Diplomacy and Commerce No.39 by Diplomacy&Commerce magazine

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

April 2019 | ISSUE No. 38 | Price 350 RSD

9772466380002

OUR PROFESSION IS ON ITS WAY DOWN IVAN IVANOVIĆ

TV Author & Presenter

3rd BIRTHDAY OF DIPLOMACY & COMMERCE 20th march

DIPLOMACY & COMMERCE AWARDS PARTY AT NATIONAL MUSEUM

FIRST STEP TOWARDS CONNECTING BUSINESS COMMUNITY H.E. IOSEB NANOBASHVILI

Ambassador of Georgia to Athens and Belgrade

ATTAINING REAL ITALIAN STYLE AS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE GIANLUCA MARCIANÒ

Principal Conductor of SNT Opera

WE SEE AND VALUE SERBIA’S POTENTIAL H.E. KYLE RANDOLPH SCOTT

WE ARE SERIOUS ABOUT OUR OBLIGATIONS

NEGOTIATING POSITION FOR CHAPTER 27 BY THE YEAR-END

Director of the Office for Human and Minority Rights

Minister of Environmental Protection

SUZANA PAUNOVIĆ

Austria

U.S. Ambassador to Serbia

America

H.E. NIKOLAUS LUTTEROTTI

Austrian Ambassador to Serbia

GORAN TRIVAN

EDITORIAL

CONTENTS

We Shall Fight On the Beaches! Shall We? The holiday season is upon us and most of you are considering which beach to pick to spend the hot days of July and August on. The region in which we live has an abundance of natural attractions - Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania have access to the sea, while Serbia and Macedonia have beautiful rivers, mountains, spas and interesting cities. However, what makes our sea different from that off the coasts of Liguria and Catalonia is the fact that there are still people from coastal towns who are re-living the wars from the 1990s and fighting the battles that, in their minds, are still not over. Thus, the recent incident with Red Star’s water polo players from Belgrade, who were attacked by local hooligans, continued with a carnival in Dalmatia at which a large effigy of the Serb leader in Croatia, Milorad Pupovac, was set on fire. It's not uncommon for politician effigies to be burned at carnivals, and most of them are even fun and cute. However, when that politician is the leader of a minority who, in that country, a large part of the population still views as "aggressors" or "foreign bodies", then the joke stops being funny. Last year, Belgrade daily newspapers were racing each other in trying to report on the incidents in Montenegro, describing this neighboring country as "the heart of darkness", a country which many Serbian intellectuals and academics were banned from entering, and where the local chaps cannot wait to come across a person from Belgrade and beat them up, while the police is arresting the tourists from Serbia on the account of minor traffic offenses. Of course, there have been incidents, but it seems that the press (on both sides) has wholeheartedly contributed to overinflating them. A month ago, a local bully in Prijedor forced a Bosniak, a returnee, to apologize in front of a mobile phone camera about Bosnia and Herzegovina’s coat of arms that adorned his truck and swear his allegiance to the Republic of Srpska. Then, the social media was awash with photographs of the victim who, subsequently, took a bunch of photographs in front of Bosnian and Turkish flags, bearing weapons. So, what will the year 2019 look like? Are we going to "fight on the beaches”, to paraphrase a line from Churchill’s famous speech from 1940? This year, it will be 24 years since the end of the wars in Bosnia and Croatia. On the 24th year since the end of the Second World War, in 1969, people landed on the Moon, the Woodstock Festival was held, and the centuries-old enemies - the Germans and the French - had been members of the European Economic Community for two decades. How long will it take for the people to start feeling safe and carefree on our beaches, squares and in the streets just like the people from 1969?

ROBERT ČOBAN Director

GORAN TRIVAN

LAURA PALMER PAVLOVIĆ

NEGOTIATING POSITION FOR CHAPTER 27 BY THE YEAR-END Minister of Environmental Protection

FIRST STEP TOWARDS CONNECTING BUSINESS COMMUNITY H.E. IOSEB NANOBASHVILI

Ambassador of Georgia to Athens and Belgrade

DIPLOMACY & COMMERCE MAGAZINE CELEBRATES THE 3RD BIRTHDAY Anniversary

WE ARE SERIOUS ABOUT OUR OBLIGATIONS

OUR PROFESSION IS ON ITS WAY DOWN IVAN IVANOVIĆ

TV Author & Presenter

ATTAINING REAL ITALIAN STYLE AS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE GIANLUCA MARCIANÒ

BELGRADE VICE

By Zlatko Crnogorac

BONUS

THE BIGGEST

REAL ESTATE INVESTOR IN REGION

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs TANJA BANKOVIĆ

tanja.bankovic@color.rs

SANJA ŠOJIĆ Journalist

CIP - Katalogizacija u publikaciji Biblioteke Matice Srpske, Novi Sad 33 Diplomacy & Commerce / glavni i odgovorni urednik Žikica Milošević, 2016, br. 1 (mart)-.Novi Sad: Color Media Communications, 2016 - , -33cm Mesečno. ISSN 2466-3808 = Diplomacy & Commerce COBISS.SR-ID 303269895

Director of the Office for Human and Minority Rights

Editor in Chief

”Color Media Communications” LTD, 21132 Petrovaradin, Štrosmajerova 3 TIN 107871532 • Matriculation number 20887303 · Phone: +381 21 4897 100 • Fax: +381 21 4897 126 Office: Vase Čarapića 3/IV/38, Belgrade • 011 4044 960

Director of USAID's Office of Democratic and Economic Growth in Serbia

Principal Conductor of SNT Opera

SUZANA PAUNOVIĆ

I AM A BELIEVER THAT ACTIVISM CAN THRIVE

NATAŠA NEŠIĆ

Advertising manager

ROBERT ČOBAN

DRAGANA RADOVIĆ

robert.coban@color.rs

Advertising manager

dragana.radovic@color.rs

ILIJA PETROVIĆ INDIGOCHILD

JELENA RANĐELOVIĆ

Art director

JOVANA MARKOVIĆ

Advertising manager

jovana.markovic@color.rs

Magazine director

ruza.ristanovic@color.rs

natasa.nesic@color.rs

sanja.sojic@color.rs

indigochild.ilija@gmail.com

RUŽA RISTANOVIĆ

Advertising manager

jelena.randjelovic@color.rs

VANJA KOVAČEV

PR&Event support Nord Communications vanja.communications @gmail.com

Director Photos

GORAN ZLATKOVIĆ GETTY IMAGES Translation SNEŽANA BJELOTOMIĆ Print

ZLATNA KNJIGA Jagodina, Bagrdanski put bb

IF THE CAPUTOVA FITS

A Young Liberal is Poised to Win Slovakia’s Presidency Zuzana Caputova campaigns against the corruption that populism has bred

One year ago tens of thousands of demonstrators filled the streets of Slovakia’s cities. Shocked into action by the murder of Jan Kuciak, a young journalist probing links between ministers and organised crime, and his fiancée, they demanded an end to the corruption of their country’s elite. The protests toppled Robert Fico, the prime minister, and galvanised a generation. They also convinced Zuzana Caputova, a 45-year-old liberal lawyer with no political experience, to run for president. “I suddenly found myself failing to justify why somebody else and not myself should assume responsibility for bringing about change,” she says. On March 16th, after a disciplined and dignified campaign, Ms Caputova took 41% of the vote in

the first round of Slovakia’s presidential election. She is set to win the run-off on March 30th. Two months ago she was polling in single digits. Victory would see Ms Caputova take office as the only unabashed liberal head of state or government

core, as even Mr Fico, who flirted with Orbanist populism when it suited him, had to accept. The election also shone a light on Slovakia’s darker corners. Between them an Islamophobic populist and an outright neo-Nazi secured a quarter of the vote. Grigorij

SLOVAKIA’S EURO MEMBERSHIP HAS ALWAYS LEFT IT CLOSER TO EUROPE’S CORE, AS EVEN MR FICO, WHO FLIRTED WITH ORBANIST POPULISM WHEN IT SUITED HIM, HAD TO ACCEPT in the central European “Visegrad” group. Poland has followed Hungary’s slide into illiberalism under Viktor Orban, and the Czech Republic is run by Andrej Babis, a Trumpy tycoon prone to scandal. Slovakia’s euro membership has always left it closer to Europe’s

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

Meseznikov, a political analyst in Bratislava, says such “anti-system” forces are growing stronger. Yet although Ms Caputova’s support for the eu and nato, climate policies and gay rights places her lightyears away from the reactionary right, she hopes to seduce some of

their voters with a Macronesque message of change. Top of her agenda as president, she says, will be to restore citizens’ trust in the rule of law. Indeed, her rise has much to do with voters’ frustration with the grubby clientelism nurtured by Mr Fico’s Smer party, which remains in government. Beset by feuding, Smer will struggle in the run-up to a parliamentary vote that must be held in the next year. Two days before the presidential election, a businessman who cultivated links with Smer was charged with ordering Kuciak’s murder. A useful reminder of why Slovaks are demanding change. From The Economist, published under licence. The original article, in English, can be found on www. economist.com

INTERVIEW

Negotiating Position for Chapter 27 by the Year-end

GORAN TRIVAN Minister of Environmental Protection

Serbia is considered one of the most abundant biodiversity areas in the world, but little has been said about it. Two years ago, the Minister of Environmental Protection, Goran Trivan took upon himself to rectify this, which, in his own words, is sometimes Don Quixote-like. In an interview for Diplomacy&Commerce, the Minister says that the degree that a certain society is considered civilized is reflected in its attitude towards environmental protection. “The level of your awareness about environmental protection coincides with the level of your civility. Today, environmental protection is the most important ideology in the world. My and my team's mission is to change this society and make those who don't understand – understand! In terms of development and awareness, we lag behind other countries by 20 to 25 years. We are fully aware of this, and we are doing everything in our power to skip over certain stages.

Understanding environmental protection has changed significantly in the last two years,“ says Minister Trivan at the beginning of the conversation. He took environmental protection problems to global agenda which resulted in him being appointed one of the vice presidents of the fifth session of the UN Environmental Assembly (UNEA-5) which will take place in 2021. We lag behind the rest of the world by at least 20 years in

Photo: Nebojša Babić

We have good cooperation with the European Commission and the Commissioner for the Environment, and their doors are open to us. We have completed the second draft of our negotiating position, and we expect their formal opinion on this

we are part of Europe because, in that way, we are also part of the European civilization and standards. Everyone in this field is open to cooperation and sharing positive and negative experiences. Their mistakes are important to us because they can help us with skipping certain stages. If you really engage your mental faculties and make a conscious decision not to repeat certain mistakes, you have already jumped forward several years. You cannot make any investments unless you

I BELIEVE THAT INSPECTION IS A KEY FACTOR IN POLICY IMPLEMENTATION. I LEARNED THAT FROM THE GERMANS BECAUSE ALTHOUGH OUR LAWS ARE GOOD, THE QUESTION REMAINS HOW TO IMPLEMENT THEM terms of environmental protection. How can we catch up?

— It's not difficult to skip some periods, maybe even years, when you are closely following what is in happening in the neighbourhood and the world. Europe has set some of the world's key environmental standards, so it's good that

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

have appropriate project documentation and this is something that we have to keep up with. We have plenty of ambition and potential investors. Owing to that, we are going to compensate for all the years we have lost. I have to admit that we won't be able to catch up to Western countries because they

are progressing fast. The important thing is that we reduce this gap to less than 10 years. Serbia is on a good path to include Chapter 27, which is thought to be one of the most demanding and costliest chapters in the negotiations with the EU, in the agenda of the European officials. Could you tell us what have you done so far in this respect, and what remains to be done towards the opening of this chapter?

— What we have to do is to determine our negotiating position for Chapter 27 which is the most comprehensive, most complicated and most financially demanding chapter. We have almost finished our work, a year before the deadline. We have good cooperation with the European Commission and the Commissioner for the Environment, and their doors are open to us. We have completed the second draft of our negotiating position, and we expect their formal opinion on this. I know that they will be satisfied because they helped us throughout the whole process. I expect that Serbia will adopt the negotiating position by the

year-end and that, after that, the EU will open Chapter 27. The EU gave us a number of transitional periods, more than what earlier negotiators got. This is important because it creates an opportunity for us not to immediately “jump into a standard”, so to speak, but rather gradually adapt to it over time. Many neighbouring countries failed to do this and now they have to pay penalties. After Chapter 27 is opened, how long is it going to take us to implement all these standards?

— There is an estimated period of how long it will take us to reach a certain standard for every transitional period, i.e. every area. The time in question depends on technology and money. Money may be a decisive factor, but I have to underline that staffing capacity could also be the biggest obstacle. That's why the Ministry is trying to build its capacity because we need to have young educated people working for us. At the moment, we have 170 vacancies, and we hope that we are going to take on board dozens of young people who will be additionally trained. I think that the entire business regarding Chapter 27 will cost us around 15 billion euro, but, personally, I think it is going to cost even more. Depending on an area in question, we are going to need between 4 and 5 years for each area, which is cumulatively 20 years. That's why we need both the staff and the money. The EU representatives know all too well what is the situation like in various countries, including ours, hence, it is important to be honest and not embellish the reality because nobody benefits from that. Huge amount of money will have to be spent on environmental protection,. You mentioned somewhere around 15 billion

euro. Serbia doesn't have that kind of money. How can we obtain it?

— Yes, we don't have that kind of money; well, not all of it. We have some of it, so, if we really want to advance in this segment, we are going to have to invest it. The money that we have set aside now is not enough, but we are currently preparing to invest it.

— We are completely open to all types of investments, and I would like to see domestic companies getting more involved in this process. The problem in Serbia is that we do not have a sufficiently developed economy. We conduct weekly interviews with investors from around the world. This is not an easy or a short route. For instance, we had been dealing

IN TERMS OF DEVELOPMENT AND AWARENESS WE LAG BEHIND OTHER COUNTRIES BY 20 TO 25 YEARS. WE ARE FULLY AWARE OF THIS, AND WE ARE DOING EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER TO SKIP OVER CERTAIN STAGES Also, there are a few preliminary stages that we need to go through, so we should not rush anything. Speaking of investments, we need to invest 5 billion euro in at least 350 wastewater filtering facilities and 2 billion euro in utility waste processing systems. There is a solution, and we won't embark on all the required investments simultaneously. Funds, foreign and domestic investors, as well as banks, are interested in investing because these processes generate profit. The first serious public-private partnership was formed in Belgrade, in the Vinča landfill project, which can serve as an example for further processes. We need close cooperation with local governments in regard to public-private partnerships. Businesses are at the helm of investing in environmental protection, but are also, as you have pointed out, the biggest pollutants. What is the cooperation between the Ministry and companies like when it comes to burning issues?

with the Vinča landfill for six years before we even found project partners. This is the average timeframe for all public-private partnerships that we will realize in Serbia. That's something that we simply have to do and local governments are very interested in getting involved. We have launched several competitions regarding drafting project documentation. Every little bit of assistance can help. You often conduct local inspections although that is not your job. You also said that you would like to reform inspection oversight. How far along are you with that?

— I believe that inspection is a key factor in policy implementation. I learned that from the Germans because although our laws are good, the question remains how to implement them. There are a number of individuals and companies who knowingly violate the laws. Our inspection departments don't have enough staff. Last year, a lot of inspectors retired, and we did not hire new ones. That's what I meant earlier when I said that we had to

employ young people. I am often in the field to tell the inspectors that we are here as a backup just in case someone locally tries to hinder their work. There are no taboo topics for me. We are all very open in the Ministry. A lot of pressure is exerted on our inspectors and they have a very hard job to do locally. Since you said that there were no taboo topics for you, I have to ask you something that is trending but is not such an easy topic to discuss – problems with fees of recycling companies and mini hydro-power plants.

— As I said, we are very open to any topic and we are working on these problems. In regard to recycling companies, we are talking about companies that deal with hazardous waste. They get 2.2 billion dinars from the state budget which is a third of the Ministry's budget. That's just one side of the story. If we increase the budget, they will get more money too. There are plenty of vacancies in these companies too. We have been trying to secure more funds for them and make it possible for them to increase their fees. As far as mini hydropower plants are concerned, my opinion is that they are harmful if they are of a derivative type. I think it's time to say good-bye to them, and that is something we are going to propose. Serbia has the smallest underwater surface in the region, and we must not destroy it. It is up to experts to decide the location of these power plants, excluding the protected natural areas. The biggest problem is perhaps that most of these power plants were not built according to the standards outlined in the relevant documentation, hence all of them have to be inspected. Our ambition is to change the law on mini hydropower plants so as to prevent their construction in protected areas.

SUPPORT FROM COLLEAGUES How aware are decision makers of the crucial importance of environmental protection activities? Are they willing to increase your budget? — I don't know. For the first two years, we had to focus on ourselves and build the Ministry as it should be built. We are about to start dealing with interior policy. It is encouraging to see that, two years ago, decision-makers decided that the Ministry of Environmental Protection should be reinstated, and that decision was crucial. You cannot deal with such complex issues if you don't

have a separate entity to handle them. Sooner or later, all government ministers will have to deal with these issues because they will have to apply environmental standards. I think that there will be no problem with that because we are talking about young people who understand how important all of this is. At this point, the most important thing is that we have good communication with the Ministry of Finance and that we have already found a common language and opportunities for accessing new non-budget funds. We need to increase the current budget of 6 billion dinars by at least a half.

INTERVIEW

First Step Towards Connecting Business Community We opened honorary consulate of Georgia in Belgrade as well as first diplomatic office of Georgia in western Balkans. No we are in anticipation of reciprocal step from the Serbian side concerning opening of Serbian diplomatic representation in Georgia

H.E. IOSEB NANOBASHVILI Ambassador of Georgia to Athens and Belgrade

Georgia opened a consulate in Serbia, which is the beginning of even better cooperation. H.E. Ioseb Nanobashvili, Ambassador of Georgia to Athens and Belgrade talks about further plans and areas for cooperation. President of the Parliament of Georgia visits Serbian Patriarch in March. Serbia and Georgia are Orthodox countries, but we know little about each other. How can we change that?

pean Integration. In 2018 we established Serbia-Georgia intergovernmental economic commission. As for high level visits, in 2017 the vice-prime minister Rasim Ljaić together with the Minister for self-government and administrative reforms Branko Ružić visited Georgia. In 2017 we also had a pleasure of hosting the chairman of the foreign

IN COMING YEARS, WE HOPE TO HAVE MAIN DELIVERABLES IN TOURISM, AGRICULTURE, HIDRO-ENERGY PRODUCTION AND IT

— Since 2017 we have been working very actively with our Serbian colleagues in order to change the situation. And results of the work are indeed impressive: In 2017, the first ever bilateral political consultations between our countries took place in Belgrade. The same year we established a political format of Serbia-Georgia dialogue on Euro-

affairs committee Žarko Obradović which led the first Serbian parliamentary Delegation to Georgia. In 2018 the Chairperson of the Serbian national assembly Maja Gojković visited Georgia with the historic visit, followed by the first official visit of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Georgia Janelidze to Belgrade and the first visit of the Serbian

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

Prime-Minister Ana Brnabić to Georgia. Last spring the vice-chairman of the Georgian Parliament Giorgi Volski and the Chairperson of the foreign affairs committee Sopio Katsarava visited Belgrade and in fall 2018 the chair of the EU integration committee Tamar Kulordava paid her visit to Serbia for discussing parliamentary dimension of the Serbia-Georgia dialogue on European Integration. In the end of 2018 Maja Gojković honoured us with her presence at the Inauguration of the new President of Georgia. In 2018 our countries abolished visa requirements for ordinary passport holders. Last month we opened honorary consulate of Georgia in Belgrade as well as first diplomatic office of Georgia in western Balkans. No we are in anticipation of reciprocal step from the Serbian side concerning opening of Serbian diplomatic representation in Georgia. Georgia-Serbia Business Forum was held in Belgrade at the end

of March. The Speaker and the Parliamentary Delegation attended the official Reception dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Georgian Parliamentarism in Belgrade. What are the conclusions of that meeting?

— I see the first Serbian-Georgian Business-forum as a first step towards connecting business communities of two countries with a special role in their respective regions. By strengthening the Serbian-Georgian economic contacts, I believe, we will tie two important hubs in Balkans and in south Caucasus, as both states claim to be a gateway for east-west and north-south communication. I think, we can also share our experience how to make our markets better known for each other, as

WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT ENLARGEMENT OF THE EU AND HOPE THAT THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA AS A FRONTRUNNER CANDIDATE FOR THE EU MEMBERSHIP WILL APPROACH THE EU TO THE LEVEL IT FAIRLY DESERVES well as what makes our countries attractive for foreign investors and entrepreneurs. What do our diplomatic relations mean opening the Georgian consulate in Serbia? In which segments we need to deepen our cooperation?

liverables in tourism, agriculture, hidro-energy production and IT. We are working hard to explore all options for establishing direct flights between our countries which will surely promote the business-communication, bring closer our companies and individual enterprenuers.

— As I said increase of the trade turnover between our states is an absolute priority. In coming years, we hope to have main de-

Serbia has a problem with Kosovo, Georgia with South Ossetia and Abkhazia. What can we

learn from each other in solving these problems?

— We are committed to fundamental principles of international law, as well as to the principle of inviolability of territorial integrity. Georgia strongly supports the territorial integrity of the Republic of Serbia at the level of statements as well as practical steps. We are also quite similar in dealing with our territorial problems. We use exclusively peaceful means and pragmatic approaches aimed at assisting war-torn communities in their daily lives, improving Human Rights situation on the ground, implement confidence-building measures and offering various social benefits for all Georgian citizens notwithstanding their place of residence.

EUROPEAN INTEGRATION With the agreement, you agreed to cooperate even harder and more content in the field of European integration, because it is our common foreign policy goal. What exactly does it mean? — The European integration is a national goal for both our countries. We are looking forward to the next enlargement of the EU and hope that the Republic of Serbia as a frontrunner candidate for the

EU membership will approach the EU to the level it fairly deserves. We also hope that the EU will further apply the more-for-more principle with regards to associated and aspirant countries thus opening new opportunities for successful countries like Georgia. To this end, we attach a special importance to the ongoing dialogue between Serbia-Georgia on European Integration issues and looking forward to the second round of the dialogue in April 18th 2019, in Tbilisi.

SOCIETY

Different and Diverging

Text: ŽIKICA MILOŠEVIĆ

Do we believe in the same values? Take a good look at the map of Europe we have enclosed with the article. Does it look like “OK, West Europe is blue and these are the former capitalist countries. And the red is, hmmm.... Eastern Europe and the former Socialist countries?” Well, almost. In fact, this is the map that shows the support for the samesex marriages in Europe. There is an almost clear cut between East and West, with a noticeable exception of the Czech Republic switching to the Western side. There is also a clean split in what one half of Europe considers tolerable, desirable, OK, good, whatever you call it, and what the other half consider taboo-ish, undesirable, bad, not OK. Never in its history, since the religious wars, Europe was so divided, and this division comes in the times of peace. WEST

The West has its own problems, and we are not talking only about the Western Europe. In the USA, if you see the headlines, you will notice what kind of news dominates – is Colin Kaepernick a hero or a traitor, endless debates about his protests, Black Lives Matter (of course, they matter), LGBT rights, anti-immigration issues, anti-Semitism, anti-Islamism, gender issues... How can we presume a person's sex? Or is it gender? Is it fluid when we declare that sexuality is fluid and it is a spectrum, rather than black and white? Some of my friends got instantly banned from an LGBT-website purely by joking “OK, if there more than just two genders, how can the letter “B” stand for “bisexual” when “BI” means “two”? “When you marry anyone you want to and say you are whatever you feel, but it has to be just one person, so, is that monogamy?” “Why is this so when we have polygamy in real life, even in the West? And polyandry in the Himalaya region, and of course, the old-fashioned polygamy in Asia, Africa, the Muslim world and further? When does that end?” Why are we inventing new language constructs to change psychology? Who knows?! It is all up in the air now! The West is preoccupied with

the identity questions, although identity is purely individual. EAST

In the East, with Eastern Europe increasingly drowning in nationalism and conservatism, from Ukraine and Russia to Poland and Hungary, from Croatia to Albania and Bosnia and Serbia via the breakaway province Kosovo, people are increasingly raising their voices against this fluidity. The Muslim

switched to a more liberal Islam. But this is not the liberal Islam from 1955, when every woman had a choice to wear a scarf or go bare-headed. Now, in many countries, with Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and especially Tunisia being exceptions, almost all women wear headscarves. Even if they are not obligated to! They refused us, they refused our system, our values, they spat us out as tasteless and rotten. They don't converge to us, nor do they

WHEN I WAS A KID I BELIEVED IN A STAR TREK FUTURE; ALL RACES AND RELIGIONS OF THE EARTH UNITED WITH NO TRACE OF RACISM, SHARING THE SAME VALUES. I FAIL TO SEE MANY SHARED VALUES NOWADAYS, APART FROM A COMMON WISH FOR PROFIT AND FAME World was, just like Eastern Europe until recently, imitating the West, but now, it seems that everybody is getting tired of imitating. They are trying to form their own identity. Some of them tried that with the Islamic State, Al Qaeda or Muslim Brotherhood, but the experience proved to be too bitter, so they

have a wish to. They despise us for our materialism, for not having kids and family, for pursuing careers and pleasures. Once it was called freedom, now it is a shame. We did something wrong, maybe? It all depends on your point of view. Even Turkey is trying to find its way and its own cultural model.

DIFFERENT REALITIES These are two different films in fact with almost all seminal moments taken out. We don't even have different opinions; we see different versions of reality and art. Does that seem normal to you? Maybe it is, but to me it is somehow sad. When I was a kid I believed in a Star Trek future; all races and religions of the Earth united with no trace of racism, sharing the same values. I fail to see many shared values nowadays, apart from a common wish for profit and fame.

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

EAST IS EAST AND WEST IS WEST...

OK, enough with Kipling, although sometimes his verses come to mind when you are asking yourself certain questions. In China, they don't even give you a chance to see the other side. The most recent surprise, which was not in fact really a surprise, was the censorship of The Bohemian Rhapsody in cinemas. Fox allowed China to cut some pivotal moments from the film, which we now know include a mention or an allusion to Freddie Mercury’s sexual identity. Freddie's kiss with his colleague and his boyfriend were cut. And the crucial scenes like the one when Freddie Mercury’s lover and friend Mary confronts him over his sexuality and when he says: “I think I’m bisexual,” and she replies with: “No, Freddie, you’re gay.”, are entirely cut out. The scene when Freddie gropes his boyfriend is also cut out, so the audience does not have a clue how he knows the guy all of a sudden. The scene where Freddie follows the truck driver into the toilet also cut out. And so on.

NATIONAL DAYS

in April & May

ARRIVALS & DEPARTURES

APRIL

EDUARDO BOTELHO BARBOSA New Ambassador of Brazil in Belgrade, from March

He was born May 12 1952, in Glasgow, Great Britain. He finished Université Libre de Bruxelles , Belgium Master in International Public Policy, Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies, Washington DC, USA. Eduardo Borelho Barbosa worked as Consulate General in New York, Second Secretary,

Embassy in La Paz, Second and First Secretary, Embassy in Washington, First Secretary, Consulate General in Toronto, Deputy Consul General, Embassy in London, Counsellor and Minister-Counsellor, Embassy in Moscow, Minister-Counsellor and Chargé d’Affaires. Before Belgrade, he was Ambassador in Embassy in Algier.

SYRIA National Day

NETHERLANDS ational Day N (King’s Day)

MAY

POLAND National Day

(Constitution Day)

IOSEB NANOBASHVILI New Ambassador of Gruzia to Serbia

Ambassador Ioseb Nanobashvili was born on April 30, 1971, in Tbilisi, Georgia. He finished Lacrosse University (Bay, St. Louis, MS, USA) and Tbilisi state University (Tbilisi, Georgia). Ambassador Ioseb Nanobashvili is doctor of Philosophy, Political science. He was also director, Department for International Economic Relations, MFA of Georgia, Senior Counselor, Georgian Mission to the OSCE in Vienna, Charge de affaire, Senior Counselor/Consul, Embassy of Georgia to Romania and Moldova,

Bucharest, Deputy Director, Department for European Integration, Mfa of Georgia, Counselor, First Secretary, 2nd Secretary, Georgian Mission to the European Union, Brussels, Belgium, Deputy Head of Division, 2nd Secretary, Attaché, Department for European Integration, Mfa of Georgia. Ioseb Nanobashvili was Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Hellenic Republic and the Republic of Serbia. He speaks English, Russian (professional and fluent) and French basic.

ICRC,IFRC I nternational Red Cross Day

09 EU

National Day

(Schuman Day)

ISRAEL Independence Day

TAMAS NYAKA New General Manager of British American Tobacco factory in Vranje

Tamas Nyaka has been appointed the new General Manager of the British American Tobacco factory in Vranje, who, before this position, managed a supply chain in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, Jugmedia reports. Tamas Nyaka joined BAT in 2001, having achieved excellent results in various managerial positions. He made a strong contribution to the company through working on significant local and regional projects in the field of IT, procurement, project management and supply chain. The new General Manager took

NIKOS ZOIS New Managing Director leading HEINEKEN Serbia

Nikos Zois was appointed as the new Managing Director of HEINEKEN Serbia, effective as of April 1st. Zois will lead the HEINEKEN team in Serbia maintaining the firm business standards through further improvement of top line results. The new Managing Director of HEINEKEN Serbia has a wide commercial experience in the beer industry for almost 25 years. As Sales Director in Athenian Brewery, Zois contributed to the overall

sustainable growth of all operating parameters with a stable financial result. HEINEKEN Bulgaria, led by Zois since 2016, was evaluated by consumers and stakeholders for three consecutive years as the "greenest" and most socially responsible company in the fast moving consumer good sector. In addition, Zois has introduced a number of initiatives improving the company's climate and positioning HEINEKEN Bulgaria as a preferred employer.

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

over the duties from Richard Vredenberg, whose unique management style resulted in the significant growth of the factory, as well as the extraordinary development of teams and individuals working for the company. Under his management, in the last three years, the factory got new production facilities and the volume of production and the exports to CEFTA countries have both increased. From April 1, 2019, Vredenberg will continue his career in a new position, assuming the role of technology director for global BAT markets.

CHANGES IN MANAGERIAL POSITIONS FOR BALKAN MARKET

After six years as Mastercard's General Manager for the Balkans, Artur Turemka has been appointed to the new position of senior vice president of global commercial leaders in London. Once this change is implemented, the regional Balkan markets will directly become part of the Central Eastern Europe Division. Jelena RistiÄ&#x2021; remains director for Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while Vanja Manova remains director for Bulgaria, Northern Macedonia and Albania. Both will be directly responsible to Pawel Rychlinski, Chairman of the Central Eastern European Division at Mastercard. Jelena RistiÄ&#x2021; is in charge of developing and imple-

menting local strategies in these important Balkan markets, as well as for fostering strong partnerships with key collaborators from the private sector and state institutions. Jelena has been working for Mastercard since 2009 and during that time, she has been engaged in expanding the company's business to non-traditional industries, forging new partnerships and exclusive cooperation and managing the growth of market share in all three countries. Jelena has an abundance of experience in the banking sector in Serbia that she generated by working in the card division in one of the leading banks in the market - Banca Intesa.

STEFAN VANOVERBEKE New deputy general manager of global retail operations in Ingka Group

Managing Director of IKEA Southeast Europe, Stefan Vanoverbeke, will take on a new and exciting challenge in IKEA as deputy general manager of global retail operations in Ingka Group. Stefan will be based in Malmo, Sweden, where he will manage the operations for IKEA in Canada, the UK, Ireland, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Russia and India. Stefan joined IKEA Southeast Europe in October 2015, after being previously head of IKEA France and IKEA Poland,

and since then has successfully managed operations and ambitious expansion plans in Romania, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia and Ukraine. In a global organization, Stefan will bring his passion, entrepreneurial spirit, the desire for teamwork and making work fun which are all the values he nurtured while working in Southeast Europe. The transition to the new global function is a step up for Stefan in his long and successful career in IKEA and there is no doubt that he will outperform his role there too.

D&C AWARDS

Diplomacy & Commerce Magazine Celebrates the 3rd Birthday Diplomacy & Commerce magazine, syndication of Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s The Economist magazine, celebrated its third birthday on March 20 at the National Museum in Belgrade. At the celebra-

tion of its 3rd birthday, the magazine also held the DIPLOMACY & COMMERCE AWARDS with individuals, companies and organizations as the recipients in the categories of humanitarian work, CSR activities, mergers of business

AWARD FOR PERSONAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL SOCIETY H.E. SEM FABRIZI Ambassador of the European Union to Serbia

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

and culture, contribution to the improvement of business conditions, bilateral cooperation, civil society and the economic environment in Serbia. The Diplomacy & Commerce Awards were given out in twelve

Let me, first of all, congratulate, Diplomacy & Commerce on their 3rd anniversary. This a very important publication widely read in Belgrade. I read and I contribute regularly to the magazine. This award is a recognition of the importance of civil society and that work that the Delegation of the European Union is doing with the civil society, as an integral part of Serbia's society and the Serbian cause for accession to the

categories to companies and organizations for their contribution to the development of civil society and bolstering the economy. This is what the winners had to say about receiving the award.

European Union. The economic and business relations between the European Union and Serbia are very strong - nearly three-quarters of foreign direct investments in Serbia came from the European Union, and close to 65% of Serbian export ends up in the European Union. That tells you a lot about the strength of these relations, as well as how solid they are and how much potential they have to grow further.

AWARD FOR CONTRIBUTION TO ADVANCEMENT OF BUSINESS CONDITION

MIHAILO VESOVIĆ Vice President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerc

As a chamber which, along with six other regional chambers, has contributed to bringing the economies closer and presenting the Western Balkans as a unique investment region, last three years have been difficult for the Chamber of Commerce because the regional cooperation experienced a lot of political highs and lows. During that time, business cooperation was trying to accomplish as much as possible. Once again, we have proven that business is faster than politics, and we hope that politics will follow in business’ footsteps and do what businesses expect from it. The Chamber Investment Forum has contributed to a better representation of the country and resulted in more investment ideas and projects being implemented in Serbia, as the country that has had the most FDI in the past few years.

AWARD FOR ADVANCING BILATERAL COOPERATION AND ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT

MARLENE BURGSTALLER Deputy Head of ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA Belgrade

I am very happy to receive this award on behalf of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce. We have

been working on our project – dual education in Serbia - since 2015 which means that we have put a lot of work into this, and now it gives us great satisfaction to be rewarded for that. I have to mention our great partnership with the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia and the German-Serbian Chamber of Commerce (AHK). Our partnership and friendship have been developing for years, and it is also a lot of fun to work on this project. The aim of it is to make a dual education in Serbia a natural part of the educational system. This is what we wanted to contribute to this project. The project sponsor is the Austrian Development Agency (ADA). We are also quite happy to get grants which enable us to launch at least two new worker profiles in dual education every year.

AWARD FOR BEST SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE COMPANY

LUCA SANTANDREA Franchise Country General Manager Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Macedoniav at The Coca-Cola Company

It is a great honour for the Coca Cola system to be given the award as the most socially responsible company. This is a validation that the progress of the community and the market in which we are doing our business is essential for us, hence, we are very honoured and committed to continue in this direction. This year, we are planning to carry out different activities. In particular, we are planning to continue making an effort in developing a compressive project together with the Ministry of Health, together with our water brand – Rosa. Furthermore, we will continue supporting the involvement of young people in our project. And, finally, we will continue empowering women together with the Red Cross.

AWARD FOR BEST SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE COMPANY

MARKO MILANKOVIĆ Communications Manager, Nelt Group

We are pleased that our efforts in the segment of socially responsible work have been recognized and rewarded in this way. For years, we have been focusing on education and working with students, universities and faculties. It means a lot to us that such strategic work, commitment to one topic and one very important issue for our country is recognized this time by this award given to us. We continuing to implement our NELT educational programme together with Nova Iskra, and we are also continuing our cooperation with faculties in all markets where we operate. Furthermore, we work with SOS Children's Villages in several countries. We are continuing to focus on young people, talents and the best representatives of the youngest generation.

AWARD FOR CONTRIBUTION TO DEVELOPMENT OF ART AND CULTURE

JELENA STANKOVIĆ Junior Brand Manager HEINEKEN

The campaign went great. We are really happy with the very idea that launched this campaign, as well as its implementation. We collected nearly 50,000 euro,

which will be spent on purchasing furniture for a large gallery at the National Museum. We are confident that we have done a great thing both for our company and our common brand, on one side, and the National Museum, on the other, as a very important institution. This award means a lot to us – it is a great acknowledgement that we are doing the right thing. For as long as you are doing something and believe that it is good, when you receive such recognition, you simply know that it had an impact, that it is valued and that our associates recognize that. We have a few things that we are contemplating doing but I cannot tell you anything more about them now. Socially responsible campaigns are definitely somewhere in our plan for both Heineken and Zaječar Beer.

AWARD FOR CONTRIBUTION TO DEVELOPMENT OF ART AND CULTURE

BOJANA BORIĆ BREŠKOVIĆ Director of the National Museum in Belgrade

Together with Zaječar Beer, the National Museum did something that is common practice in the world. We established cooperation and had a number of donor and sponsorship activities that were not reported about much. We also have a donor campaign which aim is to collect funds for making a case of Miroslav Gospel. Also, we had a few donor campaigns that helped us in restoring the National Museum. However, I think that this campaign with Zaječar Beer is a unique event in our country, not seen so far. Heineken already did something similar with Van Gogh Museum, and by depicting our general heritage, our selected artwork, and our cultural heritage on the bottles of Zaječar Beer, it made them accessible and available to ordinary people.

AWARD FOR BEST SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE CAMPAIGN

moment, this is the best system in the segment, so this award comes at the right time. The project we have implemented with Telekom is one of the largest of its kind in Europe. The purpose of this system is to protect a very valuable underground infrastructure by placing sensors under ground.

AWARD FOR BUSINESS INNOVATION MARIJA DESIVOJEVIĆ CVETKOVIĆ Senior Vice President, Strategy and Development in Delta Holding

Usually, when you are doing a campaign, you are not doing it with a view getting an award for it one day. But when that happens, it means a lot because it is proof and validation that you have been doing the right thing. Every award that we get, as a socially responsible company, solidifies our conviction that we are doing the right thing and that we should do more of them. The project was launched at the end of last year, fueled by the idea that when the spring comes, and when the farming season starts, we can launch our project and all the novelties that we wanted with full capacity. During the winter, we carried out the educational segment of our project, our rural partners travelled to our agricultural holdings to see how were things done there, they acquired the know-how and they were given tools so they can start with their agricultural activities in the spring.

AWARD FOR BUSINESS INNOVATION

VLADAN NEŠIĆ Experienced Telecom and ICT Professional, PMP Telekom Serbia

This award represents recognition for the market that is beginning to flourish in Serbia. It's about the Internet of Things solutions that are not completely new since they have been in use for some ten years. However, the way Telekom is implementing them is new and innovative. I am glad that we are the driving force behind such a development. We recognized Bitgear as a good partner for this project. This is a unique system - a LORA ONE innovation. It is just one part of digital innovation. Apps are actually a whole spectrum of something that will surely experience expansion, thanks to the Internet market.

AWARD FOR THE CONTRIBUTION TO INVESTMENT CLIMATE

DEJAN DRAMIČANIN Founder and CEO Bitgear

I would like to thank Telekom Serbia for recognizing our innovative capacity. This cooperation is very unusual in this part of the world. We have the original solution that we developed with Telekom, and now we can export it because there is a huge interest in it. At the

DUBRAVKA NEGRE Head of EIB Regional Representation for the Western Balkans

I am glad to be able to receive this award on behalf of the European Investment Bank, an institution that I represent in Serbia and regionally, for the contribution to the devel-

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

opment of investment climate. For 18 years now, we have been actively contributing to the development of the investment climate, both directly and indirectly, with more than 5.5 billion euro of invested funds in various projects, especially the infrastructure, which we are known for. We have also invested in the development of the economy, and improving the financing of entrepreneurs and companies in Serbia, both small and large ones. In the past few years, we have supported over 300 investment projects at the local level; small projects in various municipalities throughout Serbia, which not only contribute to the betterment of the investment climate, but also to the people's quality of life.

AWARD FOR CONTRIBUTION TO DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURE

ZORICA DŽIDA Head of CSR department in Vojvodjanska banka

Receiving this award is a really great compliment to all of us in the Vojvodjanska Bank. We are really trying to be responsible members of the community. This time around, we were awarded for preserving the cultural heritage of Serbia, and, I can tell you that we have accomplished really fantastic results. For the past two and a half years, Vojvodjanska Banka has worked intensively with the team from the Matica Srpska Gallery which helped us to systematise, catalogue and at the same time, give insight into the cultural treasure that we have, consisting of 600 paintings of the 20th-century artists from Serbia. We had three big exhibitions - two of them in Novi Sad and one in Belgrade - and we also had paintings caravan. We wanted to take out the paintings hanging on the walls of Vojvodjanska Bank and make them accessible to the public. This is just a small part of what we do in our responsible business. We exercise responsibility in all of our segments, both in relation to our employees and environmental protection.

AWARD FOR THE BIGGEST CHARITY CONTRIBUTION

MAJA KREMIĆ National Director at Novak Djokovic Foundation

For 11 years now, the Novak Djoković Foundation has been investing in the development of pre-school education, and this is a topic that we will continue to focus on in the future too so that our children can grow up in the best possible conditions and thus make our society better and healthier. Each year poses a new challenge for us. We implement strategic projects throughout Serbia every year, and, as a foundation, we make sure that no child is forgotten. Our special focus is on rural areas, i.e. the lesser developed areas. We implement all our projects both in major and smaller towns and municipalities in Serbia.

AWARD FOR CONTRIBUTION TO INVESTMENT IN EDUCATION

CHRISTOS ALEXOPOULOS PHD Director of the College of Applied Health Sciences in Ćuprija

This award is a recognition of the work we did so far and it also obligates us to do and work even more and better in the future. Over the last year, we managed to create a new working practice platform. I can confidently say that we are the best-equipped school in this part of Europe. We have invested substantial funds in training both our teachers and non-teaching staff in order for them to meet high European standards in the education of future healthcare workers.

INTERVIEW

We are Serious About Our Obligations The way in which national minority rights in Serbia are guaranteed and implemented is respectable. In certain segments, our approach can serve as an example to the entire region and the EU

SUZANA PAUNOVIĆ Director of the Office for Human and Minority Rights

Respecting human and minority rights is one of the important priorities of the Republic of Serbia and is part of the country's overall efforts to build a democratic culture and responsible institu-tions, says Suzana Paunović, director of the Office for Human and Minority Rights. What is the situation with respecting human and minority rights at the beginning of 2019?

— Advancing human and minority rights and the quality of life of all citizens is a key priority of the Government of the Republic of Serbia. It is worth noting that the right to life, freedom and the pursuit of happiness are core human rights. Human rights, as well as minority rights as a kind of their collectivity, stem from the nucleus of this idea. This ideal is not easily achieved even by so-cieties and countries with a long tradition of liberal parliamentary democracy. Serbia is a coun-try with a long tradition of statehood, but not a parliamentary democracy. We cannot expect to skip decades and longer periods of time. The situation with human and minority rights is a sequence on a long path of building a democratic culture and functional institutions. We measure progress by con-

sidering the state of human and minority rights at a certain moment. This process is neither straightforward nor irreversible - we must accept the inevitability of all childhood diseases and strive to overcome them as quickly as possible and with as little damage to the social tissue. If we look at the current moment and try to articulate it from the as-pect of the state of human and minority rights, it is necessary to point out several facts.

self-examination. During each cycle of reporting about the state of human rights, Serbia gets new recommenda-tions from the UN and the Council of Europe. The fact that their number is getting smaller and that their structure is significantly changing with every new cycle is a sign that we are making progress. We are one of the few countries that systematically monitor all recommendations made by the United Nations regarding the state

RESPECTING DIVERSITY IN SERBIA IS A MATTER OF COMMITMENT, AND SERBIA SHOULD CONTINUE IMPLE-MENTING SUCH A POLICY In addition to improving the domestic normative framework, we regularly monitor the imple-mentation of recommendations, which we have to apply as a country that is a signatory of inter-national conventions in the field of human rights. We consider the recommendations as a guiding adjustment and an opportunity for

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

of human rights in our country. This demonstrates institution-al seriousness, which was recognized and positively evaluated by the most important UN bodies, as well as by the European Commission in the process of Serbia's accession to the Euro-pean Un-ion. The way in which national minority rights in Serbia are guar-

anteed and implemented is respect-able. In certain segments, our approach can serve as an example to the entire region and the EU. Respecting diversity in Serbia is a matter of commitment, and Serbia should continue imple-menting such a policy. Countries from this region like to see themselves as regional leaders in the processes and policies that are riding the tide of values on which the European Union is founded. I hope that it is not unreasonable to say that the EU recognizes Serbia as one of the leaders in working with national minorities and respecting their rights. If we want this reflection in the mirror to remain a reality, in the long run, I am aware that it will not be enough to just continue with the progress in terms of the position of national minorities. Minority rights are a broader category than the rights of national minorities, and public policies, however good and deserving of occasional praise, are only declarative if they do not materialize in the way society functions.

We cannot separate minority rights from tolerance. Tolerance is not an innate value, and it is not a matter of a social habitat, but a matter of culture and education. How much progress did we make in this segment in relation to the accomplishment of EU integration goals?

— During the EU accession process, Serbia has opened 16 out of a total of 35 negotiation chapters with the key chapters relating to human rights - Chapter 23: Judiciary and Fundamental Rights and Chapter 24: Justice, Freedom and Security. By default, these chapters are opened first and closed among the last due to the importance of this field and the complexity of the compliance process considering that there are only a few laws at the EU level that regulate this area. Countries have a task to deal with these issues in the best way, respecting the standards that constitute the foundations of the European Union. The Action Plan adopted by the Government for Chapter 23 pooled the efforts of state authori-ties, local governments and the non-governmental sector to address these issues in the best pos-sible way. The fact that 80% of the activities are carried out or ongoing speaks volumes about the Serbian government’s commitment for meeting the standards that represent the foundations of the European Union and contribute to the improvement of the state of human rights. The Strategy for Prevention and Protection against Discrimination, as well as special action plans that regulate the position of national minorities and the Roma people in our country, are among the most

I HOPE THAT IT IS NOT UNREASONABLE TO SAY THAT THE EU RECOGNIZES SERBIA AS ONE OF THE LEADERS IN WORKING WITH NATIONAL MINORITIES AND RESPECTING THEIR RIGHTS important documents that have come out of this process. The European Commission’s report states that Serbia has demonstrated “slower progress” in terms of media freedom, the rule of law and fighting organized crime and cor-ruption. Which measures, that come under your Office’s jurisdiction, are you imple-menting so that the next report is better?

— We can debate about the segments of the EU report that you are highlighting. But the good thing is that we comprehend these

parts of the report as a mature and responsible society. We are aware that there is no rule of law without media freedom. Free media are not only needed to provide information, but they are constructors of habits and tastes; free media educate and warn, problematize but also direct, and this is the way how we approach this topic in the Gov-ernment of Serbia. The Office for Human and Minority Rights ensures that all relevant departments in the Govern-ment, the National Assembly, local self-governments and national minority councils are familiar

with the recommendations related to these areas. We have developed a plan to fulfil all recommendations of the UN human rights mechanisms ad-dressed to the Republic of Serbia. This plan contains a total of 388 recommendations, including those relating to media freedom, corruption and the rule of law in general. Furthermore, the Plan includes information on the status of the recommendations, the goals, the deadlines, as well as the competent authorities in charge of their fulfilment. I have to note that the EC has underlined the fact that Serbia regularly monitors and reports on the implementation of international treaties, and therefore on these recommendations. This annual overview of the situation, with recommendations for further improvement of hu-man rights, as well as all other areas of social life, are important, not only for our country’s acces-sion to the EU but also for the improvement of the position of all our citizens. Which donors contribute to your operations the most?

— The UN agencies and the OSCE mission in Serbia provide continuous support to the work done by the Office for Human and Minority Rights, especially in regard to monitoring the implementation of international and regional human rights agreements. We got significant support for improving the position of vulnerable social groups, especially na-tional minorities and the Roma people, through the implementation of the IPA and the EU Twinning programmes. The Council of Europe, Sweden’s SIDA, Germany’s GIZ, FOS in Serbia, and the Kingdom of Norway have also supported our work.

WE HAVE CLOSE COOPERATION WITH THE CIVIL SECTOR Non-governmental organizations are the most important partners of the state in the promotion and protection of human rights. The dialogue with the non-governmental sector is constantly improving. Although it is quite natural that our views on certain issues do not fully match, it is important that we all work together to achieve the same goal. Organizations are the ones that have the most information on the situation in the field and can thus help us to determine priori-ties in action. In the past period, the Republic of Serbia has been striving to improve the cooperation with the non-governmental sector, both through financial support for the implementation of numerous projects, as well as through direct cooperation in

the adoption of new laws and strategies. The state, provincial and local budgets have all allocated funds to support non-governmental organi-zations in the implementation of projects that relate to the improvement of human and minority rights. The Government’s Council, which I chair, and which monitors the implementation of the rec-ommendations of the UN human rights mechanisms, has signed memoranda of cooperation with 12 civil society organizations, with the interest constantly increasing. The Council has initiated the establishment of a Platform of Organizations, currently consisting of 18 civil society organi-zations that submit reports to UN mechanisms for human rights, and plans to promote this co-operation.

CORPORATE

30 Years of Successful Operations When you put all the benefits together, it is clear to see that Sigma Kula's technology is a synergistic solution to a number of existential issues related to safe, reliable and quality water supply

DRAGAN KAPIČIĆ Director of SIGMA KULA DOO

We are talking to Director of SIGMA Kula, Dragan Kapičić about the company's plans and its 30th anniversary of successful operations.

This year, you are celebrating 30 years of the company's successful operations. From the viewpoint of the leading company in your branch, could you tell us more about your business activities during this period – from ideas to their realization, implementation of standards and market needs? — Sigma was founded in 1989. We had the first contact with a team of scientists from Belgrade's Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, led by Professor Nedeljko Krstajić, PhD, in 1994 when the development of the first commercial HLOROGEN plant for the production of 1% sodium hypochlorite solution in the place of consumption began. The development of this first model lasted two years and was fully funded from the company's own money. After two years of designing, developing and demonstrating the parameters, the first HLOROGEN plant was installed and put into operation in the Bezdan water supply system. This plant still works to this day, 23 years later, without a single day of stoppage, which proves that the shortest exploitation period of our equipment is 25 years. As the network of our users began to grow, a need arose for automating the process of dosing disinfectant in the water.

So, parallel with the development and improvement of HLOROGEN technology, we started developing the Automatic Dosing System (ADS). The issue of dosage automation is solved through the use of measuring and control elements that measure the level of chlorine (residual chlorine) in the treated water and the water flow. This provides two basic types of ADSR dosing systems - Automatic Dosing System, based on the residual, and ADSP - Automatic Dosing System, based on flow. The uniqueness of all our systems and technical solutions is that all work elements are made in pairs - OPERATIONAL - SPARE, which ensures complete security and reliability in that in the event of a failure of the work system due to damage, the spare automatically takes over the operations which means that the process of disinfection is not inter-

This is a particularly pronounced problem in the area of the Pannonian Basin (Vojvodina, Slavonia, Baranja, Hungary, Tamisz Banat) where there is a noticeable presence of organic humic substances. Regular disinfection of such water with chlorine or technical sodium hypochlorite is not possible, as in this case trihalomethanes are formed which are potentially cancerous. The use of OksiHLOROGEN technology and MIXED DISINFECTANT ensures effective and safe disinfection of drinking water rich in organic humic substances.

Serbia possesses the technology for automatic and ecologically safe chlorination of drinking water, as well as disinfection of wastewater, swimming pool water and water in water parks. Is this technology sufficiently used?

SIGMA D.O.O. KULA FINANCES ALL THE AFOREMENTIONED TESTS AND QUALITY CERTIFICATES FROM ITS OWN FUNDS AND THANKS TO ITS OWN TEAM OF ENGINEERS THAT ARE MANAGING DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES rupted for one single moment. As a result of closely following the market needs, in 2010, we started developing OksiHLOROGEN equipment for the production of MIXED DISINFECTANT in the place of consumption. The mixed disinfectant is a mixture of sodium hypochlorite and chlorine dioxide. This entails the synergy of two strong disinfectants and oxidation solids that solve the problems of disinfection of drinking water that is rich in organic humic substances.

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

— So far, the benefits of our technical solutions have been recognized in over 150 locations in the Republic of Serbia, Montenegro, Hungary and Croatia. Waterworks are definitely our biggest users (from small rural waterworks to large regional waterworks such as the one in Novi Sad). In addition to the water supply systems, our equipment is used by medical institutions (Clinical Centre Novi Sad, Special Hospital in Junaković Spa), food industry (meat producers Carnex and Neoplanta), swimming pools

and public baths (SPENS Novi Sad, ADICA Recreation Centre in Ada) and wastewater filtering facilities (DRV Siófok, Hungary, Nemesgulács plant). Currently, over 1.1 million people use water treated with our technology. There are about 3,000 local water supply systems in Serbia, and wastewater treatment plants are still in their infancy, so there is still plenty of room for improvement of the safety of water supply systems in the Republic of Serbia and removal of hazardous chemicals from use. Environmental protection and health and safety of citizens are one of the main prerequisites for Serbia's accession into the EU, and our company is certainly ready to contribute to the safe water supply of all people in our country and the region.

SIGMA's core business activity is the production of HLOROGEN and OksiHLOROGEN equipment for the production of disinfectant for completely harmless water chlorination. This technology is unique, and in accordance with the standards you apply and experience, a number of your clients and partners have recognized its quality. What are its benefits and what future does this kind of technology have?

— The users of the technological equipment produced by our company have recognized several important benefits. Safety is certainly the number one benefit. Thanks to the HLOROGEN and OksiHLOROGEN technology, using hazardous substances in the disinfection process was made obsolete. By hazardous substances, we mean gas chlorine, which is an extremely dangerous and deadly gas which had been

used as a poison during the two world wars. Our technology ensures a safe working environment for workers and all other people because by eliminating hazardous substances from their surroundings. Safety has also been demonstrated when registering biocides with the Register of Biocidal Products of the Republic of Serbia during which a Safety Data Sheet has been drafted in accordance with the CLP / GHS Directive. Another important benefit is independence. By applying our technology, users have become independent from suppliers and importers of chemicals. By using HLOROGEN and OksiHLOROGEN equipment each user is practically a disinfectant manufacturer for himself. With the use of three commonly available raw materials, electricity, water and table salt, in a completely safe and environmentally friendly technological process, we have a disinfectant is safe for human health and the environment. The safety of this disinfectant, as well as its effectiveness, has been demonstrated by laboratories of the Dr Milan Jovanović Batut Institute of Public Health of Serbia. The third benefit is certainly economic. The use of HLOROGEN and OksiHLOROGEN cuts back costs by a minimum of 45% compared to the costs of purchasing a disinfectant from regular suppliers. The justification of this calculation lies in the application of three very affordable raw materials for the production of disinfectant (electricity, water and table salt). Since, in this case, the disinfectant is produced in the place of consumption, there are no transportation costs associated with it. In the event that the user has to transport the disinfectant at some of its distant locations, there are no special requirements for transport associated with the ADR transport of hazardous goods, and the disinfectant can be transported in its own packaging, in accordance with the Safety Data Sheet. When you put all the benefits together, it is clear to see that Sigma Kula's technology is a synergistic solution to a number of existential issues related to safe, reliable and quality water supply.

You have been constantly investing in product development and quality, and you are planning to build a new plant in the Kula industrial zone that will mass produce this new product. Could

to employment in our local community by hiring new workers.

Your company's mission is to maintain a leadership position in your branch and winning over other markets thanks to the implementation of relevant standards, your product quality and continuous improvement of technology and staff. Which global markets do you see as potential partners?

DUE TO THE GEOGRAPHICAL PROXIMITY AND SIMILAR SOIL COMPOSITION, AS WELL AS DUE TO THE SIMILAR WATER QUALITY, GREAT POTENTIAL LIES IN THE COUNTRIES OF THE REGION, PRIMARILY THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

you tell us more about that?

— After more than 20 years of experience in the disinfection of drinking water, and after we registered our disinfectants as biocidal products with the Register of Biocidal Products of the Republic of Serbia, we decided that the time has come to offer the market a reliable and safe disinfectant for working surfaces for a wide range of use. Because of the way the disinfectants Aqualor H (sodium hypochlorite) and Oxylor (mixed disinfectant) are produced and

because of the composition they fall into the category of GREEN CHEMICALS that are completely harmless for human consumption and the environment. According to CLP / GHS directives, these preparations are registered for use in disinfection in households and public health institutions, veterinary hospitals, surfaces that come in contact with food for humans and animals and, of course, for disinfection of drinking water. After the plant is finished and commissioned, we are going to contribute

— Due to the geographical proximity and similar soil composition, as well as due to the similar water quality, great potential lies in the countries of the region, primarily the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Hungary. The first HLOROGEN plants were opened in these two countries at the end of last year. In order to enter the markets of EU countries that are close to us, SIGMA d.o.o. has invested a lot of money and effort into obtaining quality certificates for our equipment. The biggest challenge was obtaining the CE mark as the closest laboratory that could perform the necessary tests was in Ljubljana. After obtaining the CE mark for HLOROGEN, OksiHLOROGEN and Automatic Dosing System, our next major challenge preparing for the registration with the EU Biocide Register. We have invested a lot of funds and effort in creating the necessary conditions under the EU laws so that we will successfully register our products with this register. SIGMA d.o.o. Kula finances all the aforementioned tests and quality certificates from its own funds and thanks to its own team of engineers that are managing development programmes. In order to prove most of the parameters, our company had to develop its own quality control systems and establish four internal laboratories to ensure consistency and repeatability of quality in production. www.sigmakula.co.rs

AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS Your work and innovations have been given numerous awards, including the award at this year's "European Night in Belgrade-The Best European" in the development programme category. How much does this award mean to you and what are your plans for the future? — The European Night in Belgrade-The Best European Award in the development programme category gives us great motivation and impetus to achieve even bigger success next year and expand our market both in Serbia and the EU.

INTERVIEW

I am a Believer that Activism Can Thrive The most successful activists are those who are able to translate their ideas into tangible and effective initiatives that connect with everyday people's hopes and challenges

LAURA PALMER PAVLOVIĆ Director of USAID's Office of Democratic and Economic Growth in Serbia

USAID supports numerous projects which aim to facilitate further development of democratic culture and practice in Serbia. Director of USAID's Office of Democratic and Economic Growth in Serbia Laura Palmer Pavlović speaks for the DC on the situation in the civil sector and the perspectives of Serbia. What is the current situation in the civil sector in Serbia like? What does your CSO Sustainability Index tell us about the latest trends in this segment?

— The current situation in the civil society sector, much like the rest of the country, is complex. Over the last couple of years we have seen both some advances, for example in areas related to philanthropy and the growth of civil society-private sector partnerships, and some challenges in areas related to the public image of civil society and the enabling environment for advocacy. This is also reflective of USAID’s Civil Society Sustainability Index trends around the world, which has rasised global concerns regarding shrinking space for civil society.

needs. People have been activists throughout history, though their themes and tools have changed based on circumstance and need. The most successful activists are those that are able to translate their ideas into tangible and effective initiatives that connect with people’s daily hopes and challenges. I think that one of the greatest opportunities and challenges civil society faces today is the speed with which grassroots movements can mobilize citizens around topics they care about. This is a huge demonstration of the faith people have that their engagement in causes can make a difference. At the same time, we’ve seen that it is critical that these movements are

THE MOST SUCCESSFUL ACTIVISTS ARE THOSE THAT ARE ABLE TO TRANSLATE THEIR IDEAS INTO TANGIBLE AND EFFECTIVE INITIATIVES THAT CONNECT WITH PEOPLE’S DAILY HOPES AND CHALLENGES able to convert citizen demands into concrete policy proposals and engage with decision makers to advance them. Thus, I think that the role civil society organizations play in connecting up societal challenges with proactive policymaking is more important than ever.

Given the current circumstances, can activism thrive at all? What are the strengths of the civil society in terms of improving civil participation in decision-making processes in the society?

You support numerous projects which aim is to facilitate further development of democratic culture and practice in Serbia. Which practices would you like to single out as the most successful?

— I am a firm believer that activism can thrive anytime and anywhere if it responds to local

— Two years ago we commissioned a study that looked back at our assistance in Serbia, in the area

of democratic governance over the past two decades, and what had sustained, and why. We were very pleased to learn that many of the initiatives we’ve supported, from Citizens Assistance Centers to One-stop Permitting Centers to Annual budget letters from local self-governments, continue in most of the communities in which we’ve worked across Serbia. We’ve also found that results are better designed and sustained when they engage all of those affected by an issue. Lastly, engaging broad groups of stakeholders is not easy—thus, utilizing creative ways to raise awareness, engage stakeholders and establish partnerships between different sectors.

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

How much did the activities of the National Coalition for Decentralization change the way in which things are done in Serbia and the way in which decisions are made, considering that both processes are highly centralized?

— NCD has made Nis the epicenter of civic activism in Serbia and has brought issues of centralization and decentralization to the forefront of public debate on issues ranging from the geographic distribution of Members of Parliament and the impact of this issue on citizen representation to supporting local campaigns focused on things such as air polution, digital safety

of children and labor rights intitatives. What makes them unique is that they truly practice what they preach in terms of empowering local actors to pursue their own interests and agendas, as opposed to taking on these interests and agendas by themselves.We are excited to be working with NCD to support community intiatives throughout Serbia because we too believe that when communities come together to address shared challenges great things can happen. Can such initiatives survive without donor support?

— We believe so. The first step is to strengthen the system by which these initiatives can more easily access a combination of donor, private and public sector funding as well as mobilize community resources.This is why USAID is supporting a number of different projects that are exploring tools such as online crowdfunding, endowment building, venture philanthropy, public-private dialogue, and social entrepreneurship, that can help contribute to meeting these needs We are already starting to see the results of this approach. In the last year alone, the donacije. rs website, which was relaunched with USAID support, has faciltated the crowdfunding of nearly $100,000 to assist citizens and groups in need across Serbia. All of this takes time, patience and strategic thinking on both the civil society and donor side. We hope that in a couple of years we will not only have a number of new, strong civil society actors addressing the needs of Serbian citizens, but that they and others will also be in a position to take further steps towards self-reliance.

CORPORATE

One Card. One Membership Fee. FitPass: Train where you want, what you want and when you want! FitPass is a unique sporting system in Serbia that allows you to do your favourite sports activities near your workplace or home with a single membership fee. FitPass card covers training sessions in over 650 sports facilities and 60 disciplines (gym, dancing, yoga, swimming pools, tennis, Pilates, group trainings, spa, cycling, bowling...) in 25 cities in Serbia. Plus, as a holder of the FitPass card, you also become a member of FitPass Club where you are entitled to different discounts in healthy food restaurants, as well as to services such as massages, wellness programmes, specialized medical check-ups, supplement purchases and fitness equipment. Do you know why athletes are the most productive employees?

First and foremost, they’re persistent and responsible in carrying out their tasks and have good time management. Also, they’re learning from their own failures and putting their team ahead of their personal interests. The most importantly, they take criticism well because they’re persistent in achieving their goals. TRAIN TOGETHER!

Satisfied employees are the result of employers investing in their non-formal education, as well as in activities that will further encourage them to boost their efficiency to the highest possible level. This includes community gatherings. Team building became a must have in modern world, because in many ways, they affect

the productivity of workers. If you choose to "break" everyday monotony with some sort of sporting activity that is not standard, you are on the right track. You can do this with your FitPass card, which is a ticket to the sporting lifestyle with many companies recognizing the importance of this unique concept in Serbia. In order to make these activities more interesting, companies form teams and compete in available sports disciplines.

If you are still not a member of our large family of satisfied users and you would want to, you can find all the necessary information on www.fitpass.rs, in the section for business users www.fitpass. rs/kompanije. Also, if you have any questions or want more detailed information, you contact our customer support at kontakt@ fitpass.rs which will get back to you as soon as possible. FitPass team

ECONOMY

How Betting on Oil Prices Greases the Industry’s Wheels The message from futures markets is that high spot prices will not last

Of all the lines of all the characters in all the scenes in “Casablanca”, the ones that resonate most are spoken not by Humphrey Bogart, the leading man, but by Claude Rains, who plays Louis Renault, a cynical police captain. Needing a pretext to shut down Rick’s, the nightclub owned by Bogart’s character, he declares that he is “shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here”. Renault’s line captures the fake distaste for gambling that lives on in polite circles. It finds expression even in impolite circles, such as finance. Take the market for oil futures. Only the gauche would describe it as anything other than a system for transferring risk. Oil producers sell futures to insure themselves against a price rout that would threaten solvency. Investors earn a risk premium by buying them. There is something to this characterisation. Producers are indeed short futures much of the time. But often, they are long. Perhaps the real reason for a thriving futures market is that people both inside and outside of the oil business enjoy a punt on the price of crude. If so, that is all to the good. The prices that wash out of these wagers are an invaluable guide to decision-making about production, storage and investment. The benefits hinge on the relationship between spot prices, futures prices and inventories. The spot price is what you pay if you need a barrel of oil immediately. The futures price is more like a wager on a sporting match. If the spot price of Brent crude in a year’s time proves to be higher than $67, the current 12-month futures price, the buyer wins the bet; if it is lower, the seller wins. If oil prices are hard to predict, futures prices should be lower than spot prices. This theory assumes there is excess demand to hedge against falling prices. Speculators are need-

THE SPOT PRICE HAS RISEN FROM $53 TO $70 A BARREL SINCE THE START OF THE YEAR ed to take the other side of the bet. Low futures prices are the inducement they in turn require. In practice, periodic gluts and shortages mean that oil prices are prone to wild swings. The oil market switches between “backwardation” (where futures prices are below spot) and “contango” (where they are above it). The volatility of prices makes it difficult to detect a reward for speculation, or risk premium, in any single commodity market. But studies by Gary Gorton and Geert Rouwenhorst of Yale University find that a buyer of a varied basket of com-

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

modity futures would earn a hefty risk premium. What links the spot and futures prices is the level of stocks held by the oil industry. Storage is costly, but so is running out of supply. As a rule, the lower stocks are, the higher the premium speculators should demand. Just as ample stocks tend to dampen price volatility, skimpy stocks tend to amplify it, making speculation riskier. Backwardation gives speculators a compensating reward. What is today’s oil market telling us? opec agreed in December to cut production. Demand is

picking up. The spot price has risen from $53 to $70 a barrel since the start of the year. The market may well tighten further in the short term. Saudi Arabia, opec’s largest producer, is pumping less than its quota; it seems keen on higher prices. Meanwhile foreign-policy hawks in America want to tighten the screws on Iran’s oil exports. Power cuts in oil-rich but inflation-ravaged Venezuela have further reduced its capacity to pump oil. Futures prices are below spot prices. This backwardated curve is a signal to run down stocks while prices are high. And inventories have indeed been falling, according to an analysis by Martijn Rats of Morgan Stanley, suggesting that the market is undersupplied. If stocks fall further, backwardation is likely to become more extreme. And the more futures prices fall relative to spot prices, the more tempting is the risk premium they offer to investors. The other message from the oil curve is that high spot prices will not last. In this regard, opec faces a dilemma. Higher prices solve short-term problems: Saudi Arabia needs an oil price of around $80 to balance its budget, for instance. But they are a spur to non-opec sources of oil and to non-oil sources of energy. The long-run result is an oversupplied market and lower oil prices. “Casablanca” is full of such dilemmas. Rick is forced to choose between love and honour, and judges that dishonour would spoil love. For Renault, having Rick arrested for the murder of a German major would be a feather in his cap. Instead he plays the long game and orders his squad to “round up the usual suspects”. As time goes by, an alliance with Rick might prove more profitable. From The Economist, published under licence. The original article, in English, can be found on www. economist.com

INTERVIEW

Our Profession is on its Way Down There isn't much hope for us journalists if we don't reset ourselves

IVAN IVANOVIĆ TV Author & Presenter

Ivan Ivanović returned to our TV screens on April 5th when his new show had its premiere on Nova S TV channel. A day after the premiere, we met with Ivanović at his restaurant in Vračar and exchanged impressions about his new beginning, the decision that he made and its consequences. At the beginning of the interview, he says that the impressions after his first show are excellent and that comments are good. He also believes that there has never been a show of this quality in cable television production in Serbia. „If I did not tell jokes on TV every Friday, I would probably be telling them in a bar every Friday, because that's just me“, he adds. „I don't think that this show should be seen as a huge profes-

sional milestone for me but rather as a short recess during season 10. I was interrupted in staying on the top, so to speak. With the first episode, we showed everybody that we don't f*** around. We are going to continue working as before, and

was a form of protest and it did carry certain business risks. To begin with, I could have got no job offers and that would be the end. On the other hand, it wasn't easy to make a comeback after a long recess and after everything that had hap-

AS FAR AS MY COLLEAGUES GO, I HAVE TO SAY THAT ANYBODY WHO MEANT SOMETHING TO ME OFFERED THEIR SUPPORT in my opinion, we are the best in this TV segment in the Balkans,“ Ivanović says. You said that you had a difficult time returning to TV screens. Why? What made you hesitant?

— Maybe my personal story is different because I literally had to start from nothing. I was doing everything myself on my way to the top. And once you get there, it's a dog eat dog world. My departure

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

pened. You are aware of how much the audience expects from you and that is quite stressful. I never had to encounter something like this before, but I have survived. Leaving Prva TV was a form of protest. What happened so you had to make such a decision?

— My show could not have been done in the same way we had been doing it if we were to continue broadcasting on national frequen-

cy. Today, national frequencies are here to serve people in power, and that is quite obvious. In December, I already spoke to the viewers about what had been happening with the media in Serbia. I did not want to be a part of that. I think that people would have been very disappointed in me if I had stayed in such an environment and be a part of fake media. I wanted to demonstrate that a person had to fight for their principles regardless of being at risk of losing money or status. The price I had to pay for that was high and it was also a security risk because nobody wants to be on the front page of tabloids. Still, I couldn't go against yourself. I had no choice. It was a coerced move and I couldn't have done anything differently. I would have felt bad about appearing on any TV station that was unprofessional, biased and indecent. I had to put up with some of it, but that had to stop.

In the very first show, you asked Olja Bećković if her colleagues were supportive of her. Did you enjoy the support of your colleagues when you decided to leave?

— Well, my colleagues from the TV station I had worked for did support me, but in private. You have to know that if somebody is seen drinking coffee with me, that person will get a message from their superior along the lines „be careful about who you are having coffee with“. Nobody from Prva TV was comfortable with openly supporting me. As far as my other colleagues go, I have to say that anybody who meant something to me offered their support. Musicians and almost every actor that I know offered their support. Anyhow, I believe that those people who failed to support me and who are writing horrible things about me kind of understand why I did what I did. Their aggression stems from hating themselves for not doing the same thing I did because they don't have enough courage or are afraid of losing their paycheck. I would like to say to all of them that they need to think more about themselves and their own lives, and not to emanate aggression through reporting fake news. So, that's how your colleagues reacted. How did your family react when you told them that you were leaving Prva and starting to work for Nova S?

— The most important person that I consulted about my depar-

ture was my daughter Staša. We talked about it and with one gesture she showed me that she understood everything. That was the end of that. In terms of my comeback, everybody wanted it, but when this first wave of satisfaction passed over, I started to realize that I was at the very beginning. My family did support me and were also a little worried about the entire situation. Of course, it is not normal that I found myself in such a situation.

and Tomislav Nikolić experienced the same thing. Nobody wanted to have them as guests and that was a sort of self-censorship. Later on, they got invited to various TV shows. The real question I would like to ask him (Vučić) is what changed in the meantime so that he thinks it is acceptable that nobody from the opposition bloc is allowed to appear on a TV station with national frequency and say what they have to say. That is the real issue.

Aleksandar Vučić was the first politician that was a guest in your show. Are you going to have more politicians on the show?

You were quoted as saying that the Internet was the only medium where you could exercise freedom. Do you still believe that?

— I am not planning on having

I WANTED TO DEMONSTRATE THAT A PERSON HAD TO FIGHT FOR THEIR PRINCIPLES REGARDLESS OF BEING AT RISK OF LOSING MONEY OR STATUS more politicians on my show because it has been misconstrued that I have opposition politicians on my show only to propagate their ideas. If the entire interaction between the parties in power and the opposition was better, yes, I would have more politicians on my show and would ask them all sorts of things. Now that you have mentioned Vučić's appearance, I invited him to the show because I thought that it was unacceptable that opposition leaders were not allowed to appear on TV stations with national frequencies. Back in the day, he

— The point I was trying ot make with that statement is that it is unacceptable from the civilizational standpoint that the media with national frequency, which is owned by the Serbian citizens, don't give a single minute of airtime to someone that opposes an official policy or is critical of it. There is no public debate about anything. For instance, the Belgrade authorities think that talking about the Belgrade cable car in RTS' weather forecast was alright. Our profession is on its way down and everybody who stayed working for these systems and

helped them in any way should be ashamed of themselves. I don't want to be ashamed of anything. The current situation is absolutely unbearable. Another thing that is abnormal that there are more good journalists and journalistic stars outside the media. At Nova S, we formed a front consisting of the people who have been fired or are branded persona non grata by the mainstream media. Serbia is a deeply divided country, and what you are describing are divisions in the journalistic profession too. Can we overcome these differences or are they insurmountable?

— We can always overcome them but in order for that to happen, a dozen of us needs to get together, look each other into the eyes, admit what we have done wrong and put our profession's interests above our own. This is possible, but it's a million dollar question whether it is realistic. We are divided in as much that nobody is sure what qualifies you to become a journalist since 70% of the people who consider themselves journalists did not graduate journalism from the Faculty of Political Sciences. While all of that is going on, we are losing jobs, a place to work and our freedom. The regime is cooking us like frogs. That's what is happening to journalists. The first thing in this profession is that you have to tell the truth. Without resetting ourselves, and by ourselves I mean journalists, there isn't much to hope for.

ABSOLUTELY ABNORMAL Serbia is God-given for satirical shows. The things you can find here, you can't find anywhere else in the world. Is this good for your show? — On the one hand, it's excellent because there is a lot of material to work with and a lot of inspiration. On the other hand, it's bad because there is nothing else that people talk about here but politics and you are at risk of having too much politics in your script. It's also bad because the government is so hilarious that it is virtually impossible to make them even more hilarious. Even news programmes are hilarious to that degree that they are a joke unto themselves. Speaking long term, a situation that is this crazy cannot bring anything good to a nation or a country. I have been trying to explain this all the time. I have to underline that I am not a member of any political party and that I have never been one. As a free citizen, I can vouch that the current situation is absolutely abnormal.

PEOPLE & EVENTS

03 RECEPTION AT THE MAR

EMBASSY OF EGYPT IN BELGRADE

residence. The reception was attended by numerous members of the diplomatic corps and representatives of the public, cultural and political scene in Serbia.

H.E. Abdelhamid Chebchoub, Algerian Ambassador to Serbia

H.E. Amr Aljowaily

03 GENDER EQUALITY MAR

In honour of the UN peacekeeping courses, organized by the Conflux Centre, the Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Serbia, H.E. Amr Aljowaily, hosted a reception in his

AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS

The Embassy of Romania in Belgrade and the Romanian Presidency of the EU Council #RO2019UE organized a seminar called “FOR A COHESIVE EUROPE: GENDER EQUALITY AND

WOMEN’S RIGHTS” on March 7th at King Peter’s House in Belgrade. The seminar co-organizers were the Embassy of Finland and the Embassy of Croatia, as part of the EU Trio, the Council of Europe and UN Women.

H.E. Kyle Randolph Scott, Maja Gojković, H.E. Sem Fabrizi, EU delegation, Jadranka Joksimović and Tanja Miščević

08 36 YEARS SINCE THE

MAR

MURDER OF THE TURKISH AMBASSADOR IN BELGRADE

The Turkish Ambassador, H.E. Galip Balkar was killed by the Armenian terrorist organization ASALA on March 9, 1983, in Resavska Street in his official car as he stood waiting for the traffic lights to change. Not far from the assassination place, a Serbian

H.E.Tanju Bilgiç, Turkish Ambassador to Serbia

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

student Željko Milivojević was also killed, trying to catch the assassins. The Embassy of the Republic of Turkey held a commemoration to remind the public of this tragic event and highlight that terrorism is a global threat that spares no-one.

H. E. Subrata Bhattacharjee, Indian Ambassador and H.E. Abdelhamid Chebchoub, Algerian Ambassador

03 ST. PATRICK'S

The Ambassador of Ireland, H.E. Orla O’Hanrahan, hosted a reception in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day on 12th March at Kinoteka. Saint Patrick’s Day is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (c. AD 385–461), the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Celebrations generally involve

DAY AT JUGOSLOVENSKA KINOTEKA MAR

H.E. Nikolaus Lutterotti, Austrian Ambassador and H.E. Orla O’Hanrahan

15 TASTES OF MAR

FRANCE IN SERBIA

public parades and festivals, céilís, and the wearing of green attire or shamrocks. Saint Patrick’s Day is a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador (for provincial government employees), and the British Overseas Territory of Montserrat.

H.E. Orla O’Hanrahan

A total of 16 restaurants, 15 in Belgrade and one in Zrenjanin, took part in the fifth edition of Goût de France (Tastes of France) in Serbia. French cuisine was served on March 21, whereas some restaurants featured this special offer throughout the week, from March 18 through to

24. Restaurants, bistros and the most exclusive spots on the gastronomic map of the world offered their guests French dishes. Goût de France was created at the initiative of one of the most famous French chefs, Alain Ducasse, and the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

H.E. Frédéric Mondoloni, French Ambassador, with head chefs from 15 restaurants

21 PRESENTATION MAR

OF EU FUNDS IN PARTICULAR SECTORS

In cooperation with the Embassy of Greece in Belgrade and the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia, The Hellenic Business Association of Serbia organized a presentation on the topic “EU Funds in Particular Sectors” .The Minister Counsellor for Economic and Commercial Affairs and the Head of the Department of Economic and Commercial Affairs at the Embassy of

Zafeirios Lampadaridis

Greece to Serbia, Mr. Charalampos Kounalakis, welcomed all the guests and thanked the representatives of the EU Delegation for their responsiveness in organizing this event, while the President of the Management Board of the Hellenic Business Association of Serbia, Mr. Zafeirios Lampadaridis, underlined the importance of such a presentation from the perspective of an entrepreneur.

Charalampos Kounalakis

MORE PHOTOS ON

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

PEOPLE & EVENTS

25 LECTURE ON THE MAR

OCCASION OF THE MONTH OF FRANCOPHONIE

On the occasion of the Month of Francophonie in 2019 and in cooperation with the University of Belgrade, the Embassy of the Republic of Tunisia in Belgrade held a lecture on the history of Tunisian woman titled “From Phoenician Heritage to Franco-

phone Heritage: The Tunisian Woman, A Memorable Story” held by a professor from Tunis, Hind Soudani at Francophonie Centre at the Svetozar Markovic University Library. Dr Hind Soudani teaches French, translation and linguistics at the University of La Manouba, Tunisia.

H.E. Seyf Allah Rejeb, Tunisian Ambassador with guests

26 THE MAR

INDEPENDENCE DAY OF GREECE MARKED

The Greek Embassy in Serbia held a reception in honour of the Independence Day of Greece at the Metropol Hotel in Belgrade. The Greek Ambassador to Serbia, H.E. Mr. Elias Eliadis welcomed the guests and said in his address that today’s Greece was a modern state based on the tradition of ancient

Minister Zoran Djordjević and Charalampos Kounalakis,,Minister Counselor for Economic and Commercial Affairs at the Greek Embassy in Serbia

26 SERBIAN MAR

AMBASSADOR TO UK WAS RECIEVED BY H.M. QUEEN

H.E. Denis Keefe, British Ambassador and H.E. Jan Erik Mikael Lundin, Swedish Ambassador to Serbia

Aleksandra Joksimović, the Serbian Ambassador to the UK, was received by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The Serbian Ambassador handed over credentials to Queen Elizabeth II, and a message from the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic that the royal family is welcome to Belgrade

H.E. Aleksandra Joksimović with her husband

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

democracy, advocating stability and prosperity of the region. The reception was attended by numerous representatives of public and cultural life, including ministers in the Government of Serbia, representatives of the diplomatic corps, military officials, church dignitaries and others.

H.E. Elias Eliadis

and that their visit, such as the one from 2016, when Prince Charles visited Serbia , contributes to better mutual relations. She also talked with the Queen about the common history of the two countries and reminded her of the recent celebration of 180 years of the Serbian-British relations.

Boban Spasojević, D&C Croatia and Robert Čoban, CPG

3 Birthday of Diplomacy & Commerce Magazine rd

Diplomacy & Commerce Magazine, a syndication of MAR London’s The Economist magazine, celebrated its third birthday on March 20 at the National Museum in Belgrade. At the celebration of its 3rd birthday, the magazine also held the DIPLOMACY & COMMERCE AWARDS with individuals, companies and organizations as the recipients in the categories of humanitarian work, CSR activities, mergers of business and culture, contribution to the improvement of business conditions, bilateral cooperation, civil society and the economic environment in Serbia. President of the Color Press Group, Robert Čoban thanked all the guests and said: “When Prince Pavle and Milan Kasanin began to buy important works of the world’s greatest painters about a hundred years ago, they were dealing with

Tanja Banković, D&C, Minister Zoran Djorđević, Robert Čoban, CPG and Ruža Ristanović, D&C

H.E. Nikolaus Lutterotti

H.E. Abdelhamid Chebchoub with Tanja Banković, D&C

H.E. Gordan Bakota with Ruža Ristanović, D&C

Marija Kovačević and H.E. Sheikh Mubarak bin Fahad Al-Thani

MORE PHOTOS ON

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

DC BIRTHDAY

the idea of Serbia and Yugoslavia in the community of European nations. Many of these works have the opportunity to look at the National Museum today. When our painters Milan Konjović, Sava Šumanović and others went to Paris, they were given the same idea that we should be part of the modern world and that they should transfer these values to their Šid and Sombor. And their works you will have the opportunity to see today. Over the past years, it has often been that people in our country are tired of waiting for eurointegration, that this tired Europe may not want us; and the country from which the magazine “The Economist” comes with which we are issuing “Diplomacy & Commerce” – leaves the same Europe with no small complications. Nevertheless, we still deeply believe that our place is in the community of European nations, nations that have the freedom and equality of people as the highest values. On the way to Europe, three years ago we launched the magazine “Diplomacy & Commerce” in Serbia, a year and a half later, the first issue of the Croatian edition of the magazine was published, and last month in the residence of the United Kingdom Embassy in Vienna we launched “Diplomacy & Commerce Austria “. In September, the first issue of “Diplomacy & Commerce Slovenia” will be released in Ljubljana, and at the end of this year we will hold the conference “World in 2020” in the premises of the Croatian National Bank for the first time, and promotion of the same magazine. Perhaps Europe is not such a popular topic today, but I am using this opportunity to remind you that at this place, in the National Museum where this is best seen, we inherit European traditions and that it is the society in which we want to be in the future!” Representatives of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, diplomatic corps, foreign and domestic chambers of commerce, business associations, international and domestic institutions, organizations and representatives of business, cultural and public life of Serbia they could enjoy it a guided tour of the exhibition SERBIAN ART 18th-19th CENTURY, which contains more than 1,500 works of Serbian artists, representing the development of the Serbian art in the 18th and 19th century.

Tanja Banković, D&C, Nećko Krupalija, H.E. Kathleen Csaba and Robert Čoban, CPG

Cile and Beba Marinković

Ruža Ristanović, D&C, Milica Lundin and H.E. Jan Lundin

Aleksandar Jovanović, Dragana Mandić and Bratislav Filipović, Akademija Filipović

Nevena Radomirović, Marija Radomirović and Jovana Marković, Diplomacy & Commerce

Marija Labović, TOS

Marija M. Karan and Dragan Crnjanski

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

Nikola Lero, Catena media and Katarina Lero, Mars

Sanja Gligorić, New Kunst & Sago, Ilija Petrović, Diplomacy & Commerce

Tony Lux, Filip Boršik, Nenad Stanković Ervin Pašanović, Dejan Popović, and Aleksandar Veljanović

Ivan Kleut, Golin and Nataša Nešić, D&C

Goran Draganić, Draganć Law office

Vesna Savić Đukić, Unicef and Jelena Savić, CMC

Danijela Fišakov, SBC, Marija Radulović, CBC, Ana Grujović, SSCC and Nevena Danilović

Dragana Radović, Diplomacy & Commerce and Maja Perić, Todebo d.o.o.

Professor dr Dragan Domazet, Nataša Nešić, D&C, Isidora Rackov and Svetlana Maksimović

Nikola Pavlović, Miele, Jovana Marković D&C and Zoran Djurić, Miele

Muamer and Elma Zukorlić with Tanja Banković, D&C

Vesna Savić Djukić, Unicef and Jelena Savić, CMC

Luca Santandrea, Coca-Cola Company, Robert Čoban, CPG

H.E.Tanju Bilgiç, Turkish Ambassador and H.E. Choe Hyoung Chan, Korean Ambassador

Aleksandra Radujko, Sandra Lazarević, Duško Vukajlović, Nada Filipović, Ruža Ristanović, Željka Ćirić Jakovljević, and Marko Milanković

MORE PHOTOS ON

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

PEOPLE & EVENTS

27 CLOSING MAR

CEREMONY OF THE MONTH OF FRANCOPHONIE

Closing ceremony of the Month of Francophonie in Serbia was marked at the residence of the Embassy of Canada in Belgrade. The Canadian Ambassador to Serbia, H.E. Kathleen Csaba said on the occasion that Francophonie as a great community of countries and many nations which represents an excellent example of

Minister Mladen Šarčević and H.E. Kathleen Csaba with her husband

H.E. Andrea Orizio, OSCE and H.E. Abdelhamid Chebchoub, Algerian Ambassador

29 GASTRONOMIC EVENT MAR

diversity. She also pointed out that Francophonie is a major global organization with 88 countries as its members which have a population of 900 million. Furthermore, the Ambassador expressed her satisfaction with the cooperation with Serbia, which in 2018, became an associate member of the World Organization of Francophonie.

“VOYAGE EN FRANCHOPHONIE – UN PARCOURS DE SAVEURS”

The French Institute in Serbia and the Group of Ambassadors of the member states of the International Organization of Francophonies in Serbia hosted the gastronomic event called “Voyage en Franchophonie

– Un Parcours de Saveurs” dedicated to the culinary heritage and gastronomy of the Francophone countries. On the occasion, the guests enjoyed the Lebanese, Moroccan, French, Romanian and Tunisian dishes.

H.E. Nada Al Akl, Lebanese Ambassador

01 “ARABIC DAY IN APR

SERBIA” AT THE NATIONAL LIBRARY

The “Arabic Day in Serbia” event was held at the National Library of Serbia, organized by the Arab Cultural Center and the Group of Arab Ambassadors in Serbia. As part of the cultural and artistic programme, the culture and

tradition of the 11 Arab countries, which are organizers of event – Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Palestine, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates, were presented.

H.E. Amr Aljowaily, Egyptian Ambassador and H.E. Mohammed K. M. Nabhan, Palestinian Ambassador

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

CORPORATE

25 Years of Stara Sokolova Stara Sokolova exports over 60% of its products, mostly to the USA, Canada, Russia and Australia

This year, the Stara Sokolova brand celebrates its 25th anniversary. After almost a quarter of a century since its inception, the name Stara Sokolova is still synonymous with superior brandy. Whether we are talking about fruit, quince, apricot or Viljamovka pear brandy, the brand of Stara Sokolova is the market leader among premium fruit brandy producers in Serbia. In 2018, Stara Sokolova continued to develop, while recording a production and sales growth, both here and abroad. Relative to 2017, the production rose by 10% in 2018, with the growth in domestic sales of 22% and foreign sales of 19%. Today, Stara Sokolova’s annual production stands at 150,000 litres, and the brandy here is produced in line with the highest global and European standards. The special aroma and taste, the ageing process, and the sophisticated, elegant design of the trademark packaging are just some of the features that make this brandy distinctive. Stara Sokolova exports over 60% of its products, mostly to the USA, Canada, Russia and Australia. In 2018, Stara Sokolova opened up new markets and found its way to brandy connoisseurs in Sweden, Denmark, Great Britain and Ukraine. In addition to conquering new markets, Stara Sokolova has been working on its own development. This family-run business has

hired new, young and talented workers who share the appreciation of the same values that Stara Sokolova nurtures. In 2018, we also continued investing in sustainability and improving our product quality by investing in new capacities, mainly for old brandies, such as oak barrels. It is interesting to note that Stara Sokolova buys oak, which it then dries naturally and uses to make barrels. Furthermore, we invested in advancing our production technology by acquiring a new, state-ofthe-art laboratory and equipment that tests product quality. Plum brandy is by far the most popular brandy of Stara Sokolova. However, we also produced other plum-based brandies (like Klekovača, Medovača and Travka),

the Soko V.S.O.P. cognac and white fruit brandies (quince, apricot and Viljamovka pear). In the last two years, we added two more exceptional plum brandies to our range – Dunja LUX (Quince LUX) and Kajsija LUX (Apricot LUX), which had been aged in oak barrels and are sold only in exclusive beverage stores. The third generation of the Bogdanović family continues to develop drinks under the Stara Sokolova brand, which have received many awards for quality, both in the country and abroad. The latest award that Stara Sokolova won for its quality was given to us in Canada in 2018 at the Alberta Beverage Awards, where Stara Sokolova Vilijamovka (pear brandy) won the Judges Selection Award. Our brandies are savoured in

IN 2018, STARA SOKOLOVA CONTINUED TO DEVELOP, WHILE RECORDING A PRODUCTION AND SALES GROWTH, BOTH HERE AND ABROAD

the most prestigious hotels, restaurants and taverns in Serbia, and can be purchased at all big supermarket chains, luxury wine shops and gift shops here. You can also visit the cellars of Stara Sokolova. In an authentic ambience, among the oak barrels which stores Sokolova brandies, brandy aficionado can now enjoy the real tastes and aromas of Serbia, to taste what is officially the most awarded brandy in Serbia and find out more about this distillery and its products. In the village of Krivaja, near Kostojevići, which is the birthplace of Stara Sokolova, the Bogdanović family has restored a typical West Serbia rural household and made an ethnic village where you can see for yourself how traditional brandy was produced in Serbia. At the Bogdanović estate, in an old family house that dates back to the early 20th century, there is also the Stara Sokolova Museum and taste room. Apart from the standard range of Stara Sokolova brandies, here you can find very old brandies that cannot be purchased anywhere else. The oldest brandy that the Bogdanović family owns is Klekovača which dates back to 1968, as well as plum-based brandies from the 1970s and 1980s. These brandies are not taken out of the cellar and you can taste them only there. The hosts call them the Long Forgotten Brandies.

BUSINESS NEWS

AmCham:

NON-TARIFF BARRIERS IS A PRIORITY

Živković Samardžić Law Office

WINS THE 2018 DEAL OF THE YEAR AWARD FOR SERBIA

The Živković & Samardžić Law Firm won the 2018 Deal of the Year Award for Serbia for its work on Belgrade Airport privatization. Organized by the renowned CEE Legal Matters magazine, this is the second year that the award ceremony was held in recognition of the biggest and most important deals by leading law firms in Central and Eastern European jurisdictions. A two-tiered panel of leading lawyers from across the region selected the winners from 17 different CEE jurisdictions. The prestigious accolade was awarded on March 28th, 2019 at the CEE Legal Matters Deal of the Year Banquet in Budapest. Before an audience of over 90

senior legal professionals from all over Europe, Igor Živkovski, Živković Samardžić Corporate and M&A Partner, accepted the award on behalf of the firm. The Živković & Samardžić team that advised Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport on this deal was led by Branislav Živković and Igor Živkovski, Partners and Sava Pavlović, Senior Associate.

Banca Intesa

ONCE AGAIN THE BEST BANK IN SERBIA

International financial magazine, Global Finance has declared Banca Intesa the Best Bank in Serbia in 2019. Global Finance editors selected the most successful banks in more than 150 countries across the globe based on a number of criteria including growth of assets, strategic relationships, new business development and product innovation. Apart from the objective criteria, the editors also relied on consultations with analysts, consultants, corporate

financial executives and bankers. “It is our great honour that Global Finance has given us this esteemed award for the fourth consecutive time, thus validating our business strategy in the past year as well. We continued to record excellent results, recording growth in approved corporate and retail loans, transforming our business model and carrying out further digitalization, which will be the key driving force behind our sustainable growth and customer satisfaction in the period ahead,” said Draginja Djuric, Chairwoman of Banca Intesa’s Executive Board. Banca Intesa is the leading bank in the Serbian market by all key performance indicators which provides a full range of the latest products and top-quality service to its 1.38 million customers.

"The abolition of non-tariff barriers is a priority for the American Chamber of Commerce in the foreign trade segment and an important prerequisite for the economic growth," said Jelena Pavlović, President of AmCham, at a conference on facilitation of foreign trade organized by AmCham, together with the USAID REG project in Serbia. AmCham is pleased with the fact that the authorities have accepted the priority requirements of businesses and included them in the Action Plans of working groups. The deadline for the implementation of those requirements is the end of 2019. Achieved results in facilitating and expediting customs and non-tariff procedures and plans for the following period: • Since October last year, expediting customs clearance of express shipments implies electronic filing of declarations and risk analysis before the arrival of the shipment. • Regional reduction of non-tariff barriers • Serbia and Nort Macedonia harmonized the working hours of phytosanitary inspections on both sides of the border; problems regarding the export of flour resolved. • Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina agreed to recognize test reports for technical goods by accredited laboratories from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and resolved the problems related to sugar import and the implementation of food declarations. • Implementation of electronic filing of mandatory notification of the origin of goods is underway. • Work is being done on defining more precise procedures for import of easily perishable goods.

Star Import d.o.o.

GRAND PRIX FOR MERCEDES-BENZ

PARTICIPATE TO THE FRENCH SCHOOL’S SOLIDARITY RACE!

For the 3rd year, about 600 adults and children, from kindergarten to high school of the French school of Belgrade are supporting a local cause. This year, our students chose to organize their solidarity race in favor of the orphanage of Belgrade in Zvezdara. All race participants, as well as anyone else wishing to support the cause, can buy a T-shirt for a minimum of 1000 RSD. The collected funds will be used both to improve living conditions of the children of

the orphanage and to help on various projects of this organization. If you wish to support our cause by ordering a t-shirt or donating, you can contact the French school by email or phone : efb. admi@efb.rs or +381(11)3691762. T-shirts will be sold at the event as well. You are welcome to take part by running and/or cheering for the kids. We hope to see you in great numbers in the Hyde Park of Belgrade, on the 18th of april from 9am to noon !

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

The Belgrade Fair has given its traditional awards to the exhibitors and the participants of the 54th International Auto Show. The jury chose the winners in several different categories. Star Import, a general distributor of Mercedes-Benz vehicles, is this year's Grand Prix winner in the category of passenger cars for its comprehensive presentation of the entire game of passenger and light commercial vehicles. Star Import d.o.o. traditionally exhibits at its stand, spanning almost 3,000 square meters, in Hall 3 of the Belgrade Fair. Under the slogan “New Stars in Belgrade”, the company exhibited over 30 models this year, and premiered six new Mercedes-Benz models.

UNIQA

SUPPORTS FOR LITTLE RUNNERS,THE SIXTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR

For the 26th time, the children's marathon has gathered hundreds of youngest runners at the Belgrade Garden of Good Hope. As a proud sponsor and the marathon’s official insurance company for the sixth consecutive year, UNIQA was there to ensure that all the participants of this popular city event were insured and gave gifts to the three fastest runners at the popular Pužić race. This year, the winner of the final race, Andjela Jović, who reached the finish in 37 seconds, won a bicycle, while the second and third runners got gifts.

NELT

RECOGNITION FOR DEVELOPING THE ONE BELT, ONE ROAD PROJECT

At this year's business conference "Transport and Logistics 2019", Nelt received the 2019 Brand Leader Award for outstanding cooperation and contribution to the development of the Chinese project "One Belt, One Road". The award is given by Dragon Maritime Group, based on a set of standardized criteria that include professionalism, innovation and a high degree of market recognition. The national project "One Belt, One Road", involves establishing a strategically important connection between the port of Piraeus to various destinations in the Balkans and the countries of Central Europe. Nelt's intermodal terminal in Belgrade has become a logistics hub of the Balkans thanks

to its excellent location, technical and technological advantages. „In the two years since the terminal has been opened, over 300 train compositions passed through this business complex in Dobanovci, and over 25,000 cargo transshipments were carried out with more than 15,000 TEU. Also, the railway container transport between Dobanovci, the ports of Rijeka and Piraeus and a terminal in Hungary has been carried out,“ Jelena Jovanić, Intermodal Terminal Manager.

Delta Real Estate

OFFICIALLY OPENED DELTA PLANET IN VARNA

Air France

BELGRADE, THE NEW AIR FRANCE DESTINATION

Air France offers its customers one daily Belgrade-Charles de Gaulle Airport flight. Flight schedules are as follows (in local time): •A F1661: leaves Belgrade at 15:25, arrives at Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 17:55; •A F1660: leaves Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 12:20, arrives in Belgrade at 14:35; • Airbus A319 or A320 are used on this route. As of April 1st, Air France has also started selling tickets for flights to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport with the starting price of 198 EUR, all taxes/surcharges included. In collaboration with its partner, Air Serbia, Air France will operate a total of 21 weekly flights between Belgrade and Paris (7 flights by Air France and 14 codeshare flights by Air Serbia). "We are very proud to launch our new service to Belgrade. Belgrade has been on Air France's map of flights for almost a century and we want to re-establish this historical route as a token of our future benefits for both Serbian and French passengers, Belgrade Airport, French and Serbian companies and, of course, Air France. We will strive to apply Air France’s excellence while servicing our Serbian customers and provide them with access to a wide network of destinations, with departures from Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris," said Thijs Komen, Air France – KLM General Manager for the Alps, Balkans and Central Europe region.

A new shopping mall, Delta Planet has been opened in Varna, which is the second largest mall of its kind in Bulgaria. The opening was attended by Stojan Pasev, President of the Varna District, Ivan Portnih, Mayor of Varna, Zorana Burlić, General Manager of Delta Real Estate and Petar Dudolenski, co-founder of AP Investment. Representatives of the Bulgarian authorities, the city of Varna, the media, embassies, and businesses from Bulgaria and Serbia

attended the ceremony. „This is not the first time that Delta is coming to Bulgaria. Over ten years ago, our company invested in the Picadilly retail chain. Now, with the opening of the Delta Planet shopping mall, we can vouch that Bulgaria is open to investments and that Serbian companies are welcome in your country,“ said Zorana Burlić, General Manager of Delta Real Estate. The value of this investment made by Delta Real Estate and AP Investment is 120 million euro. The shopping mall spans 110,000 square meters with 40,000 square metres of lettable area. The Delta Planet shopping mall is located at 185, Slivnica Boulevard, has four levels and additional three underground levels with 1,300 parking spaces.

UniCredit Bank

MASTERCARD CREDIT CARD FOR INTERESTFREE PAYMENTS IN INSTALMENTS

No matter how well you plan your family budget, it often happens that you see something in shops that you feel is simply made for you. UniCredit Bank’s Mastercard credit cards will help you to get what you wish for, because you can pay for your purchase in interest-free instalments. UniCredit Bank has prepared a special offer for everybody who applies for Mastercard credit card by April 25th and if your card is approved, you will receive a gift card worth RSD 3,000. UniCredit Bank's Mastercard credit card allows you to divide each transaction into 3, 6 or 12 equal monthly instalments,

whether you are paying for goods and services or withdrawing money at an ATM. Also, the same benefits are available if you use Mastercard credit card abroad. Furthermore, you can postpone the decision regarding the number of instalments, but the decision has to be made in the month of the purchase. For payments in 3 and 6 monthly instalments, credit card holders pay a one-time fee of RSD 500 dinars, while if you decide to pay in 12 instalments, the fee is RSD 1,000.

SUMMERTIME BLUES

The European Parliament Votes to Abolish Summer Time Should Europe’s clocks spring forward, or fall back?

It is a bright, cold day in April, and the clocks have sprung forward. The morning sun gleams alluringly as pupils arrive at the Fläming Gymnasium (high school) in Bad Belzig, a small town in the east German state of Brandenburg. But on this particular Monday, a day after the start of daylight saving, many of these children are accident-prone, easily distracted and tired, victims of the rich world’s biannual ritual of tampering with time. That is if the research on daylight-saving time (dst) is to be believed. Disrupting adolescents’ sleep can play havoc with their bodies. Katrin Stachen says losing an hour’s sleep leaves her teenage daughter, whom she has just dropped off at school, tired for days. Adults suffer, too: one German study found a 25% growth in reported heart problems in the three days after the spring time change. So time may soon be up for Europe’s 23-year experiment with

harmonised daylight saving. On March 26th the European Parliament voted to end dst by 2021. By next April the eu’s governments must decide what to do. None is more gripped than Germany, the first country to introduce dst, in 1916 (dismissed by the New York Times as “the Kaiser’s TrickHour”). Germans accounted for 67% of the replies to a (self-selecting) European Commission “consultation” last year. The vast bulk

welcome an end to disruptive clock changes. Yet he also, rightly, fears a temporal “patchwork” across Europe if some countries shift to permanent summertime and others to wintertime. To avoid such chaos, the eu institutions are now urging governments to co-ordinate their approaches. But views vary: Portugal, for example, prefers the status quo. If compromise proves impossible, the proposal could be ditched.

ONE GERMAN STUDY FOUND A 25% GROWTH IN REPORTED HEART PROBLEMS IN THE THREE DAYS AFTER THE SPRING TIME CHANGE of them wanted to ditch dst. Even beyond the effect on health, the scrappers’ case is strong. Under dst, energy savings from lighter evenings are cancelled out by extra heating bills in the morning. Steffen Kampeter of Germany’s Federal Employers’ Association says business would

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

Perhaps spooked by the prospect of truncated summer evenings in the Biergärten, most Germans say they prefer year-round summertime. But Alfred Wiater, a somnologist, says that longer daylight in the evening can indirectly delay sleep by disrupting the metabolism of sleep-inducing melatonin.

In some people that raises the risk of heart problems, depression and neurodegenerative disorders. The German Teachers’ Association (dl), is also opposed. In December northern German towns would not see the sun until after 9.30am (the same applies for Spain, which is stuck in the same time zone as Germany thanks to General Franco’s genuflection towards Hitler). Dark mornings delay serotonin secretion, which, says Mr Wiater, is especially bad for teenage brains. Katrin Wiencek, headteacher at the school in Bad Belzig and head of the local dl branch, frets about parents on dark school runs crashing into the deer and boar that stalk the forests around the town. In Germany and elsewhere, the debate has only just begun. Who will prevail? Only time will tell. From The Economist, published under licence. The original article, in English, can be found on www. economist.com

CORPORATE

OPENS 2019

New Breaking Point

VALENTINA ANTIĆ

A year in which Novi Sad is a European youth capital, presents the opportunity to put young people on the agenda. It is a real chance for youth to represent their country in the best possible way and we won’t miss it, say the organisers VUKAŠIN GROZDANOVIĆ

Coordinator for international cooperation OPENS 2019

The first step in the whole process of recreating Novi Sad as the European youth capital has been our greatest success so far – we have networked and clustered different actors – youth organizations, organizations for the youth, institutions and young people – while developing the application form, which served as a solid basis for establishing a sustainable system of youth policy, say Vukašin Grozdanović and Valentina Antić from OPENS 2019 Now, the youth of Novi Sad is at a breaking point. Or more specifically, not just the youth, but the city itself. The thing is, youth in Serbia has never had this kind of recourses or attention. „The European Youth Capital, as an example, can be very beneficial in a variety of processes in which Serbia participates. In that way we can show that once something works well on the local level, when we include different participants, and when young people are involved in decision-making processes, the results eminent. Results such is the quality of programs,

Coordinator of the "Initiative OPENS 2019"

YOUTH IN SERBIA HAS NEVER HAD THIS KIND OF RECOURSES OR ATTENTION LIKE NOW WHEN NOVI SAD IS THE EUROPEAN YOUTH CAPITAL. THEREFORE IT IS IMPORTANT TO KEEP THE SPIRIT AND FUNDING BEYOND 2020 youth response to these programs and the change at the local level as well as at national and European level in terms of the use of best practices that can be implemented further in Serbia, Europe and beyond,“ says the coordinator of OPENS 2019, Vukašin Grozdanović. Having the diplomatic core and international organizations

at your corner, being heard and recognized as the example of good practice is a breakthrough for youth. That is why OPENS 2019 cherishes the opportunity to host receptions at a number of embassies in Europe. Paris is first. “It's amazing that we have the opportunity, with the support of the Serbian Ministry of Foreign

Affairs, to host these events. They are mostly, when it comes to diplomacy, political events, with “adult” topics. But now we have an opportunity to put young people on the agenda. An opportunity for it all not to be an empty talk, but a real chance for youth to represent their country in the best possible way,” says the International Cooperation Coordinator, Valentina Antić. It is not a coincidence that the city which recognized the importance of continuous work with the young is now the European Youth Capital. The quality of program which comprises the backbone of OPENS at the moment is very important, but it is equally important how these programs will be funded after 2020, and how we can succeed in making the funds, which are now available to young people, be part of the permanent funding for different youth programs in the city. At the moment, Novi Sad is on the doorstep of becoming the center in which young people have the main say. If young people are to inherit the Earth, our role and our final goal is not only to be led by this saying, but to make it happen as well.

INTERVIEW

Attaining Real Italian Style as the Biggest Challenge It is very important to perform outside your principal company because that immediately raises the standard, the focus becomes stronger and it creates the opportunity for the colleagues to get to know each other better

GIANLUCA MARCIANÒ Principal Conductor of SNT Opera

The Orchestra of the Opera of the Serbian National Theatre (SNT) had a series of guest performances in Beirut, from February 12th to March 17th, at the renowned international music and performing arts festival - the Al Bustan Festival. Since this prestigious festival was founded in 1994, Lebanon has managed to practice a rather unique way of nurturing music tradition during the winter season. The Festival revived the country’s cultural life by presenting each year over 30 performances during the five weeks in February and March. Although chamber

music dominates the Festival, the audiences can also see opera, performances by orchestras and choirs, dance performances and theatre plays.

playing the piano. As a wunderkind, he won prizes at national and international competitions for young musicians and started performing at renowned opera and

MY DREAM IS TO BE ABLE TO PLAN THREE OR FOUR SEASONS AHEAD, TO HAVE FOUR PREMIERES ANNUALLY, AND STAGE OPERA FESTIVALS AND INTERNATIONAL COPRODUCTIONS. I AM ALREADY WORKING ON THIS AND I HAVE SUPPORT FOR IT This was one of the topics that we want to talk about with Gianluca Marcianò, the Principal Conductor of the SNT Opera and Art Director of the Beirut festival. Gianluca Marcianò was only five years old when he started

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

concert venues around the world. He graduated from the Music Academy in Florence (under maestro Pierre-Narcisse Massi), and started his career by performing at the most reputable Italian theatres and festivals.

Now that you have returned from Beirut, what are your impressions of the guest performances by the Orchestra of the Opera of the Serbian National Theatre at the international Al Bustan Festival?

— The Orchestra played excellently in every concert which I am very proud of as its principal conductor. To be together 24/7, for the whole 10 festival days, to do many rehearsals and have many performances was very inspirational because it had a great impact on the musicians and our joint performance. As a result of this, we got ovations from the audiences. There is a strong interest in our Orchestra performing at Al Bustan in 2020 too, and I am confident that this is a good foundation for longterm cooperation.

As the Artistic Director of the Al Bustan Festival, could you tell us about the significance of the festival itself, which was founded with the goal of reviving Lebanon's cultural life and setting new standards in terms of artists, orchestras and performers?

— Next year it will be 10 years since I was appointed Artistic Director of the Al Bustan Festival. I have a great honour every year to work with over 300 outstanding musicians from all over the world, during the period of five weeks. The creative process lasts for a whole year because we have to pick a theme which is the basis for the festival’s programme. Only then do we contact the majority of soloists, orchestras, choirs and other performers. Of course, there are soloists that we need to book 2 or 3 years in advance, and naturally, their programme has to fit the theme of our choice. The Festival’s team is great. It is helmed by President Myrna Bustani, the Festival’s founder and the first female MP in an Arabic country. Mrs Bustani is very unique and has a greater than life persona. I learnt a lot from her and I am thankful to her for her trust in me. What was so special about the four performances of the SNT, both in the context of the Festival and the ensemble itself?

— I think that our orchestra, choir, soloists, in fact, everyone deserves success on the international stage. It is very important to perform outside your principal company because that immediately raises the standard, the focus becomes stronger, it creates the opportunity for the colleagues to get to know each other better and try even harder to perform as a team. Many people started to inquire about Novi Sad after our Orchestra’s performance at the Al Bustan Festival. This is the best business card for the city; a real promotion beyond the borders of Serbia. Your work in the region has been very noticeable and during your career, you have been working with numerous opera houses all over the world. What is the biggest challenge for you when working with ensembles that come from the countries with a far smaller musical tradition compared to Italy’s?

— By all means, the greatest challenge is to attain the real Italian style in opera – a proper pronunciation of libretto, ease of

new instruments for the orchestra, have quality sheet music and increase the number of the Orchestra members. After that, we should, of course, increase the budget that would allow us to stage beautiful productions. When the curtain opens, there has to be applause! Opera is the most expensive type of stage performance (costing much more than ballet and drama) and extraordinary resources should be invested in order to elevate it to the highest level. Of course, if we want to be successful on the international stage, we must also "refresh" the audience’s taste. The repertoire should also have lesser-known operas, there should be a modern direction, and we should expand our cooperation with artists and opera houses from around the world. Since October 2017, when you became the principal conductor of the Opera’s Orchestra, what significant progress have you made towards the set goals?

WHEN THE CURTAIN OPENS, THERE HAS TO BE APPLAUSE! OPERA IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE TYPE OF STAGE PERFORMANCE ON AND EXTRAORDINARY RESOURCES SHOULD BE INVESTED IN ORDER TO ELEVATE IT TO THE HIGHEST LEVEL performing, precision and respect for the score. The most popular Italian operas have been a part of repertoires all over the world and it often happens that precision is forgotten. The Orchestra in the pit and the singers on the stage often perform on auto-pilot, masking it as “a tradition”. I cannot tolerate that and when I notice it, I start to “clean” very immaculately. Of course, I want everything to be in good order from the very begin-

ning, but I like those challenging situations since the final result is the best reward. What is it that the SNT Opera has to have in order to be recognized for its repertoire and quality of performance both in Serbia and the region?

— We should definitely have the right conditions - a new orchestra pit, the large acoustic hall needs to be renovated, we need to acquire

21ST-CENTURY OPERA Should we view opera, just like the classic literature, in the context of the 21st century or are they both timeless in terms of the motifs they cover? — Depends which individual work we are talking about. For instance, the opera “Andrea Chenier” won’t come across well if it is not performed in the context of the French Revolution. But I also believe that the way we present the content on the stage should be refreshed. I really do love and respect the real traditions, but I do not want to completely dwell in the past. The worst thing is when people start talking about how it was better then compared to now. The easiest thing to do is to complain and do nothing, as oppose to doing concrete work, discover new ideas and be open to understanding and accepting these new ideas.

— My dream is to be able to plan three or four seasons ahead, to have four premieres annually, and stage opera festivals and international co-productions. I am already working on this and I have support for it. Of course, all of this will take time to materialize. This year, the SNT will host the first-ever opera festival in Serbia, and I am currently negotiating with the Art Academy regarding a large-scale project that will result in us having one more premiere on our repertoire. We have already reached an agreement with Teatro Carlo Felice from Genoa and Teatro dell’Opera from Rome in terms of co-productions. We also cooperate with the Al Bustan Festival, and we have a big premiere of Gounod’s opera “Faust” in September. And this is only the beginning... What are your further plans in regard to the premieres of the SNT Opera and guest performances in 2019?

— I have already mentioned the premiere of Gounod’s "Faust" in September, but before that, we are going to stage Verdi's "Rigoletto" in June. I am happy to say that we are opening the NOMUS Festival with Liszt's opera "Sardanapalo" and I hope that this will be the beginning of long-term cooperation. There are more surprises in store, but I cannot speak about them publicly yet. Of course, the biggest project of the year for me personally is the Opera Festival in June.

OPINION

Belgrade Vice

Text: ZLATKO CRNOGORAC

Why are foreign diplomats in the Serbian hit series "Besa" and "Državni Službenik" shown mainly in a negative light, as corrupt and unethical bureaucrats who often resort to crime to satisfy their own passions or financial interests?

In the series “Državni Službenik”, the Serbian State Security Agency (BIA) plants a prostitute and cocaine to German diplomats in Belgrade, while one of the employees at the US Embassy also works as BIA’s secret informant

Today’s television space in Serbia is characterized by a “war of content” between two cable operators, SBB and Telekom, like never before. This clinch is reflected in the mass production of new feature series by the old/new TV channel Nova S (formerly known as TOP), on the one hand, and MTS, on the other, with its pool of TV stations with the national frequency, such as Pink, Prva and O2. This is also a local culmination of the global game-changing trend that is emulated in the rivalry and series production of Netflix and HBO platforms. In Serbia, we have new genres that characterize the new Serbian, post-comedic, television time schedule embodied in the three seasons of the thriller “Ubice Mog Oca” and the period drama “Senke Nad Balkanom” which will start its second season in the autumn. They have also paved the storyline direction that has always fascinated Serbian audiences and filmmakers through the synthesis and permeation of criminal groups, on one side, and secret

services and foreign intelligence centres in Serbia, on the other. The said obsession was dramaturgically processed by two of the most popular playwrights in the country, Branislav Nušić and Dušan Kovačević, in their famous dramas – “Sumnjivo Lice” and “Balkanski Špijun” during the 20th century which was also known as the theatre era.

wars in this region, only two films ("Balkanska Pravila", from 1997 and "Četvrti Čovek", from 2007) actually had a plot centred around the security-contaminated ecosystem in the country where the abbreviations UDBA, KOS and DB were the axioms of mystification. The aforementioned “Senke Nad Balkanom” was actually the first series that produced the effect

SERIES ARE THE NEW BOOKS YOU SIMPLY HAVE TO READ, AS WELL AS A BUSINESS WHICH IN SERBIA, JUST LIKE IN THE REST OF WORLD, BRINGS BIGGER PROFIT THAN CONSTRUCTION In this public, artistic discourse, and after the breakdown of socialism and the disintegration of Yugoslavia, the self-ironic humour depicted in the series “Bolji Život” dominated the narrative of an ordinary man living in the system during the transition, with countless franchise variations and re-runs. It is simply unbelievable to see that, despite the ongoing

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

of reaction to the negative portrayal of the Russian emigration, if you read between the lines. On the surface, this was a clash between different worlds back then – criminals and police - similar to the one depicted in the British series, Peaky Blinders. However, many different characters and motives from occult mysticism have pushed aside the

ins and outs of the work done by public and secret diplomacy, which could mean that, in the continuation, this will be new suspense. Truth be told, the Serbian standard could be likened to the cartoon character called Calimero who often feels wronged, as we do when official Washington, London, Paris, Berlin and Moscow are supposedly working behind our backs. And this is finally legitimized and opened up as a theme in the two latest and probably the best new series production-wise, which are produced by Telekom Srbija, a public enterprise where the state is still a majority owner. The first series is "Besa", a story of personal and family drama told through the filter of the relations inside the Balkan - Albanian drug cartel and its alleged enemy, the international administration, comprising from the local Interpol representatives to the delegated European officials, i.e. the advocates of the emancipation of the newly formed mini-states. Regardless of the reason, in the traditional roles of villains, stemming from the once dominant genre that was the Par-

tisan films, this time around or yet again, the Germans are the bad guys, resembling photo-robots of corrupt bureaucrats from Brussels, portrayed through the character of a director of the Kosovo Privatization Agency and his superior, Elsa from Austria, who also happens to be a European MP. In the series, Uroš Perić is a family man from Belgrade, Dardan Berisa is the godfather of the Albanian-Montenegrin mafia along with a Serbian/Kosovar police inspector, Petrit Koci. There is also a myriad of other important supporting actors. The series is a reflection of our reality, of our intersected but apparently different paths, of the transient tests and our own choices, in the final sum of our altered lives. The handicap of this extraordinary series, which is the first significant Serbian - Albanian co-production, notwithstanding the fact that the Albanians are portrayed in the well-known clichéd manner which can be likened to Hollywood’s portrayal of Serbs, is, in fact, its limited visibility. The exclusivity of MTS cable was surpassed by the added terrestriality (i.e. by being broadcasted at a national frequency of PINK television) of the newest series called “Državni Službenik”. We just saw the series’ third episode, out of 12 in total. Moreover, this will be the first series entirely dedicated to the bureaucracy in state security but in accordance with the latest trend of subtle and soft rehabilitation of Serbian state policy from the last three decades. “Državni Službenik” is not focused on the inside enemy, which is something that permeated our recent history with the likes of Jovica Stanišić and Rade Marković, but, just like its US counterpart, “Homeland”, it is fixated on external friends/enemies of the state

In the series “Besa”, Arben Bajraktaraj plays Dardan Beriša, a Balkan drug lord. Another character, the European MP, Elsa from Austria, who is stationed in Priština, is portrayed in the worst possible light

TODAY’S TELEVISION SPACE IN SERBIA IS CHARACTERIZED BY A “WAR OF CONTENT” BETWEEN TWO CABLE OPERATORS, SBB AND TELEKOM, LIKE NEVER BEFORE and their satellites. This is reminiscent of the James Bond-like profile of the Yugoslav state services chief, Stane Dolanc, as it focuses on emigration as an inside enemy and on prominent mythologized executioners in the state service. The main characters are the

young BIA agent and his closest colleagues, who interact with “persons of interest, security-wise”. Both the series director and screenwriter did not shy away from planting triggers in the shape of intrigues and implications, involving, first and foremost, the

diplomatic representatives of the German Embassy by putting them in controversial situations which are in the direct breach of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Plus, there are also naïve details like the main character having an insider in the US Embassy. The traditionally suspicious English and French diplomats were not portrayed in a typically dramatic fashion. One of the dramaturgical segments of these characters is based on urban myths that the NGO and the diplomatic corps stationed in Belgrade have about our people who have worked for many years in the embassies of the Western superpowers. If, in the end, we abstract the secondary subgenres like more or less urban or completely rural domestic telenovelas, teenage series like "Jutro Će Promeniti Sve", historical projects such as the unsuccessful series that was “Nemanjići” or the successful one like “Koreni”, based on Dobrica Ćosić’s book about contemporary Serbia, the aforementioned series provide an authentic and subliminal testament, with more or less internally or externally directed subversiveness. Series are the new books you simply have to read, as well as a business which in Serbia, just like in the rest of world, brings bigger profit than construction. As a result, various characters, who were not previously engaged in construction or art, are now swaying towards TV production. Anthropologically speaking, today’s series are not going to generate any significant reference like the supremely popular, now digitized series “Salaš u Malom Ritu” from the 1970s. But, at least, they draw an intriguing, sociological sketch of the society and the political image of the Serbian (deep) state.

TRAVELOGUE

Text: ŽIKICA MILOŠEVIĆ

Egypt - Ancient and Warm It was a cold January day when we took off and a warm January day when we landed. Well, that happens when you are southbound, travelling to Africa, to another continent, to meet the magic country of Egypt, where many diverse civilizations mix We landed in Hurghada, shocked by the very blue water and the sky, with no jet lag but with a “climate lag”, since we came into a totally different climate. It is different when you travel in summer, or even spring or autumn, and the difference is more subtle. However, the fact that the difference in the temperature between Egypt and your country is over 30 degrees did make some of our friends envious. Some of us felt dizzy, while others were genuinely thrilled, enjoying ourselves like big lizards in the sun. Of course, these are sun- and spring-lovers. HURGHADA

The trip was organized thanks to Egyptian Embassy, H. E. Mr. Amr Aljouwally, and the Red Sea Governorate, and it was basically focused on the Red Sea area, but it also included the trip to the mighty Cairo,

NIŠ AIRPORT IS DUE TO BECOME THE NEXT HUB FOR THE SERBIAN TOURISTS, SINCE THE PLAN IS TO ESTABLISH A DIRECT FLIGHT BETWEEN NIŠ AND A NEW RED SEA STAR, A RESORT IN THE DEEP SOUTH CALLED MARSA ALAM

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

with all its lights and craziness. But first and foremost, there is nothing like the Red Sea in Egypt. Warm, friendly, luxurious, brimming with fish of different colours... Diving among corals and fish is one of the things no-one can ever get enough of. The Giftun Island, right across Hurghada, is one of the jewels of the Riviera, with its white sands and unforgettable sunsets. The corals are very sharp, so pretty much everyone got bloody in the end, but the beach doctors were excellent. The only scars you get in Egypt are on your feet. The resorts are magical – it is like a genuine fairy-tale of luxury-for-everyone and affordable paradise. The dominant colours of ochre and orange wonderfully blend with the blue colour of the water and the sky, the swimming pools and the sea. Then there is the night market, full of splendid and exotic fruits, with people dressed in local galabiyas.

The prices are written in local East Arabic numerals, so you'd better learn them! Here is a hint - two of them, 1 and 9, you already know. Just 8 more numbers to learn! Hurghada has a splendid new mosque, called Al-Mina, close to the sea, and a wonderful Coptic church dedicated to St. Shenouda. Just like Serbia, with the opposite Muslim-to-Christian ratio. We meet with H.E. Minister Ahmed Abdallah, Governor of the Red Sea Area, a vivacious gentleman who showed us the plans for the Red Sea tourism and its connections to Serbia. Some of his ideas included Niš Airport becoming the next hub for the Serbian tourists, since the plan is to establish a direct flight between Niš and a new Red Sea star, a resort in the deep south called Marsa Alam. Since Marsa Alam and Jagodina are twinned now, there is one more reason to believe in such endeavours. A jeep drive into the desert led us to see the Bedouin culture, with traditional bread-making under the clear sky of Eastern Egyptian desert, far from the city lights and smog. These people live like this from the beginning of time, and now, they first demonstrate to tourists their skills and then quietly leave for the hills.

century AD. It was built over the cave where Saint Paul the Anchorite lived for more than eighty years. The first travel narrative of the monastery was provided by Antoninus Martyr, a native of Placentia, who visited the tomb of Saint Paul the Anchorite between the years 560 and 570 AD. The first monks to occupy the monastery were some of the disciples of Anthony the Great after they knew the story of Saint Paul the Anchorite. Seeing the cave where he lived is priceless. Egyptian icons and frescoes have the striking round big eyes, and it is clear that they were directly derived from the Egyptian art, with a weaker Byzantine and Roman influence. The language used in

liturgies is a language of pharaohs, not spoken anymore, only written, and it sounds like a mixture of the Cyrillic and Greek alphabets. St. Anthony, a bit further away, is the eldest monastery. What a fantastic moment to grasp! Up until now, I saw it only on History Channel, and now, there it is, in front of me! It is the oldest monastery in the world. St. Anthony himself was the founder of monasticism. The Monastery of Saint Anthony was established by the followers of Saint Anthony (born 251, when Christianity was pretty much illegal in many places), and is the first Christian monk from Alexandria who followed his peculiar wishes to go as far as he could to enjoy his deep thoughts

THE NEW CAPITAL WILL BE ALL-GREEN, ALL-SMART, ALL-HIGH-TECH, A HOME TO 6.5 MILLION PEOPLE, BIGGER THAT PARIS IN SIZE

ST. PAUL AND ST. ANTHONY

Yes, these are names of two saints, but they are also two of the oldest monasteries in the world named after the two saints, and they are both close to Hurghada, making it a perfect day trip with a huge cultural significance. 15% of 100 million Egyptians are Orthodox Christians which makes this African country so similar to Serbia. The Monastery of Saint Paul the Anchorite dates back to the fourth

EPILOGUE All in all, Egypt is brave, strong, after the tumultuous events earlier this decade, it is back on the triumphant track, with the spike in tourist visits, while building and promoting new resorts, and creating new opportunities for trading and cultural exchange. And there is, of course, a brand new Grand Egyptian Museum and a capital city, which Serbian press delegation was the first to see!

and prayers. A moment of history, once in a lifetime! DAS LICHT VON KAIRO

Just like the title of the famous 1983 Yugoslav new wave song, the magnificent lights of Cairo overlook Zamalek and the river Nile. Noisy and crazy, Cairo is a bustling city which is a gateway to the pyramids in Gizah, which we also visited, and a place where the Grand Egyptian Museum will be located. A splendid preservation work is being carried out here, with the Serbian delegation given the opportunity to see the new discoveries and localities, including the process of restoring Tutankhamun's underwear. Yes, pharaohs were gods, but humans too. The old Egyptian Museum is a classic treat. The Serbian Ambassador to Egypt, H. E. Mr. Jugoslav Vukadinović is a true match to Mr. Aljouwally as his counterpart in agility and ideas. We had a wonderful dinner in the location where the Serbian House will be built in a year or two, i.e. when the embassy is moved to the new capital. The Embassy building was bought when King Peter II of Yugoslavia found the refuge with his government in Egypt, prior to his departure for London. And what about this new capital city? It is still nameless, but our guess is that it could be Memphis, like the one in Tennessee (of course, named after the ancient Egyptian town). The city will be all-green, all-smart, allhigh-tech, a home to 6.5 million people, bigger that Paris in size. The first phase is almost completed, the city can currently accommodate 1.500 people, and the new mosque and Coptic cathedral are stunning. You can see the new government buildings rising from the sand, which resemble the similar buildings in Astana and Kazakhstan.

KOLARAC

Concert hall

CALENDAR & NEWS

BELGRADE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

APR

20:00

CONCERT PROGRAMME April 2019

BABY

CONCERTS

Belgrade Philharmonic Hall

Our new round of baby concerts will be held at the Belgrade Philharmonic from 1 to 5 April. Free tickets will be available (one ticket per person) at the Philharmonic’s Box Office, 11 Student Square (Studentski trg 11) on Monday, 18 March, at 10:00 a.m Because of the enormous interest for the baby concerts, the Belgrade Philharmonic will perform 10 concerts for toddlers in its April series, from Monday (1 April) through Friday (5 April), with two concerts per day, at 11:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

APR

20:00

DARKNESS 4

Grand Hall of the Kolarac Foundation

Conductor: Michail Jurowski, Soloist: Sofja Gülbadamova, piano

Friday, 12th at 18.00 Music Gallery

THE ISRAEL PIANISTS QUARTET OCTOPUS/ ISRAEL

Ifat Yaidely, Bart Berman, Tavor Gochman, Meir Wiesel Production: Music Centre

Tuesday, 16th at 21.00 Concert Hall

Friday, 12th at 20.00 Concert Hall

Sandra Sangiao, vocal Dani Carbonell, clarinet Mattia Schirosa, accordion Julien Chanal, guitar Stelios Togias, percussion Ivan Kovačević, bass Oleksandr Sora, violin

BELGRADE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA/ DARKNESS

Conductor: Michail Jurowski Soloist: Sofja Gülbadamova, piano Programme: M. Mussorgsky, Casella, D. Shostakovich Production: Belgrade Philharmonic Saturday, 13th at 20.00 Concert Hall

KOLARAC/ KOLARAC YOUR MUSIC WORLD!

APR

20:00

Roman Simović, violin Vadim H, piano Programme: Shimanovsky, Schubert, Ysaÿe, Prokfiev, Saint-Saens Production: Music Centre

FREEDOM 5

Grand Hall of the Kolarac Foundation

Conductor: Gabriel Feltz, Soloists: Michael Martin Kofler, flute, Vesna Đurković, soprano

Sunday, 14th at 11.00 Concert Hall

KOLARAC PODIUM OF CHAMBER MUSIC

Vienna Biedermeier Soloists Programme: J. Straus, E. Straus, F. Lehar, J. Lanner Production: Music Centre Sunday, 14th at 20.00 Concert Hall Sergei Krylov, violin

LITHUANIAN CHAMBER

CATRIN FINCH & SECKOU KEITA

The Magic Never Stops Multi award-winning duo Welsh harpist Catrin Finch and Senegalese kora player Seckou Keita give Belgrade audiences the opportunity to experience their remarkable new album SOAR performed in concert on April 16th at Dom omladine Beograda. Their performances in 2018 garnered 5* reviews from both the Guardian and The London Evening Standard and prompted Songlines Magazine’s Tim Cumming to describe them as “the most popular world music act of the decade”. SOAR is currently nominated for the pres-

tigious Songlines Music Award 2019 and fRoots Critics Poll Album of The Year 2018. In 2018 SOAR has also been named one of Songlines Magazines Top Ten Albums of the Year, and MOJO’s Top Ten World Music Albums. Beyond beautiful in concert Catrin and Seckou create a uniquely spellbinding and mesmerising experience that has been filling concert halls across Europe. Their Belgrade concert will be opened by young, multi-awarded Serbian harpist Zoja Djordjevic. Concert is part of Multikultivator’s concert series “The Magic Never Stops”.

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

ORCHESTRA

Programme: Tchaikovsky, SaintSaens, Sarasate Production: CEBEF

BARSELONA GIPSY BALKAN ORCHESTRA

Wednesday, 17th at 18.00 Music Gallery

HYACINTH

Aleksandra Kopić, flute Srdjan Paunović, saxophone Production: Music Centre Tuesday, 17th at 21.00 Concert Hall

BARSELONA GIPSY BALKAN ORCHESTRA

Sandra Sangiao, vocal Dani Carbonell, clarinet Mattia Schirosa, accordian Julien Chanal, guitar Stelios Togias, percussion Ivan Kovačević, bass Oleksandr Sora, violin Thursday, 18th at 20.00 Concert Hall

SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA & CHOIR NOVI SAD

Conductor: Andrej Bursać Kemal Gekić, piano Programme: F. Kaufman, J. Brahms, L.v. Beethoven Production: Academy of Arts Friday, 19th at 20.00 Concert Hall

Conductor: Gabriel Feltz Soloists: Michael Martin Kofler, flute Vesna Đurković, soprano Programme: Sibelius, C. Nielsen, L. van Beethoven Production: Belgrade Philharmonic Sunday, 21st at 11.00 Concert Hall Kolarac podium of Chamber Music

FMU STRIGS

Production: Music Centre Tuesday, 23rd at 20.00 Concert Hall

CONCERT OF MUSIC SCHOOL DAVORIN JENKO

Admission free

Wednesday, 24th at 18.00 Music Gallery

CYCLE: MUSIC WORKSHOP

Marko Milenović, viola Ivan Milutinović, piano Production: Music Centre Wednesday, 24th at 20.00 Concert Hall

RTS CHOIR & ORCHESTRA

Conductor: Stanko Jovanović Programme: l. Cherubini/ Requiem Production: RTS Music Production Thursday, 25. at 20.00 Concert Hall

LEVEL UP CONCERT SEASON

Muzikon Chamber Orchestra Programme: J.S. Bach Production: Muzikon Music Association