CorD magazine 67 by CorD Magazine

CorD, JANUARY 2010

ECONOMY

FINANCE

REALISTIC ECONOMIC GROWTH

CEFTA AGREEMENT

By Radovan Jelašić, Governor of the National Bank of Serbia

BRUSSELS WAS A TURNING POINT

Exclusive: Tomislav Nikolić, President of the Serbian Progressive

Party

MORATORIUM ON NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

Oliver Dulić, Minister of Environmental Protection and Spatial Planning

SECOND OPERATOR IN JANUARY

Jasna Matić, Minister of Telecommunications and Information Society of the Republic of Serbia

WE EVEN MAKE SIMILAR MISTAKES

HE Ahmet Suha Umara, Turkish Ambassador in Belgrade

RESPONSIBLE INVESTOR

4 CorD 67 / January 2010

Philippos Karamanolis, President of the Executive Board, Eurobank EFG Serbia

MARKET WILL RECOVER IN 2011

Vesna Miljković, Owner and Director of Picard Real Estate

SERBIA IN 2009

Economy, Politics, Culture

INVITATION FOR NATO

Region: Montenegro

CULTURE CALENDAR

Annual Events, Classical Music, Art, Film...

CULTURE NEWS

Edited by Jelena Jovanovic

BETWEEN DESIGN

Daniel Young, New York designer

THE AD CULTURE

During the two days of the ‘Night of the Ad Eaters,’ audiences saw over 500 ads from 24 countries

COZY, GLITZY GEM

Restaurant Monte Cristo

WHERE TO GO

LEGITIMACY OF KOSOVO’S STATUS

SHOPPING GUIDE 2010

Beginning of a public debate in the International Court of Justice in The Hague

LEADERS

42 ACTING EDITOR: Sasa Maric ASISTANT EDITOR & EDITOR OF SPECIAL EDITIONS Tatjana Ostojic ART DIRECTOR Tamara Ivljanin LECTOR Pat Andjelkovic CONTRIBUTORS Andrej Klemencic, Jelena Mickic, Jelena Jovanovic, Sonja Ciric, Ilija Despotovic,

What are the major obstacles for adequate implementation of CEFTA Agreement in Serbia and the region?

REAL ESTATE

New year’s eve

Belgrade, London, New York

Further Market Liberalization

Petar Djoric, Dejan Jeremic PHOTO Marko Rupena, Slobodan Jotic, FOnet, CorD Archive TRANSLATION: Snezana Bjelotomic EDITORIAL MANAGER Tanja Bankovic PROJECT MANAGER Vesna Vukajlovic, Ana Zagajac FINANCIAL DIRECTOR Ana Besedic

GENERAL MANAGER Ivan Novcic PRINTING Rotografika d.o.o. CorD is published by: alliance intrenational media Knjeginje Zorke 11b, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia Phone: +(381 11) 308 99 77, 308 99 88 Fax: +(381 11) 244 81 27

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Realistic economic growth

What is required in a time of frozen wages and pensions and reduced current consumption in order to achieve an economic growth of 1.5 percent next year, and 3% in 2011? The main prerequisite for this is to have drastically higher investments, without which Serbia could be facing a long and painful process of stagnation

erbia has chosen the hardest way to mitigate the effects of the global economic downturn, and that is to alter expenditure structure instead of increasing revenue. In practice, this means increasing investments at the expense of current consumption, which entails its concrete and significant reduction. The National Bank of Serbia should support such an economic policy since it is non-inflationary, and the only criticism that the central bank may have concerns the issue of practical implementation. Feasibility-wise, it is important for the state to join forces with the International Monetary Fund, as well as to carry out its intentions together with this international financial organization, thus proving that the economic policy that the bank intends to implement is credible and transparent, and that potential investors, creditors, and partners of the Serbian economy can put their trust in it. What does this new economic policy mean for the relevant actors in terms of pensions and wages and their GDP share by 2015, as stated in the Letter of Intent signed with the IMF which has both mediumand long-term components? Putting civil servants’ salaries on ice next year means that in 2011 the only way to increase these salaries would be to cut back on the number of employees, which I personally doubt, considering past experiences with public enterprises at the national and local level and state administration. Since in this country the average wage in the private sector is still lower than the one in the public sector, that will certainly have an adverse affect on salaries in the private sector, and it will hardly be attainable through employing more people next year. All of this means that wages will remain virtually at the same level as in 2009 not only in the public sector, where that is actually desirable, but also in the private sector. Since the number of pensioners cannot be reduced, we reached an agreement for appropriations for pensions to be reduced from 13 to 10 percent of the national GDP. Although the amount to be set aside for pensions has already been decided for the next year as well as for 2011, we reduced pension reform goals to the main two – pension appropriations should be within the planned share of GDP, and to ensure long-term sustainability of the existing system. Reforming the pension system means accepting what simply has to happen and doing something about it, since it became apparent that the current method of financing pensions and the costs associated with it are unsustainable. Bearing in mind what will happen to wages and pensions, it is obvious that every company in Serbia that produces goods or renders services should brace itself for much more difficult times ahead. Gone are the days when everybody was competing to see who will have higher prices, which was somewhat acceptable at the time when wage growth was in double digits, when loans were granted left and right, and when foreign investments brought a lot of ad6 CorD 67 / January 2010

ditional revenue. Following a 7.5% decline in purchasing power in 2009, consumers, employees, and pensioners are in for another year of reduced income. The time has come for us to wonder why an average apartment in Dorćol is more expensive than one in Frankfurt or why the costs of local phone calls in Belgrade are higher than in Vienna. We should also bear in mind the effect that opening the borders will have after December 19th, since quite a few people will travel to Vienna, Budapest, or Timisoara not only to breathe in EU air, but also to buy 20 to 30 percent cheaper milk and dairy products or clothes, i.e. the same brands that are sold in Belgrade but at significantly higher prices. The reason for the same brands charging more money for their products here than abroad is that they abused the fact that Serbian citizens could not travel Governor of the Naanywhere, paid at least 35 euros tional Bank of Serbia for a single visa, spent long hours waiting in queues, and were fed-up with cross-border shopping. It is not, therefore, difficult to predict that retailers are now going to complain even more because the country is allegedly being too hasty with the liberalization process and is not protecting domestic production. But these are stories that are only believable here, where retailers made easy money from high margins instead from selling great quantities. What is required in a time of frozen wages and pensions and reduced current consumption in order to achieve an economic growth of 1.5 percent next year, and 3% in 2011? The main prerequisite for this is to have drastically higher investments, without which Serbia could be facing a long and painful process of stagnation. The money for important infrastructure projects and Corridor 10 has long been available with the international financial organizations, but the problem is not actually in insufficient funds, but in the fact that we are disorganized and slow. Nobody in Brussels will do the expropriation for us, concrete is not going to be mixed in the World Bank, and the European Investment Bank will not drive a bulldozer. In other words, if the investments made by next year do not facilitate economic growth or compensate for a significant reduction in the current consumption, and if we don’t start to withdraw the funds set aside for this purpose by March of next year, Serbia will not be able to increase its GDP, and every single problem that led to the reduction of current consumption will be more pronounced and have heavier consequences than keeping pensions and salaries at the same level.

By Radovan Jelašić,

INTERVIEW |

Exclusive: Tomislav Nikolić, President of the Serbian Progressive Party

Brussels was a turnin The visit to Brussels occurred at the request of Mr. Ollie Rehn. All the information that the Russian Federation, the U.S.A., and the EU had about me to that point, came from my political adversaries. For the ﬁrst time ever, I spoke openly about many topics in Brussels. And I think that that opened the doors not only for Serbia in terms of visa liberalization, but also doors to SNS so that nobody can say at the next elections who should win in Serbia. feel that if republic elections were to take place, we would achieve great success.

Are early republic elections a reality or do you just hope that they will occur? Early elections would give a realistic view of the political scene in Serbia. Now, whether they will actually happen or is it just our expectation after what happened in Voždovac – I am not sure. Our victory was a cautionary tale for DS. And what was supposed to happen? We were supposed to lose so that they would schedule elections? It is time to establish the legitimacy of the Parliament and of the Government, because you have the group of Serbian Radical Party (SRS) MPs, i.e. a political party that failed to reach the census anywhere. You have government ministers who are administering half of Serbia’s budget, and their parties have also not reached a census at any elections. Something has changed, and citizens should get the opportunity to turn these changes into reality with their votes. By Tatjana OSTOJIĆ fter the victory in the Voždovac local elections, Tomislav Nikolić, President of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), says in an interview for CorD that “as the successes of SNS are stacking, I am becoming more and more moderate in predicting results,” while his close associate, Aleksandar Vučić, is much better at estimating the party’s strength. “Vučić has always been a pessimist in his prognosis, but this time, in the case of Voždovac, I was optimistic. Even though we both predicted a victory, he was convinced that we were going to win by a bigger margin, which is exactly what happened,” said Nikolić casually in his interview for CorD given in the parliamentary cabinet.

8 CorD 67 / January 2010

The media advocated that the Voždovac elections will be a test which will show the mood of the Serbian people before the upcoming parliamentary elections. We all agreed on that. However, ever since the results have been released, journalists have been pretending they are not relevant. 140,000 voters are registered in Voždovac, and this is a true reflection of Serbia. Voždovac is indeed an indicator of the powers on the Serbian political scene. That is why this victory in Voždovac was extremely important. And another thing: We were aware that the Democratic Party (DS) will invest all of its assets in this campaign. I was anxious on election day, because I felt that we were going to win. I called Aleksandar Vučić fifteen times, and as the day came to its end, I realized that the field reports are good. And now I

You often pointed out that the media were against you. That is true. I was surprised because now even daily paper Kurir openly started to support DS. National television is unrecognizable. When the Statute of Vojvodina and the Law on Transfer of Jurisdiction were passed, they organized a talk show with eight participants, eight political parties, but without SNS. Someone ordered that we should not be consulted about that issue. Or, for example, there was a political show on national television, aired after the elections in Voždovac, with representatives from CESID, SPS, DSS and SRS, which, again, failed to reach the census. And we were not there! I understand that a democrat was not supposed to come, but not to invite the party that won, well, it is incomprehensible.

ng point How do you explain that? I think that the director of the national television was given a choice – to be the director or not to be a director. If he was to be a director, he had to obey. For example, in one TV show, the President of Serbia is talking about the future of Serbia, and I am being grilled for 40 minutes about what I did 18 years ago in politics. These are bad manners, and they should be eliminated from politics. I am the first to congratulate people that beat me. Boris Tadić did congratulate me after Voždovac, and I appreciate the gesture.

Did you congratulate President Tadić on the cancellation of visas and reactivation of the Interim Trade Agreement? Why should I congratulate him? I should congratulate all the citizens of Serbia, because we all had to endure and go through some things because of that. Secondly, DS was not the only one that took part in this. Visa liberalization came one day before the elections in Voždovac and even that did not help DS. Don’t tell me that Božidar Đelić should be credited for that.

In your opinion, when can we expect Serbia to apply for EU candidacy and which options do you suggest? There is a standard dynamic and the procedure is expedited only in some special circumstances, like in case of the Baltic countries and the countries bordering with the former Soviet Union. But we are in the heart of Europe and we will not be allowed to make a mistake, so, in our case, it will take years. And SNS will probably be in power when we join the EU, which is a historical repetition of our party’s successes. How certain is the claim that the application for EU candidacy will be submitted

KOSTUNICA Establishing goals is what matters. I am still unsuccessfully trying to get in touch with Vojislav Koštunica and ask him what his goal is.

Tomislav Nikolic and Aleksandar Vucic celebrating following Vozdovac election victory by the end of this year? That is a matter about which we have to think absolutely rationally. We need to think of the prerequisites that we have fulfilled, the ones that we

Because G17 Plus and SPO can no longer make it across the census line and because DS has achieved weaker results than expected – we don’t have early parliamentary elections haven’t, how many steps more we have to make, and how many months or years have to pass. The reason for that does not lie in the fact that we don’t want to fix up the state, so to speak, that the police are not doing their job properly, that we don’t sanction bribery, corruption… I think having a party like SNS has strengthened Serbia in many foreign policy aspects. First, Europe is now negotiating with current authorities, but they are well aware that in case the government

ELECTION I am afraid that the success that the SNS has had in Voždovac has mufﬂed any initiatives about scheduling early parliamentary elections.

changes, these negotiations will continue. They were not sure of that until now. Now, it is perfectly clear to them that they don’t have to support Tadić in elections, since if SNS wins nothing will change. Further on, the matter of the independence of Kosovo and Metohija - Tadić can now freely advocate for Kosovo and Metohija to stay within Serbia when he knows that we also support that. The EU knows that when they negotiate with these authorities today, all of Serbia is standing behind that. We don’t often get along when it comes to politics, and I cannot wait to defeat them, but I cannot defeat them by distracting them while they are negotiating about Serbia’s destiny in a manner in which I would also conduct these negotiations.

Still, up until recently you complained that the international community is very influential in Serbia. Does that still bother you? Yes. The international community was directly meddling in Serbia’s elections! I understand that they get involved in between elections by helping those who are in power. But I cannot ac-

CAMPAIGN I cannot accept that European ofﬁcials are publicly saying who should win in Serbia during the pre-election campaign, CorD 67 / January 2010 9

INTERVIEW | a glass of wine once in a while. I prefer red.

cept that European officials are publicly saying who should win in Serbia during the pre-election campaign, or when they threaten the citizens of Serbia that their lives are going to take a turn for the worse or that they would jeopardize their relations with the EU if they voted for Tomislav Nikolić and the party I was leading at the time.

The party you led was against the European integrations. Was it then when you started to not get along with Šešelj? At that time I was constantly influenced by The Hague, even though, objectively, I did not pay too much attention to these recommendations. But I could not refuse orders coming from the president of the party, because that is mutiny within the party. If I had done that, I would have been accused of revolting. I accepted the criticism, and then came a good electoral result, everybody became quiet, and it turned out I was right. Following that, the party’s president decided that I was not what he wanted, so first they attempted to alienate me, i.e. to expel me from the party or make me leave. I was humiliated when my party colleagues visited me to relay the messages from the party’s president, as though he could not call me himself and tell me what he wanted. I did not want to put up with that. How can I lead a party when I have ten people around me laughing at the way I do it?! That was the turning point. And indeed, Serbia needed another party that was victory-orientated. That was the right decision? It’s hard to say. On that day when I found myself in front of 20 members Vojislav Šešelj’s legal team and top party officials, I was in a situation where I had to make a decision - either to walk over my entire life and my principles or to go my own way. I had to decide at that very moment. I don’t want to think now whether it was good or not. However, the results have been extraordinary. They could have been bad also, but that was my choice to make. True, I could have prepared myself better for leaving SRS. And if I had planned it, this parliamentary group of MPs from SRS would have had 22 members today, rather than 60.

Before your split with the Radicals, you drank quince brandy, then you switched to whiskey and vodka. What did you decide on in the end, since it’s the rule of the thumb that one should never mix drinks? I’ve also tried champagne! I make over 10 types of fruit brandy. And there is an anecdote regarding this. Right in the middle of the cam10 CorD 67 / January 2010

olitical parties’ programmes and goals of the parties are mainly the same. We differ only in our ability to implement these programmes or not. I have been saying for a long time that Tadić’s programme is good at the moment. I have nothing to go against! Should I attack the fact that he recognized Kosovo’s independence? Or that he wants to join the EU? Or that the Russian president came here? It is implementation that is most important. Even after 10 years, we are still at the beginning when it comes to EU membership and that is because we have made so many mistakes on our own.

paign, the quinces for brandy making arrived. I respectfully informed the Speaker at the Parliament that I would be absent that day. Reporters from the daily newspaper Press came to my village, and I took them in even though I knew they came to cause some grief. We sat for two hours, talked about all kinds of things, and then the next day there was a headline – “Brandy is more important than the Parliament.” And while my associates in the party thought that this would cost us some votes, I thought otherwise, because people in Serbia know that it is important to make brandy on the very same day when the fruit comes. I, as well as many of my acquaintances, don’t drink whiskey at all any longer. We drink straight brandy. And I drink vodka in Russia. I was in Saint Petersburg recently and there was absolutely no question as to what should we drink. And champagne is a very modern thing. If I had to choose, I would stick only to brandy, although, it is good to have

In the past few months you went to Brussels and Saint Petersburg, and then there was an election in Voždovac. Which of these would you like to single out? Brussels was a turning point. The visit to Brussels occurred at the request of Mr. Ollie Rehn. All the information that the Russian Federation, the U.S.A., and the EU had about me to that point, came from my political adversaries. For the first time ever, I spoke openly about many topics in Brussels. And I think that that opened the doors not only for Serbia in terms of visa liberalization, but also doors to SNS so that nobody can say at the next elections who should win in Serbia. As for Moscow, it is a partner with which Serbia has had excellent relations. It is a state that protects our sovereignty on Kosovo and Metohija, which is very important. And Voždovac is a true reflection of today’s Serbia, that’s what I deal with. Aside from Russia and Brussels, I think that I will also go to Beijing and then to Washington, D.C. But unlike the current authorities, the purpose of my political engagement is not to deal with the world and to ask for support there. I work in Serbia, and I try not the let the world stop us in that. According to statements coming from DSS / NS, the coalition for Voždovac is a done deal. Did you talk about that with Koštunica during your stay in Russia? I have to admit that we did talk a little in Russia. We reached an agreement about Voždovac. Now it’s up to the local branches to arrange the details. I am sorry that SPS made a wrong judgment and that they did not resist the pressure from DS. They now admit that they paid the price for it. Now, I don’t know if they have paid the price or if the electorate simply no longer recognizes them as an independent factor. In your opinion, what would be the winning combination in the next elections?

The winning combination is for SNS to win. And when it comes to forming of a government coalition, this is no longer simply a matter of personal friendship, relations, and company. Establishing goals is what matters. I am still unsuccessfully trying to get in touch with Vojislav Koštunica and ask him what his goal is, especially when it comes to European integrations. I cannot believe that his goal is what his MPs have been saying - that we should not be in the EU. If that is true, we will not form a coalition with DSS.

INTERVIEW | You said that the local government in Voždovac will be formed by Serbian New Year (January 14th). If early parliamentary elections should occur, would that be a chance for evaluation of your work also? I am afraid that the success that the SNS has had in Voždovac has muffled any initiatives about scheduling early parliamentary elections. If, following this visa liberalization and reactivation of the Interim Trade Agreement, DS had success at Voždovac as they had wanted, I think that we would have early parliamentary elections very soon.

If I understood you correctly, you don’t see that as a possibility at this moment? I do not see whether it can or cannot work. I challenge him, I ask and I expect to get an answer from Koštunica. There is plenty of time until the elections. Even in the Serbian Parliament, we are not a priori working together with DSS/NS. At this moment there are at least two political initiatives for which DSS has not even bothered to contact SNS. I would never do something like that. If programmes and goals between you and DSS/NS were to be moderated, what would the vertical hierarchy look like? It would be formed in line with the votes that we’ve won. I have to say that the initial conflicts between Vojislav Šešelj and me appeared precisely because of Vojislav Koštunica. And not when Vojislav Koštunica tricked me! Šešelj was not interested in that. It happened when Koštunica announced half-way through the campaign that he would be the Prime Minister. I asked Šešelj “And what are we fighting for and why are we bringing 30% of the votes into this coalition? So that Koštunica can be Prime Minister?” Šešelj responded that I would be the Speaker at the Parliament. When I said that I did not want to, he told me that my vanity was obviously more important to me than Serbia’s future. “And what about your and Koštunica’s vanity?” I asked. Shouldn’t the biggest party, and that was SRS at the time, appoint the Prime Minister? So, that is the vertical hierarchy for you and I have said this directly to both Koštunica and to Velja Ilić. I have no problems with Velja Ilić. He is a man with both feet firmly on the ground. But DSS has to understand that in life, sometimes you’re up and sometimes you’re down. Is there unity in SNS regarding this coa12 CorD 67 / January 2010

And how are things now? It seems to me that we have drifted away from lition with DSS and NS? Could that lead to divisions in the party? It would not divide us. First of all, when you win, you want to form a government. It does not seem too realistic to form a government with DS. Two biggest parties cannot form a coalition together, because it is better to be first in opposition than second in power, since you will remain second forever. Two biggest parties can form a coalition only in times of great crisis, when it is a matter of life and death for the country. Secondly, we know each other too well for me to think seriously about some people. If you scratch the surface, the only things you would find are crime, bribery, corruption. That is because certain people have been in power for 10 years already.

“When I spoke for the first time about Tito’s foreign policy and the Non-Aligned Movement, there were laughs. “ Speaking of corruption, Serbia has been a captive to organized corruption for a long time already. All segments of society and all parties are involved in it. Why do the Government and the opposition lack the will to seriously tackle corruption? No one dares to deal with the core of the problem. And on the other hand, when has the opposition stopped corruption, crime, bribery? Parties in power would crucify the opposition if they were engaged in criminal actions. Who has a motive to corrupt Tomislav Nikolić? I cannot say that there won’t be attempts to bribe me after I win. I am certain of that. The problem is, can you resist it or not?

these early elections. Nevertheless, we now have wind in our sails and we will know how to use it to the best of our abilities.

So we are waiting for regular elections? No, we will not wait for so long! I think that the relation between DS and G17 Plus will crack first. People from DS have been objecting about Boris Tadić’s having, in a moment of recklessness, promised too many parliamentary seats to G17 Plus. It’s obvious that DS and G17 Plus no longer work as a team. LDP cannot compensate for that. And there is no one else. Now it’s all just a matter of evaluating things properly. If G17 Plus crossed the census line in Voždovac, I think that our health minister, Tomica Milosavljević would resign again, which would mean the end of the government. However, G17 Plus is now too weak for elections, and Tadić no longer wants them as political partners any longer. Tadić told me a long time ago that the defragmented political scene is a problem for Serbia and that it would never happen again that he had 14 parties on his list. Even after saying that, Tadić met with Vladan Batić and already promised him two parliamentary seats after the next elections. I do not view Tadić as being a principled person. That is a shame, because we could have finally found out who is who in Serbia and how much is everybody worth. Because G17 Plus and SPO can no longer make it across the census line and because DS has achieved weaker results than expected – we don’t have early parliamentary elections. You know, it wouldn’t be easy for me either, if I were in power. Imagine this – we have cancellation of visas, the Interim Trade Agreement with the EU is reactivated, I get the Russian president to come to Serbia and, in the end, the Serbian Progressive Party defeats me in the election. What else is left for them to do? It’s over. I think it’s time for a change.

INTERVIEW |

Oliver Dulić, Minister of Environmental Protection and Spatial Planning

MORATORIUM ON Nuclear Power Plants Aside from the legal aspect of the issue, using nuclear power is a complex topic which will have to entail utilization of all available technical resources, and involvement of both the state authorities and the public

By Ana STOJANOVIC he biggest environmental summit of the 21st century was held in Copenhagen at the beginning of December. The summit was organized by the United Nations, with delegates from many countries participating. The overall goal of the summit was to try to find a solution for global warming and adopt a climate accord that would replace the Kyoto Protocol as of 2012. We are talking to Minister of Environmental Protection and Spatial Planning Oliver Dulić about environmental problems that Serbia has been facing, as well as the measures that the ministry has been implementing or plans to implement in overcoming these problems. Mr. Dulić, could you tell us whether there are projects being implemented in Serbia at the moment that pertain to building nuclear power plants in Serbia? The Law on Ban of Construction of Nuclear Power Plants is currently in force in the Republic of Serbia, and the state Energy Strategy until 2015 does not envisage building such plants. As far as I know, no action

14 CorD 67 / January 2010

has been taken in terms of designing or building a nuclear power plant. With regards to the legal framework relating to the protection from ionizing radiation and nuclear safety, we adopted the relevant law in May 2009, which does not apply to nuclear plants on which there is still a moratorium in Serbia. The Law on Protection against Ionizing Radiation and Nuclear Safety created the legal basis for establishment of the Agency for Protection from Ionizing Radiation and Nuclear Safety of Serbia, which is currently undergoing a registration process and which will assume all regulatory affairs. Ministry of Environmental Protection and Spatial Planning will inspect the implementation of measures for protection from ionizing radiation, while the Ministry of Science and Technology Development will oversee the nuclear safety measures. What is your view on development of the energy sector in Serbia in terms of electricity? Based on the current Law on Ministries, the Ministry of Mining and Energy is responsible for handling any issues pertaining to the use of nuclear energy. Certainly, the question of using nuclear energy is a complex issue that will require the participation of all available technical resources, state authorities, and of course the public. Aside from the legal aspect of the issue, using nuclear power is a complex topic which will have to entail utilization of all available technical resources, and involvement of both the state authorities and the public. We’ve been hearing a lot about using wind in generating energy. There is research that shows the feasibility of implementation of such projects in Vojvodina. Could you tell why haven’t these projects been fully implemented? Once we consider the potential of wind, urban prerequisites for construction, road infrastructure, and environmental impact, then we are going to be able to find locations in Serbia that are best suited for such projects. We all know which regions are windier than others, and it is in these regions that we ought to look for so-called micro-locations for wind parks. South Banat in Vojvodina is the perfect location for that and many foreign investors have already expressed interest for this location. Also, we should bear in mind that the operating regime of wind power plants is not constant and if there is no wind, it is really difficult to manage wind generated power systems. The new Law on Spatial Planning and Construction definitely paves the way for the cost-efficient implementation of such projects in 2010. Also, there is the Act on conditions for

obtaining privileged electricity producer status and criteria for assessing the fulfillment of these conditions, as well as the Act on the incentives for the production of electricity using renewable energy and combined production of electricity and thermal energy that will do the same. The state came up with a way to motivate investors to invest in generating electricity from wind. Feed-in-tariff is a model that has been widely accepted in the European Union and will be implemented here too. This model entails two things – first, whenever electricity is generated in the aforementioned way, the state electricity grid is obligated to take such electricity and second, the price of such energy is set in advance. So, we have a fixed price and a guaranteed sale which means that an investor can easily assess just how cost-effective his project is going to be. What specifically has been done with the program for collecting recyclable materials, particularly in larger cities in Serbia? Could you tell us about concrete plans for making recycling a permanent fixture in the country’s economy? So far, waste in Serbia hasn’t been treated properly, particularly if we are talking about the waste that can be re-used. Collected waste was immediately sent to dumps, without pre-treating it. Also, citizens were throwing rubbish on unregulated dumps, so-called scrap heaps. Separating the secondary raw-materials from the rubbish is the first step in recycling. We have to build recycling stations since they are quite financially feasible. In the past period, we managed to harmonize the relevant waste management regulation with that of the EU by adopting two laws – Law on Waste Management and Law on Packaging and Packaging Waste. Have there been any studies written which show just how much money recycling programs can save on an annual level? By implementing the Law on Waste Management and Law on Packaging and Packaging Waste, as well as several by-laws, we are going to have an integrated waste management system – from the moment the waste is

In 2009, a campaign entitled ’Let’s Clean Up Serbia’ certainly drew the public’s attention to the problem of inadequate waste management generated, collected, separated by type, transported, stored and treated until its final disposal. Also, whoever generates this waste will have to report to the ministry about the waste quantities. Production and import companies will also have to report to the ministry about the quantity of products they are selling on the Serbian market. Since we have no exact information about how much recyclable waste there is, it is very difficult to estimate how much money can we save from proper waste management. If we implement the aforesaid laws, we are going to set up an information system and database containing information on the type and quantity of waste that can be re-used, i.e. recycled. In this way, we are going to generate real data about the waste disposed of in the Republic of Serbia and create the main prerequisite for evaluating economic efficiency of the waste management system and the country’s potential for waste management.

In 2010, ’Let’s Clean Up Serbia’ will be project-orientated, i.e. it will be made of several individual projects that will be implemented together with our partners.

When it comes to establishing and advancing the waste management system, we have adopted two laws – Law on Waste Management and Law on Packaging and Packaging Waste.

RECYCLING CENTRES

e simply have to build recycling centres, bearing in mind the financial sustainability of such facilities. The general recycling system in Serbia will be based on forming recycling centres or waste collection centres for which we will have to find permanent locations in urban areas where citizens will be able to dispose of waste. Recycling centres will be built in rural areas too. Have foreign investors expressed much interest in the so-called clean energy projects involving recycling and waste collection? The interest expressed by foreign investors is great indeed, particularly when it comes to collecting, processing, and using utility waste for energy purposes. In September 2007, we formed a task force which provides support to development of local infrastructure with the aim of presenting these projects to foreign investors. The task force will also inform local authorities of the ways in which they can use project funds. The Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities has the national information system that contains the data about potential infrastructure projects which are just waiting to be implemented. Some of these projects pertain to waste management. The ministry’s personnel is actively participating in the task force, and are involved in the proc-

The interest expressed by foreign investors is great indeed, particularly when it comes to collecting, processing and using utility waste for energy purposes. CorD 67 / January 2010 15

INTERVIEW |

“Any kind of agreement regarding the decrease in the emission of gases that cause the green house effect, if achieved in Copenhagen, will be a tremendous success and a step that would certainly be a landmark in the history of the world. Serbia at the moment has a twofold role and it is in a specific position, like other Balkan countries. On one side there are western, economically developed countries, members of the EU which have the stronger economic potential and better conditions to undertake the obligation of decreasing the emission of gases, while on the other side are underdeveloped countries that ask the rich to finance their growth and help the striving to utilize cleaner technologies.” ess of allocating funds to selected projects. There are several problem spots in Serbia which cause pollution and this has been going on for years, even decades. On the other hand, quite a few European standards cover the issue of protection of environment, food, water etc... To what extent is Serbia able to respond to such demands given the current economic situation in the country? When it comes to establishing and advancing the waste management system, as I said earlier, we have adopted two laws – Law on Waste Management and Law on Packaging and Packaging Waste, as well as a set of bylaws directly related to these laws. The laws will help us with adjusting our regulation to the EU one, which speaks a lot about Serbia’s willingness to set up and improve an environmental protection system in line with the EU requirements. Project ’Let’s Clean Up Serbia’ is certainly useful and widely accepted by the public. What concrete results will the project generate by the end of 2010? In 2009, a campaign entitled ’Let’s Clean Up Serbia’ certainly drew the public’s attention to the problem of inadequate waste management.

Copenhagen Climate Conference

EMAIL SCANDAL - TWO VIEWS

he release of thousands of e-mails and documents from a climate research center threatens to expose some of the biggest scientific names in the global warming debate to serious charges of fraud, unethical attacks on colleagues, censorship of opposing viewpoints, and possible criminal destruction and withholding of evidence. Michael Mann, James Hansen, Phil Jones, Michael Oppenheimer, Stephen Schneider, Kevin Trenberth — these are but a few of the “big guns” of global warming alarmism who are unfavorably exposed in the documents that were posted on the Internet by unknown hackers who penetrated the computer system of the Climate Research Unit (CRU) at Britain’s University of East Anglia. As delegates convene in Copenhagen for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, an editorial in The Los Angeles Times and a column by George Will in the Washington Post offer starkly different views of the issue of global warming and of the controversy that erupted recently over global warming research. The Times editorial calls the talks in Copenhagen probably the most important ever embarked upon by humanity: “at stake in this gathering of 16 CorD 67 / January 2010

We were focusing on reducing the so-called historic pollution, i.e. removing unregulated garbage dumps. Local authorities were our main partners in doing so. The campaign’s output will be expressed through a number of removed unregulated dumps and a public opinion survey. In 2010, the campaign will be geared towards raising the quality of waste management in accordance with the regulation that the ministry adopted in 2009. The key issues will be recycling, waste separation, creation of new jobs, and preserving natural resources. We are going to insist on having an organized waste collection in as many towns and villages as possible, but also on separating waste whenever and wherever possible. Local authorities will continue to be our main partners, since they are the ones that have jurisdiction and are responsible for managing utility waste. We expect socially responsible companies and media to get on board too. In 2010, ’Let’s Clean Up Serbia’ will be project-orientated, i.e. it will be made of several individual projects that will be implemented together with our partners. Aside from the projects realized by the ministry itself, we are going to implement projects suggested by our partners, providing that these projects contribute to the overall goals of the ’Let’s Clean Up Serbia’ campaign in 2010. 190 nations intended to draft a successor to the Kyoto Protocol are the future of human civilization and the survival of countless plant and animal species threatened by climate change.” The editorial goes on to call hackers’ stealing of e-mails from a climate research center part of a dirty tricks campaign. It says the e-mails showing some climate research scientists withheld or manipulated some data doesn’t refute the “decades of research by thousands of scientists providing overwhelming evidence that climate change is happening and is being caused by human activity.” George Will, however, sees things differently. He says the only thing the delegates in Copenhagen will achieve is leaving a big carbon footprint. He says skeptics doubt global warming is a coming catastrophe because climate change has been occurring for millennia.Will says the e-mail scandal reveals “paranoia on the part of scientists who believe that in trying to engineer ‘consensus’ and alarm about warming, they are a brave and embattled minority. Actually, never in peacetime history has the government-media-academic complex been in such sustained propagandistic lockstep about any subject. “... Political, commercial, academic and journalistic prestige and advancement can be contingent on not disrupting the (postulated) consensus that is propelling the gigantic and fabulously lucrative industry of combating global warming.”

INTERVIEW |

Jasna Matić, Minister of Telecommunications and Information Society of the Republic of Serbia

Second operator IN JANUARY

“The biggest step forward was probably made in the telecommunications sector and that is selecting the second ground telephony operator. We do hope that this process will be ﬁnished by mid-January.”

By Tatjana OSTOJIC Photo Slobodan JOTIC lthough the monopoly in ground telephony was abolished back in 2005, Serbia will get its second ground telephony operator only in mid-January 2010. This was one of the topics that we wanted to discuss with Jasna Matić, the Republic of Serbia’s Minister of Telecommunications and Information Society.

How would you rate the work done by 18 CorD 67 / January 2010

your ministry in 2009? What haven’t you done that you should have? One thing that we didn’t do, and not because that we haven’t wanted to or tried to do it, is to introduce WiMAX technology to Serbia. We did not do this because of the spectrum’s traffic. We have been well aware of this since the very beginning, and if it weren’t for the ownership transformation in the company that owns the license, we would have succeeded. Negotiations have now been renewed, and we expect to finalize them in the first half of next year. We did quite a few important things in 2009.

We devised certain strategies that we’d never had before. The business framework became more transparent, which was our goal all along. I would also like to mention an action plan which accompanies the Strategy for Telecommunications, and then there is the Strategy for the Transition from Analogue to Digital TV Broadcast, the Strategy for Broadband Internet Access, and the Strategy for E-government. All of the aforementioned strategies are accompanied by detailed action plans. We issued two licence to CDMA, which is pretty good. The biggest step forward was probably made in the telecommunications sector and that is selecting the second ground telephony operator. We do hope that this process will be finished by midJanuary. Four companies bought the relevant tender documents and we really do hope that we are going to have a new ground telephony operator by mid-January. Also, there was an event that was a rather small but very symbolic in nature and that was the first government Esession. Our plan is for other levels of authorities to practice the same thing, so in February or March we will launch the first e-government web portal in a form of a one-stop shop where all services that authorities render to the citizens will be shown in one place. One thing that was the subject of much criticism was the tax on mobile telephony

services. How much did actually this tax contribute to the state budget revenue and how long is it going to be in force? As far as I know, I am not authorized to discuss that, but I can tell you that it did contribute to the 2009 budget and to a certain extent did prevent financial instability. On the other hand, the tax was applicable to only one industry and that is telecommunications where we have two of the biggest investors in Serbia â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Telenor and VIP Mobile. These are very serious investors known for their socially responsible behaviour. Hence, it is certainly not good to change business conditions only for one sector, since both companies are bound by licenses to provide a certain quality of services and investment dynamics. As the economic crisis subsides, we do hope that, come next year, the tax will be abolished, although the revenue from this tax was foreseen in the 2010 budget. You have mentioned the E-government session. How did ministers handle this new technology? Very well. This really helped their everyday work, i.e. they were able to quickly browse through documentation that we have to read prior to every government session. The whole process was more transparent, and documents were easily accessible both during and after the session. I think that this improved the quality of the decision making process in the government. Our plan is to electronically send the documentation for the government sessions to the Secretariat General, so that come spring, we are going to use only e-documents. Currently, we are using e-copies, while the originals are still on paper and are later archived. When the Ministry of State Administration and Local Self-Government puts together the new draft Law on Administrative Procedures and the Act on Office Operations, the way in which we are going to handle and archive edocuments will be completely covered. How much did introducing e-government cost?

The electronic government session alone cost 27 million dinars. When we calculate how much we saved on paper and toners, it turns out that the project will become cost-effective in less than one year. There are very few projects that pay for themselves that quickly. To what extent is Serbia, culturally, technically and educationally, qualified to join the modern trends in telecommunications, taking into account that accessibility of the Internet in Serbia is still very low? This percentage is actually quite low, but nevertheless is higher than we would want it to be. Certain sociological studies are saying that we are a Mediterranean type of people, who prefer to communicate while moving, and less while sitting at home, the predominant choice of people living up north. So, mobile internet is very important to Serbs, and it is good that we have really good competition in the mobile telephony sector, which introduces new tech-

The EU recommended that digitalization in the Union should be completed by 2012, while the Serbian government chose March 4th, 2012 nologies, and now even provides the possibility of accessing the Internet via mobile phones to a huge number of subscribers in Serbia. When it comes to mobile phones, we currently have over 130 percent penetration, meaning that each citizen has 1.3 mobile phones. How much do you actually cooperate with Serbian universities when it comes to education? For us, the focal point when it comes to education and science is certainly a regional project called SEElight, which envisions the installation of a high quality Internet network in 6 regional countries. The project is funded by Greece via its Hellenic Plan and a total of

6.5 million euros has been set aside for this purpose. Greece will provide 80% of the money and we are going to provide 20%. This will secure high-quality Internet connection for educational and academic community over the next 15 years. Our plan is to link the existing university and scientific network to all other educational institutions, like elementary and high schools, via this project. We are cooperating with Telekom Srbija on the project since Telekom will provide the infrastructure. Digitalization is something that awaits us and that will be a great challenge to overcome. Globally speaking, TV broadcasts will switch to digital format because of better image quality, resistance to certain disturbances (like bad weather), and a more efficient utilization of the spectrum, which is a limited source in most countries. The EU recommended that digitalization in the Union should be completed by 2012, while the Serbian government chose March 4th, 2012 for this. We have adopted standards that are currently topof-the-line. The preparations are ongoing. We have set up a public enterprise called Emisiona Tehnika that will broadcast TV programmes on behalf of all broadcasters that have valid licenses. In this way, broadcasters will have to invest less. Another important thing is that the level of radiation will also be reduced. How much are our telecommunication regulations harmonized with EU standards? We are currently in the final stage of drafting a new law on electronic communications. This proposal is going to be adopted by the Government by the end of this year. The draft is harmonized with the European framework, which was in force until the beginning of December. The new framework, as proposed by the EU, should be adopted by EU members by the end of next year, i.e. until June 2011. This legal framework will be available for us and if we amend certain by-laws in the next year and a half, we are going to catch up with the EU. The main changes, and I stress that with great

TRAINING

STATE-OWNED ORâ&#x20AC;Ś

COMPETITION

Some ministers had one 30 to 40-minute training session on how to use e-government, and some ministers wanted to receive further training.

In many countries, national telecoms are owned by the state.The Norwegian government is the majority owner of Telenor, for example.

Once we have competition in ground telephony, the competition will form the prices and insist on investments being made. CorD 67 / January 2010 19

INTERVIEW | has no competition in ground telephony. The monopoly on ground telephony expired in June 2005. This ministry had to tackle the economic crisis and there was no time to make any investments whatsoever. However, once we saw that the crisis had begun to subside, we invited the tender.

pleasure, pertain to Internet access which is now considered a basic human right. Also, great emphasis has been put on customer care and consumer rights and privacy, and we are trying to implement all of that here too. Now that you mention protection of privacy, could you tell us what the Ministry is doing in that respect, particularly when it comes to abusing children via Internet, ecrime, hackers etc.? For example, the new law says that each text message or any e-mail communication that is spam must include instructions on how to stop further communication of this kind. Other aspects of the law, like crime, fall within the jurisdiction of the prosecution office for high-tech crime. Our Ministry has declared 2009 “The Year of the Protection of Children on the Internet.” Globally speaking, the overall opinion is that the best thing to do in order to stop the abuse is raise awareness among children, parents, and teachers. Our Ministry has launched an extensive campaign, and so far we have visited over 100 schools throughout Serbia, sharing information booklets specially made for children, as well as the ones tailored to parents and teachers, which tell them what should they do on the Internet to protect themselves, and what should they avoid. There are quite a few software studies done in Serbia for foreign companies. Is there any plan for registering these activities to group them into one IT section or are they still pretty much unregulated? This is a type of industry which can be left unregulated and the industry that has survived economic sanctions because of its ability to remain in the ‘grey area,’ so to speak. We don’t have an efficient way of legalizing their operations, i.e. there is no easy way to do that. The best way to deal with them is for these

Is Telekom ready for competition in ground telephony? Telekom is successfully dealing with competition in other segments of its operations, particularly in mobile telephony, where they have two very tough competitors. This has prompted Telekom to invest even more and raise the quality of its services. We expect something similar to happen in ground telephony, especially bearing in mind that prices in ground telephony have been depreciating for quite some time. In the last two years, Telekom has not been profitable in that segment.

The main issue with public and state-owned enterprises in Serbia is management efficiency, and privatization is one of the ways to successfully manage such companies companies to become even more ambitious, to register their revenues, to make their clients public, to be able to extend loans, and to get a Credit Bureau report to their liking. This is a really slow process, but I am quite happy with what has been done so far. A tender for selection of the second ground telephony operator has been invited recently. Serbia is the only country in Europe that

SECOND GROUND TELEPHONY OPERATOR

ender documents have been purchased by the companies already operating on our market in the various segments of the telecommunications sector. These are Telenor, VIP, Verat Net, the Internet provider, and one company that deals exclusively with the construction of infrastructure. This company is not a telecommunications operator, but is present in the sector. It is a joint American-Serbian company called Consing. True, SBB has objected to the conditions of the tender. RATEL dismissed their allegations. As far as I know, SBB meets all tender prerequisites in terms of volume of business, company income, and number of subscribers throughout the region. Therefore, SBB had no reason to complain.

20 CorD 67 / January 2010

What is your opinion on the privatization of Telekom? The main issue with public and stateowned enterprises in Serbia is management efficiency, and privatization is one of the ways to successfully manage such companies. Since Serbia hasn’t had advanced standards of corporate governance in the previous period, and since we were witnesses as to how politics can have a disastrous impact on the economy, privatization is the real cure for that situation. Privatization is not a goal which we strive for, but rather the mechanism for efficient and rational managing of companies and overall economy. The important question here is when it will be a good time for to privatize Telekom. Our public companies are generally not effective enough, and represent a source of inefficiency for the whole economy, since they spread their exuberantly expensive and unsuccessful operations to the entire state, which is actually the main user of their services. Of course, Telekom is our most successful public enterprise, but the question is what kind of strategic decision the state will make. From the viewpoint of telecommunications, it is important for us to develop the market, to have competition in every market segment, i.e. for the state, let’s say, to continue to be the owner of the sewerage structure in order to allow the competition to invest. In that respect, it is really less important who owns Telekom.

INTERVIEW |

HE AHMET SUHA UMARA, TURKISH AMBASSADOR IN BELGRADE

WE EVEN MAKE

SIMILAR MISTAKES

HE Ahmet Suha Umara talking to President Boris Tadic By Ana STOJANOVIC You have been in Serbia for more than a year and a half. During the first months of your service you said that the relations between our countries were not so good. How would you assess the relations between our countries now? It has improved more than expected. Let me quote President Tadic and President Gul when they had their talks in Belgrade. They proclaimed “Relations between Serbia and Turkey have never been better,” so I think there is nothing to add to this. This in fact is this situation. Therefore, I am happy that in such a short a time relations have not only 22 CorD 67 / January 2010

improved, but have even been taken further than they’ve ever been in the past. Something both countries should be proud of. During the recent visit of the Turkish President several issues were mentioned, among which were the importance of building a highway through Sandžak and the idea of getting Turkish companies interested in the project. There are two issues. Small scale regional roads, especially in the Sadžak region, because that region needs a lot of improvement, especially to upgrade economy and find jobs for people. There are two roads between Novi Pazar and Sjenica and Novi Pazar and Tutin.

I am pleased to announce a crucial project suggested by President Boris Tadic: that of building an Islamic Cultural Center in Belgrade. This proposal has been accepted and ahow to proceed further. President Tadic’s idea will have very many positive repercussions on a lot of things in Serbia as well as on our mutual relationship I had a couple of minutes with Deputy Prime Minister Dinkic yesterday. I understand that these two projects are going very fast. I expect the project implementation to begin before spring next year. These two roads will be built by Turkish Eximbank credits and Turkish companies. This is something already very concrete. The other issue is the highway between Belgrade and Montenegro. It’s a huge project and there are already several big Turkish construction companies interested. We discussed the issue with Minister Dinkic and I am now trying to put together a consortium of Turkish companies to provide necessary financing. We are also looking for Turkish companies to implement the whole project without delay.

When I came here a year and a half ago, there was a long-standing, deep-rooted suspicion between our two nations and I believe we have overcome this. I would say this is the most important achievement for me. Mr Gul highlighted the great interest in investing in Serbia and you also stated that there are great opportunities for both countries. Which sectors in particular are Turkish investors interested in? We are interested in various sectors. One is textiles because there is a possibility especially in the Sandžak region to upgrade textile companies and factories and then use this opportunity to manufacture textiles for exporting to Russia and other countries. In the case of air transport, I know that already talks are going on between THY and JAT which I personally support very much because I see it as a strategic step in our economic relations. JAT has flying rights to many airports worldwide, there are Serbs working and living all over the world and they are inclined to come every year to their country, not only to Serbia, but to all ex-Yugoslav republics. Secondly, JAT has a good basis to start new air transport activity. This requires some improvement in equipment and in new aircraft. THY is one of the fastest growing airlines on earth, we have a lot of aircraft, and most of these are new and now THY is planning to buy new ones, with a strategic vision into the future. So when I took into consideration this strategic view, JAT fits very well. I hope that the talks between the two companies will result in something very useful. What about FAP from Priboj? In a year and a half we have achieved a lot, but not all projects could be realized. FAP was a good opportunity for the Turkish automotive industry to establish itself in the Balkans and further to Russia and ex- East European countries because Serbia has Free Trade Agreements with most of these coun-

tries. But due to the world financial crisis, the Turkish automotive industry was struck very hard and they were rather reluctant. So the factory went to the Chinese. There have been announcements about the Turkish donation organization TIKA and their activities in Serbia. What are so far the results of this organization? What is their work agenda in Serbia? When I came here, TIKA had been waiting for permission to establish an office in Belgrade for more than five years. Now we have signed the Technical Cooperation Agreement with Serbia. The TIKA repre-

Sandžak Group that are established within the diplomatic community. A couple of ambassadors are included and some technical staff. Although TIKA in principle works on small-scale projects, some of these are not so small. The Novi Pazar project is expected to cost from 4 to 6 million euros, but it will be worth because it will bring a lot of movement to the region. We are also considering upgrading Ladjevci Airport in Kraljevo. This project is another strategic project which most probably will be implemented with the Ministry of Defence. I am pleased to announce a crucial

I know that already talks are going on between THY and JAT which I personally support very much because I see it as a strategic step in our economic relations. sentative has arrived and is now working in Belgrade. We have already completed a school in Sandžak, and the Tutin Industrial Zone project has been prepared. It is a large project and the plans have been recently handed over to President Tadic by President Gul. It is now ready to be implemented Over the next couple of months, the school in Vojvodina would be refurbished, and also the school in Bujanovac, which should be probably rebuilt it the near future. There are also two small projects that should be mentioned: We have provided financing to Stari Slankamen to signpost the historical route within the town. St.Slankamen is important for us because we lost a war there in 1691, which was one of the decisive wars. Another project is with Veliko Gradiste, to illuminate Ram fortress. This project is ready and we are going to provide financing. Experts came and they prepared the project. Novi (Yeni) Pazar Eski Carsi – The Old Market is in quite advanced stage right now. It includes restoration of the whole fortress. We are being helped by friends of

project suggested by President Boris Tadic” that of building an Islamic Cultural Center in Belgrade. This proposal has been accepted and now we are exploring how to proceed further. President Tadic’s idea will have very many positive repercussions on a lot of things in Serbia as well as on our mutual relationship. We will follow the project and see how it developing. I will do my best before I leave Belgrade. I hope it would at least start by then. Turkish retail chains might be present on the Serbian market. What about that? There is no development on that side because the terms and conditions we received for that project were not very attractive for Turkish retail chains. Turkey is a big market, so any chains like Migros or Carrefour are already too busy in Turkey. To bring them to Serbia or to any other country, the offer should be very attractive. They even refused to go to the Russian market, as they are quite happy in Turkey, with a 75-mil-

COMPANIES

PROJECT

NOVI PAZAR

There are already several Turkish construction companies interested for the highway between Belgrade and Montenegro.

Upgrading of the Ladjevci Airport in Kraljevo is another strategic project which most probably will be implemented with the Ministry of Defence.

The Novi Pazar project is expected to cost from 4 to 6 million euros, but it will be worth because it will bring a lot of movement to the region. CorD 67 / January 2010 23

INTERVIEW | lion people market. Serbia and Turkey have a great number of citizens living in other European countries. How much does the Turkish Government depend on the economic help of those people living in other European countries? In the past it was a big asset, but not anymore. Trends have changed. Turks who were living ten, fifteen years ago in Germany, France, Austria, and in other countries had only one thing in mind – to save money and go back to Turkey. Now they are saving to stay in these countries. Turks are now parliamentarians or mayors in many European countries, even parliamentarians in the EU parliament. They are representatives of the second or third generation of Turks, having established themselves in those countries, and most of them have dual nationality, so they are investing in those countries. A couple of years ago in Frankfurt, 55% of the companies were either owned by Turks or their major shareholders were Turks. There is still money coming to their relatives in Turkey and from time to time they are investing in Turkey, but not on a scale which would have major influence on global Turkish economy. I’ve heard that Belek-Antalya has been voted one of the best destinations in the world. Speaking of the hospitality and tourist industry, Turkey is very popular. How much has the recent world economic crisis influenced and affected this industry? Tourism was not affected at all. It came as a surprise for me too, because according to statistics, it even went up. Turkish tourism organizations, hotels, and people who are working in tourism had been very careful. They lowered their prices and it seems to have paid off. On the other hand, the economy was hit very badly, especially the automotive industry. It went down 60% and is still struggling. The problem with Turkey is that it is a big economy, the world’s 17th largest economy, so “big had has bigger problems!” I know that Serbia, for example, needs some 4 billion dollars to keep things under control and recover whereas we need about 45 billion. So, when you are big, everything is big. Were there any particular measures 24 CorD 67 / January 2010

even killing each other. I tried to bring them together and at one point they agreed to have a meeting to set rules. But only a couple of days later, there were two incidents: first in Novi Sad, made by one group and later on in Prijepolje – by another. Then I said, “Enough is enough! I do not visit them and I do not talk to them on my initiative and unless it is absolutely necessary. If and when they come to talk to me, I would accept the talks. I am pleased to see they are now quiet and live in peace. This is good enough for me. I do not accept that politicians interfere in religious affairs as such. Of course the state will regulate and put forward rules so that believers can freely practice their religion, but the state should not interfere in religious affairs. In Turkey the state and religion are separate. They are not allowed to interfere in each other’s business.

We are equally hospitable, we like to be friendly, we are quite gracious. We even make similar mistakes taken by the government to diminish the negative effects of the crisis? Yes, but without much success. First, the government was not quick enough to grasp the situation. They thought that it would not affect Turkey. Now we know that it affected Turkey more than expected and the necessary steps were not taken on time. But the Turkish economy is a very vital and active economy and I am sure it will recover and we will keep on developing and enlarging. Maybe this is what makes the European Union afraid of Turkey. There have been attempts from the Turkish side to pacify the two Muslim groups in Serbia. What’s your view on this issue and what’s the solution? I have respect for Zukorlic, Adem Zilkic, and others like Jusufspahic, but in our opinion they are non-existent. In the Muslim religion you only need someone, any person to lead prayers. We don’t have bishops, archbishops, and priests. So they are self-made institutions in a way and they even fight each other for a position which does not exist. The Muslim religion is a religion of peace. They were fighting in the mosques, beating, and

How do you find Serbia, whose culture has many words, dishes, and manners of Turkish origin? When I arrived in Serbia, I had no deep idea of Serbia and the Balkans, to tell you the truth. I’d never been in this region. I had never been involved in the matters of the region except for a couple of meetings and conferences. Of course I had read a couple of books and had tried to update myself. But only two or three months following my departure, I realized how much we are look-alikes. We are equally hospitable, we like to be friendly, we are quite gracious. We even make similar mistakes. I have now been more or less all over Serbia, visited small towns and villages, and have hundreds of friends, from hunters to fishermen and from media photographers to professors. This is a nice, beautiful country and I hope you will be able to keep it that way. Based on our friendship, we made initiatives to hold regular trilateral meetings between Turkey, Serbia, and Bosnia. The first two were in Istanbul, the last one in Sarajevo, and the next one will be in Belgrade in January. Turkey and Serbia should join forces and try to act together, and then everything would be easier. Maybe this would not be pleasant for some to hear, but if they can not play Serbia and Turkey against each other in the Balkans, the Balkans will be a better place. We have to try to avoid this. We have to be aware of this fact and avoid it.

QUOTATIONS Mirko Cvetkovic, Serbian Prime Minister: For years, we have had worst-case scenarios. At the beginning of the 1990s, we hoped that we would be able to stay in the same country, but this country fell apart later. We did not want any wars here, and that’s exactly what happened. We survived massive inflation, bombing.... Because of these horrible things, people just cannot believe that things are moving forward, even when that is pretty obvious. I cannot even persuade my friends that the EU has finally abolished visas for us.” Vecernje novosti Hannes Ametsreiter, Chairman of the Managing Board and CEO of Telekom Austria AG: Serbia has sent several bad signals to foreign investors lately, which could adversely affect future investments in the country. I am really not happy that there is a tax on mobile telephony and we do hope that this tax will be revoked.”

Vuk Jeremic, Serbian Foreign Minister: Podgorica officially establishing diplomatic relations with Priština’s institutions is tantamount to poking Serbia in the eye. I do hope that nothing will come off this, since under the present circumstances, that is really not necessary. In case Podgorica goes through with this, we are going to react in a proper manner, in line with our state interests.” Blic Nata Mesarovic, President of the Supreme Cassation Court:

I will see to it personally that politics have no influence on the way judges are appointed. Not a single politician has inquired about a judge, as far as I know. Judges cannot be members of political parties, but can have an opinion about goals and programs of political pvarties, since judges are also social beings who live in a society and in a country. The most important thing is that judges be professional and dignified.” Vecernje novosti

FLY BY JAT Srđan Radovanović, Managing Director of JAT Airways: Next year, JAT Airways could generate a revenue of 150 million euros and transport 1.5 million passengers from Belgrade, Skopje, and Banja Luka. We are going to get two of the latest Boing 737 -700s, and overhaul 14 planes by next season. As always, we are not counting on the state helping us. JAT has been given a chance and we have submitted our business plan for 2010 to Serbian government. JAT is going to invest the money, i.e. the 40 million euros that we are going to get from selling our building on Bulevar Umetnosti and from a loan, in airplanes and in getting back on our feet. We are going to provide new services that will appeal to passengers, and hopefully will sway them to use the Serbian national airline, from among many national airlines that operate here.” We need a loan in order to repair the engines, which haven’t been looked over for five years. If we do not repair them, we can’t do business! We cannot fix them, simply because we don’t have the money”

Diana Dragutinovic, Serbian Finance Minister: In the 2010 budget, current expenditure is completely under control, pensions and salaries have been ’put on ice,’ while reforms of the budget administration and tax system will begin in about three months’ time. This leaves enough room for the state to continue providing incentives to the economy and increase investments in the country’s infrastructure in 2010. The draft budget stipulates a revenue of 656 billion dinars and an expenditure of 763 billion dinars. This leaves us with a deficit of 107 billion dinars, which is in line with what we have agreed with the IMF. This budget facilitates development.” Dragan Markovic Palma, Head of the Jedinstvena Srbija political party, talks about giving land in Jagodina for free to investors from Moscow: Well, I did not give them this land so that they could bring sheep to graze, but to hire people and attract investors. At the moment, this land is only a field. Moscow city authorities will decide to whom they shall give this land to use. The Serbian government did not give me permission to do this and I did not ask for one.” Aleksandar Antic, Head of the Belgrade branch of the Socialist Party of Serbia: The results we have achieved are a way that citizens punish us for not taking part in forming the government. Actually, the result is not that bad, but we are not happy with it. This is probably due to hysterical campaigning and fighting between the Serbian Progressive Party and the Democratic Party.”

IN ITS REPORT, THE STATE AUDIT INSTITUTION STATED THAT IT HAD FOUND MANY IRREGULARITIES IN WORK DONE BY CERTAIN MINISTERS IN THE SERBIAN GOVERNMENT. Boris Tadic, Serbian President and head of the Democratic Party: Certain ministers in the Serbian government, municipality presidents, and independent agencies are not doing their job properly and that will have to change. I am referring to whom I am referring to... I am giving them a chance to rectify this situation.” Mirko Cvetković, Serbian Prime Minister: I don’t see Tadić’s statement as meddling in the government’s business. I will talk to the ministers who were called up by the State Audit Institution.” Ivica Dacic, First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister: I don’t know whether Tadić was talking about me when he said that. I am sure that the government needs to be reconstructed, but I would not like to judge the work others do. I see Tadić’s remarks as well-meaning criticism. I am happy with the work that ministers from the Socialist Party of Serbia do.” Suzana Grubjesic, G17+: Nobody said who these ministers actually were, and I am not a mind reader. It is the prime minister, and nobody else, who should deal with the issue of government reconstruction. He put the government together, so he should say which minister is not doing his job well. I don’t think that ministers from our party will be replaced since they are doing a good job.” Rasim Ljajić, Minister of Labour and Social Policy and coalition partner of the Democratic Party: I don’t think that Tadić was talking about me. I can’t do better than now, and I certainly can’t do more!”

QUESTIONS |

CEFTA Agreement CorD Magazine introduces a new section in which, through the opinions and views of selected experts, it tries to answer some questions on current political, economic, and diplomatic issues. In this issue, the question is the following: In your opinion, what are the major obstacles for adequate implementation of CEFTA Agreement in Serbia and the region? Kristian Kornerup, CEO BAT

DISCRIMINATION STILL CONTINUES The coming into force of the CEFTA Agreement two years ago has generally improved business conditions for companies wishing to invest in Serbia. We fully understand that Serbia, as the biggest market in the CEFTA region, has substantial benefits and a positive trade balance within the region. However, following the coming into force of CEFTA, Serbia completely opened up its market, abolishing fiscal protection for its cigarette producers two years earlier than agreed during the privatization of the Serbian tobacco industry. As a direct result, regional players started operating in Serbia under the same conditions as on their do-

While the same rules apply in Serbia for both domestic producers and importers, this is unfortunately not the case in other countries in the region

26 CorD 67 / January 2010

mestic markets. Ever since CEFTA came into force in January 2008, the Serbian market has witnessed significant and consistent share growth of the companies from the region. On the other hand, while the same rules apply in Serbia for both domestic producers and importers, this is unfortunately not the case in other countries in the region. Croatia, for example, until this summer had in place an excise law which protected local producers, discriminating against foreign companies. There is so a huge trade deficit between Serbia and Croatia, despite the fact that three leading international and one local company have production facilities in Serbia. The discrimination still continues, this time in the area of tobacco product distribution and the blockage of retail chains in Croatia. We use this opportunity to appeal to the Government of Serbia, especially bearing in mind that Serbia is the presiding country of the CEFTA Agreement in 2010, to invest maximum efforts to enable Serbian tobacco companies to operate under the same market conditions across the CEFTA region. The Serbian tobacco industry represents one of the greatest export potentials of the local economy, and providing we have the state’s understanding for the problems we face today, including that of the implementation of CEFTA, we can one day turn Serbia into a new hub for the placement of tobacco products into the EU.

Duško Knežević, C.E.O. of Atlas Group

HARMONIZING STANDARDS AND NORMS Non-customs barriers are the main obstacle to efficient implementation of the CEFTA. Often, regulations and standards differ from country to country, hence making exchange of goods between member states quite difficult, which, of course, annuls the desired effect of the CEFTA agreement. Harmonizing standards and norms is something that all former Yugoslav republics will have to do in order to become full-fledged members of the EU. On the other hand, it is very complicated for state institutions, companies and educational organizations to adjust to something completely new or different overnight. I am confident that the countries in our region have been actively engaged in resolving the issue since it is quite evident that removing non-customs barriers is often as important as customs-free trade.

It is very complicated for state institutions, companies and educational organizations to adjust to something completely new or different overnight

Tassos Topalis, General Manager of Eurofast Global for Serbia and Montenegro

PROMOTION Even though Serbia has only been a member of the Regional Free Market since 2007, results have been modest, with exports to countries of the “zone” increasing a little over 20%. Montenegro’s presidency was very successful, and so Serbia will have a very good starting point when taking over the presidency in 2010. Bearing in mind current trends of the Serbian Government and business society, Serbia’s presidency should be focused on the promotion of investments within CEFTA and the creation of new industrial cooperation beneficial for the regional market, as well as markets of third countries. We are also optimistic that our presidency will bring other benefits with respect to inspection and customs control and faster liberalization of industrial products, which will contribute to an increase of the exchange of goods, leading to further competitiveness with EU membership candidates.

SIGNIFICANTLY BENEFIT

We are also optimistic that our presidency will bring other benefits with respect to inspection and customs control

Miroslav Prokopijević, Institute for European Studies in Belgrade

AUTHORITIES NOT READY TO IMPLEMENT PROVISIONS The biggest obstacles to implementing the CEFTA lie in the fact that authorities are not capable of applying these provisions. What they are actually doing is accommodating certain interest groups in their respective countries that are used to enjoying both custom and non-custom protection. This is similar to what happened in the European Community in the 1960s, when a customs union was established.

Authorities are actually trying to accommodate certain interest groups in their respective countries

Slavko Carić, Chairman of Executive Board of Erste Bank a.d. Novi Sad

Back then, EC countries reacted to elimination of customs duties by increasing non-customs ones. The European Community would have collapsed if a joint market hadn’t been set up following which non-customs duties were also abolished. However, this is not applicable in CEFTA’s case, hence we have to wait for each individual country to join the EU and then all kinds of customs barriers will be eliminated.

Slobodan Šešum, Economic Advisor to the Slovenian Embassy in Belgrade

POSITIVE EXPERIENCES Slovenia became a CEFTA member in 1996 and was a member until it joined the EU, in 2004. Trade between Slovenia and CEFTA states has been growing more than the country’s average export and import activities, so we can say that the experience that Slovenia has had with CEFTA is a positive one. Serbia is a member of so-called CEFTA 2006, which is actually a consolidation of 32 bilateral agreements signed by 8 countries. The new CEFTA is much more ambi-

The economies of C E F TA countries can significantly benefit from fully utilizing the potential that CEFTA has. Every step in the direction of better regional interlinking is a plus for economic development, and one of the additional advantages that CEFTA offers is certainly customs-free export to EU countries. The possibilities that CEFTA offers should be determined only by economic interest. In order to improve the implementation of the agreement, we need to work harder on advancing administration capacities that will eliminate bottlenecks on border crossings, simplify procedures pertaining to the flow of goods, harmonize technical standards for industrial products, and other activities that will prompt more companies to streamline their capacities towards activities envisaged by the agreement.

We need to work harder on advancing administration capacities that will eliminate bottlenecks on border crossings

tious than the ‘old’ one. It has new elements, like liberalization of services, investments, public acquisitions, and intellectual property. However, the complexity of the new agreement can be an obstacle to its implementation. When it comes to CEFTA countries, they see adequate implementation of the agreement as a positive experience, since CEFTA membership is a good test for a country and its economy for subsequent EU membership which entails tough competition.

CEFTA membership is a good test for a country and its economy for subsequent EU membership which entails tough competition CorD 67 / January 2010 27

INTERVIEW | PHILIPPOS KARAMANOLIS, PRESIDENT OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD, EUROBANK EFG SERBIA

RESPONSIBLE INVESTOR

Our main objective during this period is to continue to operate responsibly towards our stakeholders i.e. our clients, our employees, and the society tion service for transactions with current accounts and/or credit cards, launched our international Visa Electron debit card, started offering Interest Rate and FX Swaps for corporate risk hedging, introduced Bancassurance services. We redesigned and relaunched our “Euro Plata” payroll package accounts, and significantly improved our e-banking offering. Another recent milestone in our operations in Serbia was the recent inauguration of our new Head Office building in Belgrade – the “Eurobank EFG Centar” – which is another indication of our Group’s commitment to Serbia and our belief in the potential of the Serbian economy. Therefore, I firmly believe that we are now very well positioned to further develop the already successful presence of our bank in Serbia.

ow successful this Eurobank EFG’s business year was and what its plans are for the next were just some of the questions that we set before Philippos Karamanolis, President of the Executive Board, Eurobank EFG Serbia.

Mr. Karamanolis, 2009 was deemed one of the most difficult business years. Are you satisfied with business results Eurobank EFG recorded this past year in such economic conditions? Although 2009 has been extremely difficult for both the Serbian and the global economy, our bank has a number of reasons to be satisfied with the results we have achieved. Based on the Sep 09 financial results, we have increased our market share in terms of assets to over 6% and maintained 5th position on the market, whilst remaining one of the top 3 28 CorD 67 / January 2010

banks in the country in terms of capitalization. We have also reaffirmed our leading position in a number of important business segments such as retail deposits, consumer lending & credit cards, lending to small businesses and entrepreneurs, mortgage lending and money markets, and significantly strengthened our position in wholesale banking. Despite the crisis, Eurobank EFG has also been profitable every quarter this year, especially during the 3rd quarter of the year when we ranked 3rd among all banks in the country. Even more important however for our long-term success, is the fact that over this period we have also made a significant investment in further improving the range and quality of the products and services we offer to our clients. For example, we introduced the concept of specialized “Savings Advisors” in our branches, continued installing APS (Automatic Payment System), introduced SMS notifica-

At the end of 2008, depositors withdrew many of their deposits and the end of 2009 was marked by return of trust in banks. Will, according to your opinion, the re-introduction of tax on savings influence citizens’ interest to save in banks? Since the beginning of the crisis we have seen an important shift in consumer attitudes towards saving. Pricing – although still important - is not anymore the critical factor that would stimulate savings. It is now more the confidence in the strength and stability of a bank (and the banking system as a whole) and the flexibility in managing your funds deposited in the bank. This was demonstrated by the huge success of our “Free Savings,” a vista saving product that we launched in May this year, which allowed clients to have immediate access to their funds whilst benefiting from very competitive interest rates. We must also mention that banks in Serbia are still offering some of the most attractive interest rates on deposits in Europe. With the renewed public confidence in the banking system, the responsible behavior of banks operating in Serbia and the attractive rates offered, I believe that

SERBIAN BANKING SECTOR

s a general statement, I believe that most people agree that 34 banks is a large number compared to the current size and future potential of the Serbian banking system. In regard to our bank, we acquired 2 banks (Postbank and Nacionalna Stedionica) and developed rapidly into being one of the 5 largest banks in the country. We also established 3 Group subsidiaries - EFG Leasing, EFG Property Services and EFG Business Services. At this stage, from a strategic point of view, what is more important for our future development is the further expansion of our range of products and services in all areas of the bank, with special emphasis being placed on customer service and further developing our relationships with clients. the reintroduction of the tax on deposits will not have a significantly adverse impact on client interest to save in banks. The economy complains that banks are conservative and that they should be more open for loans towards the economy. Does the problem lie in conservative banks, or in unsafe or not secure enough disbursements? My opinion is that most banks are currently looking for opportunities to increase their lending activities. At the end of the day, lending has and will continue to be our main business as a bank and an important contributor to our longer-term profitability. However, we must also not forget that banks have an obligation towards their depositors to be prudent, and this is even more the case in the current unstable global economic environment. Despite some positive signals, we have seen recently we are clearly not “out of the woods” yet and have to remain vigilant. We must also mention at this point that we are also seeing a significant drop in demand for both retail and corporate loans, as households and companies postpone purchases and investments while they remain uncertain about the future. Eurobank EFG has undertaken a number of initiatives in order to stimulate lending. In June we concluded a direct agreement with EIB for a 50 million euro credit line for the provision of loans to small and medium sized enterprises and entrepreneurs and we recently signed an agreement with NBS for our participation in the 250 million euro APEX Global Loan Facility of EIB.

Last month we reduced interest rates for both mortgage and consumer loans in order to stimulate demand. In addition to that we are also waiving the disbursement fee on all mortgage loans, until the end of January. All these initiatives are a very clear indication of our intention to boost our lending activities. One of Eurobank EFG important activities is in the field of corporate social responsibility. Times of crisis impose additional importance in that field. Do you have the state’s support in those activities? Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has always been important for the Eurobank EFG group because we believe that it is our duty to return something back to the socie-

Reintroduction of the tax on deposits will not have a significantly adverse impact on client interest to save in banks ties that have welcomed us so enthusiastically in the countries where we operate. In Serbia, Eurobank EFG is implementing a comprehensive long-term corporate social responsibility (CSR) program, entitled “We Invest in European Values,” through which we have invested so far over 3 million euros in the areas of environmental protection, public health care, education, and integration of persons with disabilities. Amongst our most notable initiatives are

LENDING

POSITION

My opinion is that most banks are currently looking for opportunities to increase their lending activities.

I ﬁrmly believe that we are now very well positioned to further develop the already successful presence of our bank in Serbia.

the reconstruction of eight parks in six major cities across Serbia, a 1 million euro donation towards the setup of the National PET Centre for the early detection and treatment of malignant diseases in “Klinicki Centar” in Belgrade, our longstanding collaboration with the Centre for Inclusive Society in “Design for All” principles, and our annual scholarship awards to the best university students in Serbia that are taking place for the fourth consecutive year. For the “Eurobank EFG Parks” project we also received in December the prestigious “Virtus” award for support of local communities. None of the above-mentioned activities would have been possible without good collaboration with our partners, such as local city authorities for the park projects, the NGO “Centre for Inclusive Society” (CRID), the Ministry of Health for the PET scan project, and the Ministry of Education for the scholarship program. What are Eurobank’s priorities in 2010? Our main objective during this period is to continue to operate responsibly towards our stakeholders i.e. our clients, our employees, and society. As I mentioned earlier, we are focused on expanding our range of products and services, improving the customer experience, and further developing relationships with our clients. We aim to maintain and further enhance our strong capital and liquidity position and are also placing a lot of emphasis on risk management, both when granting new loans and also with assisting our existing clients who may be facing temporary difficulties to repay their loans. Finally, I would like to reiterate our intent to continue supporting the Serbian economy. Our Head Office in Greece has undertaken the commitments prescribed in the Vienna Agreement and we locally are fully committed to supporting the Serbian economy either directly through our bank or by participating in government initiatives. CorD 67 / January 2010 29

INTERVIEW | VESNA MILJKOVIĆ, OWNER AND DIRECTOR OF PICARD REAL ESTATE

MARKET WILL RECOVER

The real estate sector has been really ﬂourishing in all East European countries and in those that have become EU members, like Romania and Bulgaria By Tatjana OSTOJIC Photo Slobodan JOTIC ne of the most difficult years for the real estate sector is behind us. We are talking about this to the owner and director of Picard Real Estate, Vesna Miljković.

Mrs. Miljković, what is your view of the year that is ending when it comes to real estate sales? This was a bad business year. We have had crises in real estate before, but real estate prices have never fallen as much as they did in 2009. Sometimes, when the market would go quiet for a year or a year and a half at the most, prices remained the same. The global economic downturn caused a complete stagnation; everything was paralyzed and blocked, and the prices went south.

are 5,000 euros per square metre on the average. Of course, the prices did go down because of the crisis, but in Serbia people refused to accept that at first. We should add to this statements made by certain politicians that none of that will happen to us when, in fact, we slowly began to feel the crisis, which was completely normal, especially with our economy and the fact that we are a developing country. The economies of developing countries are already on shaky legs. We are somehow still at the beginning, and then we get hit by something like the global economic crisis. You know, just like when you are sick, then you get a bit better for a little while, and then you are struck by another bout of flu and you get even worse. If you are healthy, and then you catch the flu, then it is much easier to get well.

How much did the prices decline, in your estimation? I think at least 30%.

This is the best moment to buy apartments, since, following the recovery, prices will remain low for quite some time

You said there were times when the real estate market was quiet, but prices remained the same. We expected prices of real estate in Belgrade to go down, since real estate is Serbia has been overpriced for a long time. That is true. The real estate sector has been really flourishing in all East European countries and in those that have become EU members, like Romania and Bulgaria. This is especially the case with Romania, a very large country. Let’s take Bucharest, for example, which is a great and beautiful city. There real estate prices downtown

Do you expect that real estate prices will continue to decline in 2010? No. I think that, in certain ways, 2010 will be a difficult year. When it comes to prices, I do think they will no longer go down, simply because they cannot go down further than this. The West has just begun to recover. America is almost back on its feet, so to speak, and once western countries start recovering that will spill over to Serbia too. I think that prices will stagnate, and this year’s winter period will be dead in regard to the real estate market. But come spring, we will

30 CorD 67 / January 2010

see certain things shifting on the market. Banks, like for example EFG Bank, are slowly beginning to advertise new mortgage loans, which was unthinkable a few months ago. You win some, you lose some. We are currently losing investors while customers are benefiting because they can buy excellent real estate at very good prices. This is a circle. In the past 2 to 3 years everything was completely reversed, wasn’t it? Housing prices were very high, e.g. for good locations the prices ranged between 3,000 and 4,000 euros. Then the crisis came and prices dropped. As our country begins to recover and the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU is implemented, things will get better and I am confident that all of that will take place next year. I presume that next year’s prices will not compensate for this year’s 30% decline? No, definitely not. That will not happen next year, but following the reactivation of the Interim Trade Agreement, there is a slight chance of that happening. Once the countries of the Eastern block became EU members, real estate prices there jumped between 30% and 40% percent within only a year or two. Of course, this will happen in our country too. So this is a good time to buy real estate, if you have available cash, and because investors who sell new property have, in most cases, bank loans to repay and are forced to lower prices in order to cover these loans and get some return on their investments. The owners of old apartments, which are in no hurry to sell, do not have such problems. When you have a stone around your neck, you should get rid of it quickly, since the longer you carry it, the deeper will you sink.

R IN 2011 Investors say that one of the problems with new real estate and its prices lies in the fact that banks are no longer that eager to grant mortgage loans, and, even when they do grant them, these loans are pretty expensive and have a high interest rate. The real estate market is just like any other market. Look at what happened in the world. All major banks in London were asking to see a down payment of 5% before they granted a loan, which, you have to admit, was a pretty reasonable demand. Some of the bigger banks didn’t even require a down payment. However, even these banks, which were quite generous in granting loans, started to crack under pressure. Now, for example, English and French banks are asking for 30% to 40% down payment. Bear in mind that Serbia is a developing country. In large western countries that have always had stable economies, things are functioning as before. True, people did lose their jobs and bonuses, and some of them are no longer able to repay loans, but this is still a healthy environment. Their foundation is healthy. However, the situation in Serbia is still not like that. You have East European countries, like the Ukraine, which had an inflation rate up to 50% as a result of the economic downturn. In this kind of situation it is very risky to grant a loan since you haven’t got a clue what inflation will be like. The dinar is holding up surprisingly well, and we were quite uncertain as to what would happen with banks in our country. They closed up, so to speak, in order to protect their core capital. Has your company extended loans and how are you handling that?

I think that, in certain ways, 2010 will be a difficult year. When it comes to prices, I do think they will no longer go down, simply because they cannot go down further than this Yes, it has. The situation is difficult, because the loans in this country are quite expensive due to a very high risk. The country is still developing and is deemed risky by bankers. I am coping somehow, although things will be difficult in the sense that we are not going to earn money from projects. We believe that the situation will be better in 2011 and that we will continue to successfully operate. You sell VIP and luxury real estate in the best locations in the city. Are real estate prices in Belgrade formed primarily in respect to how big the property is or location is more important? We have a mix and match of things. Due to the current situation, smaller apartments (from

50 to 70 square metres) are more in demand, and when you are selling smaller apartments you can get more money, since the overall amount that you pay per square metre is lower. What is my point? If you, for example want to buy an apartment of 50 square metres in a good location for a price of, let’s say, 2,700 euros per square metre, you will have to pay a total of 135,000 euros. If a family is buying an apartment of 150 square metres in the same location for a total of 405,000 euros (at the same price per square metre) then you immediately think that the apartment is expensive and that you need a lot of money for it. Hence, large apartments are not that in demand. Of course, the location always has a bearing on the price, here and abroad. That’s just how things are.

ATTRACTIVE LOCATIONS

“T

he most attractive location at the moment is Novi Beograd and this location is still being developed. Aside from that, you have locations that have always been attractive like Dedinje, Senjak, Vračar, Dorćol, Neimar, and the Professors’ Colony. These are the locations that have always been considered exclusive. The only trump card that we have at the moment when it comes to VIP locations is good quality apartments and solid construction, so I am not forced to lower my price for certain locations that are not considered that exclusive.” CorD 67 / January 2010 31

| SERBIA in 2009|

SERBIA in 2009 JANUARY

ECONOMY 1st – As of January 1st, 2009, Kosovo institutions introduced an import ban on goods originating from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in response to Belgrade and Sarajevo’s authorities banning import and transport of good bearing the title ‘Kosovo Customs’ instead of ‘UNMIK Customs.’ 1st – The retirement age has been extended by six months, so women are now eligible for retirement at 59 years of age, and men at 64. 3rd – Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović said that the Serbian government had no plans for increasing the VAT rate in order to provide budget revenue in 2009.

5th – In its January report, the biggest global credit rating agency, Dun & Bradstreet, states that Serbia is still a high risk country, giving it a DB5a rating. 6th – Serbia is completely shut off from receiving gas from abroad. The government orders heating plants to switch to fuel oil, re32 CorD 67 / January 2010

quests for energy to be conserved, and announces a possible import of electricity.

6th – The dinar continues to depreciate. The median exchange rate stands at 90.94 dinars for 1 euro, and jumped to over 93.00 dinars on Thursday. 9th – The Privatization Agency has terminated a contract with the new owner of the Pančevo Nitrogen Plant (Azotara Pančevo) due to not disposing of the company’s property in a legal manner. 17th – The International Monetary Fund grants Serbia a stand by arrangement worth 402.5 million euros. The Serbian Government is given 268 million euros for immediate disposal. 21st – Russia sends the first quantities of natural gas to Serbia. Srbijagas says that gas supply will be stabilized today. 9th – The Serbian government adopts anti-crisis measures. 30th – Serbia starts to unilaterally implement the Interim Trade Agreement with the EU, following the Law on Customs Tariffs coming into force.

31st – At the Davos Forum, the Serbian delegation, with Deputy Prime Minister Božidar Đelić at its helm, presents investment opportunities in Serbia. 31st – The Russian company Gazprom Neft pays for the acquisition of Petroleum Industry of Serbia by transferring an undisclosed amount of money to a certain Belgrade bank.

POLITICS 1st – Serbian President, Boris Tadić was declared by the European journalists as the most influential European politician, Polish TV station TVP reports. 1st – 40,000 people took part in an event called ‘Open Heart Street’ in Belgrade. The event’s motto was ‘Only a Laughing Heart Is an Open Heart.’ 3rd – Six firefighters were injured around midnight in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica when a bomb was thrown at them while extinguishing a fire in the Bošnjačka Mahala quarter. 3rd – Serbian war crimes prosecutor Vladimir Vukčević said that he expected collaboration with the Hague Tribunal to finish this year and for Ratko Mladić to be arrested.

4th – The Ministry of Labour and Social Policy announces the adoption of new laws in 2009, the most important one being the Law Against Discrimination. 5th – Palestinians living in Serbia organized a meeting of solidarity for the Palestinian people in downtown Belgrade, following Israeli intervention in the Gaza strip. 5th – The prosecution office in Bor launched pre-trial proceedings against people responsible for the Smelting and Mining Basin Bor that caused excessive pollution during the New Year holidays. 6th – Over 1,000 Kosovo Albanians protested in centre of Preševo following the arrest of the so-called Gnjilane group, accused of committing criminal offences in Kosovo in 1999. 7th – In its Christmas message, the Serbian Orthodox Church expresses its concern over the harsh economic downturn which “hides a spiritual, moral and political crisis, as well as a humanitarian crisis.” 10th – Wanted lists bearing the images of Ratko Mladić and Goran Hadžić are put up in all police stations in Serbia. 16th – Tomislav Nikolić relieved of his duty as head of the p a r l i a m e n t a r y Administration Committee. Nenad Konstatinović appointed the new Committee president. 16th – One of the most prominent Serbian journalists, Bogdan Tirnanić, passes away at the age of 67.

FEBRUARY

ECONOMY 2nd – Gazprom pays 400 million euros for a 51% stake in Petroleum Industry of Serbia to a foreign currency account opened with the National Bank of Serbia. slika 5th – The Serbian government adopts a decision about granting corporate and retail loans in order to help Serbian citizens and companies with overcoming the financial crisis. 10th – The Russian company Gazprom Neft finishes the acquisition of a 51% stake in Petroleum Industry of Serbia. A new Managing Board is appointed, with Dmitry Malyshev as Board chairman.

23rd – Over 300 Zastava 10 cars sold in just one day, following the state started to grant consumer loan subsidies

POLITICS 5th – European Parliament adopts a resolution about Kosovo and invites EU members that haven’t recognized Kosovo’s sovereignty to do so. 10th – Police arrest 16 persons in the Serbian Army suspected of corruption. Seven of them work for the Ministry of Defense, while two are doctors at the Military Medical Academy (VMA). 11th – The Hague Tribunal decides to stop court proceedings against Vojislav Šešelj for an indefinite period of

time, Tribunal’s spokeswoman Nerma Jelačić announces. 15th – Serbian President Boris Tadić appoints Miloje Miletić as Chief of Serbian Army. 17th – Declaration of Serbia’s Sovereignty over the entire Kosovo territory is adopted in Zvečane. 17th – Kosovo Albanians mark their first anniversary of independence. 19th – Serbian President, Boris Tadić meets with UNMIK chief Lamberto Zanier.

23rd – “Cyprus will never recognize Kosovo’s independence,” said Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias, following a meeting with Serbian President Boris Tadić. 26th – Milan Milutinović freed, while Nikola Šainović, Nebojša Pavković, Dragoljub Ojdanić, Vladimir Lazarević and Sreten Lukić remain in The Hague prison for crimes committed in Kosovo. 27th – A monument dedicated to 16 Muslims and one Croat kidnapped and murdered in Štrpci sixteen years ago unveiled.

SPORT 28th – Novak Ðoković wins the Dubai Open by beating Spanish tennis player David Ferrer in the finals.

MARCH

ECONOMY 6th – The World Bank’s Board of Directors gives a green light to granting a 50 million-dollar loan to Serbia as a financial injection to the Serbian budget. 9th – The government’s proposal on cutting back working hours due to the economic crisis was criticized by both employers and trade unions. 20th – Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader meets with Serbian President Boris Tadić in Belgrade.

CULTURE

25th – An agreement about allocation of a three-billion-euro loan in the following two years reached with the IMF. 30th – Serbian officials and the World Bank sign a contract on Serbia extending a 34.9-million-euro loan for development of private and financial sector.

20th – The 37th FEST begins in Belgrade’s Sava Centre.

POLITICS

Assembly adopt a decision on adjourning the local assembly in Voždovac and Zemun. 6th – Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor and a business delegation from Slovenia meet with Serbian president and prime minister to discuss cooperation between the two countries. 9th – Judge Nata Mesarević appointed acting president of the Serbian Supreme Court. 12th – The Serbian prime minister and ministers, members of the family, and many others pay respects to Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić, who was assassinated exactly six years ago today. 12th – The European Parliament adopts a resolution to extend the Hague Tribunal’s mandate for minimum two years. 17th – A memorial is held in the Serbian Orthodox Church in Belgrade to honour the victims of Albanian extremists who were killed in Kosovo on March 17th, 2004. 24th – A group of adolescents confronted by police in downtown Belgrade, following protests held by right-wing organizations. Five people hurt; 24 taken into custody. A TV crew from Studio B attacked. 24th – For the first time ever, the Serbian government marked the 10th anniversary of NATO air raids in Serbia. 26th – Chief Hague Prosecutor Serge Brammertz met with Serbian officials in Belgrade in order to talk about bringing the two remaining Hague defendants to justice.

5th – Members of Belgrade’s CorD 67 / January 2010 33

| SERBIA in 2009| CULTURE 30th – Thirty-nine films in the domestic film category and thirtythree in a foreign film category shown at the 56th Belgrade Documentary and Short Film Festival.

APRIL

ECONOMY 3rd – No preferences for export of FIAT cars from Serbia to Russia, says Russian Emergency Minister, Sergey Shoigu. 7th – The Serbian government devises a savings plan worth 1 billion euros; salaries of civil servants remain the same; fuel excise increased. 15th – The program entitled ‘Old for New’ introduced. Serbian citizens, who decide to buy a FIAT Punto will receive 1,000-euro-discount if they trade in their old cars. 15th – Anti-Corruption Agency established. 16th – Serbian government adopts the budget review, the Law on Reduction of Salaries, and the Act on Re-Registration of Vehicles. Following the review, the budget deficit increased from the previous 49.9 billion to 70 billion dinars. 24th – The last prime minister of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Ante Marković, visits Belgrade for the first time in 18 years.

25th – Ministry of Agriculture bans import of pork and pigs due to swine flu. 29th – Serbian MPs adopt the 2009 budget review, which stipulates reduction in budget revenue to 34 CorD 67 / January 2010

649.3 billion dinars. The budget expenditure is set at 719.8 billion dinars.

POLITICS 7th – Foreign companies and banks that have decided to stay in the Balkans will have much better working conditions once the crisis subsides than those that decided to leave, said Serbian President Boris Tadić in Austria. 8th – Serbian President Boris Tadić congratulates the Roma people in Serbia on World Roma Day. 9th – Real estate owned by Milorad Ulemek Legija repossessed following a court order. 11th – Ten years after the murder of journalist Slavko Ćuruvija, the culprits still haven’t been found. 17th – Two factions of the Islamic community in Serbia involved in a fight in Novi Sad. One person injured, 12 brought in for questioning. 19th – Two hundred million Eastern Orthodox believers around the world, including Serbia, celebrate Easter, the most important Christian holiday. 21st – Report about the operations of the Military & Security Agency (VBA) adopted. The report states that not a single Hague defendant is hiding in military facilities in Serbia and that no Serbian soldiers are aiding the defendants in their hiding. 23rd – Four ex-police officers sentenced to total of 68 years in prison for war crimes committed on 50 Albanian civilians in Suva Reka. 23rd – It’s been ten years since

16 employees of Radio and Television of Serbia were killed in NATO air raids. 23rd – Zrenjanin Municipal Assembly relieves Mayor Goran Knežević of his duty, following corruption charges. 27th – Serbian police arrest Sreten Jocić (a.k.a. Joca Amsterdam) on suspicion of being involved in the assassination of Croatian journalist Ivo Pukanić.

MAY

ECONOMY 7th – The Serbian government decides to set aside 40 billion dinars for loans and lower interest rates. 7th – Bank accounts of almost 60,000 companies in Serbia are blocked. 9th – The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund confirmed on Friday that its Board of Governors had decided for Kosovo to become a member of the IMF. 10th– Construction of the left lane of the Horgoš – Novi Sad motorway begins. This motorway is along the Corridor 10 route. 11th – The Serbian government and European Investment Bank sign a loan agreement stipulating 250 million euros to be granted to Serbian small and medi-

um enterprises. 15th – Representatives of Srbijagas and Gazprom sign a general agreement on setting up a joint Serbian – Russian company in charge of building a Serbian stretch of the South Stream gas pipeline. 16th – The International Monetary Fund’s Board of Directors grants Serbia a 3-billion-euro worth stand-by arrangement. The money will be spent on increasing the country’s foreign currency reserves and keeping the dinar exchange rate stable. 29th – In 2008, the Petroleum Industry of Serbia recorded a financial loss in the amount of 8 billion dinars, the company’s managing director, Kirill Kravchenko says.

POLITICS 5th – The Hague Tribunal Appeals Council makes a ruling that Veselin Šljivančanin’s sentence for crimes committed in Vukovar should be increased to 17 years, instead of the initial 5 years. 11th – Chief Hague prosecutor Serge Brammertz comes to Belgrade before compiling his report about Serbia’s cooperation with the Hague Tribunal for the UN Security Council. 18th – Serbian and Montenegrin Presidents, Boris Tadić and Filip Vujanović respectively, state that the two countries need to work on fortifying their relations, regardless of the different views they have on Kosovo.

20th – The U.S. does not expect Serbia to accept Kosovo’s in-

dependence and this issue will not affect the bilateral relations between the two countries, U.S. Vice-President, Joseph Biden said during his official visit to Belgrade. 20th – Chief Hague prosecutor, Serge Brammertz submits his report in the UN Security Council. In the report, he says that Ratko Mladić and Goran Hadžić are not outside Serbian authorities’ reach. 25th – After meeting with the head of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Presidency, Nebojša Radmanović, Serbian President Boris Tadić says, that Serbia supports only an integral Bosnia and Herzegovina. 27th – Serbian and French Presidents, Boris Tadić and Nicholas Sarkozy respectively, discuss the key elements of the strategic partnership between the two countries.

a loan for constructing the last three sections of the Corridor 10 motorway, worth 388 million dollars. 15th – The Serbian government and the government of the Republic of Srpska sign a cooperation agreement stipulating the export of FIAT Puntos, IMT tractors, and furniture to the Republic of Srpska. 19th - Božidar Đelić and Olli Rehn discussed in Brussels the EU’s financial assistance (amounting to 100 million euros) that will be spent on reducing the Serbian budget deficit.

POLITICS

CULTURE 29th – Norwegian writer and author of the book ‘Sophie’s World,’ Jostein Gaarder comes to Belgrade to promote his latest book, ‘The Castle in the Pyrenees.’ 29th – The legendary Australian rock band AC/DS held a concert in Belgrade at the FC Partizan stadium on a European leg of their world tour, ‘Black Ice.’

JUNE

ECONOMY 11th – The Serbian government and the World Bank conclude negotiations about providing

5th – The Netherlands sticks to its stand concerning Serbia, despite Serge Brammertz’s report being good. 8th – Italy believes that Serbia is fully cooperating with the Hague Tribunal, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said in Belgrade. 9th – Ten years ago, NATO’s air raids on Serbia stopped after 78 days of bombing, following the signing of the Kumanovo Agreement. 15th – Kosovo celebrates the first anniversary of its Constitution. Marti Ahtisaari receives a warm welcome in Priština and a medal for contributing to Kosovo’s becoming an independent state.

vesting additional effort in dealing with this issue. 18th – The summit of Central European leaders begins in Novi Sad. 20th – World Refugee Day is marked. There are over 300,000 refugees and internally displaced persons in Serbia. 23rd – The War Crimes Council in Belgrade sentences Damir Sireta to 20 years in prison for crimes committed on the Ovčara farm near Vukovar in 1991. 24th – The first case of swine flu registered in Serbia, Health Minister Tomica Milosavljević confirms.

CULTURE

24th – One of the most renowned Serbian painters, Olja Ivanjicki, passes away in Belgrade at the age of 78.

of its programme segments. 10th – Production of diesel FIAT Punto (1,300 cc) commences in Kragujevac-based Zastava. 13th – Verano and Rimini Fair offer 1.8 million euros to acquire the Belgrade Fair. The bid was deemed unacceptable both by Serbian Ministry of Economy and the Belgrade Fair’s director. 22nd – Prime ministers of Serbia and Macedonia sign a business cooperation agreement in Belgrade. 31st – European Commission granted 100-million-euros worth of financial assistance for the Serbian budget in order to overcome the effects of the economic downturn and to stabilize the country’s economy.

POLITICS 1st – Sweden, the country presiding over the EU, announces its support to abolish EU visas for the West Balkan countries. 7th – Serbian and Palestinian presidents agreed that problems relating to Kosovo’s status and Israeli-Palestinian relations could be resolved only through adhering to international law. 16th – Serbian President Boris Tadić offers Belgrade to host the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in 2011, i.e. on the Movement’s 50th anniversary. 16th – Nine Serbian tourists killed in a traffic accident between Hurghada and Luxor in Egypt. 22nd – Olli Rehn met with Serbian officials to discuss the European integration process in Serbia. On the occasion, Rehn was given a Serbian passport.

JULY

ECONOMY 17th – In the U.S. State Department’s report about human trafficking, Serbia is mentioned as not meeting relevant standards, but in-

5th – Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković says that during past year, the Serbian government made significant progress in all CorD 67 / January 2010 35

| SERBIA in 2009| 25th – Egypt supports Serbia’s candidacy to host the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Belgrade in 2011.

SPORT 1st – Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković opens the 25th Summer Student Games in Belgrade. Over 8,500 athletes from 145 countries competed in the 2009 Universiade.

AUGUST

ECONOMY 20th – Serbian Economy Minister Mlađan Dinkić and Chinese Trade minister Chen Deming sign an agreement on economic and technological cooperation in infrastructure sector. 23rd – Serbian President Boris Tadić said in Shanghai that Serbia would take part in the Shanghai EXPO in 2010.

POLITICS

10th – The Serbian women’s volleyball team wins a silver medal at the Belgrade Universiade, losing to Italy in the finals. 11th – The Serbian national tennis team wins gold at the Universiade. 12th – Serbian 800-metre-runner Goran Nava wins silver. 12th – Serbian athlete Marina Munćan wins gold in the 1,500 metres at the Universiade. 12th – Serbian water polo team wins bronze at the Universiade. 12th – The 25th Summer Student Games – the Universiade – formally closed in Belgrade. Serbian athletes won a total of 19 medals – 5 gold, 5 silver and 9 bronze. They took 10th place among 145 nations that took part in the games. 31st – Nađa Higl wins gold in the 200-metre-race at the World Swimming Championship in Rome. Milorad Čavić sets a new record in the 100 metre race.

36 CorD 67 / January 2010

4th – It’s been 14 years since the Croatian military action called ‘Oluja’ (The Storm) took place, during which over 2,000 people were killed and 200,000 people were exiled from Croatia.

27th – UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guteres and Serbian President Boris Tadić agreed that it was unacceptable that the refugee problem in the region still hasn’t been resolved. 31st – Serbian president, Boris Tadić signs the amendments to the Law on Public Information which was adopted by the Serbian Parliament today.

CULTURE 13th – The 7th Beer Fest opened in Belgrade. The Festival’s motto is “I Choose to Recycle.” 25th – The Queen of Pop, Madonna, held a concert at Belgrade’s Ušće before 30,000 people.

SEPTEMBER

ECONOMY

10th – Romania will take Serbia’s side during the proceedings in the Hague International Court of Justice when it comes to deciding whether Kosovo’s independence is legitimate or not, said Romanian President Traian Basescu during his official visit to Serbia.

1st – The International Monetary Fund says that the Serbian government has until October to prove that reforming the state administration is yielding results. 9th – Serbia jumps two places, to 88th out of 183, when it comes to a favourable business environment, says the World Bank.

POLITICS 7th – After almost 25 years, a Chinese defense minister, Liang Guanglie, visits Serbia.

8th – Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić met with Swedish counterpart Karl Bildt in Sweden. 11th – The EU mission in Kosovo signs a cooperation protocol with the Serbian Interior Ministry, confirms the head of EULEX press office, Kristof Lamfalusi. 15th – Serbia marks International Democracy Day. 21st – The Serbian delegation with President Tadić at its helm, attends the 64th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. 25th – Serbian President Boris Tadić invites the UN member states that haven’t recognized Kosovo’s independence as yet to stick to their stand. 25th – The European Commission confirms that Serbia has met all prerequisites for visa liberalization.

SPORT 20th –The Serbian junior basketball team loses to Spain in the European finals in Poland and wins a silver medal.

OCTOBER

ECONOMY 4th – Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović met with her Russian counterpart Alexei Kudrin to discuss the possibility of Russia providing financial assistance to the Serbian budget. 23rd – Representatives of China, the Serbian government, and the City of Belgrade sign a preliminary contract stipulating construction of the Zemun – Borča Bridge, worth 170 million euros.

during a meeting, that the two countries have good strategic collaboration. 27th – Former president of the Republic of Srpska, Biljana Plavšić, released from a prison in Sweden where she had been serving a sentence for war crimes. 23rd – Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković and President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Philipe Maystadt sign a contract on financing construction of Corridor 10.

CULTURE 26th – The 54th Book Fair begins in Belgrade. A total of 800 publishers from Serbia and abroad take part.

POLITICS

SPORT

3rd – Serbian President Boris Tadić meets in Berlin with President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso to discuss the European integration process in Serbia. 5th – It’s been 10 years since Slobodan Milošević was overthrown from power following massive protests staged by the Democratic Opposition of Serbia in Belgrade. 20th – Relations between Russia and Serbia are progressing, presidents of the two countries, Dimitry Medvedev and Boris Tadić respectively, said during Medvedev’s official visit to Serbia. 21st – Swine flu claims its first victim in Serbia. 22nd – French Ambassador to Serbia, Jean-Francois Teral hands over the National Order of the Legion of Honour to director of the Dr Zoran Đinđić Foundation, Ružica Đinđić, and editor-in-chief of B92, Veran Matić.

6th – French football club Toulouse fan Brice Taton was buried in his hometown today. Taton died from injuries afflicted by hooligans in Belgrade. 10th – The Serbian national football team makes it to the World Championship in South Africa after beating Romania 5:0. 17th – Top Serbian swimmer Nađa Higl wins gold medal in 200-meter breast stroke in 25-meter-pool at the World Cup in Durban.

26th – Turkish and Serbian Presidents Abdullah Gul and Boris Tadić respectively said

NOVEMBER

ECONOMY 2nd – Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković opens the 9th Economic Summit in Belgrade. 17th – Srbijagas and Gazprom set up a joint venture company in Switzerland called South Stream Serbia that will manage the gas pipeline section in Serbia. 29th – Two sections of Corridor 10 (between Horgoš and Novi Sad) were opened today for traffic at the 108th kilometer of the Corridor. 30th – The Austrian airline, Fly Niki, owned by the celebrated Formula 1 driver, Niki Lauda, will start flying from Belgrade to Vienna on February 1st.

POLITICS 7th – Vojvodina’s MPs adopt the legally and technically amend-

ed draft statute and the draft law on Transfer of Jurisdiction to Vojvodina. 10th – Serbian President Boris Tadić thanked Greek Prime Minister Yorgos Papandreu for the support that Greece gave to the West Balkan countries on their path towards the EU membership.

the Series 1000 finals in Paris.

DECEMBER

ECONOMY 1st – The Serbian government unanimously adopted the draft budget for 2010. The budget deficit is set at 107 billion dinars. 7th – The European Union reactivates the Interim Trade Agreement with Serbia. The agreement will be implemented as of January 1st, 2010.

POLITICS 15th – Patriarch Pavle died in his sleep at 10:45 am in the Military Medical Academy, the Academy announces. The Patriarch was buried on November 19th in the Rakovica monastery. 23rd – The biggest Serbian military base, Jug (The South), was opened at Cepotina hill near Bujanovac after six years. Top military and state officials attended the ceremony. 30th – The European Union abolishes visas for citizens of Serbia, Montenegro, and Macedonia, effective December19th .

3rd – Serbia is making progress in its cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, chief Hague prosecutor Serge Brammertz said in his report for the UN Security Council, while acknowledging Serbia’s efforts in arresting the remaining Hague defendants. 8th – Serbian president Boris Tadić and two state officials fined 40,000 dinars each for drinking champagne at the Belgrade stadium after the football match between Serbia and Romania. 16th – Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen visits Belgrade.

CULTURE

4th – Famous Italian pop singer Eros Ramazzotti performs in the Belgrade Arena and promotes his new album, ‘Ali e Radici.’

4th – Editor-in-chief of B92 TV station Veran Matić is declared ‘Commercialvores Ambassador’ for using commercials in humanitarian efforts on the last evening of the screening of the best global commercials.

SPORT 11th – Swimmer Nađa Higl wins gold at the World Cup. 15th – Novak Đoković wins his 16th trophy by beating French tennis player Gael Monfils in

SPORT 6th – Wrestlers from Partizan wrestling club become European champions. CorD 67 / January 2010 37

REGION: MONTENEGRO |

INVITATION FOR NATO

Left to right: Milan Rocen (Minister of Foreign Affairs, Montenegro) with Milo Djukanovic (Prime Minister of Montenegro) and Ambassador Claudio Bisogniero, NATO Deputy Secretary General - North Atlantic Council

On December 4th, Montenegro received good news from Brussels. Ministers from NATO countries invited Montenegro to start implementing the Membership Action Plan (MAP), which actually translates into approving candidacy status prior to a full-ﬂedged membership in the Euro-Atlantic Alliance By Ilija DESPOTOVIĆ he highest Montenegrin officials reacted in a somewhat reserved manner to the news. The chief of state, prime minister, foreign and defense ministers did show that they were pleased about Brussels’ decision, but at the same time, warned Montenegro that there was a lot of work still to be done on reforming the defense system. Of course, there is also increased supervision by NATO in order to prepare the country for joining the Alliance. “If Montenegro has been carefully scrutinized in the past, then now the country will be put under a microscope following a decision about MAP,” says head of the EuroAtlantic Club of Montenegro, Savo Kentera. Once the country joins NATO, the army, defense institutions and the overall situ-

38 CorD 67 / January 2010

ation in the state, as well as the country’s infrastructure, justice and financial system, i.e. everything that general interoperability of Montenegro hinges on will be carefully scrutinized. Also, Montenegro’s readiness to re-

MPs from certain opposition, pro-Serbian political parties, reminded that Russia was not too keen on Montenegro joining NATO spond to real and potential tasks set before it by the North Atlantic Alliance will be judged. Hence, starting from 2010 until Montenegro formally joins NATO, the country will have to

adopt the Membership Action Plan each year, the implementation of which will be assessed by the highest authorities in the Alliance. Once Montenegro passes all of these ‘exams,’ the score will be tallied and the final decision will ensue – is the country going to be allowed to join the biggest defense and security coalition in the world and history, for that matter, or not? “MAP will be the validation of everything that Montenegro has done in reforming its defense system, the state itself, and its society.” says the country’s president, Filip Vujanović. Prime Minister Milo Đukanović said that although MAP was important for Montenegro, NATO was even more important for the entire region. The invitation for MAP that has been extended to Montenegro is also a message for the whole region which countries are

also considered as potential members of the Euro-Atlantic Alliance. “We don’t have time to celebrate,” says Foreign Minister Milan Roćen, while Defense Minister Boro Vučinić pointed out that Montenegro was even more adamant now to speed up the process of joining NATO, i.e. for the country’s representative to be given a place in the Alliance’s Council. Montenegro has also received several other recognitions from international institutions. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen visited Podgorica prior to the Membership Action Plan. When he announced this decision in Brussels, he said that MAP was not a gift to Montenegro. Also, he congratulated Montenegro for ‘making it’ into NATO’s antechamber, so to speak. After Podgorica officially found out about the news from Brussels, the U.S. Embassy was the first to send its sincere congratulations, which is, by no means, a fluke. The U.S. Embassy has been very encouraging throughout the entire process of joining NATO. “The United States of America provides strong support to Montenegro on this journey and is looking forward to establishing official partnership collaboration with Podgorica,” the Embassy said. Montenegro is also not too shy about the fact that it relies heavily on the U.S.A. when it comes to the country’s foreign policy. Montenegrin – U.S. ‘military’ cooperation is very easily recognized. The National Guard of Maine is a strategic partner to the Montenegrin Army. Montenegro signed with the U.S. earlier an agreement undertaking not to extradite U.S. citizens to the International Criminal Court if they commit criminal offences on Montenegrin territory. Even U.S. Ambassador to Montenegro, Roderick Moore, who, it seems, suits official Podgorica just fine, is somewhat more moderate in criticizing Montenegro than his Western counterparts and approves of the country’s foreign policy. The Americans are very much engaged in preparing Montenegrin soldiers for peace missions, even within NATO, before the country officially becomes an Alliance member. Montenegrin officials care very much about the country joining NATO as soon as possible, and this is something that the chief of the state, prime minister, and Defense Minister Boro Vučinić often outline. The latter was quite explicit on the subject during one of the sessions of the Montenegrin Parliament’s Safety and

Defense Committee when he said that joining NATO was the only real security option that Montenegro has. “Not only a security option, but an economic one too,” Vučinić added. At the same session, he practically defended NATO policy when it comes to organizing Montenegro’s army in line with the Alliance’s standards, i.e. its operations within NATO. MPs from certain opposition, pro-Serbian political parties reminded Vučinić that Russia was not too keen on Montenegro joining NATO. Predrag Bulatović from the Socialist People’s Party said that high Russian parliamentary officials objected to Montenegro’s wanting to become a NATO member. Bulatović actually said that ‘very harsh tones’ were used on the occasion.

Recent public surveys show that 30% of Montenegrins are in favour of the country joining NATO. Between 10% and 15% are against it. There are 25% of those who still haven’t made up their minds Minister Vučinić said that he had received no cautionary notes from Moscow concerning Montenegro’s joining NATO. Certain antiNATO organizations in Montenegro also point to the ‘Russian factor’ that is against the country siding with NATO. Some opposition MPs even said that if Montenegro joins NATO, that would be virtually a ‘declaration of war’ to Russia. Most of the opposition MPs are of the opinion that Montenegro’s participation in the Partnership for Peace is sufficient. Montenegro’s Russophilia dates back a long time and has always been irrational to a certain extent. However, recent public surveys show that 30% of Montenegrins are in favour of the country joining NATO. Between

10% and 15% are against it. There are 25% of those who still haven’t made up their minds. They are the ones that are going to be crucial in deciding at a referendum or in the parliament whether the country should join NATO or not. Defense Minister Vučinić says that the way in which the decision is going to be made is not crucial. For him, both the referendum and parliament are democratic ways of deciding, although, the minister warns, one should be rational about it. For politicians in power, the safest thing to do would be for the parliament to decide about NATO membership. The level of support that the NATO initiative will generate is undoubtedly going to depend on the course that peace missions involving Montenegrin soldiers will take. The public is strongly against their fellow citizens participating in such missions, particularly those in Afghanistan. If Montenegrin soldiers were to be amidst any kind of incident, that would certainly jeopardize the current support for joining NATO. Last summer, Montenegro’s parliament passed a law about sending country’s soldiers to peace missions in Afghanistan, Somalia, and Liberia. Medical personnel are the first to go to Afghanistan, followed by a military unit, the size of a platoon. There was one instance in the past, in 19th century to be more precise, when Montenegrins were involved in a peace mission. Duke Nikola sent 100 of his soldiers to the Greek island of Crete, where they were involved in separating Turks from Greeks. This was a very successful, internationally recognized mission. Even Greeks and Turks accepted Montenegrins particularly because of their dedication to bringing peace and because they took a balanced approach to both the Eastern Orthodox and Muslim population. Despite the fact that the Crete mission makes Montenegrins feel very proud, that’s all it does. No other great emotions are attached to it, and it doesn’t motivate Montenegrins to do something similar again: to go to the countries ravaged by war and help people in trouble. According to earlier surveys, there are many volunteers in the Montenegrin Army willing to engage in peace missions. Those against NATO also have an explanation. The only reason why people would get involved in these missions is to make money. Certain army officers, who have already decided to go, claim that that they have a full support from their families. CorD 67 / January 2010 39

POLITICS |

BEGINNING OF A PUBLIC DEBATE IN THE INTERNATIONAL COURT

Legitimacy of K Serbia wants to conduct negotiations that would validate the country’s territorial integrity since Kosovo’s declaration of independence is against the principles of the international law, which does not recognize unilateral secession

By Vojislava VIGNJEVIC t the very beginning of a public debate about the legitimacy of Kosovo’s declaration of independence in the International Court of Justice, the two delegations – Serbian and Kosovar – both agreed that they are ready to talk. However, their grounds for negotiation totally differ. Serbia wants to conduct negotiations that would validate the country’s territorial integrity since Kosovo’s declaration of independence is against principles of the international law which does not recognize unilateral secession. On the other hand, officially Priština thinks that the two sides

40 CorD 67 / January 2010

should negotiate about improving everyday living conditions in the province, and that even attempting to go back to the way things were would jeopardize the security of the entire region. The Serbian delegation pointed out that the UN Security Council’s Resolution 1244, which is still in force, forbids any solution regulating Kosovo’s status that is not accept-

able to both sides and is not approved by the Security Council. Contrary to this, the Priština delegation claims that Kosovo’s independence is irreversible and that the declaration of independence from February this year is not a breach of international law. Addressing the fifteen-member-courtcouncil, with Japanese judge Hisashi Ovada at its helm, the head of Serbian delegation, Ambassador Dušan Bataković said that the Security Council has not abolished Serbia’s sovereignty over Kosovo, but outlined, in the Resolution 1244, that it was necessary to maintain Serbia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in Kosovo. The Resolution stipulates that the future status of Kosovo should be determined through negotiations and political solutions. According to Bataković, although Kosovo’s independence is a breach of Resolution 1244 and Serbia’s sovereignty, Belgrade officials have decided to react in a responsible manner. He also said that Serbia would not give up on defending country’s territorial integrity and was ready to be flexible in finding practical solutions. The head of the Serbian delegation also underlined that Serbia condemns crimes committed in Kosovo by people who profess to have acted on behalf of Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Bataković also said that everyone who has committed

Foreign minister and head of Priština’s delegation, Skender Hiseni said that Priština wanted to talk to Belgrade, but only about practical issues that concern the quality of life of Kosovo’s citizens

OF JUSTICE IN THE HAGUE:

osovo’s status a crime should be brought to justice and that several police officers and soldiers who perpetrated such crimes had already been prosecuted in Serbian courts. He pointed out that the Albanian paramilitary forces, the KLA, also committed crimes on Serbs in Kosovo. A member of the Serbian legal team, lawyer Vladimir Đerić pointed out that the decision about independence was made by interim authorities in Kosovo and Metohija that were formed in line with Resolution 1244, which stipulates Serbia’s territorial sovereignty and integrity. German professor

Boris Tadić expects only positive things for Serbia to come out of the debate of international law, Andreas Zimmermann, who is also a member of the Serbian legal team, pointed out that Kosovo’s secession was carried out at the time when the province was under the UN administration. According to Zimmermann, it would create a really dangerous precedent if countries, following in Kosovo’s footsteps, would conclude that bringing in peacekeeping forces was actually a first step towards the crisis regions’ becoming independent states. Serbian foreign minister, Vuk Jeremić, who was present during the first day of a debate in the court, said that “Serbia has shown wisdom, balance and strength, with both international law and two thirds of countries in the world taking Serbian side in the case of Kosovo’s secession.”

Jeremić also said recently that it was highly unlikely that, following the debate, the International Court of Justice in The Hague would approve of Kosovo’s independence and rule that altering internationally accepted borders is a legal act, against the UN Security Council’s decision. He said that he expected the Court to make a ruling in mid-2010, adding that the goal of Serbian diplomacy was to stop further recognitions of Kosovo’s independence after the proceedings in the court finish. Another goal is to stop Kosovo from becoming a member of international organizations, since that is a privilege of sovereign states only. Jeremić underlined that, if Serbia succeeded in implementing that task, it would become very clear that continuing the dialogue was the only viable option. As for the debate in the International Court of Justice, Serbian President, Boris Tadić said that he expected only positive things for Serbia to come out of the debate. Rejecting claims made by Serbian representatives that the Albanian side was not really interested in negotiating, foreign minister and head of Priština’s delegation, Skender Hisseni said that the Albanian side partook in the negotiations about the Kosovo statutes in 2006 and 2007 “in good faith,” adding that the negotiations failed because “Serbia was stubborn and viewed Kosovo only as a chunk of land that it has to own, while disregarding interests of other nationalities living in Kosovo.” According to Hisseni, Serbia wants to renew negotiations only to destabilize the region. He outlines

Head of Serbian delegation, Ambassador Dušan Bataković said that Serbia would not give up on defending the country’s territorial integrity and was ready to be flexible in finding practical solutions

ADVISORY OPINION

he issue of legitimacy of Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence has been also brought up by the UN General Assembly, following Serbia’s initiative. The debate in the International Court of Justice, where Priština has a status of author of the declaration of independence and in which 28 states are going to partake, will last ten days, after which the Court will give its advisory opinion. The pivotal issue here, which is discussed by participant countries, is whether a unilateral declaration of independence made by interim Kosovo institutions is in accordance with international law or not. that Priština does want to talk to Belgrade, but only about practical issues that concern the quality of life of Kosovo’s citizens, and only in the capacity of Kosovo being an independent state. The U.S. representative and a member of Priština’s team, Sean Murphy, refuted Serbia’s claims that that unilateral declaration of Kosovo’s independence was contradictory to the UN Security Council’s Resolution 1244. Murphy said that Serbian representatives failed to show where exactly in the Resolution that was mentioned. According to a British lawyer, Michael Wood, the declaration was not surprising or violent, let alone contrary to international law. “This declaration was a natural outcome of a political process that the UN Security Council began in 2005 and finished in 2007,” Wood added. His arguments in favour of independence validate the basic thesis propagated by Priština, and that is that “Serbia lost its claim over Kosovo because of years of constant violation of human rights of Albanians in Kosovo, which was also acknowledged by nearly 60 countries in the world which recognized Kosovo.” CorD 67 / January 2010 41

LEADERS

FURTHER MARKET LIBERALIZATION This is the Christmas / New Year’s issue of CorD magazine and we would like to take the opportunity to hear what our readers and business leaders have to say about what the Government’s priorities in 2010, so here is the question What the Government’s priorities should be in 2010? Oliver Roegl, Chairman of the Executive Board RAIFFEISEN BANKA AFASTER ECONOMIC GROWTH The year 2010 will be another challenging year for the Serbian government, as the effects of the global economic crisis will still be widespread in the country. One of the priorities would be to ensure faster economic growth, primarily via public investments in infrastructure, as this will provide both enhanced facilities for the country’s development and also stimulate activity in an array of industrial sectors. These measures would have to be accompanied by continued support from the IMF, which proved vital in the stabilization of macroeconomic conditions in 2009. Compliance with IMF directives is quintessential and will facilitate a stable business environment in Serbia in the coming year. Economic growth would also be fueled by foreign direct investments that need to be increased. In order to attract FDIs, Serbia needs to nurture existing investors, as positive experiences are the best possible recommendation. This can be achieved through the further decrease of bureaucratic barriers, increased efficiency of various government agencies, and by ensuring timely payments of public debts owed to the corporate sector. Combined, these factors would send a clear message to investors that Serbia is definitely a destination worth considering for their business. Another important issue the government should address is improving efficiency of the legal protection of creditors against fraudulent debtors. Protecting creditors is a prerequisite to robust credit growth.

Another important issue the government should address is improving efficiency of the legal protection of creditors against fraudulent debtors Serbia has made excellent progress on its path towards the EU, such as the most recent development with the suspension of visas. This trend must not be interrupted and it is vital that it continues at least at the existing rate. The closer Serbia is to the EU, the more favourable the economic environment here will become. 42 CorD 67 / January 2010

Nenad Vuković, C.E.O. of Henkel MARKET STABILITY Market stability is one of the basic things that the Serbian government should deem very important. Ensuring market stability in order to attract new investments that will contribute to the country’s development leads to predictability. Predictability is something that our political structure is required to work on to enable not only the influx of foreign investments in Serbia, but security for those who are already here and contemplating further investments.

The best prerequisite for achieving results is good and efficient work There is a lot of work to be done in our country and there is a plan to adopt laws and bylaws which should clearly define business aims. The so-called regulation guillotine, which will result in the abolition of outdated regulation and simplify complex procedures, was greeted with a sense of relief by foreign investors because the simple regulation leads to simple business operations. However, adoption of modern legislation, although useful, is not enough to create a favorable business environment, if the activities are not synchronized. Abolishing excess and obsolete laws, the adoption of appropriate bylaws, and modernizing administration should be accompanied by the adoption of contemporary laws and these are the three most important processes that should be harmonized. In neighbouring countries, which are in a similar situation as Serbia, this method has been successfully implemented, and there is no reason for it not to happen here too. If such requirements are met, that will create a stimulating environment for attracting new foreign investments. However, the government itself should introduce new incentives that will make the Serbian market appealing to foreign investors. The Serbian government is already working on these matters, but our general motto is “You can always do better.” The best prerequisite for obtaining results is good and efficient work. As long as we have results that are efficient and profitable by economic and legal parameters, we are moving in the direction of development.

EACH MONTH,, CORD KEEPS YOU UP TO DATE WITH THE MOST IMPORTANT CHANGES AT THE TOP OF BUSINESS,, POLITICS AND DIPLOMACY IN SERBIA

Advancing the competitiveness of Serbian economy, creating conditions for further development of entrepreneurship and creation of jobs, restructuring the public sector and more efficient management of public finances should be the government’s priority tasks next year. The announcement that the budget for 2010 will focus on investments, development of domestic infrastructure, and optimizing the public sector is concrete proof of the fact that relevant ministries do recognize the importance of these goals whose fulfillment will directly influence how the citizens of Serbia will live in the next and all subsequent years. The subsidized loan programme for domestic companies, farmers, and citizens implemented in 2009 demonstrated that the partnership relation between the state and commercial banks is a good model for supporting the local economy and increasing living standards. Next year, the Serbian government should continue with its activities dedicated to the advancement of small and medium enterprises, entrepreneurship and agriculture, and collaborate with banks on granting funds that are the backbone of operations for these companies. In this case, the subsidized lending programme, if continued, should make a clear distinction between small and medium enterprises and large companies so that lending terms are more adapted to the peculiarities of both sectors.

It is important to continue to create a business environment in which the role of the state will be further reduced At the same time, it is important to continue to create a business environment where the role of the state will be further reduced and that of enterprises increased, while the relevant ministries are primarily going to be a mechanism through which the conditions, regulations, and the whole environment would be adjusted to the needs our economy in a timely and efficient manner. An important step in that direction would be to rationalize and modernize, current legislation, to be persistent in simplifying regulations and to make changes to certain laws in order to prompt large systems to settle their debts towards small and medium enterprises. It would be beneficial for the state to improve loan collateral in order to make financial assistance easily accessible to companies. In that respect, we commend the adoption of the Law on Legalization of Buildings and Land whose implementation will increase the value of real estate assets as loan collateral. Another possibility is to set up a guarantee fund for the economy, which would enable banks to more easily finance domestic companies and entrepreneurs.

Kjell-Morten Johnsen, President of the Foreign Investors Council in Serbia Kjell-Morten Johnsen, CEO of Telenor Serbia, was elected the new President of the Foreign Investors Council in Serbia, and will preside for two years. Mr. Johnsen replaced in this position Aleksandra Radosavljevic, CEO of Carlsberg Serbia. The new vice-president is Goran Pitic, Chairman of the Board of Societe General Bank. The Foreign Investors Council, founded in 2002, is indisputably the most prominent business association in Serbia, and now has over 130 members.

Hristo Krušarski, General Manager of Trajal Corporation The Board of Trajal Corporation has appointed Hristo Krusarski to the position of new General Manager of Trajal Corporation, Krusevac, replacing Petra Krasteva. He is the sixth director since the privatization of the factory three years ago, when the company was sold for about 12 EUR million to the Bulgarian company Brikel. The Assembly of the company also changed the composition of the Board and appointed Alexander Ličeva as its head. “Trajal” is the Kruševačka factory that employs the most workers, currently around 2400.

Anastasia Jelasic, International Projects Manager, Association of Business Women After receiving her M.A. in Linguistics at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Anastasia Jelasic worked in the U.S. and Germany as a language trainer and communications consultant in the banking sector. Shortly after arriving in Serbia in 2002, Anastasia set up Professional Communications, providing training and editing services for business communications, and in 2004 she co-founded the web portal www. expat.rs (later acquired by CorD), offering news, information, and advice for expats living in Belgrade. Moving to civil society in 2007, Ms. Jelasic worked at the Center for Democracy before taking up her latest post in November 2009 as International Projects Manager at the Association of Business Women. This position is supported by the Center for International Migration and Development (CIM), an organization operating within the system of German Development Cooperation. A native of Chicago, Anastasia has dual US and Greek citizenship and has three sons. CorD 67 / January 2010 43

APPOITMENTS

Svetlana Tolmacheva, Chairwoman of ProCredit Bank’s Executive Board MORE COMPETITIVE ECONOMY

LEADERS Bojan Stanojević, General Manager of Boyden UNSUSTAINABLE PUBLIC FINANCING MODEL The experience that we have gained in the 2009 crisis year is prompting us to think about the tasks that the Government should carry out next year. Two weaknesses of the Serbian economy are clearly seen in this difficult year that is almost over and they are the following: 1. Inefficient and expensive running of public enterprises 2. Unsustainable public financing model. The two dominant problems of the Serbian economy are quite intertwined and dependent on each other, with an abominable synergetic effect. It is obvious that the present way in which public enterprises are run suits only the everyday financial needs of a certain political momentum.

While the private sector is drowning in insolvency, public enterprises generate additional losses by acquiring insolvent companies At the same time, the existing economic model defies logic – almost all of these companies are generating huge losses despite the fact that they have a monopoly on the market. They exercise the social policy of low prices, and losses are compensated via subsidies from the state and municipal budgets. It is the citizens who pay the price in the end, and this is absolutely untransparent. While the private sector is drowning in insolvency, public enterprises generate additional losses by acquiring insolvent companies which owe them money or through shady stock exchange activities that favour certain private companies. However, the biggest problem in the public sector is politically motivated, and unfortunately, unprofessional management. This raises a logical question: “Which professional manager will be willing to work for a salary of 1,000 euros, while under constant pressure from politicians and trade unions, and, at the same time, be responsible for the results of the public company he manages and, of course, the legality of its business operations?” And the most important question of all: “How much will all of that cost?” Now, we come to the issue of public finances. Debts that the state (i.e. public companies) has towards economy and the accumulated loss generated by the public sector are the main reasons why the rest of the economy is insolvent. Economy’s insolvency reduces state revenue, and particularly affects the state pension fund. The pension fund is the biggest budget beneficiary and the issue here is where we are going to find the money for it in this vicious cycle of insolvency. The following measures are radical but very much needed: 44 CorD 67 / January 2010

1. Adopt the Law on Public Private Partnerships, which will allow controlled and transparent privatization of public enterprises at all levels. The law must define various models, stages and, in particular, transparent procedures in accordance with the rules that are applicable in the EU. Direct bargaining should be allowed only in the case of companies that generate huge losses, and only under the control of independent institutions and the Parliament. 2. All the money that would be collected by selling parts of or entire public enterprises, or management rights should be, according to the law, aimed solely at providing money for the pension fund. 3. Following this new law, the pension fund would be transformed into a state investment fund that would have an independent governing body, and a strictly defined investment portfolio. Of course, this process would last perhaps a decade, but it would solve the two biggest problems that our public finances are currently facing. Dragica Pilipovic Chaffey, CEO of SBB MORE REFORMS The first priority should be to conduct further reforms which include a drastic reduction in budget costs, without reducing investments. Also, it is necessary to further liberalize the market in all of its segments and terminate the protection that public monopolies are currently enjoying, as well as to avoid restrictive measures that would suddenly change market conditions that were not properly considered before their implementation.

The National Bank of Serbia should ensure a relatively stable dinar exchange rate We should not forget to pay bills on time, as well as to remove unnecessary bureaucracy for both citizens and businesses. And, finally, here is a task for the National Bank of Serbia - ensure a relatively stable dinar exchange rate in order for companies to be able to anticipate and plan their business operations. Ernst Bode, CEO of Messer Tehnogas TO BOOST INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION I hope and believe that the Serbian economy will start to recover from the economic crisis which has already begun waning in the some of the key world economies. The measures of the Serbian government for the year 2010 should however not only be to concentrate on the stabilization of

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SaĹĄa VlaisavljeviÄ&#x2021;, Deputy President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce in charge of marketing SaĹĄa VlaisavljeviÄ&#x2021; is a distinguished member of the Democratic Party, former director and chairman of the Executive Board of

Therefore, it will be also necessary to help the few remaining big systems to survive, to modernize, and to be efficient and more successful Therefore, it will be also necessary to help the few remaining big systems to survive, to modernize, and to be efficient and more successful. The support of the state will be critical in order to make Serbian companies and the Serbian economy as a whole more efficient, modern, and therewith more competitive both on the domestic and the European market. Aleksandar Kozlica, General Manager of Group 4 Securicor (G4S) BETTER BUSINESS CONDITIONS

JAT Airways. On October 31, 2007, Serbian Government named him to the post of Jat Airways CEO. Calendar year 2008 was very bad for JAT with an annual posted loss of US$80 million. In July 2009 Vlasiavljevic started working for the City of Belgrade administration as City Managera but he resigned after only three weeks in office. He is now appointed Deputy President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce in charge of marketing.

Ljubica Simic, Managing Director of Pancevo Oil ReďŹ nery Under the plan of reorganization, Pancevo Oil Refinery (RNP) appointed as its new Managing Director Ljubica Simic (1967), a graduate engineer technology, who has been deputy director for development and investment of NIS. The appointment was based on her

In my opinion, the governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s priority tasks in 2010 should be the following: t $SFBUF GBWPVSBCMF DPOEJ tions for attracting foreign investments. These conditions must be better than in competing countries, i.e. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Croatia. Using the positive experience of Slovakia would be of great benefit.

Intensify economic cooperation with neighboring states t *OUFOTJGZ FDPOPNJD DPPQFSBUJPO XJUI OFJHICPSJOH TUBUFT JODMVEJOH the Autonomous Province of Kosovo, as important buyers of Serbian goods, and as part of policy to help the Kosovo Serbs, as well as Serbs living in neighbouring republics. t 'PDVT PO $PSSJEPS BT UIF NPTU JNQPSUBOU JOGSBTUSVDUVSBM QSPKFDU and expedite the construction of bridges in Belgrade. t 1SFQBSF FGGFDUJWF MFHJTMBUJWF QSPQPTBMT JO UIF PSEFS BOE QSJPSJ ty determined by studying the experiences of Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, and Croatia in their EU accession process. t %FQPMJUJDJ[F NBOBHFNFOU QPTJUJPOT JO QVCMJD DPNQBOJFT BOE BMTP in the state apparatus. t 3FEVDF TUBUF BENJOJTUSBUJPO JO B &VSPQFBO XIFO JU DPNFT UP UIF number) and economically (the costs) acceptable way. Reduce the number of ministries and modernize their work. t $VU CBDL PO FYQFOEJUVSF BOE TUSFOHUIFO CVEHFUBSZ EJTDJQMJOF DPO trol, and savings in all areas

â&#x20AC;&#x153;experience in implementing the investment program.â&#x20AC;? Former director Vladimir GagiÄ&#x2021; moved to the position of Technical and Technological Director.

Danijel Kocijan, Managing Director Podravka Serbia Danijel Kocijan was born in 1978. He graduated in 2003 from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Osijek in Croatia. His first position was in Podravka marketing where he spent two years as product manager responsible for marketing brands of Podravka Soups and Stocks in Eastern Europe, with emphasis on the Russian market. After that, he worked as a KAM for Podravka Dishes and Spices on Podravkaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s domestic food market. In 2005, he became marketing director for the Serbian market, and two years after that, he was appointed managing director of Podravka Montenegro. In the period from 2007 to November 2009, Kocijan held the position of director of Podravkaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s companies in Montenegro and has successfully advanced the business operations of Podravka Group there. With the aim of improving economic cooperation between Croatia and Montenegro, he became the first president of the Croatian Business Club in Montenegro, based in Kotor. Since November 2009, he has been company director in Serbia. Danijel Kocijan is dedicated to advancing Podravkaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s operations, creating a positive and motivational working environment, and improving the market position of Podravka and its brands in Serbia.

CorD 67 / January 2010 45

APPOITMENTS

the economy as a whole and as it is. It is necessary to finally shift attention and focus and to boost, by all means and standards, industrial production from its extremely low levels even for the region, because in the end we will have to live off of what we are producing and are able to sell.

| FACES & PLACES |

On the occasion of the National Day of Finland on December 4th, Ambassador of Finland in Belgrade HE Curry Veijalainen organized a reception at the Embassy. The reception was attended by MS. Jennifer Brush, Head of Mission of the Embassy of the United States of America in Belgrade, HE Alexsandar Konuzin, Russian Ambassodor in Belgrade, HE Wolfram Mass, German Ambassador, HE Stephen Wordsworth, British Ambassador in Belgrade, HE Zeljko Kuprešak, Ambassador of Croatia, and HE Arthur Koll, Israeli Ambassador in Belgrade. Newly elected FIC President Kjell-Morten Johnsen presented the team that will lead the association for the next two years. From left to right: Ana FirtelVlajić, Aleksandar Radosavljevic, Vassilis Glinos, Kjell-Morten Johnsen, Nenad Vukovic, Kristian Kornerup Jensen, Werner Herics, Andreas Binder and Milica Đorđević. Goran Pitić, President of the Board of Directors of Societe Generale Serbia, will hold the post of the Vice President. 46 CorD 67 / January 2010

Banca Intesa – Bank of the Year in Serbia: The renowned ﬁnancial magazine “The Banker,” published by The Financial Times Group, named Banca Intesa Bank of the Year in Serbia. This prestigious award for the most successful bank was accepted at a ceremony in London by Mrs. Draginja Djuric, President of the Executive Committee of Banca Intesa, and Mr. Giancarlo Miranda, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Committee of Banca Intesa.

Japanese Emperor’s Birthday: Toshio Cunozaki, Ambassador of Japan in Belgrade organized on December 8th a reception at the City Hall on the occasion Japanese Emperor Akihito’s birthday on December 23, 1933. Emperor Akihito came to the throne in 1989 and is the 125th “Land of the Rising Sun” emperor, according to the traditional system of inheritance.

Cuting the slava cake in the Blue Salon of the Royal Palace

From left to right: HRH Princess Brigita, HRH Prince Vladimir, HRH Prince Philip, Mrs. Nicole Wordsworth, HRH Princess Katherine, HRH Crown Prince Alexander II, and HE Mr. Stephen Wordsworth, Ambassador of Great Britain in Serbia. CorD 67 / January 2010 47

FACES & PLACES |

Hanukkah, Friday December 11. 2009: Hanukkah is an eight-day holiday both in Israel and outside of Israel. Jewish members of the Zemun municipality celebrated the second day of Hanukkah (also know as the Festival of Lights) in the company of their closest friends and activists. The ceremonial act of burning candles this year went to Andrew, the youngest member. After burning candles, a menorah was placed in the window so that that all passersby could see that celebration of the Jewish “Festival of Lights” was underway.

The business center Airport City hosted an auction of children’s artwork, which raised 650,000 dinars for a children’s park in New Belgrade. The auction was held on December 16th, 2009, under the auspices of Nenad Milenkovic, President of the Municipality of Noew Belgrade, and will continue next year.

Within the framework of its jubilee celebration of “German Days 2009,” the German Embassy in Belgrade organized a Christmas concert on December 17th in the building of the National Bank of Serbia. The Belgrade Chamber Orchestra “Sinfonietta” and Madrigal Choir School of Music under the leadership of Professor Alexander S. Vujic staged a lively blend of Christmas songs.

Agreement signed The agreement on the mobility of young people of France and Serbia was signed in the name of the Serbian and French governments by Mr. Bozidar Djelic, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, and Minister for Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Co-development of the French Republic, Mr. Eric Besson, in Belgrade on December 2nd, 2009. 48 CorD 67 / January 2010

CHRISTMAS BAZAAR Belgrade Fair-Monday, December 7, 2009: International display of entertainment and charity Once again this year the International Women’s Club in Belgrade organized its traditional Christmas Charity Bazaar at the Belgrade Fairgrounds. The tenth-anniversary event was held in Hall 3. Proceeds from ticket sales and all items on sale from around the world went entirely to local charities. Visitors were able to ﬁnd authentic products from some thirty countries that have diplomatic presence in Serbia. Every year there is a wide variety of products from designer clothes to small items for the home, jewelry, to Christmas and New Year’s decorations and gifts. Visitors were also able to sample foods from different parts of the world and enjoy the event’s rich cultural and entertainment program. By mingling, having a good time, sharing experiences, and learning about different customs, women ambassadors and other members of humanitarian organizations prove that the Christmas Charity Bazaar has one particularly nice side, that of helping persons who are in deep need. Algeria, Angola, Austria, Belgium, China, Netherlands, Egypt, Ghana, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, and the USA took part in the Bazaar this year.

CorD 67 / January 2010 49

CORPORATE |

Peter Thompson: Twelve Months of My Life

BEGEJ SHIPYARD December marks 12 months since I ﬁrst came to Zrenjanin. I’d been doing my Masters of Business Administration (MBA) in the Netherlands where I met Robert-Jan Zimmerman, CEO of the Mercurius Shipping Group and major shareholder of Begej. He asked me if I would like to go to Serbia to write my thesis on the shipyard. I accepted. Originating from the holiday resort of Surfers Paradise on the North Eastern coast of Australia, I knew very little about Serbia and even less about ship construction. t has certainly been an eventful and memorable twelve months. I scored 9.5 for my thesis submission and RobertJan invited me to work and to implement my dissertation. Initially, I was hesitant being somewhere disconnected from my friends, family, and not understanding a foreign language and culture. But, as a single man, I thrive on challenge and there was something that attracted me to the mega structure industry and for me at the time, the increasingly familiar Serbia. We didn’t start to make real progress in Begej until around March of this year. The Begej assembly unanimously agreed to allow me to run the daily operation at Begej, solely focused on transforming the company to a modern and progressive company. I hired a small team of young, really intelligent graduates to help me document and develop strategies on how to address the core elements of human resources, production, and commercial departments. When I took charge of business operations, we lacked quality financial information; there was limited computer use. Documentation about how the company functioned was nearly non-existent. There appeared to be too many employees, too many different contractors, loose purchasing procedures, and we were suffering from a friends and family organization mentality. To make my task more complex, many of the employees were old, didn’t speak English,

50 CorD 67 / January 2010

and didn’t want to participate in the change. I was working in an environment where some people believed that they were entitled to a job and that turning up at 8:00am and going home at 4:00pm was sufficient reason for receiving an income. Begej is competing against other Western and Eastern European shipyards. It could not continue to be an organization simply to provide an income for

“No one really knew during the construction process when the ship would be finished. It was amazing but confusing, too.” those who show up for work. What I noticed, however is that Begej is a company that survives. It’s been bankrupt twice, it’s had different shareholders, it’s had people steal, and to some extend the employees have suffered throughout the or-

PETER THOMPSON

eter Thompson, 37, is from Surfers Paradise, Australia. He founded an information technology and Internet service provider at age 23, and the company is still growing today. In 2007, he was awarded a full scholarship to complete a Masters of Business Administration at Nyenrode Business Universiteit in The Netherlands.

deal. Notwithstanding the pain and difficulties, the company still goes on. After 62 years and 286 completed ships, it’s fair to state that Begej knows how to build ships. It was the mother of most of the shipyards in Serbia and should hold a special place in the heart of the industry. In the past, the company used to have excellent written procedures and processes. In the last 20 years these vanished and the company operated on verbal communication. For me, it appeared as if a new order was signed, some discussions were held, and after six or seven months a ship went into the river, fully constructed. However, no one really knew during the construction process when the ship would be finished. It was amazing but confusing, too. It seemed unusual to me that a company producing mega constructions did so without any form of project management. In February 2009, I enrolled several of the senior staff in project management classes and began to assign these people as project managers to the constructions. I also hired an expert in Microsoft Project to give the necessary technical support required to embark on such changes. We used the already strong knowledge of shipbuilding, combined this with software, and documented the technology of building. It meant that it was possible to work to a plan, understand the resources required, and to track construction progress. Delays in production cost many thousands of euros each day.

The next step was to develop an information technology platform that would provide the software required to efficiently coordinate and manage expensive, large-scale projects. The network needed to support the anticipated growth of the company. I found the best information technology engineer I could locate. Together we designed and installed a leading edge fiber optic and wireless LAN network. We cabled the buildings with a switched Ethernet infrastructure. We then designed and implemented the latest Microsoft Platform on enterprise hardware, both at a server and desktop level. In total we spent around €200,000 on this productivity enabling infrastructure. Central to the information technology strategy was to develop an internal software portal. We wanted to connect employees, to group level shareholders, suppliers and customers. File sharing, email, and access to information are critical at Begej. There are some 12,000 parts that go into every ship and the logistics involved with the delivery, technology of building, and technical specifications are vast. Today the company has a Microsoft SharePoint portal that enables access to information both at work and from home. Human resources are a vital component of successful companies. On many occasions,

personally manage and guide the new graduates to make sure their path into the company is secured and unimpeded. It takes around a year for someone to develop from the point where they know little to the point where they are truly valuable. Each new knowledge recruit must document a project, complete an introduction, and participate in the documentation of weekly reports, posted on the portal of course. It is not an easy education;

“I was working in an environment where some people believed that they were entitled to a job and that turning up at 8:00am and going home at 4:00pm was sufficient reason for receiving an income.” managers with decision-making responsibility had previously hired friends and family. On one hand it’s understandable. Life is not simple in Serbia, and taking care of friends and family is a necessity. So, the most obvious aspect of the human resources at Begej was the lack of young, well-educated graduates. The company certainly had many older employees who had served the company well but failed to provide new direction. I opted to make several changes. The company had never recruited via the Internet. We adapted an online recruitment strategy with the objective of recruiting the brightest graduates we could find. We put candidates through rigorous interviews and tests. The decision to hire people is an expensive one. Mistakes really hurt, both financially and in energy. I

however my focused plan is producing good results. My next goal is to train true people managers. There are many good engineers in Serbia, but because there are no international quality business schools, there is a distinct lack of quality managers. I think the old stigma of ‘when I become a manager I don’t have to do anything’ still counts for some. They don’t last very long at Begej anymore. Many managers and employees have lost their jobs at Begej. On one hand I feel sorry for them, but we have also hired many of the best engineering and other faculty graduates in the country. Young people deserve a chance in life too. It’s often difficult to measure the success of the business transformation. Over the last year, Begej has become the only shipbuilding

facility in Serbia that outfits ships. This is a true differentiation and sets it apart from its competitors. Without the operational changes made to the organization, it is quite possible that the company would have ceased to exist We think that to be entirely involved in shipbuilding is like ‘putting all our eggs in one basket,’ and is risky in the long term. We don’t want the whole business to rest on one skill. We will drive our domestic business making use of the capabilities, assets, and contacts we have built up over the last 62 years. The company must aim to create products that are in demand. Begej must position its products and services to meet the needs of its customers. Regarding technology, Begej is investing in new machinery to help assist competitiveness. We are in the process of acquiring a new auto crane to support section construction and there is also new cutting and bending machinery. Begej is also developing new international relationships that will help the company develop a technically superior market position. We have some ideas for other business opportunities that we are currently working on and developing. We think that there exists real potential in Serbia for services provision both locally and internationally and our plan is to build on our foundation to develop a group of independent business entities. Taking the time to stop and reflect on 12 months of consulting to Begej Shipyard in Zrenjanin, it certainly has been interesting with many twists and turns. CorD 67 / January 2010 51

B2B |

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY STRUCTURES PROSPER IN CYPRUS

fficient ownership structuring is vital for companies active in intellectual property (IP) rights development and licensing. Relevant Sophie Stylianlicense payou, Tax and legal ment direction advisor, Eurofast is also imporTaxand tant for transactions to be as tax efficient as possible. Cyprus ranks among the best tax planning jurisdictions for IP-related structures. Cypriot royalty companies generally undertake ownership of IP royalties and licensing rights, and like all Cypriot resident companies, are subject to a 10% corporate tax on their worldwide income. ROYALTIES RECEIVED IN CYPRUS Profits derived from royalties by a Cypriot royalty company are subject to a 10% corporate income tax after the deduction of royalty payments and expenses incurred wholly and exclusively for income production. Also, Cypriot income tax laws provide unilateral tax credit on foreign tax paid on said income. GAINS ON IP SALE Gains from IP sale may be exempt from corporate income tax, unless deemed a result of company trading activities. ROYALTIES PAID Cyprus does not provide withholding tax on royalty payments since the rights are exercised outside Cyprus. An extensive network of double tax treaties concluded by Cyprus imposes low or no withholding taxes at the level of the licensee upon payment of royalties to a Cypriot company. Likewise, EU Interest and Royalties Directive provisions apply when the Cypriot company receives royalty payments from an associate company in another EU state, thus eliminating withholding taxes over royalty payments. 52 CorD 67 / January 2010

CONSTRUCTION OF A MOTORWAY TO THE REPUBLIC OF SRPSKA BY 2011

erbian Minister of Infrastructure Milutin Mrkonjic said that the construction of the motorway to the Republic of Srpska would begin in 2011, adding that a total of 1.14 billion euros would be invested in the project. Mrkonjic also said that the motorway, which would be close to 200 kilometers long, would lead to Corridor 10, starting in Pojate, via Krusevac, Cacak, Pozega, and Uzice, all the way to Visegrad. The construction of 60 kilometers of the motorway from Pozega to Kotroman will cost about 830 million euros, or approximately 14 million per kilometre, since a total of 60 bridges, 20 tunnels and 13 overpasses will have to be constructed too. As previously announced, the motorway will connect Uzice and the Republic of Srpska to the Belgrade – Bar motorway, and near Pojate to Corridor 10, i.e. the Belgrade – Nis motorway. Minister of Transport of the Republic of Srpska Nedeljko Cubrilovic said that authorities of the Republic of Srpska would fully support the construction of the motorway, and added that the motorway would provide a link to Section C of the Pan-European Corridor 5 from Osijek to Mostar. Cubrilovic also said he did not believe that anyone in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) would have anything against the project. Source: B92, Beta

NEW PRESIDENT OF THE FOREIGN INVESTORS COUNCIL

anaging Director of Telenor Kjell Morten Johnsen has been appointed the new chairman of the Foreign Investors Council’s Managing Board at the council’s regular session. Goran Pitic, Chairman of the Managing Board of Societe Generale Serbia, was elected vice president. Other members of the Board of Directors are Managing Director of British American Tobacco for the East Balkans Kristian Kornerup Jensen, Managing Director of Carlsberg Serbia Aleksandar Radosavljevic, General Manager of Mercedes-Benz SCG Andreas Binder, Managing Director of Henkel Serbia Nenad Vukovic, Managing Director of Lafarge BFC Costin Borc, Director General of PepsiCo. International for Western Balkans Vassilis Glinos, and Deputy Director General of Politika Newspapers & Magazines and Managing Director of WAZ, Werner Herić. The newly elected President of the Council, Mr. Jonsen, has introduced the team that will lead the Council for the next two years and said the Council would continue to advocate the continuation of reforms, formulation of a clear economic policy, efficient administration, and equal business conditions for all market participants.

MALEV LINKS BELGRADE TO BUDAPEST

fter 17 years of absence from Serbia, the Hungarian airline Malev is flying again between Belgrade and Budapest. Malev’s commercial director, Karim Makhlouf, says that the company plans to fly twice a day from Belgrade to Budapest, as opposed to one flight a day at the moment. Malev’s planes depart from Belgrade at 14:55 and at 13:15 from Budapest, while the promotional price of a return ticket (airport tax included) is 99 euros. Makhlouf also said that tourists from Belgrade have promotional arrangements at their disposal that include two nights in a hotel in Budapest with transportation for a total of 130 euros. Source: Beta, Tanjug

MANAGER OF THE YEAR

CENTURY 21  BETTER, BIGGER, BOLDER

ENTURY 21, an international company founded four decades ago, is operational in 70 countries and has been revolutionizing real estate markets wherever present. “The Centre is a true representative of living concepts, as represented in its slogan – “Live, Work, Play.” With the exception of the Atlas Capital Centre and several other facilities, there are only few high-quality buildings in our region, and these buildings are in a league of their own. Catering to demanding customers and to those who have only one request and that is quality, we can say that the tenants in the Atlas Capital Centre are growing in numbers,” says Aleksandra Golubovic, Executive Director of CENTURY 21 Capital Real Estate. By joining the Century 21 network, a person or a company can establish cooperation with 8,800 independent agencies that employ more than 145,000 professional real estate agents. “The benefits of becoming a part of a network such as Century 21 are numerous, and one of the really important benefits for our market is the establishment of global relationships and the opening of our market to the world. Such a strong network has already assembled all regional countries provides constant support, so even during the present crisis one can count on protection from such an extensive business system as Century 21. For example, the real estate market in Montenegro reached its peak in 2006 and 2007, and today in times of the economic downturn, the market is stagnant while real estate prices are declining. However, there is one constant and that is the client, who still expects real estate agencies and agents to be professional and to do their jobs to the best of their abilities. This is what our agency and our main sales target, Atlas Capital Centre, fully represent and offer,” Mrs. Golubovic concludes. CENTURY 21 Capital Real Estate is one of two such agencies in our region. The other is located in Belgrade and is called CENTURY 21 Best Real Estate. Any agency that is ready to operate under the new laws in this industry will consider this largest global network as its next logical business step.

he Club of B u s i n e s s Journalists of Serbia has established a new category in its traditional competition called ‘Companies and Personalities that Marked the Year,’ and that is ‘Best Young Manager.’ The winner in this category is Srđan Lazović, Director of Corporate a n d R e g u l a to r y Affairs for the East Balkans in British American Tobacco (BAT). Lazović was one of the top students at Belgrade University’s Faculty of Economy, with an average grade of 9. His first engagement was in the Ministry for Foreign Economic Relations, followed by the EU Integrations Office where he was in charge of economic activities concerning EU accession. Lazović has been engaged in the European integrations process in Serbia since 2002. He came to British American Tobacco in 2005, and was appointed Director of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs for the East Balkans in 2008.

CorD 67 / January 2010 53

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FALC EAST  BEST EXPORTER OF 2009

or the sixth consecutive year, SIEPA is giving an award to the best exporter of the year. This year’s recipient is Falc East Company, while the remaining three awards were given to Aero East Europe (for the best export product), PS Tech (for the best exporter among new SMEs), and Hemofarm (for conquering new export markets). Companies DMV Industrial Control Systems and Gowi were recognized as the SMEs that exported the most in 2009. SIEPA has been giving this award since 2004, in the aim of encouraging new export endeavors by the best export companies in Serbia. The awarded companies are also entitled to put the ‘Exporter of the Year’ logo on their products and promotional materials.

Piraeus Bank SA Branch Office-Ellhniko

PIRAEUS BANK GROUP REACHED €219 MN

n 3Q of 2009, a year after the full development of the economic crisis in Greece and the broader region, Piraeus Bank Group has managed to strengthen its position. The Group’s balance sheet is solid, its liquidity position is close to a historically high level, operating expenses remained flat, and pre-provisions profit amounted to €603 mn. Net profit attributable to shareholders was €219 mn. On a quarterly basis, Q3 ‘09 net profit was increased by 18% compared to Q2‘09. Net interest income of €812 mn was increased by 5% in Q3 ‘09 vs. Q2’09. Deposits and retail bonds amounted to €31.4 bn at the end of September ‘09. The loans / deposits ratio (adjusted for securitizations) was improved to 103% compared to 115% a year ago. In 2009, the Bank conducted five securitizations, out of which three were in Q3 ’09. Almost €5 bn of total loans are eligible for self-funding through securitizations. Loans reached €38,335 mn, while total assets were €52,252 mn. The Group’s total equity increased by €118 mn compared to June ‘09 and amounted to €3.4 bn, excluding the €370 mn preference shares of the Greek State. When the latter is included, the Group’s total equity amounted to €3.7 bn. The Bank’s loan disbursements in Greece during Q3 ’09 recorded a further increase when compared to Q2 ’09 and amounted to €2.9 bn versus €2.5 bn. On a quarterly basis, a significant increase was recorded for mortgage loans (+64%), business loans were strengthened (+17%), while consumer loans disbursements marginally decreased. In total 1,950 businesses and 13,300 individuals received financing during Q3 ’09. At the end of September 2009, Piraeus Bank Group had a network of 873 branches, out of which 359 are in Greece and 514 abroad. Piraeus Bank’s prudent management will continue to comprise the major element of its policies and development targets in the broader region markets where it operates and where mediumterm prospects remain positive.

54 CorD 67 / January 2010

JAT TO REACH AN AGREEMENT WITH THE TURKS?

egotiations about JAT’s strategic partnership with Turkish Airlines are “going in the right direction,” -says Director of JAT Airways Srđan Radovanovic. “Talks about strategic partnership with Turkish Airlines are gathering pace, and we are very close to handing over all communication with Turkish Airlines to our majority owner, the state, since we have become the subject of the transaction and not the one who should lead the negotiations,” Radovanovic outlined. He pointed out that strategic partnership would be modeled after Fiat and Zastava, i.e. “it would be good for Turkish Airlines and the government to become owners of the national airline.” Radovanovic also noted that few other companies were interested in forming a partnership, such as Marfin Group from Cyprus and Etihad Airways from the United Arab Emirates, but the biggest progress was made in negotiations with Turkish Airlines. “99% of further steps in this direction should be taken by the government,” Radovanovic added. He also said that JAT would generate a 15-million-euro loss this year, which is lower than the originally estimated 20 to 25 million and twice as low as the previous year. Source: Tanjug

THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMPATIBILITY OF THE NEW SCLASS  S 400 HYBRID:

LUXURY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

xclusive design, the greatest possible comfort, and trailblazing innovations – the latest Mercedes-Benz S-Class is once again accepted as the trendsetter for automotive progress. During the development of the world’s most successful luxury salon, the focus was however not only on further improvements relating to classic core values. In addition, engineers and technicians were able to achieve decisive further progress towards optimal environmental compatibility. In this respect, the S 400 HYBRID is particularly impressive alongside fuel-efficient versions with a V6 or V8 engine. The very latest hybrid technology makes this model the most economical luxury salon with a petrol engine. With the new S 400 HYBRID, the world’s first series production car to feature a hybrid drive system with a lithium-ion battery, Mercedes-Benz is emphatically underlining its claim to leadership with respect to design, comfort, innovation, and environmental compatibility. The combination of a further-improved V6 petrol engine and a compact hybrid module makes this model the world’s most efficient luxury salon with a petrol engine. Its fuel consumption of 7.9 litres per 100 kilometres corresponds to carbon dioxide emissions of 186 grams per kilometre. The combined output is 220 kW/299 hp, with a combined maximum torque of 385 newton metres. The S 400 HYBRID accelerates to 100 km/h in 7.2 seconds and has a top speed of around 250 km/h. Environmentally compatible drive systems and outstanding performance are not necessarily a contradiction in terms.

BELGRADE  LJUBLJANA FLIGHTS AS OF MARCH

“A

fter a nearly 20-year break, the Slovenian national airline Adria Airways will again fly to Belgrade as of March 1st, 2010,” the company announces. The Serbian Directorate of Civil Aviation issued a permit to the Slovenian airline for daily flights between Ljubljana and Belgrade. “Adria Airways will fly to Belgrade and via Ljubljana airport to all destinations in Europe, which will also include flights of Star Alliance, a group of which Adria Airways is a full-fledged member. At the beginning of 2010, Adria Airways management will visit the Serbian national airline, JAT in order to review opportunities for commercial cooperation between the two air carriers,” said Orhan Hodzic, Director General of Adria Airways for Serbia. Source: Beta

CorD 67 / January 2010 55

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NEGOTIATIONS COMPLETED

t the beginning of December, Finance Minister Diana Dragutinović said that negotiations with Russia on the 200 million-dollar loan as financial support for the budget had been finalized. She stated that Russia would grant this loan to Serbia under a very favourable annual interest rate of 3.57%. “This loan is intended to finance the 2010 budget,” said Dragutinović. She added that the government was still negotiating on the remaining $800 million of the announced billion dollars, because specific projects are at stake. Infrastructure minister Milutin Mrkonjić announced last week that a part of the Russian loan of around $800 million would mainly be spent for projects pertaining to railway infrastructure. The billion dollar loan from the Russian Government was announced during President Dmitry Medvedev’s official visit to Belgrade on October 20th, following his meeting with the President of Serbia, Boris Tadić. Source: Tanjug

LOW COMPETIVENESS

erbia takes the 93rd place in this year’s Global Competitiveness Report, compiled by the World Economic Forum. Among 133 countries, Serbia failed in almost all aspects that are described as essential for economic competitiveness. Factors that have been considered when compiling the list have been classified into 12 categories and relate to institutions, infrastructure, macro-economic stability, quality of business environment, etc. When it comes to the so-called brain drain, we take 132nd place. In matters like implementing anti-monopoly policy we are 130th, and 122nd in the quality of infrastructure. The report also points out the problems that Serbia should deal with. The first is corruption, followed by political instability, limited access to sources of

T A

s of December 26th, Wind Jet, the Italian low-cost airline company, will start flying from Niš to the Italian town of Forli, near Bologna. For the first ten passengers on the NišBologna line, a one way plane ticket was €9, and a round trip ticket was €16. The next 60 round trip tickets were sold at a price of €37 and the remaining 30 tickets for €59, airport taxes excluded. Airport taxes in Niš are €14, and at Forli airport, they are €15.6. Source: Beta

56 CorD 67 / January 2010

he European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted around €50 million from the Apex 3 credit line for small and medium enterprises in Serbia. “The fact that since 2002, when Apex 1 was approved until the end of September 2009 when the last assets from Apex 2 were spent, only €65 million were approved and now, in only one month’s time, €50 million have been granted from Apex 3, showing how big interest is for these incentive loans,” stated Deputy Prime Minister win a press release. The third Apex is a loan solely for SMEs, worth €250 million. The relevant Law on Confirmation was adopted in the Parliament of Serbia on August 31st. The EIB is placing funds from this credit line through commercial banks, with the National Bank of Serbia acting as a mediator. Loans are approved for new investment projects, as well as for consolidation of existing loans under better incentive conditions, and the repayment period is up to 15 years, with deferred payment of up to five years. The interest rate is up to 5.5%. Source: Beta

funding, bureaucracy, inflation, government instability, crime, poor work ethics, tax rates, inadequate infrastructure ... In comparison to other countries in the region, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina are worse than we are, since they took 96th and 109th place respectively. Macedonia was 84th, Croatia 72nd, Montenegro 62nd, and Slovenia 37th. Source: Blic

LAW ON BANKRUPTCY

FROM NIŠ TO BOLOGNA FOR 9 €, TAX FREE

€50MILLION LOAN

he Serbian Parliament has adopted the Law on Bankruptcy which will enable immediate receivership for companies whose bank accounts have been blocked for over three years. The Law stipulates that the indebted party can initiate the bankruptcy procedure as a precautionary measure, and the novelty is that bankruptcy could be carried out with a previously prepared reorganization plan. Receivership is conducted through bankruptcy or through reorganization. The Law

states that the goal of receivership is to make collective payments to bankruptcy trustees by getting the highest possible value from the bankrupted debtor, i.e. from his property. Bankruptcy is instigated even if there is a single, legally defined reason for it. The reasons for bankruptcy are permanent inability to make payments, possible payment inability, over-indebtedness, not acting according to the adopted plan of reorganization, and if the plan of reorganization has been made in a deceitful or illegal manner. Source: Beta

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FROM THE WORLD PRESS Nonetheless, Dubai remains the region’s nimblest competitor. “Dubai will continue to lay the foundations for sustainable growth,” says Michael Geoghegan, group chief executive of HSBC, the leading lender in the United Arab Emirates with $611 million in loans out to Dubai World. “I am confident that Dubai and the U.A.E. will overcome any short-term issues they face.”

LANGUAGE NO BARRIER TO SERB-ALBANIAN MATCH

WHY DUBAI MATTERS? In a region of conservative, autocratic countries long chained to the boomand-bust cycles of the oil industry, Dubai stands out for creating an open economy that has diversified well beyond energy. With nowhere near the oil and gas reserves of other Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, it had to. “Dubai shows that if you are part of the global economy, you do well; you don’t have to have oil,” says David Aaron, director of the RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy in Washington. vThere’s no denying that the emirate overreached and will pay a hefty price. Dubai led the region in allowing outsiders to own property, opening up its real estate market to foreign investment in 2003, and created a mortgage industry to finance their purchases. When the credit crunch came, buyers fled and developers saw their cash flow dry up. Hardest hit was Nakheel, a subsidiary of Dubai World that created the iconic palm island real estate development off the coast. It has about $8 billion in debt and $13 billion in other liabilities such as bills from suppliers, Barclays Capital (BCS) reports. Dubai’s leadership has doubtless mishandled the recent turmoil. The emirate’s debt problems have been looming for at least a year, but ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has made little progress in coming to grips with the challenge. As recently as October, Dubai raised nearly $2 billion in new money through an Islamic bond issue. Asked about the emirate’s ability to pay its debts, Sheikh Mohammed told reporters: “I assure you, we are all right.”

After Dubai announced in late November that the state-controlled investment firm Dubai World was seeking to reschedule payments on some $26 billion of debt, global markets went into a tailspin

Part of the problem is that while Dubai is more open than its neighbors, it’s no Jeffersonian democracy. It is dominated by a handful of people, and their decision-making and finances remain opaque. The debt crisis illustrates that. Until recently, no one knew how much debt Dubai had and which state-linked companies it might back in a crunch. Just as murky was the extent to which its wealthier neighbors, chiefly Abu Dhabi, were willing to bail it out. Investors who had assumed the best got spooked when it appeared Dubai couldn’t meet its obligations. “To lower the perception of risk, Dubai must become more transparent quickly,” says Matthew Vogel, head of emerging markets research at Barclays Capital in London. 58 CorD 67 / January 2010

“I love you” scribbled on their hands in a language they don’t understand, Vidan and Djana made their marriage vows.

Albanian bride Diana Isufi and her Serbian groom Vidan Mitrovic raise a toast during their wedding ceremony in Shkodra Photo: AFP/ Getty

Never mind their nations’ history of conflict and suspicion, or the 18-year age gap, Vidan Mitrovic’s long search for a bride took him from a hamlet in south-west Serbia across the border to northern Albania and to is bride. Their countries, ethnically and religiously poles apart, have sparred for generations, notably over Kosovo, and suspicions still linger. Shy and blushing with emotion, 24-year-old Djana Isufi was preparing to leave her home in the Albanian village of Grude e Re. Vidan, 42, took her hand and wrote “I love you” in pen on it in the only words of Albanian he knew. She, in turn, wrote the same message on the palm of his hand, this time in Serbian, a language she does not otherwise know either. That didn’t worry him. He said he’s sure they will be able to communicate “with eyes, with hands and with heart. The other words will come later”. In front of their loved ones, Vidan and Djana exchanged rings and crossed themselves, he in the Serb Orthodox tradition, she in the Catholic. The official wedding ceremony took place a day later in the western Serbian town of Uzice. “Young men leave Albania to emigrate,” says Kanto, Djana’s father . “Albanian girls are not extravagant. They are honest, very modest in their needs. Vidan told us that all Serbian girls want to leave for the West. They don’t want to stay at home and take care of a family.” Vidan found Djana through a marriage agency. This kind of Serbian-Albanian marriage is not rare, and there are several associations officially registered with authorities that organize such unions. Gezim Gjoka, who works for a marriage agency in the northern Albanian town of Shkodra, said that at least 86 young Albanian women had married Serbs over the last two years. Several weeks later, in the hamlet of Ruda Bukva, close to the border with Bosnia and reachable only along a dirt track, Vidan Mitrovic savours life with his new bride. “Of course, I tried to find a wife here, but it didn’t work,” he explains, as a smiling Djana prepares coffee. “I decided nevertheless to stay in the village and to continue to produce

rakija (traditional Serbian brandy), like my father.” Their home is simple, but hospitable. Serbo-Albanian dictionaries lie on the kitchen table beside manuals on how to learn the languages. “I am happy to see that she has accustomed herself here. There have been 25 or 26 years since the last time the village had a bride,” said Vidan. “Nothing is worse than solitude.”

and March 2006, and Prof Kono found that the average lifespan was 186 days longer in the BM mice than in the controls (841.5 days versus 655.5 days). Both sets of mice were kept in the same, infection-free environments, with free access to food, making it unlikely that some external environmental factor was the cause of the difference in life spans. Prof Kono said: “We believe that the most likely reason for the differences in longevity relates to the repression of a gene called Rasgrf1 in the BM mice. This gene normally expresses from the paternally inherited chromosome and is an imprinted gene on chromosome 9 associated with post-natal growth.”

WHY FEMALES LIVE LONGER THAN MALES? Researchers in Japan have found that female mice produced by using genetic material from two mothers but no father live significantly longer than mice with the normal mix of maternal and paternal genes. Their findings provide the first evidence that sperm genes may have a detrimental effect on lifespan in mammals. The research, which is published online in Europe’s leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction, found that mice created from two female genomes (bi-maternal (BM) mice) lived an average of 186 days longer than control mice created from the normal combination of a male and female genome. The average lifespan for the type of mice used in the study is between about 600-700 days, meaning that the BM mice lived approximately a third longer than normal. Professor Tomohiro Kono (PhD), from the Department of Bioscience, Tokyo University of Agriculture, and Director of the Nodai Research Institute (Tokyo, Japan), and Dr Manabu Kawahara (PhD), associate professor at the Laboratory of Animal Resource Development, Faculty of Agriculture, Saga University (Japan), carried out the research. They believe the reason for the difference in longevity could relate to a gene on chromosome 9 associated with post-natal growth. Prof Kono said: “We have known for some time that women tend to live longer than men in almost all countries worldwide, and that these sex-related differences in longevity also occur in many other mammalian species.” To answer this question, Prof Kono and Dr Kawahara set out to study the life span of mice produced without sperm. They collected non-growing oocytes (eggs) from day-old mice, manipulated the genetic material in these eggs so that the genes behaved like sperm genes, and then transplanted this manipulated genetic material into the fully grown, unfertilised oocytes of adult mice that had their nuclei removed (enucleated oocytes).

Mice created from two female genomes (bi-maternal (BM) mice) lived an average of 186 days longer than control mice created from the normal combination of a male and female genome

The researchers created control mice through natural mating that were genetically identical to the BM mice, apart from the fact that they were created in the normal way with genes from male and female mice. There were 13 BM mice and 13 control mice born between October 2005

TIGER WOODS:THE ‘MISTRESSES’ RACHEL UCHITEL A 34-year-old New York nightclub promoter whose fiancé died in the 9/11 attacks. She has denied having an affair with the billionaire world’s No 1 golfer, saying: “It’s horrible to Tiger’s family. His wife must feel horrible. The worst part of it, it’s not true.” But she reportedly flew to Los Angeles to meet up with Gloria Allred, a celebrity lawyer, after the National Enquirer named her as the golfer’s alleged mistress a week ago. The US tabloid alleged that she and Woods had secret meetings in New York, Las Vegas and Australia. She has been romantically linked to a number of celebrities, but insists she has only met Woods twice.

The world’s number one golfer has now been linked with at least three women. Here are the details of the allegations. (from left) Rachel Uchitel, Jaimee Grubbs and Kalika Moquin

JAIMEE GRUBBS A 24-year-old Los Angeles cocktail waitress. She claims she had a 31-month affair with Woods after meeting him at a Las Vegas club on April 27 when she was 21. US Weekly, the celebrity magazine, has posted an answerphone message on its website in which Woods allegedly tells Miss Grubbs his wife had gone through his phone. In the voice mail released by the magazine, a man says to Miss Grubbs: “Hey, it’s, uh, it’s Tiger. I need you to do me a huge favour. “Um, can you please, uh, take your name off your phone. My wife went through my phone. And, uh, may be calling you. “If you can, please take your name off that and, um, and what do you call it just have it as a number on the voice mail, just have it as your telephone number. That’s it, OK. You gotta do this for me. Huge. Quickly. All right. Bye.” KALIKA MOQUIN A 27-year-old marketing manager for The Bank nightclub in Las Vegas. She has told Life & Style magazine in the US that “it’s not appropriate for me to comment one way or the other. At this time, I’m just choosing to focus on my job”. But the magazine reported that Miss Moquin met up more than once with Woods at his Las Vegas hotel during the weekend of October 23. The golfer is said to have complained to her about his marriage and about the immense pressure he was under. CorD 67 / January 2010 59

CULTURE

CALENDAR

ANNUAL EVENTS OPEN HEART STREET January 1st Svetogorska and Makedonska Streets http://www.tob. co.rs/

TRADITIONAL NEW YEAR`S CONCERT January 3rd Kolarac Concert Hall, 12:00 Organized by Kolarac Music Center in cooperation with Art Link

CLASSICAL MUSIC BELGRADE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA Concerts in January All concerts are in Kolarac Hall at 20:00

JANUARY 15, 2010 - WHITE CYCLE Conductor: Ronald Zollman; Soloist: Gurfinkel Clarinet Duo; Program: L. Bernstein: Candide Overture; G. Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (arr. for two clarinets and orchestra); G. Bizet-P. Sarasate: Carmen Fantasy; J. Sibelius: Symphony No. 5 60 CorD 67 / January 2010

JANUARY 22, 2010. - BLUE CYCLE Conductor: Cristian Brancusi ; Soloist: Emilian Dascal, viola; Program:G. Enescu: Romanian Rhapsody No. 1; T. SchmidtKowalski: Viola Concerto; F. Schubert: Symphony No. 8 (Unfinished) JANUARY 29, 2010. - RED CYCLE Conductor: Doron Salomon; oloist: Bernd Glemser, piano; Program: V. Kulenovic: Symphony No. 5; L. van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4; . Strauss: Ein Heldenleben JADRANKA JOVANOVIĆ AND FRIENDS Sava Center, Great Hall January 31, 20:00 For many years now Jadranka Jovanović has been a synonym for vocal art in Serbia and Montenegro. According to a critic of the Messaggero Veneto from Trieste, “...she has everything that a genuine Primadonna should have...” Jadranka Jovanović was born in Belgrade, Serbia. She graduated in her hometown with a B.A. in theory of music and solo singing, and an M.A. in solo singing. Her international career started at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan where she appeared in Carmen and Andrea Chenier , conducted by Claudio Abbado and Riccardo Chailly. Besides Domingo, M.Freni, and Carreras, she performed on stage with great names such as: E.Marton, J.Baird, Elisabette Matos, E.Suliotis, L.Serra, D.Dessi, H.Cura, W. Matteuzzi, Ignacio Encinas, K.Kaludow, Robert Hale, P.Cappuccilli, Alain Fondary, R.Bruson, Eduard Tumagian, B. Giaiotti, P. Burchuladze, and many others. Besides the above-mentioned conductors, Jadranka Jovanovic also performed with maestros such as A.Guadagno, R.Muti, M.Soustrot, and Giuliano Carella. In the last few seasons she has had acclaimed success in Verdi’s Don Carlo(Eboli) in Palm Beach (1999) under the button of maestro Anton Guadagno and the same role in Toulouse (2001/2). In the same theatrical season she made her first performance with the Prague Symphonic Orchestra in Bedrich Smetana Hall, being a partner to tenor Peter Dvorsky and baritone Dalibor Jenis for the Christmas concert. She sang the role of Giovanna Seymour in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena, for the 2002-2003

seasons of the Belgrade Opera. This was followed by a guest performance by the Belgrade Opera in Corfu, where she played the title role in Rossini’ s Cenerentola. Among her numerous recent performances on the stage of The Belgrade National Theatre, she sang the title role in Carmen, when this Opera house celebrated its 20 years jubilee of the last Carmen premiere.

ETHNO BILJANA KRSTIĆ Theatre on Terazije, January 25th Biljana Krstić , born in 1955 in Niš, was raised on the folk traditions of central Serbia. She studied music in Niš at the “Dr. Vojislav Vučković” music school, and continued her education in Belgrade at the Faculty of Music During her long and successful career she released seven albums and has written numerous film scores. SLOBODAN TRKULJA Theatre on Terazije, January 18th Slobodan Trkulja is a Serbian musician, composer, and singer. With the group Balkanopolis he will perform old Serbian music in a new, different, and modern way.

DANCE THE ST. PETERSBURG STATE BALLET ON ICE - “CINDERELLA ON ICE” Spectacle on ice / Sava Center, Great Hall January 23, 20:00

The St Petersburg State Ballet on Ice has given over 5,000 performances worldwide. Its 100 medal-winning skaters have also performed in such classics as Beauty and

the Beast, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and Romeo and Juliet. Cinderella on Ice is a unique version of the famous Prokofiev ballet. In this magical production celebrating romance and beauty, of one of the world’s favorite fairy tales, you will be awed by gnomes, fairies, and beautiful ladies in sumptuous ball gowns gliding across the ice in a display of grace, agility, and passion.

ART NEW YEAR’S SELLING EXHIBITION December 24 - January 20 Gallery Belgrade, Kosancicev venac 19 www.galerijabeograd.org TAMARA RADANOVIĆ, DIGITAL PORTRAITS, PHOTOS ON PERTINEX SHEETS Until January 13th Belgrade Cultural Center Gallery Among the “complete” photographers, those who constantly work and research, stands the author Tamara Radanović. Exploring the wide usage of photo medium, Tamara discovers that the electronic scheme transferred to Pertinex, the material which originally while processed in printed electronic boards, has been installed in more or less all today’s electrical devices. Instead of making portraits photographed on photo paper, the author transfers them to the photo sensitive emulsion on Pertinex sheets and thus closes the circle: analog information enters the camera’s electronic sensor where it is retained as digital information, then moves to the computer, passing through its internal Pertinex depths and finally emerges as analog images printed on the material intended for digital devices. PICTURE POSTCARDS IN SERBIA 1895-1914 Museum of Applied Arts Until January 15th On the occasion of the Day of the Museum

on November 6, the Museum of Applied Arts staged an exhibition entitled “Picture Postcards in Serbia 1895-1914.” whose author is Jelena Perać, MA, curator at the Museum. Since the time when they emerged in the third quarter of the nineteenth century, picture postcards or “illustrated post cards,” have been broadly distributed as visual material and have constituted a significant part of modern visual culture. They belonged to that body of new visual media which were introduced in the nineteenth century. The introduction of picture postcards in our country actually dovetailed the introduction of picture films and the photographs were their great forerunner and source in the nineteenth century. During the period from 1895 to 1914 was the time when picture postcards first emerged and were produced and widely distributed in the Kingdom of Serbia. The first series of picture postcards in Serbia was issued by the Velimir Valožić’s Belgrade bookshop in 1895, and was soon followed by many series from this and other publishers. The exhibition “Picture Postcards in Serbia 1895-1914” is an attempt to treat and evaluate postcards as unique visual artifacts with a purpose and meaning in the given cultural-historical and artistic context. Being a new and popular visual form massively produced and distributed, picture postcards were a powerful communication means and their function and effects on the public at the end of the nineteenth century could in many aspects be compared to the role taken over by mass electronic and digital media. THE POWER OF LANGUAGE PHOTO EXHIBITION Goethe Institute Until January 15th DESIGN IN GERMANY January 21 to February 12 Museum of Applied Arts Exhibition will present works and 150 examples from 41 design offices EXHIBITION- YOUNG SERBIAN AUTHORS January 18 to February 12 French Cultural Center, Knez Mihailova 31

Curator of the exhibition- Mihael Milunović. Artists- Žoana Markade i Bruno Tolić, Aleksandra Petrović, Ana Ðukić, Nina Željković, Predrag Damjanović, and Ana Krstić.

FILM THE BOX Begins January 14

Directed by Richard Kelly Genre- SF A small wooden box arrives on the doorstep of a married couple, who know that opening it will grant them a million dollars, but will kill someone they don’t know. Cast- Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, Frank Langella, James Rebhorn. NINE Begins January 30

Director:Rob Marshall Genre: Musical/Romance A famous film director Guido Contini, struggles to find harmony in his professional and personal lives, as he engages in dramatic relationships with his wife, his mistress, his muse, his agent, and his mother. Cast- Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench , Kate Hudson, Sophia Loren. Edited by Jelena JOVANOVIC CorD 67 / January 2010 61

CULTURE

NEWS

VOJA BRAJOVIĆ, RECIPIENT OF DOBRICA’S RING On December 26th, the renowned Serbian actor Vojislav Voja Brajović was awarded Dobrica’s Ring (Dobricin prsten), the lifetime achievement award established by the Serbian Drama Artists Association. The award ceremony took place in the Yugoslav Drama Theatre. Brajović is the 25th recipient of Dobrica’s Ring. The jury, made up Professor Predrag Bajčetić of the Belgrade Faculty of Drama, actors Mira Banjac and Predrag Ejdus, screen and theatre writer, Dušan Kovačević, Professor Ljiljana Mrkić-Popović from the Faculty of Drama, Professor Vladimir Stamenković (the jury’s president), and Ksenija Šukuljević – Marović decided by a majority vote that Brajović was this year’s laureate. Ivana Simeonović Ćelić, a representative of the Filip and Madlena Zepter Foundation, the main sponsor of all events surrounding the Dobrica’s Ring award, was an honorary jury member. The ring was established as a lifetime achievement award in 1984 in Milutnovic’s memory, and the first actor to have been given the ring was Ljuba Tadic in 1980. Last year the award was given to the prominent actor Predrag Ejdus, who at that time was the head of the National Theatre in Belgrade. Previous winners of this prestigious award include: Mira Stupica (1981), Mija Aleksić (1982), Zoran Radmilović (1983), Nevenka Urbanova (1984), Rahela Ferari (1986), Branko Pleša (1988), Danilo Bata 62 CorD 67 / January 2010

Stojković (1990), Marija Crnobori (1992), Mata Milošević (1994), Ljiljana Krstić (1995), Petar Kralj (1996), Olivera Marković (1997), Rade Marković (1998), Stevan Salajić (1999), Mira Banjac (2000), Vlastimir Stojiljković (2001), Stevo Žigon (2002), Mihailo Janketić (2003), Petar Banićević (2004), Svetlana Bojković (2005), Bora Todorović (2006), and Ksenija Jovanović (2007). KUSTENDORF TO TAKE PLACE FROM JANUARY 13TH TO 19TH The Third International Film and Music Festival, Kustendorf will be held from January 13th to 19th 2010 in Drvengrad, Mokra Gora. The festival, founded by film director Emir Kusturica, is dedicated to future film makers and established contemporary film authors. More than 300 films made by young directors and film school students from abroad will be showcased during the festival. As the festival’s press release states, the diversity of themes and genres and high quality of these films will make the competition for the Golden, Silver, and Bronze Eggs exciting and tense. Well-known comic book author and director Marianne Satrapi (author of the feature animated film Persepolis) is the jury’s president. Other members of the jury are film producer and author Sara Driver and Hollywood producer Jonathan Weisgal. The main guest of the Kustendorf 2010 is the American actor Johnny Depp. A festival programme entitled ’A Retrospective of the Great’ will be shown in his honour. The programme will showcase Depp’s movies like ‘Edward Scissorhands,’ ‘Arizona Dream,’ directed by Emir Kusturica, and ‘Donnie Brasco.’ When it comes to the ‘Contemporary Tendencies’ programme, movies like ‘About Eli,’ by Aghar Farhadi, a director awarded at the Berlin Festival, ‘Soul Kitchen,’ by Fatih Akin, recipient of the special jury award at the Venice Film Festival, ‘The Time That Remains,’ directed by Elia Suleiman, and other notable films made in 2009 will be shown, includ-

ing ‘Limits of Control,’ a feature film directed by last year’s honorary guest at the Kustendorf. MIRJANA KARANOVIĆ RECEIVES AN AWARD Actress Mirjana Karanovic received the ’Konstantin Obradovic’ award for promoting human rights in 2009. The actress received the award in the Belgrade Air Club on December 12th. The Belgrade Human Rights Centre founded the award, and this year’s jury was made up of Filip David, Vojin Dimitrijevic, and Vesna Pesic. The official press release regarding this year’s award states that Mirjana Karanovic has been persistently and consistently working on advancing human rights in Serbia and in the entire region for a long time. The Konstantin Obradovic award was founded in 2000 with cartoonist Predrag Koraksic ‘Koraks’ as its first winner. Konstantin Obradovic was one of the leading experts for humanitarian law and a prominent human rights activist. He died on March 10th, 2000. 13TH UNDERWATER FILM FESTIVAL The 13th International Underwater Film Festival took place in Belgrade in midDecember. Over 70 films were shown in the Cinematography Museum from December 12th to 14th with several foreign films having their premiere in Belgrade. The Underwater Film Festival represents a unique opportunity for film enthusiasts to gain insight into the underwater world. The festival’s main goal is to actively contribute to education and raising environmental awareness in Serbia, while the motto of this year’s festival was ‘Let the waters always be pure.’

BRAVISSIMO MAESTRO MOZART Renowned Serbian violinist Jovan Kolundžija held four concerts in the Kolarčeva Foundation in December called Bravissimo Maestro Mozart during which he performed 15 Mozart’s sonatas together with his guests. This musical endeavor is just a continuation of Kolundžija’s classical music marathon that began with concerts entitled ‘Do you like Beethoven?’ that were held at the end of 2008. Four pianists accompanied Kolundžija at the concerts held on December 10th, 13th, 15th, and 17th - Nada Kolundžija, Eugene Choi, Natalija Lavrik Mladenović, and Marianna Humetska. DUŠAN PETRIČIĆ’S IMAGES ON KCB’S SOUVENIRS A new souvenir collection entitled ‘Battle for Belgrade’ is exhibited in the Belgrade Culture Centre. For the first time ever, the souvenirs depict drawings by the famous Serbian illustrator, Dušan Petričić. His work can be also found on posters, T-shirts, bags, badges, cups, mouse pads, and magnets. The new souvenir collection was named after a famous Petričić’s poster called ‘Battle for Belgrade’ which the author made in 1983, following his collaboration with Duško Radović and the City Environmental Protection Institute. Dušan Petričić has been living in Canada for years now.

He graduated from the Belgrade Academy of Applied Arts in 1969, majoring in graphics. In the last few decades, his political caricatures were published in several major Yugoslav newspapers and magazines. In the period from 1969 to 1993, he worked as a caricaturist for Belgrade’s daily, Večernje Novosti, and, since 1993, his work can be found in many leading U.S. newspa-

pers – The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Toronto Star, and Scientific American. He was a professor of illustration at the Belgrade Academy of Applied Arts, and taught animation and illustration at Sheridan College in Canada. PROJECT ‘SERBIA IN SERBIA’ FINISHED In 2009, the Serbian Ministry of Culture launched a project called ‘Serbia in Serbia’ with the goal of assisting the decentralization process in Serbian culture. As the Ministry says, the result of this ‘culture decentralization’ is to promote dialogue and form a network of culture institutions in Serbia.

The Belgrade National Theatre, the Serbian National Theatre from Novi Sad, the Yugoslav Film Library, the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Dance and Song Troupe Kolo, the Serbian Film Centre, the National Theatre from Priština, the Belgrade Drama Theatre, the Serbian Association of Composers, and the St. George String Orchestra all participated in the project. They performed in Serbian cities that were thought to be in a great need of cultural events, contemporary artistic creativity, and preservation of cultural heritage. The concert concerning the implementation of the ‘Serbia in Serbia’ project was held on December 28th, on the central stage of the Belgrade National Theatre. The money generated from ticket sales will be spent on reconstructing the Sjenica Cultural Centre. TRANSLATION AWARD Translator Spomenka Krajčević is this year’s recipient of the renowned translation award ‘Miloš N. Đurić’ for her translation of a novel called ‘Austerlitz’ by W.G. Sebald. The award ceremony took place in December in Belgrade and was organized by the Association of Literary Translators of Serbia. The aforementioned novel was released by Paidea publishers (which published a total of 19

books that have been translated by awarded translators.) Spomenka Krajčević translated several novels by Bernhard Schlink from German to Serbian, as well as novels by Elias Canetti, Max Frisch, Pascal Mercier, Marlen Haushofer, and several children’s books. Ten of Paidea’s translators have also received the Miloš N. Đurić Award in the past – Jasmina Nešković for a book of poems by Fernando Pessoa, Miodrag Sibinović for poems and essays by Anna Akhmatova, Vera Horvat for a collection of poems by Viktor Sosnora – ‘Return to the Sea,’ and Jovan Hrstić for a book of poems by Rene Chara – ‘Rage and Secrecy.’ Duško Paunković won the award for translating poetry by Vladimir Hodašević – ‘On the Grain’s Path, Heavy Lira.’ Arija Božović won for translating Ian McEwan’s book, ‘Redemption,’ Ana Moralić for Jean Renoir’s ‘Fields of Honour,’Slobodan Blagojević for Artistotle’s piece – ‘The Physics,’ Ana Srbinović for ‘Our Predecessors’ by Ital Calvin, Milana Piletić for Michelangelo’s poetry, and Duško Paunković for translating ‘The Novel’ by Konstantin Leontiev. JOHN CHEEVER’S NOVEL TRANSLATED IN SERBIAN Publishing house Mono & Manana has released a novel by John Cheever entitled ‘Oh, What a Paradise it Seems,’ translated from English by Zoran Paunović. The novel, the last written by John Cheever, has close to one hundred pages and was released three months before his passing. Also known as the Chekhov of U.S. suburbs, John William Cheever (1912-1982) was one of the most renowned American story tellers of the 20th century. He released his first collection of short stories, “The Way Some People Live,” in 1943. One of his books, “The Stories of John Cheever,” received the Pulitzer Award in 1979 and the National Critics Award. In April 1982, Cheever was awarded the National Medal for Literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His novel ‘Oh, What a Paradise It Seems’ is published in Serbian for the first time ever. Edited by Jelena JOVANOVIC CorD 67 / January 2010 63

INTERVIEW

BETWEEN DESIGN

DANIEL YOUNG, NEW YORK DESIGNER

The essence of design is to make things that society actually needs, and there is less and less of that in the world. A lot of junk is being made that actually nobody needs, which exists for the sole purpose of keeping the consumer society alive and well – says U.S. designer Daniel Young in an interview for CorD magazine

ing his practice. Young’s design certainly attracted attention of many renowned designer names like Steven Heller and Mirko Ilic. The underlying philosophy of his design is easily accessible simplicity and innovation. Young’s design is also socially engaged, i.e. non-commercial and thought-provoking, prompting people to think about social issues like religion, homosexuality, gay marriages, and media manipulation. It also draws attention to important and tragic events in the world, like the Darfur conflict. Whether using practical things like magnets, jewelry, T-shirts or posters or something else as his vehicle, Young has a clear mission to fulfill. “I want to save my soul and help others see things more clearly. I have always been designing and I have to admit that I was glad to have been a lawyer first and designer later, since if I had immediately taken on design, I would probably make stupid things like most of today’s designers – they only make things that are marketable. I could easily earn money from making elegant, smart, and useful things totally unconnected to the profound ideas that I am interested in as an adult, i.e. to design only those products that teach us saga-

By Žarka RADOJA n today’s contemporary world, design is completely geared towards a consumer society and because of that its original role is being lost. Some designers agree that the economic crisis actually benefited design by purifying it and making it revert to its original purpose of designing things that society actually needs. U.S. professor and design philosopher, Victor Papanek said that “design has become the most powerful tool with which man shapes his tools and environment (and, by extension, society and himself). But when design is simply technical or merely style-oriented, it loses touch with what is truly needed by people.” A New York designer, Daniel Young, shares Papenek’s opinion. Until recently, Young was a lawyer, but after 30 years in the business, he decided to do what he has loved the most since he was a young man and which was a hobby of his dur-

64 CorD 67 / January 2010

“I think that the best thing for design would be to double, even triple the economic downturn.” cious philosophical principles,” Young explains. According to him, the first rule of design should be the same as the first rule of medicine: “Don’t do anything bad.” “Don’t just design. Think first whether society actually needs that design. Unfortunately, in 99% of cases the answer is ‘no.’ So don’t design if you don’t have something good to contribute to society. If you do decide to design, first acquaint yourself with the history of design. Don’t make more garbage, more ugliness, and more things that can hurt. My philosophy cannot be applied in the commercial world since it would reduce production. In other words, the world needs to produce junk in order for people to buy it and for money to exchange hands. As a result, the entire system is corrupted, from top to bottom. I advocate pure design. I design only the things that I think people need, things that are essential. How many forks does the world need? Hence, chopsticks are a wonderful piece

AND ART

of design. Just a simple set made of two chopsticks. That’s all you need to pick up your food. If you want to design, first learn the history of design, don’t do anything without having knowledge first about what was done in the past,” Young explains. Young designed a Ying / Yang two piece magnet, puzzles that depict the history of art, T-shirts that say “Curb your God” or “Marriage and justice for all,” which support the gay community that, in certain U.S. states, is denied the right to marriage. Commenting on the fact that the gay pride parade has been banned in Serbia, Young says “In the U.S., the federal government does not have control over the right to marry, but the individual states do, and this is where many battles are being fought at the moment. Because of that issue, I’ve designed certain things. People think that it is God who decides who ought to get married. That is simply not normal. With regards to Serbia, the country is recovering from many difficult events, but that is inevitable and the time will come when we will understand that partnership is not only designed for a man and a woman.” His message for Darfur is very strong. The poster Darfur is interpreted as an acrostic for Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War and visualized as a barbed wire fence. Speaking of religion, Young is trying to draw attention to the fact that being religious is a personal and private matter, and not an obsession that actually is detrimental to everybody who thinks differently. “I did religion. The message – Curb your God – means keep Him under control. I don’t say you shouldn’t believe in God. If you want a god who casts thunderbolts, you got it. If you want a god who tells you not to work on Sundays or to abstain from certain foods, you’ve got that too. But don’t use your god for attacking and humiliating other people, or for considering these people less worthy. Leave them alone; curb your god.” The economic crisis has affected all elements of society, including design. However, according to certain designers, the crisis was more than welcome since it eliminated trash from design. This is what Papanek warned about back in the 1970s when he said in his book ‘Design for a Real World’: “The main trouble with design schools seems to be that they teach too much design and not enough about the ecological, social, economic, and political environment in which design takes place.” Young also thinks that the crisis is one of the best things that happened to design lately. “I think that the best thing for design would be to double, even triple the economic downturn. There is still too much nonsense around. Once things get more difficult, design becomes simpler, and it imposes the concentration of things that you really need,” our interlocutor concludes.

PARADOXY PRODUCTS

hrough his small world of Paradoxy products, Young tackles a large quantity of information by offering 20 selected headlines from daily newspapers whose word order can be changed to give the onlooker a possibility to actually feel the way in which news is shaped and presented, as well as to draw attention to the significance of changing the order of words. Only in that way can people truly understand what exactly media manipulation is, just like Ying and Yang magnets should make them think about what is at the core of this philosophical sign which is interpreted differently by everyone while actually being a pure art. CorD 67 / January 2010 65

CULTURE

THE AD EATERS

During the two days of the ‘Night of the Ad Eaters,’ audiences in Sava Centre saw over 500 ads from 24 countries. The most popular ad in Serbia in the last decade was Telekom Serbia’s ad called ‘Connected to You.’ By Jelena JOVANOVIĆ he tenth jubilee ‘Night of the Ad Eaters’ took place in Sava Centre on December 3rd and 4th and was organized by Superstar Worldwide Agency. In a spectacle that lasted several hours, audiences were able to see more than 500 commercials made by various authors from all over the world. Just like every year, the ads were handpicked by Jean-Marie Boursicot, owner of Cinematheque, the biggest global ad foundation. Belgrade had

T 1

Ognjen Janković from SVA Agency were recipients of the award World Tour 2009. On the second night, the advertisement of the decade in Serbia was picked by the audience. Goga Grubješić from Superstar Worldwide announced that three ads made it to the final cut: ‘Everything Flies Best with JAT’ for JAT Airways, ‘It’s Not All the Same – the Football Fan’ for Nektar, and ‘Connected to You’ for Telekom Serbia. B92 TV station and its editor-in-chief, Veran Matić were

1. Bozidar Djelic; 2. Marina Savic, Droga Kolinska & Veran Matic, B 92; 3. Nadja Higl; 4. Uros Ignjacevic 5. Snezana Samardzic, Ministry of Sport & Youth; 6. Zozef Loncar of Taboo its first ‘Night of the Ad Eaters’ back in 1996. The second took place in 2001 and the third in 2002. Since 2002, the event has been taking place every year. This year, ‘Night of the Ad Eaters’ lasted for two days. On December 3rd, the first night of the event, the abolishment of EU visas for Serbian citizens was declared ‘The Best Event of the Decade.’ Serbian Deputy Prime Minister in charge of EU integrations, Božidar Đelić, was presented with an award. The agency Superstar Worldwide also gave an award called ‘Brand Serbia’ to swimmer Nađi Higl for promoting Serbia in the best possible way in 2009. The award was handed over to her by Telekom Serbia’s PR, Milica Amidžić. A special award, The Grand Slam, for contribution to development of advertising in Serbia was given to the editorin-chief of the marketing magazine, Taboo, Žozef Lončar, while Aleksandar Bošković from the Communis Agency and 66 CorD 67 / January 2010

awarded for their charitable contribution to society while Matić was declared the new charity ambassador of ‘Night of the Ad Eaters.’ The Cinematheque’s Board of Directors decided for B92 to

HOST CITIES

he list of cities that have been hosting ‘Night of the Ad Eaters’ is growing longer every year. Aside from thirty or so French towns, the event also takes place every year in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Brussels, Warsaw, Prague, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Beirut, Bucharest, Milan, Rome, London, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Copenhagen, Munich, Berlin, Montreal, Quebec, Chicago, Boston, Mexico, Sao Paulo, New York , San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Beijing ...

be awarded this year for their engagement in several charity events like ‘Food for Everybody,’ the anti-breast cancer campaign, as well as for many other events like sponsoring women and children shelters and a charity campaign called ‘Clown Doctors.’ “We wouldn’t have been able to do anything without the support of the people who partook in our campaigns, without the solidarity of companies that wanted to get on board, and which made our charity campaigns successful. I think that we all agree that next year should be dedicated to humanity and good deeds since there are so many people that need our help during this economic crisis,” said Veran Matić after receiving the award. The award for contribution to Serbian advertising was given to Serbian Minister for Sports and Youth Snežana SamardžićMarković, because Serbian athletes were the country’s best promoters in 2009. During the two days of ‘Night of the Ad Eaters,’ audiences in Sava Centre saw over 500 ads from 24 countries. The most interesting, funniest, intriguing, and unexpected com-

‘Night of the Ad Eaters’ showed old ads and silent advertising movies for the first time. In the very same year, 70,000 people attended the event in Paris and Provence. Two years later in 1986, the event lasted for three days, and the newest ads were given their own special screening. After almost 10 years, i.e. in 1989, ‘Night of the Ad Eaters’ had its first theme screening covering topics like choreography, Indian cinematography, local ads, block history – Levi’s and DIM etc. During the 1990s, the event paid tribute to two humanitarian organizations, Amnesty International and Greenpeace, and had 200,000 people in attendance worldwide. Every year, Bouriscot selects about 500 commercials from a variety of topics that present global trends, development directions, and the vitality of global advertising. The programme consists of exotic video clips which are historical, shocking, witty, socially engaged, and uncensored, with 20% of the commercials coming from France. Socially engaged advertising deals with the big global issues, such as protection and preservation of nature, the fight against AIDS, humanitarian assistance, and the promotion of humanitarian organizations and

(Trident), Milica Amidzic (Telekom), Misa Terzic, Director & representative of Profile Agency

mercials never seen before were showcased in their original integral versions. The people from the SuperStar Worldwide Agency that have been putting together ‘Night of the Ad Eaters’ in Belgrade since 1996 say that they are proud of the fact that when it comes to the number of people seeing the event, Belgrade takes the No. 1 place in the world. They add that the reason for this lies in the cosmopolitan spirit of Belgrade’s citizens, as well as in their creativity and a desire to have a good time. The first La Nuit Des Publivores took place in Paris in 1981, under the working title ‘Desserts.’ The audience was able to see films and ads that had been made in the period from 1935 to 1981. Jean-Marie Boursicot from Paris, a collector of advertising jingles, came up with the idea of presenting his collection to the public once a year to share his passion towards this advertising form. In 1984 in Cinema Rex in Paris,

organ donation. A large number of ads that have been shown this year in Sava Centre call for social responsibility and warn of social problems - domestic violence, animal care, shortage of drinking water, poverty ... Most ads are real works of art, complex movies in a mini format, with a well-thought out and rounded story, dramaturgy, emphasized emotion, efficiently presented punch lines ... Jean-Marie Boursicot’s Cinematheque is the only archive of commercials. The collection is getting more extensive year after year, and currently the Cinematheque has 460,000 commercial video clips from 65 countries. Thanks to good collaboration with advertisers, agencies, and production companies, the collection receives around 25,000 new ads each year. The main goal of ‘Night of the Ad Eaters’ is to globally present the most interesting pieces from Boursicot’s collection, as well as to continue the Cinematheque and its financing. CorD 67 / January 2010 67

COZY, GLITZY GEM MONTE CRISTO

The food presentation was straightforward and simple, yet elegant and appealing. It made just a perfect and light Friday dinner. We skipped dessert, but its list has several sweets including cheesecake, tiramisu, and panacotta By Jelena MICKIĆ hen I was a little girl, I loved to read. I’d say I was an avid reader and I still am, but I would spend my summer holidays reading books, mostly world literature classics. One summer many years ago, I embarked on an adventure of reading a very long book, written in two volumes by Alexandre Dumas, père. The novel was The Count of Monte Cristo. It wasn’t a particularly easy read for a child. Dumas père had the tendency to leave the main story and its characters and develop the narrative into very

W 68 CorD 67 / January 2010

small details around some minor character of the novel. That would draw my attention from the main story and made me impatient, but I was persistent, as the novel did not only speak of a treasure trove, but was a treasure trove itself. I felt exactly the same when I walked into a cozy cafe-eatery with the name of Monte Cristo last month. My senses were overpowered with details and strong colors, and it took me some time to get the notion where I was. The moment my brain started processing the sensory input, it stopped looking for the obvious connection between the novel and the restaurant. I had heard about this place for the first time several years ago, but back than it was a club, not a restaurant. Actually it got mentioned in a trite Serbian chick-lit novel “How to Hunt a Husband.” If the place was a successful matchmaking spot I never got to know, as the sequel never came out, but anyway, this place has changed its focus and has understandably adjusted its interior since then to facilitate a restaurant. Speaking of its interior design, it is signed by a noted Serbian interior designer. Monte Cristo is visually and functionally divided into a four small units, situated on the ground floor and the gallery. The entrance area, strongly colored, operates as a coffee lounge and is adorned by a massive black crystal chandelier

IN CENTER OF THE CITY

onte Cristo coffeerestaurant is situated near the Belgrade Botanical Garden in Takovska Street. As with many other restaurants in the city centre, if coming by car, finding a free parking spot can be a bit of an issue. Although glitzy in its looks, this place is not pretentious at all. With an average price of 600 dinars for the main dish and even children’s portions at 200 dinars it makes it very budget-friendly. This is certainly a good choice for a family outing, to meet friends for dinner, or to have a business lunch.

that dominates the room. The eating area has two rooms: the lemony yellow one and the shabby-chic white at the back of the restaurant where we chose our table to be. Although visually very eclectic, Monte Cristo’s menu came as a nice surprise, as it is very intelligently and cohesively put together. It consists of a good and clever choice of dishes, easy to cook and savor. It opens with the breakfast option, a combination of continental breakfast and hearty food and includes a lighter version of the English breakfast. Lunch and dinner dishes are centered on protein, such as chicken, beef, lamb, and salmon in combination with grilled or roasted vegetables. The menu is obviously made to fit contemporary lifestyle and food choices that follow it, but what I like most in its simplicity and limited number of choices is the notion that those ingredients and produce do not sit in the kitchen’s freezer for too long, simply as they have to go. What always makes me cringe is a twenty pages long menu, with some obscure and complex sounding dishes that hardly ever make to the table, the destiny of its ingredients deep frozen, and waiting for someone one day to order them.While we were deciding what to order, we nibbled on toasted garlic baguette chunks and cream cheese with pesto. That gave us our fist taste of the Mediterranean for the evening. For a starter, we decided to share a portion of deep-fried feta cheese croquettes, garnished with rocket lettuce, and seasoned with pesto. The feta was mild in taste, soft and creamy inside, the batter was perky and crispy light. For the main dish, my companion had grilled chicken breast stuffed with bacon and mozzarella, served on a bed of mashed potatoes with cooked carrot sticks and spinach leaves. The plate was topped with a nice creamy button mushroom sauce. Although dominant in taste, the mushrooms nicely integrated into the dish and added a hint of a personality to it. The dish was mild and tasty, though lacking a bit of seasoning, but that was fixed easily. The mozzarella was the low mois-

Although visually very eclectic, Monte Cristo’s menu came as a nice surprise, as it is very intelligently and cohesively put together ture kind that recalls cheddar cheese, not the milky white and soft creamy one. The mashed potatoes though tasty, reminded me of baby food. If they’d had a more rustic texture, I’d have appreciated them more. My companion’s tomato salad was simple to its core. Tomato slices topped with onion rings and pesto. If you like pesto, you can’t go wrong with this. It’s as simple as that. On the other hand, my main dish was a combination of pan-fried chicken breast and shrimp and button mushroom sauce with fried potato chunks on the side. Although not a fan of fried potatoes or fried anything in general, these potatoes were crispy and velvety soft at the same time. My two generous slices of chicken were slightly overcooked though, but the shrimp-mushroom sauce made up for it. The food presentation was straightforward and simple, yet elegant and appealing. It made just a perfect and light Friday dinner. We skipped dessert, but its list has several sweets including cheesecake, tiramisu, and panacotta. The wine list is extensive and you can order both by the glass and the bottle. The service was very pleasant and fast and I was satisfied with other details that distinguished a professional attitude to work from the common lack on interest. As the night passed, guests came and went. Some popped by for a drink and chitchat, others for a meal. The atmosphere was conversational and the unobtrusive pop chart background music lent an upbeat feel to it.

Chicken breast For the main dish, my companion had grilled chicken breast stuffed with bacon and mozzarella, served on a bed of mashed potatoes with cooked carrot sticks and spinach leaves. CorD 67 / January 2010 69

LEISURE & LIFESTYLE The Tourist Organization of Serbia and CorD recommend Serbia’s mountains as an ideal backdrop for a New Year’s Eve celebration.We would also like to single out Divčibare,Tara, and Kopaonik as some of the most popular beautiful destinations for the holiday in general. When it comes to Vojvodina, we are recommending serene Fruška Gora and Palić Lake.

WHERE TO GO

NEW YEA DIVČIBARE Skiers have several ski slopes at their disposal

ivčibare is located on Maljen Mountain, 37 kilometres southeast of Valjevo, at an altitude of 980 metres. As a result of such a favourable geographical position, the benefits of the coastal climate meeting up with Carpathian and Pannonian climates are noticeable, hence the higher concentration of iodine in Divčibare’s air. Such a climate is ideal for treating pulmonary diseases, anemia, and neurovegetative disorders. Divčibare’s climate is mild. There are 239 wind-free days and 280 dry days. There is plenty of snow in the winter, and in the summer, the average temperature goes up to 22ºC. For this reason, Divičbare is declared a climatic location. A mild climate, good geographical position, abundant vegetation and wildlife, many creeks and small rivers make Divčibare one of the most appealing tourist locations in

Serbia both for summer and winter holidays. On the north side of the Crni Vrh, the ski slope is 800 metres long and has a ski lift that can take up to 700 people each hour. The slope is lit, so there is the possibility of skiing at night. There are three shorter ski slopes near the Zmaj resort, on Golubac and Stražara hill, which are each 300metres long and can transport 200 skiers an hour. The Divčibare Valley has excellent conditions for cross- country skiing. Also, visitors can rent ski equipment in hotels and resorts. 70 CorD 67 / January 2010

AR’S EVE TARA There are also two ski lifts, one for children and one for new skiers, which are 150 metres long, and another for recreational skiers, 450 metres long.

KOPAONIK Kopaonik is ideal for people seeking an active vacation and is the biggest and most famous ski centre in Serbia.

opaonik is the longest mountain chain in Serbia, stretching northwest to southeast. It is 80 kilometres long and 40 kilometres wide in its central area. The highest Kopaonik peak is the spacious area of Ravni Kopaonik (the Flat Kopaonik), surrounded by Suvo Rudište. The highest peak here is Pančićev Vrh (2,017 metres). Kopaonik has a sub-alpine climate. It has close to 200 sunny days a year, and, because of this, is called the sunny mountain. The air is colder and heavier in the valleys, so winter temperatures are not that low (average annual temperature on the Ravni Kopaonik is 3.7ºC). The first snow falls at the end of November and starts to melt in May, so on the average, the area is covered in snow 159 days a year. Kopaonik was named after ores that the mountain is full of and which have been excavated here for many years. Volcanic activity and hot mineral springs formed the rock nearby, leading to the creation of the Kopaonik mine area that has quite a few iron, lead, and zinc mines. Because of its natural benefits, Kopaonik was declared a natural park in 1981. Kopaonik Natural Park covers an area of 11,810 hectares and is one of the most important biodiversity centres due to the number of endemic species growing there, like houseleek, Kopaonik violet, Pančić’s cuckoo flower, Serbian flax, Pančić’s fescue, edelweiss, and others. Kopaonik is quite abundant in wildlife like the golden eagle, the Peregrine falcon, forest owl, mountain lark, common

ocated in western Serbia, Tara is one of the country’s most beautiful mountains. It is covered in dense forests, with many glades and meadows, ridges, gullies, and caves. It is located at an altitude of 1,000 and 1,200 metres and is ideal for treating bronchial asthma, chronic bronchitis, anemia, and other disorders. The mountain has wonderful tracks suitable for hiking (10 kilometres long). Also, there is a running track (1.6 kilometres), a football pitch, and many other small sport venues. During the winter, guests can use ski slopes located close to the Beli Bor Hotel, at an altitude of 1,000 metres. The Tara National Park covers an area of 19,750 hectares. Tara has ample vegetation and is famous for the Pančić Spruce, indigenous to this area. The diversity of the habitat and lavish vegetation made it possible for many wildlife species to abide here, such as the brown bear, chamois, big grouse, golden eagle, and others. The Drina river and the lake near Perućac abound with in fish, especially prized catfish.

crossbill, fat dormouse, eagle owl (also known as bubo-bubo), wildcat, doe, and many others. Kopaonik is easily recognizable by its dense coniferous forests (spruce and fir) which grow at a higher altitude, in addition to beech and oak. There is a large tourist centre on the Flat Kopaonik, with vast accommodation, ski slopes, ski lifts, and relevant tourist infrastructure. The other tourist centre is located near the vilCorD 67 / January 2010 71

LEISURE & LIFESTYLE lage of Brzeće, on the eastern slope of Kopaonik. Ski slopes are positioned between an altitude of 1,650 and 2,017 metres and are considered first class. This tourist centre has a network made of 22 ski lifts and 4 children’s ski lifts, suitable for all skier categories. The total length of ski lifts is 17,222 metres, while ski slopes are 44 kilometres long. The lifts can take up to 13,520 skiers an hour. Also, there is a 20-kilometre-long cross country slope, and on the location called Crvena Bara (Red Swamp), there are 3, 5 and 10-kilometre tracks. Ski equipment and snowmobiles can be rented. Special hiking tours are organized on Kopaonik (from Metođa spring to Semeteško Lake). Also, there are cycling trips, basketball, tennis, riding, and English language schools. The mountain provides many activities for children, detox and slimming programmes, and many sports grounds which are ideal for team preparations. Due to quite indented ridges, Kopaonik is suitable for paragliding too.

PALIĆ The park itself is abundant in all sorts of oak and is a habitat to many animal species that ﬂed from destroyed forests of the Subotica sands.

alić Natural Park is located in northern Vojvodina between Subotica and Palić. The Palić Lake basin was formed by winds blowing between Subotica’s sands and Bačka’s loess plateau. Once salty water with medical properties was discovered on the north side of Palić Lake in the19th century, Palić Spa was built. In many areas, agricultural land stretches all the way down to the lake, which doesn’t leave much room for natural vegetation.

NATIONAL PARK FRUŠKA GORA Fruska Gora has a famous wine growing area and old monasteries which attract hikers, nature lovers, and scientists.

ike an emerald island perched above tranquil Vojvodina, Fruška Gora National Park covers an area of 25,525 hectares. Mild slopes and century-old oak and common hornbeam forests cover 90% of the park. Fruška Gora has over 1,400 types of plants, many of them endemic (like Daphne laurel, pheasant’s eye, dwarf iris, and over 20 types of orchids). This area is also a habitat to 200 species of birds, like the white-tailed eagle, dwarf eagle, woodpecker, marsh tit, and others. Seventeen Eastern Orthodox monasteries, built in 15th and 16th centuries, are located on the park’s outskirts, making a unique cultural and historic part of Serbian baroque art, which plays an exceptional spiritual, educational, and tourist role.

This area is known for many species of bats and 61 species of birds. The lake is a winter habitat to many birds. There are colonies of bare-throated tiger heron, and crabs and gulls on the artificially-made small islands in the western part of the lake, with the biggest colony being that of the Mediterranean gull. The building that houses the old spa is built in Secessionist style, and, together with the surrounding parks, makes an important cultural and historical heritage.

72 CorD 67 / January 2010

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