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TOWARDS THE FUTURE VLADIMIR KOSTIĆ President of the SANU

WE ARE DEVELOPING SCIENCE TO MAKE LIFE EASIER FOR FARMERS PROFESSOR VESNA BENGIN PhD, BioSense Institute

WE ARE CONTINUOUSLY WORKING TO MAINTAIN OUR RELATIONSHIP H.E. JOOST REINTJES

Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands SPECIAL EDITION

Responsible Business GORDANA ČOMIĆ Minister for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue

AUSTRIAN EMBASSY Soft breath of Central Europe

GETTING STRONGER IS THE ONLY WAY

H.E. OLEKSANDR ALEKSANDROVYCH Ambassador of Ukraine

Montenegro

DRITAN ABAZOVIĆ Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Montenegro

Nearer, my God, to Thee FOLLOW US TO STAY UPDATED

FOREWORD

ROBERT ČOBAN Director

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t the beginning of this century, in the year 2000, out of top 100 companies 41 came from Europe. Today only 15.

Europe urgently needs a reset, new leaders and new ideas. How did it happen for the most attractive community of nations, one that generations of youth in East Europe dreamt about, and where millions of refugees from Asia and Africa continue to flock – to become a synonym for failure, slowness, bureaucracy and unattractiveness.

Did the pandemic, which hit the tourism industry particularly hard – actually exposed the truth that Eu-

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rope is just a museum in the open, an “old lady” that knows how to dress nicely and put on some make up, but when a dog chases her on the street – she’s helpless. Can Europe use the strength, energy and knowhow of the migrants who continue to run towards it, to become competitive once again and to become an equal competitor to USA and China?

The current idealess bureaucracy from Brussels makes the EU look more and more like the USSR in 1985.

Chernobyl is just around the corner, and a few years after that – the end.

The band at the deck is already playing "Nearer, my God, to Thee", rich men are sitting in the salon, drinking whiskey and martini, the poor are jumping overboard and the Captain and crew members continue to assure us that “the boat is unsinkable”.

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CONTENTS

06

TOWARDS THE FUTURE VLADIMIR KOSTIĆ President of the SANU

10

24

PhD, BioSense Institute

H.E. OLEKSANDR ALEKSANDROVYCH

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18

TELECOMMUNICATIONS' ROLE IN MAKING SURE 5G ISN'T MISUNDERSTOOD VLADIMIR LUČIĆ CEO at Telekom Srbija, Forbes Councils Member

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WE WILL CONTINUE TO BOOST AGRICULTURAL SECTOR ČEDOMIR BOŽIĆ Deputy Secretary for Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry, Government of Vojvodina

SRBATOM SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENTING THE GREEN SERBIA PROJECT SLADJAN VELINOV

PROFESSOR VESNA BENGIN

GETTING STRONGER IS THE ONLY WAY Ambassador of UkraineAmbassador of Ukraine

67

WE ARE DEVELOPING SCIENCE TO MAKE LIFE EASIER FOR FARMERS

Director of SRBATOM

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COVID HAS EXPEDITED THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION OF THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR MILJAN ŽDRALE Regional Director of the Agribusiness Sector for Central and South-Eastern Europe (EBRD)

59th ANNIVERSARY OF THE MILENA PAVLOVIĆ BARILI GALLERY LJILJANA DABIĆ Administrator of the Milena's Home Foundation S P E C I A L

E D I T I ON

Netherlands The

FOCUS ON

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70 YEARS OF FRENCH INSTITUTE IN SERBIA BERTRAND MILLET Attaché for Cooperation French Embassy in Serbia | French Institute of Serbia

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INTERVIEW

by Sonja Ćirić

Towards the Future Our goal is to form a Strategic Research Centre at the SANU in the relatively near future, where other people, apart from the SANU members, would work too and thus make our society more successful in forecasting and in using scientific methodologies VLADIMIR KOSTIĆ President of the SANU

n the six years he has been at the helm of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU), one gets the impression that Vladimir Kostić has managed to revive the Academy and make it more present in the public. SANU has become a frequent topic in the public media, not only because of its importance and rank. Vladimir Kostić, on the other hand, readily expresses his view of the current and important events in society, but he does aspire to impose it. In this interview, we talked about the ongoing pandemic, the state's attitude towards the SANU, the protection of cultural heritage and the dialogue between the authorities and the political parties.

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At the beginning of June, at the symposium in Belgrade, new facts about Covid-19 were discussed, and at the end of the month in Novi Sad, there was a discussion about the post-pandemic society. Both gatherings were organized by the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Furthermore, the SANU members carried out scientific projects related to Covid-19. What other activities did the SANU undertake regarding the pandemic?

— Back in February 2020, a commission was formed at SANU to monitor the course of the then "indicative pandemic“. This commission provided information, public scientific explanations or on the SANU website, promoted vaccination (in general, but also in the SANU and its institutes), determined its work according to certain events that were questionable from the aspect of the pandemic and performed other activities. We should bear in mind, however, that these activities were based on self-initiative, because as an institution, we were not invited to make an active contribution. At a time when the situation seemed to calm down, we considered it our obligation to sum up

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ONE OF THE TASKS OF THE COMMITTEE FOR THE SERBIAN ISSUES, ESTABLISHED AT THE SANU, IS TO HIGHLIGHT HOW JEOPARDIZED OUR MONASTERIES AND OTHER CULTURAL GOODS IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJA ARE the results at two expert meetings in Belgrade, which could be attended by anyone interested, in a medical-biological balance report called " COVID-19 pandemic: messages, new knowledge and dilemmas ", and soon after in Novi Sad, a social report titled „Society despite the pandemic ". In addition, out of 8 strategic scientific projects financed by the Science Fund

dedicated to COVID-19, three were helmed by members of the SANU. Plus, academician Čolić is preparing another one on "immune memory" testing. However, if you ask me if that means we think it is indirect - the aforementioned Commission continues to work.

One of the tasks of the Committee for the Serbian Issues, es-

tablished at the SANU, is to highlight how jeopardized our monasteries and other cultural goods in Kosovo and Metohija are. What the SANU thinks would be a feasible and sustainable solution to this problem in practice?

— The committee you have mentioned was formed with a much greater goal to deal with key strategic and civilizational issues that are emerging in the decades ahead or are just looming waiting for us in an ambush in the near or distant future (not only in Serbia) so that we, as a society, a nation and a state, are not constantly surprised or taken aback by what is happening to us. The idea is that as a serious, historical and state-building nation, we will walk towards the future. Ultimately, our goal is to form a Strategic Research Centre at the SANU in the relatively near future, where other people, apart from the SANU members, would work too and thus make our society more successful in forecasting and in using scientific methodologies.

At the very beginning of our committee's work, it was clear that the situation in Kosovo and Metohija was the issue above all issues. Two conferences were held recently - one on legal issues of secession, with a special focus on Kosovo and Metohija (a book with contributions from this gathering was published soon after) and, a couple of weeks ago, another two-day scientific conference called "Protection, preservation and affirmation of Serbian cultural heritage in Kosovo and Metohija ”, with over 30 people in attendance. In anticipation of the book from that gathering, we will deliver our views and conclusions to all relevant institutions and individuals on possible steps to make.

No matter how boastful it may seem, this is just a small segment of the SANU's activities on the issue of Serbian cultural heritage, that, as I said six years ago, which went pretty unnoticed, we must fight tooth and nail for. I still think the same.

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One of the current topics in Serbia is the dialogue between the government and the opposition. In an atmosphere of great antagonism between these two options, which dominates our political and social life, is an agreement possible at all?

— Conversation and eventually, an agreement is the necessary 'valve' on 'the Papin cooking pot' of every society. We all know what happens when a valve breaks. I have been talking about that dialogue for years, and I was even accused of being banal and that I was equalizing everything, although even a cursory reading shows that this is not the case.

Jean Baudrillard wrote somewhere that "great men once had the privilege of forgiving". With all the mortgages of parliamentary democracy (or only its illusions), with the dramatic social entropy, the distortion of space that allowed the contact of the "political class" with the "plebs", to which I belong, a change happened where "the greats" of today would like „to be forgiven“. The absence of an agreement, I'm afraid, will not include forgiveness. Once again, I am afraid of such an outcome.

The public thinks that you have "awakened" SANU and made it an active participant in everyday life. How do you cooperate with state bodies? Does the government respect your views? It was recently heard that the Committee on Higher Education did not receive a response to proposals on how to improve the Law on Education, which is currently being amended.

— SANU is not a mechanical watch that can be repaired or accelerated by winding a spring. I have no merit here and my role should not be mentioned, and especially not exaggerated. For the past six years, apart from occasional „dark clouds on the horizon“, we had good relations with the line ministries (science and culture), overall. At one of the last meetings of the SANU Assembly, I said that I was under the impression that "until only recently, the dominant concept of the relationship between SANU and the government was based on understanding the differences in the essence of their activities and the culture of honest and constant dialogue, with the hint of the necessary distance, imposed by intellectual scepticism and political

non-alignment“, It seemed to me, and I have been saying this in the last few years, that the relationship has slipped into a space of indifference and cold courtesy, parallel existence in indifference, with a significant increase in the otherwise traditional gap and I am afraid, of not accidental marginalization of the SANU. Even

discipline, with its own laws and rules, and that faced with it, I am only an amateur observer. That is why I would predominantly leave the abovementioned issue, and not only this problem of language, to experts to deal with. And without unnecessary haste. Why dominant and not complete? Because the whole problem comes

CONVERSATION AND EVENTUALLY, AN AGREEMENT IS THE NECESSARY 'VALVE' ON 'THE PAPIN COOKING POT' OF EVERY SOCIETY though the government fulfilled its obligations towards the SANU to the detail, it conspicuously did not show too much interest in using the capacity we have as an institution in the advisory sense. On the other hand, we did not exert ourselves too much to overcome that relationship of not noticing. I wish I was wrong.

Arnaud Guillon, a French and Serbian humanist, recently assessed the insistence on having gender-sensitive words for occupations as discriminatory and restrictive, wondering why we should say that Desanka Maksimović is one of the greatest female writers when she is simply one of the greatest Serbian writers. What is your view?

— If I have learned anything in the last six years, it is, among other things, the attitude that the science of language is a painstaking

out and overflows from the language drawer. The only comment I would make is to avoid the Scylla of Political Correctness, which itself is, after all, based on "parasitizing... on an incorrect other" and is often „a mixture of eternal self-blame and arrogance "and a Charybdis of conservatism that rejects the possibility that language must reflect emancipation, which we have been shouting about from the rooftops.

SANU is facing an election assembly. On that occasion, you stated that the SANU is the smallest academy (in terms of the size of a country's population) in the region. Why is that so? And what does it depend on?

— National academies are very different from each other. In addition to the generally accepted principles, the differences are a consequence of the idiosyncrasies

in the needs of the society that gave birth to them, in the degree of development of science and art in a certain environment and in a tradition that is not without some internal logic and utilitarianism.

In some countries, the academies of sciences are separate from art academies. In profiling our Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, it seems to me that there are no convincing reasons for its important redefinition, and especially not for division. The prevailing attitude was that the optimal number for Serbia would be around 150-160 members, while today, it stands at 124 alive but not necessarily active members. During the term of the current Executive Board, many important academics died. The ongoing pandemic did not spare us either. The elections on November 4 this year are a chance for the SANU to get "fresh blood".

Can the SANU be neutral, and its only criterion be the truth, even when that truth does not speak best about the country whose name it bears?

— I will answer with a counter-question: "When was the SANU neutral?" Critics who sometimes say something similar don't care what any of us think - they ask, with a self-assigned right, to repeat what they would dictate to us and nothing else. The question of the relationship between truth and loyalty to an environment does not exist, provided that you think well of that environment.

In my response, I would like to refer to the words of the people wiser than me, which I can utter in such a way. The great Jovan Sterija Popović, one of our founders, writes: "Whoever fails to tell the family the truth, should not teach the people". To define our mishandlings unmistakably (I do not exclude myself as a possible subject of these stingy words), I would like to quote the following: "You know everything - what the Russians think, what other courts think, but it is difficult for you to know what you think." Finally, only a few decades later, Jovan Cvijić, one of the presidents of the Academy, started his notes "On the responsibility of a public worker and intellectual before his own people" with these words: "To seek and govern the truth ... To create the mentality of the people on the truth." To add anything to their words would be not only superfluous but also unforgivably stupid.

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GRANT ME GREENERY, BUT NOT YET

Climate Change Will Feature Heavily in Germany’s Election But the difficult discussions will have to wait he first sign of trouble on the Rhine, Europe’s busiest inland waterway, was when the river cruises and hotel ships disappeared. Then the cargo vessels got smaller, or simply stopped sailing; goods like coal were shifted to trains. Water levels fell low enough to expose unexploded wartime bombs. These grim scenes, described by Florian Krekel of the Bingen office of Germany’s Waterways and Shipping Administration, date from autumn 2018, when a long drought so depleted the waters along this scenic part of the Rhine that navigation became near-impossible.

Manufacturers on the river had to slash production, exporters were cut off from world markets and petrol stations in Cologne had to raise prices. The disruption shaved 0.2% off German GDP, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

Over two-thirds of Germany’s land area was afflicted by the great drought of 2018. Soon afterwards climate change shot up the list of voters’ priorities (see chart). And as its effects, potential or actual, on Germany’s waterways, forests and farms have become harder to ignore, it has remained at or near the top ever since. Germany’s parties, gearing up for an election in late September, are reacting accordingly.

The Green Party, which approved its manifesto at a party pow-wow last weekend, has naturally placed climate policy at the centre of its offer. But the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU), their Christian Social Union (CSU) allies in Bavaria, and the Social Democrats (SPD), who currently rule in coalition, have also had to put their imprints on it. Parliament is debating a revision to Germany’s climate law, spurred by a constitutional-court ruling that made the government tighten its climate goals. In 1990, in the newly reunified country’s first election, the Greens boasted, “Everyone is talking about Germany. We’re talking about the weather.” Three decades on, their rivals

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SHOULD MR LASCHET AND MS BAERBOCK FIND THEMSELVES YOKED IN COALITION AFTER THE ELECTION, AS MANY EXPECT, CLIMATE WILL BE AMONG THE TOUGHEST ELEMENTS OF THE NEGOTIATIONS have fallen into line.

Yet that may not work to the Greens’ advantage. Although climate’s prominence in Germany’s debate is new, the old tactic of tarring the Greens as a bossy Verbotspartei (“prohibition party”) still looks potent. When Annalena Baerbock, the party’s chancellor-candidate, recently said petrol prices would have to rise, the CDU/CSU and SPD hammered her for building climate policy on the backs of poor motorists. Armin Laschet, her CDU rival, says the Greens threaten Germans’ sacred right to an annual jolly in Majorca. “People in the cities telling people in the countryside how to live—it’s crazy,” grumbles Jochen Ratzenberger, a Green-sceptic Rhineland winemaker. The Greens have slumped in polls.

Their response is twofold.

First, to tamp down excesses in their own ranks. At the Green congress the leadership saw off activists who wanted bolder promises to increase Germany’s new carbon

price. Second, to provide a cheerful narrative for the climate struggle. Robert Habeck, who leads the party with Ms Baerbock, delivered a barnstorming speech linking climate action to heroic themes like freedom and justice. More prosaically, the Greens have a plan to redistribute dividends from carbon tariffs to Germany’s less well-off.

But voters distrust such schemes. Nor are they wild about making specific sacrifices, such as paying more for petrol or ditching meat. Germany must now reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 65% (from 1990 levels) by 2030, in order to reach net-zero emissions by 2045. This will have a dramatic impact on everything from retrofitting housing stock to the speed with which German petrolheads are weaned off the combustion engine. “Most people have no clue what it will take for Germany to achieve its goals,” says Anita Engels, a climate sociologist at Hamburg University. Few politicians seem inclined to tell them.

In theory, the CDU/CSU’s emphasis on market methods for climate action versus the Greens’ penchant for regulation could make for “healthy debate” in the campaign, reckons Ottmar Edenhofer, head of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

Some younger CDU MPs, sniffing the political wind, would indeed like to take the fight to the Greens.

But others doubt the wisdom of battling on Green turf, and they seem to have Mr Laschet’s ear. A leaked draft of the CDU’s imminent manifesto offered little detail on climate.

A new report by More in Common, an international group that works on social polarisation, finds a broad consensus across Germany for climate action, alongside concerns about fairness and a sense of personal helplessness. Two-thirds of Germans it polled want binding climate rules.

“Politicians are threatening social cohesion by not acting,” says Laura-Kristine Krause, the outfit’s Germany director.

Should Mr Laschet and Ms Baerbock find themselves yoked in coalition after the election, as many expect, climate will be among the toughest elements of the negotiations. The new targets must be met, and the court satisfied. Postponing tricky conversations carries its own costs.

From The Economist, published under licence.

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

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INTERVIEW

by Žikica Milošević

Getting Stronger is the Only Way We are very similar so let’s get even closer

H.E. OLEKSANDR ALEKSANDROVYCH Ambassador of Ukraine

he world changed a lot after our last interview in January 2020. Plenty of new developments took place, so we took the opportunity to talk with H.E. Oleksandr Aleksandrovych, the Ambassador of Ukraine, about the current situation.

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We were surprised by the COVID-19 pandemic. What is the situation in Ukraine like? How is the vaccination roll-out going on?

— The situation in Ukraine is like everywhere else, which is a very positive development. There is no quarantine. At present, people are allowed to go to restaurants, cafes, museums, or walk in the parks.

Of course, there are some limitations regarding closed meetings in small spaces. But otherwise, there's no limitation. People are travelling all around the country and can travel abroad. Of course, with the vacation season, a lot of people go to the Black Sea. Close to 2 million people were inoculated, which may not be enough for a country with the population of 42 million. Although there were some initial delays at the beginning with the delivery of vaccines, at present, the process is accelerating. I believe that the summer season will be good for both of our countries. As for the rest of the year, a lot will depend on the development of those new virus strains like Delta, Lambda and so on and whether the vaccines will be able to cope with the new strains.

How can we go to Ukraine this summer?

— We have one airline flying between Belgrade and Kyiv called Windrose. This is a Ukrainian company which flies on Mondays and Fridays. Until very recently, there was also SkyUp, a Ukrainian low-cost company. But they decided to postpone flights to Serbia for a few months. Why? Because they have very few aircraft and

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I STILL HOPE THAT THE BILATERAL NEGOTIATIONS TO ESTABLISH FREE TRADE BETWEEN UKRAINE AND SERBIA WILL BEAR FRUIT we are trying to use them on other destinations, mostly for seaside resorts. I’m sure they will start flying to Belgrade soon and I hope that Air Serbia will restore its flights, maybe later this year.

The entry requirements are either you having the COVID vaccination certificate or a negative test, not necessarily PCR. A quick antibody test will also do. Or if you have proof that you have recently had a disease. So, the requirements are not special by any means. I read that the SkyUp took about a dozen of popular Serbian influencers to Ukraine on a trip, to promote Ukraine, on one of the last flights before suspending the connection, Speaking about EURO2020, there was a problem with the jerseys of the Ukrainian team, rather a

misunderstanding about “Slava Ukrajini – Herojam slava!” inscription on shirts. There was also a Ukrainian map on the front including Crimea (we, in Serbia, do the same with Kosovo), but what about the slogan?

Some conflate it with “Za dom spremni” (a Croatian Nazi salute) or some other Nazi salute.

— The slogan is not completely removed, the “Herojam slava” (“Glory to Heroes!”) part means glory to all those people who were fighting for the independence and prosperity of Ukraine. There's no other connotation to that. Of course, Russia was very unhappy about it, first of all, because of the map, because it showed clearly what the international community is thinking about the illegal annexation of Crimea. After all, we approved the football jerseys

in December 2020, featuring all those slogans and the map. Nothing happened until a few days before the beginning of the championship. So, it was more of a political issue.

The crisis in Belarus is affecting you directly because Belarus is one of your biggest neighbours.

Some countries also imposed sanctions on Belarus. What Ukraine can do to pacify the situation because Belarus tried hard to calm down the situation after 2014? Plus, there is the Minsk Process.

— We have a lot of sympathy for the people of Belarus, which we strongly support, including their indispensable rights to have free and fair elections and free assembly. As for the Minsk Process, which started in 2014, we are grateful to Belarus for providing this negotiation platform. Belarus was not a mediator - they just provided the venue, their capital and the premises. We did not recognize the results of their last year’s elections. So, we call upon Belarus to hold new elections and this

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time, they should be free. Ukraine is aligning itself fully with the position of the Western nations.

Ukraine continues to have people-to-people contacts and limited economic cooperation, but we have no political contact whatsoever because we do not consider the current president as legitimate. We also discourage our people from travelling to Belarus, as we see it as dangerous. Belarus has an authoritarian, ruthless regime.

Tell us something about the Minsk Process. What about de-escalation in the Donbass region? After the Geneva meeting between Mr. Putin and Mr. Biden, there was a slight de-escalation between the two. Can we expect something similar in the future? What is expected from Ukraine after the new president came to power in America and after all these meetings took place?

— When Ukraine elected its current president, Mr. Zelensky, people in Serbia were asking me whether the situation would improve, if that meant the end of the war and if the new Ukrainian president would try to stop the war. I always said that the only person who could stop the war is the person who started the war, which is the Russian president. So it doesn't matter who is the president of Ukraine, or what kind of political system we have. It is not the Ukrainian troops who are in the vicinity of Moscow - it is the Russian troops who are on the Ukrainian. What Ukraine can do is simply to build a very strong army and strong economy, and to stick together with its partners in Europe. Point No. 2 comes directly after point No. 1, which is a ceasefire. No. 2 is the withdrawal of all foreign troops. If Russia pulls back its troops and its mercenaries, the war will end in a week.

Elections can be held according to the OSCE principles when we take control of our border. And then we can invite all the international community to monitor the political dialogue, the building of parties, media, political promises, elections, and so on.

President Zelensky spoke in the Russian, Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar language to the people of Donbass and Crimea, urging them to come home. Do you think that was a sincere real invitation for those people to come

back home? Also, Ukraine has adopted the Law on Language that requires the use of the Ukrainian language in most aspects of public life.

— That law does not prohibit an individual from speaking his or her mother tongue. So, in private life, in churches and other social activities, even in the streets, cafes and restaurants, everybody can use any language they wish. What the Law stipulates is that if a person, for example, comes to a res-

But I see the bilingualism of Ukraine as a good business opportunity because lots of companies in the USA, for example, have their headquarters in California or Texas, where people speak both English and Spanish. It is good for the people of Ukraine to speak both languages. Businesspeople can, for instance, set up headquarters in Ukraine, from where they can cover Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan or any other country.

I NOTICED THE STUNNING SIMILARITIES IN OUR MENTALITIES, LIKE IN MUSIC AND FILM. I DO HOPE WE CAN ORGANIZE A UKRAINIAN FILM FESTIVAL IN SERBIA SOON taurant or a shop, and they speak in Ukrainian, the shop assistant or a barman must reply in Ukrainian. On the other hand, if a person comes in and speaks Russian and claims they don’t understand Ukrainian, they will be addressed in Russian. In practical terms, in families, in private life, about 50% of people still use Russian.

Both languages can be spoken interchangeably. But the Ukrainian language has been exterminated and prohibited in Ukraine for many decades, while Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire. In the USSR, there were altogether about 36 different government acts prohibiting the use of the Ukrainian language. No wonder that people are very sensitive about that issue.

We are not nationalistic, we are patriotic.

— I have an answer from a purely scientific linguistic point of view.

Since, I majored in the subject pertaining to linguistics, I know what I'm talking about. Two languages in a given territory can't coexist together and mix, as one language will necessarily kill the other language. This is unavoidable. It's the law of linguistics.

You can name Switzerland, Canada or Belgium as an opposite example as they have three or four languages. That is true. But all those languages are used within separate entities. It is not like in Ukraine. It's total confusion in our heads when we speak Ukrainian and Russian at the same time.

So with time, one language will ultimately win. We are trying for Ukrainian to be the winning language.

How badly was the economy in Ukraine hit by the pandemic?

What about the cooperation between Ukraine and Serbia? Is it bouncing back?

— We did have a decline in GDP last year and a very small decline in the first quarter of this year. We are lucky to have the association agreement and three free trade areas with the EU. We have also received some financial assistance from the EU. Now, our trade with the EU takes up almost a half of our total trade. On the whole, yes, we did suffer, but it was not traumatic. We did not receive IMF assistance for over a year now. We have improved our fiscal and taxation policies. FDIs are coming.

As for the trade with Serbia, it was worth over $400m in 2019, then it dropped to $320m in 2020. It is still not clear what will be the situation this year. Our major problem in trade between Ukraine and Serbia is the structure of Ukrainian exports. 80% of the Ukrainian exports to Serbia are iron ore and metals which go to the Smederevo Steel Plant. But once the demand for this product drops worldwide, that will affect our bilateral trade.

I am still hopeful that the bilateral negotiations to establish free trade between Ukraine and Serbia will bear fruit because this will help a lot, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, which want to do business both in Ukraine and Serbia. We daily receive requests from Ukrainian and Serbian companies from all kinds of industries who want to trade, invest or cooperate. So, there is definitely a lot of interest. We need to speed up negotiations to facilitate our trade.

The mentalities of the two people are stunningly similar.

Ukraine has experienced the film industry boom with a few Ukrainian films screened in Serbia too, like three sequels of the comedy “Crazy Wedding” and many more. Can we organize a Ukrainian film festival in Serbia with the aim of bringing our cultures closer together?

— I hope we will do it. I have also noticed the stunning similarities in our mentalities, in our sense of humour in particular. I would like to say I am very happy how the Serbs reacted to the Go_A song in the Eurovision Song Contest, “Shum”. We received a lot of votes from in Serbia and it subsequently took 2nd place. We are very close.

But we can bring our cultures even closer together.

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INTERESTING FACTS

NATIONAL DAYS

The Blue Banana or the European Spine

JULY

20

COLOMBIA

Declaration of independence from Spain in 1810

f Europe has the uninhabited and poor “Empty diagonal”, which stretches from the Atlantic and Portugal to the east of France, it also has the wealthiest “full diagonal”, but it is not called that. It has a completely goofy name, “The Blue Banana”, but some, who are a bit more serious, refer to it as the European Megalopolis or the European spine. However, some take two most extreme cities connected by the “banana” and call this conurbation the Liverpool-Milan Axis.

It’s interesting that this megalopolis contains 111 million people in Central and Western Europe, from England’s Midlands across Greater London, Lille, Benelux, the Rhineland, Southern Germany, Alsace and Lotharingia in France, Switzerland, all the way to Milan and Turin. The concept was developed in 1989 by RECLUS, a group of French geographers led by Roger Brunet.

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BELGIUM

Leopold of SaxeCoburg-Saalfeld takes the oath as the first King of the Belgians in 1831

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EGYPT

evolution Day, the R revolution of 1952

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LIBERIA

But why “blue”? Allegedly, Jacques Chérèque gave that name because of the “blue collars”, the many workers in factories which there are plenty in that part of Europe. Why there’s no Paris? Well, Brunet felt that Paris was “dropped” from “European industrialization” for two reasons: the

massacre and banishment of Huguenots in the 17th century and the declaration of the Republic in the 18th century, when France became centralized around Paris. Simply put, there aren’t enough cities between Paris and the rest of “The Blue Banana” – Paris is an economic giant, but it’s also an island.

Proclamation of the Republic: independence from the United States in 1847

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PERU

Declaration of

independence from Spain in 1821

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ARRIVALS & DEPARTURES

MOROCCO

Independence Day

NIKOLA VULETIĆ Appointed CEO of UniCredit Bank Serbia JSC

The Supervisory Board of UniCredit Bank Serbia JSC approved the appointment of Nikola Vuletić as the new Chairman of the Management Board of the bank. Nikola Vuletić will formally start the position as of September 1st, 2021.

Nikola Vuletić, currently Head of Risk at UniCredit Bank Serbia, will take over the position of CEO from Feza Tan who is the identified successor for the role of Deputy CEO in UniCredit Bank Romania.

Nikola Vuletić has been appointed as Member of the Management Board of UniCredit Bank Serbia on January 24th 2017. He started his professional career in 2003 in Eksimbanka, on the position of Account Manager for Retail and Business Cli-

ents. His further career he has been building within the same bank, on a different position within Corporate Division. After the merger between Eksimbanka and UniCredit Bank, he continues his professional engagement in the Large Corporates Department. From the position of Team Leader in this Department, in late 2007, he was promoted in Head of Mid Market Department.

In March 2009, he was appointed as Head of Sales in Retail Division, after which, on August 1st, he assumes the function of Head of Retail Division.

In July 2017, he is taking over the position of Chief Risk Officer. Nikola Vuletić has a degree from Faculty of Economics, Department of International Management.

VLADIMIR BOSKOVIĆ To become new Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank Serbia Vladimir Bošković, a seasoned senior executive and current Member of the Executive Board in charge of Corporate Banking and Global Markets, will be appointed as new Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank Serbia as of August 1, 2021.

Vladimir Bošković will succeed Marijana Vasilescu, who is taking on a new business challenge within the Sberbank Europe Group and will be appointed as Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank Czech Republic with the same effective date.

Vladimir Bošković joined Sberbank

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Serbia as Director of the sector for small and medium enterprises in 2014.

In 2018, he was appointed as Member of the Executive Board in charge of Corporate Banking and Global Markets where he was responsible for the substantial improvement of the quality of the corporate loan portfolio while building one of the largest cross-border loan portfolio on the Serbian market. Vladimir Bošković is looking back at 15 years of experience within the banking sector, having worked for Raiffeisenbank and Credit Agricole in Serbia in various leading functions.

AUGUST

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SWITZERLAND

National Day, alliance between Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden against the Holy Roman Empire in 1291

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MACEDONIA Republic Day

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BOLIVIA

Proclamation of

Republic (independent from Spain) in 1825

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JAMAICA

Independence Day

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ECUADOR

Independence Day

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PAKISTAN

Independence Day

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INDIA

Independence Day

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INTERVIEW

We Have a Lot of Opportunities for Cooperation I am still learning about Serbia. It is a lifetime commitment FRANK HANNIGAN President of the Irish-Serbian Chamber of Commerce

years ago on a spring day, I stood outside Hotel Moskva looking back toward Albania Palace.

I thought to myself, this city is going to be a part of my future.I have been visiting Belgrade and the region regularly every since.

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How well do you know the tradition, culture and Serbia in general as a country that is geographically quite far from Ireland?

— In terms of culture and history I am invested in understanding both. I have read extensively starting off with Black Lamb Grey Falcon written by the Anglo-Irish writer Rebecca West. Misha Glenny’s books were stunning ways to grapple with history and culture.

He introduced me to Ivo Andrić, simply one of Europe’s greatest writers. Andrić captures fine detail as well as the bigger picture.

I tried learning the Serbian Language but with modest success. I am much more successful at learning about and consuming Serbian food and drink! I have Serbian friends who generously invite me into their family lives. I have been to weddings, baptisms and Slava, celebrations that explain the most important part of Serbia – its people.

Our economic cooperation is modest in scope, but with great potential. Which economy segments have the greatest potential and how can Serbia attract investors and companies from Ireland?

— There are three low hanging fruit: Agri and Food offers huge opportunity. We have built global reputation for the integrity and quality of Irish food. The world is yet to fully grasp the quality and range of food that Serbia has to offer.

Technology is central to our economy. We will never have suf-

THE FIRST STEP IS TO BUILD NETWORKS: PRACTICAL RELATIONSHIPS BUILT ON RESPECT, INTEGRITY AND ENDLESS CURIOSITY ficient people available to fill the available roles in ICT, Medical Devices and Pharma. The cities on the Danube are reservoirs of talent. Irish firms are making their way to build teams in Belgrade and Novi Sad. I am proud to see Serb companies like Nordeus, Comtrade and Black Fox building teams in Ireland.

The third opportunity is Tourism. Serbia offers Extreme Beauty, buzzing cities and endless nature to explore. EXIT in Novi Sad is one of the world’s greatest cultural festivals. Serbia offers fresh experiences for tourists that have grown tired of the same old options. We need direct flights from Ireland to Serbia. We need to find a way to Visa Reciprocity to allow Serbs to discover the beautiful Irish Coast and the hum of Dublin and Cork both well on their way to be recognised as Global Cities.

All three opportunities, Agrifood, Technology and Tourism make sense when you discover how alike Serbs and Irish are.

We work well together, whether its producing films, manufactur-

ing concrete or imagining the reinvention of agriculture. It just works.

The launch of the Irish-Serbian Chamber of Commerce was an important business event and carries potential for better cooperation in promoting and facilitating trade between Ireland and Serbia, as well as expanding the network of Irish and Serbian business people. What can both countries gain by combining knowledge from their respective unique cultures?

— Our vision of Europe is not a melting pot where we all become one. The vision is of a rich tapestry where we all retain our cultures intact and, in fact, enriched by evolving in the context of a powerfully coherent Europe in business, politics and culture.

As two small countries in the context of a 750m Continent, we are natural allies. We both bring a lot to the table. Serbia and Ireland both have suffered historically and survived. This is a time when both nations should thrive.

Our pasts bring with them connectivity all over the planet. We are the first place most US technology firms set up a base outside of their home country. That is no accident. Serbia has global ties that go back to medieval times, and it has ties that recognise the leadership role that Yugoslavia played in the Non-Aligned Movement.

Serbia has an important pedigree in manufacturing. That potential is not yet fully realised in the 21st Century. I believe Irish capital and entrepreneurs can play a role in making that happen.

The most important capital both countries have is our human capital. The young ambitious graduates who want to make their mark on the world. I hope that by building a network of leaders in both countries we can imagine better versions of both countries, where those young people can find meaningful careers.

The opportunities for a successful partnership between Ireland and Serbia are numerous. What can we learn from each other?

What can Serbia offer Ireland and vice versa?

— The Irish have been described as the most northerly Mediterranean tribe – and I think it is true.

We are surrounded by Germanic people who are so different from us. I think the most interesting thing we will learn is how similar we are. The economic success in Ireland has been studied in most capitals around the world. It really is a miracle. As a kid I lived in one of the poorest parts of Europe. My kids grow up in one of the wealthiest parts of the planet.

In contrast, I think we have lost some of the connective tissue that made family and community bullet proof in Ireland. When I go to Southern Serbia, I remember some of the things Ireland has lost. A good life is spent constantly learning. That is true for countries as well as individuals. There are so many lessons for both countries to learn from each other.

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We See Significant Opportunities for Growth We truly hope that the government and health authorities recognize the unused potential contribution which pharmacy can make towards the health care system in the country

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license on over 1000 SKUs, concentrated primarily in the nutritional categories, but with strong growth in OTC, medical devices and prescription drugs. We pride ourselves on producing top quality products and offering them at very attractive prices.

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DANIEL SHULL Dr. Max Serbia, CEO

r.Max is the leading integrated pharmaceutical distributor in the Central Eastern Europe region. We are active in 8 different European countries. Our business consists of 4 pillars. Pharmacy Retail, Pharmaceutical Wholesale, Pharmaceutical Sales & Marketing and Galenic Drug Production & Private Label”, said Daniel Shull, Dr. Max CEO. We spoke with him about their product portfolio, investments in Serbia and further plans of development

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What is the core of your business, and what is your product portfolio?

— The core of our business is our

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Pharmacy Retail. In this division, we manage around 2300 pharmacies across 6 countries. Our business model is based on improving the quality of pharmaceutical healthcare in each community in

of the art programs, which are then rolled out across our various markets.

Our product portfolio is based on our offer of a wide range of quality OTC medicine, health and

OUR PRODUCT PORTFOLIO IS BASED UPON OFFERING A WIDE RANGE OF QUALITY OTC MEDICINE, HEALTH AND PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS AND MEDICAL DEVICES AT ATTRACTIVE PRICES which we operate whilst ensuring great value for money for patients and customers. To ensure this quality, we invest massively in training for our pharmacy staff.

We have a central training academy in Prague which develops state

personal care products and medical devices at attractive prices.

The production of our own brand and of our galenic drugs range plays a key role in this quality offering. Regarding our own brand, Dr.Max now produces/holds the

Could you please tell us more about your investment in Serbia?

— We currently manage 163 pharmacies and 2 galenic labs in Serbia. We employ around 800 people in the Republic. The new 1300m² Galenic production facility which we have built in Belgrade is a perfect example of our investment in our communities and our commitment to quality.

The production lab is truly state of the art and will allow us to locally produce 371 products in a variety of pharmaceutical forms including semi/solids, suspensions, powders and solutions for sale in pharmacies and use in hospitals and clinics. Additionally, the facility includes a fully equipped control laboratory with microbiology and sterility testing. The new lab will employ 19 highly specialized pharmacists and pharmaceutical technicians.

What are the potentials of the health care system in Serbia?

What can government authorities do to create better business conditions for this industry?

— We truly hope that the government and health authorities recognize the unused potential contribution that pharmaceutical industry can make towards the health care system in the country. Just by allowing us to offer (free of charge, by the way) services that are commonly offered by pharmacies in other markets, we could provide much better support for the clinics and doctors in our communities. Pharmacy is a 1st line health care provid-

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er and experience in many markets has shown that people who would never go to a clinic on their own free will for a blood pressure or blood sugar test, willingly take such tests in their local pharmacy.

Enabling pharmacies to provide such basic services allows for early detection of medical problems thus saving lives and saving costs for the health system. We are installing separate consultation areas in all of our larger pharmacies, where such tests and other services (vaccinations for example) could be conducted in privacy in the future, and now we just need governmental support to allow us to help improve health and save costs. Health Care is evolving quickly. Digitalization will play a key role in any system by improving quality and saving costs. This is another area in which the system here could be made significantly more efficient whilst expanding access. For instance, we run a number of pharmacies in small towns and villages. In a best case scenario, these pharmacies break even and in some cases they are recording losses, and it is very difficult to find pharmacists to work in rural locations.

We thus often need to pay a salary premium and provide transport, which simply cannot be financed by the low turnover and low mar-

WE ARE INSTALLING SEPARATE CONSULTATION AREAS IN ALL OF OUR LARGER PHARMACIES, WHERE SUCH TESTS AND OTHER SERVICES (VACCINATIONS FOR EXAMPLE) COULD BE CONDUCTED IN PRIVACY IN THE FUTURE gins achievable in rural pharmacies. Rural citizens, many of whom are elderly or economically disadvantaged, need and deserve

local services such as pharmacy.

If the government is interested in ensuring that the private sector continues to provide these servic-

es, then laws and regulations concerning the utilization of modern technology will need to be liberalized. For example, one solution which is being implemented in some of our other markets for rural locations is an online pharmacist. In such a scenario, a technician would be physically present in the pharmacy for non-prescription products, but should a patient come in with a prescription, we would make an online pharmacist available via Video call in the pharmacy to answer questions and instruct the patient concerning usage. This is just one example, and we have many ideas on how to provide cost effective access to quality health care. I truly hope that the authorities will begin opening up to such solutions and not continue to block progress due to traditionalists fearing disruption of the current system.

What are your plans for the future?

— Dr.Max will continue to grow in Serbia. Despite certain difficulties in conducting business in Serbia, Dr.Max recognizes the significant opportunities that exist here in Serbia. We thus plan to continue with our expansion in the market over the next several years.

DR.MAX IN SERBIA Dr.Max is the leading pharmacy chain in Central Europe. We manage approximately 2300 pharmacies and 2 major wholesale operations in six countries. Additionally, we are a leading producer of OTC and nutritional products in the region, producing around 1000 products under our private label and exclusive ranges. In Serbia, we have 163 retail pharmacies and a galenic laboratory, where we employ around 800

people. Dr.Max is committed to improving the quality and accessibility to healthcare in all of the markets in which we operate. Our driving business philosophy is to combine top-quality healthcare services with fair prices in a modern and attractive environment. We invest significantly in the training of our employees and are proud to support the local communities in which we operate.

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INTERVIEW

Strengthen Ties Between Ireland and Serbia ISCC is creating a frame for universities / scientists / researchers on both ends to collaborate more efficiently, to cooperate on EU and other projects VUK MIRKOVIĆ

What activities lay ahead of the Chamber? Are you planning to facilitate meetings of delegations of various levels in the coming period?

— ISCC plan to improve relations and strengthen ties between both economic and political elites of two nations by exposing them to each other, for the start. Early activities therefore will be aiming businessman and politicians before addressing wider audiences, general public.

Initiative to form Parliamentary Friendship groups on both sides is progressing and we hope to have them in place before the end of the year. ISCC is creating a frame for universities / scientists / researchers on both ends to collaborate more efficiently, to cooperate on EU and other projects. Business needs no formal support to grow – only to remove the barriers that are occasionally in place, disrupting the growth.

Direct flight will be of great help for all above mentioned – hoping to have RyanAir expand its operations from Nis airport to Ireland.

Director of the Irish-Serbian Chamber of Commerce

reland and Serbia may be far apart on the map of Europe, but the truth is, there’s much more that unites these two nations than most would assume. From history to business, Ireland and Serbia have a surprising amount tying them together, and the Irish-Serbian Chamber of Commerce seeks to expand on what unites these two proud nations. We spoke with Vuk Mirković, Director of the Irish-Serbian Chamber of Commerce about improving connections and relations between the two countries.

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Ireland and Serbia are quite far geographically. What unites these two nations and what most people in Serbia don’t see about Ireland at first glance?

— Being located at opposite sides of the continent, one would say two nations are very distant – unless the one is exposed to both cultures, traditions and values.

There are Celtic roots at the very foundation of both nations, so you can find common names there – such as Tara – which makes me believe that two were much closer in the distant history, much more than it is documented.

National history, that somehow shaped tradition, has its own similarities – both nations were dominated by the empires (Ottoman / English) which they opposed for centuries, resisting the rule and preserving its nations identity through the struggle. What really strikes me in terms of similarities is humour – that dark, heavy humour only a few can understand and laugh, while many will find inappropriate. Both can have a laugh over its own troubles.

Families are “big” and kept close among both nations – you can feel the same closeness among the relatives that is fuelled by family tra-

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BUSINESS NEEDS NO FORMAL SUPPORT TO GROW – ONLY TO REMOVE THE BARRIERS THAT ARE OCCASIONALLY IN PLACE, DISRUPTING THE GROWTH ditions and religious activities – and that relatives really care about each other.

What will be the Irish-Serbian Chamber of Commerce’s role when it comes to boosting mutual relations?

— ISCC should be viewed as a catalyst of relations / activities between the nations and Republics, where our task is to identify existing ones or potential ones that can mutually benefit both

over time – we would like to pave the way for better understanding and cooperation by pointing out those fine examples to serve as lighthouses.

How can the two countries improve bilateral, economic and cultural ties between them?

— EU is where Serbia is heading, Ireland is already there – believe we should look at improving our relations through that spectre, within the EU frame and agenda.

What do you like about the Irish and what aspects of their business culture would you like to transfer to Serbia?

— Personally, I don’t think there is huge difference between biz culture here and there – the thing that makes the difference is the governance. While Irish businesses are performing in very well organized, structured environment, Serbian counterparts are often being wounded by bureaucracy and poor governance, corruption, incompetence on all levels.

Would love to see Serbia actually adopting the models that are in place in Ireland, that attitude when it comes to public interest and politics – once we have civil servants in Serbia to understand they work for the taxpayers, we will be prosperous society and recognized as a developed country.

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Together for a Greener Future As part of social responsibility programme “Common Cause Community”, since 2009, NIS has invested around 1.4 billion dinars in development of local communities and the company carried out more than 1,000 projects

here are many things that distinguish us from each other, but there’s one thing we all have in common - the planet Earth. Its protection and preservation of natural resources are the goals around which individuals, organizations and states should gather. Large companies have a special responsibility in this area, since have the opportunity to really make a positive difference because of their capacities. This is exactly the case with NIS, which has been investing significant funds in a greener future and environmental protection for years.

As part of social responsibility programme “Common Cause Community”, NIS has invested around 1.4 billion dinars in development of local communities and the company carried out more than 1,000 projects since 2009. In this current year, the company is focused on investments in environmental protection, and will invest RSD 107.5 million in environmental projects in 12 municipalities and cities of Serbia. This will be a continuation of NIS’ partnership with local communities in our country, but it will also raise cooperation with the Ministry of Mining and Energy and with the Ministry of Environmental Protection to a new level, after NIS and the Ministries signed the Cooperation Memorandum on the implementation of these projects

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on June 10th.

NIS Company’s investments in municipalities and cities participating in the “Common Cause Community 2021” Programme will be focused primarily on projects for improvement of energy efficiency, replacement of existing boilers and transfer to more environmentally acceptable fuel, park landscaping, as well as re-

placing the lighting with environmentally friendly and cost effective LED lighting. By introducing a solar power and lighting system, replacing part of the energy system with a solar one, installing a solar roof and lighting the courtyards of buildings, NIS will put the use of solar energy in the service of a greener future for all the citizens of Serbia.

THE FAMOUS RUSSIAN WRITER LAV NIKOLAEVICH TOLSTOY SAID THAT ONE OF THE FIRST CONDITIONS OF HAPPINESS IS THAT THE LINK BETWEEN MAN AND NATURE SHALL NOT BE BROKEN

These projects will be implemented in 12 cities and municipalities in Serbia where the company conducts most of its business activities – Belgrade, Novi Sad, Požarevac, Niš, Čačak, Zrenjanin, Pančevo, Kikinda, Kanjiža, Novi Bečej, Srbobran and Žitište. The company will round up their fight for a cleaner and healthier environment through projects for improvement of city parks and green surfaces between residential buildings, by planting indigenous plant species, through installation of innovative ecological park elements, solar lighting of the park, as well as by placing recycling bins and containers.

The famous Russian writer Lav Nikolaevich Tolstoy said that one of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between man and nature shall not be broken.

Socially responsible companies, such as NIS, recognize this aware that none of us can make such big steps to protect the environment alone as we can all do it together.

For that reason, in addition to being a great contribution to the environmental situation in Serbia, activities of NIS Company also serve as a good example to citizens, but also to other companies, of how they can help the community where they do business and leave a better world for generations to come.

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OPINION

Telecommunications' Role in Making Sure 5G Isn't Misunderstood After 25 years in the telecoms industry, I’ve come to understand that one of the biggest myths right now in society is that 5G is just something that’s going to make everything we do on our mobile phones faster. And that’s not wrong in itself. 5G is certainly about speed, but there’s a great deal more to the story, both for society and for telecoms

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VLADIMIR LUČIĆ CEO of Telekom Srbija, Forbes Councils Member

EO of Telekom Srbija Group, a provider of fixed-line, mobile, television and internet communication services to over 11 million subscribers, Vladimir Lučić, wrote his very first article for Forbes. Diplomacy&Commerce magazine exclusively took over the entire article.

It’s hard to read anything about our future of the world these days without seeing 5G mentioned. 5G is “trending," but do we truly understand what it is and how it will transform our future? When I say “our future,” I mean our society as a whole and also our business as telecom operators.

Consumers are all familiar with 3G, which suddenly made browsing on our cell phones truly possible, and 4G, which then catapulted us into the era of mobile video.

So the general assumption is that 5G is just going to be one more incremental change. I don't believe that's the reality. 5G — actually 5G plus fiber — isn’t just another evolution but a revolution. It’s going to change the way people live and work. And, for telecom operators, if we’re smart now, 5G is going to transform our business model so that we become much more than just connectivity providers.

5G technology is going to fuel a raft of transformative new technologies, not just for consumers but also for business, governments, infrastructure and defense. Latency (the time it takes a device to request something from a server and get a response on the screen) will become a thing of the past. And communicating with cloud platforms will be vastly facilitated. It will create value far beyond just enhanced mobile

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THE 5G REVOLUTION WILL TRANSFORM THE FUTURE. AS TELECOMS, LET’S MAKE SURE THE TECHNOLOGY ISN’T MISUNDERSTOOD broadband, enabling businesses to become part of the Internet of Things (IoT) world. Crucial technologies such as self-driving cars and healthcare systems will be built on top of the network. 5G is an essential element, and we need it for IoT and controlling autonomous machines, smart cities and other technologies.

Telecom companies everywhere have a crucial role to play to get the new 5G backbone in place.

I’m often asked, how can we, as telecom companies, prepare for our role in the 5G (r)evolution?

My answer is one word: strategy.

To introduce a product as superior as 5G to our customers, we have to develop and implement smart

agendas that drive the commercial readiness of this new ecosystem.

Smart network investments can enable crucial steps forward in scaling up to achieve 5G network infrastructure. Since 5G signals will run over new radio frequencies, your cell tower equipment might need to be being updated. More fiber can also be laid across the country, adding the missing pieces of the 5G puzzle and enabling the implementation of 5G across countries.

What’s also crucial to understand is that other emerging technologies complement 5G and are going to be hugely important in

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transforming the notion of what a telecom company is and does.

I would argue that combining 5G with smart use of these other emerging technologies has the potential to allow telecom operators to play a more important part in the industry value chain going forward. For example, mobile edge computing gives telecoms the ability to transfer data more efficiently and greater perimeter security, helping operators reduce network congestion and achieve low latency. Also, network function virtualization will give telecoms the ability to better manage network resources to bring about OPEX and CAPEX reductions.

You can also use AI, analytics and machine learning alongside 5G to offer new location and context-aware services across millions of end-points. This means telecom operators will be able to become much more than just a network or pipe provider with significant changes in network control, personalization and service quality. We will have the tools to have much more granular and intimate insight into our own networks, and that will give telecoms the ability to provide their cus-

AT MY COMPANY, TELEKOM SRBIJA For example, at my company, we are acting on our intelligence-led roll-out plan, prioritizing key areas and stakeholders who will benefit the most from the speed, reliability and efficiency that 5G will bring.

Our transformation began when we harnessed a new cloud solution that has enabled us to consolidate user data virtually. This has helped eliminate the complexity of managing subscriptions from different network silos. This has also allowed us to be more scalable and agile, an important step in the transformation toward 5G.

tomers with new services, helping monetize the investments.

This means that telecoms are going to see their operating models change, and workforces are going to need to be redesigned. You are going to need more software engineers because network operations, data center staff and IT departments will all collaborate more closely to provide better visibility of applications, networks and services across businesses. Salespeople will have to engage with business customers differently because they will no longer be selling only connectivity; rather, they’ll have to understand the business outcomes that enterprise customers want to achieve with 5G-based IoT. Next time you’re surfing on your mobile phone and a page is taking too long to load, take heart that 5G is just around the corner.

It will load that webpage faster, for sure, but that’s not all that 5G is about. To paraphrase the words of the legendary rock band The Animals in their 1965 hit, “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood.”

The 5G revolution will transform the future. As telecoms, let’s make sure the technology isn’t misunderstood.

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Our Clients' Success is Our Priority In Southeast Europe, we are the only authorized representatives of the German Blue Chip Pool investment fund that invests on DAX and MDAX stock exchanges CLICK ON ICON 

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rope and has extensive experience in doing business in Serbia. Our team consists of professionals in lobbying, marketing, finance, legislation, politics, diplomacy, modern communication technologies and so on.

DARKO SAVIĆ CEO of New Event d.o.o

ew Event is a consulting, lobbying and business management company.

Their professional team provides extensive services in lobbying, business and financial consulting, event organization and temporary professional management in small and medium-sized enterprises. New Event is one of the few registered companies in Serbia that has an official license to engage in lobbying. We talked with the company's executive director Darko Savić about the company's successes and challenges.

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You provide support to clients in the development process. What were their biggest challenges during the coronavirus pandemic and how did you support them?

— Most companies had to find new and creative solutions to better respond to the new epidemiological situation. Sales fell in many sectors. However, financial obligations towards suppliers, employees, creditors and investors generally had to continue to be serviced, to the detriment of the general liquidity of the companies. As the extent of the pandemic's impact became clear, the implementation of the crisis management principle began. On the one hand, companies have done everything they could to protect the well-being of their employees and society. At the same time, and to preserve their business, they repositioned themselves and reduced costs to increase their liquidity. Organizing remote work and finding ways to evaluate such work also imposed great challenges. Companies that have a more flexible and creative approach adapt better to objective circumstances and overcome such crises more successfully.

You offer a wide range of services. Tell us more about your team and why do clients contact you the most?

— We are mostly engaged in ad-

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Your official website says that you take care of every step to success. In your opinion, what are the most important steps to success?

— Success is always built on positive synergy with clients, partners and employees. Protecting the interests of clients and making clients successful are priorities and crucial to the success of any company. Furthermore, the company must take into account the best interests of all parties represented, including the interests of employees and society as a whole. In such an environment, individuals are more motivated to make a greater contribution to common successes. Also, creativity, knowledge and experience, as well as having reliable and quality staff, generate the best results in today's business world.

WE ARE MOSTLY ENGAGED IN ADVISING OUR PARTNERS FROM SERBIA ON HOW TO DO THEIR BUSINESS ON THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN MARKET, BUT ALSO FOREIGN COMPANIES ON HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY ESTABLISH THEIR BUSINESS IN SERBIA vising our partners from Serbia on how to do their business on the Central European market, but also foreign companies on how to successfully establish their business in Serbia. New Event is also one of the few registered companies in Serbia that has an official license to engage in lobbying. Furthermore, our company owns Mertel Company's franchise, which specializes in organizing events that help companies achieve their goals in the field of sales, promo-

tion or improvement of their organizational structure.

In Southeast Europe, we are the only authorized representatives of the German Blue Chip Pool investment fund that invests on DAX and MDAX stock exchanges. We also help our partners with advice related to finance, investments, tax policy and marketing. Our CFO Marko Schneider is an experienced professional with a proven track record in the banking and financial sector in Central Eu-

Which of your company's successes are you most proud of so far and what are your plans?

— We have helped several companies from Austria, the Netherlands and Germany to establish business cooperation or invest in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. We have organized a number of hybrid conferences for the Western Balkan ministers. We help IT companies from abroad to find reliable partner companies in our region that can meet high standards in terms of staff, resources and time frames.

We plan to increase the number of clients with whom we would conquer the European market, but also the number of foreign companies to whom we would be a reliable partner in doing their business in Serbia and the region. It is in our best interest to achieve greater business cooperation between our country and the countries of Central Europe, as well as exchange experiences and transfer the know-how.

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DIGITAL IN INNOVATIONS AGRICULTURE 2021

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INTERVIEW

WE WILL CONTINUE TO BOOST AGRICULTURAL SECTOR

Vojvodina has extremely fertile land and an abundance of watercourses, which enables diversity, in terms of the representation of all branches of agriculture, especially vegetable and fruit growing, viticulture, animal husbandry, but also aquaculture ČEDOMIR BOŽIĆ Deputy Secretary for Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry, Government of Vojvodina n creating the budget, we were guided by the principles of prudent management of funds and based on that we introduced new measures, which have not been a part of the annual programmes so far, namely reclamation of degraded forests (we have allocated 25 million dinars for this measure), the fruit and vegetable processing measure (also 25 million dinars) and the measure related to the procurement of live game (a total of 19,600,000.00 dinars allocated).

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The Vojvodinian government has offered farms co-financing funds in the amount of 100 million dinars for investments in fruit and vegetable growing, as well as other agricultural segments. What exactly does this mean for farmers and to what extent has this financial assistance been realized so far?

— The Provincial Secretariat for Agriculture devised the programmes on time, and based on these programmes, we have launched public competitions related to boosting agricultural production. Our focus is on small and medium farms. Another segment of our activities in cooperation with local governments. We had several competition lines intended for local governments, which primarily relate to raising the quality of life in rural areas. The programme related to protection, landscaping and use of agricultural land for the territory of the AP Vojvodina in 2021 allocates significant funds for local self-governments, namely for improving the

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canal network used for drainage of agricultural land, rural roads and land consolidation procedure. The total budget of the Provincial Secretariat for Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry in 2021 is seven billion dinars.

In addition to new measures, this year's budget, compared to last year's one, plans a larger amount of funds for the following purposes - raising the level of efficiency of hail protection, the continuation of commissioning procedures, reconstruction of existing fish ponds and construction of new ones, afforestation of new areas, improving nursery production and new competitions for water facilities in public ownership (in order to meet the requirements of local governments, the Secretariat will co-finance the drafting of technical project documentation, so that local governments can be as ready as possible for the SERBIA 2025 programme, launched by Government of the Republic of Serbia which envisages significant investments in this sector, with one of the programme's prerequisites being having completed project documentation).

As part of our agricultural policy, we plan to launch new competitions for local sewage facilities, spotting scopes for hunters and video surveillance for game farms. In addition to the above, I would also like to add the launch of the Automatic Hail Defence System project in the area of radar centres Bajša and Samoš, which will fully automate the anti-hail defence on the terri-

tory of the AP Vojvodina. This year, the Secretariat will also continue to fund projects that have already been launched.

The agrarian policy that we advocate focuses on young people, as a future social force and an important social resource of the present

How important are digitalization in agriculture and the implementation of new technologies? How can this contribute to Serbian agribusiness and what has the Provincial Secretariat been doing regarding this?

— We must emphasize research, development and innovation. Without such efforts, there is no success in any industry, not even in agriculture.

Production needs to be modernized in line with new technologies. It is important to understand that investing in new technology is not a cost, but an investment in the future. The Provincial Secretariat for Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry has recognized that the future of agriculture lies in digitalization. In cooperation with the BioSense Institute, we have created the Agrosense APV digital platform, which provides support to farmers in monitoring crop growth and planning agricultural activities.

This platform represents an important step in the digitalization of agriculture and boosting the efficiency and competitiveness of domestic producers.

What can young farmers who want to engage in agricultural activities expect in the coming period? Can they become the driving force behind agricultural development?

— The agrarian policy that we advo-

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cate and pursue focuses on young people as the driving force of dominant social values, that is, as a future social force and an important social resource of the present.

In recent years, more precisely since 2016, when only 20 percent of young people used the funds of the Provincial Secretariat for Agriculture, there has been a turning point in the Secretariat's agrarian policy whereby we started focusing more on villages, which resulted in new incentive measures intended exclusively for young people.

The current situation regarding the epidemic has led to partial migration, where several young people, together with their families, have been moving to the countryside and even starting their own businesses there. In this sense, our priority is to support the new generation of young farmers, by looking at the specific challenges that young people face when entering the agricultural sector, all intending to motivate them to stay and work in the countryside, creating new jobs for themselves and their families. We must specifically stimulate young people to engage in agriculture which will prompt them to stay in rural areas and live off their work. I am confident that our competition line for initial assistance to farmers, a type of a startup if you will, will encourage young people to stay in the countryside, and by doing so, we will contribute to balancing out of rural develop-

ment and prevent emigration from the countryside.

How can challenges in the agricultural sector such as financing, credit lines and subsidies be solved?

— Vojvodina has extremely fertile land and an abundance of watercourses, which enables diversity, in terms of the representation of all branches of agriculture, especially vegetable and fruit growing, viticulture, animal husbandry, but also aquaculture. Inadequate economic efficiency is one of the main problems in agriculture, hence the Secretariat's programmes are based on investing in the material resources of agricultural holdings and processing of agricultural products.

I believe that this type of agricultural policy improves the production chain, increases competitiveness and economic efficiency, promotes greater market orientation and positively affects the longterm sustainability of agricultural holdings. When it comes to value-added agricultural and food products, the consumers' safety when consuming these products must not be called into question.

One of our proclaimed principles is that all food on the market must be safe for consumption. The agricultural and food products market is one of the most competitive markets, in general, and in the fight for better market positioning, producers must offer an added value to

the consumer, in addition to meeting the legislative requirements in food safety.

Adding value to a product is a complex activity and there are several ways this can be done. However, a quality product must be at the basis of any success. Through its rural development programme, the Secretariat for Agriculture has highlighted value-added products by subsidizing processing activities in the meat, milk, fruits, vegetables, grape, oilseed, spices and medicinal plants, bee products and cultivated types of mushrooms sectors. The budget in 2021 will help improve organic agricultural production in Vojvodina. For that purpose, we have allocated funds for the purchase of equipment for organic production in the amount of 10 million dinars.

In early December, the Action Plan for the Development of Organic Agricultural Production in the AP Vojvodina for the period from 2020 to 2025 was adopted. This is a document of exceptional importance that clearly defines the development direction of organic agricultural production in the AP Vojvodina and represents the basis for improving and adjusting support measures for producers, as a type of long-term institutional support with the view of boosting this production and increase the size of land that is used for organic production. The Faculty of Agriculture from the University of Novi Sad is hired to develop the Action Plan. 

The budget in 2021 will help improve organic agricultural production. We have allocated funds for the purchase of equipment in the amount of 10 million dinars

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INTERVIEW

WE ARE DEVELOPING SCIENCE FOR MAKE LIFE EASIER TO FARMERS

The ANTARES project is the largest scientific research project ever funded by the European Union in Serbia PROFESSOR VESNA BENGIN PhD, BioSense Institute

ince its founding, the BioSense Institute has been engaged in scientific research in agriculture and is one of the most developed scientific institutions in the region. Through transdisciplinary scientific research, the mission of the BioSense researchers is to provide sufficient quantities of adequate food for the ever-growing global population, while minimizing the impact of agricultural production on the environment. We talked with Professor Vesna Bengin, PhD, about the application of innovative IT solutions and digitalization towards increasing the efficiency of domestic agriculture and the work done by the institute.

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BioSense is one of the leading organizations engaged in the research of advanced ICT technologies. What are you currently working on in terms of the application of new technologies in agriculture?

— Through the ANTARES project that I coordinate, which is the largest scientific research project ever funded by the European Union in Serbia, we are developing a European centre of scientific excellence for modern technologies in agriculture. Our focus is on translating everything that information technology, as the most mature technology of today, can offer, into devices and methods that will help agriculture to be more efficient. One of our most visible results is certainly the AgroSens digital platform which was also supported by the Directorate for Agrarian Payments of

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The digital technologies we develop can help both large and small farmers

the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management. AgroSens enables computers and telephones to monitor crop status based on data collected from drones, meteorological stations, satellites and various sensors, while its latest version allows farmers to determine different management zones on a single plot of land where they will sample the land and devise a precise way to fertilize according to the needs of the plant. The AgroSens platform currently has about 20,000 users, and a quarter of the total arable land in Vojvodina is registered on it.

Furthermore, we are doing research in several areas of science – nano- and microelectronics, the science of materials, plasmonics and acoustics to develop sensors that will accurately, simply and quickly measure all parameters relevant to agricultural crops, and, with the help of artificial intelligence algorithms, enable the best decisions to be made at the right time.

Finally, we want to develop a strong ecosystem around the centre of excellence that will facilitate a strong connection between the scientific community and businesses, decision-makers, farmers, entrepreneurs, but also schools, pupils, students and citizens.

There is a saying that Vojvodina can feed the whole of Europe. What needs to be done for that to happen and how can we reach that goal with the help of innovations?

— Yes, I heard that saying when I was

a child, but unfortunately it has never come true. For agriculture to be efficient, to get more quality crops with fewer investments and less risk, it must be optimized. To optimize such a complex biosystem, we first need to understand it very well. That is why we are developing various sensors, methods and devices, which will give us a detailed insight into all the processes that take place in and around the plant, and which will allow us to apply the concept of precision agriculture - a concept whereby each plant gets exactly what it needs, how much it needs and when it needs it.

Only in that way, with the application of scientific results and innovations, Vojvodina can one day really become the breadbasket of entire Europe.

How can electrical engineering increase the efficiency of agriculture?

— During the first phase, we develop various sensors that will give us as much information as possible about the plant itself, the soil, and atmospheric and meteorological conditions. When we collate all this data, we use artificial intelligence to analyze it and find hidden dependencies among different parameters. Based on this information, we can give the farmer the right advice - similar to how a doctor prescribes therapy. For example, this includes advising the farmer which variety is best for a particular land plot, where, when and how much of it should be fertilized and irrigated, or which crop should be planted on which part of the prop-

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erty. Such advice is valuable. Just one piece of advice on the structure of crops and which crop to sow on which plot, on a farm that spans 6,000 hectares, can bring an additional income of over 1 million euro annually without any additional investments, while, at the same time, the risks associated with production are reduced. The digital technologies we develop can help both large and small farmers. We are committed to developing science that aims to make life easier for farmers.

What do you think about the startup scene of Serbia? What is Serbia's potential to shine on the global technological and development scene?

— Startups encourage innovation and create healthy competition, as well as diversify and strengthen the economic space of a country. Serbia has this opportunity - our people are innovative and it is not uncommon to come across exceptional, worldclass ideas in our startups. However, a good idea, enthusiasm and courage are not enough for a startup to be successful. In addition to effort, the environment is crucial, i.e. the existence of a system that supports people with ideas, which removes instead of puts obstacles in front of them, from ensuring that have enough available and diverse low-budget workspace, training and accelerator programmes to simplified administrative procedures are simplified, positive legislation and easier access to funding. Although a lot has been done in our country in the last few years on this issue, it is still not enough. Very often I meet innovative young people who do not even try to turn their ideas into new products, worrying in advance about legal and economic uncertainty. These are the areas where the state can do a lot to validate Serbia as an environment suitable for the development of startups and to help our entrepreneurs accomplish global success.

Does success come easier for startups

from developed countries, or do those from emerging countries like ours have a better chance?

— Startups can be created anywhere, and often in countries with the greatest needs, we can see the greatest opportunities for development. Certainly, startups emerging in developed countries have much greater resources available than our domestic startups. However, there is something that each of us can do today. We have to nurture and disseminate a culture in which it is not shameful to fail but is shameful not to try.

The statistics say that most startups will be unsuccessful and failure in our society is still stigmatized in a certain way. That is why we must nurture a climate that favours entrepreneurship, innovation and courage, have confidence in people with ideas and encourage them to try again.

Both BioSense and you personally have won numerous awards. How important are recognitions as a driving force behind further development of both personal and BioSense's potential?

— Recognitions are a great driving force.

They give a person the strength to move on. But our greatest motivation comes from the desire to make the lives of the people around us better with our work, through the application of the scientific results we develop. Through transdisciplinary scientific research, the mission of the BioSense researchers is to provide sufficient quantities of adequate food for the ever-growing global population, while minimizing the impact of agricultural production on the environment. We want to contribute to the creation of a secure and orderly society, a society that thrives. I believe that together, by working on the latest scientific topics, direct application of our results in practice, keeping young scientists in the country and investing in startups and people with ideas, we can together create a living and working environment that will motivate us all to progress. 

We have to nurture a culture in which it is not shameful to fail but is shameful not to try

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INTERVIEW

COVID HAS EXPEDITED THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION OF THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR

Agribusiness is a very important priority for our bank in Serbia and the region, and we will continue to strongly support this important sector through investments MILJAN ŽDRALE

Regional Director of the Agribusiness Sector for Central and South-Eastern Europe (EBRD)

igitalization is one of the EBRD's strategic priorities in the coming period and we are looking forward to opportunities to connect agribusiness with the otherwise developed IT industry in Serbia, as comparative advantages of our market. The bank's advisory team is particularly involved in this process with small businesses.

in this sector, we have the largest number of projects in Serbia after Ukraine, the so-called political dialogue and technical assistance with the Ministry and relevant institutions, which in itself speaks about our view of how important is this sector for the Serbian economy.

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How would you rate the current situation in the agricultural sector (agribusiness) in Serbia?

— Serbia's agricultural sector has been recording positive trends in external trade, growth of average yields in many branches of agricultural production and the implementation of latest solutions throughout the agribusiness market chain. This is an extremely important sector for Serbia, as an agrarian country, and its share in GDP of about 10% has been affected by the challenges of climate change, labour shortages, changes in consumer habits and market liberalization which need to be resolved.

Such challenges require a coordinated and comprehensive approach of all stakeholders - from farmers, manufacturing, retail and distribution, on the one hand, and the relevant part of the public sector where the EBRD, as a unique international financial institution with a focus on the private sector, can be important link through investments and reform process.

This is where we are truly unique because, in addition to investments

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In cooperation with commercial banks, we finance micro, small and mediumsized enterprises and farmers

How can the problems of financing in agriculture be resolved? Can this be done via funds and how can we prevent relevant risks?

— The EBRD finances exclusively the private agribusiness sector, and very often those companies, which due to their size, do not qualify to be beneficiaries of the agricultural budget.

In that case, the EBRD meets part of the financing needs in the country in a way that is complementary to the state. Also, in cooperation with commercial banks, we finance micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and farmers, thus contributing to the provision of financial resources for doing agricultural business to a large and diversified circle of clients.

Although still in development, and being aware of the fact that SME agri clients are perceived as a higher risk by banks and other financial institutions, we plan to work on new instruments, the so-called "risk sharing" and similar guarantee schemes.

The use of advanced technological solutions in agriculture is increasing. Is this a way to overcome numerous challenges?

— We are witnessing a very fast implementation of digital solutions in numerous sub-sectors of agriculture and agribusiness. Precision agriculture, smart irrigation, fertigation, satellite imagery, sensors, drones, blockchain, online retail, etc., facilitate agricultural operations, positively affect profitability but also contribute to food safety. Furthermore, digital technologies must enable farmers and others engaged in the sector to make production-related decisions based on evidence rather than prediction, experience or feeling, as has been the case in the past.

Only recently we had the very first investment in online retail (non-store retailing) in Hungary and Romania, which is an upcoming trend. I believe that we will have similar investments in the Western Balkans quite soon.

How does the EBRD help agribusiness not only in Serbia but also in the region, and how important is for the Western Balkan countries to be linked?

— Since 2006 and the launch of our operations in Serbia, the EBRD has invested over EUR 760 million in agriculture, beverage and food production, FMCG sector and food retail chains, mostly in the Western Balkans region in which we invested a total of over one billion euro. For example, we have invested over EUR 260 million in the cereals and oilseed sector alone. In addition to credit arrangements, we are increasingly fo-

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cused on capital investments and similar financial instruments, either independently or with other investors and funds, as was the case with companies such as Imlek and the like. We are also making effort to boost the dialogue between the public and private sectors and we are glad to have had the opportunity to help the process of Serbia and Egypt harmonizing the phytosanitary certificate for wheat, thanks to which administrative barriers to Serbia exporting to the Egyptian market have been removed.

on agricultural production and better promotion of domestic products in foreign markets. Last but not least, Serbia needs to improve its education system to support further development of the sector and professionals, and learn from the best through cooperation with other developed countries, institutes and educational institutions. 

We are witnessing a very fast implementation of digital solutions in numerous sub-sectors of agriculture and agribusiness

People claim that Vojvodina can feed the whole of Europe. What does it take for Serbia to position itself as one of the agribusiness leaders on the global map?

— Serbia needs more allocations to support agriculture and agribusiness through agricultural policy measures that have the maximum effect, attract and stimulate domestic and foreign investments have more investments in rural and logistics infrastructure (railway, river transport) that will better connect Serbian producers with export markets, greater investments in irrigation systems to reduce the impact of climate change

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INTERVIEW

DIGITALIZATION IS OUR PRESENT

Branko Primetica, an IT expert from the USA, came to Serbia to bring it closer to global IT trends BRANKO PRIMETICA Partner at Cedars

he fact is that information technologies are our present, which is changing at an unimaginable speed because of everyday innovations. In addition to all spheres of modern life, they are especially important when it comes to cyber security. We talked about this topic with Mr. Branko Primetica, who currently serves as a partner with Cedars International (Cedars), a leading consultancy focusing on the Western Balkans providing digital transformation, environmental management, and capital placement services for both the public and private sectors.

Prior to Cedars, Branko served as President and Chief Strategy Officer of EGT for 20 years. EGT, a company that he co-founded, is an award-winning provider of management, IT, and cybersecurity consulting services for the United States Federal Government. With his entrepreneurial leadership, Branko helped build EGT from the ground up to over 350 employees.

A thought leader and published author, Branko has been recognized for his achievements, and expertise.

He’s received multiple awards – such as the Rising Star Award and the Fed 100 Award – received a certification of recognition from ACT/IAC and was named a finalist for the Northern Virginia Technology Council’s CTO Innovator of the Year Award. He previously sat on the board of directors for AFFIRM and served as a co-lead for the National Defense Transportation Association’s Mentoring Program. He has co-authored various industry-focused publications, including the “Practical Guide to Fed-

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eral Service Oriented Architecture,” the Federal Cloud Computing Strategy, the U.S. Government’s IPv6 Transition Roadmap and the Federal Risk Authorization Management (FedRAMP) guidelines. Additionally, he has served on the U.S. Cloud Computing Commission and has consulted for global forums on current IT trends (including the U.S. Congress, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and the governments of Serbia and Poland).

What made you decide to come to Serbia and start a business here?

— I have always been an active member of the Serbian Diaspora, working to advance Serbia’s image in the United States and sharing technology and policy best practices with ministers here. I believe this is a point of inflection in Serbia’s development, where innovation and entrepreneurship are on unprecedented levels in both the public and private sectors.

My desire is to assist with these efforts so that Serbia incorporates lessons learned from the U.S. and to help it successfully by-pass the challenges and obstacles faced by other nations and businesses through their digital transformation.

for standardized system level IT security planning, continuous monitoring of system security and IT threats, and comprehensive incident response plans.

With his entrepreneurial leadership, Branko helped build EGT from the ground up to over 350 employees

How did digital transformation help your clients save money?

— The best answer to this question is consolidation of redundant IT services. Whether we are talking about large corporations or government ministries, IT systems are often implemented “for the sake of IT” to fill a pressing need, without doing a proper assessment of what services are already available within the organization. This results in unnecessary spending, redundant systems which offer the same IT services, and performance inefficiency. Have a proper enterprise architecture (EA) helps avoid this issue and enabled my company to save the US Government more than $300 million to date. 

How important is cybersecurity to digital transformation?

— Cybersecurity at the enterprise and system level is critical to safeguarding data about citizens, personally identifiable information (PII), and confidential information. With the advent of digital services and IoT, for example, the threat surface is becoming increasingly larger. This calls

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Netherlands D I P L OM AC Y

&

C OM M E RC E

P R E S E N T S

The

FOCUS ON

THE LOWEST-LYING COUNTRY IN EUROPE It’s mind-blowing to think that over a 26% of the Netherlands is actually sitting below sea level.

What’s more, some 60% of the population is currently living 5m below sea level.

FLOURISHING NATURE Almost 80% of the world’s flower bulbs come from the Netherlands, the country being the world’s leading exporter of flowers, most of which are tulips.

GIN TONIC PLEASE Gin was actually invented in the Netherlands in the 16th century and reportedly became popular in Great Britain after King William occupied the English, Scottish, and Irish thrones with his wife Mary.

STOCK MARKET INNOVATORS Amazingly, the first stock market in the world was invented by Dutch legislators and businessmen back in 1602

THE HIGHEST ENGLISHPROFICIENCY According to the EF English Proficiency Index, the Dutch are top of the class in English.

Between 90 and 93% of the population can speak English as a second language.

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We Continuously Work to Maintain Our Relationship Serbia and the Netherlands are tied in many ways and on many different levels - diplomatically, economically, culturally.. In terms of economic cooperation, the figures also leave no doubt: the EU is Serbia’s most important partner

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t is, in my opinion, only natural for the countries of the Western Balkans to aspire to work together in a similar manner, and I am very glad that the EU-facilitated WB6-process had led to effective strategies and tangible results. The economic potential of the region is substantial, with its favorable climate, strategic geographic location and resilient, resourceful and well-educated population. The true extent of that potential can only be achieved if the countries of the region work together to unlock it.

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Your Excellency, you recently came to Serbia. What do you think about the overall relations between the Netherlands and Serbia?

— Bilaterally, trade between the Netherlands and Serbia is on the rise (totaling nearly €1 billion a year), while the Netherlands is the largest source

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SPECIAL EDITION

H.E. JOOST REINTJES Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Belgrade

Related to our business relations, we are very much looking forward to reaching €1 billion in bilateral trade and increasing that further

of foreign direct investment in Serbia. Dutch companies are household names in Serbia and impact the lives of people in this wonderful country on a daily basis. Did you know that every time you log on to Kupujem Prodajem to buy or sell something, you’re using a Dutch company? Or that every time you turn on WiFi, you’re using a Dutch invention? Not to mention drinking one of the tasty beers brewed by Heineken right here in Serbia – Zaječarsko, Laško, Amstel! And KLM fly to Belgrade daily. These are just a few examples of how our two countries interlink on a daily basis.

In addition, both Serbia and the Netherlands are known as agriculture countries. The Netherlands is the second largest exporter of the agriculture produce in the world, just after the USA. This is due to the excellent knowledge infrastructure, that is close cooperation between the knowledge institutions, government and the private sector, the so-called "golden triangle". We aim to apply this model to our activities in Serbia through all events and projects we implement in agro sector.

Furthermore, the promotion of the rule of law is an important part of our foreign policy and political DNA, and is one of the cornerstones of our engagement in Serbia. In any country, a functioning judiciary is fundamental - not as a secluded branch of government, but an independent and resilient judiciary as part of a system of checks and balances. Such checks and balances, and the rule of law in general, are a core value which belongs to Serbia every bit as much as it belongs to the Netherlands. It is our shared responsibility to make sure that the citizens of Serbia are aware of this. We

work with institutions, ministries and civil sector organizations to improve the rule of law. We do that by providing assistance through programs such as MATRA and the Multi Donor Trust Fund for Justice Sector Support, active participation in debates and discussions, providing expert assistance to institutions.

What will be the priorities on your agenda in the coming period in terms of further solidifying relations between the two countries?

— For the Netherlands, Serbia’s path to EU accession is priority number one. That’s why we have been working with government and civil society for years to help bring about the necessary changes and reforms, particularly in the area of rule of law, as I already mentioned. That process is very specific to the EU. And it comes with its own challenges and opportunities.

Related to our business relations, we are very much looking forward to reaching €1 billion in bilateral trade and increasing that further. We see an ever increasing interest from Dutch companies and investors in many areas. We are currently working on a number of files that could lead to great things.

This includes our Green Cities Serbia project, through which we aim to facilitate strategic cooperation between a consortium of Dutch companies and cities and Serbian municipalities on urban green solutions. Think green roofs, vertical gardens, parks.

We’re also working hard on increasing cooperation in the water sector.

Serbia is investing heavily in wastewater treatment capacities, port infrastructure, flood risk management and much more. We have centuries of ex-

THE NETHERLANDS

pertise and knowledge in those fields and are very glad to share it. The same goes for agriculture. Combining Serbia’s enormous potential and fertile soil with Dutch technology and knowhow is a recipe for success.

How important is Serbia’s role in the region of the Western Balkans? Which segments of the regional cooperation are particularly important?

— The European Union is, in its very essence, a framework for cooperation which aims to ensure peace and prosperity for its member states. Economic cooperation and joint economic development are, and have been from the very beginning, central to that framework. The elimination of barriers to trade, harmonization of standards, increase in connectivity, creation of joint institutions and many other steps that have been taken over the decades, have ensured unprecedented economic development and stability in Europe.

By ensuring better connectivity, improved border-crossing procedures, encouraging labor mobility and many other issues included in the action plan for the regional economic area, the region will become an even more interesting and competitive investment destination for global companies. Most importantly, such cooperation allows for the continuous fostering of open political dialogue between partners, which furthers reconciliation and helps shape a common future for the region within Europe. Serbia plays a crucial and constructive role therein and I’m happy to see it taking a pro-active stance in facilitating regional cooperation.

What opportunities are opening up to cooperate in sectors and segments of ecology, water purification, green cities, etc?

— Minsiter Vujović and I had an very interesting meeting in which we discussed ways to learn from each other in order to exchange expertise and facilitate commercial cooperation. Public awareness regarding importance of the clean environment and its protection is rising world-wide. Serbia is no different. The importance of clean air, water, soil is getting in the centre of public attention. Also in the Netherlands. That is why we have, among other things, adopted a strategy to become fully circular by 2050. Serbia has adopted a similar strategy and is

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SPECIAL EDITION

The economic potential of the region is substantial, with its favorable climate, strategic geographic location and resilient, resourceful and well-educated population

working hard to invest in the necessary infrastructure and investment to achieve such goals. Minister Vujović and I discussed how to achieve these goals. We would like to especially focus on areas such as water, water and urban greening.

Through the public private partnership of the project "Green Cities Serbia" we are committed to transfer Dutch knowledge, experiences and solutions to our Serbian counterparts in order to develop greener and healthier cities via sustainable network of partners and long-term business cooperation in a socially and environmentally responsible way.

What is the collaboration between the Netherlands and Serbia like when it comes to education, art and culture and what can we do together in that regard?

— Here as well we have many ties and projects, and good cooperation. In the past 4 years there have been 140 activities in Serbia involving Dutch artists in various areas – design, architecture, visual arts, digital culture, literature, performing arts. This shows that there is an interest on both sides for exchange and cooperation. Some

of these activities the embassy organized with partners in Serbia, few examples are guest performances of Dutch artists in festivals in Serbia (Guitar Art Festival, Belgrade Dance Festival), screenings of Dutch films with topics related to our policy priorities (rule of law, European integration, human rights). There are also activities that are done independently and without our involvement. At the moment there is a very interesting group exhibition “Overview Effect” in the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Belgrade, where a wonderful and striking work of Dutch artist Mariëlle Videler is exhibited. It is interesting that culture organizations and podia find a way to connect to each other even in times of pandemic, although I have to be fair and say that number of activities in the past year has been limited.

Worth mentioning here is the Group for Dutch studies at the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade, which recently celebrated its 15th birthday. The Group is very active in promoting Dutch-Serbian relations, and we cooperate with them for a very long time. Apart from this, many young people from Serbia study in the Netherlands. Luckily, the list is too long to fit in one interview.

In Serbia We hope that you have had the opportunity to get to know Belgrade and Serbia. What do you especially like here?

— I arrived to Serbia 3 months ago and I still need to do a lot of exploring. However, there are things that I have already discovered, for example that Serbian wines and food are very good, people are easy going and open, I enjoy this very much. I also noticed that we share a common passion – football. I was lucky that I recently met football player Dušan Tadić, captain of the Ajax Football Club, and of the Serbian national team.

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Stronger and Better Company Every Day

Digitalization and sustainability are seen as big topics, where we lead and want to lead, and this is very relevant for Serbia as well

C O R P O R AT E

ow does life and work in Belgrade look like after a year, in what way does the company contribute to the country’s economic potential and how did the pandemic affect their plans within the digital field, we talked with Jan-Willem Dockheer, CEO of Delhaize Serbia.

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You have been in Belgrade for almost a year. How different is the business atmosphere here, compared to other countries where Ahold Delhaize does business as the leading global retain chain with almost 7,000 stores around the world?

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SPECIAL EDITION

JAN-WILLEM DOCKHEER CEO of Delhaize Serbia

— Delhaize Serbia is a proud member of the Ahold Delhaize Group with whom it shares fundamental values and business. Large teams with the best people in the market, strong partnerships with suppliers who are leading global and local brands, as well as millions of loyal customers making our brands leaders in local markets around the world. The team I came to, which has more than 13,000 passionate professionals, is a reliable neighbour of the local community in which we operate. The strength and commitment of the people I had the opportunity to recognise during the pandemic within colleagues who served cus-

tomers in Maxi, Mega Maxi, Maxi online, Tempo and Shop & Go stores or do their work from the Distribution Centre and Customer Support, were a clear signal of the environment I came to; truly passionate professionals who care. And looking wider, in the world we see digitalization and sustainability as big topics, where we lead and want to lead, and this is very relevant for Serbia as well. We are typically set up to manage the business locally, so my Serbian team will take many initiatives during the years to come to professionalize our stores further and further, to lead and grow the digital market in Serbia and to take many smart

as short as possible, which is great for best tasty products and is also sustainably better. I am personally driving and looking forward to this ambitious project and I believe that, in the years to come, we will have the best onions, melons, tomatoes, potatoes and a lot more that comes from Serbia in our stores, throughout the entire year and with that we will play an active role in developing the Serbian economy to the next level.

initiatives in sustainability so we leave behind this world in a better state than how we’ve got it.

How much does Serbia use its local potential and what are the possibilities for improvement in that field?

— I would say that Serbia’s major potential is rooted in good soil that is rich in various agricultural crops. Our company is aware of that and that is why we want local, fresh and the highest quality fruits and vegetables from every part of Serbia to arrive in our stores every day. We are strategically committed to work with local suppliers and provide wide range of home-grown fruits and vegetables to our customers for the past several years. Together with more than 80 local suppliers from all over Serbia, in previous years, we have improved our offer and quality of products that you can find in our stores today and, in 2020 alone, we purchased 12 percent more local agricultural products than in the previous year. In order to further support local farmers and help them in their inclusion in large systems such as ours, together with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, we have organised a series of workshops for local suppliers & farmers and we will keep doing so. We simply want to make the distance from Farm-to-Fork

Together with more than 80 local suppliers from all over Serbia we have improved our offer and quality of products

General digitalisation at the time of the pandemic affected all business segments, including the retail industry. What has Delhaize Serbia changed in its future plans?

— Expanding the retail network and constantly raising the business ladder were the postulates of our business strategy even before the pandemic. What the pandemic has brought to the whole world, including us, is the additionally accelerated parallel work on modernisation and digitalisation of all aspects of business, especially e-commerce. Thus, in addition to improving and expanding our stores, Maxi online has also become a part of the business that has shown huge potential.

We have a smart team on all digital developments, we will invest even more and further improve our digital consumer experiences, and with all that we believe we will even help the total

digital growth of the country, which will help convenience in people’s lives who want and need that.

Additionally, I am proud of the team that is developing a state-of-the-art new loyalty programme. By the end of the year, our customers will be able to see a fully digitalised loyalty programme that will show what "personalised offers" really mean and a concept that will enable customers to benefit from exactly those products that suit their purchasing habits and save money.

In addition to the business impression, how did you personally experience Belgrade?

— The great team of people who welcomed me showed me the strength and energy I can expect in my work.

On the other hand, Belgrade provides many other contents, surprises and very pleasant living conditions. I like to use walks by the river and in the city for relaxation, the interior of the region, city and its streets still leave me a lot of space to explore. Especially now when Covid fades away luckily, I look forward to be among Serbian people, in restaurants, in cafes, in events and on the mountains in winter. Living in Serbia has been a great experience, I like the way Serbs relax and enjoy life, I can learn a lot from this, and it can only get better with Covid leaving us - so life is good here.

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THE NETHERLANDS

Serbia Offers a Lot of Opportunities

Close to 17,000 people work in Dutch companies in Serbia

I N T E RV I E W

he Netherlands is by far the biggest investor in Serbia with almost €4 billion worth of FDI. They are successful in a wide range of sectors from agriculture, shipbuilding and beer brewing to IT, manufacturing, consultancy, design and many others.

We talked to the Director of the Dutch-Serbian Business Association, Djordje Petrović, about cooperation between these two countries.

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How would you rate the economic cooperation between the two countries generally and especially during the coronavirus pandemic?

— I think that the economic cooperation between the two countries has been on a high level, in the period from 2010 to 2020. The Netherlands is by far the biggest investor in Serbia with almost €4 billion worth of FDI. Close to 17,000 people work in Dutch companies in Serbia, and many of those companies and products they make are household names that people in Serbia encounter every day. Dutch companies are successful in a wide range of sectors - from agriculture, shipbuilding and beer brewing to IT, man-

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ufacturing, consultancy, design and many others.

Even though it was a quite challenging period, during the pandemic, the cooperation didn’t suffer too much.

In late 2020, we had a meeting of the Dutch business community in Serbia and many companies told us they had been planning to make new investments in Serbia this year. At this moment, the DSBA has almost 50 members and we are proud of this success which we have achieved in a relatively short time, especially when you bear in mind that we are not open to everyone, but only to the Dutch companies operating in Serbia and Serbian companies that have close economic ties with The Netherlands. We recently had the General Assembly of the DSBA where we also welcomed new members, including KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, the oldest airline in the world, who re-launched its Belgrade-Amsterdam flight after 30 years.

What else could the Government of Serbia do this year to help businesses to overcome the crisis as quickly as possible, especially when it comes to SMEs?

DJORDJE PETROVIĆ Director of the DutchSerbian Business Association (DSBA)

The Netherlands is by far the biggest investor in Serbia with almost €4 billion worth of FDI

— Reducing payroll tax and contributions and fostering better cooperation between institutions in paying attention to the needs of businesses, as well as implementing subsequent actions in accordance with those needs, would help SMEs a lot. It is very important to have a level playing field, simple administrative procedures and legal certainty. It is of crucial importance that the government continues implementing measures that work towards improving the business environment and state services in general.

As a businessman who helms a business association that can bring Dutch investors to Serbia, what do you consider the biggest advantages of investing in our country?

— Serbia offers a lot of opportunities and I really mean that. Every way you look, more can be done for domestic and foreign investors. Due to the pandemic, many supply chains have been disrupted and big European companies are now trying to find alternatives for their suppliers from the Far East. Serbia has a great geographical location, highly skilled workforce and people who are adaptable and easily trained

to learn any new skill, so I think that a really big opportunity lies in that.

Many investors find it interesting that goods originating from Serbia and exported to the EU customs area are subject to preferential customs regimes. Serbia has been a party in the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) and has concluded bilateral free-trade agreements with the Russian Federation, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Turkey and the European Free Trade Association (Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, and Liechtenstein). The country is also a beneficiary of Japan’s GSP (preferential duties on importation to Japan), while the U.S. government designated Serbia as a beneficiary of the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), providing duty-free access to the U.S. market in various eligible categories.

To what extent does the association cooperate with institutions and organizations and are you satisfied with that cooperation?

— 2020 was supposed to be the year when we would hold an official presentation of the DSBA to the government institutions. However, due to the pandemic, that was not feasible, so we

bilities that Serbia has to offer and we will also actively work on that in the future. We think that the existence of the DSBA will send out a good signal for more Dutch companies to come and invest in Serbia.

We can learn from Dutch a lot about the business, innovation and how things should be done in a structured way. On the other hand, the Dutch can learn from us a lot about adaptation, resourcefulness and improvisation.

hope that we would be able to do that in the second half of this year. We think that cooperation and exchange of the know-how between the DSBA and government institutions will be beneficial to both sides.

Regarding other bilateral organizations, we have already established relations with most of them and that part functions well. Exchange of the experiences and knowledge that our members have is highly important and beneficial, so we hope that in the rest of the year, we will have an opportunity to again see each other in person and organize more live events.

Is there room for improving the existing cooperation and if there is, in which sectors? What can the Dutch learn from us and vice versa?

— There is room for improvement in just about everything, as well as in the Dutch-Serbian cooperation. We think that more Serbian companies could enter the Dutch market and offer their products there. To that end, we already spoke with the Serbian ambassador to The Netherlands, H.E. Mrs. Ksenija Milenković about that. We also think that more Dutch companies could be informed about all the possi-

We think that more Serbian companies could enter the Dutch market

What activities of the Dutch-Serbian Business Association would you like to single out this year?

— This year, we will have the opportunity to see each other again in person after some time, since we plan to host a Benelux networking cocktail reception on 24th June with our colleagues from the Belgian-Serbian Business Association. We hope that the rest of the year will allow us to have more networking events, but also that we will have the opportunity to organize educational events for our members. Also, as I have mentioned before, this year, we will hopefully meet with relevant government institutions, introduce the DSBA to them and launch a fruitful cooperation with them.

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THE NETHERLANDS

Building Economic Bridges

I consider myself to be in a very privileged position. I work for the country I was raised in, the Netherlands, in the country my parents were raised in, Serbia

I N T E RV I E W

y job is to help build economic bridges between the two and connect people and businesses to achieve great things. I firmly believe that combining Dutch innovation, creativity and pragmatism with Serbian resourcefulness, craftsmanship and skill is a recipe for success.

In fact, that is proven on a daily basis by the diverse and very successful Dutch business community in Serbia.

Companies bring together the best of both worlds, and employ more than 17.000 people, in order to brew excellent beer, build ships, promote urban greenery, create IT solutions, solve water management issues and grow produce that we enjoy every day and much more. A person in Serbia comes into contact with something Dutch that makes their life more enjoyable 4-6 times a day, ranging from using WiFi, booking a holiday, to going to the supermarket or ordering a beer. We’ll be launching a campaign called ‘’Dutch Drops’’ soon, where we’ll be introducing you to all things Dutch.

What excites me in that regard is that we are seeing a considerable increase in interest from new companies in the Netherlands to join the Dutch business community in Serbia

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OLIVER ŠAROV Senior Policy Adviser for Economic Affairs & Trade Embassy of the Netherlands

DSBA started by four companies in 2018, and now is approaching 50 members and brings together SME’s and companies like KLM, AholdDelhaize and Heineken

and those who are located here already are thriving and expanding. The numbers show that. When I started in this position four years ago our bilateral trade was ca. €700 million. We are now fast approaching €1 billion. The Netherlands is a more important export market for Serbian companies than countries like Turkey, the US and China according to the Serbian Statistics Office. The Dutch-Serbian Business Association, started by four companies in 2018, is now fast approaching 50 members and brings together SME’s and companies like KLM, Ahold-Delhaize and Heineken.

Why is all this important? Because it helps this country develop through knowledge-transfer, employment, sustainable business practices and increased investments. It also sends a clear signal. A signal that the reforms that are being successfully undertaken to safeguard macro-economic stability, improve the business environment and increase transparency and accountability pay off and are incredibly important.

In the eyes of investors, Serbia can and is showing itself to be a reliable, stable and promising destination for business. Now is the time to double-down and ensure that a clear track-record

in rule of law reforms and increased transparency amplify that impression further still. The potential to increase our cooperation is enormous and ranges from waste water management, port infrastructure, medical equipment, urban greening, IT to agriculture.

On our part, we are pro-actively working to facilitate B2B, B2G and G2G cooperation, promote Serbia as an investment destination, and support reforms – to build bridges. At the moment we are focusing on water, agriculture and urban greening. For the latter, keep an eye out for our Green Groove campaign that highlights our activities in the scope of the Green Year – bee gardens, a green business coalition, anti-smog tower in Knez Mihailova and urban garden. This all makes working at the Embassy, and particularly in the economy and trade field, a very busy but exciting and energizing place to be.

While the pandemic, and I will only mention that horrible thing once, has slowed everyone down to an extent, it is now time to pick up where we left off and move forward with renewed energy. Make sure you ‘’stay in touch with the Dutch’’ on our social media and follow the exciting things we are doing.

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The success of European Strut & Support Manufacturer Our cooperation with Dutch companies, customers and suppliers is good and based on long-term collaboration C O R P O R AT E

uropean Strut & Support Manufacturer (ESM) is a Dutch company founded in 2013 under the name Todebo, with production facilities based in Serbia. ESM engages in serial production of metal construction parts and components for wholesalers and wholesale customers. We talked with Tom de Boer, the company's founder and Managing Director, about how the coronavirus pandemic affected the company's operations, business development and cooperation with other Dutch companies.

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How did ESM survive the year of the coronavirus and what kind of effect did it have on business?

— In terms of production, 2020 was a year rife with challenges. Apart from the "nervousness" on the CRU (metal stock exchange) and a slight increase in the price of steel, it was business as usual until March. However, right at the beginning of the lockdown, when the forecast for Q2 2020 remained unchanged, I consulted our customers about how they saw developments and they all had the same message "please, continue to produce and deliver". The message was clear and at the Zoom meeting with our team Serbia, I said "take care and charge full steam ahead". Despite many uncertainties, internal challenges and our trucks, that transported raw materials and finished products, being delayed for several days at the EU borders, we successfully delivered goods on time, which in 2020, brought us excellent OTD and PPM customer rat-

ings. This success is largely due to my colleagues, of whom I am very proud, and who have continued to work in extremely difficult circumstances, while following the Covid protocol.

What lessons did you learn in 2020?

— Many of them. I do my business mainly from the Netherlands, and almost all of our customers and some suppliers come from the EU, so we are already quite used to video calls. We have also expanded network communication within our organization, which we also want to continue doing in the future. It wasn’t always personal, but it was quick and efficient. The corona time was a big test for our five ISO standards because we had to avoid as many personal contacts as possible and hence we were much more dependent on those procedures, instructions and related processes that were not really corona-proof. All in all, we simplified the communication, production and logistics system, which resulted in us working faster and more efficiently.

How would you rate your cooperation with Dutch companies and what is the advantage of doing business with them?

— By the way, we classify ourselves as a Serbian company of Dutch origin, and so do my colleagues, because 99% of our customers and a large segment of suppliers come from the EU. Our cooperation with Dutch companies, customers and suppliers is good and based on long-term collaboration.

The company’s name - European

TOM DE BOER Founder and Managing Director

One of the first plans is to find a new location in Sremska Mitrovica where we will expand in accordance with the increased volume of work and our production needs

Strut & Support Manufacturer (ESM) – is recent and says a lot about your business.

— True, the new name speaks more about the company than the earlier one - Todebo (an acronym of my name) - and is key to preparing and realizing our other expectations and plans. The new name tells you exactly what we are - European, strut support and manufacturer.

Since founding the company, you have been constantly investing and working on improving your business.

Do your clients know how to appreciate that?

— Yes, that was a difficult decision, but I believe that the only way forward is to constantly invest in people, systems and partially automate. Last year, we invested more than ever. We implemented a robot welding cell and changed the NC for CNC machines. Accordingly, we will increase our capacity and guarantee continuous quality in all circumstances. Our common goal is that together we can produce easier, faster and more while, at the same time, facilitating the production process for our production colleagues.

What are your plans?

— We have recently defined short- and long-term plans for the next 5 years.

To begin with, I can say that one of the first plans is to find a new location in Sremska Mitrovica where we will expand in accordance with the increased volume of work and our production needs. We will be happy to inform you about other news and plans in one of your next issues.

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THE NETHERLANDS

The Netherlands is the Biggest Investor in Serbia

Total trade with the Netherlands in 2020 amounted to 784.6 million euro, which is a 4% growth compared to 2019

C O O P E R AT I O N

rade between the Republic of Serbia and the Kingdom of the Netherlands is carried out in several economic sectors - agriculture, metal processing industry, renewable energy sources and the IT sector. Agriculture is of special importance for the economic development of Serbia. Its position is valuable because it is not only the driving force behind rural development, but it also has great economic, social and ecological significance.

The fact that the European Union enters the final phase of shaping the single market, which vision, in basic outlines, was announced more than five decades ago, carries great importance for Serbia.

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Projects related to the creation of a single market contain a complex set of measures at the institutional, economic, technological and organizational level, and for Serbia, the EU represents a potential market of about 500 million consumers who are ready to spend almost a quarter of their earnings on food. Cooperation in the field of agriculture is especially promising.

Agriculture is one of the areas where cooperation between Serbia and the Netherlands could be much more intensive, since the Netherlands, although a small country, is the second-largest exporter of agricultural products in the world, right after the United States.

According to the data of the Serbian Bureau of Statistics, the total trade

The total trade with the Netherlands in 2020 amounted to 784.6 million euro

with the Netherlands in 2020 amounted to 784.6 million euro, a 4% growth compared to 2019 (755.5 million euro).

Serbian exports to the Netherlands fell by 2% compared to 2019 and amounted to 368.2 million euro. In trading with the Netherlands, Serbia has recorded a deficit of 48.2 million euro. The export to import ratio is 88.4%. The total trade in goods with the Netherlands in 2019 was valued at 755.5 million euro, which was an 11% growth relative to 2018 (682.5 million euro). In that period, our exports increased by 16% compared to 2018 and amounted to 376.3 million euro. That year, Serbia still recorded a deficit in trading with the Netherlands which stood at 2.9 million euro.

The import to export ratio was 99.2%.

Serbia mostly exported the following products to the Netherlands in the Q1 of 2021 - circulating pumps for heating systems; ships and vessels for the transport of goods and passengers; frozen raspberries without added sugar; protein concentrates without milk fats; parts and accessories for motor vehicles (8701-8705); liquid pump parts and finished textile products. Serbia mostly imported the following products from the Netherlands in the first quarter of 2021 - medicines for retail sale; polyether alcohols in primary forms; road tractors for semi-trailers, pork, styrene and onion bulbs, fresh or chilled.

Based on the data collated by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia - Customs Administration, by 2020, 3,673 companies from Serbia did business with the Netherlands. Ac-

cording to the data from the Agency for Business Registers of the Republic of Serbia, 485 active companies, which are majority owned by the Dutch citizens, i.e. legal entities registered in the Netherlands, are registered in Serbia.

There are numerous initiatives from both the Dutch and Serbian sides for further improvement of economic cooperation, through collaboration and investments in the food industry, chemical industry (production of drugs and plastic materials and plastic products), production of construction materials, wood industry and furniture production, machinery and metal industry, transport and logistics (transport of goods and passengers), textile industry and high technologies (especially in the field of services), where the two countries have already established good re-

Export

Import

In order to attract even more investments from the Netherlands, Serbia needs to work on promoting its economy and economic potentials

lations which now need to be further developed with the aim of joint entry into third markets, i.e. with an emphasis on programming services in production processes, transport and automotive industry.

The total net investments made by Dutch companies in Serbia in the period 2010-2020 amounted to 4.1 billion euro, which makes the Netherlands the no 1 foreign investor in Serbia. In 2019, the largest total net investments made by Dutch companies in Serbia amounted to 707 million euro. In order to attract even more investments from the Netherlands, Serbia needs to work on promoting its economy and economic potentials through various seminars and workshops in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce of the Netherlands.

Balance Source: The State Statistical Bureau

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THE NETHERLANDS

by MINA VUČIĆ

Aiding the Nation Despite the corona pandemic, the Dutch economy is in relatively good shape

ECONOM Y

he COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a historic blow to the Netherlands’ economy, but a swift policy response, effective support to people and firms, and a workforce with comparatively strong digital skills have helped the country to weather the crisis relatively well. It is important to use the recovery to address long-term challenges including housing shortages, imbalances in the labour market and environmental pressures. The crisis hit the Netherlands after years of strong growth, and a high degree of digitalisation and teleworking prior to the

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pandemic dampened the blow. Past fiscal prudence provided room for a strong government response, and swiftly implemented support measures for firms prevented a wave of bankruptcies and meant unemployment rose only slightly.

Up until now, the Netherlands' government has adopted two emergency aid packages to mitigate the direct effects of COVID-19 on the economy and to provide temporary liquidity support to businesses, including loan support and tax deferrals, in order to avoid large scale increases in unemployment and insolvencies. The country’s

The outlook for the Dutch economy is favourable and permanent damage from the coronavirus crisis will remain limited

government has committed to firmly uphold the 2030 and 2050 mitigation goals, which ensure a green foundation under the economic recovery from COVID-19. The National Climate Agreement commits the government to reduce domestic GHG emissions by 49% in 2020 and the Climate Act includes a binding target to reduce domestic GHG emissions by 95% in 2050.

The outlook for the Dutch economy is favourable and permanent damage from the coronavirus crisis will remain limited. The economy will also grow more than expected, by 3.2 % this year instead of the 2.2 % growth expected

in March. Despite the Corona pandemic, the Netherlands’ economy is in relatively good shape as the support policy worked well to dampen the effects on the labour market and production and to prevent major permanent damage. Economic growth could be even higher if Netherlands residents start spending the massive amount in savings they built up last year, however the population isn’t happy to run and spend their money so fast, which is understandable.

The Dutch Central Banks stated that the Growth in the euro zone’s fifth largest economy is expected to rebound to 2.2% in 2021 and 4.2% in 2022, following a historically deep 3.8% contraction due the COVID-19 pandemic last year. Additionally, there were major concerns that the coronavirus crisis would lead to an increase in unemployment. Those concerns proved to be largely unfounded as the Dutch government currently expects a decrease in unemployment, followed by an increase to 4.1 % of the working population next year. That is about the same level as the average unemployment in the years before the crisis.

The Netherlands, just like the rest of the EU states, has sent a plan to the European Commission for spending, including grants and loans to receive the unprecedented joint borrowing by the organization and rebuild the economy, as well as make it greener and more digital after the COVID-19 pandemic. To get the money, The Netherlands has to

earmark 37% of the funds to reduce CO2 emissions and 20% to make the economy better prepared for the digital age through investment and reforms that will get piecemeal financing from the EU until 2026.

A country’s economy is made in its regions, as that is where companies, knowledge institutions, governments and civil society organizations come together, and form specific clusters and strengthen the business climate.

The Dutch provinces have produced a post-COVID 19 recovery plan for their

The Dutch provinces have produced a post-COVID 19 recovery plan for their regional economies

regional economies. It aims to recover and revitalize regional economies through an investment program aimed at sustainable innovation in the areas of labour market, circular economy, energy transition and digitalization. The government is currently preparing its policies and measures for the economic recovery, including green investments required to strengthen the economy's sustainability. The package will be announced mid-September. It is expected plans will also be aligned with the EU's Recovery and Resilience Facility.

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THE NETHERLANDS

Heat Transition

E N E RGY

The next three to four years will be an exciting time for geothermal energy in the Netherlands. The great opportunities represented by geothermal energy in the heat transition for the Netherlands also face some sensitivities for public acceptance ccording to the Climate Agreement, the first 1.5 million households must be natural gas-free by 2030. However, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency concludes after a new analysis that this does not seem feasible due to the high costs. A tour of the experts shows where the problem is, but also offers perspectives.

Which districts will depart from natural gas before 2030? Municipalities determine this in the Heat Transition Vision that they must have ready by the end of 2021. Making districts free of natural gas stands and falls with making the demand for heat sus-

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tainable. The built environment is responsible for 28 percent of our energy consumption. 69 percent of that is for heat. Why are we still at the beginning of the heat transition while we are already so far with electricity?

New sustainable options for natural gas require an investment that does not seem to be easy to recoup at the moment. Everything is more expensive than the current gas supply. Affordability seems to be a major spanner in the works of the heat transition.

There are a number of basic strategies for the Heat Transition Vision.

Municipalities are charged for this per district and must choose what

Heating networks play a crucial role in making the heat supply of the built environment more sustainable

is the best alternative to natural gas in a specific situation. In order to get everyone involved, it must become financially interesting, not only for the end user but also for the entrepreneur. Many questions from municipalities are about this and the answer is not yet complete. The subsidies and schemes that are further elaborated in the context of the Climate Agreement and the new Climate Act are decisive for the feasibility of the Heat Transition Visions.

Heating networks play a crucial role in making the heat supply of the built environment more sustainable.

In many places in the Netherlands with concentrated buildings, a heat network can be used well. At the moment, four percent of the homes are connected to a heat network. This is expected to grow to 10 to 30 percent in the coming years.

The development of heat networks goes hand in hand with the development of geothermal energy in the built environment. Geothermal energy is an essential source of heat for making the demand for heat in the Netherlands more sustainable. More than twenty geothermal heat projects are currently under development in the built environment.

Summer events in Amsterdam msterdam is the Netherlands’ capital, known for its artistic heritage, elaborate canal system and narrow houses with gabled facades, legacies of the city’s 17th-century Golden Age. Its Museum District houses the Van Gogh Museum, works by Rembrandt and Vermeer at the Rijksmuseum, and modern art at the Stedelijk. Cycling is key to the city’s character, and there are numerous bike paths There is always something to do in Amsterdam. As one of the world’s most dynamic cities, Amsterdam’s social calendar is a whirlwind of festivals, fairs, concerts, markets, performances, exhibitions and more! Here are some of the best annual events in Amsterdam.

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JUNE AND JULY 11 June to 11 July - Amsterdam will be one of 12 cities hosting Euro 2020 (postponed to 2021) football matches as part of the UEFA 60th-anniversary celebration.

July (TBC) - Julidans celebrates all that contemporary dance has to offer.

9-11 July (TBC) - Trek Food Truck Festival moves about the country serving myriad tasty treats touching down in Amsterdam in July.

July to August (TBC) - Kwaku in Zuidoost brings colour and frivolity to Nelson Mandela Park. It's all-set to go ahead in 2021. Check their website for details.

24-25 July (TBC) - Milkshake dazzles.

31 July to 8 August - Pride paints the city with rainbow hues. No need to choose, just do it all in true Amsterdam style.

AUGUST 5-8 August - Is electronica or hip-hop, grime and R&B more your thing?

Take in techno and dance acts at Dekmantel.

7 August - The good times continue to cruise on with the Canal Parade, an all-out fun and fabulous party in the city centre - the major event of Pride Amsterdam. Don your best rainbow hues as you cheer on the spectacular floats as they make their way along the city’s adored canals.

7 August - Get down with the crew at Appelsap.

13-22 August - Fans of classical, jazz and world music won’t want to miss the unique Grachtenfestival where orchestras and bands play along and on Amsterdam’s canals.

27-29 August - Uitmarkt, a festival that launches the city’s premier museums, theatres and music venues’ new cultural programme.

Late August - Bijlmerbios is an outdoor film festival in the city’s vibrant southeast.

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THE NETHERLANDS

by MINA VUČIĆ

T R A DI T ION

King’s Day

Go with the Flow

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ne of the most important days of the Dutch year is King’s Day. This is when around a million people gather and descend down the city streets to celebrate the birthday of their king. King Willem Alexander was born on 27th of April and so there are many parties, flea markets and, of course, the king himself visits one or several cities with his family. The bucket list for this national event is to wear something orange, visit one of the many free markets, and most importantly, toast for the king with an Oranjebitter. Every street, canal, balcony and terrace is covered with orange-clad revelers – so don’t expect

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to get anywhere in a hurry. Just take your time and go with the flow.

Originally, the Deutch celebrated Princess’ Day for Wilhelmina’s birthday which was on the 31st of August.

The feast involved many children’s games and decorated streets. When Wilhelmina became the new queen after her father’s death, it was changed to Queen’s Day. King Willem Alexander has followed in this tradition. He was born on the 27th of April and this became the official King’s Day in 2014.

The Dutch royal family bears the name: House of Oranje. This literally means the color orange. As a result, it has become Holland’s national color.

On King’s Day people wear orange

tors or locals don’t have a boat to get on, they can still enjoy the nautical fun from dry land. The corner of the Prinsengracht and Amstelveld is a great spot to watch the parade of King’s Day boats go by, or of course one of Amsterdam’s 1,500 bridges. Also, while most of the visitor attractions in Amsterdam close down on King’s Day, some museums remain open for those who want to soak up some culture or simply get some respite from the crowds, The Van Gogh Museum, the Rijksmuseum, the Stedelijk Museum and the Anne Frank House will all be open on King’s Day! A lot of energy is required for the day as parties begin the night before, with numerous clubs and open air fes-

tivals, which kick off at midnight. From huge open-air dance events to small stages set up in neighborhood cafes.

Believe it or not a staggering 135,950 tickets went up for sale for the 12 major King’s Day dance festivals in 2015!

The Dutch sure know how to party.

Every feast requires a toast. On King’s Day, the people make a toast to the king with Orange Bitter, a bright orange liqueur. The drink was created in 1620 to celebrate Prince Fredrick Henry’s victory. Initially it was not well-known but after William of Orange became the first king, it was produced once more. Since then, Orange Bitter has been closely associated with the Dutch royal family. Definitely, a must try celebration. Proost!

Flea markets are held in parks and streets, with many people offering their unwanted possessions, music or other entertainment for sale

clothes, often even donning orange wigs or make-up. One man’s trash is another’s treasure, and King’s Day is certainly a day for treasure hunting. On King’s Day, people are allowed to sell things on the street without requiring a permit. Flea markets are held in parks and streets, with many people offering their unwanted possessions, music or other entertainment for sale.

In Utrecht, the flea markets even start the night before King’s Day. Believe it or not, an average street seller makes 90 euros on the birthday! Not bad!

Amsterdam’s canals are flooded with a sea of orange on King’s Day, as thousands of brightly decorated party boats fill the famous waterways, gliding their way through the city. If visi-

SPECIAL EDITION

47

THE NETHERLANDS

by MINA VUČIĆ

Equality For All The Netherlands stand as a freedom role model C U LT U R E

he culture of the Netherlands is diverse, reflecting regional differences as well as the foreign influences built up by centuries of the Dutch people's mercantile and explorative spirit. The Netherlands and its people have long played an important role as centre of cultural liberalism and tolerance.

The symbols of Dutchness—wooden shoes, lace caps, tulips, and windmills— are known throughout the world, but they tell only a small part of the story of contemporary life in the Netherlands. This country is all about freedom and liberty, the country’s culture, rooted in the acceptance of others.

Twenty years ago, just after the stroke of midnight on April 1, the mayor of Amsterdam married four couples in City Hall as the Netherlands became the first country in the world with legalized same-sex marriages. This is one of the first steps the Netherland’s took to promote their free spirit.

Amsterdam has long been hailed as a leading champion of LGBT rights – not only in the law but also in spirit. The city’s love affair with tolerance began as far back as 1811, when homosexuality was decriminalised un-

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der Napoleonic law. A hundred years later, one of the world’s first openly gay bars, The Empire, was already serving cosmos in Amsterdam; and the official Dutch LGBT organisation, was founded in 1946. While New York holds the badge of honour for throwing the first gay-pride event in 1969, the Dutch launched their own Pink Saturday shortly thereafter, in 1979. Still

hosted in a different city every year, Pink Saturday’s mission is geared towards activism.

Every year in early August, Amsterdam celebrates the equality of straight, gay, lesbian and transgender people.

The Canal Parade is of course the most famous event at Pride in Amsterdam.

A string of gaudily decorated boats sailing on the Prinsengracht canal and

part of the Amstel. The parade is held on the first Saturday in August and draws countless visitors every year.

Amsterdam’s famous canals are at the centre of the city’s highlights and home to the world-renowned Canal Parade where the floats actually float and the public line the canals to take in the spectacle. Thousands of people stand along the canals to see the parade and celebrate equal rights for all. It is Holland’s way of showing that it welcomes and accepts people of all sexual orientations, including gays, lesbians, and transgender. The city is a vibrant rainbow of events in gay and straight venues alike, with dance parties, film screenings, sporting events, debates, exhibitions and much more.

Pride Amsterdam is official added to the Intangible Heritage Inventory of the Netherlands as the essential part of the Dutch culture. The Netherlands shows a very high level of social acceptance to the LGBT community. Through the years, social acceptance towards LGBT groups has been increasing and the Netherlands received top rankings in several surveys into the attitude towards the groups.

Pride Amsterdam remains one of the biggest and best celebrations of gay pride around the globe. It traditionally starts on the last Saturday of July and lasts until the first Sunday of August, attracting more than 350,000 participants and visitors who stay and play in Amsterdam.

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49

THE NETHERLANDS

TOURISM

The City of Freedom You won’t regret a stay in Amsterdam

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SPECIAL EDITION

eople from all over the world travel to Amsterdam for its liberal culture and quirky sights. As one of Europe’s most open-minded cities, Amsterdam offers an array of accommodations, bars, and festivals, as well as a thriving cannabis culture with over 200 coffee shops in the city center. The city has only 821.000 inhabitants, however, it gets visited by around 14 million tourists each year. Around 4.5 million of those are Dutch tourists and more than 9.5 million are foreign visitors.

Believe it or not, in the 13th century, Amsterdam was a small fishing village located behind a dam which protected the city from the water enter-

P

ing from the Amstel river. At that time, it was located at the lade of the Amstel. And this is when the name of one of the most famous cities in the world was formed-Amsterdam.

A crazy fact about Amsterdam is that it is a city which is built on polesa lot of them- a total of eleven million, placing the city a meter or so below sea-level. The train station of Amsterdam Central alone needs 9000 poles to be supported whereas a normal house needs only 10. These wooden poles of 15-20 meters are placed in a sandy layer which is around 11 meters deep. However, Amsterdam’s Royal Palace sits on more than 13,500 wooden piles. As this city actually lies below sea level, it has managed to stay above the water

cally disappear in the Amsterdam canals every year. Only 8.000 – 10.000 get picked out by a special boat from the municipality, the rest dissolve in the waters. The city has over 400 km of bike lanes and several storage facilities to keep your bike safely at a nominal charge. It’s plain and simple: Bikes have the right of way.

Yet another wild fact about Amsterdam is that there are more than 2,500 houseboats, many of which you can stay in instead of a typical hotel.

Located along the canals and Amstel River, these floating homes are built

thanks to its iconic canal system and wooden poles as support. Unfortunately, the swampy marshes beneath make for poor foundations and have resulted in several cracks in staircases and slanted buildings over the years.

As many already know, Amsterdam’s symbol is the bicycle. There are more than 1 million bicycles in the city, however the population is only around 821.000 people. The city has a long-running reputation as a cycle-friendly city, so it’s not surprising to hear frantic bells ringing from cyclists throughout the day. Over 60% of its residents cycle every day, and there are about 3 bicycles for every car on the road. Yearly around 100.000 bikes get stolen, and spontaneously, 25.000 bikes are thrown out or simply magi-

on a concrete pontoon and have all the features of a normal house, such as restrooms, kitchens, and bedrooms.

A definite must try for the adventurous tourists! Poezenboot often draws a crowd of cat lovers as it is the only houseboat in the world used for abandoned cats. Also known as Catboat, this floating sanctuary is about 650 meters southwest of Amsterdam Central Station. It’s open to the public and entrance is free, but donations are welcomed to provide for the cats’ welfare.

All in all, buy a ticket to Amsterdam, you won’t regret it!.

There are more than 2,500 houseboats, many of which you can stay in instead of a typical hotel

SPECIAL EDITION

51

Netherlands The

FOCUS ON

2021

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We are Continuing Our Expansion in the Region All the major construction sites were active throughout 2020, and there was no shortage of demand either MIA ZEČEVIĆ CEO Novaston Real Estate Platform

ovaston is an independent real estate, asset and property platform consisting of the following companies: Novaston Asset Management, Novaston Project and Facility Management and Novaston Marketing Consultancy. We specialize in providing services in the field of real estate management, project management, facility maintenance, as well as marketing in Serbia and the region. We talked with Mia Zečević, CEO of Novaston Real Estate Platform, about the company’s operations during the coronavirus pandemic, about their success and future plans.

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You are a company that manages numerous retail parks and shopping malls. To what extent has the pandemic affected their operations, and the retail sector in general?

— After the outbreak of the pandemic, the retail sector was among the first to experience a sudden stop. However, retail parks, known in our country as outdoor shopping centers, have been working most of the time, so this concept has proven to be very resilient and good for doing business in different conditions. The fact that the mitigation of measures caused high interest in visiting the shopping centres, with all the safety and hygiene measures introduced, showed that people prefer enjoying in shopping centres and retail parks. In June last year, a new BEO shopping centre was opened in Zvezdara on as much as 130,000 square meters of built-up area, and at the end of October of the same year, the largest shopping center in the region, "Gallery Belgrade", was open, spreading on 300,000 square meters. Recently, the Novaston platform participated in the process of selling two retail stores in Serbia between two influential investors in the Balkan region: NEPI Rockcastle and BIG CEE, as a specialized associate

INVESTORS ARE CHOOSING TO BUILD BUILDINGS THAT INCLUDE RESPECTING DISTANCE MEASURES, FLEXIBLE WORK SPACE, FRESH AIR IN CONFERENCE ROOMS, CONTACTLESS DOOR OPENING, DIGITALIZATION during the entire process, from the idea of buying/selling, through the complete due diligence process to the final signing of the transaction agreement. The real estate purchase agreement with a total contracted value of 61 million euros was signed in June, for retail facilities Kragujevac Plaza Shopping Center (total area for rent of 22,300 m²) and Kruševac Retail Park (total area for rent of 8,600 m²).

Did the pandemic and work from home affect the development of business facilities?

— When it comes to office space, we are witnesses that con-

struction has not stopped during the previous period. All large construction sites were active throughout 2020, during which several significant projects, i.e. business facilities were finalized (e.g. UŠĆE 2, Navigator 2, the last building within the Green Heart Complex). On the other hand, there is no shortage of demand either. There is a need for attractive business facilities that meet the conditions imposed by the pandemic. More and more often, investors are choosing to build buildings that include respecting distance measures, flexible work space, fresh air in conference

rooms, contactless door opening, digitalization... We are currently working with large companies to develop such business facilities. One of them is the "Revolution" office space, with gross area around 10,000 m², built by Granit Invest. Our company Novaston Asset Management, which is part of the platform, is the exclusive agent for renting this office space, which is currently following the latest trends in construction and interior design, with the application of green building standards, but also with the application of elements for COVID-19 prevention.

Also, our platform is partner with companies Scheinder Electic and Novkabel in development of the state-of-the-art business and logistics center in Novi Sad. The first project will be the reconstruction of industrial hall of the former Novkabel factory into a high-tech facility with a gross area of around 17,000 m², which is expected to open in 2022.

What are your further plans?

— Strategically speaking, our goal for the upcoming period is to further expand our business when it comes to the office space sector and the logistics sector. We have successfully continued cooperation with almost all major investors on the market, such as IMMOFINANZ, NEPI Rockcastle, GTC, Ikea Serbia, but we also established some new cooperation with large companies such as Scheinder Electic, MK Group, Aleksandar Gradnja, Novkabel. We are also continuing to expand in the region, primarily in Croatia. Significant projects in the tourism sector are also planned. We are part of the Petram Resort & Residences residential-tourist project, in north-western Istria, which offers more than 250 luxury properties for vacation or housing, spreading on gross area of around 100,000 m². This is the largest project of its kind in Croatia. We also plan several projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, as well as on the territory of Kosovo.

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ECONOMY

by Žikica Milošević

A Missed Historical Opportunity Why did the West allow such an inadequate answer? ondon's The Economist warns us that the socalled "global West" had a historic opportunity to demonstrate its superiority in two things - in vaccine production technology and solidarity with the less fortunate. Still, the West “has missed an empty goal”, to use the football vernacular.

And this wouldn't even be an altruistic act but rather a sound financial endavour with earnings growing by 17,900% in the space of four years. Simply put, this happened to the G-7 group, which managed to miss the "deal of the century" and invest a lot and get even more in return. They had the money to invest and generate such a gigantic and secure profit. But they failed to do so! Now, in addition to economic damage, this has caused a diplomatic fiasco.

much more than Western countries. The vaccine-diplomacy is a successor of the medical aid diplomacy from 2020. If the West cannot prove to be better than the two eastern giants, how will it prove to be more efficient in battling climate change? China gives loans to those countries which need infrastructure and which are largely ignored by the West. Russia is preparing to flood Europe with another gas pipeline (Nord Stream 2), and at the same time, it has launched a huge gas pipeline to China and is building another big one in the direction of Pakistan.

Nice phrases coming from the West have not been enough for a long time. How, then, will America be trusted to be able to fight a better battle against climate change if the West cannot cope with the pandemic and help the world save itself from a small virus?

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SLOPPY ANSWER AND SELFISHNESS At the G-7 meeting, participants heard a lot of pleasant phrases and promises, which followed the sloppy reaction to the pandemic. Boris Johnson promised a billion doses of vaccines as a gift to poor countries, and Biden promised that America alone would give 500 million. He also underlined that the U.S. had an idea to show that the West can provide more to developing countries than China and Russia. But it all came too late and was quite inconsistent with the situation on the ground. The promises were huge, and the donations miserable. The UK has ordered 5 times more vaccines than it needs to vaccinate the entire population with two doses. Now, the country has decided to donate some of the doses. The COVAX system has several billion doses missing. Although G-7 has the money and power to combat the pandemic, The Economist believes that anything but a clear answer to the question when is the whole world going to be vaccinated, would be scandalous and would show the selfishness and incompetence of the G-7.

WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED? For 70% of the entire world's

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THE WEST HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW THAT IT WAS TECHNOLOGICALLY AND MORALLY SUPERIOR AND DISCIPLINED AND AT THE SAME TIME, EARN MONEY, BUT IT HAS MISSED OUT ON THIS COLOSSAL OPPORTUNITY population to be immunized by April 2021, only 50 billion dollars were needed. If that was done, the individual economies would open up, planes would fly, goods would start moving, people would start shopping and tourists would flood the world. Everything would be as before. By 2025, global growth would be $9 trillion higher than currently projected, considering the ongoing inoculation rate. This is all a purely economic calculation, and if we included the humanitarian aspect of it, we can safely assume that a few million more lives would be saved either by preventing people from dying from COVID or preventing people from dying from curable diseases that are currently either inoperable or put on the back burner due to hospitals being inundated with COVID patients. The cost would be only 0.13% of the

G-7 countries' GDP, which is five times less than the amount given to help other countries, not counting the huge amounts allocated to help their own economies and citizens. If a group of the most developed and supposedly most moral countries in the world cannot solve such a simple task and help humanity, while earning money along the way, then what's the point – The Economist asks.

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE END? Joseph Biden wrote columns in which he praised America's ability to solve global problems, and to show the world that the authoritarian methods allegedly used by Russia and China are not a better option. He presented Russia and China as a danger to world order, but, in reality, those two countries helped the global development

NOW IS THE BEST CHANCE WE HAVE If the West has managed to produce great vaccines in record time, now is time to offer them to the world to heal it because if the virus continues to circulate in poorer countries, after Delta-strain, which requires twice as many antibodies for immunity to fight it, there will be other strains named after Greek letters. In that case we are back to the start. The West had the opportunity to show that it was technologically and morally superior and disciplined (the Russians have their own internal problem with exporting too many vaccines and their population largely does not want to be vaccinated), and at the same time, earn money. However, the West has missed out on this colossal opportunity. And other players jumped, while creating a good image of themselves in the process.

The West has been reacting with irrational rage (we've all heard stories that the virus escaped from the Wuhan laboratory) and is demanding an international investigation, while ordering countries around to impose sanctions if China does not allow an "inspection" (like the weapons of mass destruction inspection in Iraq in 2002, probably?). What a pity!

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Zepterme - for Life, Rest and Enjoyment on Hot Days A special summer offer is waiting for you f you want to escape the scorching city heat and enjoy the shade of green canopies, a lush park and the many beautiful natural attractions of Vrnjačka Banja, choose one of the fully equipped apartments at the luxury Zepterme complex.

This facility will be an ideal place to live, relax and enjoy, and as it is located on the Promenade, with all the attractions of this spa resort at your fingertips.

There is a shopping centre with exclusive restaurants and shops on the ground floor of the magnificent building, while if you exercise regularly, you’ll be pleased to know that the gym will be open 24 hours a day. If you want to achieve a balance of body, mind and spirit, at the Spa & Wellness zone you will have at your disposal various types of massages, sauna, salt room and float therapy to rid the body of toxins and awaken positive energy.

One-bedroom apartments have already been sold, and considering that a special summer sale is underway, now is the right time for one of the two- or three-bedroom apartments, ranging in size from 43 to 183 square metres, to become yours. Each of them is built with top-notch materials -

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ZEPTERME IS AN EXCLUSIVE FACILITY, ENVISAGED AS AN OASIS OF PEACE FOR ANYONE WANTING TO ESCAPE FROM EVERYDAY STRESS AND OBLIGATION

from the parquet floor, doors and windows, tiles, through furniture and kitchen elements, to household appliances and electronics.

At a recent media weekend in Vrnjačka Banja, on behalf of the investor Zepter Real Estate, a member of the company's executive board, Đorđe Rašić, showed all the advantages of this apartment complex: "Zepterme is an exclusive facility, envisaged as an oasis of peace for anyone wanting to escape from everyday stress and obligations. The unique complex, consisting of fully equipped one, two- and three-bedroom apartments, is the first of its kind in our country and is designed as a state-of-the-art place for relaxation. It incorporates top quality materials, doors and windows, tiles, parquet floor, furniture, kitchen elements, household appliances and electronics because the comfort and convenience of our tenants always come first."

The construction of the Zepterme complex will be completed in May 2022, so you can spend the next summer in your new oasis of peace.

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BUSINESS NEWS

03 01

UROBANK AND MANCHESTER UNITED E CONTINUE THEIR LONG-STANDING COOPERATION

Eurobank signed a new agreement on cooperation with Manchester United, a globally renowned football club, and thus continued the successful partnership established in 2014. Thanks to this collaboration, Eurobank clients can become owners of co-branded debit, credit and prepaid payment cards with the Manchester United logo. In addition to standard functionalities, such as contact-free transactions and online payments, owners of these cards also have the option of participating in numerous promo campaigns with valuable prizes, including a visit to the Old Trafford Stadium. Seven years of the partnership between Eurobank and Manchester United have brought impressive results.

Thanks to the continuation of this partnership, this trend will be continued and Eurobank clients can expect new benefits and interesting activations in the upcoming period.

02

RAG FOUNDATION AWARDS THE THREE T BEST IDEAS WITH USD 5,000 EACH

At the 2021 Forum for Green Ideas, the Trag Foundation selected the three best entrepreneurial ideas based on the principles of sustainable development, which were awarded USD 5,000 each. The selected projects will participate in the Balkan Green Ideas (BGI) regional competition at the end of September, where they will once again have the opportunity to win additional funds, in the amount of USD 5,000 to USD 10,000.

The first place was won by the Women's Center Užice from Užice, for the Retex project, an innovative center for the collection and recycling of textiles within the program for economic empowerment of women from vulnerable groups. Second place went to NewPen D.O.O. from Smederevska Palanka, which produces graphite pencils and crayons from old newspapers and recycled paper, while the third place was won by the association Pruži korak from Belgrade for the Pruži korak Biz app - pedometer for mobile phones, intended for companies for their CSR campaigns in which they motivate employees to do good for themselves and the community by walking.

This year, 26 projects applied for the competition, of which 10 were shortlisted and had the opportunity to present their green and innovative projects to the jury during the Forum.

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HE SUMMER SEASON T ON THE KOPAONIK HAS STARTED

The summer season in the Kopaonik mountain resort officially began on June 17th. The Gorski Hotel & Spa and Ski Resorts of Serbia (Skijališta Srbije) marked the very beginning of summer with a traditional event.

To further boost domestic tourism and promote Kopaonik as a summer destination, the Gorski Hotel & Spa and Ski Resorts of Serbia, as every year, have invest-

ed significant resources so that, with the arrival of summer, all visitors will have the opportunity to enjoy a variety of activities.

The official opening was traditionally marked by the launch of entertainment and adrenaline-fuelled activities. On the first day of the opening of the summer season, visitors were able to enjoy free use of all available activities on the mountain. Tourists also have at their disposal mountain bikes, panoramic cable car rides, an adventure park, bobsleigh, zip line, mountain cart and many other interesting facilities. "The latest novelty is that, as of July 1st, all visitors to the Kopaonik Mountain will be able to enjoy a panoramic gondola ride to Brzeće, the top of the Kopaonik. A special walking tour from the gondola exit to the Karaman ridge cable car has been devised, which will allow visitors to easily reach the very centre of Kopaonik," said Ana Jovanović, head of the marketing department of the Ski Resorts of Serbia.

04 PANEL ON THE FUTURE

OF THE RIGHT TO ACCESS INFORMATION IN SERBIA HELD

Amendments to the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance reduce citizens’ rights and protect bodies of authority, concluded the participants in the event. Civil society organization Partners for Democratic Change Serbia (Partners Serbia) and the Coalition for Freedom of Access to Information organized a gathering on July 10, 2021 with the aim of ensuring a wider public debate on draft amendments to the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance. The event was moderated by Partners Serbia Executive Director Ana Toskić Cvetinović, while the panelists were: Nemanja Nenadić of Transparency Serbia, Pavle Dimitrijević of the Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability (CRTA),

05

EAM EUROPE: EIB INVESTS T IN SAFER AIR TRAFFIC ON KEY AIR CORRIDORS OVER THE WESTERN BALKANS

The European Investment Bank (EIB) will lend €10.3 million to Serbia and Montenegro Air Traffic Services SMATSA Llc (SMATSA), which manages air traffic over the two countries. The corridors controlled

by SMATSA are key regional, European and global air routes used by tens of mil-

Tanja Maksić of the BIRN media organization and Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection Milan Marinović. In the introductory speeches, most panelists said that the proposed draft significantly lowered the attained level of the right of the public to know, while failing to address the issues observed throughout the years of implementation of the Law. lions of passengers and cargo operators from across the globe. The EIB funds will enable SMATSA to upgrade the reliability and interoperability of its air traffic control services and align them with the Single European Sky (SES) regulations, an EU-level policy introduced to better connect Europe by offering a single regulatory framework for air transport. The investment will improve connectivity across Europe and increase the quality of core air transport infrastructure and services, contributing to more efficient regional travel. This will support further integration of the Western Balkans with the European Union. The additional funding falls under the EIB’s immediate response to COVID-19 adopted by Team Europe in May 2020 to aid the socioeconomic recovery of the Western Balkans. To date, the EIB has invested over €2.3 billion in the transportation sector in Serbia, contributing to increased traffic safety and sustaining the country’s economic growth.

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BUSINESS NEWS

06

MILLION DINARS FOR SUPPORT TO 3 FARMERS FROM THE MUNICIPALITY OF PRIJEPOLJE

The Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation, Prijepolje Municipality, and Zlatibor Regional Development Agency today signed an agreement that officially launched the 2021 Prijepolje Farm Development Fund. This innovative funding vehicle is supported by the USAID Competitive Economy Project. Prijepolje is the second municipality in the Zlatibor District, after Čajetina, to set up a farming development fund. The fund’s purpose is to provide multi-annual assistance to local farmers, with a total of 3 million dinars in capital provided by the Prijepolje local government and the Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation.

Since its inception, the Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation has invested over half a million euros to assist Prijepolje.

Ana Divac, Co-Founder and Chairperson of the Board of the Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation, recalled how the Foundation had been “seeking for sustainable options to help rural areas”, which led to the “idea to set up a completely new fund to assist farmers and food producers, in whose development we had support from the USAID Competitive Economy Project”.

The officially accredited Zlatibor Regional Development Agency has been supporting local and regional development for 19 years.

07

BENELUX NETWORKING COCKTAIL 2021

After more than a year, members of the Belgian-Serbian Business Association (BSBA) and Dutch-Serbian Business Association (DSBA) finally had a pleasure of meeting in informal atmosphere at the Benelux Networking Cocktail “Catch-up and Connect” at Mama Shelter, on June 24th.

It was the first member-gathering since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, organized jointly by the two associations. Around 40 representatives of member-companies attended the event, including the guest of honor - honorary President of the BSBA Board of Directors, ambassador of Belgium, H.E. Koenraad Adam.

The cocktail was an excellent opportunity to network, meet and catch-up in informal and relaxed atmosphere, after almost a year and a half of being apart.

This was a second successful joint Dutch-Belgian event in the last two years, with the goal of continuously strengthening and enhancing business cooperation between the members of the two associations in all aspects. Warmly welcomed by the members, it proved, once again, the importance of making cooperation between the two associations a tradition.

08

ALED MEMBERS N ELECTED A NEW BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND REFORM PRIORITIES BY 2025

Over the next four years, the new NALED Board of Directors will be led by Stanka Pejanović (Hisense), Igor Vukašinović (Apatinska pivara), Svetislav Atanasov (Coca-Cola), Goran Kovačević (Gomex) and Vladislav Cvetković (PwC) in front of members from the ranks of econo-

09

IB PROVIDES €200 E MILLION TO DEVELOPMENT FUND OF SERBIA

The European Investment Bank (EIB), the bank of the European Union, will provide a €200 million loan to the Development Fund of the Republic of Serbia for the faster recovery of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-caps from COVID-19. This is the sixth operation in the country implemented by the EIB under the Team Europe financial package for the Western Balkans, taking total EIB

10

LION’S RUN

Lion’s Run takes place twice a year, in the summer and in the winter, on different locations worldwide, and this year, Belgrade has been chosen as one of the destinations. Dozens of luxury car models paraded through Belgrade, and some

my. Local governments will be represented by Nikola Dašić (Kragujevac), Goran Cvetanović (Leskovac) and Nikola Vučen (Smederevska Palanka), while representative of the civil sector will be Tijana Gajić (Pexim fondacija), according to decision of the members of NALED at the 15th annual and 8th electoral assembly of the organization, which was held at the Hyatt Hotel today.

According to the members’ decision, the reform priorities of the new management and NALED’s priorities by 2025 will include environmental protection (average grade 4.6), development of eUprava, fight against grey economy and development of the health system (grade 4.4). This is followed by support for the strengthening of entrepreneurs, SMEs, improvement of the tax system, as well as the modernization of municipal services and the improvement of property and legal issues and conditions for construction.

support for accelerating Serbia’s recovery from COVID-19 to €380 million. The loan will speed up the recovery of the private sector, boost economic activity and help protect over 47 000 jobs, while creating 5 500 new job opportunities for people in Serbia.

The EIB funds will be available to Serbian small businesses for working capital needs and financing longer term investments under more flexible and favourable conditions. They are designed to maximise impact and offer different disbursement options, enabling SMEs in urgent need of liquidity to access the funds faster.

of the models that caught the most attention were: Koenigsegg Agera R, Ferrari SF90 Stradale, Mercedes AMG GT Black Series P One Edition, Nissan GT-R Nismo, Ferrari F8 Tributo, Lotus Exige JPS, McLaren 765LT Coupe, Ferrari 812 Superfast, numerous Lamborghini and Porsche models, as well as other exotic models from prestigious supercar factories.

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PEOPLE & EVENTS

06

JUNE

SWEDEN'S NATIONAL DAY

Since 1983, Sweden has been celebrating its National Day on June 6, in honour of Gustav Vasa who was crowned king in 1523, which laid the foundation of Sweden as an independent state. This year, the celebration of Sweden's National Day was different,

due to the ongoing epidemiological situation. The Swedish Ambassador to Serbia, H.E. Mr Jan Lundin, modestly celebrated this year's National Day at his official residence, in the presence of the members of the diplomatic corps in Serbia.

Joachim Waern, Minister-Counsellor, Deputy Head of Mission and H.E. Jan Lundin with his wife Milica

07 JUNE

CONCERT OF THE COUNTESS OF WESSEX STRING ORCHESTRA

Due to the global pandemic, instead of having a big traditional annual reception, the British Embassy in Belgrade marked the Queen's official birthday with a gala concert by the Countess of Wessex String Orchestra. Harpist Zora Djordjević, a final year stu-

dent of the Stanković Music School in Belgrade, also gave a short performance at this outdoor concert.

The British Embassy and several British companies have joined forces in a fundraising campaign to buy a new harp for this educational institution.

H.E.Anthony Godfrey, US Ambassador with his wife and H.E.Sian MacLeod, OBE, British Ambassador with husbend

16 JUNE

AUSTRIAN TRADITIONAL VIENNESE DINNER

H.E. Sian MacLeod Obe, British Ambassador

At a cocktail party marking the traditional Viennese heurigen evening which took place in the garden of the Austrian Embassy, the Ambassador of the Republic of Austria H.E. Nikolaus Lutterotti and his wife Mrs. Betina Lutterot-

H.E. Nikolaus Lutterotti and his wife Mrs. Betina Lutterotti with H.E. Sem Fabrizi, EU Ambassador and Mrs. Rebeca Fabrizi

58

ti played hosts to friends and associates. After a long break due to the situation caused by the Covid pandemic, the guests had the opportunity to socialize, eat and drink in a relaxed atmosphere.

H.E. Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, Ambassador of Russia and H.E. Nikolaus Lutterotti

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PEOPLE & EVENTS

16 JUNE

WELCOMING THE JUBILEE – 20 YEARS OF GROWTH

Cocktail reception at Belgrade’s Botanical Garden is the first in a line of events marking AmCham’s 20th anniversary. ‘It’s a lovely feeling to meet you face to face again at an AmCham event after such a long time. In Serbia, AmCham has achieved a great deal in bringing about regulatory change, but we believe there are still things in our

Dragan Penezić, BAT and Amalija Pavić, AmCham

16 JUNE

country we can change if we bring our knowledge, ideas, and strength together. It is because of you, our member companies, and your engagement and support, that we have been able to endure for these 20 years, and I thank you for it’, said Zoran Petrović, President of the AmCham Serbia Board of Governors, addressing the guests.

Zoran Petrović, President of the AmCham Serbia Board of Governors

"TOGETHER AGAIN" For the first time in over a year and a half, the Italian-Serbian Chamber of Commerce organized an informal meetCHAMBER’S ing for our members and friends. Over 50 representatives EVENING of Italian and Serbian companies and institutions participated in the event. The President of the Italian-Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Mr Giorgio Marchegiani, and the

Ambassador of the Italian Republic, HE Carlo Lo Cascio, inaugurated the evening by welcoming all guests. On the occasion of this convivial meeting, our Chamber also distributed to the public the new edition of the InFocus Italy 2021 magazine, prepared by our Chamber in collaboration with our member Diplomacy & Commerce.

Mr Giorgio Marchegiani and HE Carlo Lo Cascio

16 JUNE

WORKING MEETING "MINISTER'S CONVERSATION WITH BUSINESS PEOPLE"

Tomislav Momirović, Minister

The Slovenian Business Club hosted a working meeting with the Minister of Construction, Transport, and Infrastructure of the Republic of Serbia Mr Tomislav Momirović. The event was attended by over 80 members of the Slovenian Business Club. The Club’s president, Danijela Fišakov, opened the event and pointed out that, given the very challenging last year, the club man-

Danijela Fišakov (SBC) and Minister Momirović

aged to quickly and successfully adapt to the rather peculiar circumstances caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. H.E. Damjan Bergant, Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia in Belgrade, also addressed the guests. The President of the SPC handed a plaque to Minister Momirović and thanked all the members of the SPC for coming to the working meeting in such large numbers.

H.E. Damjan Bergant

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PEOPLE & EVENTS

17 JUNE

EXHIBITION OF CILE MARINKOVIĆ’S PAINTINGS OPENED IN PARIS

Cile Marinković, Tamara Vučić and Maja Gojković

17 JUNE

VASCO DANTAS PERFORMED IN BELGRADE

JUNE

Cile Marinković

After two successful performances in 2019 and 2020, in which Vasco Dantas, the renowned pianist, conquered the audience in Belgrade, the Embassy of Portugal in Belgrade decided to mark the end of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union with a live

H.E. Thomas Schieb, German Ambassador with his wife

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EXE GROUP HOSTED N MEMBERS OF THE CROATIAN BUSINESS CLUB

concert on 17th of June, at the Kolarac Foundation, within the ArtLink Festival. On that occasion, before the concert, the Ambassador of Portugal to Serbia, Maria Virgínia Mendes da Silva Pina, organized a cocktail party, which was attended by a large number of ambassadors.

H.E. Carlo Lo Cascio, Italian Ambassador with his wife and H.E.Maria Virgínia Mendes Da Silva Pina, Portuguese Ambassador

A member of the Croatian Business Club, NEXE Group Company, a leading regional manufacturer of construction materials, hosted other members of CBC in their factory in Sremski Karlovci. The guests were greeted by Majda Petković, Director of NEXE Group AD POLET IGK, and together with her colleagues in-

Members of Croatian Business Club visiting the Nexe group

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France continues to improve” with this exhibition and upcoming programs. The exhibition’s author Cile Marinković said on the occasion: “The theme of the exhibition is passers-by. This is the theme that I’ve been working on for years”. The exhibition was opened under the patronage of the wife of the President of Serbia, Tamara Vučić.

An exhibition of Milan Marinković Cile’s paintings titled “Prolaznici” (Les passants), which brings the spirits of Belgrade and Paris together, opened at the Cultural Centre of Serbia in Paris. Minister of Culture and Information Maja Gojković said at the opening that “the traditionally rich cultural cooperation between Serbia and

Vasco Dantas

troduced them to the impressive production halls and production opportunities. After that, the hosts organized a visit to Bajilo Wine Cellar in Sremski Karlovci, where the guests had the opportunity to taste several different types of wine from this wine cellar that has a long family tradition.

Marija Radulović, President of CBC and Stanko Krstin, member of the Managing Board of the Union of Employers of Vojvodina

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PEOPLE & EVENTS

21 JUNE

COCKTAIL ON THE OCCASION OF THE VISIT OF THE ISRAELI DELEGATION TO SERBIA

H.E.Yahel Vilan and Gary Koren

21 JUNE

0th 7 ANNIVERSARY OF THE FRENCH INSTITUTE

H.E.Yahel Vilan, Israeli Ambassador to Belgrade, hosted a cocktail party in his residence on the occasion of the visit of Israeli delegation to Serbia, which included Gary Koren, Deputy General Manager, Chief of Eurasia and West Balkans Sector, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel and Mr Dan Oryan, Head of the Balkans Department, Minis-

Vuk Drašković, Serbian writer and politician

try of Foreign Affairs of Israel. In addition to bilateral consultations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, the visit included a meeting with the Minister without Portfolio, in charge of Innovation and Technological Development Nenad Popovic , as well as a meeting with representatives of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce.

H.E. Tomáš Kuchta, Ambassador of the Czech Republic, H.E.Thomas Schieb, Ambassador of Germany, Mr Dan Oryan and Gary Koren

The French Institute in Serbia marked its 70th birthday with artistic performances in front of the Institute’s building in Knez Mihailova Street. In the presence of Manuel Bouard, director of the French Institute in Serbia, H.E. Jean-Louis Falconi, the French ambassador to Serbia, and Maja Gojković, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture of Serbia, Aleksandar Ilić, ballet dancer and acting director of the

Belgrade Cultural Centre, former Institute’s scholarship recipient, Tanja Basta and Mia Tufegdžić, a student of the bilingual class at the 10th Belgrade Gymnasium, spoke on the occasion. The French Institute in Serbia is an integral part of the global network of more than 100 French institutes and its mission is to build new roads between France and Serbia through culture, education, innovation and knowledge.

H.E. Jean-Louis Falconi

21 JUNE

WORLD REFUGEE DAY – UNHCR

French ambassador and Maja Gojković

World Refugee Day 2021 focuses on the power of inclusion.

The shared experience of COVID-19 has shown us that we only succeed if we stand together. Given the chance, refugees will continue to contribute to a stronger, safer, and more vibrant

world. Therefore UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency's World Refugee Day campaign this year is calling for the greater inclusion of refugees in health systems, schools, and sport. Only by working together can we recover from the pandemic.

Francesca Bonelli, UNHCR Representative in Serbia

Marija Obradović, Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Darija Kisic Tepavcevic Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs and Francesca Bonelli, UNHCR Representative in Serbia

Photo: Vesna Lalić, Nova.rs

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PEOPLE & EVENTS

25 JUNE

FAREWELL RECEPTION OF THE INDIAN AMBASSADOR

H.E. Sheikh Mubarak Bin Fahad Al Thani, Ambassador of Qatar in Serbia and H.E. Subrata Bhattacharjee

26

JUNE

23rd EDITION OF AFRO FESTIVAL

H.E. Abdelhamid Chebchoub

26

JUNE

DIPLOMATIC TENNIS TOURNAMENT FOR CHILDREN

After three years in the office, the Indian Ambassador to Serbia, H.E. Subrata Bhattacharjee, is leaving for Chile. On that occasion, His

Zoran Radojičić, Mayor of Belgrade and Ambassador of India, H.E. Subrata Bhattacharjee

One of the most important events of the Museum of African Art in Belgrade – Afro festival was successfully organised during last weekend in June. The festival was attended by many visitors from Belgrade, region and abroad as well as many diplomats and their families. Afro festival is the only Festival in Serbia and the region that promotes the rich cultural heritage and amazing creativity of the African conti-

nent through traditional museum exhibitions, lectures, concerts, music, dance and art workshops and presentation of the rich culture, tourism and gastronomy of Algeria, Angola, Guinea, Congo, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Namibia. Afro festival 2021 was opened by the Dean of African ambassadors H.E. Abdelhamid Chebchoub, Ambassador of Algeria to Serbia and Director of MAU Marija Aleksić.

Marija Aleksić, Director of MAU and H.E. Abdelhamid Chebchoub, Ambassador of Algeria

The first Diplomatic Tennis Tournament for Children was held at SC Novak. It completed its mission, money was raised for education of preschool children. Participants in the tournament were people from the diplomatic corps in Belgrade, and the entire event was held under the auspices of the Embassy of Cyprus, in cooperation with the Novak Djokovic Foundation and with the support of the Pro-

con Group sports agency.

The winner was the representative of the Serbian delegation, Pavle Erić, who defeated the representative of the delegation of the European Union to Serbia, Paul-Henry Presset. After the finals and the award ceremony, the Ambassador of Cyprus and former athlete Demetrios Theophylactou, also addressed the gathered company.

H.E. Demetrios Theophylactou, Ambassador Of Cyprus To Serbia and Emina Potrić, Fundraising Manager at Novak Djokovic Foundation

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Excellency hosted a reception at the Embassy for numerous diplomats and friends of the Indian Embassy.

Pavle Erić and Paul-Henry Presset

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PEOPLE & EVENTS

11 JUNE

DIPLOMACY & COMMERCE APATIN TOUR

The Municipality of Apatin, in cooperation with the company Color Media Communications, organized the Diplomacy & Commerce Apatin Tour, designed to bring the beauty and rich history of this Vojvodina municipality closer to ambassadors and foreign delegations.

The municipality of Apatin was visited yesterday by diplomatic representatives of 10 countries, including the ambassadors of Germany, Belgium, Egypt, Mexico, Cyprus, Israel, Cambodia, Albania, as well as officials of the embassies of Slovakia and Austria.

They were welcomed in the Great Hall of the Municipal Assembly of Apatin, by the President of the Municipality Dubravka Korać, who introduced the distinguished guests with basic information about the Municipality of Apatin, but also opportunities for economic, cultural and tourist cooperation.

“We are delighted to host this important gathering in Apatin.

This is a great opportunity to present ourselves and our municipality with its potentials”, said the mayor on that occasion During the day, the diplomats had the opportunity to get acquainted with the cultural and historical sights of Apatin, the natural resources of the Upper Danube Special Nature Reserve, as well as to visit the Apatin Brewery.

Sailing on the Danube

H.E. Vutha Tan, Ambassador of Cambodia,H.E. Adam Koenraad, Ambassador of Belgium, H.E. Thomas Schieb , Ambassador of Germany, Sywatha PO,First Secretary Embassy of Cambodia, Dubravka Korać,, President of the Municipality Apatin, H.E. Carlos I. Felix Corona.

Ambassador of Mexico, H.E. Ilir Boçka, Ambassador of Albania, H.E. Amr Aljowaily, Ambassador of Egypt,Robert Čoban, CPG, H.E. Yahel Vilan, Ambassador of Israel, Boris Konček, Third Secretary of the Embassy of Slovakia and H.E.Demetrios Theophylactou, Ambassador of Cyprus

The ambassador's walk through Apatin

Diplomatic representatives of 10 countries, including the ambassadors of Germany, Belgium, Egypt, Mexico, Cyprus, Israel, Cambodia, Albania, as well as officials of the embassies of Slovakia and Austria

Visit the Apatin Brewery

H.E. Thomas Schieb , German Ambassador and Dubravka Korać, President of the Municipality apatin

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How Will Immofinanz’s Business in Serbia Develop We noted that in 2020 the turnover in our retail parks was slightly higher than in 2019 in the overall portfolio, apart from lock down days. This obviously proves that the retail park concept worked outstanding also during the pandemic period

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WEBSITE

GERALD GRÜLL

the pandemic, as international investors are showing more interest for good reasons. Visitor frequency in our STOP SHOPs has quickly returned to the pre-crisis level and our retail formats include low rental and operating costs for tenants. Additionally, retail parks allow visitors to enter the shops directly from the parking areas in order to avoid contact points.

All of this makes the retail parks more attractive compared to other investment opportunities in this area.

When it comes to our investments in Serbia, IMMOFINANZ remained open for new opportunities, so we continued the expansion of our retail park brand in this market and acquired four new properties in Leskovac, Sabac, Sombor and Zajecar. Serbian STOP SHOP portfolio now includes 14 properties.

Head of Retail at IMMOFINANZ

eturning to the almost usual business, as we remember it before the pandemic, it became clear for various industries that COVID-19 had profound and unprecedented effects.

This also goes for the retail sector that had to adapt to consumers’ new habits. But one thing is certain – despite the crisis, the market continues to expand, at least when it comes to retail parks that showed to be a real crisis-resilient format. Austrian IMMOFINANZ, leading listed commercial real estate investor in Central and Eastern Europe, in Serbia known for its STOP SHOP brand for retail parks statewide, made an example on how to make the most out of the crisis and Gerald Grüll, Head of Retail at IMMOFINANZ, brought us closer to how the success is being driven by solid retail strategy and steady plans.

R

How has the retail park business been affected by the pandemic?

— COVID-19 has definitely had an impact on most of the retail property tenants – but to a very different extent and, especially, with different long-term effects. Being the biggest retail park owner and operator in CEE, we see that especially discounters in all branches have been very successful due to consumers‘ rising price-consciousness during a difficult economic period. We noted that in 2020 the turnover in our retail parks was slightly higher than in 2019 in the overall portfolio, apart from lock down days. This obviously proves that the retail park concept worked outstanding also during the pandemic period.

How eager are investors, especially foreigners, to get involved in this sector?

— Investors always look at yields, income and other financial driv-

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WE CONTINUED THE EXPANSION OF OUR RETAIL PARK BRAND IN THIS MARKET AND ACQUIRED FOUR NEW PROPERTIES IN LESKOVAC, SABAC, SOMBOR AND ZAJECAR en indicators. Currently there is a lot liquidity in the market and investment alternatives are rare in the commercial real estate field.

Therefore, the demand for retail parks has increased. For the time being, the CEE region offers the most attractive yields and prices in the retail business.

Despite the pandemic, retail

park assets are still being traded, including a recent deal between IMMOFINANZ and Mitiska REIM, Belgian investor specialized in these types of commercial properties. Has the current crisis in retail changed the prices and is now the time to buy or does demand outstrip supply?

— Retail parks have certainly gotten more attention than before

What is your professional opinion on the future of retail parks how do you think the sector will develop?

— We have seen that retail parks have proven to be crisis resilient and we believe this format has a reasonable future. One trend is the rise of e-commerce and the change of consumer behaviour.

That’s why we started a pilot project to establish a channel for digital customer communication “STOP SHOP Wallet” app, which allows customers to get access to special promotions of their favourite brands directly to their phone. Consumers moved online and we have to meet them there.

The issues of sustainability and product origin will also play a role because consumers are placing greater value on regional origin.

Grüll concludes that there is one constant aspect that will remain a trend in consumer behaviour - the need for product discovery and human interaction that only happens when people go shopping in person.

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HIS BEST BELOVED

The Tainted Genius of Rudyard Kipling The author of the “Just So Stories” is a case study in reconciling admiration with judgment lready, in his mid-30s, the Bombay-born writer Rudyard Kipling had begun to polarise the public. In 1901 satirists claimed that “the British Empire was placed in his charge” as a precocious child, “and it is still there”. By 1910, writes John Batchelor, the hardline imperialism that Kipling developed alongside his friendship with the colonial plunderer Cecil Rhodes meant that “his reputation was damaged, and would remain damaged”.

Yet the novelist Henry James, another friend, thought the master-craftsman who wrote “Kim”, “The Jungle Books” and some of his age’s finest short fiction was “the most complete man of genius…I have ever known”. T.S. Eliot championed his verse and called him “the greatest Englishman of letters of his generation”. More recently Salman Rushdie, also Bombay-born, dubbed Kipling “a writer with a storm inside him”, who “creates a mirror-storm of contradictory responses”.

Today he is an avatar for debates over Britain’s past, and a case study in reconciling admiration with judgment. Critics and readers fret over the paradoxes of an author who, in a poem, thanked “Allah Who gave me two/ Separate sides to my head”. This ingenious, versatile and empathetic literary magpie, once a teenage journalist in colonial Lahore, became “a ravenous observer of the world”. Nonetheless, his allegiance to British imperialism “pulled him into explicitly racist writing”. How could the strident jingoist and the shape-shifting magician share the same brain?

Like Kipling himself, Mr Batchelor lets the big picture emerge from small details.

Fluent, engaging and gently erudite, his account centres on the making of the “Just So Stories”.

These 12 “alternative creation narratives” were originally meant for Kipling’s beloved daughter Josephine, who died, aged six, in 1899; they were published in 1902. He combined text, drawings (see pic-

A

KIPLING SYMPATHISES WITH THE ADVENTURERS YET DEPICTS THEIR SOMETIMES PAINFUL COMEUPPANCE ture) and design into an enchanting package that young readers still enjoy.

This trumpeter of empire somehow emerged from the arts-and-crafts aestheticism of late-Victorian Britain. His uncle

by marriage was the august painter-designer Edward Burne-Jones.

His father was John Lockwood Kipling, an artist with Pre-Raphaelite connections who headed the Mayo School of Arts in Lahore (now Pakistan’s National College

of Arts) and researched traditional Indian skills. As Mr Batchelor says, in the “Just So Stories” and elsewhere, Rudyard was meticulously attentive to the presentation of his work.

With their talking animals, wondrous transformations and incantatory, fairy-tale voices, the “Just So Stories” use imagery and mythology not just from the India of Kipling’s fondly remembered youth but other farflung places he had visited, from South Africa to New England, Australia to the Amazon. Several tales, including “The Elephant’s Child”, “How the Leopard Got his Spots” and “How the Camel Got his Hump” pivot on acts of rebellion and disobedience, with the discoveries—and punishments— that ensue. Kipling sympathises with the adventurers yet depicts their sometimes painful comeuppance.

For his part, Mr Batchelor sees the stories as “jewel-like works of art”. His analysis takes in the main themes of Kipling’s life and work, from his “fluid and protean” sense of identity, to his infatuation with Rhodes and his Pre-Raphaelite heritage. Not least, there is the “deep and lasting” grief for Josephine that imbues the tales with a subtext of mortality and loss.

But he stumbles when he says the “Just So Stories” are “a text from which the concerns of the empire are successfully excluded”. Kipling’s flag-waving brand of globalisation, a cultural eclecticism that mingles fascination with condescension, his gift for identifying both with underdogs and overlords—these traits surface in his fables, deepening and darkening them. Even here, what Mr Batchelor calls the “obvious split” in Kipling “between the creative writer and the political writer” never quite holds firm. Those “separate sides to my head” are eternally locked together.

From The Economist, published under licence.

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

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INTERVIEW

70 Years of French Institute in Serbia It is true that the French Institute of Serbia is celebrating 70 years, but it remains younger and more dynamic than ever, constantly reinventing itself, heading henceforth towards a „Third Location“ logic the most important aspects of those collaborations?

— We promote a model of inclusive cooperation, which embeds all parts. For this reason, we work with national institutions, civil society organizations as well as European and international partners. We aim to strengthen bilateral links between artists, scientists, academic personnel, students and young workers, teachers... In order to do that, we welcome any initiative representing an innovative, inclusive methodology, able to defend our thematic priorities, which are, in the frame of the process of Serbia’s European integration, the fight against any form of discrimination and particularly those regarding women or LGBTQIA+ persons, the environmental protection and the fight against climate changes, the reconciling between citizens of ex-Yugoslav states and the promotion of the assets of the youth.

BERTRAND MILLET Attaché for Cooperation French Embassy in Serbia | French Institute of Serbia

n 21st of June we will also launch the broadcasting of a series of video messages called „OUR joint history“, celebrating the scientific cooperation in the field of human sciences between French and Serbian researchers. Stay tuned on our social networks to discover those stories!

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How do you plan to mark this jubilee and what programs would you especially emphasise?

— Actually, we will celebrate the anniversary through this whole year! A big celebration is planned on June 21st, with multiple artistic and culinary activities outside, in front of the French institute, in a festive way. But there were as well events such as „Journées de Molière“ in the past, that were part of the celebration. And we expect to host in September a very interesting and interactive exhibition about the joint archaeological work that has been done during last 20 years in Caricin Grad, a very beautiful collaboration between Prof. Dr Vujadin Ivanisevic from the Academy of Arts and Sciences of the Republic of Serbia and Prof. Dr. Catherine Vanderheyde, from the University of Strasbourg. This exhibition should travel from Belgrade to Leskovac and also in France in Paris and Strasbourg. I’m quite excited about this project.

And finally a quite ambitious project is to expose some pictures from the long history of the former French cultural centre, nowadays the French Institute: this project is ongoing, a part of it will be presented on June 21st, but for this one too, stay tuned on our social networks this summer to follow this very rich history…

How do you see the educational, science and University connections between Serbia and France nowadays?

— Every year, between 250 and

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WE PROMOTE A MODEL OF INCLUSIVE COOPERATION, WHICH EMBEDS ALL PARTS. WE WORK WITH NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS AS WELL AS EUROPEAN AND INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS 300 Serbian students contact with Campus France space in Serbia to get information about studies at universities in France and about 650 Serbian students choose France as their study destination because of the quality of its higher education, the excellency of its diplomas and the French influence in all scientific, cultural, artistic and professional domains.

Even during this period, difficult because of the global health crisis, Campus France space in Serbia has continued to maintain information sessions and hosted on line Serbian students who wish to continue their higher education in France, in order to provide them counsel and optimal orientation.

We want to reinforce even more the relations between researchers both from France and

Serbia and to develop academic cooperation. For this reason, a call for proposals entitled « Higher education in Western Balkans » was launched by French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

This project aims to place higher education and the research in the centre of French influence diplomacy. It will foster the launch of initiatives of academic cooperation between French institutions and research centres and to allow to those which already started to be supported in Serbia and in Western Balkans, by the promotion of French pedagogical engineering, while keeping a European dimension of it all.

French institute works with both official institutions in Serbia and NGO sector as well. What are

How long have you been in Serbia so far and what are your most important personal goals during your mandate here?

— I arrived in Serbia almost four years ago and I’m here at the end of my mandate. Those years were extremely rich and exciting and they allowed me to meet an incalculable number of exciting, passionate and very active personalities. My goal was to empower university and scientific cooperation, and, for this reason, I’m happy to find that despite the global pandemic, their number and quality have increased. I wanted also the French Institute of Serbia to take back a more important place alongside civil society organizations and, particularly, actors and actresses of fights against discrimination.

I’ll keep an emotional souvenir of expositions that we welcomed in our premises on the occasion of Pride parade in September, in partnership with the association Da Se Zna or the crew of Belgrade Gay Pride. I think that these cooperation, these new habits of working together with NGOs, will continue and become more intense in the future.

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COMMENT

SRBATOM Successfully Implementing the Green Serbia Project In order to raise awareness among citizens about the importance of environmental protection and its preservation for future generations, SRBATOM has been implementing the Green Serbia project throughout the country Billion Trees".

In the municipality of Topola, during the planting of several different species, the Ambassador of Brazil to the Republic of Serbia, H.E. Eduardo Botelho Barbosa, expressed his satisfaction with being a part of the Green Serbia project, which is very close to him, as well as to his country, because Brazil is one of the 18 countries with the greatest biodiversity in the world. The Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus, H.E. Demetrios A. Theophylactou, said that he believed that each of us bears a great responsibility for maintaining, even restoring the destroyed segments of the environment.

Kikinda is the fifth city in which the Green Serbia project was realized. On the occasion, the Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of the Republic of Portugal, João Melo Alvim, stated: “Despite the differences in population, we are both medium-sized countries, with SLADJAN VELINOV Director of SRBATOM

o raise awareness among citizens about the importance of environmental protection and its preservation for future generations, the Serbian Radiation and Nuclear Safety and Security Directorate (SRBATOM), has been implementing the Green Serbia project in ten towns across Serbia. In 2021, the project was realized in Zrenjanin, Bačka Palanka, Priboj, Topola and Kikinda, and five more towns are planned. The director of SRBATOM, Sladjan Velinov, stated that we did not inherit the planet Earth from our ancestors but rather borrowed it from our descendants and that is why we have a responsibility to preserve it for future generations. The project is being implemented with the support of the Provincial Secretariat for Urbanism and Environmental Protection, several embassies and the Color Media Communications Company. „SRBATOM's activities related to environmental protection are numerous. Some of them include monitoring of radioactivity in the environment, setting up an early warning system for nuclear or radiological accidents, as well as setting up a system of licensing, control and inspection that prevents any radioactive materials from contaminating the environment and thus endangering it. In addition to the aforementioned, SRBATOM strives to improve the quality of the environment with the Green Serbia project and to contribute to good human health by landscaping, which, in addition to afforestation, is the primary fac-

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WE DID NOT INHERIT THE PLANET EARTH FROM OUR ANCESTORS, BUT RATHER BORROWED IT FROM OUR DESCENDANTS AND THAT IS WHY WE HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO PRESERVE IT FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS tor for a better quality of our environment,“ Mr Velinov added.

He also said that he was glad that SRBATOM was not alone in the pursuit of that noble goal, underlining that they had the support of the provincial government, as well as numerous local governments and embassies in Serbia. During the planting of seedlings in Bačka Palanka, the Ambassador of Israel to Serbia, H.E. Yahel Vilan, pointed out that it was a great honour for him to be part of the mission to make Serbia greener, adding that afforestation was one of Israel's greatest achievements.

On that occasion, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark to Serbia, H.E. Susanne Shine said that she hoped that such events would serve as inspiration for the advancement of two key and connected occasions, the transition to green energy and the preservation of forests and biodiversity. After the Green Serbia project went to Bačka Palanka, the planting continued in the municipality of Priboj, where the Ambassador of Pakistan to Serbia, H.E. Sharejar Akbar Khan spoke about one of the largest tree-planting programmes in the world, which was being implemented in Pakistan and is symbolically called "Tsunami of 10

many similar areas and almost identical distribution of population within the country. Even when I drive down your motorways, there are parts of Serbia that remind me of Portugal."

Last year, the Green Serbia project was implemented in 10 towns/municipalities throughout Serbia, including Apatin, Sombor, Čačak, Šabac, Beočin, Surčin, Vranje, Novi Bečej, Bač and Zaječar. Due to achieving great results, the project continued this year as well.

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INTERVIEW

59th Anniversary of the Milena Pavlović Barili Gallery The Gallery has 894 works of art by Milena Pavlović Barili in its collection, 40 of which have the status of "great significance for the republic" What artwork can we see at the Milena Pavlović Barili Gallery which we cannot do in other places where Milena's artwork is exhibited?

— Here you can see her artwork arranged in chronological fashion, from the academic, school period all the way to the American period. Other galleries showcase just segments of her creative opus. Besides, here you can experience an authentic atmosphere in which Milena was born and grew up. Visitors can get a complete picture of where she came from and what kind of family she had.

As she herself said, “nowhere is the sky as beautiful as in my yard”.

You can really see that if you come to the Gallery. Visitors can also see her library, the dolls she played with, her first shoes, her easel on which she painted, her crayons that are still in their original box…

The gallery has 894 pieces of artwork, currently, about 40 are on display, but we hope that with the construction of the new gallery we will have the opportunity to show the public up to 400 of Milena’s works.

LJILJANA DABIĆ Administrator of the Milena's Home Foundation

he Milena's Home - Milena Pavlović Barili Gallery Foundation was established as a sign of gratitude and in memory of the famous painter Milena Pavlović Barili following the wishes of her mother Danica Pavlović Barili to donate the property she inherited from her parents and the art collection of her deceased daughter to the Serbian people and to preserve this legacy as a whole. The Gallery has 894 works of art by Milena Pavlović Barila in its collection, 40 of which have the status of "great significance for the republic". We talked with the Foundation’s administrator, Ljiljana Dabić, about the Gallery and the plans for the construction of a new one.

T

The story about how the Milena Pavlović Barili Gallery came about is an interesting one.

Could you tell us more about it?

— Milena’s mother, Danica, carefully preserved Milena's artwork, even during the Second World War when she kept it in boxes in the basement of the house, fearing that someone would steal it.

Her wish was that, after Milena's death, her artwork would be presented to the public. She tried to do that in every way possible, but at that time, it was not allowed for a private person to establish a foundation, so she contacted President Tito and asked him to send someone to evaluate the artwork. Tito subsequently sent the culture committee, whose members visited Danica and determined that close to 40 works were absolutely invaluable. They then decided to allocate funds towards constructing a gallery. The construction began in Požarevac in 1955, and the Gallery is now located in the courtyard extension.

The construction of the other part of the gallery was supposed

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NOWHERE IS THE SKY AS BEAUTIFUL AS IN MY YARD! to be financed by the Požarevac authorities, but the local government was under considerable pressure to deal with the consequences of the floods, so mysteriously, the gallery is today being used for completely different purposes. It was first appropriated by the Svetlost Company (today’s Elektromorava power distributor), so our fellow citizens are actually paying their electricity bills at the Milena Pavlović Barili Gallery. Danica was shocked by what was done and out of revolt, sold 16 of Milena's works to the National Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art. When

the town leaders concluded that a big problem was looming ahead and that Požarevac would lose this artwork, they offered Danica to demolish the old part of the house, that had fallen into disrepair, and to build a temporary gallery in its place, while the rest of the house would be remodelled so that Danica could live in it for the rest of her life. Danica agreed to that and bequeathed all her movable and immovable property to the town authorities. Thus, in 1962, this front space was transformed into a gallery as a temporary solution and has remained so to this day.

The Milena Pavlović Barili Gallery is also engaged in publishing. What have you done in that respect so far?

— Through publishing, we tried to point out other aspects of Milena's work that are not so wellknown to the public, such as the fact that she wrote poetry. We have published her book of poetry in five foreign languages. We also published the book "A study on high fashion and high art" which was created on the basis of the awarded best Master's thesis in art by the young art historian Stefan Žarić, who wrote an excellent paper on Milena's fashion design and its beginnings.

This is the first time that someone has researched that part of her work. Also, our fellow citizen Miodrag Kovačević, who has been researching the character and artwork of Milena Pavlović Barili for

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years, wrote the book called "Discovering Milena, new fragments about Milena Pavlović Barili", which we also published.

Last year, we published her mother's diary called "Milena's Life". Furthermore, together with the Historical Archives, we made a 35-minute documentary about nana Bosa, Milena's grandmother, who was the founder of Kolo Srpskih Sestara charity organization. The film is very emotional and shows the character that Milena developed thanks to her traditional upbringing. The film also shows the environment from which the family originated, who firmly adhered to traditional values. This year, we plan to publish the diary of her uncle Boža, who was a soldier on the Salonica front. This is important for Milena because she was very close to her uncles. We also found Milena's correspondence in the archive, which our writer Mirjana Mitrović adapted in a phenomenal book that will be promoted when we mark the 59th anniversary of the Gallery’s establishment. Also, we recently published a book written by our famous writer Maja Herman Sekulić, which we plan to translate into English.

In addition to the collection of Milena's artwork, we also have a

ARCHITECT MILORAD UGRINIĆ, WHO DESIGNED THE NEW GALLERY, BEAUTIFULLY BLENDED THE TRADITIONAL WITH MODERN ARCHITECTURE

contemporary painting collection, because, every other year, we hold a biennale in honour of Milena.

That particular collection has 60 works for which we need a space to exhibit.

The construction of a new gallery is also planned. Tell us a bit more about this project.

— When Milena Pavlović Barili's mother left all her movable and immovable property to the Požarevac authorities, she was promised that one day they would build a gallery worthy of her daughter. We are approaching the 60th anniversary of that promise and fortunately for us, for the past 5 years, we have had a great understanding of both the local government and the Ministry of Culture and Information.

We finally have a designed project for the first time in 60 years, which was recently given a building permit. Now, we are working towards obtaining a permit for the execution of works. Architect Milorad Ugrinić, who designed the new gallery, beautifully blended the traditional with modern architecture. Once this project is implemented, we will have a small cultural centre in the town with all the hallmarks of Milena's work and life. For the first time, we will have the opportunity to chronologically present more than half of Milena's artwork to the public.

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FOOD PLANET

by Vanja Kovačev

Tradition With an Immigrant Influence as the Secret Ingredient “There is a stereotype that Germans are eating only “Wurst” and potatoes, which is far from true” lade, eggs, deli meats and various cheeses. Traditionally, the main meal of the day has been lunch Mittagessen, eaten around noon.

Dinner - Abendessen or Abendbrot, unlike in many other countries, was always a smaller meal, usually just a sandwich. However, this tradition changes, young generations in big cities don´t have time for big breakfast and usually don´t eat lunch so early but if you are a tourist, Germany is certainly the place where you should enjoy traditional lavish breakfast offers.

MRS. CLAUDIA SCHIEB The wife of the German ambassador to Serbia

ermany is in many ways a diverse country - from north to south, from east to west - climate, landscape, history, traditions and cuisines vary in many ways. Starting with February this year, as you are already used to, D&C magazine has been bringing you closer to foreign food cultures and traditions and has interviewed interesting people from Belgrade’s expat community. This time around we have talked to Mrs. Claudia Schieb, the wife of the German ambassador to Serbia.

G

What are the main characteristics of German food? Is it “wonderfully traditional” and downto-earth cuisine?

— Every German region is proud of its food prepared indeed with local ingredients, with respect to tradition but with openness to modern culinary methods and extravagant seasonings.

The great variety of Germany´s cuisine is not so well known

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around the globe. There is a stereotype that Germans are eating only “Wurst” -sausage and potatoes, which is far from being true! In fact, Germany currently has the fourth-highest number of Michelin-starred restaurants in the world. The “secret” ingredient added to the variety of the traditional dishes nowadays is “an immigrant influence”. Since the 1960s many Yugoslavs, as they were called back then, Turks, Italians and Greeks moved to Germany and brought their culture and their tastes with them. The “wonderfully traditional” German cuisine, as you call it, melded with new spices and tastes from all over the world in order to create a modern version of traditional German meals. Nowadays it is quite normal to eat “classical” German meet-balls with oriental flavours or traditional potato soup with anise or lemon. Vegetarian and vegan recipes are becoming more and more popular. Hence, a tofu-schnitzel or even tofu sausage with standard German potato salad is not a rarity in German households anymore. A good example of cross-cultural-culinary exchange typical for modern Ger-

many is the famous Döner-Kebab sandwich. Turkish immigrants living in Kreuzberg - a part of Berlin created a delicious meetmeal „to go“. The ingredients were Turkish but in this form, it didn´t exist in Turkey- it was a purely Berlin invention.

Meanwhile, there are more than 16.000 Döner shops in Germany, even small towns or vil-

Which part of Germany do you come from? What are the three most known German meals and sweets from your region?

— I come from the southwest of Germany, Stuttgart more precisely, the capital of the state Baden-Württemberg and the socalled Swabia region. It is one of the most popular touristic regions of Germany. Culinary wise this region of Baden-Württemberg is home to famous pasta-like products such as “Maultaschen” and “Spätzle” as well as world-acclaimed “Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte” -to name just a few highlights of Swabia-cuisine.

“Maultaschen” or “Herrgottsbescheißerle” ("little God-cheaters" in English) is a dish often compared

EVERY GERMAN REGION IS PROUD OF ITS FOOD PREPARED INDEED WITH LOCAL INGREDIENTS, WITH RESPECT TO TRADITION BUT WITH OPENNESS TO MODERN CULINARY METHODS AND EXTRAVAGANT SEASONINGS lages have it and they are considered to be a symbol of successful Turkish integration and Turkish impact on German food culture. While I was growing up a peculiarity of German eating culture were its “fixed eating hours”.

Germans liked to have an abundant breakfast usually consisting of different varieties of bread; there are more than 3000 types of bread in Germany), with marma-

to Italian ravioli as it consists of an outer layer of pasta dough, filled with meat and/or vegetables. There are many variations of filling and methods of preparation such as frying or boiling, they can be served either whole or cut into pieces. The legend says that this special dish originated in the 17th century during the 30 Years’ War when the Catholic Swabians were forbidden to eat meat on Fri-

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days. Determined to go around this rule, “Maultaschen” was created by the monks to conceal the meat in a pastry thus keeping it hidden from the watchful eyes of their God which is how they got their nickname of ‘God’s little cheaters’ “Spätzle” (“little sparrows” in English) are special egg noodles. The original preparation of Spätzle is very peculiar. The dough contains mainly flour, egg and water although occasionally ingredients such as spinach or tomato are used for colouring. Traditionally, the dough is spread out on a wooden board and then cut into thin bands which are then boiled. These can be served directly after cooking but usually, they are briefly dipped in the liquid butter before serving. It can be a side dish to almost anything: meat, vegetables, it can even be a desert. Every B-W family is proud of their own way of making “Maultaschen” or “Spätzle” those are meals so common but then again so peculiar, so personalized for different tastes. “Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte” doesn´t need a lot of introduction- it is a most amazing and unique mix of sweet cream and, sour cherries with tender chocolate-dough, it is rather complicated to make but its taste is unbeatably good.

What are the German meals you prepare in Serbia?

— I prepare “Maultaschen”quite often. However, what I am missing here is white “Spargel” or asparagus. For us Germans, the cooked white asparagus is the symbol of spring. It is being harvested from mid-April to the end of June during the so-called “Spargelzeit” ("time of asparagus" in English). Hence, for us, asparagus defines a time of the year,

Maultaschen

which says enough about German passion for “Spargel”. It is a very healthy vegetable, full of minerals and very low in calories and it goes well with meat, fish and other vegetables.

What is your favourite Serbian dish?

— It is definitely ajvar. I love both spicy and plain version of it and can eat it as a side dish, an appetizer, a dip, pasta or risotto spread, or on pastry or simply with the spoon – as my children like eating it.

How do you like living in Belgrade? Which regions/cities have you visited, which one would you recommend to your expat friends and why?

— I love living in Serbia. Belgrade is a vibrant city with a diverse cultural and culinary scene which many compare to Berlin and even New York, and I can testify to that.

It is a city with great history and there is always a new story to be discovered, just around the corner. I like exploring different city districts as well as walking along the rivers Sava and Danube. I am fascinated by the fresh green markets as well as by the little designer stores. Unfortunately, corona prevented many cultural events from happening but hopefully, this will change soon and Belgrade’s cultural scene will live life to the fullest again.

My husband and I try to make trips outside of Belgrade as much as we can. Serbia is a fascinating country with a contrasting landscape – the Vojvodina valley in the north and mountains like Tara, Zlatibor or Kopanik in the south.

However, one thing stays the same everywhere you go and that is the wonderful Serbian hospitality for which I am very grateful.

INGREDIENTS • 2 2/3 cups of flour (all-purpose) • 3/4 teaspoon of salt • 3 large eggs • 1 tablespoon of oil • 3 tablespoons of water • 2 to 3 slices of bacon (cooked and chopped) • 1/2 medium onion (chopped) • 1 clove of garlic (chopped) • 1 ounce of bread (day-old) • 5 ounces of frozen spinach (thawed, squeezed dry, and chopped) • 2 tablespoons of parsley (chopped) • 1 tablespoon of mustard (spicy) • 1/4 teaspoon of thyme (dried) • 1/4 teaspoon of marjoram (dried) • 8 ounces of beef (ground) • 1 pinch of pepper • 1 to 2 quarts of broth (beef or other) • Garnish: chives or parsley (chopped)

MAKE THE DOUGH ix 2 2/3 M cups of flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon of oil and 3 tablespoons water to make smooth dough.

Knead for 5 to 10 minutes, until satiny. Form dough into a ball, oil surface, wrap in plastic and let rest for at least 1 hour.

MAKE THE FILLING ook bacon and remove C from pan. Sauté onions and garlic in bacon drippings until translucent.

ix together bacon, onions, M garlic, bread, 5 ounces spinach, 2 tablespoons parsley, 1 tablespoon mustard, 1/4 teaspoon thyme, 1/4 teaspoon marjoram, 8 ounces beef, 1 egg, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a pinch pepper until well combined. If you want a finer texture, put ingredients through a meat grinder, too.

FORM THE DUMPLINGS oll out half of the dough to 1/8 R inch thickness or thinner. You should have a sheet of about 12x18 inches. You also can use a noodle roller to make flat sheets with 1/5 of the dough at a time.

Score the dough with a knife, one time through lengthwise and five perpendicular cuts to make 1 dozen rectangles.

Place 1 tablespoon dough on each rectangle.

Fold rectangle over and pinch sides to close.

Repeat with the other half of dough.

COOK THE DUMPLINGS AND SERVE ring broth to a simmer B and place 1/3 of the maultaschen in the broth.

Cook for 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove and drain. Keep warm if not serving immediately. Repeat with the rest of the maultaschen.

Serve in a bowl with some broth and sprinkle with chives and parsley.

Photos: dpa-picture alliance

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EMBASSIES AND RESIDENCES BUILDINGS

by Žikica Milošević

Austrian Embassy Soft breath of Central Europe

ne of the most beautiful buildings in Belgrade is quite appositely the Embassy of Austria. It is a symbol of a time when Belgrade was standing right on the border with this country and was under its direct influence in architecture and lifestyle.

As a symbol of a time when Serbia was in a hurry to imitate Central Europe in everything and become a part of it as soon as possible, there is the beautiful yellow building that houses the Embassy of the Republic of Austria. It was built on the corner of Bogojavljenska Street and Kosančićev Venac (Bogojavljenska changed its "inappropriate" name to Sime Marković Street during socialist rule), which is one of the most important achievements of Belgrade architecture of the 19th century. It was built between 1898 and 1899 in the spirit of academism, according to the project of the architect Milorad Ruvidić. Mr. Ruvidić was schooled in Germany in 1893

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and brought with him new ideas typical of German architecture, which was reflected in the architectural style of this building.

Ruvidić was an employee of the Ministry of Construction, and designed the largest number of buildings during Belgrade's golden age, i.e. before the Great War: the building of the Smederevo Credit Bank (1910) in Terazije, the building of the Officers'

Stevča Mihailović in Kneza Miloša Street for the needs of the Ethnographic Museum (1901) and designed a monument in honour of Metropolitan Mihailo in the Cathedral Church (1902). Together with Milan Kapetanović, he designed the Serbian pavilion at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900.

He also built many representative buildings throughout Serbia.

There was an old house, owned

THE KRSMANOVIĆ FAMILY BOUGHT THE PROPERTY AT AN AUCTION FROM THE BADEMLIĆ BROTHERS IN 1894 Home (1895 with Jovan Ilkić) in Kralj Milan Street, the building that housed the Kralj Dečanski Association (1900 with Dragutin Đorđević) on the corner of Deligradska and Kralja Milana streets, as well as several family houses. He adapted the house of

by Professor Ivan Stanimirović, in the place of today's Austrian Embassy. It was later bought by merchants - the Bademlić brothers. At the corner of the original building, there was a cafe run by Toša Krivošija for a while. During the Turkish bombing of Belgrade in

1862, a cannonball fired from the Fortress hit the wall of this cafe and stayed there, thus later becoming its trademark.

The Krsmanović family bought the property at an auction from the Bademlić brothers in 1894.

Apart from the architectural one, the building stands out with its artistic value and distinct importance in the space that makes up the immediate surroundings of the Cathedral and Kosančićev Venac. The Krsmanović family did not move into the house until 1903. After Dimitrije's death (1904), the mansion on the Sava slope was inherited by his son Jovan, who rented it out. As a boy, Dimitrije N. Krsmanović (born in 1840 in Tuzla and died in 1904, Sankt Blasien in Baden-Württemberg) moved with his parents from Bosnia to the Principality of Serbia. After graduating from the merchant school in Pest, he settled first in Šabac. With his father, brother and uncles, he found-

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ed the Braća Krsmanović Company. As the largest company in Serbia at that time, it was engaged in growing and drying plums, which were exported to Western Europe and America through a wide network, via Trieste. He was a supporter of the Obrenović family and a prominent member of the Serbian Progressive Party. King Aleksandar (1889–1903) appointed him his deputy in the National Assembly in 1894, which he remained until 1896. In a short period, in 1921, the house was the seat of the newly established Orthodox Theological Faculty, which shared space with several departments of the Ministry of Religion of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats

and Slovenes. Jovan Krsmanović finally sold the house to the Republic of Austria in 1955, which set up its embassy there that year.

The Embassy’s interior went through major changes since it was a family home. It is now elegant, but reduced to classicist white, with massive wooden doors that stand as an echo of previous periods, as well as chan-

deliers and candle holders on the walls that are made of ornate metal. Of course, "candles" have been replaced a long time with electric light bulbs in the shape of candles. However, the greatest treasures are modern art works that adorn the walls of the embassy, giving it that gallery look. We have to mention Peppin Wieternik, who was an abstract expression-

THE BUILDING THAT HOUSES THE AUSTRIAN EMBASSY REMAINS A TESTIMONY OF A TIME WHEN BELGRADE ASPIRED TO BE A TRUE EUROPEAN METROPOLIS

ist, Robert Muntean (ultra-contemporary art) and several other contemporary Austrian painters from the Artothek projects.

In 1974, conservation and restoration works were carried out on the building, which restored its former beauty and ambiental significance. The Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of the City of Belgrade declared this building a cultural monument, which means it is under state protection.

The building that houses the Austrian embassy remains a testimony of a time when Belgrade aspired to be a true European metropolis, such as Prague, Budapest or Vienna.

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MUSIC

Richard Bona and pianist Alfredo Rodriguez in Belgrade They were connected by Quincy Jones, and now they are coming to Belgrade together ichard Bona and Alfredo Rodrigues with the band, will perform for the first time in Serbia together, at two concerts on July 13th and 14th as part of the Musicology Sessions.

Bona is already widely known to the local audience, after performing in 2019 at two sold-out Musicology Sessions concerts in Belgrade. With these concerts, he forever bought the hearts of all those who were lucky enough to get their tickets on time.

His masterful gig, beautifully velvety and moving vocal and perfect sense of humor, is something which make these performances to be memorable. Now you will have the opportunity to meet the equally masterful and fascinating pianist, Alfred Rodriguez. These GRAMMY-nominated artists first became aware of their mutual talent through their joint mentor, Quincy Jones. After a long friendship, the duo went to the studio to work together on Rodriguez's album "Tocororo", which was produced by Quincy.

On this album, they showed how two unique artists can combine their skills and energy, and create a new sound. Now, they bring this energy and virtuoso gig to the live concert.

Alfredo Rodríguez Salicio (born October 7, 1985) is a Cuban composer and jazz pianist.

Rodríguez's interest in jazz was stimulated by the annual "JoJazz" competition for young jazz musicians, where he won an honorable mention in 2003. Trained classically in his native Havana, Rodriguez attracted international attention at his first-ever jazz festival, at Montreux in 2006. Leg-

R

TICKETS FOR THESE CONCERTS CAN BE FOUND ONLINE AT WWW.TICKETS.RS, DOM OMLADINE TICKET OFFICE AND UŠĆE SHOPPING CENTER endary producer Quincy Jones decided on the spot to take the young Cuban under his wing, but it was three years before Rodriguez was able to find his way to the U.S. and to quick-start a career. Critics have favorably compared Rodriguez’s voicings and keyboard technique with jazz luminaries such as Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, and Fred Hersch. Over the past decade, Alfredo has grown from a local Cuban artist to a world-renowned artist, nominated for a prestigious Grammy.

Richard Bona, a bass player,

singer and songwriter from Cameroon, was honoured with the most important international awards, such as Grammy and the Victories du Jazz Award for the best international artist in 2004.

He has dedicated 30 years of his career promoting peace, happiness and togetherness, through music. He is currently fulfilling his mission- to visit all countries of the world with his music. In an interview for D&C magazine in 2019, Bona said that he was surprised how great a fan base he has got here: “I remember the crowd being very alive and pres-

ent at the concert. I remember that I was surprised. Hope this time is going to be even better” he conclude. His grandfather was a musician and he taught him how to play and build his own instruments. This sort of a natural learning helped him a lot in his music study later on.

About creative process Bona told us that he really cannot define creative process. “It is a monster that cannot be tamed, and when it possesses you, you can only do what it wants. Sometimes it brings the lyrics first and sometimes, it is the music. The most important thing is to let go, and not limit yourself with boundaries”, he pointed out.

Tickets for these concerts can be found online at www.tickets. rs, as well as at the ticket office of Dom Omladine and in the Ušće shopping center.

ANNOUNCEMENT Eleven days leter, on 25th of July, Roosevelt Collier is coming to a date with the samo stage. This peedal and lap steel guitar ace is so proficient he's affectionately known as "The Dr,"! His music is a potent mix of blues, gospel, rock and, in his words, "dirty funk swampy grime," as overseen by producer and Bokanté bandmate Michael League (from the Grammy-winning Snarky Puppy). Quincy Jones described hi best:"Simply put - Roosevelt Collier is a Bad Bad Mother Fucker!"

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POSTCARD

by Robert Čoban

Birds of Prince Rudolph A monument to Prince Rudolph of Habsburg was erected on the edge of Obedska Bara, where he hunted and studied birds. Contemporaries say that Rudolph, the son of Emperor Francis Joseph, was much more moderate in hunting than his cousin Franz Ferdinand, who used to massacre hundreds of animals in one day stvan the Swan came from Hungary, which you can see from the ring on his leg. His six to seven cygnets hatch here every year,” Ivana from Vojvodinašume tells us as our boat cuts the calm water of Obedska Bara (Obedska Swamp). The barbed wire, which was put there to stop illegal immigrants crossing the border in the other direction, obviously did not stop ‘the migrant’ Istvan.

In 1874, the Austro-Hungarian court declared this area an imperial hunting ground and a protected area. Obedska Bara is the second protected nature reserve in the world after Yellowstone Park in the USA. Today, Obedska Bara, a special nature reserve, spans 9,820 hectares, while the protected zone spans 19,611 hectares. 217 species of birds live or occasionally come here and at a certain point, as many as 58,000 pairs of birds have been counted here. Of the other animal species, it is worth mentioning the weatherfish (an indigenous species), the European adder (the only venomous animal in this area), as well as the bobcat, the marten, the otter and several species of bats.

"Travelling around the world, I have not yet found such opportunities for a naturalist, such as in Obedska Bara, which will always be unforgettable to me. True, there are ponds and waterfowl in abundance elsewhere, but they are more scattered and inaccessible than Obedska Bara, which cannot be compared to anything else and which will therefore remain memorable. In this regard, Obedska Bara can be considered an Eldorado for birds”. This is how the famous Viennese naturalist and adventurer Johann Zelebor spoke of his impressions of Obedska Bara in his letter from Grenada while he was on a trip around the world on the Novara ship in 1857.

His words hold weight because he is one of the best connoisseurs of nature and birds of his time, who explored the valleys of the Nile, the great rivers of India, and many other parts of the world.

"I

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TENT NEAR KUPINOVO On the edge of the pond, a monument to Prince Rudolph of Habsburg was erected in 1891, who came here to hunt but also to observe and study birds. Contemporaries say that Rudolph, the son of Emperor Francis Joseph, was much more moderate in hunting than his cousin Franz Ferdinand, who used to massacre hundreds of animals in one day.

Prince Rudolph visited Obeds-

ka Bara for the first time between 28th and 30th May 1885, at the age of 27, when he hunted and studied birds. He was accompanied

by Archduke Otto and Count Teleki. A tent was set up for him near the village of Kupinovo, opposite the cemetery, next to the place where the bird colony was located. There are indications that he visited Obedska Bara the following year again when he hunted alone. Although a passionate

OBEDSKA BARA IS THE SECOND PROTECTED NATURE RESERVE IN THE WORLD AFTER YELLOWSTONE PARK IN THE USA

KILLING 819 BIRDS IN ONE HUNT: Archduke Franz Ferdinand

hunter, Prince Rudolph was also a great connoisseur of birds that he studied in Europe and Asia, wrote books and studies about them and was a patron of ornithological societies. After Rudolph's tragic death in the Mayerling Castle in January 1889, when Baroness Mary Vetsera also died, a stone monument in the shape of an obelisk, 4.5 metres high and 1.5 metres wide, was erected in 1890 on the shores of Obedska Bara, next to a bird colony.

The monument stayed in the same place in 1930, together with the newly built mountain home.

On his first visit to the area, King Aleksandar Karadjordjević wished for the monument to Prince Rudolph not to be touched even after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. According to the Kupinovo locals, the monument was destroyed at the beginning of the Second World War (around 1942) out of revolt. They think that the monument’s remains lie on the bottom of the pond next to the site which is called ‘The Monument’ after its former landmark, while some parts of the monument were taken to the village by the locals.

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HOBBY: Emperor Francis Joseph with little Prince Rudolph during a hunt

FERDINAND'S 819 BIRDS In the early 20th century, Archduke Franz Ferdinand said that "because this area is protected, the beauty and glory Obedska Bara has been preserved because it is the only memory of the glorious past when there were large colonies of birds here" (according to Jakob Schenk, 1908). One of Archduke Ferdinand's hunts in Obedska Bara, between 10th and 12th June 1892, is still talked about because he caught 819 birds. After that, Ferdinand stayed at Obedska Bara between 7th and 10th May 1899, 18th and 23rd May 1900, late April 1901, 15th to 17the May 1903, 17th and 19th May 1905. Some historical sources claim that he was getting ready to visit Obedska Bara again in 1914 but he died earlier that year.

In the 19th and the first half of the 20th century, apart from Prince Rudolph and Archduke Franz Ferdinand, many famous politicians, military leaders and aristocrats of Central Europe came to Obedska Bara, including Archduke Joseph Ferdinand Salvatore, Baron Siegfried and Princess Elizabeth (11-12 April 1898), Archduke Otto and Count Samuel Teleki (1885), Count Leo Kalbermatten (1887), Count Ludwig Wurmbrand and many others. We will never know the names of every high-ranking guest who stayed and hunted in Obedska Bara be-

DEDICATED TO PRINCE RUDOLPH: Consecration of the obelisk on 2nd November 1891

fore 1914 because the meticulously kept documentation burned down with the forest administration building in Kupinovo at the beginning of the First World War. After the formation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, on 10th November 1919, a new protection order for Obedska Bara was put in place when the Petrovaradin Property Municipality handed over Obedska Bara, as the royal hunting ground, to the Regent - King Aleksandar I Karadjordjević, the Unifier.

court hunting ground Dimnik and the supervisor of the royal hunting ground in Obedska Bara, Edo Levstnik, took very disciplined and strict care of this hunting ground and bird sanctuary, which means that harassment of the animals and poaching were reduced to a minimum. After the Second World War, by the decision of the Institute for the Study of Natural Values of the People's Republic of Serbia in 1951, Obedska Bara was declared a protected nature reserve.

BRAVE INDIVIDUALS ARE THE ONES WHO MANAGE TO PRESERVE THE HERITAGE FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS The heir to the throne hunted down two glossy ibises’ (Plegadis Falcinellus) and one Eurasian spoonbill (Platalea Leucorodia) in Obedska Bara between 22nd and 23rd May 1920. These specimens were taxidermied and kept in the collection of the Natural History Museum in Belgrade. In 1930, Benić said that His Majesty, as a lover of hunting and nature, as well as Queen Marija, were happy to visit Obedska Bara, despite the poor quality of the roads leading there. During a visit to Obedska Bara in 1936, Rudolf Pongratz said that the manager of the

WICKER HOUSE: A copy of a traditional Srem house in the heart of Obedska Bara

DISASTER AVERTED There is a monument from 1977, built on the swamp’s shore in memory of Filip Spasojević (age 22) and Milan Sarić (age 20), two boys from Donji Tovarnik, who drowned here.

We disembarked from the boat and continued our way through the woods. In addition to Ivana, our hosts are Roland and Marko, directors of Vojvodinašume, a public company that has been managing and protecting Obedska Bara for the past 20 years. We reach a clearing where the traditional wicker house, typical of the

MIGRANT FROM HUNGARY: Istvan the Swan

Srem district, stands, lined with mud on the inside, with an opening at the top for light and smoke.

While drinking wine from wooden cups, our hosts tell me about the danger that loomed over Obedska Bara in 1962. There were operational plans in place to clear and reclaim the entire area of Kupinske Grede within Potkovica Obedska Bara, using tractors with ploughs and tonnes of explosives to disperse thousands of stumps of the giant oak trees that had been cut down. The plan was then to plant the entire area, spanning over 2,000 hectares, with poplars.

Dušan Čolić and his team from the Institute for Nature Protection of the Republic of Serbia (especially his colleague Jelena Popović) learned about these plans and mobilized the public and important state institutions. They were aware that if the plan were executed, it would be the final and irreversible blow to this unique natural oasis. The struggle lasted for almost two years and was uncertain and difficult, but in the end, nature protection and Obedska Bara triumphed.

As in most similar cases, such as the prevention of the demolition of the Petrovaradin Fortress after the First World War by General Dragoš Djelošević, brave individuals are the ones who manage to preserve the heritage for future generations.

IN MEMORY OF TWO BOYS WHO DROWNED: A landmark on the Obedska Bara shores

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CULTURE NEWS

The International Nisville Jazz Festival

KOLARAC

Programme JULY

July 9th, 2021 at 8pm DENIS BURJAKOV The International Nisville Jazz Festival is the most visited jazz festival in Southeast Europe, since its establishment in 1995. From the begining, Nisville Jazz Festival consistently defend the European values of multiculturalism and patiently tend the sophisticated musical taste of individuals.

Visit Nisville this year from 12th to15th of august, and by promo tickets on: https://www.tickets.rs/program/ nisville-komplet-2021-1394?lang=en

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flute Filip Milisavljević, piano Tickets: 1500 dinars

July 10th, 2021 at 8pm BELGRADE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Zubin Mehta L. van Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 (Pastorale) J. Brahms: Symphony No. 1

Exhibition

CROSSING

DANIELA FULGOSI

June 29th to July 17th, 2021 Art Gallery

Conductor:

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