CorD Magazine No.131

JUMPING FROM A PLANE

Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Serbia

CEO & Co-Founder at TruckTrack

www.cordmagazine.com

H.E. ARIF MAHMOOD

VUK NIKOLIĆ

THE PREVIOUS GOVERNMENTS SPOILED OUR DEMOCRACY KOKAN MLADENOVIĆ Director

SEPTEMBER ’15 / ISSUE No. 131

THRIVING BILATERAL RELATIONS

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FOOTBALL REFLECTS THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT

HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS CROWN PRINCE

ALEXANDER II KARAĐORĐEVIĆ

I am ready

TO HELP

PREVIEW GUIDE

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CONTENTS ISSUE 131

Eurobasket 2015

| SEPTEMBER

PREVIEW GUIDE

06 | C O M M E N T - B O Š KO JA K Š I C´ TSIPRAS THE PRAGMATIST AWAITING VICTORY

8

27

I am ready TO HELP

Business Dialogue

His Royal Highness Crown Prince

67

Football Reflects the Social Environment IVAN ERGIĆ

Former national team footballer

ALEKSANDAR II KARAĐORĐEVIĆ 41

How Mindshare is Going For Growth

12

Thriving Bilateral Relations

MARK CREIGHTON

CEO of Mindshare UK

70

Unique Hotels you missed out on this summer TRAVEL

42

after work

74

chill out

16

Global Diary

44

culture calendar 18

Jumping From a Plane VUK NIKOLIĆ

CEO & Co-Founder at TruckTrack

46

66

Small Gadgets Big Improvement in Productivity TECHNO TALK

faces & places 78

22

Give Them a Place of Their Own OPINION: JOHN LLOYD

48

In memory of JOVAN ĆIRILOV

49

The Previous Governments Spoiled our Democracy

Battle for survival

KOKAN MLADENOVIĆ

Back to School FASHION

PREVIEW: 49TH BITEF

24

Director

DESIGN: Jelena Rmandic j.rmandic@aim.rs CONTRIBUTORS: Rob Dugdale, Mirjana Jovanović, Miša Brkić, Radmila Stanković, Steve MacKenzie, Zorica Todorović Mirković, Sonja Ćirić EDITORIAL MANAGER: Tanja Banković t.bankovic@aim.rs PHOTOS: Zoran Petrović COPY EDITOR: Mark Pullen TRANSLATION: Snežana Bjelotomić, MRP Editorial EXECUTIVE PROJECT MANAGER Maja Vidaković m.vidakovic@aim.rs

H.E. ARIF MAHMOOD

Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Serbia

EDITOR: Ana Novčić a.novcic@aim.rs

ANJA SUŠA

Selectof of BITEF

PROJECT MANAGERS: Biljana Dević, b.devic@aim.rs Aleksandra Ebilji, a.ebilji@aim.rs Mila Oreščanin, m.orescanin@aim.rs EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Ruža Ristanović r.ristanovic@aim.rs GENERAL MANAGER: Ivan Novčić i.novcic@aim.rs FINANCIAL DIRECTOR: Gordana Obradović g.obradovic@aim.rs OFFICE MANAGER: Nataša Nešić n.nesic@aim.rs PRINTING: Rotografika d.o.o., Segedinski put 72, Subotica CorD is published by: alliance international media Makenzijeva 67, 11111 Belgrade 17, PAK 126909, Serbia Phone: +(381 11) 2450 508 Fax: +(381 11) 2450 122 E-mail: cordeditorial@cma.rs www.cordmagazine.com www.allianceinternationalmedia.com ISSN no: 1451-7833 All rights reserved alliance international media 2015

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COMMENT

Tsipras the Pragmatist Awaiting Victory BOŠKO JAKŠIĆ

A

Every election usually boils down to a gamble, so it is only after 20th September when we will see whether the proverbially unpredictable Alexis Tsipras made the right move that will allow the continuation of painful reforms, or whether this was a tactical step because he is not in a position to bear the responsibility for tough decisions

Regardless of the risks, cooperation between Syriza and New Democracy, in fter just six months, Greek voters are preparing to return to the accordance with the existing electoral system, could function for years – under polls, and these early elections will clear up the dilemma over the condition that their programme achieves tangible results – which a signifiwhether or not Tsipras is honest when he says that Greece wants to change for the better within the Eurozone and the European Union, cant portion of the public are sceptical about. or whether the country will again find itself in the kind of impasse it is in today.

Some signals do not give rise to optimism. The energy that Tsipras exerted The incumbent Prime Minister is seeking from the people a “clear mandate” in order to urge Greeks to say “No” to the demands of international lenders at in order to implement the third bailout deal of international creditors – as part a referendum on 5th July, brought the country into a sharp conflict with the faof an agreement that Greece signed in order to “avoid a catastrophe”, even mous Troika and led Greece to the brink of bankruptcy and an exit from the though he says that he does not believe in such a text.

Eurozone. The Prime Minister was convinced that the referendum could help This will once again be a clash between the two him avoid the consequences of a negotiation blockade. parties that share 60 per cent of the Greek electorWhen he finally realised that his responsibility was to Regardless of the avoid disaster, he made a U-turn. Just a few days after ate: Tsipras’s leftist Syriza and the conservative New risks, cooperation the referendum, Tsipras ignored the mass “No”, which Democracy party. These parties, although governed by between Syriza and many Greeks, including members of his party, are not different ideologies, both follow the same political path: New Democracy, in prepared to forgive. The conflict with his party memthe one mapped out by foreign creditors. accordance with the Tsipras still leads the largest party in Parliament: bers resulted in the loss of his parliamentary majority. existing electoral Syriza had 149 seats before it was abandoned by 25 All options available to Tsipras were difficult. He will MPs who left to establish the Party of National Unity, either continue to rule without his former comrades system, could function with a programme based on refusing the demands of and with the tolerance of opposition parties to create for years – under the creditors. These “rebels” will undoubtedly capture a pora wide “European front”, or he will propose a multi-parcondition that their tion of Syriza votes. ty cabinet with the goal of implementing the tough deprogramme achieves While the standing prime minister will rely on his popmands of creditors. It was only a matter of time until he tangible results – chose the third option – early elections. ularity and will hope to be able to avoid a coalition, anawhich a significant The decision did not surprise Greek partners in the lysts estimate that, in an atmosphere of almost unprecportion of the public EU. Moreover, the ruling conviction is that Tsipras will edented political fragmentation, Tsipras will almost cerare sceptical about consolidate power and continue to effectively impletainly not be able to form a government alone.

This means that stability can only be achieved ment the reforms promised by Athens. through cooperation between the centre-right and the left.

Greece is waiting for October, when the Eurozone countries and the IMF The reality on the ground minimises the differences between the two largshould agree on the implementation of promises previously made, as well as furest parties, at least for the time being, until a certain degree of economic and ther austerity measures and new reforms. The failure to reach a deal would mean financial stability returns. the disruption of financing, which would threaten financial collapse and a possiRisks will not be eliminated with this. The establishment of such an artifible exit from the Eurozone – which Tsipras avoided at the last minute when he accial consensus, even if only temporary, is reminiscent of the time of the coacepted the demands of creditors.

Tendering his resignation after Greece received the first instalment of an lition of Antonis Samaras, which destroyed the leftist Pasok and catapulted aid package worth €86 billion, Tsipras said that economic stability has been Syriza to power. achieved and that it is now time to do the same in the world of Greek politics.

Simultaneously, such a coalition amalgamation would mean public recogniAlthough it seems that the internal duel between Tsipras the pragmatist tion that Syriza is no longer an authentic party of the left, while New Democracy and Tsipras the ideologue has not been finalised, it is expected that this young would not be able to present itself as a traditional conservative party. Analysts politician, who fought against the measures he now wants to implement, will warn that this could lead to the rise of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn or, to a lesser emerge from the crisis as a victor in the end.  extent, the parties of the far-left.

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INTERVIEW

His Royal Highness Crown Prince

ALEXANDER II KARAĐORĐEVIĆ

I am ready

TO HELP Serbia would benefit from friendship and connection not only with royal heads of state, but with republic heads of state. You will note that european union countries and others benefit from a friendly interchange and invitations. We seem to have many firemen that come to visit us and can’t wait to get to the airport. If we all work more on friendship and invitations this can dramatically change for benefit of our people and government, and i am ready to help

A

lexander Karađorđević was born on 17th July 1945 at Claridge's Hotel in London as the first (and only) child of Yugoslav King Petar II and Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark. Then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill declared suite number 212 the territory of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, so that immediately upon his birth Alexander received the title of heir to the throne, given that King Petar II was still the king of Yugoslavia.

His father, himself a young king, left Yugoslavia in April 1941 and, finally, together with the Yugoslav government in exile, moved to London. King Petar II married Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark, the daughter of Greek King Alexander and Aspasia Manos, in London in 1944.

Prince Alexander’s roots are royal on both his father and mother's sides. He was named after his grandfather, Yugoslav King Alexander I Karađorđević, while the same name also belonged to his maternal grandfather, Greek King Alexander.

His paternal grandmother was Queen Mary, the Romanian princess and daughter of Romanian King Ferdinand and Queen Mary, who had been a British princess (the granddaughter of Queen Victoria).

Alexander was christened at Westminster Abbey by Patriarch Gavrilo, while the godfather was British King George VI and the godmother was his daughter, the then Princess Elizabeth, now HM Queen Elizabeth II. Alexander II was educated at Le Rosey in Switzerland, 8 |

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CHURCH

FATHER

ROYALS

I am very proud of my relationship with the serbian orthodox church, which openly supported the idea of a constitutional monarchy back in 2003

My father later disbanded his regency and it is important to note that he never abdicated. This statement was never backed with any paper

My wife and I are friends with all the royal families. We meet at events across europe for birthdays, anniversaries and, sadly, funerals

the Culver Military Academy in Indiana, USA, Gordonstoun School in Scotland and Millfield (England). He then enrolled at the Royal Military Academy of Great Britain. From 1966, as an officer of the British Army, where he advanced to the rank of captain, he served in the 16th/5th Regiment of Royal Lancers in the Middle East, Italy and West Germany. After ending his military service in 1972, Alexander II dedicated himself to a career in business.

Following the death of his father in 1970, Alexander decided to not formally use the title of king, but he never gave up his title of dynastic heir to the throne.

Since 2001, Prince Alexander and his wife, Princess Katherine, have lived together with their sons, Peter, Philip and Alexander, at Belgrade’s White Palace.

On the occasion of his 70th birthday, in July this year, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Alexander celebrated over three days in the presence of members of his family, friends and top representatives of European royal families.

In this issue of CorD, we speak exclusively with Crown Prince Alexander.

■ Every man in his youth has his own life plans, even princes. You recently celebrated your 70th birthday. Which of your youthful expectations remain and how did you feel when you received birthday greetings from your close friends and distinguished guests?

- Seventy is just a number. It was very nice to

receive birthday wishes from all over the world.

Everyone was so nice.

■ You celebrated your birthday surrounded by the most eminent representatives of the royal families of Europe. What does that say about the reputation of the Serbian royal family?

- It was very wonderful that my relatives came to

my birthday, I was very touched. My wife and I are very lucky and happy to have good relations with so many people across the world. We always try to keep in touch with our friends abroad and attend many events.

■ Do you plan to convert your life story into an autobiographical memoir?

- I have thought about it and will eventually get down to it.

■ How would you describe the relationship of the Serbian state towards you?

PRINCE PETER (left), PRINCE ALEXANDER III KARAĐORĐEVIĆ, PRINCESS KATHERINE, HRH PRINCE ALEXANDER II and PRINC PHILIP

- Polite, but very much more could be done in the interest of Serbia and the people. Everyone can benefit from a good and healthy relationship. More has to be done to improve our communications and friendship. This will improve the image of Serbia and be positive for public relations, which are so important for Serbia.

Unfortunately, there are politicians who do not know about the constitutional monarchies in the European Union and beyond. When Serbia will eventually become a member of the European Union, these politicians will have to work with the constitutional monarchies in the European Union. One should note that the constitutional monarchies are highly developed and successful social entities. In addition, it is very important to maintain and cultivate friendships with the Middle East monarchies and those beyond.

Unfortunately, there are politicians who do not know about the constitutional monarchies in the European Union and beyond. When Serbia will eventually become a member of the European Union, these politicians will have to work with the constitutional monarchies in the European Union

■ Your life story is turbulent and more than interesting. From exile to a royal welcome in the heart of Belgrade, from non-recognition, to challenging fundamental rights... What has left the greatest impression on you?

- My greatest impression is how good our people are, how patient and

respectful they are. Wherever we go, we are always so well received across our country.

■ How would you characterise your relationship with the Serbian Orthodox Church over the past decade?

- I am very proud of my relationship with the Serbian Orthodox

Church, which openly supported the idea of forming a constitutional monarchy back in 2003, as well as my relationship with our Muslims, Roman Catholics, Protestants and Jewish people and SEPTEMBER

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nonbelievers. It is very important that we respect each other’s religions, customs and views.

■ Your father, Petar II Karađorđević, the pre-war king of Yugoslavia, transferred his imperial authority to the regency council in 1945, but not his property. What is the status of your family legacy in the former Kingdom of Yugoslavia today?

- My father later disbanded his regency, and it is important to say that

he never abdicated. This statement was never backed with any paper, and I am sure that, if there was one, Tito would have used it big time. On the other hand, there are numerous proofs that my father never abdicated. The status of the family property in Slovenia, Montenegro and Macedonia differs as a result of different local legislation, but there is one thing in common – an absence of respect for the basic human rights of my family.

■ How do you now see arguments between the Chetniks and the Ustasha some 70 years after the war?

- The key problem is that even today many people put an equals sign be-

tween the military formation of the Axis countries, which slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews and Roma folk, and the movement which was part of the allied effort. This was a necessary historical fraud for the sake of the Tito's “brotherhood and unity” concept, but there are too many historical proofs that provide support to my previous statement.

■ When we talk about other royal families, whether they are your family or friends, who are among the closest to you today?

- My wife and I are friends with all the

royal families. We meet at events across Europe for birthdays, anniversaries and, sadly, funerals. We also have good relations with republics.

■ One of the themes that often appear in the local public is the legacy of the Karađorđević family in Serbia. What is your position on this issue?

- My position is clear, as all my claims are

■ European royal families have no executive authority, but they have a great impact. What benefit could Serbia have from the good relations that you nurture with other royal families?

- Serbia would benefit from friendship

based on the Belgrade Court Decision of 1938, according to which everything that and connection not only with royal belonged to the late King Alexander I was HRH PRINCE ALEXANDER cuts the heads of state, but with republic heads inherited by his three sons, one of whom cake to mark his 70 birthday of state. You will note that the countries was my father, King Petar II. This applies The status of the family property of the European Union and beyond bento both the real estate property and movables, including art collections and perefit from friendly interchanges and inviin Slovenia, Montenegro and sonal belongings like those that ended tations. We seem to have many firemen Macedonia differs as a result of up in Tito’s private vault at the Central that come to visit us and can’t wait to different local legislation, but Bank. How come the Order of the Star get to the airport. If we all work more of Karađorđe with diamonds, which was on friendship and invitations, this could there is one thing in common – an designated for the future Queen, ended change dramatically – for the benefit of absence of respect for the basic up in someone else's private vault? There our people and our government – and I human rights of my family is a simple word for that, and yet bureauam ready to help. cratic obstacles for the restitution of the ■ When you compare your social status in Serbia and abroad, obvious are enormous. My opinion, after so many years, is that this which of the two are you satisfied with? Do you consider that Serissue is more political than legal, and I still do not why that is the case. th

■ What are relations towards you like today in the former member countries of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, as the successor to the last Yugoslav monarch?

- I maintain good relations with the former Yugoslavia. My wife and I

have been guests of the presidents of Croatia and Slovenia.

■ How do you view current relations between the countries that were once part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia? What, in your opinion, is the main stumbling block to restoring correct bilateral relations in this region?

- As I mentioned previously, my relations are good and very friendly.

There has been great effort exerted on all sides to improve relations and contacts. Everyone must be commended for their efforts, since it is in the interest of everyone that we all get on with one another. We have to work together for the sake of investment and jobs; we need each other.

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bia is indebted to you?

- Serbia has been through a lot. There is a lot yet to be done. We can

help each other.

■ Both you and Princess Katherine are known for your humanitarian work. What drives and motivates you in that field?

It makes us happy to help our people. We have seen a lot and feel a great deal for our people. We are glad to help everyone, regardless of their religion or ethnic origin.

■ To return to the beginning of our discussion: what are your life priorities today?

My wife and I continue to help our people. Make friends. Keep healthy.

Seek urgent help to preserve the Royal Compound and its two palaces, which are beautiful national monuments that are currently under great threat. ■

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INTERVIEW

Thriving Bilateral

H.E. ARIF MAHMOOD Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Serbia

RELATIONS The recent increase in bilateral trade between Pakistan and Serbia is just one of many positive elements of good bilateral relations nurtured by the two countries for many decades. The keen interest of the Serbian youth in Pakistan is an encouraging sign for the further prospects of mutual relations

A

lthough Pakistan still continues to pay a heavy price, in both economic and security terms, due to instability in Afghanistan, under the new government, the economy has shown prospects of revival – says H.E. Arif Mahmood, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Serbia.

Along with its continuous efforts to contribute to UN peacekeeping missions, Pakistan is striving to bring peace and stability into its own courtyard, repair damaged infrastructure and create a favourable investment climate.

Pakistan views the efforts of the Serbian government and the people of Serbia to help immigrants on their road to Europe as positive, but considers that the only key to reduce the level of forced migration lies in ending the conflicts in the Middle East and Asia and providing urgent assistance to ease the suffering of the people of Africa.

The performance and dedication of Pakistani peacekeepers has been acknowledged worldwide by numerous world leaders and the UN leadership

■ Pakistan is the second largest contributor to UN peacekeeping missions. How do you see the role of Pakistan in times in which we seem to have more armed conflicts than at any other time in recent history?

- It is impossible to speak about the history of UN peacekeeping without highlighting Pakistan’s contributions. Of more than the hundred countries that contribute troops and police for UN peacekeeping missions, Pakistan has mostly remained among the top contributors. The high professional standing of the Pakistani peacekeepers has given them the status of being one of the most desired bodies of troops in each UN peacekeeping mission.

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IMMIGRANTS

MUTUAL SUPPORT

OPPORTUNITIES

Though the Government and people of Serbia are doing their best to assuage immigrant suffering, it cannot be a substitute for the relief in one’s own home where a person permanently resides.

Pakistan and Serbia have friendly and cordial relation and often support each other in International forums.

There are a lot of emerging opportunities for improving our bilateral relations, especially in the areas of economy, investment, trade, education, culture and peer-to-peer contacts.

Pakistan’s journey of peacekeeping operations began in 1960, when it deployed its first ever contingent in United Nations Operations in Congo. Since then Pakistani peacekeepers have left no stone unturned in the noble cause of helping humanity, building peace and bringing stability across the regions. To date, Pakistan has contributed more than 150,000 troops to various missions spread over different countries on almost all of the World’s continents. Presently, Pakistan has contributions of 8,247 members of all ranks, deployed across six different UN Missions.

Our troops deployed in UN missions are continuously engaged in tasks like civilian protection, providing healthcare and medical facilities, building roads and infrastructure, assisting in the conducting of elections and providing logistics and aviation support. Pakistani servicemen have played a significant role in normalising war-torn regions and countries by maintaining law and order and overseeing successful transition of governments through the monitoring of elections in Cambodia, East Timor, Haiti, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Sudan, Congo etc.

In pursuance of its commitment to the noble cause of international peace and tranquillity, 136 Pakistani troops, including 22 officers, have given the ultimate sacrifice during different UN Missions, almost an equal number have been wounded.

The performance and dedication of Pakistani peacekeepers has been acknowledged worldwide by numerous world leaders and the UN leadership. UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon himself visited Pakistan and inaugurated the Centre for International Peace and Stability in 2013.

Acclaiming Pakistan's efforts in United Nations’ peacekeeping missions, he said that he was overwhelmed with “gratitude, as the United Nations Secretary-General and as a global citizen, for what Pakistan and her people have been doing for international peace and security.”

■ Serbia is one of many countries on the route of immigrants coming from the Middle East and Africa and heading towards Europe, which is not so keen on accepting them. What do you think is the key to reducing the levels of forced migration from these regions?

- You have rightly said that the majority of such immigrants are coming from conflict zones or troubled regions, particularly from the war-torn Middle East area and some African countries. Others are economic migrants who come from either Asia or poverty stricken regions of Africa. They travel in difficult conditions along with entire families, including infants, women, the elderly and infirm. The crossing into Serbia, after long and hazardous journey, spreads over weeks and months. On their way, few of them often succumb to suffering with hunger and disease, or some natural or manmade disasters. Those who reach here consider themselves better, as they are closer to their destination i.e. the wealthier countries of the EU, where they hope of better prospects for settlement.

Though the Government and people of Serbia are doing their best to assuage their suffering, the depth and extent of the human tragedy is so immense that no amount of contribution for the welfare of trans-

iting immigrants can be substitute for the relief in one’s own home, where a person permanently resides.

The key to reducing the level of forced migration lies in perseverance and a justice-based solution to conflicts in the Middle East and Asia. It is also urgent to mitigate the suffering of the people of Africa due to hunger

During the last 15 years, the direct and indirect cost incurred

by Pakistan due to incidents of terrorism amounted to nearly US$110 billion

and starvation. Unless the world at large, and particularly the developed countries, plays its role in assuring the wellbeing of distressed peoples and communities, this problem will continue to mar global society.

■ How do conflicts in your neighbourhood impact on the Pakistani economy?

- The conflict and instability in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and their regional implications had very negative repercussions for Pakistan. The period following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan not only saw a huge influx of Afghani refugees across the border into Pakistan, but also witnessed a sudden spike in the frequency and scale of terrorist attacks in the country. The cumulative impact of these developments had an adverse impact on the overall growth rate in all major sectors of the economy.

During the last 15 years, the direct and indirect cost incurred by Pakistan due to incidents of terrorism amounted to nearly US$110 billion.

Unfortunately, Pakistan still continues to pay a heavy price, in both economic and security terms, due to this situation, and a substantial portion of precious national resources, both men and material, have SEPTEMBER

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been diverted to address the emerging security challenges for the last several years. The rise of violent extremism and increase in terrorism in Pakistan, caused by instability in Afghanistan, has not only resulted in serious damage to Pakistan’s economy, but has also been responsible for widespread human suffering caused by indiscriminate attacks against the civilian population. This situation has disrupted Pakistan’s normal economic and trading activities, which not only resulted in higher costs for business, but also created disruptions in production cycles.

Pakistan needs enormous resources to enhance the economy’s production capacity by repairing damaged infrastructure and creating a favourable investment climate. The security situation will be the key determinant of the future flow of investment. Pakistan’s economy needs an early end to the conflict in Afghanistan, as well as its negative impact over regions bordering Afghanistan in the form of violent extremism and terrorism for the revival of the economy and to maintain stability in the system.

the upcoming China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and the government’s plans and initiatives in the area of fast-track privatisation.

■ How does Pakistan perceive different initiatives in its region, such as the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the new BRICKS bank?

- We always support initiatives which bring the nations closer together and working jointly for the betterment of the region, or the world at large. In this spirit, we appreciate the establishment of the AIIB and BRICS banks.

The decision by Pakistan to join hands with China and another 56 Asian countries, as founder members of the establishment of AIIB, stems from the narrative evolved by our government for building economic and political ties with neighbours and Asian countries. Pakistan’s security and economic progress is inextricably linked to the region to which it belongs. Therefore, the emphasis on finding solutions to the security and economic challenges confronting it, through ■ Pakistani bonds have delivered divthe collective efforts of the countries of the idends of 26 per cent a year for U.S. region, is a pragmatic and visionary initiative. We understand that the bank will be dollar investors since 2009, making Karachi the best-performing frontier stock an important platform to convert abundant exchange in the world. What factors savings in the region, to investment to help have contributed to that result? regional economies achieve sustainable and - Pakistan ranked 3rd in 2014 among the top rapid development and contribute to the 10 best performing markets in the world. world economy. In our view, energy and Our country’s Stock Exchange was able to communication infrastructure development secure this place for the third consecutive is much needed in the region and we believe year. The Karachi Stock Exchange-100 index that the AIIB will cater to the needs of the gained 6,870 points, generating a return of region and compliment the availability of 31% in U.S. dollar terms. the resources in the region.

The Pakistani capital market has thrived, Pakistan would benefit greatly from the due to mega public offerings led by the sales establishment of AIIB, as it requires funding of shares by the government, and in terms of to build necessary infrastructure in order to money raised through these offerings. Total revive its economy, as well as to kick-start offerings in 2014 reached nine, as compared a process of sustained economic developSince the current government ment. It also needs enormous resources to to three in the previous year. Some Rs.73 ensure energy safety in the years to come. billion was raised through offerings, as comcame to power, we have pared to Rs.4 billion in 2013.

The entire focus of the Pak-China Economic witnessed an increased Higher foreign inflows during the year Corridor initiative, under which China will optimism in our economy. This can also be counted as a major market immake an investment of US$34 billion, is also petus. Foreign investors – who hold US$6.1 on building infrastructure that would not business-friendly environment billion worth of Pakistani shares or 33% of only provide easy access for Chinese prodalso enhanced bilateral trade ucts to the littoral states of the Indian Ocean the free-float (9% of market capitalisation) – between Serbia and Pakistan and beyond, but also help boost the Pakiremained net buyers in 2014. stani economy in a big way.

This positive performance of the capital market could also be attributed to a number of favourable factors, ■ The former Yugoslavia and Pakistan were both members of both at the political and economic front. Substantial foreign investments in equity markets, which captured the considerable free float the Non-Aligned Movement. Are the echoes of previous close of the market, declining dollar-rupee disparity, and the Government of relations present in current diplomatic relations and issues Pakistan’s secondary market offerings, played a major role. that the countries define as common?

- Our bilateral relations are rooted in history of shared goodwill Other key factors which could be seen as contributing to the market’s amongst the peoples of the two countries. This started even before bull-run were the government’s business-friendly reforms, improved the inception of the NAM. Pakistan and the former Yugoslavia estabmacro-economic indicators, including record foreign exchange reserve lished diplomatic relations as early as May 1948. There was an endurlevels, increased confidence shown by international donor agencies, the ing convergence of views in both countries on many issues relating to government’s energy sector initiatives, significant interest shown by 14 |

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anti-colonialism, development of the economies of newly independent states and emerging developing countries, as well as an equitable and just economic, social and political world order, for which the NAM was forged. The joining of NAM gave further impetus to existing warm and cordial relations between our two countries and that proved to be a useful forum for various productive interactions and collaborative efforts at various levels.

■ In which areas could Pakistan and Serbia improve bilateral relations?

- Pakistan and Serbia have friendly and cordial relations. We often support each other in International forums. There are a number of agreements between the two countries, but at the same time there are lot of emerging prospects and opportunities for improving and further strengthening our bilateral relations for better, result-orientated discourse, especially in the areas of the economy, investment, trade, education, culture and peer-topeer contacts.

■ Bilateral trade between Pakistan and Serbia increased 50.8% in 2014. Which factors explain this significant rise and could it be sustained?

- We have witnessed increased optimism in our economy since the current government came to power. Our stock market took a major stride and Foreign Direct Investment also increased significantly. This business-friendly environment also enhanced bilateral trade between Serbia and Pakistan. We hope that when Serbia opens a resident Mission in Islamabad, the access of Pakistani businessmen and investors to this market will improve further, and bilateral economic relations and mutual trade will also be bolstered.

Based on multiple factors and pragmatism, our outlook for the future economic development of the two countries remains very positive, as well as robustly optimistic, which will result in increased trade and investment in the coming years, to the mutual benefit of our two friendly countries.

Energetic members of the middle class, educated at Pakistan’s top universities, have honed their skills at the many hackathons, start-up fairs and expos, digital summits and entrepreneurial events at campuses, software houses and I.T. associations across the country.

Serbian companies are always welcome to approach IT houses in Pakistan, for mutually beneficial interactions.

■ You met recently with Serbian Defence Minister Bratislava Gašić. What can we expect from mutual cooperation in that domain?

- I was part of the Pakistani delegation that called on the Serbian Defence Minister. Our delegation was headed by Pakistan’s Minister for Defence Production, who visited Belgrade to witness the Serbian Premier Defence Exhibition PARTNER 2015.

During the bilateral meetings, matters of mutual interest came under discussion and it was agreed that substantial scope for cooperation between the defence industries of Serbia and Pakistan exists, which should be harnessed for the mutual benefit of two sides.

■ According to your Facebook page, you are an avid fan of Serbian tennis player Novak Ðoković. Is tennis becoming more popular in Pakistan after some of your tennis players made significant progress on the ATP list?

- There is no doubt that Novak Ðoković is the world’s number one Tennis player and, like other peoples in Serbia and the world, I am also a fan and admirer of Ðoković. Tennis is also becoming more popular in Pakistan and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi is one of Pakistan’s most renowned tennis players.

■ A group of International Relations students at Belgrade University recently visited the Embassy for an inThe keen interest and teractive session on the practice of diknowledge of a new and plomacy and Pakistan-Serbia bilateral enlightened breed of Serbian relations. How much do young Serbs youth in the people, land, history and Pakistanis know about each other and culture of Pakistan is a very and how is the embassy helping them to explore each other’s countries? encouraging sign - We host various faculties of Belgrade University and other prestigious Serbian academic ■ Pakistan has a lot of talented youngsters in the IT sector. The institutions and think tanks to share the global vision of the Pakistani nation as well as the foreign policy and domestic priorities of our country.

Pakistani government has initiated numerous programmes to The keen interest and knowledge of new and enlightened breed encourage software development and exports. What experience of Serbian youth in the people, land, history and culture of Pakistan can you share with the Serbian government, which is also looking is very encouraging sign. The upcoming generation is also cognizant forward to supporting that sector?

- Pakistan IT sales are increasing day by day and at present stand about Serbia-Pakistan relations in terms of historic context as well as at $2.8 billion. Pakistan’s I.T. sector is carving a niche for itself as a future prospects and opportunities. On a number of occasions Embassy personnel had interactive sessions with the Serbian students and favoured destination for freelance I.T. programmers, software coders faculty members and we will continue such initiatives to make young and app designers. There are now 1,500 registered I.T. companies in generations familiar with each other. ■ Pakistan and 10,000 I.T. grads enter the country every year.

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GLOBAL DIARY

WAR

"Reflecting on our past and bearing in mind the feelings of deep remorse over the last war, I earnestly hope that the ravages of war will never be repeated," — Emperor of Japan Akihito

SHEIKH HAMAD BIN KHALIFA AL-THANI VISITED DUBROVNIK ▶ Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the 63-year-old billionaire, who was the ruling Emir of State of Qatar from 1995 to 2013, took in a tour of Dubrovnik, on the south coast , after arriving on his superyacht, Katara.

The retired ruler of Qatar strolled along a waterfront promenade in Croatia - wearing a scruffy T-shirt and shorts.

He is understood to have enjoyed a tour of the city, before taking in lunch at a restaurant and visiting some of the shops.

The Sheikh's multi-million dollar superyacht Katara was also spotted off the Croatian coast this month. According to Superyachtfan, the vessel is one of the world's biggest yachts, at 125 metres long, and was delivered to the Emir of Qatar in 2010.

“THEY KNOW WE'RE HERE…”

▶ British cosmologist Stephen

Hawking launched the biggest-ever search for intelligent extraterrestrial life in a $100-million, 10-year project to scan the heavens.

Russian Silicon Valley entrepreneur Yuri Milner, who is funding the Breakthrough Listen initiative, said it would be the most intensive scientific search ever undertaken for signs of alien civilisation.

The project will use some of the biggest telescopes on Earth and would collect more data in one day than a year of any previous search "I suggest they know we're here already," said Martin Rees, Britain's astronomer royal and one of the project leaders.

THE RICHEST MAN OF ALL TIME ▶ According to a comparison of

wealth across history, Bill Gates—

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net worth $78.9 billion—ranked 9th on the list of the richest people of all time, just ahead of Genghis Khan (10th) and just behind Alan Rufus, better known as "Alan the Red" of England.

The richest man in history, according to Money, is Mansa Musa, the King of Timbuktu, who lived between 1280 and 1337. Timbuktu was the largest producer of gold at a time when gold was in huge demand, the magazine said.

MANSA MUSA, King of Timbuktu

Photo: CROPIX/SIPA/REX

Money used the benchmark of "economic power," comparing an individual's wealth to the country's GDP, using research from Measuring Worth.

PAMELA ANDERSON TO ADDRESS EASTERN ECONOMIC FORUM ▶ Model and actress Pamela

Anderson will meet Russia's minister of natural resources and environment at the upcoming East Russia Economic Forum, which will be held in Vladivostok on 3rd September, to discuss environmental issues.

The Pamela Anderson Foundation is a charitable organisation devoted to human and animal rights, as well as to environmental issues.

7 Things You Should Never Do At a Dinner Party ▶ According to the Compact Guide to Modern Manners, Business Etiquette and Everyday Entertaining" by Charles MacPherson, author and longtime butler, here are 10 things you should never do at a dinner party 1. Never wear your napkin as a noun.

2. Never use the table as an elbow rest.

3. Never overreact if you spill something on yourself (or someone else).

4. Never talk with your hands while holding cutlery.

5. Never reach over the table for the salt.

6. Never hover over your plate to shovel food into your mouth.

7. Never talk with a mouth full of food.

"I am very interested in having my Foundation work with the government of Russia to make the world a better place," wrote Anderson.

"Russia's commitment to defending biodiversity on both land and in the sea is imperative if we are to take the effective measures that are needed."

Source: The Moscow Times

NEW HABITS OF CHINESE ONLINE SHOPPERS ▶ The Ten-year Report on Online Shopping Overseas reveals that Chinese shoppers have expanded their foothold to more than 100 countries and regions in the past decade. According to a report published by g.taobao.com, the country's largest shopping website, in the early years Chinese buyers preferred shopping websites in Hong Kong and Macao, but now they have switched their attention to a wider range of areas, including Japan,

LIMIT

"The anniversary of Hiroshima should be a day of somber reflection, not only on the terrible events, but also that humans had finally found a way to approach the ultimate limit." — Noam Chomsky, American linguist and philosopher

South Korea, North America, Europe as well as South Africa.

Japan, the United States and South Korea are among the favorites, followed by Hong Kong, Germany, France, Taiwan, Australia, Britain and Denmark.

In 2015 only, Chinese shoppers have purchased more than two million products from overseas via Internet. The hottest items are cosmetics and skin care products, which have been bought by more than half of these buyers.

TOUGH TOYS FOR TOUGH BOYS ▶ U.S. actor Steven Seagal con-

tinues to amaze the Russian public. After having visited a diamond mine in Russia’s Far East, Seagal might now become the official “face” of new binoculars developed by Russia’s National Research Nuclear University MEPhI. During his recent visit to MEPhI's engineering centre, the famous ac-

tor said he wanted to become the "face" of the Russian binoculars and help to promote the product around the world.

Currently, the binoculars, codenamed Farvision, are being produced in small batches by a company in Sergiyev Posad near Moscow.

CAR COLLECTION SOLD FOR $67 MILLION

▶ The most expensive single-car col-

lection ever sold during one auction fetched more than $67 million.

Twenty-five cars, all owned by an anonymous Florida collector, were sold last month by RM Sotheby's in a standing-room-only sale as part of the Concours d'Elegance auctions and shows in Pebble Beach, California. The sale total beat the previous record for a collection from a single owner of $65 million.

The top cars by sales price were a 1964 Ferrari 250 LM that went for

$17.6 million and 1998 McLaren F1 LM road version—one of only two built—fetched $13.75 million, marking the highest price ever paid for a McLaren at auction.

NO FLIP-FLOPS AND JEANS AT OFFICE

SURVIVOR

The closest known survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bomb was in a basement only 170m from ground zero and could give the wrong impression to major clients. Although casual clothing is allowed at the end of the week, flip-flops are still banned.

NIŠVILLE INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL

▶ Barclaycard’s staff was allowed to

be scruffier than their banking colleagues – but they now have to smarten up when they visit head office Mr McFarlane, who took the reins last month, has been impressed with all other areas of culture and behaviour at the bank – but that flip flops are not suitable for the Canary Wharf skyscraper.

Civil servants have been ordered to stop turning up for work in 'onesies, ugg-boots and thongs'. Therefore, flip-flops are to be banished from Barclays’ head office next month.

Mr McFarlane does not want to see bare toes or t-shirts in the head office, where the Barclaycard staff's outfits would clash with other staff

▶ Tradition of jazz festival in Niš start-

ed in 1981. Under the name Nišville during its previous 19 editions festival has evolved into the most visited jazz festival in the region, welcoming names like Solomon Burke, Benny Golson, Incognito, The Brand New Heavies, De Phazz, Roy Hargrove, Duško Gojković and many others.

This summer the festival was held in an open space that can accommodate more than 4,000 people. Apart from the main program, the accompanying program, which was free for audience, featured around 20 bands with 200 performers. During the festival, jazz workshops, also free for participants, were held for almost all jazz instruments.

EDINBURGH FRINGE FESTIVAL ▶ The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is the largest arts fes-

tival in the world. This year it took place from 7th to 31st August in the Scottish capital. Thousands of theatre, dance and comedy acts showcased, drawing spectators from around the world, transforming Scotland's capital city for three weeks.

The Fringe is known for putting on weird and wonderful performances. Huge audiences come to see theatre, comedy, dance, circus, cabaret, musicals, opera, and spoken word performances.

Last month there were 3,314 shows and 50,459 performances from 49 different countries at 313 venues across Edinburgh, with some two million tickets sold.

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INTERVIEW

Jumping From

VUK NIKOLIĆ

CEO & Co-Founder at TruckTrack

A PLANE

TruckTrack recently became the first team from Serbia to be part of the 500 Startups accelerator, which is now helping Vuk Nikolić’s team expand on the U.S. market – the world’s biggest trucking market

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N

ow I understand why they describe a start-up as “jumping out of a plane and making your parachute on the way down”… it’s definitely not easy, but it’s a lot of fun!” says Vuk Nikolić, CEO & Co-Founder at TruckTrack, a start-up which was recently elevated by becoming the first Serbian company to become part of one of the most famous seed funds and accelerators in Silicon Valley, 500 Startups. This success shouldn’t be a rare example.

“If people get out of their comfort zone and try to do something they

“

are totally scared of and have no clue how to do it, we would be closer to making Serbia an IT start-up hub like Israel,” says Nikolić, who is very active on both the Serbian and foreign start-up scene.

■ Tell us about your TruckTrack start-up. How far did you develop your solution and where does it have applications in the transportation industry?

- TruckTrack is software as a service for managing trucking companies’ daily operations, which includes everything from dispatching trucks and drivers to accounting (carrying out payroll and issuing invoices) and safety (checking if everything is done according to safety regulations). We also have the mobile app for drivers to ensure seamless communication between them and their back office, saving up to 50 per cent of the document delivery time.

We’re focusing on the U.S. market, since it’s the biggest trucking market in the world. The best part is that it’s a unified market with the same regulations, currency and units, as opposed to the EU, for example. We’re targeting small to medium-sized trucking businesses. Interesting info is that 97 per cent of all trucking companies in the U.S. actually have less than 20 trucks. They are usually small, family-owned businesses and currently the best tool they use is mostly Excel, or even pen and paper.

So, we’re bringing this old, massive and neglected industry into the 21st century.

We have already signed up over 500 companies from the U.S., while major partnerships are coming up in the following months.

- Being part of 500 Startups Batch 14 is truly amazing. We are the first team from Serbia to be part of it and we’re super happy about that fact, and hopefully this will open the doors for many others to join as well.

Companies in 500 Startups are really diverse. That is another thing that’s really interesting about it. Even though we are in different industries, we do have a lot of common problems, so sharing the experience and knowledge helps all of us. Since we all come from different cultures, the exchange of ideas is just overwhelming, especially if you want to make a global product or service.

Expectations are high, and just judging by the other teams that went through the programme pushes us to work even harder. 500

■ You were the first Serbian software company to enter the London-based “Seedcamp” investment fund and last year you received seed investment amounting to €260,000, thanks to one of London's most prestigious early- stage funds - Passion Startups started working with us the first day we Capital. How much did these funds help you We have already got here. We have dedicated people from their fato develop your product and consider the signed up over 500 mous distribution team, but they are also organexpansion of your business?

- We’re very proud of being part of both Seedising a lot of events here, where some big names companies from camp and Passion Capital, and very thankful to in the start-up world are coming over every day. the U.S. and major them for supporting us from our very beginning.

They are helping us expand in the U.S. marpartnerships are They helped us a lot. Thanks to them, we grew ket, to reach out to as many clients and partners to be a company of six people, attacking the U.S. as possible. Their connections in the investment coming along in the world are outstanding, since they are connected to market and forging great partnerships. They following months all major investors in Silicon Valley. 500 Startups helped us with their experience, great connecis one of the most active investors here, and by the tions and, of course, financially. Both Seedcamp end of October they will organise a big demo day, where they get a lot and Passion Capital have invested in many companies before, so there is great value in talking to other founders in order to hear how they of investors together to listen to companies from this batch pitch. We’re handled similar situations. excited and really looking forward to that!

■ You were recently added to the Batch 14 of 500 Startups, one of the most famous seed funds and accelerators in Silicon Valley, which has meant a springboard to the global stage for many start-ups. What are your expectations?

■ What defined your interest for daily concrete applications, such as one of your previous start-ups – klopaj.com?

- I love consumer-based products, because they help everyday people like you and me. Before TruckTrack, I had two unsuccessful start-ups FEBRUARY

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aimed at our local market. The first one, daska.org, was something like myspace/facebook, but back in 2002, and klopaj.com was my master’s degree project. For klopaj.com (pretty much what foursquare.com and yelp.com are today), my idea was for people to be able to easily and quickly find a good place to eat.

The main reason why my projects failed is that I was more focused on the technical side of the story, and not doing customer development.

Another reason is that it was a little bit too early for our region for projects like those. My main lesson learned is to do customer development and ask your potential users and customers what they want and to adapt your project accordingly. Years later I heard about the whole Lean Start-up movement and the concept of MVP and MVS. I strongly rec-

We did get additional interest not only in Serbia, but the whole region.

I would like to thank the whole Aurea team for both the nomination and the award, which is on my office desk and makes me very proud.

■ Since you are monitoring our start-up scene and visiting world events in this field, how would you rate the quality of solutions and innovation in Serbia, compared to the world stage?

- Our start-up scene is emerging and I think it is doing so at a pretty good pace. There are a mix of different ideas and approaches, which is helping the scene move forward. We do have a mix of B2B and B2C start-ups. Of course, we’re still not close to start-up centres like London, New York, Boston or Silicon Valley, but we’re seeing a lot of optimism. We do have a lot of smart, self-driven people, so it’s just a matter of time until the community expands.

We all talk and help each other out, since we all have similar problems in hiring, management, go to market strategies, marketing etc.

Everything around the whole community is very positive and that is the way to go.

■ SEE ICT is a non-profit organisation founded in 2010 in Belgrade with the mission of creating an enabling environment for the development of the start-up community and culture in Serbia, in which you are very active. How would you assess the achievements of its work?

- SEE ICT is doing a great job for our community.

They are organising many great events at which people get together, such as the start-up academy and the up & coming start centre.

There are also many different organisations that are now also helping the ecosystem, like different developer communities for any platform that is out there (HeapSpace, JSBelgrade, PHP Srbija and many others), more and more meet ups, co-working spaces (ICTHub, ImpactHub, Apolo), tech related blogs (netokracija, startit) etc.

ommend anybody interested in starting their own I started programming company to look up “Lean Startup” by Eric Ries or as a kid of six years “Mom Test” by Fitzpatrick and minimum viable product/segment. There are many books and blog old. I always knew that ■ Foodpanda, the world’s biggest online posts on this topic. Luckily, our scene is getting betI’d be part of a small food ordering company, recently acquired ter, so there are more people getting into this topic. company or possibly the strongest domestic service in this field I later worked for German consumer based run one start-up gobandit action camera, which is similar - Donesi.com. Are such business deals an to gopro that was later acquired by TomTom. That exception rather than a real possibility on experience gave me an additional push to start my own company. the domestic market, or not?

- Congratulations to Donesi.com. Everybody was wondering how our I’ve turned to the business-to-business side with TruckTrack. market would respond to FoodPanda, since they are one of the top webThat idea has been stuck in my head for at least 15 years, since my sites for food delivery, while donesi.com is a local super hero, but the mother had her trucking business and people that run such compaunderdog in this case. In the end they couldn’t compete with donesi so nies need help. they had to acquire them. That story is inspirational and moves the whole ■ You recently received an award for innovative approaches in scene forward. Hopefully it will become a trend, and not an exception. the domestic competition Aurea 2015. Has that award generatThose deals and the stories behind them are essential to our scene. ed some more interest in your product on the domestic market?

We do have some great start-ups, like Nordeus and Seven Bridges - Everybody in the team was really thrilled that we were even nomiGenomics, which have become big and great companies. Sharing such nated. Winning that award means a lot to us, since everybody is workexperiences is very important for the up and coming new people on ing very hard and getting recognised is the cherry on the top. the start-up scene.

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I truly believe that it’s not an exception, but rather actually the starting point. I’m positive that in the next five to seven years we will see more acquisitions in our region.

■ Like many other young talented people, you left behind a secure job at a major domestic software company when you decided to establish your own start-ups. What were your main motives for such a choice?

- I started programming as a kid of six years old. I always knew that I would be part of a small company, or possibly run one. Luckily, the IT industry is full of jobs, but when I was deciding to switch it wasn’t easy at all. Now I do understand why they describe a start-up like “jumping out of a plane and making your parachute on the way down”; it’s definitely not easy, but it’s a lot of fun!

I was considering making the switch for some time, but I was always delaying because of the fear of the unknown. I also still have that personal itch to solve a problem in the trucking space. I have to thank my wife and family for supporting me in making this change. I don’t regret it one bit.

■ You regularly lecture at colleges with IT in their curriculum. Is the knowledge students take away from school at an adequate level and what are you offering them at the Start-up Academy where you are one of the speakers?

- The knowledge and experience I gained while studying at the School of Electrical Engineering helped me a lot in my carrier. The biggest thing I took away was the way of thinking and the attitude not to give up. I’ve met many extraordinary engineers that are now working in Serbia and all over the world. Now some of them are professors to the new generation of engineers, while some of them are even professors at major global universities.

The Start-up Academy is about getting people together and finding this new world of start-ups.

This is very similar to what start-up accelerators are offering around the world and it’s awesome to have something like that in Belgrade. It provides a totally different view and approach compared to classical education.

■ What do you consider as the biggest obstacle for the development of start-ups and a serious IT scene like the one in Israel, for example?

- The biggest obstacle is will power. People need to get out of their comfort zone and try to do something they are totally scared of and have no clue how to do.

People will always complain about the regulation and administration here. It is true that it’s not perfect, but that shouldn’t stop anyone from chasing their dream.

Another problem is a lack of funding. It’s not a chicken and egg problem, quite the opposite: if we get more quality start-ups, we’ll get more funding. Moreover, not every start-up needs to be funded. I have

People outside Serbia are helping a lot.

For example, Lazar Stojković from San Francisco helped to bring 500 Startups to Belgrade and they decided to invest in TruckTrack

■ Do you believe the IT sector could really be one of the driving industries in Serbia and act as a remedy for the high level of youth unemployment?

- I think the IT sector is already one of the driving forces of our economy. We have many big outsourcing companies that are employing hundreds of engineers, working on high quality products for major clients in the world. In recent month there were some acquisitions and mergers (like PSTech and Sungard) and some companies growing (eFront, youngculture), which just shows how big and important IT is becoming. On the other side of the spectrum we have many emerging start-ups that are employing people.

to mention Nordeus with Top Eleven again as a perfect example.

■ Can local entrepreneurs in IT only count on money coming from foreign investment funds? Why is there no inflow of money from domestic capitalists, for example?

- Good times are coming. We already have StartLabs, the first Serbian seed fund, and also Serbian Business Angels Network (SBAN). When we get more success stories, more investors will emerge.

■ Is there feedback between the technological diaspora and Serbia and what should be done to institutionalise and strengthen these ties?

- People outside Serbia are helping a lot. I will give you the latest example. Lazar Stojković from San Francisco helped to bring 500 Startups to Belgrade and they decided to invest in TruckTrack. The event was at ICTHub in Zvezdara, and ICTHub brings many companies together in their co-working space, but they also have a lot of mentors and many of them are our people working all over the world. ■ FEBRUARY

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OPINION: MIGRANT CRISIS

By JOHN LLOYD

Give Them a Place

OF THEIR OWN

The European Union has suffered three systemic shocks in the past five years. The most existential of these is the euro crisis and the most insidious is the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But the most visible and heart-rending — not to mention most challenging to the EU’s easy assumption of its own virtue — is the recent flood of migrants from the south and east, fleeing poverty, suppression and war

T

he tremendous scope of the influx is difficult to exaggerate. that attitude. Republican supporters now, by a sizable majority, believe Refugees are fleeing Syrian and Libyan wars, Eritrean reimmigrants “burden” the country; even Democrats waver. pression and sub-Saharan poverty. They are traveling to Politicians, except those who gladly accept the role of anti-immigrant tribunes, are caught between the rock of desperate migrants Europe across the Mediterranean, largely landing in two and the hard place of their citizens’ disdain. Some countries have been countries ill-equipped to help them: Greece and Italy, which both more generous than others: Germany stands out, taking 43 per cent of struggle with high unemployment and fragile economies. Some 70,000 all migrants this year – but its government has warned it can’t carry on migrants have come into Italy this year alone, with many hoping to get at this rate forever. to more favorable job markets. The Greek island of Kos, located near Europe will not become more welcoming than it is now — likely, Turkey from where many migrants set sail for the EU, has been partly it will become less so. Men and women in zones of conflict or poverty overrun, forcing the Greek government to charter a cruise ship to take will not become less determined to grasp a better future. And violent them to the mainland for processing. jihadist groups will not cease to infiltrate their militants into Europe This flood of refugees has stoked political tensions across the continent. Italy’s Matteo Salvini, leader of the far-right through the cover of migration.

Lega party, benefitting in the polls from the crisis, Thus the hope that the migrant crisis will abate, Europe will not took on the Vatican’s charitable approach to the mior be held back indefinitely, is a futile one. The rock become more grants. Responding to Pope Francis’ remark that will get rockier, the hard places harder. Popular and pushing migrants back was “a crime,” he proclaimed, democratic pressure will close up Europe. welcoming than it “A crime? No, it’s a duty!”

These impossible circumstances — coupled is now — likely, it New barriers appear everywhere. Hungary’s miwith basic human conscience — prompt us to think will become less so. radically of larger solutions. Oxford economist and grant flood comes through neighboring Serbia, and it’s responded by building a double fence (one of raMen and women in specialist in African affairs Paul Collier has suggestzor wire, the second a four-metre high wall) along ed building more permanent camps, together with zones of conflict the 175 kilometre frontier between the two states. the provision of work for the migrants. His idea is in or poverty will It will be patrolled by a new border force, tasked the right direction. to plug any breaches in the walls. Janos Lazar, chief The United Nations should extend the good work not become less of staff to Prime Minister Victor Orban, said earlier its Commission for Refugees does. It should identify determined to grasp this week, “Demands to be let in to then take adlarge areas where migrants could both live and work a better future vantage of the EU’s asylum system are on the rise, while retaining their nationality. Granted an indefinite stay, these migrants would also have the possibilaggressiveness is increasing.” ity of attaining citizenship. These areas would, by definition, be empty Migrants are aggressive in their efforts to get in because nothing and probably inhospitable; the UN’s aim would be to make them comelse will do. The British have paid for fences to keep thousands of fortably habitable. migrants camped out near the Calais entrance to the Chunnel from The proposal is full of problems and flaws: It’s thinkable only beboarding trains or trucks. Earlier this week, the French and British interior ministers announced a joint control center in Calais. cause the continuation of the present is unthinkable. It’s a kind of Marshall Plan for the wretched of the earth: fearsomely hard to do, but one The agreement included the provision of better accommodations, that might really unite the nations in providing help to the desperate. ■ blasted by the Daily Mail as a “French farce,” a devious anti-British trick to encourage more migrants to come to Calais en route to the UK. The author is a Senior Research Fellow and co-founded the Reuters InstiImmigration is toxic in the European Union but it doesn’t have a tute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford. Lloyd is also a monopoly on the issue. The United States, historically most welcoming contributing editor at the Financial Times and founder of FT Magazine. of poor and huddled masses, now seems to have shifted away from 22 |

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INTERVIEW

KOKAN MLADENOVIĆ Theatre director

The Previous Governments Spoiled

OUR DEMOCRACY Theatre director Kokan Mladenovic (45) is again in the public spotlight, which often happens to him on the Serbian cultural scene because of what he does, but also what he says. This time it is about the cancellation of his play Koštana, which he was supposed to set as a musical in the Theatre on Terazija, where his hits Chicago, the Marathon Family and Zona Zamfirova are performed

K

Photo: Vladislav Mitić/Nin

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oštana is the work of one of Serbia’s greatest writers, Bora Stanković (1876 -1927) and his most frequently performed drama. It is a tale of a beautiful gypsy girl whose singing and dancing stupefy the sleepy provincial town of Vranje, the writer’s birthplace, and about the struggle for a free life, about prejudice and suffering due to love. This unfortunate Koštana has for years been attractive to actresses, especially those who know how to sing, but they rarely managed to respond appropriately to this great challenge. And now Kokan Mladenović decided that this dark beauty should be played by a beautiful transgender person from Sarajevo – Božo Vrećo, who has an angelic voice.

However, it happened that this award-winning director who has won all the most significant theatre awards said in an interview for one portal that he is suffering “because 5th October was a peaceful revolution.

I think that so much evil had to be drowned in blood. And I think that blood is approaching us, in every sense.”

The public was upset by this because Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić responded at a press conference when asked to comment on this statement by saying: “That man (Mladenović), who calls for bloodshed, is talking about himself. Whatever I say would be too little. You know that we also have political representatives who called for a Ukrainian scenario in Serbia, and who are now in a mouse hole. They talk about themselves and nobody else. It is shameful for cultural workers to use such words. Shameful is the mild word I would use to describe it.”

Following those public statements at the press conference, Kokan Mladenović also lost the love of the Administration of Terazije Theatre, who told him that his play would now not appear: “The same, or a similar, creative team has done some of the musicals in that same theatre, and they have had, and continue to have, fantastic success. For example, Chicago is in its ninth season on the repertoire, with 250 performances, the Marathon Family, as the first real domestic musical, is done in accordance with all international standards, and the most success was enjoyed by the musical Zona Zamfirova, which is

also a domestic work that is proving successful in its third season. On this track of exploring domestic classics, we wanted to make a musical of Koštana. The agreement is two years old and a year ago we started preparations. The same creative team was engaged that is bringing an end to its huge preparatory work, because work was due to start on the show around 1st October. The fact that we did all of this without a contract, without royalties, shows how much faith we had in Theatre on Terzije, and everything we have done there shows that we are not people who would act unprofessionally towards our work. The decision that we would not been working there was received by email, in which it was stated that we did not meet the deadlines, which, actually, were not written down anywhere or agreed as such.”

■ Why did that happen?

- I claim that this is a case of naked political censorship towards all of us whose speech differs from the position of the current government, those of us who sharply criticise the irrationality of those who currently lead Serbia. Our right to work needs to be abolished.

That is one of the most terrible forms of censorship.

On the other hand, the administration protested from the start because Koštana is played by a transgender person, an artist from Bosnia, Božo Vrećo, a brilliant singer, someone who I see, in this day and age, as the ideal person for Koštana. That’s because Koštana, as it was written by Bora Stanković, is a huge ode to freedom, human freedom to love in every possible way, as much as love is possible, to live your life, to speak loudly about everything that bothers man – socially, emotionally, whatever. Therefore, it should demystify all conservatism, all false standards of the environment in which we find ourselves.

I’m convinced that someone who is both male and female, with their performances, their songs that they write and sing, is living the contemporary Koštana.

Božo Vrećo is the ideal choice for Koštana. The fact that this theatre and our public cannot accept the idea of Božo being Koštana, says a lot about us. I certainly won’t make a compromise in this election, nor will that role be played by someone else. And, of course, I will certainly make a stunning Koštana, the only question now is where.

The situation is even worse due to the fact that, in addition to incompetent authorities, we don’t have any kind of opposition. If there is a huge wave of popular discontent, and I suspect that will come, the anger could be uncontrolled and dangerous and there will be nobody to control and channel it. In some other countries, in such situations, the opposition takes over the role of leader and comes to power on that wave of unrest and dissatisfaction.

■ We have no opposition?

- We have no opposition whatsoever. Our opposition boils down to those who used their time in power to compromise the idea of democracy and those who are keen to curry favour with the government in order to be-

Our opposition boils down to those who used their time in power to compromise the idea of democracy and those who are keen to curry favour with the government in order to become part of it

■ Was the initial trigger for the cancellation of your play not your mentioning of blood to which the prime minister reacted personally?

- That entire interview can be found on the portal Moj Novi Sad and to those who read the original interview is clear about what this is all about. As Mr Aleksandar Vučić spent enough time as information minister in the government of Slobodan Milošević, he knows very well how the mechanisms of compromising operate. In Kurir daily that interview was massacred, cut, and boiled down to a call for bloodshed and civil war. I did talk about the blood that is coming, because I truly fear that. When I say that, I mean social uprising, because people cannot feed themselves with statistics, but rather bread, and there is no bread and the nation is desperate, angry and unemployed.

come part of it. Just like that are LDP Čedomir Jovanović, the sadly fake Democratic Party of Boris Tadić, and so on, and so forth. If there is aggression, it could turn into a bloodbath, because there will be nobody to channel that rage. In that sense, I spoke about the blood that is approaching and dissatisfaction that must be taken into account as being something very dangerous. Of course, it was cut to suit what the government wanted.

And thus the Prime Minister declared himself a national hero, and me a national disgrace. To those of us who understand the mechanisms of theatre and government, this seems stupid and naïve, like some kind of political theatre for children, but the majority of people see that and believe what they are served.

■ And to date you have always been present in the public as a left-wing commentator and critic of the regime, but no one from the top of the government attacked you because of that. Does this now scare you?

- This government is moving towards absolute dictatorship, towards a desire to keep all aspects of public life under its control. This is very dangerous for a formally democratic country and dangerous for all social processes.

Josip Broz Tito, during 35 years in power, only twice uttered the names of people from the world of culture who he did not like. One was Branko Ćopić and the other was Dragoslav Mihajlović, who he even got mixed up with Mihizova, but he mentioned the title of his play, When SEPTEMBER

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- No. Croatian society is equally fascistic, in equal shares locked into the knot of the ‘90s just like ours. When you look at everything that happened around the celebration of Operation Storm, if you see the people you remember in uniforms as representatives of the greatest evil in the history of our people, and you see how they are again delivering inflammatory speeches, but this time from a completely different position as the democratic leader of a country, while on the other side you see how democratic Croatia celebrates with a military parade and Thompson's Ustasha songs, which horrified civilized Croatians, then you can see that Croatia, like us here, has not budged an inch since the ‘90s. Serbia and Croatia have shown that they learned nothing from the ‘90s. We heard a little about our crimes in the days when the public was being prepared for the extradition of Slobodan Milošević to The Hague. That was the only period of open media, when all voices spoke of the monstrous crimes of our army and police, paramilitary crimes, the division of regions. Croatia, with the amazing release of its generals from The Hague and the absolving of Operation Storm, has probably forever abolished critical thinking about its terrible role in the ‘90s, about the crimes they committed and the joint aggression with Serbs in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

This suppression of critical thinking, this glorification of someone’s victory, or the sweeping under the carpet of the ‘90s, as is done in Serbia, leads to new bloodshed and new conPhoto: Vladislav Mitić/Nin flicts. Neither Serbia, nor Croatia, nor even Bosnia, is there a desire to deal once and for They continued with closing all with the ‘90s, regardless of what the final cinemas, destroying the account will mean for all of us.

the Pumpkins Blossomed, saying that there are some pumpkins there.

Judging by his short stay in power, Vućić has already surpassed Tito in terms of directly naming those he finds unfit via the media.

I do not see it only as an attack on myself, but rather I experience that as a blow to all those people who still have the courage to speak out against the government in this country. I do not insist that I am right, but rather I insist on the right to say what I think about the system that controls this country. This paranoid need for absolute control leads directly to dictatorship. They expelled polemical political shows from our televisions and now there is nowhere in the public space where you can hear serious counter-arguments to what the current government is doing.

This government organises spontaneous welcome receptions for the prime minister across Serbia that are only lacking flags and Tito waving from an open Mercedes. I’m afraid that it has all reached the extent where it is out of control of civil, democratic society, which increasingly resembles the North-Korea-isation of Serbia.

Otherwise, a number of recent meetings in Terazije Theatre passed with the fierce opposition of individuals to me working at all, but also the conviction that our previous works provide a sufficient guarantee of the success of the new venture. I presume that after the public denouncement by the Prime Minister it all went downhill and that the pressure on the directors of Terazije Theatre was unbearable.

■ You say that the previous government disgusted democracy?

- They made us disgusted with democracy in exactly the same way as the once party of Mirtheatres with miserly budgets, jana Marković made us disgusted with leftism. and were not prepared to ■ Together with Frljić, you wnet through When it comes to culture, we all expected that huge wave of primitivism from the 1990s would approach deep rooted reforms considerable anguish when at Atelier 212, where you were the then managfinally be stopped; that basic culture would get of Serbian culture er, you allowed him to direct your play back on its feet, that the cultural milieu would Zoran Đinđić? change, that some new cultural values would be - We went through hellish anguish, and I didn’t regret it for a moment. placed on the pedestal, and that Estrada stage shows, primitivism, reality After everything that happened to us, after the return of former radiprogramming, vulgarity and profanity in public and political life, would cals to power, that play was both wise and filled with warning. It sumbe slowly resigned to the past. It turns out that not only did it not stop, marises all of our political and national frustrations and places them but the democratic government continued the destruction of Serbian in a one context. culture. They continued with closing cinemas, destroying the theatres Otherwise, regarding your claim that he is a sovereign administrator with miserly budgets, and were not prepared to approach deep rooted reforms of Serbian culture. They obviously only cared about being in power, there, you should know that he is a quartermaster with the absolute and about staying in power for as long as possible, to provide themselves with unconditional political support of the local mayor, Mr Obersnel. There a lifetime of privilege and an economic status that would keep them in can be no fundamental reform of the theatre without a bold policy, there prosperity for life. Their responsibility for what is happening to us today is no Bitef Mira Trailović and Jovan Ćirilov coming out of the politics a is huge. Thus is it even sadder to watch representatives of that same govserious country like Yugoslavia was then, with the intention of leading ernment trying to become part of this government in any way they can. a great cultural opening up to the world. There is no FEST without politics; there isn’t a single substantial, significant event and movement in ■ Oliver Frljić, your colleague in Croatia, despite being a harsh culture that is immune to one serious policy. We do not have any serious critic of the authorities there, is still the director of the Croapolicy even when it comes to things that are a lot more important than tian National Theatre in Rijeka. Does this mean that the situaculture, and therefore it is illusory to expect that anyone would seek to tion is better in Croatia when it comes to democratic processrealise their political programmes or desire to make the country more es in culture? civilised through education and culture. ■ 26 |

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BUSINESS DIALOGUE

BUSINESS LEADERS’ MEETING POINT

SEPTEMBER 2015

29 PAGE

32 PAGE

Our Time is

Quality the Only

Yet to Come

Universal Ticket

TOMI RUMPF

GORAN JANKOVIĆ

DIRECTOR, PERU TNINA PTUJ TOPIKO

36 PAGE

Always With You and at

Your Place on Time!

PETAR MILJKOVIĆ DIRECTOR OF ZORKA KERAMIKA LTD.

DIRECTOR OF INMOLD PLAST DOO POŽEGA

40 PAGE

Knowledge, Experience and

Good Practice

MIROSLAV PREŠERN CEO AT OVEN ELEKTRO

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BUSINESS DIALOGUE

INTERVIEW

Our Time is

Yet to Come TOMI RUMPF

DIRECTOR, PERUTNINA PTUJ TOPIKO

PP Group has recognised Serbia as an important strategic location for both the production and sale of food and Perutnina Ptuj Topiko has ambitious plans to further position itself on this market

B

y constantly improving quality and through a careful pricing policy that should enable consumers are not deprived of their favourite products even in times of crisis, Perutnina Ptuj Topiko positions itself on the Serbian market as a leading manufacturer and supplier of chicken meat.

■ How much has Perutnina Ptuj felt the implementation of fiscal stabilisation and the reduction of purchasing power in terms of demand for its products?

Like most companies in the country, Perutnina Ptuj Topiko has also felt the impact of stabilisation measures, for the simple reason that consumers are forced to cut spending. Companies like ours in the food industry are at somewhat of an advantage compared to those producing products that the consumer does not perceive as essential. Perutnina Ptuj is recognisable for its premium product portfolio and we make no compromises in the area of quality. We apply a vertically integrated and controlled production process and simultaneously

satisfy all the highest standards prescribed by the PP Group, of which we are a member. Despite the relatively high costs that characterise contemporary production processes, we try to ensure our customers can obtain their favourite products at reasonable prices, in order for this time of crisis to be less painful for them.

■ A new law on inspection oversight was recently adopted. Does it give you hope that

implementation, in this case, is accompanied by regulatory changes, I see no reason for there not to be a reduction of the grey economy in the production of chicken meat. This is in the interest of both the state and producers, as well as consumers who want to have safe and controlled meat on their table. The new Law on Inspection Oversight is a good piece of legislation and we support all acts that bring our legislation closer to that of Europe.

■ To what extent, through demand for Perutnina products, can you feel a change in the former consumption patterns of Serbia, where pork was the dominant type of meat used?

Serbia is a traditional market where pork still plays a major role

Serbia is a great place to invest and our plans are not modest. Growth on this promising market remains an imperative for our company the level of the grey economy will be reduced when it comes to the production of chicken meat?

All changes for the better are welcome and we applaud them.

The reality is that regulations applicable to date did not allow illicit production, but rather the problem was in the lack of implementation. Provided appropriate

in the eating habits of the population, but the fact remains that increased consumption of poultry meat is yet to come. Chicken meat has strong potential for further growth, as it is modern, easy to prepare and has balanced nutritional characteristics. In addition, there are no religious barriers or social norms that could limit the consumption of chicken meat.

Trends of modern life are clear and chicken is a type of meat whose position and importance will only grow in the future.

■ What goals have you set for yourself when it comes to doing business in Serbia in the period ahead and what do you consider as the greatest challenges to achieving that objective?

Perutnina Ptuj strives to enrich the modern life of individuals with the taste of nature. We are a company that is committed to creating safe and healthy eating habits of consumers, which wishes to use a careful balance of modern and traditional in order to contribute to improving people’s lives. Today, Perutnina Ptuj Topiko has over 600 employees in Serbia alone, at its animal fodder factory, farms, meat industry facility and working in its own sales and logistics. We also have our own retail chain, where we use innovation and continuous improvement in order to attract a large number of loyal customers to more than 50 shops across the country.

Growth on this promising market remains an imperative for our company. Serbia is a great place to invest and our plans are not modest. PP Group has recognised Serbia as an important strategic location for production and the sale of food and we expect that we will justify the trust that has been placed in us. ■

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ELECTIONS

BUSINESS DIALOGUE

“I think elections are not necessary at all, because there is no political or constitutional crisis needing to be resolved through elections.”

LOCAL NEWS

— IVICA DAČIĆ, Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia

01 NEW MERCEDES-BENZ GLE

Efficiency Meets Performance

Mercedes-Benz has thoroughly revised its best-seller in the SUV segment.

For the first time in its SUV history, MercedesBenz is offering a plug-in hybrid model, the GLE 500

02 ERSTE GROUP

GDP Returns to Growth Zone According to the research team of Erste Group, after five consecutive quarters in the zone of decline, “flash” estimates of GDP indicate that growth returned to positive territory in the second quarter of 2015, with a rate of increase of 0.9% year-on-year.

Short-term indicators point to the stabilisation of economic activity in all areas.

However, the low base effect has definitely played an important role. Moreover, spill-over effects on the labour market are yet to be seen.

The current account deficit has fallen significantly, reflecting the base effects, but is helped by

03 KAKTUS 2015

First National Festival of Integrated Communication

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e 4MATIC, which combines maximum efficiency with outstanding performance. This multi-talented vehicle will even better the already low fuel consumption figures of the efficiency champion GLE 250 d with four-cylinder diesel engine, while delivering the performance of a V8 model.

The advantages of the new GLE furthermore include optimum on-road and off-road handling, outstanding spaciousness and high levels of active and passive safety. In addition to the appealing design, the variable driving experience thanks to DYNAMIC SELECT and the assistance systems familiar from the E and S-Class, the GLE impresses with an extensive engine line-up. Five equally efficient and powerful engines with four, six or eight cylinders are available to choose from.

stronger foreign demand. The fiscal position has also improved, but the movement of the budget deficit from the central level in the first half of 2015 should be seen mainly as a result of one-off effects in the first quarter of 2015.

It is expected that the rate for the fiscal year will be between zero and 0.5 per cent. In terms of economic policy, there is visible space for the further easing of monetary policy, taking into account low inflation and internal stabilisation, and the government should step up efforts to restructure and privatise socially-owned enterprises. Risks to the fiscal outlook are generated by announcements of an increase in public sector wages and pensions, but such measures have yet to be discussed with the IMF.

Serbia’s first national festival of integrated communication – KAKTUS 2015 – will take place on 29th October in Belgrade, under the organization of Marketing mreže. With the slogan “Ideas that survive”, the festival will offer a programme covering various areas of integrated communication, as well as providing an overview of the latest international trends. The daytime conference part of the festival consists of lectures and workshops by leading experts from Europe and elsewhere in the world, including Abraham Abbi Asefaw and Zlatko Corluka, founders of London’s Pop Up

| SEPTEMBER

Agency; Jacob Kobi Gamliel, founder of digital agency iSOCIA in Israel; Luca Gatti, Brand Integration Operation Manager for the EMEA region at P&G; and Mike Brandt, founder of Danish agency Urge and an innovative approach to advertising Advertisingawesomeness. In addition to these guests, festival participants will have the opportunity to hear about the experiences of Marijana Prpić, branding director at Google, Svetlana Stavro, marketing and communications director at IBM for Southeast Europe, as well as Matija Vujović and Vladimir Grčić from agency Kitchen Prague.

04 ENERGOPROJEKT HOLDING

Net Profit Down 30%, Business Profit Up 14.4%

Energoprojekt Holding (ENHL) has announced its consolidated financial results for the first half of the year.

Business profit increased by 14.8% to RSD16.1 billion, compared to the same period last year. Although business profit was up 14.4%, net profit fell by 30% to RSD377.5 million, due to increased negative exchange rate differences, which totalled RSD1.32 billion in the first half of the year.

The company’s current market capitalisation at RSD1.176 totals RSD12.8 billion (app. € 107.1m).

7 WAYS

TO GO FROM A BOSS TO A LEADER

Many people view the terms “boss” and “leader” as interchangeable – but they are differ vastly. The teams which produce the most effective and long-lasting results are the ones directed by leaders, not bosses.

1. Love people 2. Guide, don’t control, your team 3. Be adaptable 4. Delegate business by delegating skills 5. Give credit, accept blame 6. Practice risk acceptance 7. Motivate

DECISION

LANGUAGE

“There are a number of reasons for and against holding early parliamentary elections, but the decision will be made by the end of September.” — ALEKSANDAR VUČIĆ, Prime Minister of Serbia

The Serbian language is Europe’s only language to use a mix of two alphabets (diagraphia) - Cyrillic and Latin.

05 BELGRADE FAIR

Energy and Ecology Fair Under the shared slogan “Green Energy”, from 14th to 16th October, the Belgrade Fair will host the International Fair of electricity, coal, gas and oil, renewable energy sources and energy efficiency “ENERGETIKA” and the International Fair of Environment Protection and Natural Resources “EcoFair”.

The EcoFair and Energetika fairs are specialised expo events that

have become more recognisable in the region and Europe as they follow economic developments, trends and issues relating to the energy sector and the sector of environmental protection and natural resources, but also as a meeting place for the most important domestic and foreign companies and institutions, especially in the sphere of future plans and investments in major development projects in Serbia.

These specialised trade fairs, each an indivisible organic unit is its own right, simultaneously represent both the foundations and the guidelines for key economic developments trends – not only in Serbia, but throughout the region.

In parallel with ENERGETIKA and ECOFAIR, Hall 4 of the Belgrade Fair will host the iSEC Fair of high technologies in the function of public safety and critical infrastructure.

Placements & postings appointments@aim.rs

H.E. HENDRIK VAN DEN DOOL NEW AMBASSADOR OF THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS TO SERBIA

Hendrik (Henk) van den Dool (54) graduated History at the University of Amsterdam and, after working as a journalist, entered the Diplomatic Service of the Netherlands in 1987.

He has held various positions, both within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague and in bilateral and multilateral missions abroad: Brussels-EU (1990-1993), Geneva-UN (1996-1998) and Warsaw (2002-2006).

From 1998 to 2002 he served as Private Secretary to the Minister for Development Cooperation and in 2008 he was appointed Ambassador to the Republic of Albania. In 2012, he became Head of the Baltic Mission, comprising the Dutch embassies in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as being accredited to the Republic of Latvia in Riga.

His main areas of expertise and interest are European Integration, human rights and transformation processes in Central and Eastern Europe.

Ambassador Van den Dool has two sons, Jip Sebastiaan and Casper Jarek. His life partner is Katarzyna Anna Pawelska.

UDO EICHLINGE

NEW CEO AT SIEMENS IN SERBIA Udo Eichlinger has amassed almost 25 years of experience in Siemens management structure, holding positions that have involved work in the company’s different divisions and business units in Germany, Central and Eastern Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Eichlinger began his professional career in the field of IT and telecommunications, and his last engagement was in Frankfurt, Germany, where he established a management consulting department for the energy efficiency master plan for corporate and public clients. Eichlinger also has previous experience of the local market, having served as managing director of the Communication Group in Serbia from 2002 to 2005.

SANDRA STEINER

NEW TELENOR MONTENEGRO GM Sandra Steiner transfers to her new position from Telenor Serbia, where she held the post of executive director of corporate communications and human resources. She has been at Telenor since 2006 and has held a number of leadership positions as a member of the management team.

Sandra’s plans are to ensure the further growth and development of the company with the right people and clear goals, in order for Telenor to continue offering the inhabitants of Montenegro an extremely useful experience.

In the position of GM of Telenor in Montenegro, Sandra will also assume responsibility for company “MN News”, which Telenor Montenegro bought in December 2014, through the purchase of 100% of shares, with the aim of providing its customers with integrated services and cutting-edge business solutions.

ALEKSANDAR RUŽEVIĆ NEW GM AT COCA-COLA HELLENIC, SERBIA & MONTENEGRO

Aleksandar Ružević, a graduate of the University of Belgrade’s Faulty of Law, takes over his new position at Coca-Cola from that of CEO at Pivara Skopje (brewery), which is jointly owned

by Coca-Cola Hellenic Group and Heineken.

Aleksandar served on the sales team at Coca-Cola from 1998 and held the post of commercial manager in Serbia from January 2006 to year’s end 2010, when he was appointed commercial director for the Ukrainian market, where he succeeded, as a team member, in achieving significant growth and development.

Ružević’s new duties will see him lead a team of over a thousand people and manage a company that adds value of up to €224 million, or 0.7% of GDP, to the Serbian economy. Ružević’s predecessor, Ramon Weidinger, will continue his career outside the Coca-Cola system.

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BUSINESS DIALOGUE

INTERVIEW

Quality the Only

Universal Ticket GORAN JANKOVIĆ

DIRECTOR OF INMOLD PLAST DOO POŽEGA

By following particular elements of quality, commitment to work and constant innovation of knowledge and equipment, Inmold has managed to sell its products on the domestic and international markets, vying alongside rival vendors from Europe

T

he company’s success lies in the Inmold Plast commitment to quality, following the innovation and monitoring work processes of the best European factories. Thanks to such an approach, today Inmold is equally successful in selling its products in Serbia and on foreign markets.

During almost ten years of its existence, the company has invested constantly in new equipment and professional staff and, more recently, has been actively involved in the process of dual education.

Goran Janković, director of Inmold, believes that the only possible approach to creating well-trained staff is this kind of education, which once included the former Yugoslavia in the countries with an industrial tradition, but which Serbia has more recently ignored. Inmold today employs several young people who have gained their knowledge both in education and through practical experience on machines, and Janković hopes his company will soon have many more young professional and talented workers.

■ Which preconditions did Inmold have to realise in order for its products to qualify as equals

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alongside the latest European competitors in this field?

- In order to be able to achieve parity with competitors, you must produce tools and parts of the same quality as the best European companies in this field, and the conditions implied by this are highly qualified engineering and master

literally invest everything we earn in staff training and purchasing modern equipment. My decision is to continue doing the same for another year and a half, when ten full years will have passed since the company was founded. Only in that way can we ensure that we have all the elements necessary to compete with the leading European companies. After that, I think it is essential to invest 15 per cent in technical equipment and for innovations to include at least 15%. That’s enough for me to keep track of the modern technical achievements and innovations in equipment and software that are required for this job.

Inmold’s team of employees includes a dozen young people who started working at the age of 19, which is quite unusual today staff, modern machinery and equipment, the use of materials produced by proven European manufacturers, hard work and dedication.

■ How much does a company like yours have to invest annually in innovation?

- We are a young company and we

■ Given that your products are distributed equally on the domestic and foreign markets, what are your key inputs in planning and designing your future growth and development?

- Quality, respect for deadlines on the completion of work, the high professionalism and expertise of all em-

ployees and constant development of this, with the renewal of equipment that accompanies modern scientific achievements, work with young people, following up their education and investing in their training so that we can have better prospects and select the best for recruitment.

■ To what extent is dual education the key to resolving Serbia’s issues of youth unemployment and the lack of welltrained personnel?

- Dual education is the only right way. This was testified to in the former Yugoslavia, when such an education system resulted in the creation of a skilled workforce and the country’s inclusion among the group of highly industrialised countries. Such a system is present in Western Europe and is one of the key factors ensuring that these countries are so developed and successful. This is not happening at the moment in Serbia. For four years, Inmold has been working as much as possible, within the framework of existing legislation, on the education of young people in the dual education system, using companies from Western Europe as a model. This has proved to be quite successful.

Inmold’s team of employees includes a dozen young people who started working at the age of 19, which is quite unusual today. We are continuing with this system of providing skilled workers. We have about 30 scholars who will become our employees in the next year or two. ■

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BUSINESS DIALOGUE

REGIONAL NEWS

HIGHWAY “The construction of the Niš-Pristina-Durres highway will be one of the most important projects. The three interested parties in this project are Serbia, Albania and the EU.” — DEJAN TRIFUNOVIĆ, Serbian State Secretary

01 CROATIA

Parts For James Bond’s Latest Aston Martin

The Croatian auto industry plays an important role in what is the 24th Bond film. Lipik Glass, one of the biggest auto industry suppliers in Croatia, produced the glass for the Aston Martin DB10. It will be the 7th Bond film in a row that the relatively anonymous firm from western Slavonija has produced the glass for the Bond car, writes Autostart.

A number of aluminum parts for the Aston Martin for the movie came from Slavonski Brod based firm Saint Jean Industries, which employs 230 people in Slavonija, and when Daniel Craig changes the DB10 with a Bentley and Jaguar in the film, he sits on leather seats provided by Boxmark Leather, a leather upholstery firm from Međimurje. Owned by Austrian H. Schmidt, Boxmark is the third largest Croatian exporter, exporting more than €200 million worth of products annually.

02 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Elatec Opens New Factory The Elatec Group has opened a new factory in Gračanica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Group’s Card Solutions and RFID Systems departments are serving in the capacity of manufacturers and ELCO is acting as distributor. Elatec’s new facility with more than 1,600m² will produce SIM cards and packaging as well as RFID chips. The factory has an annual capacity of two digit million SIM cards.

“Our previous growth supports the goals we are pursuing with the opening of our new factory in Northeast Bosnia and Herzegovina. We want to become one of the leading international centers

03 ROMANIA

Nestle Opens First Boutique in Bucharest

Nestle Nespresso announced the opening of its first brand dedicated boutique in Bucharest, at 210 Calea Dorobantilor.

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04 ACQUISITION

Cemex Sells Operations and Assets to Heidelbergcement Unit

Cement producer Cemex said it has signed an agreement to sell to Hungarian peer DunaDrava Cement its operations in Croatia, including its assets in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia.

According to the agreement, the assets, consisting of three cement plants, two aggregate quarries and seven ready-mix plants, will be sold for approximately €230.9 million.

10 THINGS

for the personalisation of SIM cards. For that reason, we refused to compromise when it came to the security and access control of the building,” said Benedikt Leisten, Department Manager at Elatec Card Solutions.

The luxury retail boutique offers an exclusive brand experience, designed according to global standards by an international team of architects and designers, in close collaboration with Nespresso core team of Lausanne.

Nespresso Boutique includes a tasting area where customers can explore and enjoy the full range of the 23 Grands Crus coffees and the limited editions. Coffee specialists are available, helping visitors to compare varieties, to discover flavors and distinct flavor notes, information about the origins of each Grand Cru assortment and how the coffee beans are produced and roasted.

In 2014, Nestle Nespresso started operating a global retail network consisting of over 400 exclusive stores in 258 cities. Nespresso developed its business model on three pillars: coffee, appliances and the Nespresso Club.

TO CONSIDER BEFORE INVESTING IN A NEW PROJECT OR BUSINESS IDEA

Following through on the wrong projects or business ideas can be a huge waste of time and money. Here are 10 things you should always do before green-lighting a new project or biz idea.

1. Test Basic Assumptions 2. Ensure It Aligns With With Key Performance Indicators (KPI) 3. Take a Step Back 4. Analyze the Pros and Cons 5. Run financial projections 6. Ask If It's What People Want 7. Organize the Project First 8. Define What Success Looks Like 9. Run Some Google AdWords Tests 10. Test your ideas by talking to people in the real world

WALL

BALKAN

“The idea of building a wall along the Serbian-Macedonian border to prevent the migrants from entering the country is disgraceful.”

The term “Balkans” stems from the Ottoman Turkish word balkan, defined as a pass through wooded and rocky mountains.

— MEHO OMEROVIĆ, Chair of the Serbian Parliament’s Committee on Human and Minority Rights

05 MONTENEGRO

07 HUNGARY

08 KOSOVO

Debt of Montenegro Airlines €74mln

BAT Plans to Raise Headcount by 200

EU Assists Kosovo’s Rural Development

The debts of the Montenegro Airlines currently amount to €74 million and they are lower since the arrival of the new management, said Daliborka Pejovic, Chairman of the Montenegro Airlines Board of Directors, adding that the company did not fear of introducing the bankruptcy.

She reminded that the company’s debt amounted to €82 million when the new management was appointed, and according to the new management’s audits, the company had €16 million of hidden losses.

Daliborka Pejović, CEO, Montenegro Airlines

06 FYR MACEDONIA

Job For 300 Disabled People

The Hungarian unit of British American Tobacco (BAT) is planning to hire another 100 employees in addition to the 100 new hires, according to Hungarian news agency MTI. A HUF 2 bln (€6,5mln) development to increase cigarette production capacity at the company’s plant in central Pécs, southwestern Hungary, has enabled the company to hire 100 employees, while an additional 100 employees will be hired at the same plant for a specified period until May 2016 to ensure a successful switch-over to the new European Union tobacco products directive, the manager said.

Since acquiring Pécsi Dohánygyár in 1992, BAT has invested approximately HUF 54 bln (€ 175mln)in Hungary. At the end of last year the company employed 600 workers in the country including 450 at its two factories in Pécs.

09 BULGARIA

World’s 3rd Best in Locating Manufacturing Facilities Macedonian Labour Minister Dime Spasov said that the project aimed at providing jobs for 300 people with disabilities is proceeding well and according to plan, with most of the recipients already being employed.

A total of 105 public institutions have already hired persons with disabilities under the program, the Minister added.

“It’s important to note that awareness of the need to help integrate persons with disabilities is regularly rising”, Minister Spasov said.

Kosovo will benefit €57 million from the fifth component of IPA funds for rural development.

Minister of European Integration, Bekim Collaku says that the implementation of these projects will take place from 2016 until 2018.

“It will help in the improvement of competition in the agri-food sector in Kosovo, the improvement of living conditions among the population in rural areas and improvement of food safety and growth of food export”, Collaku said.

The rest of the funds will go for the promotion of social dialogue and the transferring of knowledge on innovation, support on the standards of food safety in Kosovo in compliance with “acquis” and there will also be support for the improvement of the collection of systematic data and the generation of statistics in line Source: ibna with EU demands.

Bekim Collaku, Minister of European Integration

Bulgaria ranks as the 3rd most perspective destination in the world for locating manufacturing facilities.

This is revealed by the latest annual report of Cushman & Wakefield entitled “Where in the world?

Manufacturing index 2015”, daily Sega informs.

Bulgaria climbed four positions compared to its ranking last year and is preceded only by Vietnam and Tunisia in the group of countries identified as “rising stars”.

There is a separate ranking for the countries, which have established themselves as manufacturing destinations, topped by Malaysia, followed

by Taiwan, China, the USA, South Korea, Canada, Singapore, Turkey, Thailand and Indonesia.

Countries are assessed and ranked according to three sets of criteria – market operating conditions, risks and operating costs.

Bulgaria ranks best on operating costs due to its cheap labour force.

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BUSINESS DIALOGUE

INTERVIEW

Always With You and at

Your Place on Time!

PETAR MILJKOVIĆ

DIRECTOR OF ZORKA KERAMIKA LTD.

We strive to fulfil the expectations of all our customers, both at home and abroad

A

fter 40 years of production operations, Zorka Keramika has become Serbia’s largest producer of ceramic tiles.

As a member of the Asamer Group, headquartered in Austria, the company represents an optimal mix of regional and international entrepreneurial strengths. Development and production are built on the constant monitoring of technological innovations in cooperation with consulting companies specialised in this field. There are frequent reconstructions in investments, with the aim of improving and increase the capacity and range, all in order to ensure complete customer satisfaction, says Petar Miljković Direktor of Zorka Keramika Ltd. ■ Which areas of production do you invest in the most?

- Zorka Keramika has just completed several investment projects. The first project relates to environmental protection, and a new filter on atmoizetu was just put into operation that meets the most stringent EU standards. With this we have come a step closer to gaining an integrated IPPC permit. The second project is linked to raising the capacity and quality of production.

Both projects were funded from our own resources and were worth around 1.5 million euros, which, for present-day business conditions in Serbia, is a remarka36 |

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ble success. With this we have also secured an increase in exports, which this year exceeded the target and scope of business on the domestic market. We have also invested a lot in direct marketing and helped the final customers to be as familiar as possible with our products. We have also started an interesting programme for

ful operations, we have been able to secure for our team the latest Škoda vehicles, in order to raise the quality of our operations and services to the maximum level.

■ How quickly does technology change in your field and how does your company keep up with the competition?

- Dramatic changes have occurred at the global level in recent years.

In the sense that there are applications and ceramics are used in

Both projects were funded from our own resources and were worth around 1.5 million euros, which, for presentday business conditions in Serbia, is a remarkable success those who have installed our tiles and want to publish images of beautiful scenes, thereby winning valuable prizes. All information will be on our website and Facebook page. Zorka Keramika, with the support of Budget RentaCar, updated its entire fleet of vehicles this summer. Through our success-

dimensions and with properties in which they were not previously used, such as façades, interior corridors and ceilings. In local terms, there are always new and larger dimension tiles, as well as additional processing in the sense of polishing and rectifying edges. Digital printing has also represented a step

forward in terms of the ability to design and mimic natural materials, such as stone and wood, which is an absolute trend. We offer our customers an extremely modern collection that keeps pace with all these trends and all our decors are now done using digital printing.

New markets have also been conquered, such as those of Russia and Kazakhstan, and there we are forming associations with some other producers in Serbia. We also succeeded in obtaining the Russian GOST certificate, with which fulfilled requirements for export to this huge market.

■ To what extent is design crucial when it comes to good placement of your products and what are the leading trends at present?

- Design is crucial, but as I said, with the advent of digital printing everyone can do almost everything.

That is precisely why it is important to be first and to do original designs of modern trends using natural materials, which this year obtained a variety of variations on the theme.

Thus they combine the structure of wood and marble designs, making relief structures where the focus is shifted completely with colour.

All of this also depends greatly on the market. Some markets are conservative and find it difficult to accept new ideas, while others are extremely demanding. We are working hard to fulfil the expectations of all our customers, both at home and abroad.■

BUSINESS DIALOGUE

CORPORATE

New Investments for the

Whole Region MESSER TEHNOGAS

We invested twenty million euros in the construction of the new plant, which will produce 10,000 cubic metres of oxygen and 7,000 cubic metres of nitrogen per hour

W

ith the construction of Messer’s new 20-million-euro air separation unit in Bor, the Bor Mining and Smelting Basin will receive three times more oxygen than before.

Messer Tehnogas, part of Germany’s Messer Group, launched the new plant and, according to Ernst Bode, long-serving executive director of Messer Tehnogas, with the new oxygen plant, the Bor Mining and Smelting Basin will be provided with three times more oxygen than in the past. Bode added that he was happy construction had been completed, but also used the opportunity to state that, due to bureaucratic obstacles in our country, the project’s implementation had faced delays.

“We invested 20 million euros in the construction of the new plant, which will produce 10,000 cubic metres of oxygen and 7.000 cubic metres of nitrogen per hour. The new oxygen plant corresponds with the demands of new technologies in the area of metallurgy and will also be able to satisfy the needs of the Bulgarian and Romanian markets – stated Bode.

He especially emphasised that Messer had quickly synchronised with the Basin Bor and was adhering to the supply agreement for sup-

plying the Basin with technical gases without any problems since Messer took over the old oxygen plant in 2009, at a cost of $2.7 million.

“Our company has been operating in Serbia since 1997 and to date we have invested more than 100

gy provides the basin with cheaper production, using liquid oxygen instead of coal, which is very expensive, thus enabling cheaper production of copper, higher income and thereby more means for further development.

“This investment would not be possible without the investment into the new Smelter at the Bor Mining and Smelting Basin. I am very happy that Bor will be saved in this way. Now it has a good future, while this was not the case five or

Messer has to date invested a total exceeding 100 million euros million euros. We employ 344 people in our plants in Bor, Smederevo, Niš, Pančevo, Novi Sad, Belgrade and Kraljevo, as well as at our production locations in Montenegro” said Bode.

Cooperation between Messer and the Bor Mining and Smelting Basin is excellent and this technolo-

six years ago, and everything could have ended very differently. However, this turned out to be a good story, thanks to good and clever people, and an excellent example of how to make a company successful” said Bode.

It should also be noted that the new oxygen plant has no negative

environmental impact, is ecologically friendly and has technology that is itself controlled and, therefore, there is no security risk for the people of Bor. Based on needs in both the country and the region, as well as on the basis of projected capacities, it has been planned to export around 80 per cent of the oxygen produced to Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia’s Republika Srpska and the BiH Federation.

This is a relatively expensive investment for Messer Tehnogas, but it is an investment in the future and in Bor, as well as in Serbia as a whole, so there was no dilemma about whether or not to invest.

In meantime, Messer Tehnogas has also opened its new helium filling plant in Pančevo. The filling plant will handle several variations of this gas, from balloon gas to gaseous helium 6.0, supplying customers in Serbia and regional countries like Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece. The investment will secure and improve the position of Messer Tehnogas on the market, increasing its competitiveness.

Investments are continuing when it comes to developing other production and filling plants, such as helium and refrigerant filling plants, or renovating filling plants for special gas mixtures.

The value of these additional investments is estimated at around five million euros. ■ SEPTEMBER

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BUSINESS DIALOGUE

WORLD NEWS

MEASURES

“The EU is preparing ... to adopt, if necessary, targeted restrictive measures against those whose actions lead to acts of violence, repression and serious human rights abuses or hindrances.” — FEDERICA MOGHERINI, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

01 KOREA

Samsung Releases Galaxy S6 Edge+

JongKyun Shin, President and CEO of Samsung Electronics

Samsung’s newest phone, an update to their popular Galaxy Edge, was debuted at mid last month in New York City.

Samsung’s new Galaxy S6 Edge Plus brings a bigger, 5.7-inch version its predecessor HD AMOLED screen without dramatically increasing the devices physical size. The new phone is 12mm longer and 5mm wider than S6 Edge.

The construction and internal specs of the new phone are nearly identical to its predecessor. New this time around is 4GB of RAM, a slightly altered version of Android 5.1 Lollipop, and a slightly bigger 3,000 mAh battery that is still not removable.

In the US, the Galaxy S6 Edge+ will be priced at $814.99 and $914.99 for the 32GB and 64GB variants respectively.

02 POLAND

Rolls-Royce and Hispano-Suiza to Build Factory Aero Gearbox International a joint consortium established by Rolls-Royce and Hispano-Suiza (Safran) will construct a production plant in Podkarpackie, Poland.

Construction work will begin by the end of the year, first supplies of aircraft engines are expected to be delivered in 2017. Initially, 110 people will be hired.

“The production plant will benefit from the experiences of the factory owned by Hispano-Suiza Polska and located in Sędziszów Małopolski,” the company informed.

Aero Gearbox International is responsible for the accessory drive train on all future civil aero-engines made by the British company.

03 US

04 TAIWAN

Foxconn to Invest $5 bln in Indian Facility

Kraft Heinz said it will cut 2,500 jobs in the United States and Canada as part of its cost cutting initiatives following the creation of the company through the $46-billion merger of ketchup maker H.J. Heinz with Kraft Foods.

Heinz, backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and Brazilian private equity firm 3G Capital, combined with Kraft earlier this year to create the third-largest North American food company.

The combined company expects to save about $1.5 billion in annual costs by the end of 2017.

Taiwan’s Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer and a key supplier to Apple Inc, on Saturday signed a pact with India’s Maharashtra state to invest $5 billion over five years on a new electronics manufacturing facility. The announcement was made

by Foxconn founder Terry Gou and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis after the signing of an accord in the state capital Mumbai.

The Foxconn announcement will bolster Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” campaign, which aims to turn Asia’s third-largest economy into a manufacturing powerhouse.

Foxconn employs about 1.3 million people during peak production times, making it one of the largest private employers in the world. But it has had to improve labor conditions following a series of suicides in 2010-2011, mostly at its Shenzhen manufacturing operation.

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Stonegate – the First US Bank in Cuba

Florida-based Stonegate, the first U.S. bank to establish banking relations with Cuba, can start providing payments and transactions between the countries in a few weeks.

The Stonegate CEO Dave Seleski said that the operations between the two banks would mostly be related to transferring money for commercial and charitable transactions Stonegate Bank provides a wide range of financial services through its 21 branches in South and West Florida. According to the bank’s latest data, it has $2.27 billion in assets and $1.93 billion in deposits.

THE 7 THINGS

Kraft Heinz to Cut 2,500 Jobs

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05 CUBA

YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SELLING YOUR BUSINESS

1. Clearly identify the reasons and goals for the sale 2. Have a time frame in mind and understand how your environment will affect it 3. Start the planning process early – and involve professionals 4. Get your affairs in order 5. Find out what you’re worth 6. Carefully consider the buyer and prepare to say no (or negotiate a better deal) 7. Above all else, be realistic about the outcome – and keep your eye on the ball

MIGRANTS

The gap in living standards between Europe and Africa meant there would always be an “economic motivation” for Africans to try to make it to the EU.” — PHILIP HAMMOND, British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

06 CHINA

08 AUSTRIA

Race to Move Money Offshore

OMV Supports New Nord Stream 1 project

For many in the ranks of China’s wealthy, the shock devaluation in the yuan last month caused regret that they hadn’t moved more money offshore sooner.

Although capital controls restrict Chinese residents from taking more than US$50,000 out of the country each year, analysts at JPMorgan said that about US$235 billion of “hot money” left the country between the 3Q of last year and the end of the 2Q of this year. Many find ways to circumvent this, reflected in the fact Chinese mainland citizens are some of the biggest foreign buyers of property in markets like Australia, the United States and Canada.

09 FINLAND

Škoda Acquires Controlling Stake in Transtech

“Residential property is always a popular choice if you are trying to move sums of money offshore. Also if you need to get more out, buying companies looks best,” said Oliver Barron, an analyst at China-focused investment bank NSBO.

Škoda announced on Tuesday that it has acquired a controlling stake in Transtech, a Finnish manufacturer of rolling stock, for an undisclosed price.

The takeover will according promote the growth and internationalisation of the rolling stock manufacturer. Transtech is hopeful that its new owner will especially boost the exports of its new tram, with Ekström admitting that the company has struggled to convince global rolling stock buyers due to its modest size. On the other side the takeover is part of the attempts of Škoda

07 MEXICO

10 ITALY

World’s Largest Tomato Exporter

EXOR Increases Their Share in The Economist

Mexico has become the leading exporter of tomatoes worldwide, its main destinations being the United States, Canada and some European countries. In 2014, Mexico produced 2.8 million tonnes of tomatoes, with exports totalling 20 billion pesos ($1.265 billion).

The investment company EXor S.p.A., controlled by the Agnelli family, announced they have increased their shareholding from 4.7 to 43.4 per cent in The Economist Group. Exor has agreed to purchase 27.8 per cent ordinary shares and 100 per cent B special shares in the Group from Pearson Group plc for a total amount of €405 million.

“By increasing our investment in The Economist we are delighted to affirm our role as one of the Group’s long-term supportive shareholders, along with the Cadbury, Layton, Rothschild and Schroder families and other individual stable investors. We have always admired the editorial integrity and thoroughly global out-

DID YOU KNOW?

Michael Jordan’s rate for personal appearances, or to be included in something like a game or video, can range anywhere from $5,000 to $500,000.

Austrian oil and gas company OMV wants to expand its cooperation with Russia’s Gazprom as part of its new strategy to be unveiled early next year.

Rainer Seele, who took over as OMV’s CEO in July, said priorities in cooperation with Gazprom included construction of two new gas pipelines via the Baltic Sea to Germany, known as Nord Stream 2, and asset swaps including the potential development of gas deposits in Siberia.

Rainer Seele defended the new Nord Stream project saying Europe needs additional volumes of Russian gas due to falling production in Britain, the Netherlands and Germany.

“Europe needs Russian gas. I don’t see any short or long-term alternatives. This should be decided by companies that import gas, not by politicians,” Seele said.

Transportation to consolidate its market position in Finland and Scandinavia The rolling stock manufacturer will continue to operate under its current name also after the takeover.

look that are the hallmarks of The Economist’s success,” said John Elkann, CEO of EXOR, who will become the Group’s single largest shareholder. It was also agreed that no one individual or company can own more than 50 per cent of the Group’s shares.

The editorial values of the newspaper will still be overseen by its independent trustees.

John Elkann, CEO at EXOR

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BUSINESS DIALOGUE

INTERVIEW

Knowledge, Experience and

Good Practice MIROSLAV PREŠERN CEO AT OVEN ELEKTRO

The role of our company in electricity production from renewable energy sources is special in terms of the transfer of knowledge, experience and good practice, and in terms of direct investment in the construction of mini hydroelectric power plants

O

ven Elektro is active in all of the aforementioned resources. It has five mini HPPs with total installed power of 2,525 kW and 18 solar plants of 612.9 kW. In terms of total production, 90% comprises hydropower potential, while the remaining 10% comes from the sun.

■ You are focused on producing electricity from renewable energy sources. How lucrative a business is that today?

- The Western Balkans is interesting in the field of renewable energy sources, likewise for the construction of mini hydro power plants, solar power plants and wind farms. Our company is active in all of these resources. We own five small hydroelectric power plants with a total installed power of 2,525 kW and 18 solar plants of 612.9 kW. In terms of total production, 90% is hydropower potential, while the remaining 10% comes from the sun.

We have amassed the most experience in producing electricity from small HPPs and producing electricity from solar plants. In our opinion, these resources are poorly exploited, mainly due to 40 |

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bureaucratic obstacles and similar situations that occurred in Slovenia, especially in the area of constructing mini HPPs. Our cooperation with the region in this area, due to good experience, is special with Serbia, and

■ You received sevral locations for the construction of mini HPPs in Serbia. Do you intend to commence implementation at these locations soon?

- Our priority is to invest in mini hydropower plants. This is mainly because the construction of mini hydro power plants is profitable even without government support of the sales price of electricity. In second place are investments in wind farms.

When it comes to building solar power plants, one should be very careful to avoid the situation

Our cooperation with the region in this area, due to good experience, is special with Serbia, and in that region we are also the most active in that region we are also the most active. Our assessment of the business model of investing in projects in Serbia to date is positive and we estimate that we will work together and that one of those projects will be implemented.

that emerged in Slovenia, where construction projects of that kind lacked state support.

■ Which renewable sources in Serbia (wind, biomass, sun, water resources) are in your

opinion the most attractive for investors?

- The role of our company in electricity production from renewable energy sources is special in terms of the transfer of knowledge, experience and good practice, and in terms of direct investment in the construction of mini hydroelectric power plants.

Besides the production of electricity from renewable energy sources, we also deal in sales of associated products, such as: sales of electrical bicycles, sales of water filters, sales of smart LED lighting for industrial facilities, maintenance and cleaning of solar power plants, issuing certificates of energy characteristics, advisory services and business education.

In our opinion, the most interesting areas for investment are water potential and wind energy, because these two sources minimise the risk to revenue and enable an expected return, even without government subsidies.

Biomass exploitation, in terms of technological and technical leading, is a very complex operation, which means it is not so interesting in cost terms. The returns in solar energy are tied inextricably to government subsidies, which is why these two sources are less interesting. ■

BUSINESS DIALOGUE

MEDIA

How Mindshare is Going

For Growth MARK CREIGHTON CEO OF MINDSHARE UK

Mindshare is a global media agency network and the home of adaptive marketing.

Mindshare’s 7,000 employees across 115 offices in 82 countries are driven by the values of speed, teamwork and provocation

M

indshare is part of GroupM, which oversees the media investment management sector for WPP, the world’s leading communications services group.

British arm of Mindshare is one of Britain’s biggest media agencies and one of the most important parts of the company.

Mark Creighton, CEO of Mindshare UK is talking to “Management Today”, on how he’s aiming to grow in an industry that’s undergoing rapid change.

■ What are the growth plans for your business?

- The media landscape is being changed hugely, by technology predominantly, so there are different ways people consume media. As a consequence of the change, lots of opportunities are emerging in terms of the roles Mindshare can play.

Over the past 15 years media agencies have gone through iterations of having to develop search products – to work with Google – and with the development of opportunities to work in mobile, you’re seeing a greater requirement to understand the applications you need to build for mobile phones.

Also you have a landscape that is constantly being affected by data. Technology is creating a lot more understanding of the ways people consume media, and therefore products and services are being developed to understand all that information and figure out which bits of that data are valuable for clients and their marketing strategy.

This landscape is an opportunity for growth and what we’re trying do is identify what our clients need as services, where are they not being fulfilled, and

main skills used to be in handling client relationships and working with people, which obviously had a trading aspect and a media planning aspect. Now, because the landscape has got these new features in it, we are having to recruit a far more diverse base of talent – both in terms of its craft skill and academic background. I’m hiring a larger proportion of people from mathematical, statistical and analytical backgrounds. We’ve also seen a diversification of the types of talent specialists we need.

One of the big challenges for the organisation is how we bring all those kinds of people together to deliver a coherent story back to our clients.

■ What are the biggest cashflow challenges your company has faced?

As an agent, a fundamental part of what we do is trading media activity on behalf of the clients working with media partners

how we can develop products to do that. But also we’re trying to attract clients that don’t work with us today and thinking about how we are showing that a media agency can evolve to make sense of this rapidly changing landscape.

■ How do you cope with the need to recruit new talent?

- Media’s going through quite a big re-engineering. The business’s

- As an agent, a fundamental part of what we do is trading media activity on behalf of the clients working with media partners.

To a certain extent we have very robust financial processes to enable us both to collect that budget from the client and pay it back out to the media partners from which we secure media. Any agent in any sphere of industry needs to make sure if it’s buying on some-

body else’s behalf then those processes need to be as robust as they possibly can be.

■ How important is technology when managing growth in your business?

- Our business is being led by technological change. In order to move more real-time information about how media is affecting our clients’ campaigns, to allow us to optimise the opportunity in real time on behalf of those clients, we have to make sure information is flowing around our business more effectively. We think an organisation that builds its own tools and technology will better fulfil that function and give people around the business a more consistent view of everything.

■ How entrepreneurial do you feel UK businesses are compared to other countries?

- I actually think they’re hugely entrepreneurial. I think while it seems like a slow trickle, a lot of that comes from younger communities and there are some amazing entrepreneurial initiatives going on at the moment.

Probably the bigger question is how do we get established business to support entrepreneurial and growing businesses. Google Ventures is a very good example – supporting startup businesses by giving them space, a networking opportunity and determining whether or not it wants to make investment funding. ■

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AFTER WORK

12

JULY

INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY

On the occasion of International Youth Day, activities were organised in 12 cities in Serbia with the aim of spreading messages about combating violence and promoting gender equality, healthy lifestyles and youth activism. The Be a Man Club, organised by Centre E8, with the support of the UN Population Fund in Serbia (UNFPA), in collaboration with local partner organisations and institutions, held activities in Vranje, Pančevo, Kruševac, Niš, Sombor, Kragujevac, Zrenjanin, Ivanjica , Kikinda, Irig, Pirot and Belgrade. “We need to invest more effort in raising awareness about the importance of young people, their civic engagement and the benefits it can have for individuals and the entire society in terms of promoting gender equality, healthy lifestyles and the fight against violence,” said Marija Raković, UNFPA programme coordinator in Serbia.

14

AUG

ALEKSANDAR ÐORĐEVIĆ AND UNIQA OPEN RECONSTRUCTED SPORTS HALL

Company UNIQA and national basketball team coach Aleksandar Ðorđević officially opened the renovated gym hall at New Belgrade’s “20th October” Primary School. It is a little known fact that this school’s gymnasium was the childhood playing court of some of the biggest stars of Yugoslav and Serbian basketball, including Jadranka Kosor, Zeljko Obradović, Aleksandar Ðorđević and Nemanja Bijelić, as well as the Partizan junior teams, which held training sessions there for 30 years. The donation included the complete replacement and installation of special floor surfaces for sports purposes, painting, lighting and padding behind the baskets – intended to ensure additional child safety.

H.E. JUICHI TAKAHARA, Japanese Ambassador to Serbia

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AUG

FAIR OF JAPANESE MARTIAL ARTS

The Japanese Embassy in Serbia and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) organised the 2nd Fair of Japanese Martial Arts at Belgrade’s Museum of Applied Art.The event was organised with the aim of interactively presenting Japanese martial arts as an authentic field of Japanese culture. In addition to attractive programmes and demonstrations of Aikido, Judo and Kendo, the Japanese Martial Arts Fair also allowed visitors to try out their skills and obtain more information on training.

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20

AUG

Photo: Ivan Urošević, ALO

23

AUG

AMBASSADOR MICHAEL KIRBY AT THE BEER FEST

The U.S. Ambassador to Serbia, H.E. Michael Kirby, was among the guests at the second night of the Belgrade Beer Fest.Kirby appeared as a distinguished guest, alongside his wife Sarah and friends, and enjoyed the performances of the bands that marked the second evening of the festival.Despite the poor weather and heavy rain, Ambassador Kirby followed the events with a glass of beer on the plateau in front of the main stage of the Belgrade Beer Fest, while more than 70,000 visitors combined to sing along to the hits of Darko Rundek and popular rappers Who See and Bad Copy. When he had already left the festival, Žika Milenković and Babe continued performing until midnight, ensuring that – despite the unexpected colder weather – the atmosphere at Ušće was both spectacular and hot.

SUBOTICA HOSTS “INTERETNO” FESTIVAL

The 14th International Festival of World Cultures, “Interetno”, has been organised by MKC Népkör and the City of Subotica. The festival this year brought together six domestic and nine foreign folklore ensembles from Chile, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Paraguay, Romania, Colombia, Russia and Serbia. “This festival has become an integral part of life in Subotica and all who come will have the opportunity to have fun through dance and play familiar to Subotica, but also other cultures and traditions,” said Subotica Mayor Jena Maglai. In addition to the music programme, there was a children’s workshop, exhibition of traditional crafts, handicraft fair, Food Village, Street Wine, Golden Gate games, Festival Club and other events.

Source: Subotica.com

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AUG

DAYS OF VRANJE

Actors of the Bora Stanković Theatre performed the play “Tašana” under the open sky in the courtyard of the house where Stanković once lived, thereby officially opening this year’s “Days of Vranje” event, which ran until 30th August. Under the auspices of this tourism and entertainment event, an ethno fair also ran on the promenade in the city centre and a presentation of local Vranje cuisine was staged in front of the National Museum. The event also included a brass memorial in honour of Bakija Bakić and the International Folklore Festival. Source: ADMINLILAS

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AUG

HEARTEFACT SCHOOL 2015 IN BAJINA BAŠTA

Bajina Bašta is hosting this year’s Summer School organised by the Heartefact Foundation for production, arts and culture. During seven days, the school brought together young people from across the region engaged in a number of areas of artistic creation. The Summer School is organised as a process of learning through the practice of teamwork in a creative process. Participants had the opportunity to attend interactive lectures by prominent experts from different fields, such as Aja Jung, director of the National Dance Foundation, Jasna Dimitrijević, director of Kolarac Endowment, Jelena Knezević, executive director of Bitef Theatre, Radovan Kupres, creative director of TBWA Luna, and Vladimir Dekić, director of the “Kolo” Ensemble, among others.

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CULTURE CALENDAR

CONCERTS

VLADO GEORGIEV

Bašta kod Juge, 4th September @ 21.00

Famous songwriter Vlado Georgiev will perform on 4th September, marking his second concert in the same location this summer.

Georgiev is one of the most interesting and certainly the most popular local musician, known for his honest, autobiographical songs, distinctive vocals and lush pop sound. His ballads are loved by both ladies and men, and his often sharp lyrics contribute to his image as a rebel and a charmer, which has followed him since the beginning of his career. Vlado will perform some of the greatest hits from his repertoire, such as "Zivim sad", "Anđele", "Šta bi prijatelji moji", "Lazljiva" and "Zbogom ljubavi", as well as the songs from his latest album "Daljina", which has been warmly received by the public.

BELGRADE SAXPERIENCE

Dom Omladine, 24th-27th September

“In addition to promoting the classical saxophone, which is not sufficiently represented on the local music scene, we are confident that the second edition of the festival will also be an opportunity for composers, saxophone players and musicians to meet and exchange experiences and make contacts with prominent saxophonists from the region and abroad,” says festival director Milan Savić.

The different features of the saxophone will be presented at nine concerts during the four-day festival.

This autumn will see Belgrade Saxperience host prominent saxophone ambassadors from France, Austria, Slovenia, Belgium, Italy, Poland, the U.S., Chile and Serbia, as well as the Big Band of Serbian Radio and Television (RTS) and the Big Chamber Orchestra.

DADO TOPIĆ

Rakovica Culture Centre, 18th September @ 21.00 Dado Topić, a musician whose talent marked the ‘80s music scene, will hold a concert at the Rakovica Culture Centre at which he will perform alongside his band and remind the audience of his numerous hits, rock classics and familiar ballads.

Once a member of legendary local band "Korni grupa", founder of "Time", he has twice competed in the Eurovision song contest and is a winner of many music festival awards, including "Porin". Author of the

The Second International Saxophone Festival, Belgrade Saxperience, will take place from 24th to 27th September at Belgrade’s Dom Omladine youth centre.

The excellent reviews from the music community and great public response following the first edition of the festival opened the door for the Belgrade Saxperience to become an integral part of the city’s musical autumn.

BITEF VA R I O U S L O C A T I O N S , 1 7 T H - 2 4 T H S E P T E M B E R

▶ Under the slogan "Memories of John Cyril", the 49th Bitef Festival will be held from 17th to 24th September and will feature ten plays from Serbia, France, Germany, Russia, Croatia and Slovenia.

According to festival selector Anja Suša, this will be the first Bitef to be held without selector Jovan Ćirilov and with the introduction of the Mira Trailović Grand Prix Award. A special award will also be presented this year, in the form of the Jovan Ćirilov BITEF Special Prize.

Suša says that Bitef fosters three lines of repertoire – international theatre, which is a kind of information to the local cultural community and the public, then the regional practices of the so-called post-Yugoslav space, and the third line introduced last year - "New Theatrical Tendencies", in which thematic orientation to political theatre will be the topic this time.

The 49th Bitef will officially open at the National Theatre in Belgrade with the show from Berlin "Murmel, Murmel"

by Dieter Roth, directed by Herbert Fritz.

The closing will feature music theatre per-

formances from Moscow in the form of "Dead Souls" by Gogol, directed by Kiril Serebrenikova.

"Common Ground" by Yael Ronen will be coming from Germany, while "Goodbye" by Jonathan Capdevielle will be coming from France (and will be played only in Novi Sad). These two plays are categorised in the genre of political theatre.

The same selection includes the Dutch-Serbian production "The Discrete Charm of Marxism" by Bojana Đorđeva, "Kompleks Ristić" by Oliver Frljić – a co-production of the Slovenian Youth Theatre in Ljubljana, the Croatian National Theatre in Rijeka, Bitef and MOT in Skopje, as well as the performance of the Centre for Cultural Decontamination "Ibsen’s enemy of the people as Brecht's plays," by Zlatko Paković.

Belgrade Culture Secretary, Vladan Vukosavljević, has recognised that next year marks the half-century of the existence of this important festival, which has marked the theatrical life of Serbia and beyond.

CULTURE NEWS

KARUSEL Č A Č A K , 1 S T- 1 3 T H A U G U S T The 7th Karusel Festival of ambient and ethnic music has been held. Created as an original project by Dušan Darijević back in 2009, it takes place within the framework of the Čačak Summer Days of Culture and is sponsored by the City of Čačak. The festival, which has been organised by the Karusel Association of Arts and Culture since 2013, has an international character and visitors have the opportunity to see and hear more than 100 solo artists and

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bands from Serbia and abroad. Karusel has a unique concept of gathering performers of traditional music in one place, but also those who are investigating the community framework of contemporary original music, different genres of world music, jazz, new rock, ambient, experimental and new art music. The festival provides a chance for young and emerging artists from Čačak, but also from all over Serbia. This year’s festival slogan is The One and Only.

Karusel has cult status in the region, especially in Slovenia, where many visitors come from each year.

This year’s festival was implemented at multiple locations within five programmes: Karusel Plus, Concerts Mondays, music workshops, Numa fest and Karusel away.

THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION M I K S A L I Š T E S AVA M A L A , 3 RD S E P T E M B E R @ 2 1 . 0 0

▶ New York is a big city with a lot of noise and it sometimes happens that music is pure noise. For almost a quarter of a century, the three members of JSBX have been playing loud music, or so-called dirty soul, urban blues, kerosene disco, pop bizarre and distorted hip-hop. They are John Spencer, Judah Bauer and Russell Timmins. JSBX is now returning to

CLASSICAL MUSIC

VOJVODINA CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

Kolarac, 13th September @ 11.00

The Serbian Ministry of Culture and Information and the Municipality of Negotin – the hometown of Mokranjac, are jointly organising the 50th Days of Mokranjac festival. One of the oldest music festivals in Serbia, Days of Mokranjac is not only a festival of choral music, but also a general overview of the Serbian music scene, its movement, development and reliance on sources of musical traditions noted by Mokranjac.

EUROPEAN DAY OF JEWISH CULTURE

Art director: Sreten Jović Soloists: Robert Lakatoč, violin, Irena Josifoska, cello Admission free

Kolarac, 6th September @ 11.00

BELGRADE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Kolarac, 20th September @ 20.00

Belgrade after 10 years and it is no exaggeration to say that we expect the greatest rock and roll show on the planet. The band will be supported by guest bands ‘Odličan hrčak’ and ‘Pop depresija’.

JSBX is currently promoting the excellent new album “Freedom Tower - No Wave Dance Party 2015”, which launches the new era of the band. Furious, chaotic, diverse and rebellious – just like the spirit of New York that inspired the band. music for the much loved TV series "Bolji Zivot" and the movie "Floyd", Dado’s most famous ballads include "Da li znaš da te volim","Verujem u ljubav" etc. He is also a member of ONE – an organisation focused on helping hungry and vulnerable people.

PIROT CULTURE DAYS

Gala Concert Conductor: Zubin Mehta V. A. Mozart: Symphony no. 41 Jupiter Mr Mahler: Symphony no.

The Jewish Chamber Orchestra and the "Braća Baruh" Serbian-Jewish Singing Society will join vocal and instrumental soloists to perform a concert dedicated to Jewish culture. The event will take place at Kolarac on 6th September from 11am.

Soloists include David Bizić, baritone, Istvan Szekely, piano, Boško Đurica, clarinet, and Ivo Profaca, mezzo soprano.

OTHER

EUROPEAN RESEARCHERS' NIGHT

TRIBUTE DAYS TO MOKRANJAC

Negotin, 11th-16th September

Every September sees a music festival held in memory of the greatest Serbian composer, Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac.

various locations, 25th September

while stimulating your mind and offering you great fun on a Friday evening.

Researchers’ Night is this being organised in Serbia for the sixth time and is funded by Horizon 2020, the EU’s biggest Research and Innovation programme, under the auspices of the Marie SkłodowskaCurie actions. This year’s event will be held in as many as nine cities, including Belgrade, Novi Sad, Zrenjanin, Subotica, Pančevo, Niš, Kragujevac, Jagodina and Ćuprija, as well as in five rural areas.

Project coordinators in Serbia are the Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering - University of Belgrade, Science Festival Belgrade and the University of Novi Sad’s Faculty of Technical Sciences.

The contents of Researchers’ Night are fresh, attractive and interactive, well-suited for all ages and not requiring any specific educational background. Moreover, all activities will give you the opportunity to associate with researchers in diverse ways, while discovering how science impacts on our everyday life.

Simply by taking a walk through the city centre or hosting Scientific Van (SVan) for a day, you will get the opportunity to hang out with researchers who will engage you in various smart and fun activities. All by yourself, you will get opportunity to create some attractive souvenirs to take home, draw famous researchers and sing karaoke with them, but also go through all phases of falling in love with science to finding out what makes a good researcher.

For programme details please visit nocistrazivaca.rs

The Night of Researchers (Noć Istrazivača) is an event organised annually throughout Europe and beyond. It takes place simultaneously in around 300 cities on the last Friday in September. This event is free of charge, ensuring it will save you money

GITARIJADA

Pirot, 1st-15th August

Zaječar, 31st July

The Pirot Culture Days event takes place each summer and lasts approximately two weeks. It enables visistors to enjoy various cultural events, starting with music, art, installations etc. Pirot’s summer is filled with cultural and artistic programmes that mainly unfold during the evening hours and attract guests and participants from all over Serbia. The events unfold throughout the city..

Gitarijada, the longest-standing international festival of non-established rock bands with authentic musical expression, was held for the 49th time on 31st July. Bringing together tens of thousands of visitors and participants from home and abroad, the festival is one of the region’s most important musical events of this kind. The aim of the event is to encourage and affirm the musical creativity of young people identified as proponents of

Rock'n'Roll, which has been a planetary phenomenon since its inception and is becoming a universal means of communication between young people and an integral segment of contemporary urban culture.

In addition to domestic performers, the festival’s review programme included the participation of many distinguished names, such as Steve Lukather, Laibach, Uriah Heep, Wishbone Ash, Ken Hensley & Live Fire, House Web's & Chicken Shake, Nightwing, Girlschool, Lace Lopez, Jimmi Rogers and others.

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FACES & PLACES

MOROCCAN NATIONAL HOLIDAY 31

JULY

H.E. Abdellah Zegour, Moroccan Ambassador to Serbia, and the staff of his embassy organised a celebration at Belgrade’s Crowne Plaza Hotel to mark the anniversary of the coronation of King Mohammed VI, who came to the throne 15 years ago. Recalling that Morocco has not recognised the independence of Kosovo, Ambassador Zegour pointed out that his country enjoys very good cooperation with Serbia. He recalled that the Embassy of Morocco in Belgrade has been working for more than five decades and that cooperation was not interrupted even during the NATO bombing of 1999. The reception was attended by the Speaker of the National Assembly of Serbia, Maja Gojković, Agriculture Minister Snezana BogosavljevićBosković and other senior officials.

H. E. MAJIDI HAMLAOUI, Ambassador of Tunisia to Serbia (left), Mrs KHADIJA OUALID, Mrs HAMLAOUI and H.E. ABDELLAH ZEGOUR

SULEJMAN UGLJANIN, President of the Party of Democratic Action of Sandžak (left), MAJA GOJKOVIC, Speaker of the National Assembly of Serbia, and H.E. ABDELLAH ZEGOUR

H.E. JEAN-DANIEL RUCH

H.E. MICHAEL DAVID KIRBY, U.S. Ambassador to Serbia, H.E. PHILIP PINNINGTON, Canadian Ambassador to Serbia, and TONY VERHEIJEN, World Bank Country Manager for Serbia

SWISS NATIONAL DAY 1

AUGUST

Switzerland and Serbia have traditionally good relations, thanks to mutual understanding – said Swiss Ambassador to Serbia JeanDaniel Ruch, welcoming numerous guests to a reception marking the 724th anniversary of the formation of the Swiss Confederation.

The reception at the Swiss ambassadorial residence included the performance of a small Swiss army orchestra. Among the guests were Commander of the Swiss Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Andre Blatman, Serbian Army Chief of Staff, General Ljubiša Diković, Princess Elizabeth Karađorđević, as well as many public figures, representatives of the diplomatic corps and representatives of the private sector. Guests were addressed by Christ Markwalder, vice president of the Swiss parliament.

INDIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY 15

AUGUST

The celebration of India’s biggest national holiday – the 69th anniversary of independence – was held at the embassy in Senjak, where Ambassador Narinder Chauhan prepared a formal reception and welcomed numerous distinguished guests, among whom were representatives of the diplomatic corps in our country and figures from the political and social life of Serbia. India celebrates Independence Day every year on 15th August, in memory of the date NARINDER CHAUHAN, Ambassador of in 1947 when India gained its inde- H.E. India, with IVICA DAČIĆ, First Serbian Deputy PM and Foreign Minister pendence from the British Empire.

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Distinguished guests enjoying bollywood dance by dance studio 'Amadeus'

70TH ANNIVERSARY OF INDONESIAN INDEPENDENCE 17

AUGUST

The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Belgrade held a flag raising ceremony at the premises of the Embassy to commemorate the Independence Day of the Republic of Indonesia. The Indonesia’s Independence was proclaimed by Indonesia’s first President and Vice President, Soekarno and M. Hatta, on 17th August 1945. The ceremony was attended by all embassy staff, members of the Indonesian community in Serbia, the NUSANTARA Friendship Association of Serbia and Indonesia and other friends of Indonesia.

After the official ceremony, led by H.E. Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to Serbia and Montenegro, Harry R.J. Kandou, celebrations continued with an additional programme that included lunch, musical entertainment and welcome prizes.

Mrs KANDOU and H.E. HARRY R.J. KANDOU

DONATION OF THE AUSTRALIAN EMBASSY AND PODRUM RADOVANOVIĆ 27

AUGUST

The Embassy of Australia in Belgrade and Winery “Podrum Radovanović” provided a donation of €30,000 for the Belgrade-based Special Hospital for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Neurology (SHCPDN). The donation was collected at the ambassador’s wine auction, held in June, and all funds collected at the auction were given to the SHCPDN for the urgent replacement of windows. Director of the Hospital, Mirjana Bošković, said that there had previously been no significant investment in the Hospital since it was built in 1972. H.E. Australian Ambassador Julia Feeney expressed hope that the works being carried out will have a positive impact on the quality of life of children and their families.

H.E. MAJID FAHIM POUR Ambassador of Iran, HOSSAM EL SAADAWY, the cultural attaché at the Embassy of Palestine, H.E. NAFSIKA KROUSTI Ambassador of Cyprus, H.E. RICARDO FERNANDO FERNANDEZ, Ambassador of Argentina, and H.E. HARRY RICHARD JAMES KANDOU, Indonesian Ambassador

H.E. NARINDER CHAUHAN, Ambassador of India, and PAOLO GRECO, General Manager, Etihad Airways Serbia

TWO MILLENNIA OF INDIAN ARCHITECTURE 21

IRENA VOJÁČKOVÁ-SOLLORANO, UN Resident Coordinator & UNDP Resident Representative to Serbia (left), H.E. JULIA FEENEY Australian Ambassador to Serbia, MIJA RADOVANOVIĆ, Owner of Podrum Radovanović, and MIRJANA BOŠKOVIĆ, Director of the Special Hospital for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Neurology in Belgrade

AUGUST

The Indian Embassy in Belgrade, in cooperation with the New Delhibased Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), marked the occasion of India’s 69th Independence Day with the staging of the exhibition “Temples, forts and palaces” at the gallery of the National Bank of Serbia from 20th to 31st August. The exhibition shows the grandeur of Indian heritage, from ancient times to the present day, demonstrating the continuous cultural tradition of this vast and ancient country, which has lasted more than 2,500 years.

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B y R A D M I L A S TA N KO V I Ć

PREVIEW: 49

TH

BITEF

▶ COMPLEX RISTIĆ is a play

In memory of

JOVAN ĆIRILOV This will be the first BITEF without Jovan Ćirilov, who – alongside the late Mira Trailović – was the central figure of this prestigious theatre festival, which will take place this year for the 49th time. This year will also mark the first time in the history of Bitef, and probably in Serbia’s recent theatre history, that BITEF, as an international festival, has received significantly less funding than the domestic Sterija’s Theatre festival

B

ITEF’s survival is a chance for the cosmopolitan spirit to conquer the provincial; a victory for freedom of choice over coercion of all kinds; a triumph for civil resistance over petty-bourgeois apathy; a win for collective creation over collective destruction. This is Mira’s, Jovan’s and our BITEF, which, with its long and glorious existence, obliges all of us – says BITEF selector Anja Suša.

First, let’s take a look at what the audience in Belgrade will see from 17th-24th September at this year’s Belgrade International Theatre Festival – BITEF. 48 |

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▶ MURMEL,

MURMEL, a play of the Volksbühne theatre from Berlin, authored by Dieter Rota, created in 2012, under the direction of Herbert Fritsch, will open the festival. Fritsch combines vaudeville and comedia dell arte equally unscrupulously, as though in a comic strip.

Cinema is present in gestures like the heritage of Buster Keaton, expressionistic silent films and, here and there, Alfred Hitchcock.

that emerged under the production of the Slovenian Youth Theatre, which initiated theatrical and archaeological research on the subject of the opus of Ljubiša Ristić, one of the most important directors of Yugoslav theatre from the second half of the 20th century. The intention of director Ivan Frljić is to use this Slovenian-CroatianMacedonian-Serbian co-production to open up discussion on Ristić's artistic strategies and their theatrical and social significance, as well as their direct political impact. The research is based primarily on productions directed by Ristić in the period from 1981 to 1985.

▶ THE ILIAD, directed by Jernej

Lornci, lasts for two hours and 40 minutes and is performed by members of the dramatic teams of the Slovenian National Theatre, the Ljubljana City Theatre and Cankar Hall, all from Ljubljana. He attempts to answer the question of why Homer's epic The Iliad is so deeply woven into the civilisation of Europe and how it is possible that this great, almost divine work of literature became a canon, dogma, almost the law for everything that followed later, when the contents of the Iliad are just human-on-human slaughter? How, when the underlying motives of the protagonists of the Iliad are mere envy, greed, lust, revenge, humiliation, inhumanity and murder?

▶ THE DEATH OF IVAN

ILYICH is by far the longest play

at the festival, lasting four hours with two breaks. It is performed by members of the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad, using Leo Tolstoy’s text.

Slovenian director Tomi Janežič places the focus of the story on the theme of living in harmony with self and what gives meaning to our lives.

▶ WE

ARE KINGS AND NOT PEOPLE come from the

Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb and is directed and choreographed

by Matija Ferlin. Using movement as a language with equal resources as performance, Ferlin created the text from material produced, through a series of workshops, by pre-school children, thereby creating a specific theatrical world, shaped by children’s logic, in which language does not have the meaning or value attached to it by adults, then creating movement that will enable such language to fulfil new meanings.

For children, language is first and foremost the way in which they learn about the world around them and within them, they use language freely and without premeditation, without thinking of it as something that has artistic value. ▶ IBSEN'S AN ENEMY

OF THE PEOPLE AS BRECHT'S TEACHINGPLAY, is set on the stage by Zlatko

Paković at the Centre for Cultural Decontamination, with help from the Norwegian Ibsen scholarship. He shows that Ibsen fights against the content of capitalist society in the form of his civic theatre, while Brecht creates a revolutionary form that is

ANJA SUŠA

able to destroy the very content of capitalist society based on the exploitation of the vast majority by an elite minority. However, Brecht needs Ibsen to remind him of how dangerous it is to have confidence in a party or a unanimous compact majority.

Selectof of BITEF

▶ THE DISCREET CHARM

OF MARXISM is the theatrical staging of Marxist texts on the class war and revolution in the form of a meal with six courses. This DutchSerbian coproduction of Bojan Đorđev invites the audience to publicly consume/read/discuss food. “Food” and the entire iconography of dining is presented through paper- and graphics-based solutions, while real food and drink is served as “books” in a library, thereby ensuring that no one remains hungry. ▶ COMMON GROUND is

a play by Israeli director Yael Ronen, with the ensemble of Berlin’s famous Maxim Gorki Theatre, that deals with the story of people who fled Yugoslavia during the 1990s and now live in Berlin. The played premiered

SURVIVAL

This year saw Anja Suša chose the festival’s plays on her own for the first time without co-selector Jovan Ćirilov, who she personally misses very much

▶ ADIEU (FAREWELL)

is performed by the Bureau Cassiopeia from Paris. Director Jonathan Capdevielle spent his teen years learning to imitate pop icons and sing the greatest pop hits from the 1980s – especially those that were performed by Madonna. Farewell is his self-portrait, a collection of songs that wander between real life and fantasy. While his play moves between music and conversation, he combines memories of his own childhood and the past that continues to mark his changing identity. On his journey, Capdevielle tries, as much as possible, to capture the personas of other, striving to discover the truest version of himself. Performed a cappella and with the support of a male choir, Farewell is a powerful study on the vulnerability of adolescence.

Battle for

on 14th February this year and one of its parts was watched by German Chancellor Angela Merkel on 7th May, under the auspices of an event marking the outbreak of World War I. For his latest project, Ronen brought together performers who came to Berlin from Belgrade, Sarajevo, Novi Sad and Prijedor. What is their point of contact?

And that is why she dedicated this year’s edition in homage to him, in a completely personal tone: “I’ll miss the annoying rustling of the cellophane wrappers of boiled sweets that he was always turning over in his pockets and which he managed – with the precision and skill of a ninja – to open in a split second in the middle of play, such that probably no one except me could notice. I’ll also miss the flash camera that he constantly used to record the events and people around him – including me, at various moments that I really hadn’t intended to remember. And he kept and remembered

▶ DEAD SOULS comes from

Moscow’s Gogol Centre Theatre and is directed by Kirill Serebrennikov. It is based on the work of Nikolai Gogol that serves as an excellent template for a new story. Collecting taxes for dead people is the brilliant business model of civil servant Chichikov, whose dramatic character finds identical representatives in the financial wizards and jugglers of our time. The wonder of this production lies in the contemporary voices of the crooks and civil servants, even though Muscovite director Kirill Serebrennikov massively surpasses the mere idea of transposing the play into the present.

Resembling some sort of puzzle in pictures, the sequence of scenes is performed through exceptional male divisions – leading the audience through a labyrinth of delusion, through the endless entertaining transformation of all performers, with a chain of absurd events in which we meet an old woman, pathetic drunks, even horses and a pack of dogs...

everything, but he never abused his long-lasting and voluminous memory. One could even say that he used it sparingly and with measure – like an expensive spice, especially in difficult and traumatic moments when we were both worried about the future of Bitef. At such times, ordinarily, he would let fly some comforting anecdote that always included some prominent theatre personalities or politicians, and which Jovan would recount somehow casually, as if he had accidentally happened to be in that situation with precisely those people, even though he was often one of the main players in the event he was recounting. He always preferred to view others – through the lens, from the theatre halls, on the street, on the television – rather than being watched himself. And that’s precisely what I'm doing right now as I write this text, which is dedicated to memories. I look at Jovan’s photo, a proposed graphic solution for this year’s poster. A black-and-white portrait, seemingly ordi-

The greatest significance and greatest value of this year’s festival is primarily in the fact that it is happening at all, given the circumstances in which Serbian culture finds itself

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to bring almost every play by Heiner Goebbels or Romeo Castellucci or the Rimini Protokoll collective, but this is partly connected with their rhythm. That was not possible this year, but I hope it will be next year.

We are already in negotiations.”

Bitef received minimal funding this year from its founder, which is the City of Belgrade, and this year it has exactly half of the funds it received a few years ago, when the trend of “austerity” in culture started.

CorD’s interlocutor sees it in the following way: “A festival of this type has its exact expenses and this is not about any kind of gluttony, but rather pure mathematics. It is known how much major European productions cost, just as it is known that the costs of an international festival are significantly greater than those of domestic festivals, and yet, for the first time in the history of Bitef, and I think in the recent history of Serbian theatre, it happened that this year the Sterija Theatre festival received considerably more funding than Bitef. I don’t know what the exact message of this relationship the current government has for Bitef, but I think that will soon be quite clear. I think something will seriously have to change in the way the financing of Bitef is perceived, because this festival, under these circumstances, will no longer be possible.

In our country it has always been very easy and popular to dissolve that which has been built with passion and torment for decades.”

For many connoisseurs of theatrical opportunities, what will be brought by the play Complex Ristić is very intriguing, and asked which of the plays she finds most intriguing, Suša admits: “That’s always difficult to predict. For now there is the most talk, which is not unexpected, about the play of Oliver Frljić, considering its subject, but it is possible that some other titles will inspire a different kind of excitement. The selection includes Russian play “Dead Souls” many plays that are exciting in different ways. teresting European artists who are on the rise, to Complex Ristić is a project that emerged out Bitef received minimal foreign guests in the especially interesting regional of the desire of the Slovenian Youth Theatre, on selection programme.” the occasion of the 60th anniversary of its existfunding this year from ence, to review its own past and the myths that Asked what she found most difficult as the seits founder, which is lector this year, she cannot fail to mention Jovan have marked it. One of the most powerful artists the City of Belgrade…. Ćirilov again, because in this very difficult battle who had a great influence on the development of I don’t know what the for the survival of Bitef, which has lasted for the the theatre was Ljubiša Ristić, who still enjoys an last few years, she finds herself completely alone almost mythical status in the context of Slovenian exact message of this for the first time: “I think all of us in the directorate theatre, both through his own theatrical legacy relationship the current that is very present in the consciousness of his of the festival experienced the departure of Ćirilov, government has for and his symbolic aura that protected all of us, in a close associates, and through other directors, successors of the tradition he established. Ristić is sivery tangible way. The creative part of my job was, Bitef, but I think that multaneously a mythical figure of Yugoslav theatre, as always, the easiest and most interesting.” will soon be quite clear who in some way both canonised and unified it by The audience mainly sees what the selector has working in all former Yugoslav republics, and Olibrought, and usually doesn’t know what the selector wanted to do and intended to bring but was unable. And thus asking ver Frljić approaches the post-Yugoslav space in a similar way – treating Suša what she wanted and was unable to bring is unavoidable? it as part of the same heritage and as a unique cultural space. It will be interesting to see the coming together of two carriers of similar convictions “Until the last moment I was fighting for the outstanding play “Father”, by celebrated Belgian group Peeping Tom. My wishes linked to with different political orientations and choices that strongly marked the Bitef always tend to exceed the realistic possibilities, so I learned to allives and artistic works of both of them. I think Frljić approaches this topic ways think about Bitef in the context of the present and avoid the devery conscientiously and is fully aware of the complexity of the Ristić phespair of “what would happen if only?” situations. I would always prefer nomenon. I am impatiently looking forward to that play. ■ nary. Jovan, the perfect viewer of many performances, appearing to look somewhere in the distance, through us, behind us, or above? When you look a little closer, in his eyes you can see two blue Bitef stars. And that’s it. That’s everything.”

In the opinion of these agile selector, the greatest significance and greatest value of this year’s festival is primarily in the fact that it is happening at all, given the circumstances in which Serbian culture finds itself, considering the budget available to it this year, which has never been lower.

“Apart from that, despite the reduced number of plays and repeat performances, I think we have ahead of us a very exciting edition of the festival, with a very diverse offer – from major festival blockbusters like the German play “Murmel-Murmel” or the Russian play “Dead Souls”, via smaller-scale international projects that present to us extremely in-

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PREVIEW GUIDE

EUROBASKET 2015

BERLIN - ZAGREB - RIGA - MONTPELLIER - LILLE

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By Aleksandar Miletić / Photo: Milan Rašić / FIBA

EUROBASKET 2015

Who Can Ruin

THE FRENCH SCENARIO? Since 1993, the host of the championship has not won the title, and the bookies now see Spain and Serbia as the biggest threat to France on the road to gold

O

n 16th September 2007, at Madrid’s Palace of sports, 16,000 T-shirts were distributed that read “Somos Campeones” (We are the champions). Volunteers handed them out to everyone in the hall, half an hour before the start of the final between Spain and Russia, and the T-shirts included the invitation: Come to the Plaza de Cibeles to celebrate the title! It was a perfect Spanish scenario in which the final act would see Pau Gasol and his teammates celebrated as heroes in front of millions of fans, on the site where Real Madrid players celebrates its titles.

However, the Russians had their own scenario, which came to fruition in the end: an American with a Russian passport, JR Holden, scored a basket just before the final buzzer to cause a shocking end to Eurobasket 2007: Spain 59:60 Russia! We don’t know what happened to whoever gave the order to print a million T-shirts with the wrong slogan, but it is certain that this match did not bring the Spaniards to their senses, who again fell foul of their excessive over confidence at the 2014 World Cup. That’s why today the French, the hosts of Eurobasket 2015, insist that they have learned a lot from Spain’s mistakes and that they know very well how tough it is for the organisers of the championship to win the title.

“The fact that in the last 22 years the host of the European Championship has failed to win the title is a sufficient warning in itself. On top of that, we also have the example of Spain, whose arrogance has cost it dearly. In France we will do our best to ensure such a thing does not happen to us. And the first prerequisite for us to reach our goal, which is the gold medal, is for each of us, and especially the players, to realise how difficult it is to justify the role of favourite on home soil,” says director for International Relations of the Basketball Association France (FFBB) Goran Radonjić, speaking to

Our wish is certainly to qualify for the Olympic Games, especially given that our team has not taken part in them since Athens in 2004. However, the goal at Eurobasket is the gold medal.

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eurobasket 2015

CorD magazine. Radonjić has refereed at several European championships and the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

France is defending its historic title at home (its first gold after two silvers and five bronze medals), which it won two years ago in Slovenia. The world’s biggest betting agents rate the hosts as favourite (William Hill has odds of 3-1), followed by Spain (3-5) and Serbia (7-5), which has been taken seriously by all since its sensational entry into the World Cup final in Spain in 2014. The narrow circle of medal contenders also includes the Greeks and Lithuanians. Most experts believe that the three who will stand on the podium in Lille on 20th September are among these five.

“To date we’ve never been labelled as favourites, but now we won’t shy away from the fact that we are,” said the best French basketball player, Eurobasket 2013 MVP and four-time NBA champion with San Antonio, Tony Parker, speaking for the FIBA Europe website.“I think this team of ours is the best France has ever had. Our goal is a gold medal. For me, Serbia, Spain and Lithuania remain as the teams that have the quality to take the title.”

France expects to receive strong support from its fans, with the knockout stage of the championships to be played at the Pierre Moreau Stadium in Lille (capacity 27,000). Among the 12 players he has at his disposal, coach Vincent Collet has as many as seven coming from the NBA (Tony Parker, Boris Diaw, Alexis Ajinca, Nicolas Batum, Rudy Gobert, Joffrey Lauvergne and Evan Fournier). All of them have been in the same system for a long time, some even since their cadet days, like the two best and most experienced players, Tony Parker and Boris Diaw. It is no secret that they wish to end their international careers in fine style on home soil, although some suggest that if this is the case then the coach could easily persuade them to appear for the championships to be played on the eve of the 2016 Rio Olympics.

ALEKSANDAR DJORDJEVIĆ, Serbian head coach

The greatest appeal of every Eurobasket championships played on the eve of the Olympic Games is that the teams have a chance to earn a place in the world’s largest sporting event.

Only finalists from Lille go directly to Brazil. Serbian coach Aleksandar Đorđević, who showed, after his glittering playing career, that he is also capable of leading the national team to the highest heights in a coaching capacity, has stressed repeatedly in recent months that the goal in France is to book a place in Rio. In a statement for CorD Magazine, he showed that in one aspect he differs greatly from most of his famous predecessors, because, unlike them, he does not offer diplomatic statements when asked about his expectations.

“Our wish is certainly to qualify for the Olympic Games, especially given that our team has not taken part in them since Athens in 2004. However, the goal at Eurobasket is the gold medal. We cannot promise that we will achieve that, but there is no doubt that everyone in our team believes we have the quality required to achieve that.”

All opponents are again afraid of the Serbian team, which is probably the greatest success of coach Đorđević. A solid victory in the preparatory match against France at Belgrade’s Kombank Arena instilled further confidence among the players, who received with a heavy heart the news that Boban Marjanović (222cm) will not play in Eurobasket 2015. Plenty of dust was raised about the best centre of the first round of last season’s Euroleague, but in the end all that remained was the final decision of

For the first time in the history of Eurobasket, which has been organised since 1935, four countries will be hosts: France, Germany, Croatia and Latvia. The best four teams from each group will advance to the last-16 phase, to be played in Lille

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Marjanović’s new club, San Antonio, that he cannot play basketball for to lead it to medals on his own. Much will depend on a good position in a few weeks – even though American doctors confirmed the diagnosis the group, since any coming together with France or Spain in the last-16 of their Serbian colleagues that there is no fracture of the foot or anyround or the quarter-finals will mean a certain end to the medal hopes of thing similar. Nevertheless, Serbia will be deprived of the help of the the majority of these teams. player who dominated last season in the paint in the Euroleague and Greece deserves special attention, because it has several players was among the most worthy for ensuring one of the most successful who can destroy any opponent on their day. First among those is Vassilis seasons in Red Star’s history.

Spanoulis, who has shown repeatedly with Olympiakos that he does not The meeting between Serbia and Spain in the first round of Group B respect favourites. The Greeks have four players from the NBA: Nick Calathes (Memphis), Kostas Papanikolaou (Houston), Kosta Koufos (Memin Berlin (5th September) could determine the fate of these two teams phis) and Giannis Antetokounmpo in the championship. That’s because (Milwaukee). In addition to Zizis and only the team that takes top spot in Spanoulis, the team includes another the group can be guaranteed that it player who won gold in Belgrade will not meet France before the final. The Spaniards will arrive highly ten years ago – Real Madrid Centre motivated and possibly in vengeIoannis Bourousis. The team, led by ful mood after their collapse in the head coach Fotsis Kacikaris, includes World Cup last year (having been almost all players who have long defeated by France in the quarter-fiplayed for the best European clubs nals in the middle of Madrid). Coach (except those in the NBA) and have Sergio Scariolo cannot count on the Euroleague experience. four aces - Marc Gasol, Juan Carlos For the first time in the history of Navarro, José Calderón, and Ricky the Eurobasket competition, which Rubio – but he still has enough has been played since 1935, four good players to fight for gold. After countries will be joint organisers: all, it is enough to say - Pau Gasol!

France, Germany, Croatia and Latvia.

Scariolo decided to grant the Each will host a group - Montpellier place for a naturalised player in (A), Berlin (B), Zagreb (C) and Riga the national team to Chicago Bulls (D) – while the French will also organise the finals in Lille, from the player Nikola Mirotić, a former Real last-16 stage to the final duel (11thMadrid player who is actually a Montenegrin. He will thus succeed Serge 20th September).

Ibaka (born in Congo), who played for It was originally decided that the Spanish at three of the last four Ukraine would host Eurobasket major tournaments.

2015, but the championships were “It’s not a question of who is the subsequently taken away from the better of the two, because they are country because of the state of war. both great players, but with different That’s why FIBA Europe decided to For the first time in the history of the characteristics. I think that Mirotić finally try its concept, which has Eurobasket competition, which has deserved a chance after his games been played since 1935, four countries been previously suggested by some, for Spain in the youth categories,” in the belief that it will prove more will be joint organisers: France, said Scariolo, speaking for the FIBA cost-effective.

Germany, Croatia and Latvia. The Europe website.

Another innovation is that every Organisers expect to sell a total of half a host country was able to choose one Mirotić agrees with teammates million tickets, far surpassing the record opponent prior to the draw, and each Pau Gasol and Rudy Fernandez that set in 2011 and 2013 (around 320,000) opted for a country that could bring Spain’s goal should be a gold medal. And he does not mind what this them the most money. Thus, the team finds itself in the “group of death” (among the bookmakers’ 11 faFrench chose the Finns, the Germans chose the Turks, the Croats picked vourites, five come from group B: Spain, Serbia, Turkey, Italy and Germany). the Slovenes and the Latvians opted for Estonia. As such, it is expected “I think it’s better for us that we are in a tough group, because that’s a that, unlike the previous championships, where there were plenty of empty sign that we have to go strong from the start. We are focused on the first seats during some first round games, this time all games will be sold match against Serbia, who will come on the back of a great result from last out. When one looks at the capacity of the halls multiplied by the five year’s World Cup in Spain. It is good for us to immediately raise the bar high competition days, each host will be financially better off (also considering and then go step by step.” other income): Mercedes-Benz Arena (Berlin, 13,650), Park Suites Arena Other medal candidates include Greece, Lithuania, Croatia, Italy, Slove(Montpellier, 10,700) Riga Arena (Riga, 12,500) and Arena Zagreb (Zagreb, nia, Russia, Turkey and Germany, which is in that group thanks only to Dirk 15,200). This is especially true for the French, who will also stage the final Nowitzki – though it is difficult to believe that he will once again be able stage at Pierre Moreau Stadium (Lille, 27000). ■ 6 |

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eurobasket 2015

By Aleksandar Miletić / Photo: Milan Rašić

Turning Point

FOR SERBIA

Eurobasket 2015 is extremely important for the Serbian national team, for several reasons. First of all, due to the possibility of qualification for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and then to show that the team’s success at the 2014 World Cup in Spain (silver medal) was not a fluke

A

lthough Serbia does not have the strength of the former Yugoslavia (five gold medals from 1973 to 1991), it is definitely the main heir to that tradition, not only in a legal sense, but also in terms of basketball strength (the three gold medals of FR Yugoslavia from 1995 to 2001 were won, so to speak, by only Serbian players).

Coach Aleksandar Đorđević is on the brink of preparing to extend his contract with the Basketball Association of Serbia (KSS) until the 2019 World Cup in China, which was a good move by KSS President Dragan Đilas. Đorđević will continue his job even though he has signed for Panathinaikos, which sees in him a new saviour after the departure of Željko Obradović.

In his courageous style, he has announced the onslaught on gold at Eurobasket 2015. However, there is no doubt he would be satisfied, along with every objective basketball fan in Serbia, of earning a place in Rio. Experts rightly suggest that it is more difficult to qualify for the Olympic Games than to win a medal at them, which is best evidenced by the fact that only the Eurobasket finalists receive a “pass”.

Just a month ahead of the Eurobasket tournament, FIBA decided to increase the number of teams that will go to the World Olympic Qualifications in 2016. This will most likely mean that the match for seventh place in Lille (previously the limit was six positions) will have great significance. Đorđević did not comment at all on this decision of FIBA, probably because he does not think that his team can fall to such a low branch.

Judging by the preparations, particularly the match against France in Belgrade and the games of Acibadem Trophy, the Serbian team rightly expects to make the final. Đorđević no longer needs to convince his players what they’re worth, as he did last summer, when some found it strange (including team captain Nenad Krstić) when he promised to take them to the final. After many years, Serbia has a group of outstanding players who not only play for good clubs, but also play important roles for them.

Nemanja Bjelica could be one of the major figures at this year’s Eurobasket. He has just completed a great season at Fenerbahce and won the MVP title for the Euroleague, while he arrives at the championships as a new player of Minnesota. Together with him, captain Miloš Teodosić (CSKA) and Bogdan Bogdanović (Fenerbahce) make a powerful trio that can crush any rival on their day.

The absence Boban Marjanović (222 cm) is a major handicap, because coach Đorđević had a special tactic with him, which is not feasible with other players. However, in the paint that should not be a problem, because there Miroslav Raduljica, Ognjen Kuzmić (both signed for Panathinaikos with their coach) and Nikola Milutinov (Olympiakos’s latest player). ■

Note: This issue of CorD was submitted to print on 30th August. The deadline set by FIBA for national basketball federations to submit their final squad is 48 hours before the 5th September start of Eurobasket 2015.

The rosters published in this issue are derived from national basketball associations and FIBA, as well as through interviews and research. We apologise for any possible mistakes or omissions. eurobasket 2015

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A

Players to Watch

GROUP

RUSSIA

Vitaly Fridzon

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

FRANCE

Nihad Djedovic

Tony Parker

RUSSIA Head Coach: Evgeny Pashutin NAME Pavel Antipov Semen Antonov Andrei Desiatnikov Vitaly FridzonS Dmitry Khvostov Dmitrii Kulagin Nikita Kurbanov Sergey Monya Timofey Mozgov Ruslan Pateev Anton Ponkrashov Egor Vyaltsev Andrey Zubkov

POS. F PF C G PG GF SF SF C C SG SG PF

HEIGHT 2.04 2.02 2.20 1.95 1.90 1.97 2.02 2.02 2.15 2.13 2.00 1.93 2.05

AGE 24 26 21 30 26 23 29 32 29 25 29 29 24

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA Head Coach: Dusko Ivanovic NAME Drasko Albijanic Nedim Buza Nemanja Gordic Elmedin Kikanovic Milan Milosevic Muhamed Pasalic Dalibor Persic Gregory Renfroe Andrija Stipanovic Marko Sutalo Miroslav Todic Adin Vrabac

POS. F SG PG C SF SG SF PG C SG PF SF

HEIGHT 2.08 2.02 1.94 2.10 2.00 1.94 1.95 1.90 2.08 1.93 2.05 2.02

AGE 29 25 27 27 30 28 30 29 29 32 30 21

FRANCE Head Coach: Vincent COLLET NAME Alexis Ajinca Nicolas Batum Nando de Colo Boris Diaw Antoine Diot Evan Fournier MickaĂŤl Gelabale Rudy Gobert Charles Kahudi Joffrey Lauvergne Tony Parker Florent Pietrus

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POS. C GF G PF PG SG GF G SF FC PG PF

HEIGHT 2,16 2,03 1,96 2,03 1,92 1,99 2,02 2,15 1,97 2,09 1,86 2,02

AGE 27 27 28 33 26 23 32 23 29 24 33 34

FINLAND

Jamar Wilson

POLAND

ISRAEL

AJ Slaughter

Gal Mekel

FINLAND Head Coach: Henrik Dettmann NAME Roope Ahonen Joonas CavĂŠn Shawn Huff Ville Kaunisto Mikko Koivisto Petteri Koponen Tuukka Kotti Gerald Lee Erik Jay Murphy Matti Nuutinen Sasu Salin Jamar Wilson

POS. PG PF SG PF GF PG PF PF PF SG SG G

HEIGHT 1.87 2.11 1.98 2.04 1.94 1.94 2.05 2.08 2.08 2.00 1.91 1.85

AGE 25 23 31 33 28 27 34 28 25 25 24 29

HEIGHT 1.93 2.00 2.01 2.11 1.93 2.15 1.87 2.05 1.96 1.91 1.99 1.93

AGE 27 28 25 31 29 22 31 28 22 28 26 29

HEIGHT 1.99 2.04 2.17 1.93 2.03 2.11 2.02 1.91 1.90 1.86 1.91 2.17 1.93

AGE 22 27 29 21 30 33 27 31 27 34 28 29 29

POLAND Head Coach: Mike Taylor NAME Dardan Berisha Aaron Cel Aleksander Czyz Marcin Gortat Karol Gruszecki Przemyslaw Karnowski Lukasz Koszarek Damian Kulig Mateusz Ponitka AJ Slaughter Adam Waczynski Przemyslaw Zamojski

POS. SG SF PF C F C PG PF SF SG SG SF

ISRAEL Head Coach: Erez Edelstein NAME Oz Blayzer Omri Casspi Alexey Chubrevich Shawn Dawson Lior Eliyahu Dor Fischer Elishay Kadir Raviv Limonad Gal Mekel Afik Nissim Yogev Ohayon Boris Rothbart Dagan Yivzori

POS. PF SF C SF SF C PF SG PG PG PG C SG

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B

Players to Watch

GROUP

ICELAND

Pavel Ermolinskij

SPAIN

TURKEY

Sinan Güler

Pau Gasol

ICELAND Head Coach: Craig Pedersen NAME Hlynur Baeringsson Pavel Ermolinskij Logi Gunnarsson Martin Hermannsson Axel Kárason Helgi Magnússon Ragnar Nathanaelsson Haukur Pálsson Jakob Sigurdarson Jon Stefansson Aegir Steinarsson Hördur Vilhjálmsson

POS. PF PG SG PG SF SF C SF PG G PG PG

HEIGHT 2.00 2.02 1.92 1.90 1.92 1.92 2.18 1.97 1.92 1.96 1.82 1.90

AGE 33 28 34 20 32 33 24 23 33 33 24 27

HEIGHT 2.07 2.12 1.85 2.11 1.92 2.07 2.08 2.00 1.91 2.01 2.11 1.97

AGE 24 29 26 29 31 27 28 18 25 20 28 20

HEIGHT 1.91 1.92 1.92 1.96 1.96 1.99 2.06 2.08 2.05 2.13 2.06 2.08

AGE 29 28 22 28 30 31 30 24 26 35 35 21

TURKEY Head Coach: Ergin Ataman NAME Furkan Aldemir Ömer Asik Dogus Balbay Semih Erden Sinan Güler Baris Hersek Ersan Ilyasova Furkan Korkmaz Melih Mahmutoglu Cedi Osman Oguz Savas Kenan Sipahi

POS. PF C PG C SG PF PF SG SG SG C PG

SPAIN Head Coach: Sergio SCARIOLO NAME Sergio Rodriguez Sergio Llull Guillem Vives Pau Ribas Rudy Fernandez Fernando San Emeterio Victor Claver Nikola Mirotic Pablo Aguilar Pau Gasol Felipe Reyes Guillermo Hernangómez

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POS. PG PG PG SG SF SF PF PF PF C C C

SERBIA

Nemanja Bjelica

ITALY

GERMANY

Marco Belinelli

Dirk Nowitzki

SERBIA Head Coach: Aleksandar Djordjevic NAME Nemanja Bjelica Bogdan Bogdanovic Nikola Milutinov Zoran Erceg Nikola Kalinic Ognjen Kuzmic Stefan Markovic Nemanja Nedovic Miroslav Raduljica Marko Simonovic Vladimir Stimac Milos Teodosic

POS. F SG C PF SF PF PG G C SF C PG

HEIGHT 2.09 1.98 2.12 2.10 2.02 2.06 1.95 1.92 2.13 2.01 2.11 1.95

AGE 27 23 20 30 24 25 27 24 27 29 28 28

HEIGHT 1.94 2.13 1.96 2.12 1.93 2.11 2.03 1.92 2.05 2.00 1.90 1.99 2.05

AGE 26 29 29 24 29 30 27 22 27 22 25 27 24

HEIGHT 2.08 2.00 1.89 2.01 1.92 2.13 2.18 1.83 1.89 1.90 1.92 2.11 2.02

AGE 26 24 31 30 23 37 26 31 22 27 25 23 21

ITALY Head Coach: Simone Pianigiani NAME Pietro Aradori Andrea Bargnani Marco Belinelli Riccardo Cervi Andrea Cinciarini Marco Cusin Luigi Datome Amedeo Della Valle Danilo Gallinari Alessandro Gentile Stefano Gentile Daniel Hackett Nicolò Melli

POS. SG C SG C PG C PF SG SF SF PG PG PF

GERMANY Head Coach: Emir MUTAPCIC NAME Robin Benzing Niels Giffey Anton Gavel Alex King Maodo Lo Dirk Nowitzki Tibor Pleiss Heiko Schaffartzik Dennis Schröder Karsten Tadda Akeem Vargas Johannes Voigtmann Paul Zipser

POS. SF SF PG SF PG PF C PG PG SG SG C SG

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C

Players to Watch

GROUP

NETHERLANDS

Worthy De Jong

GREECE

CROATIA

Kostas Papanikolaou

Bojan Bogdanovic

NETHERLANDS Head Coach: Toon VAN HELFTEREN NAME Kees Akerboom Yannick Franke Nicolas de Jong Worthy de Jong Mohamed Kherrazi Charlon Kloof Henk Norel Ralf de Pagter Roeland Schaftenaar Arvin Slagter Robin Smeulders Leon Williams

POS. SF SG C SG SF PG C SF PF SG PF PG

HEIGHT 2.00 1.94 2.10 1.94 2.00 1.90 2.12 2.00 2.11 1.92 2.08 1.89

AGE 32 19 27 27 25 25 27 21 27 30 28 24

HEIGHT 2.08 2.13 1.97 2.05 2.13 1.95 2.03 2.03 2.05 1.98 1.92 1.96

AGE 21 32 27 32 26 25 25 31 30 25 33 32

HEIGHT 2.15 2.00 2.01 2.08 1.97 2.06 2.17 1.96 2.11 2.12 2.08 1.81

AGE 26 26 20 21 30 30 28 31 31 25 29 31

GREECE Head Coach: Fotis Katsikaris NAME Giannis Antetokounmpo Yannis Bourousis Nick Calathes Kostas Kaimakoglou Kostas Koufos Evangelos Mantzaris Kostas Papanikolaou Stratos Perperoglou Georgios Printezis Kostas Sloukas Vassilis Spanoulis Nikos Zisis

POS. GF C PG PF C PG F F F PG SG SG

CROATIA Head Coach: Velimir Perasovic NAME Miro Bilan Bojan Bogdanovic Mario Hezonja Dario Saric Krunoslav Simon Marko Tomas Ante Tomic Roko Leni Ukic Luka Zoric Tomislav Zubcic Damjan Rude탑 Dontaye Draper

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POS. C SG SF PF SG SG C PG C PF F PG

SLOVENIA

Zoran Dragic

FYR MACEDONIA

GEORGIA

Predrag Samardjiski

Giorgi Shermadini

SLOVENIA Head Coach: Jurij Zdovc NAME Jure Balazic Jaka Blazic Ziga Dimec Zoran Dragic Nebojsa Joksimovic Jaka Klobucar Mitja Nikolic Alen Omic Klemen Prepelic Luka Rupnik Uros Slokar Sasa Zagorac

POS. PF G C GF G SG SF C G PG PF C

HEIGHT 2.04 1.96 2.12 1.96 1.93 1.98 2.04 2.15 1.91 1.86 2.10 2.06

AGE 35 25 23 26 33 28 24 23 22 22 27 31

HEIGHT 1.97 2.02 2.03 1.87 2.03 1.88 2.07 2.15 1.92 1.96 1.94 1.97

AGE 26 23 28 35 27 27 20 29 26 27 27 29

HEIGHT 2.03 1.92 1.96 2.11 2.10 1.83 1.96 2.03 2.10 2.07 2.16 1.92

AGE 21 29 29 24 31 26 23 29 25 24 26 29

FYR MACEDONIA Head Coach: Marijan Srbinovski NAME Vladimir Brckov Stojan Gjuroski Richard Hendriks Vlado Ilievski Marjan Janeski Aleksandar Kostoski Ljubomir Mladenovski Predrag Samardjiski Marko Simonovski Damjan Stojanovski Vojdan Stojanovski Bojan Trajkovski

POS. SF PF PF PG C PG C C SG SG SG SF

GEORGIA Head Coach: Igor Kokoskov NAME Beka Burjanadze Besik Lezhava Manuchar Markoishvili Nika Metreveli Zaza Pachulia Jacob Pullen Duda Sanadze Viktor Sanikidze George Sharabidze Tornike Shengelia Giorgi Shermadini George Tsintsadze

POS. PF SG SF PF C PG SF SF C PF C PG

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D

Players to Watch

GROUP

ESTONIA

Gregor Arbet

LATVIA

LITHUANIA

Andrejs Selakovs

Jonas Valanciunas

ESTONIA Head Coach: Tiit Sokk

Photo: index.hr

NAME Gregor Arbet Gert Dorbek Martin Dorbek Reinar Hallik Kristjan Kangur Erik Keedus Tanel Kurbas Sten Sokk Tanel Sokk Janar Talts Joosep Toome Rain Veideman Siim-Sander Vene

POS. SF SG PG C SF PG SG PG PG PF PF SG SF

HEIGHT 1.95 1.93 1.98 2.08 2.01 1.97 1.98 1.81 1.88 2.07 2.08 1.92 2.03

AGE 32 30 24 31 33 25 27 26 30 32 30 24 25

HEIGHT 1.92 2.11 1.91 2.10 1.86 1.95 1.95 2.08 2.07 2.11 1.91 2.01

AGE 26 30 33 27 22 32 24 24 24 25 26 22

HEIGHT 2.00 2.08 1.93 2.05 2.11 1.95 2.07 2.05 1.80 1.98 1.95 2.05 1.96 2.10

AGE 28 22 26 31 35 29 31 26 21 29 29 19 30 23

LATVIA Head Coach: Ainars Bagatskis NAME Dairis Bertans Kaspars Berzins Janis Blums Rolands Freimanis Ingus Jakovics Kristaps Janicenoks Haralds Karlis Martins Meiers Mareks Mejeris Davis Rozitis Janis Strelnieks Janis Timma

POS. SG PF SG PF PG G GF FC F C PG SF

LITHUANIA Head Coach: Jonas Kazlauskas NAME Deividas Gailius Arturas Gudaitis Zygimantas Janavicius Paulius Jankunas Robertas Javtokas Mantas Kalnietis Antanas Kavaliauskas Mindaugas Kuzminskas Lukas Lekavicius Jonas Maciulis Arturas Milaknis Domantas Sabonis Renaldas Seibutis Jonas Valanciunas

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POS. PF C G PF C PG C F G F SG C GF C

UKRAINE

Viacheslav Kravtsov

BELGIUM

CZECH REPUBLIC

Axel Hervelle

Jan Vesely

UKRAINE Head Coach: Yevgen Murzin NAME Kyrylo Fesenko Maxym Korniyenko Pavlo Krutous Denys Lukashov Oleksandr Lypovyy Olexandr Mishula Artem Pustovyi Maksym Pustozvonov Oleksandr Sizov Stanislav Tymofeyenko Jerome Randle Ihor Zaytsev

POS. C PF G PG SG PG C F SF PF PG C

HEIGHT 2.16 2.04 1.97 1.88 2.01 1.89 2.18 2.00 1.98 2.01 1.75 2.07

AGE 28 27 23 26 25 23 23 28 27 26 28 26

HEIGHT 1.75 2.04 2.01 2.04 1.98 1.98 1.95 1.93 1.90 1.84 2.06 1.88

AGE 34 28 24 33 30 32 26 25 25 30 24 29

HEIGHT 2.06 2.16 2.02 2.16 2.03 2.00 1.98 1.90 2.05 2.00 1.98 2.11 2.00

AGE 26 23 35 35 31 29 25 25 20 24 32 25 35

BELGIUM Head Coach: Eddy CASTEELS NAME Lionel Bosco Maxime De Zeeuw Pierre-Antoine Gillet Axel Hervelle Matthew Lojeski Wen Mukubu Jean-Marc Mwema Jean Salumu Quentin Serron Jonathan Tabu Kevin Tumba Sam Van Rossom

POS. PG PF SF PF SF F F SF G G C PG

CZECH REPUBLIC Head Coach: Ronen Ginzburg NAME Patrik Auda Ondrej Balvín Lubos Barton Ales Chan Pavel Houska Vojtech Hruban David Jelinek Radim Klecka Adam Pechacek Tomás Satoransky Blake Schilb Jan Vesely Jiri Welsch

POS. C C PF C PF SG GF G PF PG SF PF SG

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GROUP A Montpellier, France

Russia Bosnia and Herzegovina France Finland Poland Israel

GROUP B Berlin, Germany

Iceland Turkey Spain Serbia Italy Germany

GROUP C Zagreb, Croatia

Netherlands Greece Croatia Slovenia FYR Macedonia Georgia

GROUP D Riga, Latvia

Estonia Latvia Lithuania Ukraine Belgium Czech Republic

EUROBASKE T 2015 Schedule

Serbia won silver in the 2014 World Basketball Championship

05.09.2015.

A/2 15:00 B/1 15:00 C/1 15:00 D/1 15:30 A/1 17:30 B/3 18:00 C/2 18:00 D/2 18:30 A/3 21:00 B/2 21:00 C/3 21:00 D/3 21:30 06.09.2015.

A/4 15:00 B/5 15:00 C/4 15:00 D/4 15:30 A/5 17:30 B/4 18:00 C/5 18:00 D/6 18:30 A/6 21:00 B/6 21:00 C/6 21:00 D/5 21:30 07.09.2015.

A/7 15:00 D/8 15:30 A/9 17:30 D/9 18:30 A/8 21:00 D/7 21:30 08.09.2015.

B/7 14:30 C/7 15:00 B/9 17:45 C/9 18:00 B/8 21:00 C/8 21:00

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Poland vs Bosnia and Herzegovina Germany vs Iceland Georgia vs Netherlands Czech Republic vs Estonia Israel vs Russia Spain vs Serbia FYR Macedonia vs Greece Belgium vs Latvia France vs Finland Italy vs Turkey Croatia vs Slovenia Lithuania vs Ukraine

Montpellier, FRA Berlin, GER Zagreb, CRO Riga, LAT Montpellier, FRA Berlin, GER Zagreb, CRO Riga, LAT Montpellier, FRA Berlin, GER Zagreb, CRO Riga, LAT

Russia vs Poland Serbia vs Germany Netherlands vs FYR Macedonia Estonia vs Belgium Finland vs Israel Iceland vs Italy Slovenia vs Georgia Latvia vs Lithuania Bosnia and Herzegovina vs France Turkey vs Spain Greece vs Croatia Ukraine vs Czech Republic

Montpellier, FRA Berlin, GER Zagreb, CRO Riga, LAT Montpellier, FRA Berlin, GER Zagreb, CRO Riga, LAT Montpellier, FRA Berlin, GER Zagreb, CRO Riga, LAT

Finland vs Russia Lithuania vs Belgium Israel vs Bosnia and Herzegovina Czech Republic vs Latvia France vs Poland Ukraine vs Estonia

Montpellier, FRA Riga, LAT Montpellier, FRA Riga, LAT Montpellier, FRA Riga, LAT

Serbia vs Iceland Slovenia vs Netherlands Germany vs Turkey Georgia vs Greece Spain vs Italy Croatia vs FYR Macedonia

Berlin, GER Zagreb, CRO Berlin, GER Zagreb, CRO Berlin, GER Zagreb, CRO

PREVIEW GUIDE |

eurobasket 2015

09.09.2015.

B/11 14:30 Turkey vs Serbia A/11 15:00 Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Finland C/11 15:00 Greece vs Slovenia D/12 15:30 Belgium vs Czech Republic A/12 17:30 Poland vs Israel B/12 17:45 Italy vs Germany C/12 18:00 FYR Macedonia vs Georgia D/11 18:30 Latvia vs Ukraine A/10 21:00 Russia vs France B/10 21:00 Ieland vs Spain C/10 21:00 Netherlands vs Croatia D/10 21:30 Estonia vs Lithuania 10.09.2015.

B/15 14:30 Serbia vs Italy A/15 15:00 Finland vs Poland C/15 15:00 Slovenia vs FYR Macedonia D/15 15:30 Ukraine vs Belgium A/13 17:30 Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Russia B/14 17:45 Germany vs Spain C/14 18:00 Georgia vs Croatia D/13 18:30 Latvia vs Estonia A/14 21:00 Israel vs France B/13 21:00 Turkey vs Iceland C/13 21:00 Greece vs Netherlands D/14 21:30 Czech Republic vs Lithuania 12.09.2015.

61/A Team(B/2) vs Team(A/3) 62/A Team(C/1) vs Team(D/4) 63/A Team(A/1) vs Team(B/4) 64/A Team(D/2) vs Team(C/3) 13.09.2015.

65/A Team(B/1) vs Team(A/4) 66/A Team(C/2) vs Team(D/3) 67/A Team(A/2) vs Team(B/3) 68/A Team(D/1) vs Team(C/4) 15.09.2015.

69/A Winner of (61) vs Winner of (62) 70/A Winner of (63) vs Winner of (64) 16.09.2015.

71/A Winner of (65) vs Winner of (66) 72/A Winner of (67) vs Winner of (68) 17.09.2015.

73/A Loser of (69) vs Loser of (70) 75/A Winner of (69) vs Winner of (70) 18.09.2015.

74/A Loser of (71) vs Loser of (72) 76/A Winner of (71) vs Winner of (72) 20.09.2015.

77/A 14:00 Loser of (75) vs Loser of (76) 78/A 19:00 Winner of (75) vs Winner of (76)

Berlin, GER Montpellier, FRA Zagreb, CRO Riga, LAT Montpellier, FRA Berlin, GER Zagreb, CRO Riga, LAT Montpellier, FRA Berlin, GER Zagreb, CRO Riga, LAT Berlin, GER Montpellier, FRA Zagreb, CRO Riga, LAT Montpellier, FRA Berlin, GER Zagreb, CRO Riga, LAT Montpellier, FRA Berlin, GER Zagreb, CRO Riga, LAT Lille, FRA Lille, FRA Lille, FRA Lille, FRA Lille, FRA Lille, FRA Lille, FRA Lille, FRA Lille, FRA Lille, FRA Lille, FRA Lille, FRA Lille, FRA Lille, FRA Lille, FRA Lille, FRA Lille, FRA Lille, FRA

INTERVIEW

IVAN ERGIĆ

Former national team footballer

Football Reflects the

SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT I really don't understand people, primarily football supporters, who think that football differs from the overall social environment. Over and over again, people have been asking for the dismissal of certain individuals and officials, like that would solve the problem. The problem lies in the structure, the system and corruption, which is unprecedented er people my experiences and views on the current situation, because I think it’s vital for them to become free thinkers first and everything else second.

■ As a professional footballer, you played in Australia, Italy, Switzerland and Turkey, as well as for the Serbia & Montenegro national team in 2006. What kind of experiences have you gained?

Like everything in life, I have mixed experiences and emotions, but if you are brutally honest towards yourself, then you can clearly remember the moments of exuberance and resignation. However, I am enriched by the experiences gained from this very particular line of work, which gave me a lot, but also took a lot from me. This is a truthful platitude.

I

van Ergić (34) is a former professional footballer who played for the national team of Serbia & Montenegro and major European clubs in a career that started in Australia, continued at Italian Juventus and Swiss club FC Basel and ended at Turkish FC Bursaspor. He has been a columnist for daily Politika and in this issue of CorD Ergić talks about the current situation in Serbian football, which has been damaged by decades of wrong decisions, a lack of transparency and even criminal activities.

■ You kept a low profile for a while. Where were you and how are you currently engaged?

- I’m doing bits and bobs. I’m trying to get engaged in some form

of activism, but, as with everything in Serbia, it’s very difficult and requires great enthusiasm. I’ve also been trying to relay to young-

■ What is your explanation of the evident failures in Serbian football, on one side, and the huge successes in other group sports, like water polo and basketball, on the other?

- Well, our young football team achieved great success recently and,

although that doesn't carry the same weight globally, it is still a success.

We should not forget that the competition in football is much tougher than in other sports and in saying this I am really not trying to undermine the success achieved by our basketball, water polo and volleyball teams. When, for instance, we say that we are world basketball champions, people often forget that the fifth or the sixth best U.S. basketball club would probably beat our national team. The analogy of this would be our national football team winning a championship without Brazil, Germany, France, Argentina, Portugal and The Netherlands competing for the same title. Realistically, sport in our country sport survives on enthusiasm and the huge commitment of our players – as opposed to systematic work and support.

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■ Who is to blame for the current situation in Serbian football?

- Everybody and anybody who is influential. This is not about one

or two individuals, although there is a certain hierarchy and people who hold a lot of power. Most things cannot even happen without the involvement of FC Red Star, FC Partizan and the Serbian FA. These clubs have huge social significance and are national brands, as some people like to point out. Football is influential, and both politics and politicians also influence the football scene.

■ Clubs often sell talented players before they turn 18, allegedly due to a lack of money. Could you tell us something about the trajectory of this money – with estimates suggesting that tens of millions of euros are exchanged annually in this way? Some blame inadequate laws, while some say more money ends up in the hands of certain officials than clubs. What is your take on this problem?

- Managers and clubs work together, as that is the easiest way to

cover the money tracks. Managers are considered the middlemen and, though that appears legal, everything is done through so-called kick-backs.

Managers split their fee with the club officials in charge of preparing the groundwork for player transfers. This practice is not new and is well known in the world of business crime. However, because of the peculiar way in which football clubs are established, it is much easier for them to get away with this practice. Clubs are still considered public entities; they are not transparent and nobody formally controls them. On the other hand, these so-called managers take care of other business – like pressuring players and their parents, which often turns into racketeering that comes at a high price later.

Pressure is also exerted on club management and coaches on behalf of managers’ protégées; they are blackmailed, threatened and even physically abused. All of this exists in our football, but is considered an open secret. The players are forced into accepting all of it if they want to make it big in football, because there is no other alternative.

■ It took former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher only a year to bring order to British football, both in terms of players and football associations. Why hasn’t this been done in Serbia?

- I am against repressive measures and draconian

sanctions, so I’m not a fan of what Thatcher did. That was a continuation of the repression of trade unions and other “disruptive factors” in the UK at that time and with that she destroyed the traditional fan culture. If we were to do this in our football, most things, but mainly hooliganism, would just spill over into sports halls and other sports. The behaviour you see at stadiums is just a result of the barbarisation of our society, which, again, stems from poverty. Criminal activities in football are a completely different thing that the state authorities should tackle within the scope of their usual crime fighting activities. What we have here is a situation where club officials are 68 |

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also very influential and powerful people in government bodies, and by that I mean politicians and other officials. In that case, how can you expect so-called law enforcement and judicial bodies to do their job and for us to trust the state authorities?!

■ What do you think of the recent failure of our senior national football team and the incredible success of our youth team?

Why do you think our best footballers achieve outstanding results in foreign clubs but don't play with the same zeal for the national team?

- I disagree. I can honestly say that most national team players are mo-

tivated when they play for the Serbia national team. Of course, there are those who don't take it very seriously or see it as a bit of a breather from playing for their clubs, which is increasingly strenuous.

Truth be told, players are paid by clubs and I think this is the root of all the stories about not being motivated or patriotic enough. However,

Managers split their fee with the club officials in charge of preparing the groundwork for player transfers. This practice is not new and is well known in the world of business crime.

However, because of the peculiar way in which football clubs are established, it is much easier for them to get away with this practice

the environment surrounding our national team is the biggest problem. This environment is created by the unrealistic expectations of the Serbian Football Association, the media and the general public, which in turn leads to an atmosphere of irrationality that is difficult to cope with. Additionally, there is a whole range of very obscure characters that hang around players, regardless of the fact that they play mostly for foreign clubs. Furthermore, it is very difficult to find a coach who is also a strong authority.

In our football, finding such a coach would mean that half of the job was already done, because we already have quality players.

■ In the last few years, there have been more media reports about football officials and managers than about footballers themselves, who are more interesting to the global public. What is the status of professional footballers in Serbia?

- Our footballers are classic labourers who are

controlled by very shady characters and often

even criminals. I know people who work at the footballers’ union and when you hear what a young footballer has to go through it is often hard to believe. Mostly, it's about the usual racketeering and something that resembles forced labour, coupled with loan shark interest rates. The best example of this is a rather grotesque man in Croatian football called Zdravko Mamić. It all boils down to bribing poor parents with very little money compared to what a footballer stands to earn. Some players are impressed by this kind of relationship, i.e. being someone's protégé, having a sort of pimp who makes them feel privileged and protects them so that they, apart from having money, can feel like tough guys by being associated with criminals. On the other hand, most players are well aware of how difficult surviving in football is and how difficult it is to have other clubs interested in you, so they knowingly succumb to this Faustian bargain.

I think they are least to blame for this.

■ It is quite evident that club leaders are backed by a 'chosen' army of supporters and journalists who are more influential in football than real football fans. Some people claim that certain leaders of supporters' groups receive regular salaries from clubs.

What does this cooperation entail?

- I have never played in Serbia, so I don't have

first-hand knowledge of that, but this issue is also considered an open secret. These supporters, or rather a select group towards whom most of the fans gravitate, are very powerful and this is very obvious at matches. Everybody is a victim of their arbitrary behaviour and even the players are often humiliated by them in various ways. Their potential for blackmail is huge, as is their power and organisation, hence clubs are forced to cooperate with them, or try to pacify them, or at least utilise them.

countries, here people actually brag about knowing influential people who protect them. This is what they do to establish their 'status' and I haven't seen that anywhere else.

■ Former UEFA President Lennart Johansson was once quoted as saying that the Champions League was created when corruptible referees were thrown out of football, because “nobody wanted to watch rigged matches”. What are football referees like in Serbia?

- Referees are the key link in rigging matches, together with goalkeepers

and defensive players. Referees went through the professionalisation process a couple of decades ago and their level of skill and know-how raised significantly. People argue that technology should step in to substitute referees, because, as humans, they make mistakes. Nevertheless, matches are still being fixed and referees do play a role. We shouldn’t be naïve in thinking that this only happens in our country. Let's just think back to the affair with German referee Robert Hoyzer or Italian referees in the Calciopoli affair. Weaker leagues are more prone to match-fixing, because there is less transparency and more temptation for lower paid players and referees.

The environment surrounding our national football team is the biggest problem. This environment is created by the unrealistic expectations of the Serbian Football Association, the media and the general public, which in turn leads to an atmosphere of irrationality that is difficult to cope with

■ While world football is riddled with corruption affairs worth several hundred million dollars and perpetrators are brought to justice and sentenced, it seems that is not the case in Serbia and that our football is completely exempt from any responsibility – even when it is obvious that criminal activities are being carried out. Who is actually protecting crime in football?

- I think we should be careful when forming our opinions about ar-

rests and sentencing of people in the world football organisation. It seems to me that there is a political connotation to this, because corruption and the bribing of certain FIFA officials has been known for quite a long time. I believe that Western countries have a very strong interest in reorganising world football and sport in general, since they are losing their economic dominance and this, in turn, also reflects on culture and sport. However, this does not mean that there is no corruption whatsoever, but rather that selective justice is in place. The entire problem has become grotesque in our country. Unlike in other

■ Sport managed to stay out of betting for a long time, but the biggest global online betting agents are now present in all big competitions. What kind of influence do these financially strong organisations have on football?

- I am not so acquainted with this aspect, but

I know that this industry makes billions. Organised crime cartels in the betting industry profit from match-fixing. However, this is only indirectly tied to football, since we are talking about games of chance in which football is only one segment. It is a completely different matter that football organisations don't want to distance themselves from betting, which is a very strong and influential industry. Some leagues even allow betting shops to advertise during matches, while people who bet are viewed as additional fans and consumers.

■ Are you optimistic when it comes to the future of Serbian football, particularly following the great success of our world champion Under-20 team?

- It won’t change a thing. The success of our football is a result of spo-

radic campaigns, enthusiasm, and players and coaches who want to prove themselves. To the untrained eye, all of this might look like change, but it isn’t. There is a problem in the system, which is corrupt and incompetent. We lament over certain segments of society – like education, which is in a bad state, the judiciary, culture and others – as if they should be viewed separately from basic ones, like the economy and politics. They all hinge on the latter two, and economic and political vitality have a crucial impact on the entire organism that is society.

The same goes for sport. ■ SEPTEMBER

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TRAVEL

UNIQUE HOTELS

YOU MISSED OUT ON THIS SUMMER

F

or most of us, the summer holiday period is now over. Impressions from the summer will be a topic of conversation for some time to come, until we start planning for 2016. Our various options each year are based on the harmonising of wishes and possibilities, and in the end it all comes down to usually already known and explored destinations, hotels, apartments... Some may recoup on a yacht or head on an adventure to experience some lacking adrenaline.

In the end, choosing the perfect place for a perfect holiday depends solely on you. Travelling to a new destination while on holiday can be made more enthralling by picking an ideal place to stay. However, if you believe in doing things differently, then take a chance and explore something out of your comfort zone; something away from the ‘norm’.

From an underwater laboratory now converted into a hotel, to a room that has everything suspended in the air, in this issue of CorD we offer you some accommodation options that are off the beaten track around the world. These hotels are actually so unusual that it makes them a wonderful change worth experiencing.

Kumbuk Hotel

Propeller Island City Lodge GERMANY The many perils of non-motorised human flight include: failure to deploy parachute, cord break, power line entanglement, drowning and proximity flying (shooting through narrow cliff gaps that makes for incredible GoPro footage, and has so far contributed to as many as five wingsuit deaths). Those seeking their own (I can fly!) moment should first consult the fatality statistics of BASE jumping resource. Because while floating free fall is undoubtedly an unnerving endeavour, so is reading about all the ways it can end—badly.

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Hang Nga “Crazy House”

BUTTALA, SRI LANKA

VIETNAM

This primary villa is in the shape of a giant elephant, only 12 guests can be accommodated in this uniquely beautiful residence.

While you enjoy the beautiful landscape surrounding the river Kumkukkan Oya in the day time, enjoy a good night’s sleep in the elephant’s belly at night.

The Hang Nga Hotel is famous for its unusual design and spooky appearance, thus, rightly known as the ‘Crazy House’. The entire look of the hotel resembles a tree. The cavernous rooms with lava shaped interiors and slim bridges which give this place a dark fairy tale mood.

V8 Hotel STUTTGART, GERMANY V8 hotel in Stuttgart, is a theme hotel which is a haven for car lovers. Located in an auto museum, the hotel features themed rooms that have everything inspired from the automobile world. The automobile dedicated suites have everything ranging from a car workshop to a drive-in cinema and even a car wash.

Sala Silvermine Underground Suite SWEDEN Sometimes the best of luxury is not offered on rooftops, but 500ft below ground. Sala Silvermine Hotel is located in a preserved mine, which can be accessed only through a mine lift shaft. Despite having just one suite, the hotel is fully booked throughout the year.

The Beer Moth UK Parked in the vicinity of Caimgorma National Park, The Beer Moth truck is well furnished with a Victorian style bed, a comfortable leather armchair and a wood burning stove. This exceptionally charming venture, however, accommodates only two people at a time.

Faralda Crane Hospital AMSTERDAM Consider sleeping 50 metres above ground in the machinery room of an industrial crane. Faralda Crane Hotel is located in a shipyard and is a three-star rated hotel with all modern amenities. It is one of the projects as part of Amsterdam’s high profile development. Each luxury room has a king size bed, Wi-Fi, Jacuzzi and Bungee Jumping ride too!

Bubble Tree FRANCE Designed with a view to nature lovers, this hotel gives you an unblocked view of nature while you sleep in a transparent plastic globe.The bubbles are located within walking distance of the main building that provides all other facilities not available once you are inside the ball.

The globes are covered at night to give the visitors a little privacy of their own.

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Quinta Real Zacatecas MEXICO Built around the restored 19th century San Pedro bullfighting ring, the Quinta Real Zacatecas is now a luxury hotel. The last bull run was in 1975. The hotel’s restaurant now looks over the old arena, while the brick-walled bar is located where the bullpens used to be.

Costa Verde COSTA RICA The Costa Verde team have transported and refurbished a 1965 vintage Boeing 727 airframe to create a fantastic, two-bedroom suite. The structure is set out on a concrete plinth that juts 50 feet into the jungle canopy and furnishings are hand-carved teak. The rear bedroom also has a handcrafted deck above the wing.

Tianzi Garden Hotel CHINA The entrance to the hotel is from the foot of the God in red, while the windows of the rooms can be identified by tiny glass holes on their robes. Tianz Hotel also holds the Guinness World Record as the ‘World’s biggest image building’.

The Oberoi Udaivilas INDIA A cooling dip at Oberoi Udaivilas, set within a 20-acre wildlife sanctuary that is home to deer and wild boar, comes with the added bonus of shimmering views of Lake Pichola.

Ariau Amazon Towers BRAZIL Guests wake to the screeching of primates and dazzling birds of paradise at this eco-friendly retreat, set high among the Amazon tree tops. Rooms include private balconies from which one can marvel at the world’s largest tropical forest. Other facilities include treetop pools, restaurants, bars and five miles of canopy-skimming walkways.

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The Manta Resort PEMBA ISLAND - TANZANIA The floating structure has three levels, including a roof which is perfect for diving into the sea. Downstairs is the undersea level bedroom, where you’ll see friendly trumpet and bat fish, Spanish dancer fish, squid and octopus.

The Tree hotel SWEDISH LAPLAND This stunning contemporary hotel is set in deep forest an hour's drive from the nearest airport. The tree houses have all been designed by leading Nordic architects and include a mirrored cube, ‘the Dragonfly’, the Birds Nest, the UFO and others. The tree houses are high off the ground, so maybe not for smaller children, but an amazing experience for older ones.

Jules Undersea Lodge USA In order to enter this hotel, guests are required to scuba dive six metres beneath the surface of the sea.

Initially an underwater research laboratory, Jules Undersea is now popular among marine life lovers.

Godiva Chocolate Suite USA The Bryant Park Hotel in New York, located on the 21st floor, along with famous chocolate maker Godiva, designed a chocolate suite inside the Manhattan Hotel as part of the Valentine’s Day giveaway in 2008.Literally speaking, this suite is made entirely from chocolate, including all the furniture and even the lamps.

Four Seasons Shanghai CHINA Billed as the "sexiest hotel pool ever", couples can book exclusive access for the ultimate dip à deux on the 41st floor of this Shanghai high-rise. Staff are discreetly on-hand to top up glasses of bubbly, proffer canapés or mix a romantic soundtrack against a backdrop of this exciting city's futuristic skyline.

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CHILL OUT

USA

JAPAN

WRITE AN ESSAY, GET A FARM!

WORLD’S FIRST ‘CAR IN A BAG’

▶ A couple in the US state of Virginia

▶ Twenty-six-year-old Japanese

engineer Kuniako Saito and his team at Cocoa Motors recently unveiled the lithium battery-powered “WalkCar” transporter, which is the size of a laptop and resembles a skateboard more than a car.

is offering their 35-acre picturesque farm valued at $600,000 for just $200 and a flawless 1,000-word essay on how the contestant will take care of the farm. Essays for the farm must be postmarked by 1st October.

WORLD

THE LARGEST FEATURE IN THE UNIVERSE ▶ A Hungarian-US team of astronomers, led by Prof Lajos Balazs of

RANDY SILVERS and CAROLYN BERRY

After reviewing them, the couple — Randy Silvers and Carolyn Berry — will select 25 finalists and pass the essays along to a panel of three judges — an educator, a hobby farmer and a horse enthusiast — who will select a winner on 26th November. They are hoping to receive 5,000 essays for a total of $1 million. “It has to say ‘read me.’ No spelling, writing or grammar mistakes. And they have to spell out how they’ll take care of the farm.”

If the couple does not receive the anticipated number of essays (or something close to it), the couple will list the property, valued at $600,000, and return all the money.

Kokoly Observatory in Budapest, have found what appears to be the largest feature in the observable universe: a ring of nine gamma ray bursts and hence galaxies - 5 billion light years across.

Gamma-ray bursts are the most luminous events in the universe, releasing as much energy in a few seconds as the Sun does over its 10 billion year lifetime. They are thought to be the result of massive stars collapsing into black holes. Their huge luminosity helps astronomers to map out the location of distant galaxies, something the team exploited.

Prof Balazs comments: "If we are right, this structure contradicts the current models of the universe. It was a huge surprise to find something this big -- and we still don't quite understand how it came to exist at all."

The result means that expats and locals are ditching their expensive cars to avoid jail time, often with the keys still left in the ignition.

CHINA

HORSE RIDING, TIBETAN STYLE ▶ In China, near the border of Sichuan and the Tibetan Autonomous Province, lies the heart of Kham, one of three traditional Tibetan areas in China.

Every summer, when the weather is about as good as it can get (the region lying at altitudes of 3000m or higher), the local monasteries organize Litang Horse Racing Festival. The event has a religious significance. Local monks enjoy a high honorary position at the horse races. Villagers and nomads alike from around the region gather for a few days at a time.

Men of any age – all well-trained horse riders – like to show off their skills in different ways. From high-speed races to acrobatics, bow and arrow skills, and even shooting muskets, the riders showcase their agility from the top of their horse. For some, prizes can include cash or even a new car. For others, a chance to show off to the girls is reward enough.

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'Beer boom' ▶ A new brewery is open-

ing in Britain every other day, according to figures released in August by the Government.

The slender WalkCar is made from aluminium and weighs between two and three kilograms, depending on whether it is an indoor or outdoor version.

The lightweight aluminium board is stronger than it looks, and can take loads of up to 120kg.

It reaches top speeds of 10 km/ph, for distances of up to 12 km after three hours of charging.

Customers will be able to reserve their own WalkCars from autumn 2015 on the website Kickstarter, for a price-tag of around €700, and shipping is expected to begin by spring 2016.

SERBIA

THE 55th TRUMPET FESTIVAL IN GUČA ▶ The 55th Trumpet Festival in Guča, a town in western Serbia, kicked off on 3rd August, culminated on 9th August and brought together around 550 trumpeters. It has been the capital of trumpet since 1961, when the festival was first held.

The trumpet audience award this year went to Bojan Krstić, the Best Orchestra award was given to Nenad Mladenović’s brass band and the most authentic music-making was heard from the Barka (Ark) Orchestra.

One of the most popular music festivals in Europe, it features Serbia’s authentic folk culture and art, presenting the unique music of Serbian and Balkan brass bands. The National Geographic website has listed the trumpet festival in Guča as one of the ten most important cultural events in the world.

SWEDEN

RECORD

GUINNESS RECORD FOR LONGEST BIRTHDAY EVER

Survivor ▶ A man named Tsutomu Yamaguchi (March 16,

1916 – January 4, 2010) was on a business trip in Hiroshima when the first atomic bomb was dropped. He was wounded, but returned to his hometown of Nagasaki, where the very next day the second atomic bomb was dropped. He survived both blasts and lived to 93.

At least 160 people are known to have been affected by both bombings, Yamaguchi is the only person to have been officially recognized by the government of Japan as surviving both explosions.

▶ German Sven Hagemeier has set

a Guinness World record for the longest birthday ever after he managed to stretch his special day to 46 hours by crossing between different time zones.

Over the course of 46 hours, he flew from Auckland (New Zealand), to Brisbane (Australia) and then to Honolulu (Hawaii), achieving a record for the longest birthday ever.

Sven’s elongated birthday celebrations beat the previous record set by Nargis Bhimji of Karachi, who celebrated her birthday for 35 hours 25 minutes by crossing time zones after flying from Karachi to Singapore and then to San Francisco back in June 1998.

PHILIPPINES

MASS BREASTFEEDING CAMPAIGN ▶ Hundreds of women in the

Philippines campaigned for proper child nutrition through a mass breastfeeding session.

CHINA

'MOST BEAUTIFUL ROAD ON WATER' ▶ To avoid destroying a forest, au-

thorities have built a 10.9-kilometer road linking Gufu to Zhaojunqiao in Xingshan county, Central China's Hubei province, that completely bypasses the nearby mountain. Two stretches of the project are two bridges, altogether 4.4km, built over two rivers. With beautiful landscape around it, the project is also called "the most beautiful road on water.

CLIMATE SIMULATOR ON SWEDISH AIRPORT

▶ Most people pore over weath-

er forecasts before they set off on holiday, but one Swedish airport is letting people physically experience the conditions they can expect, using three climate-controlled rooms.

Whether the destination is in searing heat, freezing cold, or a hive of activity, Stockholm Arlanda Airport in Sweden believes they have found the perfect passenger preparation.

The Climate Portal, located in terminal five, contains three rooms simply named 'Hot,' 'Cold' and 'Big'.

They use heaters, air conditioners, fans, misters and audio-visual aides to provide a realistic experience.

Over 300 women launched World Breastfeeding Week in Manila, Philippines by participating in a mass breastfeeding event. The women joined an event called The Big Latch On where women nurse their babies for over a minute.

The Big Latch On is aimed at promoting breastfeeding as well as offering support guidance and nutritional information to mothers.

The campaign also aims to highlight the barriers in societies around the world that prevent women from feeling at ease breastfeeding their children in public.

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TECHNO TALK

|

Office Gadgets

SMALL GADGETS

BIG IMPROVEMENT IN PRODUCTIVITY We are bombarded on a daily basis with a constant stream of new gadgets and gizmos. However, devices that are actually useful, and don't just please the eye, are much harder to find. On that front, we have selected a few products that could serve to increase your overall productivity and the efficiency of work in your small business or home office. Our list includes several items that are not too expensive but will improve the environment and conditions in your office, regardless of whether your workplace is in a small firm or a major organisation.

Here are a few ideas.

Dual Touch Slim 03 Lenovo 2.4G Wireless Mouse PRICE: €36 The Lenovo Dual Touch Slim 2.4G Wireless Mouse is a compact and portable design you can carry anywhere which includes dual wireless connectivity. This will help you to switch between Bluetooth and 2.4G modes as and when required. So if you want to change from the wireless mouse mode to the presenter mode, it will be super easy to do so with this mouse. It comes the device being perfectly optimized for Windows 8 a touch sensitive bar which will recognize one-finger gestures with ease.

Black 01 Charcoal MS Office Briefcase There’s a foamed iPad pocket on one side with a zip pocket having two cable pockets below on the other side. You’ll have enough space to store your notebook, A4 size documents and every other necessity you might need at work every day. The adjustable shoulder strap is detachable too so that you’re able to get rid of it as and when you prefer.

This Two-In-One Monitor by Philips comes with an ultra-thin border and works as a beautiful merger of two displays into one large one. The two-in-one desig n will help you enhance your work productivity with the edge-to-edge glass and narrow border making the appearance of the display even better. The Flicker-Free technology will cause less eye fatigue.

PRICE: Small €25 PRICE: Large €35 If you like physical calendars that are sure to draw attention, then stop spending your money buying the cute kitten calendars year-after-year and start considering this masterpiece: an elegantly-designed calendar that's filled with magic.

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This box will not just serve as a storage container for your tabletop necessities but also works as a cool calendar display at the same time. There’s a round dial on the left which will indicate the month whereas the right hand side blackboard can be used to set up the calendar from month to month.

It’s a calendar system you can use forever and not just for a single year. There are two partitions one of which serves as a stationery holder whereas the other can be used to hold your phone.

PRICE: €395

09 Perpetual calendar

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PRICE: €37

02 Two-In-One Monitor by Philips

PRICE: €400

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Perpetual 03 Wood Calendar Storage Box

Personal USB 05 iBen Air Purifier/Fan

Stand for 09 M3 Mobile Phones

PRICE: €35

PRICE: €25

iBen Air Purifier clean and purify the air in your personal space. It is powered by USB meaning you can use it almost anywhere. It catches ultra-fine dust, carbon monoxide, cigarette smoke, exhaust fumes, formaldehyde, toluene, benzene, pollen, mold, viruses, allergens, germs, bacteria, pet dander, odors, and VOCs. Air Purifier could be adjusted between two modes to serve your needs. Compact Mode: Purifies and circulates air. Extended Mode: Powerful electric fan provides a cool airflow.

The elego M3 Stand was designed to have a natural feel to it. The solid wood mount is made of walnut and the stand is made of solid aluminum, giving it a modern look. Conveniently access all functions of your smartphone.

Cable management is located at the bottom of the wood mount, Battery charging and data transferring is made easy all while having the ability to keep your cables in neat order.

TabletTail 06 Lynx iPad Mount PRICE: €85 Use your tablet in the exact way you want to by pairing it up with this Lynx TabletTail iPad Mount. You just have to clamp the Lynx on any flat, round or even irregular surface you want to dock your tablet on and that’s just about it. That makes this iPad mount a versatile device you can use at home as well as while you’re outdoors. Use it on a table or on a desk or mount it on a tripod or music stand. Your tablet can also be clamped on an exercise machine or an entertainment center.

Lauren Moore 07 Ralph Leather Mouse Pad PRICE: €65

09

Tumbler

by Corkcicle

The Ralph Lauren Moore Leather Mouse Pad is more a work of art and masterpiece than just an accessory. The mousepad crafted from supple burnished leather with an alligator-embossed panel will add a touch of class and sophistication to your desk. It comes in three colors – black, brown and saddle. Choose the right one that matches your desk or at least provides a striking contrast. All you need to do to keep the mousepad clean of dirt, debris, spilled food and drinks and other sticky stuff is just give it a good wipe.

PRICE: €20

Cotton 08 Organic Lunch Bag PRICE: €16 Being made of machine washable yellow lining, this Organic Cotton Lunch Bag is a durable solution to carry your lunch instead of those brown paper bags you’re so prone to using every now and then. The bag has been made out of 100% cotton to ensure that your regular paper usage decreases to a certain extent.

This tumbler has been made out of stainless steel and includes easy grip flat sides and a non-slip bottom. Triple insulation makes it capable of keeping your drinks chilled up to 9 hours and your hot drinks warm for up to 3 hours.

With a shatterproof lid and vibrant color finishing, this tumbler just made your everyday cup super stylish and ergonomic. It’s cup holder friendly so carrying it for work doesn’t sound like a bad idea either. Choose between the 16 or 24 oz sizes and your favorite color. Drinking your beverage on the go just became more stylish.

Aluminum USB 3.0 SATA III HDD 09 Satechi Docking Station PRICE: €45 Satechi Aluminum USB 3.0 SATA III HDD Docking Station comes with 3 different inputs and outputs. The Hub and Card Reader will help you expand your available USB ports and thus makes sure you have space for your gadgets.

Out of the features available, there are two USB 3.0 ports which will give you data transfer rates of up to 5 Gbps. The docking station has a metallic brushed aluminum finish with a white trim to make it look stylish.

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FASHION

Girls:

Back to School Trends 2015 Fashion for kids this year is all about mixing it up. Kids can have fun wearing bright colours and bold patterns. Pair colours and patterns with low key neutrals, in grey, black and beige tones. Big stripes and animals designs are “in”, along with colour blocking. A colour blocked look can be created by wearing solids of different colours. Throw in a cool screen print t-shirt or a funky scarf for an accent. Layered looks will take kids from summer comfortably into the cooler months. Mustard is a hot colour this back-to-school season for both boys and girls. From pants or socks to mustard stripes, expect to see mustard solids and accents in kids’ clothes and accessories. Top any outfit off with a patterned backpack and your kids will be ready for school.

PRICE:

€21

Skinny Fit Jeans Slim-fit jeans in washed superstretch denim with ultra-slim legs, fake pockets at the front, real pockets at the back.

Backpack in woven fabric with embroidered appliqués, a handle at the top, padded adjustable shoulder straps.

PRICE: €14

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Roll Tab Sleeve Tunic A dainty floral print and tabbed sleeves add to the breezy casual appeal of a lightweight splitneck tunic.

PRICE: €18

Backpack

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2-pack hats

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Hats in a double layer of marled jersey.

PRICE: €8.50

PRICE:

€27

Biker Jacket Biker jacket in imitation leather with quilted sections. Diagonal zip at front, snap fastener at neckline, and side pockets.

Drapey Front Zip Hoodie This super soft fleece jacket features a gracefully draped ruffle down the front.

PRICE: €29

5-pack bracelets Elastic bracelets with wooden beads.

PRICE: €4

PRICE:

€14

Treggings Treggings in thick jersey with an elasticized waistband, mock pockets at front, and regular pockets at back.

3-Pack Trainer Socks PRICE:

Trainer socks in fast-drying functional fabric with a slightly higher shaft at the back to protect the heel.

PRICE: €4

2 X Jersey Bando

€9

Jersey Dress Long-sleeved dress in jersey with a printed design and a ruffled hem.

Add a pop of colour to your hair with this set of two jersey bandos.

PRICE: €8.50

PRICE:

€11

Patterned shirt Slim-fit jeans in washed superstretch denim with ultra-slim legs, fake pockets at the front, real pockets at the back.

Riding Boot A polished gilt buckle lends sophisticated gleam to a tall, grained riding boot styled with a convenient side zip.

PRICE:

€48

PRICE:

€7

Tube scarf Fine-knit twisted tube scarf.

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FASHION

Back to School Style for Boys Clothes for boys this year will feature neutrals with pop colours like blue, red and dark green. Here are some key points for boys: Denim – always a staple, denim is sturdy and comfy. Look for dark washes and coloured denim this autumn.

Hoodies – Look for contrasting fabrics in colours or patterns on sleeves, pockets, and linings. Bold stripes and chequered patterns will also be popular.

Athletic Styles – Boys are all about comfort and mobility, making active wear and athletic clothing a must.

Screen tees - Stripes and fun graphics are “in”. Layer graphic t-shirts with a button up shirt. Mix and match with patterns like camouflage pants and striped or plaid button ups.

Here are a few ideas for your kids.

PRICE:

Converse High Top Sneaker A classic high-top sneaker gets a cushy upgrade thanks to a foam-lined collar and tongue for extra padding and comfort.

PRICE: €25

€35

Pure Cotton Shirt & Shorts Set This 2-piece outfit gives well dressed look and feels comfortable to wear.

PRICE:

€26

Pure Cotton Striped Cardigan This cardigan has a twisted yarn giving a unique appearance.

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Ninja Turtles Kids Watch He'll know when it's time for his favourite TV shows.

PRICE: €9.61

Walkmates Leather Boots Pure leather makes these boots extra soft and comfortable.

PRICE: €40

Suede Hidden Zip Hiker Boots Camouflage Messenger Bag This messenger bag is a musthave - especially when they go back to school.

These trendy ankle boots are great for your a boy whatever the weather.

PRICE:

€45

Hooded & Panelled Mac This gilet is both versatile and trendy.

Keep dry with this water repellent technology.

PRICE:

PRICE:

€23

€31

Sweatshirt PRICE:

€34

Top in sweatshirt fabric with appliqués and a print on the front.

Soft brushed inside.

PRICE: €14

Cotton Striped T-Shirt & Shorts Outfit This shorts and tee set is perfect for a casual, summertime look.

Reversible Beanie He can play mix and match with a reversible beanie cast in a warm, fine-gauge knit.

PRICE: €25

PRICE:

€23

5 Pairs of Cotton Ankle Socks These socks are an essential all year round. An assortment of rainbow colours is a fun finishing touch.

PRICE: €8

Padded Vest Padded vest with a lined, detachable hood. Lined stand-up collar, zip at front, and side pockets with zip.

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PROFILE

Formula for Success The question we repeatedly ask ourselves and others is: “With what do we measure success in life?” I believe everyone has their own recipe for success and the answers are as subjective as a “unit of measurement”

LIDIJA LATINOVIĆ HR Director at Carlsberg Srbija

I

t is more than challenging to be a mother of two, HR Director at Carlsberg Srbija and a member of the Executive Board of the Carlsberg and Dunđerski Foundation. I sometimes say jokingly that I live along the BelgradeČelarevo relation, where our brewery is located, and I sleep in Novi Sad. Luckily, that’s just a joke, given that the job I do and the company where I work enable me to see my job and my private life as one and to lead them both with equal success.

Philosopher Ayn Rand believed that the “creative person is motivated by a desire to achieve, rather than the desire to beat another” and I would agree completely with that stance. She added that when you think honestly then you know exactly what you want, which simultaneously allows you to discover your power and abilities that you had not even imagined that you possess. These preconditions enabled me, with a degree in the English Language acquired at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad and after eight

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years spent working in the NGO sector with UN agencies, to turn towards the economic sector and start to build my career anew. The bridge that connected these two very different sectors was the possibility to continue to take care of people, to work with them and alongside them, creating the best solutions in the aim of achieving shared success. Did I say that I returned to Serbia from London, where I lived for a year, because I missed the sun, the people and the local social life? The people and the environment are

When you think honestly then you know exactly what you want, which simultaneously allows you to discover your power and abilities that you had not even imagined that you possess among the key factors that motivate me and make my days complete, both in my business and in my private life.

I’ve been at company Carlsberg Srbija for more than a decade. During these 11 years I have worked in several positions in the HR sector that I now have the pleasure and obligation to lead.

There I learned, developed my professional career, progressed and “swam” in all business currents and challenges.

Unavoidable responsibility gains even

more weight in today’s world of rapid social and business change. One must be capable of adjusting, be able to identify good solutions in a team game, learn through one’s own approach and accept constructive advice. When such moves bring you to your goal, satisfaction and pride are just some of the feelings.

The corporate culture of company Carlsberg enables us to find a balance in life. Although we work hard, we care that our employees are satisfied with working conditions that ensure their private and business lives can go hand in hand. In the position of HR director, I strive to maintain this principle and spirit; for us to know that it does not matter how much time we spend at work, but rather whether we have done our job well. Sometimes, provided the job permits, we work from home and do not allow leave days to pile up, rather utilising them in their entirety by spending our free time with family and friends. I think this work mode is the only one that’s possible, but workers who come from other companies tell me that this is not always the case.

The shared attitude of all of us at Carlsberg Srbija is to constantly move the limits of our industry, to expand and refine our product portfolio, to be focused constantly on our clients, customers and consumers, and to provide a positive example to other companies in the field of innovation and social responsibility, which all ensure that we are recognised as a company that nurtures a friendly atmosphere in which people reflect a common attitude, ambition and culture.

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