FACES&PLACES

1/4/2022 IWC Belgrade April Coffee Morning

The April 1st Coffee Morning event of the International Women’s Club of Belgrade was a joint venture with the Malaysian embassy and PERWAKILAN (Ladies’ Association of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Malaysia) Belgrade and hosted generously by Hilton Hotel Belgrade. A number of special guests from the diplomatic and business sectors as well as IWC members were in attendance. The highlight of the event was a cultural presentation by the Malaysian embassy: traditional dance performances by the Chenderawasih dance troupe and a fashion display of hand-painted batik silk kaftans.

7/4/2022 Speed Business Meeting Successfully Held

Another Speed Business Meeting was held in Belgrade with the participation of members of four bilateral chambers: the German-Serbian Chamber of Commerce (AHK), the Chamber of Italian-Serbian Businessmen (CCIS), the Swiss-Serbian Chamber of Commerce (ŠSTK) and the Hellenic Business Association (HBA). The event brought together almost 50 representatives of member companies from various business sectors.

12/4/2022 Finnish Film Week Opens

The sixth Week of Finnish Film under the slogan “Finnish Love Stories”, organized by the Finnish Film Fund, the Cultural Center Belgrade, and the Embassy of Finland in Serbia, opened at the Hall of the Cultural Center Belgrade. Stefan Arsenijevic, the selector of the Festival, has chosen the eight Finnish feature films, made in the last four years, which the audience had the opportunity to see until 11 April. Finnish Ambassador H.E. Kimmo Lähdevirta hosted a cocktail party for friends of Finnish film, and the festival officially opened with the film “Aurora”.

15/4/2022 France Honors Nataša Kovačević

The National Order of France for Merit was awarded to basketball player Nataša Kovačević Stojaković at the French Embassy. “Mrs. Nataša Kovačević Stojaković, because of your exceptional life path and contribution to the French-Serbian friendship, I am happy and honored to present you with this high decoration. On behalf of the President of the Republic of France, I declare you a knight of the National Order of Merit,” said Pierre Cochard, Ambassador of France. Ambassador pointed out that Kovačević Stojaković represents the young generation of Serbia and that her life path is an inspiration.

FACES PLACES&

15/4/2022 Presentation Of The EU’s New Strategic Plan

Speaking at a presentation of the EU’s new strategic plan EU Strategic Compass for Security Response, the head of the EU delegation to Serbia Emanuele Giaufret said that by voting in international bodies such as the United Nations and UNESCO, Serbia has clearly decided against Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine. “Serbia has complied with some sanctions imposed by the European Union in connection with the Maidan crisis in 2014, and has supported restrictive measures against Belarus, so we expect this trend to continue in the future. There are no fixed deadlines, but we expect it to happen”, said Giaufret.

15/4/2022 RAREI Celebrates the 20th Anniversary

The Regional Agency for Development and European Integration in Serbia (RAREI) celebrated 20 years of existence in Serbia, and the Minister for European Integration Jadranka Joksimović pointed out at the ceremony that now one of the main priorities for Serbia is the implementation of the Green Agenda. She said that RAREI is an inseparable instrument for the process of European integration and emphasized that sustainable development is one of the priorities for Belgrade, the whole of Serbia, and the whole world.

16/4/2022 Moroccan Film Festival Opened

This year marks the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Rabat and Belgrade, and as part of the jubilee, the Embassy of Morocco in Belgrade has prepared a diverse cultural and artistic program. The Moroccan Film Festival is one of the main events marking the “Year of Morocco in Serbia”, and the program includes five feature films by contemporary directors.

19/4/2022 Mihailo Jovanović, Winner Of The City Of Belgrade Award

Dr. Mihailo Jovanović, Director of the Office for IT and eGovernment is the winner of this year’s prestigious City of Belgrade Award - Despot Stefan Lazarević, which is awarded for a work that represents the most valuable achievements in art, science, medicine, architecture and urbanism, agriculture, journalism, education, sports, and protected environment. Jovanović received this award for his exceptional contribution to the organization and implementation of vaccination of the population in Belgrade in 2021 in the circumstances of the declared world pandemic virus SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19.

FACES PLACES&

21/4/2022 Ljubica Gojgić Awarded Order Of The Légion d’Honneur

H.E Pierre Cochard, Ambassador of France to Serbia, presented the French Ordre de la Légion d’honneur at the rank of knight to journalist Ljubica Gojgić for her exceptional and exemplary career. On that occasion, Cochard pointed out that the order was awarded to Gojgić because she had defended the democratic values that France adheres to in its country. “Ljubica Gojgić, on behalf of the President of the Republic of France, we are awarding you the National Ordre de la Légion d’Honneur at the rank of the knight”, said the ambassador, presenting the order.

21/4/2022 NALED Presented The First Gray Book Of Innovations

The National Alliance for Local and Economic Development (NALED) presented the first “Gray Book of Innovation and High-Tech Entrepreneurship”, with 60 recommendations for improving the business conditions of innovative and high-tech companies in Serbia. Legal regulation of the use of artificial intelligence, the introduction of industrial doctorates in the education system, and regulation of the use of electric scooters, bicycles, and other similar vehicles, are part of the reform recommendations that NALED presented to the relevant institutions in a specialized publication. The publication was prepared within StarTech, a program to support the digital transformation of the Serbian economy funded by the company “Philip Morris”.

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Exchange Rate Maintains Stability In Property Market

Unless there are large fluctuations in the exchange rate and as long as people experience that their standard of living is rising, and while banks guided by the same logic expand their mortgage portfolios, the current trends in the real estate market will continue. The million-dollar question is: when will that connection begin to slip?

Inflation, the possibility that banks will raise the price of mortgages, the future dinar-euro ratio, people’s purchasing power and the conflict in Ukraine bringing new residents to Serbia are just some of the many elements shaping prices in the country’s property market at the moment. Will the growth of property prices that we have been seeing since 2013 and the growth in the value of approved housing loans continue, or are we facing the bursting of a ‘real estate bubble’? Professor Dejan Molnar of the Belgrade

Faculty of Economics analyses these trends and possible scenarios.

In Serbia, we can remember not so long ago when the demand for apartments was so low that owners were happy to find tenants at all, and that now with the story of the arrival of Russians and Ukrainians, apartment rents are said to be growing. In your opinion, what awaits current and future apartment owners and those who rent them in the next year or two?

In our country, when people earn more (or feel they do), they usually decide to buy property. It is also important that rents have grown in recent years, so in conditions of low interest rates, a monthly mortgage instalment is lower than rent, which leads many to decide to take out a mortgage and start repaying their own square metres instead of renting them. Trends in the apartment rental market will above all be determined by the level of people’s living standards and their loan conditions. Expressed in euros, the

INTEREST

Any increase in mortgage interest rates would reduce the circle of those who can use bank loans to buy a home

DEMAND

Just when I think that this market is oversaturated and that there are too many shopping centres, I am contradicted (even surprised) by the fact that shopping centres in Belgrade and Novi Sad are almost always full

average salary was about 50% higher in 2021 (553 euros) than in 2014 (368 euros). At the same time, banks’ average interest rate on newly approved mortgages in January 2022 had almost halved (2.56%) compared to the same month in 2014 (4.87%). This means that for a 20-year mortgage of 50,000 euros, the monthly annuity in 2014 was around 323 euros, up to 88% of the average salary, while today

the instalment for such a loan is around 265 euros or just 48% of the average salary. At the same time, the basic macroeconomic variable that ‘holds water’ here is the exchange rate, the value of the euro in relation to the dinar. The fact that we have had no major exchange rate fluctuations during the entire period actually makes people feel that their standard of living is growing. This is how banks treat it, so their mortgage portfolios expand. The value of private mortgages increased by over 73% in the period 2014-2021 – from 2.67 to 4.56 billion euros.

Economists believe that the real estate market has long been overvalued and will sooner or later fall. Does our market follow what is happening on the ‘big markets’ of

Although the price of a square metre of apartment increased by one third from 2014 to 2021, the amount of housing loans sold to individuals also increased. This is primarily due to the growth of average salaries in euros, falling interest rates and a stable dinar exchange rate against the euro

the USA and the EU, or does it have its own laws governing prices?

House and apartment prices in the EU had increased by an average of 9.2% in the third quarter of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020. This growth varied over member states: in the Czech Republic it was as much as 22%, in Estonia 17.3%, in the Netherlands 16.8%, in Austria and Slovenia 12.9%, in Hungary 12.6%,

TURNAROUND

Trends in the apartment rental market will above all be determined by the level of people’s living standards and the conditions under which they can borrow

in Germany 12%, in Croatia 9%, in Slovakia 8%, in France 7.1%, in Romania 5.9%, and in Italy and Spain 4.2%. Apartment prices in Serbia have been growing steadily since 2013. The average price of a square metre in a new building was over 32% higher in 2021 (1,510 euros) than in 2014 (1,140 euros).

Any increase in mortgage interest rates would reduce the circle of those who can take bank loans to buy a home. Each additional percentage point in the interest rate leaves one group of potential buyers ‘out of play’. This could lead to lower demand and falling prices. New waves of corona virus pandemic would probably cause new interruptions in production and a recession, leading to reduced demand for property. This will affect so-called self-stimulating mechanisms that result from people’s expectations. Today, when prices are rising, buyers hurry to buy property today to avoid paying more tomorrow. Expectation that prices will be even higher creates additional demand that pushes prices upwards. When prices stop rising and start falling, buyers will refrain from buying because they expect prices to fall further, which will reduce demand. At the same time and for the same reasons, sellers will want to sell property as soon as possible and ‘catch the last train’ with high prices.

As we are a nation that is aging and emigrating en masse, a non-expert asks who will live in these apartments? Is our relatively stable housing stock being redistributed between smaller places and towns that people are leaving towards Belgrade and Novi Sad, or are apartments being built with the idea that Serbia will also have an influx of people from other countries who for various reasons want to own property in Serbia?

Uncertainty and expectations of inflation make people with money invest everything they have in real estate. On the other hand, there is a continuous decline in the country’s population. Negative natural increase (more

deaths than births) and physical outflow of the population (migration) make a synchronized contribution to this. In addition, we live in a country where children become independent and leave their parents’ homes relatively late. The concurrence of these two trends (continuous decline in population and growth in the number of newly built apartments) raises certain questions.

In 2020, in as many as 19 out of a total of 25 administrative areas (districts), a higher number of emigrants than immigrants was recorded in Serbia. Apart from Belgrade (+4,866 inhabitants), a positive balance of migratory movements in 2020 was also achieved in Novi Sad (+1,572), Pančevo (+179), Subotica (+143) and Niš (+255). The towns from which people emigrated more than immigrated are more numerous: Sombor (-115), Vršac (-57), Kikinda (-159), Sremska Mitrovica (-13), Užice (-308), Valjevo (-112) , Sabac (-35), Cacak (-17), Krusevac (-141), Kraljevo (-227), Kragujevac (-42), Leskovac (-287), Vranje (-263), Smederevo (-330), Zajecar (-87), Pirot (-93), etc.

Just as rural areas and other towns in the country (except Belgrade and Novi Sad) are ‘empty’, so there is a kind of division within urban areas - young people move to new apartments and parts of the city where housing is ‘flourishing’, while other parts of these cities remain abandoned and slowly die out.

On the one hand, primarily in Belgrade and now in various parts of Serbia with well-preserved nature, we see a wave of construction of luxury buildings, large surfaces with fenced green areas and common facilities exclusively intended only for residents, or weekend resorts. Is this a marginal phenomenon or does the structure of new residential buildings tell of some new trends in our market?

I think that this segment of the property market is intended for a narrow circle of more solvent buyers or users of these, for our conditions exclusive, housing estates.

Climatologists, urban planners, architects, ecologists say that many cities have long since switched to combining blue and green structures that should enable cities to more easily resist pollution and rising temperatures. In contrast, in Belgrade and question of return on investment – high quality modern installations are more expensive to build. Finally, there is the ability to pay (the living standards) of buyers and their willingness to set aside money for such housing. There are smart buildings on the market, but the number of those who can afford such an environment is limited.

Along with new apartments, facilities are being built that make an area comfortable to live in, from supermarkets to shopping malls. What is happening in this market? Is it saturated?

New settlements and the people who live in them also require appropriate content (especially if it is a younger population, families

Just as rural areas and other towns in the country (except Belgrade and Novi Sad) are ‘empty’, so there is a kind of division within urban areas - young people move to new apartments and parts of the city where housing is ‘flourishing’, while other parts of these cities remain abandoned and slowly die out

larger cities in Serbia, we see the pouring of concrete on all surfaces that can be used for construction. What needs to happen on the domestic real estate market to see smart cities in Serbia?

This issue is related to both supply and demand. When it comes to supply, this is first of all about urban planning and appropriate regulations and standards. Secondly, it is a with small children, etc.). The modern way of life ‘dictates’ appropriate models for spending money and free time. We see that shopping malls are quite well visited in larger cities. Just when I think that this market is oversaturated and that there are too many shopping centres, I am contradicted (even surprised) by the fact that shopping centres in Belgrade and Novi Sad are almost always full.

A Belgrade Waterfront Apartment = A Secure Investment In The Future

The Serbian real estate market is expanding constantly, thus according to a report of the Republic Geodetic Authority, the number of real estate sales in 2021 was up 28% on the recordbreaking year of 2020. Real estate agents note that location remains the main criterion influencing the choice of living space, followed by construction quality, number of floors and good infrastructure. All-encompassing residential quarters are becoming increasingly popular, both around the world and in our country, simply because the modern buyer isn’t only choosing their own “four walls”, but also the entire lifestyle that’s applied by a particular residential space

An attractive location with unique views and the highest quality construction, but also excellent connectivity to other parts of the city, represent just some of the elements that distinguish Belgrade Waterfront on the real estate market, positioning it as the most desirable residential destination.

According to data from the real estate cadastre, more than half of all buyers of new builds in Belgrade have opted for an apartment within the scope of this project. Moreover, according to the claims of real estate agents, Belgrade Waterfront’s apartments are the quickest to receive rental tenants. Investing in an apartment in this most modern quarter of the capital, located on the bank of the Sava, represent a secure long-term investment, regardless of whether you buy it for your own housing or to rent. Thanks to housing loans created specifically for Belgrade Waterfront, potential residents also have the opportunity to apply for a bank loan at an early stage of construction, with monthly payment rates of as little as 499 euros. Another option is an interest-free loan in seven instalments pegged to the project’s construction phases.

Apart from top-quality construction in all phases and the use of the latest materials, apartments are characterised by their outstanding functionality and comfort, ample natural light, impressive views, spaciousness, elegant lobbies with a reception area and security on the ground floor of each building, underground parking and landscaped inner courtyards for residents

Seven buildings with a total of 1,500 apartments have so far been completed in the Belgrade Waterfront, while the sale of the jubilee 4,000th apartment was celebrated during spring. And what awaits residents of this all-encompassing neighbourhood? Apart from top-quality construction in all phases and the use of the latest materials, apartments are characterised by their outstanding functionality and comfort, ample natural light, impressive views, spaciousness, elegant lobbies with a reception area and security on the ground floor of each building, underground parking and landscaped inner courtyards for residents. But that’s just the start of the benefits of living in Belgrade Waterfront. Whichever building you choose, you will find shops, cafes and restaurants in the building itself, while kindergartens, schools, the spacious Sava Park with its numerous possibilities for recreation and relaxation, as well as the attractive Sava Promenada, are all never more than a few minutes’ walk from your doorstep.

Shopping at more than 200 stores of renowned international and domestic brands, lunch or dinner at restaurants overlooking the river, the latest blockbusters with IMAX technology, and endless fun at the country’s largest trampoline, all await you at the Galerija.

Works are being finalised on the façade of Kula Belgrade, representing the crowning glory of this entire project and a new symbol of the Serbian capital. This 168-metre-tall masterpiece of architecture will house a St. Regis hotel and The Residences at The St. Regis Belgrade. The arrival of this prestigious brand, which forms part of the portfolio of the famous Marriott International hotel and residential chain, places Belgrade on the map of the very carefully selected destinations in which St. Regis operates. At the same time, the opening of The Residences at St. Regis Belgrade will raise housing standards to a level not previously reached – not only in Serbia, but across this part of Europe.

BUSINESS PETAR SIMOVIĆ, ARCHITECT AND GENERAL MANAGER, AND MARIJA SIMOVIĆ, ARCHITECT AND TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, ARCHITECTURAL AND ENGINEERING STUDIO ARIS D.O.O. KRAGUJEVAC

Ready For The Most Complex Projects

ARIS is a relatively young bureau that was founded in 2016 as a partnership between engineers who had already worked together for many years. The studio is successfully engaged in design, supervision, project management and consulting in the field of construction

We have correctly and at the right time dimensioned and structured a company that can respond to such challenging and complex project demands. There are above all large complexes in Kragujevac for clients like Tesla Palace, Euro Motus Real Estate, Delta Real Estate, JDM Real Estate - says the Simović tandem

How did you profile yourself in the industry and how did the development of your design office go? Petar: The idea of ARIS from the start was to position it as a reliable partner for design and all the other activities in design and engineering in Kragujevac and beyond. We recognised a lack of local quality service, while Kragujevac has experienced a kind of expansion and development in the last ten years, so it was logical to focus on narrow specialisation.

You have a brilliant team of experienced professionals that you have been working with for years? Without their expertise, understanding and complementarity, you wouldn’t be so successful? Marija: That’s true and we saw the first five years of the company’s development as a period to profile our services, so we specialised ARIS as a bureau that provides quality service in architectural and construction design, with permanent, high quality external associates necessary to complete the documentation so we can provide a complete service. We have invested a lot of time and effort in mastering and forming knowhow, especially for coordinating projects on a small scale through large and varied typologies. So it is very important to understand all the specifics

It is important to understand all the specifics of the different phases of a project so that the final product is satisfying to both clients and ourselves as designers

of the different phases of a project so that the final product is satisfying to both the client and ourselves as designers.

Serbia is seeing building more than ever before, which has its downsides - the chaos of lay and ad hoc architecture. Can this be stopped? Marija: We think that the regulations that are on their way to be integrated with the EU’s have almost stopped lay architecture. People became aware that permission was needed to build something, so a culture of hiring an architect was established so that at least the bureaucratic part would be respected. In that sense, it has already been taken care of to some extent, but that is the only thing that is right.

And ad hoc architecture, if we define it as something that is designed quickly and without too much attention to the importance that architecture can have for users and the immediate and wider environment, it is present and is initiated by the speed required to spend certain funds or carry out intentions. The only way to

stop this is through education, not only education in terms of knowing the importance that architecture can have in everyday life, but also in economic, environmental and social terms, in order to see the benefits of careful planning.

Has the fact that investors have been asking and deciding about everything for the last 20 years done enormous damage? Is Kragujevac one of those cities? Petar: Stigmatisation of investors through the term investor architecture is a very simple approach to a complex phenomenon. It is quite clear that investors are building for the market, and the market is made up of people, and human expectations from functionality to the aesthetics of space are conditioned by personal and group culture. And changing culture is a slow process that eludes perception.

We have some good experience with investors, because we cooperate with them, we try to understand them and slightly change their perception and attitude towards space. However, if we analyse the current situation in Kragujevac and Belgrade in more detail, as far as our experience goes, the situation is not so bad at all and has a positive trend. Of course, ‘Parisians’ are still sprouting here and there, but it is impossible and unhealthy to regulate public aesthetics. It must be a matter of evolution. In the end, a more detailed analysis of the time before investor urbanism shows it was also full of omissions and mediocre design and urban solutions, but the past always looks much better than the present.

Do you think that it would be better for the development of the city if there were serious public architectural and urban competitions with the best solutions chosen? Marija: We are absolutely in favour of a the institution of competition. A choice is good, which is also shown by the fact that private investors sometimes decide to organise internal competitions to be sure they choose the best option for themselves. Public competitions are mostly absent due to the slowness of the whole process and impatience for spending funds. If things were viewed in the long run, there would probably be more interest in organising them.

However, we must note that in the last two years, several interesting competitions have been organised in Serbia and that quality solu-

Investors build for the market, the market is made of people, and human expectations from functionality to the aesthetics of space are conditioned by personal and group culture

tions have been chosen. We hope that they will be realised, because that would completely confirm the institution of the competition and lead to greater interest in society.

Although you have completed many buildings, large in size and budget, are there some that stand out, some that you are especially proud of? Marija: As architects, we started working together on small scale projects of different typologies, from housing to business in a small studio (Studio Simović) that has grown into ARIS. In that period of transition from independent work to a partnership company, we made several interesting miniature residential buildings for which we won prizes and were nominated for prestigious European awards (N1 Housing, N8 Housing), with which we actually presented our architectural vision of transforming the urban environment in Kragujevac.

What are you currently engaged in? Do you have any major projects planned for the next period? Petar: Right now we are in the big scale phase, mostly residential and business complexes, which is very challenging and implies a completely different logic and design approach. We have correctly and at the right time dimensioned and structured a company that can respond to such challenging and complex project demands. There are primarily large complexes in Kragujevac for clients such as Tesla Palace, Euro Motus Real Estate, Delta Real Estate, JDM Real Estate. Kragujevac is experiencing a serious expansion and as native citizens of Kragujevac we are very happy to have the opportunity to participate in defining new parts of the city. And we hope that we will be able to expand the experience we will gain into the whole region, which is our long-term goal.

Are We In The Golden Age Of Real Estate?

There are numerous factors contributing to the increased interest in buying real estate and the rising prices of both housing and commercial space, from low interest rates and favourable mortgage deals, via large amounts of “ready cash” in circulation, all the way to changes on the world market. Despite expectations that prices and demand would stagnate over the course of this year, real estate experts are predicting that this will have to wait until at least mid-2023.

How Much Square Footage Can Be Bought For A Million Dollars?

Overlooking the fact that almost none of us ordinary little people will ever have a million dollars to buy real estate, analysis conducted by global real estate consultants Knight Frank shows how much square footage can be bought for that amount. Led by the notion “location is everything”, they set off from Monaco, where a million dollars will only buy you 15 square metres of living space. Only six square metres more, i.e., 21, can be bought for that amount in Hong Kong, which ranks it second, while the UK capital of London comes third because there you can buy a “whopping” 31 square metres for a million dollars. This amount can buy you 33 square metres in New York, 35 square metres in Singapore, 37 square metres in Geneva, 41 square metres in Sydney, and 42 square metres in Shanghai, Paris and Los Angeles. You can find a 56-square-metre apartment in Beijing for a million dollars, 64 sqm in Tokyo, 73 sqm in Berlin, 77 sqm in Miami, 84 sqm in Melbourne, 106 sqm in Madrid, 108 sqm in Mumbai, and as much as 137 sqm in Dubai, followed by Cape Town (220 sqm) and Sao Paulo (256 sqm). Considering that the average price of residential property in Belgrade stands at around 2,000 euros, or 2,190 dollars, per square metre, a million dollars could buy you a 456 sqm property in the Serbian capital. However, calculating on the basis of the price of the most expensive square metre in the city, which stands at around 10,000 euros, Belgrade ranks somewhere between Melbourne and Madrid. Source: knightfrank.com

Prices Won’t Start Falling Anytime Soon

The current situation doesn’t indicate that real estate prices in Serbia will fall in the near future, given - among other things - the growing number of Russian and Ukrainian citizens opting to rent and buy apartments in Serbia. But urban apartments aren’t the only properties exposed to rising prices, as summer houses, building plots and garages are also becoming more expensive... The pandemic has led to increased demand for summer houses and building plots on the outskirts of larger cities, primarily Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš and Kragujevac, leading to prices per acre having multiplied several times. In terms of popularity, demand and price, Avala, Kosmaj and Fruška Gora stand out, as do settlements along the banks of the Danube and the Sava, with no indication of a return to the previous situation. Over the last few years, during which it has become all but impossible to find a parking space in Belgrade, the prices of garages in the city centre area have reached the value of a small apartment in a provincial town or a full rural homestead. Buying a garage as an investment has proven to be the best in the Belgrade municipalities of Vračar and New Belgrade, where ever more residential and commercial buildings are emerging. According to estate agents, a city centre apartment is a good investment today, but buying a garage in the city centre or in New Belgrade is an even better investment.

London, Capital Of Microflats

The ever-growing trend of people relocating en masse from small towns to major cities is creating a growing shortage of housing and demand for miniature apartments. Microflats are essentially mini studio apartments or tiny bedsit residences that have a miniature living room that doubles as a bedroom, a mini kitchen and a tiny bathroom. They are ideal for people living alone, usually students or single workers, though there are also variations encompassing 10 square metres that can accommodate two. They are generally equipped with fold-down beds that are stored vertically against a wall when not in use, as well as folding desks or tables. As many as 8,000 new microflats were built in the UK in 2016 alone, with the world’s largest microflat residential building, containing as many as 546 residences, located in London. This building also includes tiny apartments covering a surface area of nine to 12 square metres that utilise a shared kitchenette and bathroom. Each floor includes a larger kitchen with a dining table, which is used by between 30 and 70 tenants.

Dear, Dearer, Dearest

The most expensive residential square metre sold in Serbia last year was in the Belgrade Waterfront complex, in the Savski Venac municipality, and cost €10,068. The apartment encompasses 144 square metres, meaning that the buyer spent just over €1,449,000 for this property. The city’s most expensive garage space was also sold in the Belgrade Waterfront quarter and cost €40,000. According to the Republic Geodetic Authority, the highest price per square metre in an older building was achieved in Vračar, at a price of €4,615 per square metre for a 26m2 flat. The dearest city apartment sold in 2021 is located in New Belgrade, covers an area of 399 square metres and cost the new owner €1,888,614. Belgrade’s most expensive house sold in 2021 is located in the Savski Venac municipality and cost five million euros. Source: Euronews

Smart Offices Will Own The Future

The way we buy, work, socialise and communicate with friends, colleagues and business partners has been viewed differently since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the whole world two years ago. Firstly, thanks to quarantines and lockdowns, we discovered what it is like to work from home, then we learned how to keep our distance, and we ultimately grasped how we can live with the virus. For employers, the health of workers become a priority, but this isn’t only restricted to the period of the pandemic and is set to become the standard. Future business premises must be dynamic and flexible, with digital tools applied to the max, as they are set to play a key role in the offices of this new age. These smart offices will reduce the need for physical touch to a minimum, thus ensuring the maximum protection of employees’ health, while various sensors that register the presence of people in a space will be used to increase the flow of fresh air. The preferred business properties will be those located in close proximity to parks and other areas of greenery, but also commercial premises situated beside rivers or recreation and relaxation zones.

Mortgage Interest Rates On The Rise

Fixed interest rates on 30-year mortgages in the U.S. have reached 5% this year for the first time since 2011, and professionals from the banking and real estate sectors warn that interest rates could continue to rise.

“Most buyers base their price range on how much they can afford every month and mortgage payments go up for a given loan size as rates increase. As a result, the increase in mortgage rates means that homebuyers will have to adjust their expectations, and begin shopping in lower price ranges. We might see less competition for higher priced homes and more competition for lower-priced homes,” says Holden Lewis, a home and mortgage expert at U.S.-based personal finance company NerdWallet. Source: marketwatch.com

First Choice On The Market

MPC Properties was already a market leader more than 10 years ago, when its portfolio included significantly fewer assets, and it’s also a leader today, when it has six retail centres and six premium office buildings in its portfolio. Market leader is not only about size and dominance, but it is more about how relevant the products are for the customers

Belgrade, along with Serbia as a whole, is becoming an increasingly serious destination for investments in various types of real estate, while the actual market is slowly profiling itself. MPC Properties’ strategy, according to the company itself, has complete clarity.

Judging by your portfolio, we can conclude that MPC Properties will be a key player when it comes to investment and development for a long time to come. What will your next investment be?

Our portfolio gives us strength and strategic positioning in the market, but above all, our expertise and know-how, makes difference. We know why we are investing.

We make long-term projections and invest more in fields of sustainable construction of our assets than the competition, our assets have the highest LEED and BREAM certificates. We also have strategic partnerships with all global brands, but above all we are very well experienced with the dynamics of this market. This fact is also confirmed by the full leasing of the business buildings UŠĆE Tower Two and Navigator Business Centre 2, as well as the BEO shopping centre, which opened in 2020, at the time of the pandemic. We’ve strengthened our portfolio with the purchase of Delta City, and in the coming

Our portfolio thus gives us strength and stability, while our knowhow and expertise confirm that we know how to choose the right project, as we know when and why we invest

period we’ll focus on additionally strengthening our office portfolio in the segment of A Class buildings in prime Belgrade locations.

There has always been a real estate industry rule that these are the only secure investments? Is that still the case?

When it comes to real estate industry, investing in residential is the first association for secure investment. These are relatively stable investments that are exposed to less risk, but also lower returns. However, every investment implies a certain risk. More complex investments, such as retail centres and office buildings, are properties that do imply a higher risk, but for return bring significantly higher returns. The crucial factor of success, in this case, is industry knowhow, a network of partners and tenants, familiarity with financial trends and portfolio strength.

In your opinion, what would represent the best investment at the moment and has the growth of the online market influenced a different framework?

The pandemic was an ideal opportunity to demonstrate the strength of the online market, but the turnaround has not happened. We’ve just gained a more complex market, where the online domain is still in the consolidation phase, but the offline market remains a priority and continues to have great potential for further development. However, the offline market is also experiencing a transformation of its own, which is moving in the direction of creating more content-rich shopping destinations and improving the user experience. The consumer is today at the heart of every business more than ever before, and those who best respond to the new needs of consumers, are the ones that can expect to endure.

Does the local market have enough clients with the payment power to keep pace with the high leasing prices that seem to be set to continue rising?

MPC invests in high-quality office buildings, class A+, which address the needs of major international companies that think on long-term basis and can recognise the importance of higher initial investments and the advantages that brings to their employees and their actual business.

Given that we’re market pioneers in the retail segment, we select shopping destinations that are in the city’s busiest places and possess all the essential infrastructure for brand development. Such an approach has enabled us to gain the reputation we have today as the first choice on the market.

BUSINESS ANA ŠUMAN, ARCHITECT, HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT FOR URBAN AND SPATIAL PLANNING, NADICA DAVIDOVIĆ, ARCHITECT, HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT FOR ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND SAŠA KOSTIĆ, ARCHITECT, HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT AT THE ARCHITECTURAL STUDIO BUREAU CUBE PARTNERS

No Limits For A Professional And Dedicated Team

Besides expertise and professionalism, architectural studio Bureau Cube Partners bases its work and enviable results on commitment to the interests and needs of the client, knowledge of local opportunities and global trends and a willingness to see perspectives and create new opportunities

Dach year, the team of this respectable Belgrade architectural studio is expanding their portfolio and list of locations where they have been hired as designer, especially with their important participation in drafting the project documentation for the reconstruction and extension of the pearl of the Serbian architectural scene, the SANU Palace.

How tcan we establish a balance between a modern way of life in the city and the rich heritage without which Belgrade would not be Belgrade? Can history, tradition and the demands of modern man be successfully combined? A.Š. During the planning elaboration of the defined scope, which consists of the city or certain parts of it, a studious analysis and confirmation of the existing cultural, historical and natural values is the initial procedure by which a sufficient perception and a detailed familiarity is formed in various aspects with the space that is the subject of the planning document.

As the city is a living organism that changes and develops every day, one should be very careful about the existing values, the potential values that cry out to be iluminated, and not by just any criteria, and the conditions and needs for development, so as to create a high quality planning solution as a basis for

The integration of new, modern buildings and modern areas of the city with a rich heritage is both a challenge and a responsibility

the area covered by the planning document to be developed in the coming years. Retaining valuable buildings and environments is very important, but it is also very important to respond to modern requirements for the development and improvement of the city from architectural and urbanistic viewpoints. The integration of new, modern buildings with modern city areas with a rich heritage is both a challenge and a responsibility. In numerous examples in global metropolises, we notice that one of their qualities is the

successful realisation of the intertwining of historical heritage and applied modern tendencies in architecture and urbanism.

Can the existing infrastructure withstand this pace of construction of new facilities and what does Belgrade need most at the moment? A.Š. For the development of the city or some part of it, the condition is the preparation of a planning document which will, among other things, define other and public purposes, capacities and conditions for future construction, infrastructure capacities and conditions for improving and building infrastructure. For the unhindered functioning of the city, it is necessary to implement planning solutions, primarily in those areas related to the construction of roads, public utility infrastructure, edifices intended for education and facilities intended for social and health care. Most of the current problems in the functioning of the city are the result of unrealised planning solutions, illegal construction, unbuilt buildings or parts of buildings intended for stationary traffic.

It is thought that in ten years, many parts of the capital, even New Belgrade, will be left without sites for new facilities. Where and how will the city expand then? A. Š. The development of the city is a specific process that happens before us every day. In relation to the actual increase in demand for new sites and the present demographic expansion in the city of Belgrade, a more balanced development of the city is occurring with the activation of some, almost unjustly, neglected parts of Belgrade. In recent years, the expansion of the city has been noticeable in all directions. Locations that were completely unattractive ten years ago are crying out to become important points in the city. For an appropriate expansion of the city, the most important thing is to fulfill the basic condition, which is the preparation of planning documentation and the subsequent realisation of the planning solutions.

How much do new materials and the most modern technologies make it easier for you and your colleagues to realise all your visions, to give the project a unique, author’s stamp, to express all your creativity ...?

We solve challenging situations with an analytical approach, persistent elaboration and presentation of variant solutions in relation to the client’s requirements

N. D. Technological development accompanied by innovative processes has definitely contributed to a clearly visible transformation in the realisation of works of modern architecture, in such a way that the concept, which we primarily transfer to paper through sketches, later without major difficulties, precisely with these same or almost the same formal, functional and aesthetic characteristics, in each of the following phases may be examined in a focused manner, recognising the referential value and effectiveness of the final product. In consequence, we also often provide through the design process appropriate professional, technical and technological support to fellow engineers in various reference disciplines, all in order to become acquainted with new materials, their characteristics and ways in which they can be utilised. In upgrading the knowledge that is primarily associated with the application of modern technological solutions, both in the field of architectural design and in the subsequent technological process of executing works, our team has, on almost every one of the many projects in which we are currently engaged, precisely an immediate opportunity, through its follow-up, to dedicate itself to it. This applies to all phases of project implementation in which our team, following the architectural detail from its genesis to its implementation, is also dedicated to creating a realistic picture of the rational development of conceptual guidelines active in the emergence of new ideas, which are essentially a strong support for a legible and recognisable authorial approach, but also as such, critically exposed, both to the professional public and to the end users.

All major cities in Serbia, not only Belgrade, have become huge building sites, which unfortunately in many cases has a negative impact on aesthetics, functionality, quality ...? How do you fight that? N. D. As the requirements of potential users, primarily in the field of residential construction, are now at the highest of levels, so the market itself requires diversity in selection, resulting in the participation of both consultants in sales procedures and of cost management consultants and experts in the field of marketing, at practically all stages of the design process. In connection with this, inconsistent attitudes of participants in the design process often manifest themselves, sometimes even

in diametrical opposition to each other, and all in relation to views, interpretations and glorification of expectations.

At such times we solve circumstances and challenging situations with an analytical approach, persistent and almost constant elaboration and presentation of variant solutions in relation to the requirements emphasised by the clients. We do all this in order to be able to successfully incorporate common objectives in the most efficient way into an architectural solution that will not have shortcomings in terms of design, form, art, functional organisation and overall quality that a building must simply possess, at least in its outlines.

Among other things, your bureau is entrusted with drafting a project for the reconstruction and extension of the SANU Palace. How are preparations going for the works that are planned to be completed for the centenary of SANU 2024? N. D. The reconstruction and extension of the SANU palace really is one of the most demanding and complex projects in which we are engaged, and where in addition to the process of reconstruction, adaptation and rehabilitation of the existing building, a very complex and authorially challenging intervention is designed in the atrium area of the palace, within which the future central motif of this representative building, embodied in a multifunctional concert hall, is functionally and formally incorporated. The investment-technical documentation intended for the entire intervention is in its final phase, which means that the conceptual design has been completed, that the conceptual project has been completed and confirmed by the revising committee of the competent ministry, that the construction permit project has been completed and that the construction permit for reconstruction and extension is imminently expected. This creates conditions for the preparation of the beginning of the execution of works, whose completion is planned in the year in which the centenary of the construction of the SANU palace is to be celebrated.

Does the fact that your architectural bureau, in addition to architects, is accompanied by experts in various professions and specialties, enable you to effectively manage projects, regardless of the scope and type of work?

Expertise, efficiency, a team and collegial relationship enable project management in our office to be successful, regardless of the type and scope of work and the deadlines

S. K. Bureau Cube Partners primarily consists of a team of experts in the home discipline, architecture, including colleagues with enviable biographies, former professors, doctoral students and, I would say without false modesty, current and future important names in Serbian architecture with whom it is a great honour and pleasure to collaborate. Expertise, working efficiency, a team and collegial relationship unequivocally enables project management in our office to be successful, regardless of the type and scope of work and the deadlines defined.

In addition to a high quality approach in solving architectural challenges, knowledge of local opportunities and processes and global trends has brought you a large number of clients. How did you keep them and motivate them to embark on new projects with you? S. K. Our company is characterised by exceptional commitment, understanding of the market and the expressed needs of investors, and an understanding of the need to face and follow global architectural trends. I observe that the readiness for complex, often provocative, and at the same time challenging perceptions and the creation of new possibilities are almost always predetermined qualitative conditions that investors naturally expect from the architectural team that accompanies them, which in our case they probably recognise. In addition, I would like to emphasise the expertise and dedication of each individual in our team who is engaged in the design process, starting from understanding the idea, through recognising key points in the investment development cycle and synthesising elements that participate in creating a complete product, until its final realisation.

By participating in all phases of the project, your experts provide clients with additional security and guarantees that the work will be done flawlessly. Do you save them time? S. K. Competence, rationality, creativity, sustainability, certainly synchronicity and cooperation in all disciplines, starting with architecture, are a prerequisite for design, and then all the following processes take place according to the given dynamics. But that is also equally a reason to consider all potential obstacles in the realisation in a timely manner, and to make savings in the estimated time of realisation of the entire cycle by timely resolution and prevent further extension of the planned deadlines.

Archinova Architecture is a company that specialises in the strategic design of workspaces and interdisciplinary models of workspace design, but first and foremost in the utilising of spatial office units to build a pleasant and healthy atmosphere and corporate culture

Personnel, both individual employees and teams, need to be flexible and oriented towards the task at hand, and not the place. This doesn’t mean that office space must be condensed, but rather that it should be modified to represent a company’s base.

Your company deals in the design of workspaces. What does that actually entail?

It entails dealing with the architecture of offices and workspaces, but actually through different disciplines – firstly analysis of companies’ organisation and work processes, analysis of the digitalisation of operations and the “measure” of virtual and physical works. But we primarily deal with the sociological and psychological needs of employees – by participating in the building of a pleasant and healthy atmosphere and corporate culture through spatial parameters. This is a team effort, and the architecture and interior of a workspace can use as a tools to realise those goals.

When you established Archinova five years ago, could you have imagined that things

Reaching The Highest Standards Of Offices In Serbia

would change so quickly and that a pandemic would bring us new ways of doing business?

Changes to design methods of offices were obvious even before the pandemic, which only served to accelerate them. By orienting themselves towards the task at hand and the need to generate profit, as opposed to focusing on the place where they are based and work, many companies were able to digitalise and utilise virtual work platforms, and that technological wheel is spinning faster and won’t stop. In the process of designing and collaborating with an investor, we strive to strike a balance between physical workspace, virtual work and the building of a corporate culture and a sense of belonging.

Considering the new practise of working from home, do you think there’ll be a reduced need for traditional offices?

Hybrid work has created an opportunity for companies to engage the best experts anywhere in the world and to form multinational expertlevel teams that are flexible and task-oriented, rather than place-oriented. This doesn’t mean that office space must be condensed, but rather that it should be modified from the traditional to a representation of a company’s base and a place where corporate values are initiated, as well as a place where employees are happy to come, meet and collaborate. Also, the greatest advantage of working from home is the travel time saved, but one of the new solutions could be the spatial diversification of workspaces.

What do you recommend when it comes to designing and developing new offices?

Developers and designers of new multi-tenant buildings can analyse new forms of organising office buildings, with the aim of optimising clients’ increased demand for flexibility (whether some spaces should be shared use; whether a need exists to develop new concepts like office hotel concepts, co-working concepts etc.), while the companies – led by their HR teams – analyse the optimal degree of hybrid work (in the office and from home) adapted to each area of activity independently. High-quality designers and architects, which Serbia has in abundance, are able to satisfy and exceed the highest standards and to design modern office space.

Design of Medigroup office in Sirius offices, Belgrade

Flexibility, good design and collaboration through togetherness and the nurturing of corporate culture are our initial guidelines in workspace projects

Interior Design TrendsIn 2022

For millennia, interior design trends have been used as aesthetic aids in our attempts to find some sort of inner peace: take the ancient Chinese art of feng shui, where spatial positioning corresponds to energy flow, or wabi sabi, the Japanese practise of embracing imperfections, or ancient Rome's fondness for using earth-tone colours and geometric patterns to mimic the harmony of nature

There is more and more research showing the direct influence that our homes have, not only on our mood, but on our overall health and wellbeing. So, is it any wonder that in 2022 — our third consecutive year in a global pandemic — the top interior design trends are again focused on making us feel emotionally at ease?

And what, exactly, are our senses drawn to in 2022? Top interior designers have some ideas. For starters, several predict the rise of the enveloping, earthy colour of brown, displayed in fabrics like leather or even in terracotta walls (how Ancient Rome of us). Others see a spike in nature-inspired surfaces and accents — think marbles and mushroom shapes — while others say their clients can’t get enough soft, curvy furniture. Essentially, anything that feels warm, welcoming and cosy is in.

Then, there’s the pandemic reality that our homes have become the main settings of our lives: where we work, sleep, and socialise. Every corner, and every object we’re surrounded by, must serve some sort of purpose.

Meanwhile, some popular design choices of the past several years are falling to the wayside. Boucle’s moment, it seems, is over, as is the all-white minimalism that may look crisp, yet provides little visual comfort. The minimal look is at last warming up.

NATURE-INSPIRED SURFACES AND OBJECTS With more time spent indoors than ever before, we’re all seeking to strengthen our connection with nature. This has simultaneously inspired a resurgence in natural sur-

LE STYLE ANGLAIS-MEETS-CALIFORNIA APPROACH

faces—think stoneware, terracotta, marble, and travertine being used across the board from backsplashes to bathtubs, furniture, and decorative objects. The raw, porous, imperfect nature of these organic materials adds depth, soul, and visual intrigue while also mimicking the calming, restorative ambiance of the outdoors. This lure back to nature has also sparked an interest in large trees at home, from the elegant black olive to Southern magnolias.

It is refreshing to see a return to materialdriven applications—and it doesn’t seem to be cooling off. A desire for rich marbles, soft and organic materials, warmer tones and griege vs. white on walls, earthy elements like wood, stone, and clay—this is all so classic and refreshing as it brings life to a space.

SCULPTURAL AND CURVED FURNITURE A curved form is subconsciously read as safe, friendly and welcoming. With everyone feeling a bit precious, softer shapes and angles will still be a big trend in 2022 in furniture

as well as architecture. VINTAGE AND SUSTAINABLE ACCENTS From a design standpoint, vintage is the protagonist of every room—it has the power to influence the storytelling and direction. Their patina brings a touchable texture and warmth to every space, not to mention a sacred sentimentality. But aside from their decorative propensity, these rare antiquities are stylishly sustainable. By repurposing the old, the damaged, the jagged into something new, we’re reducing our footprint while bringing a rich sense of history and spirit into a space.

A MORE MODERN GRANDMILLENIAL Trends for 2022 include the embracing of floral patterns, a sort of 1940s updated chintz vibe, resplendent in the memory of Mario Buatta, but in more contemporary palettes. The ‘grandmillennial’ look that was slowly infiltrating influencers and taste

MIXED MATERIALS LIKE METAL, WOOD AND VELVET

ROOM IN SHADES

ARTWORK

makers in 2021 is now become more widespread, moving tastes back to a “more is more” look. But unlike our grandparents’ interiors, the feel is more curated with floral and damask-printed wallpapers becoming the backdrop for contemporary-shaped soft furnishings given an added touch of glamour with unexpected fringe and piping addition.

Mixing Materials and Design Styles

The desire to have unique things is leading to an increase in mixing materials in furniture design. It is not uncommon to see case goods with wood, metal and stone elements all used in the same piece, to make them more unique and special.

There is a trend emerging that is reminiscent of the late ’80s and early ’90s. Two directions -One being very natural—white and creams, mixed with dark natural wood and washed linen textiles and black-andwhite photography. The other is dark and moody mixed with stainless steel, jovial multicolor schemes and color blocking.

Paying attention to the subtleties will be important in 2022!

Serbia Is (Nonetheless) A Lucky Country

Serbia is a country of great natural resources that has good and well-educated farmers. That’s why, during these global crises, there are no major food supply problems and Serbia is managing to provide enough food for both its own needs and those of neighbouring countries

The war in Ukraine and sanctions imposed against Russia have served to remind us once again that the agricultural sector is of strategic importance during both peacetime and war, as our interlocutor, agricultural economist Milan Prostran, likes to say.

One of Serbia’s preeminent experts in this field, during this conversation with him we touched on new technologies and the enduring poverty in Serbia that ensures the level of meat consumption in our country remains below that of the former Yugoslavia. As a recurring theme of this entire interview, and a way of better understanding the context in which farmers and the food industry operate, one of our interlocutor’s statements stand out – when he states that, over the course of more than 20 years, he’s failed to convince the authorities, from any part of the political spectrum in Serbia, of the need to invest more in this sector. Perhaps this crisis provides an opportunity for that.

“Food for the future” is among the key sectors singled out within the scope of smart specialisation processes as representing a competitive advantage for Serbia. Are you encouraged by this when it comes to the development of agriculture and the food industry in Serbia?

Serbia, as an agrarian country, has fewer worries than many other countries when it comes to food production. In the former Yugoslavia, Serbia produced 60 per cent of total food required for all Yugoslav republics, while today it exports surplus production 2 AGRIBUSINESS 2022

and the turnover generated from exports of agricultural products exceeds four billion dollars and is heading towards five billion. On that front, Serbia has no major problems supplying its own population with food during these global crises, while it also participates significantly when it comes to serving the basic needs of the countries of the region for food and agricultural products.

On the other hand, Serbian agriculture has yet to receive the respect it deserves from the government, from the creators of budgetary policy and incentive systems, and we shouldn’t overlook the fact that this sector sustained great devastation during the privatisation process. We should also add to this the difficulties experienced by associated industries that ensure that, today, our farmers have major procurement problems with mineral fertilisers, plant protection products, agricultural machinery and spare parts, while there are also global issues, such as the price of oil as an ever-increasing cost.

From the standpoint of unexploited potential, our country is dominated up to 78 per cent by small farmers and agricultural smallholdings with estates of less than 0.5 to five hectares, which is also our critical

FUTURE

A task for the years ahead is to utilise the great potential of small and medium-sized producers in the function of increased food production and increased income

point to an extent. That is a task for the years ahead: to utilise this great potential of small and medium-sized producers in the function of increased food production and increased income.

Nonetheless, regardless of all of its problems, Serbia is a lucky country of great natural resources that has good and well-educated farmers and which manages, despite the circumstances, to provide enough food for both its own needs and those of neighbouring countries.

You are of the opinion that the agrarian budget’s share of the national budget of the Republic of Serbia should correlate to agriculture’s contribution to generating the country’s GDP. Why is this still not the case? The agrarian budget is 50 per cent lower

In today’s difficult conditions, agricultural resources have been shown to be the most precious, and countries that have large areas of well-utilised agricultural land are the happiest. When things are established in such a way, it’s clear that we will suffer for a while due to the sale of land to foreigners, but it is what it is

than deserved, which I’ve been trying to convince the authorities of for more than 20 years. Although a law was passed stipulating that the share of the agrarian budget mustn’t be less than five per cent of the total national budget of the Republic of Serbia, that five per cent has never been achieved. Over the last 10 years, according to the new calculation methodology, agriculture has contributed a share of around 9.5% to the country’s social product, while I’ve always insisted that it should be at least 10 per cent. If that was the case, instead of 400 million euros, its share would amount to a billion euros, and if the budget of Serbia had a billion euros a year for the needs of agriculture, we could do much more. Unfortunately, we won’t have higher investments and more intensive programmes for agriculture without a higher agrarian budget. This correlation must be established.

INTEREST

Generating an income must be the basic motivation for engaging in agriculture, because no one should engage in agriculture for some patriotic reasons

TURNAROUND

This crisis is an opportunity for politicians to change their opinions and for agriculture to receive the respect it deserves from the government, as the creators of budget policy and the incentive system

Agriculture is today a sector where new technologies are being applied more than ever – from smart tractors to artificial intelligence. How can Serbia handle such technological changes if 80% of farmland is still in the hands of small owners?

These problems aren’t easy to overcome. U.S. and EU experience shows that the state must have a professional service that’s better organised and 100 per cent funded from the state budget. In the U.S., for example, the

When we liberalised the agricultural sector, we also made it possible for foreigners

optimal farm size is 1,000 hectares, because that reduces costs and increases productivity, which is why, in our country, trust is again being placed in the cooperative system or the communal system. Small, independent farmers can’t compete on the market if they aren’t backed by an association that will protect them and unify them in an economic sense, which will have both educational and lending functions. That unification is key, provided we don’t disregard the weaknesses of the former cooperatives and we restore everything that was positive. This is also how the EU works, via so-called cooperatives that are the equivalent of our agricultural cooperatives.

This would also enable the better utilisation of resources and secure the long-term security of farmers, because we mustn’t forget that agriculture is an open-air factory and that it carries huge risks regardless of the availability of modern devices and technologies.

This is also a story of education to a certain extent. We have developed education, several agricultural colleges, a few good agricultural secondary schools, and it’s particularly important that a large proportion of these young people are being educated to work on their own farms, which guarantees more intensive production, higher yields and higher income.

to own land, prompting great fears that all our land would be bought. What actually happened to the ownership structure of farmland in Serbia?

This was the consequence of a mistake made during the signing the of the [EU] Stabilisation and Association Agreement, when we were purportedly promised that we would become a full member of the EU in 2016. We conceded to the 2008 agreement allowing the sale of land to foreigners after only four years, despite us not even being close to joining the EU. Unfortunately, the SAA cannot be changed.

The largest swathes of agricultural land still remain in the hands of domestic owners, but there are also large areas held by companies from Arabic countries, while there are also Croatian landowners. The latest major transaction was the sale of PKB to company Al Dahra.

Do you expect the war in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed against Russia to substantially change the way all countries, including Serbia, view agriculture as a strategic resource - as you said, during both war and peacetime?

I think that many countries that don’t have developed agriculture, or don’t have enough agricultural products, will finally change their attitude towards this resource. When sanctions were imposed against Russia in 2014, it’s agriculture was very underdeveloped, even in parts of the country with excellent conditions to do so. They quickly changed their agrarian policy and, to the surprise of everyone, Russia became one of the world’s largest producers of wheat, barley and rye, and one of the largest fruit producers. And today many countries, including us, I hope, will change their stance regarding agriculture. It is important that this need is grasped by the politicians who make decisions, and the crisis is an opportunity for that.

What will this war change when it comes to agricultural production and prices in our country?

Prices will rise and we, unfortunately, won’t be able to influence that much, primarily due to the global market, or due to the high prices of energy, mineral fertilisers, plant protection products, agricultural machinery, spare parts and other outgoings that are included in the cost of agricultural products. Wealthy countries will be able to use subsidies to compensate for prices, i.e., to use budget contributions to help agricultural producers slightly reduce the prices of their products. Another way is for farmers not to use some of these components, to save on additions, but that would reduce their yields, and thereby also their offer, which would again result price hikes.

In my opinion, prices will continue rising until autumn, until the harvest is finished. If the wars stop, if the prices of additional components fall, a better period will begin in 2023. We mustn’t forget that these two warring countries, Ukraine and Russia, are responsible for more than 80 per cent of the world’s total production of sunflower oil and more than 25 per cent of world wheat production, and that can’t help but be reflected on the market.

In my opinion, prices will continue rising until autumn, until the harvest is finished. If the wars stop, if the prices of additional components fall, a better period will begin in 2023

We used to consume 65 kilograms of meat per capita annually, while today that total has fallen to 52 kilograms, which is significantly below the EU average. Should we rejoice in that as part of the transition to healthier lifestyles, or is it still a sign of poverty?

During the time of our crisis, in the 1990s, meat consumption fell from 65 to 30 kilos. That total has improved slightly over the past twenty-odd years and we’ve now reached a level of 52 kgs per capita, but I don’t believe we’ll return to old levels anytime soon. We have a large number of ‘national kitchens’ [to feed the poor], which – as my parents told me – didn’t exist even in the post-WWII period, when the country was devastated. We have a lot of poor citizens who survive on basic foodstuffs and for whom meat is inaccessible, even the cheaper categories of meat. Beef today costs more than 1,000 dinars a kilo, veal costs more than 1,500 dinars, and quality chicken meat costs more than 500 dinars.

Does it make sense today to promote “meat produced in Serbia” if our livestock farming is under threat?

The numbers are terrible... In 1975 we had 2,250,000 head of livestock, while today we have approximately 800,000. Livestock is in a great crisis, and numbers of all domestic animals, with the exception of goats, are facing major decline. People have forgotten that destroying livestock also destroys agricultural land, because we have no organic manure and we don’t sow grass, unlike the Netherlands, which is important for recultivating land. You know, for example, that irrigation is extremely inefficient, and even harmful, without manure, because runoff/ leaching turns agricultural lands into barren wastelands or deserts.

I’ve been to Israel twice and seen how irrigation and manure turns deserts into fertile land. And they wouldn’t be able to do that without developed livestock, fantastic farms and the highest production of milk.

Livestock farming is the engine that drives agriculture, as shown by the fact that the value of European agriculture is set 70 per cent through livestock and only 30 per cent through plant production. Unfortunately, that ratio is flipped in our country, so livestock accounts for only 30 per cent of agriculture.

We’re Growing Together With Certis Belchim

Belchim Crop Protection is a development company that has harmonised its operations, both locally and globally, with all of the increasingly stringent environmental and safety standards for the programme of professional plant protection.

This year is a special one for us and it will be inscribed in golden letters, because we are proudly announcing the creation of a new company – Certis Belchim B.V. – through the merging of Certis Europe B.V. and Belchim Crop Protection NV / SA, with the slogan ‘Growing together’ - announces Belchim Crop Protection Serbia, Country Manager Vladimir Vasojević.

Agriculture has been the central pillar of our country for centuries, particularly during difficult and challenging times. Can agriculture continue to be our central pillar and our trump card in the years ahead?

The people who live in our region have been forced to adapt to all historical tribulations. That’s also the case with the global crisis that we all find ourselves living through today. We all need to work more intelligently, each in their own field. During times of unstable market and monetary conditions, the optimising and adapting of all processes is a key and crucial element of company success, both in the agricultural sector and beyond. In times of such opportunities and predicaments, maintaining a balance between environmental norms and the quality of agricultural production represents a great challenge.

Environmentally sustainable agriculture starts with the kind of professional plant protection that’s promoted by your company. Is this the best route to great yields and top-quality products? The concept of environmentally sustainable and professional plant protection is based on the functional integrating of conventional (traditional) and environmentally friendly agriculture, alongside applicable biorational solutions for plant protection. Since its very inception, our company has understood the essential need to conduct tests

and the huge importance of knowledge, which come as a result of product testing in real time. As the company developed, so did the important need for permanent testing stations. Our company’s first testing station was established in 2006 in [the Belgian municipality of] Londerzeel, which is just a 10-minute drive from the company’s headquarters. It was in 2016 that we launched the construction of our second testing station, which is located in the commune of Fronton near the French city of Toulouse. The focus at this testing station is on agricultural cultures from Southern and Southeast Europe. This process of constantly striving to achieve better and higher quality products represents the best route to great yields and top-quality products.

Has increased awareness about the importance of proper and healthy nutrition led to you working more intensively to harmonise your operations with increasingly stringent environmental and safety standards?

The production of food, or agricultural production, represents – in addition to human health – a priority sustainability goal for every society. The unexpected global crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic has continued with a crisis of price instability for agricultural raw materials and semi-finished products. These events represent a global challenge. Nobody expected this kind of scenario. This is the right juncture for us to once again prove our key advantage and strength: flexibility. We have consolidated operations, our team has taken a proactive approach to conducting all necessary works to ensure that our proven, innovative solutions would be available to all of our agricultural producers. Our team responded to this challenge in the right way, which makes us very proud.

Do we have the knowhow and resources to keep pace with trends? To what extent are your products for improving agricultural production available to small producers?

In the scope of my work to date, I’ve had the opportunity to meet many high-quality people from all areas of agrotechnology and food sciences, across Europe and around the world. My general conclusion is that we have all the elements needed for success right here in our country and region, both in term of knowhow and the experience needed to be able to keep pace with world trends and accept those technologies that can place us among the worldwide competition to achieve high yields. Our lands already have serious professional producers and companies that are already competing in that game and have already reached the very top, with their excellent yields and product quality. We see the role of our company as being to share as much as possible and to connect, doing everything in our power to help improve things greatly in the part in which producers need to advance. It is only in this way that we can count on generating better average yields. We see that as a huge challenge.

You have launched the establishing of a new company that will represent a new force in plant protection, with strong foundations and great possibilities of conquering new markets. How much progress has been made with that? region. This year, together with our Japanese and European partners, we have once again presented several products that are new to our market and will soon represent the standard in plant protection. We have harmonised our operations, both locally and globally, with all increasingly stringent environmental and safety standards through our professional plant protection programme, which aligns with the concept of precision agriculture. We invest in the development of new products through testing that we conduct everywhere, both across this region and around the world. We are working to make our products safer through so-called biorational solutions.

A UNIQUE & INNOVATIVE PORTFOLIO AND PIPELINE

For this year, we’re announcing the creation of the company Certis Belchim B.V., through the merging of Certis Europe B.V. and Belchim Crop Protection NV/SA. Certis Europe and Belchim Crop Protection are both development companies that operate on the global market for plant protection, with a strong position in environmentally friendly biorational products that satisfy the requirements of sustainable agricultural production. Both companies are subsidiaries of Japanese company Mitsui & Co. Ltd., which forms part of Mitsui AgriScience International SA/NV. The merging and synergising of these two companies will enable Certis Belchim to further develop sustainable plant protection solutions while maintaining a stronger market position.

Will new company Certis Belchim introduce new solutions with the same dynamics as your company has done to date?

Certis Belchim develops professional, environmentally-friendly solutions in all branches of plant production: viticulture and the cultivation of fruit, vegetables and field crops. There are no small and large market segments for us, no small and large producers, rather only optimal, environmentally-friendly solutions that can help improve the competitiveness of the agriculture of our

Constantly striving to achieve better and higher quality products represents the best route to great yields and top-quality products

If you had to highlight just a few of the characteristics that best describe Certis Belchim, like innovative and adaptable, what would they be? What essentially distinguishes you from the competition?

Certis Belchim combines the strengths of two renowned companies in the area of plant protection, offering an even richer portfolio of products and additional resources to provide the highest level of technical support and customer service. Our new company is supported by Mitsui & Co. Ltd. With its global resources, as well as four major Japanese research and development companies: Nippon Soda, ISK Biosciences, Kumiai and Mitsui Chemicals Agriculture. Coupled with the developmental, regulatory and marketing expertise that exists within Certis Belchim, these companies bring innovative and exciting new solutions for plant protection, both around the world and across our region: Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania.

AGRICULTURAL FAIR WITH THE OLD TIMING AND FORMAT

The largest and most important national event dedicated to agriculture is the International Agricultural Fair. This year’s 89th edition will be held from 21st to 27th May at the Novi Sad Fairgrounds, in its regular spring slot and traditional format, i.e. live. Exhibitors will again be able to exploit their own and the fair’s possibilities to better present and achieve great business results and, after the break caused by the pandemic, when the fair was held online, visitors will again walk among the stands with their live and mechanical exhibits.

As is the case every year, guests will have opportunities to check out the latest machinery, tools, agro-technical appliances, crops and scientific achievements...

With the support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, there will be an exhibition of livestock, an exhibition of genetic possibilities, an exhibition of products with the national label, exhibitions of organic products, public prize contests of horses and cattle, a cattle breeders’ day with a ceremonial parade of prize cattle, a fruit day, a champion’s evening and much more.

THE HOE RETURNS TO BANJA LUKA

Some people in Banja Luka were convinced that the pandemic had to bring some benefit, prompting hem to become gardeners overnight. It all started in 2018, when 10,000 square metres of land was distributed to inhabitants. As the interest was greater than the number of vacant plots, a public invitation was sent to landowners. In the midst of the pandemic, the Hoe in Hand, Let’s Feed Banja Luka initiative was born. That spring, 20 families founded their first garden and the following year the number of gardens increased to 30, but the interest in gardening is still growing.

The Hoe in Hand initiative has city gardens in Petrićevac, Starčevica and near the Agricultural School, besides the gardens already in Rakovački under the Banja Luka City Garden project. It is hoped that production will expand year-on-year and that the authorities will catch on to their popularity and allocate new planting areas.

THERE WILL BE ENOUGH FOOD, BUT IT WILL BE EXPENSIVE

“Due to the war in Ukraine and the crisis that has spilled over to the rest of Europe, food prices will inevitably rise in the coming period”, concluded the Business Trends summit panel held in Belgrade in late April, organised by Instore and NIN magazines.

Miloš Mijović, director of MK Agriculture, believes that growth in the price of artificial fertilisers, which is three times higher than before the crisis, will certainly affect Serbian food producers. He doesn’t expect business to be jeopardised this year, but he believes that next year will be more challenging. As he emphasised, there will be quite enough wheat for national needs, but export can be threatened.

According to Luka Popović, COO of Delta Agrar and director of Danubius and Delta Feed, we are facing a period without cheap food, but also without sufficient shortage capacities.

“Serbia is a serious agricultural country ranked in the top 10 world producers of corn, wheat and beets, so there will certainly be food for local needs”, said Popovic, adding that supply chains are important for production but have seen significant disruption, and that all this will increase the price of food.

LIFE RETURNS TO SERBIAN VILLAGES

In 2022 the commission for the allocation of grants for the purchase of a rural house with a garden distributed 90 rural houses and delighted 13 young farmers, 13 single parents and 64 families throughout Serbia. Grants for the purchase of rural houses are allocated on a first-come-first-served basis as long as funds last, but no later than 1st November 2022.

Young married and unmarried couples, single parents and young farmers up to the age of 45 can apply for a grant to buy a country house. According to the terms of the competition, the house can be located in all populated areas of the Republic of Serbia, except in urban and municipal centres and suburbs, and its value can amount to a maximum of 1.2 million dinars.

In last year’s cycle, 651 rural houses with gardens were awarded in as many as 100 local government units, and a total of 500 million dinars was set aside for this in the budget of the Republic of Serbia for 2022.

EATING INSECTS SAVES THE PLANET

A recent study by Finnish scientists showed that replacing livestock products with insects in our diets would reduce the effects of agriculture on global warming and water and soil pollution by 80 percent.

Finnish researchers have used computer models to determine the optimal combination of diets that would meet all nutritional needs, while minimising the impact on the environment, water consumption and soil pollution.

Experts from the University of Helsinki say that vegetarians and vegans have demonstrated the health and environmental benefits that can result from reduced meat consumption. Not only could switching to ‘food of the future’ such as insects and mushroom protein meet our needs, but also contribute to a better intake of essential nutrients. 10 AGRIBUSINESS 2022

CHINESE FARMERS DEVELOP SMART AGRICULTURE

Five Chinese provinces will receive technical guidelines from expert teams sent by the Ministry of Agriculture, after last year’s floods had a negative effect on sowing and on the harvest. More than 800,000 people will be able to attend online training through the National Platform for Agricultural Technology, as the Chinese authorities have concluded that the future of agriculture lies in modernising and developing technology.

With modern farming platforms and smart farming technology, including drones, satellite imagery and computer modeling, the state provides support to farmers across the country, turning farmers’ mobile phones into intelligent tools and resources for environmental protection.

IT’S TIME FOR WEEDS

The Serbian Intellectual Property Institute is celebrating its centenary and has published a calendar of the greatest Serbian scientists and inventors, including Dr Danica Gajić. The only woman among the great scientists stood shoulder to shoulder with Nikola Tesla, Mihailo Pupin and Milutin Milanković, thanks to “agrostemin”, a broad-spectrum bioenergy agent that serves to increase yields, improve crop quality and optimise production costs. The need for the application of this natural preparation, which is obtained from a powder of weeds and other cultivated and wild plants, has been particularly evident in recent months due to extremely high prices of fertilisers, but also due to the need to turn to agrotechnical measures suitable for organic agriculture. Back in 1987, the World Intellectual Property Organisation awarded Dr Danica Gajić their Gold Medal for Lifetime Achievement, and Agrostemin has since become one of the standard agrotechnical measures based on research and decades of practical use in our country and around the world.

A FARM WITH NO FARMER? YES

Australia last year gained the world’s first fully automated farm covering 1,900 hectares, where human hands do absolutely nothing. Agricultural production on this property takes place with the help of artificial intelligence, robots and smart sensors, and the goal is to show how technology can make the industry more productive and efficient.

According to ABC News, installing the system cost 20 million dollars. The project was conducted by researchers at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga in cooperation with the Food Agility Institute. This is proof that technological innovation is not just spreading to smart cities, smart buildings or new hybrid work models, robots are also transforming agriculture with artificial intelligence, autonomous tractors, real-time sensors that monitor crops, drones or fruit and vegetable picking robots.

The farm has unmanned aerial vehicles, robotic tractors, combines and smart sensors for measuring emissions of carbon released into the atmosphere.