D&C 11

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January 2017 | ISSUE No. 11 | Price 350 RSD

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THE WORLD IN 2017

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EDITORI AL

C O N T EN T S

It’s Deal Time Dear readers, The contract agreed in December between Russia and Japan came as quite a surprise, though it sounds wonderfully balanced. “No, we cannot give you back your four islands, because, to be truthful, you will immediately allow the Americans to build their military base. And our submarines will have a problem. So, let’s make a deal”. Thus, the contract included heavy investment in Russia’s Far East, particularly the Kurils, and the return of willing Japanese to their home islands. However, the Kurils will have two Russian military bases that will be formally and militarily Russian, financially Japanese, emotionally and ethnically mixed, and possibly very prosperous. Well, that is a real deal to strike. The peace agreed between Putin and Erdogan was a good deal, while Obama’s Cuban and Iranian moves were good deals. The idea of a “deal” is to forget about starkly divided principles and make something of mutual benefit, though no one will be fully satisfied. And the problem with principles is that they tend to be fierce. Hillary promised us a bunch of principles: remove this ruler, impose sanctions against that one. This sounded like a world of clashes, like those in Syria and Lybia. Moorish rule over Spain was a deal: we’ll let you live among us, Jews and Christians. Spanish rule was a principle: convert or leave. Even Nixon and Kissinger, fierce defenders of American superpower, opened up to China, against all principles. It was a great deal. Reagan, an apostle of Neoliberalism and hater of Communism, did not shy away from talking to Gorbachev, the Communist Arch-Leader. And he united Germany and ensured the Red Star was removed from the Kremlin… because of a good deal. We have a bunch of strongmen around the globe now: from Russia and China, and India and Iran, all the way to the U.S. And Trump’s main promise for his blurry future policy was: “I will make good deals”. We hope so. Even ISIS fighters have pure ideals, and ideals can sometimes kill you. Let’s make some deals. It’s deal time, folks. ŽIKICA MILOŠEVIĆ

Editor-in-Chief

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zikica.milosevic@color.rs

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06 WE ARE ON A GOOD PATH, AND PERHAPS A SAFER ONE THAN OTHERS ALEKSANDAR VUČIĆ

Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia

07 IT IS IMPORTANT FOR OUR COUNTRY’S ROLE TO BE HEARD MAJA GOJKOVIĆ

Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia

08 FOCUS IS ON DIGITALIZATION

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GORAN ZLATKOVIĆ GETTY IMAGES MLADEN SEKULIĆ Translation and lecturer

MRP EDITORIAL Translation SNEŽANA BJELOTOMIĆ

10 NO CHALLENGES WITHOUT STRONG EUROPE H.E. GIUSEPPE MANZO

Italian Ambassador to Serbia

10 WE PRAY IN JERUSALEM, WE LOVE IN TEL AVIV H.E. ALONA FISHER-KAMM

PhD, Israeli Ambassador to Serbia

44 UNPLEASANT REALITY IS BETTER THAN “A BLIND SPOT” MUHAREM BAZDULJ

Political analyst and columnist of daily Politika

ANA BRNABIĆ

Minister of State Administration and Local Self-Government

08 MIGRANT CRISIS IS AN AWFUL AND HUGE CHALLENGE

Diplomacy&Commerce ŽIKICA MILOŠEVIĆ

06 THE WORLD IN 2017

ALEKSANDAR VULIN

Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Issues

46 VICTORY OF THE CYBER WORLD OR REAL LIFE? KATARINA JONEV

Analyst for cyber security policy

48 THE DEMISE OF NEOLIBERALISM How neoliberalism lost it and where it got us

10 THE RUSSIA IN 2017 PRESENTATION

50 TECTONIC CHANGES IN 2016

H.E. ALEXANDER CHEPURIN

The World in 2016 – a retrospective

Ambassador of the Russian Federation

10 BRITAIN’S POSTBREXIT FUTURE H.E. DENIS KEEFE

British Ambassador to Serbia

54 THE WORLD IS LIKE A BOOK SONJA LAPATANOV

Ballerina, writer, traveller, Secretary General of the International Dance Council CIDUNESCO Serbia

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A FTER R EN ZI

Italy Must Pick up the Pieces After Matteo Renzi and His Failed Referendum The prime-minister who led Italy into a political crash has resigned. How to choose the next government

Italy’s outgoing prime minister goes by the name of Il Rottamatore, or “Demolition Man”. By gambling on a deeply flawed constitutional referendum, which he lost by a humiliating 20-point margin on December 4th, Matteo Renzi now risks wrecking Italy’s fragile politics and economy.

Many see his defeat as yet another eruption of populism, after the Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump. Granted, anti-establishment parties spearheaded the No camp.

But many Italians rightly rejected Mr Renzi’s amendment to protect existing democratic norms, not to smash them.

This newspaper supported a No vote. We thought Mr Renzi’s attempt to emasculate the powerful Senate, combined with a lopsided electoral law for the Chamber of Deputies, would have concentrated too much power in the hands of the prime minister—who, coincidentally, is one Matteo Renzi. Now that Italians have rejected this scheme, the Italian president and parliament need to set Italy on a course to tackle its underlying problem: the need for deep reform of the country’s long-stagnant economy. That, in turn, depends on two urgent tasks: maintaining economic stability in the aftermath of the No vote and rebuilding the legitimacy of Italian institutions.

Italy’s finances are fragile. Public debt is above 130% of GDP and the banks are laden with festering loans. Whatever happens in politics over the coming months, Italy must above all avoid a financial crisis, which could spill over disastrously into the euro zone. This means that the government will have to keep its deficit under control even as it recapitalises Monte dei Paschi di Siena and other struggling banks—using the private sector if possible or with state funds if necessary.

Financial stability is a condition for work to begin on the second task: sorting out the mess in Italy’s politics. The country has had 65 governments since the end of the second world war. It has had three prime ministers since Silvio Berlusconi’s government in 2011—Mario Monti (he served 17 months), Enrico Letta (ten months) and Mr Renzi (33 months). All were put into office through presidential crisis-management or by political intrigue, not by voters.

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Mr Renzi sold his reforms in the name of strong government. Before the referendum on the Senate, his government passed a separate electoral law for the lower chamber, called the “Italicum”. It concocts a guaranteed majority for whichever party nudges ahead after two rounds of voting. Strong majorities make it easier for governments to withstand votes of no confi-

BY GAMBLING ON A DEEPLY FLAWED CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM, WHICH HE LOST

BY A HUMILIATING 20-POINT MARGIN ON DECEMBER 4TH, MATTEO RENZI NOW RISKS WRECKING ITALY’S FRAGILE POLITICS AND ECONOMY dence. But long tenure is no guarantee of good government, as Mr Berlusconi proved. Although the consitutional amendment was defeated, the electoral law remains in force. The constitutional court will rule on its validity next month.

Mr Renzi could in theory stay on to manage the transition to fresh elections under the existing system. Sure enough, having firmly

announced his resignation, he seems to be clinging on to the hope of running a caretaker government that would rush to elections in February under today’s rules (perhaps amended by the court) or a unity government.

The president, Sergio Mattarella is wisely resisting a hasty election. The referendum was a stinging personal rebuke to Mr Renzi and, in effect, discredits the electoral law, too. If Mr Renzi thinks he can turn the 40% who voted Yes into a turbocharged parliamentary majority, it is just as likely that the 60% of No voters will instead propel the populist Five Star Movement to power. That is why its leader, Beppe Grillo, who once decried the electoral law, also wants early elections. Because Mr Renzi assumed the referendum would abolish Senate elections, right now the ballot for the upper chamber would have to be held under an old electoral law likely to produce a hung Senate, which would further hamper reform.

Rather than forming a new government on the basis of dubious rules, it is essential that the Italian parliament revise the electoral law, so that a credible vote can be held as soon as possible—ideally by next summer. All voting methods have drawbacks, particularly in the fragmented politics of Italy. The best option would be to revive the law devised in 1993 by the man who is now president, Mr Mattarella. The “Mattarellum” was modelled on British-style first-pastthe-post contests, creating a clearer connection between voters and their representatives than the existing party-list system.

BASTA CASTA

Until then Italy needs a caretaker government led by the likes of Pietro Grasso, a respected former anti-mafia magistrate, or Pier Carlo Padoan, the finance minister (who, if not prime minister, should stay in office to deal with euro-zone partners on tricky fiscal and regulatory matters). The much-feared financial meltdown after the No vote has been averted, but Italy cannot afford to dawdle. In the long run the only route to solving its mess is a popular vote that serves as a mandate for the arduous task of reform..

From The Economist, published under licence.

The original article, in English, can be found on www.economist.com

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THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE

THE WORLD IN 2017

For the seventh consecutive year Color Press Group in cooperation with the London magazine “The Economist” organized the conference “The World in 2017”, which was was held on 15th December 2016 in the Natonal Assembly of Serbia

The conference brought together the leading figures in the Government of Serbia and the Government of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, ambassadors, presidents and directors of chambers of commerce in Serbia, representatives of institutions and NGOs, economists and leading businesspeople from Serbia and the region.

The conference was opened by Serbian National Assembly Speaker Maja Gojković, after which Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić addressed participants with his opening statement.

Through the panels, case-studies and disccussions, we tried to find the answers on the question: how will the wolrd, Europe, the region and Serbia look like in 2017 and what we can expect in the upcoming year.

WE ARE ON A GOOD PATH, AND PERHAPS A SAFER ONE THAN OTHERS In his opening statement, the Serbian Prime Minister spoke about the Government’s achievements in 2016, but also priorities in 2017, external factors that impact on our situation, but also internal strengths and resources that make us strong

ALEKSANDAR VUČIĆ

Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia

Nobody should be worried about the future of Serbia, because it now has a stable economic situation, which is founded on orderly public finances. The situation in the world is complicated, complex in both political and economic terms. The situation in Serbia is complicated, but with better prospects and a more attractive outlook, said the Prime Minister.

ALSO FORECASTING GDP GROWTH

“I would first and foremost like to congratulate you on the organisation of this gathering, and on the topics you have selected. There is absolutely no doubt that Novi Sad will look very different and even more beautiful in 2021, not only in the construction sense, but also in every other sense, because I have heard there has been an emergence of new energy, new optimism.”

Commenting on the organisers’ conclusions that the forecasts of last year’s conference, “The World in 2016” were wrong, in terms of the U.S.

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elections and Brexit, the Prime Minister drew attention to the success of the Government and Serbia’s GDP growth in 2016: “Last year when I had the pleasure of welcoming you to this conference, there was one thing that I correctly predicted, despite the forecasts of the IMF and the World Bank, and that was GDP growth of between 2.5 and 3%.

It is important what we can change with ourselves and what we can expect. I’m not an expert on world issues and I’ve never attached myself to that kind of significance of being well acquainted with what relations are like between the U.S. and Russia. In Serbia there is always a sufficient number of people who have an understanding of that. I will analyse our economy and the extent to which it is conditioned by other countries,” said the Prime Minister, addressing the audience.

WORLD TRENDS AND CRISIS IN THE EU

As he explained, in the next year we will have additional political problems. The economic crisis at the level of the EU is continuing.

“We will quickly, but not quickly enough, catch up with those countries that are ahead of us. When it comes to preserving political sta-

bility, and here I mean the situation in the region, I would say that risks exist, but through our friendly relations in the region, from Albania to Croatia, we will try to build stronger and more stable relationships. If we cannot do better, then at least we cannot do worse than until now,” said the PM. The Prime Minister gave his opinions about the impact of political and economic conditions in the world on our further development, and in this context he noted that one seemingly minor detail had a great impact on developments in Serbia. Namely, the U.S. Federal Reserve increased the benchmark interest rate by one per cent, the dollar strengthened and our debt immediately increased by 80 million euros: “One little thing, which resulted in the faster growth of the U.S. economy, and which is a very good thing for them, in our balance sheet showed as an increase in liabilities,” noted Vučić, though he also added that we are on a good path, one that is safer than many other countries.

GROWTH IN 2017

The Prime Minister highlighted that in Europe he sees a different distribution of power and

that new source of growth can be seen, which exist in the countries of Eastern Europe, while in the countries of so-called Old Europe there is a slower rate of growth, because these are, of course, developed countries.

“As far as economic growth in 2017 is concerned, growth at the level of EU is slowing, as is global growth that is projected at the level of 2.4%, which means that Serbia will have higher growth than the global average. That is not enough, however, because we are lagging far behind. We reached the level of 2008 in 2015 and now we’re going to continue with growth. A lot depends on us, how we can change ourselves, how we can restructure public enterprises. Only order and discipline can bring us a result,” added the PM. EVERYTHING DEPENDS ON US AND OUR DISCIPLINE

The Prime Minister concluded at the end of his address that the only question is whether we can maintain seriousness, whether we can behave responsibly, and if we cannot then we’re going to lose the battle, as we have many times before.

“We are on a good path, perhaps a safer one than others. If we are responsible enough and smart enough, we will certainly succeed.

The situation in the world is complicated, complex and tough; in Serbia it is complicated, but with better prospects in 2017 than could be said for the world in general. Everything depends on us, on our work and our discipline; we have excellent parameters and we are on an excellent track, and we must behave responsibly,” concluded the PM.

IT IS IMPORTANT FOR OUR COUNTRY’S ROLE TO BE HEARD

MAJA GOJKOVIĆ

Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia

Gojković underlined that Serbia certainly cannot have a defining impact on relations at the global scale, but that it is important for the role of our country to be heard when it comes to the complex geopolitical conditions in the world.

“We are aware that in Serbia we cannot influence trends in the global arena, but today we can hear what role we have in all complex geopolitical developments. In 2017 the Government of the Republic of Serbia will continue to lead an active, designed and clearly defined foreign policy, with the aim of positioning Serbia even better in Europe and the world, at the regional and wider international level, and in that it will have the support of the Assembly.”

She stressed that it is impor-

tant for Serbia to continue working next year on stability, because that is important for our country and the region.

“For the Assembly it is important to [talk] about the challenges the world and Serbia are facing and will continue to face next year, and it is the right place to openly discuss that,” said Gojković, stressing the necessity for a common European response to all challenges.

She pointed out that Europe and the world are facing major challenges, such as terrorism, the migrant crisis, economic challenges and the rise of extremism, and that the EU, as a pillar of political and economic stability, has also been shaken by Brexit. “All of this shows that modern problems require a serious and responsible approach and a common response from us

The year 2016 has posed a question to all of us, about the future of the EU itself, but also because of the horror of terrorism, the migrant crisis, economic challenges, and the growth of extremism, but Serbia remains dedicated to peace, stability and European integration, said Maja Gojković in her opening address all, and Serbia is determined to provide its contribution to the defence of the shared value of Europe and civilisation,” said Gojković.

The Assembly Speaker also underlined that the opening of every subsequent EU Accession Negotiation Chapter is an important message to the citizens of Serbia, but also all countries of the Western Balkans, that the EU’s doors are not closed, which means the economic and political progress of the entire region. “In 2017 we will give our contribution to the continuation of the European integration process, as one of our foreign policy priorities,” said Gojković.

She reiterated that Serbia is in favour of a common approach with partners in Europe and the world when it comes to overcoming the problem of “The World in 2017”.

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THE WORLD IN 2017

FOCUS IS ON DIGITALIZATION

Digitalization is an absolute priority and is also the biggest generator of new jobs in the world

ANA BRNABIĆ

Minister of State Administration and Local Self-Government

Today’s focus is on digitalization which is the topic that is actually closest to my heart because it is important for Serbia and the world for being one of the biggest generators of new jobs in the world. The Serbian government has recognized digitalization as valuable and there are many important things that we need to finish up. Despite the fact that the EU has been investing in startups and innovation through various programmes, California and China are the home to most innovations and leading companies, 80% and 20% respectively. We still have a lot to do in order to catch up to such fast growing economy, popularly called industrial revolution IV. The world is heading in a direction that is impossible to understand and I can even say that I have trouble understanding it although I am technologically literate. These are the challenges that our government, Serbia and public companies will have to deal with and urgently join in order to avoid being left out from global competitiveness.

Luckily, the government has recognized these. We

have three important pillars in Serbia that will converge in 2017 – e-government, which is our absolute priority and where we are striving to provide as many e-services as possible. This has already been launch and our goal is to make everything available and transparent. Now, citizens can even replace their old health insurance cards with the new ones. Then there is the “Baby, welcome to the world” campaign. In 2017 and 2018, we are going to work on fast implementation of new activities within the framework of the “Stop bureaucracy” campaign. The second pillar is the ministerial IT council. The idea for it came when we realized that the lack of IT professionals is a major problem. Today, Serbia is the leader in gaming industry. I have recently talked to a 24-yearold girl in Novi Sad who owns an IT company that employs 124 people. We have to support endeavours like this. The third pillar it Digital Serbia that will be the link between e-government, small startup companies and IT entrepreneurship. We are all working together on the same task.

MIGRANT CRISIS IS AN AWFUL AND HUGE CHALLENGE Over 65 million people are on the go, the most since World War II

The migrant crisis is an awful and huge challenge for the world. The world has changed indeed and there are currently 65 million people on the go at the moment which could be classified as refugees and migrants. This is the biggest migration since the World War II. There are different reasons why people are leaving their places of residence and why are they are on the go, but the common thing is that they are all moving towards the same direction – the developed countries of West Europe and North America. The deep economic and political division in the world, and the huge gap between the rich and the poor clearly demonstrate the permanent unsustainability. Billions of people, who don’t have enough money for their basic needs, and the millions who control money are about to meet each other. Close to a million people transited through country last year and this year that number stands at 100,000 although the Balkan migration route has been officially closed. The structure of the migrants has also changed. Last year, the migrants were mostly families from Syria, while today they

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usually come from Afghanistan and Pakistan and they are mostly men who travel alone. In 2015, there were 67,000 medical interventions and this year that number has gone up to 161,000. These are the people that nobody wants. We are very much alone in respecting our laws when it comes to migrants and refugees. Every single human being has the right to apply for asylum in Serbia, but very few do. We cannot force them to do that. The question is what we can do for these people to continue to move to their desired destination or to return them from where they came. We have been treating these people with dignity. Serbia’s population is not that big and the country is impoverished. Still, we have proven ourselves as reliable partners. However, Serbia cannot do everything alone. We have proposed certain things but they did not have much impact. Regardless, we are going to continue trying to do what we have been doing, protecting our safety and our way of life. Old solutions no longer provide answers to new questions. The contradictions in today’s world are jeopardizing the survival of our very planet.

ALEKSANDAR VULIN

Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Issues

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THE WORLD IN 2017

THE RUSSIA IN 2017 PRESENTATION

In 2017, new cooperation avenues will be possible both in Serbia and Russia

H.E. ALEXANDER CHEPURIN

Ambassador of the Russian Federation

Today, Russia is much more stable than three years ago. Our country has adapted to new reality. The ruble has become strong, just like the oil price. We are coming up to the new trajectory of international relations. We can say that, in Russia, we have managed to resolve the problems that are plaguing Serbia, like birth rate. This has been a challenge. Also, more and more people are moving to Russia. Our country has achieved macroeconomic stability, the inflation has been declining and our financial reserves have been growing. Securing employment for young people is an important issue for us because this is how we

are going to create the 21st century economy. We have an exceptionally big plan with Japan.

President Putin talked in Japan about Japanese companies making huge investments. We need partnerships that would facilitate faster development. China has gigantic plans for the Silk Road which would connect Beijing, Moscow and Berlin.

As far as the relations between Serbia, Russia and the EU go, we have nothing against Serbia becoming an EU member. We would like to see EU strong, unified and independent. In 2017, new cooperation avenues will be possible both in Serbia and Russia.

BRITAIN’S POST-BREXIT FUTURE We see Brexit as an opportunity to work more than ever Brexit means Brexit. I believe that you have heard this sentence before. Although, we still need to discuss all the details of our future relations with the EU, we are working on making them mature and open. After UK’s exit from the EU, our vision for the future has become very clear which is Britain as a fully independent, sovereign country. At the same time, we want our future relations with the EU to be mature and open, as befits close friends and long-time allies. I would

also like to point out that Great Britain – as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, NATO, G7, G20 and Commonwealth – will continue to be focused on the world, and very active and important on the global stage. We view Brexit as an opportunity to work more than ever and become even more active in the world. We have a vision of the Global Britain that is visible and engaged on the world scene. We have the knowledge and the readiness to exercise foreign policy.

H.E. DENIS KEEFE

British Ambassador to Serbia

NO CHALLENGES WITHOUT STRONG EUROPE

We have to realize what are the roots of terrorism, migration and banking crisis

H.E. GIUSEPPE MANZO

Italian Ambassador to Serbia

The Italian Ambassador to Serbia, H.E. Giuseppe Manzo took part in the second panel discussion called Exit Through the Gift Shop: How we are on our way to Europe and what kind of Europe awaits us. “I think that the EU-building, as it is today, does not have an exit through the ‘gift shop’.

The choice is whether to stay in the building and make it stronger to weather storms, or maybe leave the building and stop the storm ourselves. If we

want this building to survive, we need to consider the pillars that it rests on. These are not the storms like financial crisis, terrorism and challenges from the East. Rather, we have to find the roots of terrorism, migration and banking crisis. The question is whether, in 2017, we are going to be without Europe, or with Europe, or maybe stronger Europe. We, ourselves, need to deal with this. We cannot face challenges if Europe is not strong”.

WE PRAY IN JERUSALEM, WE LOVE IN TEL AVIV In Tel Aviv, we accept this in a natural way, as a part of our society and spirit The Israeli ambassador relays Israel’s experiences with the LGBT community in the most liberal countries of the Middle East. “We have a saying in Israel that we pray in Jerusalem, and love in Tel Aviv. The Israeli society is just like any other society in the world because there are differences in every country. Every person has a different approach to LGBT people. In Israel, there is a huge difference between religious people and those who are not. In Tel Aviv, we accept this in a natural way, as a part of our society, spirit, and the way in which Tel Aviv expresses itself internally

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and externally, as the city of innovation and creativity. This is a different approach to the approach in other parts of Israel, especially Jerusalem. Around 200,0000 people take part in the LGBT event in Tel Aviv. This is a huge festival in Israel that sends out two different messages. My family and I participate in this event every year; first and foremost to send the message that we would like others to see Israel as a liberal society.

Secondly, this is a festival with the best music in town, the best giros and wine, and there are many other activities around.”

H.E. ALONA FISHER-KAMM

PhD, Israeli Ambassador to Serbia

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THE WORLD IN 2017

NOVI SAD IS 2021 EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE This success should be attributed to an entire team of people, and numerous individuals and institutions After Novi Sad had been declared the European Capital of Culture 2021, another acknowledgement followed – that of the Youth Capital of Culture 2019, which is a fete that no town has managed accomplish so far. This success should be attributed to an entire team of people, and numerous individuals and institutions. This is an example of various synergies. We have demonstrated what synergy is all about but not excluding anyone, and by not making an exclusive club out of it. Now, we would like to invite more people to come and join us. We have been asked a lot what

MILOŠ VUČEVIĆ

Mayor of Novi Sad

really these titles mean, and what do we stand to gain, and I say to all of them that not only Novi Sad benefitted from this, but also the entire Serbia.

None of this would have been possible without the support from the Serbian and Vojvodinian government. While we are getting ready for the year 2021, we are going to clearly show to everyone the benefits that we have received. A lot of work is ahead of us; not only programme-wise, but investment-wise too. The most important thing is that have wind in our sails and the support from the state authorities and European funds.

CHALLENGES OF DECENTRALIZATION If we want a decentralized state, we need to start from the top President of the Municipality of Novi Beograd, Aleksandar Sapic participated in the panel discussion titled “Belgrade does(not) believe in crying: The challenges of demetropolization of Serbia”. “If we want a decentralized state, we need to start from the top. Every next government has made sure to become more centralized than the previous one. There is data that corroborates this better than any words. Last year, the local

self-governments got only 11% of the money from the state budget, while the European average is 25%. This speaks volumes. If we want individuals to do something about this, we need to give them an opportunity. The most important thing is that, speaking long-term, I can do what I have accomplished in Novi Beograd if the circumstances were right. Strategically speaking, individuals have very little or no effect on these matters.”

ALEKSANDAR ŠAPIĆ

President of Municipality of Novi Beograd

METROPOLIZATION AS A GLOBAL PROCESS To us, metropolization is a global process

NEBOJŠA KUZMANOVIĆ

Deputy Culture and Public Information Secretary in the Government of Vojvodina

Deputy Culture and Public Information Secretary in the Government of Vojvodina, Nebojša Kuzmanović spoke at the panel discussion titled “Belgrade does(not) believe in crying: The challenges of demetropolization of Serbia”. “Allow me to tell you a story that has been troubling me for the past 20 or 30 years which is rather pessimistic. All the effort that the state, the province of Vojvodina, the local self-govern-

ments and conferences like these have made would not help because, for us, metropolization occurs as a global process. This is the process where you have megalopolises that we have no influence over regardless of how much support we give them. I am afraid that the experiences of other countries show that this is a very difficult road to take. And on this road, we have to change our beliefs and our actions”.

DIFFERENT APPROACH IS REQUIRED At a UN meeting in September, all member states signed a new declaration If we take a look at the current situation in Serbia, there are more men than women living here compared to last year. This is also true for children too, 42% of whom are refugees. This means that, because they are refugees, they have different needs. 65% of the refugees are from Afghanistan now, and only about 17 or 18% are from Iraq and Syria. Although, quite a few of them have not been given the refugee states in Western countries, the majority has the refugee status. We are talking about the countries that produce refugees.

Refugees are not terrorists, because if you are a terrorist, you will certainly not use the refugee routes.

Refugees are running away from terrorists. If you are a terrorist, you would want to legally apply for a visa without being very visible. Many countries have taken a

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destructive approach and introduced measures that are in direction violation of international law and regulation, and have been pushing these desperate people into the hands of human traffickers and criminals. Yes, the situation has changed. We need different means and a different approach. I would like to point out two things. At a UN meeting in September, all member states signed a new declaration which is worthy of mentioning. The declaration comes in response to Europe’s inability to properly deal with the refugee crisis. I would advise you to read through the declaration. There is a need for the rule of law while considering people who need protection. We have to make a distinction between refugees and economic migrants, who can be returned to their native countries.

HANS FRIEDRICH SCHODDER

Representative of UNHCR in Serbia

PROTECTING CHILDREN IS AN IMPORTANT DECISION TO MAKE The fact that almost 40% of refugees today presents a huge problem in resolving the migrant crisis

MICHEL SAINT-LOT

Director of UNICEF Office in Serbia

The fact that almost 40% of refugees today presents a huge problem in resolving the migrant crisis. The problems that these children face are also big problems for Serbia. If you take a 16-year-old child and put it in a reception centre despite the child wanting to go to another country, than we should ask ourselves whether the country wants this child at all. If the child runs away from the centre and something happens to him, he will blame Serbia for that. We have an obligation to house them in reception centres. Do these children

want to be a part of that? Do they want to abide by the law? We have to make people to go to the reception centres where they will be protected. We have orders as to how to behave. In Europe, there is a report which shows that there are 9,000 registered refugee children in Germany, and 5,000 in Great Britain. However, nobody has been monitoring what is happening with these children there. On the other side, if Serbia makes a mistake, it is judged.

Serbia has to make the best possible decision to protect children.

GLOBAL INEQUALITY LEADS TO CRISIS The current migrant crisis has seriously undermined the very foundation of the EU The migrant crisis has been in the eyes of the world for years now. The crisis did not start with the Balkan route, but much earlier with Italy, Spain and France being hit first. Is this trend going to continue? I think not. Global inequality is what is leading us to it. The current migrant crisis has seriously undermined the very foundation of the EU in several segments, as well as the foundation of

human rights, freedoms and freedom of movement.

What did our region gain and what did it loose as a result of it? The Western Balkan region has gained a role and has been appointed a partner in resolving the refugee crisis and I am mainly referring to Macedonia and Serbia here. On the other hand, the migrant crisis has jeopardized the further EU enlargement process which is bad news for the countries in our region.

ALEKSANDRA JOKSIMOVIĆ

Foreign Policy Centre

THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY: GEOPOLITICAL RISKS IN EUROPE IN 2017

Economic perspectives of Britain and Europe after British referendum

By choosing this title I wanted to illustrate the fact that next year is going to be rather challenging, especially in terms of politics. Brexit is one of the challenges. I admit that I was a huge advocate of Brexit and that I LAZA KEKIĆ The Economist Intelligence voted in favour of it. Brexit was a great victory for the democratic will of the British citizens. It is difficult to Unit, London predict whether other countries will follow in Great Britain’s suit, but there will certainly be more exits from

the Eurozone. Many political changes await us next year, and there will be many elections in Eujrope too. Then, there are challenges of the migrant crisis, and Turkey’s transformation into an authoritative state. Of course, we should mention the situation in the region, the slow economic growth and recovery, reduced chances for the EU enlargement, and, last by not least, the tension between Russia and the West.

NEW TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION AND GLOBALIZATION AT THE CROSSROADS Review of the new, gig economy We experienced two consecutive shocks in 2016 – first was Brexit and the British people voting in favour of Great Britain leaving the EU, and the second was Donald Trump winning the U.S. presidential election. Analysts saw this as a sign of people voting against globalization and capitalism. I think that they voted against difficult life. Lately, we have been often using the term gig economy (gig is a slang word for a performance). The term denotes someone who doesn’t have a permanent job but doing odd jobs whenever there is an opportunity.

There is no job security in gig economy. We should also add to this the growing gap in salaries. In 1965, the ratio between a CEO’s salary compared to the salary of an average employee was 20:1, while today it is 303:1. We very much enjoy using the term “foreign investments”. Germany has taught us about the beauty of this term which does not taste bitter any more. People are working, but they are not earning enough. This can be clearly seen in the decline of wages and the salary ratios. Challenges will continue to multiply in the years to come.

NEBOJŠA KATIĆ

Economic Analyst, London

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THE WORLD IN 2017

PREDICTING OIL PRICE IS A LUXURY

Even big investment banks would not allow themselves the luxury of predicting oil prices

DRAGIŠA MARTINOVIĆ

Srbijagas

Dragiša Martinović from Srbijagas spoke about the region's energy future: „Nobody sees the price of oil going above $80 dollars, not even for the next four or five year period. Even big investment banks would not allow themselves the luxury of predicting oil prices for the next two-year-period.

Due to global insecurity, they usually predict prices for the next two years maximum. As a result of the

low oil price, there has been a drop in investments worldwisde, as well as less money invested in research and lower profits. We will be feeling the consequences of 2013 only in the upcoming period.

We can say that 2016 was the year of minimums, and that we expect a slight increase in gas prices both in Serbia and the region with the gas prices becoming stable next year.

EU REGULATION HAS A STRONG INFLUENCE The local and EU regulation, which we have adopted in our segment, certainly affect the conditions pertaining to power production Director of the Strategy Sector at EPS, Aleksandar Jakovljevic speaks about his vision of the regional energy sector in 2017: “When we, in the energy sector, speak about the future, we usually think in terms of the next three to five years. If we are talking about next year, we can do a review of the current situation in production of electricity, and our results from the previous period. The local and EU regulation, which we have adopted in our segment, certainly affect the conditions pertaining to power production. In the last five years, renewable energy sources have grown by 40% in Europe to the detriment of gas-generated electricity. If we

were EU members, we would probably be the fourth or the fifth biggest producer or lignite-based energy.

Such expansion of renewable energy resources has had an adverse effect on end users. In terms of our energy situation, we can say that we fully cover the needs of electricity consumers in the Republic of Serbia. In the following period, energy consumption will not grow much and we are going to generate in the same way as before. We have drafted certain projects pertaining to our distribution sector, namely covering secure supply, while our plan is also to spend over 4.5 billion dinars on investments in order to preserve the stability of energy supply.

ALEKSANDAR JAKOVLJEVIĆ

Director of the Strategy Sector at EPS

HOW CAN WE HAVE A HEALTHIER SOCIETY? Positive influence of wellness on society and economic development

MARKO ALEKSIĆ

Saruna Welness & Spa

Marko Aleksic from Saruna Spa Centre speaks about how much can taking care of oneself affect the overall society and contribute to economic development: “The modern day diseases are weaker immunity, high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, low oxygen level, obesity and a few others. Almost all of these chronic diseases are caused by smoking, alcohol, bad diet and lack of exercise. When you ask someone to put a price on health, they would tell you that health has no price, but we can also ask

what is the price of disease. High medical expenses are a problem in every society, and mental and physical health is the pillars of society. Furthermore, there is this old notion that health is only an individual’s concern. Saruna Spa Centre considers all the benefits of a healthy society.

Quite a few foreign companies have been cooperating with us because they have also come to realize how important is for their employees to be health. An increasing number of domestic companies are also starting to adopt this model.

UNDERSTANDING OF ALL DIFFERENCES The LGBT market in Serbia is worth 5.5 billion dollars “I think that any presentation that combines the “Sex and the City” series and David Bowie guarantees good start. The most important thing that we have learnt is that LGBT, which sounds like a chemical formula, are people and friends. They can be your daughter, son, nephew, co-worker. In the last 25 years, we have been lucky to work with the leading organizations in the world. We worked on communications, strategy, training, and network-

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ing. It is important that we understand all difference. I would say start your own research and start collating your own data. That’s what needs to be done in Serbia. If you can measure the LGBT population, you can work with it. 6% of adult population is most likely going to become a member of the LGBT community. This is 365,000 people. We believe that they have average salaries and that the LGTB market in Serbia is worth 5.5 billion dollars.”

IAN JOHNSON

Out Now, London

NATIONAL DAYS

ARRIVALS & DEPARTURES

in January

H.E. HOSSEIN MOLLA ABDOLLAHI

New Iranian Ambassador

H.E. Mr. Hossein Molla Abdollahi has been appointed the new Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Republic of Serbia. He started his carrer as Political Expert in the West Asia Department - Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1985, moving to Embassy Iran in Islamabad in 1988 as his firt post abroad. He served in Cyprus, as a consul in Pakistan, and 2001-2003 as Director of Economic Cooperation

Organisation (ECO) - Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador of Iran to Vietnam, appointed ambasaador to Cambodia, then a resident ambassador to Nigeria, switching to various position in charge of Arab countries and especially Africa, and finally getting back to the ambassador’s duties as of November 2016 in Belgrade. He is married and a father of 5 children.

1st January

CUBA

Liberation Day

1 January st

SUDAN

Independence Day

1 January st

SLOVAKIA

Independence Day

1 January st

HAITI

Independence Day

4 January th

H.E. DAE JUNG YOO

New ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Serbia

NEW BOARD OF SERBIAN PRIVATE EQUTY ASSOCIATION ELECTED

MYANMAR

Students’ Protest Day

24 January th

ROMANIA

nification Day of U Wallachia and Moldavia

26th January

INDIA

Republic Day

26 January th

H.E. Dae Jong YOO (53) graduated in French Literature at Seoul National University, prior to joining the Korean Foreign Ministry in 1988. He attended French L’École nationale d'administration for the promotion of René Char (1993-1994). His diplomatic career includes postings at the Korean embassies in Geneva (1997-1999), Senegal (2000-2002) and Vienna (20102011), as well as at the Korean Permanent Mission to the UN in New York (2004-2007 and 2012-2014).

He also served as Secondment to the ASEAN–KOREA Centre in Seoul (Director for Development Planning and General Affairs) in 2009. Ambassador Yoo has also held various posts at the Korean Foreign Ministry, including serving as Principal Secretary to the Vice Minister (1995-1996), Director of the HR Management Division (2003-2004) and Director-General for International Organisations (2014-2016). Ambassador Yoo is a married father of two sons.

MARIJANA VASILESCU

New President of the Executive Board of Sberbank Serbia

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At the General Assembly of the Serbian Private Equity Association (SPEA), new Board of Directors was elected, and it will be headed by Branimir Gajić, a member of the SEAF Fund. Also, the members of the Board, other than Mr Gajić, were also elected: • David Schoch, the StartLabs • Petra Pohankova from Ernst & Young • Đorđe Šarčević from Caelum Capital • Ivan Nonković, from the Karanović-Nikolić attorneys office ”SPEA shall continue to promote investment activities in order to strengthen them and promote the wider business audience and create synergies with them. This will make us work through different channels - events, seminars, presentations and collaboration with funds and companies, ”said newly elected President SPEA-e, Branimir Gajć on the upcoming plans of the association.

Marijana Vasilescu has been appointed as a new President of the Executive Board of Sberbank Serbia. Prior to that she was a member of Executive Board, in charge of Retail Banking (Private Individuals and Micro product & client segments, Network Management, Partnership & Digital channels), Marketing & Communications for the Bank. Ms Vasilescu worked at Home Credit Bank, Kazakhstan as a Member of the Executive Board, responsible for the Product Management, XSell/CRM, Strategic Marketing, Marketing Services and PR and Communications units of the bank (team of 36 people), Royal Bank of Scotland, ABN AMRO and Unilever South Central Europe, among ather companies. She graduated from Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest, Trade Faculty, with degree in Marketing in 1996 and she is fluent in Romanian and Serbian as her native tongues, as well as in Russian and English.

AUSTRALIA Australia Day

31th January

NAURU

Independence Day

CORPORATE CROWNE PLAZA

Conference Tourism Would Boost Serbia’s Budget Delta sees its chance in hotels in capital cities

ŽIVORAD VASIĆ

Vice President of Delta Holding and General Manager of the Crowne Plaza Hotel

Vice President of Delta Holding and General Manager of the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Živorad Vasić has over a decade-long experience in the hotel industry in the United States of America and now, in Serbia, he continues draw on his sense of order while working hard. In an interview for Diplomacy & Commerce magazine, Mr. Vasić speaks about the differences between the U.S. hotel industry, on one side, and the hotel industry across the pond, in Europe and Serbia, on the other, as well as about the good practices that he brought over from America that are applicable to Serbia.

“Ten years ago, there was a huge difference, but today, this gap has closed tremendously, particularly if we are talking about the gap between Serbia and the European Union. Regardless of how far or near Serbia is from joining the EU, its hotel business is very similar to the one in Paris, London, or Amsterdam. In 2008, the hotel industry was very rural and the only two hotels you had were Hyatt and Best Western Šumadija. While we were renovating Continental and building Crowne Plaza, several boutique hotels were opened in Belgrade, followed by a series of international hotel chains which put Belgrade on the map, thus making it comparable to the EU. If we were to compare Belgrade to the rest of Serbia, we can see that there aren’t many international hotels in other parts of the country, apart from the ones on the Kopaonik Mountain and maybe a handful on Zlatibor. We lack infra-

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structure, good roads and international hotels. We can compare Belgrade to Paris, Rome, or London, but we cannot compare Serbia to England and Italy. When you compare America to Europe, you’ll notice that there isn’t much difference. America is the leader in the IT industry, but in customer service, they are shoulder to shoulder.

Many hotels don’t have keys anymore because you use your fingerprint to get in. All investments are green engagements”.

How important is the acquisition of Expocentre and Holiday Inn for Delta Real Estate’s portfolio?

— Delta sees its chance in hotels in capital cities which is why we have decided to open Intercontinental Ljubljana in May. We have

can take between 3,000 and 4,000 people and is a fantastic venue for many performers. Our goal is for Expocentre to become a part of cultural heritage and to also host conferences and parties.

How can the city authorities and the Serbian Tourist Organization help in making Belgrade even more attractive for tourists?

— The Serbian Tourist Organization must fight to get a much bigger budget in order for Serbia to be able to advertise its tourist offer much more than now. I think that people don’t even know how much can Serbia offer. You cannot base everything on nightlife, restaurants and river night clubs. We need to work methodically on promoting Serbia. It is really good that

THE SERBIAN TOURIST ORGANIZATION MUST FIGHT TO GET A MUCH BIGGER BUDGET IN ORDER FOR SERBIA TO BE ABLE TO ADVERTISE ITS TOURIST OFFER MUCH MORE THAN NOW Crowne Plaza in Belgrade, the Hotel Park, Expocentre and Holiday Inn which all have 7, 12, and 6 conference halls respectively. Our goal is to win over corporate clients and to provide a wide range of different services that would generate revenue for our hotels. We usually go for investments in cities where hotels can operate for entire 12 months. I think that conference hotels are the future because conference centres are being renovated less and less. Belgrade needs cultural events. Expocentre’s hall

Diplomacy&Commerce

we have Air Serbia as a flag carrier for Etihad Airways because that brought many more tourists over here – between 12% and 13% annually. We need to keep foreigners much longer in Belgrade. The average overnight stay of foreigners in Belgrade is 1.4 days, and we need to find a way to lengthen their stay.

Which segments of the hotel industry should get the biggest investments in order to increase the number overnight stays and the share that conference tour-

ism has in overall tourist figures?

— Conference tourism is something that would help Serbia to significantly increase its budget, particularly the VAT revenue. There are hotels that are constantly half full because every hotel usually bids for small conferences that fit their conference hall capacities. If we were to renovate Sava Centre, we could bid to host conferences that have between 5,000 and 6,000 participants. All of them could be accommodated in the Hyatt, Radisson, Falkensteiner, Crowne Plaza, or other hotels. These guests would buy airplane tickets, take taxis when they come over, dine at our restaurants and fast food joints… All of this would tremendously increase spending, as well as the VAT revenue that ends up in the Serbian state budget.

Could you tell us something about the latest trends in the Serbian hotel industry, and which of them would be the most dominant in 2017?

An increasing number of hotels is going to start offering halfboard, similar to resort services, in an effort to have their guests stay as long as possible because hotel guests usually go for overnight stays with breakfast and they don’t dine at their hotels. People invest a lot in healthy lifestyle today so hotel gyms and spas would probably get renovated. The menus will completely change too, food will be healthy and gluten-free with each meal on the menu having a number of calories per portion written next to it.

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PEOPLE & EV ENTS ORANGE ISLAND

7th December

On the 7th of December the Embassy of the Netherlands officially opened their Orange Island in USCE shopping mall. The Orange Island consists of a photo booth where you can take beautiful pictures of yourself travelling in the Netherlands. All pictures that have been taken will be uploaded on the Facebook website of the Dutch embassy. There is also a virtual reality setting offering all guests the possibility to experience Dutch life by a visual tour through the Dutch economy, while enjoying the Dutch tulips and windmills.

In general, the island seeks to promote Holland as a country thereby contributing to the already strong Dutch-Serbian bilateral relations. The Island will be open till the end of December.

H.E. Henk van den Dool, Dutch Ambassador and Duško Krsmanović, Senior Economic Policy and Trade Advisor in Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS

7th December

German-Serbian Chamber of Commerce organized a traditional Christmas celebration at the club Fabrika along with its member companies, collaborators and friends, celebrating the successful ending of yet another business year. The welcoming speech was delivered by Dr. Ronald Seeliger, President of AHK and CEO of Hemofarm Serbia, who also made a brief retrospective of all that the Chamber has done in the past year, with special emphasis on the central event of the year - the establishment of the first bilateral Chamber of Commerce in Serbia AHK Serbia. Also, on this occasion he handed over a check in the amount of 133.300 dinars to the representative of the Foundation SOS Children's Village – Kraljevo, Vesna Lekić, derived from funds collected during sharing AHK pint mugs at this year's Oktoberfest.

The Steering Committee of the Slovenian Business Club, Zoran Lazukić, Zoran Popović, Branko Greganović and Danijela Fišakov

Vesna Lekić, representative of SOS Dečije selo Kraljevo and Ronald Seeliger, AHK President

NEW YEAR’S RECEPTION

7th December

The Slovenian Business Club organized a traditional New Year’s reception at Belgrade’s Hyatt Regency Hotel. Wishing guests a warm welcome, SBC President Danijela Fišakov thanked all attendees who honored the club with their presence, adding “We are recording membership growth for the third consecutive year, which confirms the success of the SBC. We are especially pleased that we are also being contacted by old members who wish to rejoin us.”. On the event SBC also presented the new logo that will be used by the Slovenian Business Club in the future.

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EMPEROR'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATED

8th December

Embassy of Japan in Belgrade hosted a reception to mark the 83rd birthday of Japanese Emperor and Ambassador H.E. Juichi Takahara said that after a trip to Serbia he was determined to strengthen cooperation between Japan and Serbia, as well as the support for European integration of Serbia. "Now I am even more determined to consolidate our cooperation, support economic and social development and to foster exchanges in many fields in order to improve mutual understanding between our two peoples," said Takahara.

H.E. Philip Pinnington, Ambassador of Canada and Mirjana Dončić Beaton, Executive Director CANSEE

H.E. Juichi Takahara addresses the guests

CANSEE CHRISTMAS COCKTAIL

8th December

Hans Friedrich Schodder, Representative of UNHCR in Serbia, H.E. Juma Rashed Saif Zayed Aldhaheri, ambassador UAE and H.E. Vera Jovanovska Tipko, ambassador of Macedonia

Ambassador of Canada H.E. Philip Pinnington and CANSEE Canadian Serbian Business Association hosted another successful traditional Christmas reception at the Canadian embassy’s residence. More than 100 distinguished guests, CANSEE members, partners and associates, as well as representatives of the diplomatic corps, Serbian political and economic leaders attended the event, which marked the end of another very successful year. H.E. Philip Pinnington stressed that, thanks to CANSEE, profile of Canadian Serbian economic relations is on much higher level.

SAINT LUCIA CELEBRATED WITH THE DIPLOMATIC COOKBOOK

12th December

Embassy of Sweden celebrated the traditional Swedish feast of St. Lucia at Mikser House and presented the book "Swedish Culinary Diplomacy", edited by longtime chef of the Embassy of Sweden in Belgrade, Lars Ekberg. "Traditions and holidays of a nation are always a good opportunity to get to know it. I had the opportunity to learn a lot about Serbia through the holidays, customs and traditions” said Swedish Ambassador H E Jan Lundin. In Sweden, St Lucia celebrates the night of the darkest and coldest winters and marks the brightness of the long winter nights.

Jelena Milić, Director of the Centre for Euro-Atlantic Studies, H.E. Branislav Mićunović, Montenegrin ambassador to Serbia and Aja Jung, director of BDF

H.E. Jan Lundin, Swedish Ambassador

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PEOPLE & EV ENTS INCREDIBLE INDIA! IN BELGRADE

13th December

The presentation of Indian tourism was held in Hyatt Hotel in Belgrade with lavish performance of Bollywood dancers and multitude of splendid photographs from this incredible destination. The Incredible India! Presentation included the address of the Ambassador of India H E Narinder Chahuan, TO of Serbia and Ministry of Trade and Tourism. It was accompanied by the cocktail and buffet dinner where guests could discuss their impressions and business opportunities.

H.E. Harry Richard James Kandou, Indonesian Ambassador to Serbia and H.E. (U) Myo AYE, ambassador of Myanmar

H.E. Narinder CHAUHAN, Ambassador of India to Serbia

TURKISH OPENING PARTY

13th December

On the occasion of the official opening of the renovated building of the Chancellery and Consular Section of the Turkih Embassy in Belgrade, the Ambassador of Republic of Turkey H. E. Mr Tanju Bilgiç organised the opening party for distinguished guests. The opening party was attended by numerous guests from political, cultural and business life in Serbia and the members of diplomatic community.

H.E. Gordan Markotić, Ambassador of Croatia to Serbia with his spouse Stela Markotić

H.E. Tanju Bilgiç, Turkish Ambassador to Serbia

THE EMBASSY OF CROATIA: CHRISTMAS RECEPTION

15th December

Sulejman Ugljanin, SDA President, Zoran Dragišić, Professor of the Faculty of Security and H.E. Tanju Bilgiç, Turkish Ambassador to Serbia

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Christmas reception by H.E. Croatian Ambassador to Serbia Gordan Markotić, held at his residence in Belgrade. “Last year was filled with challenges, starting from Brexit, the migrant crisis, elections in many countries…I hope 2017 will bring prosperity and to that end I wish everyone a happy Christmas and New Year holidays,” said Ambassador Markotić. The evening’s friendly atmosphere was enjoyed

by Croatian Embassy staff members, representatives of Croatian companies in Serbia, as well as friends and representatives of media, cultural and public life.

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"GIUSEPPE MARIA LEONARDI" AWARDS GRANTED 13th December

The ceremonial gala evening of the Italian-Serbian Chamber of Commerce held at Italian embassy. Valy doo Company was awarded with "Giuseppe Maria Leonardi" prize, which confirmed an outstanding example of successful economic relations between Italy and Serbia. This year's ceremony was supported by HE Giuseppe Manzo: "This evening is another sign of a healthy and substantial friendly relations between Italy and Serbia, which this year confirms the leading position of our country in economy and trade. "We need to look at what has been done, collect energy and then turn immediately in 2017" said President of the Italian-Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of the Executive Board of DDOR Novi Sad Dr. Giorgio Marchegiani. Special guest of the gala evening was the Minister of State Administration and Local Government, Ana Brnabić. The ceremony was supported by DDOR, UniCredit bank. Delta Agrar, Banca Intesa, Generali, Spumante Ferrari through its distributor Passione Italiana, Law Office Kosic, Law Office Vlatko Sekulović, Butan Gas International, Fiat Automobili Serbia, Frist srl, Italappalti, Lazarević & Pršić lawyers, Manpower, Olimpias SpA, Standard Slodes trade and logistic.

H.E. Giuseppe Manzo, Italian Ambassador to Serbia, Ana Brnabić, Minister of State Administration and Local Government, Alberto Grassi, director of Valy doo, Dr. Giorgio Marchegiani, president of the Italian-Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of the Executive Board of "DDOR Novi Sad" and Oliver Lepori, General Secretary of the Italian-Serbian business people

Academic Choir "Collegium Musicum" conducted by Assistant Professor Dragana Jovanović

Mira Adanja Polak, journalist ,Robert Čoban, "Color Press Group" and Dubravka Kosić, attorney-at-law

GALA EVENING OF SAM

14th December

Željko Sertić, RAS Director and Goran Knežević, Minister of Economy

The winners

For the fifth consecutive year, the Serbian Association of Managers (SAM) organized a Gala evening on the occasion of "SAM ANNUAL AWARD 2016". These prizes are awarded with the aim of affirmation of those companies, managers, educational institutions and journalists who advocate for better business conditions, professionalization of managerial profession, promotion of ethical and socially responsible business and leadership development among youth. SAM-President, Mr Milan Petrović welcomed the guests as well as a special guest, Mr. Goran Knežević, Minister of Economy. Among the many guests of the ceremony were also Marko Čadež, Željko Sertić, the members of the Fiscal Council, State Secretaries and many others. Manager of the Year 2016 title was won by Misa Lukić, CEO of Publicis ONE. The title of Employer of the Year 2016 was awarded to the company Gorenje in Serbia. Young Manager of the Year 2016 is Aleksandar Hangimana, Manpower. Employer of the Year in the category of up to 250 employees is Ernst&Young. Hemofarm campaign Extend life won in the category CSR company. Gala dinner of SAM Annual Award was attended by over 300 guests from the business, political, cultural and media life.

Milan Petrović, Jelena Bulatović, Slobodan Vučićević and Bojan Radun

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PEOPLE & EV ENTS DECORATING OF NORWEGIAN CHRISTMAS TREE IN BELGRADE

15th December

After London and Washington, Belgrade is another capital, which will this season have a Norwegian Christmas tree. Norwegian Ambassador Arne Sanes Bjornstad, director of Telenor Ingeborg Ofsthus and Belgrade Mayor Siniša Mali ceremoniously lit the lamp on the tree in Tašmajdan. Christmas carols, played by Danijela Orchestra, and the smell of the Norwegian hawthorn and a pepperkaker made typical Norwegian atmosphere to celebrate this holiday. Norway as a sign of friendship traditionally grants Christmas trees to certain cities in the world. This year it was Obrenovac in Serbia.

Aleksandar Vučić, Serbian Prime Minister and Zoran Petrović, CEO of AmCham

H.E. Arne Sanes Bjornstad, Norwegian Ambassador to Serbia, Ingeborg Øfsthus, CEO Of Telenor Serbia and Siniša Mali, Belgrade Mayor National Conference Exit the gray economy

“WAY OUT OF THE GREY ECONOMY” CONFERENCE 23th December

Following three working panel discussions, the American Chamber of Commerce and the NALED emphasised that the Government of Serbia has made progress in 2016 in the creation of conditions for effective combating the grey economy. But there are additional requirements for substantive results in the establishment of a fair and competitive market: improvement of inspection control, better coordination of inspections, broader prosecution of crime in this area, as well as the creation of stimulating conditions for a legal business economy.

BRITISH-SERBIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE DIRECTORS VISIT SERBIA

16th December

Sir Paul Judge, Chairman of the British-Serbian Chamber of Commerce (BSCC), was in Belgrade on an official visit, accompanied by a group from the organisation’s board of directors. Amongst others, Sir Paul’s party will be meeting: Rasim Ljajić, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications; Nenad Borovčanin, Deputy Mayor of Stari Grad; Zoran Petrović, board member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts; and industry sector groups at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce.

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Zoran Lj. Petrović (SASA), Academician, Sir Paul Judge, President of BSCC,Nemanja Stevanović, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia ,Tahir Hasanović, Vice-President of BSCC, Nebojša Milićević, BSCC General Manager

Sir Paul Judge, President of British-Serbian Chamber of Commerce

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THE EC O N O M I S T EX P L A I N S

Why Republicans Hate Obamacare It has been called “the most dangerous piece of legislation ever passed”, “as destructive to personal and individual liberties as the Fugitive Slave Act” and a killer of women, children and old people

According to Republican lawmakers, the sources of each of these quotes, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, is a terrible thing. Since it was passed by a Democratic Congress in 2009, it has been the bête noire of the Republicans.

The party has pushed more than 60 unsuccessful Congressional votes to defeat it, while the Supreme Court has been forced to debate it four times in the act’s short history. Obamacare was also at the heart of the two-week government shutdown in 2013. Why does the ACA attract such opprobrium from the right?

Republican distaste exists for ideological, economic and historical reasons. Start with the ideological. The fundamental mechanism behind Obamacare—that Americans who can afford to buy insurance directly from a provider are charged higher premiums to help to pay for the subsidies provided to those who buy their coverage from government-run marketplaces—is the sort of redistributive economics that is anathema to the party of small government.

Many conservatives, including Tom Price, Donald Trump's pick as health secretary, see the drive for universal insurance as evidence of government meddling in the private doctor-patient relationship.

Next, they argue that the economics of Obamacare do not stack up. This is contentious. On one hand, the proportion of Americans without any sort of health insurance has declined from a high of around 16% in 2010 to 11% in 2016, according to Gallup, a pollster. New numbers

suggest that the uninsured population among low-income white people without a college degree has dropped from 25% in 2013 to 15% this year. A large group that voted for Mr Trump is also among the biggest beneficiaries of Obamacare. On the other hand, premiums are set to shoot up in 2017, by an average of 22%. Many insurers have lost money on the exchanges as

THE FUNDAMENTAL MECHANISM BEHIND OBAMACARE—THAT AMERICANS WHO CAN AFFORD TO BUY INSURANCE DIRECTLY FROM A PROVIDER ARE CHARGED HIGHER PREMIUMS TO HELP TO PAY FOR THE SUBSIDIES PROVIDED TO THOSE WHO BUY THEIR COVERAGE FROM GOVERNMENT-RUN MARKETPLACES—IS THE SORT OF REDISTRIBUTIVE ECONOMICS THAT IS ANATHEMA TO THE PARTY OF SMALL GOVERNMENT customers have been older and sicker than they expected. Insurers are, in turn, passing on this cost to better-off Americans. Republicans argue that it represents the beginnings of market failure: higher prices will deter healthy, young Americans from signing up, which means

insurers will make further losses, which means prices will rise again and so on, until the system collapses. The government maintains that premiums are what the Congressional Budget Office expected they would be, prior to the launch of Obamacare.

Lastly, many on the right view the ACA as the latest round in a multi-generational fight against state-proffered health care. Early in his presidency, in 1945, Harry Truman called for an “expansion of our existing compulsory social insurance system” to include health care for every American. The American Medical Association led the charge against it, and its PR firm coined the perfect phrase to sink it: “Socialised medicine”. It was political dynamite in a furiously anti-communist age. When the Republicans seized control of Congress in 1946, the policy was dropped. The government used tax breaks to encourage firms to offer private insurance plans. Workers took them up and health-care provision became entwined with employment. Subsequent Democratic presidents—Lyndon Johnson, Bill Clinton, Mr Obama—have pushed the government further and further towards universal health-care provision, but the resistance has been strong.

The label of socialised medicine stuck as fast to Obamacare as it did to Truman’s plan. Mr Price may well resurrect it again in 2017.

From The Economist, published under licence.

The original article, in English, can be found on www.economist.com

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CORPORATE

Preventing and Treating all Forms of Addiction Addictions (primarily drug addiction, alcoholism and compulsive gambling) are among the world’s most pronounced chronic non-communicable diseases. Unfortunately, not even our society has been spared of these trends

MILAN VLAISAVLJEVIĆ

Psychologist and director of the “Vita” Special Hospital for Addiction Treatment

I started working as a psychologist and addiction therapist in 2003 in Belgrade, at what was then the first private hospital for the disease of addiction in Serbia. During that period I had the opportunity and pleasure to familiarise myself with the latest approaches to the treatment of addictions and to collaborate with leading local and international authorities in this field, says Milan Vlaisavljević, psychologist and director of the “Vita” Special Hospital for Addiction Treatment, speaking to Diplomacy & Commerce magazine.

What is the ratio of women and men who come for treatment?

The “Vita” Special Hospital for Addiction Treatment was established in Novi Sad in late 2009 by Milan Vlaisavljević, a psychologist and the hospital’s director, together with a team of professionals, and has been operating successfully during the seven years of its existence to date.

Vita Hospital is currently positioned as one of several private stationary medical institutions for the treatment of drug addiction in Serbia and the only one in Vojvodina with a fully comprehensive system of treatment, from resolving complaints caused by withdrawal and detoxification, to psychotherapeutic rehabilitation and resocialisation programmes. The hospital’s management are proud to point out that the conditions of treatment, dedication and professionalism in working with patients are recognised around the region and beyond, which is why

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nearly half of the patients that come to this hospital, apart from members of the diaspora, come from all countries of the former Yugoslavia, while a significant number comprises citizens of England, Scotland, the

— When it comes to the treatment of addictions, a much larger percentage of men come for treatment than women. If we’re talking about the treatment of compulsive gambling, then these are men in almost 95% of cases; if we’re talking about the treatment of heroin dependence, men make up 85% of

VITA HOSPITAL IS CURRENTLY POSITIONED AS ONE OF SEVERAL PRIVATE STATIONARY MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS FOR THE TREATMENT OF DRUG ADDICTION IN SERBIA AND THE ONLY ONE IN VOJVODINA WITH A FULLY COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM OF TREATMENT Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and other European countries.

Alongside its core activities of dealing with and treating the phenomenon of addiction, Vita Hospital has also involved itself in the market of workplace safety controls, through the control of employees in the presence of PAS|alcohol at several renowned companies.

Diplomacy&Commerce

cases, while they also account for about 65% when it comes to treating alcoholism. We also observe a significant difference on the side of men in the results of numerous research studies conducted by Vita Hospital on risk factors for the development of addiction and risky forms of behaviour among young people.

Are there some kinds of dependency that women are more susceptible to than men?

— In recent years we have a trend in alcoholism whereby, in addition to increasingly younger patients turning up for treatment, there are increasing numbers of women.

This ratio is currently 65% - 35% in favour of men, which shows a significant reduction in the difference over the last decade. It is noticeable that among the younger generation a different pattern of alcohol consumption is developing in the form of so-called competitive drinking.

This involves consuming as much alcohol as possible in the shortest possible period of time, with the effect of intoxication. In this form of behaviour girls are certainly not lagging behind boys.

What is the typical profile of a patient who turns p for treatment (gender, age, education, financial status) for each individual form of addiction?

— When it comes to drug addiction, the average patient who appears for treatment at Vita Hospital is a 30-year-old man, unemployed and single. He is addicted to heroin, has had two unsuccessful treatments behind him, and has suffered from this disease for more than 12 years.

Alongside heroin, substance abuse most commonly relates to marijuana, speed [amphetamine], ecstasy and alcohol.

At the same time, the average alcoholic is a man aged 41 (80% of them are aged 30-50), who has completed secondary or higher education and is employed. Every other one is also married. He has been consuming alcohol for more than two decades and has undergone one failed

ner, relatives, colleagues etc.)?

attempt at treatment. He usually drinks “spirits”, and then also beer.

The average compulsive gambler who comes for treatment is a 28-year-old man, with the most common age group aged 24-28. He has completed secondary education and is unmarried and unemployed.

He has had issues with games of chance for more than 10 years and is calling out for professional help for the first time. He usually plays roulette, then goes to the “bookies” and plays on the “slot machines”. Unfortunately, older patients very rarely even turn up to attempt treatment.

— There are many prejudices linked to the disease of addiction, from claims that it is not actually a disease, but rather someone’s choice, that treatment is not required, but rather “re-education” and isolation, to the belief that addiction is incurable. Both of these views are mistaken and harmful.

Addiction is a complex problem and its solution requires that the patient receive professional help.

Attempts at improvisation and self-healing, unfortunately, end up in a great majority of cases resulting in relapse and a return of the disease. In this way precious time is lost, and the consequences are that treatment becomes even more difficult. On the other hand, despite its complexity, addiction can be successfully overcome with a personal decision, family support and adequate professional help.

Do most patients come on their own initiative or at the urging of someone else (parents, spouse, partner, relatives etc.)?

— The nature of the disease of addiction is such that the will of an addict is significantly compromised and instrumentalised towards procuring and consuming drugs or alcohol, or playing games of chance.

Thus, as a rule, as long as the patient manages to conceal and maintain their disease, and as long as the environment is forgiving, there is little chance that the patient will turn up for treatment. In other words, a patient usually requires external pressure and external motivation in order to seek help. This initiative usually comes from those closest to them, i.e. family members.

Does the treatment in some cases imply a spell in hospital (staying in the hospital for treatment)? Is it possible to cure this affliction without the support of the environment?

— With alcoholism or, for example, addiction to heroin, methadone and sedatives, due to the level of severity of withdrawal symptoms and possible complications, it is recommended that detoxification and psychophysical stabilisation is carried out under stationary conditions, with later treatment to be continued via a clinic and day hospital. At the day hospital family members are included in the treatment as collaborators, who are strengthened in this process and learn how to best help their family member in their struggle with addiction. This kind of collaborative support, due to the very volatility of the patient’s motivation, is often also crucial to the success of therapy.

Does Vita Hospital have any programmes that you would like to highlight in particular?

THE AIM OF THE EXPERT TEAM AT VITA HOSPITAL IS PRECISELY TO ENSURE THAT PATIENTS AND FAMILY MEMBERS ARE SUFFICIENTLY EMBOLDENED AND MOTIVATED TO PERSIST IN THEIR INTENTION TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF ADDICTION ONCE AND FOR ALL

— It is important to know that in the process of solving the problem of addiction there are no quick, easy solutions, nor any “magic wand”. Recovering from addiction has its own rules and requires time and commitment to the goal, both from the patient and their family.

Numerous challenges and ups and downs appear during this period.

The aim of the expert team at Vita Hospital is precisely to ensure that patients and family members are sufficiently emboldened and motivated to persist in their intention to solve the problem of addiction once and for all.

Is it possible to cure a patient without the support of experts, i.e. only with the help of family or people from the patient’s immediate environment (spouse, part-

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B USINESS NEWS Procredit Bank

BUSINESS OPTIMISM IN SERBIA IS ENCOURAGING

Business and investment optimism is high among small and medium-sized enterprises in Serbia, especially businesspeople who cooperate with Germany. SME business leaders welcomed 2017 at a very positive and encouraging level, according to the survey ProOptimist index, which was conducted by ProCredit Bank, in cooperation with research agency GFK. According to the survey, 52.6% of SMEs are positive about their operations and the business climate in Serbia over the next year, while as many as 63.2% of companies that cooperate with Germany believe that 2017 will be a good year for their business (in last year’s forecasts 57.8% of companies expressed this belief). “The fact is that we live and operate in a very challenging market environment and we consider it an encouraging fact that about 30 per cent of entrepreneurs in Serbia plan to make new investments in 2017,” said Igor Anić, a member of the ProCredit Bank Executive Board.

Telekom Srbija

MTS: HIGHEST RECOGNITION PRESENTED TO BUSINESS PARTNERS

At the end of an outstanding business year, Telekom Srbija organised its traditional “MTS Academy”, a ceremonious event dedicated to its largest and most loyal business customers and partners. With a rich artistic programme, the ceremony included the presenting the “Business Partner” Award, which Telekom Srbija awards for successful cooperation and the building of partnerships. Telekom Srbija CEO Predrag Ćulibrk pointed out that the support of partners provided energy and incentives to offer modern and innovative services and maintenance. The winners of the “Business Partner” Award for 2016 are JP Elektroprivreda Serbia, Post Serbia, NIS, Banca Intesa, Komercijalna Banka, Pink International, Mercator-S, as well as the Interior Ministry, the Ministry of Defence and the Internal Revenue Service. Telekom Srbija also awarded Special recognition for cooperation to the Ministry of Health, the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Serbian Academic Network AMRES and companies Huawei and Tigar Tyres.

Nelt

CLASSIC PIANO PIECES AT GUARNERIUS

Pianist Nikola Avramović, a student of the Royal College of Music in London, will perform a concert as part of the traditional series of concerts entitled “FMU and Guarnerius reward you”, organised under the patronage of the City of Belgrade and company Nelt, which has been continuously supporting young musical talents, now for the fourth consecutive year. The Belgrade audience will have the chance to hear the world’s best piano compositions by the likes of Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms and Liszt, while admission to the concert is free. Thanks to Nelt, more than 50 students of the Faculty of Musical Art in Belgrade have had the opportunity to present their skills during the last four seasons at the Guarnerius Centre of Fine Arts, while in the fifth cycle another 35 students from the Faculty will have the opportunity to perform in front of the Belgrade audience.

Telenor Foundation

UNIQUE “TALKING HANDS” APPLICATION PRESENTED

Association of Serbian Breweries

€235 MILLION OF STATE INCOME IN ONE YEAR In 2014 the members of the Association of Serbian Breweries added €235 million, or 3.3% of budget revenues, to the coffers of the budget of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, through excise duties, social benefits and tax contributions. In other words, 30 euro cents were added to the budget with every litre of beer sold, according to a study carried out by the audit firm EY, entitled “The economic impact of the brewing industry in Serbia”. “The brewing industry is operating primarily with responsibility for the environment and the country,” said Alexandros Danilidis, President of the Assembly of the Association of Serbian Breweries. “In the current administration, we have seen constructive interlocutors on the topics that we have already opened, concerning the abolition of the application of excise stamps on fruit wine or cider, improving the existing system for packaging, waste management and more,” added Rebeka Božović, Executive Manager of the Association of Serbian Breweries. It was concluded that, under current circumstances, a joint effort of the economy and the state would result in an eight per cent increase in brewing industry production totals.

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Diplomacy&Commerce

Telenor Foundation presented its unique “Talking hands” application for learning and understanding Serbian and international sign language (IS), on 16th December. The launch event was attended by Serbian Minister of Labour, Employment, Veterans’ and Social Affairs, Aleksandar Vulin, Telenor Serbia CEO Ingeborg Øfsthus and actress Anđelka Prpić. The app is part of Telenor Foundation’s project “Be a part of good communication”, which is being implemented with the aim of easing access to digital communications for the community of deaf and hearing impaired people, which number over 100,000 in Serbia. “The possibilities introduced by the digitisation of the society are huge, especially for the community of deaf and hearing impaired people, because it can greatly ease daily communication and significantly improve quality of life,” said Telenor Serbia CEO Øfsthus.

EAS

EU FUNDS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL APPROXIMATION

The Serbian Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection, with EU assistance, has launched the “EAS” project, which is being implemented by the Ministry and funded by the European Union. The project will focus on supporting the Ministry and the Negotiating Group 27 in institutional strengthening and strategic planning within the framework of Chapter 27 – Environment and climate change.

“10 billion euros of funds is necessary for environmental approximation, of which approximately a billion euros is for investment in waste management and about seven billion euros is for water supply, sewage and waste water management,” said Stana Božović, State Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection. Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia, Oscar Benedict, noted that six chapters have been opened so far and he hopes that Chapter 27 will be opened without initial criteria. The project “Further implementation of the National Environmental Approximation Strategy” will run until October 2018.

Centre E8

FREE LECTURES ABOUT MODERN PROFESSIONS “JOBS #FOR5”

Unicredit

UNICREDIT BANK SERBIA DECLARED “BANK OF THE YEAR” UniCredit Bank has been selected as this year’s “Bank of the Year in Serbia” by renowned British financial magazine The Banker. Despite a still unstable and turbulent local economic environment, the year was one of the most successful for UniCredit Bank since the beginning of its operations in Serbia. The award for the Best Bank in Serbia was awarded to UniCredit Bank at a ceremony in London. Chilla Ihász, CEO of UniCredit Bank Serbia, said: “We were able to further consolidate our leading position in Serbia, despite all the challenges of the market. Our key success factors were business growth, both in the retail division and within the sectors of the economy, improving process efficiency and customer satisfaction, risk management and a strong focus on customer acquisition. Moreover, corporate social responsibility and the implementing of various initiatives in local communities aimed at contributing to their development have enabled us to confirm our good reputation. We are very pleased that The Banker magazine recognises all of our efforts. This award obliges us to continue in the same direction.”

Sakura scholarships

WINNERS OF SAKURA SCHOLARSHIPS FOR 2016/2017 SELECTED More than 80 candidates from 30 universities across Serbia applied to this year’s competition for Sakura (Cherry Blossom) scholarships, which were awarded for the sixth consecutive year by Japan Tobacco International, in cooperation with the Embassy of Japan. Japan proved very inspiring for Serbian students and researchers who have signed up with very original ideas for research projects from a number of authorities, including Japanese literature, martial arts, cuisine, law, economics, political science, diplomacy, education system and philosophy. “JTI launched the programme of Sakura scholarships in 2011 and for six years it has contributed continuously to the development of research in connection with Japan. I am very pleased to see continuous strong interest in this subject and am eagerly awaiting the final phase of this year’s scholarship recipients. I would like to thank JTI for their efforts and I am really confident that this programme will contribute to better understanding and friendship between Japan and Serbia,” said H.E. Japanese Ambassador to Serbia Juichi Takahara.

Telekom Srbija As part of the major national project “Future #for5”, launched by NGO Centre E8, with the strategic support of the Association of High School Students and the Serbian Ministry of Youth and Sports, free interactive lectures under the heading “Jobs #for5” are being organised throughout December and January. The aim of these lectures is to familiarise high school students with current and desired professions, in order to present them with available possibilities and assist in their further selection and profiling. Interested high school pupils can access information about the exact schedule of lectures, the professions that will be presented and the speakers via www.buducnostza5.rs and the website of the Association of High School Students, www.srednjoskolci.org.rs. Due to the limited availability of seating, registration is required on the Facebook page Buducnost za 5. Lectures are being organised every Friday in December and every Thursday in January from 7pm at Impact Hub (21 Makedonska Street, Belgrade).

BEST APPLICATIONS AWARDED IN THE SIXTH MTS APP CONTEST

Telekom Srbija has awarded its prizes for the best mobile app development teams that participated in this year’s sixth annual MTS app competition. The jury, comprising representatives of Telekom Srbija and partner organisation SEE ICT, had a serious task to narrow the competition of 21 selected applications and choose the best ones, with a view to their functionality, the originality of the idea and autonomy in development and innovation, as well as social responsibility. The winner was the “Nevermore” team from Belgrade’s Computer Gymnasium High School, with the app “WalkieTalkie”, and team members will be awarded with a trip to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. This app allows users to use their mobile phone as a walkie-talkie, via a LAN connection or mobile hotspot, in situations and places where mobile phones cannot be used in the usual way. The MTS app competition involved 12 schools in Serbia, which worked according to the special school programme for maths and the computer gymnasium.

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B USINESS NEWS 50 FRENCH, CANADIAN AND ITALIAN COMPANIES AT SPEED BUSINESS MEETINGS

With the purpose of improving networking, developing business and finding potential partners, the French-Serbian Chamber of Commerce (CCFS), the Italian-Serbian Chamber of Commerce (ISCC) and Canadian-Serbian Business Association CANSEE held another Speed Business Meeting at Belgrade’s 88 Rooms Hotel on 20th December. In ten-minute one-on-one conversations, company representatives had the opportunity to present themselves to potential business partners, exchange information and establish communication for future cooperation. Following the official part of the evening, a networking cocktail reception was organised, enabling participants to continue their business dialogue in a friendly and informal atmosphere. CANSEE and CCFS representatives agreed that such meetings contribute to the future of business cooperation among their members, whilst also strengthening partnerships between the chambers themselves.

CPG

COLOR PRESS GROUP WITH OLYMPIC TEAM SERBIA IN THE TOKYO 2020 CYCLE

Donau Soja

SERBIA HAS WHAT THE WHOLE OF EUROPE WANTS

Serbia got its first standard and quality label products that are GMO free and of domestic origin.

Marking the first domestic non-genetically modified products has been a major step to preserve domestic production of non-GMO soybeans, and consumers are finally getting the right choices- it is the main message from the conference in the Serbian Chamber of Commerce. The aim of the conference organised by the International Association of Danube Soya and SCC is to get domestic professional public and business representatives acquainted with the character and values of the first standards and codes of non-GMO quality and domestic origin - Danube Soya, which is officially supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection. State Secretary at the Ministry of Trade Vesna Kovač pointed out that the high level of consumer protection is extremely important. Marija Kalentić, regional director of ”Danube Soya” says ”Soy is the main ingredient of animal nutrition, but Serbia has enough of its non-GMO soybeans and for the first time with the Danube Soya standards it is given an opportunity to highlight the quality of the non-GMO label and the domestic origin, which is becoming popular in the the world”.

DKC

INTERACTIVE CHILDREN'S NEW YEAR'S PROGRAMME

The Children's Cultural Centre hosted an interactive children's New Year's programme. Fifty children participated in the programme, with a rich theatrical, ballet and music content for their peers. In the audience were children from Belgrade orphanages, children from the German school in Belgrade and children from the primary school ”Drinka Pavlović”. The programme was conducted under the auspices of the German Embassy and the Karađorđević Royal family, in the presence of the German Ambassador, H.E. Axel Dittmman and HRH Princess Katarina Karađorđević, who addressed the media.

GRECO-SERBIAN TOURISM FORUM

Color Press Group President Robert Čoban and the Secretary General of the Olympic Committee of Serbia, Đorđe Višacki, officially signed a new four-year partnership agreement which confirms that cooperation between Color Press and the Olympic Committee will continue in the Tokyo 2020 cycle. As has been the case since December 2006, with a full 10 years of cooperation for the Beijing, London and Rio Olympic Games, Color Press Group will continue to provide media support for Serbia’s Olympians as they vie to qualify for Tokyo 2020. “When we first signed a partnership agreement in 2006 I never dreamt that the cooperation would last for so long and how beautiful and exciting it would be to go together. It is our great pleasure to promote our best athletes through interviews, editorials and other forms” – said Čoban.

Višacki thanked the long-term partners for their confidence and excellent cooperation and pointed to the fact that over time the relationship between Color Press and the Olympic Committee has grown from a business arrangement into a friendship: “Color Press Group is a business leader in its domain, not only in Serbia but also in the region. It is an honour to have such a partner and I believe that our best athletes deserve such company,” said Višacki.

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Diplomacy&Commerce

In the hotel Metropol Greco-Serbian tourism forum was held under auspices of Greek National Tourism Organisation, TGI Group and TO Belgrade. The media sponsor was Travel Magazine. The participants were addressed by the Secretary General of the Greek National Tourism Organisation Dimitris Trifonopulos, by Giorgos Vernitzos, and Assistant Minister of Tourism Renata Pindžo sa well as Greek businessman Simeon Otzomokos. The forum was as good opportunity for B2B meetings for tourism workers.

EXHIBITION OF TRADITIONAL FOOD AND HANDICRAFTS The citizens of Belgrade and tourists can taste and buy traditional specialties from all over Serbia - Sombor cheese, cheese from Stara Planina, Fruška Gora and Homolje honey, ajvar from Leskovac, prunes from Osečina, Valjevo's tobacco cracklings, Lemeški kulen, Arilje raspberries and Užice kajmak in Knez Mihailova. Promotion of local brands named S " erbia in Belgrade", organised by Ethno Network in cooperation with NALED was opened by the city manager Goran Vesić and HE Julia Feeney, Australian Ambassador to Serbia.

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I NTERVI EW

UNPLEASANT REALITY IS BETTER THAN “A BLIND SPOT” The media should be classical “agora”, where personal truths and conflicting views are met and exchanged, rather than people living in the parallel realities of social networks

MUHAREM BAZDULJ

Political analyst and columnist of daily Politika Photo: Irfan Redžović

Muharem Bazdulj, a Sarajevo-born political analyst, moved to Belgrade and continued his work at Serbia’s oldest daily newspaper, Politika, providing a breath of fresh air and a new perspective to the Serbian media and public. Here we talk to him about the burning issues in our sometimes schizoid region, and around the world as a whole.

The situation in the former Yugoslavia is somewhat schizoid: we have young people who are completely unbiased - I met young people in Croatia who have learned the Cyrillic alphabet by themselves, who regularly go to the Exit and INmusic festivals, who study in other republics... and others who are heavy nationalists, even though they have never met any other nationalities in reality. How do you explain this parallel reality?

old-fashioned concept of public media as the agora to which everyone has access, and where you will hear opponents and even clash with your own views. So, I would say that this schizoid behaviour you are talking about is, for our times, the default value. We have to learn to live in such a world; the world that you nicely dubbed

RAMBO AMADEUS PERHAPS SIMPLIFIED EVERYTHING SOMEWHAT WHEN HE SAID THAT POLITICAL PROBLEMS DIFFER IN COUNTRIES WHERE THE AVERAGE SALARY IS 2,000 EUROS AND IN COUNTRIES WHERE THE AVERAGE SALARY IS 400 EUROS, BUT THAT IS NOT TO SAY THAT HE DIDN’T HAVE A POINT

— The modern world is a world of parallel realities. We are no global exception. More and more people form themselves into some sort of their own digital “subsets”, without contact with the rest of the world. I think this is the biggest flaw of the concept of social networks, this “ideology of the blind spot” that prevents you from seeing anything you find uncomfortable. I feel inclined towards the

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“the world of parallel realities”.

Because these parallel realities have to meet eventually, at least at every election, but then you have this shock and wonder, howthese-guys-have-won when I do not know anybody who voted for them? The fact you do not know them, bro’, does not mean that they do not exist. It was said that

Diplomacy&Commerce

Gage Skidmore

people have poor knowledge of the people from neighbouring countries, yet they actually know very little about the people from neighbouring flats and houses, often much less than they know about like-minded people from neighbouring or distant countries.

What is the power of reconciliation via “soft” diplomacy, such as tourism, music and cultural exchanges among the peoples of the former Yugoslavia? Can it compete with narcissistic politicians who use quarrels as the only way to stay in power?

— Its power is large, yet limited.

As they say, it is actually on the ground and it creates reconciliation there, but it is powerless when confronted with the real political force. It's like in that story of Hollywood producers who have the “final cut”; the director is the creator of the film, but this guy has the right to decide whether the ending is happy or not, whether the hero dies at the end or stays alive, all in line with the projection of earnings. It is comforting that at this moment, for both ordinary people and narcissistic politicians, peace appears to be a far better option. At least, in terms of this basic orientation, these two trends will not clash. Again, according to the logic of profit in the game, and in parallel with the Hollywood film

industry, more money is currently spinning in peacetime trade than in alternative scenarios.

“Narcissism of small differences” is always fatal, while the similarity between peoples is greater, the pathological desire to act differently is more pronounced, as in the case of the former Yugoslavia. Now the issues of identity are present in Ukraine. Will the Slavic people ever learn how similar they are, as Scandinavians have learned, and how weak they are when they quarrel?

— It all depends greatly on global circumstances. In the context of the Cold War, the Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Slovenes, and even the Croats, thought that their belonging to Central Europe was more important than Panslavism. It is not impossible for the historical pendulum to swing to the other side and for this to change. I generally agree with the thesis on Freud’s concept that you mentioned, but that is something that is more or less given and we need to learn to live with it. It is not the same if your narcissism makes you gossip about your neighbour or if it prompts you to burn down

How much will Donald Trump’s victory and Brexit change the world? Will the ruling elite, tucked into a two-party system, get the voters’ message, instead of repeat-

Can we expect that by the end of the second decade of the 21st century the West will fall into the same trap that we fell into in

I THINK THAT WITHIN THE RULING ELITE THERE IS A FIERCE INTERNAL STRUGGLE OVER THE PARADIGM SHIFT. THE MESSAGE OF THE VOTERS WAS CLEAR AND ESTABLISHED PARTIES MUST CHANGE IN ORDER TO AVOID DISAPPEARING Evgeny Feldman

is such that it will have to allow a strict form of controlled immigration. In this regard, long-term ghettoisation is the wrong target. It would have to move towards inte-

gration. All this, of course, is valid for a rational framework. Without it there is always the possibility of everything going to hell.

If Trump, Putin and the new French president really unite in the fight against the so-called Islamic State, will we witness increased terrorism around the world and the “revenge of warriors returned from the battlefield”?

— I would not dare to speculate about this. This is, in the way we talk about betting on football matches, a “1X2 bet” – all outcomes are possible. It may lead to an exacerbation or a weakening of terrorism in the world, as well as to status quo. There are too many unknown variables in these equations for them to be solved easily.

his house. If we go step by step, we will reach the Scandinavians someday. Not even their relations were always heroic and harmonious, as that will not necessarily be the case in the future, if the economic situation changes. Rambo Amadeus perhaps simplified everything somewhat when he said that political problems differ in countries where the average salary is 2,000 euros and in countries where the average salary is 400 euros, but that is not to say that he didn’t have a point.

ing that “the people are wrong”?

— Those events have already changed the world. I think that within the ruling elite there is a fierce internal struggle over the paradigm shift. The message of the voters was clear and established parties must change in order to avoid disappearing. On the other hand, these changes affect not only the ruling classes in those individual countries, but are perhaps even more important in the context of geopolitical dynamics.

And all possible directions are still actually very difficult to trace.

the ‘90s? Nationalism, identity, fragmentation, “others are to blame because my wallet is not full enough”?

To what extent was the assistance provided to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan against the secular socialist government of Naji Bullah, who was supported the Soviet Union, actually a mistake that started the whole process of militarising fundamentalists and transforming them into a genuine army?

— I do not believe so. After all, if that happens it will not be the first time for the West. The context of the problem is now much different. Yes, on one hand there is a growing fear of dark-skinned migrants, but, on the other hand, who would do the jobs that Western locals consider beneath them if there were no such people? The demographic situation in the West

— With this knowledge, we would probably all agree that it was a mistake. But from the perspective of the 1980s, no one thought long term. The point, therefore, at least from this perspective, is that it is very instructive. Who knows what is today feeding the key bad guys of the future, from the mid21st century? If we even live to see that time...

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U.S. ELECTIONS 201 6

VICTORY OF THE CYBER WORLD OR REAL LIFE? We live in times in which no secrecy is allowed

KATARINA JONEV

Analyst for cyber security policy

The year 2016 will be remembered for a series of scandals that took place in cyberspace. Cyber security is becoming increasingly important on the agendas of countries, organisations and, of course, individuals. And how could it not be, when terrorists are planning attacks by using computer games like “Call of Duty”, cyber crime generates financial profit that counts in the billon of dollars, privacy of the common man has been compromised, cyber espionage is becoming a powerful weapon in the hands of the great powers and the possibility of cyber warfare between states is increasing? Not to mention that even the scandal of the Panama papers had a cyber background, and smartphones are targets as much as computers. Cyber attacks are increasingly becoming part of reality and the consequences vary. And yes – cyber security influences decision makers as well. And the biggest cyber scandal ... of course – was goings on in cyber space during the U.S. presidential campaign.

Let’s be clear and immediately understand from the start – Hillary Clinton did not lose the election because of Russian hackers; or because she was too bothered, as she says herself, to have two email addresses and to carry two phones in her bag. She lost because...well, because she is Hillary Clinton. But in the crossfire of confrontations in the dirtiest election campaign ever, the media closely followed every move and searched for the

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culprits in advance.

Numerous officials, via “official” and “'free'” media, pointed a finger at Julian Assange and Wikileaks, as well as Russian agencies that sponsored Russian hackers to create a bad image of the female candidate in the presidential race, and just when we thought he had fallen into oblivion, Snowden returned to the game. In a very tight race between two very unpopular candidates, it was more than easy to switch the blame and make accusations of various activities, including cyber activities.

The fact is that Hillary Clinton made the cardinal error of using

none of the emails sent or received were marked as “classified”. Really?

Not one email for the most powerful woman in the most powerful country was top secret? Confidential? Secret? That is interesting to know. And the story doesn’t end there. Even the powerful FBI didn’t punish her. She used the legal grey zone on electronic correspondence from that time very wisely.

And what about Wikileaks?

Many hate them, many are scared of them, many accuse them of being terrorists who undermine state authority, but we must not lose sight of the fact that it is officially a “multinational media organisation

AMONG OTHER THINGS THAT WERE LEAKED, THE PUBLIC DISCOVERED THAT THE DEMOCRATS HAD CONSIDERED HOW TO ENSURE HILLARY CLINTON WON THE NOMINATION INSTEAD OF HER RIVAL BERNIE SANDERS, AND THAT THE FORMER FIRST LADY WOULD SAY ONE THING TO WALL STREET BANKERS AND QUITE ANOTHER TO ORDINARY VOTERS her private email account hdr22@ clintonemail.com for business correspondence, and of doing so while in public office for four years as Secretary of State. Of the total of 62,320 emails that she received/ sent, precisely 30,490 emails were official, i.e. directly related to the performance of functions. The rest were private correspondences. And the function of the Secretary of State of the world’s most powerful country is quite serious. Clinton defended herself by claiming that

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and associated library”. Wikileaks publishes official documents and dates received from whistleblowers, not gossips. The largest number of released data during this campaign came thanks to Hillary’s election campaign chief John D. Podesta, whose private email account was hacked. A short reminder – Podesta participated in writing reports on cyber privacy for President Obama in 2014, but how is it possible that he was not familiar with phishing tactics and

the need to adjust his own email account? Anyway, hackers sent Wikileaks about 50,000 emails and they published about 2,000 per day. Among other things that were leaked, the public discovered that the Democrats had considered how to ensure Hillary Clinton won the nomination instead of her rival Bernie Sanders, and that the former first lady would say one thing to Wall Street bankers and quite another to ordinary voters. Of course, all the damage arising from the affair with leaked information and emails was blamed on Russian, or actually, to be more precise, Putin’s hackers. In the weeks following the election, the media and the Democrats have been accusing Russian hackers of interfering in U.S. elections. Here we must clarify one thing – no matter how good they are, Russian hackers are not all-powerful in deciding on the election of the President of the great United States in open, democratic and free elections.

But is all of this the reason Hillary did not become president? It is undeniable that certain information about emails and from emails caused a stir, but it is laughable to suggest that Trump won his victory because of that. If Hillary had been sincere and committed to the citizens and the public, rather than further igniting the fire with insincere press releases, the election results might have been different. And sometimes, just sometimes, the cyber world does not win – it is proper real life that wins.

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POLITI CS Text: ŽIKICA MILOŠEVIĆ

THE DEMISE OF NEOLIBERALISM How neoliberalism lost it and where it got us

Each product has an expiry date, as does every ideology or economic system. Liberalism and liberal, or in the latter stage imperialist, capitalism led to the outbreak of World War I, and it did not get any smarter. While attempting to supress revolutionary waves across Europe, it was unleashed and finally ended up being buried in the Great Depression that followed 1929. Three other ideologies then tried to fill the blank space: Keynesianism, far-right fascism and its offshoots, and Communism. Fascists ultimately lost the battle in 1945, while Keynesianism in the West and Socialism in the East competed for many decades. Then the Keynesian policies showed their systemic weaknesses in the ‘70s and were replaced by neoliberalism, Hayek's model, dubbed neoliberal. Reaganism and Thatcherism, as they were conveniently dubbed in the U.S. and the UK, somehow swept all other concepts aside, surprisingly not defeating the welfare state in the West, but rather Socialism in the East.

And, in a bizarre twist of events, the ideology that promoted the right to choose started advertising itself as “the only alternative”.

Funnily enough, the Left, the champions of the working classes, also chose to be assimilated by the Neolibs. The transition countries, like tragic experiment of Yeltsin's Russia, chose to persuade their populations that (you’ve guessed it) ... there's no alternative. Systemic mistakes like the dot.com bubble hinted at some weaknesses in the system, the removal of the GlassSteagall Act was the Doomsday bell that nobody noticed tolling. The

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Real Estate Crisis of 2008 showed that the problems ran too deep, but the Left was unable to provide us with any decent response to that.

They did not invoke Baron Keynes, but rather also became neoliberals. The zombie of neoliberalism still walked. Representatives of the populist Left, like Podemos or Syriza, tried to do something different, but were smothered by Neoliberals and shaken by their own disorganisation.

And, as in every good plot, at the moment when the main protagonist believes he has finally escaped and won over all of his opponents, a new one appears to give a twist to the ending. And in this instance that was new conservativism. It has the answers

ues: let us return to the old ideas that stood the test of time: family, nation, security. This derives from Socialism and the protection of the working class. It derives from Gandhi too, and his prophecy of the fall of the Western World, as was wisely underlined by Slobodan Reljić: “wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without honesty, politics without principles, business without morals, science without philanthropy”. These are indeed Gandhi's words, but they could have been words of any paleo-conservative, any anti-globalist, Sanders' supporter or Manu Chao, equally. These are all weaknesses of the Liberal West that are rotten.

Stiglitz noted that the “invisible

WITH ALL OTHER IDEAS HAVING BEEN DISCREDITED, NEO- OR PALEOCONSERVATIVISM SHOWED ITS SET OF VALUES: LET US RETURN TO THE OLD IDEAS THAT STOOD THE TEST OF TIME: FAMILY, NATION, SECURITY to all the burning questions; and don't think for a minute that it is that same old-fashioned conservativism – it has mutated into so-called neo-conservativism. This has about as much to do with the old conservatism as Donald Trump has to do with the Republican Party, or Tony Blair with Old Labour, or Putin with either Gorbachev or the czars. It absorbed all leftist ideas that the Left itself had rejected en route to its position as “Left Centrism”. Some even call this new version “paleo-conservativism”.

With all other ideas having been discredited, neo- or paleo- conservativism showed its set of val-

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hand” of the market is as real as the Emperor's new clothes. No wonder, then, that it all started with nostalgia for “Mad Men” and the times when “it was all in order”. Well, many people will say, “let us go back to the times when it was all okay. Now it is not.” And guess who incidentally became the leader of this new conservatism internationally?

No surprise, it is Putin. He does not avoid Soviet symbolism and traditions when they prove to be successful, nor those of Czarism or even new ideas. This is about finding a new way that is not liberal democracy, but is democracy

nevertheless. All traditions that have proven to be good are welcome and included. A strong state, where crime leads to punishment, is required. Law and order lead to prosperity. It was not Putin who took advantage of the weaknesses of the West. The people of the West saw him as a raw model for this new conservativism. Even Pat Buchanan confirmed that Putin is “one of our own, speaking for the majority of mankind”. Putin and others are just the sons of the people’s rage… against Yeltsin and Hillary, against Wall Street, against changing morality, whatever.

And the funniest thing is that Generation Y decided to move towards conservativism. Just as they abandoned CDs and digital downloads for vinyl records. Just as they abandoned clean shaving for beards and white bread for that rustic kind. And the second funniest thing is that Trump himself represents the final stage of Neoliberalism. The system that forced entrepreneurship finally brought to power an American president who is a rich businessman, forming a cabinet of rich businessmen and generals, acting in favour of détante with Russia and for working Americans. How ironic if it really happens: a son of neoliberalism who will bury the neolib system itself. Just like the Yeltsin-appointed Putin buried Yeltsin's heritage. Neolibs liquidated the Latin American Left and supressed Sanders and Syriza in order to get their final victory. And now they are in demise. The zombie will walk for just a few steps.

And then, in a twist at the end, when it thinks it has won, it drops down dead.

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• Opportunity to interact with key policy makers, industry leaders, global thought leaders, regulators and renowned academicians from all over the world • Opportunity to witness coherent deliberations between sector experts and global luminaries in an array of knowledge seminars during the Summit to comprehend evolving global sectoral trends • Platform for SMEs to connect globally with

meetings. The Focused sectors are: Aerospace & Defence; Agro and Food Processing; Biotechnology; Chemicals & Petrochemicals; Electronic System Design & Manufacturing; Engineering; Environment; Gems & Jewellery; Healthcare; Innovation and R&D; IT – ITeS; Mega Projects; MSMEs; Pharmaceuticals; Ports Maritime; Renewable Energy; Road Transport; Textile; Tourism; Urban Development.

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potential partners to explore opportunities of collaboration and partnership •N etworking forums to foster interaction between stakeholders through B2B and B2G meetings •A n exhibition spread over 1,25,000 sq.mts with exclusive demo sessions showcasing the latest trends and technology, products and services across sectors

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POLI TI CS Text: ŽIKICA MILOŠEVIĆ

Tectonic Changes in 2016 The World in 2016 – a retrospective

COLOSSAL FAILURES

There have been very few years when the world has changed as much as it did in 2016. Okay, I can remember the traumatic 1991, when the Yugoslav and Soviet wars started in all their savagery and, when Gorbachev announced to us frightened kids in late December that the Soviet Union is no more. Then the West lived relatively peacefully, as the “sudden winner” of the Cold War, but now, in 2016, the changes are over there.

Last year proved to be so surprising for The Economist magazine that its annual “World in 2016” colossally failed to include on its cover the two most important figures of 2016, at least the two that emerged as the leaders of two leading western countries: the U.S. and the UK. Yes, you guessed it, there were no Donald Trump and no Theresa May. And even Vladimir Putin was far behind everyone else, even though he might have been the overall winner of the year. But Hillary Clinton was to the fore. This only goes to show how wishful thinking can mislead you: it was pretty obvious that the time was ripe for change.

CASSANDRA COMPLEX

I started to feel like Cassandra in 2016. She was the Greek mythical female prophet cursed to predict the truth with nobody believing her. I predicted six things in 2016 that all came true in reality: The failure of the Transatlantic Treaty; Donald Trump as the Republican candidate; Brexit; Donald Trump

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as president-elect; the failure of the Transpacific Treaty; and the failure of Renzi's referendum in Italy. It was far too obvious that the people detest the system. And this is only going to deepen in 2017, although we still don’t know how far. Major countries like France, the Netherlands and Germany will hold elections, and many surprises are possible. Are they surprises even? Not really. But if the ruling class in all countries does not start listening to the disgruntled masses, they could face Nexit, Frexit, the debacle of the Eurozone, or many other things.

TRUMPISM AS THE POWER OF CHANGE, FOR BETTER OR WORSE

When we think about Serbia’s 5th October revolution, what is the most common denominator? The failure of utter change; PM Đinđić being shot; corruption enduring;

Iznogoud. However, in Trump’s administration, as Rolling Stone magazine noted, the main quality recommending you for any position is utter contempt for the agency, ministry or organisation you will be tasked with heading. So, the heads of agencies are in fact people who really hate those agencies and hate their work. Rolling Stone called such a cabinet “The Cabinet of Horrors”, but, on the other hand, Trump is really fulfilling his promises. He said he disliked the policies and the administration, and now he is trying to change everything entirely.

He is not joking. The new Secretary of State is a friend of Putin and a deal-cutter. People wanted change, well, change it will be. Just like the people wanted changes in Russia in 1991, and Yeltsin made them.

We don't believe Trump will bomb his own parliament, as Yeltsin did in 1993, but change will take place.

We are witnessing the most dra-

WE ARE WITNESSING THE MOST DRAMATIC REGIME CHANGE IN THE LAST 25 YEARS. WE WILL SEE HOW TECTONIC THIS CHANGE WILL BE the slow pace of recovery; the old system preserved under new names; old practices continued.

The most common belief is that we lacked a so-called “6th October”; the day when the old apparatus of Milošević's Serbia should have been disassembled in order to be rebuilt from scratch. The new people in old positions were too fond to be “calif instead of calif”, like

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matic regime change in the last 25 years. We will see how tectonic this change will be.

GLOBAL PRO-RUSSIA

And the last thing is that Time Magazine declared Donald Trump Man of the Year, while The Guardian begged to differ and gave that honour to Vladimir Putin – not only in light of the new American admin-

istration, not only because of Syria and Bashar al-Assad remaining in power and taking over Aleppo, but also due to his string of victories in the East of the continent. After Euromaidan, it looked to all like the West was taking over the former USSR step by step. Crimea was an unpleasant surprise, but the rest of Ukraine (save the Donetsk and Lugansk districts) remained pro-Western. Now, in only a few weeks, the government in Estonia has become pro-Russian, with no elections, while the string of victories in Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, and perhaps Macedonia, has proven to be balance-changing (the only Western victories have been seen in Austria and Montenegro). These new, Moscow-friendly regimes can be paired with already rebelling V-4 regimes of Orbán, Fico, Kaczynski and Klaus (Serbia has been suspected of being a Russian outpost for quite a while, while it is in fact the strange child of Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin) to create further headaches for the EU and the U.S. Actually wait - maybe not for the United States at all. Not for Trump's America. And the EU without the UK, if nothing changes. But can we be sure that nothing will change?

The European Union was a great idea. It started so nicely and has lasted for a long time. It has some problems, but... Is it possible that it was easier to conceive it and for it to get so far... only for it to be crashed so recklessly? Western politicians will have enormous responsibility in 2017.

C UL T UR E

Hey Jimi Fifty years of Jimi Hendrix

There was no wailing “wah-wah” pedal, no rasping distortion, no shrieking feedback from an oversized speaker. The opening bluesy licks of “Hey Joe”, the first single recorded by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, which was released on December 16th 1966, could have been played on an acoustic guitar.

They gave little indication that the band’s front man would quickly become a sonorous sensation. In an era of great electric guitarists— Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, The Who’s Pete Townshend and The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards, to name a select few—one was widely acknowledged as the instrument’s most expressive practitioner.

Mr Page called him “the best guitarist any of us ever had”. On seeing him play for the first time, Mr Clapton is said to have mumbled: “You never told me he was that fucking good.” Few could make a six-string chatter like Jimi Hendrix.

“Hey Joe” was a lively rendition of a folk standard and rose to sixth place in the British charts. It was chosen for the group by their manager Chas Chandler, who had spotted a 23-year-old Hendrix strumming in New York’s nightclubs and convinced him to move to Britain and start a band. But the clean, polished recording bore little resemblance to the frenzied playing that was winning the American admirers at gigs in London. “Purple Haze”, the next single, offered a glimpse of that energy with its brash opening riff and cacophonous ending.

It would take a full album, however, to show

off Hendrix’s tricks. “Are You Experienced” arrived in May 1967, and was only denied the top spot in the British charts by The Beatles and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”.

The titular track used reverse taping, with Hendrix’s guitar and the drum parts playing backwards as if sucked through a black hole.

“Third Stone from the Sun” concluded with a lengthy free-form solo, at turns jazzy and psychedelic, incorporating the whistles and groans of feedback from the amplifier. So did “I Don’t Live Today”, which also introduced the wah-

BUT HENDRIX’S LEGACY WAS GREATER THAN HIS SONGS. HE CHANGED THE WAY THE INSTRUMENT IS PLAYED wah effect: a signature Hendrix sound, turning each note into an oscillating “wah” syllable. It would return in his most famous tunes, notably the climactic solo of “All Along the Watchtower” and the swaggering start of “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)”.

Other guitarists had tried these modifications before. Mr Clapton dabbled with a wah-wah pedal, George Harrison used reverse taping on a handful of Beatles’ recordings and Mr Townshend occasionally allowed feedback into his tracks. Hendrix used them copiously. Though a decent singer, the guitar was typically the lead voice in his songs, whether growling or weeping.

He could (and frequently did) play the guitar behind his head and give the illusion of picking it with his teeth. Lots of rock stars smashed their instruments, but Hendrix set his on fire first. After leaving school, James—not yet “Jimi”—completed eight months of training as a paratrooper before dropping out of the army; in concert, he echoed the swoops of planes and explosions of bombs. His most famous live performance, as the closing act at Woodstock Festival in 1969, included a rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” charged with the howls of war.

His obvious musical impact was turning the electric guitar into a weapon, rather than an accompaniment. But it would be wrong to think that he was merely loud and chaotic. Hendrix had a unique and influential way of playing mellow tunes, too.

Traditionally a guitarist had placed the thumb of his fretting hand behind the neck of the instrument and used his four fingers to produce a chord. Hendrix’s large hands meant that he could use an obscure blues technique: wrapping his thumb around to play the bass notes while freeing up his fingers to jump between the treble strings. Furthermore, as a left-hander he would restring right-handed guitars “the wrong way up”, which dulled the high notes and brightened the low ones. The result of these innovations was a warm, textured rhythm that rarely required any extra effects, as in “Little Wing”, “Bold as Love” and “The Wind Cries Mary”. The thumb-around-the-neck technique became standard. The mellow bass-and-treble combination found favour with Prince, Stevie Ray Vaughan and John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, among others.

Within four years of his arrival in London and with only three studio albums to his name Hendrix was dead. He choked on his own vomit after an overdose of sleeping pills on September 18th 1970, aged 27. The son of an abusive drunk himself, alcohol often made him violent: he was arrested after an intoxicated brawl in 1968, and allegedly threw a bottle at a girlfriend. He was also a heavy drug user and was tried (and eventually acquitted) in Canada for possession of heroin in 1969.

While many of his contemporaries produced some of their finest work in the 1970s and after, fans of the “voodoo child” had to make do with a series of posthumous releases, cobbled together from a slew of unfinished projects and outtakes.

But Hendrix’s legacy was greater than his songs.

He changed the way the instrument is played.

From The Economist, published under licence.

The original article, in English, can be found on www.economist.com

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CORPORATE BELMEDI C

Major Surgeries, Minor Incisions Bel Medic General Hospital is the only hospital in Serbia that has complete center for minimally invasive surgery. The goal of the center is to eliminate the need for conventional surgery through the development, testing and implementation of less invasive procedures. Bel Medic provides surgeries in all medical fields: VATS, laparoscopic surgery, arthroscopy and endoscopic spine surgery

Dr DJORDJE BAJEC

General surgeon in the General Hospital "Bel Medic" and president of the Serbian National Bariatric Surgeons Association

About advantages and opportunities of minimally invasive access in abdominal surgery, we talked with the professor Dr Djordje Bajec, general surgeon in the General Hospital "Bel Medic" and president of the Serbian National Bariatric Surgeons Association.

tions. Technology and the experience of surgical teams today have reached such a level that the majority of procedures in the abdom-

How is it possible to remove organs, such as spleen, or a gallstone through few millimetres incision?

Photo: Uwe Jesiorkowski Black Box

What is the difference between open abdominal surgery and laparoscopic surgery?

— Laparoscopic surgery or keyhole surgery is minimally invasive surgery that is associated with several advantages over traditional open surgery.

In an open procedure, one large abdominal incision is made to expose the tissues and structures inside for examination and surgery.

In a laparoscopic procedure on the other hand, only a small incision of up to 1.5 cm in length is made in the abdomen, usually around the belly button area. Scars from open surgeries are not only an aesthetic problem, but also a health problem, because they significantly distort the structure of the anterior abdominal wall.

Since the overall trauma to the skin and muscles is reduced, less post-operative pain and disability, a shorter hospital stay, and a quicker recovery period are major advantages that laparoscopic surgery offers when compared to traditional operations.

What kind of operations can be performed using laparoscopic surgery?

— Twenty years ago indications for laparoscopic surgery were related exclusively to gallbladder opera-

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TECHNOLOGY AND THE EXPERIENCE OF SURGICAL TEAMS TODAY HAVE REACHED SUCH A LEVEL THAT THE MAJORITY OF PROCEDURES IN THE ABDOMINAL SURGERY CAN BE DONE LAPAROSCOPICALLY inal surgery can be done laparoscopically. This includes all urgent conditions, such as gall bladder inflammation, ulcer perforation, appendicitis and so on.

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You are one of the leading experts in bariatric surgery in this part of Europe. What are results of laparoscopic bariatric surgery?

— The World Health Organisa-

tion has recognised extreme obesity as a disease, because it seriously threatens health, primarily as a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular and heart disease, type two diabetes and other diseases. In recent years extreme obesity has reached epidemic proportions, as confirmed by the fact that bariatric surgery is ranked in second place in the U.S. among all operations in the abdominal cavity. Extreme obesity is the result of a complex interactions between genetic and enviroment. Usually, it is very difficult that extreme obese patient lose weight with conventional methods, such as diet, physical activity and medications. Bariatric surgery has proved to be very effective in this case. Reducing stomach volume and consequently food intake weight can be permanently reduced and risk for comorbidities is significantly decreased.

How much weight can be lost after bariatric surgery?

— There are special instruments that are mulching tissue of the different organs or mulching gallstones. Small tissue parts are than easily removed through less than 12mm incision.

— Patients who have BMI (body mass index) more than 60 can reach an ideal weight within a year or two, while those with a lower BMI can do it even faster. Most people are aware of gastric bypass surgery and gastric banding as popular options for bariatric surgery. However gastric sleeve resections have grown in popularity over the last five years.

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I NTERVI EW Text: ŽIKICA MILOŠEVIĆ

Papua New Guinea, with the members of the Huli clan.

THE WORLD IS LIKE A BOOK

SONJA LAPATANOV

Ballerina, writer, traveller, Secretary General of the International Dance Council CID-UNESCO Serbia

Those who do not travel have read only one page It is inherent to mankind to migrate and move in space. For me that is especially pronounced, because in my being, my soul and heart, all four parts of the world meet: east, west, north and south. I come from two great nations, from a Russian father and a German mother, and I also have in me French, Bulgarian and Tatar genes, I was born in Bitola and I live in Belgrade, as a citizen of the world.

Travelling is my lifestyle, my school and philosophy. This is more than any science. And all of this fits into my motto, carpe diem, and into an eternal pursuit of unlimited freedom and new journeys, many of which I have deprived myself of during my life, often due to more important things, the art of ballet excluded. Once a ballerina, always a ballerina! I am only following my passion and I have the courage to be who I am, despite the particularities and uniqueness often attributed to me by the environment. Nevertheless, I go my own way and let people say what they want, because a calm sea never made a skilled sailor. This is my distinctive iconography and energy that suits me well.

They say that travel is the best investment, because no one can steal the memory and getting to

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know cultures makes you a rich person, and also changes you.

thinking, perception, and even character?

— In this sense, I am a very rich person. It is known that memories do not apply if we are not in them.

I'm happy for that and for having a choice. “The world is like a book.

Those who do not travel have read only one page,” said St. Augustin!

— Travelling sharpened my perception to perfection, while my character, as a combination of the different properties that comprise a complete picture of a person, did not succumb to the influence of those changes, which also applies to my peculiar sanguine temperament. My travels have upgraded and rewarded me more than they changed me. They change me so much that after each one I am even

How do you think your travels changed you as a person and which journey influenced you the most and changed your

WHEN IT COMES TO THE REMAINS OF ANCIENT CIVILISATIONS, I WOULD SINGLE OUT CAMBODIA, BURMA, GUATEMALA, MEXICO, INDIA, SUDAN…

richer, and happier, especially when I get home. I am more concerned about the fact that there are fewer places I can go to today.

There are many countries that I have already visited, but there are those which I will never see, because they have been devastated by wars, destruction and environmental pollution. Due to human greed, arrogance and neglect, we destroy resources; nature is dying, wildlife is disappearing. Our planet has long suffered in silence, but now it is warning us: global warming, volcanic eruptions, floods, erosion, earthquakes, tsunamis etc. for a reason. This is the price to pay, which is catching up with the human race. I am always shaken by Africa and revolted by the destruction of tropical forests that are being cut in an uncontrolled manner, even though it is known that they are the lungs of our planet.

Which journey would you single out as being your best and why?

Meroe, Sudan. Nubian pyramids in the desert.

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— When it comes to the remains of ancient civilisations, I would say Cambodia, Burma, Guatemala, Mexico, India, Sudan etc. I love Africa, especially the Sahara, because the people are the greatest wealth of that continent, but also due to the fact that it is the “cradle of mankind”, from which we all emerged. French Polynesia, the

dream and reality, which I touched, and the prehistory of the Galapagos, the mystery of Easter Island, the eroticism of Boracay…

How different was it to travel without a credit card, internet or mobile phone, compared to the present time of global networking?

— It seems to me that it used to be easier to travel without those present novelties. I was carefree. I paid in cash, never being a slave to the internet, mobile phones, social networks, laptop chargers... Now it’s different, because in the middle of the Sahara, the Mongolian steppes, the ravines of Himalayas, South American pampas, tropical Amazonian forests, or the Indian jungle, you have the ability to speak

ent countries, not counting the "Soviet Union" as one state, but rather individual republics) have you visited?

— I’ve travelled to over a hundred countries across the globe, and they include those whose constituents have parted ways amicably and culturally, such as Czechoslovakia, and those that disintegrated, like Yugoslavia or the USSR. I started travelling early on, first with my parents, through Europe, and then

I. As an avid traveller, writer and reporter, before I start writing I take the position that it is enough to visit exciting and exotic places and record all the details, and that could already be a good travelogue.

This could not be further from the truth. Travel writing consists of travelling and writing. And the travel is the easy part!

Young people have a lot of options today for professional exchanges,

change. They are ambitious and have role models and idols; 35% of them want to travel the world in the future. Although at the end of 2009 visa were abolished for travel in the Schengen Area, the expectations were not realised. The number of trips is higher, but did not jump “dramatically”. There is only an increased number of flights from Nikola Tesla Airport due to the emergence of low-cost airlines.

Fortunately, there are people

Libya, Sahara

Touareg women in Algeria

MY TRAVELS CHANGE ME SO MUCH THAT AFTER EACH ONE I AM EVEN RICHER, AND HAPPIER, ESPECIALLY WHEN I GET HOME

Petra, Jordan

hostels and cheap air fares, such that the low costs of travel can be easily calculated in advance.

Do we take advantage of all the benefits enough in Serbia?

Patagonia, Argentina.

with relatives or associates, to send emails and keep updated regarding world events. How can one resist these technological benefits that are now able put you in touch with all parts of the planet in no time?

Tesla knew that a long time ago.

Tell us the top five countries or regions that you have visited in your life? And how many countries (current independ-

with the ballet ensemble of the National Theatre in its “golden age”.

I started to travel to remote and unusual destinations in the 1990s, when I started to write travelogues.

One story suggests that the Venetian Marco Polo was urged on his deathbed to admit that everything about his life and travels was just a bunch of fairytales. He said that he had not recounted even half of what he had seen. So neither did

— Although the benefits are exceptional, it seems to me that it has not kept pace. There are different agendas among young people.

Some prefer to give money for a new mobile phone or clothes than for travelling somewhere. It often happens during trips that instead of visiting historical sites they spend time having fun in the hotel, or a club. It is necessary for young people in Serbia to be initiated, motivated and familiarised with the culture of travel. We have to point out to them that they will be enriched by travel experiences, which will constantly improve them and make them more productive in their daily life. Young people want change, but they don’t know how to implement that

who promote the idea of a completely different journey: alternative modes of travelling – and that means travel as opposed to tourism. The goal is to see as much as possible and to travel as cheaply as possible; with a backpack on your back, with cheap or free transport in the form of hitchhiking, accommodation in hostels, camps, or with a host, with guests hosted free of charge through Couch Surfing and other sites.

I was taught how to travel by Australian backpackers. And you?

— I was taught by my parents and experienced world travellers. For the rest I was taken care of by my instincts, optimism, incredible curiosity, unstinting courage, willingness to accept challenges and temptations that concoct risk without prejudice. So, from being a successful ballet artist I became a passionate globetrotter, an adrenaline junkie and a successful travel writer who has had myriad travels and produced six books on travelogues: “At the foot of the Himalayas”, “Paradise Island”, “Mamma Africa-the cradle of mankind”, “Mundo Maya”, “The Milky way of the ocean” and “The Green continent”. These interesting books are my personal touch, thanks to which I am now recognised even by those who do not know me personally.

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CULTURE Text: ŽIKICA MILOŠEVIĆ

NEW SOUND IN TOWN It has been a while since the Belgrade band with the unusual and spontaneous name of Artan Lili began releasing singles and videos one after another, each better than the last Photo: Pedrag Mijailović

They quickly became a music sensation in the region and a concert attraction. Their videos tell tales and their lyrics are powerful. Here we speak to Romana and Bojan Slačala, the band’s two leading figures and joint lead vocals.

In our country it is as though time has stood still in music: we constantly recycle old forms and there are very few new ideas.

However, Artan Lili has been able to offer a “new sound in town”. How difficult was that in Serbia and the former Yugoslavia generally? Is it difficult to “educate people musically”?

Romana: Some people have the

ability to immediately recognise when something is good. When you've got a good offer, it quickly finds its consumer. There is no need to “educate”, but rather to selflessly share what we create. It is good, it is honest, and many have recognised that. However, there is another kind of audience that likes to recognise and not get to know, clinging blindly to old patterns.

Tolstoy wrote somewhere that in order to love something you have to understand it. To love something you have to get acquainted with it and invest effort in that...

Not all are enthusiasts, but I think we will reach out to those who are dormant at some point.

Bojan: What is interesting is that we are mostly accepted firstly by an “educated audience”, which of course is a minority, but that then represents the next step in expanding the educational impact of this. And so on and so on... That is a basic principle of spreading the underground culture that we also

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belong to. But it is a real struggle!

The band has also managed to position itself as both underground and mainstream. In a situation where that is rare, how can we return the situation at least a little – to, say, the ‘80s, when the underground was indeed the mainstream?

Romana: I think we should be

open to all and not stick rigidly to the underground. And I think that this breadth is acquired with experience and with age, and a bunch of transcribed music. When you mature, you use that in the best way. As kids we were exclusive and uptight. When I was a kid, Talking Heads was lame for me, unlike Mudhoney. But this is probably a normal course of events.

Bojan: It would be better to build something new, modelled on a

tive, both metrically and meaningfully. Often people tell us they identify with our songs. And that is no small thing.

Bojan: Lyrics have also been part of pop music composition from its beginnings. Rock’n’roll has at its essence rebellion and a desire for change, with the open expression of personal attitude. We have such love that we express through music. I usually write all the lyrics and I'm happy when the audience identifies with them, and they do so more if they have lived through them. So, honesty and directness make them convincing.

It is interesting that when you sing together the verses stay in feminine gender form. Where did you get the idea for the prevailing “feminine sensibility”, if that exists at all?

TOLSTOY WROTE SOMEWHERE THAT IN ORDER TO LOVE SOMETHING YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND IT. TO LOVE SOMETHING YOU HAVE TO GET ACQUAINTED WITH IT AND INVEST EFFORT IN THAT successful period. There is no way to return to the old way. We are trying to arouse the volatility of our creativity for many reasons, but perhaps the biggest reason is that we enjoy what we do.

Lyrics are very important to you, as the “set” for music, creating a complete impression. What is your message and who writes your lyrics?

Romana: Bojan writes the lyrics

and that works very well. Seemingly banal, the texts do have depth and meaning and are very sugges-

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Romana: Haha. For me, I was all in the proper place; I sing in my gender. Bojan will have to explain it.

Bojan: Phenomenologically comical, but it's my personal thing, i.e. men's fate, to dare to write from the female point of view, in a personal way. That is a sensitive thing that works or does not work.

In the UK some new artists say that they rely on someone else’s sound and that is considered as paying homage to then. So, again, we have heard many comments that Artan Lili “is like

Obojeni program”. Of course, your guitarist played in that band and this is logical and legitimate. To me this is just a plus.

Does it make you feel weary?

Romana: I'm just concerned that

people, in the absence of words and arguments, resort to good old comparisons with something that they are more familiar with. We all grow up under some influences, the same way we influence someone, consciously or unconsciously.

I do not see anything bad in that.

Another thing is copying, which we abhor.

Bojan: No. Dragan’s guitar is an integral part of the Artan Lili sound and our audience identifies it accordingly. All other information is part of his biography. We all know very well how important new songs are and the joy of their emergence is what brings us the most enjoyment and it is the most important thing for the band.

You have created the concept of releasing a single and a video every two months, and that is quite appropriate in an era where the album form itself has no special significance. Where did you get the idea and what can we expect from you next?

Bojan: Playing with the stereo-

types of publishing strategy, which is a kind of arrogance allowed only in unconditional DIY aesthetics and tactics, we came up with the aforementioned model, which is successful, competitive and functional. We are very proud that we began releasing works in such a successive way, and that it was later accepted by many other authors, given that we were the first to do it both here and beyond.

CULTURE Text: ŽIKICA MILOŠEVIĆ

THE HEARTS CHOOSES FIRST, THE MIND FOLLOWS Bitipatibi is the Belgrade-based band that boasts the sound and concept which would not ashame any world class underground band

Now their long-awaited second album is out, and we're talking with the frontwoman Una Gašić.

When I played your song "Mi smo od šećera" to a friend in London, he was delighted and asked me what were you singing, to which I answered honestly that I don't understand a lot. It kinda reminds me of a religious experience where you don't have to understand a liturgy by intellect but from the heart. Is there any truth?

— The unintelligibility was not the idea. Maybe in the beginning I sang with lot of voice effects, and then came comments that nothing could be understood. Then I began to wonder why I do pop music and write lyrics if no one understands it. People here are accustomed to understand every word, such is the production, while Cocteau Twins are also not understood. But here, it somehow did not go too well. I always like the music first, and after I pay attention to lyrics. It never happened to me that I don't like the lyrics if I liked the music. If you like our music, the band's Bandcamp page has all the lyrics, and they are on the disc. At the next concert you will be able to recognise them. The heart reacts to the music, and when we start believing the music, then we believe the words. And they always turn to be good.

The common enigma is the meaning of your name?

— Bitipatibi emerged in the era of MySpace when we only had two songs at home, so we had to have a name to be registered on MySpace.

It is not at all easy to come up with a name for the band, but then my mother at one point uttered "what do you care, šta ti bi, biti pa ti bi" and to me it sounded exotic, so we have registered. Our friends musicians heard it and Ivica from Nežni Dalibor first played guitar in Bitipatibi and Jova from Inje played bass. They took us away from the "childish" computer-music making and made us a real band. And there arose a problem because in the studio you can sing softly, and at the concert we got two guitars and drums? It still sounds too soft,

And for Mazzy Star, I started to sing because of them. Covering some songs on guitar I saw that music could be quiet, cuddling and whispery, so I was relaxed. The most important thing is to make a balance of gentle vocals and heavy instruments. I do not have a lot of colleagues to share experience of how to deal with shoegaze. Just to create a balance and this music would be much more commercial.

The lyrics are rather painful (Andrija) and gentle (Mali betmeni).

You write them?

CD'S AND RECORDS WILL BE OUT ON VALENTINE'S DAY, LIKE LAST TIME. IF NOT A CONCERT, THERE WILL BE A PROMOTION. AND ON THE 30TH OF DECEMBER, THE ALBUM WILL APPEAR ON OUR BANDCAMP PAGE and I think that the solution is to put a plexiglass wall between me and the drummer (laughs).

The band seems to be an original mix of, say, Cocteau Twins, shoegaze bands and Mazzy Star. The whole dreamy pop is poorly is accompanied yet it is fascinating. Did you ever think of reissuing it in English, since it sounds "world class"?

— I didn't think about the "world class". Dragan Jovanović and I made music in 2009 and we loved the same bands. It could be "world" class in the sense that in Serbia these bands, dreamy pop and shoegaze, are not so popular. I heard about the “(Serbian) Cocteau Twins” for the first time receiving comments for "Mi smo od šećera".

— The lyrics are romantic, I write them, and so I try not to make them sad. “Andrija” is more like longing, not a definitive end. OK, maybe “Mali betmeni” is the saddest song of all.

I noticed in Novi Sad that the audience reacts either listening like hypnotised or paradoxically, get closer to each other and start talking intimately. I know the latter makes you nervous.

Are you proud of these two reactions?

— I have such stagefright at concerts that I only care about concentrating not to make mistakes.

Sometimes I am bothered since my vocals are gentle anyway, I lose my concentration. But we are living in such times, people often talk at

concerts about their daily routines.

Somebody listens carefully, somebody at the background, everyone according to how it suits them.

Both is nice.

You issued the new album. How much will it differ from the first one, which became a cult, and what about the promotion?

— I thought it would be more different, but it turns out it would be much like the debut. The lyrics will be longer. I listened quite many pop songs lately, like never before, and I understood a good pop song had a constant singing – it makes a good form of it. So I took care of it.

Also I have more songs in majors.

90 minutes of melanhcholy is OK at home, but it is not that splendid at concert. People want to dance a bit, to be “carried away by majors”. I am not completely in it, but I like sharing that part of myself.

Frequently you can't control thing but they turn out to be better than expected. We will make one more serious album, musically, but these songs have existed 2-3 years, and it was stupid not to record them this way. I regret there was not that much electronica, but who know, maybe it will be for better, there are many nice guitars and and interesting rhythm section. It is the band's growth. The debut had many home-made songs, and the follow-up has more songs from rehearsals. Too bad I haven't made any songs for the last 2 years, it is all about posters, organising gigs, lots of energy goes to that. Perhaps I shoud hire a proper manager, but nobody is crazy enough to bother with rock'n'roll except the musicians (laughs).

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CALENDAR & NEWS Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra

FOR CONNOISSEURS 2 Jan 13, 20:00

Grand Hall of the Kolarac Foundation

Cristian Mandeal

Conductor: Cristian Mandeal Program: A. Bruckner: Symphony No. 7

FOR BEGINNERS 2 Jan 20, 20:00

Grand Hall of the Kolarac Foundation

Conductor: Daniel Raiskin Soloist: Akiko Suwanai violin Program: W. A. Mozart: Symphony No. 32

W. Walton: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra J. Brahms: Symphony No. 1

Daniel Raiskin

FOR LOVERS 3 Jan 27, 19:00

Grand Hall of the Kolarac Foundation

Conductor: Alexander Vedernikov Soloist: Lise de la Salle piano Program: G. Verdi: La forza del destino, overture Lise de la Salle

F. Chopin: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 S. Prokofiev: Cinderella – excerpts

KOLARAC Concert hall

CONCERT PROGRAMME January 2017 Tuesday, 3rd at 12.00 Concert Hall

NEW'S YEARS PROMENADE CONCERT

The most promising Young Musician in 2106 Pavle Krstć, piano Irena Josifoska, cello (as guest) Programme: Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Stravinsky Sunday, 8th at 11.00 Concert Hall

CHRISTMAS CONCERT

Singing group Rukovet Conductor: Milica Radivojević Programme: Christmas songs/ Dragan R. Mladjenović Admission free Sunday, 8th at 19.00 Concert Hall

ETHNO EVENING – GUSLE Wednesday, 11th at 18.00 Music Gallery

LJUBICA SEKULIĆ

harpsichord Production: Music Centre Admission free Friday, 13th at 20.00 Concert Hall

BELGRADE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA Conductor: Cristian Mandeal Programme: A. Bruckner/ Symphony No. 7 Production: Belgrade

philharmonic Sunday 15th at 18.00 Concert Hall

BELGRADE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Piano Trio Classica Aeterna Production: Music Centre Admission free

Conductor: Daniel Raiskin Soloist: Akiko Suwanai, violin Program:W. A. Mozart, W. Walton, J. Brahms Production: Belgrade philharmonic Information/ tel. 2630744

Monday, 16th at 18.00 Concert Hall

Sunday, 22nd at 11.00 Concert Hall

KOLARAC PODIUM OF CHAMBER MUSIC

STUDENT'S CONCERT Admission free

Tuesday, 17th at 18.00 Concert Hall

MUSIC SCHOOL KONJOVIĆ Admission free

Wednesday, 18th at 18.00 Music Gallery

MINA MARNKOVIĆ

harpsichord Production: Music Centre Admission free Thursday, 19th at 20.00 Concert Hall

BELGRADE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA Conductor: Daniel Raiskin Soloist: Akiko Suwanai, violin Program:W. A. Mozart, W. Walton, J. Brahms Production: Belgrade philharmonic Friday, 20th at 20.00 Concert Hall

CYCLE: KOLARAC PODIUM OF CHAMBER MUSIC Maja Rajković, piano Production: Music Centre

Wednesday, 25th at 18.00 Music Gallery

CYCLE: MUSIC WORKSHOP Djordje Davidović, accordion Production: Music Centre Admission free Friday, 27th at 20.00 Concert Hall

BELGRADE PHILAHRMONIC ORCHESTRA

Conductor: Alexander Vedernikov Soloist: Lise de la Salle, piano Program: G. Verdi, F. Chopin, S. Prokofiev Production: Belgrade philharmonic Saturday, 28th at 20.00 Concert Hall RTS Symphony Orchestra Production: RTS Music Production

EUROPE FOR FESTIVALS, FESTIVALS FOR EUROPE’S

Kathrin Deventer, Director of the European Project “Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe” (EFFE), together with Jovanka Visekruna Jankovic, Director of ArtLink Belgrade, will officially launch the EFFE Hub for Western Balkans in presence of EU delegation representatives in Serbia, at EU info centar on 18 January 2017.

Festivals from Western Balkans can apply for the “EFFE Label”, which is a stamp of recognition for good work. Becoming a selected festival confirms to audience, sponsors, media and local authorities that the labeled festival’s program and mission belong to an outstanding and innovative group of festivals in the EU and beyond.

Until 17 February 2017, festivals will have a chance to apply for the EFFE Label 2017-2018, demonstrating quality and devotion to EFFE Label values: 1. Artistic Commitment and Innovative Approaches, 2. Community Involvement, and 3. festival’s European and International Engagement.

EFFE Hub acts as a contact point for artists, festivals, businesses, and policy-makers.

Experts chosen by EFFE Hubs will assess their country’s applications determining if they meet the three criteria. Their findings will be presented to a high-level international jury, which will decide on the final list of festivals receiving the EFFE Label 2017-2018.

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