CorD Magazine No.94 by CorD Magazine

Nikolić Forced To Win!

A growth pact for Europe

After Nine Elections....

Sociologist

German Foreign Minister

Historian

Čedomir Antić

june ‘12 / ISSUE No. 94

guido westerwelle

www.cordmagazine.com

Srećko Mihailović

interviews opinions news comments events PRICE 300 RSD Post Election Reality

EU and Kosovo - The Priorities

After two months of living in the “prosperity” of election promises, Serbs are slowly returning to reality The new government in the first 100 days

Spending Cuts Inevitable

The future Serbian Government, which is expected to start working in the first half of June, will initially have to formulate a number of measures, some of which will be unpopular Nikita Milivojević, Theatre Director

Serbian at The Globe Theatre For the first time ever, the Serbian language was heard and a Serbian play staged in the renowned Shakespearean Globe Theatre in London

H.E. Mr. Wolfram Maas

German Ambassador to Serbia

Witness to

Progress cordeditorial@cma.rs

94 June 2012 | 1

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COVER H.E. Mr. Wolfram Maas, German Ambassador to Serbia

Witness to Progress

contents

Page 12

6 8

When he presented his credentials in 2007, German Ambassador Wolfram Maas had a very clear mission: To help Serbia advance on its path towards European Union membership. After almost five years, he will leave Serbia knowing that he has been witness to dramatic changes in the country

After Nine Elections.... Čedomir Antić, Historian

Tax Havens Still Hold ¤2.1 Trillion

EU and Kosovo - The Priorities

Global Action on Tax Evasion has Largely Failed

Post Election Reality

Witness to Progress H.E. Mr. Wolfram Maas, German Ambassador to Serbia

Global diary

Nikolić Forced To Win!

F ACES & PLACES

S erbian at The Globe theatre Nikita Milivojević, Theatre Director

62 66

A growth pact for Europe

Spending Cuts Inevitable

Little Treasure Sunny Tech Techno Talk

Focus

Grand Game

Restaurant

Guido Westerwelle, German Foreign Minister

Economy Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee lunch

From Minus to Profit

page 28

Business Dialogue

Trading in Facebook Shares Stock Exchanges

CONTRIBUTORS: Jovana Gligorijević, Rob Dugdale, Mirjana Zec, Radmila Stanković, Boško Jakšić,Steve MacKenzie Zorica Todorović Mirković,Sonja Ćirić, Vera Didanović PHOTOS: Zoran Petrović

PROJECT MANAGERS: Biljana Dević b.devic@aim.rs Nataša Nešić n.nesic@aim.rs Svetlana Okanović s.okanovic@aim.rs Jelena Bulić j.bulic@aim.rs Vanja Jokanović v.jokanovic@aim.rs

FINANCIAL DIRECTOR: Ana Besedić a.besedic@cma.rs

Dr. Tihomir Simić, general director of Elektrovojvodina d.o.o.

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Max Williams m.williams@aim.rs

GENERAL MANAGER: Ivan Novčić i.novcic@cma.rs

Jubilee

ART DIRECTOR: Maja Dušić m.dusic@aim.rs

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Ruža Ristanović r.ristanovic@aim.rs

Global Economy Dominates G8 Talks International Relations

EDITOR: Sasa Marić s.maric@aim.rs

TRANSLATION: Snežana Bjelotomić

Feature

Srećko Mihailović, sociologist and public opinion researcher

June 2012

Profile page 82 EDITORIAL MANAGER: Tanja Banković t.bankovic@aim.rs

Opu lent Getaways Travel

The Designer Heat Wave Fashion

Leading By Example Olivera Nikodijević, Marketing Manager, United Serbian Breweries, a member of the Heineken Group

PRINTING: Rotografika d.o.o., Segedinski put 72, Subotica CorD is published by: alliance international media Makenzijeva 67, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia Phone: +(381 11) 2450 508 Fax: +(381 11) 2450 122 E-mail: cordeditorial@aim.rs www.cordmagazine.com www.allianceinternationalmedia.com ISSN no: 1451-7833 All rights reserved alliance international media 2012

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comment

After Nine

Elections.... Čedomir Antić, Historian

Engineer Miroslav Pavlović from the Dudovice village near Obrenovac, otherwise a respected member of the Progressive Club, told me a few days ago that the people in Serbia reacted with prudence and astuteness. By keeping the existing political parties in virtually the same position, Serbia has responded to the government and the opposition’s populist policy exercised over the last four years.

barely, in order to help the Democratic Party with mainnstead of austerity measures, radical changes and pertaining the parliamentary majority. Changing his party’s sonal sacrifice, the government continued with populist name was in vain since he did that in a way that was less auto-cannibalism. If the government succeeded in anyhonourable than the Communists’ in 1990 when the oppothing, it was damage control following 400,000 people lossition newspapers compared them to the type of women ing their jobs and the state borrowing nearly €6 billion in a who were keen to change their surname the moment they very short period of time. People did award that and were decided to get married. very generous toward the opposition too which promised Serbia, being in its most difficult economic situation since them that the situation would be fixed without much grief. 1993 and having the least number of people ever voting at In a country where, during the election campaign, nobody the presidential elections since 1990, can only hope that has been defending the government and where everybody political parties will start to cohabitate just like they did rules, only the political orphans from the Serbian Radical successfully in the period from 2004 to 2007. If that hapParty and the new, utterly useless, right-wing ecumenical pens, the government will conduct reforms, start saving seniority from the Dveri Movement have paid the price. The and actually work while fearing the popularity of the presirest got off. ’Moral winners’ from the Serbian Progressive dent elect and the possible conflict with his party. Or mayParty, together with the former followers of JUL and Karić’s parties, won almost as many votes as the Radicals back in 2008. On top of Serbia, in its most difficult economic situation that, Tomislav Nikolić succeeded in his since 1993 and having the least number of people fifth attempt to become state president. ever voting at the presidential elections since Together with the coalition partners, the 1990, can only hope that political parties will start Democratic Party has managed to keep the majority in one place, the majorito cohabitate just like they did successfully in the ty that was bigger than the one from period from 2004 to 2007 2008. The Socialist Party of Serbia nearly doubled the number of votes, by be it will suffocate the country like a wrestler, raise the inbeing the ’golden third’ compared to 2008, just like SRS flation rate and exacerbate internal conflicts leading to a in 1992 and 1997, DSS in 2000 and G17 Plus in 2003. Denational disaster. All of that is now possible, with the EU urbanized LDP and G17 / URS did manage to survive, albebeing as half-rotten as it is and the United States always it scratched, degraded and lost. The first failed to become needing some Christian bad guys to draw attention away a new and democratic DSS, a voice of reason and unifier. from their sins committed in the Middle East and Africa. Čedomir Jovanović’s career is that of an extremist, being And maybe the problem lies in the fact that voters, while beboth Brutus and Darth Vader. His new role – as the peace ing astute and cautious, did not give a clear mandate to the loving Nemanjić - did not fit him well. Why should anybody people who are unable to tell the truth, and yet are so ’nice’ vote for him if we have Boris Tadić who is more original, that they take without asking for permission first.■ powerful, charming and less gray-haired. Dinkić has obviously hit the rock bottom. He survived in parliament, just

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election

After two months of living in the “prosperity” of election promises, Serbs are slowly returning to reality. While elected and not elected politicians summed up the results, future members of the coalition and a number of deputies in the future assembly must adapt to the newly created political reality. People expect the formation of the new government to happen as quickly as possible and for it fulfil the promises made during elections

Post Election Reality

EU and Kosovo -

The Priorities

many of the burning problems that Sernlike previous elections, the traditional “culprits” for what did or did bia is facing in the post election period. Following the elections, we still want not happened during the elections to know the opinions, attitudes and - the ambassadors of foreign countries in Serbia, were this time not on the agenda of any particiThe government must be formed pant in the election. Everyas soon as possible, and the thing seems to have passed negotiations with Priština need to in perfect order, which was not only confirmed by the continue in preparation for the start OSCE, but also from politiof accession negotiations cally opposing parties. From the beginning of June, perceptions of the highest representathe formation of the new assembly and tives of countries that have embassies new government is expected, as are the subsequent emergency measures which in Serbia, therefore we have asked their ambassadors to answer the following should compensate for the time lost during the elections and to try and solve two questions: 8 |

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1 2

How do you rate the 2012 Eletions in terms of the further democratization of Serbian society? What initial priorities should be expected from the new president and new Serbian Government?

Almost all of the answers have a common message: the government must be formed as soon as possible, and the negotiations with Priština need to continue in preparation for the start of accession negotiations.

Here are the ambassadors’ answers.

EU Process Priority

Dialogue with Priština

H.E. Mr. Christer Asp Ambassador of Sweden

H.E. Mrs. Mette Kjuel Nielsen Danish Ambassador

ll the presidential, parliamentary and local elections have, by and large, followed European democratic standards in that respect, which has also been duly noted by OSCE who monitored the elections. I also believe that the Serbian Government should be commended for having worked closely and intensively with OSCE to find a solution for carrying out the presidential and parliamentary elections in Kosovo.

ike recent elections, the 2012 elections have followed European standards for democratic elections, as well as been in compliance with national legislation. The elections have been monitored by OSCE/ODIHR, participants have enjoyed equal opportunities for campaigning, and voters been offered a distinct political choice. Compliments to OSCE and the Serbian Government for facilitating a solution to hold parliamentary and presidential elections in Kosovo, and for the professionalism of OSCE in delivering at very short notice.

From a Swedish and EU perspective, I welcome the newly elected president that will give priority to the EU process, the economy, unemployment, corruption and foreign investment matters. It remains to be seen how a new government will formulate its priorities. However, from an EU perspective, it is important that the EU reform process and the dialogue with Priština are continued as soon as possible. The reason why is that it is expected that the issue of opening accession negotiations with Serbia will be discussed by the EU in December. A decision will be based on further progress with regard to continued reforms and qualitative steps forward in the dialogue with Priština. ■

It is very positive and reassuring that the new president will give priority to the EU process. It is important that the EU reform process and the dialogue with Priština be continued as fast as possible. The timelines are tight if progress is to be reflected in the European Commission Report, which is due by early October. This report will form the basis for making a decision on the opening of accession negotiations with Serbia in December. The report will be finalized in early September, which does not leave much time. A positive decision in December will be based on further progress with regards to the continued EU reforms and to qualitative steps in the dialogue with Priština, including implementation of already agreed elements and also further progress made in finding a lasting solution. ■

From an EU perspective, it is important that the EU reform process and the dialogue with Priština are continued as soon as possible.

Working with Serbia’s Leadership H.E. Mrs. Mary Burce Warlick, US Ambassador The United States congratulates the people of Serbia on the successful administration of this year’s election season. We welcome the OSCE’s assessment that the elections were held in an open

The timelines are tight if progress is to be reflected in the European Commission Report which is due by early October

and competitive environment but that more can be done to improve the transparency of the process and the functioning of the media.

More can be done to improve the transparency of the process and the functioning of the media

Of course, the immediate objective for Serbia’s elected representatives is the formation of the next government. The sooner that government is formed the sooner it can begin working on its priorities, which we hope will include EU membership, regional stability, and progress in the Belgrade-Priština dialogue. The United States remains strongly supportive of these goals, and is committed to working with Serbia’s leadership to advance progress in these areas. ■ cordeditorial@cma.rs

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election

Strategic Country for the Balkans

Mature Society

H.E. Mr. Ali Riza ÇOLAK Turkish Ambassador

would like to say with pleasure that, in a country that is so highly political like Serbia, the election campaign and elections, at all levels and in all regions, were so calm, peaceful and without friction or incident between the different political groups. This showed us the Serbian peoples understanding of democracy and proved the country to be a democratic society, no different to any other democratic country. All the election observers that I had a chance to talk to were satisfied with the orderly and meticulous organization of the elections. The turnout was high, especially in the first round and, beyond all political claims, I feel that Serbian people believe the elections were fair.

I have noted with pleasure that the mainstream political movements in the country are for integration with Europe and a wish to place Serbia among the countries which will contribute to peace and stability

Parties and leaders made their points and announced their policies very clearly during the election campaign. The Serbian people decided accordingly. I have noted with pleasure that the mainstream political movements in the country are for integration with Europe and a wish to place Serbia among the countries which will contribute to peace and stability. Serbia is a very important and strategic country for the Balkans. To this end, this kind of approach to international issues is very encouraging for the international community. Serbia has got valuable and experienced politicians who know the political, economic and social issues of their country which need to be solved. Early and determined measures taken in relation to those issues would also encourage the decision-makers in the EU and foreign investors. I am confident that in a timely manner the Serbian political system will form an efficient government which will meet the expectations of the people and also solve the remnants of the political issues inherited from the dissolution of Yugoslavia, leading to their effective settlement and normalization. ■ 10 |

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H.E. Mr. Toshio Tsunozaki Japanese Ambassador warmly congratulate the recent elections which took place in an orderly, peaceful and democratic manner and which demonstrated the will of the people of Serbia. This fact itself shows the level of maturity that Serbian society has achieved in its democratization process.

Early establishment of the new government is regarded as highly desirable

I expect, and at the same time sincerely hope, that the newly elected Serbian leadership will bravely tackle difficult challenges, such as the issues of unemployment, economic growth, continued market oriented economy reforms etc. to secure the social welfare of the people and to improve their living standard. From this perspective, the early establishment of the new government is regarded as highly desirable. ■

Crossed Fingers

H.E. Mr. Yossef Levy Israeli Ambassador

he figures speak for themselves. Many voters did not go to the polls. However, those are absolutely the rules of a democratic game and we fully respect it. I would like to emphasize that for us, Israelis, each candidate and each winner is a friend. Serbia’s future, prosperity and wellness are very close to our hearts and we cross our fingers for the success of the next president and government.

Good neighbourly relations with all Balkan partners should be put as top priority

We are not in a position to set up conditions to any chosen government or president in Serbia. Serbia is a sovereign country. I would just like to express my genuine wish for a breakthrough in the economy and for continuation on the European road for Serbia. Furthermore, good neighbourly relations with all Balkan partners should be, I believe, put as top priority. Serbia is a key country in the Balkans and many eyes are directed towards it. ■

cordeditorial@cma.rs

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interview

■ Photo by Zoran Petrović

H.E. Mr. Wolfram Maas, German Ambassador to Serbia

Witness to

Progress

Exclusive

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n this exclusive, Mr. Maas gives his farewell interview to CorD before going on to new responsibilities and challenges. “When I came to Belgrade, I encountered a government which in part colluded with the hooligans who attacked and tried to burn my embassy. Today, particularly by looking at the recent parliamentary election results, it is clear that with the exception of one last fringe group in parliament, all the relevant political forces in the country support Serbia’s path towards the EU,” said Mr. Maas “I strongly believe that the EU is the greatest story since World War II. But this tale also has to be communicated to the general public and understood in the right way: The EU is not just another international organisation, it is not just another free trade area, it is not a bank where you can make endless withdrawals without ever paying anything in, it is not an instrument to efficiently push through your narrow national interests. The EU is a community based on common values and a community-friendly

Family

I think it is now better understood that accession and membership in the EU is not about sweet-talk, but more like a family where you are upfront with one-another

sweet-talks

Accession and membership in the EU is not about sweet-talk but rather clearly identifying problems and tackling them in the spirit of solidarity and partnership

approach towards opportunities and challenges, run by jointly agreed rules and regulations, kept together by mutual trust, a true sense of partnership and solidarity. Today, in Serbia, this is better understood. Having witnessed this encouraging development and perhaps being significant in bringing it about, will be my most cherished memory of my time in Serbia.”

■ During your ambassadorship in Belgrade, have you managed to accomplish all your set goals? If not, which goals haven’t you been able to achieve?

- I don’t think anyone ever manages to accomplish all their set goals. You have to look at the total balance sheet. I am pleased that there are a number of positives to recall: Politically, I think it is now better understood that accession and membership in the EU is not about sweettalk, but more like a family where you are upfront with

The Chancellor’s message was twofold: We want Serbia in the EU and we want to help Serbia on this path, but we expect Serbia to meet the conditions which come with membership

one-another, clearly identify problems and tackle them in the spirit of solidarity and partnership. Newcomers to the EU have to understand that the functioning of the Union depends on mutual trust, you cannot try to outsmart one-another. In my assessment, the number of my Serbian counterparts who share that view is increasing – this is very encouraging. Economically, the past five years have been very difficult due to global developments. Nevertheless, economic relations between Serbia and Germany could be strengthened considerably. Imports from Germany to Serbia have been growing, but what is more important, exports from Serbia to Germany have been growing even faster, thus making a very important contribution in moving Serbia toward a more even foreign trade balance. On the state level, economic cooperation was not only kept at a high level, but even reached record highs last year, when we committed more than €230 million to Serbia in grants and loans under very favourable terms. We are not only offering cheap words in support of Serbia, but tangible material support! In addition, the German private sector expanded its exposure to Serbia. Even during the difficult past two to three years, we could see a constant

Business

Managers of German companies in Serbia are more or less satisfied with the political stability, but they do see room for improvements

flow of German investment into Serbia. The companies in the German-Serbian Business Association of Belgrade provide more than 22,000 jobs all over the country. The added capacities of German companies in Serbia over the past years have the additional advantage in that they overwhelmingly produce for export thus helping to move Serbia closer to a balanced foreign trade. As positive as the economic side might be, my biggest disappointments are also related to our economic cooperation. German companies are still at a considerable disadvantage when they need to call for judicial or regulatory support. Even when a regulatory body admitted in writing that a company wasn’t treated properly according to the law, neither the government nor the legal and regulatory system were prepared to right this wrong. Therefore, a lack of progress towards rule of law is my biggest disappointment.

former president Boris tadić and german chancellor angela merkel

■ It’s election time in Serbia and, judging from past experiences, post-election agreements are far more interesting than the election results. What kind of intensification do you expect to see in the further development of relations between Belgrade and Berlin?

- Given the election results, I see a chance for much continuity as far as basic government policies are concerned. Germany has proven that it is a reliable partner of Serbia. We want to find in Serbia a trusted partner. This requires, in the first place, that commitments are kept and rules are applied, irrespective who is benefitting from them. cordeditorial@cma.rs

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■ One urban political legend says that some ambassadors had more say in the formation of the last government than all of the voters put together and that the details of the new government are now being developed in Brussels and Washington even more meticulously than four year ago. Even Wikileaks had a lot to do with the emergence of this legend. What is your take on that?

- The Serbian voters have spoken. To understand the possible options in forming a government is not rocket sci-

dynamic of Serbia’s accession process despite the Chancellor’s messages to Serbia not being particularly polite. Following the country being granted EU candidate status, how do you think the process will further unfold?

- The Chancellor’s message in Belgrade was twofold: We want Serbia in the EU and we want to help Serbia on this path, but we expect Serbia to meet the conditions which come with membership. During her press conference in

One of my biggest disappointments is that German companies are still at a considerable disadvantage when they need to call for judicial or regulatory support Belgrade, the Chancellor made it quite clear that to her it is a matter of fairness to be clear and straight with a friend and partner. To charm might be polite, but to be a reliable partner you need to do everything to avoid misunderstandings. There can be no doubt about the path for Serbia’s EU accession: The basic conditions were laid down in the 1990s in the Copenhagen criteria, the Chancellor, during her press conference in Belgrade, honestly and clearly spelled out her expectations and the EU Council’s Conclusions in December 2011 described the next steps in detail. The granting of candidate status in March was then a signal of encouragement to stay the course and to move on. It now solely depends on Serbia in how quickly the country will adapt to the Acquis.

ence. This can be done easily in Belgrade. I don’t know what is going on in Washington, but it is easy to guess that there is a strong preference in Brussels for an EU-friendly government in Serbia. Listening to the first statements of the president-elect and looking at the composition of parliament I don’t see what will prevent Serbia from moving forward on its path towards EU membership. However, given the fact that with one negligible exception, all parliamentary parties in Serbia support Serbia’s path towards the EU, there is not much to be worried about in Brussels. Therefore, Brussels’ attention has to be focused on regular progress reports. Experience shows that Serbia is quite successful at taking on board the rules and regulations required by the EU Acquis, but implementation of these rules is always lacking and the big challenge for the EU Commission and Serbia is to work on closing these gaps together. Brussels would be well advised to focus on that task! ■ The recent official visit of Chancellor Angela Merkel to Belgrade has significantly altered the route and 14 |

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■ Bearing in mind the time it takes for a new government to be formed, is it realistic to expect that Serbia will be given the date of the beginning of accession negotiations by late 2012 or early 2013?

- Of course, the sooner a new government starts to work, the sooner the conditions can be met to start accession negotiations. I can only hope that the lesson learnt from the past four years is a clear one: there are no short-cuts! Hence it doesn’t pay to waste time, effort and energy in trying to find an alternative path forward towards the EU. The rules are clearly laid down and well known. EU members have learnt their lesson in that they will pay an extremely high price if they give in to political opportunism by admitting countries which have not met the conditions. ■ You have been quoted as saying that Serbia needs to enforce the rule of law, achieve political stability and gain trust in order for reforms in the country to continue. What other conditions does Serbia need to fulfil in order to be given the date of the beginning of the accession negotiations with the EU?

- The rule of law, political stability, social market economy, reliable and predictable judicial and regulatory system, are

all conditions derived from the Copenhagen criteria, but they also call for a policy of regional cooperation and good neighbourly relations with all the neighbours. The path towards the beginning of accession negotiations is clearly charted in the EU Council Conclusions. The German Government has left no room for doubt that it takes these conditions seriously. We are working constructively with Serbia to help the country move forward on this path.

■ Do you think that the EU integration process entails Serbia joining both the EU and NATO? According to public opinion polls, most Serbian citizens would not like to see the country becoming a NATO member. What are the advantages if Serbia were to join?

- First of all, joining NATO is not a precondition for joining the EU. The history of EU accessions over the past decade might suggest a differently, however one has to understand that for most of the countries which joined the EU in the first decade of this century, external security was of the utmost importance

Serbia is quite successful at taking on board the rules and regulations required by the EU Acquis, but implementation of these rules is always lacking and the big challenge for the EU Commission and Serbia is to work on closing these gaps together

and therefore most of them pushed very hard to become a NATO member and enjoy the protection of this mutual defence organisation. Serbia’s situation in that respect is different. Nevertheless, I strongly believe that, in the long-run, it is logical for every EU-member to also be a member of NATO: The EU is no defence organisation, although it is unimaginable that in the case of an external threat an EU-member country could not count on the solidarity of its EU-partners. However, most EU countries entrust defence to NATO. As a result, and sort of through the back door, non-NATO EU-members would rely on NATO’s security umbrella. This kind of free-lunch-approach is of course unacceptable in the long run.

■ There is no doubt that Germany is one of Serbia’s biggest foreign trade partners and a huge donor. In short, what advice would you give German investors who find Serbia an interesting investment destination?

- In general, the German Government and the German Embassy in particular are doing a lot to promote Serbia as a promising investment destination. But all these efforts are not helped if criminal actions against German interests, like the attack against our Embassy, remain unsanctioned, if Serbian regulatory bodies stand idly by while even in their own assessment German companies are de-

nied fair judicial treatment and if German companies cannot rely on Serbian guarantees even if they get them in writing. Therefore, I can only strongly recommend to any German business to organize their entry into the Serbian market so prudently and carefully that they will not come to rely on the Serbian judicial and regulatory system.

■ What are the main advantages that Serbia can offer and what are the hurdles that prevent more German investors from coming here?

-First of all, Serbia is nearly a neighbour of Germany. Serbia’s location in the centre of the Western Balkans, and at the crossroads of important routes towards the Middle East, make it an interesting place to look at. From a German perspective, there exists additional advantages of looking towards Serbia. As you know, for the time being, in Germany we enjoy a very prosperous job-market. Under these circumstances, to tap into the labour pool of Serbia,

with its qualified people, sounds promising to me. As far as hurdles are concerned, I rely on what I hear from managers of German companies in Serbia. They are more or less satisfied with the political stability of the country, but they do see room for improvements – as I mentioned already – in the implementation of the rule of law and of a reliable and predictable judicial and regulatory framework. Finally, they would like to see less bureaucracy, a cut-back on red tape and an investor-friendly administration, as can already be observed in some Serbian cities. ■ At the roadblocks in Kosovo, German soldiers came face-to-face with Kosovo Serbs and there were some instances of violence. In your opinion, what is the future of Northern Kosovo?

- There were not “some instances of violence” as your question implies. Our soldiers were shot at by Kosovo Serbs, which is totally unacceptable! I am amazed time and again that there is problem in calling a spade a spade! Our soldiers are fulfilling their mission in KFOR, based cordeditorial@cma.rs

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on agreements with the governments in Priština and Belgrade and in accordance with relevant NATO- and UN-decisions. There is no justification to shoot at our soldiers! As far as Northern Kosovo is concerned, the German position is quite clear: Germany has recognised Kosovo as an independent state. Germany respects the territorial integrity of Kosovo. We strongly advocate that all open questions should be solved through constructive dialogue between Belgrade and Priština. ■ From the current perspective, and regardless of how negotiations develop, can we expect the relations between Belgrade and Priština to remain as a focus of the international community for a long time? What sustainable level of relations between Belgrade and Priština does the EU find acceptable in terms of Serbia being given the date of accession negotiations and, one day, the country’s accession to the EU?

we have a kind of general agreement in the EU that from the very beginning during future accession processes a lot of attention will be given to looking at the progress the candidate countries make in meeting the conditions in Chapters 23 and 24 of the Acquis Communautaire.

■ There are many Serbs living and working in Germany. How much can the governments of the two countries use this fact as a concrete advantage and collateral for even better relations in the future? How well integrated is Serbia’s diaspora into German society?

-Statements from Brussels and Berlin have clearly called for a normalisation of relations between Belgrade and Priština. How that will be organised in detail is up to the parties concerned. For example, I would like to remind you that two German states found a way to normalise their relations without Germany ever recognising the GDR as a foreign country. In the end both states could sit next to each other in the UN and reach bilateral agreeWhen I leave Serbia I will take with ments on pracme two pleasant surprises: First, it tically all matters of common was amazing for me to see how close interest. Serbia is to Central Europe. Second, I

have never worked in a country where

-To the best of my knowledge, more than 200,000 Serbs with Serbian passports live in Germany, not to mention those of Serbian origin who have become German citizens in the meantime. This is a very impressive human asset to build and expand on the relationship between our two countries. This high number indicates that Serbs feel welcome in Germany. To answer how well integrated the Serbian diaspora is into German society is difficult, as I am not aware of a generally accepted measure. But I think clear indicators for a high degree of integration are in the facts that you can find Serbs in Germany in all walks of life and that – at least as far as I can recall – there were never any reports about difficulties with Serbs as an ethnic group in Germany. ■ Once you return to Germany, how will you describe Serbs and Serbia itself to your friends and colleagues?

-I came to Serbia with a limited amount

of regional experience and an open ■ Some of the across the board I was treated by mind towards my new host country. As recent accessions to the EU people as friendly as Serbs are I have already stated in many talks and have changed interviews, when I leave Serbia I will the way EU officials approach negotiations due to ju- take with me two pleasant surprises: First, it was amazing dicial, corruption and other problems (Chapters 23 for me to see how close Serbia is to Central Europe. Second, and 24 of the Acquis Communautaire). Do you think I have never worked in a country where across the board I that these chapters will be given priority in Serbia’s was treated by people as friendly as Serbs are. talks with the EU bearing in mind the negative experiences with neighbouring countries? ■ Have you made friends or connections in Serbia that -It is correct to say that the EU is drawing on lessons from will prompt you to come back as a tourist?

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past experiences. We have learnt the hard way that it doesn’t pay to accept countries with unresolved territorial questions as members, countries riddled by corruption or countries which cannot put a lid on organised crime. Therefore,

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-I have built relationships in Serbia which will hopefully last a lifetime. Fortunately, our world has become a smaller place and I am sure that I will meet the friends I have made in Serbia again, wherever our paths lead us. ■

cordeditorial@cma.rs

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High wire “I have been active in high level politics for the last 20 years. I feel it’s time for me to get off the high wire.” — Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State

global diary

Alcohol More Harmful for Women

Olympics Under Military Protection

According to a publication by the US National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), women who drink heavily face greater health risks than men who drink heavily, with femaile alcoholics being more prone to liver disease, heart damage and brain damage.

According to Monika Jain, a senior hepatologist with Fortis Hospital, “Female physiology is such that it allows for greater toxicity with lesser amounts of alcohol in less time, as compared to males.” “A woman’s body doesn’t break down alcohol as quickly as a man’s body does. This means greater levels of alcohol in the blood, resulting in greater toxicity,” said Jain.

Light-field Camera Lytro, a Silicon Valley startup, recently launched the world’s first consumer lightfield camera, which shoots pictures that can be focused long after they’re captured, either on the camera itself or online. Lytro promises no more blurry subjects, and no shutter lag whilst waiting for the camera’s lens to focus. A software update to the camera, coming soon, will even let you produce 3-D images.

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Although they are not expecting any specific threat to the Olympics, the British military forces are geared up and are in a state of readiness for London Olympic Games, from July 27th to August 12th 2012. Blackheath Common is one of four planned sites around London for Rapier deployment. Typhoon fighter jets are stationed near the capital, along with military helicopters and the amphibious assault ship HMS Ocean. Colonel Jon Campbell, commander of the Joint Ground Based Air Defence, said: “We have done as much as we can to allay people’s fears.”The Rapier system has world-class radar and is particularly good at picking up low and slow-moving objects in the sky. It means we are able to get the very best picture of what is happening in the skies of London,” he said.

The 100 mph Bicycle

Graeme Obree, the former world champion cyclist, is building a new machine on which to mount an assault on the land speed record for pedal power.

Powered Vehicle Association. If he reaches his target of 100 mph (162 km/h), he will not just break but smash the current record of 82.8 mph, set at the same site, in 2009, by Sam Whittingham, a Canadian cyclist.

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Tube Alternative for Commute Home

With an eye towards improving fitness and alleviating overcrowding on London’s public transportation system, Home Run organizes guided group runs at the end of the work day along popular bus and Tube routes.

PlanetSolar is Back The world’s largest solar boat ever built, PlanetSolar, arrived back in Monaco’s Hercule harbour last month, almost 19 months after it first set off on its ambitious journey around the world. The eco-adventure, which

The 46 year-old is due to make his record attempt in September, on a long stretch of flat road, just outside the town of Battle Mountain, Nevada. After building up speed, he will be timed over a distance of 200 metres, whilst being monitored by the International Human

attracted worldwide interest, has successfully proven the huge potential of solar energy. Since it disembarked from Monaco in September 2010, the unique vessel has followed sunny routes along the Equator, taking its crew of four across the Atlantic Ocean, Panama Canal, Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean and Suez Canal, ending up where it began – in the Mediterranean. They visited ports across the globe, including Australia, Hong Kong and the Arabian Gulf – each time promoting the efficiency of solar energy.

Launched in March, Home Run aims to offer a free and safe guided running network that gives users a way to get extra exercise on the way home from work while staying off the city’s crowded public transportation. Participants begin by registering with the company’s website and booking a place on the route they take between work and home. Home Run provides participants with a free t-shirt and backpack on their first run. Then, at the prebooked time at the end of the

Transparency “There needs to be greater transparency. The French deserve to know the truth. They have the right to know the nature of the illness of their head of state.” — Francois Hollande, French President

work day, participants meet their team leader in their running gear. Company-driven cargo bikes are on hand to carry runners’ bags, allowing them to proceed clutterfree at a comfortable pace toward their destination, where they then collect their bag and no doubt dry themselves off.

Sotheby’s Auction Top Lots in Moscow

Ivan Aivazovsky’s canvas ‘View of Constantinople’ and ‘Bosphorus’ were sold last month at Sotheby’s auction in London for a record €4.01 million.

NOMA – World No. 1 Hat-trick

around Mexico City. Dog walkers who scoop up their pet’s poop can place the bag into a specially-designed bin, which weighs the droppings and calculates how much free time online can be used at one of the wifi routers located around the vicinity. The higher the volume of excrement that goes in the bin, the longer park users will be able to access free internet on their mobile devices. Initially, the portals will have a representative on hand who will give out bags for picking up the droppings. DDB have also created an ad to go with the campaign.

The Copenhagen restaurant Noma has won the World’s Best Restaurant Award once again. The Copenhagen restaurant Noma, as only the second restaurant ever, has topped the list of

Norway May Ban Swedish Snuff

Restaurant Magazine’s prestigious ‘The World’s 50 best restaurants’ list for the third year in a row at a ceremony at Guildhall in London.

Orangutans Use iPads ‘View of Constantinople’ and ‘Bosphorus’, painted in 1856, were the top lots at the Orientalist Sale, which totalled €5.17 million. The works by Russia’s outstanding marine painter were sold to an unknown buyer over the phone after tense auctioning, with the ultimate price almost three times as high as the pre-auction expert estimates of €1.08-1.62 million. The paintings were last sold in 1995 and had been in the same hands until now.

Pet Owners Rewards Mexico-based Terra is rewarding walkers that ensure they clean up after their pets with free time online through its Poo Wifi portal. The Poo WiFi portal, developed in conjunction with advertising agency DDB, is currently being trialled in ten parks

The only other restaurant to have matched René Redzepi’s hattrick for Noma is Ferran Adrià’s legendary El Bulli restaurant in Spain, which closed in July 2011. At the beginning of May, 1204 people were on the waiting list for a table. On one particular day in the same month in 2008 the restaurant had 14 guests the whole day. For those who would like to book a table at Noma, the first available date is September 2012!

The 8-year-old twin orangutans from Miami zoo love their iPad. They draw, play games and expand their vocabulary. Their family’s teenagers also like the hand-held computer tablets, too, but the clan’s elders show no interest. The orangutans at Miami’s Jungle Island apparently are just like people when it comes to technology. The park is one of several zoos experimenting with computers and apes, letting its six orangutans use an iPad to communicate as part of a mental stimulus program. Linda Jacobs, who oversees the program, hopes the devices will eventually help bridge the gap between humans and the endangered apes.

The National Council for Tobacco Prevention advocates a total ban on the increasingly popular form of tobacco, Snus (Swedish snuff). Norwegian experts expect the number of diseases that are related to snuff will continue to increase, so the Council advised that the sale of Snus should be prohibited after 2017, as it is now banned in all EU countries except Sweden. According to a survey, one in three young Norwegian use Snus regularly. Swedish snuff is a moist powder

tobacco product originated from a variant of dry snuff in the early 19th century in Sweden, consumed by placing it under the lip for extended periods of time. The precursor of Snus, the dry form of snuff inhaled through the nose, was introduced in Europe much earlier. Snus is a form of snuff that is used in a manner similar to American dipping tobacco, but typically does not result in the need for spitting.

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interview Srećko Mihailović, sociologist and public opinion researcher

Nikolić Forced To Win! ■ By Zora Drčelić ■ Photo by Zoran Petrović

I am adamant that Tadić and the Democrats did not lose at the election because they had bad results, but because they did not offer a programme that would lead to better results in the following four years. We can therefore derive that Nikolić and the Progressives offered a better programme; their followers needed something, including victory at any cost, regardless of the quality of the game

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t the very beginning, Srećko called the election campaign “nominal” and “superficial”. He also said that top party officials behaved like poorly educated show-business stars. In this interview, the sociologist and public opinion researcher sums up the results of the 2012 elections for CorD and analyzes all the options in forming a new government, a process that could last for quite some time. He also interprets what the de-concentration of power and distancing from partocracy means for Serbia and talks about the role that marketing and media campaigns had on the elections. “Dis-intellectualization and even anti-intellectualism have marked this election campaign, including the campaign prior to the second round of the presidential election. Tadić did not play his game, while Nikolić imposed

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his – he served and ingratiated basic political instincts. Tadić played by rules that were not familiar to him and was in a competition that he didn’t feel was his own style. His followers felt betrayed and rejected by being drawn into political games. On the other hand, Nikolić did a lot to lose, but he failed. It just wasn’t meant to be - he was forced to win.” - Srećko Mihailović.

■ According to Ivica Dačić, the so-called ‘third person’ who holds the key to the future government, Tomislav Nikolić’s victory has made everything more complicated. Do you think that the formation of a new government is going to take a long time?

- “The second round” of parliamentary elections is still not finished. We are going to find out who has won only after a new government is formed. There are three op-

TrusT

The trust citizens have in state institutions is so small that anybody who cares about our society surviving should be worried.

Media

It would be really naive to think that people employed in the media, rather than the media owners, were behind any favouritism.

tions still circulating – the Democrats and Socialists plus the Preokret Movement / United Regions of Serbia forming a government or the Progressives, Serbian Democrats and SPS-PUPS-Jedinstvena Srbija (the entire coalition or parts of it), with the support from national minority parties, having the main say in government formation. Or there is the option of holding new elections, which is definitely not the way to go. If you consider all of these options, it seems that it would be best not to have huge changes or upheavals. The worst scenario would be for the formation of the government to take forever at this time when the country needs at least some consensus. The metaphor about Serbia rolling down a narrow railroad, with things already defined and set, where the only option is slower or faster, is very befitting. Slowing down on this ‘track’ seems a rather benign solution, but stopping all together doesn’t seem as catastrophic as keeling over.

Citizens

Voter intelligence was underestimated and the marketing people thought of citizens as being a crowd that you can constantly defraud.

cal alliances, the public and their followers. The ‘shaky ground’ could lead to the first serious steps in resolving the main conflict of the unstable political scene in Serbia – the conflict between institutionalism and partocracy. It really does not matter that some moves (made by the Progressives, for instance) in the election campaign were anti-institutional. It appears that many will start to gradually distance themselves from partocracy in the coming period. Well, we can hope at least! ■ What should the new government, regardless of who forms it, do first?

- There aren’t any problems that the new government cannot immediately resolve. We will be happy and satisfied if we have a government that manages to success-

The changes that came with these elections were huge, in terms of both the structure of election players and the distribution of political power

In the case of both options, structural and other changes that both the Progressives and Democrats would have to go through seem important and these changes would be inevitable regardless of the future government’s constellation. These changes will be even more pronounced once Nikolić departs the Serbian Progressive Party and Tadić returns to his party. After that happens, many things will be different. Still, the changes that came with these elections were huge in terms of both the structure of election players and the distribution of political power in Serbia, especially for the executive powers – we have the president from the Progressive Party, the Progressives won twice, the Democrats lost twice, the Socialists’ success is growing, the Progressives are obligated toward the Serbian Democrats, Đilas and the Democrats triumph in Belgrade while Pajtić and the Democrats win in Vojvodina... These changes basically mean the de-concentration of power, which has to yield some results. Bearing in mind that the position of all the political players is still on shaky ground, they remain vulnerable in terms of politi-

fully resolve the basic problems that our society and citizens have been facing, namely economic problems, low living standards and high unemployment.

■ You have touched upon how mistrustful citizens are towards political institutions and in how little state institutions are actually respected. Some people were very critical of former President Boris Tadić for meddling in everything, thus breaching the Constitution. Prior to the second round of presidential elections, he said that he did not want to behave like the cordeditorial@cma.rs

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English queen. The formation of a new government has boiled down to scheming, despite politicians claiming that it was a matter of principle. Whether Nikolić will respect the institution of president depends solely on parliamentary majority, and not on what the Constitution says.

- I have to mention at least two facts that are fundamental. Firstly, the Serbian Government disposes of very little social capital and if this capital is missing, we either

due to the economic crisis, but that hasn’t happened in Serbia. The election results only solidified Cvetković’s government, while Tadić, as president, was punished for everything. How do you interpret the fact that, despite the disgruntlement, unemployment, poverty and obvious mistakes and omissions by the last government, citizens failed to penalize them at these elections?

- Voting doesn’t mean expressing an opinion about the previous government. By voting at elections we are giving our vote to the people we think are going to do a better job in the following four years. It is parliament that assesses the government’s work and this is where the government succeeds or fails. Citizens can bring a government down in the streets through protest rallies. The claim that by voting for the coalition of parties led by the Democrats we are giving a passing grade to Cvetković’s government was nothing but an attempt by the opposition to re-direct the Democratic Party’s voters to vote for somebody else (which did happen, to a certain extent). From this perspective, I am also thinking about the appeals made by the opposition parties to “punish the pre-

There aren’t any problems that the new government cannot immediately resolve. We will be happy if we have a government that manages to successfully resolve the basic problems that our society and citizens have been facing have a government that is not functioning or is relying too heavily on force. The trust that citizens have in state institutions (with the exception of the army and police) is so small that anybody who cares about our society surviving should be worried. The European Values Study, in 2008, showed that Serbia ranked very low when it came to the trust that citizens had in political or social institutions. The research was conducted in 47 European states. Secondly, and I’ve already mentioned this, institutions in Serbia are partocratic. Partocracy favours institutionalism over voluntarism which is absolutely contrary to institutionalism. The newly re-distributed power in Serbia can do the first steps in the departocratization of state institutions. You don’t need money, investments or loans, only political will. We are about to find out whether there is such will! ■ More than 11 European governments have resigned 22 |

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vious government”. The opposition failed to bring down the previously elected powers via legitimate procedures in parliament. It’s like the opposition was saying, ‘We couldn’t bring you down and now we can’t retaliate.’ Such logic should not be identified with judging the previous government’s work as being the criteria for a new government since it is quite possible that if you did a bad job in the past, you would do an equally bad job in the future. ■ Was Boris Tadić, punished for the government’s inadequate work, since it appears the governing coalition parties were not penalized at the 6th May elections?

- I am adamant and would like to reiterate yet again that Tadić and the Democrats did not lose at the election because they had bad results, but because they did not offer a programme that would lead to better results in the following four years. We can therefore derive that Nikolić and the Progressives offered a better pro-

gramme; their followers needed something, including victory at any cost, regardless of the quality of the game.

■ These elections have become infamous because of the ballot papers found in a garbage container and the accusations about electoral fraud made by the Progressives. Also, other parties have voiced their concerns over the regularity of the elections – the leaders of the United Regions of Serbia said that the elections were the shadiest since 2000. Istvan Pasztor was also dubious, while Koštunica demanded a re-count. High Democratic Party officials said that losers have the right to be angry. What is your opinion on this?

and the Progressives winning the majority. We know that this anti-institutionalism will backfire, but, in our country, only partocrats score points for attacking the state’s institutions.

■ Can we define certain regularity rules on the back of the last elections? Also, can we have a new set of rules on the political scene? In your opinion, how well did the two candidates’ marketing teams do?

- Voter intelligence was underestimated and the marketing people thought of citizens as being a crowd that you can constantly defraud - everything is very quickly - If there is a topic that is classically Serbian, then it is forgotten and people are sold short. Hence, it is more efficient to appeal to electoral theft. Some emotions rather than might think that we inIt is a rule of thumb that whoever the mind, since a gram vented electoral theft as it did take place in the late unduly raises the question of election of illusion is much more 19th century and 1930s. fraud contributes to the downgrade effective than a kilo of political reality. The conIf you didn’t understand of political and social institutions cern that people have for that “the dead can vote”, their future has been put there was no place for you in politics. Also, there is the not so distant experience of in the context of a political obsession with the present. It is better to win a parliamentary seat now than never.... the 1990s elections. Respecting Serbian electoral tradition is coupled with The aforementioned marketing teams have demonstratthe recent experiences of many deeply divided post- ed a lack of sociological, political and social-psychologelection societies where people shouted “Help, we’ve been robbed!” This mantra is very useful to people who spread rumours about election theft. Also, it is a justification for many wrongdoings in pre-election activities or a justification of what is about to come. Making a lot of noise could be viewed as a threat while some view it as an opportunity to benefit. It is a rule of thumb that whoever unduly raises the question of election fraud, regardless of whether they are election winners or losers, contributes to the downgrade of political and social institutions and the further decline of trust that people have in state institutions. ■ How did the election theft claims affect the second round of the presidential elections?

- Well, they certainly did affect the results. Above all, they motivated milder followers of the parties that were “subjected to the crime” to come out and vote. The elections were not considered “fair and honest”. But that is what the executive powers deserve – you respond to this uncorroborated story about electoral fraud (with only a smoking gun as evidence) with an equally uncorroborated story about the impossibility of the theft happening. We were witnesses of just how weak the institutions were and we saw an unbelievable attack on the system’s institutions by the people who were given a chance by the voters to significantly impact the formation of a new government as seen in voting for Nikolić as state president

ical knowledge, if they even had any to begin with. Being familiar with market logic is not enough to direct or re-direct Serbian voters. Whenever campaign people left the boundaries of a market campaign, catastrophes ensued. The worst result of this conceived and reduced campaign was a high percentage of non-voters in the second round of presidential elections. I am confident that post-election research will show a high share of intentional abstinence. ■ What is your view on the return of the so-called cordeditorial@cma.rs

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‘negative election campaign’ and what is the difference between the negative and supposed ‘contrast campaign’, as the Democrats call it?

- The Democrats have lost the campaign battle on two fronts. Firstly, they were focused on the same target group as the Progressives (lower middle class and down) instead of on their own target groups (middle class and up). They left their target group up for grabs. Secondly, they did not adequately react to the dirty campaign led by the Progressives which started even before the elections were called. When almost everybody forgot about that dirty campaign, the Democrats came up with the idea to launch a campaign which the public also perceived as dirty regardless of what the Democrats called it. After all, a successful campaign is the campaign of contrasts. The Democrats simply failed to win on ‘foreign ground’. The Progressives played in their own court and won. Unlike the Progressives, the Democrats did not play their own game and hence lost on both fronts. By playing somebody

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are here to entertain the crowd and there was a lot of ‘entertainment’ at the last elections. Nobody can survive if the blunders are never ending. If the opposite were true, it would tell us more about ourselves than the people who said those blunders! ■ Which Serbian politicians will benefit the most from the elections?

- Free and fair elections are one of the required prerequisites for a functioning parliamentary democracy. It is common practice for such elections to be the best way forward when it comes to forming a democratic government. Of course, there are other aspects too, like respecting elections as an institution. If you are referring to immediate benefits, then we should view elections as an important aspect of the system which, in a way, defines the relations between the workers and the capital. In that context, we can say that elections contribute to the preservation of a system where capital owners have fewer or more institutional advantages compared to workers. So, capitalists, tycoons or whatever you want to The Democrats simply failed to win on ‘foreign call them will benefit most. ground’. The Progressives played in their own court The ‘capital owners’ who control political parties and and won. Unlike the Progressives, the Democrats pay for their favourites particidid not play their own game. pating in the election run, and their subsequent win, will have else’s game, in somebody else’s court, you needed a the most concrete and immediate benefits. All in all, it is miracle to win. And there was no miracle! The Progres- the capital owners that hold the reins. sives played their game (which was a polished variation It is highly likely that 15% of the nation, who are at the of the Radicals), on their own terrain and regardless of bottom of social hierarchy and who have been desertmany omissions made, won since their opponent shot ed by God himself, let alone the government, will not benefit from this or that political option winning. In themselves in both feet. Previously, Tadić won because he had empathy toward addition, there are people who have never got involved citizens. Nikolić won this time around because the citi- in politics or voted. They are social outcasts, our “class of untouchables“. zens showed empathy for him! But, if I were to be really critical, I would say that the new ■ In your opinion, what were the biggest blunders of the class – the new proletariat or precariat (flex-exploited 2012 elections, i.e. the biggest bloopers made by the workers with flexible jobs, flexible time and flexible wages) two perennial rivals - Boris Tadić and Tomislav Nikolić? – are also not going to benefit from the election results. - I would rather not talk about that. A blunder is a blunder and it certainly does not define a person. Blunders ■ How would you sum up the role that the media

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played during the election campaign? Were they visibly inclined towards certain candidates? On the election night, we could hear TV people saying things that were insulting to voter intelligence while trying to explain why Tadić had such bad results.

- Some media outlets did have their favourites, but there were many other things going on too. I am under the impression that it was not so black and white. You would be really naive to think that people employed in the media, rather than the media owners, were behind this favouritism. If that does ‘insult our intelligence’, how is it that our intelligence is not insulted when certain tycoons favour this or that political party or politician! ■ Also, these elections were marked by cross-overs from the civil to political sector, i.e. certain trade unions, NGOs and even a political commentator (Đorđe Vukadinović) deciding to run for parliament. Do you think that they decided to get politically involved because politics is a very lucrative profession and because the state is the best employer or were there other motives?

- I wouldn’t classify that as the ‘cross-over’ you call it. These are normal and quite ordinary procedures when getting

We can say that elections contribute to the preservation of a system where capital owners have fewer or more institutional advantages compared to workers

involved in politics, which happens much more often than transitioning from politics into civil society. If we didn’t have a civil society with organizations that have minimal social influence, then we could say that getting engaged in politics was a result of a desire to be employed by a wealthy and safe employer. I would like to mention that certain trade unions did support certain political options – the Association of the Free and Independent Trade Unions (ASNS) supported the Preokret Movement (the trade union’s President, Ranka Savić, was ranked third on the Movement’s electoral list and has won a parliamentary seat), the Sloga Trade Union made an election pact with the Socialists and the two (former) Independent Trade Union of Serbia’s officials (former Deputy President Milorad Mijatović and Secretary General Slavica Savić) will also become new state MPs. Miljenko Dereta resigned from his position as the Head of the Civil Initiatives and is going to become an MP representing the Preokret Movement. On the other hand, the right-wing organizations of the civil society were very close to winning parliamentary seats via Dveri – the Movement for the Life of Serbia (more than 4% and less than 5% votes). Several NGOs have played an important role in monitoring the election campaign and the election itself. ■

cordeditorial@cma.rs

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comment

A growth pact for

Europe

The spectre of a return of the debt crisis is once again haunting Europe. Yet developments in recent days are telling us nothing new: even if there are initial signs of success, we have not overcome the crisis completely. Overcoming this crisis is not a matter of months, but years â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and there are no short cuts.

guido westerwelle, German Foreign Minister

The countries of Europe caught up in the maelhe real causes of the economic and financial strom of the financial crisis have already decided crisis are the massive debts incurred over to make important reforms. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re aware of the difmany years and the lack of competitiveness ficulties which many people are currently facing in the crisis countries. The consistent, long-term and we have great respect for this. Given the concontinuation of budget consolidation is an indispensable precondition for recovery. That is why the fiscal compact must The employment opportunities and thus not be renegotiated now. future prospects of young people must be Budget consolidation is just one pillar the clear priority holding up strong national economies: growth policy is the other. And in this siderably shrinking economies in some countries, context, responsibility for new growth lies first and and, above all, the alarmingly high youth unemforemost with member states. They must undertake ployment rates, however, the reforms which have national structural reforms to restore competitivenow been launched are the only chance for getting ness, which we need for new growth. This includes back on track for sustainable growth. Certainly pamaking social security systems fit for the future, imtience is needed: it will be a while until the reforms proving access to labour markets, particularly for take effect. But then they will be all the more sucyoung people, eradicating moonlighting and making cessful. We know this from experience in Poland, education, science and research priorities.

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the Baltic States and not least in Germany. But at the European level, too, we have to do more to boost growth. That’s why we want to supplement the fiscal compact with a growth pact for more competitiveness. A European growth pact should contain the following six points: Firstly, the EU budget should be consistently oriented to growth: anyone who wants new flash-in-thepan stimulus packages financed by yet more borrowing has learnt absolutely nothing from the dramatic experiences of the crisis. The European Union must utilize its resources better than before without spending more. There is money available for future-oriented tasks. The European Union has in fact been negotiating its budget for 2014 to 2020 in recent months, planning for a budget volume of one trillion euros. We should concentrate on using this huge sum consistently to promote growth and employment, innovation and competitiveness. At the same time, spending must be more closely monitored than hitherto and linked to quantifiable criteria. Every euro spent from the EU budget must be shown to have been spent effectively. Secondly, unused EU funds must be activated. Around 80 billion euros from the Structural and Cohesion Funds of the current financial period are still available and have not been allocated to any concrete projects. The European Commission and member states must take these funds now and invest them quickly and effectively in new growth through better competitiveness. Thirdly, access to capital must be improved. In some countries we are seeing that although governments have embarked on the right course, the banking sector cannot play its part properly because it is burdened with bad loans. So companies are not in a position to make sensible investments that will stimulate growth. With the European Investment Bank, we have an instrument which we can and should use to a greater extent and in a more targeted fashion not least in order to ensure that small and medium-sized businesses have better access to loans. Fourthly, infrastructure projects must be promoted. The banking sector’s sluggish “blood supply” is also a problem for larger-scale infrastructure projects in Europe. Our roads, railways, energy and telecommunication networks are among the European economy’s best trump cards. They are an

important contributing factor to our standard of living, which can only be secured in a Europe which is continuing to grow closer together. State-of-the-art infrastructure opens up new prospects for growth by making private-sector investment more attractive. We need to mobilize private capital for the cross-border expansion of European infrastructure and look at innovative forms of public private partnership. Fifthly, we must complete the internal market. Once before – back in the eighties and nineties – realizing the so-called “four freedoms” released tremendous forces for growth. Today, the expansion of the internal market to cover new spheres offers great opportunities once more. That applies to the digitized economy and e-commerce. That also applies to the energy sector and will strengthen small and medium-sized companies by reducing red tape and ensuring better access to risk capital. For addi-

The countries of Europe caught up in the maelstrom of the financial crisis have already decided to make important reforms. We’re aware of the difficulties which many people are currently facing and we have great respect for this tional growth we also need to strengthen cross-border mobility in Europe. The employment opportunities and thus future prospects of young people must be the clear priority. Sixthly, we want to strengthen free trade. Threequarters of world trade takes place outside the European Union. More than 80% of global growth is produced outside Europe. The EU must work towards making the Doha Round a success while at the same time concluding more free trade agreements with new and long-established centres of power on the world stage. This all goes to show that you can create growth without incurring new debt. A new growth pact should be adopted as early as June, at the European Council meeting. We are under no illusions: there’s still a long way to go to get out of the crisis. But if we resolutely pursue consolidation and reform and if we use the possibilities open to us creatively, to give impetus for growth in the short term too, then the whole of Europe will emerge from the crisis stronger and healthier than it was before. We Europeans must stand together to overcome the crisis. We must show the determination to hold our own as a European cultural community in a globalized world. ■

cordeditorial@cma.rs

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focus

Measures suggested to the new government in the first 100 days

Spending Cuts Inevitable The future Serbian Government, which is expected to start working in the first half of June, will initially have to formulate a number of measures, some of which will be unpopular. Much will depend on future negotiations with the IMF and the fulfilment of promises given during the election campaign. The financial crisis in the euro zone cannot be calmed, and its effects are increasingly being felt in Serbia, which is impacting on both the work of financial institutions and the business sector in the country, and also determining the further development of both the state and society. Therefore, this month CorD asked some of Serbia’s leading financial experts the following question:

What are the measures and actions that the new government has to take in the first 100 days of its mandate?

Swift and Efficient Action Aleksandar Vlahović, Chairman of the Serbian Association of Economists

he new government needs to have a comprehensive plan, with measures, to be implemented during the first 100 days of its mandate, being just the initial stage in the implementation of an integral four-year long programme. Looking at the current state of public finances i.e. the growing deficit, total debt, violated fiscal rules etc., it becomes quite evident that fiscal consolidation will be the new government’s first step. Consolidation needs to encompass both budget revenue and expenses. Regarding revenue, it is realistic to expect higher VAT, higher taxes on unutilized assets, possible widening of the tax base and more restrictive taxation of citizen income. Also, Tax Administration will have to become more efficient and use cross-tax control mechanisms thus making tax collection more effective, which translates into a direct increase of tax revenue. In terms of budget expenditure, additional cuts are needed in the framework of existing rights. There is the high probability of a scenario where civil servant salaries are going to be frozen, pension and disability insurance rationalized and a thorough check of the way in which certain people have acquired disability allowances and privileged pensions. The monetary effect of such measures would be to the tune of 60 billion dinars, which is almost half of the projected deficit. In turn, it would reduce the state’s need for shortterm borrowing, create an opportunity for relaxing mone28 |

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tary policy (lower repo rate, reduction in required reserves) and increase the level of liquidity in the banking sector. The next step would be to implement an investment liquidity project where the state, through sharing risk and partially subsidizing interest rates, would stimulate commercial banks to direct their investments toward the real sector. There is the possibility of fine tuning this mechanism which would enable the realization of sectoral policies and regional development and stimulation of export projects. Such an approach would not automatically entail changes in the current monetary policy regime. It is of critical importance for the investment liquidity mechanism to be based on professional standards, without political voluntarism. In addition to all of the aforementioned, it is vital to start a comprehensive reform of the public sector, which is of essential importance for the successful creation of a competitive business environment. This involves restructuring and partially privatizing public enterprises, public finance reform and social, health and pension insurance fund reform, as well as completing the privatization of social capital effi-

The absence of thorough reforms will undoubtedly jeopardize the country’s external liquidity which will entail the implementation of more drastic and socially unacceptable measures ciently changing the utilization of bankruptcy tools. In order to successfully implement everything that I have said, we need to be consistent and comprehensive and, above all, there needs to be a consensus amongst all the social and political players. The absence of thorough reforms will undoubtedly jeopardize the country’s external liquidity which will entail the implementation of more drastic and socially unacceptable measures. ■

Budget Review Vital Mlađen Kovačević, Ph.D. and member of the Academy of Economic Science

t this time it is very difficult to propose what priority measures the new government should undertake in the first 100 days of its mandate. Moreover, we don’t know what kind of stance parliament will take. Consequently, it is merely a guess as to what the government is going to consider as priority measures, who is going to be engaged in devising these measures, how they are going to fair in parliament and, particularly, whether the proposed measures can be implemented if adopted. It is also important for certain politically suitable individuals not to be in government and to have professionals who will help devise fiscal and monetary policy measures, as well as various laws. For now, that doesn’t seem very probable and many would go as far to say that it is a naive uto-

The government and other state institutions need to invest huge efforts and undertake adequate measures to attract foreign money, particularly Greenfield and Brownfield FDIs pia. I deeply believe that the new parliament, new state president and new government should urgently realize, as well as publicly admit, that Serbia is in a very difficult economic crisis and that the crisis will take time to overcome, which will happen only with the help of harmonized and timely measures and activities. Hence, we should assemble various experts who can, with the help of science academies and other scientific institutions, draft proposed measures for overcoming the crisis and formulate a vision of a social and economic system that will be acceptable to parliament and consequently realized. On top of that, and in order to prevent financial and foreign currency collapse from happening this year, the new government should urgently adopt a strategy and set of measures that will prevent it or, if it does happen, to make it as painless as possible. With that in mind, the government must devise a strategy for managing both external and public debt, in addition to conducting a budget review. In full cooperation with the National Bank, the government ought to adopt an exchange rate policy, i.e. the current policy of the overrated dinar, which had disastrous consequences, should be completely abandoned. By changing the said policy and implementing a series of other measures, the ex-

port of goods and services should be encouraged as much as possible as Serbia is now in a very similar situation to that of Japan before World War II or the Republic of Korea in the mid-1950s who both adopted and fully adhered to the motto, “to export or to die.” The government and other state institutions need to invest huge efforts and undertake adequate measures to attract foreign money, particularly Greenfield and Brownfield FDIs, as well as stimulate the growth of remittances and favourable loans. ■

Agriculture Priority Drago Cvijanović, Ph.D., director at the Institute of Agricultural Economics

he new government should immediately deal with agriculture. The initial steps should be as follows: increase competitiveness of production, particularly export, and change the structure of primary agricultural productions to benefit animal husbandry and other more intensive branches (e.g. fruit growing, viticulture, vegetable growing, horticulture etc.). Farming estates have to be diversified, while taking classification into consideration and bearing in mind the size and region in which they are located. The state must also support the sector in terms of production specialization, in other words, encourage key interests and achieve better organization, i.e. implementing economic and agricultural policy measures with the view of creating reprochains. In terms of launching agricultural and other activities, for example catering, tourism, etc., agriculture needs stimula-

Although agriculture is the priority, the new government must launch large-scale public investment works and help create new industrial facilities tion and support in all policy measures. In addition, encouraging the development of consultancy services and clearly defining the obligations of ministries, universities, institutes and consultants, as well as the obligations of agricultural producers through cooperatives, will be of great importance to the sector as a whole. To further stimulate the industry, the government must specify up to ten key export products per region, taking into account the comparative advantages of those regions, and provide selective support to them. The drafting of strategic longterm documents and enacting them in parliament will provide incentives for the export of highly processed products, reduce fiscal levies on raw materials used in farming production and cordeditorial@cma.rs

94 June 2012 | 29

focus support agricultural cooperatives. Although agriculture is the priority, the new government must launch large-scale public investment works and help create new industrial facilities. Also, of equal importance, is better support for the SME sector via lower taxes (especially income tax), improvements in the operations of business incubators, help young and export orientated companies, reduce non-tax levies for businesses and ensure VAT is paid once an invoice has been settled, i.e. protecting creditors and applying rigorous measures for debtors. These efficient economic measures will result in shorter payment periods and a lower percentage of bad debts; lower court fees, faster court proceedings etc. Added to all of the aforementioned, transparency in public procurements, the faster issuing of building, infrastructure and work permits, establishing a link between potential investors and existing projects and potential local partners, and better coordination between local and state administration will result in major benefits for both the citizens and economy of Serbia. The new government has a lot of work to do. ■

EU Integration Driving Force Dejan Erić, Ph.D., director of the Institute of Economic Science

he new government must devise and fulfil the necessary measures and prerequisites for the continuation of European integration, which has to be the driving force behind Serbia’s long-term economic development. If, during the first 100 days of its mandate, the government and other state institutions manage to secure a date for the beginning of accession negotiations, it will demonstrate that they are determined, competent and have definitely paved the way to the EU. At the outset, as the biggest economic problem that most Serbian citizens have to deal with, an action plan for reducing

The new government must devise and fulfil the necessary measures for the continuation of EU integration, which has to be the driving force behind Serbia’s long-term economic development unemployment and poverty must be devised. To consolidate public finances, the government’s measures should be twofold: 1. strict control of budget expenditure with austerity measures applied in public spending and 2. measures geared towards increasing budget revenue, with a possible increase in VAT, excise, property tax and generating state revenue through other means. Additionally, a morato30 |

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rium on further borrowing and stopping the growth of both public and foreign debt is necessary. At the beginning of their mandate, the government and the prime minister should publicly reveal just how high the debt is and periodically reveal all the parameters of this debt. They must strictly adhere to the golden rule of public finances – if a loan needs to be obtained, it should be spent on investments alone and certainly not on public spending. We need to embark on the true restructuring of public enterprises whilst bearing in mind that restructuring should not be confused with layoffs. A true restructuring strategy entails the undertaking of a series of measures which change the structure, position, and organizational culture. Instead of constantly generating loss, public enterprises should herald technological development, innovation and profitability. Their restructure will be important for increasing the state budget revenue and in stimulating the development of SMEs, which also need a series of support measures to increase production and aid development, including the urgent elimination of bureaucratic hurdles, costs and the creation of higher level of stability and predictability in the sector’s operations. Measures are also required to reform the pension system and fund. Our country’s economic problems require a lot of knowledge, expertise, creativity and courage in decision making, and we need to abolish monopolies and the exclusivity in rendering consultancy services to the government. Every expert and scientific resource in the country should be mobilized to help analyze and definite alternative solutions to decision making, regardless of how painful and difficult those decisions are going to be. ■

Urgently Resolve Existing Problems

Dr. Miroslav Zdravković, Expert associate at MAT and Editor of Macroeconomy website

he majority of Serbia’s economic problems are long-term, and political parties and the system merely exacerbate our fiscal woes. We have seldom said that particular problems were resolved in the best possible manner. The new government should start with resolving ongoing problems like the unconstructed market environment, begin penalizing the misuse of monopoly positions, reducing the so-called gray economy and increasing employment through higher investment activity. In order to find adequate solutions to these long-term problems, we need to carry out thorough analytical preparation to solve each problem individually. We must define what measures need to be applied in order to facilitate business operations and in setting guidelines, i.e. the timelines of removing hurdles that stand in the way of companies doing business.

As Serbia is a small economy, it is only logical it has a higher level of concentration in different markets compared to say France or Germany. The government will need a sectoral analysis of concentration per each individual market segment in order to start dealing with the misuse of monopolies or shortages preventively. Eliminating the gray economy also requires a systematic approach. We must identify the size of this gray economy, its causes, the distribution channels of untaxed goods and methods that the tax inspectors and other bodies should use. Investment activity in Serbia is relatively weak, which is a consequence of the pronounced instability of the exchange rate, political and similar risks. Achieving higher investment activity will obviously require a stable political environment. Rationalizing the number of civil servants and health, education and public enterprise workers will also require a clear

The new government should start with resolving ongoing problems like the unconstructed market environment, reducing the gray economy and increasing employment through higher investment activity plan that will show the dynamics of the cutbacks, where these cutbacks should take place and at what cost. Last, but by no means least, it is important for the government to come up with a four-year fiscal consolidation plan. The major and most painful points of this consolidation will be the pension system, higher taxes and reducing expenses. In order to devise the best set of measures, positive experiences should be applied in consultation with the IMF and other international experts. In my opinion, in the first 100 days of its mandate, the government needs to lay a solid foundation for the next 1,460 days, during which it should reach the stability we need for economic growth. Bearing in mind that it is quite possible that the new government will not be much different to the old one, the abovementioned issues, as well as other ones, need to be swiftly identified and resolved. ■

Laying The Foundation For Reforms Dr. Aleksandar Stevanovic, economic analyst at Free Market Centre

egardless of what kind of government is formed, it is probably not going to do what is required to achieve long-term prosperity, however it will certainly try to fulfil most of its populist promises. Luckily, life trumps populism and this will force the government to exercise a minimum of prudence. Secondly, Serbia doesn’t need any urgent measures to be implemented during the first 100 days of the new

government’s mandate since the problems run very deep – it is not just a matter of fixing a few roof tiles or replacing a window, the very foundation is wrong and the whole ‘building’ is prone to collapse. Thus, a serious government will lay the foundation for reforms that will be conducted over its entire term in office. We are not going to get a government like this now, but maybe in four or eight years. If we want to improve Serbia, we should devise a foundation for deep rooted reform starting with the health, pension and educational systems which are inefficient and inappropriate for our environment. We need to abolish monopolies in the business sector and take away privileges from certain companies. There is a lot of work to do in this area and much can be done during the first 100 days. Public enterprises must be privatized and the government should implement public-private partnerships which will lead to departization. By stimulating competition and not using administrative procedures we can efficiently fight against monopolies, therefore permits and quantitative limits must be removed and changes to the regulation which says that only companies that are registered for foreign trade are allowed to practice it is imperative.

Serbia doesn’t need any urgent measures to be implemented during the first 100 days of the new government’s mandate since the problems run very deep – there is no quick fix solution Useless state-run agencies and other bodies must also be abolished to cut back on domestic spending i.e. cutting back on their operative costs. The law that regulates the ministries should be extended and a real, not fictitious rationalization should take place. Serbia’s structure of tax revenue needs to be changed. VAT should be paid when an invoice is paid and not issued, which will result in the higher liquidity of our economy. In addition, via a ‘true regulation guillotine’ any obsolete and useless laws, especially those that are detrimental to the country’s economic development, should be abolished. This is also the best way to fight corruption. Due to the high unemployment rate, which is a direct result of a collective negotiation process, changes are required to the Labour Law. We must facilitate employment, not layoffs, whilst supporting truly vulnerable groups. There is the incorrect perception in Serbia about who constitutes vulnerable groups. Welfare money should be given to people who are genuinely vulnerable thus we need better indicators in assessing the social status of a household. Finally, introducing the euro, the freedom to choose foreign currency or having a fixed exchange rate would improve our economy, although it seems to me that the government is not going to do any of the things I have suggested. ■ cordeditorial@cma.rs

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G8 International Relations

Global Economy

Dominates G8 Talks suspected nuclear program also featured in the talks, ahead of negotiations between global powers and Iran in Baghdad. Obama said that the group was “unified when it comes to our approach with Iran.” He also said that G8 leaders decided that sanctions will continue alongside further negotiations. On Syria, Obama said that leaders agreed that the political process in Syria should move forward “in a more timely fashion.” “We had a discussion about Syria, we all believe that a peaceful resolution and a political transition in Syria is preferable,” he said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, U.S. President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and French President Francois Hollande and others watching the UEFA Champions League Final between Bayern Munich and Chelsea FC during the 2012 G8 Summit at Camp David

US President Barack Obama hosted the 38th G8 summit, held in Camp David on 18–19th May, with concerns over Greece and the eurozone topping the agenda, however the global economy dominated the formal weekend talks

Cameron said there was “a growing sense of urgency that action needs to be taken.” “We are addressing the two biggest threats to all our economies and that is of course the eurozone crisis but also the very high

he summit of leaders of the world’s eight leading industrialized nations continued at Camp David, US President Barack Obama’s weekend retreat outside of the US capital, Washington. The European sovereign debt crisis, a weak global economy and high oil prices overshadowed discussions. After a morning meeting, British Prime Minister David

oil prices that translate into high prices at the pumps and we are making progress on both,” he told reporters. He agreed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that “growth and austerity aren’t alternatives,” suggesting that measures for economic stimulus as well as austerities had to come together. The ongoing bloodshed in Syria and Iran’s

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Growth Over Austerity On Friday, 19th May, Obama joined the growing chorus of world leaders who are calling for a shift toward growth policies to tackle the eurozone crisis. “We’re looking forward to a fruitful discussion later this evening and tomorrow with the other G8 leaders about how we can manage a responsible approach to fiscal consolidation that is coupled with a strong growth agenda,” Obama said. His comments came after a meeting with French President Francois Hollande in

The French president used the meeting at the White House to express his concern about the situation in Greece and his view that economic growth must be made the top priority if Europe is to recover

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Washington. Hollande was making his first appearance at a major international conference just days after being sworn in as French head of state. ‘No One Can Afford To Lose Germany’ Experts that Angela Merkel was headed for a tough fight at the G8 summit to defend her strict austerity stance on the Eu-

Russian Prime Minister

Dmitry Medvedev (right) meets with US President Barack

Obama

U.S. President Barack Obama (left) meets with eurozone leaders on the Laurel Cabin patio during the G8 Summit

ropean debt crisis. But there is no solution without Germany. The French president used his

meeting at the White House to express his concern about the situation in Greece and his view that economic growth must be made the top priority if Europe is to recover. “We share the same views; the fact that Greece must stay in the eurozone and that all of us must do what we can to that effect,” Hollande said. Obama’s support of Hollande’s President Barack Obama (left), view on this issue could create listens to British Prime Minister David Cameron during the first meeting of the some difficulty for Chancellor G8 summit Merkel who has repeatedly insisted that strict fiscal discipline is the key to any recipe for economic recovery. While she has conceded that economic growth is also needed, this, she argued, should not be achieved through taking on more debt. Leaving Afghanistan Early Hollande also told Obama that he would pull out all French combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year, as he had pledged during his election campaign. At the same time, however, he said France would continue to support its NATO allies in Afghanistan. “Our support will take a different format. I’m pretty sure I will find the right means so that our allies can continue with their mission, and, at the same time, I can comply with the promise I made to the French people,” Hollande said. In addition to Germany, the US and France, the G8 also includes Canada, Britain, Japan, Italy and Russia. Following the G8 summit, Chancellor Merkel and most of the other leaders flew to Chicago for a two-day NATO summit. ■

markets opening for exporters

New Business Opportunities The North Jutland food trading company has started a new business in Serbia and will focus simultaneously on the growth markets in the Far East and Middle East

omex A / S, in the last year, noted the first profits of the company’s branch in Serbia, which focuses on frozen seafood with its own storage and distribution. “We have never tried this before, and we received a lot of slaps in the face because of it. But with the profits, we hope that we have taken the educational lesson, although it is not large enough to cover the deficit yet,” says CEO and founder Tom Andersen. Mr. Andersen has recently been in Serbia in order to inspect the situation and found that there is still a big difference between west and east Europe. For the same reason, Tomex has offices in Poland, Macedonia and Hungary in addition to Serbia, while the “old Europe” alone operated from headquarters in Aalborg. -“Old Europe has become so small that we cannot see any reason to have more than one office there. This is an absolutely true and open market,” says Andersen. He says that in the Far East and Middle East especially, there are interesting markets for Tomex and that they constantly keep track of where growth is taking place. “The places where there is growth is interesting for us. Also, markets that are psychologically more distant from our suppliers are very interesting. The Far East and Middle East are large and attractive areas for us,” says Tom Andersenm who goes on to further clarify: “When we said Asia in the old days, we thought only of Japan. Now that China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia and various other countries are in the picture there is an opening to do business. India has also begun to open up to imports over the last ten years, while the former has been very restrictive.” Tomex currently has around 70 employees and reported revenue in 2010/11 of 945 million DKK (€127m), which was close to the record year 2007/08 where the Aalborg-based company reached 1,053 million DKK (€141m) in revenue. Tomex Catering Plus, Serbia, is located close to Belgrade, Ugrinovacki Road, 11277 Ugrinovci – tel: 011 371 4715. cordeditorial@cma.rs

94 June 2012 | 33

jubilee bRITISH mONARCHS cELEBRATORY eVENT

Queen Elizabeth II’s

Diamond Jubilee lunch Royals from around the world gathered in London on 18th May to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee

he lunch in Windsor Castle was the largest gathering of foreign royals in Britain since the monarch’s grandson, Prince William, married Kate Middleton last year. According to the Telegraph, the queen and her husband, Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, greeted guests personally as they arrived, waiting outside the castle’s Waterloo Chamber, where the reception was held. Some 45 royal guests from around the world were in attendance, including ones from Japan, Monaco, Denmark, Jordan, Thailand, Malaysia, Kuwait, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Romania, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Denmark and the Netherlands. William and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, also attended the lunch, as did Prince Harry, Prince Andrew and his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. But others on the guest list raised some eyebrows. Britain has come under criticism for inviting the king of Bahrain, whose Gulf state has been engaged in a brutal crackdown on political dissent. Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa eventu-

Britain has come under criticism for inviting the king of Bahrain, whose Gulf state has been engaged in a brutal crackdown on political dissent

Princess Charlene of Monaco (left), Prince Albert II of Monaco and The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Kate Middleton.

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ally skipped the royal wedding, saying he didn’t want the controversy to tarnish the couple’s happy day. But Buckingham Palace confirmed that his father, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, attended the lunch. Swaziland’s King Mswati III, who is accused of living in luxury while his people go hungry, also attended the event. In the week prior to the lunch protesters gath-

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Front row, left to right: Emperor Akihito of Japan, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, Constantine II King of the Hellenes, Michael I King of Romania, Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha King of Bulgaria, Hassanal Bolkiah Sultan of Brunei, Carl XVI Gustaf King of Sweden, Mswati III King of Swaziland, Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein. Middle, Left to right: Prince Albert of Monaco, Henri Albert Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Letsie III King of Lesotho, Albert II King of the Belgians, Harald V King of Norway, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Emir of Qatar, Abdullah II King of Jordan, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa King of Bahrain and Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia. Top row, left to right: Nasser Mohamed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait, Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Alexandar II Crown Prince of Serbia, George Tupou V King of Tonga, Maha Vajiralongkorn Crown Prince of Thailand, Princess Charlene of Morocco and Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia

ered outside an exclusive London hotel where he was rumoured to be staying with a large entourage. But, there wasn’t anything in the way of protest outside Windsor Castle on Jubilee day. Sky News television footage even showed a handful of royal supporters clutching red-and-white Bahraini flags. Another royal was notable for her absence - Queen Sofia of Spain. She cancelled her visit to London amid fresh disagreement over Gibraltar, the disputed British colony on Spain’s southern tip. The Diamond Jubilee marks 60 years of Elizabeth’s reign as Crown Prince Alexander II of Serbia and his wife, Crown Princess Britain’s monarch.■ Katarina.

Source: guardian.co.uk

jun 2012 business leader’s meeting point

Page 44

Page 49

Dejan Tešić,

Dr. Tihomir Simić,

General Director of Elektrovojvodina d.o.o.

Global action on tax evasion has largely failed

Supporting Serbian Economy

From Minus to Profit

Tax Havens Still Hold ¤2.1 Trillion

Page 40

Member of AIK Bank’s Managing Board

local news

Property

Business Dialogue 01

Three bedroom, fully furnished apartment in the centre of Zemun - €40,800. Two-story house in Novi Sad €205 000. Duplex flat in downtown Belgrade - €160,000. Entire field near Srbobran €348.

Piraeus Bank

Interest-free Debt Refinancing

Reduced Piracy Rates During 2011, Serbia managed to decrease the software piracy rate by two percent. It now stands at 72 percent.

Piraeus Bank has launched a 0% interest action which enables interest-free debt refinancing on payment cards issued by other banks over a six month period starting from the moment funds are transferred. This new benefit is valid for all citizens who, by the end of this year, can apply for debt refinancing on payment cards issued by other banks.

The unique offer provides a break from interest and minimum monthly debt repayments and also enables an interest rate of 18.5% after the initial six month period until the end of the repayment of debt refinancing. The regular interest rate is valid for transactions made either through purchase or cash withdrawal. An additional benefit for all clients includes a bit by bit service that allows customers to split all transactions made in Serbia, abroad or through the Internet into equal monthly instalments. The novelty of this service is that the client chooses the number of instalments - minimum two and maximum 12 - regardless of the transaction amount. Along with attractive conditions, Piraeus Bank payment cards provide many other services including discounts in shops with which the bank has cooperation agreements and participation in lottery games.

03 Construction

Slow Construction of New Dwellings According to the number of building permits issued in March 2012, there were 682 applications for the building of apartments with an average of 70.5 square metres in Serbia, which is 3.8 percent less than in the same month in 2011.

Of the new dwellings, 21.5 percent of flats will be built in buildings with one flat, with an average of 110.3 m2, and 68.9

percent of flats will be in buildings with three or more apartments, with an average of 55.4 m2. In March, a total of 585 building permits were issued, 6.9 percent more than in March 2011. Of these, 71.5 percent of permits were issued for dwellings and 28.5 percent for other structures. The anticipated value of works on new buildings in March was 77.4 percent less than predicted. The majority of construction activity was recorded in Belgrade, which accounts for 24.5 percent of the predicted value of new construction, followed by the Srem region with 16.9 percent, North Backa with 10, South Backa with 9.3 and the Nis area with 5.5 percent, while shares of other regions ranged from 0.1 to 4.7 percent.

Source: Tanjug

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Software

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This result was set out in the eighth annual study on software piracy, published by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and prepared by the reputable international company IDC. Chairperson of the Committee for Protection of Intellectual Property Rights at the American Chamber of Commerce AmCham in Serbia, Milos Blagojević, said that Serbia is

one of the ten best countries worldwide that have achieved such a good performance. “Due to the reduction of piracy rates, the domestic software industry registered a growth of 1.5% and turnover of the whole industry increased by €24 million. In addition, there was €3.5 million in direct budgetary revenue, as well as the creation of 200 new jobs in the IT sector,” says Blagojević.

If the company’s interest is realized, it will, without doubt, be the biggest investment in Sandzak of Novi Pazar so far. The Thermal power of 300 to 350 megawatts will be built near the Sjenica coal mine, Štavalj. Negotiations between the Serbian Government and the well-known Czech company are at the final stage and the tender for a contractor is expected by the end of the year.

Energy

New Power Plant onThePešter Alta company from Brno,

Czech Republic, is interested in the construction of a power plant at Pešter, near Sjenica. Total investment is expected to be around €500,000 and will employ about 1000 people.

NPL

Cheap Sale of Company Debt Banks are now selling debts and non performing loans for only 10 percent of their true value.

Following an increase in the number of problem loans that banks granted to the economy, they are now selling the problem companies to other businesses which are not predominantly engaged in financial activity. Decision on risk management provides that in the case of worsening financial conditions and creditworthiness of the borrower, a bank must take the appropriate measures to reduce credit risk. In practice, this means that banks should offer companies the rescheduling of loan repayments, which would involve the repayment of principal debt, but not interest. This was the recommendation of the government mid last year, but the effects were modest. Since 2012, the National Bank (NBS) has introduced various incentives for banks. A new decision on the classification of balance sheet assets and off balance sheet items means banks are allowed to transfer a company’s matured claims to other companies that are primarily engaged in financial activities, provided that the bank has first tried to collect the debt themselves. This solution, as explained by NBS, reduces the risk of the debt purchased by a company associated with the debtor or the bank.

Source: Blic

Facebook

In just 22 minutes from the start of trading Facebook’s shares on the New York Stock Exchange, trade reached a value of 6.25 billion euros.

Automotive

Placements & Postings appointments@cma.rs

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Growth in Sales of Luxury Cars

Sales of luxury cars in Serbia are doing well despite the general market decline of about 30 percent this year, said CEO of Delta Motors Nemanja Lazić.

Lazić told Tanjug that in 2011 the Serbian car market was in a bad state and that this year is even worse, however it “does not apply to the so-called ‘premium segment’,” stating that BMW and Honda achieved growth of 10 percent over the same period last year. Lazić said that the reason behind the good sales of premium cars i.e. Mercedes, BMW, Audi etc. was due to the companies organization and product quality.

H.E. Ms. Nafsika Chr. Krousti , New Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus to Serbia

Banking

Deutsche Bank Buys Komercijalna Banka?

H.E. Prof. Dr. Angel Dimitrov, New Ambassador of Bulgaria to Serbia

The arrival of Deutsche Bank to the Serbian market might attract new German investors, but the state will withdraw from the Serbian financial sector.

The state’s withdrawal is said to be one of the biggest benefits from the sale of Komercijalna Banka to the German bank. If the sale is finalized, Serbia will be the first country in the Balkans in which Deutsche Bank will work with the population and economy. On the other hand, by selling Komercijalna Banka, the largest domestic bank with a market share of 10.2 percent, the state will not withdraw entirely from the Serbian financial sector, remaining in only several minor banks.

Vojislav Genić New General Director of SAP West Balkans

Mlekara Šabac

Exports to EU and Islamic Countries The Mlekara Šabac (Šabac Dairy) company from the western Serbian city of Šabac has announced that it will start selling its products in the EU markets by the end of the year

At the same time, the company plans to start exports to Islamic countries.General Manager Zoran Matić said that the company is currently working on obtaining permits and all the necessary certificates for export to EU countries. Matić added that the dairy complied with all standards necessary for export of dairy products to Islamic countries. The dairy processes 250 tons of milk - 100 tons of “extra quality” - every day

Claudio Cesario, New President of the Management Supervisory Board of UniCredit Bank Serbia a.d.

The new Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus to Serbia is H.E. Ms. Nafsika Chr. Krousti, who presented her credentials to the Acting President of the Republic of Serbia and President of the National Assembly Mrs. Slavica Djukić-Dejanović, on the 30th April. Ms. Krousti began her diplomatic career in 1984, when she joined the Cyprus Foreign Service. In the following years she served in a variety of posts both at the Headquarters of the Foreign Ministry and in Diplomatic Missions abroad. She received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Humanities, with Honours, from Middlesex Polytechnic in 1981 and also holds a Master of Arts Degree in English from the University of Exeter.

On April 30th, Mr. Angel Dimitrov presented his Letters of Credence to acting president Mrs. Slavica Đukić-Dejanović. Prior to his appointment in Belgrade, Ambassador Dimitrov was a professor at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and head of the academic department. From 1989, prof. Dimitrov actively participated in the process of political changes in Bulgaria with great success. After being Consul General of Bulgaria in Skopje for two years (1992-1993), he was appointed as the Bulgarian ambassador to Macedonia where he served until 2001. Mr. Dimitrov holds an M.A. degree in History and Archaeology from St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia and attained his Ph.D. in History at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He is married, with one son.

The SAP company, which is engaged in the field of business application software, has named Vojislav Genić as managing director for the Western Balkans. Genić will be responsible for SAP’s business in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro. Prior to taking on his new duties, Vojislav Genić was director of the public sector company Atos Serbia (formerly Siemens), and before that was vice president of IT Solutions and Services at ComTrade Group. As vice president, Genić was promoted from the position of director at Spinnaker New Technologies, after the acquisition of Slovenian company Hermes SoftLab. Mr. Genić is a mechanical engineer graduate and is currently developing his Phd studies in operations research at the Belgrade Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. He is married and has one daughter, Natalia. The new CEO of Unicredit Bank is Claudio Cesario who takes over from former CEO Klaus Priverschek in May. Mr. Priverschek had been in the position since December 2007 and will continue his professional career in a new position within the Group. Claudio Cesario had previously worked at several banks within UniCredit and began his career in 1985 at “Banco di Sicilia” - in 1999 he was appointed as Director of Commercial Strategy and Development Network. In 2004 Mr. Cesario moved to “Banca di Roma”, first as Director of Planning and Budgeting and later went on to become Director of Planning and Control. From November 2008, Mr. Cesario had been responsible for 15 banks within UniCredit, managing their strategy, planning and supervision in the CEE region. Claudio graduated business economics at London Business School.

Source: B92 cordeditorial@cma.rs

93 May 2012 | 39

Overstated

Business Dialogue Interview

“Perceived differences between France and Germany over how to solve Europe’s debt crisis are largely overstated.” - Christine Lagarde, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Managing Director

Dejan Tešić, member of AIK Bank’s Managing Board

Supporting

Serbian Economy After the crisis, success in banking now searches for a new paradigm

Serbian businesses need loans to operate, while, on the other hand, an increasing number of companies are late or have difficulties with repaying their loans. This is how how Dejan Tešić, a member of AIK Bank’s Managing Board, sees the solution to the problem...

he Serbian economy is in a very difficult situation. The consequences of the downturn that has gripped the global economy and especially the EU countries, with which Serbia has the biggest volume of economic cooperation, are becoming increasingly pronounced. Reduced demand on these markets has put the insufficiently competitive Serbian economy in a very disadvantageous position while, at the same time, the level of FDIs was not sufficient to satisfy the growing needs of the domestic economy. Growing unemployment and the ever increasing number of problematic corporate loans, which have reached 24%, are certainly the most difficult consequences of the economic crisis. -“For quite some time now, domestic companies have been exposed to relatively expensive financing, primarily because of the fact that financing sources, especially long-term ones, originate from abroad and that the costs of these sources have been and still are burdened by a huge risk premium of the country as a direct result of its political and economic instability. On the other hand, loans, which before the crisis erupted in 40 |

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2008, were numerous, haven’t been used toward raising competitiveness of the domestic economy, but have ended up, for the most part, in irrational spending or non-dedicated real estate since everybody was counting on the real estate prices growing.” Faced with a high number of uncollectible corporate loans, the banks became less interested in this segment and reduced their lending activities while, at the same time, have turned to the state and public sector, on one side, and the retail segment on the other. However, in order to have sustainable growth of the domestic product and secure stable budget revenue, economic activity will have to pick up in the following period.

In parallel with working on resolving the economic issues, we expect the creation of a legislative and legal environment that is harmonized with that of the EU.

■ A new government is about to be formed. What measures do you expect the government to undertake in order to keep it possible for the banking sector to remain the backbone of the country’s economic development? -In my opinion, the new government will have to be more dedicated to resolving the difficult situation in the country’s economy, compared to the last government. I expect the new government and state institutions to work towards a lower unemployment rate, a more stable exchange rate, reduction in public debt and trade deficit, and higher FDIs.

clared goals of this reduction were stabilizing the projected inflation rate, reducing the cost of lending and stabilization of the forex market. However, the expected effects were absent primarily because of an incorrect expectation that this measure would serve as a stimulus to the banks to step up with their credit activities, as well as due to a lack of understanding that the reduced credit activity in banks had nothing to do with their liquidity but their aversion toward the risks that stem from an unfavourable business environment. Instead of linear reductions in the required

■ The National Bank of Serbia (NBS) had been asked to reduce the required reserves in order for the banks to redirect their loans toward businesses on much more favourable conditions. The NBS complied. -The NBS’ decision about partially reducing the level of required foreign currency reserves for banks was made in mid-April which meant that over 300 million euros was ‘freed’ in the banking sector. The de-

With over 600 million euros in retail savings, AIK Bank is among the most trustworthy banks in Serbia

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IMF “Cancelling the IMF arrangement would result in the further weakening of the dinar, undermine the confidence of international investors in Serbia, and increase the price at which the country finances its debt.” - Dejan Šoškić, Governor of the NBS.

reserves, the NBS, for example, has the ability to selectively introduce exceptions for loans that should be directed into strategic economic sectors and activities, especially export-oriented activities.

■ AIK Bank ended this business year in profit. The public is often thought to believe that banks in Serbia are in a privileged position compared to those in other regional countries? What is your opinion on this matter? -True, there is this notion in our public that banks in Serbia are behaving contrary to the internationally accepted norms and operational standards, and that they charge more for lending than other banks in the region. This, however, is a very rudimentary image that does not correspond to reality. The high price of lending in Serbia is not the result of excessive appetites of domestic banks but rather heightened risks and expensive financing sources. Average margins that banks in Serbia charge are lower than those in the region and the average return on capital or assets is among the lowest both in the region and Europe. This can be clearly seen from the results that the Serbian banking sector accomplished in 2011. On its part, AIK Bank has been among the most profitable institutions on the Serbian market for years and we owe our good results primarily to exceptional cost discipline, and rational, resp offersonsible and efficient operations. ■ In the last few years, both businesses and citizens have had subsidized interest

rates on their loans in an effort to help the economy obtain cheaper loans and encourage the sale of domestic products. Do you expect the new government to continue with the same practice? -The Subsidy programmes did yield some positive results in the last few years of the economic crisis and have helped many citizens overcome their problems much more easily. I am particularly referring to subsidies in the shape of incentives for the increased sale of domestic products. Unfortunately, budget limitations will hamper the continuation of subsidy programmes.

■ A number of people have been term depositing their money in AIK Bank for longer periods of time. What is the current situation with cash placements? What economy branches and sectors is the bank going to support this year and

I expect the new government and state institutions to work towards a lower unemployment rate, a more stable exchange rate, reduction in public debt and trade deficit, and higher FDIs which of them represent a safe placement for the bank’s capital? -With over 600 million euros in retail savings, AIK Bank is among the most trustworthy banks in Serbia. We’ve been building on the reputation of a bank where you can safely deposit your money for years thanks to our internal efficiency, good business results and exceptional capital base with capital adequacy of 30%, which, as such, is the highest in the Serbian banking sector.

AIK Bank offers contactless payment method to clients AIK Bank is the first bank on the Serbian market to have introduced the MasterCard PayPass sticker, which is the future of contactless payment, and has become increasingly popular in the rest of the world. PayPass sticker transactions are up to three times shorter than paying with classic payment cards and, as such, cut queues at check-outs while, at the same time, enable shops to serve more clients over the same period of time. Stickers are applied on an object that should always be handy to the user, like the back of a mobile phone, or for instance

I am confident that succeeding in the banking world today and in such changed circumstances, which were created due to the crisis, requires a new paradigm where values like transparency and ethical operations, affordable prices of financial services, simplification of administrative procedures and processes and substantial utilization of technological advancements will dominate. At this time when margins are reduced, low costs and internal rationality and efficiency are the most important factors that will separate successful from unsuccessful banks. In the following period, AIK bank intends to support the energy and agriculture sectors as strategic economic branches in Serbia. Apart from that, we value production, both exportorientated and domestic. The bank also plans to remain present in the public sector, as well as to increase the volume of its activities geared toward the retail and SME sectors.

a wallet or key chain. By using these stickers, banks have fulfilled their goals in terms of their payment cards, i.e. to be “the first in the wallet“ - means of payment that the user will choose first. Just like any other cards that AIK Bank issues, stickers are issued free of charge, there are no maintenance costs, and all of that is a part of a free package that comes with AIK Bank’s current account called Pozitiv, coupled with the new MasterCard Debit Card which is a classic payment option – you can withdraw money from ATMs or pay online.

■ Several European banks have changed their owners. AIK Bank has foreign shareholders. How accurate are the claims that the ownership structure of AIK Bank could change too? -AIK Bank is primarily a domestic bank owned by private investors. The bank is an open shareholding company with over 7,000 shareholders, including a number of renowned foreign investors. Due to the situation in Greece, ATE Bank, which currently owns the single biggest stake in AIK Bank, i.e. 20.3% of voting shares, has recently publicly announced the sale of its share. It is still early to talk about the concrete effect that the transaction will have on the bank’s development bearing in mind that both the potential buyer and their conditions are still not known, but it is realistic to expect that the owner of such a substantial stake will be in a position to actively influence the bank’s policies, advance its market position and contribute to the accomplishment of projected business goals. AIK Bank’s projected gross profit for 2012 is 5.6 billion dinars and projected asset growth is 7%. ■

cordeditorial@cma.rs

94 June 2012 | 41

regional news

Business Dialogue 01

Dedication "In the political sense, a more independent Republika Srpska within Bosnia and Herzegovina may be a project we all need to be dedicated to, but not by jeopardizing anything else," - Milorad Dodik, President Republika Srpska.

Hypo Alpe Adria Bank

Leave SEE

Qatar mulls buying power company

Austrian Hypo Alpe Adria Bank, which, due to various problems, was taken over by the Austrian state, has launched a re-privatization of its network in Southeast Europe.

The plan is to sell the six banks and three leasing companies in five countries of former Yugoslavia (Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro), together with the management unit in Austria. “The restructuring of the banks is almost concluded,” said new head of the Group Gotvald Kranebiter. Hypo Alpe Adria Network in South Eastern Europe was profitable in 2011. Total assets totalled €12.5 billion, while the network

Bulgaria

A Delegation from Qatar is pondering buying 49 percent of Macedonia’s state-owned power producing company.

had a total of 1.1 million customers, with 255 branches. The Group made a profit of €20 million in Croatia and €20 million in Serbia, however a loss was registered in Slovenia and one of the two Bosnian banks. Kranebiter expected that there will be an income of at least €1.5 billion and announced that the final list of potential buyers should be finalized by the end of 2012.

Ratify Nabucco agreement

Bulgaria’s Parliament is expected to ratify the agreement between the Bulgarian Nabucco company and the international Nabucco Consortium for the furthering of the eponymous gas pipeline project. The agreement was approved by the country’s parliament in March.

Romania

A fertile land Attracted by the low cost of agricultural land, farmers from the EU are taking the plunge to set up in Romania.

In so doing the farmers are contributing to the renewal of local agriculture which is increasingly oriented towards organic produce. Nowadays, you cannot travel across Romania without meeting newly arrived farmers from Western Europe who are re-inventing the country’s agriculture. Thanks to their know-how and investments, Romanian agriculture grew by 11% in 2011. The going rate for arable land in Romania is around 2,000 euros per hectare, an extraordinarily low price for the EU - EU subsidies per hectare amount to 180 euro, which is half of the current rate in Western Europe. As it stands, farmers from other EU states who wish to buy land in Romania are obliged to register companies in the country. However, from 2014, EU residents will be allowed to acquire land directly. Among the most hurried are Swiss farmers who no longer have the means to pay the tens of the thousands of euros per hectare demanded for land in their home country.

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Macedonia

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Macedonian Finance Minister Zoran Stavreski (left) Representatives of severand PM Nikola Gruevski al Qatari state companies are in Macedonia reviewing the financial conditions and technical potential of the Macedonian company, Viktor Mizo, Head of the Government Directorate for Technological Industrial Development Zones, said. Mizo said the deal is expected to “bring in up to €1.2 billion that will be used to construct new energy facilities that will meet the interests of both the country and the investor”. Representatives of Qatar Holding, Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Water and Electricity are to visit ELEM’s facilities near the capital, including three hydropower plants at Matka, St. Petka and Kozjak. After dividing its old state-run power operator ESM in two, Macedonia sold the power distribution grid to Austria’s EVN in 2006. ELEM is one of the last big state companies that has not been privatized in the last 20 years since the transition from a Socialist economy to a free market.

The ratification is an obligation of every country party to the Nabucco project, in which countries commit to creating beneficial regulatory conditions for the execution of the project, and in giving companies needed support. The Nabucco project, started by Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Turkey, is part of the EU’s so-called “Southern Gas Corridor”, which is set

to build a natural gas pipeline to deliver gas from the Middle East, Caspian Sea and Central Asia through Turkey and on to Central Europe. Last month, the Nabucco Consortium presented a revised, smaller version of the gas pipeline project called “Nabucco West” to the consortium developing the Shah Deniz II gas field in Azerbaijan.

Croatia

Australians ready to invest millions

Australia’s biggest investment bank, Macquarie Group, is considering investing €1.3 billion in Croatia, through projects renovating Croatian schools and other government buildings.

The news came at a time when Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Radimir Čačicć, and Finance Minister, Slavko Linić, were in London attending the annual meeting of the EBRD. Mark Dooley from Macquarie Europe confirmed that the Australian investment bank were interested. “We are very interested in becoming a leading investor in

the project and I think there are a lot of foreigners who would be interested in funding projects in Croatia,” Dooley confirmed. Macquarie also stated that the bank is very interested in the government’s plans regarding the construction of an LNG terminal on the Croatian island of Krk and a highway construction concession if the government decides on such a form of Source: Croatian Times investment.

Victory & Defeat "The voters of the Democratic Party of Serbia decided to give Nikolić election victory. Also, the voters of the Socialist Party abstained, thus contributing to Tadić's defeat" - Dragan Čavić, leader of the Democratic Party, Republika Srpska.

Slovenia

Port of Koper looking for strategic partners

Port operator Luka Koper is looking at large infrastructure projects which are “extremely capital intensive”.

Luka Koper is stagnating and currently in a very bad capital condition, therefore it will need a strategic partner. In the long run, a port authority would need to be formed, together with at least one more concessionary in addition to Luka Koper. The second concessionary would build a third pier and a second rail track between Divača and Koper. This is expected to lead to a normal management structure and utilization of port capacities as is the case in the majority of other ports in Western Europe. Some of the problems Luka Koper is facing are due to state ownership. If the port operator was to be privatised through a strategic partner and the state’s stake reduced to around 25%, then politics would lose its influence and this would have a beneficial effect on the port’s future growth, suggest Slovenian experts.

kosovo

“Unnecessary” junction

Priština’s €14.5 million super junction is already being patched up with bricks, instead of asphalt, less than a year after being opened to the public.

A major transport intersection on the edge of Priština remains unfinished three years after building works started and is over-budget, despite the fact that according to senior officials in the Ministry of Planning, it could have been built for significantly less money. “There is no roundabout like this anywhere in the region, it is quite unique,” said Lahudin Myrtaj, Head of Roads at the Ministry of Infrastructure. A high-ranking official from the Ministry of Environment

and Planning told Balkan Insight that the project was unnecessary, as the roundabout could have been built at ground level, rather than raised. “The expenses would have been much cheaper, the works would have been finished much earlier and we would not have had the problems that we have today,” he said. The biggest roundabout in Kosovo, located next to the main bus station in Priština, has already cost €14.5 million and taken three years to build.

Montenegro

SAMITA100 Business Leaders of SEE Europe Montenegrin President Filip Vujanović, on May 19th, received, at the Porto Montenegro marina in Tivat, a delegation of the Boards of Directors SAMIT 100 Business Leaders of Southeast Europe who wish to further support business integration in the region as the ultimate goal in order to create better economic and living conditions in the area.

The meeting was initiated by the organizers of SAMIT100 (Serbian Association of Managers, the Croatian Association of Employers and Managers association of Slovenia), and was in continuation of dialogue started in Arandjelovac in October 2011. President Vujanović expressed his unreserved support for the initiative on business integration and concrete projects involving the cooperation of all companies in the region, which will contribute to a more competitive environment, better products and services to citizens, and improved performance in other markets. In the photo, first row from the left: Dejan Mandić, Mayor of Herceg Novi, Maja Ćatović, Mayor of Kotor, Miša Lukić, Director, Leo Burnett, Oliver Corlette, General Manager Porto Montenegro, Sonja Šmuc, CEO Association of Slovenian managers, Duško Knezević,

President Atlas Group (host of the meeting), Filip Vujanović, President of Montenegro, Maya Piščević, CEO Board of Serbian Association of Managers, Iztok Seljak, Vice President Samot100, Branko Radujko, Telekom Serbia and Chairman of the Board Samit100, Davor Majetić, CEO Croatian Association of Employers, Jelena Radulović, partner at Alba Partners, Aleksandar Bogdanović, Mayor of Cetinje. Second row from the right: Branislav Grujić, CEO PSP Farman, Drago Podobnik, CEO HIT, Damir Kuštrak, Vice President Agrokor, Franjo Bobinac, Chairman of the Board Gorenje and Vice President of the Slovenian Managers Association.

cordeditorial@cma.rs

94 June 2012 | 43

Neighbours

Business Dialogue Interview

"It is the will of Serbian voters, I respect it and believe we will have a good relationship. It is a political option which, in Europe for us formally, is a little bit farther, but they (Serbs) are our neighbours," Zoran Milanović, Croatian President

Dr. Tihomir Simić, General Director of Elektrovojvodina d.o.o.

From Minus to Profit

Currently, on the territory of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Elektrovojvodina is implementing 60 projects worth over 900 million dinars in collaboration with the local municipalities and City of Novi Sad.

he implementation of these projects is considered a priority through which Elektrovojvodina is fulfilling conditions for the dynamic development of business investments and demonstrating care for the advancement of infrastructure and improvement of living conditions for all residents of Vojvodina.” – Tihomir Simić, Ph.D. and General Director of Elektrovojvodina d.o.o. ■ Last year was quite successful for your company. How satisfied are you with the company’s accomplishments and is there room for further growth? - Our operations, in the last four years, were unsuccessful with negative financial results, 2011 started with a 1.2 billion dinar minus in our balance sheets. After only a year of constantly working on improving the overall state of the company, we ended the year with a positive balance of 527 million dinars. For Elektrovojvodina, 2011 represents the accomplishment of set goals like getting our corporate organization in order, bringing in a new workforce, advancing business and work processes, complete harmonization with

In 2011, our company invested over 12 million euros in advancing the operational availability and stability of the power supply system

relevant business regulationss, the permanent elimination of lack of transparency and raising efficiency in all areas. We are happy to say that projected goals have been met since last year’s financial results, particularly in terms of payment collection and cutting losses in the company’s technical sector, which have made Elektrovojvodina one of the most successful companies in the Electric Power Industry of Serbia (EPS). Payment of electricity bills has exceeded the plan devised by EPS. When it comes to payment collection, Elektrovojvodina takes first place. Electricity losses were reduced from 13.5% in 2010 to 44 |

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12.23% in 2011 which led to an increase in the company’s revenue of about 634 million dinars. This year will only validate the ability of our business system to be competitive in a free electricity market. Hence, 40 million euros worth of investments in maintaining the power supply infrastructure, new facilities, overhauling system parts and creating an exceptionally important resource for economic development in 2012 are important development factors for our economy. ■ You overcame a bitterly cold and long winter without too many problems. How did you manage to do that and did you have to specially organize the whole system in order to do so? - In 2011, Elektrovojvodina invested over 12 million euros in advancing the operational availability and stability of the power supply system which was evident in the emergency situation that we had in February. We had a minor number of reported malfunctions but we are very satisfied with the level or our system’s reliability. On the other hand, we always need to bear in mind that an efficient and successful company is made up of a professional team of employees who are engaged at all operational and management levels.

■ Many consumers owe a lot of money for electricity, some were even sued. How much money do they actually owe, who are the biggest debtors and what will you do to settle these claims? - Any company or household that is not regularly paying its electricity bills are jeopardizing the stability of the power supply for all consumers, as well as the regular business operations of Elektrovojvodina and EPS. If we are talking about corporate debtors in Vojvodina, I have to mention HIP Petrohemija. Apart from Petrohemija, there is the Fertilizer Plant from Pančevo (Azotara) and the Kovin Mine. Because of the money owed to us, which is a burden for the company, Elektrovojvodina has undertaken legal measures in order to collect the money since these big debtors are

Acceleration "Looking from the perspective of pro-European orientation of Serbia, we do not expect major changes. It may be that some steps will be accelerated," - Janez Janša, Slovenian Prime minister.

endangering our overall payment collection system, investments and the maintenance of the power supply system.

■ Investors find Vojvodina a very interesting investment location particularly in terms of clean energy and you, in that respect, are a crucial partner. Are there any agreements coming up in the near future? - Yes. Fighting and providing a good example to our surroundings when it comes to raising the level of energy efficiency and utilization of renewable energy resources will be realized in Elektrovojvodina through a project installing the first solar power plant on the roof of the company’s corporate HQ. Also, last year, in collaboration with the Faculty of Technical Sciences, we launched a photovoltaic solar power plant which is made of 40 photovoltaic panels installed on the Faculty’s roof. ■ You have also announced that your clients will be able to have payment cards. How are these cards going to work and do you expect them to contribute to the regular payment of electricity bills? - The energy payment card, which is the first card of this kind in our country, is a joint project of Elektrovojvodina and the Vojvodina Development Bank. The card enables an electricity consumer to regularly pay their bills and, in the process, have a 5% discount if they pay before the stated date. In order to be issued with this card, a consumer needs to open a current account at Vojvodina Development Bank through which they receive their monthly salary. Without actually going to the bank to pay the bill, the consumer can pay bills (for one electricity meter) and a TV subscription via the card, and if the payment is made within the set deadline, they are eligible for a discount. After the card’s official promotion in October 2011, our consumers are now using it regularly. ■ This year Elektrovojvodina is celebrating an important jubilee, its 54th anniversary. What would you like to single out about this celebration? - Elektrovojvodina is a socially responsible company, with the desire to become a fully market orientated and profitable enterprise. Our mission is to secure a stable and reliable power supply to all of our consumers, as well as render other types of services on the territory of AP Vojvodina under the most favourable market conditions while constantly raising the quality of our services. The projects that we plan to implement in the following period are: completing the digitization of voice radio communication and data connections to the power facilities, managing mobile crews, constructing a new data centre, implementing a new billing and payment system, new call centre, medium voltage management systems in ED Pančevo and other branches, the Smart City project in ED Novi Sad and installation of the latest energy supply equipment.

■ Your company is also known for investing in environmental protection. What environmental projects do you plan to implement, how much will they cost and what is the deadline for their realization? - Since 1998, Elektrovojvodina has implemented various environmental projects and was successfully certified with the ISO 9001 quality management certificate. In 2010, we started to implement an integrated quality system. In other words, we have the ISO 9001:2008,

From left to right: Goran Kostić Member of Development Bank of Vojvodina, Ljubo Maćić President of the Council of the Energy Agency of Serbia, dr Bojan Pajtić Vice President of the Democratic Party and Prime Minister of Vojvodina, dr Aca Marković CEO of EPS, dr Tihomir Simić General Director of Elektrovojvodina

Elektrovojvodina is a socially responsible company with the desire to become a fully market orientated and profitable enterprise ISO 14001:2004 and OH&S 18001:2007 certificates. We also have good cooperation with the Faculty of Technical Sciences (FTN) and Environmental Protection Engineering and Work Safety Department with whom we drafted several waste management and optimization of hazardous and non-hazardous management system feasibility studies through the implementation of MFA (Material Flow Analysis). We are currently implementing the remediation of contaminated land project in collaboration with FTN. Apart from the mentioned projects, we have successfully realized the EcoProfit Novi Sad 2011 project as well as various projects within EPS.

■ You have installed a so-called ‘Strawberry Tree’ in Novi Sad. Do you plan to ‘plant’ similar ‘trees’ anywhere else? - In cooperation with the City of Novi Sad, on the 25th October last year, Elektrovojvodina donated a universal solar mobile phone charger and an Internet Hot Spot to the citizens of Novi Sad. So far, 50,000 people have charged their mobile phones, music players, tablet computers, digital cameras and other portable devices with the help of this charger and spent thousands of free hours on the Internet. We know that ‘one tree doesn’t make a forest’, but we have set an example for others of how things should be done. ■ cordeditorial@cma.rs

94 June 2012 | 45

world news

Debt crisis

Business Dialogue 01

Demand for the world’s priciest houses is likely to cool this year after two years of strong growth due to concerns over Europe’s debt crisis, research has showed.

Formula One

IPO all set to take off?

JP Morgan executive to walk away with €25.1 million Ina Drew, the executive who ran the department behind JP Morgan’s €1.57bn trading loss, has left the bank and will walk away with about €25.1m.

The idea of floating Formula One has been around for more than a decade but there now appears to be real momentum to sell off as much as 30 percent of the company.

Banks UBS and Goldman Sachs have been hired to lead Bernie Ecclestone, CEO of Formula One an initial public offering (IPO) that could value the business at up to €7.85 billion. Peter Brabeck, chairman of Swiss food group Nestle, has been lined up to chair the company should the flotation proceed. The driving force is private equity firm CVC Capital Partners which has owned 63.4 percent of the business since 2006 and now plans to cash in. CVC is seeking to cut its stake to under 50 percent, a source close to the deal has said. Further impetus could be provided by a 15 percent stake which was held by US investment bank Lehman Brothers when it collapsed in 2008. Flotation would allow the bank’s administrators to raise up to €1.17 billion for creditors.

Russia

Moscow to spend €25.9bn on Subway

Peru

Hochschild minings €334m investment Hochschild Mining will invest €334 million in two projects over the next two years in Peru.

The city of Moscow plans to spend over a trillion roubles (some €25.9 billion) by 2020 extending the capital city’s subway system. The Moscow metro, one of the world’s largest and most beautiful subway systems, will be extended by 145.5 km of rail lines and equipped with 67 new stations. The new stations will be equipped with toilets, a luxury omitted by Soviet construction planners. Currently, the total length of the Moscow metro, opened in 1935, comes to 305.5 km over 12 lines with 185 stations. It is the second-most heavily used rapid transit system in the world after Tokyo’s subway. Source: RIA Novosti

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The 55-year-old chief investment officer oversaw the division which made bets that JP Morgan had warned could rack up a further €700 million in losses. She will be replaced by Matt Zames, head of fixed income at JP Morgan’s investment bank and a former proprietary trader. One of the best-paid women on Wall Street, last year Drew received a remuneration package worth €12.1 m. Corporate documents show that following her resignation she is entitled to €314,366 in severance, as well as a share award that was worth €12.47m in mid May. In addition, she has unexercised options that were valued at €2.7m at the end of last year, a series of retirement benefits worth a further €2.06m and a €7.75m deferred Source: Daily Telegraph compensation pot built up over several years. The investment will go to the Argentiferous projects Inmaculada and Crespo, near the company’s Arcata and Pallancata mines in southern Peru. Inmaculada will produce around ten-million ounces of silver per year while Crespo will produce 2.3-million ounces of the precious metal, according to Hochschild Mining’s Web site. Hochschild said the company, which also runs the San Jose mine in Argentina, maintains its previous estimates for silver output. Hochschild Mining will likely produce 20-million ounces of silver this Source: Reuters year, less than last year’s 22.6-million ounces.

Spain

Banks confront the property bubble The rescue of Spain’s second largest savings bank, Bankia, announced by Mariano Rajoy’s government, has sounded alarm sabout the situation of Spanish banks.

‘El Pais’ has calculated that “€20 billion of toxic assets do not come from the banks,” which underlined that €85 billion worth of assets corresponded to loans. According to the Madrid daily, these are the Achilles heel of Spanish banks. Toxic assets due to real estate continue to rise, with more and more buildings on banks’ balance sheets that have been acquired as a result of unpaid loans. To address the risk of bankruptcy of banks exposed to toxic assets related to real estate, the government “requires [the banks] to put aside larger provisions” for such credits, concludes El País.

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Egypt

Fuel coupon system In a bid to reform Egypt’s untenable energy subsidies, the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) has introduced a plan to reduce petroleum subsidies by LE35 billion (€4.55bn) in the coming financial year.

Subsidies for petroleum products amounted to LE110 billion (€14.3bn) in Egypt’s budget for the 2011/12 fiscal year. The plan, introduced in mid-May, suggests a coupon system for distributing fuel. Every year, car owners will receive, upon licence renewal, coupons worth a total of LE2,500 (€325), equivalent to 200 litres per month. Drivers who consume more would then have to buy petrol at higher prices. Coupons will be applied to cheaper 80octane gasoline as well as the more expensive 90- and 92-octane lead free gasoline.

Melons

The orange-fleshed Yubari melon has long been famed as a delicacy in Japan. This year, a 4kg box set of two melons was sold for €6,500. The highest price ever paid for a pair of Yubari melons was €23,000 in 2008. US

Bribery & Corruption

Yahoo CEO steps down

Treating corruption

Yahoo chief executive Scott Thompson is stepping down after controversy over a fake computer science college degree on his biography.

On his Musings On Markets blog, New York University’s finance guru Aswath Damodaran discusses the existence of bribery and corruption in the global corporate world

Scott Thompson is the third CEO to leave the company in three years. The move is a victory for hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb of Third Point LLC, Yahoo’s largest outside shareholder, who brought the discrepancy in Thompson’s educational background to light. Thompson’s interim replacement, effective immediately, will be Yahoo’s global media head Ross Levinsohn. The departure of Thompson, the former president of eBay division PayPal who was hired in January, is an-

other blow to the company that has been struggling to kickstart growth amid fierce competition from Google, Facebook and other internet companies. Last month Yahoo acknowledged that Thompson does not have a computer science degree despite what was stated in his official company biography and in regulatory filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Silicon Valley

The highest-paid software engineers If you talk to a software engineer, they’re probably most interested in attacking difficult and interesting problems that affect a lot of people.

It’s really not surprising that some of the most popular software companies among engineers and developers also pay the best, according to salary data pulled from GlassDoor. Here is a list of the top tech companies in Silicon Valley that pay their software engineers and developers the highest wages. These salaries do appear to be for entry-level engineers so there are some senior engineers that make much more. But still, it shows why a lot of people choose the companies they do. 1. Twitter: Average yearly salary: €90,379 - Surprise! It turns out Twitter pays its software engineers the best out of most of the top tech firms in Silicon Valley. 2. Facebook: €87,635 - Like Apple, Facebook is building a product that is literally changing the way the world works. Unlike Apple, Facebook pays extremely well. 3. LinkedIn: €87,221 - LinkedIn was one of the hottest IPOs in 2011, so it has a lot of fresh capital and pays its engineers extremely well. 4. Cisco Systems: €83,021 - Not too

many engineers would willingly want to work at a hardware-specific company that doesn’t rhyme with Snapple. 5. Apple: €81,701 - Apple actually pays its engineers slightly more than Google does, according to GlassDoor. But it’s still nowhere near some of the top start-ups in Silicon Valley. 6. Google: €81,351 - Google isn’t the highest-paying company for entry-level engineers, according to GlassDoor. 7. Yahoo: €80,721 - Since Yahoo is in the midst of a lot of layoffs, they’ll have to bring out the check book if they want to attract some real talent to the company. It looks like they are doing just that. 8. Zynga: €79,035 - Zynga poaches a lot of employees from competing companies like EA, so it has to offer more money than they do. 9. Oracle: €78,168 - Larry Ellison’s employees just barely slide under the €80,000 club, but Oracle is a pretty big company and a lot of the largest companies in the world use its technology. 10. Amazon: €72,837 - Amazon has to hire engineers to keep its site up and running briskly - literally every second matters. Naturally it has to have a competitive salary, though it’s a little surprising that the number isn’t slightly higher.

He offers a simple methodology for incorporating these “dark” costs into valuation models. First, the more licenses, permissions or other official approvals you need to operate, the greater the potential for corruption. Second, a very good environment for corruption is if you have political hegemony (whether it be of the dictatorial variety or one party rule), an ineffective legal system (making it impossible to challenge biased official acts) and an apathetic or controlled media (that either cannot or will not view corruption as a good news story). Third, the odds of corruption increase if the system is designed on the premise that corruption is the rule rather than the exception. Fourth, where corruption exists but is not explicitly reported, it may make sense to consider the expenses associated with it as an implicit tax levied by government. The fact that this tax revenue goes to the government officials and not to taxpayers is deplorable, but that makes little difference to the company paying “When corruption occurs at the highest levels, you can argue that as a private business owner, you have ‘corrupt government officials’ as partners who provide no capital but get a share of the income. Consequently, you have to generate a higher return on your capital invested to cover the cash outflows to your implicit partners,” advices Aswath Damodaran. Here are the 10 most corrupt countries in the world according to Transparency International. 1. Somalia 2. North Korea 3. Myanmar 4. Afghanistan 5. Uzbekistan

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6. Turkmenistan 7. Sudan 8. Iraq 9. Haiti 10. Venezuela

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Business Dialogue Stock exchanges

Working Force In the European Parliament, around 6 000 people work in the general secretariat and in the political groups. In the Council of the EU, around 3 500 people work in the general secretariat.

Trading in Facebook Shares Ever since news broke last year that shares of Facebook were going to be floated on stock exchanges, there was a lot of buzz surrounding the announcement and the company’s potential

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg rings the Nasdaq opening bell in Menlo Park, California

any global analysts, brokers and fund managers hurried to give says Kristian Dinić, director of Ilikira Investments brokerage. their opinion about the future price and value of the company. And there is another problem for Facebook. In the evening of May Even before trading began, it was clear that demand for the 21st, Facebook’s lead underwriter, Morgan Stanley, presented a new shares exceeded the number of shares offered for sale. It seemed opinion and estimate which showed that the underwriter reduced that this fact alone sparked additional interest for investors and Facebook’s revenue projection. The main reason for it was the fact raised the ‘temperature’ in the public just prior to trading, which that an increasing number of Facebook users are using mobile deaffected the shares’ value on the first day of trading. vices to access the website which, in turn, significantly reduces adBased on past information about previous IPOs, primarily in the case of vertising potential, a chief source of income and profit for FB. Google, it seemed that shares in Facebook would be sell like hot cakes. The whole situation became even more complicated when it was For instance, if one spent $1,000 (€797) on Google’s shares on the discovered that Morgan Stanley did the downgrade only a couple of first trading day (25th August, 2004), today those shares are worth days before actual trading was supposed to start and informed only close to $7,000 (€5,800). However, investors overlooked a very Facebook’s lead underwriter, Morgan Stanley, presented a new opinion important fact. At the time when Google’s shares were floated, the company was and estimate which showed that they reduced Facebook’s revenue worth far less (€18.3billion) than Faceprojection, but did so only a couple of days before actual trading was book is today, which is estimated to be supposed to start and only informed VIP clients, while a huge number over $100 billion (€79.7 billion). of ‘ordinary’ clients knew nothing about the information Trading in Facebook shares started in a very tense atmosphere on Friday 18th May. In the first minutes of trading, the initial price of $38 (€30) grew VIP clients of its findings, while a huge number of ‘ordinary’ clients to $45 (€35), and in the first 1-1/2 hours of trading, the value of knew nothing about the information and, as such, were discriminatshares fell to $38.27 (€30.5), just a fraction above the initial price. ed against. All in all, it seems that lawsuits are in order, as announced After that, many stock exchange experts forecast a further drop by certain big law companies based in California. which, subsequently, came true on the second day of trading – 21st If there exists a better alternative for investing in the IT sector, then May – when Facebook shares sank by 10.99%. look no further than companies like Google, Apple and Samsung “It seems that Facebook has failed, at least for now, to convince inwhose valuations are significantly lower than Facebook’s but have vestors in the sustainability of its business format. Simply put, the business formats that are far more predictable and familiar. company, with total revenue of $3.7 billion (€2.95 billion) and net On top of that, the price of FB’s shares in the pre-trading stage reprofit $1 billion (€797 million), will hardly manage to stay at the corded a significant minus of 3.23%, which is indicative of an addisame level of market capitalization of $100 billion (€79.7 billion)”, tional drop in trading.■

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Listen up... "All right, everybody, listen up. First of all, I want to welcome all the leaders here. The press, you’re welcome as long as you don’t break anything." - Remarks by President Obama Before Working Session with G8 Leaders

Global action on tax evasion has largely failed

he nevertheless insisted: “It is now no longer possible to hide assets or income without risking detection.” Presented with Johannesen and Zucman’s findings mid last month, Pascal Saint-Amans, the OECD’s head of tax, said: “It’s an interesting survey, but perhaps it is published a bit early. Let’s see what the impact is in a couple of years.” However, tax campaigners claim the latest study shows getting offshore centres to sign bilateral co-operation treaties is an ineffective means of tackling the problem. Weakly worded treaties, they argue, allow signatories to request financial details only where they can already demonstrate suspect evasion activity. Reformers have called for more robust transparency treaties to weed out tax evaders. Adding to the challenge facing tax authorities is the widespread use of corporate structures spanning multiple havens. Johannesen and Zucman’s study found that some €434 billion – about a quarter of all deposits in tax havens – was owned by individuals or companies in other havens. The British Virgin Islands and Panama are popular jurisdictions for such holding companies. Money flowing to opaque offshore financial centres has in recent years been the subject of intense political scrutiny as many of the world’s largest economies – not least the US and Britain – have been straining to raise sufficient taxes to pay for public services and to service rising debts without choking off economic growth. The G20 crackdown has pressured many offshore financial centres to sign co-operation treaties. Jersey and Guernsey have signed 18 and 19 such treaties respectively. According to Johannesen and Zucman, BIS data suggests that these bilateral treaties typically lead to a 3.8% fall in the deposits held on behalf of individuals or companies from the treaty partner. Bank deposits in Jersey have dropped by more than a half, a fall espite unprecedented action from political leaders, and a of €86.8 billion over four years; deposits in Guernsey have deblizzard of bilateral co-operation treaties entered into by clined by 15%. By contrast, Johannesen and Zucman said, Cyoffshore centres, deposit data from the Bank of Internaprus has signed only two co-operation treaties meeting OECD tional Settlements (BIS) shows bank accounts in tax havens still criteria and saw deposit levels rise by 60%. held €2.1 trillion last year – about the same “The deposit amount as in 2007. Zucman’s study found that some €434 billion gains and losses Niels Johannesen and Gabriel Zucman, aca– about a quarter of all deposits in tax havens correlate strongly demics who were granted access to a rarely with the number – was owned by individuals or companies in of treaties signed seen breakdown of BIS data, concluded: other havens “So far, the G20 tax haven crackdown has… by each haven,” largely failed… treaties have led to a modest the academics relocation of bank deposits between tax havens but have not found. “The least compliant havens have attracted new clients, triggered significant flows of funds out of tax havens.” while the most compliant have lost some, leaving roughly unTheir findings are in sharp contrast to the official verdict on the changed the total amount of wealth managed in tax havens.” However, they also noted that those withdrawing deposits G20 initiative in London in 2009. Last November, Angel Gurria, around the time of co-operation treaties – possible tax general-secretary of the Organization for Economic Co-operevaders – were frequently shifting their wealth to other, ation and Development, the body whose job is to oversee the similarly secretive, offshore centres where no such equivacrackdown, told the G20 in Cannes: “The era of bank secrecy is Source: guardian.co.uk lent treaty existed. ■ over.” Acknowledging work remained to be done in some areas,

Tax Havens Still Hold ¤2.1 Trillion

The most concerted global push ever undertaken against international tax evasion has failed to reverse the flow of funds to offshore financial centres, according to banking industry data

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after work Mercedes-Benz and Novak Djokovic

Dream Doubles M The German car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz hosted the “Dream Doubles” promotion event at the Serbia Open. The evening was a great success and included one very special guest.

ANDREAS BINDER, general director of Mercedes-Benz SCG and SRDJAN DJOKOVIĆ, director of Family Sport with the racket Novak used to win the Australian Open

PARNI VALJAK, one of the most famous bands in the region

Guests were able to see the latest line-up of Mercedes-Benz vehicles

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ercedes-Benz, a partner of the Serbia Open ATP tournament and Family Sports, organized a promotion called “Dream Doubles” on the 3rd May in BelExpo centre. The audience was addressed by Andreas Binder, general director of Mercedes-Benz, Srdjan Djoković, director of Family Sport and, via video-link, the best tennis player in the world and Mercedes-Benz brand-ambassador Novak Djoković. The star act of the evening was the most famous band in the region, Parni Valjak, whose music entertained the numerous guests and participants of the tournament. Guests were also able to see the latest models from the Mercedes Benz line-up all in one place. At the end of the evening prizes were drawn, which included a very special item – the racket Novak used to win the Australian Open. For first prize Mercedes-Benz provided a weekend with the brightest star of the company - the new SL-Class. ■

DJOKOVIĆ FAMILY and ANDREAS BINDER, general director of Mercedes-Benz SCG

ANDREAS BINDER and SRDJAN DJOKOVIĆ

PARNI VALJAK in action

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faces & places

In the evening, during and immediately after the closing of the elections in Serbia, on May 6th, CorD in cooperation with the national news agency Tanjug, and supported by Prva Srpska TV, Srbijagas and Centrostampa, organized a reception that was attended by over 250 of the highest representatives of the diplomatic corps, foreign and domestic investors, political, media and cultural life of Serbia. This was a unique opportunity for guests to spot familiar faces whilst following the outcomes of the presidential, parliamentary and regional elections, along with the results of voting in France and Greece. In a relaxed atmosphere, the exchange of opinions, estimates and forecasts were broadcast directly on TV. The reception ended in high spirits at around midnight. Picture left: H.E. Mr. Željko Kuprešak (left) Croatian Ambassador, Branka Djukić, Director of Tanjug and Slavica Djukić Dejanović, acting President of Serbian Parliament

Picture right:

H.E. Mr. Vensan Degert (left) EU Ambassador, H.E. Mr. Nils Ragnar Kamsvag, Norwegian Ambassador, H.E. Mr. Željko Kuprešak, Croatian Ambassador and H.E. Mrs. Helena Gay Studdert, Australian Ambassador

Picture left: H.E. Mr. Alexandre Addor Neto (left) Brazilian Ambassador, H.E. Mr. Oszkar Nikowitz, Hungarian Ambassador and H.E. Mr. Armando Varriccheio, Italian Ambassador

Picture right: H.E. Mr. Michael Davenport (left), British Ambassador, H.E. Mr. Yossef Levy, Israeli Ambassador and Rabbi Isak Asijel

Picture left: H.E. Mr. Franc But (left), Slovenian Ambassador and H.E. Mr. FransoaGzavije Denio, French Ambassador

Picture right: Branka Djukić, Director of Tanjug (left), model Sara Brajović and Ivan Novćić, General Manager of aim

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Picture left: Michael Schmidt, Executive Director of the German Serbian Business Association (left), and Ernst Bode CEO Messer Tehnogas

Picture right: William Infante, UNDP Resident Representative (left), Mark Harrison from Harrisons Solicitors and Branislav Simović, CEO Mace

Picture left: Rodoljub Šabić (left), Commissioner for Information of Public Importance, Slobodan Marković, Chairman of the Board of RTS and Saša Janković, Ombudsman

Picture right: Branislav Novćić, Director of aim. (left) and H.E. Mr. Vincent Degert, EU Ambassador to Serbia

Picture left: Toplica Spasojević, CEO of ITM Group, Branislav Grujić, President of the Serbian Business Club “Privrednik” and Božidar Djurović, Director of the National Theatre

Picture right: U.S. Ambassador H.E. Mrs. Mary Warlick interviewed for Prva Srpska TV by Zoran Baranac

Picture left: Marina Paunović (left), Chief of Party IREX Serbia, Miloš Djurković, President of AmCham Serbia and Ruža Ristanović, Executive Director of aim

Picture right: H.E. Mr. Shpetim Caushi (left), Albanian Ambassador and H.E. Mr. Bertil Christer Asp, Swedish Ambassador

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faces & places 08.05.2012 Polish National Day In celebration of the National Day of Poland, the Polish Embassy in Belgrade held a reception hosted by the Polish Ambassador to Serbia H.E. MR. Andrzej Jasionowski, on the 8th May, at the embassy. Guests from various diplomatic corps and high officials of Serbia basked in the sunshine in the embassy’s garden and were offered the chance to try numerous polish delicacies. Picture right: Polish Ambassador H.E. Mr. Andrzej Jasionowski, Colonel Jerzy Szczepanczyk and Małgorzata Szczepanczyk welcoming the embassy’s guests.

13.05.2012 Australian Soprano The Australian Ambassador to Serbia H.E. Dr. Helena Studdert invited guests to a concert of famous Australian Indigenous soprano, Ms. Deborah Cheetham (below). The Concert was held at the Children’s Cultural Centre of Belgrade (Takovska 8) and was followed by a cocktail reception. Members of the audience included Norwegian Ambassador H.E. Mr. Nils Ragnar Kamsvag, U.S. Ambassador H.E. Mrs. Mary Warlick (top), Japanese Ambassador H.E. Mr Tošio Cunozaki and Mexican Ambassador H.E. Ms. Mercedes F. Ruiz Zapata.

16.05.2012 Indonesian Fashion Designers

09.05.2012 Europe Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Alexander II and Princess Katherine and Prince Philip, attended the celebration of Europe Day and the opening of the European Week of Culture at the Yugoslav Drama Theatre. Mr. Vincent Degert, Head of the EC Delegation to Serbia, officially opened the event. The ceremony was attended by prof. Dr. Slavica Djukić Dejanović, Parliament Speaker and acting President of Serbia, Mr. Mirko Cvetković, Prime Minister, Mr. Ivica Daćić, Deputy Prime Minister, H.E. Mr. Erwin Hofer, Swiss Ambassador, H.E. Mr. Alehandre Ador Neto, Ambassador of Brazil and other members of the diplomatic corps, city officials, artists and journalists.

A delegation from Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism and the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Serbia organized a fashion event showcasing the creations of Indonesia’s youngest designers called “Batik Van Java”, at the residence of the Ambassador of Indonesia to Serbia, H.E. Mr. Samuel Samson who hosted the event. Picture (below): H.E. Mr. Samuel Samson greeting the Egyptian Ambassador to Serbia H.E. Mr. Aly Galal Bassiouny

17.05.2012 National Day of Norway In celebration of Norway’s national day, commemorating the signing of the Norwegian constitution in 1814, the embassy of Norway held a party at the official residence in Dedinje. Norwegian Ambassador to Serbia H.E. Mr. Nils Ragnar Kamsvag and his wife Josephine Kamsvag hosted the successful event in the company of numerous distinguished guests including the diplomatic representatives of many countries and Serbia’s cultural, media and political elite. Picture right: German Ambassador H.E. Mr. Wolfram Maas with his wife.

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22.05.2012 Art and Literature On the 22nd May, Belgrade 2020 and the French Embassy in Serbia invited guests to an award ceremony at the residence of the French Embassy. The prominent Serbian composer and guitarist Maya Le Roux Obradović was awarded with the French Ministry of Culture’s Chevalier of the Order of Art and Literature. In the presence of a great number of guests, she thanked her French and Serbian friends and the organisers of the “Beograd 2020” project for their support. The award was presented by the French Ambassador to Serbia H.E. Mr. François-Xavier Deniau.

23.05.2012 ‘Belgrade Winner’ In the ‘Belgrade Winner’ ceremony at Sava Center, CEO of Interkomerc, Goran Perčević was announced as “Businessman of the Year”, for the results he achieved in 2011, by the Belgrade Chamber of Commerce. Top: Goran Perčević (left), H.E. Mr. Armando Varriccheio, Italian Ambassador and Milan Janković President of the Belgrade Chamber of

Commerce Top right: Milan Janković and Ivica Dačić Vice President of Serbian Government

25.05.2012 National Day of Argentina On the occasion of the National Day of Argentina, the Charge d’ Affaires of the Argentinean Embassy, Mr. Gustavo Alejandro Dzugala, and his wife, invited members of the press and representatives of the diplomatic, culture and social communities of Belgrade to celebrate with them at the Argentinean residency. Mrs. and Mr. Dzugala welcome French Ambassador H.E. Mr. François-Xavier Deniau.

25.05.2012 Africa Day The African Organisation Group organised the ‘Africa Day’ reception at the Museum of African Art. This year, the majority of African countries are celebrating 50 years of independence and of the establishment of diplomatic relations with Serbia. Among the guests were high level Serbian officials, business people and politicians, and representatives of African countries in Belgrade. Mr. Vuk Jeremic Minister of Foreign Affairs giving his speech.

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culture calendar CONCERTS ZAZ Ušće, Kalemegdan, 1 June @ 21.00 Musical phenomenon from Paris Montmartre, Zaz, whose full name is Isabelle Geffroy, expressed a personal desire to perform in the open air in front of many fans in the Serbian capital. Zaz will return to Serbia with several new songs, while her current singles “La Fée” and “Éblouie par la nuit”, won fans over with new videos. It is interesting that her concert in Zagreb, which will follow two days after Belgrade, is already sold out. This is just one of the successes for Zaz from

the start of this year, the first of which is certainly a national award for the most successful French artists in the previous year, leaving behind even the popular DJ David Ghetto! Zaz is the best-selling foreign artist in Serbia in last six months, as is the case in several other europian countries. IQ Music 2012, Belgrade Arena, 9 June New Music Festival, IQ Music, organized by Belgrade Arena and Belgrade Cultural Network with support from Jelen Live, will feature several different artists, both from the region and the international music scene. All these artists have in common is that their work so far managed to achieve a very specific and authentic artistic expression. IQ Music festival, which will be held under the slogan “Think with your own head”, would not be related exclusively to the genre of music, but above all to the idea behind the music of the performing artists.

his new album “Born Villain”. Schedule of performances: 18:00 to 19:00 - The winners of local young band competition 19:00 to 20:00 - Mizar / Macedonia 20:00 to 21:00 - Placebo / Serbian 21:15 to 22:30 - Laibach / Slovenia 23:00 to 00:30 - Marilyn Manson / USA 01:00 to 03:30 - Dirty Vegas Sound System / USA H2 - Saxophone quartet Guarnerius, 12 June @ 20.00 One of the best and most wanted saxophone quartets in America, h2 will start its European summer tour, with the concert in Belgrade and Guarnerius. Founded in 2002, h2’s biography is filled with great success on the world concert stage, as well as on the lists of the CD best sellers. Quartet has many awards in the prestigious competitions, and after the performances in great concert halls in America, Asia and Europe, h2 will present their work in Belgrade, followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Ireland, Great Britain..

CLASSICAL MUSIC Concert Tour of the Award of Guarnerius Winners Guarnerius, 1 June @ 20.00 Final evening of the Competition for the young Serbian talents in classical music - “The Award of Guarnerius”, was held on December 17th 2011in the Kolarac Concert Hall. Audience voted out the winners of the competition, to whom the Guarnerius Art centre provided the concert tour in Serbia, with all the promotional activities in 2012. The votes of the audience decided that the winners of this com-

RTS Symphonic Orchestr Kolarac, 7 June @ 20.00 Bojan Suđić, conductor; Nataša Trivić, solist Program:Jeftić – Eight songs based on verse by Momčilo Nastasijević, Prokofiev – Symphony no.5 Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra,Kolarac,18 May@ 20.00 Vladimir Kulenović, conductor; Milan Milisavljević, solist on viola

Program: Kodalj – Games from Galante, Bartock – Concert for viola and orchestra and Schuman -Symphony no.4 petition are members of the ensemble Taurunum (students of the string department of Music school “Kosta Manojlović” from Zemun), second prize was given to the piano duo Vesna Zelenović and Katarina Jovanović (students of the final year in the Faculty of Music in Belgrade), and the third prize went to the violinist Una Stanić (student of the University for Music and Art in Graz). On 1st June the winners of this prestigious competition will perform in Guarnerius.

“The h2 quartet is a tight group; their timbres blend nicely, and they often sound like one instrument... They are just as at home in the sensitive and atmospheric and in the high-flying virtuoso finish... Their effort is solid, and this should be an ensemble to watch for years to come.” Said Patrick Hanudel from American Record Guide. Belgrade audience is looking forward to enjoying their music and energy on stage on 12th June.

Program: Tartini Sonata for violin and piano Didona Abbandonata, Three compositions for saw and piano, Vivaldi – Winter, Bach – Ave Maria and Bokerini - Menuet

Duo Maska, Kolarac, 3 June @ 11.00

Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra Kolarac, 25 May @ 20.00

Muhai Tang, conductor Program: Beethoven – Symphony no.6 and Berlioz Fantastic Symphony opera La Traviata National Theatre, 2 June @ 19.00 Verdi’s opera La Traviata is played in National Thea-

Belgrade Calling Ušće, 27-29 June

On June 9th at the Belgrade Arena, during a total of 10 hours, audience will see performances of Marilyn Manson, Laibach, Placebo, Dirty Vegas and Mizar. In addition, MUSIC IQ will provide opportunity for young, still unknown performers to perform on stage at the Belgrade Arena. The bands will go through open competition on the social networking site Facebook and the website of IQ MUSIC, in order to get the chance to perform on this prestigious show. The competition, which started from 20th April, will be limited to young bands from Serbia. The main star of the festival is a multi-talented American artist Marilyn Manson, who combines intelligent and provocative socio-involved songs to become modern icon of alternative rock music and pop culture. Marilyn Manson has never performed in Serbia and this concert in Belgrade will promote 56 |

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Another new music festival called ‘Belgrade Calling’ will be held from 27th to 29th June at Ušće. Among the performers already announced are Ozzy Osborne, Jesse J, Faith No More, Public Enemy, The Sisters of Mercy, Johnny Rotten. The program will begin each day at 18pm and production of highest quality is promised to all fans who come to Ušće. Production company Avalon, organizer of Belgrade Calling, decided to extend previously announced concert of Ozzy Osbourne and friends, to a three-day festival with an impressive list of performers. The Festival will be opened in 27th June by SARS, the only local band on the festival, followed by one of the most influential hip-hop groups Public Enemy and surprise band whose name will be announced 10 days before the Festival. Britain’s Exampel, who this year starts his tour and star of the evening is currently one of the most popular young singers Jesse Jay. After midnight, we can expect performance by the star of the British electronic scene Orbital, for the first time to appear and perform in Balkans. Program for the second day of the festival is already well

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known. Special guest of the Festival Ozzy Osbourne and Slash, along with the bassist and guitarist Butler Gizerom Jacques Wilde, will play eight songs of the group Black Sabbath. Bands also performing on the second day are The Cult, Paradise Lost, Black Label Society, Satirist and Sanatorium. Third day is reserved for the bands Faith No More and The Sisters of Mercy.

culture news panorama of Vračar, we will be able to see the work that the artist worked on during last and this year. The audience will be interested to see works like ‘Jugglers’, ‘ Three Women in the Sun’ and many others.

tre since 1991. Once again, on 2nd June, audience and fans of opera will have the opportunity to enjoy La Traviata in Belgrade’s National Theatre. art

Mark Brusse-Works on Paper Haos Gallery, 5- 30 June From 5th to 30th June at the Gallery Haos well known guest artist from Paris, Mark Brusse, a native Dutchman, will ehxibit his series of collages, implemented in 2008/09. The famous French art critic and philosopher Pierre braised said “Mark Brusse sees the outside world

MIKSER Savamala, 25 May – 2 June This year the international festival MIKSER which celebrates creativity and innovation is moving from the Žitomlin silo to the magical, neglected, industrial district in the heart of Belgrade: Savamala. The symbiosis of Savamala and Mikser festival is reflected in the concept of the program – departing from the divisions according to zones. The program consists of a web of individual, interdisciplinary artist/curator projects, and each project consists of more than one segment: an exhibition, lectures, workshops and concerts. The festival has always promoted young creative, parallel to established guests from Serbia and the rest of the world. In 2012, the festival intensifies Cile Marinković Opština Vračar, 18 May – 8 June Solo exhibition of paintings and drawings of visual artist Milan Marinković - Cile was opened in the gallery of Vračar municipality. Cile Marinković, one of the most important artists of expressive art, lives and works in both Belgrade and Paris. Marinković said that Belgrade audience will be able to see his new works, in addition to works that he started in Paris, then completed here in Belgrade and vice versa. He added that the Belgrade public will see his work for the first time in the gallery of the municipality Vračar, a new space, located near his studio. “Belgrade audience will be able to see the view I watch from my window… it is a panorama of Vračara or my vision of a city that’s not so typical of my work” he explained, adding that as a result of him living both in Belgrade and Paris, Belgrade often reminds him of Paris and vice versa.

Exhibition comprises of 15 pieces of work and 12 huge collage drawings, which is something that has never been exhibited before. The exhibition, in addition to the works based on

RUNDEK CARGO TRIO Dom Omladine, 3 May Guitar trio and singer Darko Rundek’s concert in Dom Omladine was promotion of their current CD album “Blue Plane”. Trio in which the multi-instrumentalist Dušan Vranić Dučo and violinist Isabel after more than a year of absence have returned to Serbia. The last few months of band inactivity Rundek used for a recent stay in India, which he described as an adventure during which he studied and absorbed the music of the local spiritual influences of Buddhism and Hinduism. Darko Rundek , the former leader of the cult Zagreb band Haustor, during a successful solo career from Cargo orchestra with large number of band members, made a breakthrough with the smaller Rundek Cargo Trio. performance by Svetlana Maraš together with Gustafsson and Vandermark at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade. Jazz band “Fish in Oil” promoted their debut album during the Festival.

the promotion of young people, with a string of open competitions from the field of architecture, design, music, visual arts (Ghost Project & YBD: GET REAL!, Urban Bundle/City Gatherings, Garage Roll Call...), as well as open workshops, lectures, debates and a creation of new sitespecific creations. with a view from the inside.” Exhibition of renowned artists Mark Brusse in Haos Gallery will be implemented with the support of the French Institute and the Dutch embassy in Belgrade.

TINDERSTICKS Novi Sad, 12 May Nine years after the Belgrade concert in SKC, melancholic English troubadours again visited Serbia. This time in Novi Sad. The reason they came was to promote their ninth studio recording “The Something Rain” which was released in late February. Knowing that the Tindersticks

other Cirque du Soleil Belgrade Arena, 29 June-1 July The show Cirque du Soleil called `Alegria` has already become a classic in the international field after it was seen by 10 million people worldwide. ‘Alegria’ is the Spanish word meaning ‘happiness’, ‘joy’, ‘cheersound better live than on albums, and that “The Something Rain” is one of the most beautiful published albums in this century, this was the much anticipated concert among this band fans. fulness’... and it consists of 55 artists and musicians from 17 countries who perform amazing acrobatics. Acrobatics like ‘Synchronous trapezoids’ or strong and tense ‘Back Heaven’, consisting of acrobats jumping 13 meters into the hands of artists-catchers are part of this amazing show. A vibrating, quivering energy of acrobats is almost palpable in the ‘Powerful track’, a fantastic combination of synchronized choreography and jumps on a trampoline, hidden in the floor of the stage. Cirque du Soleil’s Alegria is recommended event for all the family. Performances will run as follows: • Friday, 29 June @20.00 • Saturday, 30 June @16.00 and @20.00 • Sunday, 1 July @13.00 and @17.00

ring ring 2012 Rex, 17-21 May 17th International festival Ring Ring was held in Belgrade on six locations in the city. During the Festival 14 concerts were held as well as three workshops for young artists, with the participation of musicians from 15 countries. The performances of jazz legends like Peter Brocmana, Paul Lovensa, Paul Lytton and Fred Van Hova, group Atomik, Mats Gustafson and Ken Vandermark were mostly anticipated. During the festival two world premieres took place - first was Frenchmen Michel and Jérôme Doneda Netinžer took stage together for the first time, the other Germany’s Thomas Len with Serbian trumpeter Nenad Marković. From local musicians, we witnessed wonderful

3rd bosifest Dom Omladine, 21-23 May Third Belgrade International Film Festival BOSIFEST for people with disabilities, was organized by “Hendi Center Coliseum”. Festival

was officially opened on 21st May in Dom Omladine, under this year’s slogan “Do not call me special”. During the three day festival close to 40 feature and documentary films were shown from Britain, France, Holland, Italy, Denmark, USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, China, Africa, Israel, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. richard buckner Gun Club, 23 May Richard Buckner, one of the most respected and talented rock and roll musicians performed on 23rd May in Belgrade Gun Club. During his career he released nine studio albums - the last in August 2011. The “Our Blood” (publishers - Merge - home of Arcade Fire and Lambchop U.S. / Decor - pub-

lisher Chuck Prophet, American Music Club / Mark Eitzela, Richmond Fontaine in Europe), for which he received stunning reviews (UNCUT 4/5, Pitchfork 8/10) and promote during his concert. Many rock and roll fans around the world agree that Richard Buckner is a man who came closest to talent of immortal Townes Van Zandt.

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94 June 2012 | 57

interview

■ By Mirjana ZEC

Nikita Milivojević, Theatre Director

Serbian at

The Globe theatre

For the first time ever, the Serbian language was heard and a Serbian play staged in the renowned Shakespearean Globe Theatre in London. The play was Shakespeare’s ‘Henry VI’, directed by Serbia’s acclaimed theatre director Nikita Milivojević and performed on 11th May, with the help of the Laza Kostić Foundation, during the Cultural Olympiad

he organizers have decided to stage every one of Shakespeare’s plays in 37 different languages. It was the Laza Kostić Foundation that managed to reach an agreement with Tom Bird, Globe’s head producer, about staging Shakespeare’s play in Serbian. Following the meeting between the Foundation’s Chairperson Snežana Spasojević and Tom Bird, a decision was made for Nikita Milivojević, an artist with an international career, to be given the honour of directing the play. The director of ‘Henry VI’ has returned from London, brimming with pride from the fantastic reviews that he received from both audiences’ and critics. At the beginning of this interview, we asked Milivojević to sum up the whole event from his perspective. -I stayed in London a bit longer in order to see other plays in the Globe. After our play, and during our stay in London, we were approached by many members of the audience and theatre critics who asked whether I was the Serbian director in question. They wanted to talk about directing, acting and the message that we were sending by staging our version of ‘Henry VI’. It was all very spontaneous, simple and friendly. I felt really great and

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very excited... like a real star. ■ You once said that the Globe was ‘a mythical place’ for theatre. Have you now truly felt the magic? - I still think the same, and that is not only due to the fact that the Globe is a Shakespearean theatre. True, the original Globe burned down in 1613, but they made another theatre just 100 metres from the rubble, which was also nearly completely destroyed in 1644. It was finally fully restored and re-opened in 1997. The Globe is the most important venue in the history of theatre, i.e. it had the most important moments. We are

energy with the audience, which is right beneath the stage, do not diminish the value and wisdom of the sentences spoken by Shakespeare’s heroes. I like this minimalism in a technical sense. The whole experience is so exciting.

talking about a period of only 50 years which is how long the period of ancient tragedy lasted. I am still quite happy with the Globe since I have a very high opinion of the ‘Elizabethan scene’, the architecture and the arena. Everything is so precise and exciting. There is a specific approach to theatre, where the smell of food and drink and the exchange of

although I do not want to dwell on the reception we are going to get or the reaction of the audience. I did not think too much about the audience in the Globe either, although I was constantly reminded of them. Audiences’ are similar everywhere you go and it is my job to make them excited and transfer the emotion i.e. make something happen. That is all I

■ The Belgrade premiere of ‘Henry VI’ will be staged in the National Theatre, in mid-June, with the theatre’s own actor’s performing. What are your expectations? - Well, when you are at home things are somewhat more difficult. I am looking forward to showing what we have done,

Democracy is a nice, utopian idea and I think that we should believe in it since you have to believe in something. But what we have is far from what true democracy should be

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care about. I am my toughest critic. ■ But your play is rather glamorous.... - That is true, which is both good and bad. In our country, that could cause a counter effect which I cannot control. English newspapers were full of nice things to say about us. Back there, we played in an open space where as the National Theatre is a closed venue, with Serbian being the native language. Essentially, the play is the same; it has the same keynote and the same energy. I am very calm and satisfied and the only thing that I want is for the actors to be as good as they were in the Globe. And there, their acting there was perfect...

■ You decided to have a minimalist stage design with a round table

Their power is not hidden. We are talking about the structure of power. It’s been a long time since people sat at a round table had equal status. Our table looks like something you would find in a parliament. At certain stages, even the audience participates in the play.

■ When we talked to the chairperson of the Laza Kostić Foundation, Snežana Spasojević, we discovered that the Globe’s head producer and the Foundation quickly came to an agreement about choosing you as director since you often work on open stages like the one in the Globe. How much did your extensive experience help you in staging this play? - We checked twice to see what the Globe

that and managed to draw them into the play. The Globe itself offers that possibility... and we also had nice weather.

■ You directed the play to suit both an English and Serbian audience. What did you focus on? - There is little difference between an English and Serbian audience, or any other audience for that matter. When I worked in Germany, I remember being asked about the reactions from the German audience, bearing in mind that it is a very particular audience. Even the theatre’s general manager prepared me at the beginning for what a German au-

The Globe is the most important venue in the history of theatre, i.e. it had the most important moments. Everything is so precise and exciting

dominating the floor. But wasn’t that King Arthur and his Camelot knights’ round table... - No, it wasn’t. The people sitting at our table were not equal and it was very clear who held the power. Today’s wars are waged at round tables, this is where alliances are formed and peace negotiated. During the first rehearsal, I showed the actors a picture of a round table at the United Nations which is shaped in concentric circles. ‘Henry VI’ is a very politically motivated play and the structure of the people sitting at the round table is well established.

actually looked like. I had precise measurements and dimensions and, with a mental image in mind, I did rehearsals in the National Theatre. We made an identical stage for the actors. They knew where to move, where the pillars were, where the entrance was, the height of the stage and where the audience would be. This helped them a lot since the audience is right there, next to the stage, in galleries nearby. The most important thing was for the actors to establish a real connection with the audience and not to rely on faking it. We succeeded in

dience liked, what they disliked, what they were used to etc. For me, audiences everywhere are more or less the same. My job is to create excitement, transmit emotion and tell a story in an interesting and imaginative stage language. In that respect, I don’t care about how knowledgeable somebody is about theatre. I don’t want to know how much you know, I just want to know what you feel.

■ Why would a contemporary audience be drawn to ‘Henry VI’? What does the play tell us about the world? cordeditorial@cma.rs

94 June 2012 | 59

- We all know that ‘Henry VI’ is not amongst the best of Shakespeare’s plays. Actually, it is not even good, on the contrary... This was his first piece and opinions vary on whether it is authentically his or not, or maybe several writers had something to do with it which wasn’t unusual at that time. Whatever... It seems to me that there is always something challenging for a director to do with such ‘weak’ plays. Maybe it is their imperfections or the cracks which leave you with enough space to add something on. I am very fond of these early works of great writers and I had the same sentiment when directing Crnjanski’s ‘The Mask’, Chekhov’s ‘Platonov’ and various prose texts, short stories, novels etc. A play can be weak, unfinished and dramaturgically all over the place, but if the ‘seed’ is right and its underlying idea true, I am sure that you can make an exciting play out of it. Sometimes, all you need is a single thought which can unmistakably lead you through an entire piece. That is all very inspirational in the case of great writers, when you think through their plays and their experiences with everything that came later, which was better and more famous. ■ What appealed to you as a director to do this play? - ‘Henry VI’ is above all the story about a power struggle where something much greater and more important is lost because of petty interests, intrigue and hate. And when you mention words and phrases like “power struggle”, “intrigue” and “hate”, you could be under the impression that we are talking about our reality and not English history. Also, there is something typically “ours“ about English lords trying to outsmart each other, everybody having their own version of the truth, nobody believing anyone, not a soul being sure of anything etc. The same conflicts keep repeating themselves and are transferred to new generations. ‘Henry VI’, in its entirety,

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is subordinated to this horrible power struggle where everything is allowed and possible. Somebody once said that Shakespeare was a Balkan writer. That is something like an open wound, where you can clearly see a fracture, and in that madness, common sense has no chance. Actually, I find myself astounded over

can you draw parallels in that? - I can draw a parallel. Throughout history, power has been one of the most important words in social games which is not only true in Serbia. We have these little tricks that are often very primitive. People who have more experience with democracy also have more cunning methods. For an artist’s power that is something bad. Art is an orphan in the eyes of any government and I am angry at my artist colleagues who are engaged in politics and are scheming with the government in order to gain small benefits. The government and artists are two Snezana Spasojević, completely difPresident of the Laza Kostić Foundation

I am angry at my artist colleagues who are engaged in politics and are scheming with the government in order to gain small benefits. The government and artists are two completely different entities and over again in how much of my reality I see in various ‘classic’ pieces. I see continuous repetition. The rulers, their ambitions, the fight for power... It is all a vicious circle and the same personalities, only in a different time. In the last scene of the play, you can clearly see my opinion about all of that.

■ You have made the play’s ending grotesque, with the word ‘power’ springing to mind. In Serbia today, power is also the operative word. Does that mean that there are similarities between the present and the play and

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ferent entities. Government thinks in one way and artists in a completely different way. My attitude towards the powers reminds me of a circle. Only the people change while everything else remains the same. All of the wars and blood that was shed mean almost nothing to today’s and future generations. Life is ironically distancing itself. At the end of ‘Henry VI’, the characters are trying to find out about their family tree. And there are two or three things that keep repeating themselves, only the numbers are different. Nobody can understand that. It is almost the same in this country. ■

Laza and Shakespeare

The Laza Kostić Theatre Exhibition was presented at the Educational Globe Centre in London along with a series of lectures titled ‘Discovering Shakespeare in the Balkans’, with a special emphasis on Serbia. Professor Zoran Paunović, who was hired by the Foundation to translate ‘Henry VI’, held lectures titled ‘Laza Kostić - an expert on Shakespeare’ and ‘Shakespeare in Serbia’. Laza Kostić was one of the first translators of Shakespeare’s work in the region.

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94 June 2012 | 61

feature

■ By Max Williams

Wimbledon - the world’s oldest and most prestigious tennis tournament

Grand Game

Modern tennis is dominated by athletically gifted players, well organised tournaments and massive sponsorship money. Wimbledon, which has all of the aforementioned qualities, is the sports number 1 spectacle. The Australian Open may be the most profitable tournament but Wimbledon, through its own choice, is only a couple of notes shy and considered by many to be the best that tennis has to offer

Novak Djoković won his first Wimbledon title on July 3rd 2011, dethroning Rafael Nadal

When talking about tennis, few would argue that Wimbledon is the sport’s most glamorous tournament. Since 1877 Wimbledon has paved the way for every other Slam and set the standard to which all other tournaments strive to achieve. Most have failed, or tried to distance themselves as competing with the London venue in the class stakes is almost guaranteed to end in failure. The tournament exudes a splendour that the Brits specialise in. With sponsorship money coming from likes of Rolex it’s not hard to see why Wimbledon is considered

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by companies, players and fans alike to be so special. The next few pages provide an informative, yet brief insight into all things great about this special tournament – any more detailed and CorD would be publishing my first book.

History

Tennis, which was originally only played on grass, is now also played on clay and hard courts. Wimbledon, the world’s oldest tennis tournament, began life way back in 1877 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, and to this day is still the only grass Slam tournament on

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the professional tennis calendar. There are four Slams (sometimes called Majors) – Australian Open (hard), French Open (clay), US Open (hard), and, of course, Wimbledon. To say that England gave birth to the modern game is no lie. In the mid 1800s two men from Birmingham, Harry Gem and Augurio Perera, played a form of the game and later went on to help form the world’s first tennis club in Leamington Spa. Over the years the tournament has changed shape into what we know today with various playing schedules, competitions etc. Ever since Fred Perry’s victory

in 1936, no male British player has won Wimbledon and with only Andy Murray, seeded 4th in the world behind the Swiss Roger Federer, Spaniard Rafael Nadal and the pride of Serbia and current World number 1 Novak Djoković, as a genuine contender to lift the trophy, things will no doubt remain the same for a few years to come mainly due to the lack of talent in the current crop of British male players. Moreover, no British female has won the tournament since Virginia Wade in 1977, although with the likes of the up and coming Laura Robson, and the fact that female tennis is less dominated by a set group of players, that may soon change – the Venus sisters, Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka and many other quality female

Wimbledon, since 1877, has paved the way for every other Slam and set the standard to which all other tournaments strive to achieve players may beg to differ. Wimbledon always starts on the first Monday of June between the 20th and 26th. This year the tournament proper started on the 25th and will culminate in the men’s final on Saturday 8th of July.