Diplomacy and Commerce No.9

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October 2018 | ISSUE No. 09 | FREE COPY

9772466380002

CROATIA IS AN IMPORTANT POLITICAL PARTNER

H.E. EMILIJA GEORGIEVA Swiss Ambassador to Croatia

OUR PARTNERSHIP HAS STRONG POTENTIAL

15 5th AHK OCT

OKTOBERFEST

WE ARE WORKING A LOT AND WE ARE SEEING RESULTS

H.E. SANDEEP KUMAR

Indian Ambassador to Croatia

DEMOCRACY AND CULTURE AS TWO MAIN PILLARS

LOVRO KUŠČEVIĆ

The Republic of Croatia's Public Administration Minister

I WOULD LOVE TO RETURN TO THESE SEATS

D. JOAO DE ORLEANS E BRAGANCA

JOZO RADOŠ

Brazilian Prince

Member of European Parliament

Slovenia

Azerbaijan

H.E. SMILJANA KNEZ

H.E. FAKHRADDIN GURBANOV

Slovenian Ambassador to Croatia

Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan

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ED I TO RIAL

CO N T E N T S

Truth and Reconciliation Dear readers, Last month, I was invited by the Museum of African Art in Belgrade to speak about the English edition of book “Mandela’s Testament”.

Back in 2009, I spent 10 days in South Africa.

On the last day of our trip I took the opportunity to visit the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. The Museum was opened in 2001, seven years after the fall of the Apartheid, one of the worst atrocities committed by humankind in the second half of the 20th century.

As a journalist and publisher from region of former Yugoslavia, 10 years after NATO bombing and 14 years after the end of the war in Croatia and Bosnia, I was fully aware about the Banality of Evil, to quote Hannah Arendt. Nevertheless, I was still speechless two hours after visiting the Apartheid Museum.

There is something that we in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and the rest of the region can learn from the South Africans. It can be summed up in two words - Truth and Reconciliation. This is what we still don’t have, twenty years after the last war in the region.

I am writing this editorial on the train travelling between Amsterdam and The Hague which I am visiting as a tourist. When I mentioned to the people I was travelling with that I was going to spend a day in The Hague, which I had never visited before, I got a bunch of comments that all alluded to the same thing – The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

While I watch the people travelling with me on the same train which is passing through the Dutch plains – the Dutch, Germans, Americans, Chinese and other nationalities – I am thinking how we, from the former Yugoslavia, are unjustly assigning a negative connotation to the words “The Hague”. This is the capital city of one of the best regulated and most advanced countries in Europe and the world – The Netherlands, and since we are still incapable of accepting that the members of our nation committed crimes on other nations, this war crimes court is given this attribute of being unjust and putting on trial only “our people”.

The recent elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina have re-opened the old issues and old wounds in Bosnia, but also in Croatia and Serbia.

Now, we are talking about traumatic historical events with more passion than in 1995.

“Truth and Reconciliation” are the two words that transformed the notorious Apartheid country into a leader in Africa and becoming the most developed country of this continent which is also a democracy. Additionally, we can mention Rwanda as another example in this region which, twenty four years after the horrendous genocide in 1994, has become the “Switzerland of Africa” with the GDP that is twice bigger than the neighbouring Burundi’s which never suffered genocide.

So, it is possible! All we need to do is to look ourselves in the mirror, say honestly what we see and courageously move forward.

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WE ARE WORKING A LOT AND WE ARE SEEING RESULTS LOVRO KUŠČEVIĆ

The Republic of Croatia's Public Administration Minister

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I WOULD LOVE TO RETURN TO THESE SEATS JOZO RADOŠ

Member of European Parliament

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WHY DEMOCRACY AT ALL? Politics

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WE BECAME WIZARDS MIROSLAV GAŠPAROVIĆ

Director of the Museum of Arts and Crafts

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A LOT OF EXCITEMENT AWAITS US SNJEŽANA MILKOVIĆ ABRAMOVIĆ

Director of Zagreb Youth Theatre

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DEMOCRACY AND CULTURE AS TWO MAIN PILLARS D. JOAO DE ORLEANS E BRAGANCA Brazilian Prince

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CROATIA IS AN IMPORTANT POLITICAL PARTNER H.E. EMILIJA GEORGIEVA Swiss Ambassador

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LA GRANDE BELEZZA BORN IN BLOOD Robert Čoban reportage

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OUR PARTNERSHIP HAS STRONG POTENTIAL H.E. SANDEEP KUMAR

Indian Ambassador to Croatia

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THE BALTIC: ROAD LESS TRAVELLED Travelogue

ROBERT ČOBAN Director

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ZORAN CVIJIĆ Advertising manager

Translation SNEŽANA BJELOTOMIĆ

TANJA BANKOVIĆ Editor-in-chief

RUŽA RISTANOVIĆ Magazine director

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Print ZLATNA KNJIGA Jagodina, Bagrdanski put bb Predstavnik za RH

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O N E - CL ICK S O CIA L IS M !

Amazon’s $15 Minimum Wage is Welcome Is it also a sign of the firm’s monopsony power?

FOR a brief, beautiful moment in time Jeff Bezos and Bernie Sanders were at peace. On October 2nd Mr Bezos, the boss of Amazon and the world’s richest man, announced that he would raise starting wages for American employees to $15 an hour. That thrilled Mr Sanders, a curmudgeonly socialist senator who just last month introduced a “Stop BEZOS Act” which would tax the company for the public benefits received by low-paid workers. “It could well be a shot heard round the world,” he gushed. The billionaire returned the kind words, thanking his gadfly and urging other companies to join him in raising wages. Amazon also announced that its phalanx of lobbyists would start calling for a higher federal minimum wage, which has not increased since 2009.

There are two possible explanations for Amazon’s move: capitulation to political pressure, which is how the firm is presenting it, or self-interest. Lefty critics, Mr Sanders chief among them, had badgered the company repeatedly about its stressful warehouse working conditions. His office circulated a financial report showing that global median annual pay for Amazon’s employees was just $28,466. The company’s retort that median wage for all its

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THERE ARE TWO POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS FOR AMAZON’S MOVE: CAPITULATION TO POLITICAL PRESSURE, WHICH IS HOW THE FIRM IS PRESENTING IT, OR SELF-INTEREST full-time American employees (including highly paid software engineers) was $34,123 attracted comparatively less attention. A detail provided

by James Bloodworth, a British journalist who went undercover in an Amazon facility and says he encountered bottles of urine from employees too scared to take bathroom breaks, has proven particularly difficult for the company to shake.

No matter how uncommon such episodes actually are, the Dickensian juxtaposition of modern history’s wealthiest man atop an empire of terrified workers is politically compelling.

An alternative theory is that the company is simply spinning a sound business decision.

Amazon’s new minimum wage, which come into effect on November 1st, will also apply to temporary workers. Heading into the holiday season, the firm will hire 100,000 seasonal workers. Given how tight the labour market is,

that might have been difficult to accomplish without a wage rise. Fatter paycheques could also forestall efforts to unionise which are under way at Whole Foods, a grocery chain purchased by Amazon in 2017. Other analysts see Amazon’s lobbying for a higher minimum wage as shrewd business practice disguised as progressive policy. Amazon, whose remarkable growth has more to do with its highly profitable cloud-computing service than its dominant position in online retailing, can probably stomach the extra labour costs better than most firms.

Analysts detect a pattern. After Amazon began collecting online sales taxes, it also began a lobbying campaign to require all online retailers to collect sales tax.

Amazon’s politics are not always so flexible.

In May the city council in Seattle, where Amazon is headquartered, decided to impose a head tax of $275 per employee to fund services for the homeless. Because the company has an estimated 45,000 employees, its costs would have been $12.4m—or 0.5% of last quarter’s profits.

Amazon fought the proposal, pausing construction on one office building and suggesting that it would ditch another. The tax was repealed less than a month later.

Determining whether Amazon’s wage rises were the product of market forces or political ones is important. Economists have been puzzling over sluggish wage growth despite the low unemployment rate. One explanation with a growing number of adherents is monopsony, or the power firms exert over wages. That could be the result of a single, large employer dominating a town, but it could also result from “no-poach contracts”, which several fast-food chains used until recently.

Amazon’s market position may allow the firm to be more generous than other employers. Overall, though, monopsony exercises a downward pressure on wages that exacerbates income inequality, argues Kate Bahn of the Washington Centre for Equitable Growth, a think-tank. If wages are remaining stuck because of monopsony rather than competitive markets, that bolsters the argument for regulating anti-competitive behaviour, easing labour organising and bumping up minimum wages a bit. Even Mr Sanders might endorse that.

From The Economist, published under licence.

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

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INTERVI EW

We are Working a Lot and we are Seeing Results

A better and more efficient public administration, decentralization and digitization - these are three goals that Minister Lovro Kuščević would like to achieve during his term in the office. To accomplish this, he must pick up the pace because his predecessors left a lot to be done

LOVRO KUŠČEVIĆ

The Republic of Croatia's Public Administration Minister

After two shaky years in the Ministry of Public Administration, the public has started to notice the numerous activities carried out by the new administration on bolstering digital literacy, increasing the number of e-services, reforming salaries in public administration and drafting a series of new regulations that are expected to be done by the year end. In short, the Croatian Public Administration Minister, Lovro Kuščević, has no time to think about the destiny that befell his predecessors.

How would you rate the work done by your Ministry so far and how much of your plan still needs to be realized by the year end?

— In the last two years, the Ministry of Public Administration had three different ministers and this political instability has definitely resulted in a bad state of affairs in the Ministry. When I took over the ministerial duties in June 2017, we had to draft projects, delegate

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people to implement them and appoint state secretaries and their assistants in order to finally embark on project implementation.

We created a new job hierarchy in the Ministry which resulted in the better work organization and accomplishing better work results.

We paid a great deal of attention

Management System in the Public Administration of the Republic of Croatia, the Development of the Competence Framework for Civil Servants, e-Fees and e-Business, which total value exceeds 150 million kuna and which are 85% co-financed from the EU funds. In addition to the aforementioned

TODAY, IN THE E-CITIZENS SYSTEM, WE HAVE 78 SERVICES WITH 52 BEING AVAILABLE TO ALL OF OUR FELLOW CITIZENS, AND 26 ARE USED BY DIFFERENT STATE INSTITUTIONS, UNLIKE IN JUNE 2017, WHEN THERE WERE ONLY 38 SERVICES AVAILABLE to digitization projects. Today, the e-Citizens system has 78 services with 52 being available to all of our fellow citizens, and 26 are used by different state institutions. In comparison to June 2017, when I took over as the minister, there were only 38 services available.

We have also introduced a new function called e-Newborn and we have finally embarked on the implementation of the projects such as the Introduction of the Quality

projects, we amended and supplemented a number of laws and bylaws, we improved the work done by public administration offices, raised the level fo cooperation with local and regional self-governments and we are working on a daily basis on activities to improve the work done by the Ministry.

Looking back, regulating salaries in public administration and civil servant salaries is one of

the most dificult things to do for a minister. Do you expect a pat on the back from civil servants once the process done, or are you expecting a tide of strikes?

— We started the process of regulating the civil servant salary system in good faith with the intention of classifying all jobs in public administration according to pay levels through implementing unfied and standardized classification measures. All jobs in public administration will be covered by one law and the Decree on Job Classification. The list of all jobs classified in 13 pay grades for civil servants and 5 pay grades for other job positions, with the indication of the initial pay grade, is an integral part of the Decree.

The proposed structure of job classification is more transparent than the existing system and should be more stimulating for civil servants. The introduction of a work evaluation and performance rating system is the backbone of the pay grade system.

The performance rating is the central payroll element which is the basis for civil servant being given a higher salary, getting an

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one-off bonus, or beind demoted to a lower pay grade.

Furthermore, civil servants can qualify for a reward for their exceptional work performance. Trade unions have been involved in the work on the Law on Civil Servant and Civil Employee Salaries since the very beginning, as members of the expert work group. The trade union representatives have been informed of the necessity of having a single job classification and of the intent of the faster promotion of the best and most respected staff. They are currently being included in the subgroups which are working on the Classification Decree and the Appraisal Degree, so we expect to get constructive criticism and suggestions that can only improve the regulation.

The digitization of public administration is seen today as a panacea for everything. What problems in the public administration can be realistically addressed by e-Government?

— Digitization is carried out in two directions – the first one is the digitization of services for citizens and business entities, and the second is the digitization of internal procedures and processes in public administration bodies.

By digitizing internal processes, we are trying to increase the efficiency of public administration bodies, remove administrative barriers, reduce operating costs and, ultimately, increase public's confidence in public authorities.

The Ministry of Administration has been developing a platform in cooperation with all state bodies and local and regional self-govern-

ments so that we can remove the existing administrative obstacles.

How digitally literate are citizens to fully use the services you already offer and what are you doing in terms of education and raising public awareness in that segment?

—In order to have a high-quality workforce with digital skill competencies that can respond to the development of a digitized economy, as well as quality digital public administration users, it is necessary to increase the number of citizens with digital skills.

To that end, IT classes were

tries responsible for education and employment, public and private employment services, associations, educators, non-profit organizations and social partners who will jointly develop concrete measures to strengthen digital skills at all levels.

The Law on Local and Regional Self-Government was adopted late last year. How effective is this law presently?

— The most significant novelty in this law is redefining the relationship between the representative and the executive body in the budget making process. The law

FROM ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL COALITION FOR DIGITAL JOBS, WE HAVE LAUNCHED A NUMBER OF PROGRAMMES THAT WILL HELP US TO GET A BETTER QUALITY WORKFORCE WITH DIGITAL SKILL COMPETENCIES introduced in 5th and 6th grade of elementary schools, and a total of 3,400 STEM scholarships have been granted with the plan of granting a total of 17,000 STEM scholarships in the next five years.

We are also implementing the e-School programme with the view of creating digitally mature schools that educate digitally enabled pupils to be fully prepared to continue with their schooling and be competitive in labour market.

The National Coalition for Digital Jobs and Skills is being launched to increase employment in the digital economy, especially among young people and women.

This will be achieved by gathering together IT companies, the minis-

now clearly divides the responsibility between these two bodies, so if a municipal president, mayor or head of a county does not propose a budget, or withdraws it, they will be relieved of their duties, while the representative body will take over. If the representative body does not draft a budget that is proposed by the authorized petitioner, then the representative body will be disbanded and the executive body will take over.

The positive effects of this law are most visible in the fact that only one local self-government has failed to adopt their 2018 budget.

Compared with the previous year, when the statutory ruling at the time dismissed both the repre-

sentative and executive body in a total of 52 cases because the budget was not adopted, it is now clear that new legal solutions have significantly contributed to a better co-operation between the representative and executive body when adopting the core financial act of any local self-government.

What are your priorities for the remainder of this year and for next year in terms of legislative changes?

— In regard to legislative changes, we would like to single out the Law on Prevention of Conflict of Interest, Law on the Financing of Political Activities, Election Campaigns and Referendums, Law on Civil Servants, Law on the State Administration System, Law on Foundations, Law on the Organization of Ministries and Other Central State Administration Bodies, and the Decree on the Job Classification in Public Administration and the Decree on the Evaluation and Rewarding of Civil Servants and Civil Employees, as well as a series of other legislative activities ...

What is your vision of public administration development and which position it will occupy in Croatia in 5 years' time?

— The three development goals of the Ministry of Public Administration that I want to achieve during my term in the office are: better quality and more efficient public administration, decentralization and digitization. We want a modern and efficient public administration that will be of service to citizens and business people and the driving force behind positive changes.

NEW E-SERVICES FOR STUDENTS You also had students in mind when you developed a new service for them. Could you tell us how does this service function?

— In cooperation with the Ministry of Public Administration, the Agency for Science and Higher Education (ASHE) created a new service „e-Exchange of student grades“, available at the e-Citizens web portal. By providing this service, we have joined the EMREX network which purpose is to stimulate student mobility and empower students to more effectively control their own student data and its exchange, especially beyond their state borders. Through the portal e-Citizens, university students, who are using the application, can request an electronic transcript of their grades at any time. Exchange students have been facing certain obstacles in the past, including the exchange of grade transcripts between their home university and the university at which they have studied for some time as a part

of the student exchange programme.

This service will simplify the exchange process itself because it will enable students to request an electronic transcript of their grades and to upload it to the website of the university where they are going to study as an exchange student.

In the event that a higher education institution is not an EMREX member and does not accept digital records, the student may submit an electronically signed document downloaded from the e-Citizens' system. In addition to electronic exchange of grade transcripts, there is one more ASHE service available on the e-Citizens portal - applying for university degree programmes at higher education institutions in Croatia.

The e-Citizens' system is designed to make it easier for all citizens to access basic documents and make them easier to use. Hence, we want to enable the system to reach its full potential and digitize as many services as possible.

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INTERVI EW

I Would Love to Return to These Seats

The EU energy policy, especially in the field of transport, the EU defense policy, that has been intensifying over the last few years, and the EU's enlargement policy are the key issues I have dealt with during my tenure and I would like to continue working on them. However, my candidacy depends on the political party Glas of which I am a member JOZO RADOŠ

Member of European Parliament

“The European project is extremely important and despite its weaknesses, it has accomplished serious results“, says Jozo Radoš, a member of the European Parliament, who is not reluctant to deal with a number of interesting and complex topics in his next term.

The next elections for the European Parliament will be held from 23rd to 26th May 2019. A total of 705 MPs will be elected into the next Parliament convocation, with Croatia having 12 instead of the current 11 MPs. Will you run for these elections and with will be your election message?

— The possibility of running for

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an MEP is still open, but it will depend on what the Glas party, of which I am a member, decides and on the coalition agreements.

The message that I would like to focus on is the usefulness of the European project and the need for strengthening the EU despite some of its weaknesses and sluggish-

policy, that has been intensifying over the last few years, and the EU's enlargement policy.

How would you assess your work in the EP in the past period and what would you like to single out as your key accomplishments?

I TRIED TO INTRODUCE THE CROATIAN PUBLIC TO EUROPEAN POLICIES AND TO UNDERLINE THE POLICY THAT CROATIA COULD AND SHOULD LEAD IN THAT SENSE. WHEN IT COMES TO THESE POLICIES, WE AT THE VERY BOTTOM OF THE EU ness. Other messages relate to the topics I have already dealt with, which are still very important and to which I could make further contribution. These topics are the EU energy policy, especially in the field of transport, the EU defense

— In terms of energy, I helped with the establishment of the real relations between ambitions and opportunities in terms of renewable energy sources and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, pointing to the direction of energy

policy that the Republic of Croatia should take. In the defense area, I supported a stronger and more original common security and defense policy. By supporting the enlargement policy, I insisted on the need to meet the general democratic standards, pointing to the similarities and the need for a more comprehensive approach to the countries of Southeast Europe.

My special contribution to the resolutions of the European Parliament was reflected in the need for cooperation in the process of finding missing persons and protecting and defending the victims of war. A number of European Parliament documents contain my suggestions on the need to simplify the use of European funds and facilitate direct access to these funds for local self-governments, particularly those in rural, mountainous and remote areas. I made

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a very concrete requirement for Luka Rijeka (The Port of Rijeka) to join the European Baltic-Adriatic Transport Corridor, which can also be found in a series of Parliament's documents.

How could we stimulate citizens / voters to get more involved in the elections for the EP?

— Certainly, more attention should be paid to what is happening in European institutions, especially in the European Parliament, which, as the only directly elected EU body, is closest to citizens. Of course, it is important to present to the citizens those topics that are close to them and which concern them directly, as well as to present them in a way that is not overwhelming to them. The EU has a variety of campaign approaches to citizens, such as the special EP offices in the member states, but this is not enough to make the EU's complex policies more interesting to citizens. One of the steps that would make the EU more interesting would be the introduction of the first candidate on the European electoral list (the so-called spitzen candidate) as the candidate for the president of the European Commission. In the future, multi-national or all-European electoral lists can work on making the complex processes and the distant EU member states more familiar to each citizen of the Union.

What kind of initiatives do Croatian citizens usually approach you with? What are the key topics that you can assist with?

— In fact, there were no major and organized initiatives by the citizens. The procedures of submitting official initiatives and the direct participation of citizens are quite complicated and there is evidently no great interest in them.

Citizens are addressing the EP through the Petitions Committee, most often on issues that concern them directly and individually.

During my term, there were several campaigns related to the European Parliament's issues such as the Istanbul Convention and the issue of copyright protection in the digital domain, but they were more of a European than a specific Croatian campaign.

I can contribute to the the topics I have already dealt with, which I am more familiar with and which are quite complicated.

I have already mentioned what topics are these. But I also need to deal with those topics that are

not listed in my scope of work, but are important for the EU and its citizens. Of course, in some issues we need to recognize the specific situation in Croatia and its national interests and formulate our position accordingly.

Institutional action and the ability to influence decision-making certainly contributes to the bet-

cerned with the expansion of the large European TEN-T network to include the Republic of Croatia, and via Croatia, the neighbouring countries in the south and east too. I have been particularly dealing with renewable energy sources in transport and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. I tried to introduce the Croatian public to European policies and to under-

I AM PARTICULARLY PLEASED WITH THE NEW MOMENTUM THAT HAS BEEN GAINED AS A RESULT OF THE COMMON SECURITY AND DEFENSE POLICY IN THE LAST FEW YEARS, PARTLY BECAUSE OF THE OPPOSITION FROM THE US ADMINISTRATION ter position of Croatia. You are the vice chairman of the TRAN the Transport and Tourism Committee, and Croatia, as a tourist country, is definitely interested in this. What is the EP doing to improve this segment?

— Although tourism is not directly under the EU’s authority, a special working group has been formed in the Transport and Tourism Committee. The role of this group and the EP itself is of an advisory nature. Thus, in this mandate, a resolution on the promotion of European tourism was adopted, with some of my proposals included. Working for the Committee, I was more con-

line the policies that Croatia could and should lead in that sense. I use this opportunity to reiterate that when it comes to these policies, we are at the very bottom of the EU. These are very expensive and very complex policies and I would like to continue dealing with them. I will mainly use the period up until the EP elections to present these topics to the Croatian public.

You are a member of the Committee for Stabilization and Accession of Montenegro into the EU and the Delegation for Relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. How do you comment on their efforts to join the EU?

CERTAIN KIND OF UNITY IS WELCOME

As a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, what is your view of the external challenges facing Europe. What are the solutions and how to harmonize them because there are many different interests?

— The differences are great and come naturally, but they also do a lot of damage due to lack of unity I am particularly pleased with the new momentum that has been gained as a result of the Common Security and Defense Policy in the last few years, partly because of the opposition from the US administration. A step forward would be to abandon the consensual decision-making in this sensitive segment of EU policy.

— I am a member of the European Parliament's committees for the aforementioned three countries and a shadow rapporteur for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro in my political groupation, ALDE. Although this whole process is developing very slowly, Montenegro is at the forefront, and the other two countries are at the back. It is logical that these processes are slow because they are about changing the way the whole societies operate, and these are cultural changes that cannot happen overnight. European institutions call for understanding, patience, perseverance and setting requirements that are as precise and as logical as possible so that they will be easy to understand and monitor. I do not think that should be credited only to me, but the approach I have been perpetuating since the beginning of my term – that is that the accession of the Western Balkan countries geographically surrounded by EU member states, is in the EU's interest - is now heard by high officials of the Union. For the EU, these countries can be a source of instability in the immediate neighborhood and a platform for certain non-European interests, or, on the other hand, a space for free communication, a full cooperation and a bridge towards south and east.

How do you view the European project today; how far is it from the desired results and what should be done to reform and advance it?

— The European project has been facing challenges since its inception, but despite this, it has been constantly progressing. Sometimes there are small obstacles in some areas with the project continuing to develop in another segments.

Every time period carries certain circumstances and limitations, but there is enough room to ensure an even stronger integration.

For example, during this term, the Union still needs to finish the projects of the Energy Union, the Digital Union, the Defense Union, and the Banking Union, but each of them has made progress, bigger or smaller. One of the biggest future EU goals should be to gain more power to influence relations in the world, in accordance with the Union's economic impact, particularly in areas of direct concern such as Africa and Asia. This need for sovereignty was recently mentioned by the President of the European Commission, Mr Juncker.

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NATIONAL DAYS

ARRI VALS & D EPA R T UR E S

in October & November

OCTOBER

H.E. DIANA MADUNIC

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The Ambassador of Sweden

Before her appointment as the Swedish ambassador to Croatia, Diana Madunic worked as Ambassador-at-Large for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Stockholm. Before that, Ambassador Madunic was the Head of the Foreign Affairs and EU Department at the Prime Minis-

ter’s Office, also during the Swedish Presidency over the EU in 2009. During her carrier, Ambassador Madunic also served as Counsellor (“Antici”) at Sweden's largest mission abroad - the Representation of Sweden to the EU in Brussels, and as a coordinator to the Political Director at the Cabinet of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

HUNGARY

1 956 Revolution memorial day

24 UN

UN day

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AUSTRIA

he Neutrality T Constitution of 1955

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SANDI MARUŠIĆ

CZECHIA

New Director of Atos IT Solutions and Services d.o.o.

Sandi Marušić, B.Sc., was appointed new director of Atos IT Solutions and Services d.o.o. Mr. Marušić has more than 20 years of experience in the IT sector, both locally and internationally. In Croatia, Atos and its sister company, Atos Convergence Creators, have a team of over 250 experts working on integration and digital transformation projects for clients from various industries.

Atos's solutions are geared towards

I ndependence from Austria-Hungary

reducing costs, increasing productivity and making improvements in general business operations. Sandi Marušić has been working for Atos for a number of years, and prior to this position, he was Regional Sales Manager for South East Europe.

He graduated from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing at the University of Zagreb, and continued his education at the HEC Paris University.

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TURKEY

Republic Day

NOVEMBER

01

ALGERIA

tart of the War of S Independence

11

ANGOLA

Independence Day

IVAN PERKOVIĆ New director of Varteks

On 26th September, Ivan Perković was appointed director of the Varteks fashion and textile company, following the departure of his predecessor Zoran Košćec who has been appointed strategic project advisor and will work on several development projects in the company thus contributing to its operations. The change in the management happens in the time when the company is undergoing strong restructuring following its

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POLAND

Independence Day

15

BELGIUM King's Day

15

PALESTINE

Independence Day

Subscribe

UROŠ KALINIĆ New member of Konzum's Managing Board

The previous Managing Board member, in charge of finances and IT, Ines Lozić informed Konzum's Supervisory Boards that she was resigning and left the company following a mutual agreement.

Her resignation came into force

recapitalization in the first half of this year. The recapitalization made it possible for Varteks to now focus on its development phase. In that contex, the company has started optimizng its procurement, distribution and sales channels, opening of new digital sales segments and establishing a stronger cooperation with domestic and foreign partners.

The said activities are supposed to result in a sustainable development of the company in the future.

on 25th September, 2018, following the regular Assembly session. At its next sesion, the Supervisory board accepted Ms Lozić's resignation and subsequently appointed Uroš Kalinić as the new member of the Managing Board.

NOW! only

399KN per year!

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PO LI TI C S

Text: ŽELIMIR MARAŠ

Why Democracy at All?

When there is deep disregard for results

The Macedonian referendum about the name change has turned into something very strange. Despite being an utter failure, the government deemed it as successful. I am not claiming that the Prespa Agreement is bad; on the contrary, it is fantastic, but there are many reasons why it failed, and here are some of them.

ELECTORAL ROLL

First and foremost, there is something deeply wrong with electoral rolls, not only in (Northern) Macedonia. There are 1.8 million registered voters in the population of 2.1 million. This means that close to 15% of the population (300,000) is underage which is simply impossible. The CIA World Factbook says that 19.5% of the population is under the age of 15, so this means that around 23% is under 18, which, in turn, means that there are around 1.62 million voters. In that case, the threshold is around 810k people, not 900k. But there is more…

PEOPLE LEAVING

Out of the people over the age of 18, lots of them don’t even live in the country. Like in all other Eastern European countries, many people are leaving every day. In Croatia, the population fell under 4mln, in Serbia below 7mln, and

Ukraine is even worse – close to 4m people don’t even live in the country. The Biblical exodus is continuing, and if you want to hold a referendum, you should bear that in mind. From Estonia to Albania, we will all die out soon.

Countries will become empty without immigration, which we, of course, deeply hate because, hey, they are not our kind! Our kind left us for Germany.

WEDDINGS AND AJVAR

It may sound silly, but PM Zaev was in so much rush to verify the Prespa Agreement that he forgot that he held referendum during the wedding season, on Sunday, with the polls open until 7 pm. First of all, many people who had to attend a wedding did not go to vote prior, and certainly did not leave wedding reception to do so. Secondly, many people traditionally make ajvar on Sundays. Everybody who boycotted the referendum had a great explanation – “could not vote because...”. A referendum can be held over two days if needed. Also, you can leave polling stations open until 9 pm or so. In spite of all the difficulties with the Macedonians living abroad, Zaev made several beginner mistakes.

FALSE AND MISLEADING QUESTION

Last but not least (in fact, the

most important), is the false referendum question which was totally misleading and offensive.

The question – “Would you like to join the EU and NATO under the stipulations of the Prespa Agreement?” – is actually three questions in one. First of all, the basic issue was omitted. This was a referendum on the country changing its name, so why didn’t you formulate the question accordingly – “Do you agree that the Republic of Macedonia should be renamed into the Republic of Northern Macedonia according to the Prespa Agreement?” That is the proper question, just like you would ask - “Do you want Montenegro/Scotland to be an independent state?”, “Do you want the UK to leave the EU?” and similar. The first question you should have asked should have

“yes”, but you never know. It is, though, nice to be asked. Having this “3in1” question enraged some people, because if they said “No”, it was like “Oh, then you hate this country and a happy future for it”.

So, they decided to abstain from voting. It was an emotional blackmail, and the people reacted, justly so. To make things worse, many proclaimed the referendum “a victory” since the 36% of the voters who eventually turned up, said YES. I would just like to remind you of one thing. The referendum on the integration with the United Kingdom was held in Malta on 11th and 12th February 1956.

77% of the people who voted, answered “yes” to the referendum question, and the turnout was 59.1%. Still, the referendum did not reach 50% of the registered voters. In Macedonia, this did

NOT ONLY DID PEOPLE SAY NO TO THE NAME CHANGE, BUT THEY ALSO SAID NO TO JOINING NATO AND THE EU ALTHOUGH THE NAME CHANGE AND THE EU MEMBERSHIP WOULD BE BENEFICIAL FOR MACEDONIA been about the name change.

Then, you could ask people if they wanted to join NATO (probably they would want to), and when you finish and close all the chapters in the accession negotiations with the EU, in 5 to 10 years, you could ask – “Do you want Macedonia to be part of the EU?. Again, the answer would probably be

not matter at all. Zaev continued as if nothing happened since the referendum was “consultative” in nature anyway. However, not only did people say NO to the name change, but they also said NO to joining NATO and the EU. Strange, since both the name change and the EU membership would be beneficial for Macedonia.

WIDER PICTURE In one of the Western Balkan countries we had a situation where one of the three constitutive nations chose two members of the three-member Presidency, leaving one of them unrepresented, which, under the election rules, was deemed unconstitutional. This created the situation where the third member will represent two nations, trying to (once again, unconstitutionally) represent the entity’s flag in the confederate Presidency. The troubled member even declared his personal support for the independence of countries not recognized by his country. In another country, the government decided for the country

to join NATO without even holding a referendum, knowing very well it would fail. With this travesty of democracy and a total disregard of people's wishes, no wonder people have stopped believing in democracy all together. So, it will not come as a surprise if we see a Duterte or Bolsonaro-like figure emerging. The Western democracy is all about "we will do whatever we deem appropriate for you and the power centres since you are anyway too immature to vote properly". This is so dangerous that it might destroy democracy in its entirety. And once this happens, I would have to say, with heavy heart: "I told you so".

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Croatia is an Important Political Partner It is an important country in the region and in the EU

H.E. EMILIJA GEORGIEVA Swiss Ambassador to Croatia

„The economic relations are also very important for us. We are indeed the 11th biggest investor here in Croatia. There are around 50 Swiss companies that are active here and they are a fair representation of the Swiss industry“, says the newly appointed Swiss ambassador to Croatia, H.E. Ms Emilija Georgieva for Diplomacy&Commerce.

What is your assessment of the bilateral relations between Switzerland and Croatia?

— The relations between Croatia and Switzerland are excellent and have increased on the high level as well. Our then President, Fedreral Councillor Doris Leuthard, visited Croatia last year. We are confident that there are more opportunities

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to develop our political relations and also look forward to Croatia taking over the presidency of the EU in 2020.

Which areas of cooperation are you focusing on and which would you like to improve?

ing at around 1,400 people. The political relations are important, but people-to-people relations are the basis for everything. We will talk about it later on. I see potential in the economic field, we might be able to do more in that aspect. We already have a

IMPORTS HAVE BEEN INCREASING AND CURRENTLY, THEIR VALUE STANDS AT ABOUT 201 MILLION CHF ANNUALLY — As I have mentioned, Croatia is an important political partner for us; it is an important country in the region and in the EU. As you probably know, we have a big Croatian diaspora in Switzerland, close to 30,000 people. Together with the people who have dual Croatian and Swiss citizenship, that number is closer to 70,000.

Also, there is a quite big Swiss community in Croatia, number-

quite good position, but I believe we could do more than that. I am talking to the companies to see how we can support Swiss companies that might be interested in investing in Croatia, or Croatian companies that are interested in doing business with Switzerland.

Croatia is one of the beneficiaries of Switzerland’s financial as-

sistance for reducing economic and social disparities in the enlarged EU. What is the scope and focus of your assistance today?

— This cooperation is a very important part of our presence here and also of our relations. The amount in question is 45 million Swiss Francs (CHF) which will be disbursed until 2024. This is something that we do out of conviction that we need to support the new EU countries to overcome the social and economic disparities.

An important and substantial part of our financial contribution goes towards infranstructure and environment projects, namely water.

I'm proud that Switzerland can offer the know-how that we have for Croatia to improve its water and wastewater systems infrastructure. This is something that has been developing really nicely so far. We also support different science projects and cooperate with Croatia on the ongoing education

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reforms. This is very important for the future; particularly for the future of the young people and the population, their economic prospects and their well-being. Last but not least, I would like to mention one of the projects that was recently completed and was also also covered in the Croatian press. It's a demining project that we implemented on close to 2 square kilometre area, in the part of Croatia close to Bosnia and Herzegovina which has suffered a lot of damage and still has a multitude of problems related to mines to this day.

We are talking about the region of Petrinja. We are pleased that this could be done very quickly and successfully which was a good reason for the Croatian media to report about it. It is nice to see things are moving ahead.

Imports from Croatia have been growing steadily since 2011, making Switzerland the second biggest trading partner in South-Eastern Europe. Which products are in demand in the Swiss market the most?

— Indeed, imports have been increasing, and we're pleased about that. Currently, their value stands at about 201 million CHF annually.

Croatia's import from Switzerland has also been going up slightly.

However, Croatia is picking up its trade pace very fast and I'm pleased to say that the outlook is good this year. By the end of August, we have recorded a year-on-year growth of 22% in our bilateral trade, so it remains to be seen how the next month is going to develop. Machines constitute the biggest part of our mutual trade, followed by pharmaceuticals, wood products like parquet floors, for instance, since Switzerland has invested in that segment in Croatia. We should also mention furniture and textiles.

companies across all the sectors here, operating in different fields and of different sizes. The common denominator among them is that they're attracted to Croatia because of the skilled workforce, since you have a good, well-educated workforce with people who are eager to learn and adapt in the companies they're working for. Croatians have good language skills as well. I also believe that Croatia's geographical

the environment topics that we're supporting with the enlargement contribution.I believe there is a potential there because Croatia is picking up really fast in terms of different environment issues today like waste management, water and solar energy. There are Swiss companies that have the relevant know-how for which Croatia has shown interest so more could be done in the future.

THE AMOUNT OF THE SWISS FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE IS ABOUT 45 MILLION SWISS FRANCS (CHF), TO BE DISBURSED UNTIL 2024 location is quite attractive because it's in Europe, it has a central position, and an easy access to other countries in the region, which is also appealing to Swiss companies. Where do we see potential for further cooperation? As I have mentioned before, there is a potential for cooperation on all of

What role does the diaspora play in the development of mutual economic and cultural relations?

— I cannot emphasize enough how important the disaspora is.

The crucial thing about the diaspora is that thanks to them, there is a lot of information about Croatia in Switzerland, but also about Swit-

zerland in Croatia. The diaspora brings the knowledge back with them. This is important for fostering the mutual understanding between the two countries. Furthermore, this facilitates contacts on the government level. Many Croats have been to Switzerland, and many Swiss nationals have been to Croatia so this always makes things much easier. The cultural relations between Switzerland and Croatia are also becoming stronger and we can notice this year-onyear. More and more Swiss artists coming to Croatia and not only to Zagreb, but all over the country.

There are Croatian artists that are interested in Switzerland and this is also thanks to the diaspora. It is tantamount to the word-of-mouth advertising. There are a lot of festivals in Croatia like the Zagreb Film Festival and others that people have heard of and are interested in. People talk about it and thanks to of this, it is easier to establish a connection.

TWO COUNTRIES WITH STRONG TOURISM SECTOR How much can the two countries cooperate in the tourism sector?

— Indeed, both countries have a strong tourism sector, but they are very different. The common tourism feature that we both have is that our countries are beautiful and have natural resources that people are attracted to. In Switzerland, tourism is more about the mountains and the lakes, and here in Croatia, of

course, it's the sea. However, I have also noticed a growing number of tourists that have city breaks here in cities like Zagreb, for instance. There are a lot of Swiss tourists coming to Croatia, around 300,000 per year, and this number has been increasing steadily.

Unfortunately, the number of Croatian tourists coming to Switzerland is much lower and we would love to see this number increasing.

Switzerland is the eleventh largest investor in Croatia with a number of Swiss companies working in the production sector. What is their view of the business climate here and opportunities for cooperation with Croatian partners?

— We are indeed the 11th biggest investor here in Croatia. There are around 50 Swiss companies that are active here and they are a fair representation of the Swiss industry. There are a few large companies, even multinationals, as well as many small and medium enterprises that are the backbone of the Swiss industry. We have

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Our Partnership has Strong Potential Croatia can be a base for Indian investments, not only for the 4.2 billion worth Croatian market, but for the broader EU market. Therefore, along with the development of the bilateral relations, we are putting a strong emphasis on the economic dimension of our partnership

H.E. SANDEEP KUMAR

Indian Ambassador to Croatia

“As the Croatian economy grows, India is very willing to work with Croatia as an equal partner”, says H.E. Mr. Sandeep Kumar, Indian Ambassador to Croatia.

“There is close to a 30% increase in trade in 2017 between our two countries. Albeit such growth is partly due to the small base. The Indian FDIs in Croatia are growing, and there is a potential for a much larger cooperation between two countries”, says Ambassador Kumar.

What is your assessment of the bilateral relations between India and Croatia?

— Bilateral relations between

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India and Croatia have grown tangentially over the last three years, in all sectors. There may be constraints in terms of the geography, size of our economies and business culture, but more importantly, there are complementari-

impart economic thrust to our relationship. There has been around a 30% increase in trade between our two countries in 2017. There has also been a 60% increase in Indian tourist arrivals. The Indian investments in Croatia are growing.

CROATIA CAN BE A BASE FOR INDIAN INVESTMENTS, NOT ONLY FOR THE 4.2 BILLION WORTH CROATIAN MARKET, BUT FOR THE BROADER EU MARKET ties in exchange of the technical knowhow, business opportunities, sharing of cultural values and religious homogeneity.

Which areas of cooperation do you focus on?

— The main focus has been to

At the same time, we have been encouraging Croatian companies to partner with us in our major flagship development programmes like Make in India, Smart Cities and Digital India, which will open up a 1.3 billion people market for them. The globally renowned Croatian compa-

nies like HS Produkt, Sestan-Busch, Končar, Podravka, Rimac Automobili and others have been exploring these possibilities. Infobip has opened four offices in India.

India is one of the fastest growing economies of the world. In which areas do you see room for development of the economic cooperation with Croatia?

— The identified areas of cooperation are pharmaceuticals, renewable energy, start-ups and innovation, tourism, ship-building and infrastructure. An Economic Cooperation Agreement was signed between the two countries during the visit of the Indian Commerce Minister in February 2017 which should provide an impetus to economic ties. A Joint Business Council, comprising of top business

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companies and academics, has been set up to highlight the links between business and research.

How interesting is this region for India in terms of investments?

— Croatia can be a base for Indian investments, not only for the 4.2 billion worth Croatian market, but for the broader EU market.

ACG-Lukaps, with EUR 40 million projected investments and 240 employees in Ludbreg, has become the 3rd largest hard gelatin capsule supplier to Europe. Last year, it acquired the local company IN2-Trace, specializing in medical serialization software. Infosys, the Indian IT giant, opened an office in Karlovac, with 100 engineers, becoming the near-shore engineering delivery centre for the EU. Another Indian firm, Orient Green Power, has invested around EUR 15 million in wind farms in the coastal region around Šibenik. Tech Mahindra, the globally renowned Indian automobile company, will be opening an auto software development centre in Zagreb with 100 engineers with the number of engineers expected to grow to 250 in the next two years.

We are also leveraging the Indian industry for using Croatian ports of Rijeka and Ploče for transportation of goods and services into Western and Northern Europe.

In addition to economic cooperation and good political relations, which other segment have you been focusing on during your tenure as the ambassador?

— Apart from the economic and political cooperation, our focus has been on culture, academic, and science & technology exchanges.

There are several India-oriented societies comprising of Croatian nationals like Yoga in Daily Life, Art of Living, Centre of Vedic Studies, ISKCON, Bhakti Marga, Ananada Trust, LOTOS Indian Cultural Centre, etc. which have

THE IDENTIFIED AREAS OF COOPERATION ARE PHARMACEUTICALS, RENEWABLE ENERGY, START-UPS AND INNOVATION, TOURISM, SHIPBUILDING AND INFRASTRUCTURE become our credible partners in propagation of Indian culture in all regions of Croatia. The Cultural Exchange Programme, signed during the official visit of Croatian DPM and FM Ms. Marija Pejčinović Burić’s visit to India on 22nd Oct 2018, will further open up possibilities for cultural expansion. There is also a growing interest in Yoga and Ayurveda. This year, the International Yoga Day was organized in 37 cities across Croatia. It was an extraordinary journey towards holistic health, global peace and security. A National Ayurveda Association has been set up too.

As part of our skills development programme, several Croatian offi-

cials from central and provincial governments have undergone various training courses in India. The Indology Department at the University of Zagreb has been teaching Hindi language for the last 50 years and also doing research in Sanskrit, Indian philosophy and culture for the last 150 years.

In which direction will the relations between the two countries develop in the future?

— I expect the relationship to continue to grow in the future. As the Croatian economy grows, India is very willing to work with Croatia as an equal partner. As our two countries embark collectively on

the path of peace and prosperity, there is much that we can substantively achieve together through creativity, ingenuity and out-ofbox thinking. There is also a growing trend of Indian workers being inducted into Croatian companies in construction, tourism and other services sectors. This trend is likely to grow. Indija i Hrvatska naprijed zajedno!

What do you like the most about Croatia, since you got thoroughly acquainted with the country during your tenure here?

— Croatia is a beautiful country with breathtaking landscapes. But for me, the main resource base has been the people of Croatia who opened up their hearts and homes to me. I came, I saw, I learnt, I admired. And I painted. I have received so much love in Croatia which will see me through for a long time to come. Hrvatska u srcu!

PAINTING IS LIKE REJUVENATION You are an avid painter, and your artwork can be found all over your residence. You have recently given the Croatian president her portrait that you had painted. What inspires you to paint, how do you pick the motif of your paintings and when to paint?

— My inspiration to paint comes from the natural settings. I get moved by simple things of life like the setting sun, soaring of the kingfisher in the sky, changing autumn colours, etc., which remain captured in the imagination

and get reflected in the paintings. I do not have any set themes but am not shy to splash a lot of colour on the canvass. Painting is like awakening of the self, rejuvenation, self-discovery. I love exploring contrasts, like that of oil and mud, to bring out the beauty on the canvass. I also experimented with Croatian contemporary settings, like the elections, Agrokor crisis, Zagreb cathedral, and the remarkable Croatian journey in FIFA 2018. I also ventured to do a portrait of the Croatian President, which I gave to her as a gift.

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G E N E RAT IO N G A P

Established Firms Try Dancing to a Millennial Tune Some are finding it surprisingly easy

Older people are not the only ones to try too hard to be hip and youthful. Long-established firms can, too. Just look at Procter & Gamble (P&G), one of the world’s largest consumer-goods firms, which this year applied to America’s federal patent office to trademark LOL, NBD, WTF and FML, abbreviations commonly used in text messages and social media. If it succeeds, the 181-year-old firm plans to use the phrases to market soap, cleaners and air fresheners to young buyers. Its move is the intellectual-property equivalent of Dad dancing. But it is a sign of large firms’ eagerness to woo millennial consumers.

To many firms they are a mystery. KPMG, a consultancy, reckons nearly half do not know how millennials—typically defined as those born between 1980 and 2000—differ from their older counterparts. That may be because such differences are overblown. According to Ipsos-MORI, a pollster, millennials are “the most carelessly described group we have ever looked at”. Many claims about them are simplified or wrong. It is often said, for example, that they ignore conventional ads; in fact they are heavily influenced by marketing.

Given such misconceptions, it is little wonder

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YOUNGER CONSUMERS ALSO HAVE MORE DEBT, FEWER ASSETS AND LESS JOB SECURITY THAN PREVIOUS GENERATIONS that firms sometimes get it wrong. In February, MillerCoors, an American brewer, released Two Hats, a light fruit-flavoured brew the beer-maker said would suit millennials’ tastes and budgets (tagline: “Good, cheap beer. Wait, what?”). Consumers just waited; the beer was pulled from shelves after six months. But some stereotypes about millennials have roots in reality. Companies are finding that three broad approaches do succeed when trying to sell to them: transparency, experiences (over things) and flexibility.

On the first of these, transparency, younger brands have led the way. In clothing, one example is Everlane, an online clothing manufacturer based in San Francisco. It discloses the conditions under which each and every garment is made and how much profit it generates as part of its philosophy of “radical transparency”.

Some large companies have made dramatic changes. ConAgra, an American food giant,

has simplified its recipes and eliminated all artificial ingredients from many of its snacks and ready meals. After years of falling sales, it is growing again; millennials now account for 80% of its customer growth. “Bringing in these folks has been absolutely critical to growing the brands,” says Bob Nolan, ConAgra’s senior vice-president of insights and analytics.

Millennials’ appreciation of experiences over “stuff” is also real. Online platforms such as Airbnb have capitalised on youngsters’ taste for splurging on holidays, dinners and other Instagrammable activities, but so too have some older bricks-and-mortar firms. In 2016 JPMorgan Chase, a bank, launched Sapphire Reserve, a premium credit card that offers generous rewards for spending on travel and dining.

Touted as “a card for accumulating experiences”, the $450-a-year product has been a hit with well-off millennials, who represent more than half of cardholders.

Younger consumers also have more debt, fewer assets and less job security than previous generations. In this regard, flexibility matters.

Ally Bank, a subsidiary of Ally Financial, the former financial wing of General Motors, for example, does not charge its current-account customers any maintenance fees or require them to hold minimum balances. Such features have earned it the loyalty of millennials.

Business models are being revamped to serve commitment-phobic millennials. Big carmakers, including GM, Volvo and BMW, offer subscription services for their cars, offering access to new vehicles without lengthy financial obligations.

Yet many firms still have too homogeneous a view of millennials, says Laura Beaudin, a partner at Bain & Company, a consultancy. “If you want to resonate with a group that prides itself on diversity, having a one-size-fits all solution does not make sense,” she says. Some firms do embrace customers’ individuality—in May, Gucci, an Italian fashion house, introduced customised versions of a popular tote bag and pair of sneakers as part of a campaign called Gucci DIY. Gucci reportedly maintains a cadre of under-30 staffers to advise its boss.

Expect more companies of a certain age to hark back to youth.

From The Economist, published under licence.

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

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We Became Wizards

After the exceptional exhibiton called "The Sixties in Croatia", the Museum of Arts and Crafts, which is one of the oldest European museums of applied arts and the oldest art museum in Croatia, is preparing new surprises for 2019 and 2020 when it will celebrate its 140th anniversary. Artistically and financially, the Museum's work can be sometimes characterized as borderline miraculous

MIROSLAV GAŠPAROVIĆ

Director of the Museum of Arts and Crafts

„We are extremely proud of the exhibition "The Sixties in Croatia" not only because of its professional and scientific reach, but also because every such project is realized under very difficult conditions. Similar projects in other European countries have up to one hundred times higher budgets than ours, and this is what makes us the real "wizards", says Miroslav Gašparović, director of the Museum of Arts and Crafts (MAC). Indeed, the exhibition that lasted five months and which took over three years to prepare, was seen by more than fifty thousand people, including a large number of foreign visitors to Zagreb.

"It is important to point out that the Museum of Arts and Crafts, one of the oldest European museums of applied arts, is also the oldest art museum in Croatia," Gašparović explains. "Its value and significance lies in the fact that many items in our collections are unique in Croatia. The museum collects art and objects of applied art from the Middle Ages to the present. In this great time range, over the last hundred and forty years, we have put together more than twenty collections, each being the largest of its kind in Croatia. We have the biggest collections of photographs, furniture and porcelain, an exquisite collection of paintings and glass sculptures, a library with over

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100,000 books, and as of recently, a collection of graphic art that has become the third largest in the country in matter of just few years.

How frequently can the MUO implement such large-scale exhibition projects that move people?

— Our Museum has long been known for its large-scale exhibition projects, such as this year's exhibition "The Sixities in Croatia - Myth and Reality". From the very idea that was born many years ago and the preparations that lasted about three years, all the way to the very hard work of a number of collaborators on the realization of the exhibition to putting together a complementary monograph in

This exhibition was very popular among the museum visitors, and Croatia finally has an exhibition that researches this period of its history in a respectable manner. What message did this exhibition about „the golden age“ carry for the visitors?

How demanding is to implement such projects, organization- and finances-wise because you had quite a few of them - "Art Nouveau in Croatia", "Art Deco", "Hidden Treasure of the Museum of Arts and Crafts" and others?

— Like the previous exhibitions that covered different time periods, the main intent of this exhibition is exploring the phenomena of the 1960s, and, of course, its objectivation from a historical point of view. We wanted to stage an exhibition that would problematize the basic themes and, as I have said before, the phenomena of that time. This is an account of the turbulent period of the 1960s in Croatia, which for some, was a brilliant period of creation and society's progress in the Socialist frame-

— I have to admit that, in recent years, it has become increasingly difficult to provide full funding for such large-scale projects. The vast majority of them live off the great enthusiasm of people working on them, their sacrifice and extraordinary results that are disproportionate to investments.

We staged the exhibition „The Sixties in Croatia – Myth and Reality“ by using approximately 1/3 of the funds that we had, and maybe even less, compared to the funds we had at our disposal before the socalled crisis. But we can still boast about the fact that we recognize the quality of our exhibition projects.

In terms of this project, Zagrebačka Banka and Croatia Osiguranje were of great help to us as our longtime partners, and even friends.

WE CAN BOAST ABOUT THE FACT THAT MANY OF SMALL AND BIG, RENOWNED COMPANIES HAVE RECOGNIZED THE QUALITY OF OUR EXHIBITION PROJECTS AND ARE EAGER TO SPONSOR US OR PARTNER WITH US the last year or so... This exhibition certainly belongs to the very top of major cultural projects that have been implemented in Croatia over the past years. In addition to professor Zvonko Maković, who devised the concept of the exhibition, its complexity required involvement of 18 authors who did different segments that portrayed the phenomena of that time, as many as 92 associates, 62 lender institutions and 84 private borrowers, not only from Croatia but also from Italy, Slovenia, Serbia and the UK.

work or, more precisely, in spite of the Communist framework in which Croatia lived at that time. By staging the popular "Fićo" (Zastava 750 car) and hearing the song "Daddy, buy me a car", we portrayed the beginning and the evolution of consumerism in our country.

After this came a great economic progress and its spillover to ordinary people, the controlled border opening, tourism, and an ever-growing influx of ideas from the West that led to changes in our society at the time.

What would you like to recommend to the museum's visitors coming in the new season?

— We are preparing a number of great exhibitions for next year.

The first one is an exhibition of one of the most significant Croatian sculptors, Petar Barišić who will present his new creative cycle, which I believe will be of great interest to museum goers. There will be an exhibition dedicated to the Music Biennale of Zagreb, a Croatian festival of contemporary music that has an international character, and an important, large-

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scale exhibition, to be staged late next year, that will be dedicated to the treasures of the Franciscan monastery on the island Visovac, one of the most magical places in Croatia, located in the Krka national park.

During the exhibition, we are going to present a selection of treasures that have been kept in the monastery for centuries. The year after that – 2020, is an important year for us because the Museum will celebrate its 140th anniversary, first with an exhibition in January that we are preparing together with the Museum of Applied Arts from Vienna. We are going to exhibit new art by the great Croatian artist Jagoda Buić. In mid-February, more precisely on February 17th, we will celebrate the 140th birthday of the Museum of Arts and Crafts with a central exhibition devoted to this very anniversary. In September, we are looking forward to another Biennale exhibition of the Croatian Designers Association that we have been collaborating with for over ten years.

On this occasion, and for the first time ever, we are going to organize the visit of the the prominent directors of the most important museums in the world - the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Muse d'Art Decoratif Paris, the Tate Modern, the MAK / Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna, and the Museum of Art History in Vienna / Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien.

Thanks to digitalization and other developments, museums have been changing dramatically. What implications does that have on an institution that has been collecting valuable items for almost 140 years?

— I can confidently say that, in Croatia, the Museum of Arts and Crafts has achieved the most in terms of digitalization of our collection and the digitalization of

IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT OUR MUSEUM GETS BETWEEN 1,500 AND 2,000 NEW ITEMS ANNUALLY WHICH IS THE NUMBER OF ITEMS THAT AN AVERAGE-SIZE MUSEUM IN CROATIA HAS We are going to end 2020 with an exclusive presentation of the Museum of Arts and Crafts' Old Masters / Collection of Paintings and Graphics. We are going to exhibit the artifacts that have been preserved in our collections for a very long time and that are going to be shown to the museum visitors for the first time ever.

Croatian heritage, which was recognized by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia. Thanks to this, the Museum of Arts and Crafts was appointed the carrier and manager of digitalization of the complete heritage in the museum collections in Croatia, which is, of course, an extraordinary compliment to us.

How helpful it is that you can partly rely on European funds?

— It helps a lot. We started working with EU funds and projects a few years ago and we are happy to be able to get some financial support. But I would also like to underline that we have gained great knowledge through these European projects.

How often can you stage your exhibitions in other Croatian towns?

— I can say that we have had good results in that segment too. We have a programme called „Exhibitions to GO“, which is designed to allow other museums to show something from our museum programme. The idea is to present the resources and the quality of the work we invested in our exhibitions in other cities and countries to, not only in Croatia but also in Europe and worldwide.

So, we had exhibitions in Paris, the recently closed exhibition in Trieste, and we are currently negotiating with Vienna, Moscow and several other cities.

DONATIONS FOR THE MUSEUM It is interesting to note that our museum gets between 1,500 and 2,000 new items annually which is the number of items that an average-size museum in Croatia has. Of course, these are not all big items and they are all different. Most of them are donated because we have no money to buy them and even when we do, those funds are extremely small.

What kind of people donate items??

— Mostly, these are people who have become art enthusiasts and art experts during their professional careers and have collected certain valuable items that have either artistic or historical significance. They usually want to leave them to the Croatian people, Croatian citizens. One of these great donors is certainly Mr. Yelko Juresha, a Croatian-British ballet artist who has been living in the UK since the mid-1950s, and is one of the most prestigious ballet dancers of the British Royal Ballet. Together with his

wife Belinda Wright, with whom he traveled the whole world, he collected an enormously valuable collection of ballet items, memorabilia, books, magazines, and ballet costumes, and donated a great deal of them to the Museum of Arts and Crafts. We publicily exhibited this donation in a beautiful Advent exhibition called "Ballet and Passion".

Also, we are extremely pleased to have received a valuable donation from Dr Dinko Podrug, a renowned psychiatrist from New York, who has devoted his life, among other things, to collecting pictures of old masters and has amassed a respectable art collection. Several paintings from his collection are, for example, a part of the permanent exhibition of the Metropolitan Museum in New York and are currently being shown in several other museums and exhibitions in Europe. One of them is a painting of the Venetian painter of Croatian origin, Andrija Medulić Schiavone - "The Virgin Mary with the Child" – which he lent to the Museum of Arts and Crafts.

19

COLUMN JAGODA POROPAT DARRER

Business Communications Professional

DISCLOSURE:

PERSONAL STORY MATTERS

“A good speech should be like a woman's skirt; long enough to cover the subject and short enough to create interest,” Winston Churchill once said.

This column will not argue the duration of the effective speech but rather how much (and which kind) of personal information should leader reveal to the audience in order to win their trust and benevolence.

Disclosure is the act of making something known or the fact that is made known, moreover it is something that was not previously known, or the act of giving such information to the public, according to Cambridge dictionary. In public speaking it is crucial to understand, and even more, feel what kind of personal information is necessary to reveal to your audience to make them accept you as a relevant speaker and in that way align with your ideas and thoughts. It is called self-disclosure or personal disclosure, and leaders have to walk a fine line when it comes to it.

“There is considerable evidence that leaders who disclose their authentic selves to followers can build not only trust, but generate greater cooperation and teamwork as well. Yet successful and strategic self-disclosure is a leadership competency that many leaders have yet to acquire.

Used incorrectly, or in the wrong corporate environment, self-disclosure can backfire”, state Lynn Offermann and Lisa Rosh for hbr. org adding “that skilled leaders choose the substance and process of their revelations, including the depth, breadth, and timing of disclosure, with the goal of furthering the collective task rather than furthering personal agendas. Too much disclosure might be met with revulsion.”

Perhaps most important, personal disclosure can humanize the leader, creating connections between the leader and followers that increase feelings of trust and intimacy, and, in an organizational context, a readiness to work together collaboratively to reach mutual task goals.” Your level of personal disclosure lets the audience knows what’s at stake for you (and by implication

20

for them) in the speech”, says Nick Morgan, forbes.com.

Sometimes leaders avoid sharing personal stories in their talks and presentations because they're afraid of seeming weak or coming off as unprofessional.

But, this is a missed opportunity. „Stories that expose our flaws and vulnerabilities are also what allow us to connect with and inspire others. So how do you know what stories are the right ones to tell? Think through the nouns that are important to you

book „How to identify and tell your most powerful stories“.

Croatian authority in Public Speaking prof. Ivo Škarić (2003) mentions five elements of the introductory part of the speech.

One of them is creating audience’s benevolence towards the speaker. This is the moment in speech where the attention and fondness are created, the perfect time to use self-disclosure.

When I recall renowned prof. Ivo Škarić, he always used personal disclosure even when teaching,

“Personal disclosure can humanize the leader, creating connections between the leader and followers that increase feelings of trust and intimacy”

SOMETIMES LEADERS AVOID SHARING PERSONAL STORIES IN THEIR TALKS AND PRESENTATIONS BECAUSE THEY'RE AFRAID OF SEEMING WEAK OR COMING OFF AS UNPROFESSIONAL – the people, places, and things that have shape your life. Some of your experiences may be too personal to share. Others may be anecdotes that could become the basis of a great story. Consider who's in your audience and what they are about. Choose a story that fits their values, goals, and interests, and that will send the message you want to convey”, suggests Nancy Duarte in her

perhaps on purpose, but sometimes it looked like it was just his charisma that inspired us to fall in love with phonetic and to gather so many students to help him harvest olives in his family estate.

It was an honor to be his student, and alumna of such an amazing Department where he worked at – Department of Phonetics, which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary. It has given many

excellent scholars, leaders, educators, spokespersons, voice therapists, speech coaches, TV and radio speakers, entrepreneurs, PR and Marketing professionals, always excelling in speech education, and being among the best rated departments of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb.

Let me return from my own self-disclosure moment. Pletikos&Vlašić Duić (2007) found that among 127 analyzed speeches (worldwide famous speeches from Moses to Croatian Cardinal Bozanić), half of them start with creating the audience's benevolences towards the speaker, many of them using disclosure. The same authors mentions though that contemporary rhetoric prefers creating the bond with audience through building the speakers' credibility. Using McLuhan dichotomy of hot/cool media, where hot media (photography, book, scientific paper) are ‘high definition’ because they are rich in sensory data, and cool media (speech, cartoons, TV) are ‘low definition’ because they provide less sensory data and consequently demand more participation or ‘completion’ by the audience, it can be said that “old” speeches were cool, and “new” ones are hot, with an urge to be cool down again.

This kind of strategy used toastmaster 2018 World Champion of public speaking Ramona J. Smith with her speech “Still Standing”. As Business Insider reports, she used a metaphor that many people are familiar with – a boxing match – to describe various points in her life when she was knocked down but refused to give up, included her dropping out of college, her divorce, and her early failure on the public speaking circuit. She wasn’t afraid to look stupid. And she won!

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21

INTERVI EW

A lot of Excitement Awaits us The desire for change and dealing with our reality can be deduced from the performances of the Zagreb Youth Theatre (ZYT), because we are going through personal dramas as a result of social developments. At the same time, when creating a diverse, exciting, quality theatre, we have to fight with the administration and strive to be self-sustaining

SNJEŽANA MILKOVIĆ ABRAMOVIĆ

Director of Zagreb Youth Theatre

“I am interested in the socially engaged theatre as the echo of the great social changes that we are starting to see," says Snježana Milković Abramović, Director of the Zagreb Youth Theatre, in an enthusiastic voice, who is skilfully managing this famous theatre in between artistic enthusiasm and the necessity of translating everything she does into the language of numbers, because culture means business.

Which plays from the 2018/19 season would you recommend to our readers and theatre goers?

— We have started this season with Federico Fellini's „Orchestra Rehearsal“, which we are staging in collaboration with the Italian Institute. The play was adapted by the renowned Croatian dramatist, Nina Mitrović and is directed by Edvin Liverić. It talks about a rehearsal of a third-grade orchestra with metaphorical references to the society. Fifteen actors and five musicians act in the play and their potent acting energy keeps the audience at the edge of their seats.

We are also staging Uglješa

22

Šajtinc's „Huddersfield“, directed

by Rene Medvešek, and this is the play's premiere in Croatia.

We all remember the eponymous fantastic film and play staged by the Yugoslav Drama Theatre. The play was adapted to the Croatian theatre scene by Tomislav Zajec. I think that the topics such as being disillusioned with the future and searching for a happier life are very much alive today.

In mid-December, the renowned director, Arpad Schilling, who is directing a play in a Croatian theatre for the first time ever, will have a premiere of his own project under the working title „Furgon“.

and „Hinkemann“, both directed by Igor Vuk Torbica, which are hugely popular among festival audiences.

In terms of youth theatre, I would definitely recommend „Alice in Wonderland“, directed by Renata Carola Gatica and „Sherlock Holmes“, directed by Krešo Dolenčić.

more than ever to constantly come up with new plays?

relevance of guest appearances, the number of theatre goers and positive business results are all the parametres that are used to assess how well is theatre doing and they are becoming increasingly demanding, while the pace of work at the theatre is picking up. Of course, the EU's concept of cultural industries is accepted here too and this is reflected in a growing self-financing of theatre programmes and the need to market a play as a product. Culture means business! This year, we celebrated the 50th performance of „Black Mother Earth“ and „Hinkemann“, and we are yet to celebrate the 50th peformance of „Sherlock Holmes“ in January. We definitely need a more precise organization so that the entire artistic process does not exceed two months, not counting the preparations done by the authors.

— That's a good question! There is a great pressue not only in terms of staging our programme but also in terms of statistics which push us to do as many plays as possible; sometimes we have two plays a day because we have two halls – a bigger one called Istra, and a smaller one called Miško Polanec.

The number of staged plays, the

You have brought many young actors and talented directors to the Zagreb Youth Theatre like, for instance, Paolo Magelli, who is one of the most reputable theatre professionals in the former Yugoslavia. What kind of mix of youth and experience would you like to see in your theatre?

Some of your award-winning plays, like „Black Mother Earth“, have been performed for many years now. Do you think that the hustle and bustle of modern-day life has also affected theatre, and do you feel pressure now

I AM INTERESTED IN THE SOCIALLY ENGAGED THEATRE AS THE ECHO OF THE GREAT SOCIAL CHANGES THAT WE ARE STARTING TO SEE Jernej Lorenci is directing Hannah Arendt's „Eichmann in Jerusalem“ which deals with the banality of evil. These are just a few plays from the new playbill that will be directed by very artistically strong directors. Also, I wholeheartedly recommend Kristian Novak's „Black Mother Earth“, directed by Dora Ruždjak, a play that has received several awards last season.

There are also „Titus Andronicus“

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— Yes, we do have a lot of young actors, which is great. We have new energy that benefits greatly other members of our acting ensemble. We have people like Adrian Pezdirc, Dado Ćosić, Andjela Ramljak, Robert Budak, Tina Orlandini, Mateo Videk and Milica Manojlović, to mention just a few.

If we are talking about our more experienced actors, we are joined

by Nataša Dangubić, Rakan Rushaidat and Mia Biondić. The most important thing is to maintain the concept of open theatre because oftentimes, theatre institutions are closed systems. We should give chance to young, talented artists because they bring a certain kind of freshness and change with them. Young directors bring new directing styles while experienced directors, like Paolo Magelli, hold a great importance for young actors who are still building their careers.

Your plays talk about opportunties to change the society, and economic, political and spiritual reality. How ready are people today to engage in such a deep thought process in theatre?

— Well, if we start with the idea that we are addressing the audience from the stage, being pretentious is not going to be received well. Yes, the desire for change and dealing with our reality can be deduced from the performances of the Zagreb Youth Theatre (ZYT), because we are going through personal dramas as a result of social developments. I am interested in the socially engaged theatre as the echo of the great social changes that we are starting to see. We are living in times when we see a new revolution brewing up because the premise of the world order is all wrong, so I am definitely interested in the topics like injustice, social vulnerability, debt slavery since banks owns us…

Audiences are quick to recognize a good play and in a mysterious fashion, the word of mouth gets around that the play is good regardless of marketing activities.

When directors manage to identify themselves with a certain emotion, recognize their own problems in the theme or get intellectually excited, that means that we have succeeded. This is what happened with successful plays such as “Black Mother Earth” which is actually a very emotional and dark story that talks about an ugly side of a village in Medjimurje. The theatre goers love it!

In the last two years, we have also

THE NEED FOR SELF-FINANCING AND MARKETING A PLAY AS A PRODUCT HAS BEEN GROWING STRONGER. CULTURE MEANS BUSINESS! noticed that audiences have started coming back to theatres which is very exciting. I was never quick to judge the audiences for loving plays that are pure entertainment.

What kind of experiences did you draw from the Incubator project? Are the actors from the Zagreb Youth Theatre willing to participate in creating ideas for new theatre plays?

— Project “Incubator” was well-received. Several actors from our ensemble have directorial and playwright experience, but the programme is also open to those actors that would like to try to do that for the first time ever. So far, the project “Incubator” has resulted in plays such as “The Big Notebook”, directed by Edvin Liverić and “Clean and Healthy Home”, an environmentally friendly story for children, written and directed by Kristian Ugrina. For this season, we are preparing another play called “3X and Me”, written and directed by Filip Nola.

Apart from dealing with these big topics, your position also entails handling a lot of finances, administration and staff management. Does that exhaust or inspire you? Do you think you will be able to secure enough EU funds for the reconstruction of the theatre during your second tenure as the director?

— True, these managerial jobs can be exhausting, but every single time we have a successfully implemented project that just adds to my motivation. We are a big theatre company and it is very demanding to communicate with a lot of people on a daily basis regardless of the organization’s hierarchy. You have to have organizational skills and quick thinking, as well as be fully focused on your job. In terms of structural funds, which is how they are called, there haven’t been many competitions for cultural institutions, especially not for internal restoration. We are interested in restoring our façade, but our certificate of ownership

needs to be clear. The Zagreb Youth Theatre is involved in a lot of disputes over its premises so certain unresolved situations from the past hinder our progress.

Where in your plans does the Zagreb Dance Centre feature, which is a part of your theatre?

— The Zagreb Youth Theatre manages the Zagreb Dance Centre administratively and financially. The Dance Centre is a production centre and a service for all dance troups and independent choreographers.

If the Dance Centre wants to separate as a small, public institution, then we are going to ensure that everything is prepared and organized so that they can do quality work. Their building is currently being repaired, and the conditions for dance troupes are improving since they now get to keep ticket revenues, and they also have help from organizational teams in terms of ticket sales, promotion and technical assistance. Now, unlike before, they don't have to pay for these services. The aim here is to ensure conditions for as many replays for dance troups as possible and systematically work on the development of the dance audience.

ENGLISH SUBTITLES WITH EVERY PLAY How is the European Theatre project, i.e. subtitling your theatre's plays, received by the audiences?

— We have introduced English subtitles of our plays because this is a standard and we should not forget that Zagreb is an important tourist destination and that we often see the diplomatic corps and representatives of cultural institutions from Zagreb in our audience. Apart from English subtitles, we also stage plays in sign language.

23

C O LU MN DANIJEL KOLETIĆ

CEO of Apriori World

BRAND IDENTITY

POLITICAL COMMUNICATION

Nowadays, the function of political communications is to create the personal identity of political leaders rather than the identity of a nation they represent Unfortunately, in this part of Europe, politicians do not understand that they are in the service of people which is why political communication and its strategy have not yet reached the desired level. We are witnessing different political initiatives which aim should be to bring prosperity to people in countries in which those initiatives are being communicated. In the end, it all comes down to the 30-second communication messages we hear on the radio news, or to a dozen sentences that can be found on different web portals. Communication messages rarely start any dialogues and, when present, do not have a practical use. We wonder, in all of this, where is the role of politics in the creation of the country's identity hidden.

When we talk about the identity of a country, we can also talk about internal and external identity. External identity always creates an image of a country as a tourist destination, while the internal identity has a completely different image. The internal identity of the countries in this part of the world is almost not perceived as negative as it really is thanks to various digital platforms. Therefore, foreigners have a positive view of a country's identity, and many individuals living in the diaspora talk positively about the city, region and country they come from.

In search of national identity, politicians are not sufficiently digitally literate to understand that the transformation of society and perception towards politics are happening all around them.

Political communication has not met new communication standards because politicians are

24

not ready to educate themselves.

Today's political communication results in youth lacking interest in politics and their decision to leave the country even though they are crucial to creating its identity. Even those young people, who come from an environment associated with politics or affairs related to political lobbies and interest groups, lose interest in promoting their country's identity. If we analyze a number of political and media messages closely related to political parties, we can conclude that most politicians are still tied to the past and do not think about the future. Political education should be closely related to digital and financial literacy, but also to common interests like environ-

ating a new brand identity hinges on new generations. The mass exodus of new generations sends a clear message to the public, namely that there are no values in the countries they come from, compared to the advanced values of the countries that they go to.

It is understandable that our politics still has to grow and that our politicians must understand that they have to communicate with different target groups like students, start-ups, IT sectors, family farms, tradesmen, and farmers, since they are the ones who can change the identity of a country by creating new products and brands. In communication, political community needs to adapt to its people, act synergistically and provide continuous

THE MAIN COMMON INTEREST IN POLITICS SHOULD BE CONTINUOUS EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION WITH THE YOUTH WITH THE VIEW OF ENSURING IDENTITY AND CREATION OF A COUNTRY’S BRAND mental issues and healthcare. On one hand, we have an excellent external identity, and on the other, people are leaving because they realize that the political community is stuck in a time that requires dignity. Society is transforming so rapidly that the politicians need to be educated if they want to understand that cre-

and maximum support, not just cosmetic or financial, to those who want to create the new identity through new values. At this time and age, Europe also seeks out its identity. How many people really feel as Europeans? Is Europe's communications strategy exclusively political and is there a plan that works effectively on

making people understand that they are a part of Europe and not part of a single nation? Do people understand Europe's values?

Unfortunately, even politicians in Europe do not understand that the process of creating an identity depends on the strategy.

The first step towards it would be to establish a European branding and identity preservation centre. European politicians also communicate mostly between themselves or through specific projects. There is no communication with people or a European system that promotes dialogue about identity and the values of every individual as a citizen of Europe. In order to create a new age identity in line with new communication platforms, it is necessary to bring together public relations experts who would, by means of an integrated approach, define key messages in a comprehensible, simple, and not just cosmetic but convenient way. This would preserve the European identity, while national identities would understand the global transformation and openness of the new generations, as well as their active role in the two-way communication that unfortunately does not exist at this time. Communication is always the key to success.

People are ready to say what they think, they are full of ideas and they have solutions. Unfortunately, unless they are members of a political party, those individuals are just a number to politicians.

Until politicians finally involve people in their communication processes, we will continue our search for growth while our identity will not have its creative freedom. Without creativity, we cannot count on competitiveness and progress. Solutions exist, but only if we all communicate.

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25

PEO PLE & EVENT S

17 INDEPENDENCE DAY SEP

OF THE REPUBLIC INDONESIA

The diplomatic reception to mark the 73rd anniversary of the Independence Day of the Republic Indonesia was held in grand ballroom of the Sheraton Hotel . The Republic of Indonesia declared

independence on 17the August 1945. The reception was attended by a number of distinguished officials from the Government of the Republic of Croatia, political and public figures, diplomatic corps and friends of Indonesia.

H. E. Sjachroedin Zainal Pagaralam, Ambassador of Indonesia to Croatia

24 ITA CRO SEP

BUSINESS AWARD 2018

The ITA CRO BUSINESS AWARD is an initiative aimed at promoting, expanding and strengthening of the image and excellence of Italian entrepreneurship in Croatia. For yeas, Italian companies in Croatia have been

making a strong contribution to the country's exports, creation of new jobs and by regularly paying taxes into the state budget which all validates the strong industrial and commercial basis that Italian investors have in Croatia.

Hrvoje Grenec, association of italian engineers in Croatia, Mrs. Olivera Majic, deputy mayor of Zagreb, the Ambassador of Italy, H.E. Adriano Chiodi Cianfarani, Mr. Furio Radin, representative of the Parliament of the Republic of Croatia

26 BUSINESS SEP

BREAKFAST OF THE SLO CRO BUSINESS CLUB

The traditional business breakfast, organized by the SLO CRO Business Club on the topi of Energy, Green Mobility and the presentation of the EDISON partnership, brought together 60 business people and eminent guests from Slovenia and Croatia. In addition to the Croatian Minister of Environmental Protection and Energy, Tomislav Ćorić and his assistant, Domagoj Validžić, other

Smiljana Knez Ambassador of Slovenia to Croatia, Tomislav Ćorić Minister of Environmental Protection and Energy, Saša Muminović , director of the SLO CRO Business Club

26

H.E. Adriano Chiodi Cianfarani, Ambassador of Italy to Croatia

guests include H.E. Dr Smiljana Knez, Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to Croatia, and current and former economic adviser at the Embassy Bernard Schreiner and Jakob Štunf, MBA, respectively. The honorary consul of the Republic of Slovenia in Croatia - Mr. Branko Roglić and the honorary consul of the Republic of Croatia in Slovenia - Mr. Božo Dimnik, were among the guests too.

Smiljana Knez Ambassador of Slovenia to Croatia,Branko Roglić President and owner of Orbico

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27 AHK MEMBER SEP

MEETING

Hundreds of members and guests gathered at the event held by the German-Croatian Industrial and Trade Chamber (AHK) which took place on Thursday evening, in Zagreb. The KM Kovnica Company, a member

of AHK, was the even's host. KM Kovnica is the largest metal processing and processing factory in Croatia. It has two production plants spanning over 8,000 square meters in Pisarovo, and it employs 330 people.

Michael Müller Directors of the German-Croatian Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Managing Director of its exclusive member RBA Croatia

Christian Gutgsell owner of KM Kovnice, Michael Müller Managing Director of RBA Croatia

27 EVENT KLUB: SEP

MICE EXPERIENCE AUSTRIA

A B2B meeting of the members and collaborators of MICE and the representatives of Austrian, Slovenian and Croatian hotels at the Dubrovnik Hotel in Zagreb who presented opportunities for cooperation and establishing business

connections in the aforementioned markets.

Previously, a panel discussion was held on the topic of cooperation and development of relations between the representatives of hotel industry in the said regions.

Sonja Holocher-Ertl, Director of the Austrian Foreign Trade Bureau

10 MEETING OF THE SWISSOCT

CROATIAN BUSINESS ASSOCIATION WITH NEW AMBASSADOR

The regular meeting of the Swiss-Croatian Business Association was held in Zagreb on 2nd October. The guest speaker at the event, hosted by the Association’s president Mr Ivica Jakić, was the new Ambassador of

H.E Emilija Georgieva Ambassador of Switzerland to Croatia, Mr Ivica Jakić president of Swiss- Croatian Business Association with associates

Switzerland to Croatia, H.E. Mrs Emilija Georgieva. On the occasion, Ambassador Georgieva talked with the Swiss companies how could the bilateral economic relations between Croatia and Switzerland be further improved.

H.E Emilija Georgieva Ambassador of Switzerland to Croatia, Mr Ivica Jakić president of Swiss - Croatian Business Association

MORE PHOTOS ON

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27

PEO PLE & EVENT S

13 DAYS OF OCT

JAPAN

The Days of Japan, an event organized by the Japanese Embassy in Croatia, was held at the Mimara Museum in Zagreb. The goal of this event was to showcase, in one day, as many different events aas possible in order to portray the Japanese way of lilfe. This year, the Embassy staged the exhibition titled "Japan - Day to Day". After the welcome speech

by the Japanese ambassador, the museum visitors were able to enjoy a concert of Japanese bells and wire instrument performed by the Yukina group. There were also demonstrations of martial arts, ikebana making and the tasting of Japanese food, followed lectures on Japanese language and travelling to Japan. Ambassador Takiguchi also gave a lecture on everyday life in Japan.

H.E. Keiji Takiguchi Ambassador of Japan to Croatia

15 5th AHK OCT

OKTOBERFEST

Several hundred German and Croatian business people and other guests attended the 5th Oktoberfest organized by the German-Croatian Chamber of Industry and Commerce. The guests were able to enjoy in

the Bavarian gastronomic delights and the famous German beer. The German band Rockaholics Buam were in charge of entertainment, while Mario Petreković was the AHK-Oktoberfest moderator this year too.

Sven Thorsten Potthoff, Director of the German-Croatian Industrial and Trade Chamber

17 THE DAY OF OCT

GERMAN UNITY

At the Esplanade Hotel in Zagreb, a reception was held in honour of the Day of German Unity. The newly appointed ambassador of Germany in Croatia, H.E Mr. Robert Klinka addressed many guests. He

underlined the good relations between the two countries and the common challenges they faced. The reception was attended by a number of the representatives of the diplomatic corps, and cultural and public figures.

H.E Robert Klinke, Ambassador of Germany to Croatia

28

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GLO B AL PO LITI C S

Text: ŽELIMIR MARAŠ

Naturally Multi-polar Not because we want it to be the single system, almost dystopian in its superiority - liberal democratic capitalism with consumers' markets. It did not happen as consumerism and clothes prevailed, with the poor people from Africa and Asia, dressed like Ronaldo or in Man Utd shirts, flooding Western Europe. Their countries didn't make it. Tzvetan Todorov gave us a different explanation of this emerging world.

There are interesting processes developing currently, and with American responses to the loss of the economic and political domination that became absolute in December 1991 being the most interesting of all. There is a new explanation for that.

Lately, we have been worried and amused by Donald Trump's efforts to motivate the economic partners to renegotiate the deals they made long ago. It seems NAFTA will disappear and be replaced with something more adequate for the Americans, pretty effortlessly.

However, the situation with China seems more complicated, since the mutual sanctions might harm everyone, even America.

RISES AND FALLS

China abdicated in the beginning of the 19th century from the position of a superpower declaring that there was nothing else to be learnt from the outside world, since China, as “Chung Kuo”, or “Central Kingdom” would suffer losses, cultural and economic, if it interfered with the rest of the world. What a terrible moment to do such a thing at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution! The West revolutionized and grew richer while colonized, impoverished China and Russia took Manchuria with Vladivostok respectively.

Many others (Russia included) took cities along the coast. Even Japan did that, which was isola-

tionist too until they decided to change. Britain fell abruptly after 1945 since it suffered the burden of the Second World War and America took over, with some struggle.

Britain was contested by France all the time and by Germany twice, which all ended in world wars, while the USA was contested by the USSR. But after the Bieloviezha

APPETITE AND RESENTMENT

Prior to his death last year, Tzvetan Todorov, a French-Bulgarian philosopher, gave an interesting opinion in his book “The Fear of Barbarians - Beyond the Clash of Civilizations“. There are no more “metropoles and colonies”, “East and West”, “North and South” or “globalists and globalised”. There are 4 groups of countries. The first

THERE IS NO MORE EAST/WEST AND NORTH/ SOUTH BUT 4 GROUPS OF COUNTRIES, DIFFERENTLY ASSEMBLED Agreement, the USSR split, and America became the sole superpower; rich, armed and big. Now, since Fukuyama's predictions are dead, there is a new development.

LIFE AFTER GORBACHEV

Globalization was meant to be a Western or an American thing.

When we were kids in the late 1990s, we were under the impression that we would all eat the same food, have the same political systems and wear the same clothes after this process. The ideals would be liberal and American and our societies would converge towards

are the “appetite countries” - after long periods of colonial subjugation and poverty, they took their chance and emerged. BRICS is a good example of this; G20 maybe even better. There are plenty of such countries - from Turkey to China and Chile to Indonesia - trying to take over, or at least grab a bite. It was Japan which, several decades ago, first took this path, followed by several countries in South East Asia and, more recently,

by China and India. China is at the helm and that makes Trump angry.

In the second group of countries resentment plays an essential role.

“Resentment countries” are those who didn't make it. The targets of this resentment are the old colonial countries of Europe and, increasingly, the United States, held responsible for private misery and public powerlessness.

They either start civil wars in their countries or they emigrate. There is no improvement there, but they would eagerly like to be like the first group. Unfortunately, they are predominantly Muslim.

FEAR AND THOSE INBETWEEN

The third group of countries is distinguished how much does fear prevail in them, and these are Western countries. They fear the appetite countries since they might overtake their superiority and the resentment countries since they export terrorism, poverty, immigration, and different cultures.

That is why they are reacting with populism, right-wing parties and open racism. Finally, the fourth group of countries, spread across several continents, could be called “the indecisive countries”. They would like to join the appetite countries, but they are plundered by the nationals of the fear countries and sometimes by the appetite countries nationals, while being under pressure due to immigrants from the resentment countries. All of this happens “with the active complicity of their own corrupt leaders; with ethnic conflicts spreading desolation among them”.

CEE is partially in the fear countries group, while still desperately wanting to emigrate to the West even after Croatia, Romania or Lithuania joined the EU, where they feel like second-class Europeans.

GLOBAL SOLUTION The end of this vicious circle lies in pacifying the resentment countries so they would build rich and functional societies and not emigrate. The fear countries need to realize that if they make the resentment countries rich, nobody would come, and to understand that the appetite countries have the right to rise.

The indecision countries will resolve their problems by themselves along the way.

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INTERVI EW

Text: NIKICA MILOŠ

Democracy and Culture as Two Main Pillars Value your identity to be a nation

D. JOAO DE ORLEANS E BRAGANCA Brazilian Prince

Photo: Felipe Milanez

The terrible fire in the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro left the nation devastated. A lot of national treasury was destroyed and the national culture devastated. After the incident, people's eyes were on Dom Joãozinho, a popular imperial prince, who offered a part of his vast art collection to restart the museum's collection.

João Henrique de Orléans e Bragança, Prince of Orléans and Bragança, popularly known as Dom

Joãozinho, or Prince Dom Joãozinho, or Prince João de Orléans and Bragança, is a Brazilian photographer and entrepreneur. He is the firstborn son of the prince João Maria de Orléans and Bragança and Fátima Scherifa Chirine from Egypt.

When she met her father in Cairo, Egypt, she was a princess of Toussoun, and held this title until the married his father, thus becoming

DOM PEDRO KNEW THAT FOR A TERRITORY TO BECOME A NATION, BESIDES HAVING INSTITUTIONS, IT SHOULD ALSO KNOW AND VALUE ITS OWN IDENTITY. TO THAT END, HE FOUNDED THE NATIONAL MUSEUM IN 1809

Princess of Orléans and Bragança.

Belonging to the Petrópolis branch of the Brazilian imperial family, Dom João Henrique is a grandson of Pedro de Alcântara de Orléans and Bragança, prince of Grão-Pará and prince of Orléans and Bragança, who, on October 30th, 1908, abdicated and renounced his rights and the rights of future offspring to the succession line to the Brazilian throne. João Henrique is the great-grandson of the last imperial princess of Brazil, D. Isabel de Bragança, and the imperial prince consort of Brazil, D. Gastão de Orléans, Count of Eu, being the great-grandson of the last Emperor of Brazil Dom Pedro II, and a descendant of the emperor Pedro I of Brazil. He is also the owner of Pousada de Paraty, and a photographer who stages the biggest literary event in the State of Rio de Janeiro. Now, after the terrible fire in the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, he has offered to lend a part of his personal collection in order to put together a new collection in the museum, thus renewing a part of the Brazilian national heritage.

Very few people here and generally know that Brazil was an em-

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pire and that many buildings and institutions were built during this time, including the National Museum. Due to the unfortunate events, Brazil must replace what was lost, which is of course, impossible, but one can try. Can one person boost the significance of the imperial family and awaken the history of ancient Brazil?

— When D. João VI, King of Portugal arrived in Brazil in 1808, he realised that the then Portuguese colony of Brazil should be independent. He was the only king of a colonising country that moved to and stayed in a colony. He thought that if the colony was not independent, the territory would be divided in several countries which happened in Spanish America.

He founded education academies universities, Royal Justice, the Botanical Garden, which was at the time, an important centre of agricultural research, the House of Currency, the Royal Press (Imprensa Regia) and several other institutions which did not exist up until then. He knew that for a territory to become a nation, besides having institutions, it should also know and value its own identity.

To that end, he founded the National Museum in 1809. The work that began over 200 years ago turned to ashes last September.

As a legitimate heir of Emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro II, you have a kind of moral authority over the National Museum’s collection since it was your grandfather who created it. You also

said you would gladly lend the table that was used by your great-granddaughter, Princess Isabel to sign the Slavery Abolition Act, as well as lend other artifacts to help in the formation of the new museum. Could you tell us more about these artifacts?

You said it was "pictures, photographs and objects, photographs that Dom Pedro took when he was exiled”.

Golden Law (Lei Áurea or Slavery Abolition Act) was signed by Princess Isabel, ending slavery in Brazil in 1888. I am willing to help in rebuilding the museum's collection.

More than 20 million pieces from studies and archives are lost. The Museum had an important archeological, ethnological, paleontological and anthropological collection.

What happened was an utter disaster. I said in several interviews

I OFFERED TO LOAN TO THE MUSEUM, HISTORICAL ARTIFACTS THAT WERE PERSONAL POSSESSIONS OF EMPEROR D. PEDRO II AND PRINCESS ISABEL, LIKE THE TABLE ON WHICH THE GOLDEN LAW (LEI ÁUREA OR SLAVERY ABOLITION ACT) WAS SIGNED BY PRINCESS ISABEL, ENDING SLAVERY IN BRAZIL IN 1888 — The day after the fire, I went to visit the Museum’s director, Alexander Kellman and all the staff, researchers and teachers who dedicated their lives to this important institution. I offered to loan to the Museum, historical artifacts that were personal possessions of Emperor D. Pedro II and Princess Isabel, like the table on which the

said the governments of the Left and Right from the previous period were to blame because they did not see Brazil as a nation and yes, they acted according to their political interests and personal privileges and never long term. In addition to being responsible for the great corruption and misappropriating public money (all of these are known

SERBIAN TIES Maria da Gloria Bragança, the first wife of the Serbian prince Aleksandar Karađorđević and the mother of his three children, is from your family, born in Petrópolis, Brazil. Do you keep in touch with her and with princes

Aleksandar, Petar, and Filip?

— Maria da Gloria of Orleans and Bragança is my first cousin and I had the pleasure of visiting Serbia and Belgrade on the occasion of marriage between Filip and Danica in 2017.

facts) they did not reform the state, government, tax, social security and political system. If they had done that, we would have become a country that the Brazilians always wanted – a country with social justice, without polarized politics and divisions that are noticeable in presidential elections.

How can you overcome the crisis? Maybe you can do a fund raiser that to buy the artifacts of the Brazilian national history?

— There is a tradition in reputable families and business communities in the US and Europe of donating art collections to museums, in addition to funding the construction of art pavilions in universities.

Although this initiative in Brazil is still in its infancy, it does exist. I hope there will be a lot of help coming from private initiatives in terms of reconstructing the Museum and setting up a new collection.

Could Brazil become a more stable country if it were a monarchy? This is a question that is being asked in all the countries that were monarchies, especially in Eastern Europe. This question has been increasingly popular after Spain became much more stabile following a transition into a monarchy. What do you think?

— The parliamentary system works with the clear separation of the State and the Government, which does not happen in presidentialism. Parliamentarism in Europe works well with both President and King representing the State and serving as a mediating force in conflicts and government formation. The Monarchical Parliamentary has an important characteristic that is the supra-partidary position of its representative which does not happen in the Republican Parliamentary.

Without a doubt, considering the political crisis that Brazil is going through, with the radicalism that does not serve democracy well, it would be useful to have a supra-partidary institution to mitigate the polarization that we have now. I talk about this in my lectures and interviews, always prioritising the Brazilian State, our democracy that, despite being 30 years old, can be weakened precisely in crises like this that we are going through now where many do not value democracy but rather want to see the problems through any means. I say our country and our democracy come first.

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B USINESS NEWS Valamar

ACQUISITION OF HOTEL IN AUSTRIA'S OBERTAUERN COMPLETED

A1

VIP OFFICIALLY RENAMED A1 CROATIA

The rebranding of Vip is part of the marketing plan to bring all of the networks under the umbrella of Telekom Austria Group, which is the owner of Vipnet. The Slovenian SiMobil became A1 Slovenia, and the same destiny is likely to be awaiting Vip Mobile in Serbia. Apart from the name, nothing else will change with these mobile services provider. „The A1 brand still wants to be the leader in the Croatian market in this complex digital era of new technologies, high speeds and various multimedia devices, making the users' life more enjoyable, productive and

simpler“, said Jiří Dvorjančanský, CEO of A1 Croatia at a press conference, explaning why did the company embarked on rebranding after 19 years.

Supernova

MERCATOR SELLS 10 SHOPPING CENTRES TO SUPERNOVA

Valamar has successfully completed the acquisition of the four-star-hotel Petersbühel in Obertauern, Austria. The hotel has 80 rooms and is located in the centre of Obertauern. For some time, Valamar has been actively researching the opportunities for expanding its business in the region, with a special focus on Austria. The Petersbühel Hotel specializes in ski and Alpine tourism and it offers the amenities and the comfort of a four-star-hotel – comfortable rooms with beautiful views of snow-covered peaks of Obertauern, a wellness centre spanning 420 square metres, excellent services and quality gastronomic offer. After the acquisition, the hotel will become the 16th facility to operate under Valamar Hotels & Resorts and at the end of November, will open under the name Valamar Obertauern Hotel 4*. Valamar is the leading investor in tourism sector with over 4 billion kuna worth of investments. The internationalization of business is one of the company's key strategic development goals in the next period. Valamar is gearing to invest 752 million kuna in 2019, during a new investment cycle.

Oil industry Austria-based Supernova, which is also present in Croatia, has taken over Mercator's shopping centres Ajdovščina, Celje, Jesenice, Koper I, Kranj Primskovo, Kranj Savski Otok, Ljubljana Šiška, Postojna, Novo Mesto and Slovenj Gradec. Mercator has agreed to lease out these centers for a 15-year term, with the possibility of further lease for an additional 15 years under the same conditions. The

new owner of the aforementioned shopping centres has pledged to invest in their restoration and reconstruction.

Following the sale of these retail facilities in Slovenia and implementation of the second phase of monetization, Mercator will continue embark on its third phase, which will include the sale of shopping centers in other countries, the company's press release reads.

NEW FUEL LABELLING

Rimac

600MLN KUNA DEAL

The world's fastest electric car maker, Rimac Automobili from Sveta Nedelja has contracted a 600mln kuna ($80mln) deal on developing of a new electric car for the iconic Italian auto-design studio Pininfarina, located just outside Turin. This is the largest R & D deal ever to be given to a Croatian company since the country declared independence. Pininfarina designs automobiles for a number of world-famous brands: Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Peugeot, Fiat, GM, Lancia, Maserati, then

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Chinese brands of AviChina, Chery, Changfeng, Brilliance and JAC, and Korean Daewoo and Hyundai.

The fuel in Croatia will bear new labels, with most of fuels being labelled E5. Every fuel dispenser and nozzle will, from now, have to bear special labels showing the type of fuel that is being dispensed and the amount of bio-fuel in them. For instance, petrol will now have a round label, diesel a square one and alternative fuels, like gas, will have a diamond-shaped label. Also, every type of petrol will have an additional label of E5, E10 or E85, so the petrol label will now feature a standardized square plus one of these three combinations of letter „E“ and numbers. The E labels show the percentage of ethanol in fuel (E5 means up to 5%, E10 up to 10% etc.). „We recommend that the owners of older vehicles ask fuel distributors what is the percentage of biofuel in the fuel their cars use, because many engines do not react well to higher percentage of ethanol in fuel which can erode certain materials like plastic, rubber or aluminium“, says the Croatian Chamber of Economy.

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Deloitte

SEVEN CROATIAN COMPANIES AMONG 50 FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES IN CEE

Novotel Hotel

NEW HOTEL IN ZAGREB

Seven Croatian companies have been ranked in Deloitte's list of the 50 fastest growing tech-companies in CEE in 2018, with the Croatian software company Q Software occupying the third place on the list. Another Croatian company, Include is the winner in the category „Rising Stars“ – Deloitte says. Deloitte bases the list on the reports from companies from the Central European region. Deloitte's office in Zagreb says that the growth of Central European technology revenues continues to accelerate and has reached a new record of 1,290 percent.

The list features companies from ten countries, including eight companies from Croatia, of which seven made it to the 50 fastest growing tech-companies category and one in the „Rising Stars“ category.

Orbis SA, a strategic partner of the French hotel company, AccorHotels which has over 4,500 hotels, complexes and residences, whether owned, leased or franchised, is opening a new hotel in Zagreb. The Novotel Hotel will have 170 rooms, a bar, a restaurant, wellness centre

and business premises. The opening is set for late 2020. The hotel will be located on Slavonija Avenue, in the same place as HQ of the Rox Company, a ten-minutewalk from the business quarter in Radnička Street. The developer has not yet revealed the value of the investment.

IKEA Croatia

THIRD IN EUROPE WITH SALES GROWTH OF 14.9%

Stock Exchanges

CRUDE OIL PRICES REACH FOURYEAR-PEAK

Last week, the price of barrel at London Stock Exchange grew by 1.4 percent to $84.15 and at certain point, has even reached $86.74, the highest value since November 2014. In the US market, however, the barrel price increased 1.3 percent to $74.34, also the highest in four years. By mid-August, oil prices jumped between 15 and 20 percent, largely as a result of the announced US sanctions on the Iranian oil sector, which should come into force on November 4th. Washington wants Iranian oil buyers to completely stop importing oil from Tehran in order to force Iran to negotiate a new nuclear deal.

In the previous business year, IKEA Croatia generated turnover of 680 million kuna or 90 million euro. Also, last year, the company sold a total of 13 million

products – 61.6% furniture pieces, and 38.4% home decor items. The MALM furniture line and DVALA pillow cases, duvet covers and bed spreads were the best selling items, while white still remains the favourite colour among furniture colours. 1.8 million shoppers have visited IKEA department store in Zagreb, while IKEA's website in Croatia – IKEA.hr – had 13.8 million visits. The company had a total 43,397 online orders, with 40% of them delivered via delivery centres in Rijeka, Split and Osijek, with the latter one opened in June 2018.

Croatian Government

HIRING NEW EMPLOYEES

At its session, the Government of Croatia has adopted a supplement to the Decree on Ban on Hiring Civil Cervants and Civil Employees in public services. The supplement stipulates hiring of new staff in exceptional cases and in the segment of nature conservation if the existing public sector employees are not able to perform regular duties and if the relevant financial means are secured.

Since 2014, the number of employees in 14 public institutions managing national and nature parks has dropped by 36, out of a total of 218 employees, representing a decrease of about 16 percent. Such situation poses a risk to the basic functioning of these institutions, especially due to the increased scope of work, the in-

creasing number of tourists and tourism growth - said Minister of Environmental Protection and Energy, Tomislav Ćorić, explaining the government's decision.

Currently, the existing decree does allow hiring extra employees in healthcare, health and pension insurance, social welfare, science and education, as well as in forensic research.

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B USINESS NEWS BMW

RECALL FOR 20,000 VEHICLES, OWNERS PAID 4,000 EURO EACH IN DAMAGES

Versace

ICONIC FASHION HOUSE SOLD

South Korean unit of the German car maker and its President, Kim Hyo-Joon have apologized over a spate of engine fires, resulting in BMW recalling 106,000 diesel vehicles in Korea. There will probably be another 20,000 vehicles to be recalled. The automaker has announced a “technical campaign” in Europe, resulting in the recall of 324,000 diesel vehicles, followed by recalls in South Korea, citing similar failure rates of the system in both regions. A total of 13 South Korean owners of BMW vehicles filed a class action lawsuit against the German automaker on Friday, claiming compensation worth close to 4,000 euro each.

American conglomerate-in-the-making Michael Kors has bought Italian fashion house Versace for a value of approximately $2.12 billion, including debt. In 2014, American investment firm Blackstone bought a 20 percent share in the Italian fashion brand, known for its Medusa's head logo,

while the rest is owned by the Versace family. The group, founded by designer Gianni Versace in 1978, had the revenue of 686 million euro in 2016. In June, Versace's CEO, Jonathan Akeroyd announced that "in the short term perspective", the revenue should exceed one billion euro.

Croatian Bureau of Statistics

IMPORT GROWS TO 115 BILLION KUNA

Piper d.o.o

SALE OF PIPER D.O.O. IN CROATIA

HETA BETEILIGUNGEN GMBH (“HBEG”) holds 100% of shares in Piper d.o.o., a limited liability company established under the laws of Croatia (“PIPER"). HBEG is a subsidiary of HETA ASSET RESOLUTION AG (“HETA”), an Austrian company fully owned by the Republic of Austria (HETAand HBEG collectively referred to herein as the "SELLERS" and each of them a "SELLER"). PIPER owns a land plot (the “LAND”) on the island Pag, in Šimuni (within the administrative area of the city of Pag), at the location called Selac, consisting of six cadastral land plots no. 3863, 3864, 3865, 3867, 3868 and 3874/1, cadastral municipality of Kolan, registered in the land registry kept by the Municipal Court of Zadar - Permanent Office Pag, with a total surface of ca. 143 hectares. The LAND is an undeveloped densely forested area with a rocky and steep coastline with no infrastructure except for forest roads.The LAND is subject to a legal dispute which is currently pending before the Municipal Court in Zadar - Permanent Office Pag (the “Dispute”). The Republic of Croatia claims to hold ownership title to the LAND.

Croatia's exports to CEFTA countries have grown by 0.8 percent to EUR 1.35 billion euro, with the exports to Bosnia and Herzegovina growing by 0.7 percent to EUR 745.8 million, while exports to Serbia dropped by 6.7 percent to EUR 348 million. From January to the end of August this year, Croatia's exports to the EU Member States amounted to 47.5 billion kuna or 9.6 percent more than in the first eight

Nissan

RECALL OF 215,000 VEHICLES

Nissan has recalled more than 215,000 cars and SUVs in the U.S. due to a fire risk and is advising people to park the vehicles outdoors in rare cases.

An anti-lock brake pump can leak brake fluid onto a circuit board, causing an electrical short and increasing the fire risk, according to the company. If drivers see the anti-lock brake warning lamp for

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months of 2017. At the same time, exports to non-EU countries dropped by 6.5 percent to 22.1 billion kuna.

more than 10 seconds after starting the engine, Nissan urges them not to drive the vehicles and park them outdoors, Vrele Gume magazine writes. The recall covers certain 2015 to 2017 Nissan Murano, 2016 and 2017 Nissan Maxima, 2017 through 2018 Nissan Pathfinder and 2017 Infiniti QX60 vehicles. 215,124 Nissan vehicles could potentially have these problems.

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Pevec

CREATION OF 200 NEW JOBS

The Pevec Company has raised the minimum wage by 1,000 kuna, and in 2019, the company plans to spend 20 million kuna in raising in the average gross

salaries of it employees, especially the lowest gross salaries of retail and warehouse employees – the Chairman of Pevec's Managing Board, Jurica Lovrinčević has announced. Also, the company welcomes new members of its management team - Dubravka Štefanac Vinovrški and Marko Rupčić, the director of the wholesale sector. Additionally, Pevec plans to open new retail facilities in Vukovar, Vinkovci and Split during 2019 and 2020, a 200-mln-kuna investment. As a result, 200 new people will be employed.

Mercedes-Benz

PROFIT FORECAST DOWNGRADED

CTB

CROATIA DECLARED THE BEST TOURIST DESTINATION IN 2018 IN QUEBEC

2018 was exceptionally successful for Croatian tourism judging by the recognition it has received this year, including a the Top Destination in 2018 award given to the Association of Travel Agencies of Quebec (L'Association des Agents deVoyages du Québec AAVQ). The sixth Uni-Vers award ceremony was held at the Théâtre Rialto in Montréal. Croatia was declared the best destination in a strong competition of Portugal, Mexico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. The award was received by Ina Rodin, Director of the Croatian Tourist Board Representative Office in New York, which also covers Canada's market. "This award just validates the excellent position that our country has in the Canadian market. This year, we had over 170,000 arrivals and 470,000 overnight stays of Canadian tourists“, said the director of the Croatian Tourist Board (CTB), Kristjan Staničić.

Credit Suisse

RUSSIA HAS OVER 70 BILLIONAIRES

Daimler, the owner of the Mercedes-Benz brand, has warned of “significantly lower” earnings for the full year and said profit had dropped 27% in the three months leading to September 30th, sending shares to a five-year low and dragging down other automotive stocks. Daimler shares dropped 7% to €48.77 on the news, the lowest level since July 2013, before regaining some of the

losses, closing down 2% at €51.39. The company now says that its EBIT has dropped to 2.49 billion euro despite the expectations of the EBIT amounting to 3 billion. The company had to disclose its financial reports earlier than usual due to the German regulation requiring the reports to be published early if a company expects business results that significantly deviate from the planned ones.

Volkswagen

LAUNCHING ONLINE SALES

Volkswagen Group will overhaul its dealership and sales organization

by April 2020 to enable online sales and over-the-air software updates for its new electric cars, the automaker said. The new sales model will be ready in time for its I.D. family of electric vehicles that will start to debut in 2020, the automaker said. Rival EV makers such as Tesla already offer direct online sales and over-the-air updates."Online business will make a key contribution to the development of the new sales model and is currently being massively expanded," VW said in statement. Volkswagen also said that launch-

ing online sales will in no way negatively affect their sales representatives and senior buyers who might fear that the online sales will replace the traditional sales channels.

According to a Credit Suisse report, in 2018, Russia has 74 billionaires, 5 more than last year. Credit Suisse underlines that that there is a great inequality in distribution of wealth in the country with the 10% of the wealthiest inhabitants of the country possessing 82% of the Russian riches. The case of China between 2000 and 2017 is particularly striking: Over less than two decades its wealth increased to the same extent as US wealth increased over the course of the 70 years from 1916.

Although such pace of growth is not likely to be kept, by 2022 the People's Republic is projected to add a total of USD 10 trillion to the stock of global wealth. As one of the goals of his fourth tenure as the president (20182024), Vladimir Putin named the annual growth of 4% and reducing poverty in the country by half. Compared to 2000, poverty in Russia dropped to 10.7%, but according tot he Russian state statistical office, it grew to 13.5% in 2016.

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A N O WN - G O A L ?

Football Fans Cry Foul Over Plans to Sell Wembley Stadium Is England’s Football Association getting a bad deal?

After an intoxicating summer in which England reached the semi-final of the World Cup in Russia, English football fans face the prospect of seeing Wembley Stadium, the national squad’s home, fall into the hands of a foreigner.

This is the sacred turf where England won the World Cup in 1966. Many fans are far from happy.

The potential buyer is an American, Shahid Khan. He already owns an English Premier League football club, Fulham, as well as the Jacksonville Jaguars, a National Football League (NFL) franchise. The Jaguars have been playing NFL games at Wembley since 2013. Mr Khan wants to stage more such matches there, so he is offering £600m ($780m) to Wembley’s owner, the Football Association (FA), to buy the stadium outright.

The FA, which runs the grassroots side of the game in England, is hard-up. Its bosses see this as a one-off opportunity to overhaul the tens of thousands of muddy pitches and freezing club houses that make up the country’s dilapidated football infrastructure. The deal, already agreed on by the FA’s board, will be put to its 127-member council on October 11th.

No one doubts that the English game needs an injection of cash. Football’s Premier League might be the richest in the world, but the grassroots remain in poor shape. In a survey of the 29,000 affiliated clubs, 49% reported that at least five fixtures per season were cancelled because of frozen or waterlogged pitches. But

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many argue that selling Wembley is not the best way to fund a modernisation of the game.

For a start, there is the valuation. The FA bought Wembley stadium in 1999 for £103m and completely rebuilt it, demolishing its old twin towers and installing a giant arch designed by Lord Foster. Costs overran, eventually totting up to £757m, £161m of which was funded by lottery and government money. Under the deal with Mr Khan, the FA would keep most of the stadium’s hospitality rights, valued at about £300m. But the cash that it received would be substantially below what the FA has spent on the site since 1999.

FA’S BOSSES SEE THIS AS A ONE-OFF OPPORTUNITY TO OVERHAUL THE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF MUDDY PITCHES AND FREEZING CLUB HOUSES THAT MAKE UP THE COUNTRY’S DILAPIDATED FOOTBALL INFRASTRUCTURE Given that house prices in London have tripled since then, it looks to many like a bad deal. But the market for 90,000-seat stadiums is rather different from that for three-bedroom semis. Valuing Wembley is particularly hard, as it is almost unique in not being part of a rich Premier League club. Twickenham stadium,

owned by the Rugby Football Union, is the only comparable asset in London, points out JLL, a property services company. The FA says that the offer meets a valuation that it commissioned from Rothschild, a bank.

Mr Khan is the sole bidder, so there is little pressure on him to improve his offer. If the FA does sell up, it will be saying goodbye to its only substantial asset. The proposed deal excludes branding rights, meaning that England will at least be spared the indignity of Wembley being renamed by a commercial sponsor. The FA is also seeking assurances that Wembley would still stage “major fixtures and events currently hosted at the stadium”. But the FA already concedes that England’s autumn international matches would have to be moved elsewhere to accommodate more NFL games.

Moreover, many doubt that this sale would achieve the “transformation” of the grassroots game that the FA promises. The public money that was used to build the stadium would have to be repaid (though the government might channel it back into football). The rest could quickly disappear if spent helping 29,000 clubs.

“It seems like a short-term fix,” argues David Webber, a sports expert at Southampton Solent University. A bit like many England managers’ coaching methods.

From The Economist, published under licence.

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

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TRAVELS

Text: ROBERT ČOBAN

Lake Como: Magnet for the rich and famous

La Grande Belezza Born in Blood Lake Como is a proof enough that you don’t have to have a coastline to draw in rich and famous. The lake is reminiscent of one of our lakes – Palić back in the day, which could become like Lake Como again. Every several hundred metres or so, you come across incredibly beutiful towns, churches, George Clooney's mansion, Richard Branson's mansion, villas owned by the Guinness, Heinz and Pirelli families...

Alessandro Siniscalchi’s tailor shop is located at the bottom of one of the passages off Viale Vittorio Venetto in downtown Milan. Since I dress in “souvenir” shops, as my children like to point out, I decided to pay a visit to one of the greatest tailors in Europe after a friend of mine, Acke Djordjevic recommended it. Acke regularly brings Alessandro and many other renowned craftsmen to his events in Belgrade. The old master took my measurements for a shirt and I told him that my

friend Acke would pick it up once he gets to Milan.

“No, no, you have to come to two fittings first”, Alessandro replied. At that moment, I re-

and he remained a tailor until he died, at the age of 81. And yes, he also made people come in for fittings. But what do we, who wear Malaga, Laos and Sorrento T-shirts,

IF SOMEBODY TOLD ME TO PICK JUST ONE COUNTRY TO VISIT UNTIL THE DAY I DIE, WITHOUT A SLIGHTEST DOUBT I WOULD SAY ITALY membered my granpa Djeno who worked as a tailor in Bač for an incredible 68 years. He was only 13 when he was made an apprentice

know about fittings!

It was Alessandro’s father who opened the tailor shop back in 1948, and since then, they have

been making shirts for clients from all over Europe. Rolls of fabrics, tailoring measuring tapes, a little notebook in which maestro jogs down the measurements, and mannequins dressed in suits are all a part of the ambiance of an old world that is dying out.

The one-day trip to Lake Como started in the eponymous town which huge 14th-century-cathedral can compete with those in big cities. Although, it was Wednesday, an ordinary working day, I was a witness to a scene that is rarely seen in today’s Italy and in most

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of the old Catholic countries in Europe – in front of the confession booths, there were queues of believers, patiently waiting to confess their sins to their priest.

Should I deduce that the Italians are making a religious comeback, or do they have a subjective feeling that they have been sinning a lot? It remains to be seen.

Five years ago, I visited the little town of Salo, situated on the shores of Lake Garda. From 1943 to 1945, Salo was the capital of Mussolini’s Repubblica Sociale Italiana, the puppet state, supervised by Germany and formed after the fall of Italy.

Here, on the shores of Lake Como, in the town called Giulino, on 28th April 1945, Il Duce was arrested and executed. Benito Mussolini was arrested together with his mistress Claretta Petracci when, in disguise, he tried to escape to Switzerland. They were both executed, mercilessly tortured and left to hang upside down, half naked, in a square in Milan. The romantic ambiance and medieval-style torture have been frequently coupled throughout Italian history. Recently, I watched a TV series called Trust which depicts the kidnapping of the grandson of John Paul Getty, the wealthiest man in the world at that time, which took place in Italy, in 1973. The series is brimming with scenes of cruelty like “throwing the traitors” off the high walls of one of the old Roman buildings which is “tall enough to kill you but low enough not to give you an instantaneous death; rather leave you suffering for hours from the pain of broken bones”. I guess that’s how the Appenine’s La Grande Belezza is made. To this end, I would like to paraphrase a line from Orson Welles’ film “The Third Man”: “In Italy, for 30 years under the Borgias, they had wars, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love and had five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock!”

Lake Como is a proof enough that you don’t have to have a coastline to draw in the rich and famous. The lake is reminiscent of one of our lakes – Palić back in the day, which could become like Lake Como again.

Every several hundred metres or so, you come across incredibly beutiful towns, churches, George Clooney's mansion, Richard Branson's mansion, villas owned by the Guinness, Heinz and Pirelli families...

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While I am siping on locally produced wine while eating my Caprese salad and Parmigiana in a small restaurant in a square in the town of Bellagio, situated on the shores of Lake Como, there is a young Romanian guy just next to the outdoor dining area, masterfully playing his guitar. Several tourists approach him, asking him where he is performing tonight and wanting to buy his CD. In a bar in Varenna, on the other side of the lake, a waiter of African origin brings me my coffee and WiFi password. This multicultural image of the new Italy is not to everyone's liking.

“Several days ago, a judge acquitted an immigrant from Africa who had raped an Italian woman, saying that such behaviour is considered

cessfully published in 20 countries around the world. The walls in the building’s hallways are adorned by the photographs depicting the history of this company which was founded by Arnoldo Mondadori in 1907, when he was only 18 years old. The photographs show Arnoldo and Ernest Hemingway, Arnoldo and Thomas Mann, Arnoldo and D’Anuncio…

Apart from the speeches given by the company’s CEO, Ernesto Mauri and the celebrated, long-standing editor-in-chief of Grazia magazine, Carla Vanni, it was especially interesting to hear the conversation with the members of three generations of the Missoni family whose fashion brand is one of the very few that is

ON THE SHORES OF LAKE COMO, IN THE TOWN CALLED GIULINO, ON 28th APRIL 1945, IL DUCE WAS ARRESTED AND EXECUTED. BENITO MUSSOLINI WAS ARRESTED TOGETHER WITH HIS MISTRESS CLARETTA PETRACCI WHEN, IN DISGUISE, HE TRIED TO ESCAPE TO SWITZERLAND

three are working for the family company, further developing this 65-year-old brand and resolving their business disagreements in the typically Italian way – at the dinner table.

Last week was also all about the Milan Fashion Week, and the city was quite crowded wherever you went – the streets were swamped with models, fashion designers, photographers, fashion business people… Our host organized the glamorous celebration of Grazia’s 80th anniversary in the spectacular ambiance of Rottonda Della Besana which lawn was occupied by the entire fashion jet set from Milan and Europe, along with us - the publishers of the magazine from 20 world countries, from Pakistan to Croatia. The women in stilettos had a tough time making it across the lawn and their strut became even more unstable after a few glasses of Prosecco. When we went back to our hotel, most of the guests sat down wherever they could.

On the same night, in Belgrade,

One of the many villas on the shores of Lake Como

normal in the perpetrator’s country”, a taxi driver, who drove me from Mondadori’s building on the outskirts of Milan, said in an angry voice. “If someone were to even touch my daughter, I would explode”, he said and added:”We obviously need another Mussolini or Putin to bring some order in here.”

After only several minutes into the drive, it became obvious that populist right wing was in power in Italy.

At that time, Palazzo Mondadori, a huge corporate building of one of the biggest media companies in Italy (owned by Berlusconi), was hosting a conference marking the 80th anniversary of the woman’s magazine Grazia which is suc-

still family owned. Rosita Missoni (age 86) spoke about meeting her husband, Ottavio at the Olympic Games in London in 1948 when he competed in the finals of the men’s hurdles at the Wembley Stadium. Being a fast runner was not enough to save him from being captured by the British a few years later. Ottavio became a prisoner of war after the defeat of Mussolini’s Italy near El Alamein.

Born in Dubrovnik, from an Italian father and Croatian mother Tereza, who was from the noble family of Vidović, Ottavio perfectly spoke Croatian. Apart from Rosita, her daughter and grandson also spoke on the conference stage. All

FC Red Star and FC Napoli drew 0-0, and we, with the little help of Dejan Stanković, watched the game between FC Inter and FC Tottenham at Milan’s San Siro Stadium. For someone who does not frequent football games that much, I was impressed how the fans of both teams behaved, and also by the size and the look of the stadium, the cleanliness, and the imaginative commercialization of every corner. My co-worker, Biljana, who went with us, had the opportunity to meet Massimo Moratti, the famous president of Inter from 1995 to 2013. Moratti is also an oil magnate, with the personal wealth of $1.7 billion and one

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of the richest men in Europe.

The only problem with San Siro was that, after the game, it is impossible to find a taxi in a few kilometre radius, with tens of thousands of spectators usually heading to the single subway station nearby. If you did not come to the stadium with a Vespa, which most of the spectators, both young and old, usually do then your only option is to walk for an hour until a first taxi stop. But, we quickly forgot about our tiredness when we had Burrata, pork with rosemary and wine in the Brera quarter. The entire experience was made even better by a young female opera singer, who looked Russian and who flawlessly sang Puccini and Verdi’s arias in the street across the restaurant’s patio.

The next day, we had lunch at the A Santa Lucia restaurant with Mondadori’s international managing director, Sandra Gotelli.

This probably the best Neapolitan restaurant in northern Italy was founded amidst the 1929 economic crisis. For many years, this was the only restaurant that was opened after the concerts and plays at La Scala finished. The list of the famous guests who dined at the restaurant goes on and on with the photographs, hanged on the restaurant’s walls, as a proof – there are Thomas Mann, Toto

Cutugno, Yves Montand, Harry Belafonte, Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli, Placido Domingo, Marcello Mastroianni and Maria Callas, to mention just a few.

The perfect Burrata, big grilled juicy mushrooms and Neapolitan cuttlefish in tomato sauce were accompanied by the local white wine. In search of the traditionally bad WiFi, I stumbled across a network called “Maja on a Business Trip”. As it turned out, these were actually the Belgrade representatives of the Max Mara brand who, just like thousands of people from other countries, came to Milan for the fashion week.

I left the visit to MUDEC (Museo della Cultura) as the last thing to do during my stay in Milan. The museum is currently hosting an interactive multi-media exhibition about the famous Italian / Jewish artist, Amedeo Modigliani. The museum is located in the same quarter where the fashion shows of the Milan Fashion Week took place and it was a real lottery to find a taxi in the afternoon there. We barely made it to the airport on time.

Museo della Cultura

IN AN EXALTING CONCLUSION, I WOULD JUST LIKE TO SAY THAT WE ARE FORTUNATE TO LIVE JUST AN HOUR AND A HALF AWAY FROM THE WORLD'S MOST BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY

Shirt from 1948: Maestro Alessandro shows one of the first shirts that his father had sewn by hand

“If our entire planet consisted only of the Mediterranean, that would suffice for me”, I wrote recently. To continue on the same topic, I would also like to say that if somebody told me to pick just one country to visit until the day I die, without a slightest doubt I would say Italy – the country that has two ministries of culture (one for contemporary production and one for preservation of cultural heritage) and which was simply made for shopping wherever you go. They have everything – Sorrento, Capri, Positano and Amalfi, if you want to vacation at the oldschool Mediterranean, big cities like Rome and Milan, skiing at the Dolomites, the magical Venice, the endless vineyards of Tuscany and Umbria, Cinque Terre, Sicily, Sardinia, Calabria, lakes like Como, Garda and Maggiore, Verona, Pisa, Florence and Ravenna, Matera which looks like Jerusalem during the time of Jesus Christ and is next year’s European Capital of Culture… I don’t even have to mention the food, wine, football, fashion, beautiful women, history, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Leonardo da Vinci, Modigliani, antique, renaissance, baroque and contemporary art... In an exalting conclusion, I would just like to say that we are fortunate to live just an hour and a half away from the world's most beautiful country.

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T RAVELO GU E

Text: NIKICA MILOŠ

The Baltic: Road Less Travelled Visiting Croatian Olympian

Paradoxically, people rarely travel to this part of the world despite it's close proximity. Also paradoxically, Europeans, especially Croats, are better acquainted with the Western Europe and even distant exotic parts of the world then their „own flesh and blood“, i.e. other parts of Eastern Europe. This is rather unacceptable because the Baltic states (except Russia) have long been visa-free and part of the EU. RIGA

If there is a town that is tailor-made to human needs, nor big or small, and yet perfectly Protestant-like regulated, possessing the Orthodox warmth, the Slavic relaxed manner and the Scandinavian joy, then it must be Riga, the capital city of Latvia. Not only does Riga resemble a Jugendstil outdoor museum, but this is a city where life spills over the edges. After Tallinn, which is probably the most visited town in the Baltic region of the USSR, comprising of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, we are travelling down south, to Riga. If we liken Tallinn to Middle Ages, then Riga is more like the Secession period.

Or, to be more precise, Riga is Art Nouveau or Jugendstil, as the domicile Germans would say – “the last great architecture style in Europe”.

We came to Riga, a metropolis with

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the soul which is like a northern version of Prague and the bachelor party central for the Finnish and the British, to visit the Croatian rower, Igor Francetić who left Zagreb to work in this city. For those of you who don't remember Francetić, he won a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. If you come to Riga now to look for him, it will be too late because he has already moved out. During our visit, he told us how lively the city was and how it is known for the mixture of

Hood is known as Robins Hoods, while Vladimir Putin is Vladimirs Putins. Similarly, Igor Francetić is known as Igors Francetićs.

Losing yourself in the narrow streets in Riga is particularly enjoyable. The two biggest tourist attractions are in the old part of the city, while the most popular building in Riga is the House of the Blackheads. It sounds archaic and it is archaic. And quite spectacular to see! Every detail on this building is fascinating, particularly the

RIGA IS A TOWN TAILOR-MADE TO HUMAN NEEDS, THAT IS NOR BIG OR SMALL, AND YET PERFECTLY PROTESTANT-LIKE REGULATED, POSSESSING THE ORTHODOX WARMTH, SLAVIC RELAXED MANNER AND SCANDINAVIAN JOY different languages and religions.

There are Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox churches everywhere you go, since for the better of part of its history, the city was ruled by the Swedes and Russians. If you speak English or Russian, you will feel at home here because everybody speaks at least these two languages.

It is interesting to note that, in the Latvian language, the words in male gender are formed with an „s“ at the end, so if you consult Wikipedia, for instance, you will notice that Shrek here is called Shreks, Robin

statutes of Unity, Peace, Neptune and Mercury on the front of the building which was built in the Northern style. The building was bombed in 1941 by the Germans while, in 1944, the Soviets viewed it as too bourgeois and „brilliantly“ deduced that, instead of the small Town Hall Square, Riga needed a huge square that was subsequently created by razing everything to the ground. Which is exactly what happened... While historians watched in horror... However, in 2001, the entire complex was restored and

today this is perhaps the most photographed part of the town, together with the Statue of Roland, a German knight which is a symbol of free medieval towns. The Town Hall is located on the other side of the square and this building is really beautiful, although, visually speaking, inferior to the House of the Blackheads which commands the attention of at least 80% of tourists that visit the square.

JURMALA

Since we had a lot of luck with the weather with the summer and autumn this year being the warmest in the long history of the Baltics, we decided to visit the nearby resort of Jurmala. A resort in the Baltics? Yes, why not! Jurmala, which is derived from the Latvian word for sea - „jura“, is an exceptionally long town with a 33km stretch of white, sandy beaches. While Latvia was part of the Soviet Union, Jurmala was a favourite holiday resort and tourist destination for high-level Communist Party officials, particularly Leonid Brezhnev and Nikita Khrushchev. Although it has many amenities such as beach-houses and concrete hotels remain, some have fallen into disrepair. Jurmala remains a tourist attraction with long beaches facing the Gulf of Riga and romantic wooden houses in the Art Nouveau style. It was very

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popular back at the time of the Russian Empire too, since, back then, Riga was the wealthiest and the biggest Russian port and, as such, appealing to rich people who built their cabins and villas here. The town is full of them! The sea water here is not salty, and it is greenish in colour. Well, it’s not exactly like the Adriatic Sea which is the third, saltiest sea in the world, after the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. So, let’s not compare the two too much.

Actually, with its sea bars, people riding bicycles and playing beach volleyball on endless, shallow sands, resembling scenes right out of American movies with beaches with dunes and sea grass just outside New York, as well as with its fresh air and the wooden footpaths, Jurmala smells like a childhood spent near the Sava River.

KAUNAS

If you loved basketball as a child, then you are old enough to remember Dražen Petrović playing for Cibona and a certain club which name, when translated, literally means „The Green Forest“ – Žalgiris from the town of Kaunas in the USSR. The two greatest European basketball players at the time – Petrović and Arvydas Sabonis – had some tough on-court duels. Later, Kaunas became a part of the independent Latvia but not for the first time in its history. After the earlier declaration of independence, Kaunas was the capital city of Latvia until Stalin (again, quite paradoxically) decided to extended it to include Vilnius and the Klaipeda Port. We came to Kaunas on a great Euroline bus that had all the modern day amenities, including sockets and wi-fi. It took us only few hours of travelling through the green Baltic plains to reach the town. Latvia and Lithuania are two brotherly countries which, although having similar languages, cannot really understand each other, a situation that we can liken to Croats and Poles.

We are brothers, but we are finding difficult to communicate unless we are ordering beers for each other.

Usually, Latvians and Lithuanians talk to each other in Russian to complain about their difficult lives.

Today's Kaunas, unlike Vilnius and Riga, is still a relatively small town.

Vilnius is to Kaunas what Zagreb is to Osijek, size-wise. Small streets, river coastline, tameness, beautiful women and fiery Catholicism is what Kaunas is known for. Latvians are the last European nation to embrace Christianity, some 100 or so

KAUNAS WAS THE CAPITAL CITY OF LATVIA UNTIL STALIN (AGAIN, QUITE PARADOXICALLY) DECIDED TO EXTENDED IT TO INCLUDE VILNIUS AND THE KLAIPEDA PORT years before the Latin American Indians, under the influence of Teutonians and their own kings which means that, in certain areas, they were pagans up until the year 1400.

Latvia has somewhat fewer tourists than Croatia, but it is calm and well-regulated, just like we would like Croatia to be. Unfortunately, a number of Latvians have left the country, and it remains to be seen what will happen with them after Brexist since many of them live in the UK. For now, it is wonder-

ful to see the beautiful red-brick buildings, including the House of Perkunas (in Slavic mythology, Perkunas is called Perun), many restaurants and bars, the old castle and other attractions typical for Europe, our beloved continent which is starting to slightly lose itself.

KALININGRAD

I bet you had all sorts of opinions about Kaliningrad until the World Football Cup took place in Russia this summer. Everything

SVETLOGORSK Last but not least, we are heading down to the sea – the dark grey Baltic Sea, just like the clouds above, but with lovely sandy beaches and German hotels. It took us an hour on an intercity bus to reach Svetlogorsk, a place where you go to run away from the urban hustle and bustle. A woman from Kazan, in Tatarstan, told me to watch sunset here because it is spectacular. While we are enjoying eating the Baltic fish, at the price lower than in other places in Europe, and watch the beautiful clouds, while being served by a Vietnamese waitress and an Eritrean waiter, in the true spirit of globalization, who both speak perfect Russian, we are daydreaming about the life that Germans, the citizens of Königsberg, had here, back in the time of Kant. Or what was the life like during belle-époque, when people walked up and down the promenade, or Rauschen, as they called it back then, holding their parasols and wearing striped bathing suits. This is the most European part of Russia that took us by surprise and the place where it is nice being a Croat.

changed after that! Back in the day, Kaliningrad was thought of as „the fighter jet and missile carrier“ and the base of the Baltic fleet, and if you had an opportunity to visit it, your had probably thought beforehand that everybody here was militant. But that could not be further from the truth! This town, which used to be called Königsberg and was the centre of the East Prussia, is proud of its history, has a huge port and some of its quarters are being reconstructed, just like in Latvia or Lithuania or Poland where certain towns were built to resemble Gdansk or Warsaw.

Kaliningrad is located on the River Pregolya. You should, by all means, hop on a small cruise boat that will take you down the river, starting from Fishermen's Village that was restored in a pseudo-historic style.

Unfortunately, the British bombed everything here into the oblivion, including the small island of Kneiphof and the old town that had a castle and a cathedral. The cathedral was restored during the USSR, and the people here have been wanting to restore the castle for a very long time but to no avail – only the foundations remain.

They should restore it! Why not?!

All the more, because the House of Soviets, one of probably the ugliest buildings in the world, is located right here and it is completely deserted. The pre-war city centre (Altstadt and Kneiphof) currently consists of parks and a broad avenue.

Many German-era buildings in the historic city centre have been preserved and even rebuilt, including the reconstruction of the Königsberg Synagogue. The new city centre is concentrated around Victory Square. The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, consecrated in 2005, is located on that square. The biggest attraction of this exceptionally vibrant city is the open-air museum showcasing a Russian fleet, located on the river, with many bars and lively people around. The city has a little under half a million people and it is as vibrant as Zagreb, but twice bigger. The biggest attraction here is the city gates. In counter-clockwise order these gates are: the Sackheim Gate, King's Gate, Rossgarten Gate, Attack Gate, Railway Gate (Eisenbahntor), Brandenburg Gate, and Friedland Gate. You will receive a warm welcome here if you are from Croatia, and you can even buy the jerseys of the Croatian football team here. Same goes for Serbs. This is the place where the two national teams played against each other.

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C ULTURE NEWS 11th TO 18th NOVEMBER, 2018

Zagreb Film Festival This year, the Zagreb Film Festival will take place from 11th to 18th November at its usual locations (cinema “Europe”, cinema „Tuškanac“, MSU, the Müller Hall and F22 - New Academic Scene) plus two new ones (National University, Dubrava and the Travno Culture Centre). Over the period of eight days, more than 100 film screenings have taken place at the festival under the auspices of 15 film programmes.

Since the very beginning, the programme of the Zagreb Film Festival has been focusing on presenting and promoting debutant films and new filmmakers. Former debutants and now great directors like Steve McQueen, Cristi Puiu, Radu Jude, Xavier Dolan, Andrey Zvyagintsev, Taika Waititi and Jeff Nichols all competed at the festival. Year-on-year, „Kockice“, the festival's competition programme featuring national films, has been showcasing and presenting up-and-coming film authors from Croatia. The Moj Prvi Film segment (My First Film) will

show films, chosen by the film critic Nenad Polimac, which are debuts of the most renowned foreign film directors. This year, it's the Czech film directors' turn.

The „Velikih 5“ („The Big 5“) segment is traditionally about about films from the five biggest European film industries (Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Spain). Also this year, segments „Bibijada“ and „PLUS“ will showcase films for children and youngsters. During the „Industrija“ segment, dedicated to educational and pratical content, the festival goers will be able to participate in workshops, hear lectures, panel discussions and other events intended for film professionals, young filmmakers and anybody who is interested in various aspects of filmmaking. Also during the „Industrija“ segment, the seventh edition of the „My First Screenplay“ workshop will be held, which focuses on filmmakers that are working on the screenplay for their first feature film.

Varaždin Baroque Evenings' Awards Best Actor Award at Alexandria Film Festival The 48th Varaždin Baroque Evenings were officially closed with the award ceremony. During the 12 days of the event, a total of 30 concerts were performed with Japan being this year's partner country. The Jurica Murai Award for best artistic interpretation went to violinist Sreten Krstić and Zagreb Soloists for the performance of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons"; the award was received by celloist Zlatko Rucner. The toughest competition was for the Ivan Lukačić Award for artistic ensemble expression, but in the end, the winners were the Japanese vocal ensemble, La Fontaverde and the members of the Libera Classica Orchestra for the performance of Monteverdi's Madrigal. The Ivan Lukačić Award for Musicological Processing of Croatian Music Heritage – the compositions by Francesco Usper, went to musicians Enio Stipčević and Dario Poljak.

Croatian actor Janko Popović Volarić has won the Best Actor Award at this year's Mediterranean Film Festival in Alexandria for his role in Nevi Marasović's film „Comic Sans“. However, there was more good news to come for Croatian film from the festival. The Slovenian-Croatian co-production „The Miner“, directed by Hanna Slak, won the Best Director Award and the Special Award of the international jury. A total of 12 films competed in the main competition programme of the 34th Mediterranean Film Festival with Pavo Marinković being one of the jurors – says the Croatian AudioVisual Centre (HAVC). The aim of the Mediterranean Film Festival is decentralizing film culture and making progress in various branches of film industry, as well as boosting relations between filmmakers and actors from all over the world, especially those from the Mediterranean countries.

Anti-Rape Activists Mukwege and Murad recipients of Nobel Peace Prize A gynecologist from Congo, Denis Mukwege and Yazidi rape survivor and activist, Nadia Murad are the laureates of this year's Nobel Peace Prize for their fights against the use of sexual violence as weapons of war - the Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee has announced. Both winners have given a key contribution to drawing attention and fighting against war crimes – the Committee has said.

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