent growth instead of the previously projected 4.5 per cent. Croatia that is not counted in the same region can end up with 0

7

By Tijana Cvetkovic

A

lthough a slight increase of total turnover in the Belex indices marked the period from January 23rd to the 29th on the Belgrade Stock Exchange, the over-

all volume of trade was moderate and chances of a recovery still seem far off.

After three days of moderate growth, the BELEX indices dropped on January 28th by 7.10 points and 15.50 points for BELEX15 and BELEXline respectively, causing a weekly change of -1.4 per cent and -2.2 per cent.

The number of sellers far outpaced buyers as the market headed into negative territory.

Total turnover reached 710 million dinars, up 110 per cent in comparison to the previous week. The number of

shares included in that turnover was 77 per cent, while the FX bonds making up the rest.

The participation of foreign investors accounted for 36 per cent of the week’s trading, with a bias toward the buy side.

The top traded issue was Banini with a turnover of 258.6 million dinars for 7,363 traded shares. It ended the period with its shares down 18.7 per cent. AIK Bank and Vranje-based Alfa Plam also saw heavy trading with realised turnover of 136.7 million dinars and 53 million dinars respectively.

Alfa Plam was the week’s biggest gainer, rising 11.5 per cent. Among gainers were Dijamant with price increase of 10.1 per cent, and Metals Bank with 9.8 per cent. Simpo was the top loser, plummeting 21.2 per cent. Also on the downside, Lasta sagged 15 per cent.

All A listed members were in the red. Energoprojekt Holding declined 1.2 per cent, Sojaprotein Becej dropped 1.3 per cent and Pirot based Tigar lost 7.9 per cent.

Tijana Cvetkovic is an analyst with FIMA Fas Ltd. in Belgrade.

8

neighbourhood

Friday, Jan. 30 - Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009

Envoy’s Early Departure Leaves Bosnia in Confusion Neighbourhood As Miroslav Lajcak bows out, the international community is undertaking urgent consultations to find the right candidate In Brief to ensure its continued presence in the crisis-ridden country.

By Srecko Latal

Reporting from Sarajevo

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he sudden decision of Bosnia’s top Western envoy to leave the country and take up a new job has left both the troubled country and the international community in a difficult position.

In a matter of days, it has to try to do now what it has been unable to do in several years – find the right person for the job and the right modality for the post’s continued presence in Bosnia.

Miroslav Lajcak, High Representative and Special EU Representative, dropped this bombshell last Friday, saying he would be leaving to take up a new job as Foreign Minister of Slovakia.

Lajcak pledged that there will be “no vacuum”, but neither local nor international officials are convinced.

Instead, Lajcak’s premature departure has thrown the entire international presence and its future plans for Bosnia into turmoil.

“This is not some minor nickeland-dime managerial problem,” Kurt Bassuener, a former OHR political adviser and founder of the think tank, the Democratization Policy Council, told Balkan Insight.

Bad Time For a Vacuum Lajcak has played a key role in guaranteeing political stability in Bosnia and ensuring local politicians fulfill conditions for the OHR’s eventual closure. He was also to guide the international community in drafting a strategy for a new EU mission in Bosnia, and some saw him at its helm for at least a few more years.

Even a brief vacancy and power vacuum in the top international post in Bosnia and Herzegovina will come at a bad time, local and international officials and analysts warn.

The country is mired in its deepest political crisis since the end of the 1992-1995 war. At the same time, the EU and the Peace Implementation Council, PIC, which comprises those countries engaged in the peace-keeping process, have been searching for a new approach.

Hero For a While When Lajcak took up the position of high representative in Bosnia in July 2007, the young and ambitious Slovak diplomat received a hero’s welcome.

His predecessor, Austria’s Christian Schwartz Schilling, was widely blamed

for adopting a hands-off approach and for refusing to use his governing powers, which critics said allowed the country to regress to radical rhetoric and political and ethnic tensions ahead of the 2006 general elections.

But only few months after a promising start, in October 2007, Lajcak delivered the final blow to the OHR’s authority by using his so-called Bonn powers without seeking the PIC’s approval.

The move deprived him of much Western support and triggered outrage among Bosnian Serb leaders, who severed communications with the OHR and threatened to pull out from all state institutions.

The OHR never quite recovered from this episode. Downplaying this setback, Lajcak and the EU allowed Bosnia to move ahead with its EU accession process and sign a Stabilisation and Association Agreement, SAA, the first step towards eventual membership.

But celebrations were short-lived and the country soon sank even deeper into crisis as new political and ethnic tensions raged ahead of the October 2008 local elections.

Several top international officials, including former High Representative Paddy Ashdown and former US envoy to Balkans, Richard Holbrooke, warned that the country risked breaking up.

Brussels pledged to take a stronger role in Bosnia. In November 2008,

“This is not some minor nickel-and-dime managerial problem.”

Kurt Bassuener, Democratization Policy Council the PIC again extended OHR’s mandate while the UN Security Council extended the mandate of the meager EU peacekeeping force, giving the EU additional time to come up with a new strategy for Bosnia.

Yet, three months later, European officials remain silent and are apparently no closer to agreeing on a new strategy. Instead, the international community again seems to be looking to local leaders, hoping they will somehow resolve their differences and find a way out of the abyss.

In the middle of this all-around impasse, Lajcak received an offer for a post that will advance his career and take him far away from the Bosnian maze.

Albania Muslims Can Wear Headscarf in New ID Cards Albanian Muslim women who wish to wear a headscarf when having their picture taken for the country’s new biometric identity cards will be allowed to do so as long as the headscarf fulfils certain conditions. The Ministry of Interior agreed with Muslim authorities and settled on three particular models of headscarf attire that will be allowed.The new documents are seen as crucial to avert election fraud in the upcoming parliamentary election in June.

Macedonia Discovers “Unknown Europeans”

Source: http://img.ihned.cz

Miroslav Lajcak’s decision to leave his post has left Bosnia in a difficult position.

On learning of his departure, Bosnian leaders voiced mixed opinions about his term. While most Bosnian Serb politicians applauded Lajcak for not using his governing powers and allowing local leaders to find their own solutions, Bosniaks criticized him for passivity.

“The situation in which Lajcak is leaving is extremely complex and much worse than the situation he inherited as high representative,” said Sulejman Tihic, president of the strongest Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) party, the Party of Democratic Action, SDA. Western officials say it will be hard to find a candidate who can avoid being sucked into Bosnia’s political quicksand, ensure OHR’s closure and leave by the end of the year.

Local and international media speculate that the shortlist of Lajcak’s most likely successors may include Austrian Social Democrat Hanes Swoboda, former Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern or even British former EU Commissioner for External Relations and governor of Hong Kong, Christopher Patten. But, Western diplomats told Balkan Insight that some of those names were “wishful thinking”.

Since Lajcak’s early departure has coincided with the inauguration of the new US President Barack Obama, it has opened up some new options, however.

If the new American administration decides to restore at least some of its political clout in the Balkans, the unexpected vacancy in Bosnia could “open up a possibility for an American High Representative,” one senior Western diplomat said.

The top post in the OHR was from the beginning reserved for Europeans, while the High Representative is also the Special EU Representative in Bosnia. Therefore, it might look somewhat odd to have an American representing the EU. Yet, the option should not be ruled out, the same diplomat, close to the OHR, told Balkan Insight.

In fact, some Western officials are pondering an option which would keep the OHR – run by an American – open beyond the end of this year. The OHR would operate side by side with a special EU representative, appointed in the coming months. “All options are open now,” the diplomat said.

“The American factor here is crucial,” agreed Kurt Bassuener from the Democratization Policy Council. He stressed that after Lajcak’s departure, the appointment of a new US envoy for the Balkans was “essential,” adding: “If the Europeans fail here, it will be an American failure, too.”

All Eyes on Gregorian In any case, the hunt for good candidates – be they European or American – could take weeks if not months.

In the interim period, after Lajcak finally departs and before the new top envoy takes over, the most likely option is for Lajcak’s principle deputy, US diplomat Raffi Gregorian, to become acting High Representative.

That choice may bring interesting developments in the light of Gregorian’s pro-active and sometimes even aggressive approach. It may also cause additional frictions since Gregorian is at odds with the government of the Republika Srpska, which has recently even pressed criminal charges against him and eight other local and international officials accusing them of “conspiring” against the Republika Srpska.

Milorad Dodik, Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, has suggested that Lajcak’s departure be seen as a golden opportunity for the OHR to finally close, and for the establishment of a new EU High Representative’s Office.

“I think this is a great opportunity for the international community to use it and end its mission more or less successfully,” he said. “If they continue with this torture... I think in future they will see it was a complete disaster.”

Source: www.BalkanInsight.com

A new photo exhibit dubbed “Unknown Europeans” is introducing Macedonians to some of the smallest minorities in Europe. Sephardim from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albanian-speaking Arbereshe from Italy, the Slavonic Sorbs in Germany, the Aromunians or Vlachs in Macedonia, the Gottsheers in Slovenia, and the Degesi in Slovakia are all included in the exhibit, which kicked off in Skopje’s City Museum.

Famous Kosovo Actor Emigrates To Albania Kosovo actor Enver Petrovci, one of the most prominent stars of the former Yugoslavia, said he would be moving to Albania for a better life as he doesn’t see any future for himself in Kosovo. “The situation in our cultural environment is my primary reason which persuaded me to take this step. I don’t see any perspective in Kosovo and I hope I will make use of my ambitions in Albania,” Petrovci told reporters.

One Miner Dead, One Injured in Albania One miner was killed and another injured on Sunday after a gallery collapsed at a chromium mine in the town of Bulqiza, in northern Albania. According to local media reports, the gallery where the accident took place was used by an unlicensed company.

Albania’s mining industry has been mired in controversy due to frequent accidents, and many companies which have won major concessions from Albania to operate precious copper, gold, chromium and silver mines have been accused of failing to uphold their contracts.

Kosovo Force Debuts with Veteran Protest Kosovo’s new armed force, the Kosovo Security Force, got off to a rough start one day into its mandate with protests by former soldiers who did not make it past the entrance selection. Over 200 former KPC members who were not accepted into the new force rallied in front of the government building at noon in the Kosovo capital, Pristina, on Friday, demanding that authorities reconsider, and saying they could not accept that their contribution to the building of the state would go to waste.

out & about

Friday, Jan. 30 - Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009

9

Photo by Elmir Habibovic

Though many songs about this mountain have been forgotten, people still believe that Golija is one of the most beautiful mountains in Serbia.

Golija

“Oh Golija, oh the only one, you, already enjoyed the beauty of Golija.

You can reach this unspoiled attracthe most beautiful of mountion via Raska, or Novi Pazar, an hour tains...”

By Zoran Maksimovic

Reporting from Golija

O

nce echoing from the throats of highlanders, today this song is known only by a few in the desolate villages at the foot of Golija. But people still believe that Golija is one of the most beautiful mountains in Serbia, and nature lovers visit it time and again precisely for that beauty.

The only accommodation at the town of Odvracenica, near the mountain, Hotel Golija, had many guests this winter, and was sold out during the New Year’s holidays. It has tourists even now, although there is not enough snow for skiing.

“We are satisfied with the bookings this winter, despite the fact that there is not enough snow. We have more and more guests each year. The tourists are mostly coming from Vojvodina and Belgrade,” says the owner of the hotel, Golub Pendic.

He says that there are almost no foreign tourists, because nothing has been done to promote the mountain.

Domestic visitor numbers are booming, mainly through word of mouth recommendations by people who have

long drive on an asphalt road. Hotel Golija can accommodate 110 guests in two-bed and three-bed rooms and apartments. All the rooms have en suite bathrooms, television sets and balconies with beautiful views. The ground-floor restaurant has 100 seats and is furnished with wooden furniture, fully decorated with traditional wooden objects and tools for work in the home or the field.

Guests usually spend their nights by the fire. They say you can have a true impression of the hotel only once you have tasted its food, which is truly domestic and made according to traditional recipes.

Near the hotel is a children’s amusement park, where parents have a place of their own to relax while they watch over their kids.

Bungalows in the vicinity of the hotel give special meaning to the idea of resting in the mountains. Each has three beds and a bathroom, as well as a mini collection of traditional objects from the region’s rich culture. For younger visitors, the Amphitheatre in Smrcevak is of special interest and has a number of educational programs about the environment.

Semi-pension in Hotel Golija costs 1,800 dinars, while the full pen-

sion is 2,050 dinars. The price of a ski pass is 500 dinars. There are three ski lifts and seven tracks ranging between 600 and 1,200 metres long.

“This winter, I was at Brezovica and Kopaonik, but I liked it better here. All the tracks are very good and exactly the way skiers love them,” says Dalibor Stefanovic, one of the many citizens of Novi Pazar who come to the nearby mountain to ski during the day.

Those who like long walks and hiking can opt to follow the ‘health track’ or the clearly marked 8.6 kilometres-long cobbled road leading from the hotel directly to the top to Jankov Kamen (1,834 metres above sea-level), a place which offers an extraordinary view of the whole region. On one side is Pester frozen in ice, on the other is beautiful Kopaonik, while in the distance you can glimpse Montenegrin and Albanian mountains.

“Agrotourism is still not developed, and only a few families take in tourists in the villages at the foot of Golija. A categorization of their accommodation capacities is expected soon. We need to educate these people and have a good marketing strategy,” says the director of the Tourist Organization in Novi Pazar, Jovan Josic.

Josic stresses that tourists who come to this mountain can visit numerous cultural and historical monuments as well. The Djurdjevi Stupovi monastery, erected by the founder of the first Serbian state Stevan Nemanja in the 12th century, and Sopocani monastery, built by king Uros I between 1263 and 1268, are both on the UNESCO heritage list.

Tourists should not miss the unique Peter’s Church, one of the oldest Christian buildings in the

Balkans, the old town of Ras, one of the first capitals of the medieval Serbian state of Rashka, as well as jewels of Islamic architecture such as the 16th century Altun-alem mosque and the Arap mosque. A short drive away, visitors can see Stara and Nova Pavlica, Konculj, as well as the medieval Maglic fortress whose seven towers and dungeon have been partially restored.

However Golija is still a work in progress with questions remailning over how effectively the local gov-

ernment can control new contruction.

A master infrastructure plan has been drafted but still has not been implemented and, in the meantime, illegal housing is popping up everywhere.

On the plus side, the state is currently building a Visitor Centre at Odvracenica and aims to solve infrastructure problems through focused investment on new hiking and running tracks, parking space and wooden bungalows. Almost 80 per cent of the scheduled work has already been done.

Photo by Elmir Habibovic

The mountain offers affordable skiing and scenic hiking trails.

10

the belgrader

Friday, Jan. 30 - Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009

Dining Out

Quan ju de

If you live in the area and are looking for an unpretentious dinner after work, with solidly cooked food and a level of authenticity not found at many other grander establishments in town, there are few better choices.

By Trencherman

P

eople have been telling me about Quan ju de for a long time, but it was not until someone who actually was Chinese recommended it that I ever considered visting this really rather unpromising looking restaurant set in a side street of Senjak.

We arrived on a Saturday evening and our confidence was given an enormous boost when we spotted that almost all of the other diners appeared to be Chinese. It’s a fairly good rule of thumb that seems to hold true for pretty much any national cuisine, that if there are people in there who grew up on this stuff, you can at least be sure that you’ll get a relatively authentic meal.

Quan ju de has clearly been decorated by the man who decorates all

of the Chinese Restaurants in town: reds and gilt prevail, a hugely garish light fitting (I hesitate to call it a chandelier) fills the stairwell and the furniture is all pretty basic.

The menu was a masterpiece of poor photography, poor English and plastic. Some items were annotated in Chinese only, some in Chinese and English and others in English, Chinese and Serbian. Soups and won tons were positioned with the desserts at the back of the menu. All in all, it was a little confusing.

But, with some help, we made our choices. Hot and Sour Soup, pork won tons, a dish of bacon with vegetables, two sizzling platters, one with beef and black bean sauce, the other with a pepper sauce, some aubergine and other vegetables in sauce and some steamed rice.

Let me take you through them in the order in which they arrived.

First, the soup. Hot and sour it certainly was, but it was also thick and savoury with a good kick of soy – altogether successful.

The beef in pepper arrived next, sizzling all the way up the stairs to our table covered with an aluminium tray which itself was covered with a grease spattered paper napkin. The tray and napkin removed and a good sized portion of thinly sliced beef and onion in a dark sauce remained. It was hot, appetising and meaty but the sauce was not sufficiently peppery to be worthy of its billing.

A minute or two later, we could tell from the sizzling noise that the

beef in black bean sauce was on its way. It arrived just like the last dish and when revealed from underneath the tray, unfortunately looked very much like it: meat and onion in a dark sauce. But the look was deceptive and although I’d have liked to have seen some vegetables, perhaps some peppers, in the dish, the taste was good, a rich sauce with up-front back bean taste, slightly sweet and with tender thinly sliced beef.

A little later came the bacon and vegetables which was the best dish of the night. Thickly sliced bacon, cut into pieces, onion, green peppers in a sweet chilli sauce, hot enough to kick without being overpowering.

As we were attacking this, the rice arrived. It’s long been my practice in Chinese restaurants to order one portion of rice for two diners, often to find that mounds of rice are left behind. The rice here was sticky Chinese-style rice but the portion size was definitely on the stingy side, perhaps 75 – 100g pressed into a small bowl.

The aubergine dish was not my selection. Unless properly prepared, aubergine can be little more than a sponge for the oil in which it is cooked, at which point it becomes one of my very least favourite foods.

But it was a good choice. Not at all greasy, served with some Chinese mushrooms, peppers and a rich sauce with a hint of tomato and soy – excellent.

The won tons arrived last: steamed and then pan-fried, the pork was lightly spiced and the steamed pastry wrapper thick enough to contain the filling but not so thick it was cloying or sticky – the only criticism that they were just a little too greasy.

To drink we had an average Tikves wine, a Smederevka, I believe, which

Source: www.chin-chin.biz

Forgive the slightly uninspired surroundings, but, in truth, if you have no one to impress, that shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

was fruity, slightly sweet and not too inspiring but came in at just 600 dinars making it the cheapest drinkable wine I’ve come across in a restaurant in Serbia.

In summary, if you live in the area and are looking for an unpretentious dinner after work, with solidly cooked food and a level of authenticity not found at many other grander establishments in town, there are few better

choices. You may have to forgive the slightly messy presentation, the uninspired surroundings, the plastic menus and the fact that the food will arrive whenever it arrives, but in truth, if you have no one to impress, that shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

Quan ju de Kozjacka 12 Tel: 011 2650242

We Recommend 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.

Ruski Car

Trnska 2 - Beograd - +381 11 344 77 00 - www.pietrodelloro.com

Langouste

Mon Cheri

One of the most famous restaurants in all of Belgrade, Ruski Car has been working since 1890.

Although the restaurant itself is highly rated, Ruski Car’s pastry shop and confectionery is what has earned it the status as one of the most popular tourist attractions for travelers wanting a real taste of the city.

This restaurants website claims that it was opened with the goal of “maintaining and improving the idea of Mediterranean hedonism” adding that it will “bring the sea closer to Belgrade.” It especially stresses the quality of its seafood.

A restaurant specialising in French-Italian dishes located on the corner of the bustling and trendy Strahinica Bana street. The design is very modern and spacious. Their specialty is French cuisine, so you are better off going somewhere else if you really want to eat Italian.

Obilicev venac 29 011-2632655

Kosancicev venac 29 011-3283680

Dobracina 42 011-2621753

Pane e Vino

Tramontana

Ortak

An Italian restaurant with a twist.

The pasta dishes are a combination of Italian and Mediterranean cuisine with some influence from the East as well. The San Marzano chicken dish is one of the most popular dishes here and is highly recommended.

The décor here is interesting because they change the paintings and pictures on the wall every month. The seafood here is exceptional, especially shellfish. For dessert, a fantastic tiramisu is offered.

A nice place to eat with the family. The Zlatibor sandwiches made with smoked ham, Kackavalj cheese, pickles, mayonnaise and sour cream are great. The place also has excellent pizzas and calzones for the kids.

Dobracina 6 011-3036011

Kraljice Katarine 26 011-3542237

Prvomajska 35D 011-3165986

the belgrader

Friday, Jan. 30 - Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009

11

We Recommend Friday

Saturday

Bojana Bulatovic, better known as Bo, is a singersongwriter from Belgrade. She will be promoting her newest album Kapetane Gde Si (Captain Where Are You), which demonstrates her love for American folk music, especially Joni Mitchell.

Siprazije, Golsvortijeva 13

A performance by the Radio Television Serbia’s Symphony Orchestra is one of the best classical concerts you can attend in Serbia, if not the entire region. The orchestra was founded seven decades ago, and is one of the pillars of classical music in Belgrade, receiving a €1 million grant from the Serbian government last year for new instruments. Ilija M. Kolarac Foundation Hall, Studentski Trg 5

Bo

RTS Symphony Orchestra

Sunday

Rain Delay This exciting new metal/ rock band will be promoting their new album “We Forget,” out locally on the new independent label Mr. Metal Records.

The band blends many different genres from doom and death metal to funk, and features both ethereal female vocals and guttural growling all very effectively juxtaposed. The band Face Off will open up the show.

Living Room, Kralja Milana 48

Monday

Exhibition: Art & Sport

Tuesday

Tal Hurwitz

This exhibition focuses on tennis, and the representation of the sport’s elegance and grace through art. About 30 new posters and graphics created by world-renowned artists such as Joan Miro will be on display until February 9th. French Cultural Centre, Zmaj Jovina 11

Wednesday

Samael

The ever-evolving Swiss metal band Samael will be in Belgrade this week, after a successful show at last year’s Exit Fest in Novi Sad. The band’s albums have ranged from gloomy lullabies, Pink Floyd-influenced psychedelia, to recent experiments with electronic music and darkwave. Student Cultural Centre, Kralja Milana, 48

Israeli guitar prodigy Tal Hurwitz studied with some of the masters of classical guitar and composition at the Rubin Music Academy in Tel-Aviv. He then continued his studies in prominent schools in Athens and Salzburg as well.

His numerous awards include the Mexico 2008 International Guitar Competition and last year’s Boston Guitar Composition prize which he won for his Sonata for Solo Guitar..

Madlenianum, Glavna 32

SSM

Belgrade promoters Bad Music for Bad People continue to bring some of the best underground, garage rock bands of the world to the Serbian capital. Detroit’s SSM are no exception. Taking their name from the initials of the band members’ last names, this is a team of rock veterans with a long history, coming from bands such as The Henchmen, The Sights and The Cyril Lords.

The new album, which they will be promoting in Belgrade, Break Your Arm for Evolution, is a followup to their critically acclaimed 2006

self-titled debut. The band specializes in seamlessly blending genres, from psychedelic kraut rock, synth pop, alternative dance, furious punk rock and everything in between.

SSM’s charm lies in the fact that they can fit all their cumulative influences into traditional pop song structures, a seemingly daunting task which these veterans pull of with ease track after track.

Dino Psaras

of the Top 20 up-and-comers on the house scene by MixMag. He discovered psychedelic trance in 1993 during a visit to India, which would shape his music significantly in the future.

Psaras, who has been to Belgrade numerous times over the years, will be back promoting his latest album Where Words Fail Music Speaks, keeping intact his legacy of never putting out the same kind of record twice.

Dino Psaras is a veritable legend on the electronic music scene, his career as a DJ dating back to the early 1990s at the height of hardcore techno parties in the UK. Getting his start with the likes of Mr. C, Weatherall, Groove Rider and Carl Cox, he got his first big break in 1992, when he was invited to be the opening act for Primal Scream’s tour along with Paul Oakenfold and Mark Moore. That year, he was voted one

Zica Kraljevica Marka 5 Sunday, Jan. 31

XLagoom Svetozara Radica 5 Saturday, Jan. 30

The Australian Pink Floyd Show

Thursday

Exhibition: Real Landscapes

This photography exhibit by German artist Thomas Wrede takes a unique approach to landscape photography. Many of the photographs play with the idea of proportion, but the skewed sizes of objects and landforms are only noticed upon serious inspection. Wrede uses non-digital methods to manipulate his works making them more impressive. Remont Gallery, Makedonska 5/II, lokal 2 and 3

The Australian Pink Floyd Show is known as the ultimate tribute band, doing large scale shows for fans who want to watch something as close as possible to a real Pink Floyd show at a fraction of the price.

Formed in 1993, the band has been touring international arenas since 2002. They got their first break the year of their inception, flying to the Wembley Conference Center to play the Pink Floyd Fan Convention. The then five-piece got glowing reviews from die-hard Floyd fans, which encouraged them to continue.

The band has since expanded from the regular rock band set-up to include female singers and a saxophone player, in an effort to both be able to fulfill the daunting touring

schedule and to make the sound at their shows as rich as possible.

One of the band’s shining moments was in 1994, when David Gilmour himself attended a performance of theirs in Croydon. The band was subsequently invited to attend the after-show party at the end of Pink Floyd’s world tour supporting The Division Bell album.

With a Pink Floyd reunion very unlikely and David Gilmour not on tour currently, this is a great opportunity for fans to experience a fine reproduction of the original, which is always better than nothing.

Sava Centar Milentija Popovica 9 Wednesday, Feb. 4

12

the belgrader

Friday, Jan. 30 - Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009

Going Out

Colosseum Bowling Alley in Zemun If you like bowling, Colosseum is a perfect place to play the game. But if you are an expat looking for the full experience, it falls just a tad short.

Source: colosseumbowling.com

Though the bowling alley in Zemun has a great set up, it comes no where near the perfection of the trashy and true alleys overseas.

By David Galic

Reporting from Belgrade

B

owling is one of the pillars of any lower-middle class New Jersey boy’s adolescence, along with smoking cigarettes in diners while pushing the establishment’s free coffee refill policy to its absolute limits and loitering in parking lots.

There have been previous attempts at creating bowling alleys in Belgrade. One alley opened at the Ada Ciganlija beach and one in the Pinki sports complex, but both were lacklustre efforts. I’m not sure whether it was some kind of Euro bowling set up, but the bowling balls didn’t even have finger holes, and that’s just not how we roll in New Jersey.

Hopes were rekindled when the news of the newly-opened Colosseum bowling alley spread through the city like wildfire. This was the real deal, people were telling me, as visions of dollar drafts and whole families dressed in Nascar racing shirts ran through my head.

Upon my first visit to the Colosseum, located in a dark residential neighbourhood of Zemun which looks like the last place on earth you would find a bowling alley, the first thing I noticed was the so-called “McDonalds effect” working in full force.

In brief, the McDonalds effect -- a term coined by yours truly-- occurs in Serbia when common American

activities are glorified unnecessarily and to the point of paradox.

For example, when you are in the U.S. and only have two dollars left in your pocket after a night of throwing back cheap beer at a local sports bar, and you just have to eat something in a last ditch attempt to lower your blood alcohol level before you reach the highway, you go to McDonalds—one of the dirtiest restaurants you’ll ever see, predominantly employing the undereducated or desperate.

In Serbia, McDonalds restaurants have marble stairs and floors, smiling, attractive young people cleaning bathrooms exceptionally and taking your orders with glee. McDonalds is where you take your girl on a first date to show her that money isn’t a problem for you.

The Colloseum had a similar effect on me. It’s fairly expensive, there is a state-of-the-art bar located in the centre and a full kitchen, dining area, and café. Everything is exceptionally clean and the people serving you drinks are dressed as if they work in a ritzy French restaurant.

Once the bowling started though, I was right at home—well, almost.

The lanes are exceptional. They are clean and fast, the balls come back quickly and you actually get little slippers with your shoes to put over your sock, which was bizarre but welcomed nonetheless. It’s the little things that count, however.

One thing I didn’t like is that you have no control over your scoreboard and the employees type your names into the computer at the front desk where you rent out the shoes. Half the fun of bowling is changing your friends handle to something offensive while he or she is throwing the ball, or spelling out an obscene phrase with the names of the players.

Also, there are no animated turkeys appearing on the screen when you bowl three to five strikes in a row, another serious misstep in presentation.

The worst oversight, however, is undoubtedly the music. When I go bowling I want to hear Bad Company and Bon Jovi tunes, not euro dance hits. Beer, bowling, cigarettes and Twisted Sister, that’s the tried and tested formula to a successful outing.

Then, all of a sudden, a glimmer of hope blazed through, and my eyes shined bright with joy as the first lines of Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing echoed through the alley.

Seconds later, the dream was rudely cut short with the arrival of a bouncy synth bass into the song’s composition, making it clear that this was a remix of the arena rock masterpiece and not the original after all.

If you like bowling, Colloseum is a perfect place to play the game. But if you are an ex-pat looking for the full experience, it falls just a tad short. As Frank Valli crooned in his soft rock juggernaut My Eyes Adored You—so close, so close and yet so far.

Euforia

Starting out with an admittedly fairly green punk rock sound, Belgrade’s Euforia show a darker and more mature side on their new album, simply titled 2.

By David Galic

Reporting from Belgrade

“

Most of the songs on the first album were created in a period when we were still in high school, and the lyrics sounded pretty naïve,” front man Uros Milkic, who plays guitar and sings, told Belgrade Insight.

Even though the music of the first album was admittedly influenced by the bands Euforia grew up listening to, the group had an energy about them, especially live, that made them stand out on Belgrade’s club scene.

A little bit of Nirvana’s high octane garage rock explosiveness mixed with some of early Green Day’s dirty pop punk was the recipe that fuelled Source: www.myspace.com Euforia’s beginnings, leading them eventually to a record deal and a The band’s new album is a lot more sombre while there are still hooks, you’ll have to debut self-titled album that was wel- and dig deeper to find them this time around. comed warmly by the then-budding MTV Adria music channel and other recording lasted eight months and we “urban” media outlets looking for a were not happy with the results. In new “it” band. the end we recorded the album in our The new album is a lot more som- studio with our own equipment. The bre, however, and while there are still production was probably not bethooks, you’ll have to dig deeper to ter, but the energy that we recorded find them this time around. was,” Milkic said, adding that the “We have been able to find our entire process in their own studio, own sound on the new album, with including the mixing and mastering, the help of our new drummer,” Milkic took two weeks to complete. said -- the fact that Euforia has been Milkic said that the band does not through a Spinal Tap-worthy number have any concrete future plans, addof drummers, eight in total, giving ing that the situation with rock music weight to why Milkic mentions the and media support in Serbia is dire. new permanent skinsman Dusan.

“We are just going to try to play However, even with more time and as much as possible. Maybe we’ll do money available for the new album, another video,” he said, adding that a more personal and simplistic ap- the band will play “as long as it gives proach seemed to win out in the end. us satisfaction to do so.”

“We entered a large studio and “Belgrade’s a great place to live, began recording with a big name but a horrible place to work,” he conproducer in January of last year. The cluded.

My Picks

Amara Vet Every week, Rian Harris tells us one of her favourite places to shop.

Anything you may need for your furry friends

By Rian Harris

Reporting from Belgrade

I

f you’ve got a dog or a cat, then you need to know about Amara Vet. This well-stocked pet supply store offers just about anything you might need for your furry friends, such as premium brand food (Royal Canine, Hill’s Science Diet, Eukanuba, etc.), bedding, treats, toys, shampoos, flea/tick treatments like Frontline, even clothing. Many pet owners have told me that they worry that the pet food offered in bulk by some Belgrade pet stores may not actually be the brand advertised, but after using Amara’s services for a year and a half, I feel confident that their food is authentic. Amara Vet

has a licensed veterinarian who is on call for treatment and advice, and has a good supply of basic veterinary medications on hand for purchase.

For all you expats out there who have adopted new pals and need to get them back to your home country, Amara Vet has a ready supply of both soft and hard travel carriers. Amara Vet also has long working hours and their staff are knowledgeable and friendly. A word of warning though, almost all of their goods are imported and are not cheap.

A retractable lease, for example, costs about 3,000 dinars.

Amara Vet Milesevska 9 Tel: 344-10-00 Mon-Fri 9:00 - 21:30 Sat. 10:00 18:00 Sun. 10:00 - 15:00, They have a second location at Bul. Oslobodjenja 18, tel: 268-55-44.

the belgrader

Friday, Jan. 30 - Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009

Belgrade Ready To “Up the Irons” Once Again

Ster City Cinema Delta City, Jurija Gagarina 16 (Blok 67), tel: 011 2203400

Saturday, January 31

Other:

Music:

Australia 13:00, 16:20, 19:40, 23:00 Bedtime Stories 13:20, 15:20, 17:20, 19:20, 21:20 Bolt 12:40, 15:00, 17:00, 19:00 Bride Wars 12:20, 14:40, 16:40, 18:40, 20:40, 22:40 Underworld 21:00, 23:10 Yes Man 11:40, 13:50, 16:00, 18:10, 20:20, 22:30 Australia 13:00, 16:20, 19:40, 23:00 Bedtime Stories 13:20, 15:20, 17:20, 19:20, 21:20 Bolt 12:40, 15:00, 17:00, 19:00 Bride Wars 12:20, 14:40, 16:40, 18:40, 20:40, 22:40 Underworld 21:00, 23:10 Yes Man 11:40, 13:50, 16:00, 18:10, 20:20, 22:30

Some Girls (play), Belgrade Drama Theatre (BDP), Milesavska 64 20:00

RTS Symphony Orchestra, Ilija M. Kolarac Foundation Hall, Studentski Trg 5, 20:00 Frankestra Band, Gaucosi, Dunavska 17a, 23:00 No Comment Band, Lava bar, Kneza Milosa 77, 23:00

Tuckwood Cineplex Kneza Milosa 7, tel: 011 3236517 Australia 22:00 Bolt 15:30 Bride Wars 16:15, 18:10, 20:00 Twilight 17:15, 19:30, 21:45 Underworld 17:00, 19:00, 21:00, 22:50 Yes Man 15:45, 18:00, 20:15, 22:30

Friday, January 30 Music:

Source: http:// theblackchemist.blogspot.com

Iron Maiden will be playing the state-of-the-art Belgrade Arena, and this time, they will play their greatest hits.

T

he Belgrade Arena will be flooded with mullets, bullet belts and sleeveless denim jackets on February 10, as the city welcomes the heavy metal world’s most popular touring attraction, British legends Iron Maiden.

Though the last show in 2007 was filled to the brim with headbangers coming from all over the region to worship at the iron throne of Maiden, many complained of the location, the Belgrade Fair’s main hall, which possibly does not have the proper acoustics and presentation to host such a spectacle.

Thankfully, Iron Maiden will be playing the state-of-the-art Belgrade Arena this time around, which has hosted some of the largest names in rock music over the last several years and proven to be an exceptional venue from both an audio and visual stand point.

The added bonus this time around is that while Maiden were promoting

songs from their newest album on the previous tour that came through Serbia - which no one wants to hear, let’s be frank - this time, the throw-back Somewhere Back in Time World Tour will be gracing Belgrade.

The band will only be playing classic material from albums released between 1984 and 1992 and the stage will be a modern replica of the Ancient Egyptian-themed set that was used during the 1984 Powerslave tour.

Further significance is given to the show by the fact that Iron Maiden began touring for its 1986 album Somewhere in Time, which the new tour is named after, right here in Belgrade.

Most of the VIP and up-close fan tickets have been sold, with reports that over 15,000 tickets are gone already, so if you want to join the faithful at the Belgrade Arena, be sure to get your ticket and your leather pants back from the cleaners in time.

What’s On CINEMAS Roda Cineplex Pozeska 83A , tel: 011 2545260 Australia 21:30 Bolt 16:00 Bride Wars 17:50, 19:45 Madagascar II 15:50 Twilight 17:45 Yes Man 20:00, 22:00

Dom sindikata Trg Nikole Pasica 5, tel. 011 3234849 Australia 21:00 Bolt 16:15 Bride Wars 18:15, 20:00 Twilight 17:00, 19:00 Yes Man 18:00, 20:00, 22:00

13

Legende, Sava Centar, Great Hall, Milentija Popovica 9, 20:00 Extra Orkestar, Lava Bar, Kneza Milosa 77, 23:00 Some Like it Hot (musical), Terazije Theatre, Terazije 29, 19:30 Kraljevski Apartman, Fest, Majke Jevrosime 20, 22:30 Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, Ilija M. Kolarac Foundation Hall, Studentski Trg 5, 20:00 Toca and Band, Mr. Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4/9, 23:00 Cavalleria rusticana (opera), National Theatre, Trg Republike 5, 19:30 Nightlife: Barthelemy Vincent and Shwabe, Energija, Nusiceva 8, 23:00 Disco Plastic, Plastic, Djusina 7, 23:00 DJ Stevie, Underworld, Corner of Ruzveltova and 27. Marta, 23:00 Vocal House, Mr. Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4/9, 23:00 Sweeet Fridays, Ex-Lagoom, Svetozara Radica 5, 23:00 Yu Rock, White, Pariska 1a, 23:00 Les Gigantes, Blue Moon, Knegilje Ljubice 4, 23,00

Nightlife: Peppe & DJ Ura, The Tube, Dobracina 17, 23:00 Gramaphondzije, Energija, Nusiceva 8, 23:00 House Night, Mamolo, Ilije Garasanina 26, 21:00 DJ Ike & Prema, Plastic, Djusina 7 , 23:00 DJ Marko Gangbangers, Underworld, Corner of Ruzveltova and 27.

Marta, 23:00 House Fever, Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4/9, 23:00 Disco House Night, White, Pariska 1a, 23:00 Soul Touch, Blue Moon, Knegilje Ljubice 4, 23,00 Other: Partizan – FMP (basketball), Pionir Hall, Carli Caplina 39 20:00 Massacre God (play), Atelje 212, Svetogorska 21, 20:00 It Had to Be This Way (play), Yugoslav Drama Theatre, Kralja Milana 50 20:00

Sunday, February 1 Music: Rain Delay, Living Room, Kralja Milana 48, 23:00 Makao Band, Mr. Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4/9, 23:00 Live Bands, Blue Moon, Kneginje Ljubice 4, 23:00 Nightlife: Sportsman Night, White, Pariska 1a, 23:00 Shaker Party, Mr. Stefan Braun, Vojislava Ilica 86, 23:00 Lazy Sunday Afternoon, Fest, Majke Jevrosime 20, 22:00 Karaoke, Miss Moneypenny, Ada Ciganlija (Makiska side 4), 21:30 Other: Exhibition: Shoshana (painting), Kralja Petra 12, 17:00 Exhibition: Mexican traditional costumes, Ethnography Museum, Studentski Trg 13

Monday, February 2

Other:

Music:

Exhibition: Zoran Trtic (Photography), Artget Gallery, Trg Republike 5, 20:00 Exhibition: Chronological History of Airplanes in Serbia 1910-1918 (Illustration), SASA Gallery Kneza Mihajila 35 20:00 Death and the Dervish (play), National Theatre, Trg Republike 5, 19:30 Norway Today (play), Belgrade Drama Theatre (BDP), Milesavska 64 20:00

Texas Flood, Living Room, Kralja Milana 48, 23:00 Nightlife: Wandered in From a Rave, Francuska Sobarica, Francuska 12, 22:00 Discount Night, Fest, ajke Jevrosime 20, 22:00 House Party (DJ Kobac), Blue Moon, Knegilje Ljubice 4, 23:00 Bla Bla Band, Vanila, Studentski trg 15, 22:30

Tuesday, February 3 Music: Manisent I Mentalnost, Blue Moon, Knegilje Ljubice 4, 23:00 Kinky Acoustic, Miss Moneypenny, Ada Ciganlija (Makiska side 4), 21:30 Nightlife: Psychodelic Tuesday, Underworld, Corner of Ruzveltova and 27 Marta, 23:00 Riffs, Francuska Sobarica, Francuska 12, 22:00 Diesel Party, Mr Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4/9, 23:00 Discount Night, Fest, Majke Jevrosime 20, 22:00 Zex Kazanova, Bambo Bar, Strahinjica Bana 71, 22:00 Other: Elling (play), Belgrade Drama Theatre (BDP), Milesavska 64 20:00 Swan Lake (ballet), National Theatre, Trg Republike 5, 19:30

Wednesday, February 4 Music: Live Bands, Blue Moon, Kneginje Ljubice 4, 23:00 Nightlife: Cocktail Wednesdays, Mamolo, Ilije Garasanina 26, 21:00 DJ Ike & Prema, Plastic, Djusina 7, 23:00 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 Samba, Bossa, Jazzy, Salvador Dali, Hilandarska 20, 21:00 Fest Café, Fest, Majke Jevrosime 20, 22:00 Other: Mobile (play), Belgrade Drama Theatre (BDP), Milesavska 64 20:00 Madama Butterfly (opera), National Theatre, Trg Republike 5, 19:30

Thursday, February 5 Music: The Resident, Bitefart café, Skver Mire Trailovic 1, 22:30 Tropico Band, Lava Bar, Kneza Milosa 77, 23:00 Nightlife: A Little Bit of 90s, Mistique, Aberdareva 1b, 23:00 Booki/Kinetic Vibe, Mamolo, Ilije Garasanina 26, 21:00 Ladies’ Night, Mr Braun Garden, Vojislava Ilica 86, 23:00 Playground Radio Show Live, Tapas Bar, Dositejeva 17, 22:00 Weekend Warm Up, Fest, Majke Jevrosime 20, 22:00 Other: X + Y = 0 (play), Belgrade Drama Theatre (BDP), Milesavska 64 20:00

14

sport

Friday, Jan. 30 - Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009

Three Strikes Out For Serbia’s Ambitions Novak Djokovic, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic underachieved at the Australian Open while Jelena Dokic made headlines with a fairytale return to top-level tennis.

By Zoran Milosavljevic Reporting from Belgrade

I

t matters not a jot to Serbia’s tennis fans who wins this year’s Australian Open, because the country’s three contenders crashed out of the season’s first Grand Slam event after rather unimpressive performances. Defending champion Novak Djokovic, the world number three on the men’s ATP tour, has also drawn the wrath of his peers for retiring in his quarter-final contest against Andy Roddick, when the searing January heat in Melbourne forced him to throw in the towel.

Although he was clearly uncomfortable and was barely able to drag himself around the court in the last 30 minutes of the match, Djokovic has only himself to blame for the fiasco. Having defended himself with a hardly plausible excuse that he did not enjoy playing in the scorching cauldron of the Rod Laver Arena, Djokovic might want to revisit his decision to make the trip to Australia only two weeks before the tournament started, which is not enough to acclimatise to its brutal weather at this time of the year.

Roddick, Roger Federer and world number one Rafael Nadal don’t enjoy

playing at 40 degrees Celsius either.

Unlike Djokovic, however, they neither asked the organisers to change the order of play for their personal benefit nor do they have a history of quitting when the going gets tough.

It was the sixth time in three years Djokovic retired and it should ring alarm bells in his camp, but the 21year old can at least take some credit for praising his conqueror this time.

“Roddick’s game has improved dramatically and working with his new coach has paid dividends for him,” he said. “He has played well throughout the tournament and deserved to win the match, while I need a week-long break to recover from the exertions of playing in Australia,” he said.

World number one on the women’s WTA tour Jelena Jankovic bowed out in the fourth round after a crushing defeat to French rival Marion Bartoli, who was, in turn, blown away

by Russia’s Vera Zvonareva in the quarter-finals. For all her hard work and passion on the court, Jankovic will need to improve her serve-andvolley game if she is to ever win a Grand Slam tournament. That will require going back to the basics on the training ground, something her compatriot Ana Ivanovic will also want to keep in mind when and if she hires a full-time coach.

Ivanovic, who briefly occupied the pinnacle of the WTA rankings after winning last season’s French Open, made the most disappointing exit of all three with a third-round defeat to the unheralded Alisa Kleybanova. Consequently, she will slide down to eighth in the rankings come Monday when the Australian Open ends, which means she is perilously close to dropping out of the top 10 on the circuit. From there on, it can be a very short trip into obscurity. Hailed as the “beauty queen” of women’s top-level tennis, Ivanovic is struggling to deal with the resulting media hype and her game is suffering, first and foremost because her work rate

Photo by FoNet

Back with a vengeance: Jelena Dokic fought her way back into top-level tennis with an impressive Australian Open run. She now faces an equally tough battle to stay there and compete with the world’s best every week.

and commitment are no longer on the same par with her natural talent and ability.

With Serbia’s Grand Slam hopes dashed, it was Australia’s Jelena Dokic who warmed the hearts of tennis fans worldwide with a fairytale return to the big scene after several years in the wilderness. The Yugoslav-born player, who plummeted into oblivion after an acrimonious split from her domineering father and coach Damir, received a standing ovation from the home crowd after a narrow quarter-final defeat to the muscular Dinara Safina. “I played three sets with the number three player in the

It’s The End Of The Road, Boys

Serbia will not be among the medal complained of being “irritated” by contenders at the World Handball Serbia’s colours.

It was not the only hardship SerChampionship in Croatia.

By Zoran Milosavljevic Reporting from Belgrade

H

ardly anyone expected Serbia to qualify for Friday’s semifinals at the Men’s World Handball Championship in Croatia and it came as no surprise that they ended their campaign with a seventhplace play-off against Sweden late on Thursday. After a hot and cold display in the preliminary group stage, Serbia earned a 35-35 draw with outgoing world champions Germany before a crushing 35-23 defeat by Poland ended their hopes of advancing into the last four in Zagreb.

A deserved 32-28 win over Macedonia on Tuesday enabled Serbia to finish fourth in their second stage group and gave them a quantum of solace in front of a hostile crowd in Zadar, where the organizers earlier this week removed the flags of the tournament’s 24 participants from the city centre after local residents

bia suffered during the grueling twoweek long tournament. On the court, they lost two key players in Danijel Andjelkovic and Ivan Nikcevic, who limped off in the opening rounds with long-term injuries. Outside the posh arenas built for the event, they survived a fake bomb scare in their hotel in Zadar while they also endured endless volleys of abuse from Croatian fans, whose comrades in Zadar and Split burned Serbian flags in public.

Hence Serbia’s coach Jovica Cvetkovic, who at one point threatened to resign after coming under fire for a shocking 32-30 setback against underdogs Brazil, was relatively Photo by FoNet pleased with the team’s performanc- Zarko Sesum pierced through the Macedonian es and results. “We have restored our defence. place on the world handball map afEuropean champions Denmark ter battling through pain and adversity over the past month or so,” he told take on France in Friday’s first semireporters after seeing his men come final in the Zagreb Arena (5.30 p.m.) from behind to beat the Macedoni- while hosts Croatia, who will once ans. “We have certainly achieved again be roared on by a capacity more than we could have hoped for 15,000 crowd, are up against Poland but there are a few things we need in the main event of the evening (8.30 to look at. This crop of players has a p.m.). The third place match starts at bright future if they continue to work 3 p.m. on Saturday with the final taking place at 5.30 p.m. hard and improve.” Cvetkovic said.

world so everything is positive,” said Dokic, who couldn’t hold back the tears at an earlier press conference following her first-round win over Tamira Paszek. “For me to get into a Grand Slam quarter-final is a huge deal but I still think there is room for improvement. I’ve done what I can off the court but nothing can replace matches and match fitness, so I still have a long way to go physically,” she added.

Dokic, once the world number four, slid to 687th in the rankings after she parted company with her father and hired Croatian Borna Bikic as her coach. Her romance with Borna’s

brother Tin and severed ties with her family drew far more attention than her plunge on the circuit before she finally made this glorious comeback.

Now, she must make sure it’s not just a flash in the pan. “I am in the top 100 now so it’s been a great start to 2009, I couldn’t have asked for any more,” Dokic said. “I will try not too have too many ups and downs and just be as consistent as possible.”

Good luck, Jelena.

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

Live Sports on TV Friday, Jan 30: Tennis: Australian Open – Men’s Semi Finals (Eurosport 9.30 a.m.); Alpine Skiing: World Cup Women’s Slalom (Eurosport at 1.15 p.m.); Rugby Union: French Top 14 – Toulon v Mont de Marsan (Eurosport 2 at 8.30 p.m.; Handball: World Championship semi-final – Denmark v France (RTL 5.30 p.m.); Soccer: Hamburg SV v Bayern Munich (Sport Klub 8.30 p.m.); NHL Ice Hockey: Tampa Bay Lightning v Philadelphia Flyers (Sport Klub 1.30 a.m. Monday).

Saturday, Jan 31: Basketball: NLB Regional League – Cibona Zagreb v Olimpija Ljubljana (HRT 2 at 5.30 p.m.); Handball: World Championship Final (RTS 2 at 6.50 p.m. delayed); Alpine Skiing: World Cup - Women’s Super G (Eurosport 1.00 p.m.), Men’s Downhill (Eurosport 3.30 p.m.); Tennis: Australian Open – Women’s Final (RTS 2 and Eurosport 9.30 a.m.); Soccer: Stoke City v Manchester City (RTS 2 at 1.45 p.m.), Borussia Dortmund v Bayer Leverkusen (Sport Klub 3.30 p.m.), Hoffenheim v Cottbus (Sport Klub + 3.30 p.m.), Arsenal v West Ham (RTS 2 at 4.00 p.m.), Sheffield Wednesday v Birmingham (Sport Klub 6.20 p.m.), Manchester United v Everton (RTS 2 at 6.30 p.m.), PSG v Caen (Sport Klub + 7.00 p.m.), Athletic Bilbao v Malaga (FOX Serbia 8.00 p.m.), Juventus v Cagliari (Avala and OBN 8.30

p.m.), Ajax v Heerenveen (Sport Klub 8.45 p.m.), Rennes v Toulouse (Sport Klub + 9.00 p.m.), Numancia v Real Madrid (FOX Serbia 10.00 p.m.).

Sunday, Feb 1: Basketball: Spanish League – Estudiantes v Pamesa (Sport Klub 12.30 p.m.), NLB Regional League – Partizan Belgrade v FMP Belgrade (FOX Serbia 7.00 p.m.), NBA Regular Season – Detroit Pistons v Cleveland Cavaliers (00.30 a.m. Monday); NFL: Super Bowl - Arizona Cardinals v Pittsburgh Steelers (Sport Klub 11.50 p.m.)

Tennis: Australian Open - Men’s Final (RTS 2 and Eurosport 9.30 a.m.) Alpine Skiing: World Cup - Men’s Slalom (HRT 2; first run at 9.50 a.m., second run at 1.10 p.m.) Soccer: Newcastle v Sunderland (RTS 2 at 2.30 p.m.), Various Italian League Matches (Sport Klub 3.00 p.m.), Inter Milan v Torino (OBN and Avala 3.00 p.m.), Liverpool v Chelsea (RTS 2 at 5.00 p.m.), Werder Bremen v Arminia Bielefeld (Sport Klub 5.00 p.m.), Bordeaux v Lille (Sport Klub + 5.00 p.m.), Spanish League Match (TV Kosava 5.00 p.m.), Belenenses v Porto (Sport Klub + 7.00 p.m.), Lazio v AC Milan (OBN and Avala 8.30 p.m.), Lokeren v Genk (Sport Klub + 8.30 p.m.), Lyon v Saint Etienne (Sport Klub 9.00 p.m.), Spanish League Match (TV Kosava 9.00 p.m.).

Note: TV channels reserve the right to change their schedules.

directory

Friday, Jan. 30 - Thursday, Feb. 5, 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

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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

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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

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Bookstores

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

MOVERS 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

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16

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Friday, Jan. 30 - Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009