D&C 52

June 2020 | ISSUE No. 52 | Price 350 RSD

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JUNE

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THE TIME HAS COME FOR BRAVE LEADERS

Professor ZORANA MIHAJLOVIĆ, PhD Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure

The Economist

REMEMBERED AROUND THE WORLD

THE CRISIS CAUSED BY THE COVID-19 IS A CRISIS OF CHILDREN'S RIGHTS REGINA DE DOMINICIS

UNICEF Representative in Serbia The

Netherlands

BOJAN KLAČAR

Executive Director of the Centre for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID)

FOSTERING BETTER COOPERATION THOMAS LUBECK

IFC Regional Manager for Central and Southeast Europe

America

FOCUS ON

H.E. GILLES BESCHOOR PLUG Ambassador of the Netherlands

H.E. ANTHONY F. GODFREY

U.S. Ambassador in Serbia

FOREWORD

The Role of Foie Gras in Serbian Politics FOLLOW US TO STAY UPDATED

ROBERT ČOBAN Director

WEB

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TANJA BANKOVIĆ Editor in Chief tanja.bankovic@color.rs ILIJA PETROVIĆ INDIGOCHILD Art director indigochild.ilija@gmail.com

n the summer of 2008, Dragoljub Žarković, editor-in-chief of Vreme weekly, wrote the following in his editorial: “Gourmands think that Rade Litričin, the catering and gastronomic maestro and chief of the parade of the Privrednik Club, located at the mythical Šekspirova Street in Belgrade, is a more deserving citizen than all wealthy businessmen who paid an exuberant membership fee to be in the club and who are the talk of the town these days.

Allegedly, while having lunch at Privrednik, Serbian tycoons,

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JOVANA MARKOVIĆ Advertising manager jovana.markovic@color.rs NATAŠA NEŠIĆ Advertising director

natasa.nesic@color.rs

DRAGANA RADOVIĆ Advertising manager dragana.radovic@color.rs JELENA RANĐELOVIĆ Advertising manager jelena.randjelovic@color.rs VANJA KOVAČEV PR&Event support Nord Communications vanja.communications @gmail.com

RUŽA VELJOVIĆ Magazine director ruza.ristanovic@color.rs ROBERT ČOBAN Director robert.coban@color.rs

Photos GORAN ZLATKOVIĆ GETTY IMAGES Translation SNEŽANA BJELOTOMIĆ Print ZLATNA KNJIGA Jagodina Bagrdanski put bb

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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

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ALEKSANDAR VUČIĆ

H.E. GILLES BESCHOOR PLUG

President of the Republic of Serbia

Ambassador of the Netherlands

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FOSTERING BETTER COOPERATION IN THE REGION IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE

WE ARE FULLY PREPARED FOR THE SECOND TIDE OF CORONAVIRUS

THOMAS LUBECK IFC Regional Manager for Central and Southeast Europe

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WE SUPPORT SERBIA IN THE EU INTEGRATION PROCESS H.E. JAN LUNDIN

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

with Miroslav Mišković at the helm, decided what the character and the composition of the Serbian government should be like. If Mr Litričin remained true to his old habits, he would have probably served foie gras as an appetizer, although the author of the article cannot confirm this assumption, just like those people who claim that, somewhere between the main course and dessert, the owner of Delta Holding and the then US ambassador Cameron Munter, nodded their heads in agreement and decided that Tadić and his

Swedish Ambassador to Serbia

crew and Dačić and his crew should form the government.”

Last week, some 12 years later, I was greeted at the entrance of Privrednik, in Šekspirova Street,

by Rade's smiling face. Half an hour later, he was standing next to Branka from Tanjug and me with a plate bearing a few pieces of bread with a thick foie gras spread. Where are the people from the story from 12 years ago? One of the best Serbian journalists in the past 40 years, Dragoljub Žarković is no longer with us. It seems that the current US ambassador doesn’t have that much influence that he could form a government like Munter in 2008. Ivica Dačić is still a government minister and will probably remain one after the elections, although the threat of arresting a politician from his coalition on charges of paedophilia has been hovering for months over his peaceful dream. Boris Tadić is in the management of several international organizations. He seemed quite calm to me and not at all interested in a big comeback when we had fish for lunch a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, Delta's CEO was in prison, and after release he wrote a biography and kept mum when it came to commenting on political events and occasions.

Foie gras anyone?.

WE HAVE DEMONSTRATED THE SERIOUSNESS OF OUR HEALTHCARE SYSTEM ZLATIBOR LONČAR Serbian Health Minister

THE NETHERLANDS STAYS COMMITTED PARTNER TO SERBIA

DUTCH COMPANIEAS ARE HERE TO STAY OLIVER ŠAROV Senior Policy Adviser for Economic Affairs & Trade Embassy of the Netherlands

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RAPID ADAPTION IS GUIDELINE FOR FURTHER ACTION

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PEACEFUL AND MONOTONOUS CAMPAIGN TO BEAR CONSEQUENCES ON ELECTION RESULTS

ĐORĐE PETROVIĆ Director of the Dutch-Serbian Business Association

BOJAN KLAČAR Executive Director of the Centre for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID)

 PAGE 23

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SOCIAL MEDIA POWER

George Floyd is Remembered Around the World His death inspired a movement in America, and may do so elsewhere too

t is easy to imagine a world in which the agony of George Floyd, a black man who was killed by a policeman in Minneapolis on May 25th, would have escaped public attention. More than 1,000 Americans die at the hands of police every year—many of them black and unarmed. In this sense, Mr Floyd’s

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posts have been published with the hashtag “#georgefloyd”. On Instagram alone, #georgefloyd has been used 2.3m times since his death two weeks ago—already nearly as often as #metoo (2.5m times since October 2017), which became a global rallying cry against sexual harassment and abuse. (Twitter does not make

Instagram are banned, users have expressed outrage on the social-media sites using the hashtag #georgefloyd, bypassing internet filters to do so.

The true extent of support for the protest movement is probably even larger than these figures would suggest. Is this the beginning of an international movement? On the

one hand, it is easy for many to embrace the objectives of the campaign, which include an end to racism and police brutality, problems that are not exclusive to America. Protests have taken place as far apart as Paris and Rio de Janeiro. Smartphones and social media make it easier not only to voice an opinion but also to organise action, at home and across national borders. Even in the days before social media, transnational networks linking groups in many countries played an important role in efforts to right wrongs, such as apartheid in South Africa and, before that, women’s disenfranchisement.

Now, the reach and immediacy of technology make them even more powerful.

On the other hand, posting on Twitter and Instagram may not translate into action on the ground. Many of the countries in which George Floyd’s name has been invoked in recent days are run by authoritarian governments that do not tolerate grassroots political action. What is more, the pandemic makes protest difficult, and perhaps dangerous. Whether the Black Lives Matter movement in America continues to inspire action elsewhere also depends on its progress at home. But for now, at least, Mr Floyd’s cry “I can’t breathe” has served as a rallying call for countless people who feel they, too, are stifled by their policemen and rulers.

From The Economist, published under licence.

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

BUT FOR NOW, AT LEAST, MR FLOYD’S CRY “I CAN’T BREATHE” HAS SERVED AS A RALLYING CALL FOR COUNTLESS PEOPLE WHO FEEL THEY, TOO, ARE STIFLED BY THEIR POLICEMEN AND RULERS experience is not unusual. But after a video emerged of the policeman kneeling on Mr Floyd’s neck, and was shared widely on social media, protests erupted first in Minneapolis, then across America and in cities worldwide.

Millions of tweets and Instagram

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comparable data available.)

A tally by The Economist of about 450,000 Twitter and Instagram posts shows that Mr Floyd’s name has been invoked online in at least 140 countries across the world, from Colombia to Indonesia (see map), since May 29th.

Even in China, where Twitter and

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INTERVIEW

THOMAS LUBECK IFC Regional Manager for Central and Southeast Europe

Fostering Better Cooperation in the Region is of Utmost Importance Opening borders economically and fostering better cooperation in the region is important to create the environment to attract large companies. We must not forget the need for connectivity, improved trade facilitation, and upgraded transport infrastructure for deeper regional and global integration, especially within the Western Balkans and the European Union IFC supports the European Union accession path of the Western Balkans countries and helps them address their main development constraints. Our support is aimed at improving the business environment, private sector development and competitiveness, and regional cooperation and connectivity.

IFC can support the governments of the region in privatizing state-owned enterprises, either in an advisory capacity or by financing acquisition by investors. It is our goal to see privatization happen through competitive and transparent tenders”, said Thomas Lubeck, IFC Regional Manager for CEE about business climate, cooperation and regional develop-

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ment in an outgoing interview, exclusively for Diplomacy&Commerce magazine.

In your opinion, what needs to be done to make the Western Balkans region more attractive to investors?

remains far below its potential.

From our perspective, tackling of structural issues needs to be accelerated. The challenges are remarkably similar across the countries—limited fiscal space, state-owned enterprises competing with or replacing

highlighted the importance of internet speeds as well as digital delivery of goods and services.

Over the last few years, IFC has worked closely with various companies to introduce good corporate governance practices that can help attract

SERBIA HAS ADVANCED FOUR PLACES ON THE WORLD BANK’S DOING BUSINESS RANKINGS FOR 2020 AND CURRENTLY OCCUPIES THE 44TH PLACE AMONG 190 COUNTRIES LISTED — The WB countries must continue improving their investment climates. The region is severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, some countries more than others are. In the medium term, the outlook is improving for the region’s growth, but it

the private sector, and burdensome administrations and bureaucracies. These lead to suboptimal levels and quality of private investment, high informal employment, and low labor market participation. The current COVID crisis has also

investments to local businesses from the international market.

I am glad that more and more companies see the benefits of good corporate governance practices. By attracting foreign investors and partners, these companies gain a competitive

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advantage, increase financial returns, and provide shareholders with greater security on their investments.

Where do you see main potential for the region’s growth?

— The Western Balkans growth model was vulnerable even before the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent years, private consumption in the region accounted for more than 60 percent of GDP. Consumption growth in some countries was fueled by higher public spending, one-off wage policies, near double-digit growth in household lending, and remittance inflows. This raised questions on the sustainability of this consumption-driven growth.

However, growth of investment in the region in 2019 has been limited. What Serbia and other countries need are more export-oriented foreign direct investments, especially in higher domestic value-added production. FDI of this nature is difficult to attract and is heavily dependent on a favorable and predictable business environment.

Opening borders economically and fostering better cooperation in the region is of utmost importance to create the environment to attract large companies. We must not forget the need for connectivity, improved trade facilitation, and upgraded transport infrastructure for deeper regional and global integration, especially within the Western Balkans and the European Union.

You have lived in Serbia for the past six years and have witnessed many changes in the business environment here and in the region. Have you seen improvements and to what extent?

— Serbia has advanced four places on the World Bank’s Doing Business rankings for 2020 and currently occupies the 44th place among 190 countries listed.

Of the countries in the region, North Macedonia placed the highest, taking the 17th spot, Slovenia is 37th, while Montenegro and Croatia are below Serbia with 50th and 51st spots, respectively; Bulgaria is 61st, and Albania is 82nd. I believe that Serbia, as well as the other countries of the region, has further potential to climb the ranks,

primarily by improving the business environment through regulatory reform, regulation of parafiscal charges, public procurement procedures, and investments in infrastructure. I feel most countries of the region continue to make systemic efforts to create a more attractive business climate.

Speaking of Serbia, IFC has implemented several projects to improve its Doing Business ranking. The Debt Resolution and Business Exit (DRBE) project, in partnership with State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland (SECO), has focused both on improving legislation and resolving non-performing loans (NPLs). In addition, the Government has taken significant steps to attract for private sector investment to improve the delivery of infrastructure services including Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla Airport, generation of electricity from wind power and through environmental remediation at the Vinča landfill – all of which have been supported by IFC advisory and financing.

With IFC’s support, Serbia amended its bankruptcy laws twice, in 2014 and in 2017, enabling over 300 debtors to submit prepackaged reorganization plans, of which approximately more than 120 were confirmed by the court. This, in the short run alone, is estimated to have saved more than 15,000 jobs and restructured more than €2 billion of debts. As of the last quarter of the year 2019, Serbia’s NPLs stood at 4.1 percent, its lowest level for over a decade.

To make economic recovery sustainable over the medium term, some countries in the region need to build more resilience to economic shocks and all countries must continue to pursue structural reforms to boost productivity and economic growth.

How has IFC contributed to doing business in the Western Balkans region?

— In Serbia, digitization is without doubt the biggest opportunity for the country to become more competitive and efficient and to have a faster and more sustainable economic growth. Digitization and eGovernment are also powerful tools to counter corruption.

I must mention the three-

year Investment Climate Project (2018-2021) implemented by IFC, in cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Serbia and supported by the U.K. Good Governance Fund and the British Embassy in Belgrade. It aims to decrease administrative burden for businesses by simplifying 1,250 administrative procedures for issuance of various licenses and permits, digitization of 100 procedures (eDozvole), and removing practices that negatively impact development of competition.

The digitization of issuance of permits and licenses is already in the implementation phase. The first digitized

assisted the Ministry of Health in designing and tendering a PPP to partner with a qualified private healthcare company to invest in and manage laboratory services in 18 public health facilities, which will provide access to improved services for the country’s entire population, but especially the poor who only have access to the local health system.

Could you compare the business environment in Serbia with the business environments in other countries of the region? To what extent has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the region?

IN SERBIA, DIGITIZATION IS WITHOUT DOUBT THE BIGGEST OPPORTUNITY FOR THE COUNTRY TO BECOME MORE COMPETITIVE AND EFFICIENT

permits were ready in March, but the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the team from testing and going live. We now expect this to be done in June-July and all 100 procedures under this project to be fully digitized by the end of this year.

IFC works to create markets that give new opportunities to people in developing countries.

Belgrade’s Waste-to-Energy project shows how our innovative approach has helped the Serbian capital solve a major ecological problem resulting from an unmanaged landfill.

In Albania, IFC was mandated to advice on structuring and implementing a medical laboratory network through a public-private partnership. IFC

— Serbia has been recording a positive trend and I am optimistic that, with progress in accession to the EU, the situation in various fields is getting better.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to deterioration of conditions for doing business in all countries of the region.

According to the World Bank Group report on the Economic and Social Impact of COVID-19, Western Balkan countries have different economic strengths and weaknesses. So, they will react differently to the pandemic.

Labor markets that are informal, temporary, and where self-employment is disproportionate, will be hit by job losses, which will cause considerable hardship, especially if the social

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safety nets are not adequate.

By end 2019, the employment rate in the Western Balkans had reached 44.3 percent, up from 42.7 percent for 2018 and 36.9 percent for 2012. However, many of the jobs created were in low-paying labor-intensive manufacturing and services.

Another aggravating factor is outward migration or “brain drain”–the emigration of able, highly-educated individuals in search of higher-paying jobs or better working conditions, usually to the EU. However, what I call “brawn drain”, which is the migration of unskilled and semi-skilled labor, is also an important issue.

The importance of tourism to their economies makes Albania,

across all regions and diverse sectors (for example, finance, health and pharmaceuticals, agribusiness, services, and infrastructure). Given the wide and deep impact of COVID-19, IFC expects that the facility will be fully utilized by clients and will potentially get oversubscribed.

Strong emphasis will be placed on supporting clients operating in low-income and fragile and conflict-affected countries.

IFC initiated the landmark PPP aimed at solving the Vinča landfill problem in the Serbian capital. How was your cooperation with the City of Belgrade?

THE CONSTRUCTION WORK FOR THE BELGRADE WASTE-TOENERGY PROJECT IN VINČA, WHICH WILL PROVIDE OVER 1.7 MILLION INHABITANTS OF THE SERBIAN CAPITAL WITH A MODERN WASTE-MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, IS IN FULL SWING Montenegro, and Kosovo more vulnerable to the economic impact of the crisis than the rest of the countries in the region.

Fiscal policy support is crucial to help the private sector through the pandemic, but countries in the region have limited fiscal space for new measures. In 2019 all Western Balkans countries had fiscal deficits, though all were relatively small. However, despite relatively strong revenue performance in recent years, the fact that revenues in the region trail those in the Euro Zone also limits fiscal space for crisis response, when compared to advanced economies. This is especially true of Kosovo and Albania. Public debt levels in the region are still elevated—a legacy of the global financial crisis and the Euro Zone crisis— except for Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Which of IFC’s recent investments in the region you would

highlight as the most important and progress drivers?

— I would definitely highlight the environmental remediation and Waste-to-Energy project in Vinča, Belgrade, as the first large-scale public-private partnership environmental infrastructure project in the region.

This PPP will help clean up one of Europe’s largest outdated landfills and construct a new, sustainable waste-management complex to reduce pollution and mitigate climate change.

The Belgrade Waste-to-Energy project involves the closure and remediation of the overcapacity landfill in Vinča, a suburb of Belgrade, the construction of a new EU-compliant landfill, a waste-to-energy generation plant, and a facility to process construction and demolition waste. Construction has started and is expected to take up to three-and-half years.

The other major investment would be the Belgrade airport concession to boost develop-

ment of Serbia’s infrastructure.

We were delighted to support the entry of a global leader in airport operation to Serbia, helping Nikola Tesla Airport reach its full potential for all stakeholders. This was the first airport concession in the country, and we hope it will serve as a model for how the private sector can deliver efficient infrastructure solutions for the region.

IFC has supported businesses worldwide to mitigate negative impacts of the COVID19 pandemic. How many companies IFC is planning to support?

— IFC is providing $8 billion in fast-track financial support to help existing clients to sustain economies and preserve jobs during this crisis that will hit the poorest and most vulnerable countries the hardest.

Significant interest has been expressed for IFC’s $8 billion facility by nearly 300 IFC clients

— The construction work for the Belgrade Waste-to-Energy Project in Vinča, which will provide over 1.7 million inhabitants of the Serbian capital with a modern waste-management system, is in full swing. With the financial close reached, lenders have started disbursements to support timely implementation of the project.

The project is being managed in close collaboration with the City of Belgrade, which is one of IFC’s strongest partners. IFC has been working closely with the City to realize its vision to improve services and quality of life for Belgrade’s citizens.

IFC has several advisory mandates and is considering direct financing of several projects to achieve this.

For instance, IFC is advising the City on structuring and implementing PPPs for large infrastructure projects in water and sanitation. The private partners will be selected through a competitive tender based on their expertise, experience, and cost-efficiency.

PPPs enable the City to tap into world-class know-how at competitive prices, resulting in improved services for citizens and mobilization of private sector financing, thus reducing the direct impact on the City’s budget.

FUTURE PROJECTS You have managed innovative projects in capital market development, renewable energy infrastructure, and anti-crisis investing in the financial sector. What are your professional preferences for the future?

— Sadly, my time in Belgrade has come to an end. Working and living in this region has been a great pleasure, personally and professionally. As of June 15, I will assume responsibility for IFC’s PPP and Concessions Transaction Advisory Business for South and East Asia Pacific, based in Singapore. The challenges faced in many Asian countries are quite different, but I am still hoping to leverage the experiences and skills I developed here.

After six dynamic and successful years in the Balkans, I am looking forward to new challenges.

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INTERVIEW

We Support Serbia in the EU Integration Process Sweden is active particularly within the environmental and police reforms and can, so far, report substantial progress

H.E. JAN LUNDIN Swedish Ambassador to Serbia

iplomacy&Commerce magazine spoke with Swedish Ambassador to Serbia, H.E. Jan Lundin, about bilateral and economic cooperation between Sweden and Serbia, Swedish and Serbian external trade and investments, as well as about examples of different CSR activities of Swedish companies.

When asked how much have global trends, such as climate

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end, is more international cooperation, not less”.

To what extent global trends dominate the bilateral relations between our two countries nowadays?

— To some extent, for sure. The EU steel quotas against non-EU producers, including Serbian ones, is one example, and this is also where the US-China trade tensions play a role. When the

WE SHALL BE MORE EFFICIENT AND ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE WHEN THIS CRISIS IS OVER, TRAVELLING LESS AND USING VIDEO CONFERENCING MORE change, the EU and the priorities of the Swedish policy and diplomatic goals been affected by the pandemic, he pointed out: “These are complicated times for the kind of sustainable and value-based foreign policy Sweden is advocating.

Still, I believe that the answer to all new challenges, in the

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US increases steel customs tariffs by 25% it obviously affects the global market, and the EU tries to find a position for its steel import which balances all interests in a decent way, including the interests of the Smederevo Ironworks.

How are previously negotiat-

ed goals, projects and activities affected by the current pandemic, if at all?

— Everything has slowed down.

This is regrettable, but still, the best option considering that public health is at stake. The upside is that perhaps we shall be more efficient and environmentally sustainable when this crisis is over, travelling less and using video conferencing more.

Many people are debating whether the Serbian society moved further away from its pro-European perspective based on the support the country received during the pandemic and its aftermath. How would you comment on that?

— I think that this belief is based on unawareness of how deep and comprehensive the EU-Serbia cooperation is. The incorporation of the EU legislation in all Serbian legislative areas of EU significance is ongoing and has an impact far beyond any other type of

assistance such as infrastructure or military equipment.

Sweden is active in particular in environmental reform and police reform and can report substantial progress so far. The EU integration process is not stopping, and the opening and closing of the so-called acquis chapters are only blips on the computer screen in this regard.

It is a long-term process with a rather happy end. Even now the economy and rule of law are gradually improving as the reforms take hold.

Would you say that certain features of the state of emergency during the COVID-19 pandemic have further affected the rule of law, freedom of expression and democracy?

— I see the state of emergency as fairly transitory, and not fundamentally damaging to the issues mentioned. It is a sad fact, though, that the coming elections shall not take place at a perfect time.

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Which topic would you expect to be in the EU and Swedish focus after the new Serbian government is established?

—Great challenges remain in particular with respect to the rule of law. We are awaiting necessary constitutional changes, but also a so-called “track record”, i.e. proof of the fact that the legal system not only contains the right rules and procedures but produces outcomes which are to be expected following the rules. Here, we still see some problems, which are hampering progress in other areas. It is an especially difficult area

of “nearshoring”, i.e. establishing production facilities not too far from the EU borders in a more complicated international trade environment certainly makes sense.

Many companies have been greatly hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some of them, however, found the strength to reach out to their communities by continuing to implement high CSR standards. Which examples of the CSR activities of Swedish companies in Serbia would you like to single out?

Increased Swedish Support to Serbia Drive for environmental democracy with over 3mln EUR

WE HAVE NOTICED A CONSTANT INCREASE IN THE INTEREST SHOWN BY SWEDISH INVESTORS. SERBIAN WAGE LEVELS ARE GLOBALLY COMPETITIVE since the Government can – or should – only affect it indirectly, through the rule-setting process. Sometimes it requires a change of culture, and this takes time.

Could you tell us about the developments related to Nordic and specifically Swedish and Serbian external trade and investments?

— I can only speak for Sweden. We have noticed a constant increase in the interest shown by Swedish investors. Serbian wage levels are globally competitive, and the concept

— There are several I would like to single out. IKEA, of course, comes to mind. The company has been quite generous with in-kind support during the crisis and even helped with setting up a special COVID hospital in Niš. Tetra Pak has assisted the Red Cross and the hospital sector in its home town of Gornji Milanovac. The air conditioning solutions company Eurocons Group has helped to build clean rooms for hospitals. I am sure there are many more examples. We all want to help, and Swedish companies are no different.

ECONOMIC COOPERATION

Economic cooperation between the two countries is steadily increasing, although it started from a low base. We don’t yet have the final figures for 2019, but in 2018, the overall trade was 322 million euro, which was a considerable increase in 2017, when it stood at 287 million. Over a hundred Swedish companies are doing business in Serbia, many of them with mixed Swedish and Serbian capital. The arrival of IKEA and its plans to invest another 50 million euro this year and next in the development of a retail park next to their store, which opened in 2017, is an important segment of the economic cooperation between our two countries. Companies such as Tetra Pak, Ericsson, Securitas and Transcom are all here. We could also mention some of the most recent investments, such as the arrival of Rimaster in Paraćin and NIBE Industier AB’s acquisition of the Gorenje TIKI hot water tank production plant in Stara Pazova. There are many more companies across various sectors that are facilitating the flow of business and trade cooperation between our two countries, and we hope that this will continue to expand.

weden and Serbia have strong cooperation on Environment and Climate Change. The focus of the cooperation is to support EU environmental reform in Serbia, to benefit people’s health, a clean environment and a sustainable economy.

In January this year, Minister Trivan and the Ambassador of Sweden, H.E. Jan Lundin signed the extension of two cooperation agreements. Additionally, Sweden has recently concluded three other agreements supporting projects related to environment and climate reform in Serbia. In total, these five agreements are valued at 3.6 mil EUR. Sweden supports the Ministry of Environmental Protection in areas covering solid waste, wastewater, chemicals, industrial emission, strategic environmental financing and citizen participation in environmental decision-making.

The two agreements, signed

by Minister Trivan and Ambassador Lundin, concern extension and additional funding - Priority Environmental Infrastructure for Development (PEID) to finalize the drafting of tendering documents for wastewater treatment plants in Niš and Čačak and the Chemical Management in Serbia that aims to improve the digitalization of the chemical management and harmonizing chemical policy

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with the EU policy. More than 1,000 chemical companies in Serbia are today using the e-platforms already established under this project. The new phase will also focus on improving inspections of chemical management.

Minister Goran Trivan said that cooperation with Sweden in the field of environmental protection was very important precisely because of Sweden’s environmental achievements.

“Sweden is one of the most important countries in the world in setting environmental standards. Our cooperation has been going for years, and we want to continue with implementing these agreements – wastewater treatment plants are the first priority of the Ministry and the second priority is an agreement related to chemicals, which has numerous health benefits,” said Minister Trivan.

“The EU and Swedish government give high priority to the environment and environmental democracy. The EU environmental package provides countries and citizens with good access to reliable environmental information.

Clear action plans have been developed with the view of reaching environmental and health standards, as have clear and transparent incentives for environmental investments”, said Ambassador Lundin.

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COMMENT

Peaceful and Monotonous Campaign to Bear Consequences on Election Results We can also interpret the peaceful election campaign as a change in the strategy of the majority of election participants since political parties are aware that the elections ahead of us will not bring about political changes

BOJAN KLAČAR Executive Director of the Centre for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID)

he continuation of the election campaign for the June elections at the beginning of May caused concern among all well-meaning citizens. Tensions, torches and football hooligan aesthetics, incidents and hunger strikes have coloured the political life in the first days after the state of emergency was lifted. This, on the other hand, has augmented political cynicism and distrust of citizens in the elec-

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how should we interpret the consequences of a peaceful, often monotonous campaign on the turnout and election results on June 21?

First of all, it would be naive to believe that politicians changed their personal traits overnight, gave up conflicting behaviour and started a positive campaign. The reasons for the change in behaviour should be looked for in the political incentive, i.e. the assessment

THIS IS A KIND OF A WORLD OF PERPETUAL DARKNESS FOR THE OPPOSITION PARTIES, AND THAT IS WHY THEIR CAMPAIGN LOOKS LIKE A WALK ON THE POLITICAL TIGHTROPE tion process. While everyone analyzed the consequences that such an atmosphere could lead to, political parties changed their agendas, adjusted their behaviour and redefined their campaigns almost overnight.

What exactly happened and

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that a dirty campaign does not contribute to the solidification of their political positions. To simplify the matter even more, conflicts do not bring better ratings. Politicians have recognized that most voters want political stability and economic

solutions, not football hooligan folklore. For the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), the primary goal is for the elections to run as peacefully as possible and with as few irregularities as possible, because questioning the legitimacy of the election process does not suit them in any way. On the other hand, the opposition parties, that will not boycott the election, want to show political responsibility and present themselves as a different political alternative, while the opposition that has decided to boycott the elections must amortize criticism accusing it of running a dirty campaign against those parties that have decided to participate in the election, especially against the Free Citizens’ Movement (PSG) and its leader, Sergej Trifunović.

All these factors have made the campaign quiet, positively oriented, and at times even boring, but creatively limited and with cheap production

(with the exception of the SNS campaign in which serious investments have been made).

The first especially applies to the opposition because they lack a budget for a more meaningful campaign. Although this choice of a campaign may not have been the first choice for political actors or the fruit of their goodwill, we know that in politics only consequences and not intentions count, and here the consequences are such that they provide voters with a relatively peaceful voting environment.

However, the lukewarm boring campaign also has two major political consequences for the turnout and results in the upcoming elections, and this is rarely talked about in public. In terms of turnout, this kind of campaign means that "extremes" are avoided, i.e. it is difficult to expect a low turnout (drastically lower than the average from 2012) and too high of turnout, i.e. over 55% of registered voters which was the average in the last several election cycles. A drastically low turnout is not realistic because the SNS is able to mobilize its own voters as they have strong party identification and vote security (greater than 90%), while fragmented political competition in these elections (there are perhaps over 20 electoral lists) allows it to reach to voter "niches" or to those reservoirs of votes that "mainstream" parties cannot reach (extreme right-wing parties, for example, can mobilize voters who would not have been made an offer by "mainstream" parties).

The turnout between 50% and 55% suits more or less every party that will participate in the election. For the SNS, it means that the election boycott failed, i.e. that the legitimacy of the

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future government will not be questioned, and for the parties that have decided against the boycott, this means that they have a chance of go over the electoral threshold as they would have a hard time succeeding in that plan if the turnout jumped sharply. This scenario is not good news for the parties that are favouring the boycott, but it seems that reducing the voter turnout is no longer a goal in their political strategy.

A peaceful campaign also affects election results. The history of elections in Serbia has shown that an uncertain election outcome, as a rule of thumb, means a dynamic campaign and high turnout.

Since the June elections are neither uncertain nor dynamic, it seems that such a campaign will mean that the SNS will not force a high result at any cost; that is a result higher than 60% because such a result calls into question the pluralism of parliamentary life. For the SNS, the objectively best result is the one that would keep them around half of the voter turnout, because at the moment, it is not in the best interest of the ruling party to extend its support beyond the one they have today. The election result that the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) could achieve is not subject to dramatic oscillations, and such a campaign, along with the proverbially interesting Ivica Dačić, can mean maintaining the trends that have been on for a long time, i.e. the SPS winning around 12% of votes. There is little room for a better result, but it is not big.

Uncertainty lies around the electoral threshold too because it is obvious that 3 or seven election participants are currently fighting for 3% of votes, with different chances of success. Certainly, SPAS (led by the positive image of its leader Aleksandar Šapić and broad coalition potential) and PSG (a combination of the charismatic leader Sergej Trifunović and a strong anti-SNS position) have the best chances, but the SRS, DJB. UDS, the Metla 2020 Movement and POKS also have a chance and are searching for that chance in this election.

Since a large number of voters usually decide to vote in Serbia as the election campaign is taking place and at its photo

finish, it is too early to predict what the concrete chances are for these opposition parties, especially since, in the end, several thousand votes may decide which party will cross the election threshold. Two things are certain at the moment: (1) a peaceful campaign means a moderate turnout in the elections, which increases the opposition's chances of crossing the threshold (there is a big difference between winning 90,000 votes or have to aim at more than 100,000) and (2) a peaceful campaign reduces the possibility of mobilizing one's own voters because there is no usual tension and strong (mutual) competition.

was changed on the eve of the June elections, and along with it the calculation of minority mandates (in these elections, minority election quotients will be "weighted" at 1.35), and considering that the largest minorities in Serbia (with the exception of the Roma) are well-organized and strategically ready for these elections, it would not come as a surprise if the number of minority representatives in the parliament increased compared to the 2016 convocation.

If a party decides to boycott the election, the strategically best campaign for them would be the one with a lot of negative messages and confrontation,

to low turnout, which, as I have said earlier, is hard to expect.

We can also interpret the peaceful campaign as a change in the strategy of the majority of participants because political parties are aware that the elections ahead of us will not bring political changes. The opposition is looking for a way to find different arrangements for the 2022 presidential elections, while the SNS is trying to soften the strong rhetoric that it has been insisting on for years. We can view this whole campaign as a preparation for the period that comes after these elections.

In the end, in the current circumstances, a peaceful campaign is good news for

THE HISTORY OF ELECTIONS IN SERBIA HAS SHOWN THAT AN UNCERTAIN ELECTION OUTCOME, AS A RULE OF THUMB, MEANS A DYNAMIC CAMPAIGN AND HIGH TURNOUT So, the opposition parties that have decided to participate in the election are stuck between „the electoral rock and a hard place“. If they decide to go for a stronger and more confrontational campaign, they will boost the motivation of voters to go to the polls (which is good news in the first round), but it also raises the turnout which increases the number of votes needed to cross the election threshold. This is a kind of a world of perpetual darkness for the opposition parties, and that is why their campaign looks like a walk on the political tightrope.

Since the election legislation

which is a consequence of the peculiarities of an election boycott campaign in which you cannot call on voters "to support something or someone", but rather you have to convince them that the greatest benefit for them is to "do nothing".

This is only possible if you convince the voters that their participation in the elections is a meaningless act, and in order to convince them of that, you must have a negative campaign that raises distrust in institutions and the political process. A peaceful campaign to boycott the election is good news only if it ultimately leads

citizens and the community at large, because polarization and emotional narrative at one point have seriously threatened to bring society to the brink of an incident.

Perhaps in some different circumstances, a more polarizing and competitive campaign would be beneficial because it would involve more policies, programmes, and social divisions, rather than the personal attacks that have marked the last few months. However, in such circumstances, a peaceful environment is in the best interest of the general public in Serbia.

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ARRIVALS & DEPARTURES

The Multiplying Independence oday, it is recognised that there are 195 independent countries in the world, out of which 193 countries are full members of the UN, and Vatican and Palestine are observers. But it is not that simple: lots of countries don’t recognize some members of the UN. For instance, 31 country does not recognize Israel, Turkey does not recognize Cyprus but only its secessionist northern part known as Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

China is recognized by 14 countries as Republic of China (Taiwan), mostly in Central America and Pacific, while the rest of the world recognises The People’s Republic of China. But in the past, the number of independent countries varied largely.

Prior to the unification of Germany and Italy, there were over 300 states and entities

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NATIONAL DAYS in June & July JUNE

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in Germany only, and several states in Italy. Africa and India had hundreds of independent kingdoms, but in 1910, after the colonial quests, that number dwindled to only 61, dwindling further after Korea was annexed by Japan in 1910. Even some widely known countries are rather new: Bulgaria became independent only in 1908, Mongolia in 1911, while Albania and Morocco did it in 1912. When it became independent in 1878, Serbia was only the 27th independent country in the world. The newest countries in the world are Montenegro (2006) and South Sudan (2011).

However, there are dozens of them which proclaimed their independence, but they are not widely recognised: Kosovo, Abkhazia, South Ossetia (2008), Transinstria (1991), Northern Cyprus (1983)….

RUSSIA

Russia Day

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ICELAND

Republic Day

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MALTA

ational Day N (St John the Baptist)

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CROATIA

Statehood Day

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SLOVENIA

Statehood Day

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UKRAINE

Constitution Day

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VATICAN

National Day

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H.E. FEDOR ROSOCHA New Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to Serbia

THE CONGO

Independence Day

New Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to Serbia, H.E. Fedor Rosocha presented his letter of credence to Serbian President in May. He studied Psychology, Pedagogy,

at P. J. Šafárik University and holds Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine at the University of Veterinary Medicine, in Košice. Before Serbia, Mr. Rosocha was a Director of the Department of the UN and International Organizations within the U.N. system He served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary – Perma-

nent Representative of the Slovak Republic to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva (C.H.) from 2009 to 2017. Mr Rosocha was a Director of Dept. of Economic Diplomacy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia from 2008 to 2009. He speaks English, Russian, French and Serbian.

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Delhaize, he was in charge of managing the To Go division under the Albert Heijn brand. Over the past two years, he was at the helm of one of the biggest fitness companies in the Netherlands. Jan-Willem Dockheer will be leading close to 13,000 employees in Serbia, and the role of Brand President at Delhaize Serbia will be an opportunity to use his vast international experience to support the already

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CANADA

Canada Day

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BELARUS

Independence Day

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UNITED STATES Independence Day

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JAN-WILLEM DOCKHEER New Brand President of Delhaize Serbi

Delhaize Serbia further strengthens its leadership team with the appointment of a new Brand President, Jan-Willem Dockheer.

He will formally join the company on September 1 in Belgrade. Dockheer has extensive leadership experience in different industries throughout the world and more than twenty years of a successful professional career. At one of the biggest global retail chains, Ahold

JULY

ALGERIA

Independence Day

05

VENEZUELA

Independence Day

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ARGENTINA

Independence Day stable local team. Dockheer was born in the Netherlands, he graduated from the University of Groningen and further honed his leadership potential at Harvard Business School.

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MONTENEGRO Independence Day

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FRANCE

Bastille Day

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CORPORATE

We are Helping to Promote and Secure Prosperity in CEE Market Because Erste sees its purpose as helping to promote and secure prosperity in its market, we are closely working together with the region’s governments, central banks and other stakeholders to implement the support programs as quickly and efficiently as possible lockdowns will weigh heavily on economies, also in CEE, both in the current quarter and the ones ahead of us. Global supply chains have been disrupted and the business models of sectors like tourism and gastronomy are under massive pressure.

INGO BLEIER Member of the Management board of Erste Group Bank AG (responsible for Corporate Banking and Markets business) and President of the Board of Directors of Erste Bank Serbia

What is different this time in comparison to the financial crisis in 2008 and following years?

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lthough the economic downturn in CEE is likely to be more muted than that for the Eurozone and perhaps less catastrophic than many had at first feared, the recovery may well prove to be more wavelike and extended than the sharp “V” that many observers had hoped for – es-

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— Obviously, the coronavirus crisis and the reactions that countries across CEE have taken to combat it have had a sharp impact on the region’s societies and economies. The CEE states have generally been more successful in limiting the health crisis than many Western European countries and the

SECURING LIQUIDITY WAS AND REMAINS A KEY CONCERN FOR PRIVATE CLIENTS, SMEs AND CORPORATES ACROSS OUR REGION pecially if the health crisis re-emerges through additional outbreaks later this year, said Ingo Bleier, Erste Group Bank AG and Erste Bank Serbia.

How do you assess the overall environment created by pandemic?

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economies in our markets are now on the path of reopening – something already apparent in such indicators as mobility data, the level of capacity utilisation in automotive plants and – unwelcome – rising levels of pollution. However, there can be no doubt that the impact of the

— The trigger is an entirely different one. The 2008 crisis had its roots in the financial sector, primarily in the United States. In this crisis, the financial sector is not the cause – the current crisis is at its heart a health crisis. Instead, this time around banks can and must play an important role in combatting the crisis by working together with other stakeholders to help safeguard the real economy. That is why it is good that banks are in a very different position these days than they were back in the financial crisis. Banks are now far better capitalized and ready to face the current crisis thanks to a decade of strict banking regulation, as well as reflection within our industry about the general role banks should play within society.

Although the collapse of Lehman Brothers was without a doubt the trigger event for the financial crisis, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is if anything even more radical and abrupt. Within the space of just a few months, it has put the real economy out of action – and done so immediately, completely and across most countries worldwide. Unlike any other event in our lifetime, this crisis has managed to absolutely crush both supply and demand at the very same time. Also as a result of that, the current crisis is not only impacting a broader range of industries than the

global financial crisis, it also is hitting them harder, at least in the short-term.

What sort of support are you offering to the corporations?

— Securing liquidity was and remains a key concern for private clients, SMEs and corporates across our region. We are helping them by providing liquidity, keeping credit lines open, and addressing their acute needs in this exceptional environment.

In a tense economic situation like the one this crisis has triggered, banks play the role of vital utility providers. That’s why we’re fully committed to implementing the comprehensive support measures that states across the region have drawn up. Our overarching goal: ensuring that our customers can pursue their revised business objectives, ramp up their trade and business operations again, and manage their investments in these turbulent times. We also remain open to grow our business and attract new clients despite the current operational constraints.

How do your initiatives differ based on the regions in which do you operate?

— For Erste Group, our home region is Central and Eastern Europe, including Austria. The countries and economies in our region don’t all have the same profile in normal times, and there are also differences in the specific focus and scope of the responses that they’ve taken in the crisis. But on the whole, the CEE states are applying the same set of fiscal support measures: loan repayment moratoria, state-backed loan guarantees and bridge loans, short-term work schemes, and various tax incentives. Measured as a percentage of national GDP, the fiscal packages in those CEE economies where we are

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Photo: 2016 Erste Campus Ansicht Gartendeck Innenhöfe © Christian Wind

active are generally quite large in international comparison – with the 11% for Serbia more or less on the same level as Austria (10%). Because Erste sees its purpose as helping to promote and secure prosperity in its market, we are closely working together with the region’s governments, central banks and other stakeholders to implement the support programs as quickly and efficiently as possible. In addition to retail customers, these programs also focus heavily on small and medium-sized enterprises, which play such an important role in CEE economies, both in terms of growth and jobs.

What strategy does Erste Bank Serbia follow and where do you see your role in helping to steer the bank?

— Erste Bank Serbia (EBS) acts as a good corporate citizen, operating in compliance with the strict rules that apply in Serbia and seeking close cooperation and agreement with the National Bank of Serbia in its role as the regulator for the country’s financial sector.

We take this approach while at the same time maintaining our growth strategy, which has seen EBS increase its assets nearly 19-fold since it entered the market in 2005.

Among all corporate segments, EBS stands out in renewables and specialized lending, where it has been a pioneer and serves as a market maker. The same is true for EBS’s real estate project financing, where the bank has achieved outstanding results and was a leader in the market in both 2018 and 2019. However, EBS is perhaps the closest to small and medium-sized enterprises, companies that are the very backbone of Serbian economy.

As president of EBS’s Board of Directors, I am there to help my colleagues in EBS with my own and Erste Group’s experience to continue our business growth, in line with the strategy

of the Group, while fostering the financial wellbeing of clients and further developing our digital agenda.

Are the existing banking products fit for new circumstances or you are ready to offer new ones?

— Times of crisis are always times that call for innovation.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean that we need to create new products and services out of thin air -- instead, it often means realizing that existing offerings can be applied for new purposes and in new ways. One thing this crisis has unquestionably made clear: flexibility, resilience and speed are absolutely essential qualities for any- and everything we in the corporate banking and markets sphere offer. That’s also why our focus on digitalisation, both on the front and back-ends, is now stronger than ever.

Supply chain financing is a good example of an offering that has a new urgency as a result of the crisis and also benefits greatly from digitalisation. Because the crisis has demolished

AMONG ALL CORPORATE SEGMENTS, EBS STANDS OUT IN RENEWABLES AND SPECIALIZED LENDING, WHERE IT HAS BEEN A PIONEER AND SERVES AS A MARKET MAKER global supply chains, trade risks have spiked. That makes innovative trade offerings like we.trade, a blockchain-based platform that Erste Group has just launched in Austria, a very compelling solution as trade-focused companies seek to reboot their sales both domestically and internationally. Another example: when the crisis first took off in our region, Erste quickly worked together with payments partners in several markets to offer those small corporate customers who to date had been purely brickand-mortar with simple to use e-shop solutions that allowed them to sell and deliver goods – and generate some revenues -- even while their physical shops had to stay shut during the lockdown.

It is believed that COVID-19 pushed everybody to digitalise at a fast pace. Were your clients in Serbia ready to ful-

ly embrace e-banking?

— Yes, clients in Serbia are embracing electronic and mobile banking. They were already doing so even before the crisis.

According to a survey Erste Group conducted last year, Serbia and Romania are actually the first markets in the CEE region in which people who use digital banking services are more likely to do so via mobile phones than desktop computers. With the social distancing being enforced during the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for and use of digital services has only grown stronger. Active users of electronic banking have further increased their activities on online channels, while passive ones have recognized the need for easier and safer banking operations from the comfort of their homes. In addition, a significant number of clients decided for the first time to perform banking activities digitally.

THE USE OF DIGITAL SERVICES Erste Bank Serbia has intensively promoted the use of digital services during the state of emergency as a good choice for safe and simple banking operations, and it will continue to do so. Among other things, EBS has enabled its clients to contract or activate electronic banking services or receive a new payment card without having to go to a branch. EBS’s mBanking and NetBanking were both used for filing requests for cash loans. As for corporate clients, these had already handled a lot of their business -- fast and safe payments and running daily business -through electronic banking before the crisis. This trend has continued throughout the state of emergency.

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CORPORATE

It is a Great Responsibility to Lead the Unified Voice of Investors This year, FIC celebrates 18 years of operating in Serbia, which means the association has a significant level of maturity to continue with the hard and challenging work in the upcoming period crisis has brought about and raise the prominence of our community. We gather various industries, but not all industries are equally present. Therefore, we want to work on expanding our membership base by including industries that are not adequately represented in FIC (i.e. pharma sector, IT etc.) to develop a more representative pool for achieving stronger advocacy results. To sum up – to support the recovery of the Serbian economy, explore opportunities, keep on growing and being a unified voice of investors in order to ensure better conditions for business.

MIKE MICHEL Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Telenor, President of Foreign Investors Council

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Your election took place during the very challenging times for not just Serbia but the whole world, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. How did your members deal with that situation and what kind of support did FIC provide to them during the crisis?

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he Foreign Investors Council, which is celebrating 18 years in Serbia this year, announced changes in its management in April. Mike Michel, Telenor Serbia CEO, is the newly elected President of the Foreign Investors Council. In an interview for Diplomacy&Commerce magazine, we spoke with Mr. Michel about his role in FIC: “We will continue to pursue the same policy of advocating

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You were elected FIC President at the end of April this year. How do you perceive your role as leader of the Association?

— For me personally, it is a great responsibility to lead such an association. Equally, I am honoured to be alongside the team of outstanding peers and professionals in the FIC Board of Directors and excited that we will be working together closely over the next two years on a

I AM HONOURED TO BE ALONGSIDE THE TEAM OF OUTSTANDING PEERS AND PROFESSIONALS IN THE FIC BOARD OF DIRECTORS for simplified and more favourable business condition. Our ambition in years to come is to improve level of implemented FIC White Book recommendations so to achieve 50% progress on an annual basis, instead of the previous 35-45% average,” pointed out Mike Michel.

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common goal of contributing further to development of the Serbian economy.

This year, FIC celebrates 18 years of operating in Serbia, which means the association has a significant level of maturity to continue with the hard and challenging work in the

upcoming period. With more than 120 members who invested over €35 billion and employ 100K people, we have a good overview of all the industries operating in the country and the progress made in improving the legislative framework. We want to continue the open and constructive dialog with the Government on further improvement areas, as we believe it is the key for the development of economy and attracting new foreign investors.

Short term, we all need to focus on minimizing negative effects of the crisis and on overall recovery of the economy, as COVID-19 epidemic has impacted every industry, company and person.

On a long term, we will stay on the course of goals and principles that have shown results in the previous years, but we also want to further develop the organization, explore prospects for tackling a ‘new normal’ the

— The reaction of companies was prompt and FIC was active in supporting them. At first, the companies focused on preserving employees’ health and safety, ensuring business continuity and adapting to the new circumstances which, coupled with the state of emergency, exposed acute issues problems. FIC tried to solve them urgently. We collected and submitted proposals of our members on the necessary economic measures and input on their implementation. We also established the practise of continuously collecting reports of everyday issues that impede business operations and initiating their resolution regarding HR (working permits in particular), taxation, transportation issues and others.

FIC recently held an online Conference on digitalization where members highlighted its importance and suggested that digitalization should be

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one of this year’s White Book focuses. Tell us more about the Conference, who participated on the FIC and Government’s side, what was the aim of the conference and which subtopics FIC highlighted as priorities?

I would say it was a very successful conference. It gathered around 100 FIC members, and 15 Government representatives from seven relevant institutions. We aimed to open a dialogue on digitalization in Serbian legislation, so we can work on its further improvement through the joint Working Group with the Government. The idea to organize the Conference came from FIC members as the importance of digitalization has risen with the coronavirus pandemic. FIC presented areas of key importance that need to be discussed, to name just a few: the need to enable the widest possible use of electronic signatures in everyday communication and paperless business, to continue the accelerated work on digital transformation of both Customs and Tax Administration, to continue with digitalization and simplification of the strictly

formal mode of communication between employer and employee in labour field, etc.

We believe that digitalization will be one of the key areas for joint work with the Government in the upcoming months.

We are entering a more stable period when it comes to COVID-19 pandemic. What will be key FIC priorities in the upcoming months?

— Our priorities defined within the joint Task Force with the Government are focused on improving implementation of FIC White Book recommendations and have not changed significantly over the time. We structured our efforts around nine fields that we see as priorities: taxes, labour, inspections, food safety, real-estate, digitalization & e-commerce, pharmaceuticals, bankruptcy and Forex. We believe that progress in these areas may have very positive multiple effects on the Serbian economy and increase attractiveness of the country for foreign investors.

The Government elections are to be held in June as an-

OUR PRIORITIES DEFINED WITHIN THE JOINT TASK FORCE WITH THE GOVERNMENT ARE FOCUSED ON IMPROVING IMPLEMENTATION OF FIC WHITE BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS nounced. What do you expect from the new Government?

— Our expectation is to continue with the practice of good cooperation through open and constructive dialogue. Our am-

bition in years to come is to improve level of implemented FIC White Book recommendations so to achieve 50% progress on an annual basis, instead of the previous 35-45% average.

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CORPORATE

Small Producers are the Most Vital Part Of The Economy The Buy Serbian initiative strives to help the most vital sector of the economy - small and micro enterprises and small business owners. The goal is to promote products made in Serbia, to direct the consumers' attention and money to the healthiest part of our economy - small producers ria for deciding who will receive free marketing (or some other type of support)?

MILICA ČALIJA Co-owner of Anđeli, the oatmeal cake production company and business consultant for socially responsible companies

— We try to maintain the continuity of at least one presentation a day on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn pages of Buy Serbian. To start with, we chose small producers whose quality and business we got to know well.

Fortunately, satisfied consumers got involved very quickly, so they started recommending many producers that we have not met yet, and who will be presented at #kupujmoizSrbije.

That is we constantly have an open invitation for both for the manufacturers to apply and for satisfied customers to recommend a manufacturer they think deserves a referral and presentation.

For now, our site comprises one info page with links to social media. The next step could to sorting out producers' operations by their category or size.

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roducers need real money, hence the idea to influence consumers to choose domestic instead of imported goods whenever they have a choice. That will reinstate cash flow through the community, and only in that way will the economy be able to survive. As for the education that small producers need, marketing and business planning are the two most common areas in which they need support. That is why, in the future, the website www.kupujmo.rs could become commonplace for both producers and shoppers and even a kind of incubator for new small producers, "says Milica Čalija, the initiator of the Buy Serbian initiative.

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How was the Buy Serbian initiative conceived and launched? Why do we need

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an initiative like this and what is the target group?

— I have been thinking about an initiative that would promote products made in Serbia for quite some time, intending to direct both the attention and money of consumers towards the healthiest part of our economy - small producers. These companies operate locally, which means that they employ our and your

part of the economy and they are often invisible to the media, as they have no way and means to promote themselves, and are thus remaining invisible to consumers. My 'accomplice' in this was Ivan Minić, who, due to the pandemic, was stuck in Texas. The two of us quickly formulated the idea, Ivan created the first visuals and got a great team with whom he worked on

Apart from the initiative, what else needs to be done in order for consumers to start buying primarily products from Serbia, and not imported ones?

— We cannot expect buyers to buy something just because it was made in Serbia, and at the same time, of poorer quality or significantly more expensive than imported goods. Therefore, producers must be aware

PRODUCERS MUST BE AWARE THAT THEIR PRODUCT MUST BE OF HIGH QUALITY AND COMPETITIVE neighbours, buy raw materials from other local producers or growers, pay taxes and salary contributions, and thus directly support the state apparatus, plus the money from the tax they pay goes towards pensions and civil servant salaries. Small producers are the most vital

the Pojačalo campaign involved.

These people are experienced in moderating social media and in cooperation with small businesses.

How do you get in touch with small businesses who need help? Do you have any crite-

that their product must be of high quality and competitive.

Another thing that we need to do to stimulate our consumers is to allow them to choose, for them to have enough money for a rational purchase and not living from paycheque to paycheque and to make a purchase

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decision only based on price.

Well-to-do customers exist in well-to-do economies which is why the Buy Serbian initiative is trying to help the most vital sector of the economy - small and micro enterprises and small business owners.

Could the state or other stakeholders get involved in the initiative and how could they help make it more successful?

— It would be logical for this project to be supported by a certain official body in Serbia, or an organization like the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia. We will try to establish collaboration with them, but we are determined to keep this project alive, regardless of whether it is heard and seen by official institutions. Our mission is to highlight the quality and creativity of small producers, to help them reach customers, to influence producers to use local raw materials as much as possible and to invest in small local service providers because only such a circular economy is sustainable.

This is not the first such initiative. There were a few similar ones that popularized the purchase of domestic products. Why is your initiative different?

— There are several associations, juries and campaigns that select what constitutes the best in Serbia, but there is no one organization which continuously, devoid of a competitive dimension, simply promotes small, quality domestic producers. This is the first initiative that you do not have to apply for, you do not have to win votes, you do not have to pay

a registration fee, there is no competition, nor do we choose a winner. We simply want to give visibility to small producers. It is very important to point out that our whole team, the four of us, is doing this completely free of charge. Buy Serbian is a social responsibility project of and our motivation is for the private sector to survive the crisis caused by the pandemic because we believe that without a healthy small business sector, there is no healthy economy.

There are also many initiatives and both parallel and separate projects that work practically to popularize the same things. If everyone united would that produce a better effect?

— That would be the same as if you said: „There are so many chocolate makers. Why don't all of them come together and make the same chocolate?"

nomic impact because it directly drives the local economy. It also has an environmental impact because the goods do not travel a long way from a producer to a consumer, and it creates a good climate for developing new small businesses.

What do you predict regarding initiatives and small business owners after the coronavirus?

Will the post-pandemic era be marked by online shopping? What are all the pros and cons of online shopping?

How can we change the habits of customers to shop more online instead of going to an outdoor farmers' market?

— The pandemic and the state of emergency in Serbia have created, to say the least, "new challenges" in operations of almost all companies. Challenge is too subtle of a word for a multi-level collapse.

E-commerce, i.e. online

turns out, that was a quick and easy way to shop. Even paying online is more convenient.

One thing that causes inconvenience when shopping in Serbia and goes against the atmosphere of easy online shopping, is the courier services that should do the last, perhaps even the most important part of the purchase: physical contact with the customer. Anđeli do their deliveries in Belgrade and one of our co-workers does only that. When we have a lot of orders to fulfil in one day, other team members jump in as well. When we do the delivery ourselves, we control the way we present ourselves to the customer and the delivery time and we can see reactions from our customers first-hand. We have to rely on courier services for deliveries outside Belgrade and this is where the problem starts. Customers sometimes

BUY SERBIAN IS A SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY PROJECT AND OUR MOTIVATION IS FOR THE PRIVATE SECTOR TO SURVIVE THE CRISIS CAUSED BY THE PANDEMIC Consumers want different chocolates and different companies will find their way to different customers. Thus, different initiatives, although their goal is the same, have different audiences, different target groups and speak a different language.

Any initiative that supports the domestic economy is significant, and a lot more needs to be done in this field to develop consumer awareness of the importance of buying local products. Buying domestic products is not an irrational patriotic act; it has a strong eco-

shopping, is one of the few industries that has flourished during the pandemic. For us, in Anđeli, online sales are not foreign at all. Moreover, we started the business without points of sale; exclusively by selling online. This is also a concept close to our customers, although there are those customers who would rather choose our products in person.

As the movement of people was limited in the previous weeks, and at a certain point it was completely banned, everyone turned to home deliveries. As it

have to wait for delivery for ten days. Courier services do not deliver our products to our customer’s door, but rather to the building they live in. It is difficult to obtain information from the courier’s customer services and it often happens that delivery is not even attempted, but it is registered as “an attempted delivery”.

I am afraid that e-commerce will not have a future without developed field logistics which would support online shopping with a quality delivery network.

THE FUTURE OF ONLINE SHOPPING Can the potential of online shopping reach the potential of actually physically going to stores?

— I think that some retailers are "overwhelmed" by the number of requests for delivery precisely because they did not nurture this way of selling even in regular business conditions. I am proud of our small company because Anđeli has managed to respond to a fast-growing number of online orders, but we have been cultivating the culture of online shopping for many years. There are various ways to do this. One of the most popular is to provide free shipping, and then you treat shipping costs as a marketing expense. A

vendor can also give special benefits, such as a discount for online shopping. I'm sure the future of shopping lies in the growing number of online orders, but it's unlikely that online stores will lead to the permanent closure of brick and mortar shops. This has not happened even in countries where online shopping is much more developed, because the customer wants and appreciates the shopping experience with all their senses. Another benefit of developing online shopping is that it will also affect the development of brick and mortar outlets, i.e. stores will have to offer customers something they cannot experience when shopping online.

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CORPORATE

Builders of New Dimensions One of the oldest construction companies in Serbia has carried out more than 16.000 projects. We spoke about the beginnings, development and future plans of “Jadran” with its director Nikola Malbaša NIKOLA MALBAŠA Owner and CEO of Jadran d.o.o.

o you know what is in common for hydro power plants “Đerdap“ and “Mali Zvornik“, University Library “Svetozar Marković“ or King’s villa in Oplenac, Konstantinovsky Palace in St. Petersburg, the “Meriot” hotel in Cairo or military bases in Baghdad? Craftsmen and engineers from “Jadran” company from Belgrade worked on all these buildings of economic, cultural and historical importance. One of the oldest construction companies in Serbia, that has carried out more than 16.000 projects, celebrates big anniversary this month - the 70th anniversary of its establishment. We spoke about the beginnings, development and future plans of “Jadran” with Nikola Malbaša company owner and director.

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How come that “Jadran” was established in Belgrade? What did company beginnings look like?

— The story about “Jadran” had started on 29 June 1950. First, we were a part of the “Utility Construction Enterprise of the City of Belgrade”, the famous “Komgrap”, and then we became an independent enterprise for painting works. According to older colleagues, the majority of the employees came from Dalmatia and that is why the name “Jadran” was chosen.

In the beginning, like other

construction companies, we worked mostly in Belgrade, on facilities that were being built at the time or that had been damaged during the World War II. Since the day one we dealt with making the city more beautiful or with creating the new face of the city.

Nevertheless, you didn’t stick only to painting works for very long?

— That’s right. It was only a beginning. In the mid-sixties, we established a team for sandblasting and anticorrosion protection. Even back then we carried out works on newly built Thermal Power Plant “Nikola Tesla” in Obrenovac, as well as on Hydro Power Plant “Đerdap“.

Gradually, we started to deal with mounting works, and thereafter reconstructions, adaptations and maintenance of infrastructure facilities.

You have been running “Jadran” since 2005. What were the biggest challenges? How changed is the company since then?

— At the time when we entered the privatization process, “Jadran” was a reputable company with serious projects, both in the country and Algeria, Czech Republic, Russia, Libya… We wanted to strengthen that position additionally. We invested into the most impor-

WE STICK FIRMLY TO THE FOLLOWING SLOGAN: “WE BUILD FUTURE AND PRESERVE TRADITION”

tant resource-people, as well as in construction equipment and mechanization. We have demonstrated that privatization can bring so much good to one company. When it comes to the company itself, on one hand the method of work and internal organization did change, because we started to expand our business activities. On the other hand, we have continued to stick to the long established principles: the highest possible quality of services, respect for agreed deadlines and good relationship with investors.

Even today, we stick firmly to the following slogan: “We build future and preserve tradition”.

injection, i.e. repair of concrete constructions. In 2017, we established the Sector for Electrical Mounting Works, and we are authorized by the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure for issuance of energy passports. Today, “Jadran” builds facilities. We are professionally and technically equipped for “design and build” system and we are one of the few companies in the market that provide the entire set of services in the construction industry.

You mentioned that “Jadran” expended its business activities in the past years.

What is the company dealing with today?

— We built our success on foundations of hard work and desire to progress. All our engineers, mounters and craftsmen continuously improve their knowledge. Even though we say for ourselves that we are the “tradition that endures”, we are certainly oriented towards the future and towards the development of new technologies. This is the only way to stay competitive in the market and to continue building new dimensions.

— Apart from the fields in which we “built our name”, such as all kinds of final works in construction field, sandblasting and anticorrosion protection of construction facilities, “Jadran” deals with designing, revitalizing facilities and facades that are under the State protection, with concrete

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Seven decades in any profession is a big success. What are the plans for the company’s future?

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HEALTHCARE IN THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA AFTER THE PANDEMIC 2020

WE ARE FULLY PREPARED FOR THE SECOND TIDE OF CORONAVIRUS “We are fully prepared for a new tide of the coronavirus, because our economy is prepared,” said President Aleksandar Vučić at the online conference "Healthcare in Serbia after the Pandemic"

F O R E WO R D

n his opening address at the online conference “Healthcare in Serbia after the Pandemic", President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić said that the coronavirus forced the state of Serbia to rely on its strength and respond to the crisis.

“The coronavirus has surprised the whole world. At first, the people in China were surprised, who put up a great fight which was not easy for them at all. The pandemic in Europe started in Italy, and what happened next was that all states closed their national borders, not wanting to have any contact with other countries, and secretly hoping that their death toll was lower than in friendly neighbouring countries. So, the first challenges we faced were of political nature;

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challenges related to solidarity. However, all of this made us think about our needs, our own strength, how to build our system and how to create a system of own measures to protect our population.

There were a few good things and those that did not function the best which I am sure could have or had to function immeasurably better.

First and foremost, as I have already mentioned, there wasn’t a country in the world that could have prepared itself for this. You are prepared as much as your healthcare system is strong.

In that sense, I am happy with and very proud of our doctors, and this is not political rhetoric. I am also proud of medical nurses and technical staff who did a difficult and responsible job. We had fantastic people but we also had those who caused problems

ALEKSANDAR VUČIĆ President of the Republic of Serbia

SYSTEM

There wasn’t a country in the world that could have prepared itself for this. You are prepared as much as your healthcare system is strong.

so we had to replace them. We have hired many young doctors, specialists, medical and other staff… All in all, 5,000 people. These young people were given an opportunity which they used perfectly. We have demonstrated that we have plenty of people we can count on, who joined the fight against the coronavirus, who ‘jumped into the fire when it was the hottest’, so to speak. This is the most important thing when we are talking about people. We have proven that we have highly professional human resources that can take care of our nation.

In terms of our technical preparedness and the technical equipment that our healthcare facilities have, I can say that it is much better now than a few years ago. I would like to remind you that we have renovated the entire Clinical and Hospital Centre

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in Niš which cost EUR 60 million. We are constructing a new clinical centre in Belgrade, which building alone will cost EUR 70 million, or EUR 110 million if we include the cost of equipment.

We started the reconstruction of the new infectious disease clinic ten days before the beginning of the epidemic, believe it or not. We have also completely renovated the Dragiša Mišović Hospital. From the get-go, we had Zemun hospital, which we had also renovated before the pandemic, involved it in the fight against the coronavirus.

We have even set up a new Pediatrics Department. We turned the Zvezdara Hospital into a COVID hospital and delivered additional equipment to it. This hospital was also renovated before the epidemic. We did the same with the

tilator. We will continue with these investments, with great gratitude to them, because they managed to do this thanks to their intelligence, not our money.

We have launched procurements for everything we needed and that was hell. It was hell trying to find enough ventilators so you not blamed if people start dying because of the lack of ventilators, or not find yourself in a situation where you have to decide which ventilator to turn off. I think we have managed to overcome that.

I would also like to thank the People’s Republic of China, first and foremost, as well as Norway and the European Union and many other countries for supporting us. I would also like to thank our Safety and Informa-

Military Medical Centre in Karaburma, where, thanks to the support of the Trmomont Company, we built an additional COVID hospital for the admission of new patients. So, as it happened, even though we didn’t know that there would be an outbreak of the coronavirus, our healthcare system was incomparably more prepared than it had been before.

Of course, all this was not enough and it certainly was not easy. We immediately went on the offensive by procuring equipment, ventilators, increasing the production of rubbing alcohol and yeast, as well as the production of hypochlorite for cleaning and disinfection of our institutions and streets. As far as health matters are concerned, the people from the Mihajlo Pupin Institute and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering have embarked on designing and producing the first-ever ‘Made in Serbia’ ven-

tion Agency and everyone who was involved in procuring the necessary equipment.

After four or maybe five days, we have managed to overcome nearly all of our problems. We successfully withstood that first impact on our hospitals. We erected a number of makeshift hospitals for patient accommodation. Today, I can say that we are fully prepared for a possible new impact. We will be ready when it strikes.

Our economy was ready for it. In terms of the economy and public finances, considering that we are not wealthier than many Western countries, our public finances were in a much better condition (than theirs).

Despite the problems we have experienced like political environment, lack of solidarity and being unable to fully prepare for the coronavirus pandemic in advance because it had been unheard of in the world before, we are

PREPARATIONS

We erected a number of makeshift hospitals for patient accommodation.

Today, I can say that we are fully prepared for a possible new impact. We will be ready when it strikes.

continuing to reconstruct, renovate and construct some of the most vital healthcare facilities like the Clinical Centre of Serbia, the Clinical Centre of Vojvodina, the Clinical Centre of Kragujevac, hospitals in Loznica, Aranđelovac, Smederevska Palanka, Pirot, Kikinda, Kruševac, Kraljevo, Prokuplje, etc. The works on these hospitals cost up to EUR 30 million for each facility and all of them need to be finished in the next year and a half to two.

Now, people have grasped the full meaning of healthcare protection and healthcare in general. We will continue to invest more and more money and continue to increase medical staff’s salaries (let’s forget that we are the only country that permanently increased their salaries during the pandemic by 10% instead of resorting to granting them one-off financial aid). In addition to insisting on solidarity in the future, which wasn’t sufficient, and the fact that we have to continue constructing medical facilities, the third and most important priority is investing in people, investing in our doctors and generally our medical staff. Another priority for us is to be able to move swiftly out of an economic crisis which two months of economic and life standstill have produced. I am confident that we will be among the top countries in Europe and the world in that regard.

Last but not least, this epidemic or pandemic, if you will, shows that we need to meet the future with strong self-confidence, to believe in ourselves and our strength, to cooperate with everyone and to show solidarity with everyone. We need to do this so we can compete with others in the most positive sense of the word and believe in ourselves. That is why I believe that it is important to analyze all our shortcomings and to work quickly. A lot can still be corrected, we can improve a lot, we can invest, and we can take care not only of our parents and our elderly but also of our children, of everyone.

I am confident that we will succeed with the support of our citizens and people willing to help, that is the support of all of you people who possess the knowledge and are equipped to do this. I also believe that the conclusions from this conference will produce great lessons for us that we can apply in the future.

We are not ashamed of what we don’t know and we are not ashamed of our mistakes. On the contrary, we are ready to correct them and we are ready to change a lot to be more successful in the future. I think this is a task for each of us who care about the future of Serbia.”

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WE HAVE DEMONSTRATED THE SERIOUSNESS OF OUR HEALTHCARE SYSTEM I would like to say the following, after this serious worldwide occurrence that is the COVID-19 pandemic - I absolutely agree with all those people who said that nothing will be the same as before, especially for healthcare systems. I will focus on that part, that is, our and other healthcare systems COM M E N T

think that we have shown and proved that we are a serious healthcare system and that all the investments we had made and everything that we have done so far was well worth it. We have demonstrated that everything we have done and fulfilled our vision has now yielded results.

Serbia and its healthcare system did not have to experience a situation where patients had to be accommodated in hospital corridors, where healthcare workers had to select which patient to treat, be it younger or older ones, as well as to choose which patients to put on a ventilator and which should be taken off it. Serbia did not find itself in a situation that it lacked medicine and medical equipment.

Thanks to the adequate reaction and our healthcare system, as well as with great assistance from the president of our state, we have managed to find everything that we needed to attain these results in a very short amount of time, although we were caught by surprise. It is easy to talk and analyze now when the worst part is over, but I would like to strongly appeal to everyone to wait with the analysis, to wait for enough time to pass, to take all factors into consideration and to accept the fact that we will be able to have a realistic analysis only in two

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ZLATIBOR LONČAR Serbian Health Minister

LESSONS

It is up to us to prove that we have learned lessons from this, that we have come out more experienced and that we will be able to apply all that in the future.

to three years’ time.

I would like to thank once again all the health workers who participated in this, who made an immeasurable contribution and who are the real heroes of this time and the ones that follow.

If it weren't for them, if it weren't for the state that took this seriously, if it weren't for the President who got involved from the day one, it would be difficult for us to achieve such results. This way, we and our citizens can be proud that we have managed ‘to dock this ship into a safe harbour’.

We will not sit on our laurels now, but continue to work, because, as you know, the coronavirus is still present, we have to live with it and we have to adjust all our activities to be as safe as possible in order to resume normal life and do what we need and want to do.

Therefore, this has been a huge experience for the whole country, huge experience for health workers and the health system, and it should serve us as a lesson who we can adequately respond to all the new challenges that will surely arise in the future too.

We will continue to invest in young people, we will continue to invest in our health workers, doctors, medical technicians and nurses, to find employment for them, to ensure that they continue improving and to provide them with the conditions they deserve,

that is the conditions at a high European level.

We expect from them to adapt to new standards which are being implemented in the post-corona period and to be the leaders who will make the whole system adequate enough to respond to all the new challenges that may arise and that will surely arise.

We need a new generation, we need a new way of thinking, we need a new system of work and that is what is expected of them, i.e. to change all these things and to raise them to the highest level so that this system can react as it is supposed to.

Once again, I would like to thank all the citizens, especially our senior citizens who adhered to all the measures, and if it weren't for that, we wouldn't be able to have this result. We had our senior citizens in mind and our goal was to save human lives, to save their health and to be able to analyze it all.

Once again, I would like to extend my immense thanks to everyone. I want our healthcare system to have as little work as possible, for our citizens to be healthy and to use the healthcare system as little as possible, and when necessary, to have adequate treatment conditions and for all of us to have more luck in the future. Nothing comes easy. We will continue to work hard if we want to be at the level that Serbia and its citizens deserve.

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SEE CONFERENCE ON YOUTUBE

CONFERENCE "HEALTHCARE IN THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA AFTER THE PANDEMIC" HELD

CON F E R E NC E

n online conference called "Healthcare in the Republic of Serbia after the Pandemic" dedicated to the Serbian healthcare system was held in Belgrade on June 2. The conference participants discussed current topics of importance for the Serbian healthcare system, which direction will health care take after COVID-19, how the pandemic helped us understand the importance of innovation, and how to improve the integration of all three levels of health care.

The conference was opened by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, who pointed out that "a lot can still be corrected and that we can improve more. He continued: “We spend a lot of money on our healthcare system.

Don't forget that health takes more than a fifth of our total state budget and now, with all these allocations, it will take up a fourth of our budget, maybe even exceed that and amount to probably 29% of the entire state budget money. This means that we will have to invest even more, that we will have to take care not only of our parents, our elderly but also of

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BUDGET

Health takes more than a fifth of our total state budget and now, with all these allocations, it will take up a fourth of our budget.

our children, everyone, in fact. This is why we will not stop at that," President Vučić underlined.

The next speaker was the Serbian Health Minister, Zlatibor Lončar who pointed out that Serbia and its healthcare system did not have to experience a situation where patients had to be accommodated in hospital corridors, where healthcare workers had to select which patient to treat, be it younger or older ones, as well as to choose which patients to put on a ventilator and which should be taken off it. Minister Lončar also underlined: ”I think that we have shown and proved that we are a serious healthcare system and that all the investments we had made and everything that we have done so far was well worth it. We have demonstrated that everything we have done and fulfilled our vision has now yielded results.”

The first panel was titled „New Normal after COVID-19 and Healthcare’s Development Direction“. The panel participants highlighted the importance of cooperation between institutions, organizations and all levels of healthcare protection in Serbia.

The Vojvodina Health Secretary Zoran Gojković especially underlined the importance of preparedness for crises. He stated that Vojvodina had the best result considering all parameters, both in the number of registered cases and in the mortality rate, but also in the fact that no infected health workers in Vojvodina were infected on the job but rather they contracted the virus outside the health institutions where they work. Also, there were no cases of mass contagion in welfare institutions. He also said the following: "Not only Vojvodina, but the whole of Serbia has achieved impressive results. Our system responded well and our health workers were well-prepared for these difficult changes that were happening daily. It is very odd to work in such conditions and having to reset the entire health system. We are adaptable people and have an exceptional sense of improvisation. Crises like this are just an indication that we are ready to tackle the problems."

Regina de Dominicis, Director of UNICEF for Serbia, spoke about the kind of normalcy that we can expect

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Aleksandar Vučić, President of Serbia

Zoran Gojković, Vojvodina Health Secretary

Regina de Dominicis, Director of UNICEF for Serbia

Zlatibor Lončar, Health Minister

Dubravka Negre, Head of the European Investment Bank’s Western Balkan Office

Una Ljubičić, Chairwoman of the NALED Health Alliance

when it comes to children and their families in the post COVID-19 period, as well as what role should the healthcare system play in the recovery stage.

Dubravka Negre, Head of the European Investment Bank’s Western Balkan Office, pointed out the following: "We are glad that Serbia recognized the importance of investing in the healthcare system in time, thanks to which a large number of lives were saved during this pandemic. Our institution has been investing in the health sector in Serbia since 2004. This is the first country in the region in which health sector we started investing.

So far, we have invested 250 million euro in the Serbian healthcare system, which was used to equip and renovate 20 regional hospitals."

Una Ljubičić, Chairwoman of the NALED Health Alliance, stated the following: “The Gray Healthcare Book is the result of the work that lasted for several months. The book is the first publication of its kind that contains 50 recommendations for improving healthcare. Although the health system in Serbia has reacted excellently, there is always room for improvement. We recognized one of the opportunities for improvement in the cooperation between the public and private sector."

The second panel "Innovation and COVID - how COVID helped us understand the importance of innovation" was dedicated to the importance and necessity of applying innovation in medicine.

On the occasion, Professor Sanja Radojević Škodrić, MD, Director of the State Health Insurance Fund, pointed out: "We came out of this pandemic with great experience and defined goals. Devising strategy is very important. We had to monitor the situation in the countries of the region,

but also in the whole world. We managed to avoid the shortage of medicines thanks to Serbia having a strong economy, as mentioned by the country’s president.”

Bojan Trkulja, Director of the Association of Producers of Innovative Medicines (INOVIA), said: "When a pandemic strikes, there is a huge additional pressure on health resources and there is growing importance of those medical procedures that improve the efficiency of treatment. This is where innovative medicines are of great significance.

When we can prolong the life of our patients, thanks to innovative therapy, as well as improve their quality of life, the impact on the individual patient is immeasurable."

Aleksandar Tripković, Director of AstraZeneca Serbia, said: "I am proud of the fact that AstraZeneca is a leader in a challenging rescue project worldwide and that is the development of the vaccine for COVID-19 together with the University of Oxford. The COVID-19 pandemic data showed us how serious is the risk

for the population with diabetes. The data from a study conducted in Italy, the United States and the United Kingdom show that between 32% and 35.5% of patients who died as a result of COVID had diabetes. Given the data on the severe outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic in patients with diabetes, it is more important now than ever to apply a modern approach to diabetes therapy, which includes timely prevention of cardio-renal complications, i.e. reduction of mortality. This approach to diabetes treatment was supported in 2018 by the European and American diabetes associations.”

Dr Siniša Radulović, scientific advisor and pharmacologist, pointed out the necessity of regular contact with doctors when it comes to oncology patients: "I would appeal to oncology patients not to delay seeing a doctor because cancer does not recognize social distancing and it is not good to be afraid of the coronavirus more than cancer. Diagnosis and treatment must not be left for a period when the coronavirus crisis is over."

PRESSURE

When a pandemic strikes, there is a huge additional pressure on health resources and there is growing importance of those medical procedures that improve the efficiency of treatment.

Professor Sanja Radojević Škodrić, MD, Director of the State Health Insurance Fund

Bojan Trkulja

Aleksandar Tripković

Dr Siniša Radulović

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CORPORATE

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

• 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 • All about mother’s care after childbirth

e 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.

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WEBSITE

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.

THE MIDWIFE WILL INFORM YOU OF THE FOLLOWING:

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

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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 • R ecognize your baby's requirements • Calm your baby and put it to sleep THE PEDIATRICIAN FROM BEBOLOGIJA WILL: • 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 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

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CORPORATE

Innovation Always Comes First In order to further develop the product range and the ability to help combat the COVID-19 virus, and in addition to making all its production capacities available to the needs of the citizens and the state of the Republic of Serbia, the Sigma Kula doo company has also developed a unique innovative solution for disinfection in hospital conditions

SIGMA KULA DOO

WEBSITE

he rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, which, in addition to direct contact with the respiratory droplets of an infected person, can be transmitted by touching surfaces contaminated

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to COVID-19 and other similar health threats. Sigma Kula doo, as a company which has been constantly directing all its efforts towards implementing new and innovative projects since its inception, has come up

with a solution that will enable health clinics to produce disinfectants for their own needs.

Guided by the idea that innovation should always come first, Sigma Kula doo has implemented the existing technology, which had so far been used only in water supply systems, in the right way in health care.

Namely, in line with the WHO and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control recommendations, disinfection based on the biocidal agent sodium-hypochlorite is effective in preventing the spread of coronavirus. Our equipment is precisely designed for the production of a disinfectant solution based on sodium-hypochlorite (biocidal agent) in 5 (five) different concentrations in situ (at the place of consumption) for the disinfection of space, surfaces and hands in regular and emergency situations. These 5 (five) basic capacities (50 g/h, 125 g/h, 250 g/h, 500 g/h and 1000 g/h of active substance) are modular and can be combined and expanded indefinitely.

BY APPLYING THIS TECHNOLOGY, HEALTH CARE FACILITIES WOULD BE ABLE TO PRODUCE THEIR OWN DISINFECTANT IN THE REQUIRED QUANTITIES AND CONCENTRATIONS WHILE SAVING HUGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY

This system is mobile and multi-purpose, which makes it an ideal long-term solution for both temporary health care institutions and those in smaller communities.

By applying this technology, health care facilities would be able to produce their own disinfectant in the required quantities and concentrations.

The prototype of the facility for the production of all the aforementioned concentrations of disinfectants, which is based on the device with a capacity of 125 g/h of the undiluted active substance, was in the final phase of manufacture in early June and will become operative in mid-June this year.

In addition to producing disinfectant, this equipment can be used to monitor the phytosanitary cleanliness of water and disinfect water in the hospital water supply system. For these purposes, the equipment has been used in the Clinical Centre of Vojvodina since 2010. Thanks to this project, Sigma Kula doo was a finalist of the Challenge Call for Corporate and Social Response to COVID-19 Health and Healthcare Crisis organized

by UNDP and the World Health Organization. www.sigmakula.co.rs.

with the virus, has resulted in extremely high demand for disinfectants, especially for use in hospitals where the possibility of infection is higher and where regular cleaning and disinfection are especially important as a precaution to reduce the risk of infection.

The overall situation in some countries has led to growing prices, but also to a slowdown and even a collapse of supply chains, where some countries have even introduced a ban on the export of disinfectants.

Localized sustainable production is becoming an important capital in building resistance

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CORPORATE

“Epidemik Protekt” Packages Help Overcome the Epidemic More Easily DOR osiguranje has presented “EPIDEMIK PROTEKT” packages, unique on the market, which contain a combination of indemnity for hospitalisation due to an epidemic or pandemic, as well as a set of different types of assistance that provide support at the most difficult times. The packages are arranged as supplementary insurance and can be contracted with group coverage of employees, members of an association or any other organisation. They can also be offered as supplementary insurance with individual or group life insurance policies. Special care is dedicated to families, which is why all parents will get free coverage from the “EPIDEMIK PROTEKT” package for a year if they conclude it along with a life insurance policy by the end of this June 2020. This

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type of supplementary insurance is not limited just to the COVID-19 pandemic, and includes coverage during any local or global epidemic/ pandemic.

“Unpredictability and strength of the current pandemic virus have blocked the entire planet. The last few months have assured us that we must behave responsibly, think more about the future and be as prepared and flexible as possible.

This is precisely why we have prepared a special set of services, “EPIDEMIK PROTEKT”, which provide total coverage against the consequences of COVID-19, combining life insurance with a monetary compensation for hospital days and the most important services relevant for everyone who has to spend time in a hospital,” said Giorgio Marchegiani, Chairman of Executive Board of DDOR osiguranje,

adding: “Our individual term and mixed life insurance certainly offer coverage in case of an insured event caused by coronavirus, while our new product “EPIDEMIK PROTEKT” has been prepared so that it offers help for overcoming difficulties before, and especially after returning from hospital treatment, providing an adequate monetary compensation and services that facilitate return to a normal life.”

The “EPIDEMIK PROTEKT” packages entail payment up to €50 per hospital day and up to €100 per hospital day spent at intensive care. Additionally, during the first year, the packages include, depending on the arranged premium level, special types of assistance that provide support at the most difficult times and include consultations with doctors 24 hours a day, psychological

counselling, transport to and from the hospital, food and medicine delivery, and even pet care.

Since the epidemic was declared, DDOR osiguranje has been paying special attention to organising operations in line with the advice of relevant state and health institutions.

The company also urges all citizens to keep adhering to all recommendations for decreasing the risk of spreading the infection. Still, responsible behaviour, along with prevention measures, includes taking care of potential future events we should be insured against.

“COVID PROTEKT” packages guarantee full compensation for days spent in hospital, while assistance includes full logistics support in obtaining verified information from doctors and organising one’s life during hospitalisation.

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CONDUIT’S END

Can Hong Kong Remain a Conduit Between China and the World?

Its future as a financial centre depends on nothing less hina and America have begun the fraught business of disentangling their financial systems. Chinese firms with shares listed in New York have rushed to float in Hong Kong, too, after the White House signalled they are not welcome on Wall Street. The latest is NetEase, a Chinese gaming firm that began a $3bn listing this week.

But now Hong Kong itself, the world’s third-biggest international financial centre, has become a geopolitical flashpoint. Its unique role as the conduit between global capital markets and China’s inward-looking financial system means that both sides must tread carefully.

On May 28th China said it would enact a new national-security law for Hong Kong, undermining the formulation of “one country, two systems” in place since 1997, under which the territory is supposed to be governed until 2047. In response, America has said it may downgrade the legal privileges it grants Hong Kong, which treat it as autonomous from China.

Britain, the former colonial power, has said that freedoms are being curtailed and that it could make it easier for up 3m Hong Kongers to go there to live and work and eventually win citizenship—a welcome, if still sketchy, gesture.

Hong Kong’s place in the world depends on having the rule of law, a trusted reputation and seamless access to Western financial markets.

Other Chinese cities have big stock exchanges: shares listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen are together worth a lot more than those in Hong Kong.

But neither has fair courts, an independent central bank, free movement of capital or a mix of Western and Chinese firms. These foundations are the basis for $9.7trn of cross-border financial claims, such as loans, that are booked in the territory. Hong Kong is also where mainland Chinese firms and banks go to deal in the dollar, the world’s dominant currency. Some $10trn of dollar transactions flowed through Hong Kong’s bank-to-bank payments system last year.

Until recently, conventional wisdom held that Hong Kong’s position

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PEOPLE HAVE WRONGLY PREDICTED THE DEMISE OF HONG KONG FOR THE BEST PART OF TWO CENTURIES would be assured for 20-30 years, because it would take that long for China either to upgrade its markets to Western standards or to become so powerful that it could impose mainland practices, and the yuan, on the rest of the world. But the trade war, a year of street protests and China’s iron-fisted response to them raise new questions about Hong Kong’s durability. Bullying from Beijing erodes the sense that it is autonomous.

And there is an outside chance that America could impose sanctions or other restrictions that would stop some Hong Kong officials, firms or banks from using dollars. China’s actions raise doubts about the sanctity of contracts. America’s might bring into question whether money parked in Hong Kong is still fully fungible

with money in the global financial system. If these worries spread, they could destabilise Hong Kong and cause a financial shock in China and well beyond it.

The good news is that so far there is no sign of capital flight. Hong Kong’s vast deposit base has been stable in recent weeks, say its bankers. Investors are reassured by its $440bn or so mountain of foreign reserves and a long record of capable financial management. The rush of Chinese listings will bring in new cash and drum up business in the city.

Nonetheless, for China the prudent policy is to try to speed up the development of the mainland’s financial capabilities so that it is less exposed to potential American punishment. That means attracting

more global banks and investment managers into mainland China. Last year it eased rules on licences for Wall Street firms, although many remain sceptical that anything will really change after years of glacial negotiations and backtracking by Chinese officials. It also means another big push to boost the global role of the yuan and reduce China’s dependence on the dollar. China tried, prematurely, to promote the yuan after the global financial crisis with a mix of propaganda and diplomatic strong-arming. It flopped. The next effort will be more sophisticated.

It may try to exploit China’s global lead in cutting-edge payments by, for example, expanding cross-border digital-payments systems that bypass much of the existing global plumbing.

Or it could promote China’s plan for a digital central-bank currency.

Nonetheless all of this will be hard for China to accomplish and take a long time. Which means that Hong Kong will still matter in global finance.

If you have a mutual fund with an allocation to Asian shares, or run a multinational company or bank, you should gauge Hong Kong’s financial health by three measures. One is how China implements the new security law—for example, whether it will be applied by independent judges or by judges congenial to Beijing.

The second is whether America targets the dollar-payments system in Hong Kong, which has the potential to cause an immediate scare. And the last is whether the Communist Party attempts not just to suppress protests and to intimidate its critics inside Hong Kong and beyond, but also compromises the territory’s independent institutions—including its courts, the central bank, regulators and the regime for clean accounting.

People have wrongly predicted the demise of Hong Kong for the best part of two centuries. If it fails these tests, its time as a global financial centre really will be up.

From The Economist, published under licence.

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

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CORPORATE

“Ušće Tower Two” Officially Opened UŠĆE Tower Two with 22 floors and an area for rent of 23,200 m2, has the total value of the investment of 65 million euros

ŠĆE Tower Two, a business centre of A + class, which represents a new investment of MPC Properties, the largest domestic real estate development company in the region, was officially opened in the presence of Goran Vesić, Deputy Belgrade Mayor and city planner Marko Stojčić.

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„Our new modern and prestigious office building was built in accordance with the highest standards of energy-efficient green construction, and the confirmation for this is the BREEAM excellent certification.

Our goal was to focus on employees, their comfort, health and safety and to offer them an

THERE IS NO BUILDING THAT CAN PROVIDE SUCH A POSTCARD PICTURE OF BELGRADE, GIVEN BY A VIEW FROM THE UŠĆE TOWERS, WHICH HAS A UNIQUE PANORAMIC VIEW OF THE CAPITAL

innovative and creative work environment, and in that way help employers achieve maximum business performance.

By introducing new standards on the market, Ušće Tower Two, along with the entire Ušće complex, is a measure of life and business of modern man”, said Ingo Nissen, CEO of MPC Properties.

Located in the heart of Belgrade, at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, UŠĆE Tower Two is characterized by excellent connection with all

parts of the city. UŠĆE Tower Two is the only “breathable building”, with a decentralized natural ventilation system integrated into the facade, which is a novelty on the domestic market, and which allows the supply of fresh air throughout the space. There is an underground garage with a net area of 21,000 m2 with a total of 740 parking spaces, which, together with the garage of UŠĆE Shopping Centre, provides a capacity of over 2,000 spaces for motor vehicles.

Ingo Nissen, CEO MPC Properties

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PEOPLE & EVENTS

27 MAY

10 YEARS OF THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY INSTITUION

The institution of the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality has marked its 10th anniversary. At the ceremony, Commissioner Brankica Janković said the following:" A lot has been done in the previous period, but there is still no real equality, while prejudices, customs and habits are stronger than the law. The first decade of the Commissioner’s work was marked by thousands of resolved cases.

Some of them were quite memorable, the Commissioner said."

Nevena Petrušić, the former Commissioner said that in 2010, the Commissioner’s office started with virtually nothing. Norway Ambassador H.E. Jern Gjelstad said that the results and achievements of the commissioners accomplished during the past ten years showed that it was worth supporting the Commissioner’s office.

Brankica Janković and Dubravka Negre, EIB

Ivanka Popović, Rector of the University of Belgrade and Brankica Janković

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MAY

CERTIFICATE FOR CANADIAN AMBASSADOR

H.E. Carlo Lo Cascio, Italian Ambassador, H.E. Andrea Orizio (OSCE) and H.E. Thomas Schieb, German Ambassador

Tobias Flessenkemper, Head of the Belgrade Office of the Council of Europe, H.E.Anthony Regina De Dominicis, UNICEF with Brankica Janković Godfrey, American Ambassador and H.E.Kathleen Csaba, Canadian Ambassador

Representatives of the Council for Gender Equality and Equal Opportunities of the City of Novi Pazar presented to H. E. Kati Csaba, Ambassador of Canada to Serbia a certificate for her contribution to the promotion and af-

firmation of gender equality and equal opportunities policies. The event took place on Thursday, May 28, at the Official Residence of the Embassy of Canada. May 28 is also the International Day of Action for Women’s Health.

H.E.Kathleen Csaba

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29

MAY

70 MILLION EUROS OF NONREFUNDABLE DONATIONS TO SERBIA SIGNED

Local development, competitiveness and employment are in the focus of the first phase of the European Union Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) for Serbia in 2020. The agreement worth EUR 70 million was signed by the Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia, Ambassador Sem Fabrizi, and the Minister of the European Integration and National IPA Coordinator Jadranka Joksimović. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić was pres-

H.E.Sem Fabrizi and Minister, Jadranka Joksimović,signing the agreement

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MAY

SIGNED MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ON DIPLOMATIC AND ACADEMIC COOPERATION

ent at the signing ceremony and the event was followed online by the European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhely.

The EU is by far the largest donor, investor and economic partner of Serbia with more than EUR 3 billion in non-refundable assistance in Serbia through various projects since 2001. During the COVID-19 crisis, the EU has allocated €15 million for emergency assistance.

Jadranka Joksimović, Minister

Aleksandar Vučić, President

The Ambassador of Montenegro to Serbia, H.E. Tarzan Milošević and the Ambassador of Mexico to Serbia and the non-resident Ambassador of Mexico to Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Montenegro, H.E. Marco Antonio Garcia Blanco, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding stipulating diplomatic and academic cooperation. Mexico also

donated Mexican artwork to the National Library of Montenegro, the Faculty of Philology and Mexico elementary school from Bar. Mexico also donated 12 flags to the school. The Mexican ambassador handed Tarzan Milošević a commemorative coat of arms, marking the 13th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

H.E. Marco Antonio Garcia Blanco and H.E. Tarzan Milošević, signing memorandum

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MAY

SERBIAN DIPLOMACY DAY MARKED

Novak Djoković

The Diplomacy Day was marked in Belgrade, which was established following the government’s decree from 2015, and May 29th was set as the date when we commemorate the founding of the Prince's Office of Foreign Affairs in 1839. The Serbian Foreign Minister, Ivica Dačić, paid tribute to Novak Djoković for his overall contribution to diploma-

cy, giving him a commemorative plaque for his exceptional personal engagement and contribution to the promotion of Serbia's interests in the world. The Ambassador of Serbia to Iran, H.E. Dr Dragan Todorović was also given the plaque for his overall service and especially for his contribution to the return of Slavica Burmazović’s children.

Ivica Dačić, Minister and Novak Djoković

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PEOPLE & EVENTS

05

JUNE

&C FRUŠKA GORA D - WINE TOUR

The sightseeing wine tour of Fruška Gora organized for diplomats and the magazine’s associates at the begging of June.

Diplomac&Commerce magazine`s guests gathered in Sremski Karlovci. The first stop was the Bajilo winery, where they heard a story about the archival wines, produced by the Bajilo family, who has been making wine for generations. The guests had the opportunity to taste indigenous wines such as Sila and Bermet.

Amazing lunch was served after wine testing, Vojvodina`s gastronomic specialties and homemade wine, at Krušedolka restaurant, with fantastic view to the Krušedol monastery, that the guests visited after lunch.

Next stop was Velika Remeta monastery and finally, visit to the Šapat winery in Stari Slankamen. The winery gave the guests the opportunity to taste their wines while enjoying the stunning view of the Danube River and vineyards.

Among the guests were Ambassadors of: Germany H.E. Thomas Schieb with his wife, Canada H.E. Kati Csaba with her spouse, Montenegro H.E. Tarzan Milošević, Chech Republic H.E. Tomas Kuhta, Albania H.E. Ilir Boçka with his wife, Egypt H.E. Amr Aljowaily, and India H.E. Subrata Bhattacharjee. Also, there were the gueasts from Chambers of Commerce of: Vojvodina Boško Vučurević, Italian Giorgio Marchegiani, Croatian Marija Radulović, Slovenian Danijela Fišakov.

From companies’ guests were Predrag Mihajlović, President of the Executive Board, OTP Bank Serbia, Ognjen Kisin, Executive General Manager Konstruktor Grupa and Sandra Rapo, Luk oil.

Ambassadors and representatives of embassies in Serbia, Albania, Bulgaria,Canada, Chech Republic, Egypt, Germany, India and Montenegro

H.E. Thomas Schieb with his wife

Šapat winery

Krušedol monastery

Krušedol monastery

Danijela Fišakov, Nataša Nešić, Goran Kovačević, prof.Slobodan Aćimović, Sandra Rapo, Luk Oil, Marija Radulović and Tatjana Vesnić, Konstruktor

Wines of the Bajilo winery

Velika Remeta monastery

Ambassadors and representatives of Chambers of Commerce and companies in visit of Bajilo winery

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CONFERENCE

Perspectives of Vojvodina's Economy After the COVID-19 Pandemic n online conference on the topic "Perspectives of Vojvodina's economy after the COVID-19 pandemic", organized by the Chamber of Commerce of Vojvodina (PKV) and the company Color Media Communication, was officially opened by the Speaker of the Parliament of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Istvan Pasztor.

The aim of the conference was for the countries in the region to share their experiences and to assess the real consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as to initiate implementation of further sustainable measures to overcome negative economic and all other consequences for our economy and society.

Opening the conference, Mr Pasztor referred to the statistical data on the economy of Vojvodina in the first four months of the current year.

"In the period from January to April this year, industrial

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production in Serbia decreased by only 0.8 per cent, while in Vojvodina, it increased by 7.5 per cent at the same time. The total value of Vojvodina's external trade is 1.4 per cent lower compared to the same period last year, "said Mr Pasztor.

In his address, the president of PKV, Boško Vučurević, said that the conference was the first one in a series of online conferences organized by PKV after the pandemic and the first combined conference opened at PKV's premises. He also mentioned the unrealized activities of the PKV, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"In the past three months, due to the new situation, the Chamber of Commerce of Vojvodina missed out on over 40 planned and agreed business delegations, B2B meetings, trade fairs and other events with the representatives of business institutions in over 15 regions and countries, in which a total of over 1,000 businesses were

supposed to participate," he said.

CEO of Color Press Group, Robert Čoban, also addressed the conference.

"The fact is that the line institutions in Vojvodina fully demonstrated the scope of their responsibility in late January and early February, which supports the fact that Vojvodina acted responsibly and conscientiously in the fight against the coronavirus. It is no coincidence that there were no residents of nursing homes in

society. I am sure that, in the times to come, i.e. during the recovery period, cooperation will prove to be an excellent example of how things should function, "said Mr Čoban at the opening of the conference.

A total of 120 people directly participated in the live stream of the conference, while ambassadors and representatives of embassies in the Republic of Serbia (from the Republic of Romania, the Czech Republic, the Kingdom of Morocco, the

A TOTAL OF 120 PEOPLE DIRECTLY PARTICIPATED IN THE LIVE STREAM OF THE CONFERENCE Vojvodina that contracted the disease. Why am I saying all this now? Because that way of how everything functioned, the connections and the cooperation between the Red Cross, us, as a private company, the City of Novi Sad and the Provincial Government, proved to be an excellent model for the whole

Arab Republic of Egypt and the Republic of Tunisia), as well as presidents and chambers of commerce from Val-d'Oise, Paris-France, Szeged-Hungary, Ostrava-the Czech Republic, Banja Luka-the Republic of Srpska and Thessaloniki-Greece, addressed the conference via a video link.

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BUSINESS NEWS

EUROBANK AWARDED AS THE BEST ISSUING BANK IN CENTRAL EUROPE BY IFC Eurobank is the winner of the 2019 Best Issuing Bank of Central Europe Award for its partnership in the Global Trade Finance Program (GTFP), awarded by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. “This award recognizes our partners` leadership in providing trade finance in emerging markets , shows Eurobank`s excellence in furthering IFC`s mission in Serbia. Let it be an impetus for our partner to increase trade finance activities in Serbia” said Thomas Lubeck, IFC Regional Manager for Central and Southeast Europe. “ The award for the

GEBRÜDER WEISS LAUNCHES ETA

Best Issuing Bank is a confirmation of Eurobank's commitment to continuous improving its offer - from financial services, to advisory support through networking and cooperation, to carefully designed lending products tailored to clients’ needs

HOW DID JAPAN CUT DOWN THE NUMBER OF SMOKERS

The downward trend in cigarette sales in Japan, between 2011 and 2019, corresponds to the growth in sales of Heated Tobacco Products (HTP), according to an expert study conducted by American researchers from South Carolina and Canada.

According the authors of this study the replacement of traditional cigarettes with devices that heat rather than burn tobacco has great potential to encourage a strategy to reduce the damage caused by long-term cigarette smoking. Japan is a unique initial area for the sale of the devices based on this innovative technology, and Philip Morris introduced IQOS to

that market at the end of 2014, while devices from other manufacturers based on tobacco heating technology appeared two years later. The results of this study show that between 2011 and last year overall sales of classic cigarettes fell by 38 percent.

In the last five years, the number of cigarette smokers has been falling drastically, while the number of users of devices that heat rather than burn tobacco is growing, which has lead researchers to a conclusion that the accelerated decline in cigarette sales in Japan since 2016 corresponds to the introduction and growth of HTP sales.

When will my shipment arrive? With immediate effect, Gebrüder Weiss can offer its customers an even more precise answer to this question. With effect from today, the logistics company launches its ETA – Estimated Time of Arrival – service. Depending on the traffic situation, Gebrüder Weiss continuously re-calculates the estimated time of arrival of any shipment. In the final delivery, the time of arrival is narrowed down to a two-hour window. Customers can track the dispatching process online, including the estimated time of arrival of their shipments. The launch of the ETA function is part of the digital strategy of Gebrüder Weiss. In the coming months, the company is going to launch more digital services. The myGW customer portal that provides the framework for the individual features will be launched officially in the course of the year.

METRO CASH & CARRY – SUPPORT AT ALL TIMES

FREE VACATION IN LUXURY HOTELS Led by its founder and a prominent humanist Miodrag Kostić, MK Group has decided to give free three-day vacation for 450 doctors and other medical staff in its hotels in Serbia, Slovenia and Croatia during the summer. We are especially glad that we will host 250 employees of the Clinic for Infectious and Tropical Diseases in Belgrade and the Clinical Center of Vojvodina in our Grand Hotel in Kopaonik. This will be our small contribution in the fight against the pandemic and at the same time an expression of our profound gratitude for the enourmous burden laid upon the doctors and other medical staff in that fight", said Jovan Purar, Director of MK Group. For the purpose of providing

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this free vacation for the doctors and medical stuff accross the region, the company set aside 200,000 eur, and this project represents the crown of all previous activities MK Group has realized during the pandemic caused by the corona virus.

METRO Cash & Carry Serbia in cooperation with the Food Bank Belgrade donated groceries to the residents of the “Sigurna kuća Beograd”. The company has also supported Drustvo MNRO Zvezdara, as well the sellers of the LICEULICE magazine – who can often be seen in the METRO stores. Also, in the midst of the pandemic, the necessary hygienic and disinfectants were provided for the Emergency Service in Kragujevac and its selfless team of health workers, who were on the front lines of defence and health protection of all Kragujevac citizens during the peak of the pandemic. "Our mission is to provide maximum service and quality to our partners and customers, but also to help those that need the support and assistance. Only with solidarity and togetherness can we overcome the challenges ahead of us faster, and come out of them stronger", said André Rinnensland, CEO of METRO Cash & Carry Serbia.

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2 MILLION DINAR PRIZE FUND FOR DIGITAL PROJECTS

Aware of what challenges SMEs in our country faced due to the crisis caused by Covid-19, OTP Bank started the 4th Generator contest. Under the name of Gamechanger, this year’s contest focuses on supporting digital projects – websites, apps and other digital platforms – that help and offer new possibilities to SMEs. Through this type of indirect support, the bank wants to contribute to overcoming the economic consequences of the pandemic and help a large number of small and medium-sized market players, by launching or improving digital platforms, which can be of crucial assistance for their business to survive the crisis period and its aftermath. The contest is open to all individuals, informal teams, entrepreneurs and companies who have a new idea that needs support to materialise or an already existing solution that needs improvement and applications are open until July 1. The bank will award two RSD 1 million prizes in both categories – New Idea and Existing Solution. Criteria of the Generator Gamechanger contest, application and additional information can be found at the website www.generator.rs.

BEST BANK IN SERBIA

Raiffeisen banka has been awarded the title “Best Bank in Serbia“ for the fourth year in a row at the annual competition “European Banking Awards“, organized by renowned British financial magazine “EMEA Finance“. “Awards from globally renowned financial magazines are proof that the quality of our business has been recognized beyond the borders of our market. This award is especially important because it comes at a moment when not only our economy, but also the whole world is facing an unprecedented challenge, a virus pandemic. This award will give us further motivation and strength to continue investing into the digitalization

of our services, so that we continue to be a reliable partner for our clients – entrepreneurs and citizens of Serbia – in these changed circumstances“, Zoran Petrović, CEO of Raiffeisen banka, stated on this occasion.

AGREEMENT ON CONTINUATION OF ENVAP3 SIGNED

The Science and Technology Park has been opened in Niš on 9th June. Together with the investment for the establishment of the Niš Start-Up Centre and a laboratory at the Faculty of Electronic Engineering, the total value of the investment exceeds €20 million. The companies moving into the Park will start operations in August, and the total space available is 14,000 square metres. The Park will have 20 start-up and 13 technological companies, and one company is linked to both science and technology part and to start-up.

Owing to the development of this technology, it will be possible to trace every transaction at any given moment. That can be of great help to us, he said and noted that the Faculty of Electronic Engineering in Niš is a real nursery of talent.

The funds for this project were secured through the European Investment Bank and the investor is the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development.

Minister of Environmental Protection Goran Trivan and Swedish Ambassador to Serbia Jan Lundin signed ana agreement, which continues the ENVAP 3 project and enables further expert assistance of Sweden in the process of Serbia’s EU accession in the field of environmental protection. The agreement stipulates that this project will be implemented by the end of April 2022,

and will include monitoring the implementation of the negotiating position, as well as support for the implementation of certain priority actions. Minister Trivan thanked Sweden for its continuous assistance and support in the process of joining the European Union, emphasising that Sweden is one of Serbia’s main partners in achieving European environmental standards.

SPECTACLE IN BELGRADE: ADRIA TOUR Novak Djoković, world no.1 tennis player, managed to gather tennis world stars such as Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev and Grigor Dimitrov, who participated in a humanitarian tournament over the weekend in Belgrade. The grand opening was a real spectacle. The tennis players held a press conference, and then headed to the courts, where a mixed doubles was played. DJ and one of the best pianists in the world, Lola Astanova, had a performance and were in charge of the great atmosphere. Nemanja Radulović, a famous Serbian violinist, closed the program with his performance. The Champion of Adria Tour is Dominic Thiem, who defeated Filip Krajinović 2-1 in sets in the final of the Adria Tour and became the champi-

Photo: Srdjan Stevanovic/Starsportphoto ©

Photo: Dimitrije Nikolić/Tanjug

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PARK OPENED IN NIŠ

on at Dorćol. He said that the trophy was not his main motivation for coming to Belgrade and noted that he had a great time, extending gratitude to Novak Djoković, his family and other organizers. The tournament in Belgrade was the first stage of the Adria Tour. The second leg is taking place in Croatia’s coastal resort Zadar next weekend.

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HEARTS OF GOLD

Are Humans Innately good?

Rutger Bregman Thinks So In “Humankind” he tries to refute the idea that people are naturally prone to wickedness s the son of a Dutch Protestant cleric, Rutger Bregman was brought up in a religious tradition that regards mankind as incorrigibly prone to wickedness, yet called by the Creator to veer towards goodness, a transformation that the faith promises to abet. As a young, bestselling proponent of catchy ideas about history and economics, he has rejected parts of that outlook while retaining others.

Mr Bregman does not believe wickedness is innate, but, on the contrary, that people are naturally inclined to good and helpful behaviour. In the original Dutch version of his new book, its title means something like “most people fit”; he uses a verb, deugen, that conveys not self-sacrificial courage but having a decent, sensible attitude that meets the needs of society. To support his thesis, he tries energetically to discredit pieces of evidence cited by others to demonstrate humanity’s badness, which range from dodgy psychological research to supposedly egregious real-life events and dark interpretations of history.

In every case, Mr Bregman insists, the true story is different. Take the famous experiments in which subjects were persuaded to administer painful electric shocks to strangers: that research was dishonestly conducted and reported, he argues passionately.

Or consider the brutal murder in 1964 of a young woman in New York, who might have survived if somebody had alerted the police in time. That, he says, was also misreported. A stranger comforted the victim before she died.

And he assails one explanation for an anthropological mystery—the near-deserted state of Easter Island in the Pacific. The theory he detests is that there was a catastrophic war between two resident groups. For eco-pessimists, Easter Island foreshadows the destiny of the Earth: as its population grows and resources dwindle, humans may annihilate each other. But Mr Bregman thinks the premise is wrong. There never was a big war on the island.

He cannot deny that people sometimes commit unspeakably evil acts.

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BOTH MR BREGMAN AND MARX ARE TOO SURE OF A LOST—BUT REAL—EDEN IN WHICH PEOPLE LIVED CO-OPERATIVELY BEFORE THE SUDDEN RISE OF FACTORS THAT DISTORTED HUMAN GOODNESS One section looks at the character of Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi war criminal who was hanged in 1962; what strikes the author is the monster’s adamant, twisted belief that he was doing good. Mr Bregman also considers why Nazi troops went on fighting tenaciously when their cause seemed doomed. Like most soldiers, he concludes, they persevered not out of ideological belief, nor even fear of their commanders, but from loyalty and love for each other. Perhaps so, in many cases; but one of the weaknesses of his book is that it fails to grapple frankly with the wrenching moral tests posed by 20th-century totalitarianism—tests that many people failed. (In the shadow of their country’s past some Germans were sceptical about his project, he confides.)

At times, readers of “Humankind” will sense Mr Bregman wrestling with his heritage, stamping on pessimistic

aspects but affirming positive bits in a tone some will find starry-eyed.

For example, he likes the Christian admonition to “turn the other cheek” in the face of violence. His argument that news reports are too downbeat, and should focus more on positive stories, could come from a Sunday sermon. When he writes about the dawn of human history, he correctly asserts that agriculture and fixed settlements transformed warfare. But his confidence that before those changes hunter-gatherers were getting along fine, and loved meeting strangers, sounds naive.

Still, in a world of sophisticated pessimism, the book is a refreshing change. Where Mr Bregman grates is in his claim to be the first to wrestle with deep, paradoxical truths about mankind. In the opening lines, he says he is presenting an idea “denied by religions and ideologies” yet of vital importance, for example in man-

agement theory or criminal justice.

Well, some religions and some ideologies. In one strand of the Judeo-Christian tradition, including Dutch Calvinism, Adam’s and Eve’s disobedience to God underpins a theory of original sin in which every human is born guilty. But another strand emphasises a different part of the Genesis text, affirming humanity’s creation “in the image and likeness” of a benign deity. As for ideologies, Karl Marx took on the notion that acquisitiveness was universal, maintaining that its roots were only as old as modern capitalism.

Both Mr Bregman and Marx are too sure of a lost—but real—Eden in which people lived co-operatively before the sudden rise of factors that distorted human goodness. In both cases, the resulting worldview is atheistic yet intensely religious, an odd mix. But 21st-century readers are short on prophets, especially the optimistic kind, and will give this one a cheerful hearing.

From The Economist, published under licence.

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

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CULTURE

“The Holocaust, European Values and Local History” In cooperation with the Foundation Novi Sad 2021, the project is embedded in the official program of the European Capital of Culture Novi Sad 2021

ear friends, in these moments when we are all fighting together to suppress the coronavirus pandemics, it is our duty to show solidarity, calmness, and follow the instructions of healthcare professionals in a rational and disciplined man-

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in Novi Sad with our partner organizations from Austria, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and of course Serbia – digitally.

The project “The Holocaust, European Values and Local History” is developed by the Archives of Vojvodina and Ter-

OUR OBJECTIVE IS TO EMPOWER AND TRAIN THE ARCHIVISTS TO CREATE OWN EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH PROGRAMS ABOUT THE LIFE BEFORE, AND THE TIMES DURING THE HOLOCAUST ner. But also, defying the coronavirus, life must go on, and we must continue to work and create in the new conditions.

We adjusted the launch of our new project to the current circumstances, too.

In spite of the coronavirus, on April 21st 2020, we officially launched the project, but instead of a public gathering

raforming NGO from Novi Sad. It aims to develop, pilot and introduce sustainable methodologies and tools for an innovative approach in archival pedagogy in local archives. Our objective is to empower and train the archivists to create own educational outreach programs about the life before, and the times during the Holocaust,

based on own archival materials and local history, and to incorporate archival pedagogy in their long-term activities, presenting in the same time local micro-histories to global audiences.

During the next 24 months, partners from Serbia, Austria, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, as well as project participants from Great Britain, Greece, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, and United States, and in cooperation with the local Jewish and Roma communities, will exchange best practices and support a coalition of archives in Vojvodina province in Serbia with aim to gather experiences for future implementation of similar programs in local archives in other parts of Europe, particularly South-East and East Europe.

In cooperation with the Foundation Novi Sad 2021, the project is embedded in the

official program of the European Capital of Culture Novi Sad 2021.

During this process we will also develop several educational graphic novels about the life in various parts of Vojvodina before the WWII, and the times of occupation, suffering and resistance. In cooperation with local archives, and other actors of education, these materials will be permanently incorporated in education with aim to counter historical distortion and denial, and to promote knowledge and culture of remembrance of the Holocaust, as well as Samudaripen and other genocides, crimes against humanity and large-scale breaches of human rights during the WWII that have marked 20th century.

Remembering this history is a cornerstone of European values – a Europe that places humanity at its center, protected by the rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights.

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by Robert Čoban REPORTAGE

New Friends of Airman Ivo A little more than a month ago, when all the parks in the city were closed, we walked around Grbavica and passed by the Aviation Cemetery

mong the several graves of aviators of different nationalities and religious denominations that were buried there between the two wars, a monument to the aviator Ivo stands out from the rest. It was made of stone in the then-current art-deco style. The tombstone bears the inscription "Our Ivo 1902 - 1932" while a round medallion that contains more information about the deceased pilot disappeared from the tombstone.

A woman with a dog was standing next to the monument.

I asked her if she was a relative of any of the people buried there and she said the following: "Since they closed the parks, every day, at half-past three in the afternoon, several of us dog owners from the surrounding buildings gather here, as we called this place, "At our Ivo's” bar. We also lay a flower in his honour while we are here.” That is how Ivo, a long-forgotten aviator from the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, ninety years later, got admirers he did not hope for...

That sparked my interest in the history of the Aviation Cemetery in Novi Sad, the only

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historical cemetery where the deceased were buried in line with their profession, not the religion they ascribed to. It was open in 1923 when the Ikarus aircraft factory was founded in Novi Sad. The cemetery is located at the bottom of the Catholic cemetery, it spans about 9,000 square metres and to this day, there are very few tombstones left, considering that 56 people were buried here, including pilots of the First Air Regiment who lost their lives in the line of duty: Srećko Šetnik (1898 -1921), Vjekoslav Nikoljačić (1908-1934), Ludvig Demaroš (1905-1929) and Ivo, (surname unknown) (1902-1932).

The 1920s and 1930s are often called "era of airplanes", of which Novi Sad, with its airport Jugovićevo, the Ikarus factory and the Aviation Cemetery, was an integral part.

A newspaper clipping from the "Yugoslav Journal" (Jugoslovenski Dnevnik) from September 10, 1932, testifies to a plane crash that occurred at Jovan Jugović airport in Novi Sad, when two non-commissioned officers of the First Air Regiment were killed: "Sergeant

Flowers in front of the tombstone of "Our Ivo"

THE 1920S AND 1930S ARE OFTEN CALLED "ERA OF AIRPLANES", OF WHICH NOVI SAD, WITH ITS AIRPORT JUGOVIĆEVO, THE IKARUS FACTORY AND THE AVIATION CEMETERY, WAS AN INTEGRAL PART

Excerpt from the press about the 1932 plane crash

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Jovan Jugović, the pilot of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, died in Prague in 1926

Pilot Lužajnić and air observer Reboj, both Slovenians". The two flew in the Brega 19 two-seater to test the radio in it and how well it connected to the HQ at the airport. Pilot Lužajnić was flying the plane while Reboj took a seat in the back, next to the radio. Everything went as it should until, at one point, the plane turned abruptly and began to crash to the ground.

Unlike Howard Hughes, who, at least according to the movie "Aviator", managed to survive one such fall, the unfortunate Slovenians died on the spot.

According to newspaper articles, "soldiers and mechanics present then rushed to the aid of the unfortunate airmen to check if it had not been too late for them. They met a horrible death in the plane crash. Their corpses, badly mutilated, could only be pulled out from under

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the plane wreckage."

Jovan Jugović, an aviator after whom the airport in Novi Sad was named in 1927, also died in the same type of plane. The accident happened at Prague airport on September 24, 1926, at the air event organized by the Little Entente and Poland, when the Yugoslav plane Brege 19, piloted by lieutenant Njegovan, collided with the Czech plane, piloted by Captain Kostrba.

Lieutenant Colonel Jovan Jugović was buried in the New Cemetery in Belgrade.

I wholeheartedly recommend the novel "Let" (“Flight”)

by Vladimir Arsenijević to the

Austro-Hungarian Air Force, Milan Uzelac, a Serb from Lika, performed "a flight in the air and an unusually skilful descent".

As the press at the time wrote, "the plane fired shots into the air and flowers were thrown from it, which the present audience welcomed and caught."

This airport was known for having the first pilot school.

There were also schools for reserve air officers, air observers, aircraft mechanics and other specialist professions. From September 1920, a meteorological station also operated here.

The aviator's patron saint of Sveti Ilija has been celebrated at

Assembly of the seaplane Ikarus IO in Novi Sad in 1927

ACCORDING TO THE WEBSITE OF THE AIR FORCE MUSEUM OF VOJVODINA, THE FIRST AIRCRAFT FLEW OVER NOVI SAD IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY fans of this topic and era, in which the plot revolves around the death of pilot Pavle Andrejević in 1937, who died during one of his flights in the service of the Air Force of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

"WINGED MATCH" ABOVE NOVI SAD IN 1913 According to the website of the Air Force Museum of Vojvodina, the first aircraft flew over Novi Sad in the late 19th century, when "hovercrafts" and "air balls" (balloons) flew above the city. However, according to historical data, the Austro-Hungarian Ministry of the Army leased 150 acres of land in Novi Sad in late 1912 and built the first military airport on a wasteland called Isailovo, five kilometres northwest of the city. Another airport was built in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes somewhat later, in 1927, called Jugovićevo. The first air show, the so-called "Winged Match", took place in Novi Sad on May 11 and 12, 1913, and, according to the reports, the colonel of the

the airport since 1924 (August 2), and competitions for the King's Cup have been held regularly since 1926, on the birthday of Crown Prince Peter (September 6). At the very beginning of the war in 1941, German bombers bombed Jugovićevo. After the occupation of Bačka, the Germans built an 800-metre-long concrete runway here and used this airport for flights to the Eastern Front. From October 1944, the Red Army and the National Liberation Army kept their planes there, which were used on the Srem front and later in the final military operations for the liberation of Yugoslavia.

Since the mid-1950s, Jugovićevo has been losing its military significance. At one time, there was a reserve officer's school (with a training ground), and today a military unit is stationed there (the former Majevica army barracks, now called Jugovićevo), while the airport is no longer used for air traffic and residential buildings have been built on the former runways.

Board set up in 2005

Jugovićevo Airport, hangars, 1928

IKARUS MANUFACTURED 610 PLANES On November 16, 1923, the Ikarus Airplane and Seaplane Factory was founded in Novi Sad under the full name name "The First Serbian Industry of Airplanes, Cars and Machines Kovačević and Society". Immediately after its inception, four Brandenburg-type school airplanes were built, the first of which was completed and delivered to the Air Force Command in March 1924. Ikarus was moved to Zemun in 1927, where new hangars and modern workshops were built, employing over

3,000 workers and engineers, while seaplanes were still made in Novi Sad, and test flights were performed on the Danube.

By the end of 1940, 464 airplanes and seaplanes had been produced in Ikarus for the Air Force Command and the Navy Command. By the end of 1958, when this production programme ceased to exist, a total of 610 domestically designed airplanes or licensed by the well-known foreign manufacturers were made in Ikarus.

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by Jelena Lagator INTERVIEW

Making Music With Different People Brings Great Joy SNT public will soon have the opportunity to see ballet “The Legend of Ohrid” by Stevan Hristić, in all its beauty This production has to be an example of how our most important ballet should sound and look like

Conductor of the Serbian National Theatre (SNT)

reat people who are guided not only by noble feelings but also by wisdom have always been a spiritual pillar in their surroundings. As a long time conductor of the Serbian National Theatre (SNT), Maestro Kojić has always been a support to his colleagues and associates due to his professional experience and perseverance. Maestro Kojić, have had the opportunity to fill the SNT repertoire not only with standard opera and ballet pieces but also with pieces by Aleksandra Vrebalov (Mileva) for conducting of which you were awarded the SNP Annual Award in 2012 and then,

by Rudolf Bruči (Katarina Izmailova), Gian Carlo Menotti (The Telephone), Samuel Barber (A Hand of Bridge), Paul Hindemith (There and Back). He is currently working on a large piece, the ballet “The Legend of Ohrid” by Stevan Hristić, which had to premiere on 28th March 2020 on the SNT Day as the mark of the great jubilee - 70 years of the foundation of the SNT Ballet, but it was postponed due to the pandemic.

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With reference to previous performances of the ballet “The Legend of Ohrid”, how does the production on which you are working on with the choreographer Vladimir Logunov differ?

— The main thing that characterises our performance is strict consistency with the demands of Stevan Hristić’s score. In the ballet art, there is a general choreographic practice to shorten, move or completely delete roles within the ballet. We wanted to avoid that and to preserve ideological and creative thread set by the composer. Also, one of the characteristics of Hristić’s score is the existence of a choir that sings behind the scene at certain moments. In all stage

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Photo: Emir Memedovski

ALEKSANDAR KOJIĆ

WE ARE GOING TO RETURN THE CHOIR IN OUR PERFORMANCE AND THUS SHOW A COMPLETE SOUND PRESENTATION OF OUR MOST IMPORTANT BALLET “THE LEGEND OF OHRID” performances so far, the choir has been eliminated. In this way, the Hristić's music has lost an important sound component.

We are going to return the choir in our performance and thus show a complete sound presentation. This production has to be an example of how our most important ballet “The Legend of Ohrid” should sound and look like.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of your conducting work at the SNT. Which repertoire are you more dedicated to?

— In all periods throughout the history of music, there have been good, mediocre and bad compositions. This is also the case with the pieces that are created today. So far, I have performed operas from Mozart

to works composed today. I have an inner filter for pieces that carry weight and value and such pieces are those that occupy me. There are, of course, artistic criteria for such an attitude and this has nothing to do with an intuition. The works that you have listed have characteristics of compositions with undoubted artistic values.

Many rewards you have re-

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ceived in the past confirm the importance of your work. However, you have also contributed a lot in the orchestration of the opera score of the Verdi's La Traviata for the needs of the ballet The Lady of the Camellias (premiere in 2018, SNP). How demanding and attractive is the orchestration of such a piece and what requires the most attention?

For me, orchestration is a form of endless fun. In the case of “The Lady of the Camellias”, it was necessary to make a ballet out of Verdi’s music for “La Traviata”. The music has to be arranged so that it can be danced on it unlike the original, that is, the opera, where the music is sung. Such a procedure brings in itself both the composer's and the arranger's interventions of all kinds. In the work on “The Lady” I have come up with ideas for some more opera titles from which a successful ballet can be made.

cess. Of course, it is necessary to have formal educational frameworks and in that respect I have been taught conducting the same as all others in my class.

However, the real amount of knowledge is visible only when the conductor meets the ensemble. This raises questions about teachers and great conductors that I have met. It takes a lot of time and efforts to accumulate knowledge, both practical and theoretical. The conductor’s vocation is an amalgam of various elements - skills for the preparation of a rehearsal and the way of guiding the

Serbian National. I have been very close with him and I have learned a lot from him. Mladen Jagušt is also a great teacher.

From Uroš Lajovic, a great professor and a conductor, I have learned a lot about symphonic music. In Belgrade, I have had an opportunity to talk to Zubin Mehta on two occasions.

Although formal these meetings have also been extremely enjoyable. In 2017, I was in Ravenna, Italy, on a training course. The course was led by Ricardo Muti and the topic of the course was Verdi’s “Aida”.

It is well known that Maestro

way in which the audience accepts opera abroad and in our country?

— The acceptance or non-acceptance of opera is a sociological issue. There can be no comparison between us and countries that have been cultivating opera for 400 years.

Vuk Karadžić was born a week after Mozart conducted the first performance of “Don Giovanni” in Prague. There are no doubts that a big difference exists.

However, I think that many people in our nation love opera and that they are well familiar with it. In the last and in the

THE FUTURE OF THIS ART IN OUR COUNTRY DEPENDS ON THE CHILDREN'S LOVE OR HATRED FOR OPERA. THAT IS WHY THE SNT ADAPTATION OF THE MOZART’S “MAGIC FLUTE” FOR CHILDREN IS SO IMPORTANT

— The orchestra is made up of people. Every orchestra in the world carries in its sound characteristics, qualities and habits of the people who make it up.

The specificity in itself is that with the same conductor, the same composition sounds completely different if orchestras are different. And, vice versa, the same orchestra with different conductors sounds different each time. Every orchestra is a mirror of the people to whom it belongs and all characteristics of a nation are very nicely shown when music is performed. It is a great joy to get to know people and to make music with them.

Learning and improving is at the same time a fun and a difficult process that can last for a long time or more precisely as long as each of us is ready and willing to dedicate himself to it. Who were your teachers? What are things in which you find inspiration and motive to set up and fulfil expectations for yourself?

— Learning is an endless pro-

Photo: Private archive

You have had guest appearances at the Croatian National Theatre (CNT) in Zagreb, CNT Ivan pl. Zajc in Rijeka, Szeged Opera (Hungary) and Opera and Ballet Theatre in Krasnoyarsk (Russia). What were the specificities of these collaborations?

rehearsal, knowledge of all theoretical elements, skills of practical balancing of sound, knowledge of the style of a composition and skills of dealing with musicians, etc. I have been very lucky to meet with many of our local conductors in person and to spend time talking to them. I have spent a memorable afternoon at Oscar Danon’s apartment and talked with him about many things in private. He was 92 years old at that time and I was 22. Dušan Miladinović has been a guest in my house on one occasion.

Imre Toplak, a very important opera and ballet conductor of Hungarian origin has made an important influence at the

Muti is the greatest living expert on Verdi’s opus and on Italian opera in general. I spent fifteen days with him then and every day from six to eight working hours. The knowledge that I acquired then has completely changed my view of the way of performing the opera. And it has come at the right time because at that moment I had more than two hundred performances behind me. I have personally met many other conductors.

There is always something that you can learn from each of them. From someone, you can learn how to work, from someone, how not to work and everything is very useful.

Is there any difference in the

present century, we have given a series of exceptional opera singers and conductors of international reputation, who have had regular guest appearances at the world's largest opera stages. On the other hand, our people have not yet become per tu with the opera. For that reason, it is very important that every theatre that shows opera also has educational opera programmes for the youngest. The Serbian National Theatre has, for example, Mozart’s “Magic Flute” adapted for children.

That is very important. The future of this art in our country depends on the children's love or hatred for opera.

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CULTURE

Belgrade Beer Fest and Belgrade Music Week Festivals

Belgrade Summer Stage Theatre on Tasmajdan is a new event in Belgrade that will be held from June 25 to July 20, 2020. On the multifunctional open stage on Tasmajdan, spectators will be able to enjoy open-air theatre performances. Performances for children and adults will be organized at the Tasmajdan Stadium, with the participation of theatre troupes founded by the City of Belgrade, as well as the National Theatre in Belgrade, Serbian National Theatre, National Theatre from Pristina, Theatre Sterija from the city of Vrsac and other independent theatre troupes.

The city of Belgrade plans to make this new event traditional if both artists and audience are satisfied. Everything at the stadium will be arranged according to the recommendations on the safety of visitors, performers and other employees. Belgrade Summer Stage - Theatre on Tasmajdan will be opened by the Theatre on Terazije during two evenings, on June 25 and 26 at 9 pm, with the play "Mamma Mia!"

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As a part of the CLOUD festival platform, Belgrade Beer Fest will be held from August 20th to 23rd and Belgrade Music Week from August 27th to 29th will be held in Ušće, Belgrade.

Belgrade Beer Fest is the most visited beer and music festival in this part of Europe, and is on the fourth place in the world top list of beer festivals.

The eighteenth edition of the festival, although being prepared in more than extraordinary circumstances, will traditionally offer visitors the best beer brands from the country and the world, but also numerous concerts of popular rock`n`roll bands from Serbia and the region.

On the last weekend of August, the Belgrade Music Week festival will be held in Belgrade's Ušće, where the biggest stars of pop, folk and trap music will perform. The great success of the first edition of Belgrade Music Week showed that Belgrade missed this type of festival, so a record number of visitors from the country and the region is expected this year as well.

The organizers of the festival, the Belgrade Cultural Network and Skymusic, are ready to comply with all necessary measures required by the epidemiological situation, because the health and safety of visitors comes first.

Positioning the festival on the world map is of a strategic goal of Belgrade and Serbia, because event tourism, especially now, is one of the most important segments of tourism development

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