CorD Magazine 103

Undemocratic Parties Cannot Create Democracy

From Partnership to Opportunity

Actor

Ambassador of Angola to the Republic of Serbia

Samantha Seewoosurrun

H.E. Toko Diakenga Serao

Managing Director of Newgate Communications

april ‘13 / ISSUE No. 103

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Predrag Miki Manojlović

Seeking inclusion

interviews opinions news comments events PRICE 300 RSD Messages from Kopaonik business forum 2013

Reindustrialization Plus Reform The state “lends its visible hand” by meddling in the economy, while the business community wants the state authorities to act like a partner and just set the rules of free competition and market economy Deloitte Football Money League 2013

The 10 Richest Football Clubs of 2013

In the 16th edition of the Deloitte Football Money League, Deloitte profiles the highest earning clubs in the world’s most popular sport 51st International Car Show

World Post Premieres in Belgrade Premiere of 51 cars with the models that were fresh from the Geneva Car Show and had their world post-premiere under the domes of the Belgrade Fair attracting the most attention and appeal

H.E. Archbishop Orlando Antonini Apostolic Nunciature in Serbia

Bridging the Historical Divide

COVER

H.E. Archbishop Orlando Antonini, Apostolic Nunciature in Serbia

Bridging the Historical Divide

contents

Page 8

6

Both we, Catholics and Orthodox of today, are only the descendants of the authors of the schism of an undivided Church. Moreover, we are burdened by the weight of the political and ethnic contrasts and conflicts which followed in the course of history. So we accumulated a past which has been very difficult for both Churches to assume and overcome

A System of CONNECTED VESSELS

Prof. Dr BILJANA VANKOVSKA, Faculty of Philosophy, Skopje

8

Bridging the HISTORICAL DIVIDE

H.E. ARCHBISHOP ORLANDO ANTONINI, Apostolic nunciature in Serbia

12

Global diary

14

From Partnership to OPPORTUNITY

46

56

18

Undemocratic Parties CANNOT CREATE DEMOCRACY

60

PREDRAG MIKI MANOJLOVIĆ, Actor

24

T he Tradition of GREAT FRIENDSHIP

T he 10 Richest FOOTBALL CLUBS of 2013

Deloitte Football Money League 2013

Reindustrialization Plus Reform

Messages from Kopaonik Business Forum 2013

28

cul ture calendar & news

DENISOV MIKHAIL GENNADIYEVICH Director of Ruski Dom and Advisor at Embassy of the Russian Federation

H.E. TOKO DIAKENGA SERAO, Ambassador of Angola to the Republic of Serbia

66

T he hunting Grounds of Serbia

Seeking INCLUSION

SAMANTHA SEEWOOSURRUN, Managing Director of Newgate Communications

32

U Accession E Negotiations in June Achievable

40

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Jovana Gligorijević j.gligorijevic@aim.rs CONTRIBUTORS: Rob Dugdale, Mirjana Jovanović, Radmila Stanković, Steve MacKenzie, Zorica Todorović Mirković, Sonja Ćirić, Mirjana Zec PHOTOS: Zoran Petrović, Časlav Vukojičić lector: Christen Bradley Farmer c.farmer@aim.rs TRANSLATION: Snežana Bjelotomić PROJECT MANAGERS: Biljana Dević, b.devic@aim.rs Svetlana Okanović, s.okanovic@aim.rs Jelena Bulić, j.bulic@aim.rs Nataša Popović, n.popovic@aim.rs EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Ruža Ristanović r.ristanovic@aim.rs

FINANCIAL DIRECTOR: Ana Besedić a.besedic@aim.rs editorial MANAGER: Tanja Banković t.bankovic@aim.rs

Politic page 6

Business Dialogue There is Room for Optimism

ŽARKO GALETIN, the Novi Sad stock exchange

41

ART DIRECTOR: Ilija Petrović i.petrovic@aim.rs

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

7th EP-Serbia joint parliamentary meeting, 18-19 March 2013, Brussels

35

EDITOR: Saša Marić s.maric@aim.rs

Last-minute

Cyprus Deal to Close Bank

Review

54

April 2013

Expanding Cooperation

Serbia-Russia

Profile page 82

70

W orld POST PREMIERES in Belgrade

Automotive

78

H ow to Love Your Work and STAY YOUNG FOREVER

TANJA TATOMIROVIĆ, MSc in Communicology, Microsoft PR and Citizenship Lead for Serbia and Montenegro

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comment

■ Photo: Ognen Teofilovski

A System of

Connected Vessels

Direct talks between the two prime-ministers (Dacic and Tachi) represent exceptional progress in themselves. But obviously EU officials are in a hurry to close the last open issues in the Western Balkans

K

Prof. Dr Biljana Vankovska Faculty of Philosophy, Skopje

osovo remains a focal point of the so-called southern con-

ty policy of EU and their own societies (and electorates). Normally,

flict triangle on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, as

they try to portray themselves as the ultimate defenders of nation-

peace researchers define the relationships between Serbs,

al interests, and speak in different voices in Brussels and at home.

Albanians, and Macedonians. With Slovenia and soon Croatia as

What I see as a serious handicap, whatever the outcomes of these

members of the EU, one can hardly speak of a “region” as such,

negotiations (if any), is that much precious time has been lost in

but this southern puzzle is no less complex due to the immediate

terms of (un)successful confidence building among the commu-

links to the situation in neighbouring Albania, Greece and Bulgaria.

nities in Kosovo, high standards for human rights, comprehensive

The international conflict mismanagement with regard to Kosovo

societal peace building, and especially reconciliation. Even if un-

in 90s was one of the causes of the intrastate conflict in Macedonia

der pressure, the leaders put on smiling faces and shake hands, it

in 2001. The turbulence there has always echoed strongly in the

does not affect the attitudes of their constituencies. Imposed so-

Albanian-populated parts of Macedonia so the spill-over effect was

lutions would be seed of discord and conflict in the years to come.

and is far from surprising. Whatever is the solution of the status of

As a Macedonian I have been a spectator of many similar

Kosovo in general and the status of Serbian minority, it will inevi-

“historical” and “decisive” moments for the resolution of the

tably have an effect in Macedonia that has deep unresolved intra-

Macedonian-Greek dispute. Twenty years later, it is hard to

ethnic tensions of its own. The idea of the creation of a European

foresee its closure in a satisfactory manner, although there are

region of municipalities with wide autonomy and competences, if

indications of secretive diplomacy in the last few months. I am

implemented, may serve as an inspiration for the already decen-

not optimistic that the EU will be able now to compensate for

tralized Macedonian municipalities (whose borders were drawn by

the years of less than successful conflict management and state

ethnic gerrymandering in 2004). In this part of the Balkans, states

building in Kosovo, while Serbia’s internal crisis is just one more

and societies react to the ethnic conflict management in each oth-

obstacle in this process.

er like a system of connected vessels.

As for the status of Republika Srpska, I am sure that the international community with its well-known “salami tactics” tries to resolve one puzzle after another, with no respect to interdependence among

One can even say that Commissioner Fule has got a “hotter potato” than Baronesses Ashton

Unfortunately Kosovo is not the only open issue in the Western Balkans.

Obviously, EU officials seem to be very active in their attempt to deliver concrete results in terms of the European enlargement policy but also in terms of

them, so it will claim that what applies to Kosovo does not apply

the European foreign and security policy. The Macedonian “time

Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, on the ground and among eth-

bomb” is not less dramatic than that of Kosovo: Macedonia’s

nic leaders it is perceived in a different, or better, an opposite way.

blockade on its way to EU has quite expectedly been intermingled

The direct talks between the two prime-ministers (Dacic and

with deep inter-ethnic and intra-ethnic conflicts. One can even say

Tachi) represent exceptional progress in themselves. But obvi-

that Commissioner Fule has got a “hotter potato” than Baroness

ously EU officials are in a hurry to close the last open issues in the

Ashton. The current problems of the EU make its normative and

Western Balkans. Hence the pressure and insistence on deadlines

seductive power weaker. While waiting in the corridor, the ethno-

for a process that would normally call for much more time, pa-

nationalists have redefined it as a resolution of their greater na-

tience, creativity and multi-level activities. The carrot for both sides

tionalistic agendas and integration of their own ethnic kin rath-

is a promise of closer EU integration in a situation where the socio-

er than something that refers to integration with other European

economic situation is so bad that the carrot seems as a condition

nations. Even if there is a miraculous breakthrough, the societies

sine qua non for survival. As expected, the representatives of the

(Serbian, Kosovar and Macedonian) will remain ailing and internal-

two countries are sandwiched between the powerful conditionali-

ly problematic for a long time. ■

6 |

103 April 2013 | www.cordmagazine.com

■ Photos: Zoran petrović

interview H.E. Archbishop Orlando Antonini, Apostolic Nunciature in Serbia

Bridging the

Historical Divide Both we, Catholics and Orthodox of today, are only the descendants of the authors of the schism of an undivided Church.

Moreover, we are burdened by the weight of the political and ethnic contrasts and conflicts which followed in the course of history. So we accumulated a past which has been very difficult for both Churches to assume and overcome

■ Was the election of the new Pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, a surprise for you, considering that the new pope is the first non-European pope in more than 1,200 years and the first member of the Jesuit order to lead the Church?

- The real surprise was the election, in 1978, for the first time in 500 years, of a non-Italian pope: John Paul II. This time the more impacting is that the election as pope of a non-European candidate – Pope Francis – seems to be confirming a phenomenon in place: the displacement of the centre of gravity of the world’s Christianity from Europe to the American Continents. It is a phenomenon which sees also many Orthodox believers – and Jewish and Musith its history spanning more than 2000 years, the Church has known its share of historical lim too – emigrating there from their countries, forcing perhaps to events. Now with the election of a new pope, think back over concepts like that of the Orthodox “canonical territhe first from tory.” The Holy Spirit can upset all God is the Lord of history: in the Latin Amerour visions. God is the Lord of hisica, the first Jesuit, and follow- first millennium the Christian centre tory: in the first millennium the Christian centre of gravity was in ing the first pope to resign from of gravity was in the East; in the the East; in the second was in the office, the Catholic Church has a second was in the West; next would West; next would be in America, new leader. The questions which Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope be in America, namely Latin America namely Latin America. After havFrancis, will face are those which ing borne abundant fruits during surround the calls for modernization of Church dogma, more intwo millennia, today both the East and the West are probably havclusion, and an approach to ecumenism the groundwork for which ing their time. having been already laid by his predecessors. In an exclusive inIn this historical perspective, being a Jesuit or a Franciscan is not so relevant any more. Rather Pope Francis, besides the fact that terview, H.E. Archbishop Orlando Antonini answers questions of he better expresses the universality of the Church, having adopted faith, creed, and some political implications.

W 8 |

103 April 2013 | www.cordmagazine.com

Descendants

Both we, Catholics and Orthodox of today, are only the descendants of the authors of the schism of an undivided Church.

Coexistence

As far as co-existing in the Balkans is concerned, a providential neutral external element can help: European integration.

as a Jesuit the name of Francis of Assisi, he intended to adopt poverty, peace, simplicity and respect for creation as the lodestar of his pontificate but also to pay tribute to the two Orders who evangelized Latin America: namely the Jesuits and the Franciscans.

■ Pope Francis is known as a humble man who spoke out for the poor and led an austere life, but also for holding largely traditional views, opposing liberation theology, abortion, gay marriages...

Do you expect any significant changes in future global politics of Vatican?

Dialogue

The different confessions will enhance the reciprocal ecumenical and religious dialogue they have are already taken up.

having diplomatic relations with governments is not “Vatican City” – 1929 is the year only of the establishment, with Italy, of this internationally recognised state to give freedom to the Church from any worldly power – but the Holy See, that is: the central government of the Catholic Church. As such, the Holy See is then much older than 1929. In the modern sense of diplomacy, the Holy See had relations with the new national states since the 15th century, then, subsequently, also with Serbia and after, in 1920, with Yugoslavia. We can say that our relations were substantially always good – yet in 1077 King Mihailo I and in 1217 King Stefan II were crowned by the popes for their international recognition! They were interrupted in 1952 with the communist era, but re-established in 1966-1970 by the same regime of Tito. Today these relations have improved much more perhaps due to the fact that the Vatican – or more precisely: the Holy See – doesn’t recognize the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo, and I don’t see signs of change in that. In addition, we are thinking about an intensification of cooperation in fields like education, health and humanitarian assistance (mostly through Caritas).

- Of course Pope Francis has to remain in the teaching of the Catholic Church: its social doctrine on one side, for which it is applauded by many, and its moral values on the other, for which it is rejected by the secularized societies of today. I think, then, he will continue advocating for social justice, peace in the world and ethical principles in the economy and finance like also Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI did. For the ’largely traditional views’ of Pope Francis, as you say, we have to understand that it is not up to him or to the Church to change the values Christ himself established in matters like life, family, gender, or bioethics. In fact, for us, God Pope Francis ■ How would you rate the curdidn’t impose these values arrent relations between the Papal We can say that our relations were Throne and the Nunciature with bitrarily: they are good and the best for the human nature itself substantially always good – yet in the Serbian Orthodox Church? and for the survival of a society 1077 King Mihailo I and in 1217 King - Both we, Catholics and Orthodox or of a civilization. It is highly of today, are only the descendants significant that, in this, the Or- Stefan II were crowned by the popes of the authors of the schism of an thodox Churches coincide with for their international recognition! undivided Church. Moreover, we are burdened by the weight of the Catholic, to the extent that the political and ethnic contrasts and conflicts which followed in it could be this the historical kairos wanted by God to get them the course of history. So we accumulated a past which has been again closer and facilitate – we do not know when but it is sure very difficult for both Churches to assume and overcome. Hence – their reunification. A different affair would be the practical attithe difficulties in the relationship over past centuries and decades. tude of the Mother Church towards her weak children: from what Thanks to God, today it seems that a qualified portion of both sides Pope Francis is saying these days apropos of mercy, I believe that is forcing change as much as possible on this situation, knowing in those delicate matters the Church will enhance her “spiritual and understanding better each other, meeting and interacting. It economy” policy. is claimed by the exigency itself of charity towards a brother. At least we have to cease being ’enemies’ – it is Christ who is asking ■ Serbia and the Vatican have had diplomatic relations practithat, each one of us remaining with his own identity. You can see cally since the Vatican’s establishment as an independent state both Churches reciprocally participating more and more in activiin 1929. How has this cooperation been unfolding over the past decades and which historical periods or dates best define these ties and also religious celebrations – although not communicating relations? in sacris – at a level both local and international, working together for the solution of common problems and in the safeguard of the - Here it seems necessary to clarify something. The proper entity cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 9

ethic and moral values in the world.

In Serbia we cooperate at theological academic level, with scholarships and exchanges between the Orthodox Faculty of Theology of Belgrade and the Catholic Faculties abroad as well and, since 2004, the University of Lateran in Rome. Needless to say, the importance of the ecumenical and the interreligious dialogue which, though with its ups and downs, has been going on already for decades at a theological level with the various mixed inter-ecclesiastic commissions. Of course, in the meantime we are intensifying, in Serbia too, the good personal relationships with Orthodox hierarchy and people.

■ You have said recently, apropos ecumenism, that the situation

in Serbia was not relaxed enough. Could you elaborate please?

Still, you think that there have been signs that the situation has

and reflexions conducted in the meantime, the reasons which it had hitherto been against. Unfortunately, it was not without suffering: we had the schism of Bishop Lefebvre. The core of change is always is to begin again with the commandment of the Lord: love one another; and more: love the ’enemy’, which is the essence of the Christianity or, in the words of Pope Benedict XVI, “the core of the Christian revolution.”

Restarting from that, everything can follow. I have already exhibited some of the signs of reconciliation, and, though not without misunderstandings and differences of opinion on ecumenism that may still arise here and there due to local specific and personal factors, at a general level we can say that the situation is improving very much.

■ If we are talking about the reasons behind the pope’s not com-

ing to Serbia and the overall relations with the Holy See, one of the main reasons that pop up are the unsettled issues from the World War II. How much time will pass until these issues are resolved and do you think that the current environment is conducive to their resolution?

- Besides what I already said in the newspapers during these almost four years of my stay in Serbia, I don’t dare to say more on an issue as intricate as that. The roots of that you are talking about have reasons and causes which lie in the decades before, perhaps centuries. I only hope that we are not dealing with one of those cases where, when you feel that the solution is at hand, suddenly another difficulty arises that brings the problem back to its starting point. But I would outline that these issues arise from causes which are not religious but ethnic, where the religious are mere instrubeen improving in that mental of the ethnic ones, In Serbia, the three major confessions matter. What are the signs to mark and justify differof reconciliation? notably present there, Catholic, Eastern ences. The positive attitude, sometimes even sympathy, - ’Not relaxed’ were not exOrthodox and Islamic as you said, but also which Orthodox Serbs have actly the words that I used.

I was speaking about the Jewish and Protestant, are already working towards many other CathoPope’s visit to Serbia, and together in matters of common interests lic countries, proves that.

I said that it seemed to me As far as co-existing in that, due to the still unsettled issues from the past I mentioned the Balkans is concerned, a providential neutral external element above, there was not yet a sufficient consensus in the public opincan help: European integration. In this perspective all have to gain.

Europe, which will see removed all possible outbreaks of conflict ion about that visit in a way that it would be really fruitful to both on its borders; the Balkans, whose different ethnic groups can fisides. I regret that, because this event would have certainly been a very good opportunity at the international level for the image of nally find a way, precisely within the institutional framework of Serbia, which now I love as my own land. As for ecumenism, it is no Europe, to live together peacefully and profitably putting together wonder that there is still resistance within the Orthodox Church. their cultural diversities.

In the Catholic Church, it happened in the same way. Ecumenism, for those who may don’t know, arose in the beginning of the 20th ■ In your opinion, what are the main challenges that the regional century not among Catholic but among Protestant and some Orleaders will have to overcome, and what can the Vatican do in that respect? thodox Churches. The Catholic Church refused for fifty years to join the movement, opposing it for almost the same reasons as some of - I would say, on one hand, they should go on creating all the the Orthodox portion still is opposing it today – reasons, these, too proper political conditions that can forge a multicultural society, long and complex to explain here. Only in the late fifties and early where, without jeopardizing territorial integrity, the majorities sixties of the twentieth century, with Pope John XXIII and the seccan live together in harmony with the cultural minorities, and where the minorities are recognized, protected and promoted ond Vatican Council did the Catholic Church join the movement, through the system of local autonomies and through education having clarified within it, thanks to research, studies, discussions 10 |

103 April 2013 | www.cordmagazine.com

and development. On the other, pursuing the economic and political integrations of the Balkan countries in the European continent is important. What can the Vatican do in that respect: it does it mainly through its double action of diplomatic contacts with the governments at bilateral and multilateral level, and sustaining and encouraging the local Churches, cooperating with all for peace and progress, offering the spiritual energies of the ecclesial organizations for the attainment of the common good and of these goals, outlining the value of unity in diversity and the diversity in the unity, in the image of the Holy Trinity. I am experiencing this labour, as a leaven hidden in the dough, especially here in Serbia where, after the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the Catholic Church had suddenly found herself not only restricted to 5% of the population from the 30-40% it was before, but also diversified in various ethnical components: the Hungarian, the Croatian, the Rutenian/Ukrainian, the Albanian... A Church, living now in Serbia, which has her own face, completely different from other local Catholic Churches existing in Croatia, or BosniaHerzegovina, or Slovenia, which are more homogeneous. A Church, that existing today in Serbia, which could show that unity in diversity and that diversity in unity, and which for that precise unique character can contribute in forging that pluralistic peaceful society we are talking about.

to what he produces and to what he consumes. This is one of the pitfalls most dangerous for our time“.

■ Is the Vatican going to partake in the celebration of the Edict of Milan and to what extent?

- If the pope could come to Serbia for these celebrations, surely the Catholic and Orthodox Church would have arranged a common programme of manifestations, both religious and cultural. Now they have their own calendar of events, but in any case exchanging reciprocal invitations to the respective initiatives. Happily, it was the Presidency of the Republic – you might say: “Such as it was in ancient times, when the Emperor Constantine called the opposing theological schools to meet for the first ecumenical council of Nicaea…” – to create a national organizing committee for this Jubilee including together the Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant Churches.

■ The three major confessions are notably present in the

Balkans: Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Islamic. What do you think of the cooperation between these religious communities and how can the relations between them improve further?

- Their task could be that of facilitating, in their spiritual misYou could see that encounsion, exactly what I said If the pope could come to Serbia for these ter of churches on of Janubefore: the task of forging this multicultural, pluraliscelebrations [Edict of Milan], surely the ary 17, the day of the opentic society we were talking ing ceremony, where the Catholic and Orthodox Church would about accompanying the Apostolic Nuncio, and the have arranged a common programme of Archbishop Hočevar on bepolitical efforts, providing the spiritual cement and manifestations, both religious and cultural half of the Catholic Bishops caring the formation of in Serbia, were scheduled consciences in that direction of their affiliates. All this is possible as the first orators after His Holiness Irinej and President Nikolić. if, as I said above, the different confessions will enhance the reThe Catholic Church is contemplating other cultural events which we hope, God willing, to perform both in Serbia and in ciprocal ecumenical and religious dialogue they have are already Rome. Allow me now to conclude this point with the words I protaken up. In Serbia, the three major confessions notably present there, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Islamic as you said, but also nounced in the language of Constantine –Latin – in Niš, on January Jewish and Protestant, are already working together in matters 17: “We know that we live in a land of a great historical, strategic of common interests: the registration of the faith communities, and symbolic importance. A Land that gave Rome 16 or 17 emthe restitution of properties, the religious care of the military, the perors and, with all the advantages and disadvantages that such a care of the moral and ethic values, and the like. I believe they can position always involves, that stood in the exact centre of the Emand will continue cooperating in other common fields. The time pire - here it is, very close to Niš, the Roman city precisely called has come to work together. We are obliged to that maybe by the Mediana, where precious relics and artistic buildings are reapLord himself, to avoid the danger of what Pope Francis has just expearing. A Land, especially, where more than elsewhere, are seen together the two lungs from which the entire European Christipressed, meeting today [March 20th] the representatives of various religious groups: anity breathes, or the two wings on which it flies: the Byzantine “Above all, we must keep alive in the world the thirst for the tradition and the Latin tradition. So, may all the blessings of God absolute, not allowing a vision of the human person reduced to descend on this Land, on its Rulers, on the Pastors of its Church a single dimension to prevail, according to which man is reduced and on all the noble People living in it.” ■ cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 11

Traveling "It needs to go to someone else next. It will have been a great privilege to serve in this role, but it's quite hard. There's a lot of travel and a lot of sitting on planes."

— Catherine Ashton, EU foreign affairs chief

global diary

14.03.2013.

05.03.2013.

Hugo Chavez Dies

01.03.2013.

Xi Jinping Appointed China's President

President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez who declared a socialist revolution in Venezuela, crusaded against U.S. influence and championed a leftist revival across Latin America, died at age 58 after a nearly two-year bout with cancer.

During more than 14 years in office, Chavez routinely challenged the status quo at home and internationally. He polarized

National Grape Harvest Festival

Venezuelans with his confrontational and domineering style, yet was also a masterful communicator and strategist who tapped into Venezuelan nationalism to win broad support, particularly among the poor.

Chavez used his country’s vast oil wealth to launch social programs that include state-run food markets, new public housing, free health clinics and education programs. Poverty declined during Chavez’s presidency amid a historic boom in oil earnings, but critics said he failed to use the windfall of hundreds of billions of dollars to develop the country’s economy.

08.03.2013.

EU Parliament Rejectes Budget

The National Grape Harvest Festival of Argentina has been held in the Mendoza province for many years.

It is a part of a group of festivities that are celebrated all over the 18 departments which make up the Mendoza province, during the months of December, January and February. The festivities culminate in an impressive Central Act in the city of Mendoza (province capital) during the first days of March.

The Central Act, which is staged in the Frank Romero Day Greek Theater located in the General San Martin Park, is the main attraction of this great Mendocino festival.

This event starts with a marvelous artistic spectacle of dance, lights and music, where hundreds of actors and dancers display their art in a gigantic show. It continues with the election of the National Grape Harvest Queen and ends with a magnificent exhibition of fireworks that dance to the rhythm of the music for more than 20 minutes.

was “worth working for”.

The new budget ceiling amounts to €960 billion. It was the first time the EU’s multi-annual budget has been reduced.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who had been pressing for cuts, hailed it as a “good deal for Britain”.

“I think the British public can

EU leaders have reached an agreement on the budget for 2014-20 after lengthy talks in Brussels.

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy announced the deal and said in a statement it 12 |

103 April 2013 | www.cordmagazine.com

be proud that we have cut the seven-year credit card limit for the EU for the first time ever,” Mr Cameron said.

French President Francois Hollande, who had argued against big spending cuts, said it was a “good compromise”.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel also welcomed the deal, which represents a 3.3% reduction from the previous seven-year budget.

However, on March 13 the European Parliament rejected a deal reached by EU leaders unless significant changes are made to the €960 billion plan.

Xi Jinping, the new leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was today formally appointed as China’s president. The appointment ended the party’s four month-long, once in a decade leadership transition.

Xi (59), who was chosen as the CPC’s general secretary in November, received the approval of the National People’s Congress, a largely rubber-stamp parliament, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing this morning.

Li YuanchaoOf the NPC’s 2,963 delegates, 2,956 were present and

Chinese Communist Party chief and incoming President Xi Jinping

cast their ballot, with 2,952 voting for Xi with one vote going against him. As expected Politburo member Li Yuanchao (63) was chosen vice president, with 2,839 votes in his favour and 80 against.

14.03.2013.

'God Particle' Has Been Found The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) announced they are now confident they have discovered a crucial subatomic particle known as a Higgs boson, a major discovery that will go a long ways toward helping them explain why the universe is the way it is.

They made the statement following study of the data gathered last year from the world’s largest

Vision “What you’re doing now in Germany is so remarkable in terms of leading Europe and expressing a vision about where we can go together.”

— John Kerry, US Secretary of State against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink and feast--on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage.

More than 100 St. Patrick’s Day parades are held across the United States; New York City and Boston are home to the largest celebrations.

atom-smasher, which lies beneath the Swiss-French border outside Geneva. CERN said that what they found last year was, indeed, a version of what is popularly referred to as the “God particle.”

Joe Incandela, who heads one of the two main teams at CERN that each involve several thousand scientists, said in a statement that “it is clear that we are dealing with a Higgs boson though we still have a long way to go to know what kind of Higgs boson it is.’’

The long-theorized subatomic particle would explain why matter has mass and has been considered a missing cornerstone of physics.

drawing board to devise a new plan that might still enable the country to receive a financial lifeline while avoiding a default that

21.03.2013.

19.03.2013.

Cyprus Rejectes a €10 bln Bailout Package

Lawmakers rejected a 10 billion euro bailout package on Tuesday, sending the president back to the

Mediterranean country and set off a wave of anxiety across Europe.

As hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside Parliament chanting antigovernment slogans, lawmakers voted 36 against with 19 abstaining, arguing that it would be unacceptable to take money from account holders.

could reignite the euro crisis.

The bailout package, which would have set an extraordinary precedent by taxing ordinary bank depositors to pay part of the bill, led to street protests in this tiny

Pope Francis’s Inauguration 19.03.2013.

Japanese Cherry Blossoming Days The Japanese people continue the tradition of hanami, gathering in great numbers wherever the flowering trees are found. Usually, people go to the parks to keep the best places to celebrate hanami with friends, family, and company coworkers many hours or even days before. In cities like Tokyo, it’s also common to have celebrations under the sakura at night.

17.03.2013.

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17, the saint’s religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over 1,000 years. On St. Patrick’s Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions

A huge crowd gathered on St Peter’s Square in Rome to see Pope Francis celebrate his inaugural mass.

The hallmark simplicity of Francis, the first Jesuit pope, has fuelled hopes for change and renewal in a Church beset by a deep global crisis.

The mass formally installed Pope Francis as the new leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics.

Pope Francis issued a strong appeal for the protection of the environment and the defence of the weakest members of society, urging the world to shun “the omens of destruction and death”.

Hanami at night is called yozakura.

The cherry blossom front is forecast each year and is watched with attention by those who plan to celebrate hanami because the blossoms last usually no more than two weeks. The first cherry blossoms happen in the subtropical southern islands while on the northern island of Hokkaido, they bloom much later. In most large cities like Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, the cherry blossom season normally takes place around the end of March and the beginning of April.

According to the Japan Weather Association the estimated best viewing periods this year started on March 21 on Kyushu Island (South Japan).

cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 13

interview

■ Photos: Časlav vukojičić

H.E. Toko Diakenga Serao Ambassador of Angola to the Republic of Serbia

From Partnership to

Opportunity Angola and Serbia are committed to a relationship of active cooperation based on shared interests and values in bilateral relations. Collaboration between both countries manifests itself in the respect for the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the states

I

n the first decade following the 27-year conflict in Angola, the country has emerged determined to take its place among African and world nations. Proof of this can be seen in the country’s growing economy, its development of its rich natural resources, and its reaching out to other countries – such as Serbia – to showcase its potential in economic opportunity.

In February, the first deputy prime minister and minister of defence of Serbia paid an official and working visit to Angola, which he described as a great opportunity for the two countries to establish business cooperation.

Following the visit, CorD spoke with His Excellency Toko Diakenga Serao, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Angola to the Republic of Serbia.

■ During his recent visit to Angola, the first deputy

prime minister of Serbia said there were great opportunities for the two countries to establish business cooperation. What are those opportunities?

14 |

103 April 2013 | www.cordmagazine.com

modernization

Angola is now poised to enter into a phase of economic modernization and sustainable development.

economy

- Angola emerged from Africa’s longest conflict, which has left the country devastated for 27 years and claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. Fortunately, the conflict was brought to an end in April 2002.

Therefore, for the past decade, Angola has been in a post-conflict reconstruction process. Angola is now poised to enter into a phase of economic modernization and sustainable development, centred on stability and growth and in the improvement of the Angolan people.

The country’s economy has risen an average of 9.2% over the last five years. When we take into account only the non-oil sector in the economy, we get a growth average of 12%. Angola is richly endowed with varied natural resources, including huge water resources, fertile soils, a temperate climate, rich biodiversity, and forest ecosystems. Such systems represent a support for the agricultural system and enhance its economic diversification.

Concretely speaking, the government of Angola has defined a set of priority projects in its 2013-2017 national development plan that has placed great emphasis upon structuring projects in the areas of energy, health, logistic platforms, reconstruction and the construction of secondary and tertiary roads as well as higher education, defence and internal affairs. Private initiatives are also considered as part of these national priority projects.

■ The importance of

military and economic cooperation was also underlined. What progress can be made in those areas?

cooperation

The country’s economy has risen an average of 9.2% over the last five years.

There are many sectors where cooperation with Serbia may be mutually advantageous, including transfer of technology.

itself in the respect for the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the states.

The economic relations between our two countries have experienced a notable increase. We have a duty to deepen our cooperation and enhance it on renewed foundations in order to turn this partnership into real opportunities for progress of the two countries.

■ Angola has established priorities in terms of the international economic cooperation. What are those priorities?

- There are five fundamental areas of the Angolan economy which constitute the priorities in terms of the

international economic cooperation namely the agricultural sector, energy, mining, infrastructure and tourism.

Since 2011, the government has implemented a new agricultural development strategy which is set to be a positive driver of the sector, including the agricultural credit programme, the rejuvenation of the textile industry, and an inventory of Angola’s forests and trees.

Angola is an oil exporter and its economy is heavily reliant upon the oil industry. The Angolan government is actively encouraging foreign investment in the country’s mining industry, with the aim of exploiting and diversifying the country’s extensive mineral resources.

Rehabilitating and expanding the nation’s ports, highways and railways is key to transforming Angola into a ‘’logistical hub of considerable importance in southern Africa.’’ In recent years Angola’s construction

There are five fundamental areas of the Angolan economy which constitute the priorities in terms of the international economic cooperation namely the agricultural sector, energy, mining, infrastructure and tourism

- Angola and Serbia have agreed on some military projects. So far, the parties have signed three projects in construction of military infrastructures, namely one military hospital in Luanda, a drug factory and military base. During the visit of the first deputy prime minister and minister of defence of Serbia, the two ministers of defence of Angola and of Serbia placed the first stone on the site where the new hospital will be built.

Of course, the commitments include the training of the personnel for the future hospital. Angola and Serbia are committed to a relationship of active cooperation based on shared interests and values in bilateral relations. Collaboration between both countries manifests

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103 April 2013 | 15

industry has been one of the top performers in sub-Saharan Africa.

A project to interconnect the three railways from Angola to Namibia, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo is underway and expected to be completed by 2014, providing scenic ways of seeing the country.

The Luanda International Airport is increasing its flight routes across the African continent and major European airlines have direct flights to Luanda.

■ Angola is a potential investment

country. The country owes the success to the advantageous price of oil and the realistic policy of the Angolan executive, under the leadership of the President Jose Eduardo dos Santos for diversification away from overreliance on oil and making investments in much needed infrastructure.

■ Angola is one of the countries that haven’t recog-

nized Kosovo’s independence. Aside from this fact, what are the good relations between Angola and Serbia based on?

- For Angola, Serbia is the successor of Yugoslavia. Angola has great respects for Yugoslavia’s supporting the Angolan people in their struggle for independence. It is about a sentiment of gratitude to a people. Moreover, it is Angola’s policy to be committed to the African Union principles of intangibility of borders and the international law regarding respect for the territorial integrity of states.

destination for Serbian business.

In what branches of the Angolan economy can they invest?

- As with many market economies, the opportunities to invest in the Angolan economy are ruled by market law and by the principles of respect of the Angolan laws.

■ The Serbian company Nelt has

been present in Angola since 2010, while the construction company Planum has been operating in Angola, in various ways, since the 1970s. What are the advantages of breaking into Angolan and generally Sub-Saharan markets early?

- Generally Angola does not practice any discrimination based on the one way or another. However, although the opportunities exist in all sectors of the economy interested companies must meet the relevant requirements.

■ What are Angola’s advantages as an investment destination?

- Angola enjoys peace and stability. The country’s legislation offers highly attractive incentives in the form of tax or waivers.

■ It has been reported recently

It is Angola’s policy to be committed to the African Union principles of intangibility of borders and the international law regarding respect for the territorial integrity of states

■ At the end of the 27 year long war, Angola was a devastated country while today it is the fastest growing economies in the world. Rich crude oil reserves and a prudent economic policy certainly contributed to that.

Could you tell us about the directions of this policy?

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- Angola is poised to build on the success of the decade when the country achieved an extraordinary average of 11.1% GDP growth per year over the decade that followed the 27 years of the conflict which ravaged the

103 April 2013 | www.cordmagazine.com

that Angolan businessmen have been buying land in Portugal, the country which colonized Angola for near 500 years, and which is in a very difficult financial situation today. Considering the fast developing Angolan economy, can we expect to see Angolan investments in Serbia too, and what economy segments could be of interest to Angolan businessmen?

- There are many sectors where cooperation with Serbia may be mutually advantageous, including transfer of technology, education, and in all those areas where we recognize that Serbian know-how can contribute to the progress of our economy.

■ Are there any plans for Angolan and Serbian businessmen to meet in the near future?

- We are working in order to create bonds between different sectors for economic, social and cultural links.

One of the first moves is to hold a seminar on private investments in which the businessmen from the two countries can have the opportunities to meet and discuss issues of common interest. ■

corporate

Step Into the Future

F

rom May 13-17, 2013, the Belgrade Fair will stage the 57th International Technology and Technological Invention Fair under the slogan “Step into the Future.” This fair is an important economic and technological event in the country and the region which directly promotes the potential and interests in this field.

The latest technical and technological products are important for a county’s economic development. Hence, this year, the Technology Fair’s exhibit concept is putting a special emphasis on national exhibitors who foster innovation, innovative products and innovative projects. Foreign exhibitors, distributors and agents will present their technical and technological achievements divided into exhibiting groups. A special treat will be the 21st Century Factory which will present CNC machines, components and modules for flexible

INFO: www.beogradskisajamtehnike.rs

automation, robots with different applications, measuring instruments, PLCs or programmable controllers, measuring and machining devices, software, intranet, extranet, and Internet.

The exhibiting groups make an integral part of the Technology Fair. They are: Industrial electronics, power electronics, power engineering, transport and logistics, process engineering,

Foreign exhibitors, distributors and agents will present their technical and technological achievements divided into exhibiting groups welding, and surface protection.

By presenting the latest technology from all areas of life, producers and constructors, the Technology and Technological Innovation Fair validates its reputation as the important driving force behind economic development and a

guidepost toward reaching new global production standards. Through promoting their technological accomplishments, producers will be able to meet businessmen from our country and the region, while presenting other channels of cooperation. The business spirit of this prestigious event is also validated through national and group exhibitions – the National Exhibition of the Czech Economy, the National Exhibition of the Slovak Republic, and group appearances

by Slovenian and Croatian exhibitors.

Aside from the exhibition segment, the Technology Fair pays a great deal of attention to its specialized side programme which will cover topics related to reindustrialization, energy efficiency, alternative and renewable energy sources, and applied information technology in industry.

Step into the future at the Belgrade Fair from May 13 to 17! ■

interview

■ By Radmila Stanković

Predrag Miki Manojlović, Actor

Undemocratic Parties

Cannot Create Democracy He is one of a handful of our artists who were not overlooked by God when bestowing talent and who, through their public appearances, have been mitigating the bad reputation that our country has abroad. In our country, they alleviate the contempt shown by the tongue-tied intellectual elite. When we spoke last time, he told me that having artists who are recognized by the larger world is all in vain when various local bigwigs plunder and ravage our country. It is these people that won’t let Kusturica, Paskaljević, Manojlović, Marković and others interfere with their work. Let them keep doing what they do but somewhere else

18 |

103 April 2013 | www.cordmagazine.com

Parliament

Here, it is the government that governs, while the parliament is here only as an alibi for the decisions that the government would make anyway.

Nation

Our nation has become too selfish and we are so focused on ourselves that we care about nothing else but our own interest.

Populism

A populist environment has been created where culture, theatre, actors or artists in general are not needed.

T

one of the youngest recipients of the October Award, here is a legendary story about the former as well as Sterija’s Award, the Emperor Constantine director of Atelje 212, Mira Trailović, and Award, and the lifetime achievement awards Alekthe director of the National Theatre, Velimir Lukić, bickering back and forth about young sandar Lifka, Pavle Vuisić and Milivoje Živanović. This actor Predrag Miki Manojlović before he year, he received the most distinguished acting award graduated in 1972. The two of them competed about Dobričin Prsten (Dobrica’s Ring) given to him by his who was better at their jobs. Mira was convinced that fellow actors.

Miki Manojlović belonged to Atelje, while Miki himself thought that he was more suited for the National Theatre where he subsequently went. She was angry at him, saying that he made the wrong choice, while, even today, he thinks that he made the right decision. He stayed with the National Theatre until 1993 when Aleksandar Berček was appointed the theatre’s director. As a sign of protest, Predrag Ejdus, Svetlana Bojković and Predrag Miki Manojlović left the theatre.

He played in the most popular domestic series, which also had the most reruns, like Otpisani (The Written-Off) and Grlom u Jagode (Only Fools Rush In), and in some of the best domestic films like Otac na Službenom The government does not contribute Putu (When Father Was Away on Business), anything to caring about the basic and Rane (The Wounds), Klopka (The Trap), Mi Nismo Anđeli (We are not Angels), Un- strategic state issues like the language, derground, Tuđa Amerika (Someone Else’s the culture and the theatre. These are America), Tito i Ja (Tito and Me)... He started older than politics and will outlive politics making movies in France in 1995, where he made ’Le Boucher’ (The Butcher) which brought him In the packed hall of the Yugoslav Drama Theatre, international fame. He also played in Stephan KomanPredrag Miki Manojlović (63) gave thanks for the award to the people who passed away and those who did not, darev’s film The World is Big which was one of the nine and the people who determined his path in life and films that competed for an Oscar in the Best Foreign influenced his career. He also said: “This is a solemn Language Film category. He just finished a film called moment, but I would like to appeal to you, if anybody The Judgment directed by Komandarev. would listen, to treat the theatre and the culture in this Miki Manojlović’s parents – his father Ivan and city, which is a strategic treasure of this country, with mother Zorka née Doknić – were actors. Miki is marthe understanding and awareness that nothing could ried to actress Tamara Vučković and has a son who is unlock doors – here, there, in Europe or anywhere else named after his late father. From his first marriage, he – like culture and education. If you don’t understand also has a daughter, Čarna, who is a film and TV directhat, you shouldn’t be sitting here now.” tor, who gave birth to his grandson Ognjen last year.

When I say to him that he is the recipient of a national pension, he corrects me and says that he hasn’t “re■ This and everything else you’ve said when accepting ceived it,” but that he rather earned it. Miki adds that the award is not something one would expect to hear he has 40 years of work experience since he started when you have the Serbian Prime Minsiter and Culworking as a very young man and was eligible to qualture Minister sitting in the front row. And you spoke ify for national pension. to that very government which hadn’t been very reMiki did not pursue roles, rather they pursued him. sponsive to culture.

Just as all of his awards came at the right time. He was - An intellectual considers public speaking as an obcordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 19

ligation. As much as I don’t like giving interviews, whenever I do give them, I have an obligation to say something, to speak to someone about something, to point out a problem. On this occasion I first thanked the people who, unbeknownst to them, became my role models. I also thanked the people who had been instrumental for our culture and theatre, and if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I named names.

From Pero Kvrgić, whose work I saw when I was six years old and was impressed back then as I am today. I was lucky to have been able to learn from him on stage, in life, how to conduct myself and express my opinions.

I also mentioned Marko Fotez, Mira Stupica and Lju-

20 |

democratic, to neglect the culture to such a dramatic extent following the democratic upheaval in 2000?

- There are several elements that we have to bear in mind. The first one is that you can’t do anything by force and every change in the society takes a long time. There are 191 theatres in the Hungarian capital city of Budapest which has about 2.2 million inhabitants. Although Hungarian is their mother tongue, and it bears no similarity to any other language, and the Hungarians are surrounded by the Slavs and the Germans, they have survived by nurturing their own language and culture.

Let me come back to your question and give you a straightforward answer. This undemocratic situation in culture is possible only because the governing parties in Serbia are not democratic in their work and haven’t developed democracy in themselves. They might have the adjective ‘democratic’ in their name, but they are actually authoritative. In their case, everything boils down to the influence and power of an individual or individuals, but none of the political parties have a democratic order. Parties which are undemocratic cannot create anything democratic.

However, I have been often asking myself, quite logically, do we even need democracy resembling the one in developed countries?

■ Why do you have this dilemma?

ba Tadić, my colleagues who won Dobrica’s Ring, but also the actors This undemocratic situation in the culture is who did not win it but were defipossible only because the governing parties nitely deserving of it. I mentioned the critic Vlada Stamenković too, in Serbia are not democratic in their work and and forgot to mention the people haven’t developed democracy in themselves who made the ring. However, none of this would make any sense if I gave a conventional, - Because developed countries have perpetual deboring, mellifluous thank you speech and exchanged mocracy, and, in our case, democracy hasn’t even kisses. I had to stay true to myself and my being and started yet. There is no democratic approach in say what I mean. Of course, I said that in front of the the political being that is present in this part of the Prime Minister and Culture Minister. I think it was world. There are no different views of the same good that they were present and I thank them for that. thing and no tolerance of that diversity. Democracy However, that did not stop me from talking about the in real life entails coming to certain conclusions in a current situation in culture and that artistic creativity democratic way, not through violence. It seems that did not lie in government’s hands. This government we haven’t cultivated the need for democracy in our does not contribute anything to caring about the basic genes. In our country, all democratic forms and forand strategic state issues like the language, the culture mats, which are supposedly functional, are actually and the theatre. These are older than politics and will staged. Here, it is the government that governs, while outlive politics. If we neglect the language and culture, the parliament is here only as an alibi for the decithen the very survival of the state is inevitably at stake. sions that the government would make anyway in a This is a fact that has been recurring throughout hisway it thinks it should. And then you wonder why we need a parliament at all. Sometimes, it seems that we tory and for which every ruler who failed to realize it don’t need a president, a parliament or anybody else, paid a very high price. apart from the finance minister. One man does every■ How is it possible for a society, which calls itself

103 April 2013 | www.cordmagazine.com

thing. Maybe we deserve that and maybe that is our way to democracy.

■ Don’t you think that you have too cynical of a view of the present time?

- I don’t see it as cynical, but realistic. Just think back to the time when Serbia functioned at its best. That was the time when we had the strongest whip masters. This phrase is derived from the word whip, and the whip master is someone who is wielding the whip. You have to travel a long way from that state to democracy. Some people covered this road in less time, like the Czechs, the Slovaks, the Hungarians, and even the Russians,

and, as many times before, we had to start from the beginning. Maybe that was the problem.

- The system that we are talking about nurtured the beauty of creativity and art, and fought against gaudiness. Once Slobodan Milošević and his wife came to power, gaudiness replaced culture. In the 1990s, we lived in severe and intolerable kitsch which was everywhere. If your child woke up in the middle of the night and turned on the TV, they would see the worst kind of pornography. Generations of young people were wrecked by the value system that was served to them in the 1990s. In fact, those generations don’t know what culture and value systems are.

The culture budget makes 0.62% of the total state budget and the film industry got zero dinars from the budget which makes talking about this absolutely redundant

who have been always going forward and not backward. Russia has its strength, the meaning, own identity and its concern for culture is unquestionable.

■

This situation Milošević.

continued

after

- What continued was the serious and strategic destruction of one country and its people, and it did not happen by chance. We can only suspect who

■ In the former Yugoslavia, culture had a bet-

ter treatment than it has today. What happened that we have fallen into disrepair?

- What happened was the disintegration of the country. Our cultural dissolution started back in 1988. In the country called Yugoslavia, there was a value system that disappeared together with the country, but its remnants are still seen today. We remember its good after-effects. I spoke about this at the Dobrica’s Ring Award ceremony. I mentioned one of the great, most influential and most powerful editors who worked at TV Belgrade, Zora Korać. Everybody listened to Zora, and she gave every single talented young person a chance to work. She opened the door of television to the entire Czech film school, but also to me and dozens of other artists of different convictions. Remembering the past does sound sentimental, but I am not doing that because I want the past to repeat itself, but because the past is more powerful than the present.

We have people today who are just as influential as Zora was back in the day, but they don’t feel the need really to build the basic system of values, institutions and the state. Why would they do that? They have pretty good control over everything in this non-system and have been preventing us from creating a system.

■ This system, that was created by Josip Broz Tito, last-

ed for a very long time and was given an opportunity to develop and improve. Subsequently, it was destroyed

was doing it and why. I can be disgusted by globalization and not like how the super-powers, which rule the planet, behave, but we are in the grip of certain political developments that are out of our realm and our reach. We can only try to fit in, and future generations will pay the price of that.

■ Your acting career is truly European. Considering

your experience, could you tell us the difference between the treatment of actors in Serbia and in France or Romania, for instance?

- Thousands and thousands of European intellectuals have already rehashed this question that you and I are now talking about. They were done with it as soon as the borders between European countries became meaningless. On a continent as small as ours, the necessity of the interchange between nations and countries and the cooperation between people and artists has become very apparent. What also became cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 21

very apparent was that small national cultures were not worth much if they were out of touch with other cultures, if they did not create and cooperate together.

The Romanians have changed the way they treat their film industry, they started investing in it and encouraging young people to do contemporary films that would showcase today’s Romania to the world in an exceptionally artistic way. In humble Romania, everything possible was done towards increasing the culture budget and for setting aside huge funds for the film industry. What happened in our country is something that has never happened anywhere else. The culture budget makes up 0.62% of the total state budget, and the film industry got zero dinars from the budget, which makes talking about this absolutely redundant. Then the story comes about the disappearance of a country which resembled more a tribal country somewhere in the world than a European one.

■ I am sure that you would

agree that many people, influenced by the media and the politics which permeates through the media, would simply ask: “Why do you insist so much on culture?” and “Can’t you see that they are taking Kosovo away from us?”

22 |

phere where actors are treated like scum and idlers – like people that the society, which supposedly lives off miners, doesn’t really need. The fact is that, in the 1950s, miners and actors received the same number of food stamps. They were treated the same. Food stamps were subsequently abolished, but nobody despised actors as some people do today quite publicly. A populist environment has been created where culture, theatre, actors or artists in general are not needed.

Sometimes I think that it would have been better if culture hadn’t received a single penny. Maybe that would force our comatose elite to wake up and get its imagination going. Maybe even the dormant Academy of Sciences (and Arts) would wake up. If that happened, it would become clear that there was no chance that you belonged to this country, since it was this country that threw you into the fallow field and forgot about you. Maybe if that happened, we would be able to see what imagination could do, since it is the imagination that makes the world go around.

What needs to be done is to awaken hope in people that good morals and upstanding people still exist, since, without that, this life that we live today will lead to our total dissolution.

Generations of young people were - This is an absolutely false dilemma and we wrecked by the value system that ■ It seems that every new cannot compare the government has less unwas served to them in the 1990s. In derstanding two at all. The problem for what we with Kosovo is a seri- fact, those generations don’t know have been talking about. ous problem that tran- what culture and value systems are - They are trying less to understand this issue. scends the relations And even if they do understand it, it doesn’t exist in between the Serbs, the Albanians and the rest of the their eyes. There is nobody to force them to try to unBalkans. This is an unprecedented topic that has appeared throughout history. There have always been derstand why all of this is important. They should lishistorical precedents when widely accepted values ten, they should have somebody to listen to; they should were trampled on, when agreements were not adread and learn... They should know something that they don’t know now and understand why all of this is so imhered to, when violence erupted, when a stronger country came, slapped you in the face couple of times portant. However, they behave like they know it all. And and left. It’s now our turn to deal with that and I, just there is nothing you can do about it. This is the proof of like many other people, don’t know how is this probthe huge spiritual decay that surrounds us. lem going to be resolved. However, we should not allow this dilemma to be imposed on us, since the Ko■ Do you think that we have lost the urge to rebel, sovo problem has nothing to do with what we have which other nations have, or maybe we have never had been talking about. this urge?

What was created here was an unbearable atmos- Our nation has become too selfish, and we are so fo-

103 April 2013 | www.cordmagazine.com

cused on ourselves that we care about nothing else but our own interest. Of course, there are different kinds of people. Some probably share my point of view but are keeping mum about it. And it all boils down to an individual person which is very bad. It is bad to keep silent about injustice, violence and spiritual crime. And that’s exactly what we are doing.

This is the last chance for this government, whatever it may be, to establish an environment where pending processes will be completed. This will demonstrate that the state is functioning at least in one very important segment, and that we are all equal in the eyes of the law.

money and what we manage to raise. I have never taken a taxi on the organization’s expense, let alone something else. I am not losing hope, and I am not giving up on this endeavour. However, society should help an initiative like this, at least a little bit.

■ You have toured many towns in Serbia and abroad with a play that ballerina Sonja Vukićević did with physically disabled people in the Workshop. How did you manage to organize this tour?

- Artistically speaking, it was an unforgettable experience. If you are referring to finances, we did receive assistance. I am talking about the financial assistance that Erste Foundation in Southeast Europe provided.

We also got some mon■ You have worked with Our nation has become too selfish, ey from Telekom Sergreat European masters in your extensive inter- and we are so focused on ourselves bia. Everything else was purely voluntary. All the national career. What that we care about nothing else work done by my fellow was that like? but our own interest. Of course, actors and other artists - I have played in very good films to which I there are different kinds of people was free, charitable. We had Vesna Čipčić, Svetcontributed as much as I could, and they won the lana Bojković and Seka Sablić biggest number of awards at acting, Vlatko Stefanovski givthe most prestigious festiing a concert and Merima Njevals. If we are talking about gomir singing. None of them great award-winning actors, took any money. who are few and far between, I don’t feel inferior to ■ Tell us about your next film. them at all.

- I have just finished a film made by German, Bulgarian, Croatian and Macedonian ■ You have been dedicating producers called The Judgemuch of your time to the ment. The film is directed charity organization called

by Stephan Komandarev Integration Workshop which who also wrote the screenworks with disabled persons. In the last few years, play. This is a story about Bulgaria during the Iron seeing public figures workCurtain age and Bulgaria ing with disabled people has today. “The Judgement” is become politically correct in a narrow mountain path, a the world. huge cliff that you need to - In my case, that is part of cross in order to get from my upbringing. That is me, Asia to Europe. I am playing a Bulgarian army capmy human kindness, which has its good and bad sides.

When Tamara and I became settled at our mature age, tain who guarded that border and who, during the I simply came to the realization or the feeling that you time of the Iron Curtain, forced a young Bulgarian cannot work only for your own benefit all the time. This soldier to kill two East Germans who defected from is how I’ve always treated people – help them if you can. their country and tried to reach Greece. In present People with a handicap are not second-rate but firstage Bulgaria, this young man drives a tank-car that rate citizens. They are first-class people. The exchange I collects milk, and when there is no milk, there is no have with them is very fulfilling. This is a long and seriwork to be done. The captain who forced him to kill the two people from East Germany is forcing him toous process that is taking many directions.

Let me finish answering your question. I am not doday to smuggle people across the Judgement. This is an interesting story that tells a lot about the past and ing this because it is fashionable in the wealthy West. present Bulgaria. ■ There is no money in this. We are investing our own cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 23

review

■ By Miša Brkić

Messages from Kopaonik business forum 2013

Reindustrialization Plus Reform There will be no new industrialization without reforming the state, fostering the entrepreneurial spirit and promoting private ownership. The state “lends its visible hand” by meddling in the economy, while the business community wants the state authorities to act like a partner and just set the rules of free competition and market economy

T

Minister Verica Kalanović retorted by Grujić (who is “sitting on two chairs” by he reindustrialization plan will admitting that the current business climate being in the state-run National Council have been finished by April. in Serbia was not good, and goaded the for Economic Recovery and managing a On this note, Deputy Chairman businessmen by saying that they became private company), to remind those preof the National Council for successful with a lot of state help. sent that “the state and private business Economic Recovery and President of PSP Reindustrialization was labelled as the have been working together in developFarman Company, Branislav Grujić endsolution that would save Serbia. Prime ing Russia.” Grujić then went ton to add, “I ed this year’s Kopaonik Business Forum Minister Ivica Dačić blamed the following am under the impression that, in the last which was dedicated to “the return to the for the reindustrialization being late: few years, the state authorities in Serbia future” – a plan known as “industrialization a) Politicians - “We are not interested did not take onboard what business ownplus electrification” with the addition of agin issues that yield results in the long run, ers were saying. There is still no necessary riculture and information technology. because we think that we shall gain politipartnership. That’s why the best people This is what the sustainable format cal points only with short-term measures” have left Serbia.” of Serbia’s development should look like: b) Scientists – “Who are not the format that the representaAnd no matter how constructive the discussion alert” and tives of the state and big busiwas, the impression was that the state and c) Businessmen - “Who are ness productively talked about in order to get to the construc- business did not trust each other, and that they used to making quick and easy money from commercial and fitive cooperation in reindustrialwere holding each other at “gunpoint” nancial transactions” and not ization of the country. from “investing in industry.”

And no matter how conIn order to turn this situastructive the discussion was, the tion around, the government impression was that the state plans to amend the Zoning and and business did not trust each Construction Law and Labour other, and that they were holdLaw this year, actively reduce ing each other at “gunpoint”. redundant regulation and simAlthough they did agree on couplify the business environment. ple of important topics, sparks The Prime Minister also cited flew from time to time which energy, agriculture, infrastrucwas indicative of the mistrust ture and information technology between these two segments as areas where the state would of the society. At a certain ivica dačić, Aleksandar Vlahović, mlađan dinkić and encourage reindustrialization. point, this prompted Branislav verica kalanović

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the state is behaving like a partner. behaving like a partner but rather, it has And the state will “lend its visible hand” in President of MK Group and the been clashing with the private sector. Beko doing all of the aforementioned. Dačić then new head of the Serbian Business Club said that the main prerequisite for reindusinvited economic experts, businessmen Privrednik, Miodrag Kostić indirectly actrialization and overcoming the crisis was and bankers to devise a new economic decused the government of not being ready to have a strong leader and firm ideology. velopment policy together with the state to carry out unpopular measures and illus“Serbia currently has neither,” Beko said. authorities. trated his point by saying that 50% of civBranislav Grujić is confident that busiFinance and Economy Minister Mlađan il servants are surplus. nessmen can help with the recovery of Dinkić also invited businessmen to make “Private entrepreneurship is the way Serbian economy and, in order for that to their own draft laws that they had issues out of crisis,” Kostić was adawith in practice and then turn mant. He thinks that “the private them over to the government as sector cannot propel the econothough it were “a turnkey project.” my without cheaper funds, which Business people think that the state needs to provide. By the state doesn’t have “the guts” default, the private sector is alto carry out urgent and unpopways the most efficient, but toular measures and have been day it cannot generate profit criticizing the politicians for higher than interest rates. This is creating an environment where not the case in other countries.” businessmen have a bad reputaITM Group owner Toplica tion despite the Serbian private Spasojević points out that it is sector generating 75% of the vital for the National Bank of economy’s profit. Some of the Dragan Đuričin, branka đukić, draginja đurić, aleksandar vlahović and branislav grujić Serbia to reduce required remost successful businessmen claim that they could jump-start Finance and Economy Minister Mlađan Dinkić serves and stimulate banks to start massively granting loans. the country’s development and also invited businessmen to make their own Also, Spasojević continues, they contribute to the new reindustridraft laws that they had issues with in practice need to grant long-term loans alization, but in order to do that and then turn them over to the government as with lower interest rates to prothey would need the state’s help. duction and export-orientated They expect the state to reform though it were “a turnkey project” companies. the public sector and devise Economy professor and the measures that would make bank former Deputy Prime Minister loans cheaper.

Miroljub Labus points out that It is crucial to implement huge funding is needed for the new a series of unpopular measindustrialization which is someures in order for Serbia to start thing that Serbia doesn’t have. overcoming the crisis – said Another thing that was heard Slavko Carić, Chairman of Erste at Kopaonik was that, in consulBank’s Executive Board. “The tation with the state, insurance state administration is the key companies were willing to colhindering factor, and it needs to lect tens of billions of euros and be much more efficient, smallvlahović, jorgovanka tabaković, mlađan invest that money in transport er, faster and cheaper. This aleksandar dinkić and Zorana mihajlović infrastructure. “But, so far, none is a long process which still of the sides were receptive to that,” it was happen, the system needs to be predictahasn’t commenced because it is going to said during one of the debates. “Private ble and politically stable. “We feel like secbe very painful from the very beginning. pension funds are also offering their capiond-rate citizens here. In Russia, for inNevertheless, it needs to be implementtal to be invested in economy,” says direcstance, the relations between the state and ed,” Carić added. tor of the voluntary pension fund Raiffeisen the economy are not a taboo, and nobody Chairman of the Port of Belgrade’s Future, Snežana Ristanović. is disapproving of doing business for profManaging Board Milan Beko was critical of The statements made by Kostić, it only,” Grujić noted. the state’s interventions in the economy.

Spasojević and Labus prompted the honBeko also thinks that private sector He said that the state should determine ourable director of Sintelon, Nikola Pavičić could be the driving force behind the ecofree competition and market economy to observe that “the state needs to change nomic growth, but only in a country where rules, and added that the state hasn’t been

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the system and not share the money around.” President of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises Milan Knežević also suggested that the state had to create legal and economic conditions for the planned reindustrialization. “Reindustrialization doesn’t only entail creating new capacities, but primarily preserving the existing ones which would be the basis for establishing new companies. Otherwise, the reindustrialization would make no sense,” Knežević underlined.

President of the Securities Commission Professor Zoran Ćirović made an interesting proposition. He said that the first measure to implement should be floating the best domestic companies on stock exchange. “This is the only place that is fully transparent and only in that way we can rate the quality of companies’ management,” Ćirović said.

The head of the Delegation of the EU to Serbia Vincent Degert, and German and Italian ambassadors Heinz Wilhelm and Armando Varricchio respectively, said that it was important for Serbia to continue developing infrastructure, as well as proceed with reforming education and the public sector, abolish monopolies and reduce red tape in order to become a more competitive market. Representatives of big foreign companies stated that, in order for the country to attract more foreign in-

miodrag kostić, aleksandar vlahović, goran pitić and ivan stanković

h.e. Mr. Heinz Georg WILHELM (left) german ambassador and h.e. Mr. michael kirby US ambassador

milan beko

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After three days of debates, the participants of the Kopaonik Business Forum concluded that this year’s forum showed an outline of a new state strategy emerging vestors, it had to secure political stability, a predictable business environment, a flexible labour market and more efficient administration. “If Serbia wants to attract foreign investors it needs to curb the bureaucracy and have a predictable tax policy,” said director of Fiat Serbia, Antonio Cesare Ferrara.

After three days of debates, the participants of the Kopaonik Business Forum concluded that this year’s forum showed an outline of a new state strategy emerging. It was also said that if the state wanted to have a sustainable economic growth it needed to foster entrepreneurial spirit and promote private ownership.

The Chairperson of the Kopaonik Business Forum, Professor Dragan Đuričin thinks that most of the participants of the 20th Forum agreed about the state’s having to play a more agile role in boosting economic activity, and in implementing the reindustrialization process. President of the Association of Corporate Directors Toplica Spasojević is also under the impression that, at this year’s Kopaonik Business Forum, a consensus was reached about the need to reindustrialize Serbia with more help from the state authorities. President of the Serbian Association of Economists, Aleksandar Vlahović underlined that a very clear message was sent to the government – a message that says that public sector needs to be reformed at the same time as the reindustrialization is carried out. ■

corporate The International Building Trade Fair – SEEBBE

The Centre of the Regional Construction Industry

F

rom April 16 to 20, the Belgrade Fair will be again the meeting place of regional construction professionals. The leading construction fair in Southeast Europe – the International Building Trade Fair SEEBBE – will take place this year for the 39th consecutive time, and will bring together the most important construction stakeholders from the surrounding countries. Over 800 exhibitors from all construction segments – production and distribution, construction design, general construction companies, engineering, installation and service companies, and publishers of specialized literature – are expected to attend the Fair.

With over 25 participating countries and the biggest number of established professional business contacts, the SEEBBE is one of the events that have been successfully contributing to the business success of construction companies. It is encouraging to see a heightened interest by foreign investors too. Visitors will be able to see some of the leading European compa-

nies, as well as start-up enterprises. Apart from the traditional exhibitors from Turkey, Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia, countries like Romania and the Czech Republic will exhibit too. Also, for the first time ever, the German region of Hesse will join the exhibitors’ ranks.

For the very first time, a streamlined business visitors’ registration system, devised by the Belgrade Fair, will be implemented at this year’s Building Trade Fair. This system enables

the business profiles of the exhibitors and interested visitors will appear at the portal, visible to both of them, which will help them to prepare a meeting schedule even before the fair starts.

Another reason why the SEEBBE has become one of the most important fairs in the regional building industry is the technological innovation which has a special place in the Fair’s programme, as well as at the exhibitor stands and the accompanying specialized meetings.

By constantly advancing the way it preOver 800 exhibitors from all sents the construction industry, and especonstruction segments are expected cially technological innovation, the SEEBBE has been bringing this field even closer to to attend the Fair European and global standards. Thanks to its exhibitors and visitors to schedule B2B meetsuccessful organization, the SEEBBE has develings in advance at the exhibitors’ stands duroped into the biggest event at the Belgrade Fair, ing the fair. The registration of a business visas well as the most important building fair in the it and scheduling of B2B meetings will be carregion thus becoming one of the most powerful ried out via a registration portal, free of charge driving forces behind the construction industry for exhibitors while the visitors will have to pay while contributing to the country’s overall ecoa small fee. Following registration at the portal, nomic development. ■

INFO: www.seebbe.com

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interview

■ By Mark R. Pullen Photos: Zoran Petrović

Samantha Seewoosurrun, Managing Director of Newgate Communications

Seeking

inclusion

T

“The European Commission would like to be informed and included in Serbia’s reform processes as much as possible. In terms of the future pipeline, which includes reform of pensions and labour law, which will be extremely important for the country, they’d like to be consulted at an early stage”

So this remains the headline, but a strong emphasis on determining he issue of Kosovo may “reapart from the Kosovo issue there are whether Serbia actually has the camain the headline” when it a lot of other things as well” – says comes to securing a future pacity. In Brussels it is perceived that Mrs Seewoosurrun. date for the start of EU acSerbia’s European Integration Office is quite effective, but officials would also cession negotiations, but like to receive a wider input from the according to Brussels-based lobbyist ■ Do the politicians and the media Serbian business community as well Samantha Seewoosurrun, the Eurotend to get a bit hung up on the Ko- for them to say whether or not they sovo issue and ignore those “other pean Commission is also concerned things”? agree with the sort of statements and about many other issues that Serbia information which is being proneeds to address.

EU officials based in Brussels “There are still a lot of vided by the Integration Office, things to be done. The main either by reinforcing it if it’s true have heard very little from the headline point is obviously or challenging it if they see fit. EU Serbian business community the talks between Mr Dačić officials based in Brussels have since EU candidate status was heard very little from the Serand Mr Thaci, which gets a lot of political attention in bian business community since granted in March of last year Brussels because everybody, EU candidate status was granted particularly at the Commission, is in March of last year. This seems sur- Yes, but at the same time the political saying that if there’s no visible and and economic criteria are extremely prising as Serbian businesses stand to sustainable improvement on Kosovo important, as is how Serbia actually gain significantly from enhanced trade then we cannot proceed any further. approaches the legislation. There’s and economic cooperation, which will

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Kosovo

Everybody, particularly at the European Commission, is saying that if there’s no visible and sustainable improvement on Kosovo then we cannot proceed any further.

Praise

The Serbian authorities are being congratulated by the European Commission on the issue of the new Public Procurement Law, which is seen as a model for the future.

Expectations

We need to manage expectations.

We shouldn’t have Serbian citizens expecting too much, too quickly, so they may become disappointed.

shouldn’t have Serbian citizens expectforwards and the MEPs are generally already begin under the Stabilisation supportive. One MEP, Socialist Mr Knut and Association Agreement with the ing too much, too quickly, so they may Fleckenstein, spoke at a meeting with EC. Officials in Brussels are keen to become disappointed, while on the EU hear from experts in specific side citizens could be afraid of Certain groups in the European areas such as land managemore enlargement, so it’s imParliament, such as the Liberals, portant that we explain both ment, which is one of the most complicated issues, along the benefits and the challengthe Greens and the Socialists, with property rights. Some inof the Serbian accession on remain extremely concerned about es both sides. I think other MEPs vestors have also been alertSerbia’s position regarding Gay broadly support the same poing MEPs to concerns about the business environment sition. The UK government has Pride marches, the Roma and and the penal code. also been very keen to push other minorities things forward, but even they former President Tadić recently and are saying that we still need rigorous ■ Is there a sense in Brussels that his view was that we’re moving in the implementation of all the conditions Serbia is still heading in the right diright direction, but at the same time and we shouldn’t be moving before rection? we need to manage expectations. We that. But in terms of some of the de - Overall, Serbia is definitely edging

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tails, as I’ve said, the Serbian authorities are being congratulated by the European Commission on the issue of the new Public Procurement Law, which is seen as a model for the future, while the new VAT Law is seen to have helped improve liquidity, for example.

■ So there’s still some room for optimism?

- There are some things that are going in the right direction. On anti-corruption there is a lot of activity and the results will be awaited with interest.

There are some things that are going in the right direction.

On anti-corruption there is a lot of activity and the results will be awaited with interest

The European Commission would like to be informed and included in Serbia’s reform processes as much as possible. In terms of the future pipeline, which includes reform of pension and labour law, which will be extremely important for the country, they’d like to be consulted at an early stage.

■ What other issues are of immediate concern to the European Commission?

- The only other issue we haven’t touched on yet is that of minorities. Certain groups in the European Parliament, such as the Liberals, the Greens and the Socialists, remain extremely concerned about Serbia’s position regarding Gay Pride marches, the Roma and other minorities.

They will not forget what has happened in recent years. Even though the Commission is perhaps looking more at the Kosovo issue and economic reform, the parliamentarians are not so interested in all of this economic detail and are much more focused on freedoms and rights, which need to be improved. That said, there’s still a great deal of good will towards Serbia from the European institutions overall. ■

From PR to Lobbying Newgate offers both PR and lobbying services. Our public relations team is dealing with the media on a daily basis.

They’re the people working out how to improve the profile of a CEO, looking at long term communications strategies that could include social media, events and so on. On the lobbying side we engage with the EU or Westminster institutions, contact politicians and officials, and help clients to work out their own positions in relation to EU legislation.

It involves looking at what they’d like to see in the next European Commission work programme for 2014 and what legislation they’d like to see introduced, or not. Some of our clients are private companies, while others are trade associations. Within the general framework we also have a lot of interaction within European Commission groups. As an example on the lobbying side, one of our clients is the European Union of House Builders and Developers (UEPC). The European Commission has a very well developed strategy on sustainable development in construction. In January they launched a high level forum with governments, the industry and the European Parliament, to say that the construction industry is extremely important for Europe, employs X amount of people and needs to be developed, but we need to have a focus on sustainability and energy efficiency. So the European Commission has now launched a series of thematic groups on areas like skills and qualifications, internationalisation and others.

The role that we then have is to look within our trade association and work out who are our main experts on these particular topics and can provide input for the European Commission’s policy. So, the role of the consultants working with the experts is to brief them on what the EC’s officials are looking for, which we glean from our contacts, and for us to work with our trade association by telling them what is the most useful input they can provide to the Commission. We help them to write their position papers in a way that people can easily digest and use, because sometimes technical experts use committee phrases that nobody can understand. So we try to translate technical materials into politically understandable statements that are then sent, with our experts, to the European Commission in order to influence the policy process.

Lobbying centres

Brussels is one of the world’s lobbying capitals, alongside London and Washington DC. Of those three, I would say that Brussels is where the lobbyists have the most value, because you have such a massive range of interests among the 27 member states. It takes a lobbyist who usually has internal experience, simply because many clients don’t know what’s useful or interesting to a politician and so they don’t know how to craft their amendment in the right language or in the right table, so it takes a lobbyist with experience of the system to package the process. We also save a lot of time for the politicians by lobbying for multiple associations at the same time on a single topic, thereby condensing many thousands of voices into a single coherent message.

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Melina Kamelić, a spokeswoman for Al Jazeera TV, Sarajevo; Duška Jovanić, journalist and writer, Belgrade; Sonja Hodak, journalist, Zagreb; Lydia Pavlin, director of the agency Nicha, Ljubljana; dr Lidija Rakočevič, pediatrician, Podgorica; dr Nina Miteva, president of the Association of Dentists of Macedonia, Skopje. Moderator: Dragan Đermanović, PRpepper, Novi Sad 10.40 - 11.05 Case Study 1 – What can really cure us: Dr. Mirjana Mićović, a pediatrician and a Reiki master, Belgrade 11.05 - 11.25 Coffee break 11.25 - 11.50 Case Study 2 – Being pregnant in Serbia – 2.0: Prof. dr Aleksandra Novakov Mikić, Novi Sad 11.50 - 12.50 Panel 2: Make Me Beautiful: Laughter and tears of esthetic surgery. Dr Violeta Skorobać, cosmetic surgeon, Belgrade; Žana Poliakov, writer and Lepota i zdravlje columnist; dr Zoran Milivojević, psychotherapist, Ljubljana; Nada Miletić Nevajda, Beiersdorf, Belgrade; BSc. Engineer Manuela Šapro, cosmetologist and phytotherapist, Zagreb; Ksenija Mijatović, music star, Exhibition of "feminine" late Belgrade. Moderator: Jelena Joksimović, Ljepota i zdravlje, Banja Luka 19th and early 12.50 - 13.15 Case Study 3 – A good women and good books – the book prizes and literary injustices: Dr Vladislava Petković Gordić, 20th century jury member NIN award advertisements 13.15 - 14.15 Panel 3: Women's keyboard: Which authors do we read/listen. Biljana Srbljanović, playwright, Belgrade-Paris-Baku, Susanna Trninić, the author of Kažiprst, B92, Belgrade; Vedrana Rudan, author and columnist, Rijeka, Vesna Dedić, TV author Pro-Femine 2013 will and writer, Belgrade Tatjana Vehovec, blogger, Mooshema, Novi Sad; Danica Vučenić, the author of Jedan na jedan RTV Novi include an exhibition Sad. Moderator: Denis Kolundžija, journalist, Dnevnik, Novi Sad of the newspaper advertisements 14.15 - 15.15 Lunch break powered by printed in the late 15.15 - 15.40 Case Study 4 – How I became ME: Marija Vrebalov, councilwomen, Assembly of Novi Sad 19th and early 15.40 - 16.40 Panel 4: Multitasking: Women in Popular Culture of 21st century powered by Nevena Rendeli, editor, HTV, 20th century, Zagreb; Senka Kurt, Director of Informative Program, Radio Stari Grad, Sarajevo; Sanja Purić, Gloria, Belgrade; Olivera offering cosmetic Balašević, film producer, Novi Sad, Biljana Cincarević, painter, Belgrade; Jovanka Todorović, LABRIS, Belgrade. Moderator: products to ladies, Ivan Stanković, Communis, Belgrade. advertising tailor 16.40 - 17.05 Case Study 5 – Dancing with wolves: Aja Jung, Belgrade Dance Festival, Belgrade shops, modistes...

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feature 7th EP-Serbia Joint Parliamentary Meeting, 18-19 March 2013, Brussels

EU Accession Negotiations in June - Achievable

Members of the Serbian parliament delegation agreed after the talks with members of the European Parliament (EP) that Serbia can win the date of EU accession talks in June, and strongly backed the country’s European integration

the progress made in terms of reforms, and upon receiving responses, they backed the efforts Serbia is investing in the judiciary reform,” Selaković said.

In 17 points of the joint conclusions, MPs covered a wide specter of topics, from the freedom of the media to the attitude toward minorities and events in the Western Balkans.” erbia made big steps in the environmental protection.

The talks mainly focused on the normalization of relations with Belgrade-Pristine dialogue and the juThe meeting was jointly chaired by Pristine and invested efforts Mr Jelko Kacin, Vice-Chairman of the in complete fulfillment of podiciary reform which was discussed by European Parliament’s Delegation for Serbian Minister of Justice and Public litical criteria and conditions relations with Albania, Bosembodied in the Stabilization and Association Agreement Serbian government should continue nia and Herzegovina, Serbia, (SAA), state the conclusions Montenegro and Kosovo and democratic, systemic and socioof the two-day session of MPs. for Serbia, and economic reforms that will allow it Rapporteur Chair of the Serbian Milica Delević, Chairwoman parliament European Inte- to take on and implement effectively of the Committee for Europegration Committee Milica an Integration of the Serbian the obligations of membership Delević, who headed the delParliament.

A joint Declaration was agreed at Administration Nikola Selaković. egation of 11 Serbian MPs, stated that the end of the meeting which stated “MEPs were most interested in the she is “satisfied with the quality of the that the start of EU accession negoamendments in the Criminal Code and dialogue with MEPs monitoring the

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the Restitution Agency’s work and emtiations in June 2013 is an achievable bouring countries, a regional stratobjective for Serbia and urged the Seregy to tackle corruption and organised phasised the importance of guaranteecrime in order to handle these probbian government to continue demoing an effective and non-discriminative procedure during the implementation cratic, systemic and socio-economic lems more effectively; of the Act on Restitution and the Act reforms that will allow it to take on ● Noted that Serbia is developing on Rehabilitation; called on the Agenand implement effectively the oblia new strategy on judicial reform and expressed their support for the efforts gations of membership. It concluded cy to apply a detailed and accurate to work out a new court system in orthat Serbia has taken many steps toprocedure in order to prevent future injustices while correcting historical wards the normalization of relations der to improve the efficiency and indeinjustice; with Pristina and has made efforts to pendence of the whole judicial system; ● Welcomed the presentation of sufficiently fulfil the political criteria ● Took note of the effort by the new the Renewable Energy Action plan and conditions of the Stabilization and government to address the concerns which aims to give concrete measures Association Process. It also welcomed expressed by the European Parliaby which Serbia hopes to implement the developing Belgrade-Pristina diament regarding the call for immediate its commitment made in the framerevision of Article 359 of the Criminal logue and the engagement expressed by the Serbian Government. work of the Energy CommuIn terms of issues of relnity Treaty to consume 27% of overall energy from renewaevance to the business community in the Declaration, the bles by 2020; encouraged the MEPs and Serbian MPs: development of a legislative ● Reiterated their invitaand administrative framework in order to create an attraction to the only remaining EU Member State - Lithuania – to tive economic environment for complete the ratification of foreign investors in the fields the Stabilisation and Associaof renewable energies and ention Agreement (SAA) between ergy efficiency; the EU and Serbia in order to ● Called on Serbia durfurther intensify the bilateral ing its presidency as chair of relations; and recalled that the the Energy Community, and Milica Delević Nikola Selaković SAA was signed in 2008; in accordance with its pow● Welcomed the governers, to take all necessary steps ment’s commitment for the The fight against corruption and to bring the Energy Strategy, by the Ministerial fight against corruption and organized crime, which is a crucial adopted Council of the Energy Commuorganised crime, which is a matter for the development crucial matter for the developnity in Budva on 18 October 2012, in line with the EU enviment of the country, including of the country, including its its European integration proronmental standards and cliEuropean integration process cess; stressed the importance mate goals, also ensuring that Code, but expressed concern that simiof strengthening both independent all relevant stakeholders, including institutions and judicial authorities, civil society organisations, are includlar provisions have been included in particularly the Anti corruption AgenArticle 234 of the Code; emphasised ed in the consultation process; prothat the provisions of the new Article cy and the Anti corruption Prosecutor posed to establish a network of par234 may not be applied for unjustified and by improving inter-agency coorliamentary energy committees of the prosecution of private sector operaWestern Balkan countries and other dination; emphasised the importance neighbouring countries in the region, of establishing a solid track record of tors or of responsible persons, or for with the aim of improving relations investigations and convictions of high the reclassification of unjustified exand effective cooperation among the profile corruption cases in view of isting cases and called on the authoricountries of the Western Balkans; the early opening of chapters 23 and ties to cease all criminal procedures ● Raised concerns about the recent 24 during the accession negotiations; against these persons; the cases of the food safety crisis and highlighted the welcomed the political will to create unjustly frozen assets should be solved importance of health and food safety an atmosphere for the fight against as soon as possible, as the current situand the need to discuss these issues in corruption, especially in cases of high ation aggravates the state of the Serbian open and transparent manner and profile corruption cases; stressed the an economy; in full compliance with EU standards. ■ importance to adopt, along with neigh● Welcomed the successful start of cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 33

renewables

Wind Energy Blowing Away Nuclear Power Wind energy supplies 3 percent of global electricity needs and will soon supply more electricity than nuclear power. In 2011, some 50 billion euros were invested in wind, leading some to say it’s cheap and creates jobs er than the market price. And still the feedin tariff is necessary in order for banks to finance wind turbines. That would also be an option for other countries.”

Custom-made facilities Wind energy technology has been advanced further over the last few years. In areas with less wind energy potential, taller turbines and turbines with larger blades are used to harness the wind more efficiently. Meanwhile, gigantic offshore power plants are also being built. Off-shore installation and maintenance are particularly difficult, which means prices for electricity are consequently twice as high as onshore, at between 18 euro cents and 20 ind energy is booming and euro cents per kilowatt hour (kWh). it is gaining in significance Small wind power plants for houses, small worldwide. It supplies some villages or industrial complexes are also on the 20 percent of electricity in rise. More than half a million such plants have Spain and Denmark as well as about 10 perbeen installed, with most of them in China and cent in Germany. By 2020, the share of wind the United States. Small-scale wind power faenergy will have risen to between 20 percent cilities could be used in developing countries and 25 percent in Germany, according to esand in remote areas. In developed countries, timates. small-scale wind power turbines are also gainLast year, new wind power plants with ing in significance with consumers because a total capacity of some 40 gigawatts (GW) the electricity generated with them costs less were installed worldwide, according to the than that offered by many energy providers.

World Wind Energy Association (WWEA).

Experts see a long-term growth potenThis puts wind energy’s global capaciWind power is environmentally and tial in small wind technology. ty at 237 GW by the end of 2011- the Citizen participation raises equivalent of what some 280 nuclear climate friendly, but the real reason for acceptance power plants generate. Currently, there its boom lies in the price. Electricity More than half the wind turbines in are some 380 nuclear power plants generated from wind energy is often the Germany are run by private citizens, producing electricity worldwide. cheapest form available farmers and local communities. This is Four times more wind important for wind power’s overall acceptshowed that electricity from other new fossil power by 2020 ance and success, according to Hermann power plants and new nuclear reactors also Wind energy has expanded at a remarkaAlbers, president of Germany’s federal ascosts more than onshore wind power when ble speed worldwide. There has been an ansociation of wind energy. Over the last 20 secondary costs are factored in. nual 20 percent increase in wind turbine inyears, he has set up several citizen wind Wind power may already be one of the stallations. The WWEA said it expects a fourfarms in the region where he lives, together cheapest sources of energy, but Gsänger time increase in wind power capacity by with other farmers and citizens. said it still needs political support - not by fix2020, bringing performance up to more than “There is a high degree of acceptance ing costs but by guaranteeing feed-in tariffs.

1,000 GW. with the communities,” he told DW. “In many The price paid to producers has to be fixed China is pushing expansion of wind powcases, half the population wants to invest in by law in order for banks to give out loans. er like no other country in the world. In 2011, wind power there. The people have underGsänger added that Turkey was a good nearly half of all wind turbines produced were stood that it represents a big opportunity.” ■ example because “the feed-in tariff is lowset up in China. Despite covering 3 percent

W

34 |

of all energy used in China, the country is still the world leader in use of wind energy. In per capita terms, European nations, including Denmark, Spain and Germany, lead in wind energy use.

Cheapest source of energy Wind power is environmentally and climate friendly, but the real reason for its boom lies in the price. Electricity generated from wind energy is often the cheapest form available.

Stefan Gsänger, CEO of World Wind Energy Association, said the price for one kilowatt hour of electricity from onshore wind turbines to be between 5 euro cents and 9 euro cents. That’s the reason, he told DW, “that wind energy has become one of the most popular sources of energy.”

In comparison, electricity generated in new coal power stations costs some 7 euro cents in Europe. But the real price for electricity from coal is far higher, according to the EU and the German Ministry for the Environment. They said that factoring in soot from coal power stations causes high costs in the health sector that should be included in calculating the price of energy. Their figures

103 April 2013 | www.cordmagazine.com

apr 2013 business leader’s meeting point

Page 40

Žarko Galetin

the Novi Sad Stock Exchange

There is Room for Optimism

Page 41

Page 46

Serbia-Russia

Review

Expanding Cooperation

Last-minute Cyprus Deal to Close Bank cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 35

auction see auction south east europe Belgrade Office

Makenzijeva 67 11000 Belgrade, Serbia Tel: +381 11 2450 508 Fax: +381 11 2450 122 office@auction-see.com

Podgorica Office

Bul. Sv. Petra Cetinjskog 1A 81000 Podgorica Tel. +382 20 246 166 Fax. +382 20 246 167 Mobile: +382-69-246-999 office@auction-see.com

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103 April 2013 | www.cordmagazine.com

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cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 37

local news

Support

Business Dialogue 01

“We all support our president, Aleksandar Vučić, to capture most responsible state functions.

We will discuss particular solutions at our main Board meeting.”

— Marko Djurić, member of the Presidency of Serbian Progressive party

02

Aviation

Government to Take Over Debt of Jat Airways The government will take over the entire debt of the Serbian air carrier Jat Airways, which stood around €170 million in February, Serbian Minister of Transport Milutin Mrkonjic stated, adding that the airline will get a new management.

He underlined that the debt has to be taken over in order to solve the Jat Airways issue, adding that it appears that the government is on the right way to realize successfully everything that has been planned. Mrkonjic noted that Jat will lease six planes, which will amount to € 1.5 million on average. He said that the task of the new Jat management will be to break even by the end of the year, adding that the government is ready to start the talks with potential strategic partners of the Serbian air carrier.

Serbian Minister of Transport Milutin Mrkonjic launched talks with representatives of the French plane producer Airbus concerning the procurement of four planes by means of leasing for the Serbian airline.Mrkonjic agreed on the activities in relation to the procurement, and the start of talks with representatives of Airbus took place as part of preparation meetings preceding the visit of Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic to France.

03

Russian AFK System Interested in Telecom Serbia Moscow-Stock Financial Corporation (AFC) System is considering participation in the privatization of the company Telekom Serbia, said on March 22 the owner of the corporation Vladimir Yevtushenkov to Interfax.

He was responding to a question about whether the company will participate in the tender for the eventual sale of Telekom, and said that they were considering the possibility and that they will soon make a decision.

On the company’s website it states that the AFK System was es-

The organisation Global Financial Integrity has ranked Serbia worst of all Balkan countries when it comes to illegal financial flows About 5 billion dollars worth of money has “disappeared” every year in Serbia from 2001 to 2010 through illegal financial flows, the research and advocacy organisation Global Financial Integrity says.

It ranked Serbia 16th out of 143 countries when it comes to illicit financial flows - the proceeds of crime, corruption, and tax evasion.

Data were obtained by comparing different import and export data for each country, which then either showed that companies reported exporting and earning less than they actually did, or that they had imported more and paid more than they did in reality.

GFI also followed the money trail of illegally obtained funds that were later transferred out of the country.

On the same list, Bulgaria was placed 38th, Croatia was 39th, Montenegro 50th, Romania 55th, Bosnia 57th, Macedonia 76th, while Albania was 106th.

According to GFI, about 1.5 billion dollars goes out of Bulgaria and Croatia a year in illicit financial flows, and about 1 billion dollars goes out Montenegro.

The amount of the money that illictly leaves Romania is set at about 880 million dollars, while the figure for Bosnia is about 830 million, 460 million for Macedonia and about 136 million for Albania.

The report showed that 143 developing countries lost 5.86 trillion dollars in illicit financial flows in ten years, from 2001 to 2010.

103 April 2013 | www.cordmagazine.com

tablished in 1993 and is now within the top ten companies in terms of total income, and 315th in the list of Fortune Global 500.

The Serbian government wants to sell Telecom, but only if it appears that an investor will offer 100% ownership at €2.5 billion, according to Blic.

So far no investor has officially approached to the government to become a strategic partner for Telekom.

Source: Beta

04

Finance

Surplus in International Trade in Services

Finance

Serbia Tops Balkans for Illicit Financial Flows

38 |

Investment

Serbia has recoded a surplus in the international trade in services in 2012 amounting to USD 197.1 million

The latest edition of Conjecture Trends magazine issued by the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (PKS) reads that in 2011 the surplus amounted to USD 218 million.

In 2012, the export of services totaled USD 3.97 billion, while the import stood at USD 3.77 billion.

Compared to 2011, export went down by 5.9 percent, while import decreased by 5.7 percent.

The export-import coverage for 2012 totaled 105.2 percent, while in 2011 it was somewhat higher - 105.4 percent.

Source: Tanjug

05

Cooperation

Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina signed a Protocol on economic cooperation in Belgrade on March 20

Serbia and Bosnia Agree Trade Protocol

Transport, agriculture, food, the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, energy, cross-border cooperation and environmental protection are priority fields for the promotion of economic ties between the two countries, the signatories, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Rasim Ljajic and Bosnian Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Minister Mirko Sarovic, said.

The two officials said there was a good deal of potential for improving cooperation in many fields. Serbia and Bosnia are among each other’s top five trading partners. Their total trade exchange in 2012 was worth €1.2 billion.

Ljajic said several important new agreements would be signed by June, including a memorandum on the joint participation of Serbia and Bosnia in third markets.

Replacement “The prime minister will not be replaced, because it would send a bad message at the moment.”

— Aleksandar Vučić, Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister

06

Employment

Placements & Postings appointments@cma.rs

www.cordmagazine.com/corporate/appointments.html

HE. Mr. Masafumi Kuroku (62) graduated from Hitotsubashi University, in the Faculty of Law. His diplomatic career began in Belgium (1988) as the first secretary and continued as the Counsellor in France (1995), Minister in Japanese Embassy in Malaysia (1998) and Indonesia (2004). Mr. Kuroku was Japanese Ambassador to Cambodia (2009) before arriving in Belgrade.

In the meantime, Mr. Kuroki has handled many responsible positions in the Japanese administration, such as Deputy Director-General, Economic Cooperation Bureau, Deputy DirectorGeneral, Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau, Ministry of Economy and Trade and Industry and Vice-President, Japan International Cooperation Agency.

New investors in Stara Pazova to employ over 1000 people The Municipality of Stara Pazova announced on its website that five companies will employ 1,100 people. As noted, “Milšped,” the leading logistics system in the region with over 800 employees, began construction on warehouses in an industrial area Krnješevci. The deadline for the completion and opening of the logistics centre is in October. In accordance with the further development and operation of a new cargo transport centre, it will open nearly 200 new jobs.

Austrian “EyeMaxx” owns 55 acres next to the Belgrade-Novi Sad road. The beginning of the first phase of construction of the logistics centre is planned for April, and the process of obtaining building permits is nearing completion. The company will hire 500 workers in the first phase, and about 1,000 employees after the second phase, stated on the website.

The municipality also announces the arrival of the French company “Streit Group”, which is in the process of purchasing 2.6 hectares of municipal land in the Stara Pazova industrial zone. This company has been producing turbines for cars and will employ about 150 people.

07

Infrastructure

Masafumi Kuroku New Japanese Ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro

Stacey Kennedy

Greece Could Withdraw from Corridor 10

New director general, Philip Morris Serbia and South and Central Europe

Dmitar Djurovic The Greek government is considering withdrawing a large part of the donation from Hellenic Plan (HP) for building a section of Corridor 10 in southern Serbia Dmitar Djurovic, head of the company Koridori Srbije, noted that €88.7 million from HP were meant for building the south section of Corridor 10 from Donji Neradovac to Levosoj.

“The Greek government issued one piece of information, that it was withdrawing investments for projects not under way,” Djurovic told reporters.

The section between Donji Neradovac and Srpska Kuca is being built, he stated, adding that it cost €21.8 million and was 63 percent completed.

HP includes the construction of the section between Srpska Kuca and Levosoj as well, which is worth €39.9 million, and the funding for that section could be lost, Djurovic noted.

There is still around €27 million left from HP that are uncertain as well, because the purpose for the funds had yet to be decided, he pointed out.

08

Nebojša ĐenaĐić New CEO of Tigar Company

Export

Yugoimport Signed $40.75 Million Deal on Export to the USA

Jugoimport-SDPR signed an annex to the main agreement and two additional agreements with the US company Century Arms to offer Zastava Arms’ sporting and hunting weapons worth a total of $40.75 million to the US commercial market.

The agreement was signed by Nenad Miloradovic, assistant to the director general of Jugimport.

Miloradovic told Tanjug news agency that that US company was a longtime partner of Jugoimport, adding that a cooperation agreement and an initial agreement with Century Arms were signed about two years earlier.

Roberto Mancuso New CEO of Metro Cash & Carry Serbia

Stacey Kennedy will assume the position of director general at Philip Morris Serbia and South and Central Europe on April 1, 2013.

Stacey Kennedy started her career at Philip Morris in 1995 in the United States, and she is coming to Serbia from the Operations Center in Switzerland, where she currently performs the duties of vice president for sales strategy at Philip Morris International.

Stacey’s significant international experience and excellent leader skills will be a driver of further development of Philip Morris’ operations in Serbia and central and south Europe Technology engineer Nebojša Đenađić has been appointed the new CEO of Tigar Company from Pirot. Following the decision made by the company’s Supervisory Board, he will also perform the duties of Executive Director for Corporate Management and Business System Development. Đenađić started his career at Kruševac-based Trayal Corporation where he began as a technologist and advanced to the quality and production director. From 2008 to 2010, he was the deputy CEO of Trayal Corporation. Tigar hasn’t had a CEO since February this year when the previous CEO Jelena Petković resigned as demanded by the company’s Independent Trade Union.

Roberto Mancuso is the new CEO of Metro Cash & Carry Serbia. He was appointed on March 1, 2013. Mancuso comes to Serbia from Metro/ Makro Czech Republic and Slovakia where he was the supply and procurement director. He was born in Italy, where he started his career at Metro Cash & Carry in 2001. His international career began in Spain in 2007 and continued in the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 2008. Prior to working for Metro, Roberto Mancuso worked for AC Nielsen.

He graduated economics from University of Milan.

cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 39

Business Dialogue Interview

Pragmatism “We must be pragmatic. This is the way European defence, like the European Union itself, is being built: pragmatically. And it is from the link between industry and defence that emerge ideas for innovation and for a common defence - built together. “ — Herman Van Rompuy, European Council President

Žarko Galetin, the Novi Sad Stock Exchange

There is Room for Optimism In the case of Serbia, we are holding all the trump cards. We have 4.2 million hectares of fertile arable fields, hardworking farmers and land that hasn’t been poisoned by chemicals. The solution is at hand with the state’s prudent treatment of agriculture

“G

lobal disturbances on the food market have been affecting Serbia too, but the question is how they reflect on us,” says Žarko Galetin from the Novi Sad Stock Exchange. “The price of food has been obviously going up and this seriously affects the most vulnerable section of the global population which, in turn, makes food security a burning issue. Close to 840 million people on the planet live in extreme poverty with their daily revenue adding up to only $1.25,” reports Galetin. “Such disturbances have been certainly directly affecting the volume of stock exchange trading, as well as the food market in Serbia. The developments on the global stock exchanges also affect our market so every global price peak spills over into our market. Additionally, the Serbian market has a problem with a shortage of maize. An extremely big shortfall in the maize yield resulted in the country virtually having no surplus maize for export so the most liquid part of our market demand – the export demand – disappeared from the market and caused an extreme passiveness in trading.”

ance. In the last five years, the global yield of these two types of cereals has been below the projected demand level on three separate occasions. The result of this was reduced supply, which, all together, caused price hikes. This problem won’t be that easy to solve and will be present for a long time, to a lesser or greater extent.

■ To what extent is it possible to maintain the two basic principles - availability and accessibility – on the food market?

- There is room for optimism. I am confident that most educated people put health before profit and money. I believe that healthy market systems will win over the virtual trading platforms where the people, who have never seen a wheat field in their life, are trading in wheat.

The solution lies in sustainable, highly productive, conventional production without provoking nature by producing GMO food without carefully analyzing the effects of its use first. In the case of Serbia, we are holding all the trump cards. We have 4.2 million hectares of fertile arable fields, hardworking farmers and land that hasn’t been poisoned by chemicals. The solution is at hand with the state’s prudent treatment of agriculture. It will be sufficient if we go back to the meat exporter status that we have had a quarter of a century ago, to maintain our prestigious place among wheat exporters and to secure enough of healthy and affordable food for the domestic market.

■ Speaking about food market, it seems that the situation with cereals has always been the one that determines further market developments, particularly ■ Do you think that the latest It will be sufficient if we go back to the meat maize and milk affair in Serbia is in the case of maize. There have exporter status that we have had a quarter just a consequence of the developbeen three big downfalls lately – ments on the global food market or in 2008, 2011 and 2012 – when of a century ago, and to maintain our the price of cereal grew sharply, prestigious place among wheat exporters are we talking about local causes?

- The problem with health safety of followed by the price of food. the maize did not spring up by itself. The entire region had to deal What caused these price peaks and, globally speaking, are we with it, and the latest global reports say that even China, which is going to have to deal with this problem for much longer? the second biggest maize producer in the world, has had to face a - In terms of food market developments, the cereal market plays the similar problem. So the problem is global after all. Extreme weather dominant role. Out of 50,000 edible plant species, two thirds are conditions have caused extremely negative occurrences in yield and cereals, with maize having a special place due to its ever-growing quality. If this unpleasant situation results in the higher capacity of demand. On top of that, maize is used as the raw-material in producing bioethanol. Food market disturbances are primarily caused by the institutions that are responsible for boosting production and securing food safety, than we can benefit from this sinister situation in an imbalance between supply and demand. The market scales are our agriculture in the future. If that doesn’t happen, the future does seriously uncalibrated. If we look at the general situation with wheat look bleak. I choose to believe the first scenario. ■ and maize, we will find the reason why the food market is so off bal40 |

103 April 2013 | www.cordmagazine.com

Defence “On common European defence, it would be splendid but it seems unlikely. We are driven to use NATO rather than European machinery because all of our involvement abroad needs US intelligence and US back-up.”

— Lord Kerr, former UK permanent representative to the EU

Serbia-Russia

Expanding Cooperation

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and Internal Trade Rasim Ljajić met with the Russian industry and agriculture ministers to talk about increasing the trade exchange between Serbia and Russia Agriculture Ministry. We have invited their inspectors to come to Serbia and help our services in terms of more frequent quality controls of agricultural produce,” Ljajić said and added that, in 2011, Serbia exported around 75,000 tonnes of apples n March 20, Deputy Prime and there weren’t any problems with any of Minister and Minister of Foreign those shipments. and Internal Trade Rasim “Russia conducts quality control of Ljajić was on an official visit to the apples imported from China, Poland, Russia where he met with Russian Minister Macedonia and Bulgaria. Anyhow, the defiof Industry and Trade Denis Manturov and nite results of the relevant analyses are still Minister of Agriculture Nikolay Fyodorov in not available. We will get them and, more imMoscow. Several topics were discussed at portantly, we will receive suggestions and the meeting with the two sides agreeing that proposals as to how to improve the quality of there was a potential for increasing the trade our export products. I expect for the export exchange between Russia and Serbia. “To of our apples to Russia to continue without that end, we suggested for some products any problems since there is a plenty of room to be covered by the free trade regime in to increase it,” Ljajić underlined. line with the General Free Trade Agreement President of the Serbian Chamber of which we concluded with the Russian Commerce Miloš Bugarin presented the Federation. I am mainly referring to sugar, Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade a cheese, cigarettes and cars,” Ljajić said, and list of 45 Serbian companies that are curhe added that the Russian side would conrently undergoing privatizasider Serbia’s request.

President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce tions which may be of interest “They have to do that Miloš Bugarin presented the Russian Ministry of to Russian companies. The prithrough a joint committee which they have formed with Industry and Trade a list of 45 Serbian companies vatization process in these companies is pending with the comKazakhstan and Belarus, since that are currently undergoing privatizations plete analyses already conthe three countries have a cuswhich may be of interest to Russian companies ducted. The representatives of toms union and any customs the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade producers to talk about them exporting more decision should be made at the commitpointed out that they would set up meetings to Russia and increasing their share in the tee level,” Ljajić outlined and added that with Russian businessmen in order to preRussian food market.

Minister Mlađan Dinkić would also discuss sent the projects to them.

Ministers Ljajić and Fyodorov also disthe possibility of duty free export of cars Ljajić expressed his belief that the first cussed a higher concentration of pestifrom Serbia to Russia during his official visresults in this segment could be visible soon cides in Serbian apples sold on the Russian it to Moscow in April. in a sense of Russian companies being intermarket. “The official laboratory results are The Russian daily Kommersant reportested in getting involved in completion of the still not available. We will get those reed that the delegation, made up of Deputy privatization process in Serbia. ■ sults as soon as they arrive at the Russian Prime Minister Rasim Ljajić, President of

O

the Serbian Chamber of Commerce Miloš Bugarin and Deputy Speaker of the Serbian National Assembly Nenad Popović, were supposed to discuss in Moscow the abolishment of customs duty on the export of Fiat’s cars from Serbia to Russia.

At the meeting with Minister of Agriculture Fyodorov, Ljajić pointed out that there was a possibility of increasing Serbia’s export of agricultural products. Fyodorov said that the volume of the agricultural trade exchange could double next year from the current US $250 million to US $500 million and added that export quotas, particularly in the case of meat, had not been fully used.

Ministers Ljajić and Fyodorov have reached an agreement for the representatives of the three largest retail chains and the Russian Ministry of Agriculture to visit Serbia where they would meet with our food

cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 41

regional news

Business Dialogue 01

Croatia

Cooperation “Slovenia is looking forward to cooperation with its friendly neighbor Croatia in the European Union.”

— Janez Janša, Slovenian Prime Minister

02

New Oil Company?

Greece

Piraeus to take over Bank of Cyprus and Laiki branches in Greece

The Croatian Government is to found a new state-owned oil company as part of the new Hydrocarbon Law

The new company should be a crucial representative of State interests in the field of managing national oil and gas resources, and participate in projects regarding their exploitation. By founding a national oil company Croatia would retrieve part of its sovereign authority over the management of oil and natural gas resources, which were lost due to inadequate preparation for the privatisation of INA. For decades, INA functioned as an informal Ministry for Hydrocarbon, performing a variety of public functions. As those functions were not excluded during the privatisation, the last number of years saw the company functionally a state monopolist – the only concessioner for research and exploitation of oil and gas in the country – albeit privately owned, with markedly commercial goals. The state, on the other hand, often didn’t have the knowledge, experience or resources to take over its new regulatory role. The forming of this new state company could be the first step towards consolidating experts in the oil sector anew, under the patronage of the State, and truly liberalising that segment of the economy.

Piraeus Bank, the third biggest lender in Greece, was chosen to take over the branches of the Bank of Cyprus and the Cyprus Popular Bank, a move that will not earn the Cypriot banks direct revenues, but will drastically reduce their debts and help ease the rescue bill from near-bankrupt Cyprus.

Other bidders for the 300 branches and their portfolio of about €15 bln in deposits and some €24 bln of loans included Alpha bank and the National Bank of Greece. Cypriot banks hold 8% of Greek banking deposits and 10% of loans.

The takeover could put Piraeus at par with giant NBG that is governmentcontrolled and has enjoyed a near hegemony over the Greek banking sector.

Piraeus shares closed up 20% after news of the deal, announced by Greece’s bank bailout fund, which is subject to approval by European competition authorities.

“This [deal] will shield Greece and safeguard all deposits held in Cypriotowned banks,” said Yiannis Stournaras Greek Finance Minister Earlier, the Cyprus government confirmed that President Nicos Anastasiades and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras discussed “the regulation of the matter of alienating Greek branches of Cyprus banks was confirmed, with the most beneficial terms under the circumstances and with an important benefit for the Cypriot side.”

03

Montenegro

Hungary

Cut Electricity Bills "by Force"

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban says his government will continue to cut household electricity bills “by force” if necessary despite protests by energy providers, in his latest broadside against Viktor Orban, Hungary’s Prime Minister foreign firms.

“If agreement is not possible, the cabinet will cut utility prices by force to bring them down to average European levels,” Orban said during a weekly interview on state radio, calling the cuts “key to Hungary’s success”.

He accused foreign utility firms active in Hungary of “taking hundreds of billions (of forints) of profits back home” and said companies making huge profits had taken concerted action against Hungarian families.

Orban’s right-wing government recently obliged distributors to carry the cost of a 10-per cent cut in retail prices of electricity, gas, and district heating from the start of the year.

The companies affected are subsidiaries of German groups RWE and Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg (EnBW), as well as ENI of Italy.

End March US credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s cut its outlook on its Hungary rating to “negative” in part because of worries about the “predictability and credibility” of policymaking.

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103 April 2013 | www.cordmagazine.com

04

Microsoft Innovation Center

Montenegro’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Information Society and Telecommunications Vujica Lazović met mid March with the Microsoft’s delegation, headed by Takuya Hirano, Microsoft’s General Manager for Central and Eastern Europe.

The meeting discussed the enforcement of the existing Agreement on Strategic Partnership between Vujica Lazović, Montenegro’s Montenegro’s Government and Microsoft, as well as Deputy Prime Minister the implementation of projects focused on the improvement and development of eGovernnment service.

DPM Lazović and Microsoft representative also agreed to continue to provide support for Montenegro’s education system, as well as for the private sector in terms of the education and training of local companies’ IT experts for the development of Microsoft services.

The meeting laid particular stress on the possibility of opening the Microsoft’s innovation centres and technological park, which would be used for developing and testing Microsoft services and products before putting them on the market, which would contribute to economy and new business development in Montenegro. Source: Government

05

Macedonia

Subsidies for 13,000 farmers The Finance Ministry has paid Denar 341 million (€5,5 million) in subsidies to 13,041 farmer - vine growers, tobacco growers and gardeners.

Denar 104 million (€1,7 million) have been paid to 4,679 vine growers, i.e. Denar 40,000 (€650) per hectare¸ the Finance Ministry said in a press release. Denar 165 million (€2,7 million) have been allocated to 3,263 tobacco growers, i.e. Denar 60 (€1.00) per produced and sold kilogram of tobacco. Moreover, Denar 70 million (€1,1 million) have been paid to 5,099 farmers for produced gardening plants, i.e. Denar 6,000-30,000 (€100-500) per hectare, depending on the plant.

Europeans

Placements & Postings

“We should think about Europe as Europeans. We should not think about Europe as people from the Balkans.”

— Milo Djukanovic, Prime Minister of Montenegro

06

appointments@cma.rs

www.cordmagazine.com/corporate/appointments.html

Kosovo

Controversies Over KEK Upgrades While Kosovo’s power company expects the new Turkish grid owner to underwrite more than €400,000 in recently agreed upgrades, the consortium is making no commitments The Kosovo Energy Corporation, KEK, has signed more than €400,000 in contracts to upgrade its distribution network – just before it is due to come under the ownership of a Turkish consortium.

KEK announced they received approval for the upgrades from Kosovo Calik Limak Energy, the Turkish consortium that assumes ownership of the power grid on May 6. KEK has made it clear it also expects Calik Limak to pay for the projects.

But representative of the Calik Limak, declined to endorse the upgrades.

“We will take over the distribution in May [but] we are not interested in KEK’s activities,” he said.

Kosovo Calik Limak Energy, a consortium of three Turkish firms, purchased the power distribution network, KEK Electricity Distribution and Supply, for €26.3 million last October.

According to the agreement, Calik Limak will take over an aging, unreliable power grid, invest millions of euro and will inherit a base of customers who have a history of not paying their bills. In 2012 the value of unpaid power bills now totalled around €400 million.

According to KEK, the contracts signed in February are extensions of a larger upgrade project from 2010.

Fllanza Hoxha, privatization project manager for KEK told Balkan Insight that the grid’s new owner is obliged to see through existing, inherited projects.

“Works cannot be stopped or stagnate because of privatisation and should continue according to the KEK management’s plan,” Hoxha said.

07

Romania

Raiffeisen Bank Takes Over Citibank’s Retail Portfolio in Romania Raiffeisen Bank Romania will take over Citibank’s Romanian consumer portfolio, of over €90 million in gross assets, including mostly loans, and €175 million in deposits

The transaction also comprises taking over Citi’s consumer banking staff in Romania. Via the deal, Raiffeisen Bank grew its customer base by 100,000, adding to the existing 2 million customers.

“The quality of the loan portfolio weighed significantly in our decision to close this deal. Since we have compatible business models for the individuals’ segment, we estimate that once the transaction becomes effective, the operational integration will be very smooth”, said Steven van Groningen, President and CEO of Raiffeisen Bank.

For Citibank, “the sale represents the best possible outcome for our customers, staff and shareholders,” said Tibor Pandi, General Manager of Citi Romania. Following the sale, the bank will focus on its corporate segment. “Our commitment to Romania will see us continue to grow and invest in our business to better serve our local and global corporate, financial institution, commercial banking and Public Sector clients”, Tibor Pandi added.

The transaction will be effective in the third quarter of 2013.

Branko Radujko New General Manager of NIS for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)

Bruno Charrier CEO of Credit Agricole Bank Serbia

08

Former General Director of Telekom Serbia Branko Radujko was appointed Director General of Petroleum Industry of Serbia for BiH. In the Republika Srspska, NIS pumps will operate under the brand of NIS, and in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the brand Gazprom.

After departure from Telecom Serbia, Radujko was appointed Chairman of the Board GSP Beograd in July 2012, following a contract with Gazprom Neft.

Radujko (39) was born in Knin. He graduated in law from Belgrade University. He was an advisor to the late Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic and head of the Cabinet of Prime Minister Zoran Zivkovic. In 2004, Serbian President Boris Tadic appointed him special advisor in charge of regional policy, and from June 2006, he was the General Secretary to the President. In late 2007, Radujko was appointed CEO of Telekom Serbia.

He is married and has two sons.

The Managing Board of Credit Agricole Bank Serbia has appointed Bruno Charrier as its new chairman of the Executive Board, the bank said in a release on March 22nd. Mr. Charrier, who has been working at the Credit Agricole Group for more than 30 years, is coming to Serbia after leaving the position of deputy CEO of Emporiki Bank in Greece, where he made a significant contribution to the optimization of that bank’s performance and productivity prior to its sale, the release reads.

Bulgaria

EU's Poorest Region

Bulgaria's Northwest continued to be EU's poorest region, according to newly released Eurostat data The GDP per capita of Bulgaria’s Severozapaden (Northwest) region, expressed in terms of purchasing power standards, was 26% of the EU27 average in 2010, according to data of the statistical office of the EU. The leading regions in the ranking of regional GDP per capita in 2010 were Inner London in the United Kingdom (328% of the average), the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (266%), Bruxelles/Brussels in Belgium (223%), Hamburg in Germany (203%), Ile de France in France and Groningen in the Netherlands (both 180%), Bratislava in Slovakia (176%), Praha in the Czech Republic (172%), Stockholm in Sweden (168%) and Wien in Austria (165%).

The lowest regions in the Eurostat ranking were all in Bulgaria and Romania, with the lowest figures recorded in Severozapaden in Bulgaria (26% of the average), followed by northern-central in Bulgaria and northern-east in Romania (both 29%) and southern-central in Bulgaria (30%).

Among the 68 regions below the 75% level, fifteen were in Poland, seven each in the Czech Republic, Greece and Romania, six in Hungary, five each in Bulgaria and Italy, three each in France (all overseas departments), Portugal and Slovakia, two in the United Kingdom, one each in Spain and Slovenia, as well as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Bulgaria’s GDP in 2010 was €36,052 mln of which northern and eastern Bulgaria had €13,607mln, while south-western and southern-central Bulgaria had €22,445 mln, according to Eurostat data.

GDP per capita in the country was €4,800, with €3,500 for northern and eastern Bulgaria and €6200 for south-western and southern central Bulgaria. cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 43

world news

Business Dialogue 01

Turkey

Socialism “We do not think there is one special experience in the world, nor do we believe the development model will stay forever. We will continue to develop and improve socialism with Chinese characteristics.”

— Xi Jinping, President of China

02

TANAP Agreement Ratified

The Biggest Ever Spectrum Auction Austria’s telecommunications regulator will hold the biggest sale of radio frequencies in the nation’s history this year in an auction that mobile operators say is too complex

The Turkish Cabinet of Ministers ratified the agreement on cooperation with the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline consortium (TANAP)

According to the report, the agreement on the TANAP construction signed between the Turkish and Azerbaijani governments was also ratified. Presently, a 20-percent share in TANAP belongs to Turkish BOTAS and TPAO, while 80 percent is owned by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR). SOCAR intends to retain 51 percent of the equity in the project. Turkey will keep 20 percent of the equity.

SOCAR partners on Shah Deniz development project presented their preliminary intentions to acquire a stake in the TANAP project. According to preliminary data, the partners intend to distribute a 29 per cent share in TANAP as follows: Statoil and BP are to receive 12 per cent each and Total would get five per cent.

TANAP project envisages construction of the pipeline from the eastern border of Turkey to the country’s western border to supply gas from Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas field to Europe through Turkey. The initial capacity of the pipeline is expected to reach 16 billion cubic meters a year. About six billion cubic meters will be delivered to Turkey, and the rest - to Europe.

03

China

Solar Giant Suntech Declares Bankruptcy

Once the world's largest producer of solar panels, China's Suntech has now filed for bankruptcy Analysts said oversupply and dumping prices meant the company’s undoing, coupled with economic woes in Europe and the US. The New York-listed company officially declared itself bankrupt end March, the Xinhua news agency said. The company defaulted on repayments for a €420 million bond issue mid last month.

The firm is now was seeking “bankruptcy reorganization” in a bid to save what could be saved through a restructuring plan.

The Chinese company looks back at a painful journey from the world’s biggest solar module producer to going bust within just a year.

Source: Xinhua

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Austria

04

Portugal

The auction of 28 frequency blocks of 800 MHz, 900 MHz and 1,800 MHz spectrum will take place in September. Minimum bids will be €526 million in total.

“The maximization of revenue is not a goal of the frequency auction,” Vienna-based regulator TKK said.

Operators need the spectrum to expand wireless broadband networks to bring faster Internet to devices such as Apple Inc.’s iPhone 5 and Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy S4 in the Alpine nation of 8.2 million. The auction, initially scheduled to take place last year, was delayed due to the takeover of Orange Austria by Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. (13), which was completed early this year.

It will be designed as a “combinatory clock auction,” which has been used in similar sales in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Ireland and Great Britain. The auction design has drawn criticism from operators, who say it can lead to irrationally high prices. T-Mobile Austria, Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE)’s Austrian unit, has already hired a game theoretician to help with the auction. Source: Bloomberg

Portugal Raises €1.5 bln in Debt Auction

Portugal has raised 1.5 billion euros in a debt auction that saw the bailed-out country’s longer-term interest rate fall, suggesting investor jitters about the financial fate of Cyprus are not contaminating other frail eurozone nations.

The government debt agency said it sold 1.2 billion euros in 18-month Treasury bills mid last month at a rate of 1.506 percent, down from 1.963 percent in January.

It paid a yield of 0.757 percent to sell €300 million of 3-month Treasury bills, slightly up from 0.737 last month.

Portugal needed a €78 billion rescue in 2011 when, after a decade of low growth and mounting debts, it was engulfed by the eurozone’s financial crisis. Austerity measures contributed to a 3.2 percent economic contraction last year and record unemployment of 17.2 percent.

05

Germany

Most Germans Expect Euro Zone Crisis to Worsen

Nearly two thirds of Germans expect the euro zone crisis to worsen and almost half fear for their savings, according to an opinion poll released end of Germany has led euro zone calls for Cyprus to stomp up nearly €6 billion through a levy on depositors in Cypriot banks as part of the bailout deal, a plan Nicosia has rejected.

The poll showed 64 percent of Germans expect a deepening of the euro crisis and only 9 percent expect it to ease. Some 49 percent of those polled

103 April 2013 | www.cordmagazine.com

said they feared for their savings, up from 39 percent in a previous poll last June.

But despite Angela Merkel’s assurances about the safety of German deposits, the poll showed slightly more than a third of Germans did not believe their savings were secure while 63 percent did. A large majority of respondents did not expect a bank-run in other EU states because of Cyprus.

Decision “In assessing a possible decision to impose an additional tax on bank deposits in Cyprus, if this decision is made, it would be unfair, unprofessional and dangerous.”

— Vladimir Putin, Russian President

06

Russia

Medvedev Says "No!"

08

Russia has said on numerous occasions it could cut gas prices for its neighbor, if Ukraine joins the Customs Union.

Ukraine, which has proclaimed a strategic course of Eurointegration, is reluctant to become a full member of the Moscow-led Customs Union, because such a deal would rule out signing a free trade agreement with the EU. Following Medvedev’s statement, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said that Ukraine was interested in observer status in the Customs Union. Source: RiaNovosti

Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said his ministry aims to multiply the country's total trade five times to $5 trillion in the next 10 years

In 2011-12, India’s total trade stood at about $1,000 billion. It comprises exports and imports of merchandise goods and services.

“I will love to see this number multiplying five-fold in one decade so that India’s two-way trade become $5 trillion. This could be done by diversifying the trade basket and engaging more with other countries,” Anand Sharma said. “I am sure that the statement I am making will be questioned by economists and analysts. But if you do not think big, then it won’t be achieved.”

However, during the April-February period this year, India’s exports declined by 4 per cent to $265.95 billion. Imports during the 11-month period grew by a mere 0.25 per cent to $448 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $182.1 billion.

“It is a difficult situation that the country is facing,” Sharma said.

“With a view to boost exports, the government will announce incentives for exporters in the forthcoming foreign trade policy (FTP),” he added.

Japan

Eighth Straight Trade Loss

Japan logged its eighth straight trade deficit in February, this time of ¥777.5 billion (€6.37 bln), underscoring the uncertain state of the economy, according to figures released end of March.

The data also highlight the size of the task ahead for Prime Cars await export in Yokohama Minister Shinzo Abe’s government, which has pledged to turn around the nation’s fortunes with massive public works spending and by pressuring the Bank of Japan over more aggressive monetary policy. The trade figures, released by the Finance Ministry, come as a new leadership team is installed at the BOJ, stoking speculation of more easing measures aimed at kick-starting the limp economy.

The ¥777.5 billion deficit contrasted with a surplus of ¥25.9 billion (€212 million) logged in February 2012, according to the data. Total exports during the period slipped 2.9 percent to ¥5.28 trillion (€43,2 bln), while imports jumped 11.9 percent to ¥6.06 trillion (€49,6 bln). The nation also posted a record annual trade deficit through 2012 as exports to debt-hit Europe plunged and the bitter diplomatic spat with its biggest trade partner, China, over the Senkaku islets weighed on demand.

10

US

Microsoft May Invest $3bln in Dell Microsoft is mulling a possible investment of between $1bln and $3bln to help take Dell private, as speculation swirls regarding a potential $25bln leveraged buyout of the PC manufacturer

Dell shares rose after reports of possible interest from the Redmond-based software firm, whose Windows operating system has long been tied with Dell’s range of computers. Earlier, the hardware giant’s founder, Michael Dell, was said to be in talks with the private equity firm Silver Lake to buy

India

Wishful Thinking

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev dismissed the possibility of Ukraine joining the post-Soviet trade bloc of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan on special terms “Our Ukrainian friends like to talk about the issue of joining [the Customs Union] under a ‘three plus one format’ and so on. But it can’t be this way. It’s either everything or nothing, but in the latter case this looks like observer status or something else,” the prime minister said.

Ukraine, which has few energy resources of its own, relies heavily on gas imports from Russia.

The 2009 gas deal signed between Moscow and Kiev tied the price for Russian gas to international oil prices, which have risen significantly since 2009, boosting Ukraine’s bill.

07

out the company’s public shareholders.

The value of the potential buyout has been pegged at between $23bln and $25bln, with CNBC reporting that Microsoft could chip in with as much as $3bn.

Once a star of the technology world, Dell has been struggling as the overall demand for PCs shrinks, with consumers switching to mobile devices.

09

UK

BP to Return $8 bln to Shareholders

British oil company BP (BP.L) announced an $8 billion share buy-back program, acting swiftly on its promise to reward investors after it sold its stake in its Russian unit, TNK-BP BP, which completed the sale of the half-owned TNK-BP to Russian state oil firm Rosneft on March 21, said the move, designed to increase the value of remaining shares, was an amount equivalent to the value of the company’s original investment in TNK-BP in 2003.

The British company had already flagged that it planned to distribute to shareholders some of the $12.48 billion it netted from the Russian sale, first announced last October.

The $8 billion figure is about twice the minimum analysts had calculated BP would pay when it promised last October to at least offset any dilution to earnings per share as a result of the TNK-BP sale.

BP confirmed that it expected the size of the proposed buy-back would exceed the effect of the dilution.

The return also reflects the huge reduction to BP’s asset base from the $38 billion worth of disposals carried out to help pay for the cost of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010.

“This buy-back program should allow our shareholders to see benefits in the near-term from the value we have realized by reshaping our Russian business,” BP’s chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said in a statement.

The deal with Rosneft, worth $55 billion in total and making it the biggest in Russia’s corporate history, also gives BP a near 20 percent stake in Rosneft.

BP said it expects the buy-back program to take between 12 to 18 months to complete.

Source: Reuters cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 45

Business Dialogue Review

Solidarity “Europe will offer countries solidarity and aid, but only in exchange for efforts to improve fiscal responsibility. So far I haven’t seen those efforts from Cyprus. The country hasn’t yet realized that its business model has come to an end.” — Angela Merkel, German Chancellor

Nicos Anastasiades, President of Cyprus

Last-minute Cyprus Deal to Close Bank Cyprus clinched a last-ditch deal with international lenders to shut down its second-largest bank and inflict heavy losses on uninsured depositors, including wealthy Russians, in return for a €10 billion bailout

T

he agreement came hours before a deadline to avert a collapse of the banking system in fraught negotiations between President Nicos Anastasiades and heads of the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Swiftly endorsed by euro zone finance ministers, the plan will spare the Mediterranean island a financial meltdown by winding down the largely state-owned Popular Bank of Cyprus, also known as Laiki, and shifting deposits below €100,000 to the Bank of Cyprus to create a “good bank”.

Deposits above €100,000 in both banks, which are not guaranteed under EU law, will be frozen and used to resolve Laiki’s debts and recapitalize Bank of Cyprus through a deposit/equity conversion.

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The raid on uninsured Laiki depositors is expected to raise €4.2 billion, Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijssebloem said.

Laiki will effectively be shuttered, with thousands of job losses.

Officials said senior bondholders in Laiki would be wiped out and those in Bank of Cyprus would have to make a contribution.

An EU spokesman said no across-the-board levy or tax would be imposed on deposits in Cypriot banks, although the hit on large account holders in the two biggest banks is likely to be far greater than initially planned. A first attempt at a deal collapsed when the Cypriot parliament rejected a proposed levy on all deposits.

Cyprus government spokesman Christos Stylianides said: “We averted a disorderly bankruptcy which would have led to an exit of Cyprus from the euro zone with unforeseeable consequences.”

Asked about the level of losses on uninsured depositors on Bank of Cyprus, he told state radio it was not possible to be specific at this stage. “The assessment is that it will be under or around 30 percent.

But that is a bit of an arbitrary estimate.”

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Cypriot lawmakers would not need to vote on the new scheme, since they had already enacted a law setting procedures for bank resolution.

“It can’t be done without a bail-out in both banks ... This is bitter for Cyprus, but we now have the result that the (German) government always stood up for,” Schaeuble told reporters, saying he was sure the German parliament would approve.

Lefteris Christoforou, vice-chairman of the ruling Democratic Rally party, said it was important that Cyprus had avoided a chaotic bankruptcy.

“It is a bad deal, but the extreme scenario we had to contend with was worse.”

Former central bank government Afxentis Afxentiou added: “It’s a new day for Cyprus... I believe that in two or three years Cyprus will find its feet.”

A senior source in the Brussels talks said Anastasiades threatened to resign at one stage on Sunday, March 24, if he was pushed too far. He left EU headquarters without making any comment.

Conservative leader Anastasiades, barely a month in office and wrestling with Cyprus’ worst crisis since a 1974 invasion by Turkish forces split the island in two, was forced to back down on his efforts to shield big account holders.

Diplomats said the president had fought hard to preserve the country’s business model as an offshore financial centre drawing huge sums from wealthy Russians and Britons but had lost.

The EU and IMF required that Cyprus raise €5.8 billion from its banking sector towards its own financial rescue in return for €10 billion in international loans. The head of the EU rescue fund said Cyprus should receive the first emergency funds in May. IMF chief Christine Lagarde said the agreement was “a comprehensive and credible plan” that addresses the core problem of the banking system.

“This agreement provides the basis for restoring trust in the banking system, which is key to supporting growth,” she said in a

Suggestion “Following the last round of our talks, Ministry of Finance of Cyprus suggested to create a state-owned company with the transfer of assets of gas fields and offer Russian investors enter, buy bond with a subsequent participation in shares. Our investors did not show interest.” — Anton Siluanov, Russian Finance Minister statement.

French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici rejected charges that the EU had brought Cypriots to their knees, saying it was the island’s offshore business model that had failed.

“To all those who say that we are strangling an entire people ... Cyprus is a casino economy that was on the brink of bankruptcy,” he said.

Analysts had said failure to clinch a deal could cause a financial market sell-off, but some said the island’s small size - it accounts for just 0.2 percent of the euro zone’s economic output - meant contagion would be limited.

The abandoned plan for a levy on bank deposits had unsettled investors since it represented an unprecedented step in Europe’s handling of a debt crisis that has spread from Greece to Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy.

ORDINARY PEOPLE Among ordinary Cypriots, there was a mood of wariness about the deal.

“How long will it last?” asked Georgia Xenophontos, 23, a hotel

The EU and IMF required that Cyprus raise €5.8 billion from its banking sector towards its own financial rescue in return for €10 billion in international loans

receptionist in Nicosia. “Why should anyone believe anything this government says?”

Cyprus’s banking sector, with assets eight times the size of the economy, has been crippled by exposure to Greece, where private bondholders suffered a 75 percent “haircut” last year.

Without a deal by the end of March 25, the ECB said it would have cut off emergency funds to the banks, spelling certain collapse and potentially pushing the country out of the euro.

Under the bailout agreement, Laiki’s ECB funds will pass to Bank of Cyprus, and the central bank will “provide liquidity to BoC in line with applicable rules”.

Anticipating a run when banks reopen on March 26, parliament has given the government powers to impose capital controls.

PARLIAMENT About 200 bank employees protested outside the presidential palace on chanting “Cyprus will not become a protectorate”.

On March 19 the 56-seat parliament had rejected a levy on depositors, big and small. Finance Minister Michael Sarris then spent three fruitless days in Moscow trying to win help from Russia, whose citizens and companies have billions of euros at stake in Cypriot banks.

On March 22, lawmakers voted to nationalize pension funds and split failing lenders into good and bad banks - the measure to be applied to Laiki. The plan to tap pension funds was shelved due to German opposition, a Cypriot official said.

The tottering banks held €68 billion in deposits, including €38 billion in accounts of more than 100,000 euros - enormous sums for an island of 1.1 million people that could never sustain such a big financial system on its own. ■ Source: Reuters

Eurogroup Statement on Cyprus

The Eurogroup has reached an agreement with the Cypriot authorities on the key elements necessary for a future macroeconomic adjustment programme

Ms. Christine LAGARDE, Managing Director of the IMF; Mr Jeroen DIJSSELBLOEM, President of the Eurogroup; Mr Olli REHN, Vice President of the European Commission and Mr Klaus REGLING, Chief Executive Officer This agreement is supported by all euro area Member States as well as the three institutions. The Eurogroup fully supports the Cypriot people in these difficult circumstances.

The programme will address the exceptional challenges that Cyprus is facing and restore the viability of the financial sector, with the view of restoring sustainable growth and sound public finances over the coming years.

The Cypriot authorities have reaffirmed their commitment to step up efforts in the areas of fiscal consolidation, structural reforms and privatisation

The Eurogroup welcomes the plans for restructuring the financial sector as specified in the annex. These measures will form the basis for restoring the viability of the financial sector. In particular, they safeguard all deposits below €100.000 in accordance with EU principles.

The programme will contain a decisive approach to addressing financial sector imbalances. There will be an appropriate downsizing of the financial sector, with the domestic banking sector reaching the EU average by 2018. In addition, the Cypriot authorities have reaffirmed their commitment to step up efforts in the areas of fiscal consolidation, structural reforms and privatisation.

The Eurogroup welcomes the Terms of Reference for an independent evaluation of the implementation of the anti-money laundering framework in Cypriot financial institutions, involving Money cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 47

Business Dialogue val alongside a private international audit firm, and is reassured sions taken by Cyprus, this results in a fully financed programme that the launch of the audit is imminent. In the event of problems in which will allow Cyprus’ public debt to remain on a sustainable path. the implementation of the framework, problems will be corrected as The Eurogroup expects that the ESM Board of Governors will be part of the programme conditionality. in a position to formally approve the proposal for a financial assistance facility agreement by the third week of April 2013 subject to The Eurogroup further welcomes the Cypriot authorities’ commitment to take further measures. These measures include the inthe completion of national procedures. crease of the withholding tax on Annex capital income and of the statuFollowing the presentation tory corporate income tax rate. by the Cyprus authorities of their The Eurogroup looks forward to policy plans, which were broadly an agreement between Cyprus welcomed by the Eurogroup, the and the Russian Federation on a following was agreed: financial contribution.

1. Laiki will be resolved immediately - with full contribution of The Eurogroup urges the equity shareholders, bond holders immediate implementation of and uninsured depositors - based the agreement between Cyprus and Greece on the Greek on a decision by the Central Bank branches of the Cypriot banks, of Cyprus, using the newly adopted which protects the stability Bank Resolution Framework. of both the Greek and Cypriot 2. Laiki will be split into a good Nicos Anastasiades and VAN ROMPUY banking systems. bank and a bad bank. The bad The Eurogroup requests the bank will be run down over time.

The Eurogroup urges the immediate Cypriot authorities and the Com3. The good bank will be folded implementation of the agreement between mission, in liaison with the ECB, into Bank of Cyprus (BoC), using and the IMF to finalise the MoU at Cyprus and Greece on the Greek branches of the the Bank Resolution Framework, staff level in early April.

Cypriot banks, which protects the stability of after having heard the Boards of The Eurogroup notes the inboth the Greek and Cypriot banking systems Directors of BoC and Laiki. It will tention of the Cypriot authorities take 9 bn Euros of ELA with it. Only to compensate potential individuninsured deposits in BoC will ual victims of fraudulent practices, remain frozen until recapitalisation in line with established legal and has been effected, and may subsequently be subject to appropriate judicial procedures, outside the conditions. programme.

4. The Governing Council of the The Eurogroup takes note of ECB will provide liquidity to the BoC the authorities’ decision to introduce administrative measures, in line with applicable rules. appropriate in view of the present 5. BoC will be recapitalised unique and exceptional situation through a deposit/equity conversion of Cyprus’ financial sector and to of uninsured deposits with full contribution of equity shareholders and allow for a swift reopening of the bond holders. banks. The Eurogroup stresses 6. The conversion will be such that these administrative measures will be temporary, proportionate and non-discriminatory, and that a capital ratio of 9 % is secured by the end of the programme. subject to strict monitoring in terms of scope and duration in line 7. All insured depositors in all banks will be fully protected in with the Treaty. accordance with the relevant EU legislation.

Against this background, the Eurogroup reconfirms, as stated 8. The programme money (up to 10bn Euros) will not be used to already on 16 March, that – in principle - financial assistance to Cyrecapitalise Laiki and Bank of Cyprus. prus is warranted to safeguard financial stability in Cyprus and the The Eurogroup is convinced that this solution is the best euro area as a whole by providing financial assistance for an amount way forward for ensuring the overall viability and stability of of up to EUR 10bn. The Eurogroup would welcome a contribution by the Cyprus financial system and its capability to finance the Cyprus economy. ■ the IMF to the financing of the programme. Together with the deci48 |

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after work mercedes

Falkensteiner

World of Mercedes at the Car Show

Falkensteiner Hotel Belgrade Opens

h.e. Mr. Heinz Georg WILHELM (left) german ambassador (left) and Rolf-Juergen Seyerle, CEO Mercedes-Benz SCG

In Hall 3 of the Belgrade Fair, Mercedes-Benz has again traditionally greeted its clients, celebrities and members of the diplomatic corps at its VIP event called “The Star That the World Revolves Around.”

Following the premiere at the Geneva Car Show, Mercedes-Benz showcased two brand new models – the E-Class Sedan and Coupe.

The new model – the CLA fourdoor-coupe - was showcased in Serbia for the very first time. This is a brand new model in the passenger car line-

up. The company’s plan for this model is to tap into a new generation of buyers who have never owned a Mercedes.

The event was attended by many public figures, the clients of this luxury brand, the representatives of the diplomatic corps and the friends of the company.

After the spectacular reveal of new models and the most exclusive model at this year’s Belgrade Car Show SLS AMG Black Series - the guests were enterained by Sergej Ćetković.

PRO.PR Award

Miša Lukić and Borislav Miljanović - recipients of PRO.PR Awards 2013 The International PRO.PR Award ceremony took place at the Crystal Hall of the Kvarner Hotel in Opatija on March 20.

The International PRO.PR Awards were given during the PRO.PR conference with the goal of promoting the communication management profession.

This year’s PRO.PR Award recipients from Serbia are Miša Lukić (Publicis Group Serbia/MMS Communications) and Borislav Miljanović (Represent System). The executive director of the British government’s communications, Alex Aiken, was one of the 15 people who were awarded. ‘’This award is established so that we don’t forget the individuals who are discreetly and practically managing communications in different projects, events, companies or institutions, while, on the other hand, giving a selfless contribution to the development of the PR profession,” says the head of PRO. PR conference Organizing Committee, Danijel Koletić who is also the founder of this borislav miljanovic (left), international award. danijel koletic and misa lukic

On March 21, 2013, Falkensteiner Michaeler Tourism Group officially opened Falkensteiner Hotel Belgrade.

At the opening ceremony, the company presented its the first sponsorship contract in Serbia. Falkensteiner Hotels & Residences is the new sponsor of the trainer and the physical therapist of the world’s best tennis player Novak Djokovic.

Apart from the CEO of FMTG Otmar Michaeler, Marian Vaida and Gebhard Gritsch, the opening ceremony was also attended by Martin Vabitsch from MOF/BOP Group (the partner in this project), Agron Beriša, Managing Director of Falkensteiner Hotels & Residences for Southeast Europe, Boris Podrecca (the architect who designed the new Falkensteiner Hotel in New Belgrade) and interior designer Bea Mitterhofer.

Luna

Luna - The Best Local Brand

“The Best of Serbia” award ceremony took place for the ninth consecutive time at the MPs Club (Klub Poslanika) in early March. Luna, a fashion company from Požarevac, was the recipient of the award in the category of best local brand in 2012. The aim of “The Best from Serbia” campaign is promoting the domestic economy and a market-orientated way of thinking.

The Serbian Chamber of Commerce, the Ministry of Foreign and Internal Trade and Telecommunications and the business daily Privredni Pregled gave out the award in 20 categories. Over 100 companies competed for the title of the best brand in Serbia.

Today, Luna exports over 40% of its product range. cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 49

faces & places 28.02.2013

Minister Ugljanin and Tunisian ambassador meet The newly appointed Tunisian ambassador to Serbia H.E. Mr. Majid Hamlaoui and Serbian Minister Dr Sulejman Ugljanin have agreed that unbalanced regional development, i.e. pronounced regional differences, primarily in economy, is the challenge that both Tunisia and Serbia face. The ambassador also said that he was pleased with the fact that his first official meeting with a Serbian minister was with Dr Ugljanin. The two officials agreed for the two countries to exchange experiences as the first step in their cooperation. Ambassador Hamlaoui invited Serbian minister to visit Tunisia.

04.03.2013

HE Mr. Mehmet Kemal Bozay

National Day of Bulgaria A reception to celebrate National Day of Bulgaria was held by the Bulgarian ambassador to Serbia H.E. Mr. Angel Dimitrov at the Embassy. Apart from the Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić, the reception was also attended by the highest representatives of the diplomatic corps in Belgrade, public figures and friends of Bulgaria.

President Tomislav Nikolic and H.E. Mr. Angel Dimitrov

04.03.2013

The first Official Visit by the Law Society of England & Wales to Serbia The Head of the International Section at the Law Society, Julia Bateman meets with the President of the Serbian Bar Association, Dragoljub Djordjevic, and Mark Harrison, Head of Harrisons Solicitors, the only English Law Firm in Serbia.

The Law Society represents 160,000 Solicitors.

Julia Bateman additionally met the EU Head of Delegation, Ambassador Degert, the British Embassy and the Serbian Ministry of Justice. The Law Society expressed its deep commitment to help Serbia along the EU path in their respective areas of legal expertise. In a separate development, Mark Harrison, became the first English Solicitor to be registered as a Foreign Lawyer with the Serbian Bar Association in its 151 year history, which he described as a “great honour and privilege.”

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28.02.2013

Turkish Airlines To celebrate an increase in the number of flights, Turkish Airlines held a cocktail reception at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. The travel agencies which were the most successful in 2012 received an award at the reception. Apart from the company’s friends and business partners, the reception was also attended by high officials and Turkish ambassador to Serbia H.E. Mr. Mehmet Kemal Bozay.

Mr. and Mrs. Nikolić

Mr. and Mrs. Kirby

Mr. and Mrs. Kundycki

04.03.2013

Belgrade premiere of the play ‘Konstantin’ Belgrade premiere of the play ‘Konstantin’ was held at the National Theatre to mark the jubilee of the Edict of Milan. The play was seen by Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić, the Serbian Patriarch Irinej and other high officials, as well as the representatives of the diplomatic corps.

06.-10. 03.2013

The Francophone Film Festival 2013

HE Mr Jean-Daniel Ruch Ambassador of Switzerland to Serbia and Montenegro

The Serbian Ministry of Culture and Information, the French Institute, TV5 Monde, the embassies of France, Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, Egypt, Algeria and Dom Omladine Belgrade have again organized the traditional Francophone Film Festival with the aim of showcasing the cultural diversity of the French speaking countries.

13.03.2013

Norway donates an ultrasound to KBC Zemun Norwegian ambassador to Serbia H.E. Mr. Nils Ragnar Kamsvag has donated an ultrasound of the latest generation to the Gynecology Department of the Clinical Hospital Center Zemun (KBC Zemun). In the presence of Dragoš Stojanović, Director of KBC Zemun, and his associates, Mr. Kamsvag also announced that the Norwegian government planned to donate €10 million this year and added that, in the last 12 years, Norway has donated close to €250 million to Serbia.

cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 51

faces & places 13.03.2013

Accepting Donation of Kendo Equipment A reception to celebrate National Day of Bulgaria was held by the Bulgarian ambassador to Serbia H.E. Mr. Angel Dimitrov at the Embassy. Apart from the Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić, the reception was also attended by the highest representatives of the diplomatic corps in Belgrade, public figures and friends of Bulgaria.

18.03.2013

“Righteous among the Nations” The Israeli Ambassador to Serbia H.E. Mr. Yossef Levi posthumously awarded the “Righteous among the Nations” medal to Vojislav Knežević and Nurija and Devleta Pozderac at a ceremony at the Belgrade National Theatre. On behalf of the recipients, the medals were accepted by their descendants, Stojan Knežević and Sadeta Pozderac. The ceremony was also attended by one of the descendants of the Pozderac family –President of the UN General Assembly Vuk Jeremić.

19.03.2013

Round table discussion: The Position of Women in Serbia The Women’s Parliamentary Network and Embassy of Indonesia held a round table discussion about the protection of women and children called “The Position of Women in Serbia” at the Serbian National Assembly. H.E. Professor Dr. Mautia Hata Svasono, a culture advisor to the president of Indonesia, was the guest of honour. The following esteemed guests participated in the discussion: Serbian Minister of Health Slavica Đukić-Dejanović, Serbian Minister of Energy, Development and Environmental Protection Zorana Mihajlović, Serbian Minister for Youth and Sport professor Alisa Marić, as well as a delegation of women MPs from the Indonesian Parliament. The event was observed by a number of MPs, NGO representatives and members of the diplomatic corps.

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18.03.2013

“Battle for Maternity Hospitals” The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Serbia and the B92 Fund, with the help of the leading IT companies, held a charity dinner in support of the “Battle for Maternity Wards” campaign at the Hyatt Hotel in Belgrade. Apart from the founder of the Dragica Nikolić Foundation, Dragica Nikolić, Serbian Health Minister Slavica Đukić-Dejanović, AmCham leaders, business people and representatives of the diplomatic corps were also present at the dinner. The event’s initiator – Microsoft – was joined by the companies HP, Saga, Intel, Oracle, OSA Computer Engineering, SBS, ComTrade, Aigo BS, and eSmart Systems which all gathered to financially support the campaign.

20.03.2013

National Day of Tunisia To mark the National Day of Tunisia, the Tunisian Ambassador to Belgrade H.E. Mr. Majid Hamlaoui held an official reception at the Hyatt Regency Hotel which was attended by Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić, members of the diplomatic corps, Serbian cultural representatives and public figures.

Photo (right): H.E. Mr. Mohammed Nabhan, Ambassador of Palestine, Mr. Tomislav Nikolic, Serbian President, Miss Amira Hamlaoui, Mr. Majid Hamlaoui, Mr. Fethi Jelassi, First Secretary of the Embassy of the Republic of Tunisia, Mrs. Fatma Masmoudi, First Secretary of the Embassy of the Republic of Tunisia.

21.03.2013

Exhibition: “Armenia – Biblical Land at the Foot of the Ararat” An exhibition of photographs by the famous Armenian photographer Zaven Sargsyan entitled “Armenia – Biblical Land at the Foot of the Ararat” was opened at the gallery of the Russian House in Belgrade.

The guests were welcomed by the President of the Armenian community in Serbia, Samvel Ayvazyan, director of the Russian House, Denisov Mikhail Gennadiyevich and the honorary Armenian consul in Serbia, Predrag Tomić.

21.03.2013

“Not at the expense of others” campaign completed By announcing the winner of the competition for the best amateur film on intellectual property rights protection, the “Not at the Expense of Others” campaign, launched by the American Chamber of Commerce in Serbia (AmCham) and the U.S. Embassy, was completed. Isidora Popović, a student of the Third Grammar School of Belgrade, was the winner of this competition for high school students. U.S. Ambassador H.E. Mr. Michael Kirby presented the award to the winner, whose film had its premiere after that.

23.03.2013

Charity Wine Auction Charity Wine Auction took place in the Norwegian Residence. The Radovanovic Winery has been inviting Ambassadors to take symbolic part in their grape harvest, selecting the very best grapes of the year to be picked with a view donating this for charity. A limited number of bottles, with special labels, designed by the well-known naïve painter Mile Davidovic and the beloved cartoonist Corax, were auctioned at the event.

All the proceeds of the evening, approximately 15.000 Euro, will be donated to the Children’s Aid Society (Centar za porodicni smestaj dece Milosevac), a local orphanage in Krnjevo. cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 53

culture calendar Mark Knopfler Kombank Arena 30 April @ 20.00 The voice and guitar of the iconic ‘Dire Straits’, the composer of all their songs but also much more than that, Mark Knopfler will perform at the Kombank Arena on April 30, 2013 as a part of his world tour. The tour is promoting his latest album ‘Privateering’, to be released in September and will start in April through to July and counting 72 appearances in 25 European countries.

Mark Knopfler is one of the most respected musicians of all time. Recently he received the highest award for music artists in the UK, the ‘Ivor Novello’ lifetime achievement award.

‘Privateering’ is Mark’s eighth solo studio album and with its 20 songs, the first double album in his 35-year career. “The older we become, the more I want to write,” said Knopfler. “More than ever, I enjoy writing, recording and playing. I am enjoying it all.” Named as one of the best guitarists of all time, Mark has sold 120 million albums with ‘Dire Straits’ and during his solo career.

Gregorian Sava Centar 2 April @ 20.00 The mystical musical and theatrical attraction of Gregorian joins what might seem incompatible, performing pop and rock hits, like REM’s song “Losing My Religion,” “Tears in Heaven” Eric Clapton and Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” in the spirit of ancient Gregorian chants.

They have sold over 10 million CDs and DVDs and over 2 million people have attended their concerts. They performed in a concert of reconciliation in the ancient Roman amphitheater Beit She’an on the occasion of the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Israel. This all shows that during 11 years they have won audiences around the world, from Europe, South America, Asia, Africa, Mexico and the United States.

Jadranka Jovanović Sava Centar 7 April @ 20.00

Divna Ljubojević and ‘Melódi’ Choir Sava Center, 25 April @ 20.00 Divna Ljubojević, for more than two decades with his choir “Melodi, ‘performed in the most prestigious concert halls in the world, promoting the Orthodox spiritual music. Together they held

Beyoncé Kombank Arena 15 April @ 20.00 Jadranka Jovanović is one of the most respected and admired Serbian opera singers of today. Jadranka has performed at over 100 of the world’s opera and concert stages, from Beijing to Mexico City and from Palm Beach to Siberia, among which are: Milan’s La Scala, Teatro Liceo in Barcelona, Teatro Massimo of Palermo, Mozarteum in Salzburg Theatre in Munisipal Rio de Janeiro, Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo, the San Carlo in Lisbon, Teatro Comunale in Florence, Opera of Nice, Festival “George Enescu” in Bucharest ...

She has worked with the world’s conductors Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Sai, Richard Boning, Gvadanj Antonio, Maurizio Arena. Her partners on stage were: Placido Domingo, Mirella Freni, Jose Carreras, Eva Marton, Peter Courtly, Jose Kurom ...

Jadranka sang in more than 60 operas, performing the roles of Cinderella, Eboli, Abigail, Carmen, Amneris, Giovanna Seymour, Princess de Bouillon, Verdi’s Requiem and many more.

Rammstein Kombank Arena 28 April @ 20.00 ‘Wir halten das Tempo’ will be the motto of the band Rammstein in 2013, during which the band will perform at major European festivals and arenas and on April 28th at the Kombank Arena.

For the past two years, more than 1.3 million people from Mexico, the U.S., South Africa, Australia, Canada and Europe saw the band in concerts and festivals.

After numerous requests, Rammstein is back at the Kombank Arena on April 28th.

Tickets are priced at RSD 3500, 3600, 4000, 4900, 5500 and 5900, on sale at CS Eventim, Kombank Arena box office and Ticket Center.

Famous pop diva Beyoncé begins her tour, The Mrs. Carter Show, in Belgrade on April 15 at the Kombank Arena.

This is her first tour after three years and will include twenty European cities apart from Belgrade, including Dublin, Berlin, Paris and six consecutive appearances at the O2 in London. The tour continues in North America. It is planned for tour to last one whole year and then continue later to South America, Australia and Asia.

The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour will be Beyoncé’s biggest and most more than 500 concerts, leaving the audiences with most diverse sensibilities as well as the most demanding critics breathless. Divna Ljubojević and ‘Melodi’ perform every Sunday at the monastery Vavedenje in Belgrades district Senjak.

Kings of Strings Sava Center, 27 April @ 20.00 Kings of Strings are Tommy Emmanuel, Stoke Rosenberg and Vlatko Stefanovski. Three top

Civilization and its Discontent

O3one gallery, 23. April 2013 The sales exhibition of paintings and sculptures by contemporary Serbian artists entitled “Civilization and its Discontent,” selected by Jana Stojakovic, MA in Fine Art, will be opened on April 22nd at 7pm in O3one gallery, Andricev Venac 12, and will last until May 6, 2013. The topic of the exhibition refers to consumerism and excessive pleasures which are offered and forced by media and on the other hand, these artworks show violence and 54 |

A talented young violinist, David Horvat, is the winner of numerous awards at national and international competitions, including first prize at the prestigious Kocijan’s competition in the Czech Republic. Horvat will perform on April 2, for the first time in Guarnerius.

Program: Geminiani, Wieniawski, Ysaÿe, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Waxman

artists on guitars announced an unusual blend of different styles, positive energy and fun for their concert in the Sava Centar on April 27.

Australia, the Netherlands, Macedonia – Emmanuel, Rosenberg and Stefanovski, the scene will present a sort of dream guitar experience. Different styles, geographical and cultural characteristics and temperaments will blend together for a concert to remember.

CLASSICAL MUSIC repression, criticizing the condition in contemporary civilization.

103 April 2013 | www.cordmagazine.com

David Horvat Guarnerius, 2 April @ 20.00

ambitious tour to date.

After a spectacular performance at Pepsi Superbowl XLVII held at the halftime show, Beyoncé officially begins with a tour, the first since the I AM ... WORLD TOUR in 2009, this time bringing production to new levels of mastery.

Beyoncé is one of the most recognizable and most respected pop artists of today. The singer, actress, philanthropist and successful businesswoman, has so far had four solo albums, all topping the charts and sold over 75 million copies worldwide. Her work has been graced with numerous awards, including 16 Grammys.

Tickets to Belgrade concert are already sold out.

Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra Kolarac 5 April @ 20.00 Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra will perform pieces from Shostakovich, Masson and Sibelius, conducted by Daniel Raiskin, with solist Alksandar Radulović on percussions.

Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra Kolarac 12 April @ 20.00 On 12th April Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra will perform pieces from Tchaikovsky, Ravel and Rachmaninoff, with pianist Andrei Gavrilov.

Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra Kolarac 19 April @ 20.00 As a part of Kolarac’s Classical Cycle, Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra will perform together with Ju Hee Suh on piano on 19th April at Kolarac, conducted by Muhai Tang. Program will include Mendelssohn and Wagner.

The Kolarac Stage of Chamber Music Kolarac, 21 April @ 20.00 Youth Philharmonic Orchestra Borislav Pašćan will perform on 21st April in Kolarac as a part of Kolarac Stage of Chamber Music.

culture news Darko Kodžas Kolarac 24 April @ 20.00 Violinist Darko Kodžas will perform at Kolarac on 24th April the pieces from Hendl, Frank and Bloch.

BALLET Peter Pan National Theatre 2 April @ 19.00 Supported by American Embassy in Belgrade, ballet play Peter Pan was brought to is Belgrade’s National Theatre. Made with both grownups and children in mind, this ballet is a joy for the whole family to watch and enjoy.

Sleeping Beauty National Theatre 5 April @ 19.00

Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra Kolarac, 26 April @ 20.00 Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra will perform pieces from Smetena and Strauss, conducted

by Muhai Tang.

Ballet Jazz Montreal Sava Centar 5 April @ 20.00 Part of Belgrade Dance Festival 2013, Ballet Jazz Montreal from Canada will perform in Sava Center on 5th April.

Dušan Skovran String Orchestra Kolarac 28 April @ 11.00 Belgrade String Quartet Dušan Skovran will perform at Kolarac on 28th April as part of Kolarac Stage of Chambre Music. Admission free.

Basel Chamber Orchestra Kolarac, 28 April @ 20.00 As a part of Kolarac Cycle of the Great Music Performers, Basel Chamber Orchestra will perform with Maria Joao Pires on piano pieces from Wagner, Chopin and Mozart, conducted

by Trevor Pinnock.

Bojan Zulfikarpašić & Amira Medunjanin Kolarac, 29 April @ 20.00 Female singer Amira Medunjanin and pianist Bojan Zulfikarpašić will perform in Kolarac on 29th April at 20.00.

Choir and Szmphonic Orchestra of Belgrade Faculty of Music Kolarac, 30 April @ 20.00 Choir and Symphonic Orchestra of Belgrade Faculty of Music will perform pieces from Slavenski at Kolarac on 30th April.

Ballet of State Opera Vienna Sava Centar 12 April @ 20.00 Ballet of State Opera Vienna will perform in Belgrade Sava Center on 12th April as part of the Belgrade Dance Festival.

‘Earth Hour’ took place on March 23 from 20.30 until 21.30, when many of the most important facilities in Belgrade and the rest of Serbia as well as around the world, turned off their lights for an hour.

The goal of this campaign is to raise awareness about climate change and energy efficiency, and thus citizens are invited to turn off the lights in their homes for sixty minutes and, if possible, turn off home appliances too.

The first ‘Earth Hour’ was in Sydney in 2007 and had 2.2 million people involved, and seven years later the event brought together hundreds of millions of participants from all seven continents.

Srđan Belij, Serbian Secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Mining and Spatial Planning, said

Days of Italian Culture Studentski Centar Kragujevac 21 March Days of Italian Culture was held in Studentski Kulturni Centar in Kragujevac on March 21. The event was mainly concentrated on presenting respected writers from Middle Ages and Humanism – Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio.

Cullberg Ballet Sava Centar 19 April @ 20.00 Cullberg Ballet from Stockholm, Sweden will perform as a part of Belgrade Dance Festival on 19th April in Sava Center.

THEATRE Gospodjica Yugoslav Drama Theatre 26 April @ 20.00 Theatre play Gospodjica will be performed with English subtitles in Yugoslav Drama Theatre on 26th April.

60th Documentary and Short Film Festival Dom Omladine/Fontana, 2-6 April The 60th Festival of Documentary and Short Film Festival will be held from April 2 to 6 in the halls of Dom Omladine and the New Belgrade's Fontana cinema, where there will be rerun of competing and accompanying program. One of the oldest film festivals in Europe and the world and certainly the oldest in Serbia, Festival will be held under the slogan ‘Reset’. The competition

Earth Hour in Serbia 23 March

program involves 35 national films and 48 films from abroad.

Crave Dom Omladine, 24 March IGNIS Art Group in cooperation with MAPA Balkon organised the play ‘Crave’ by Sarah Kane, British writer. The play was performed in English in Dom Omladine on March 24. ‘Crave’ is one of Sarah’s most controversial and most poetic pieces, which unfortunately has never been translated into Serbian. Setting of drama ‘Crave’, performed by art group IGNIS was done in English on one side out of necessity and on the other, as a mark of respect for the beauty, rhythm and ambiguities of original text. This highly unconventional and provocative piece

that there are more and more people on the planet every day and less and less natural resources. Therefore, all of us should act responsibly, and that involves the use of resources in a sustainable manner.

Duška Dimović, Director of the WWF - World Wide Fund for Nature, said that the number of participants is increasing every year. Last year, forty cities and municipalities in Serbia took part in this action, with the hope that the number will be higher in 2013.

This year’s event is again supported

by Coca-Cola system. Central events took place at the Student Park in Belgrade, at the Freedom Square in Novi Sad and in St. Sava Park in Niš.

was made public in the form of reading that later turns into a performance and explores different layers of meaning in a labyrinth of words draws the viewer / listener into a parallel world of personal confession, emotions, sounds and music.

Balkanija Instituto Cervantes, 7 March The new edition of ‘Balkanija,’ edited by Mr. Miguel Rodriguez Andreu and Embassy of Spain was presented in Instituto Cervantes on March 7. The publication discusses Balkan studies from different perspectives: political, economic, cultural, and so on. Published once a year with a circulation of 300 copies which are distributed free of charge, Balkania confirmed its intention to analyze thoroughly and study

the essential aspects of regional realities. It has expanded its distribution network to also state institutions, science centres, universities and libraries, and is also present on the international and regional level in Southeast Europe. The publication was already presented in Madrid, Spain on June 2012.

This event, organized by the European Commission and the Serbian Embassy in Spain, was attended by the Ambassadors of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Malta, and the diplomatic representatives of other states of Southeast Europe.

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103 April 2013 | 55

interview

■ By Sonja Ćirić

Denisov Mikhail Gennadiyevich Director of Ruski Dom and Advisor at Embassy of the Russian Federation

The Tradition of

GREAT FRIENDSHIP

This year, we are celebrating 1,150 years of the Cyrillic script, which is both our and your script. If we are talking about the friendship between our two nations, we are not only fostering it through culture, but are also trying to participate in other areas too

3,000 people visit the Russian House’s library each year. Its video library stores over 1,600 films of various genres, both for adults and children, while the sound library has cassettes and CDs with the classical and Russian folk music. considered one of the most beautiful uski Dom (The Russian Mr. Denisov Mikhail Gennadiyevich buildings in Belgrade.

House - The Russian Centre has been at the head of the Russian Thanks to its programmes, the Rusof Science and Culture) was House since April 2011. He graduated established on April 9, eighty sian House has become an important from the Moscow State Institute of Interyears ago in Belgrade. There place in the city’s daily cultural life and are 44 such culture centres all over the all of its international festivals. The Rusnational Relations, worked at the Central world which promote the beauty of the Office of Rossotrudnichestvo as chief sian House is also known for its Concert Russian language, culture and tradition specialist in the Europe and America DeHall which has excellent acoustics and among local populations. seats 390. This is the place where Serpartment, and also worked as an official The history of the Russian House in of the Russian Foreign Ministry in many bian and Russian artists hold concerts Belgrade is closely tied to the spiritual, European countries. Mr. Gennadiyevich on a regular basis. There is also the Excultural and scientific activities of the was employed by Yeltsin’s administrahibition Hall, spanning across 200 m2, Russian émigrés who lived in the tion in many Balkan countries. He We have the Cadet Association in learned the Serbian language in Kingdom of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs following the October Rev- the Russian House. There is a corps Sarajevo and fell in love with this olution in 1917. The idea to form of over 300 cadets which provide part of the world. He already spoke English, French, German and Bulsuch a centre came from the Rustop education for young people sian emigrants and was endorsed garian which he learned when he

by King Aleksandar Karađorđević, the where new exhibitions by the Russian was deputy director of Roszarubezhcentand Serbian artists are staged every two Serbian Partriarch Varnava, academic er in Sofia. We are talking to Mr. GennadiAleksandar Belić and other leading poweeks. The library here is one of the bigyevich in the pleasant atmosphere of the Russian House, in the midst of preparalitical and social figures in Serbia. The gest Russian libraries in Europe. It has facility was designed by Russian archi60,000 books by Russian classical and tions for the celebration of the 80th ancontemporary authors. On average, over tect V. F. Baumgarten and to this day is niversary of the Russian House in Serbia.

R

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103 April 2013 | www.cordmagazine.com

■ The jubilee is the reason for the grand

the Russian House in Belgrade.

concert and the reception you are going to hold, with guests at the interstate level. This will be yet another event that symbolizes the link between Russia and Serbia. Could you tell us in which way the event does that?

- If it weren’t for Aleksandar Karađorđević, nothing would come out of our emigration. Thanks to him, our regular army, although being in exile, continued with its service. King Aleksandar also helped Russian intellectuals. Over 300 Russian architects worked in Serbia to design over 4,000 buildings. One of them – the architect Baumgarten – designed the Russian House building.

ing reconstructed and President Putin is personally advocating for the reconstruction to be finished by next year to coincide with the centenary of the beginning of the World War I. It is a wellknown fact that Tsar Nicholas I declared war on his cousin – the German Emperor – in 1914, immediately after the Austro- There will be a great celebration at the Hungarian Empire invaded Serbia beRussian House. We are expecting guests from Russia and your top officials to cause of the assassination in Sarajevo. come. At the concert, Serbian artists will Many Serbian peers found shelter in Ruspresent the Russian culture. You have sia during the war and were given land. so many artists here who know our culThe Miloradović family, for instance, was given large estates in Southern Russia. ture very well. For instance, the Španac Mihail Miloradović was a close advisor folklore troupe does a magical rendition to Tsar Peter I, while Savo Raguzinski of the Russian dances and their music was the Balkan Foreign Minister. A story and costumes are simply marvellous. I says that Savo had presented Tsar Peter haven’t seen anything like that anywhere with an enslaved African boy which the else in the world. We have been cooperTsar subsequently raised. This boy grew ating with them and their participation to be the famous warrior and scientist in our celebration is just one of the recalled Hannibal (also known as Abram sults of that cooperation.

Petrovich Gannibal). He was We have been cooperating with all Pushkin’s great-grandfather, ■ It has been said that there major institutions – the Serbian which means that we got our isn’t a single cultural instituAcademy of Science and Arts, the poetry thanks to the Serbs. tion in Serbia that you haven’t Everybody knows the story worked with....

Association of Writers of Serbia, the - We have been cooperating University, the Opera, the Prime Minister about Captain Vronsky who died in Serbia. There are many with all major institutions – and the Culture Minister Petković... such examples. the Serbian Academy of Science and Arts, the Association of Writers ■ We are under the impression that the Russian Centre of Science and Culture of Serbia, the University, the Opera, the ■ The monograph titled “Saint Sava in in Serbia finds it easier to fulfil its misPrime Minister and the Culture MinisRussian Imperial Chronicle,” published by the Institute for Textbook Publishing, ter Petković, who has been here a lot. sion – spreading Russian culture and lanthanks to your help, talks about the kinSerbian Ambassador to Russia Slavenko guage – than other such centres abroad.

Terzić also visits us quite often. He is the This is probably because the Russian culship between the Nemanjić family and symbol of Serbian intellectuals. Živan Tsar Ivan the Terrible. This monograph ture has always been traditionally popuSaramandić, to whom we referred as is just one more example of the cooperalar in our country. “the Serbian Chaliapin,” was our dear - Yes, and we are quite happy because of tion between the Russian House and Serguest and friend. Saramandić travelled that. We have a Society of Serbian-Rusbian publishers. to Russia over 80 times and performed sian Friendship in every town. We are - Ivan the Terrible is the great-greatat Russian towns and villages. He had an partners to the Pravoslavlje and Srbin grandson of Teodora Nemanjić, the incredible bass voice and knew the entire websites, and these sites are visited by daughter of Stefan Dečanski and the sisRussian opera repertoire by heart. He a million people each month. I have alter of Tsar Dušan. Following his coronaheld his last ever concert at our Concert ready mentioned our good and steadfast tion as the first Russian emperor at the Hall. The concert was in honour of Chaliacooperation with the institutions. There age of seventeen, and in an effort to creis much evidence and many examples of pin. Imagine what destiny! Chaliapin, the ate a big and powerful empire, Ivan the this tradition throughout history, with spiritual leader of the Russian emigraTerrible also wanted to present a unique many monuments telling a story about it. history of the world, from the very betion, was at the Russian House in 1934 to For instance, the Russian Necropolis attend the commemoration of the death ginning to his day, in honour of his tsarat the New Cemetery in Belgrade is the of King Aleksandar Karađorđević. ship. That’s how the biggest literary burial place of close to 3,000 Russians monument of that time came about. It and is the biggest Russian cemetery was mostly done in pictures rather than ■ It was the king who endorsed the Rusabroad. The cemetery is currently bewords, and it had 20,000 or so pages, sian emigration’s idea and helped set up cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 57

spread into ten volumes. “Russian Imperial Chronicle” was published in Moscow in this century. Following an initiative

by Russian President Putin, a publishing company called Akteon was established with the aim of unveiling this unique piece to the world. The Chronicle has many pages about the Serbs, 105 pages of illuminations with over 300 scenes depicting the life of Saint Sava. This is the biggest art opus dedicated to this saint.

Also, your publishing company Informatika has recently published a book written by Archimandrite Tihon called “Unholy Yet Holy” (Nesveti a sveti). The book sold in a million copies in Russia and has become extremely popular.

our brothers. We are connected by the Orthodoxy which is a link so important that it is redundant to talk about it. This year, we are celebrating 1,150 years of the Cyrillic script, which is both our and your script. If we are talking about the

tial financial support to them. The Jorga brothers (Ilya Jorga is a famous karate master) want to establish cadet corps in Serbia. This is a fantastic idea. They are planning to set up summer camps where they are going to promote sport and tradition. We are supporting them by putting our experience at their disposal, by connecting them to our corps. We have also been helping them financially.

■ Do you think that the level of presence of Russian culture in our institutions is satisfactory?

- We would always like to see more of it.

But, in the current circumstances and in a difficult economic situation, Serbian institutions have been investing a lot of effort into presenting our culture. That’s ■ Apart from staging various events that why it would please us to see the South promote Russian culture in the Russian Stream project being implemented beHouse, you have also been organizing events that promote Serbian culture too. cause we think that this project would Why is that? significantly increase the living standard of your citizens and develop Serbia even - Because our mission is not only profurther. As you know, our two countries moting Russian culture, but also supvirtually don’t implement any porting Serbian-Russian friendship. Your Patriarch Irinej said In the current circumstances and in a trade tariffs. This means that that Russians and Serbs were difficult economic situation, Serbian both Russian and Serbian sides have done everything possible, one nation, which means that institutions have been investing a lot and that there are no obstacles when we stage concerts or exof effort into presenting our culture in our cooperation. This cooperhibitions by Serbian artists, we are also talking about Rusation will open the way towards friendship between our two nations, we collaborating with Europe too. The allesian culture. Your President Tomislav are not only fostering it through culture, Nikolić said that his family would not gations that President Putin wanted Serbut are also trying to participate in other exist if it weren’t for Russia and told a bia to choose between Russia and the EU areas which are important for Serbia. story about his ancestors being saved are nonsense. We are absolutely against For instance, we have the Cadet Assofrom Corfu, where they were staying anything that might jeopardize the relawith the Serbian army, thanks to Tsar ciation in the Russian House. There is a tions between Serbia and the rest of EuNicholas II making it possible for English corps of over 300 cadets which provide rope because we don’t want to see the and French ships to come and get them. top education for young people. Our govSerbs, our brothers, stagnating. There is Russian policy is that Serbian people are no other way. ■ ernment has been providing a substan-

The Russian House

The Russian House plays an invaluable role in the popularization of Russian language in Serbia by cooperating with scientific and educational organizations, staging many language learning events and implementing projects like “The Russian in Russia” which enables learning the language in Russian educational institutions. Director of the Education Programme at the Russian House, Ilya Tyapkov says that they have over 300 attendees. “I have been living in Belgrade for over three years and, during that time, the number of our attendees grew threefold. We have been holding other programmes too which are promoting our language. For instance, we have been supporting all Russian language courses in Serbia by offering them methodological assistance. Also, our embassy has been financing lecturers at the Belgrade Faculty of Economics where people can learn Russian for free. We have around 120 participants. We are planning to establish a similar collaboration with the Faculty of Political Sciences. We held a free Russian language course for 16 people at the Serbian Interior Ministry, and we paid the teachers. The results show us that people in Serbia are very interested in learning our language.

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cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 59

sport Deloitte Football Money League 2013

The 10 Richest

Football Clubs of 2013

In the 16th edition of the Deloitte Football Money League, Deloitte profiles the highest earning clubs in the world’s most popular sport. Published eight months after the end of the 2011/12 season, the Money League is the most contemporary and reliable analysis of the clubs’ relative financial performance 60 |

103 April 2013 | www.cordmagazine.com

T

here are a number of financial and non-financial methods that can be used to determine a club’s relative size – including measures of attendance, fanbase, broadcast audience, or on-pitch success. In the Money League, Deloitte focuses on the clubs’ ability to generate revenue from day to day football operations. They therefore rank them on those revenues, including matchday ticket and corporate hospitality sales, broadcast rights revenues including distributions from participation in European club competitions, sponsorship, merchandising, and other commercial operations.

Here are the 10 out of 20 richest football clubs of 2013.

1/10

Real Madrid (€512.6m) Real Madrid not only maintain their position as the leading club in the Deloitte Football Money League for an eighth consecutive season, equalling Manchester United’s record, but also become the first club to surpass the €500m revenue threshold. Revenue increased by €33.1m (7%) to €512.6m in 2011/12 and with a slightly increasing €29.6m gap to rivals FC Barcelona, Real Madrid remain the team to catch.

2011/12 will be remembered as a record breaking year for ‘Los Merengues’ both on and off the pitch. They won the La Liga title for the 32nd time gaining 100 points in the process – a feat that has never previously been achieved by any Championship winning side in any of the ‘big five’ European leagues. In doing so, they won 32 games scoring 121 goals, the most ever by a La Liga side in both cases. Jose Mourinho’s side also had a good run in the UEFA Champions League before being defeated by Bayern Munich in the semi-finals.

With the two most expensive players of all time in their cur-

2/10

FC Barcelona (€483m)

rent ranks in Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, it makes sense that Real Madrid is the richest club in the world. With that said, these are troubled times at the Santiago Bernabeu with an abysmal showing in La Liga by the side so far, and rumor has it that controversial manager Jose Mourinho won’t be around for too much longer.

3/10

Manchester United (€395.9m) Manchester United retain third place in the Money League despite revenues declining by £11.1m (3%) to €395.9m in a season which saw the club narrowly miss out on retaining their Premier League title as well as suffer early exits from the UEFA Champions League and FA Cup. The club continues to make great strides in their commercial operations, with revenue increasing by €16.2m (14%) to €145.4m, to become the largest element (contributing 37%) of their total, having been the smallest in the previous year.

This was driven by new global partnerships such as the innovative DHL training kit deal, reportedly worth €11.4m per season. The club also entered into several new regional partnerships, particularly in the new media and mobile sectors, which contributed €23.6m of revenue, an increase of 20%.

Aiming for the treble this campaign, the Red Devils have been in a rich vein of form with the talismanic duo of Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney leading the side.

FC Barcelona retain second place in the Money League behind Real Madrid for the fourth successive year and relinquished their La Liga crown to their great rivals in 2011/12.

Even though the Catalans couldn’t quite match their unprecedented on-pitch success from 2010/11, the club enjoyed €32.3m (7%) revenue growth to €483m, and success in both the Spanish Super Cup and FIFA World Club Cup made it a remarkable 14 trophies in four seasons for outgoing manager Pep Guardiola.

They are almost a sure bet to take back the Spanish La Liga title and are in the hunt for the Copa Del Rey and the UEFA Champions League trophies as well with Tito Vilanova at the helm. cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 61

4/10

Bayern Munich (€368.4m) Despite a second consecutive trophyless season, Bayern Munich reversed the previous year’s decline in total revenue, which increased by €47m (15%) to €368.4m in 2011/12. Under the stewardship of manager Jupp Heynckes, appointed in July 2011, it was a story of ‘so near yet so far’ for Die Bayern, finishing second in the Bundesliga, runner-up in the domestic cup and losing to Chelsea on penalties in the final of the UEFA Champions League in Munich.

With the appointment of the much coveted Pep Guardiola as manager and with a reported €280m war chest to spend on players, Bayern might be a little bit higher in the Money League this time next year.

5/10

6/10

Chelsea (€322.6m)

Arsenal (€290.3m) In their 125th anniversary season, the Gunners experienced a similar level of on-pitch performance to the previous season.

A late season rally helped the club finish in third position in the Premier League, with broadcast distributions remaining constant at €64m. As in 2010/11, the club exited the Champions League at the round of 16 stage, with defeat to AC Milan, as a remarkable comeback fell just short. Arsenal’s reduced market pool share resulted in UEFA distributions decreasing slightly to €28.2m. In Sterling terms, broadcast revenue was similar to the previous year at €107.7m. If the current trend of selling their star players continues, we might see Arsenal continue to drop down in the rankings of the Money League.

Chelsea secure a top five position in the Deloitte Football Money League, with total revenue in 2011/12 increasing by €36.9m (14%) to €322.6m. This significant growth is largely down to the on-field successes of the season. 2011/12 will be remembered as the year Chelsea became the first London club to win the UEFA Champions League, overcoming Barcelona in the semi-finals and then defeating Bayern Munich in a dramatic penalty shoot-out in the final at the Allianz Arena. Chelsea made it a cup double in defeating Liverpool 2-1 in the FA Cup final. However, their cup form was not matched in the Premier League, finishing in a modest sixth place, their lowest League position for ten years.

7/10

Manchester City (€285.6m) As forecast last year, Manchester City enter the Money League top ten for the first time in their history jumping up five places to seventh. Their inaugural participation in the UEFA Champions League and the commencement of the club’s ten-year partnership with Etihad Airways contributed to revenue growth of €88.7m (51%) – the highest of all Money League clubs.

On the pitch, City became English League Champions for the first time in 44 years after a dramatic climax to the Premier League season. However, their strong league form did not translate to the European stage and they failed to qualify from the group stages of the UEFA Champions League and were knocked out of the UEFA Europa League at the last 16 stage.

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8/10

9/10

AC Milan (€256.9m)

Liverpool (€233.2m) Liverpool remain in ninth position in the Money League, and despite their absence from European competition for the first time since season 1999/00, recorded a €5.8m (3%) increase in revenues to €233.2m. Although the club won the Carling Cup and reached the FA Cup final, a disappointing eighth-place finish in the Premier League meant that 2011/12 was the third successive season in which Liverpool failed to qualify for the Champions League.

AC Milan drop one place to eighth in this year’s Money League, but remain the leading Italian club ahead of Juventus, city rivals Internazionale and Napoli. Total revenues increased by €22.1m (9%) to €256.9m, but this wasn’t enough to prevent Manchester City leapfrogging them into seventh place. On the pitch, Milan were pipped to the 2011/12 Serie A title by unbeaten Juventus, and lost to Barcelona in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, their best run in the competition since winning it in 2007.

With a special emphasis being placed on youth in the AC Milan camp along with the highly publicized move of Mario Balotelli to the red half of the San Siro, AC Milan look to have put their years of trouble behind them and have nowhere to go but up.

10/10

Juventus (€195.4m) Juventus’ spectacular return to form on the pitch in the 2011/12 season saw the Bianconeri win their first Scudetto title since 2002/03, with an unbeaten record unprecedented in a 38-game Serie A season. A €41.5m (27%) increase in revenues to €195.4m has fired them back into the Money League top ten, and after several difficult years, the club looks to have regained its status among the European elite.

Combined revenues reached €4.8 bln

Average Attendances

The following is a table showing average attendances for football clubs in Europe in domestic league matches Rank

Club

Average Attendance

Stadium and city

1

Barcelona

84,119

Camp Nou, Barcelona

Country Spain

2

Borussia Dortmund

80,521

Westfalenstadion, Dortmund

Germany

3

Manchester United

75,387

Old Trafford, Manchester

England

4

Real Madrid

74,678

Santiago Bernabéu

Spain

5

Bayern Munich

69,000

Allianz Arena, Munich

Germany

6

Schalke 04

61,139

Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen

Germany

7

Arsenal

60,000

Emirates Stadium, London

England

8

VfB Stuttgart

55,089

9

Hertha Berlin (2)

37,163

Olympiastadion, Berlin

Germany

10

Hamburger SV

53,635

Imtech Arena, Hamburg

Germany

Mercedes-Benz Arena, Stuttgart Germany

The 20 Money League clubs generated combined revenues of €4.8 billion in 2011/12, a 10% growth on the previous year, and account for over a quarter of the total European football market. Real Madrid retain top position for the eighth successive year and become the first sports clubs to surpass the €500m revenue threshold in a single year with a total of €513m. FC Barcelona remain in second place to ensure a Spanish one-two for the fourth year running.

Manchester City and Juventus climb into the top 10, replacing Internazionale and Schalke 04, with revenues of €286m and €195m respectively. Newcastle United is the only new entry into the top 20 rankings, replacing Valencia, with each Money League club again coming from one of the ‘big five’ European leagues – England (seven), Italy (five), Germany (four), Spain (two) and France (two).

cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 63

chill out

Mass Wedding Ceremony

Haunted Mirror This Victorian-style mirror might look harmless enough, but if its owner is to be believed, it has brought bad luck, misery, financial problems and illness upon its home.

Mr. Joiee, from London, England, is trying to sell the spooky mirror on eBay, and has left none of its supernatural abilities to the imagination.

The mirror was posted on the online auction site, with the ominous warning: “Since we put it up in our flat we have had nothing but bad luck, misery, financial problems and illness.”

The mirror had not received any bids at the time of writing.

More than 3,000 people have married in a mass wedding ceremony taking place in South Korea The Unification Church ceremony took place in honour of the ministry’s late founder Sun Myung Moon, who died in September.

Couples from around the world participate in a mass wedding ceremony at the CheongShim Peace World Center in Gapyeong, South Korea The ceremony is referred to as ‘Moonie’, and some of the couple taking part had met just days before. Some don’t even speak the same language.

Indian Man Spends $21,000 on a Gold Shirt

“I know I am not the best-looking man in the world, but surely no woman could fail to be dazzled by this shirt.”This is a statement made by Datta Phuge, 32, as he showed the world his shirt made exclusively of gold.

The wealthy man spent about US$21,000 to have the shirt made. Apparently, his main purpose was to attract female attention.

Fifteen goldsmiths spent 16 hours a day to carefully weave gold threads and put in six Swarovski crystal buttons. The shirt was completed in two weeks.

Scrap gold pieces were made into cuffs, rings, and a belt to match the shiny, dazzling outfit.

“The gold shirt has been one of my dreams,” said Mr. Phuge “It will be an embellishment to my reputation as the ‘Gold man of Pimpri.”

Big Tone, Little Tone Lottery Winners Blow up House During Celebration Two brothers from Wichita, Kansas, US, who celebrated a $75,000 winning lottery ticket by buying marijuana and meth then accidentally blew up their house.

The explosion sent one of the brothers to hospital with second-degree burns on his hands, arms and chest while the other brother was sent to jail.

The brothers were in a Wichita house when one went to the kitchen to refuel the butane torches they planned to use to light their bongs. He emptied two large cans of butane lighter fluid, leaking butane into the air.

“The butane vapour reached the pilot light in the furnace, and as you might expect, ka-boom,” Wichita Police Department reported.

The victim was wearing a lottery T-shirt during the explosion.

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Britain’s tallest policeman, PC Anthony Wallyn (left) who stands 2.2m and PC Tony Thich who measures 165cm, known as Big Tone and Little Tone in the Met, stand guard outside King Edward VII Hospital where the Queen has been admitted to hospital.

Britain’s tallest policeman and London’s shortest, have made an odd couple as they stand guard at the entrance to the hospital where the Queen is being treated for a stomach bug.

PC Wallyn, whose nicknames include Big Tower, Tiny and Freak, has required a custom-made uniform since joining the force four years ago.

103 April 2013 | www.cordmagazine.com

Cat Cafe to Open in London

The UK’s first-ever cat café is coming to London in the next couple of months after members of the public donated over £100,000 to make one cat lover’s dreams a reality.

Entrepreneur Lauren Pears has already started looking at prospective sites in the Old Street area of London and is aiming to have the café up and running by May. She has already found the 10 to 15 cats which will staff the café, with the animals coming from the Mayhew Animal Home in Kensal Green, north-west London.

Ms Pears, who was inspired by the popular cat cafes in Japan, said she spotted a

gap in the market with large numbers of British city dwellers unable to have pets of their own due to living in rented accommodation, small flats or financial constraints.

The café will provide a place where cat lovers can stroke the roaming felines while drinking their coffee. Cat cafes are popular in Japan and last year Vienna also opened a similar type of eatery.

Ms Pears has already received over 300 job applicants, with an extra 15 a day still being sent in. The £100,000 raised by the public for the venture came through the crowd-funding website Indiegog.

Homeless Man Gets $140,000 for Ring Return A homeless man’s set to get $145,000 for returning a woman’s diamond engagement ring.

Sarah Darling accidentally dropped her diamond engagement ring into Billy Ray Harris’ coin cup in Kansas City and he kept it safe and gave it back to her when she returned to his patch a few days later. Her grateful fiance set up a website which has already raised $145,000 for Mr Harris, who frequently begs on Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza.

Mr Harris, though grateful for the donations from strangers from around the world, is uncomfortable with all the attention his kind act has received but insists the ring simply wasn’t his to keep.

Billy Ray Harris said he doesn’t think he deserves all the attention he’s getting.

“What I actually feel like is what is the world come to when a person returns something that don’t belong to him and all this happens?,” he said.

World Naked Bike Ride Day Cyclists stripped off to participate in World Naked Bike Ride Day in Melbourne, Australia.

The annual event, which drew around 260 nude participants this year, is held to promote the protest for issues such as peace and road safety for cyclists.

World Naked Bike Ride Day, Melbourne, bike ride is intended to ‘peacefully expose the vulnerability of cyclists, humanity and nature in the face of cars, aggression, consumerism and non-renewable energy.

Although clothing was optional, cyclists were required to wear helmets.

Animal Lover Authorities have removed four lions and two bears from the estate of a notorious Romanian gangster, who reportedly used them to threaten his victims Ion Balint was arrested Feb. 22 with dozens of others on charges of attempted murder, kidnapping, blackmail and possessing illegal weapons. In 2009, he was sentenced for human trafficking, violence and pimping.

Environmental authorities and the Vier Pfoten animal charity tranquilized the animals, carried them on stretchers into cages and transported them to a zoo.

Neighbors and relatives of Balint rejected reports from investigators who said he used the lions, which he had no permit for, to intimidate his victims. They said the 48-year-old Balint is simply an animal lover. cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 65

hunting

The Hunting

Grounds of Serbia

H

unting is one of the most popular sports in Serbia, and the country’s hunting grounds are among the best known in Europe.

There are over 320 hunting grounds, spanning across 6.5 million hectares of land, and stretching from north to south Serbia, from the plains of Vojvodina to the mountains with unspoiled nature.

Over 90% of these grounds are managed by hunting clubs which are the most zealous and the most diligent keepers of Serbia’s natural beauty.

The hunting grounds are mostly frequented by the red, fallow, white-tailed and roe deer, chamois, mouflon, wild boar, bears, pine martens, stone martens, badgers, squirrels, hares and a large bird population.

Hunting tourism has a great tradition in Serbia and is well developed and organized. It has a strict set of rules, starting with crossing the border, getting to hunting grounds, obtaining firearms and ammunition permits, hiring a guide, obtaining veterinary per-

mits and meeting other requirements for exporting the game. Tourists/hunters can hunt and train their hounds on hunting grounds only through the mediation of an authorized agency which has concluded a contract with the user of the hunting grounds. A hunter has to obtain documents for bearing hunting weapons, optics and the ammunition which he will use, as well as obtain the documents for the hounds which will accompany him. He can hunt only game that is specified in his hunting permit with the approval of a hunting guide. If a tourist/hunter wants to take the game and its spoils (the trophies, meat, hide) out of the hunting grounds, he has to pay the user of the hunting grounds a certain price as set out in the hunting club’s pricelist.

In this issue of CorD magazine, we review only a handful of the most famous hunting grounds in Serbia, underlining that the main hunting season starts in October while big game hunting season is year-round.

1/10 Karađorđevo - Bačka Palanka Karađorđevo is certainly one of the best known and the best arranged hunting grounds in Serbia. It is located 140 km northwest of Belgrade. The roads to and on the hunting grounds are new and of high quality.

The Karađorđevo establishment was founded in 1885 as a property owned by the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Today, this is a special nature preserve. The hunting grounds span across 4,520 hectares of land, with 4,124 hectares fenced off.

Thanks to its dense oak, acacia and willow forests, the hunting grounds here are full of big and small game with a high trophy value.

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The game species that are constantly bred here are the red deer, the Virginia deer, wild boar, roe deer, mouflon, pheasant, hare, wild goose and wild duck. All of these species are allowed to be hunted.

In its long hunting history, the Karađorđevo hunting grounds have accomplished some excellent trophy results.

Accommodation is located right on the hunting grounds, in the Dijana hunting lodge, Vranjak hunting centre and the Karađorđevo inn.

Contact: Military institution “Karađorđevo”, Tel. +381 (0)21 765-107; www.karadjordjevo.com.

2/10 Morović - Šid This hunting ground is located 107 km north-west of Belgrade in a beautiful oak forest, intersected by three rivers – the Sava, the Studva and the Bosut. It spans across 2,875 hectares of land of mainly plains. The hunting grounds are 100 km from Belgrade.

The game that is being constantly bred here is the red deer, the fallow deer, roe deer, wild boar and hare, while the swampy terrain is an ideal environment for wetland birds, mainly wild

duck. All of these species may be hunted.

You can find accommodation on the hunting grounds – in the Košuta and Srna villas, as well as in bungalows, at the prices ranging from €25-€50 for full board.

Contact: Astra Tours, Hunting Club Astra, tel/fax: +381/ 21/ 6350-960; Mob: +381/ 65/ 3340-791; e-mail: huntingclubastra@gmail.com

3/10 Bosutske Šume - Šid This hunting ground is flat with altitudes ranging from 85 to 92 metres. It spans across 12,274 hectares of land and is located 124 km north-west from Belgrade.

The species bred here are wild boar, red deer and roe deer. They are all allowed to be hunted which is usually done from hunting stands, but you can also hunt for trophy game through stealth hunting or outwitting the game. Hunting for wild boar, which is plentiful here, can be done individually or in a group.

The roads leading to these hunting grounds are good. There are fully organized hunting tours, and you can find accommodation at various facilities with the prices ranging from €25 to €50 for full board.

Contact: Tel +381 (0)22 600 516; E-mail: sgsmitrovica@net022.net

4/10 Deliblatska Peščara - Pančevo The Deliblatska Peščara (Deliblato Sands) hunting grounds cover an area of 31,036.55 hectares with 2,410 hectares being fenced off.

The big game that is mostly hunted here is red deer and wild boar, as well as roe deer to a lesser degree. When it comes to smaller game, you can hunt wild ducks and wild geese since the hunting grounds are adjacent to the river Danube.

These hunting grounds are flat with the altitude ranging from 70 to 85 metres. They are 50 km from the Belgrade airport and 150 km from Novi Sad. You can hunt big game in both open and closed off areas, while hunting red deer and wild boar is done from hunting stands.

The accommodation in the hunting lodge consists of two suites and two single bedrooms which prices range from €25 to €50 for full board.

Contact: Astra Tours, Hunting Club Astra, Tel/fax: +381/ 21/ 6350-960; Mob: +381/ 65/ 3340-791; e-mail: huntingclubastra@ gmail.com cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 67

5/10 Stara Planina II The Stara Planina II (the Old Mountain II) hunting grounds are located in Southeast Serbia, 20 km from Pirot and 90 km from Niš. They stretch along the south-eastern slopes of the Stara Planina (Old Mountain), along the state border with Bulgaria.

This is an area of exceptional beauty, lush vegetation, rare plant and animal species and clean water. The hunting grounds take up an area of 40,804 hectares.

This is the natural habitat of the red deer, roe deer, wild boar, bear, wolf, rock partridge, common wood pigeon, Eurasian

woodcock and others. A nature reserve with the western capercaillie, a protected species, is located on the Stara Planina II hunting grounds.

The hunting grounds are managed by three hunting clubs located in Kalna, Minićevo and Knjaževac. They offer private accommodation in hunting lodges and holiday homes in keeping with genuine hunting tourism.

Contact: The Knjaževac Hunting Club, Tel: +381(0)19 731 705; The Minićevo Hunting Club, Tel: +381(0)19 769 605

6/10 Južni Kučaj 4 These hunting grounds cover an area of 26,360 hectares and are 185 km from Belgrade and some 55 km from the nearest motorway. The grounds are also 8 to 30 km from the main road. They are situated on the western part of the Južni Kučaj Mountain, near the town of Despotovac. The game that is usually hunted here is the red deer, deer, wild boar, rabbit, wolf, fox, lynx, otter, the rock pigeon, and peregrine falcon.

The Resava Cave, the Resava and Suvaja river gorges, the Lisina waterfall and monasteries Manasija and Ravanica are all nearby.

Hunters can find accommodation in three hunter lodges – Valkaluci, Pešterac and Javorak – which have a total of 25 beds.

Contact: Tel. +381(0)35 611 662; +381 (0) 35 611 737

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7/10 Đerdap The Đerdap national park and hunting grounds include parts of the North Kučaj, Miroč and Štrbac mountain ranges and are from 2 to 10 km wide.

They all face the Danube which runs through the hunting grounds from Golubac to Karatas, a 100-km-long stretch. The lowest hunting altitude is 63 metres, on the Danube River, near the Đerdap 1 hydro-electric power plant, while the highest hunting altitude is the peak of the Veliki Štrbac which stands at 803 metres. Most of the hunting grounds are located at between 200 and 600 metres in altitude. The Đerdap hunting grounds have hunting stands, tree stands and feeding places for roe deer, wild boar and small game. The Đerdap National Park, Donji Milanovac, doesn’t have any accommodation or catering facilities, but hunters can go on organized hunting tours with specialized guides and chasers. The game that is usually hunted here is wild boar, roe deer, wolf, fox, wildcat and hare. There is a 14-bed-accommodation facility on the hunting grounds.

Also, there are several motels and three larger hotels on the GolubacKladovo stretch.

Contact: The Golubac Tourist Organization, Tel: +381(0)12 638 614; The Majdanpek Tourist Organization, Tel: +381(0)30 591 400; The Kladovo Tourist Organization, Tel: +381(0)19 801 690; The Đerdap National Park, Tel: +381 (0)30 590 778

8/10 Kukavica The Kukavica hunting grounds are located in south Serbia, on the Kukavica Mountain, and they span across an area of 16,443 hectares, stretching between Leskovac and Vranje, including the municipality of Vladičin Han. The grounds are situated just above the village of Vučje, which is connected to Leskovac by a 20-km long, modern road. The Kukavica hunting grounds are located in the most forested area of Jablanički and Pčinjski counties. The grounds cover 16,443 hectares of land, with most of the area situated at between 600 and 1,200 metre altitude which is considered mountainous hunting grounds. Here, you can hunt roe deer, wild boar and hare.

You can find accommodation at the mountain lodge on the hunting grounds and in Leskovac (Hotel Beograd).

Contact: The Leskovac Forest Holding, Tel.+381 (0)16 243 034, +381 (0) 16 213 593; Fax:+381(0) 16 255 947

9/10 Golija Ivanjica The Golija Mountain hunting grounds are located on the Golija mountain range which is around 280 km from Belgrade and 20 km from Ivanjica. The game that is hunted here is wild boar, roe deer, bear, the western capercaillie, hare, wolf, fox and marten.

You can find accommodation at the Golijska Reka mountain lodge which has 34 beds and is located at the very heart of the Golija.

Contact: The Golija Forest Holding, Ivanjica Tel: +381 (0)3266 3321 +381(0)3266 2253, Fax: +381 (0)3266 1710

10/10 Šargan The Šargan hunting grounds are located on 13,874 hectares of land, some 250 km from Belgrade. These grounds lie along the Belgrade-Užice-Višegrad main road, in the close proximity to the famous Šarganska Osmica railway. Also, Tara National Park, the river Drina and the Perućac lake are all nearby.

The game that is hunted here is roe deer, wild boar and hare.

Accommodation can be found in a facility that has 7 beds and is located in a picturesque area of Šargan.

Contact: The Užice Forest Holding, Tel: +381(0)31 516 133 and +381(0) 31 521 585 cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 69

automotive 51st International Car Show

World

Post

Premieres

in Belgrade

This year, Belgrade played host to of one of the 13 official car shows that are taking place in 2013. Visitors were able to see the premiere of 51 cars with the models that were fresh from the Geneva Car Show and had their world post-premiere under the domes of the Belgrade Fair attracting the most attention and appeal

Mercedes-Benz

The Star that the World Revolves Around At this year’s Belgrade Car Show, Mercedes-Benz Serbia and Montenegro d.o.o. exhibited as ever in Hall 3, in the area spanning across 3,000 m2, under the slogan “The Star that the World Revolves Around”. Immediately after the European premiere in Geneva, the visitors of the Belgrade Fair were given the opportunity to see the new generation of the E-class Couple limousine and a brand new model – the unique CLAClass. On top of the premiere models and for the first time in Serbia, Mercedes-Benz presented an exclusive sports model, the MercedesBenz SLS AMG Black Series.

SL63 AMG, the new generation of GL-Class, restyled version of G-Class and restyled smart fortwo also drew a lot of attention.

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SLS AMG Black Series

E-Class

CLA-Class

103 April 2013 | www.cordmagazine.com

BMW

Series 3 Gran Turismo - Driving Pleasure

The new BMW Series 3 Gran Tourismo comes to us directly from Geneva Motor Show, and it adds an innovative new concept to the successful BMW 3 Series line-up. This model is a combination of the dynamics and sporting genes of the Sedan, and the practicality and versatility of the Touring. The advantage of this model is reflected in a noticeable increase in space and driving comfort. The Gran Turismo exudes aesthetic and emotional appeal, has a distinctive presence on the road and offers driving pleasure.

The typical BMW proportions, four doors, gently sloping roofline and large trunk clearly define the distinctive exterior character of the BMW Series 3 Gran Turismo.

The latest addition to the Series 3 family can be purchased in the Sport Line, Luxury and Modern Line variants or with the M Sport package. The new Gran Turismo is available in six petrol and three turbo diesel engine options. Buyers can choose from five powerful, refined

and efficient engines ranging from 105 kW/143 hp to 225 kW/306 hp. The transmission is connected to the Auto Start-Stop function which avoids unnecessary fuel consumption. The visitors were able to see the 328i model which price starts at €39.490 for the basic model and goes up to €65.376 which is how much the exhibited model costs. Apart from 328i, the 320i, 335i, 318d, and 320d models were available to buy.

Honda

World's Lightest 1.6 Diesel Aggregate The new 1.6-litre i-DTEC engine is the first from the new Honda Earth Dreams Technology series to have been unveiled in Europe and presented in a new Civic. This is the lightest 1.6 diesel aggregate in the world which provides the ultimate balance between consumption efficiency and performances in its class. WTCC edition of Civic will revive Honda’s sporting spirit, while the new CR-V will demonstrate superior technological solutions in its class.

cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 71

Audi

Sporty, Versatile and Advanced

Audi presented its new A3 Sportback at the Belgrade Car Show. This is a compact five-door model, with a spacious trunk and a strong and efficient engine. The new Audi A3 Sportback is 4.31 m long, 1.78 m wide and 1.425 m high. The wheelbase now measures 2.636 m which is an increase of 58 mm. This makes the five-door model 35 mm longer between the axles than the three-door version.

Audi is initially offering the new A3 Sportback with a

choice of one TDI and two TFSI engines. Two diesel and one petrol engine will come later. The 1.6 TDI is the most efficient engine in the model lineup. The compact diesel, which is characterized by minimal internal friction, consumes on average 3.8 l/100 km when paired with the manual transmission. This corresponds to CO2 emissions of 99 g/ km. The 1.6-litre engine accelerates from zero to 100 km/h in 10.9 seconds on its way to a top speed of 194 km/h.

Fiat 500L

Growing Up is Cool!

The Fiat 500L combines the iconic nature of the 500 style with traditional Fiat design functionality. The "City Lounge," as the car has been dubbed, is the result of a very special alchemy. It is a new city car concept that redefines the compact category for the modern family in an emotional way, by expanding on a few styling features of the 500 in unprecedented forms.

The Fiat 500L with the 1.3 MJTD 85HP motor and automatic gear box had its debut at the Belgrade Car Show.

Also the 1.6 MJTD 105HP diesel fuel version was presented. The special series Giulietta Veloce, Fiat 500 Color Therapy was presented as well, and the new motor of Lancia Delta 1.9 MJTD 190HP.

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103 April 2013 | www.cordmagazine.com

New Opel Mokka

Irresistible Taste of Good Driving

New Opel Mokka has already won over potential buyers.

Over 90,000 of these SUVs have been ordered across Europe. Opel Mokka combines functionality and a comfortable high seating with a taste of adventure. One of the focal points in developing Opel Mokka has been its chassis, which is designed and fine-tuned in Germany.

Opel Mokka chassis is tailored to the daily needs of European customers and is very suitable for the specific

driving conditions and off road driving. There are three engines to choose from if you buy Opel Mokka - two petrol and one diesel. All models with a manual transmission have Opel's Start/Stop system which conserves fuel.

Petrol engines come in a 1.6 litre 85 kW/115 HP 155 Nm and a 1.4 litre Turbo 103 kW/140 HP 200 Nm options. As far as the diesel aggregate goes, it is 1.7 CDTI turbo diesel with 93 kW/130 HP and 300 Nm of torque which offers high efficiency and low emission.

Peugeot

Peugeot's Stars Peugeot prepared an exclusive offer for the fans of the French beauties produced under the Lion brand.

Directly from Geneva Motor Show, the long-awaited urban crossover Peugeot 2008 has arrived. This model combines luxury exterior and elegant design with practical advantages which give you the feeling of power and safety in driving. French luxury was also represented at the Belgrade Fair by Peugeot RCZ and the revolutionary 508 RXH - a never before seen unique blend of a caravan, crossover, luxury car and hybrid. This year's host was the Peugeot 301, an excellent family sedan and a practical company car which price starts at an excellent â‚Ź9.990.

cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 73

techno talk

For Those

WHO DO

Although the last few years have been tough with declining economy all over the globe, Lenovo, with its impeccable quality, service and very reasonable prices has succeeded in winning the customers all over the world and become one of the leaders in the market of portable and desktop computers. 2012 was a terrific year for Lenovo, and we will endeavor to satisfy our customers in this year. For 2013. we have prepared a new collection of products, and this is just a small preview of what's coming www.lenovo.com/rs/springcampaign/consumer/ www.facebook.com/Lenovo.Srbija lenovosrbija@lenovo.com

Flexible and Stylish IdeaCentre A720

As the industry’s slimmest 27-inch all-in-one and sporting a sleek metal exterior, the IdeaCentre A720 measures less than an inch (24.5mm) and combines a frameless display supporting 10-point multi-touch.

Improving AIO design even further, the A720 is engineered to optimize the touch experience in the ‘digital’ home. The A720’s widely adjustable hinge allows the screen to be pulled towards the user and folded back making touch applications more comfortable over longer periods in any position. Powered by the latest Intel® Core™ Series processors and NVIDIA® GeForce® graphics with up to 1TB HDD, 64 GB SSD storage and room-shaking Dolby Home Theatre V4 audio, the A720 is an ultra stylish and fun addition to the modern home entertainment center.

Premier Thin and Light

IdeaPad Z Series

The IdeaPad Z400 and Z500 laptops are the latestgeneration of the Z Series and optimized for the Windows 8 touch-based user interface. They support 10-point touch, feature specialized stereo speakers for extra bass with Dolby Home Theatre v4 for an immersive sound experience, come with up to 3rd gen Intel® Core™ i7 processors and include the latest NVIDIA GeForce graphics technology.

These laptops give consumers large 14-15.6-inch touch screen real estate to experience the full power of Windows 8.

The backlit AccuType keyboard even lets users comfortably see what they’re typing when they’re in the dark.

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advertoriaL

Ultrabooks

U310 and U410

Even with a thin and light frame, these Ultrabook devices offer the performance to handle any mobile computing task with 3rd generation Intel® Core™ i3, i5 or i7 processors, up to 1 TB of storage; NVIDIA GeForce® graphics and up to nine hours of battery life on the U410; and 500 GB HDD drive and up to seven hours of battery life on the U310.

Available with 32GB solid state drives (SSD) to cache data, Lenovo’s latest Ultrabooks put a stop to slow wait times. Thanks to Lenovo’s new Enhanced Experience 3 optimization for Windows 7 PCs, the new Ultrabooks achieve ultra-fast boot up and quick resume from sleep that’s up to 40 percent faster than nonoptimized devices.

Multimedia Powerhouses IdeaPad Y400 and Y500

The latest offerings in Lenovo’s Y Series, the IdeaPad Y400 and Y500, are mobile gaming and multimedia powerhouses. Designed to perform, the Y400 and Y500 feature the unique UltraBay—an interchangeable bay that users can instantly swap out for dual graphics capability, increased storage space or an additional fan for cooling. Whether editing photos and videos or playing computer games, the laptops can handle almost any intensive task thrown at them. Each model is equipped with up to third generation Intel® Core i7 processors, NVIDIA® GeForce® graphics, up to 16GB DDR3 memory, and as much as 1TB of HDD storage. With looks to match, they also feature an eye-catching carbon fiber patterned cover, 14-inch and 15.6-inch LED backlit widescreen HD displays, and a duallayer backlit AccuType keyboard with a large one-piece touchpad. The IdeaPad Y400 and Y500 also include JBL® speakers and Dolby® Home Theater® v4—a perfect audio complement when watching HD videos.

Small Yet Powerful IdeaPad Yoga 11S

Users now have another option for choosing one of Lenovo’s groundbreaking flip and fold, 360° hinge IdeaPad Yoga convertibles. The new Yoga 11S comes equipped with a new low power lineup from Intel with up to 3rd generation Intel® Core™ i5 processors and Windows 8 to give users the full power of multitasking and using Office applications, all in a svelte, 0.68-inch thin frame. Like its predecessor, users can work with Yoga 11S as a laptop, or flip the screen around to turn it into a great sized tablet display that supports 10 finger 1/2 multi-touch. Even convert Yoga 11S into Stand or Tent modes for a space-saving way to watch movies, as it’s tuned with great Dolby Home Theatre audio and smooth Intel integrated high definition graphics. recommended by

best choice

cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 75

techno talk

New Power to Create

ThinkPad Tablet 2

Laptop, Tablet and More

ThinkPad Helix

The ThinkPad brand’s premium convertible, Helix, defines the next generation of mobile computing through its ground breaking “rip and flip” design. This special design gives users absolute mobile freedom and versatility with four unique ways to use it. ThinkPad Helix first functions as a high performance Ultrabook. For added mobility, the 11.6-inch tablet can separate from its base to become the thinnest full-function Intel® 3rd generation Core™ tablet with vPro. Adding to its mobility, the tablet weighs 835 grams, also making it the lightest in its class. Unlike other convertibles, the innovative “rip and flip” screen lets users flip the tablet 180° and snap it back into the base – this mode, called Stand mode, transforms Helix into a mini-movie theatre or business presentation central.

Technology like the multi-use ThinkPad Tablet 2 helps manage the increasing overlap between personal and work life today. Based on the upcoming Intel® Atom™ Processor-based mobile platform and Windows 8 Pro, the ThinkPad Tablet 2 works the way users do across their varied environments. It has an exceptionally thin and light design measuring 9.8 mm thin and weighing less than 600 grams (1.3 pounds), all in a 10.1-inch screen. The versatile tablet supports multiple input methods: multi-finger touch and an optional digitizer and pen, especially good for note taking, capturing signatures and completing forms. The optional ThinkPad Tablet 2 keyboard and dock can be paired with the tablet for more PClike computing in the office. With an array of ports including a full-size USB port, workers easily can attach existing devices like monitors and printers.

New Spin on SMB ThinkPad Twist

2/2

best choice

recommended by

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103 April 2013 | www.cordmagazine.com

ThinkPad Twist makes it easy to choose one affordable device that can do it all. Use it as a fullperformance Ultrabook, and then twist the top to switch to a convertible tablet. The 12.5-inch ThinkPad Twist gives professionals the technologies they need for both their business and personal computing. For exceptional business-class productivity, ThinkPad Twist packages up to 3rd generation Intel® Core™ i7 processors, up to Windows 8 Pro, optional 3G, large storage up to 500 GB or 128 GB SSD and the ThinkPad-brand’s legendary keyboard and quality and reliability features. Users can work for hours with nearly all-day battery life and tablet-like quick resume from standby.

Performance for Small Business

ThinkPad T430u

The ThinkPad T430u Ultrabook powers the business and personal computing needs of today’s small-tomedium businesses. The ThinkPad T430u equips professionals with the same thin and light designs found in consumer ultrabooks without sacrificing business-class performance. Configurable with a unique combination of NVIDIA GeForce graphics and 1TB of storage, the ThinkPad T430u provides powerful graphics capability and massive storage capacity features rarely found in Ultrabooks. At more than seven hours of battery life, the ThinkPad T430u provides fullday freedom from power cords.

Ultrabook Plus More

ThinkPad X1 Carbon

When it comes to mobility, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon weighs less than three pounds and packs a high resolution 14-inch display into a 13-inch laptop design. While incredibly light thanks to its carbon fiber construction, it retains ThinkPad’s renowned durability for use in practically any environment. To keep users up and running, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon provides eight hours of battery life and industry-best charge times with Lenovo RapidCharge technology. Equipped with optional 3G mobile broadband and hotspot technology, users can stay connected virtually anywhere, anytime.

Stylish and Powerful

ThinkCentre Edge 72

For small-to-medium businesses seeking an affordable yet elegant PC that covers the essentials, the sleek design of the ThinkCentre Edge 72 integrates easily in almost any office decor and environment. Built for performance, productivity and convenience, this desktop includes choices of the 3rd Generation Intel Core vPro processor family, with up to an Intel Core vPro i7 processor. It offers a full package of productivity tools and features, such as Lenovo EE3. The Edge 72 also includes support for two independent displays with standard VGA and DVI ports so users can work separately on two monitors.

cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 77

Black & White fashion

for a colourful spring

When it comes to fashion trends, one thing is certain: nothing will ever be too new or too old. It’s all a continuous cycle and a reinvention of styles. So, if you are thinking of throwing a few horrible items out of your closet, think again! You may never know when they are going to be the biggest fashion hit. 2013 is just about that – reinventing some of those 90's trends and pulling off the funkiest looks.

This spring’s challenge is to wear black and white even if the instinct would be to wear all the colors of the rainbow from head to toes.

Black & white is not only about being classy or elegant and it’s not boring at all…you can have a two colors outfit and rock the streets anyway Here are some nice street-style examples we find to be very helpful in building your new wardrobe.

price:

Valentino - 'Rockstud - Small' Transparent Shoulder Bag

€1,380

price:

price:

€290

€225

Diane von Furstenberg - 'Keaka' Capri Pants 60’s black and white mod pattern contrast is back again in shoes and bags. This wedge is by Narciso Rodriguez and looks very vintage in it’s simple contrast style.

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103 April 2013 | www.cordmagazine.com

Cady' Flat price:

€115

Diane von Furstenberg - 'Feriha' Jacket

Lanvin, Striped Dress Embrace a bold update on a wardrobe classic with Lanvin’s striped dress: finished with a stand-out geometric motif and charming grosgrain bow detail, this wearforever piece can be taken from day to night with ease.

price:

€1,890

price:

€1,600

Balmain, Striped Tuxedo Jacket Balmain’s striped tuxedo jacket is a super-bold style perfect for working this season’s monochrome trend.

Continue the black and white theme in the rest of your outfit for a sharp day-to-night loo The spring 2013 seems to break all the fashion rules so look for unusual fabrics or styles to wear

price:

€ 280

Stella McCartney Arrow Necklace Add a playful element to AW12 ensembles with Stella McCartney’s gold-tone arrow necklace. A unique everyday option, keep the rest of your accessories simple to keep the focus on this special piece.

Chloé Lucy Sandal

price:

€ 480

Step into the new season wearing Chloé’s ankle strap sandal, Lucy. The all-leather shoe has a supple upper and comfortable stacked heel she can wear throughout the day.

Team with a shift dress and statement handbag to achieve a sophisticated ladylike look.

cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 79

Good old-fashioned Blue

Fashion was once seen as almost exclusively a "women's domain." However, in the past few years, men as a whole have begun to pay more attention to their appearance, and the fashion industry has responded by focusing more on catering to male clientele. For example, some of large chain outlets (J. Crew Group, Hermès...) opened men’s-only stores.

One of this season’s most popular upcoming trends is the utilisation of colour – whether in the form of tailoring or tonal outfitting. And it seems that one particular colour has moved to the forefront: good old-fashioned blue.

Now it may not seem particularly ground breaking to report that blue is going to dominate menswear this season – it is, after all, ingrained as a male-oriented colour from birth – but it had a huge presence (in multiple hues) within designer collections at the global fashion weeks, and the high street looks set to follow suit.

Take a look at some of the latest designer and high street lookbooks that are showing an emphasis on blue for SS13

Corneliani Bold Pinstripe Suit Add a subtle confidence to your formal repertoire with Corneliani’s bold pinstripe suit. Smart enough for work and sharp enough for evening, this navy two piece has been immaculately crafted from pure virgin wool for a truly luxurious fit and feel. Complete your look with a light blue shirt, polished Derby shoes and a striking silk pocket square for a refined look with unmistakable panache. price:

€ 1,430

price:

€ 170

Twill Floral Tie And Handkerchief Set A smart finishing touch to formalwear, this twill floral and paisley tie and handkerchief set from the Harrods Own collection comes handsomely presented in a signature gift box. Hand printed in England, this luxurious set makes a great gift for him.

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Polo Ralph Lauren Stripe Belt Add a dash of preppy colour to your ensemble - classic chinos, a blazer, a polo or button-down shirt – with this bold striped belt. Woven from acrylic with a cowhide buckle and tips, it strikes just the right balance of sporty and refined.

price:

€ 75

Richard James Suit

price:

€ 250

Be bold in blue this season with Richard James’ plain bright weave suit. A striking alternative to neutral office tailoring, the soft wool and mohair-blend ensures an ultra-luxurious fit and feel. For the ultimate day-to-night look, wear yours with a crisp linen shirt, leather slips on and a patterned silk scarf. price:

€ 948

Paisley Handkerchief

Alexander McQueen Havana Skull Sunglasses These stylish tortoiseshell sunglasses from Alexander McQueen will be the perfect accent to summer looks.

The thick Havana frames are perfectly finished with golden skulls at the temples. A versatile accessory, they are as beach appropriate as they are for the city.

price:

€ 40

The details are what set the discerning gentleman apart from the crowd. Harrods of London’s vibrant paisley print handkerchief makes a handsome pocket square, and instantly updates an old suit with sartorial splendour. price:

Brioni Reale Dress Shirt

€ 160

price:

€ 570

These stylish tortoiseshell sunglasses from Alexander McQueen will be the perfect accent to summer looks. The thick Havana frames are perfectly finished with golden skulls at the temples. A versatile accessory, they are as beach appropriate as they are for the city.

Paul Smith Jeans Chino Shorts price:

€ 135

Paul Smith Mr Brown Scarf

Paul Smith Jeans’ chino shorts are a classic style with a straight, slightly tapered leg. Designed in a washed cotton-linen blend, they ooze laidback cool. Team with a T-shirt and moccasins for a great Summer look.

Join the London adventures of Mr Brown the monkey with this photo print design by Paul Smith. The scarf captures the quirky scene in an all over multi-coloured design.

Kurt Geiger Frank Suede Loafer

price:

€ 320 price:

€ 220

Take a sophisticated approach to wearing colour with Kurt Geiger London’s suede Frank loafer. Finished with a contrasting leather fringe and a practical rubber sole, wear this eye-catching pair alongside tailored separates or neutral chinos for an everyday look with unmistakable panache.

Church's Fulbeck Micro Derby His off-duty shoe options should include Church’s Fulbeck micro derby. Made in England out of soft suede with contrast leather trim and brick red sole, this shoe elevates his weekend style. Style with slim-leg chinos, a gingham shirt and tailored blazer for a sharp ensemble.

cordeditorial@cma.rs |

103 April 2013 | 81

profile

How to Love Your Work and

Stay Young Forever

It seems to me that in this world one can either fly up or allow to be dragged down...

Either you adjust to the rules of the world or you perish beneath its feet

I

Tanja Tatomirović MSc in Communicology, Microsoft PR and Citizenship Lead for Serbia and Montenegro

n this fast-paced world where change is an integral part of

its product messaging resonates on the market well and help-

all of our lives, it takes a special something to keep your

ing Microsoft in Serbia and Montenegro become the leader in

energy and enthusiasm high. Tanja Tatomirovic, MSc in

socially responsible business.

Communicology, Microsoft PR and Citizenship Lead for Serbia

“Of all the places I traveled to during my life, I somehow

and Montenegro, seems to have found a magic formula. Her

always find myself longing for the universe located between

outlook and attitude keep her highly charged and motivated to

Belgrade, Pančevo and Netherlands. My school, university,

take on the challenges of her life and her work. Although she

postgraduate studies, journalism, the school I worked in as a

has had her share of changes throughout her life, she takes on

teacher, the petrochemical plant, the commercial court, tel-

the world each day with the fresh eyes of youth.

ecommunications, consulting, the book I wrote, the one mar-

Tanja has been working in the world of communications for the past decade, and for the three years she managed corpo-

riage that drifted away, other loves I gambled away – someone could look at it all and think I am actually well over 39.

rate communications, internal media and CSR as a corporate

It seems to me like I got my first job only a moment ago.

communications director at one of the largest telecommunica-

The job in the newspaper on an outdated 286 computer, print-

tion company in the Adria region.

ing stories that I believed would change the world on an ancient

She managed crisis communications for the country’s larg-

ink-jet printer – it all seems like yesterday. Today I don’t have

est exporter -petrochemical company Petrohemija, worked as

the 286, I am using my Windows laptop as a communication

a spokesperson and public relations advisor at the Supreme

hub. I cannot help but wonder where is the time in between?

Commercial Court and a journalist in a number of Serbian

From this perspective it seems to me that in this world one can

broadsheets.

either fly up or allow to be dragged down... Either you adjust to

In late 2010, the international magazine Digital TV listed her among the top 50 of the most important people in the European broadband industry; Tanja received a number of national and

Tanja Tatomirovic is a published author and her book “Mussolini’s Microphone” was published by the Serbian PR Society as its first publishing project ever. During 2012, she became a member of the Expert Jury for “PRiZnanje” Annual National Awards in Public Relations

international awards for excellence in communications. She is a published author and her

the rules of the world or you perish beneath its feet. Either you

book “Mussolini’s Microphone” was published by the Serbian

work for the big multinationals or for a local business. Actually,

PR Society as its first publishing project ever. During 2012, she

I work for both.

became a member of the Expert Jury for “PRiZnanje” Annual National Awards in Public Relations.

From the beginning of February, Tanja has been responsible for driving Microsoft’s communications strategy, ensuring 82 |

103 April 2013 | www.cordmagazine.com

This is why it helps to feel 19 again. It also helps to drink from the fountain of eternal optimism and follow your hunches especially when hunches tell you that the things can only get better, and that justice and love will conquer all. If given good PR.” ■

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103 April 2013 | 83

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