Diplomacy and Commerce No.39

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

May 2019 | ISSUE No. 39 | Price 350 RSD

9772466380002

WRONG PRIORITIES Dr MIHAILO CRNOBRNJA

Professor Emeritus at FEFA and President of the European Movement in Serbia

09 MAY

THE EU PROVIDES SUPPORT AND FUNDING

CELEBRATION OF EUROPE DAY

VIDOSAVA ENDERIĆ

Director of the European Affairs Fund of the AP Vojvodina

TROPICAL PARADISE ON THE BEACHES OF A FORGOTTEN GENOCIDE Reportage from Zanzibar

HUGE POTENTIAL IN DIGITALISATION

WE STRIVE TOWARDS THE SAME GOALS

PRIORITIES INCLUDE STRENGTHENING DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS

Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to Serbia

Minister of Innovation and Technological Development

Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia

H. E. ARNE SANNES BJØRNSTAD

NENAD POPOVIĆ

H.E. ANDREA ORIZIO

Israel

H.E. ALONA FISHER-KAMM

Ambassador of Israel to Serbia

STORY OF BAČ

Living meaningfully with cultural heritage

Coming soon PORTONOVI

The inspiring waterfront resort in Boka Bay

Montenegro’s most sought-after luxury destination Portonovi is set to open its doors summer season 2019 to destination travellers and the yachting elite on the stunning mountain-meets-sea setting of Boka Bay. The exclusive waterfront resort of Portonovi will comprise of purpose-built 26 hectares of luxury accommodation offering a wide range of leisure and entertainment. Set in the heart of the

Adriatic Sea amongst UNESCO world heritage sites, the resort will provide access to year-round leisure activities and unspoiled village culture in one of Europe’s fasted-growing tourist destinations. Residents to the Portonovi lifestyle will have their choice of 214 residences during the development’s first phase of village and marina properties.

These include low-rise apartments, penthouses and townhouses set

amongst high-end boutiques, salons, shops and galleries, world-class maritime-inspired restaurants, and a deep-water D-Marin Portonovi Marina along 1.8kms of beachfront access.

Europe’s first One&Only at Portonovi, set to open in 2020, will offer a 113 room hotel and 10 branded beachfront villas boast step-up private berths. Globally renowned Espace Chenot Heath Wellness Spa will ensure guests are at their

optimum health, providing scientifically founded wellness and beauty services across 17 treatment rooms.

Furnished with the latest features and technology, D-Marin Portonovi Marina is equipped to cater for vessels of up to 120 meters and has a berthing capacity of 238. From May 2019, it will play host to superyachts wishing to explore the Mediterranean, Adriatic and Dalmatian coasts and will serve as a customs entry and caters with private water, electricity, shower, laundry and gas stations. Helipad, boutique shopping and dining precincts along with uninterrupted access to the waterfront will ensure the resort provides a year-round programme of leisure and entertainment activities.

Portonovi is set on the town of Herceg Novi, mimicking the architectural style of the ancient town and its colourful history in its new residencies. On the site, historic legacies such as a 16th Century chapel are being faithfully restored and set to open for visitors. Throughout the process, Portonovi teams have taken every measure ensuring the landscape is unscathed by development.

The development is set to complete on time following its inception in 2012 by Azmont Investments, one of the biggest international investment for the Azerbaijan developer.

CONTACT 85340 Herceg Novi, Montenegro T: +382 31 355 375 E: enquiries@portonovi.com W: www.portonovi.com

EDITORIAL

CONTENTS

All Red, All Equal 08 Last month I spent a few days in Manchester, the first industrial town in the world and home to the most valuable football club on the planet.

While strolling around, in a square behind the Town Hall, I passed by the monument erected in honour of Prince Albert by his beloved Queen Victoria, the sovereign of Great Britain at the time when the country was “the empire on which the sun never sets”. The irony is that this Town Hall is also the place where the results of Brexit were revealed which made many Britons see ‘black’.

There is also Chetham's Library, the oldest public library in Great Britain, also known as the place where Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels met up for the first time, in 1845. The table next to the window where their meeting took place, which subsequently resulted in the Communist Manifesto, is a sort of shrine visited by "communist pilgrims" from all over the world who are eager to establish a spiritual connection with the founders of their ideology. Several metres away is a shrine of a different sort - the Protestant Cathedral - surrounded by blossoming cherry trees. Rogers Govender, originally from Africa, is the current bishop of Manchester.

And then we headed to a „temple“ which, by far, is home to the biggest number of „believers“. At the entrance of the Old Trafford stadium, there is a huge sign that reads „All Red, All Equal“. This is the title of the campaign that the club has launched to celebrate individuality and send out a message that all of the club's fans are the same, regardless of their skin colour, sexual orientation and other differences. Manchester launched this campaign in the 2016/2017 season, and thus formalized its decade-long commitment to fight racism and any kind of discrimination. It would be interesting to see clubs in our region, as well as in Eastern Europe, nurture diversity in this way and send a message to their fans that each of them is important regardless of where they come from and what god they pray to.

On our last day, we went to the People's History Museum. Here you can see the beginnings of the struggle for labour and trade union rights in the United Kingdom and across the globe. The centuries-old British history of parliamentarism and the fight for labour rights in the country that faces one of its worst crises today teaches us that even when it seems that the darkest hour has come, there is always hope if people believe in the sublime ideals of freedom and equality.

WRONG PRIORITIES Dr MIHAILO CRNOBRNJA

Professor Emeritus at FEFA and President of the European Movement in Serbia

H.E. ANDREA ORIZIO

Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia

42

STORY OF BAČ

12

Dr VIŠNJA KISIĆ

HUGE POTENTIAL IN DIGITALISATION

Associate Professor of Heritage Management, UNESCO Cathedra in Cultural Policy and Management Secretary General, Europa Nostra Serbia

H. E. ARNE SANNES BJØRNSTAD

Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to Serbia

51

SENTA SOUNDS DIFFERENT

18

Culture

THE EU PROVIDES SUPPORT AND FUNDING VIDOSAVA ENDERIĆ

Director of the European Affairs Fund of the AP Vojvodina

52

CULTURE SHOULD WAKE US UP MILENA MINJA BOGAVAC

20

Theatre artist

WE NEED TO BOOST COOPERATION AND TRUST ŽARKO STEPANOVIĆ

Director of the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society

ROBERT ČOBAN

57

THE TOUGH CLUB BORISLAV ĆOSIĆ

Founder and director of TTC

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

Director

TANJA BANKOVIĆ

Editor in Chief

tanja.bankovic@color.rs

SANJA ŠOJIĆ Journalist

sanja.sojic@color.rs ”Color Media Communications” LTD, 21132 Petrovaradin, Štrosmajerova 3 TIN 107871532 • Matriculation number 20887303 · Phone: +381 21 4897 100 • Fax: +381 21 4897 126 Office: Palmotićeva 16A/5, Belgrade • 011 4044 960 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

4

22

PRIORITIES INCLUDE STRENGTHENING DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

ILIJA PETROVIĆ INDIGOCHILD Art director

indigochild.ilija@gmail.com

JOVANA MARKOVIĆ

Advertising manager

jovana.markovic@color.rs

NATAŠA NEŠIĆ

RUŽA RISTANOVIĆ

natasa.nesic@color.rs

ruza.ristanovic@color.rs

Advertising manager

DRAGANA RADOVIĆ Advertising manager

dragana.radovic@color.rs

JELENA RANĐELOVIĆ

Magazine director

ROBERT ČOBAN Director

robert.coban@color.rs

Photos

Advertising manager

GORAN ZLATKOVIĆ GETTY IMAGES

VANJA KOVAČEV

Translation SNEŽANA BJELOTOMIĆ

vanja.communications @gmail.com

ZLATNA KNJIGA

jelena.randjelovic@color.rs

PR&Event support Nord Communications

Print

Jagodina, Bagrdanski put bb

5

POLITICS

How to Get Rid of Nicolás Maduro An attempt to depose the dictator appears to have failed. Try again

April 30th dawned promisingly in Venezuela. Juan Guaidó, acknowledged as the country’s interim president by many democracies and millions of Venezuelans, appeared outside an air-force base in Caracas flanked by national guardsmen to declare that the end of the dictatorship was imminent. By his side was a leader of the opposition, Leopoldo López, who had somehow been freed from house arrest. His presence, and that of the guards, suggested that Venezuela’s security forces were ready at last to withdraw their support for Nicolás Maduro, who has ruled his country catastrophically and brutally for the past six years.

Thus began two days of rumour, intrigue and violence As The Economist went to press the regime was still in charge and the generals were proclaiming their loyalty to it. Mr Maduro had appeared on television to declare that the “coup-mongering adventure” had failed. Yet this week’s events reveal that his hold on power is weaker than he claims. Mr Guaidó, the United States, which supports him, and the commanders of Venezuela’s security apparatus must work together to put an end to it.

6

That may well have been the plan. John Bolton, America’s national security adviser, said on April 30th that senior regime officials, including the defence minister and the commander of the presidential guard, had agreed to dump Mr Maduro and transfer power to Mr Guaidó. Mike Pompeo, America’s secretary of state, later insisted that Mr Maduro had been worried enough to have a plane waiting to spirit him to Havana but was dissuaded by his Russian allies.

How true these claims are and what went wrong is uncertain. A letter on social media attributed to the general in charge of Venezue-

plan. The plotters got cold feet.

The false start, if that’s what it was, shows the way ahead. Both Mr Guaidó and the administration of Donald Trump will need to induce the top brass to switch sides by making clear that there is a role for them in a democratic Venezuela. The army gave up power in 1958 and helped usher in civilian rule. Today’s opposition and soldiers could co-operate in a similar fashion. Although Mr Maduro and his closest associates need to go, Mr Guaidó should welcome less tainted leaders of the chavista regime into a transitional government, which would relieve the humanitarian crisis while preparing

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS LUMPED VENEZUELA IN WITH CUBA AND NICARAGUA IN A “TROIKA OF TYRANNY” la’s intelligence service, who has abruptly left his job, gave Mr Bolton’s assertion some support by saying that people close to Mr Maduro were negotiating behind his back. Some newspaper reports say that the plan was to remove him on May 2nd but that Mr Guaidó had acted early, perhaps because Mr Maduro had got wind of the

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

for free elections. That could yet take many months.

The Trump administration has lumped Venezuela in with Cuba and Nicaragua in a “troika of tyranny”. It seems as eager to dislodge Cuba’s 60-year-old communist regime as it is to get rid of Mr Maduro. To that end it recently intensified America’s embargo on the

island, including by letting American citizens sue European and Canadian companies that do business using Cuban assets stolen after the revolution.

American disdain for Cuba’s regime is justified. Its hundreds of spies in Venezuela help keep Mr Maduro in power. But the swipes at Cuba will tighten this bond precisely when America should be trying to prise it apart. Lawsuits against European firms will frustrate concerted diplomatic action against Venezuela. In the cause of removing Mr Maduro, America should for the time being set its quarrel with Cuba to one side.

The crucial choice lies with Venezuela’s army commanders. Mr Maduro’s misrule offers them no future. It has crushed the economy, starved the people, strangled democracy and forced more than 3m Venezuelans into exile. The hardship is bound to worsen with new American oil sanctions this year.

The generals must begin to act like patriots. They need to destroy the regime, before the regime destroys their country.

From The Economist, published under licence. The original article, in English, can be found on www. economist.com

7

INTERVIEW

Priorities Include Strengthening Democratic Institutions Serbia to fully use the enormous potential of its brilliant people

H.E. ANDREA ORIZIO Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia

"It has been a pleasure for me to lead the OSCE Mission to Serbia for the last two and a half years. This has given me the opportunity to get to know even better your beautiful country and to plunge into the challenges it faces in its reform path. Our role is defined by the Mission’s mandate, which was approved by all OSCE participating States, when Serbia requested the Organization’s help through a field operation, which is tasked with providing assistance and expert advice to Serbian authorities and civil society in the reform and modernization process of the country. Within the spectrum of the mandates of OSCE field operations, ours is the one that is most clearly defined by its assistance nature. The very guiding

8

principles in delivering on our mandate are partnership with all relevant stakeholders – government bodies, independent institutions, the Parliament, professional associations, national minority representatives, academia – towards domestic ownership of re-

of law and media freedom and professionalism, combating discrimination, supporting Serbia in fulfilling its human rights commitments, as well as supporting a sustainable reform of the security sector. High on the Mission’s agenda is youth empowerment,

THE QUALITY AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS ON THE JUDICIARY AND OF THE NEW MEDIA STRATEGY WILL DEFINE THE DIRECTION THAT SERBIA WANTS TO TAKE form achievements,” says at the beginning of the interview H.E. Andrea Orizio, Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia.

What are the OSCE's plans for Serbia in 2019?

— Our priorities include strengthening democratic institutions and practices, promoting the rule

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

as young generations play a vital role in building a democratic and inclusive society. The Mission targets youth and gender across all of its programmes, with a particular focus on regional connectivity and education. For example, we have been promoting a rule of law culture among youth through anti-corruption clinics; we sup-

ported media literacy training to enhance young citizens’ opportunities to participate in democratic processes; we also support education for national minorities and foster intercultural youth interaction across Serbia and the region, as well as the implementation of a child safety programme. Another focus of our work is supporting Serbia in combatting organized and cyber-crime. As organized crime cannot be effectively treated in isolation, the Mission assists Serbia in strengthening international and regional co-operation in combatting serious trans-national crime, cybercrime, international terrorism financing, trafficking in fire arms and human smuggling. In this vein, the Mission facilitated the establishment, for the first time, of a Permanent Conference of Specialized Organized Crime Prosecutors and supported its secretariat, currently based in Belgrade.

The OSCE Mission in Serbia co-operates with the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia on strengthening the capacity of the police in effective prevention and fight against corruption.

What are the results?

— Corruption is recognized by Serbia as a significant challenge.

Accordingly, the fight against corruption is one of the key priorities of the Mission. We work in partnership with all relevant institutions and stakeholders in Serbia, including the Anti-Corruption Agency, to strengthen both prevention and repression capabilities with the ultimate goal of ensuring full local ownership. The Ministry of Interior has been one of our key partners and we have been working together on strengthening the police capacities to fight corruption. Last month, I attended an event marking the first anniversary of the Anti-Corruption Department, established by the Ministry of Interior, within its Criminal Investigations Directorate with about 160 police investigators. In this relatively short period, they have managed to achieve significant results. During their first year they filed 500 criminal complaints

against a total of 489 persons, with 279 suspects being arrested or detained. Of course, this work should not end with the investigation, and the courts need to process all these cases. In November 2016, Serbia adopted the Law on "Organization and Jurisdiction of State Authorities in the Suppression of Organized Crime, Terrorism and Corruption", which came into force on 1 March 2018. The Law, among other

vestigating misuse of public funds.

What do you identify as the biggest problems in Serbia?

— My wish is for Serbia to be able to fully use the enormous potential of its brilliant people to enjoy a full rule-of-law society, based on merit, with institutions at the service of all of its citizens, regardless of the powers that be. This would help Serbia provide opportunities

HIGH ON THE MISSION’S AGENDA IS YOUTH EMPOWERMENT, AS YOUNG GENERATIONS PLAY A VITAL ROLE IN BUILDING A DEMOCRATIC AND INCLUSIVE SOCIETY things, envisaged that the Ministry of Interior will be the authorized institution for conducting criminal investigations, upon the order of the Specialized Department Prosecutor. In the current phase of our cooperation with the Ministry of Interior, the Mission supports specialized anti-corruption training courses for about 120 police officers on: qualifying economic crime and corruption offenses; recognizing evidence; employing special proofing measures; and in-

for youth within the country, preventing brain drain and enabling its remarkable human capital to flourish, thereby contributing to Serbia attaining the place that it deserves in Europe. To fulfil Serbia’s extraordinary potential, especially among its youth, rooting a rule of law culture in the nuts and bolts of the Serbian democratic system is probably the most burning challenge facing this country, as well as strengthening democratic institutions, in particular the Par-

liament, as nothing can replace open and inclusive parliamentary debate. We look forward to witnessing constant improvement in this domain. Furthermore, independent and regulatory bodies are an extended arm of the Parliament and, as such, can be its closest allies in exercising its oversight role, especially if they have financial autonomy. On the other hand, their recommendations ought to receive adequate attention by both the executive and the legislative.

The best sign of support would be the timely implementation of their recommendations. Likewise, the appointment of the new Commissioner will be an important test for democratic governance. When it comes to attaining a healthier media environment and judicial independence, Serbia has made steps forward, but these processes are – everywhere and Serbia is no exception – to be completed. The quality and the implementation of constitutional amendments on the judiciary and of the new Media Strategy will define the direction that Serbia wants to take. Further engagement by the Serbian authorities and all stakeholders in these areas of fundamental importance

9

for the consolidation of democratic reforms remains crucial. The fight against corruption is one of the core challenges ahead of the host country. The OSCE Mission has been active in this domain, supporting the authorities both from the preventive and the repressive angles, by providing expertise and fostering regional approach as indispensable. Our most recent activity with the Anti- Corruption Agency was a conference which received the support of Italy, focusing on the implementation of corruption prevention mechanisms thanks to the sharing of best practices.

The OSCE Mission to Serbia and the European Union Delegation to Serbia launched a three-year project titled "Support to Victims and Witnesses of Criminal Offenses in Serbia". How is this project going?

— The project was launched in 2018, thanks to the generous support of the EU Delegation, in partnership with our main local counterpart and beneficiary, the Ministry of Justice, who selected the OSCE Mission to be the implementing partner. We are confident that together with the Ministry, the Mission’s efforts will result in domestic ownership of a national victim and witness support system.

For example, the most important milestone for our project – putting in place a strategic framework for enhancing the rights of victims and witnesses which will direct Serbia’s policymakers in the coming years – is underway. This project aims to assist the host country to introduce functional mechanisms enabling witnesses to testify in an atmosphere of respect and dignity, without fear from retaliation by countering the negative effects of secondary victimization

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IS A FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHT AND MEDIA FREEDOM REPRESENTS AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF EVERY DEMOCRACY. WITHOUT THEM, THERE IS NO FREE AND OPEN SOCIETY AND ACCOUNTABLE GOVERNMENTS during the criminal justice procedure. To this end we are working with our partners to establish a national victim support network.

This way, not only victims of crime will be empowered, but also the overall effectiveness of the justice system will be improved by enhancing the quality of evidence (victim testimonies) made available to the courts.

How do you assess the state of media freedom and freedom of speech in Serbia? How satisfied are you with the draft media strategy?

— Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right and media freedom represents an essential element of every democracy. Without them, there is no free and open society and accountable governments.

According to a recent report by Reporters without Borders, Serbia is not a safe country for journalists. In my opinion, all relevant stakeholders in Serbia are investing serious efforts in order to further improve media freedom, professionalism and literacy. For example, the police and prosecution have resolved the case of the arson attack on the house of Milan Jovanovic, journalist

of Žiginfo. The trial for this crime started on 9 April and we are closely monitoring the developments. We have recently seen a first instance court's decision convicting the perpetrators responsible for killing journalist Slavko Curuvija 20 years ago. These are positive steps. There are a number of other cases, however, that still need to be investigated, which reminds us that there is still a lot of work ahead of us. The OSCE Mission to Serbia stands ready to add value to the important work of our partners and to further support the dialogue on this crucial topic.

The Draft Media Strategy that was produced last year is a thorough and balanced policy document. It is an important tool that, if adopted in its current version and implemented properly, could lead to a healthier media environment, rooted in media freedom, ethics and professionalism, and paying due attention to developing media literacy among citizens. The Mission used its convening power to help produce this document in an atmosphere of debate and inclusiveness, with all proposed goals having been carefully considered and discussed with over 150 stakeholders. The Mission also assisted the Working Group by pointing to different democratic practices and international standards in all of the strategic issues in media reform. The follow up debate was also very rich and we sincerely hope that the suggested solutions will provide a good basis for moving forward the reform process in this domain. We are eagerly waiting for the final adoption of this document and we stand ready to support its implementation, as only truly independent institutions and an advanced regulatory framework can ensure the full exercise of freedom of expression by free media and safe journalists.

INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY You have offered co-operation and proposals to parliament to bring reforms to an independent judiciary. What does Serbia need to do in this field?

— The OSCE Mission to Serbia has been supporting Serbia’s process of constitutional reform from the onset, aimed at attaining separation of powers with a special focus on judicial independence. We facilitated inclusive debates and provided focused expertise on possible solutions for ensuring judicial independence, accountability and efficiency.

Throughout this process, we have encouraged relevant stakeholders to go beyond the minimum standards offered in the range of options included in the Venice Commission’s Opinion. Speaking

10

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

about the selection procedure for candidates in judicial positions, the main goal is to develop a merit-based, transparent and fair selection process. Serbia can design its own model, also on the basis of best practices from the OSCE area and decide which institution or institutions should be in charge of appointing, promoting, training, organizing and disciplining judges. It is crucial that such an institution, or institutions, be independent and efficient, composed by members free from political interference including from the legislative and the executive. The OSCE now stands ready to assist the Parliament in its deliberations on the draft amendments, which is a great opportunity for the National Assembly and its committees as well.

INTERVIEW

Huge Potential in Digitalisation Trade is increasing and the political dialogue has reached a more advanced stage

H. E. ARNE SANNES BJØRNSTAD Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to Serbia

Norway will celebrate its national day in May, this was a reason to talk with the H.E. Arne Sannes Bjørnstad, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to Serbia.

Relations between Norway and Serbia are very good. A central part of this is the broad project cooperation between the countries since 2000. Serbia is an important partner for Norwegian efforts to support regional cooperation and help further the European integration of the region. mportant priorities in this cooperation are energy and environmental issues; reform of the security-, justiceand domestic sectors; strengthen-

12

ing of independent control- and regulatory agencies and gender and minority issues.

Although not a member of the EU, Norway actively supports Serbia on its way to joining the EU. How would you rate the results Serbia has made so far in that respect?

attention to the politically more exciting chapters, but no one should underestimate the amount of work necessary to fulfil the demands of seemingly technical chapters. EU food safety standards will bring great benefits, but it will be a very difficult process, as will applying EU regulations on public procurement and state aid

I AM HOWEVER SURE THAT SERBIA WILL CATCH UP WITH THE EU AND JOIN WITHIN SOME FEW YEARS, BUT THE REFORMS MUST CONTINUE WITH AT LEAST THE SAME PACE AS TODAY — Much has been done and Serbia is closer to membership than ever before, but it is important not to forget that Serbia is still in the beginning of the process.

Many important chapters are yet to be opened. It is easy to focus

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

to companies. And it isn’t enough to catch up with EU standards as it is today. EU is constantly moving forward. It is a bit like taking part in a run where the main field has started with an advantage – you must keep a higher speed than the

others just to catch up with them.

It is hard, but others have done it before Serbia and I am however sure that Serbia will catch up with the EU and join within some few years. However, the reforms must continue with at least the same pace as today and more must be done to ensure efficient implementation of the reforms.

How do you see the current state of the economic and the political relations of our two countries?

— Trade is increasing and the political dialogue has reached a more advanced stage. By advanced stage, I mean that we exchange views and cooperate more easily and on a wider range of issues than before.

We agree on many issues, but not on all, but disagreements does not prevent neither constructive discussions nor cooperation where we share a common interest.

Norway is one of Serbia’s most important trade partners. According to your data, what did the trade between Norway and Serbia amount to last year?

What did Serbia import the most and what did it export the most to Norway?

— While the Serbian export has remained at around 20 million Euro annually since 2013, Norwegian exports to Serbia has tripled in the same period, from 14 million Euro in 2013 to 42,5 million Euro in 2018. Honey and unprocessed frozen raspberries represent almost a quarter of Serbian export to Norway, however there is also a considerable percentage of engine and machine parts, hydraulics and plastic mass products exported to Norway. More than 70% of the Norwegian export to Serbia are chemical products, followed by fish – predominantly salmon and mackerel.

Norway has doubled its aid to Serbia. Will there be a change in the priorities and how this money will be spent?

— We want to contribute to improved living standards in Serbia, and especially for those living in the poorer parts of the country.

That is why job creation and support for basic public services will continue to have a high priority.

But we also believe that European integration is the most efficient and sustainable way for Serbia to reach higher living standards. Just a look at the living standards of EU and EFTA (Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Lichtenstein) countries shows what Serbia has missed by not being being fully part of the European integration. Therefore, assistance of different kind to the efforts Serbia is making towards fulfilling the criteria for EU membership will remain a priority.

We have identified digitalisation as a third priority. The Serbian government is rightly pointing to the benefits of offering public services electronically. We have been involved in some such projects and we expect to continue, but our

HONEY AND UNPROCESSED FROZEN RASPBERRIES REPRESENT ALMOST A QUARTER OF SERBIAN EXPORT TO NORWAY main focus with the digitalisation agenda now is to lessen the risks.

ICT bring with its advantages, but also risks in the form of vulnerability to everything from technical hick-ups to massive cyber-attacks.

Before supporting further digitisation, Norway has proposed to assist Serbia in establishing a framework for protection of public networks and data that might not be secret in the sense of national security narrowly defined, but important for the good functioning of the Serbian state. We believe this is a good insurance policy, but it will also reduce the perceived risk of doing business in Serbia.

How many Norwegian companies do currently do business in Serbia How present are Serbian companies in Norway?

— There are, unfortunately, not that many Norwegian companies operating in Serbia, and we feel the

void after Telenor Serbia was sold.

However, Norwegian companies operate their customer services from Serbia, while others offer engineering and ICT services or use the highly qualified Serbian workforce for product development or health services.

We do see a continued, stable interest in the Serbian market from potential investors and buyers in Norway. Norwegian investments however mostly go to EU member states, as membership guarantees stability and a level playing field. Providing that Serbia continues its way towards EU membership by harmonizing its legislation with the European regulations and practices, and thereby guaranteeing a more predictable business environment, transparency and a level playing field, I am sure more will jump off the fence and invest in Serbia. As I have already said, much has already

been done, but Serbia is still in the beginning of its process of EU integration. It is important to remember that Serbia’s main competitors for investments are its EU neighbours, and they have an advantage through their membership. By not being member of neither EU nor NATO, Serbia is most notably losing out when it comes to investments in high tech industries or investments where management of sensitive data – personal data or business information – is important. This issue is however also to a certain degree linked to what I already said about information security in Serbia.

I would however like to draw attention to an increasing interest in Serbia as a travel destination for Norwegians. The airline company “Norwegian” has direct flights to/from Belgrade three times per week, and the flights are very often full. Serbia has a lot to offer tourists, so I would expect the number of Norwegian tourists to increase.

How do you comment on the situation between Belgrade and Priština?

— I just hope that the talks towards a normalisation will soon be back on track. Normalisation would give a boost to the economy and not least reduce the risk for future conflict.

Norway is very active in our country in various fields, from education, social inclusion, culture, to ecology and other areas.

Could we announce any new activities of the Embassy in Serbia?

— We will continue more or less as before, but we see a huge potential in digitalisation. However, digitalisation creates vulnerabilities as well as increased efficiency. That is why we find it prudent to begin with assisting Serbia in setting up a better system for information security, following EU standards, before investing in expensive equipment. The substantial increase in funds will however be used in the poorer part of the country.

SERBS IN NORWAY Increasingly more citizens of Serbia have been leaving for Norway in the past years looking for a better job. Are there statistics about the precise number of people and in which fields there is a deficit of workforce in Norway?

— Officially, I think there are about 7 000 perma-

nent residents in Norway, including Norwegian citizens, who have Serbia as place of birth. This is twice as many as in 2014.

We don’t have good statistics on deficits in the labour market, but generally Norway needs both experienced, qualified artisans and highly educated personell in engineering and the health sector.

13

CORPORATE

Individual Approach to Each Claim We are very pleased with the fact that our results have been showing stability, and constant and stable growth since the beginning of our business operations in Serbia KRISTINA MARKOVIĆ Director B2 Holding Kapital

B2 Holding Kapital has brought the Norwegian model of providing genuine financial services in collection and claims management to the Serbian market.

As their founder, Group B2Holding ASA, based in Oslo, Norway, they put a special emphasis on improving the liquidity of their clients by purchasing of overdue claims. They ensure maximum speed and efficiency in operations to the satisfaction of all actors involved in financial operations. B2 Holding Kapital is flexible to market conditions and customer requirements.

Why was B2 Kapital interested in Serbia and does the company plan to expand its business here?

— The Serbian office was opened when B2Holding ASA invested in a regional portfolio from Hypo Alpe Adria Bank called Dinara Project portfolio. Since then, the Serbian market has been slowly opening up, and our business expanding. At present, B2 Kapital in Serbia only purchases claims against corporate clients; for the time being, we

14

intend to continue going down this road, at the same time trying to retain the quality of our business operations. However, B2 Kapital has been recording significant corporate growth throughout the CE region, to which our operating company belongs, i.e. in the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is also expected that we in Serbia will continue to

firmly believe in helping them get back on track. The nature of our business includes dealing with a variety of circumstances our clients find themselves in, so we always aspire to show full understanding for their situation and we offer them complete repayment flexibility. We follow a highly ethical and individual approach to each client, whom we, as the new creditor, can never and will

WE DO ALL OUR BUSINESS TRANSPARENTLY, IMPLEMENTING THE BEST PRACTICES OF THE GROUP TO THE SERBIAN MARKET follow suit. We are experiencing growth thanks to our continuous search for ways to improve.

Through improved collection strategies, analytics, digitalization and use of the best practice projects, we aim to further increase operational efficiency and effectiveness going forward.

What do you offer your clients in Serbia?

— When it comes to clients, we

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

never place at a greater disadvantage, as compared to their previous creditor. In doing business, we are more flexible than banks.

This means that, together with our client, we can agree on the amount of the installments that the client will be able to execute regularly.

Moreover, we do not assign any additional costs to the client’s debt, with the exception of the default legal interest. Those clients who carry out a minimum of one pay-

ment per month by the end of the repayment of debt are eligible to apply for a full or a partial writeoff of the default legal interest. In that case, they will not have to pay anything but the debt that their previous creditor transferred to us.

We also offer a delay in bringing legal proceedings and other benefits for the cooperative clients.

What are the results of the company in the past period?

— We are very pleased with the fact that our results have been showing stability, and constant and stable growth since the beginning of our business operations in Serbia. We do all our business transparently, implementing the best practices of the Group to the Serbian market.

Our quality and commitment to the work that we do has been recognized by both our clients and our business partners, which gives us confidence to continue improving our business operations and achieving even better results.

When do companies need to contact professionals for collecting receivables?

— Companies often do not have enough time, experience or resources to successfully troubleshoot problematic claims without affecting the overall financial stability of the company itself. It is always safer, easier and faster to contact a company that deals with the collection of receivables because it has enough trained and professional resources and sufficient experience in that area.

When a company in such circumstances decides to contact us, they have the chance to employ the main benefits of bad placement sales: liquidity insurance and freeing up their resources to focus on their core business and their own business growth and development.

By doing this, we directly support our business partners’ stability and growth, at the same time strengthening our clients’ financial security and building business stability in our society.

About what companies that sell receivables should especially take care?

— Companies that sell receivables need to take steps to make the process transparent, so that all participants are well informed, and that portfolio data and all relevant documentation are of good quality. It is important that the transaction is carried out in a way that is not damaging to the client under any circumstances. The transaction is supposed to put the client in a more favorable position than before, at no additional costs.

On the other hand, when acquiring non-performing loans from these companies, we treat their customers with respect and fairness. To safeguard their own reputation, they know that we maintain high ethical standards, privacy princi-

ONE OF OUR MAJOR GOALS IS TO EDUCATE, NOT ONLY THE CLIENTS, BUT ALSO THE MARKET ABOUT NPLS AND THE MANAGEMENT OF CLAIMS IN ORDER TO CREATE THE BEST SOLUTION FOR ALL PARTIES INVOLVED ples and routines, and local services. We earn our vendors’ trust through our everyday actions. Over time we have shown that they can rely on us to take care of their customers and to treat them fairly.

As a result, we build strong partnerships that benefit all parties.

Research shows that in Europe half of creditors hire external co-workers for debt collection, while in Serbia it makes only about 8%. What are the reasons for this?

— Engaging an external partner

mostly depends on the long-term bank strategy. Banks in Serbia are usually engaging external partners for retail collections i.e. both covering early and late collection stages. Keeping the collection of portfolios inhouse for collections usually means intensive investments in collection systems and huge workforce. Banks started building their collection teams with the arrival of the financial crisis, meaning that some collection systems are already in place.

Maybe the utilization of the existing investments is the reason for

keeping the collection operations inhouse.

On the other hand, results of the internal collection could be successfully supported by external support. If the bank wants to improve its NPL ratio, RWA and capital adequacy ratio and profitability, the best way to do it as fast as possible is to engage external support, which is paid on success basis. As regards the non-financial sector, it is still closed for this type of cooperation.

Compared to most of Europe, banks in Serbia can sell private individual loans only to other banks and not to companies like ours. One of our major goals is to educate, not only the clients, but also the market about NPLs and the management of claims in order to create the best solution for all parties involved.

NORWEGIAN MODEL Your company brought the Norwegian model of providing complete financial services in collecting and managing receivables on the Serbian market. Can you tell us more about this?

— Our story began in 2014 in Belgrade when B2 Holding Kapital was founded by the international B2Holding ASA Group, based in Oslo, Norway.

Since starting its activities at the end of 2011, B2Holding has grown rapidly and has established itself as one of the leading players in the markets where the Group operates. The Group has full operations in 23 European countries and offices in three additional countries, with more than 2,300 employees, while in Serbia we have

13 employees. In our business, we are focused on improving the liquidity of our clients, and we employ the Norwegian financial service model, adjusted for the distinct characteristics of our local market. This model is based on an individual approach to each claim, where we offer each of our clients an option of mutually agreed debt payment plan. We refrain from collection through litigation in order to avoid additional costs for our clients, and instead we try to arrange various collection models having in mind our clients’ financial capacities and each debtor's personal circumstances. Furthermore, we are always looking for new, innovative tools and ideas to enhance our business model.

15

POLITICS

Text: ŽIKICA MILOŠEVIĆ

Maidan-3 The End of Misery

After all the bad news, revolutions, dead people, clashes and other risks associated with direct democracy all over the Eastern Europe, great news came from Ukraine where the citizens elected the opposition candidate to be the country’s president with 74% of the votes, without a revolution, a new Maidan or street protests. In "the peaceful Maidan", albeit the one with tectonic influence, the electorate chose to vote against the clerical-nationalist candidate supported by the West, whose motto was "The Army, the Language, the Faith", and chose a man who was for peace, spoke Russian as his first language and who was of Jewish ancestry.

This was 0 out of 3 Poroshenko's mantras! Their choice was between a comedic actor and a puppet businessman.

In the words of political analysts: “Poroshenko’s Ukraine is poorer and more unstable than Yanukovych’s, and, at the same time, it has not become freer, more just, more orderly. Only corruption, ultra-nationalism, chauvinism and Russophobia have become stronger in the past five years The popularity of Zelensky, especially among the Ukrainians under the age of 40, shows that citizens are much more concerned about the everyday problems - corruption, nepotism, ineffective judicial and administrative apparatus, organized crime, poverty - than geopolitics. Even the high-level political issues of the perpetrator, even the unification of the rebelling Orthodox Church

16

in Ukraine and the obtaining of autocephaly from Constantinople did not help improve his popularity among the electorate, nor did the declaration of the state of emergency and Russophobia, which also took on grotesque aspects."

THE YEARS OF MISERY

In five years, the Ukrainian Premier Football League has been reduced from 16 to 12 teams (some of the clubs dissolved due to the lack of funds), followed by stupid and

should be put in a ghetto because they are “contagious and useless”.

But the tide started to turn with small heroes, like Maruv, the singer who was supposed to represent Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest. After being presented with an unacceptable contract, he refused to participate in the contest, as did the second-placed, thirdplaced and fourth-placed after him (including the mega popular group Kazka). In the end, Ukraine did not participate. The rebellion has start-

MAIDAN 3 HAPPENED WITHOUT A REVOLUTION, WITHOUT SPILLING BLOOD AND WITHOUT PROTESTS irrational decisions like banning Russian art and culture, banning all kinds of traffic with Russia (fist air traffic, then railway), banning Russian planes using the Ukrainian airspace, banning Vkontakte (the most popular social network) and Yandex (internet search tool) and ultimately, banning Russian men from entering the country. Artists like Oleg Skrypka added more fuel to the fire by saying that everyone who doesn’t speak Ukrainian

ed! Footballer Rakitsky (with many caps for the Ukrainian national team) moved from FC Shakhtar to FC Zenit from St Petersburg.

People have demonstrated that the madness of nationalism makes no sense. Poroshenko (a man who increased his fortune 95 times, according to some projections, even though he was already quite wealthy, just like his pals – the oligarchs) really touched the rock bottom when he called Zelensky live

RESTART — Now, there is a chance that Ukraine can return to the place it deserves - the most beautiful and most tolerant country in the East Europe, known for its many languages and traditions and no civil war. Both east and west and north and south voted for the new Ukraine. Maidan 3 happened without a revolution, without spilling blood and without protests. See you in the new Ukraine!

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

on national television, although he very well knew that Zelensky was not in to the country at all, something that Zelensky repeated on the phone 10 times or so. During the infamous TV show, Zelensky confirmed numerous times that he had already agreed on a second term, and hung up the phone, causing Poroshenko’s embarrassment and making it a triumph for himself.

The surreal comedy by a supposedly serious politician continued when Poroshenko went to the "scheduled time" and participated in a “debate” by himself, trying to present Zelensky as a "non-existent candidate", engaged the state apparatus and the media, and even tried to challenge the candidacy of his opponent in court. He failed.

BACK TO LIFE, BACK TO NORMALCY

No-one thinks that Ukraine will become perfect overnight, but at least it will not be a grotesque Russophobic cul-de-sac in a war with its citizens. The most important thing is that Zelensky (who had another gaffe when he said that Stepan Bandera was the man who defended Ukraine) showed that the government was disposable. If it does not work, it should be changed until a better one comes. The people from other Eastern European countries can now see that it is possible to change the strongmen the West shamefully supports. After Zuzana Čaputova in Slovakia, the tide has started to turn. Following the justified anger in 2013 and the shameful dismissal of Yanukovych on the day after the agreement was signed, "the revolution of dignity” became "the revolution of misery".

17

INTERVIEW

The EU Provides Support and Funding The European Affairs Fund of AP Vojvodina is currently implementing projects in the segments of water management, agriculture, tourism, sports, public health, energy efficiency, culture and environmental protection VIDOSAVA ENDERIĆ Director of the European Affairs Fund of the AP Vojvodina

The European Affairs Fund of AP Vojvodina is currently implementing projects in the segments of water management, agriculture, tourism, sports, public health, energy efficiency, culture and environmental protection.

Vidosava Enderic has been the head of the European Affairs Fund of AP Vojvodina for more than two years. She talks about the EU funding we have received and prospects for future cooperation and plans...

It has been two years that you were appointed the director of the European Affairs Fund of AP Vojvodina. Could you sum up your results so far?

— I may say that the results the Fund achieved in withdrawing grants from the available EU funds are most satisfactory. I believe that our activities help disseminate information and increase knowledge on project financing, while, at the same time, provide support to our partners in the development and implementation of successfully approved projects. We have been recognized as a worthy partner. It gives me great pleasure to say that, in the previous two years, we have had the highest number of approved EU projects so far.

In this period, we have implemented 17 EU projects, whose value exceeds EUR 19 million. I would also like to highlight the important role the Fund plays in building the capacities for European integration activities. Firstly, there is the Specialised Programme "Management of Regional

18

Development through EU Funds" we have been implementing for several years. Moreover, the Fund has been focusing on providing support and enhancing the cooperation with municipalities in terms of presenting them the EU funding opportunities.

A great scope of the Fund’s activities has been devoted to the promotion of Vojvodina and its cultural, economic, scientific and educational capacities, as well as cooperating with European cities, regions and their institutions, which we have been doing successfully through our office in Brussels.

Could you tell us something about the ongoing projects and calls?

— At any given moment, the EU has open calls under which you may submit applications and they vary depending on the topic they cover. For us, in Vojvodina, one of

implementing projects in the segments of water management, agriculture, tourism, sports, public health, energy efficiency, culture and environmental protection.

I would particularly like to underline a project of strategic importance for our country - “The complex water management development of the area of the Baja-Bezdan Canal - BABECA”, worth about EUR 8.6 million, which will contribute to the improvement of the functionality of the DTD canal network and flood prevention system through the rehabilitation of the Sebesfok sluice and the reconstruction of the Bezdan lock which has not been reconstructed over a quarter of a century.

In which segments does the EU help Vojvodina the most?

— Vojvodina is certainly the leader in withdrawing funds under the CBC programmes thanks to its good geographical position and

IN THE PREVIOUS TWO YEARS, WE HAVE HAD THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF APPROVED EU PROJECTS SO FAR the most important calls is definitely the next call for proposals under the cross-border cooperation (CBC) between Hungary and Serbia.

Other programmes, such as the Danube Transnational Programme, are currently evaluating the project proposals submitted in the previous period.

All in all, we have a dynamic period ahead of us in terms of preparing new project proposals. In the meantime, we are still conducting activities relating to our ongoing projects. The Fund is currently

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

the fact that it borders three EU Member States. The CBC projects allocate funds for tourism development and preservation of cultural heritage in the border areas, as well as for boosting the economic competitiveness of small and medium- sized enterprises through innovation, promotion of energy efficiency, preservation of public health, improvement of communal infrastructure and social protection and services. However, the majority of the programmes allocate some of their funds for environmental

protection and conservation of biodiversity. Due to the increasingly frequent bad weather caused by climatic changes, the segment of risk and environmental catastrophes prevention and emergency response to them occupy an important place in the programmes.

I would like to indicate that in the previous two years, only within the framework of the CBC programmes, 170 projects (total value of ca. EUR 127.7 million) have been approved EU co-financing, whereas 129 projects have been from Vojvodina (total value of ca. EUR 115 million). Thus, out of the total value of projects approved under the CBC programmes, almost 90% of the funds have been allocated to beneficiaries from Vojvodina.

Which sector could benefit from more funds and more calls for project submission?

— When it comes to devising priorities, the EU puts a lot of effort and funding in covering as many segments as possible. However, Serbia, as a candidate country, has access to limited resources from the joint EU budget that are channelled through external assistance, although our country, realistically speaking, needs greater investments.

Our goal is to be ready for receiving funds which will significantly be increased following Serbia's accession into the EU and the opening of EU structural and investment funds. At the beginning, our results will have a significant impact on the allocation of funds for Serbia in the future period. We must be ready to stand side by side with our European partners and be either as successful or even more successful in withdrawing available funds.

ARRIVALS & DEPARTURES

CHANGES IN NESTLÉ’S MANAGEMENT The Nestlé Company has announced changes in its management that took place in the Q2 of this year. Namely, Dejan Maslinko is the new commercial director for Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Kosovo, while Neli Angelova assumed the position of communications director for the Nestlé Southeast European market (Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Slovenia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Romania). They are also members of the Nestlé Management Team for the Southeast European market.

DEJAN MASLINKO Dejan Maslinko started his 21-yearlong career at the Nestlé Company in the sales sector in North Macedonia.

Since 2013, he has been developing the company's business in North Macedonia, Montenegro and Kosovo.

All the segments that Dejan was in charge of demonstrated stable growth and profitability during this period, contributing to the development of the company at the regional level. Working in different business contexts, Dejan has gained considerable experience, which will be of great help to him in the new role.

NELI ANGELOVA With more than 26 years of work experience in Nestlé, Neli Angelova has significantly contributed to the development of the food category in Bulgaria, where she served as a business manager for the culinary sector. She spent one year at Nestlé Adriatic in the same position, and in 2017, she was appointed the head of communications and corporate affairs in Bulgaria. During this time, the team in Bulgaria has built significant partnerships with key associates and institutions, but also managed to increase media coverage, and further develop the role of research and e-commerce in the company.

Dejan Maslinko and Neli Angelova will use their abundant experience in leadership positions, strong leadership skills and excellent business skills to fully realize the market potential of all the areas they are in charge of, improving their teams' performances in order to jointly achieve even greater business success.

NATIONAL DAYS

in May & June

MAY

JUNE

17

02

Constitution Day

esta della F Repubblica

NORWAY

25

ARGENTINA

Primera Junta Day

25

LEBANON

esistance and R Liberation Day

ITALY

05

DENMARK

Constitution Day

06

SWEDEN

National Day

19

INTERVIEW

We Need to Boost Cooperation and Trust Financial sustainability is one of the most pronounced problems of the civil society in Serbia, especially for smaller organizations that don’t operate in large regional centres ŽARKO STEPANOVIĆ Director of the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society

Serbia today has 32,000 registered associations.

We are talking to Žarko Stepanović, Director of the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society, about their position and potential for biggest cooperation with the state authorities.

You have been appointed director after working in the non-governmental sector for many years.

Could you tell us what is the difference between the state’s and the civil sector’s mindset?

— My experience of working in the civil and public sectors has allowed me to look at our social situation from two to a certain extent different angles of observation. Perhaps the main differences are in understanding time, or the way they view the speed at which changes and reforms need to be implemented. On the one hand, it is difficult for civil society to see how the state administration functions from within, as they often think in a way that is critical to the achievements of the administration, and expect faster results and changes. On the other hand, it is difficult for the state administration to perceive all aspects of the situation on the ground due to its central position and perspective.

Since they have very different perspectives, it is necessary to further boost the cooperation and trust, which is definitely hindered by the sensationalistic headlines

20

about the civil society in the media, certain CSOs distancing themselves from the citizens because they are forced to allocate their resources towards ensuring financial viability more than towards the target groups. It may look paradoxical, but these different perspectives should be and are the meeting point, and create a space for dialogue and debate on many important social issues. Our Office plays a role of a kind of mediator that approaches these two special but complementary segments of society.

After three years of being the director, what is your view of the current cooperation between the state and the civil sector? Is there any room for progress?

— The civil sector is not a homogeneous structure, as organizations

ed laws, while the organizations created platforms that required that certain laws be withdrawn from the procedure and to prevent the constriction of the space for civil society. There is room for improvement, and the new legal framework creates significant opportunities while making it obligatory for the state authorities to cooperate with CSOs and citizens in the process of passing regulations and public policies.

In the coming period, the Office will work a lot on encouraging the implementation of the Law on the Planning System and accompanying bylaws, as well as the Law on State Administration. Also, a great potential, but above all, an enormous space for improvement, lies in the areas where civil society can help the state through providing

DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES SHOULD BE THE MEETING POINT, AND CREATE A SPACE FOR DIALOGUE AND DEBATE ON MANY IMPORTANT SOCIAL ISSUES have different capacities, areas of operation, goals, and they vary by number and type of activity. The intensity and the ways and forms of cooperation are different. Today, unlike in 2016, most institutions understand the need for cooperation better. Our Office is at the disposal of all institutions. Progress has been made in the field of transparent state financing of CSOs. Certain areas have recorded weaker cooperation, so, last year, we had several initiatives to assess the constitutionality of the adopt-

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

services for very sensitive to categories of the population such as social and health care, free legal aid, supporting the LGBT+ population and various minorities and others.

What are the problems of civil society in Serbia and can you solve them?

— Financial sustainability is one of the most pronounced problems of the civil society in Serbia, especially for smaller organizations that don’t operate in large regional centres, that can be resolved through build-

ing trust and informing the public about the results of their work.

The Office seeks to contribute to the problem’s resolution by promoting good practices of the cooperation between CSOs and the state, through greater involvement in policymaking and dialogue with public administrations, while providing a platform for dialogue on important issues.

In 2018, the Serbian government adopted a new decree that brings about significant changes to the process of allocation of budget funds to CSOs. One of the stipulations from the decree states that the Office had to publish an e-calendar of all planned public competitions that pertain allocation of funds from the 2019 state budget which contains an overview of all the competitions that the public administration is planning to launch, which can be searched via different categories. By doing so, we have improved transparency, while CSOs can now find information about all the competitions from one source and start preparing their project proposals on time.

What is your comment on frequent attacks on civil society organizations in Serbia?

— The Office strongly condemns attacks and threats to certain civil society organizations. It is of the utmost importance that the line institutions respond to attacks, as well as to preserve the level of achieved rights, first and foremost, the freedom of association and the freedom of thought and expression, as the fundamental principles of democracy.

CORPORATE

With Us, You Can Enjoy Seeing Your Little Ones Grow Your partners in parenting

Be carefree and happy during the most beautiful and the most turbulent days before delivery and after your baby arrives home with the support of experienced pediatricians, midwives, nurses, and pediatric nursing staff from the Bebologija medical office and ‘Midwife and Baby’ services because your child’s good health is our only goal.

What is the Midwife and Baby service?

The Midwife and Baby service provides support with preparing for delivery and stay at the maternity hospital, as well as with taking care of the baby once it gets home.

You might think that you that you know everything there is to know about baby care, there are still things that will occur that you don’t know about and could cause you to feel unsettled. This is why the Midwife and Baby service was designed. In the weeks before and after childbirth each parent will feel safer with professional support. Our medical staff will make sure that this demanding and turbulent period in your life is also one of the most beautiful. You can customize the service of the midwife

and the visiting nurse to suit your own needs and choose the package and time that best suits you.

• Recognize your baby's requirements • Calm your baby and put it to sleep

The midwife will inform you of the following:

The pediatrician from Bebologija will:

• How to prepare for maternity hospital • The contents of the bag you’ll take to the hospital • Rules during your stay at the hospital • All about breastfeeding - preparing and practising on a dummy • Symptoms of the beginning of delivery and childbirth itself

• Visit you on the 15th day after childbirth • Find out how your baby is progressing • Answer your questions • Assess the general state of the baby at 30 days after birth • Assess the growth and development of your baby

YOU CAN CUSTOMIZE THE SERVICE OF A MIDWIFE AND VISITING NURSE TO SUIT YOUR OWN NEEDS AND CHOOSE THE PACKAGE AND TIME THAT BEST SUITS YOU • All about mother’s care after childbirth

The visiting nurse will help you to:

• Properly breastfeed and nourish your baby • Take care of the baby - bathing, dressing, skin care • Identify and resolve the baby's stomach problems

About Bebologija

The team of specialists from the pediatric office Bebologija is made of experienced pediatricians and top experts of various specialities. They are here to share knowledge and experience in all areas of pediatrics, as well as to get our "big" patients diagnosed and adequately treated, according to the latest protocols.

The founder of Bebologija's pediatric office is Miloš Relić, a pediatric specialist with 20 years of experience, recognized by many families, and especially the children as a physician who takes away fear and makes them smile.

The team of pediatric specialists from Bebologija comprises of more than 10 experienced physicians, all top experts of various specialities.

Bebologija is located in Dedinje, just across Hyde Park. Three modernly equipped offices span over 150 square metres. Bebologija’s offices meet all the highest standards – there are two separate entrances, a separate baby toilette, a breastfeeding and dressing area, as well as an ultrasound machine for hips.

There is also a possibility of doing diagnostic analyses based on blood sample analysis in five minutes or a few hours such as a complete blood count (CBC), C-reactive protein (CRP), quick swabs, etc.

“BEBOLOGIJA” Stjepana Filipovića 32b, Belgrade Tel. 011 41 44 950 069 41 44 950 Service “Babica i bebica” 011 41 44 951 www.bebologija.rs

21

INTERVIEW

Wrong Priorities It is difficult to understand why we need a national stadium and 56 fountains at this point in time, rather than make investments (subsidies) in the growth of industrial and agricultural production

Dr MIHAILO CRNOBRNJA Professor Emeritus at FEFA and President of the European Movement in Serbia

We have talked to Dr Mihailo Crnobrnja, Professor Emeritus at FEFA and President of the European Movement in Serbia, about the direction in which the Serbian economy was heading, whether the neoliberal concept was a good solution for Serbia, how well was Serbia using pre-accession funds, and how far we are from the actual EU membership.

What is the situation in the Serbian economy today? What are its weakest, and what the strongest points?

— Generally speaking, I would say that the economy is slightly ascending. I would disagree with the officials who classify as "the best in the region" and sometimes even "the best in Europe". The facts show that our external debt

22

has seriously decreased and that this is partly a consequence of exports growing faster than imports, which is also positive, the stability of the dinar, the fact that serious European and global companies have found a place for themselves here and have launched production in our country, and our rank-

as a professor, the brain drain is probably our weakest point. We are investing heavily in education, and many are still perpetuating a slogan that was once coined by university students – “I need to graduate in order to emigrate.”

Another problem is choosing priorities in the public sector, where

WE NEED TO REDUCE THE BRAIN DRAIN BY PROVIDING BETTER QUALITY AND MORE USEFUL EDUCATION AND BY GRANTING SUBSIDIES FOR THE LAUNCH OF NEW DOMESTIC PRODUCTION ing/position on both the World Business Forum and the World Bank lists is improving. Unemployment is decreasing, although unemployment still grows faster than employment, which is due to people retiring faster, or shadow economy, or brain drain.

The brain drain is definitely our weak point. Actually for me,

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

investments are not private but are budgetary. It is difficult to understand why we need a national stadium and 56 fountains at this point in time, rather than make investments (subsidies) in the growth of industrial and agricultural production. Last but not least, a lot still has to be done on increasing the share of domestic invest-

ments in the domestic product because this is the only reliable basis for the long-term growth of the domestic product. Foreign direct investments, which we also stimulate, are good and important, but they should not be more important than domestic investments.

As an economic consultant, what advice would you give to the Serbian government in terms of their next moves relating to the economy?

— My answer is pretty much the same as the previous one – to reduce the brain drain by providing better quality and more useful education and to grant subsidies for the launch of new domestic production. This is already being dealt with but too little is being done considering how much has been invested in the aforementioned national stadium and fountains. In order to rank the priorities properly, our economic system needs to take half a step back and implement planning. Not the Soviet-type

of planning (totalitarian and too detailed), but the so-called indicative planning for which Jan Tinbergen from the Netherlands got the Nobel Prize for Economy. We have been relying too much on ideology and theory of neoliberalism that rests on only three things – market, market and market. Finally, we need to get tougher on corruption and black/shadow market. Some results have been achieved in this respect, but we can and must do much more.

You are critical of the neoliberal concept in Serbia, but is this really neoliberalism considering that the state significantly influences the market with its subsidies? Which economic model is applicable to our situation?

mestic banks (Komercijalna, Jubmes and Srpska), and the sale of claims of bankrupt banks?

ing the EU accession negotiation chapters? What problems in the European integration process does Serbia face?

— All of that is a part of the neoliberal approach that I have mentioned earlier. In simple terms – everything that is state-owned is bad, and everything that is a result of market activity is good. This is overinflating the fact that the market is a better resource allocator than the state, but the truth is that in many countries both factors are considered.

The gist of the problem is to find the right roles and balance.

— Apart from chapter 35 (Kosovo), everything else is moving forward but not at the speed we want and expect, unlike in other countries that have already entered the EU. We should bear in mind that one of the factors responsible for the slowdown is that the EU enlargement is not so high on the list of priorities as it was at the time when, with the exception of Malta and Cyprus, former communist countries were EU candidates.

Back then, the enlargement was on the top of the EU agenda. That’s no longer the case, partly because of the other problems that the EU is currently dealing with, and partly because of the EU’s experience with taking in the candidate countries that were not sufficiently pre-

Since 2000, when Serbia underwent political changes, to date, the European Union remains the biggest donor in the country with a total amount of EUR 2.96 billion. How important is this money for us? Is it being adequately used?

— Yes, you are right. When I was critical of neoliberalism I was thinking more about changing ownership over capital than price formation. So, instead of the “market, market, market” motto, we should have used the “privatization, privatization, privatization” motto, which we overdid, to be honest. As far as the economic model is concerned, I have indicated in my answer to your second question the best option – a dose of indicative planning, i.e. dirigisme. Something like China, our strategic partner, did. In the last 40 years, China has had an average growth of the domestic product of over 8%, and thus became the second strongest economy in the world. Of course, I am not siding here with their political monolithicity. I would like to remind you that China has the second highest number of millionaires in the world, which is something that is incompatible with the classic communism. Hence, my suggestion is that, instead of various consumer products, including garlic, we import from our strategic partners the recipe on how to have constantly high long-term growth rate.

— Bearing in mind the low domestic savings, and the share of domestic sources in all investments, these funds mean a lot. The first and obvious reason is that they are donated, not loaned, so these funds are non-refundable. Another reason is that the donated funds are spent on a very wide spectrum - from production, energy, and transport infrastructure to education, healthcare and environmental protection. Last but not least, the EU donates funds for concrete projects that, besides ours, have to also pass their check of the profitability of the investment (cost and benefit checks). This reduces the chance of the so-called politically motivated investments and corruption, although, unfortunately, these two unpleasant phenomena do happen.

You said we overdid it with the privatization. How would you comment privatization of do-

What would you say about the effort that Serbia has been investing in opening and clos-

I SUGGEST THAT WE IMPORT FROM OUR STRATEGIC PARTNERS THE RECIPE ON HOW TO HAVE CONSTANTLY HIGH LONG-TERM GROWTH RATE pared for the membership (such as Romania and Bulgaria).

In regard to Serbia, our main problem, and something that the European Commission has been warning us about is chapter 23 (judiciary and fundamental rights) and chapter 24 (justice, freedom and security). These chapters have been opened but the progress has been very slow. I would also add to this list chapter 27 (environment), not because of political or administrative problems, but the fact that harmonizing our regulation with the EU’s in this segment is very expensive and runs into billions of euros.

While we are on the topic of chapters – there is a chapter that is unavoidable and applicable only to our negotiation process. It’s chapter 35 that refers to Kosovo. There have been announcements that the official talks between Belgrade and

Priština will be finalized this year. What is your take on this?

— I doubt that is going to happen, although it would be good if it did happen. The two sides are still too far from each other to cross the road ahead without external help (or rather external pressure). As we speak, the important meeting in Berlin, with the French President and the German Chancellor in attendance, has not yet taken place. This meeting just serves to increase pressure. In order to alleviate the pressure on the Serbian side, President Vučić will meet with the presidents of China and Russia before the Berlin meeting.

These are big players, but it is not certain that the result of the meeting will be big enough for the negotiations to be finalized by the end of the year.

How did the problem with the Kosovo authorities imposing a tax on Serbian goods affect the talks? Do you approve of the way in which the EU handled this problem?

— The talks have been at a standstill for a half a year now. The economic consequences of this tax for Serbia are not enormous, but they are being felt especially by some companies which have been selling a significant quantity of their products in the Kosovo market for years. The EU’s reaction has been good, i.e. denouncing Kosovo’s move. It is also too tepid and lacks a strong move that would demonstrate the EU’s dissatisfaction and force Priština to seriously reconsider the tax. The lack of a strong reaction from the US has further exacerbated the situation.

And we all know too well that the Albanians listen more to the US than the EU. Only Priština erected a monument in honour of a US president (Clinton, in this case).

All in all, there is no doubt that the meeting in Berlin will be used to up the pressure but it remains to be seen whether this meeting will be sufficient to remove the heavy ‘rock’ that is blocking the road to progress.

LOANS INDEXED IN SWISS FRANCS Who should be dealing with the problem of mortgages indexed in Swiss francs?

— I think that a ‘solution’ to this problem has already been found. It will be jointly solved by mortgage users, the banks themselves and the state by the banks writing off a part of their claims, and the state partially compensating them for that

thus facilitating the repayment of mortgages.

It seems that the state still has a role to play, but not as a factor in stimulating production and economic growth, but in maintaining social peace and reducing the number of reasons for street protests of which there are already too many..

23

ECONOMY

Europe’s Airline Industry is Consolidating That is good news for shareholders, less so for flyers

America may be the land of free-market competition. But look up at the sky and Europe looks freer. The European Union is home to 135 scheduled airlines; America has 59. The five biggest carriers in America control around 70% of the market; the eu’s top five barely hold half. Concentration has resulted in poorer service: three American operators can be found on the list of the world’s 50 best carriers, as rated

by Skytrax, an aviation website, compared with 13 European ones.

As predictably, it has benefited shareholders, who earn three times as much for every frazzled passenger as those in Europe (see chart). Signs of American-style consolidation will therefore please Europe’s capitalists as much as they worry competition authorities—and flyers.

European skies have grown less crowded of late. The number of airlines in Europe has fallen from a peak of 180 in 2003. Since the start of 2018 at least 14 have collapsed. In March wow, an Icelandic low-cost carrier, entered bankruptcy. The previous month Flybmi and Germania went bust, following vlm of Belgium, Primera Air, based in Latvia, Cobalt Air of Cyprus, Germany’s Azur Air, Lithuania’s Small Planet Airlines and a Swiss carrier, SkyWork. Flybe, Europe’s largest regional airline, is barely hanging on.

Meanwhile, mature carriers these fledglings were meant to disrupt are flying high. The past two financial years have seen record profits at Europe’s three biggest airline groups: Lufthansa, Ryanair and iag, owner of British Airways and Iberia.

Michael O’Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair, Europe’s largest low-cost carrier, thinks that the industry is moving “inexorably” towards five airline groups— Lufthansa, iag, Air France-klm, Ryanair and easyJet—controlling 80% of the continent’s air traffic, more like America, within five years. He

24

most. The former, which specialise in flying short hops between provincial airports using smaller aircraft, have been knocked by the rapid expansion of low-cost carriers, with larger planes and lower costs per passenger, into their most profitable routes. Many charter operators, too small to compete with the likes of Ryanair, are leaving the airline business altogether. In February Thomas Cook, a British travel agent, put its carrier up for sale.

PLANES, TRAINS AND OLIGOPOLIES

THE PAST TWO FINANCIAL YEARS HAVE SEEN RECORD PROFITS AT EUROPE’S THREE BIGGEST AIRLINE GROUPS: LUFTHANSA, RYANAIR AND IAG, OWNER OF BRITISH AIRWAYS AND IBERIA predicts that more mid-sized carriers will be swallowed by them over the next five years: Norwegian and tap Air Portugal could be bought by iag; Lufthansa is eyeing Hungary’s Wizz Air; Alitalia, Italy’s perpetually failing flag carrier, could merge with its stronger joint-venture partner, Air Franceklm. Analysts broadly concur with Mr O’Leary’s conclusions.

The dominance of Europe’s established carriers is not down to state backing. Of the top six only Air France-klm has governments (of France and the Netherlands) as shareholders. Rather, their success reflects the importance of scale, explains Kenny Jacobs, Ryanair’s

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

chief marketing officer. Heft was not always an advantage in the past. When fuel prices rose before the recession of 2007-09, legacy airlines with older, thirstier planes cut capacity while upstarts with more fuel-efficient aircraft expanded. Now the former are growing faster than the market overall, using greater heft to cut costs. The biggest airlines are better able to hedge against higher fuel costs, get lower prices from suppliers such as catering firms and aircraft-makers, and borrow cheaply to buy or lease new fuel-efficient planes. Smaller carriers cannot keep up.

Regional airlines and operators of charter flights have suffered

Aviation regulators at the European Commission, the eu’s executive arm, argue that Europe’s airline business is structurally more competitive than America’s. More cities have secondary airports to rival fortress hubs dominated by one airline. Railways compete against airlines on shorter routes. The commission’s transport chief, Henrik Hololei, is nonetheless ready to step in to stop Europe’s five biggest airline groups from becoming more dominant. Britain’s competition authority, meanwhile, wants to reform slot allocation at London’s busy Heathrow Airport to make it harder for iag to grow its market share beyond today’s 55%. All this would keep Europe’s airspace from turning too American. But market forces favour consolidation. Resisting it looks like a flight of fancy.

From The Economist, published under licence. The original article, in English, can be found on www. economist.com

CORPORATE

Living the Change Company not only declared its dedication to pursue smoke free future, but invested billions of dollars in science and in expanding capacities that will make this vision come to life

ANDREA CIUTI Commercial Director for South East European Philip Morris International

Philip Morris International (PMI) is leading a transformation in the tobacco industry to create a smoke-free future for the benefit of adult smokers, society, the company and its shareholders.

Andrea Ciuti, Commercial Director for South East European Philip Morris International, talked about company’s and his own mission to replace conventional cigarettes with smoke free products.

When you first joined the company, could you have imagined and hoped that the company would completely change its vision in the smoke-free direction?

How did this change affect you personally?

— I've been with the company for 16 years. In that period I've changed numerous positions, moved 9 times, from Portugal to Algeria, had an exciting and inspirational career, and then this tectonic change happened. Not only did our company officially declare that we would pursue smoke-free future, but it has also invested billions of dollars in science on developing smoke-free alternatives for cigarettes and expanding capacities that will make this vision come to life. That made me more enthusiastic about my job then I've ever been to before.

Although I consider smoking as a conscious choice of adult people,

now I'm eager to convince smokers who don't want to quit to switch to better alternatives, or at least to let them know that they exist. I enjoy talking to people who disagree with us, or who are sceptical about PMI’s intentions. And I don't do that only as a Philip Morris employee.

That is my mission even when I leave my office. I live for and love this change!

Philip Morris has changed its core product from Marlboro to IQOS. How have consumers in different markets accepted this innovation? What is now different – the company's approach or the consumer reaction?

— There are certainly different levels of readiness for innovation and changing habits from country to country. We have experienced that on our very first step when we

launched IQOS in Italy and Japan.

The Japanese are obsessed with technology and hygiene. The Italians not that much. Therefore, the Japanese accepted this alternative immediately, while the Italians were more hesitant. However, once you overcome barriers of ignorance or reluctance, and when smokers try and experience the benefits of switching to less harmful alternatives, it doesn't matter which part of the world they live in. They become a part of the same, innovative and better world.

This complete transformation of PMI business certainly affected PMI employees, but PMI is still ranked as the "Top Employer", not only in Serbia but worldwide too. How did the employees keep up with all the changes?

— We used to be in the cigarette

THERE ARE CERTAINLY DIFFERENT LEVELS OF READINESS FOR INNOVATION AND CHANGING HABITS FROM COUNTRY TO COUNTRY

business for more than 150 years and there wasn't much novelty in it. However, when you're entering a completely new venue you have to learn how children do. I observe sometimes my youngest daughter, who is now 5 years old when she is sitting quietly with her sisters, listening, absorbing information, connecting dots and then finally, typically of her, loudly expresses her ideas and suggestions for new adventures. That is how we do things today. Our senior management team has also acquired this children's approach and now they listen more then they talk. This led to a different dynamic that motivates rather then scares our employees.

What makes Serbia and Belgrade special in comparison to other countries that you have worked in, both from a professional and private perspective?

— Belgrade is a positive mix of everything I like. The city is great, pulsating day and night, with a lot of good vibes. What struck me the most is that every stone has its own history. I live in Dorćol, and there, in the 200-metre-radius, you can see a beautiful mosque, a Jewish synagogue and a Roman well on Kalemegdan Fortress. Seeing all these different cultures and meeting so many people with a perfect dose of openness and directness, made me understand why our South East Europe Cluster is so efficiently managed from Belgrade.

There is no one-sided, top-down hierarchy but a healthy relationship and respect between colleagues in all 6 markets. I worked around the world, so believe me, that is something that you don’t see everywhere.

37

CORPORATE

Constantly Striving to Innovative Although it seems that the application of new technologies is the thing of the future, they are actually being applied today

VLADIMIR KNEŽEVIĆ Country Managing Director, Oracle Serbia & Montenegro

Innovation is the key to success. We have talked with Vladimir Knežević, Country Managing Director, Oracle Serbia & Montenegro, about the novelties that the American company Oracle was preparing for our market

What new and attractive cloud services can we expect Oracle to provide in the near future?

— As one of the leaders in the field of cloud technologies, Oracle is dedicated to the development of new cloud services. In addition to the standard IaaS, Paas and Saas (Infrastructure, Platform, Software as a Service), Oracle has been strongly investing in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence tools, which in many ways enable what Oracle today calls the Autonomous Cloud Service. The Oracle database is constantly updating, applying appropriate updates, recognizing security threats, and automatically ensuring smooth operation. This opens up a whole new space for creative work done by IT professionals who can be more committed to applying technology to specific business purposes, while most of the administrative responsibilities can be transferred to the Oracle Autonomous Service.

These services eliminate complexity, reduce the possibility of human error and manual operation, provide greater reliability and safety while increasing efficiency and reducing costs. Oracle continues to invest in the development of its SaaS (Software as a Service)

38

offer. Our users can now use cloud applications such as Accounting, HR, Procurement, Project Management, CRM, and Supply Chain Management. In addition, we are particularly proud of our Cloud at Customer offer, because we are the only company that can offer Oracle Public Cloud in the user’s Data Center. This ensures the privacy of data, as well as security at the highest possible level.

Are companies in Serbia ready for this technological leap? Do they fully understand the numerous advantages that this will bring to them?

— Although it seems that the application of new technologies is the thing of the future, they are actually being applied today. It is only natural that there is resistance if we do not have enough information. Oracle’s office in Serbia conducts detailed market analysis

and works with both the partner network and users in the public and private sectors to highlight the benefits of using cloud solutions. The positioning of the cloud solutions in Serbia has received a good response, especially from the public sector that has recognized the numerous advantages both in the technological and administrative sense, as well as in cost reduction. Oracle Serbia is the first office in Europe to implement Oracle Cloud Infrastructure in the Telco Industry, and among the first in Europe, to implement it in the Public Sector. This was a big step for our country, but also an excellent indicator for the rest of the economy that it is possible to invest in the cloud.

What are Oracle's trump cards in the market?

— Oracle has been operating worldwide for over 40 years. We have always been setting high standards while constantly striving for innovative solutions. This has ensured that we are recognized as a reliable partner in the field of storage and data analysis. Further-

ORACLE SERBIA IS THE FIRST ORACLE OFFICE IN EUROPE TO IMPLEMENT ORACLE CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE TELCO INDUSTRY, AND AMONG THE FIRST IN EUROPE TO IMPLEMENT IT IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

more, our data security is always at the highest level. Oracle's strongest trump card is its employees. A large number of highly qualified experts are communicating with customers and partners on a daily basis, offering adequate solutions and answering to the most demanding business and technical challenges.

How many Oracle products are used in the public sector of Serbia? What are the most important products that you can offer to the state authorities?

— Oracle is strongly present in the public and private sector in our country. There is almost no entity that does not use some of Oracle's technologies to a greater or lesser extent. In regard to the state administration, a large number of ministries, administrations and agencies have been using Oracle solutions for many years. The Ministry of Internal Affairs, Tax Administration, Treasury Department, Pension Fund, Central Registry of Compulsory Social Security, National Bank, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Finance and others are just some of the public services that make the long list of Oracle users in Serbia. For this reason, there was a need to sign a special type of contract that will generate the greatest benefits for the state authorities, both in terms of optimizing the number and price of licenses and in terms of advanced technologies that will provide the highest level of security and productivity in the country. Serbia is the second country in Europe, after England, which implemented the Oracle Cloud Machine in the frame agreement, which, in turn, ensured that Oracle Public Cloud (Iaas, PaaS, SaaS) could be brought directly to the Data Centre of the IT Office, thus allowing the highest level of data privacy. Even though Oracle provides data service, the Republic of Serbia and its citizens remain the sole owners of the data.

Autonomous Cloud Services This will enable employees to focus more on goals, and on more effective and efficient work in their organizations

Oracle Autonomous Cloud Services are based on Machine Learning Algorithms.

This Self-Driven Database releases administrators from routine maintenance and reduces security risks so that Oracle experts in companies can focus on innovative and business-oriented work on projects. Adaptive Machine learning algorithms automatically apply service and software updates, tuning and backing up data, and performing auto-upgrade.

We are fast approaching the

era of autonomous life just like autonomous vehicles that need no driver. We are heading down the road whereby big companies are automating their business processes and operations to a large extent as this will

enable employees to focus more on goals, and do more effective and more efficient work in their organizations. Users are often afraid of Autonomous Systems and Virtual Reality because they think that they would al-

ORACLE AUTONOMOUS CLOUD SERVICES RELEASES ADMINISTRATORS FROM ROUTINE MAINTENANCE, AND REDUCE SECURITY RISKS SO THAT ORACLE EXPERTS IN COMPANIES CAN FOCUS ON INNOVATIVE AND BUSINESS-ORIENTED WORK ON PROJECTS

ienate and separate themselves from people. Furthermore, there are afraid that machines and programs will "override� the world. Fear is normal, but irrational because man is the only conscious and creative being, who provides a frame for the Artificial Intelligence Systems.

Yes, computers can do more transactions in one minute, but that’s only because the potential of the human brain has not been fully explored. The human mind is what determines our reality, and technology helps us live better and more effortlessly.

39

CORPORATE

Pharmacy in Serbia is an Underutilized Resource

Pharmacy could offer relief to hospitals by providing more basic health care testing and service

DANIEL SHULL CEO Asterfarm (Dr. Max)

Czech Pharmacy chain Dr. Max is currently operating in Serbia within 10 legal entities holding 133 pharmacies which are providing outstanding healthcare and value to customers and patients in Serbia. The company is a member of AmCham. We have talked with Daniel Shull, CEO Asterfarm (Dr. Max Serbia), about the company's future plans.

Are you satisfied with your current business in Serbia?

— I don’t want to avoid your question, but I cannot really give a straight answer. I have almost 20 years of experience in pharmacy and have been in senior management or had indirect responsibility for pharmacy chains in 14 different countries. Despite thinking that I had seen it all, I am continually surprised by some of the challenges we encounter in the Serbian market and some of the rules which make doing business in Serbia, in pharmacy in particular, unnecessarily complicated. One example of many is that the city of Belgrade wants us and every other business to act as the ticket controller for the public transport

40

company. Why should Dr.Max or any other business have to hire an extra accountant to control where our employees spend their money? It is the responsibility of the transport company to ensure that their customers buy tickets and not the job of private business. Another issue is the extremely high cost of gaining competition authority approval. We have about 5% of the Serbian pharmacy market, and yet we need to apply with the competition authority for each acquisition we make. The cost is around Euro 25,000. This basically makes it impossible for us to buy single pharmacies or even most small groups, as Euro 25,000 in extra costs up front on a typical small acquisition basically eliminates any discounted ROI. I could understand an admin fee of say Euro 500, but such a high cost is simply not economically justified nor reasonable. We are constantly contacted by small groups or individual pharmacists wishing to sell their business, but due to this ridiculous cost for the competition approval, it is simply not economically feasible for us. It hurts Dr.Max and it hurts the local business people wishing to capitalize on their hard work. Such rules are not conducive to business in Serbia and discour-

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

age foreign investment. Reducing this fee would I believe, lead to a real boom in investment in this and potentially other sectors. Has the chamber ever addressed this high cost with the authorities? On the business side, one concern is the high number of pharmacies in Serbia, which as a ratio to population is very high internationally.

This ratio is difficult for me to understand, as profit margins in Serbian pharmacy are well below that in most other countries, and the many extremely small pharmacies on the market cannot be profitable if they are being run in a compliant manner. That said, our business in Serbia is growing well and we are improving dramatically our service offering to our patients and customers. Our operating performance is also improving at a rapid

sister companies in the Czech Republic and Slovakia have a state of the art Customer Loyalty program that has won various awards.

It is based around both commercial and health service offerings and allows us to customized the offering to patients and customers based upon their healthcare needs and interests. We will be examining how to adopt and launch this program in Serbia.

What are good and the bad sides of the Serbian market from the perspective of a foreign company in Serbia?

— Serbia has great untapped potential in its people. I am extremely pleased with the quality of our employees. They are motivated, dedicated and learn quickly. We are working hard to provide them

OUR BUSINESS IN SERBIA IS GROWING WELL AND WE DRAMATICALLY IMPROVE OUR SERVICE OFFER TO OUR PATIENTS AND CUSTOMERS pace. However, Dr. Max still sees great potential to improve both our own financial performance and how we contribute to supporting the healthcare of Serbia’s citizens.

You were the first to launch buyer cards with various benefits and discounts, as stimulation for new and old customers. How does this economic plan look from the current perspective to you?

— The old system provided good value to customers and was a success for us, but is not a tool to drive real customer loyalty nor to support patient health care. Our

with a good work environment, professional education and career opportunity, but we regularly lose good people, often the best, to emigration. To me it extremely sad that so many talented young people feel that they need to leave Serbia to have a prosperous future.

This is unfortunately due to the legal and business environment, which is simply still much less conducive to wealth creation and personal economic stability than in many other countries. As an example, there are several laws and regulations which honestly do not make sense from a business perspective nor from a healthcare

perspective and simply complicate our ability to provide quality health care in an efficient and affordable manner. I truly wish the government was more open to utilizing the potential of pharmacy to provide basic health care services.

Serbia could really look to markets such as the UK or Ireland for inspiration in this area. If pharmacists were allowed to administer blood glucose testing and other easy and readily available testing, this would reduce waiting times in clinics and hospitals freeing up doctors to spend more time with their patients and ensuring that a greater number of undetected cases of diabetes were discovered at an earlier stage. Another area would be providing a pharmacist with training to provide flu vaccines. Pharmacy could provide relief to the crowded clinics by offering such front line, basic healthcare services. Dr. Max is willing to invest in the necessary training and facilities to provide such services, we just need the legal ability to provide them. We are willing to discuss this opportunity at any time with the authorities.

I also truly believe that by offering such expanded professional opportunities to our pharmacists, who are extremely motivated health care professionals, Serbia would be in a better position to keep these professionals in the country instead of losing them to Norway, Canada or Germany.

On another note, I am extremely pleased with the service level and the cooperation of several of our key local suppliers and partners. One strong local supplier, in

of regulation and to ensure that this enforcement is done in a consistent manner for all pharmacies and pharmacy chains. This does not always seem to be done in an equal manner towards all businesses, and I would really hope that we see a continued improvement in levels and consistency of enforcement.

Do you plan a new acquisition or public-private partnership in Serbia?

WE ARE WORKING HARD TO PROVIDE THEM WITH A GOOD WORK ENVIRONMENT, PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION AND CAREER OPPORTUNITY, BUT WE REGULARLY LOSE GOOD PEOPLE, OFTEN THE BEST, TO EMIGRATION particular, has really come through for us and we are rewarding this with a significantly increased level of business with them. Regarding concerns, I am not confident that there is consistent enforcement of regulation in the industry. I would thus encourage the authorities to continue to improve enforcement

— Yes. We will continue to expand primarily by aquisition. Our targets will primarily be private chains.

We have looked at a couple of the public-private partnerships, but the structure of these proposed packages tends to be too complicated and the expected injection of captal simply too high, espe-

cially if the requirement from the municipality is that we take on the entire communal chain. If the municipalities were able to spin off the pharmacies in good locations, we would be happy to reconsider this option, but we cannot afford to invest capital into a chain of say 10 good and 20 poor pharmacies.

Are pharmaceuticals in the Serbian market of good quality?

— The vast majority of pharmaceuticals sold on the Serbian market are produced in the same factories and under the same conditions of pharmaceuticals sold in the EU. The only difference is the packaging. The Serbian government has itself a strict licencing program and thus the quality of the registered prescription medicines is very high. Unfortunately, some innovative treatments are not yet approved for sale or reimbursement in Serbia, but this is due to financial considerations. Thus the medicines which are available are of very high quality but in a number of categories, the most recent generation of medicine is not yet available to Serbian patients.

AMERICAN IN SERBIA As an American, how did you end up leading the subsidiary of a Czech Pharmacy chain in Serbia?

— This is indeed a good question! I never would have expected to land in Serbia, but life always brings us suprising opportunities, and I am one who tends to see the positive in unexpected chances. To answer your question specifically, I came to Europe due to my German wife. I was studying at San Diego State University where I met wife who was also studying in San Diego as a Fulbright Scholar. I returned with her to Germany in 1994 and have spent my adult life in Europe, mostly in Germany. The majority of my career was spent with Celesio (now McKesson) in various Finance and Commercial roles, both in the Corporate offices and in Celesio’s Irish subsidiary. I left Celesio in 2014 and spent a couple of really intense and interesting years at Amazon. The Dr.Max Group CEO, Leonardo Ferrandino, a former colleague at Celesio, gave me a call in 2016 to see if i would be interested in considering leading the Group Procurement for Dr.Max. As I really love the pharmacy branch, I quickly agreed and spent two years as Head of Group Procurement for Dr.Max. In October of last year, Leonardo asked me if I would be interested in a new challenge in Serbia, and being one who enjoys new challenges, I accepted.

41

REPORTAGE

Story of Bač

Living meaningfully with cultural heritage – the example of „Centuries of Bač“ project

Dr VIŠNJA KISIĆ Associate Professor of Heritage Management, UNESCO Cathedra in Cultural Policy and Management Secretary General, Europa Nostra Serbia

The town of Bač has once been an important administrative and trade centre. Located on a small river Mostonga, with easy access to Danube, Bač has been a thriving area, defence centre and border town for centuries. The town was so significant in the early Middle Ages that the whole area between rivers Tisa and Danube got its name Bačka.

Diverse archaeological sites in the area testify the presence of humans throughout eight millennia, while the remaining architecture from the 12th to the 19th century, shows numerous cultural influences. Traces of Western Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles, as well as Byzantine and Islamic art, tell the stories of turbulent and impressive links between the cultures of the Balkans with the West and the East. Bač and landscape that surrounds it are home to some of the most iconic, but still lesser known monuments of national significance - the Bač Fortress, the Franciscan Monastery of Bač, and the Bođani Orthodox Monastery.

Up until fifteen years ago, most of the iconic heritage sites in Bač were falling apart. This is when a local municipal initiative to revitalise cultural heritage of Bač met the knowledge and vision of professionals from the Provincial Institute from Heritage Protection, led by architect dr Slavica Vujović.

Their dream was to start a process of heritage-led regeneration of the area - in which new research,

42

careful conservation, educational activities and community involvement would contribute to the quality of life and socio-economic development. The project Centuries of Bač was born!

It all started in 2006 with the revitalization of Bač Fortress, the oldest and most iconic cultural monument in the area, in close partnerships with the Municipality of Bač, the University of Novi Sad Faculty of Technology and the Museum of Vojvodina. Firstly, new research has been enhancing the knowledge about the site, which then influenced pioneer findings,

was followed by equal attention on education and awareness raising of the local community. The Centuries of Bač functioned as a joint platform for numerous interrelated projects – implemented through numerous partnerships and funded by local, national and European funds.

Today, Bač is still a sleepy town, but proud and aware of its rich history and diverse heritage.

European Heritage Days are organized each year and local tourism organization moved its venue to the Fortress. The Bač Fortress has been revived and turned into a tourist and education centre, with

TODAY, THE AREA OF BAČ AND ITS SURROUNDING HAS BEEN THE FIRST CASE TO BE VALORISED AND PROTECTED AS THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE IN SERBIA

informed conservation decisions and educational activities. Secondly, principles of careful conservation and minimal intervention were used, so that the age and the history of the Bač Fortress could still be felt. Furthermore, conservation involved the planning for sustainable purpose and use of the site – as a tourist focal point and exhibition area. Thirdly, every step of professional research and conservation

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

museum exhibition in the Donjon tower which helps visitors to interpret the wider cultural landscape of Bač. The Foundation "Centuries of Bač" has been established, and recently a museum unit has been opened in Bač. In last few years significant works have been done in bringing back old glory to frescoes and architecture of Bođani Monastery. This Spring, after two years of restoration works with

funds from the European Union, a newly restored Franciscan Monastery will be opened to the public, together with the new museum that showcases tradition, customs and religious objects from Catholic communities in Bač.

The dream of the project team is coming to reality with each new day. And they wanted whomever comes to this region of Vojvodina, to feel as if they came to an openair museum. This open-air museum encompasses acres of river banks, natural reserves, cultural monuments, villages and settlements, which all together tell a unique story in a unique ambient.

The area of Bač and its surrounding has been the first case to be valorised and protected as the cultural landscape in Serbia. Since 2018, the area of Bačko Podunavlje features on UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves, due to its characteristic natural resources, flora and fauna. The crown of these achievements is the current preparation of the nomination of «Historic City of Bač and Its Surrounding», to the UNESCO World Heritage List – which would make it a first cultural landscape in Serbia and wider region to be given this prestigious title.

This Spring, as the Serbian capital is heated with public discussions and professional appeals for protection of Belgrade Fortress Kalemegdan, it is important to remember the high quality, awarded practices of heritage safeguarding in Serbia. The story of Bač shows why passionate, dedicated and professional long-term efforts in revitalizing cultural heritage bring more benefits than spending public funds on destruction of valuable heritage resources.

CORPORATE

150 years of Staropramen

Staropramen at Street Food Festival continues to create remarkable moments Following in footsteps of Street Food Festivals across the globe, all street food lovers have had an opportunity to enjoy the unique gastronomic experience in the heart of Belgrade whilst Staropramen, in an engaging atmosphere, accompanied by IrieFM’s performance, celebrated an important anniversary – 150 years of best stories from Prague.

Until Sunday, May 12, Tašmajdan Park will serve as the place of good fun, unique flavors of most versatile cuisines – including US, Asian, Mexican, Lebanese, Italian and Chinese cuisines, together with Staropramen beer.

The one-of-a-kind gastro zone in downtown Belgrade, with cca 15 exhibitors of top quality food, culinary workshops, leading music

program and numerous activities is available to all young and urban citizens of Belgrade, tourists and recreational athletes who perceive Taš as the main city oasis, as well as families who prefer to socialize in the open.

Tašmajdan Park is the best reminder of the importance of recy-

With this extraordinary display, Apatinska pivara brewery once again highlighted the importance of recycling.

Staropramen Street Food Festival visitors had an opportunity to recycle and win prizes at the “You too should recycle” exhibition stand.

STAROPRAMEN HAS BEEN AN INTEGRAL PART OF UNFORGETTABLE MOMENTS IN THE LIVES OF BEER LOVERS FOR 150 YEARS NOW cling and care for the environment.

Thus, visitors paid special attention to a dress of unusual material created by young designer Milica Marinković within the campaign “You too should recycle”. Authentic plastic bags and cans were used as material for this clothing item.

Staropramen has been an integral part of unforgettable moments in the lives of beer lovers for 150 years now. With its support to the Street Food Festival in the year of anniversary celebrations, Staropramen continues its positive streak. In addition to numerous

visitors, the host also welcomed reporters, as well as influencers Ivana Radovanović (Mogu ja to sama) and Igor Stanković (Izorgor) who did not want to miss out on the atmosphere at the festival and who created their own stories at the Staropramen exhibition stand.

Within the Street Food festival’s versatile offer, Staropramen has once again confirmed why this beer perfectly accompanies different types of sausages from famous Wurst Platz’s menu and, always surrounded by high-quality stories, justified its reputation as a symbol of moments we would like to remember.

One hundred and fifty years made of remarkable moments were celebrated in this way. With Staropramen, we are yet to make new ones.

43

PEOPLE & EVENTS

10 ROMANIAN FILM APR

WEEK IN BELGRADE

The Ambassador of Romania, H.E. Mrs. Oana-Cristina Popa attended the opening of the Romanian Film Week in the Yugoslav Film Archive. The Film Week was opened with the screening of the Romanian film "A fost sau n-a fost"

directed by Corneliu Porumboiu, the winner of Camera D'Or in 2006 (subtitled in English and Serbian). Several other older Romanian films were also screned including "Drvoseče" (1982) and "The Most Dying Son on Earth" (1993).

H.E. Oana-Cristina Popa, the Ambassador of Romania

11 DUTCH-SERBIAN APR

BUSINESS ASSOCIATION FIRST MEETING

On April 11th, the Dutch-Serbian Business Association held its first meeting of the Board of the Directors. Since this was the first meeting of the Board of the Directors, after the short introduction and the review of things that

were done in previous months, the members also discussed in details conclusions from the First General Assembly, that was held on February 6th, and planned the next steps that DSBA will take this year.

Hugo van Veghel,Belgian Serbian Business Association and Bojan Leković, KupujemProdajem

18 ASSEMBLY OF THE APR

SLOVENIAN BUSINESS CLUB HELD

This year’s Assembly of the Slovenian Business Club was held at the In Hotel, which is also a member of the club. At the beginning of the session, the new Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to Serbia, H.E. Iztok

Jarc, addressed present members while underlining that Slovenia and Serbia had a natural and friendly relationship, and that that the political and economic cooperation between the two countries would continue to successfully develop.

Danijela Fišakov, President of Slovenian Business Club

44

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

24 RECEPTION APR

IN HONOUR OF THE KING’S DAY

On the occasion of the King’s Day/ The Dutch National Day, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, H.E. Henk van den Dool and Ms. Kasia Pawelska hosted a reception at the Crown Plaza Hotel. The reception was attended by the Dutch community in Serbia, Serbian

Government representatives, members of the diplomatic corps, and representatives of the civil society and businesses.

King’s Day (Koningsdag) is a national holiday in the Kingdom of the Netherlands and it is celebrated on April 27th to mark the birthday of His Majesty King Willem-Alexander.

H.E. Henk van den Dool, Ambassador of the Netherlands

24 INCEPTION OF THE APR

SERBIA-MALAYSIA FRIENDSHIP CLUB

The ceremony to mark the inception of the Serbia-Malaysia Friendship Club was held on April 23rd, at the Society for Culture, Art and International Cooperation (ADLIGAT) in Belgrade. The Club, established as part of the

Nik Ady Arman, Milan Knežević, Bel Medic and Viktor Lazić, President of Adligat

Nik Ady Arman and Viktor Lazić, President of Adligat

08 RECEPTION AT THE MAY

EMBASSY OF RUSSIA IN HONOUR OF THE VICTORY DAY

H.E. Alexander Chepurin and Minister Nebojša Stefanović

ADLIGAT and with the support of the Embassy of Malaysia in Belgrade, is a non-profit and non-governmental organisation which main objective of nurturing the friendship between the people of Malaysia and Serbia.

An official reception on the occasion of the Victory Day was held on May 8th at the Russian Embassy in Belgrade. The Russian Ambassador, H.E. Alexander Chepurin said that May 9th was an important and shared holiday for both the Russians and the Serbs that marks the greatest

victory in the history of mankind. Ther reception began with the minute of silence for the victims of the Second World War in the fight against fascism.

At the reception, the Moscow Cadet Music Corps performed the anthem of Russia and Serbia and Russian and Serbian war songs.

H.E. Alexander Chepurin, Russian Ambassador

Ambassador Chepurin and Minister Aleksandar Vulin

MORE PHOTOS ON

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

45

PEOPLE & EVENTS

09 CELEBRATION OF MAY

EUROPE DAY

The head of the European Delegation, H.E. Sem Fabrizi hosted a reception in Belgrade in celebration of the Europe Day. At the reception, he underlined that the EU would help Serbia on the European path and that the European Union recognized the European future for the Western Balkans, in particular Serbia. Mr. Fabrizi also said that the reason why Serbia had an EU Delegation office was the fact that the country was chosen to become a member of the European family and that the office was established to help Serbia on that path.

H.E. Sem Fabrizi, Ambassador and head of EU Delegation to Serbia

H.E. Carlo Lo Cascio, Italian Ambassador, Mrs. Rebecca Jane Fabrizi, H.E. Sem Fabrizi and Alessandra Scalici Gesolfo

Aleksandar Vučić, Serbian President

H.E.Kyle Randolph Scott, U.S. Ambassador, Mrs. Rebecca Jane Fabrizi, H.E. Sem FABRIZI and Nevena Scott

Christopher Negre, Mrs.Rebecca Jane Fabrizi, Dubravka Negre, EIB and H.E. Sem Fabrizi

th 09 4 BELGRADE

MAY

MALBEC DAY

The Embassy of Argentina in Serbia celebrated the 4th Belgrade Malbec Day 2019, a traditional Argentine Malbec Wine Tasting event which takes place at the Embassy’s official residence

in Senjak. Some 50 people attended the celebration, including the members of diplomatic corps, sommellier asociations, business people and lovers of Argentine wines.

H.E. Angel Zawels, Ambassador of Argentina

46

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

CORPORATE

Serbia Has a Lot of Quality Products Just as Brazil is recognized for its football, we can help Serbia to be recognized for its products

Could you tell us more about the cooperation with UNICEF?

— Voda Voda has excellent cooperation with UNICEF and the suggestion for us to donate came from them. I would like to use this opportunity to urge all companies in Serbia to donate as much as they can so we can help as many people as possible. I was very affected by what I saw at the Institute for Premature Babies in Niš. If every company were to make a donation, we could save many children that currently need help.

ABDULAZIZ ABDEEN Director of Caro General Trading

Two years ago, the Voda Voda Company established cooperation with Kuwait-based company, Caro General Trading which distributes Serbian products in the Gulf states. Director of Caro General Trading, Abdulaziz Abdeen came to Serbia this past April and brought a donation for the Department of Neonatology of Niš hospital.

Why did you donate to Serbia?

— This is our first humanitarian campaign in Serbia and definitely not the last one. Mr Vojin Djordjevic, the Director of the Voda Voda Company, gave me this idea since he noticed that we were interested in doing humanitarian work and thus suggested that we

donate to Niš hospital. We agreed to it and made this symbolic donation in Serbia. We are getting ready to donate much more. We are not doing this because we expect gratitude, but we rather consider it to be our duty.

commercial process, we had to do an initial study, but over time, the results exceeded the projections in the study. We have managed to achieve success because Voda Voda is a strong, quality brand that has fantastic and attractive

WE HAVE MANAGED TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS BECAUSE VODA VODA IS A STRONG, QUALITY BRAND THAT HAS FANTASTIC AND ATTRACTIVE PACKAGING How did your cooperation with Voda Voda come about? How well positioned is Voda Voda in your market?

— Initially, it was a small commercial deal which has grown into something much more than just a business. We did not expect this success and such a big demand in Kuwait and in other Gulf countries. Like any other

packaging. When we saw just how well everything was developing, we established a strategic connection and strengthened the link between Serbia and Kuwait. From there, we began to branch out into humanitarian work. We always strive to achieve balance between our profit and our donations, which is how we got to cooperate with UNICEF.

What are your further plans?

What are your experiences from doing business with Serbia and what kind of experiences did you bring from Kuwait?

— We have discovered that there are many products in Serbia that are of very good quality, that these products can be distributed globally in the near future, and that in order for this to happen, they have to be changed a little and for the Serbian government to assist in this. People from the Gulf states knew little or almost nothing about Serbia. Thanks to Voda Voda they are starting to discover things about Serbia. This is not just a commercial moment, but a cultural one that should be developing more and more.

You are privileged for having high-quality products and with our help, we can present Serbia in a very good way worldwide.

Just as Brazil is strong and recognized for its football, we can help Serbia to become recognized for its products. We want people to think of Serbia as a synonym for quality products.

47

BUSINESS NEWS

NEW PLACE FOR GATHERING: PLATO AT THE CULTURAL CENTER OF BELGRADE

FitPass

ONE CARD. ONE MEMBERSHIP FEE.

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 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.

Many companies in Serbia recognized this card as a unique concept in Serbia.

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 in-

formation on https://fitpass.rs/, in the section for business users https://fitpass. rs/kompanije. Also, if you have any questions or want more detailed information, you can contact our customer support at kontakt@fitpass.rs which will get back to you as soon as possible.

THE CEE OPPORTUNITY: SUPPORTING GROWTH IN THE REGION

At the EBRD 2019 Annual Meeting and Business Forum, UniCredit confirmed its commitment to the CEE region as an important growth engine.

UniCredit to leverage on expected CEE GDP growth in 2019 with the region reaping the benefits of being an open economy and Foreign Direct Investments and EU Funds playing a relevant role for the economy and ensuring

growth potential for corporate sector and SMEs. Corporate sector and M&A market: The CEE corporate sector remains conservative in terms of financing, focusing mostly on traditional bank lending. There is still room for growth in terms of debt and equity financing, although largely dependent on each country’s specific factors. M&A in the region has seen the highest deal value of the last 5 years in 2018, though far below historical highs. There were 222 transactions in 2018 (254 in 2017), with the consumer sector being the most active, with 48 deals followed, by TMT and FIG. In 2018, UniCredit was involved in 20 transactions in the CEE region – more than any other investment bank.

Belgrade will soon get a new, multifunctional public space within the Belgrade Waterfront, which can be used for daily relaxation, as well as for organizing various cultural and entertainment events. Directly along the Sava River, as part of the Sava Walkway, a plateau in front of the future symbol of the city, Kula Beograd, will be a unique open space that has become a new place for the gathering of Belgrade and their guests. Plato next to the tower Belgrade will improve the cultural offer of the city, as a multifunctional space whose contents will be adapted to different seasons, which will be used for the holding of concerts, festivals and other important events. It looked like a plateau inspired by the art of national squares, famous for its striking style. However, designers have taken into account local heritage and tradition, in order to create a space that will attract the observer’s attention in seconds. By combining modern elegance and rich tradition, this architectural venture will open up a new world of possibilities for spending free time and moment for winning the heart of Belgrade and their guests.

UNIQA IN 2018 AT THE TOP OF THE INSURANCE MARKET

PMI WILL BRING IQOS TO THE U.S. MARKET

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed that IQOS, Philip Morris International’s electrically heated tobacco system, is appropriate for the protection of public health and has authorized it for sale in the United States.

FDA’s decision follows its comprehensive assessment of PMI’s premarket tobacco product applications (PMTA’s) filed with the Agency in 2017. Unlike cigarettes, the IQOS system heats — but does not burn — tobacco. It is the first electrically heated tobacco product to qualify for sale in the U.S. pursuant to the 2009 law that empowers FDA to regulate tobacco products, including through oversight of innovative products. PMI will bring IQOS

48

to the U.S. market through an exclusive license with Altria Group, Inc., whose subsidiary Philip Morris USA has the market expertise and infrastructure to ensure a successful launch. PM USA is ready to deploy its initial lead market plans for IQOS.

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

According to the National Bank of Serbia, UNIQA insurance, with a share of 5.91% in 2018, confirmed a stable fifth position on the Serbian market. The results of both companies – UNIQA LIFE and UNIQA non-life insurance showed that the total premium in the previous year amounted to RSD 5.90 billion. This means that with a jump of 8.1% compared to 2017, the company recorded a higher growth than the growth of the insurance market, which amounted to 7.3%. In the past year, UNIQA achieved a total of 308 million dinars in both companies.

With a premium of 1.95 billion dinars and a market share of 8.2% The company took the 5th position in life insurance in the previous year, while from the RSD 3.95 billion premium and 5.2% of the share was placed at the 6th position of the market non-life insurance. If only voluntary types of non-life insurance are considered, UNIQA maintained its 5th position in the non-life insurance market in 2018 with 8.93% of its participation.

LAV PREMIUM IS BACK Carlsberg Serbia with a symbolic reference to the goof old times, announced the great return of one of its best beers – LAV Premium. “LAV Premium marked the epoch of being employed and breweries Celarevo, as well as consumers across the country. His recognizable packaging and special taste remained engraved in memory for all of us and it is a great honor for us to restore a part of the history to sales facilities across the country, “said Marko Simić, Local Brand Manager of Carlsberg Serbia. With its recognizable original packaging with silver foil, LAV Premium returned even better than it used to be.

This extraordinary beer with 4.9% alcohol, thanks to its 100% barley malt, offers a very clean and smooth taste, with a pleasant bitterness that refreshes after each sip.

Republic of Serbia

PRESENTATION IN DOHA ATTRACTS A LOT OF ATTENTION

During the 140th Assembly of the Interparliamentary Union, which took place from April 6th to 10th in Doha and was attended by a delegation of the Serbian National Assembly, the Republic of Serbia was presented as host of the next session of this oldest international parliamentary organization. Serbia's booth, which was put together by the National Assembly, attracted a lot of attention from the Assembly participants, and it presented economic and tourism potential, as well as historical and cultural heritage of Serbia. In order to promote the forthcoming 141st Assembly of the IPU, the Serbian National Assembly has produced several films, both on natural attractions and on the cultural assets of the Republic of Serbia. The conference participants were also given a brochure about the upcoming conference, with all the necessary information, as well as a special edition of Hello! magazine dedicated to tourist destinations.

Furthermore, a number of conference participants received symbolic gifts in the form of traditional Serbian products, which generated a lot of interest.

From October 13th to October 17th this year, Belgrade will be host to the annual session of the IPU for the first time in 56 years. Parliamentary delegations from around the world will gather in Belgrade in the year that marks a significant jubilee - the 130th anniversary of this oldest international parliamentary organization. The IPU now has 179 full-fledged members that are parliaments from sovereign states. Serbia has been an IPU member since its inception in 1889.

49

CULTURE

A Rollicking Biography of Richard Sorge, a Master Soviet Spy His intelligence on Operation Barbarossa may have proved decisive for the outcome of the second world war

With its clash of grand ideologies and sweeping geopolitical upheavals, the 20th century was a natural setting for espionage. The intrigues cooked up in embassies and drinking holes and secret clubhouses shaped the fates of nations, which made the work of spies of the utmost importance. And of them all, Richard Sorge may well have been the best.

He was a “flawed individual, but an impeccable spy—brave, brilliant, and relentless”, writes Owen Matthews in his rollicking and moving chronicle of Sorge’s life.

“An Impeccable Spy” is also a story of the era’s convulsions, for which Sorge is a fitting avatar. A man of great ego and daring, he was sacrificed to a cause that had long since abandoned its professed ideals.

Born in 1895 to a German father and a Russian mother, Sorge, like many young men of his generation, was dispirited by his experience in the trenches of the first world war.

Recovering from his wounds in hospital, he made his way through Marx. The panacea of communism seduced him: the grandeur of the idea matched his vision of himself.

Sorge’s activism led him to Moscow and the Comintern, the global wing of the Communist Party, “world revolution’s most secret club”. He was dispatched to Shanghai, a madcap colonial city where he drank, caroused and acted the “debauched bourgeois expatriate”, Mr Matthews writes. “He found the role entirely to his liking.”

But it was Japan, where Sorge arrived in 1933, which would host his most fateful exploits. As the tremors of a new war were felt, the question of Japan’s alliances and military ambitions became vital to Soviet leaders. Would Tokyo make a move to the south, deeper into Asia, or north—into Siberia? The latter might well spell doom for the Soviets, whose country was young and unsteady, with untested armed forces that would be hollowed out

by Stalin’s purges. Sorge’s bosses in

50

BORN IN 1895 TO A GERMAN FATHER AND A RUSSIAN MOTHER, SORGE, LIKE MANY YOUNG MEN OF HIS GENERATION, WAS DISPIRITED BY HIS EXPERIENCE IN THE TRENCHES OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR Moscow—his spy ring now reported to the Fourth Directorate of the Red Army’s General Staff—made untangling this riddle his main task for the next eight years.

Sorge carried out this mission with a panache that veered toward recklessness. He twirled women around the dance floor at Tokyo embassy parties and made a name for himself in the drinking dens of Ginza. An American journalist said he “created the impression of being a playboy, almost a wastrel, the very antithesis of a keen and dangerous spy.”

Yet that is what he was. Sorge befriended a German military officer named Eugen Ott—after first seducing his wife, a characteristic Sorge move. With time, Ott rose

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

to become Hitler’s ambassador in Tokyo. As Mr Matthews points out, what made Sorge such a dizzyingly successful spy was that he didn’t so much steal secrets as trade them. Thanks to a member of the ring who was also an adviser to the Japanese prime minister, Sorge had access to the inner sanctum of Japanese politics; he passed this information to Ott, who would share the latest in Nazi strategy from Berlin. All the while, the sum total of this intelligence haul was cabled back to Moscow.

Yet as “An Impeccable Spy” makes clear, intelligence is only as good as those at headquarters who interpret it. And in Moscow in the 1930s, the apparatchiks’ priority was self-preservation. Five suc-

cessive heads of the Fourth Department were shot in the purges.

The survivors’ only hope to avoid a similar fate was to tell Stalin what he wanted to hear: that Hitler would refrain from invading the Soviet Union, and that any suggestions to the contrary were malevolent disinformation.

Sorge was hearing otherwise from Ott and his other German contacts. His attempts to sound the alarm were greeted coolly by Moscow. He got his hands on the plans for Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion, telling Moscow that war was “95% certain” and specifying where Nazi forces would strike and a date of June 15th. (He was off by a week: the invasion began on June 22nd.) Stalin scrawled on the cable: “Suspicious. To be listed with telegrams intended as provocations.”

All the same, Sorge’s intelligence may have proved decisive for the outcome of the war—thus saving not just the Soviet Union but perhaps the world. In September 1941 he relayed that Japan was unlikely to target the Russian Far East, which meant that Stalin could bring half the Red Army troops in Siberia to the western front.

A month later, Sorge’s luck ran out, and he and other members of the Tokyo rezidentura were captured by Japanese police. His arrest barely registered back in Moscow: the man who may have saved the country was quickly discarded. He spent three years at Sugamo prison awaiting his fate, which turned out to be execution by hanging. A German translator who took his last will said he gave the impression of a man “who is proud to have accomplished a great work and is now ready to leave the scene”. Mr Matthews has given Sorge a fitting remembrance: audacious, spirited and laced with the madness and tragedy of his age.

From The Economist, published under licence. The original article, in English, can be found on www. economist.com

CULTURE

Senta Sounds Different Within the framework of the IPA Cross-Border Cooperation Project between the Republic of Romania and the Republic of Serbia, an international organ seminar was held on recently reconstructed impressive organ in the Roman Catholic Church of Heart of Jesus in Senta, a small town in Banat, near state border with Romania on april 23 2019.

It is little known to the wider cultural public that Senta is very important for the history of Europe, since here in 1697 the Austrian army led by Prince Eugene Savoy won the battle with army of the Ottoman Empire which went to conquer Vienna. This little Banat place is also known for the fact that famous serbian writers, poets and cultural workers Stevan Sremac, Stevan Raickovic, Jovan Djordjevic, Jovan Muškatirovic, Stevan Branovački, Matija Bećković were born here.

As special guest lecturers, renowned professors Günter Rošt, concert organist and organ professor at the University of Music and Applied Arts in Graz, Janoš Palur, professor of organ and improvisation at the Music Academy Ferenz Liszt in Budapest, and the organizer of the Seminar Zoltan Borbely, an organ professor at the Academy art in Novi Sad, held concert lectures on French and German organ music and improvisation on organ.

The international Seminar in Senta brought together experts of organ, composers, musicologists, professors and organ students and raised important

Photo: Saša Medovarski

IPA project "Spiritual music - cross-border tourist routes" Timisoara-Senta. International seminar of organ and improvisation in Senta

IT IS LITTLE KNOWN TO THE WIDER CULTURAL PUBLIC THAT SENTA IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE HISTORY OF EUROPE

issues related to this field, the most important being the preservation of these instruments and the care of their condition in our country, especially in the territory of Vojvodina where they are most preserved. The organ in Senta, originated in 1895 in the master workshop of Franz Rieger in Krnovo, (nowdays Czech Republic), were renewed on the initiative of Professor Zoltan Borbely in 2013 thanks to the funds of the local government of Senta, the Government of Vojvodina, European funds within the IPA project Segedin-Senta and IPA project Timisoara-Senta, as well as the sponsors and believers of the Roman Catholic Church.

President of the Assembly of Vojvodina, Mr. Istvan Pastor personally pleaded for the restoration of this organ. This venture is an example of good communication practice between the local community and decision makers, which can contribute to raising the capacity of cultural offerings through the establishment and organization of such and similar events that will promote this instrument, music written for it, as well as the culture of the local community to a higher level and place Senta in focus, making it an inevitable cultural destination on the regional tourist map of this part of South-eastern Europe.

Adrian Kranjčević MA musicologist, music critic, member of the AEBR / CESCI group for Cross-Border Cooperation - Culture, in charge of Cultural diversity and Intercultural dialogue

STATEMENT - PROFESSOR SVETOZAR SAŠA KOVAČEVIĆ, COMPOSER AND ORGANIST "Not only for me but also for the wider social community organ instruments are primarily part of the historical heritage of Vojvodina of the past 19th and 20th centuries, and therefore I consider and struggle for 50 years now because of the fact that these historical instruments where once renewed and preserved by voluntary contributions from the people of towns and villages in Vojvodina. Thanks to Gyorgy Mandić, who, with the help of the Institute for Culture of Vojvodina and the Novi Sad Publishing House Agape, published the book "Vojvodina organs" in 2005, data for 173 instruments have been preserved, since in the 20th century the organ was repeatedly fallen into disrepair and destroyed, but many

instruments were rescued by transferring them to other churches. I hope that this will no longer be the case, beacuse it is a such beautiful and powerful instrument, and that funds will be found to at least a historically significant and larger organ to be reconstructed and preserved for new generations, such as those in Senta that were supplemented and restored thanks to Professor Zoltan Borbely. On the other hand the action of the civic initiative in Sombor is now underway to restore and preserve the largest organ in Vojvodina and all over Serbia in the church of St. Stefan in Sombor, which were built by voluntary contributions of citizens of Sombor back to the year of 1926."

51

INTERVIEW

Culture Should Wake Us Up Excellent theatre always causes waves, and bad swimmers are afraid of waves and prefer soaking their feet in a swamp

MILENA MINJA BOGAVAC Theatre artist

Although Šabac was ‘a little Avignon’ for seven days in April, the Serbian Ministry of Culture still decided to halve the budget for the Spring Theatre event that takes place in this town.

We talked to the playwright Milena Bogavac about her new role as the head of the Šabac Theatre, experiences with managing a theatre in Central Serbia and whether theatre would indeed change the world.

In April this year, Šabac was the theatrical epicentre thanks to its 4th Spring Theatre that this year took place under the title “Unadjusted in Classics”. Are you satisfied with the achieved results?

— We have no reason to be dissatisfied. The figures from our box office show that this edition of the Spring Theatre had the biggest attendance so far. Apart from selling out all tickets for plays that competed for an award, it is encouraging to see that 80% of the tickets were sold as soon as they went on sale. This speaks volumes about how people in Šabac love their festival, and the sight of them forming long queues in front of the theatre’s box office are the only kind of queues that I actually like.

Apart from the popularity of the plays from the main repertoire,

52

this year, we had many people seeing sideshows too.

For the first time ever, the Spring Theatre had a children repertoire. During the festival weekend, close to 200 children and adults saw plays and attended our workshops on our Lasta stage.

We had five public readings of the most successful plays from Sterijino Pozorje, a choreographed performance at the official opening with young people from Šabac as dancers, two exhibitions, seven round table discussions, three episodes of festival chronicles on TV and three debate shows with jury members and festival guests.

During the seven days of the

Serbia not because we have a huge budget at our disposal, but because we believe in community, in each other and in our power. Immediately after we found out that we have set a record in terms of attendance, we had a rude awakening.

The Serbian Ministry of Culture has decided to halve our budget.

So, instead of the amount that this festival has been receiving since its inception, we now have a 50% smaller amount that is not enough to cover the costs of our main activities. For the past few days, I have been wondering why we had been ‘punished’. Was this year’s festival worse or of lower quality so that the Ministry has de-

IT’S GOOD THAT WE CAN STILL PROTEST. THE BAD THING IS THAT, WHEN THE PROTEST IS OVER, EVERYTHING GOES BACK TO HOW IT WAS Spring Theatre, Šabac resembled “a little Avignon”. We had plays staged in all cultural institutions in the town, and everything was fantastically organized primarily thanks to the members of the Šabac Theatre Youth Club. The Youth Club, with whom we have been working since August last year, proved what I have been claiming all along and that is that investing in young people is the best and safest investment that a cultural institution can make. As it turns out, we are the youngest and best-organized festival team in

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

cided to demote us to the event of lower rank?!

Since I was appointed the director of the Šabac Theatre last year and bearing in mind that this year’s Spring Theatre was the first such event that I am responsible for, various questions have been running around in my mind.

Where did we go wrong? How come that the Ministry is not happy with our repertoire?

What do you think of your decision to accept the position of

the director of the Šabac Theatre from today’s perspective? What did you know about the Theatre beforehand, and what during your time as the director?

— A year ago, when I started negotiating with the local authorities, it was clear to me that I was facing the biggest challenge of my professional career so far. I was cautious and very suspicious when it comes to my managerial skills because I knew that working in an institution of culture is not the same as working on an independent scene.

Soon, however, I became aware of the fact that the independent scene and eighteen years of cooperation with Bitef are my best school, not only in the artistic but also in every other way. With enormous relief, I came to realize that I am familiar with every segment of theatre production.

I knew that I would be working for a theatre that has a huge and impressive tradition. I also knew that the Šabac Theatre was one of the most successful theatres apart from those in Belgrade and Novi Sad. I knew that the Šabac Theatre had serious actors who worked with the great names in theatre direction such as Kokan Mladenović and Nikita Milivojević who staged some of their most successful plays in this theatre. However, I had no idea what kind of town I was coming to. I was afraid of experiencing ‘short circuit’ between the tradition in the drama that the Šabac Theatre has been nurturing

and my constant yearning for innovative, different, brave and sometimes even radical approaches to theatre. I wondered how to find a balance between these two directions.

And then I discovered this phenomenal town, its people, and the atmosphere they create. I realized that although Šabac is a small town, it is not narrow-minded.

People here are open, curious, witty. They invest in themselves.

They like when they are first in something, when they are different when they are alternative. I became aware of the fact that that was the reason why they called me.

They did not call me because they had no other candidates, but because they recognized something in my rebellious, free and naughty performances, in my work with young people, and in my attempt to equalize theatrical art and social activism. From today's perspective, and at the end of the season that was dedicated to local patriotism, I have realized that Šabac is the right town to live in Serbia today. I understand that the Šabac Theatre should reflect the modern spirit of this town because a part of this freedom that we have here should be disseminated across Serbia.

The decision to accept the offer from the Šabac Theatre now seems to be the best decision of my life.

I pushed myself past my comfort zone, and for an artist and activist in me, there's no more worthwhile thing than that. We have to move around, learn, search, everything needs to be changed and reconsidered. I think that's exactly the point in which I and the people in Šabac agree on. I also believe that the Šabac Theatre will soon become synonymous with freedom and progress in theatrical reflections.

Theatres in Central Serbia are, for the most part, quite marginalized although many important theatre artists, directors, playwrights and actors came from smaller towns such as Kruševac,

budget or vote for them. I believe that the solution is very simple: bring young and energetic people back into small theatres and just let them do their work, without blackmailing them, exerting political pressures and imposing restrictions. And, in a few years, you will witness the real decentralization.

You manage the Šabac Theatre and Relfektor Theatre. What do you think of the theatrical repertoire in Belgrade? What does it lack?

— Courage.

THE TIME HAS COME FOR PLAYS THAT WILL TEACH US HOW TO ‘WALK’, HOLD OUR HEADS HIGH, BE JOYFUL AND BELIEVE. WE NEED THEATRE THAT WILL HELP US TO REGAIN OUR DIGNITY Šabac, Valjevo, Zaječar, Čačak, Leskovac, Niš, Sombor and Subotica. Why is that so? What is the situation with local culture today? Is there enough money and interest in it?

— The impression that local theatres are marginalized comes from the fact that we live in a pathologically centralized country.

Decentralization, that we have been talking about for decades, is not something that culture should follow, but rather should rather be at the forefront of.

The financial situation is very difficult, but this fact is often used to mask a much bigger problem, which is the lack of enthusiasm and ideas. We should not blame artists and people working in culture for that, but the system which is designed to discourage us. We are a deeply apathetic society and culture should be a means to wake us up. So, how can we explain this to ‘the soldiers’ of one party, who, for the most part, set foot into an

institution of culture for the first time ever only when they began working in them? How can we explain to them that the censorship they are trying to enforce is harming everyone to a much greater extent than benefitting their party interests?

The Šabac Theatre is a member of Communities of Professional Serbian Theatres and anyone who follows the work of these theatres knows that they have excellent artists, ideas and performances.

However, the founders of these theatres prefer to be good, rather than excellent. Excellent theatre always causes waves, and bad swimmers are afraid of waves and prefer soaking their feet in a swamp that is dirty and stinks, but at least, it is warm and harmless. As long as the theatre is asked to be harmless, all the smaller theatres in Serbia will be in great danger: young people will leave, old people will give up and there won’t be anyone left to go to their rallies, fill up their

Last year, there was a protest at the National Theatre against the Serbian Film Centre’s choice of a competition winner. Artists raised their voice against this. Is there solidarity in theatre ranks? Is something changing for better?

— It’s good that we can still protest. The bad thing is that, when the protest is over, everything goes back to how it was.

Your plays address some of the key issues in today’s Serbia. How important is to have activism in theatre?

— There is no theatre that is not engaged in activism. Even the escapist plays, that are written for purely entertainment purposes, have their own societal agenda.

Their purpose is to sedate you so you can forget about reality, and to relax you so you can become more accepting of the bad situation in the society. The real question is do we need activism in theatre today?

Come to think of it, I have realized that we all need courage, a little bit of optimism and hope today.

The situation in the society is so grim that I don’t believe in theatre that dispenses proverbial slaps in the face anymore. The time has come for plays that will teach us how to ‘walk’, hold our heads high, be joyful and believe. We need theatre that will help us to regain our dignity.

STERIJA AWARD personally. But I am really done commenting on a stupid and rude decision made by our colleagues and the previous winners of Sterija Award who, in 2017, thought that they could outsmart us. I also think that people were talking too much about that.

In regard to your question about whether rebellion changes something, I can give you a very personal answer. I don’t know if it does change anything, but I do know that I have to believe in that.

Photo: Ivan Božić

In 2017, you had a strong reaction to the decision made by Sterija Pozorje’s jury not to award any plays that year. In 2018, you were the recipient of Sterija Award and your play ‘Jami Distrikt’ won a total of seven awards. On the basis of this, can we say that rebellion brings about change?

— I do want to talk about what Sterija Award means both in a wider social context and to me

53

REPORTAGE

Text: ROBERT ČOBAN

Tropical Paradise on the Beaches of a Forgotten Genocide Most of the tourists who visit Zanzibar do not know much about the horrendous genocide that occurred on these exotic beaches in January 1964. If Bomi Bulsara and his family had failed to flee to England that year, the world would have probably never known Freddie Mercury It’s Saturday, January 12th. While we are waiting to enter one of the national parks in Zanzibar, I join a group of locals on a terrace of a bar who are intently watching a live broadcast of something that can be only described as a parade/celebration. It’s the Revolution Day in Zanzibar and this year, the celebration takes place on the Pemba Island which, in addition to Unguja (often called Zanzibar) and several smaller islands, makes the Zanzibar archipelago.

The people at the stadium have formed a number 55 with their bodies, marking the 55th anniversary of the Zanzibar revolution which took place on January 12th, 1964, the day when Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah was overthrown.

Several months later, the Zanzibar archipelago united with Tanganyika in the continental Africa and a new state emerged, which name - Tanzania - was an abbreviation of the two territories’ names. On the surface, this looks just like any other revolution day, but this revolution was somewhat special – not

54

only due to the fact that, during it, dozens of thousands of Arabs and Hindus were murdered and expelled out of the country, but also because this is the only genocide in the history that was entirely filmed as it was going on. A crew of Italian documentary filmmakers happened to be around, filming

Second, even more dramatic scene, is taking place on the beach.

Civilians - men, women and children - are running towards the sea, some manage to swim, some board overcrowded shipwrecked vessels, all trying to escape certain death. A day later, the Indian Ocean washes their bodies ashore.

APART FROM LUXURY HOTELS, EVERYTHING ELSE IN ZANZIBAR IS QUITE NEGLECTED AND LEFT TO DECAY IN HIGH HUMIDITY - HOUSES, SCHOOLS, GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS, EVEN MOSQUES, PALACES AND MUSEUMS the movie called ‘Africa Addio’.

First, the film shows never-ending lines of Arab civilians walking in between palm trees. They resemble a giant white snake. Only when the crew’s helicopter gets closer, we see that the civilians are guarded by black soldiers. Later on, they are split into the groups of 100 and sent into the earlier dug out holes in the ground in which they fall after being killed.

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

All of this, to the minute detail, was recorded on film. You can see the selected scenes from ‘Africa Addio’ on YouTube, in the clip called “Arab Massacre in Zanzibar”. A descendant of one of the surviving Arabs uploaded the video.

THE MUSICAL CHILD OF BOMI BULSARA

What actually happened? In short, the history of the Zanzibar

Archipelago is as follows: seven years after Columbus' "discovery” of America, the Portuguese Vasco da Gama landed on the island in 1499 which remained under the Portuguese rule until the late 17th century. In 1698, Zanzibar was occupied by the Arabs from Oman who ruled sovereign until 1890 when the archipelago became a protectorate of the Great Britain but the Arabian sultan remained in power with a certain degree of autonomy. It is interesting to note that the Oman sultan moved the seat of his dynasty from Muscat in Oman to Zanzibar, thousands of miles away, in 1840. Something similar happened when the Portuguese royal family fled to Brazil in 1807, running away from Napoleon.

History records show that Zanzibar had one of the shortest wars ever – the 1896 rebellion ended with the Sultan capitulating 45 minutes after Stone Town was attacked by the Royal Navy.

During that time, the continental Tanganyika was in the possession of Germany, and after the First World War, it belonged

to the British. In the wake of the decolonization of Africa on December 10th, 1963, the British gave Zanzibar its independence. A month later, on January 12th, 1964, Commander John Okello, originally from Uganda, carried out coup d'éta, overthrew the sultan and ended the centuries-long Arab rule over the island. Okello’s troops, armed at first only with machetes and knives, overtook several police stations and a radio station after midnight. The insurgents had been given strict orders not to touch the Europeans, but the retribution on the Arabs and the Hindus was harsh. Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah and his seven children escaped first to Oman and then Great Britain, where he lives to this day.

However, between 10,000 and 20,000 civilians of Arab and Hindu origin were not that lucky – they were massacred. Of course, different theories are still circulating about this event - one of them being that the British supplied weapons to Commander Okello and gave him a green light to massacre Arabs and Hindus. After the unification of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, Okello escaped the island. Seven years later, he was living in his native Uganda, where he was one of the advisers to the notorious dictator Idi Amin Dada. Last time he was seen alive was in the company of Amin in 1971, after which there was no mention of him. It is believed that Idi Amin ordered Okello to be killed because he considered him a threat.

I ask our driver whether schools in Zanzibar teach about the 1964 massacres. He answers with a “no”.

The public, he says, is divided some condemn the crimes, while others say that they were the result of justified anger. Sounds familiar?

The anger that he is talking about comes from “centuries of oppression” of the black African majority, mostly former slaves, by the ruling Arab and Hindu minority, which the British brought to Zanzibar, just like they did to other African colonies, to trade and do crafts. In the film ‘The Last King of Scotland’ we all saw what happened to the Ugandan economy when the crazed dictator Idi Amin Dada decided to expel all Hindus.

In any case, there is no museum or even a monument built in commemoration of this genocide.

The video clip made by the Italian cameramen was sufficient for the genocide to be documented and remembered. A friend of mine who lives in Oman wrote to me how, even 55 years after the massacre of

their fellow countrymen in Zanzibar in 1964, the memory of it was still painfully alive.

At the same time when the Sultan and the surviving Arabs and Hindus escaped Zanzibar, so did Bomi Bulsara and his family. Bomi was a member of the Zoroastrian nation called the Parsi who escaped Persia for India in the 5th century.

Some of the Parsi people, together with certain South Asian nations, immigrated to Zanzibar in the 19th century. Bomi’s 18-year-old son,

mosques, palaces, fortresses, romantic hotels, markets brimming with spices and narrow streets with gates and doors decorated with fine wood and stone ornaments, as one of the most beautiful in Africa and the world. It wasn’t always so.

"This town should be called Stinkybar, not Zanzibar", wrote, in 1866, David Livingstone, the famous British explorer who lived in Stone Town at that time. Another British explorer, Richard Francis

SULTAN’S PALACE: The old one was destroyed in the "shortest war in history" that lasted 45 minutes

ZANZIBAR WAS DISCOVERED AS A TOURISM SPOT BY HIPPIES, IN THE 1960S. TODAY ITALIANS ARE THE MOST AVID VISITORS, WHICH IS WHY ITALIAN LANGUAGE AND PASTA ARE EVERYWHERE

SALAMA BINT SAID: The Zanzibar princess who fell in love with her German neighbour and fled the island

Farrokh will soon become world-famous under a different name – Freddie Mercury, the singer of the iconic band Queen, which fame was revisited last year thanks to the blockbuster ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.

This is the island where one of the most important musicians of the 20th century was born and lived.

However, there is only a plaque and several photographs in the window of his damp-ridden house in the centre of Stone Town, now belonging to the Tembo Hotel, where he was born, that remind us of that.

STINKYBAR, NOT ZANZIBAR

Many tourists consider this city, with magnificent churches,

ADVENTUROUS LIFE, MYSTERIOUS DEATH: John Okello

Burton, wrote in 1856 that Stone Town, as he approached it from the sea, looked like a canvas painting - with turquoise sea, snowwhite mosques and palaces, and golden sunrises behind the roofs.

However, when you disembarked, you were hit with the unbearable stench of dead animals and slaves thrown to the garbage on the city outskirts. Oriental beauty temporarily turned into an oriental nightmare. Other travelers from that time describe Stone Town as a city with a bunch of hungry slaves roaming the city streets, and a place where cholera, malaria and venereal diseases ruled.

140 years ago, in the place where today an Anglican church

stands, there was a slave market.

50,000 slaves were dispatched to Zanzibar annually and after being sold at an auction, they were transported by their new owners across Africa and Asia. The slaves were captured mainly in the interior of East Africa, in the territories that today belong to Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi... David Livingstone calculated that over 80,000 slaves died annually due to the poor transport conditions, before they even reached the market in Stone Town.

We have come to see an underground cell, in which, in the three days before an auction, the slaves were kept without food and water in ghastly hygienic conditions, with only one small slit for air. In the room on the left side, which spans not more than 20 square meters, about 50 male slaves were imprisoned, while up to 70 women and children were locked in the room on the right-hand side, of approximately the same size. I notice the horrified faces of my daughters, aged 12 and 14, while they are sitting on the stone beds in that cell and listening to a guide who tells them about the conditions in which the slaves were kept. A large number of photographs in the museum setting above the cell depict slaves who were freed by British troops but also the slave market showing dozens of people waiting to be sold.

Some of the slaves remained in Zanzibar to work on plantations. The 19th century chronicles mention that the conditions in which the slaves were kept were so severe that Zanzibar was the only place in the world that recorded no slave uprisings. Slave trade was abolished under a strong British pressure, but it was banned on the island only in 1897, although some of its forms, such as forced marriage, remained in place for decades to come. 67 years since the abolition of slavery, the centuries of pent-up hate exploded in Zanzibar in the January Revolution of 1964 that took thousands of innocent lives.

It is interesting to note that the victims and executioners in this case were both Muslims, since the black slaves converted to Islam during the centuries-long Arab rule. It becomes very clear, after only a few minutes of driving around, that you are, indeed, in a Muslim country. Women cover their heads, even small girls that are barely four years old, which is also when they start school that is

55

both mandatory and free. Men are dressed just like their counterparts in Christian parts of Africa, without any external markings of a religion or belonging to an ethnic group.

FIRST AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ARABIC WOMAN

The former Sultan's Palace became the seat of the local government after the revolution when it was named People's Palace. In 1994, it was transformed into a museum showcasing the centuries-old rule of the Oman sultans over the island. The museum is in a dilapidated state, reeking of mould, and suffering from poor maintenance. But it does have a certain tropical charm.

A special room in the museum is dedicated to Princess Salama bint Said, the youngest, 36th daughter of the Sultan of Zanzibar and Oman, Saeed Al-Busaidi.

After the death of her father and mother (a slave from the Caucasus region), Princess Salama moved from the Palace to the city where she met the German merchant, Rudolph Heinrich Ruete. Salama and Rudolph were first neighbours and from her window, she could see dinner parties that Rudolph held at his house, as she later recalled in her autobiography. The two eventually fell in love, Salama got pregnant, and when her pregnancy could no longer be hidden, she had to leave Zanzibar on a British ship. The couple first lived in Aden, where the princess converted to Christianity and took the name Emily, married Rudolph and eventually moved to Hamburg, Germany, with him. Their first child died on their way to Germany. They later had another son and two daughters.

After Rudolph’s death, Salama faced financial woes. In 1886, she wrote the book “The Memoirs of the Arabian Princess of Zanzibar", which, as the first autobiography written by an Arab woman, became an international literary hit.

In addition to Germany, the book was also launched in Great Britain, Ireland and the United States. The English edition was re-printed in Zanzibar in 2018 and can be purchased at Sultan's Palace. Although the book was written from a perspective of a Christian woman living in Europe, she defends slave trade, claiming that many properties in Zanzibar would be devastated without slave labour, and in one part of the book, she even endorses pure racism: "Whoever had any contact with blacks, whether in the

56

United States, Brazil or Zanzibar, knows that despite their many qualities, they cannot be made to work otherwise than by force!"

She justifies the slave system in her homeland by the fact that "Muslims treat their slaves in a different way from Christians, almost as family members". However, as we have seen, the European ob-

Town was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. In 2017, the number of tourists doubled compared to the previous year, amounting to 376,000. Interestingly, the Italians are the most numerous tourists in Zanzibar, although there is no special reason for that - Italy has its own sea (several of them), and it was never a colonial

ON THE UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE LIST SINCE 2000: Richly ornamented door in Stone Town

THE ONLY PROOF THAT FREDDIE LIVED ON THE ISLAND: The plaque at the birthplace of Queen’s singer

INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, APART FROM THE REAL GEMS OF ORIENTAL ARCHITECTURE AND ART IN STONE TOWN, THERE ARE PARTS THE TOWN THAT REMINDED US OF SOCIALIST RESIDENTIAL BLOCKS IN EAST EUROPEAN TOWNS

GENOCIDE CAPTURED ON CAMERA: Scenes from the movie "Africa Addio"

servers had a completely different view of this. Otto von Bismarck had plans to appoint Rudolph's son as the Sultan of Zanzibar, so that, after the continental Tanganyika, he could rule the archipelago too. Nothing came off that, as the British beat him to it. Emily lived in Beirut from 1889 to 1914 and she died in 1924 in Jena, Germany, where she was also buried.

EYES THAT WATCHED DAVID LIVINGSTONE

Foreign tourists became interested in Zanzibar in the 1960s when hippies were searching for exotic tropical destinations like Goa, Kathmandu, or Zanzibar, and it has intensified since particularly after, in the year 2000, Stone

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

power south of Somalia. However, the Italians simply fell in love with Zanzibar and you can hear the Italian language spoken wherever you go. Pasta is served in almost all the restaurants. We enjoyed excellent seafood pizza and a great South African wine almost every night on the beach of our hotel, dining at the tables placed in wooden fishing boats that were shipwrecked on the shores of the Indian Ocean.

Restaurant ‘The Rock’ is probably the most photographed place on the island. It is located on a rock that was once used by local fishermen to dry their nets. It is managed, of course, by an Italian, and it serves excellent pasta made from local ingredients, from seafood to tropical fruit. Apart from

enjoying sandy beaches, tourists engage in various activities related to the flora and fauna here - the giant Aldabra tortoises on the Prison Island, a gift from the British governor of Seychelles in 1919, have grown in number and there are 300 of them. The oldest is 194 years old and is old enough to have met David Livingstone. The Prison Island, as its name suggests, housed a prison long time ago and later it was quarantine for ship crew that sailed into Zanzibar. Another great attraction here is swimming and diving with dolphins in the far south of the island. There is also the unique Baobab Cafe, built next to a huge fallen baobab tree, in the place from which the boat that takes you to swimming with dolphins departs.

Good news is that, in 2006, Zanzibar banned import and use of plastic bags. This has somewhat improved the situation on an island that is quite unregulated, utilities-wise. The general impression is that, apart from luxury hotels, everything else in Zanzibar is quite neglected and left to decay in high humidity - houses, schools, government buildings, even mosques, palaces and museums. The Aga Khan Foundation has renovated several of the most important buildings in Stone Town, such as the House of Wonders. Nevertheless, if maintenance is not done regularly in the tropical climate, everything very quickly decays and turns grey.

There is also an abundance of speed bumps which stop fast drivers in their tracks. They are necessary because, during our one-hour drive from the airport to the hotel, we counted at least a dozen village schools, all situated along the road.

Apart from the real gems of oriental architecture and art in Stone Town, we also came across parts of the town that reminded us of socialist residential blocks in East European towns. These are residential complexes that were built in the 1960s by the comrades from the German Democratic Republic (GDR). After 1964, the revolutionary government of Zanzibar nationalized all Arab and Indian properties, houses, buildings, plantations and factories and formed close relations with the USSR and other socialist states. Always agile, the GDR was, of course, at the helm of it. As it turned out, by some twisted historical irony, the Germans finally got to the islands, not with the help of Bismarck or Princess Salama, but in their Communist edition.

INTERVIEW

The Tough Club For those who can

that stays with them long after the event, better preparing them for challenges life throws at them.

What is the breakdown / ratio / of foreign to locals. How many?

BORISLAV ĆOSIĆ Founder and director of TTC

The Tough Club is a company that offers its clients unique outdoor and adrenaline packed experiences, ideal for team building events. The instructors, who come from military special forces and civilian backgrounds, teach participants: challenging team games, outdoor horse riding, nature survival techniques, abseiling (descending down cliffs), military tactics using AirSoft guns, rafting, canyoning, skydiving, martial arts and many other activities. We talked to Mr. Borislav Ćosić, Co-founder and director of TTC. How has The Tough Club made the progression to adrenaline Team Building?

— Team building is more than just a fun break away from your desk which is forgotten when you return to work. The Tough Club have developed a unique approach to team development which has long lasting results, empowering individuals, inspiring participants to overcome obstacles together, supporting one another naturally. Our highly skilled trainers and coaches use a combination of skills and

phycology to set challenges which can only be overcome by teamwork and trust, encouraging collaboration by combining individual strengths to provide better overall team results. In essence we aim to help companies achieve tangible results, to boost morale, improve innovative and creative thinking, remove barriers and increase employee motivation. We aim to help clear the negative energy that gets built-up in a workplace and replace it by pure, natural, positive energy that is best infused in an outdoor setting. Motivation theories are put into practice, with everyone being encouraged to push themselves beyond their comfort zone. Using adrenalinE activities, we explore your teams’ attitude to risk, and the importance of leadership, supported in a safe environment.

How do the activities act on team cohesion?

— Social activities outside of the work zone which bring a group of people together can be considered useful bonding activities.

However, this differs from our team building activities which can create extremely long-lasting leadership skills and everlasting bonds. We set tasks which support individual learning and shared experiences which create a spark

— Globally we all need to de-stress and detached ourselves from our busy everyday routines. Most of us race along on a fast track of concrete, glass and metal, where we rarely get time to stop to connect with nature and re-energize. The Tough Club aims to combine the natural energy infusion with the right activities and you get an unbreakable cohesion! The feeling of walking barefoot on the ground,

— The Tough Club offers visitors opportunities to travel to remote areas of Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina that provide some of the most beautiful natural surroundings this region has to offer. Whether they want a challenge to test their physical and mental strength or simply want a once-in-a-lifetime experience that they will never forget, we’ve got it all and then some. Our UK partner and Head of business development runs our international sales and marketing, working with adventure travel agencies, outdoor survival camps, martial arts, equestrian centers and tactical

THE TOUGH CLUB MISSION IS TO PROVIDE AN ADRENALINE SEEKERS CLUB WHERE LIKEMINDED MEMBERS CAN GROW THROUGH ADVENTURE, ADRENALIN, DEVELOPMENT AND FUN breathing fresh air, dipping your hands in a cold mountain stream, laughing out loud, connecting to a fellow human face to face.

We bring you back to that state, to replenish your energy and focus, to clear the slate, to detox, to help getting your life rebooted.

Whilst many locals will enjoy the activities and share our vision, we attract a large proportion of foreign visitors to experience the hospitality and vast natural regions that can only be found in Serbia.

Does TTC believe it contributes to the leader of tourism & eu?

training agencies, introducing and inviting them to partner with us in order to experience our unique packages and work with them to bring their members to participate in our activities. For the past 20 years I have led my martial arts groups on experience holidays, spending time perfecting our skills and detoxing from city life and learning survival techniques.

The Tough Club idea has grown and expanded from these holiday retreats and we now welcome people from all over the world to come enjoy, learn, face their demons and grow.

CIVILIAN SPECIAL UNITS Is it true that you are considered to be special units in civilian?

— You could say we are civilian special forces! Our instructors have a long-standing military background and we have a long lasting cooperation with the Security Innovation Centre of the Belgrade University where members of our team are also involvedinthe Centre for training professional bodyguards. The Tough Club vision is to create a global tribe of like-minded people in search of adventure, adrenalin and self-betterment though physical and mental training and to have participants come from all around the world to have fun and make their life better along with the rest of our team. Our presentation and brand values communicate with people beyond country borders. We do believe we contribute to the development of adventure travel in Serbia and will continue to do so in the years to come

57

CALENDAR & NEWS

BELGRADE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

22

MAY 14:00

MUSICAL TALKS 4

KOLARAC

Concert hall

CONCERT PROGRAMME May 2019

Belgrade Philharmonic Hall

Soloists: Nemanja Stanković, Cello Gabriel Feltz, piano

23

MAY

20:00

HANGING OUT 5

Grand Hall of the Kolarac Foundation

Conductor: Gabriel Feltz, Soloist: Eric le Sage, piano

Sunday, 12th at 11.00 Concert Hall

STRING QUARTET VAN DER PALS, SWEDEN

Jasna Tucović, piano Programme: Reynaldo Hahn, Robert Schumann Productin: Music Centre Admission free Sunday, 12th at 20.00 Concert Hall

GALA CONCERT/ FOUNDATION DOBAR GLAS

Snežana Savičić Sekulić, soprano Robert Lakatoš, violin Dragan Đorđević, cello Miloš Pavlović, piano Big Orchestra/ School for musicaly gifted children, Cuprija Programme: Tchaikovsky, Puccini, Rahmaninoff, Wieniawski , Gershwin Tuesday, 14th at 18.00 Music Gallery Ivan Plazačić, baritone Djordje Nešić, piano Marko Pantelić, baritone (as guest) Production: Music Centre Admission free Wednesday, 15th at 18.00 Music Gallery Branko Simić, violin Joanna Sierra, cello Programme: Zbinden, Bartok, Schulhoff, Xenakis Production: Music Centre Admission free Thursday, 16th at 18.00 Music Gallery Production: Music Centre Admission free Thursday, 16th at 20.00 Concert Hall

CONCERT OF MUSIC

58

www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs

SCHOOL JOSIP SLAVENSKI

Admission free

Sunday, 19th at 11.00 Concert Hall

RTS WIND QUINTET

Production: Music Centre Admission free

J. S. Bach, O. Respighi Production: Belgrade Philharmonic More information 0112630744 Friday, 24th at 20.00 Concert Hall

BELGRADE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

CONCERT SEASON LEVEL UP

Chamber Orchestra Muzikon Production: Muzikon 800, 1.000

Conductor: Gabriel Feltz Soloist: Eric le Sage, piano Programme: O. Respighi, J. S. Bach, O. Respighi Production: Belgrade Philharmonic More information 0112630744

Monday, 20th at 20.00 Concert Hall

Saturday, 25th at 11.00 Concert Hall

Sunday, 19th at 20.00 Concert Hall

JAZZ CONCERT

Dimitrije Vasiljević, piano Benjamin Tiberio, bass Ricardo Grilli, guitar Raphael Pannier Producton: Tuesday, 21st at 18.00 Music Gallery

CONCERT OF MUSIC SCHOOL STANISLAV BINIČKI

Admission free

Wednesday, 21st at 20.00 Concert Hall Aleksandar Sinčuk, piano Programme: Scriabin, Tchaikovsky-Pletnev, Liszt, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff 1.000, 1.300, 1.600

SMALL SCHOOL OF BONTON/ HOW TO LISTEN TO THE CONCERT

Choir Sparrow, Vrapčići Production: Music Centre 200 Saturday, 25th at 20.00 Concert Hall

VIAJA LA PALABRA

Fran Perea, vocal, guitar, Spain Sunday, 26th at 11.00 Concert Hall

KOLARAC PODIUM OF CHAMBER MUSIC

Piano Duo Luka Milosavljević & Boris Radulović Production: Music Centre Admission free

Thursday, 23rd at 20.00 Concert Hall

Wednesday, 29th at 18.00 Music Gallery

Conductor: Gabriel Feltz Soloist: Eric le Sage, piano Programme: O. Respighi,

Instrumental dramas for two piano Production: Music Centre Admission free

BELGRADE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

CONCERT OF YOUNG AUTHORS

59