see magazine 10

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serbia / Vuk Jeremić’s Per Aspera ad Astra b&h / Fahrudin Radončić to Save the Day? croatia / Mirela Holy’s Graceful Fall from Grace montenegro / Summer’s Heating up, Metal’s Cooling Down

southeast europe · a fortnight in review no.10 / subscription only / 28th june 2012

interview / Vladimir Ferdelji: We Need Reindustrialisation

LAYER UPON LAYER

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content

introductory epistle

Layer upon Layer

08

fortnightly news

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The Economy

10

Of General Interest

12

politics

20

Vuk Jeremić’s Per Aspera ad Astra… or Something of that Sort

14

Radončić to Save the Day?

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Mirela Holy’s Graceful Fall from Grace

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feature interview

Vladimir Ferdelji: We Need Reindustrialisation

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in perspective

Montenegro: Summer’s heating up, metal’s cooling down

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the economy

24

A Most Crucial Misnomer

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editorial

Revitalising the World Economy: an Action Agenda

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social economics

The EUforija project

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in medias res

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Croatian Pride Parades: the Next Chapter

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lifestyle

18th Sarajevo Film Festival

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Zagreb’s Regent Esplanade Doubly Honoured

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good ftuff

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Seize the Tech… & the Day

to do list

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introductory epistle

Layer upon Layer

W

e have all seen the painting on the cover, even those of us who do not care too much for René Magritte or mid-20th-century Belgian surrealism: in the film ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’, in Michael Jackson’s video ‘Scream’, or by way of imitation in any of the galleries displaying Norman Rockwell’s originals or prints (in the latter’s work the green apple is replaced by a red one). This is what Magritte said about his work: “At least it hides the face partly. Well, so you have the apparent face, the apple, hiding the visible but hidden, the face of the person.

It's something that happens constantly.

Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see. There is an interest in that which is hidden and which the visible does not show us. This interest can take the form of quite an intense feeling, a sort of conflict, one might say, between the visible that is hidden and the visible that is present.”

I do not know about you, but to me he just as well may have been speaking

about members of the political pantheon, shrouded as they are in layer upon layer of the unspoken and overspoken, layer upon layer of carefully hidden pasts and just as carefully ambitious futures, layer upon layer of downplayed disappointments and feigned enthusiasms. Just like the rest of us, only in the politician this faculty is by definition hypertrophied. It is for a good reason that Magritte called this painting ‘Son of Man’, for Jesus too, God as he was, was also a Man. Everyman.

Do not therefore be surprised by the semibiographical nature of the first half of this issue, as we set out to explore both the current predicament and the pasts of Vuk Jeremić, Fahrudin Radončić, and Mirela Holy, three politicians who have, though for different reasons, commanded much media attention over the recent fortnight or thereabouts. Much can be learned from their example, and many layers detected in the strident mosaic.

As for the rest, it was a particular pleasure to interview Vladimir Ferdelji, who, like always, had many constructive and practical things to say about how a government should be run and an economy navigated. We can also be pleased that both Split and Zagreb Pride parades went off without any incident, and that, as we have said many times before, there seems to hover above that definitive silver lining which, as a society and a region, we ultimately always fail fully to grasp. But it is good to know that it is there, shrouded as it is, it too, in layer upon layer of hope, opportunity, and – most unfortunately – inaction.

impressum

editor-in-chief Igor Dakić executive editor Lee Murphy lee@see-magazine.eu graphic editor Ivor Vinski art editor Stiv Cinik country editors Miša Milošević (Serbia) Aida Tabaković (b&h) Sebastijan Maček (Slovenia) Miroslav Tomas (lifestyle)

issn 1848-4107

contributors Dylan Alexander (Permanent) Jerko Markovina (Permanent) Esad Čolaković (Editorial) Stephen Young (Editorial) photography Mens-Libera Photo, Shutterstock, IStock, Wiki Commons unless otherwise specified printer Stega tisak d.o.o.

Zavrtnica 17, Zagreb Croatia

director Igor Dakić igor.dakic@see-magazine.eu sales & marketing (cro & slo) Miroslav Tomas miroslav.tomas@see-magazine.eu + 385 95 63 99 702 sales & marketing (serbia) Milan Milošević misa@see-magazine.eu + 381 63 224 223 sales & marketing (b&h) Amela Tanović amela@see-magazine.eu + 387 63 691 393 publisher Mens Libera Media d.o.o.

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fortnightly news / the economy

serbian dinar back in the news

lonix systems invests into maglaj

Almost an ever-present when it comes to business news, the Serbian Dinar has seen some recovery over the past few weeks, although it remains down when compared like-with-like with previous months. The Serbian National Bank has spent over 1.25 billion Euros trying to stabilise their volatile currency, but have so far failed to halt its slide. The Dinar is 2.5% weaker against the Euro since May, and 13% since the beginning of the year, and is 2.8% weaker against the US Dollar since last month, and 22% weaker since last year. The markets, already in decline, reacted badly after Tomislav Nikolić was elected President of Serbia, all amid fears that EU talks might be shelved.

Lonix Systems, a British company, have established a daughter company in Maglaj in the North of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Lonix Systems, who specialise in electrical wiring and related implements for the automotive industry, hope to employ as many as 50 individuals in their new production facility. These employees will be sent to Croatia for training and it is expected to see production begin during the first week of August. The British firm have already begun establishing business connections with other companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina so that they might be in a position to expand as the need arises. Lonix Systems operate in Croatia and Estonia, and are a subcontractor to Lotus, Komatsu, Hanomag, JCB, and others.

regional business partner 2012 awards Mass Media International's Regional Business Partner awards, running now for 18 years, have been presented in Belgrade. Awards were given out to 45 companies, each of which fulfil ten different requirements, and they, in turn, give out the awards for the best regional partner for South East Europe.

Emil Tedeschi, CEO of the Croatian Atlantic Group, won Business Person of the Year, and the companies which took awards included Budvanska Rivijera (Montenegro), Adris Group (Croatia), Tim Net International (Romania), GD Granit (Macedonia), Sofarma (Bulgaria), and Kakanj Cement Plant (B&H).

croatia sees its largest solar plant yet Sveta Klara, near Zagreb, has seen Croatia’s largest ever solar plant come on-line. The power plant has 3,000m² of solar panelling which is mounted on several rooftops.

It has a total yearly output of 400kW (400,000kWh), which will be enough energy to power 130 households, cutting CO² emissions in the process by approximately 230 tonnes. The opening ceremonies were attended by President Ivo Josipović, who stated that it was his intention to support new investments, which would better Croatia, especially those that were green and eco-friendly.

nis tops the poll The Serbian Agency of Business Registers has published its findings for the 2011 business year and NIS (Oil Industry of Serbia) finds itself atop the agency's report, with gross annual revenue of 400 million Euros. EPS, the State owned electricty company, Telekom Srbija, Srbijagas, US Steel Serbia, TE Nikola Tesla, Delhaize Serbia, Mercator Serbia, and Idea all feature in the list of 100 companies. The entire list is responsible for over 30% of revenue generated by the Serbian economy and employs over 16% of the entire workforce.

serbian fiat production/ export delayed patria & đuro đaković The Finnish company Patria and the Croatian company Đuro Đaković have signed a framework agreement for the export of Patria armoured vehicles. This agreement for future cooperation was signed during the Eurosatory Defense Fair in Paris, which was held during the second week of June. Đuro Đaković is already working with Patria to supply the Croatian Army with armoured personnel carriers and has a long tradition in its field: Đuro Đaković used to produce the M-84 tank for the Yugoslav Army, and then the Croatian Army; the tank was also exported to Kuwait. As per the agreement, Đuro Đaković will be the main negotiator for future export ventures.

The FIAT 500L, a small model car which is being heavily publicised and is due for production in Serbia, will not leave the assembly line before September of this year. The reason behind this delay is purely financial, as the Serbian Government, as a partner in FIAT's operations here, has yet to secure funding for the plant.

FIAT expected 83 million Euros but has, so far, received as little as 8 million, in 200,000 Euro instalments. Although no official statement has been forthcoming from FIAT, they have said that they “fully understand the problems in State finances and the need to economise on expenses until such time as the budget is rebalanced”. FIAT needs this production series to be a success because it has commitments to the banking sector which it cannot otherwise fulfil.

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swingeing cuts to go ahead regardless

jat introduces flights to croatian coast

Slavko Linić, the Croatian Minister of Finance, has said that he will push ahead in making expenditure cuts despite public sector unions calling for a referendum on the matter. It is expected that the Government will realise cuts of 2 billion Kuna per annum, in addition to any revenues earned from the sales of the Croatian Postal Bank (HPB) and Croatian Insurance (Croatia osiguranje), which Linić indicates are only a matter of weeks away. The Minister was unequivocal in his language, maintaining that “this country will not spend more than it makes”, and that he would take measures to punish state-owned companies who abuse their positions by failing to pay their employees.

We would like to think that those about whom we write like to read what we have to say and take positive steps accordingly. If that is the case, then JAT must be subscribers because they have introduced direct flights connecting the Serbian capital Belgrade to Dubrovnik, Split, and Pula. Belgrade-Dubrovnik will fly three times per week, up until late September, and Belgrade-Pula will fly twice per week, on Thursdays and Saturdays. Belgrade-Split will commence on July 2nd and will operate on Mondays and Thursdays. Returns tickets for all flights are estimated to cost around 100 Euros each.

croatian innovators win eleven gold medals Croatia has done well at the recent innovations fair, INPEX, in Pittsburgh. INPEX is the largest fair of its kind in the United States and included 1,800 exhibits from all over the States, as well as from twenty other nations. Croatia came away with an admirable haul of 11 gold medals for a variety of products, including a design for infrared camouflage for a uniform, universal bumper mounts, aerodynamic blades for turbines and propellers, an electromagnetic mining drill, and a device which negates cell phone radiation.

the silver rocket comes to serbia Serbia continues to be an attractive investment market as one of the largest breweries in the World, Canadian-American Molson Coors Brewing Company, has completed the purchase of the Starbev regional brewery group, which includes the Apatin Brewery. The new holding will trade under the name Molcon Coors Central Europe and will continue to develop its existing brands such as Staropramen. The deal is reported to be worth in excess of 2.5 billion Euros, and will be overseen by the existing Molson Coors operation in Ireland and the UK.

istrian prosciutto granted certificate of authenticity Following a 15 year-long lobbying effort, Istrian prosciutto has been granted the EU Standard Certificate of Authenticity. Istrian prosciutto distinguishes itself from other similar products by way of its specific curing process, which includes exposure to gale force winds, leading to its even red colour and underlying flavours of black pepper, rosemary, and bay leaf. Under the terms of the certificate, the raw material for the Istrian product, which is made from pork, can be produced elsewhere in Croatia – which is noteworthy, if only because just 10% of the material used in the annual production of some 15,000 piece of prosciutto comes from Istrian pork.

deadline for smederevo ironworks extended The Serbian Ministry of Finance has extended the deadline in their search for a strategic partner for the Smederevo Ironworks until September 10th. Interest has been strong in the company, but so far the companies involved in the bidding have failed to meet the Government’s valuation. Smederevo, which was bought from US Steel for 1 USD back in January, has attracted larger firms such as Donetsk Steel Group, Ural Mining and Metallurgic Company of Russia, and United Plzen of Luxembourg. This is the second time that the deadline has been extended.

credit allocated to mk group

slovenia-china summit

MK Group, a Serbian holding company, has been allocated a line of credit, worth 45 million Euros, by the International Financial Corporation which is a member of the World Bank. MK Group is the largest agricultural holding company in Europe and controls 25,000 hectares of land in Serbia, as well as 55,000 hectares in Ukraine. It also possesses storage capacity for 1,000,000 tonnes of grain, as well as sugar processing facilities. MK Group also owns Carnex, Serbia’s leading company in the field of meat and meat products. The Serbian firm plan to invest the funds into expanding their domestic and foreign holdings, as well as into a possible purchase of a Greek company, Hellenic Sugar.

Portorož in Slovenia has played host to the Slovenia-China Investment and Business Conference. Running from June 18th to June 20th, the conference dealt with themes of the transfer of knowledge and technologies into industry.

JAPTI, the Slovenian Public Agency for Enterprise and Foreign Investment, has been looking to strengthen ties between the two countries since 2007 and has organised similar events since 2008. While reports from the conference were encouraging, it remains to be seen whether Slovenia can make itself an attractive location for Chinese companies to set up, especially given that the Slovenian economy is recovering at a pace below that of the EU average.

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fortnightly news / of general interest

macedonia in a new naming dispute Given the problems the Macedonians have had in recent times over their own country’s name you would expect that there would be a certain amount of hesitance when it came to other such issues. That, however, does not appear to be the case, as the current Government is attempting to rename a number of streets which currently bear the names of anti-fascist heroes from WWII. The Social Democrats, who are currently in opposition, have vowed to fight all such name changes, claiming that this course of action is tantamount to rewriting Macedonian history. They have also said that once they are back in power they will bring back all the original street names.

nikolić inaugurated Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić has been formally inaugurated in Belgrade. The ceremony, which was not without controversy, went ahead as planned: almost none of the regional leaders were in attendance, which was a response to both Nikolić's past activities as well as a number of comments he made during the election campaign. Those who were there, Filip Vujanović of Montenegro and Milorad Dodik of Republika Srpska, were treated to Serbian folk music and plum brandy, distilled by the President himself. The ceremony was also attended by Nebojša Radmanović of the B&H Presidency, Štefan Füle, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement, and a number of ambassadors.

Mr Füle gave a speech in which he expressed belief that the integration process would go ahead as planned, suggesting he considered some of Nikolić's comments to be merely pandering to the masses. Ivica Dačić, leader of the Socialist Party, called the absence of so many State leaders an insult: not to Nikolić as such, but rather to Serbia as a nation.

kosor & šeks removed

fiolić reveals the location of sanader’s hidden treasure Stjepan Fiolić, who, along with former Minister of Agriculture petar Čobanković, was recently indicted by USKOK regarding the sale of the Ministry of Agriculture building in Planinska Street in Zagreb, has apparently revealed the location of five missing paintings by Croatian artist Vlaho Bukovac, valued at some 230,000 Euros. The paintings, supposedly owned by former PM Ivo Sanader, have been missing since 2010, when USKOK began seizing the property of the former Prime Minister. Stjepan Fiolić, supposedly one of the wealthiest members of HDZ, has reportedly stated that the paintings in question were delivered to him by Sanader’s bodyguard for safe keeping towards the end of 2010. Although subsequently denied by Ante Madunić, Fiolić’s attorney, it would seem that the former HDZ man has also claimed to have delivered, in cash, 10 million Kuna and 1 million Euros to Sanader, money which came from the sale of the aforementioned building.

The search for Ivo Sanader’s collection of time pieces, valued at 150,000 Euros, still continues.

Jadranka Kosor, the former Prime Minister, and Vladimir Šeks, the Speaker of Parliament under Ivo Sanader’s Cabinet, have been relieved of their duties as Parliamentary Vice Presidents by the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) Presidency. Jadranka Kosor had already resigned her position in the HDZ Parliamentary Representatives Club, following her defeat to Tomislav Karamarko in the HDZ primary, but she felt that this was a step too far and expressed her outrage accordingly: she stated that she felt the role of Vice President was something to which she was entitled given her track record in combating corruption as well as her role in the European Union accession process, not to mention her long service in Parliament. Continuing her mini-tirade, Kosor said that she was being unfairly blacklisted by her party, but she will continue to perform her duty as Member of Parliament. Vladimir Šeks commented that he, as one of the Party founders, would not question the decision of the HDZ Presidency and that he too would continue to serve as Member of Parliament to the best of his ability.

belgrade issues sentences for war crimes In news likely to be welcomed across the region, Belgrade has sentenced four men to a combined total of 36 years in jail for crimes committed in Croatia during 1991. The four, who were members of the military of the Serbian Autonomous Region of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srem, were found guilty

by Dragan Mirković, the Presiding Judge of the Trial Chamber. Zoran Vukšić was sentenced to 10 years; Slobodan Strigić also received 10 years, while Branko Hrnjak and Velimir Bertić got 5 years and 18 months respectively. The case was originally being prosecuted by Osijek County Court but was handed over in 2008 as part of the Agreement on Cooperation in Prosecuting Perpetrators of War Crimes, Crimes against Humanity and Genocide.

mladić trial postponed The trial of Ratko Mladić, who is in The Hague facing charges of atrocities committed during the Bosnian conflict, has been postponed until further notice. Originally scheduled to recommence on June 25th, it has been postponed indefinitely following an objection issued by the defending counsel. Several documents which were in the possession of the prosecution were never disclosed to Mladić’s team, a grave technical error indeed. It is hoped that the trial might begin once more at the start of 2013, but the prosecution will not be keen to make further mistakes and run the risk of a mistrial.

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macedonian libel law reforms met with reserve

mixed fortunes for sports stars

Both journalists and the media in general have made their displeasure known with regard to recent moves by the Macedonian Government to decriminalise libel offences, or rather the way in which it decided to go about it. While the move has been welcomed by ZNM, the Macedonian Journalist’s Association, many individual journalists have criticised the introduction of civil fines for future offences.

Heavy fines will replace jail time, but many feel that this mechanism too will impact on media output, leading to an overly tame environment. ZNM have defended the new situation, admitting that it’s not perfect, but that it is an optimal compromise. Fines begin at 2,000 Euros, 10 times the average wage of a Macedonian journalist. Editors and owners will be subject to even more severe fines.

The tennis season is fully underway, with Wimbledon having started on the 25th of June, and it feels only right to make mention of the recent travails of the regional tennis stars. Novak Đoković, who remains World No.1, was defeated in the final of the French Open by clay court maestro Rafa Nadal, who was collecting his 7th French title and his 11th Grand Slam in total. Đoković should feel confident in defending his All England Club’s trophy as his nearest rival on grass, Roger Federer, is almost certainly in decline this season. Croatian player Marin Cilić was able to take advantage of some bizarre behaviour from opponent David Nalbandian, who found himself disqualified after he caused an injury, albeit accidental, to a lines judge. Need we add that Croatia, the only national side from the immediate region to have participated in the 2012 EURO, have been eliminated

by World Champions Spain after a strong effort, marking Slaven Bilić’s last game as Head Coach.

two cadets killed in a training accident In an accident that occurred on Pasuljanske livade training ground, two Serbian Army Military Academy cadets have been killed, two more seriously injured, and a number who sustained minor wounds. The incident took place after the unfortunate individuals stumbled upon an unexploded 30mm artillery shell, which had been left after previous exercises. The tragedy has raised questions of safety standards for trainees, although analysts have concluded that this incident came as a result of ‘human error’. As many as five commanding officers, who had been in charge of the exercises, have been suspended by the Minister of Defense pending a full investigation.

patriarch irinej visits zagreb Patriarch Irinej, Head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, was recently in Zagreb for an official 3 day visit, and met with Cardinal Josip Bozanić of the Zagreb Archdiocese. The two men issued an address, in the spirit of ecumenism, pleading for a joint effort between the peoples of Serbia and Croatia to try and reach some level of reconciliation following the wars of the 1990s.

The Patriarch also met with President Ivo Josipović and Prime Minister Zoran Milanović, reiterating the necessity for mutual understanding and further improvement of relations between the two countries. Patriarch Irinej attended the opening ceremonies of the newly constructed Orthodox Grammar School and Spiritual Centre, located in Sveti Duh, Zagreb.

montenegro to receive croatian assistance in meeting eu targets It would seem that Montenegro continues to be the most popular Balkan ‘sibling’, as Croatia has vowed to help it reach varying goals as the former seeks to join the European Union and NATO. Montenegrin Foreign Minister Milan Roćen and his Croatian counterpart Vesna Pusić signed an agreement in Podgorica recently which will see Montenegro gain access to a large amount of EU legislation that has already been translated into Croatian, making the matter of wording their own required legislation that much easier. Montenegro has managed to stay above the obvious enmity between former Yugoslav states, as they have recently both opened an embassy in Priština and were in official attendance at Tomislav Nikolić’s Presidential inauguration in Belgrade.

janša rejoices at improved (un)employment figures For the third month running the Slovenian unemployment rate has dropped, and now sits at 11.8%: this according to figures released by the Slovenian Statistics Office. It is not only the workforce who have cause to be happy with these figures, but the ruling party (SDS) as well, as they have seen a rise in popularity for them and their leader, Janez Janša. A recent poll suggests that Janša’s party now enjoys just over 20% popularity, while their immediate rivals, Positive Slovenia, are down to 18.5%. It is worth noting that the minor coalition parties would fail to meet the Parliamentary threshold of 4%, if an election were to be held today.

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politics

The younger Jeremić has always been very secretive, especially when it came to his political past.

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Vuk Jeremić’s Per Aspera ad Astra… or Something of that Sort A story of how the Serbian Foreign Minister, a young descendant of a Socialist élite family, carved his way to the summits of international politics at East River, while his party was losing an electoral battle at home… well, this has all the makings of a very educational bestseller. He may not actually have had to, as our title might suggest, rise from the mud, but after being appointed President of the UN General Assembly he has certainly reached the stars.

By Miša Milošević

O

n June 8th Vuk Jeremić, the Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs, was elected to the position of President of the un General Assembly for the term 2012-2013. Ordinarily an uncontested election, this one, but not this time round: Jeremić secured 99 votes from the 190 members of the un, defeating Dalius Cekuolis, the Lithuanian Ambassador to the European Union, by a very narrow margin.

The event, which has secured Serbia a significant amount of diplomatic and political exposure, is not only relevant for being the first victory of the Democratic Party in 2012 (we may recall two well reported electoral defeats in May), but also for Jeremić’s ascent towards becoming an internationally renowned figure: until now he has found himself under a mass

of criticism, both home and abroad, for a myriad of reasons: his young age, his lack of experience, his nationalism, his genealogy, his secret diplomacy, his ‘betrayal’ of Kosovo, his haircut, and his choice in spectacle frames. As with many post-2000 Serbian leaders little is known of the early days of his career, a career which ultimately led to his outgrowing his political seminary – the Democratic Party.

the origins Those notorious stories of elite families who control global political and economic matters for decades or centuries at a time might well be true in Vuk Jeremić’s case (albeit on a smaller, Balkan scale).

Jeremić’s father, Mihajlo, was a distinguished member of Milošević’s Socialist

Jeremić is descended from the Pozderac family which has been very influential in Bosnia for centuries, quite literally.

Party and ceo of Jugopetrol. In 2007 he confirmed, indirectly, that his son had once also been a member of Milošević’s sps. The younger Jeremić has always been very secretive, especially when it came to his political past, and would make use of every opportunity to deny any connection to sps prior to 2000; however, in light of his father’s apparent confession it may well be difficult to continue denying it in the future. Maternally Jeremić is descended from the Pozderac family which has been very influential in Bosnia for centuries, quite literally: from Nurija Pozderac, a great land-owner towards the end of the Ottoman Empire, to Hamdija and Hakija Pozderac, Jeremić’s grandfathers, who could be called the Bosnian Kennedys during the times of Communist Yugoslavia; the latter’s sister, Sadeta, was the principal of the high school which Vuk attended, and where Boris Tadić was teaching psychology.

The young Vuk, growing up as he did in this privileged environment, he was soon en route to London to continue his education. Many of the wealthy families of Yugoslavia would send their children to London in particular, and those who were abroad at this time had the added

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advantage of being able to avoid the military draft at the beginning of the 1990s conflict: many young men of a similar age were not so lucky.

In his 1997 student biography he stated the following: “before I turn 35 I intend to pay for my phd studies by cruel, capitalist, exploitation of the London, New York, Tokyo, or Hong Kong stock exchanges, and after that I will immerse myself in humanitarian work, bird watching, and philately: all the while holding shares in Playboy and the Serbian Ministry of Mining.”

Certainly a mixed vision of the future, but some would call it forward thinking.

the ambition It’s not known, at least not publicly, at what stage Jeremić returned to Serbia: some cynical sources claim that it was on October 6th, 2000, a mere day after the Socialist regime was overthrown. With his distinguished and disparate education – Vuk had taken classes, amongst others, in Theoretical Physics and International Development – he soon found himself in the position of advisor to Boris Tadić, who was at that time Minister of Telecommunications in the still-surviving fr Yugoslavia, then consisting of Serbia and Montenegro. His experience at this stage was limited to working as a student temp at a number of firms including Deutsche Bank, Dresden Kleinwort, and Astra Zeneca. Only 29 years of age, he was asked by the media as to what he could advise his Minister on, given his relative youth and lack of experience, and he duly showed a glimpse of his future diplomatic self by loosely saying that they merely discussed and formulated political concepts together, adding: “the only thing I didn’t succeed in is to make [Tadić] give up supporting Partizan Football Club”.

Could it be that Tadić the Minister remembered Jeremić during his time as Tadić the Professor? It may be that Tadić thought highly of his former student, so much so that he employed him without much regard for immediate experience and expertise.

It is believed that Jeremić the Elder paved the way for Jeremić the Younger into the world of high politics. Mihajlo Jeremić, following the democratic changes in 2000, and in spite of being a high ranking member of sps (although he always denied ever having held any function within the

Jeremić would become the greatest official hardliner and the strongest advocate of the ‘Kosovo and the eu’ direction we have been made familiar with in recent months. party), retained a top position in the Serbian state petrol company, most probably because, as several sources claim, he was influencing the Democratic Party's own personnel politics and lobbying for Boris Tadić, which subsequently helped the latter to become President of the party. This was later proved not only by Tadić's political adoption of Jeremić Junior, but also by the fact that in 2007 Jeremić was a serious contender for the same position in Jugopetrol (now nis Petrol) his father once held. Nevertheless, Vuk Jeremić would faithfully follow Tadić as advisor for the foreseeable future: he would advise Tadić while he served as Minister of Defence, and then as Head of State.

the double jeu Vuk Jeremić first came to full light in 2007, when he was first sworn in as Minister of Foreign Affairs. This appointment coincided with what was, probably, one of the most difficult periods in recent Serbian history: it was merely a year after Montenegro had proclaimed independence, and Kosovo was already planning a similar withdrawal. With such turmoil all that Jeremić could do was to speak to as many countries as possible and attempt to deny Kosovo International recognition.

A pragmatist – no doubt a very useful character trait under the circumstances – Jeremić would become the greatest official hardliner and the strongest advocate

Vuk Jeremić - a short biography 1975 - Born in Belgrade to Mihajlo Jeremić, respectable member of Socialist Party of Serbia, and Sena Buljubašić, heiress to the Pozderac dynasty, the most influential Bosnian political family during Communist Yugoslavia.

1998 - Graduated from the University of Cambridge in Theoretical Physics and enrolled in a PhD programme in Financial Mathematics at the University of London.

2000 - Earned a Masters degree in Public Administration and International Development at Harvard University 2000 - Becomes an advisor to the Serbian Minister of Telecommunications, Boris Tadić 2003 - Becomes the special envoy for EuroAtlantic Affairs at the Serbian Ministry of Defense, led by Boris Tadić 2006 - Appointed member of the Board of Democratic Party 2007 - Becomes Minister of Foreign Affairs 2011 - Becomes the President of the Tennis Federation of Serbia 2012 - Elected President of the UN General Assembly while already incumbent Minister of Foreign Affairs

of the ‘Kosovo and the eu’ direction we have been made familiar with in recent months.

Following Kosovo’s declaration of independence, Jeremić undertook a series

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AGENDA OF THE 67th SESSION OF THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY The 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly is scheduled for September 13th, on which day Vuk Jeremić will preside for the first time. Most countries will have representative speeches addressing their own issues and concerns, the hopes for the coming year and what the UN should do. This is also an opportunity for member states to express their own opinions on issues of International import.

Elections will be held in October to decide the non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for the 2013-2014 sitting. The election of 18 members of the United Nations Human Rights Council is also scheduled, and those existing members whose terms are due to expire this month will have their mandates automatically extended by a period of six months.

of international visits, literally country by country, in Central and South America, Asia and Africa, evoking old feelings with members of the Non-aligned Movement, in an attempt to minimise the number of countries which might recognise Kosovo.

Of course, this was a difficult task, seeing as the independence of the once-Serbian southern province was sponsored by the us and eu and secured by nato, and that many of the countries would have to comply with the independence as a part of bilateral relations with the abovementioned leagues and entities. One editorial in The Economist stated that Serbian diplomacy, led by Jeremić, was on steroids – such was the frenetic level activity of the new Minister. Serbian media frequently reported that “Western leaders are increasingly nervous about the alleged successes of Serbian diplomacy”, and issued a stern warning to Jeremić to “cool down” his activities. However, these reports were never confirmed and are largely believed to be a public relations spin in order to increase the popularity of Vuk Jeremić himself. Ultimately, this became a game of statistics, and although the count between those who did and those who did not recognise Kosovar independence is somewhat equitable, the political and economic power of the former group prevailed.

All of this led to what many consider to be the worst diplomatic move of the decade, and perhaps even beyond: Jeremić

Jeremić’s ‘Capacities’ Journalists and linguists consider Jeremić to be responsible for the popularisation of the word “capacity” throughout the news and official statements. It all began with Jeremić's first speeches and introductory exposés, right after he assumed his ministerial office, in which he was constantly mentioning “diplomatic capacity”, “political capacity”, “full capacity”, and all kinds of other capacities in his high-key, abstract, and euphemistic language. The word has, since then, become indispensable when it comes to the statements and press releases of a great many Serbian governmental outfits, industries, and the media, and all seem to have recourse to this word to express power, potential, ability, or some other unique and desirable faculty in an expert and solemn fashion.

consulted the International Court of Justice with regard to Kosovo and their attempted move towards independence. It wasn’t a mistake that Jeremić, and Serbia, consulted the courts, but rather the formulation of the challenge itself, which denied Kosovo any ground for a secessionist franchise. Nedless to say, icj ruled that “the Declaration (of Independence) did not violate general International Law”.

So, it was all Jeremić’s fault: for now there was no second, differing opinion on offer, and the Serbian team of legal and

political experts, supervised by the Minister, was accused of deliberately couching the question in such a fashion that the icj’s response would effectively put the ball in Priština’s court.

Jeremić's hardline orientation began to melt down in the eyes of the ever vigilant public: Serbian voters, whatever else be the case, are not yet ready to let Kosovo go. In spite of his controlled, but fierce, rhetoric along the lines of pro domo mea, something else was happening on the ground. Soon after these events, contacts between Belgrade and Priština – at least on a technical level – intensified and Jeremić nominated Borislav Stefanović as a special envoy to Kosovo. Developments in Kosovo accelerated, resulting in a series of attributions and administrative agreements between Belgrade and Priština, which is an ongoing process. The accusations that Jeremić was actually implementing bilateral relations with a de facto State of Kosovo, almost to the point that it is only a matter of time before Belgrade recognises the breakaway province, will certainly remain the darkest corner of his career. Or brightest? Let us leave that conundrum to posterity.

Boris Tadić, for his part – after the events of May – has been analysing, aloud, the possible causes for the Democratic Party’s dual defeat. The official Party investigation revealed that Kosovo was one of the main reasons behind the Democrat’s electoral failure: perhaps a truism, this, but it does help us to keep score and put certain things into perspective.

Of course such grumblings must have been short lived as Jeremić, having successfully been nominated for the position on the United Nation’s General Assembly, found that his, and the Democratic Party’s, global victory was really an acknowledgement of Serbian foreign policy, and by extension an acknowledgement of Jeremić himself. Although this appointment cannot be considered a political achievement, but rather a diplomatic one, it will add yet another gold star to Jeremić’s smooth résumé. Should the Democratic Party manage to overcome its current challenges, then Jeremić will surely be the most experienced and accomplished character on the frontbench.

Of course he will likely have done more good for the International reputation of Tadić by then as well… and that, well, that should speak for itself.

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politics

“As a logical consequence of their actions, only one thing can be expected of sda delegates – their withdrawal from the Council of Ministers.”

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Radončić to Save the Day? Lurching from crisis to crisis – these few words could so readily describe the current political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Government only lasted three months, having taken over a year to form in the first place. So, are we in for another protracted period of negotiations? Maybe not, if the relatively new kid on the block, at least in terms of his political engagement, has anything to say in the matter.

By Igor Dakić

I

t was in early June when Zlatko Lagumdžija, leader of the Social Democratic Party (sdp), decided to call time on his party's coalition with the Party of Democratic Action (sda). Everyone knew that this was coming, especially after disputes over the State Budget escalated, but that Lagumdžija would find a replacement so expeditiously came as a somewhat of a surprise. In any event, step forward Fahrudin Radončić and the Alliance for a Better Future of Bosnia and Herzegovina (sbbbih), as the overall political scene appears set for some dramatic change: both hdz parties are back in the game, and sda Ministers are losing their posts at all levels: state, canton, and semi-state. And, in keeping with the tumultuous nature of b&h politics, the analysts are speculating that there was, and that there is, something more to all of this than mere disagreement over the budget.

Radončić – journalist, businessman, and politician – has caused quite a stir in b&h, first with his candidacy for the Bosniak Presidency, and now with this coalition with sdp and a likely cabinet seat, as Minister of Security. Although viewed by some as a potential political saviour, what with his business achievements, his obvious pragmatism, and his overall penchant for success, ironically it is precisely for these reasons that his critics tend to find fault with him: his friendships and

business relations with persons of dubious reputations are many, and span the entire region. We too shall be pragmatic and state that one doesn't become as wealthy as Radončić is without playing hardball with some seriously nasty characters, which is particularly true of the Balkans. But Radončić is not only wealthy: ethno-politically he is a moderate Bosniak, which is to say that he is a member of the dominant ethnic group in a country in which ethnicity means everything, and also that he would be acceptable to (most) Serbs and Croats. Radončić is also an educated man, a marked distinction when

One does not become as wealthy as Radončić is without playing hardball with some seriously nasty characters.

we compare him to certain other businessmen-turned-politicians in this part of the world (Željko Kerum, the Mayor of Split, first springing to mind when we are forced to point a finger at an uncouth and verbally muddled populist adventurer). In other words, if not already one, Radončić has all the semblance of a leader in the making. This is not to say that this author necessarily likes him, merely that, stern and commanding as he is, he may just turn out to be a good solution for the complicated transitional society – almost confessionalist in nature – which b&h is.

bickering over the budget In late May a vote was held in the House of Peoples in relation to the b&h budget for 2012, and the representatives of the Party of Democratic Action opposed the proposed framework despite being part of the Government. Zlatko Lagumdžija, President of the Social Democrats, felt he had no option but to call a meeting with his counterpart, Sulejman Tihić, in which he stated that “as a logical consequence of their actions, only one thing can be expected of sda delegates – their withdrawal from the Council of Ministers.” This may have been a tantrum of sorts on Lagumdžija’s part, but the implication was clear: he felt sda had nailed

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their colours to the mast and would stymie progress at all levels. It was no surprise that Tihić disagreed with this analysis of his party’s actions, but Lagumdžija was not swayed: a letter was sent to Prime Minister Vjekoslav Bevanda requesting that, in accordance with the Constitution, the sda Ministers be relieved of their positions in the Council.

Threats of political reprisals were hinted at, with sda announcing the possibility of excluding sda members from Government in certain Cantons within the Federation. An official statement issued by sda called for sda to “take the business of running the country, and politics on the State level, more seriously.” Tihić had previously made it clear that his party could never vote for a budget which, in their eyes, would lead to the weakening of the State and the capacities of any number of b&h institutions. This is how Tihić put it: “If the State weakens, then the capacity of the two entities, Republika Srpska and the Federation, grows stronger and their budgets get filled: and it is well known that both are governed by two, as they call themselves, social democrats – Milorad Dodik and Zlatko Lagumdžija. Our party cannot support a budget which reduces the power of the overall State.” It was also clear that sda were unhappy with how the budget had been compiled: “It is inconceivable that all amendments as offered by Dodik's snsd were accepted, while none of ours were. We do not want to participate in such processes, if this is going to be the way they are conducted,” finished Tihić.

Still, the 475 million Euros State budget was adopted despite the intransigence of Tihić and his party. Pm Bevanda, for his part, has predicted that, with the current economic crisis, the amount of 375 million Euros, which has been allocated for State institutions, will prove to be the biggest safety net for b&h. “This is the first time that the fiscal framework has been adopted unanimously: the budget has been increased by 22.5 million Euros and the tax take has grown from 342.5, to 375, million Euros.”

It was these numbers that were of concern to sda. “I do not know how the shortfall of 100 million Euros will be raised.

Blocking the legislative process was not our intention: we voted against the budget, as we said we would. We had tried to improve the situation with amendments,

Zlatko Lagumdžija (left) and Sulejman Tihić (right)

but there was no political will amongst our supposed allies to have them passed.

Not one out of eight”, said Tihić on the occasion. Sda also contends that the budget has misappropriated funds from the sale of Marshall Tito Barracks: the money had been earmarked for the University of Sarajevo but has, instead, been incorporated into the general budget. “By doing this they have set a dangerous precedent.”

But Lagumdžija remained resolute and matters took their course. That course nevertheless took the sda by surprise; they had, after all, been opposed to the budget for reasons that might not have been immediately clear. “It is illogical, and unbecoming, to ask for our exclusion from the Council of Ministers because we are opposed to the 39 million Euros reduction in the budget, and to the freezing of the budget for the next three years. As things stand, the funds are insufficient for the proper functioning of State institutions; this at a time when both Republika Srpska and the Federation are increasing their own budgets,” Tihić said, further claiming that Lagumdžija’a actions

did not result from “our position on the budget, but rather because of other motives which, at this point, remain unknown to the public.”

The Party for Democratic Action also feel that any allegations of obstructionism are utterly inappropriate, as they consider it to be well known, to those who care to look, that it was an sda initiative which led to the passing of the Constitution of the Council of Ministers, State Aid, and the Census Laws. In another country such evidence may well have forestalled Damocles’ sword, but this is not ‘another’ country.

a new force emerges As already stated, following these events a meeting between Zlatko Lagumdžija and Fahrudin Radončić was quickly convened. What was truly surprising, however, was the speed at which agreement was reached between the once-bitter rivals. Radončić, no doubt channelling his business alter-ego, stated that “the situation is grave and that, no matter what is decided, rapid action needs to be taken

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Commenting on his pending appointment to the Ministry of Security Radončić pointed out that he does not view the role as being that of a “Number One Policeman”, but that he would draw on his experiences to provide unique and obtuse solutions to help combat the problems of illegally acquired assets and criminal acts which have beset many of the State’s privatised companies. Sarajevo, Tuzla, Zenica-Doboj, and Una-Sana: four cantons, the Prime Ministers of which are loyal sdpers, have already begun to remove sda officials, replacing them with sbb personnel.

no need for the extra money

“The situation is grave and, no matter what is decided, rapid action needs to be taken so as to prevent paralysis of our political system.” so as to prevent paralysis of our political system”. According to the sbbbih man, “if we were to enter Government we would try to reinvigorate the country both politically and economically. Our pre-requisite is that we be involved at all levels.”

Lagumdžija expressed hope that a clear solution would soon emerge within a reasonable deadline and stressed, as Radončić had before him, that expeditious action was paramount. “It was important for me to see if Mr. Radončić was ready, and on what principles, to join the Government on those levels where we can cooperate.”

Just a matter of days later it was announced that Radončić would indeed be joining the Council of Ministers as, as had been suggested, Minister of State Security.

A protocol for the establishment of cooperation was signed between the two parties, formally dissolving the 'old' sdp-sda coalition, although the sda ministerial seats will not be passed to the Alliance for a Better Future for Bosnia and Herzegovina; rather, a minor reshuffle of the entire cabinet will take place. sbbbih clearly took advantage of their leverage during negotiations: sdp will take Defence while sbb will gain some Deputy Ministries, including Finance.

Fahrudin Radončić, speaking at a tv talkshow, stated that his primary intention was to engineer socio-economic growth by focusing all of his attentions upon the criminal element present in b&h. As for the reshuffle, Radončić was quick to point out that over 80% of the electorate had already voted for change, but are yet to see such change take place. Sbb joining the coalition, he felt, would help push the Government towards much needed reforms. Radončić also criticised Tihić and his party for not stepping down from their position of power once it became clear that that position was no longer tenable. Naturally, the topic turned towards the economy, and the new Minister-tobe was asked to comment. He said: “The people have to demand accountability for the large industrial complexes which have been ruined by privatisation, for social privileges lost due to the incompetence of officialdom, for families ruined by legislation regarding the debts of the Ljubljanska Banka…”

Radončić also made a pledge to the citizens of b&h that his entry into Government would ensure a speedier eu integration process, new standards of political accountability, as well as exercise an ethos whereby political parties would be able to set aside differences when it came to issues such as the economy and the budget. Radončić certainly showed his penchant for pr when he declared that he would donate his Governmental salary to charity: other politicians who have done well in business would do well to pay attention.

As might have been expected, once this shift in power was becoming evident,

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certain elements within the media began tarnishing Radončić’s reputation even more than is usually the case: we’ve already touched on his alleged associations with a number of 'undesirables', including drug lords, smugglers, war profiteers, etc. Even his past was questioned. It was claimed that he was an operative for the Montenegrin Security Service and had spied on Alija Izetbegović and the then ruling sda in the nineties. Perhaps even slanderous, all this, but that is hardly the point. The point is: can Fahrudin Radončić get things done? Let us hope so. For now suffice it to say that he 'looks good', especially when compared to most other b&h politicos, and that the current climate, however strange the tide, has favourable political winds blowing in his direction.

what lies beneath The coalition between sdp and sda had been unnatural, a marriage of convenience, if you will, between border-line supra-ethnic and pragmatic social democrats and the equally pragmatic nationalist Bosniaks of sda. Pragmatism, in either instance, is largely meant to serve the ends and needs of the parties' leaders, not necessarily to improve the lot of b&h. So, when the 2012 budget issue came to the forefront, it could be interpreted as nothing more than ‘business as usual’. Both sides were quick to make their accusations: sda accused sdp of ulterior motives, and sdp accused sda of obstructionist policies.

Unfortunate as all this is, it is what lies in the background of this perpetual status quo – the power struggle between the parties for control over key State owned companies, the distribution of various concessions, the allocation of public spending, and so on – that matters most.

With such a lethargic and intrinsically corrupt socio economic climate it might be that Radončić has come to power at the most opportune of moments. Having learned his trade in the private sector, it is likely that Radončić will focus most of his efforts on revitalising the export sector, and with great urgency too: it is only a matter of months now before b&h will no longer be able to export the majority of its produce to Croatia, because of a lack of adequate testing facilities. For now there is most definitely hope, and hope is in short supply in b&h.

Avaz Twist Tower

WHO IS FAHRUDIN RADONČIĆ?

Fahrudin Radončić was born in Berane, Montenegro, on May 24th, 1957. At the age of 19 he became a professional journalist and by 23 he was the youngest Editor-In-Chief of any Yugoslav newspaper. With the rise of Slobodan Milošević in the latter half of the 1980s Radončić felt compelled to write a number of texts which criticised the Yugoslav leader’s politics as being fascist, criminal, and pro-Serbian. As a result Radončić was persecuted by the establishment and lost his position as editor. He continued to work as a correspondent and political analyst for Danas, a publication which was known for its opposition to the Nationalist policies emanating from Belgrade. In 1990 Radončić published a book which advocated independence of Kosovo, something that is relatively controversial to this day. A year later he moved to Sarajevo and founded Avaz Publishing, which would become the largest publishing company in Bosnian history. He joined the inner circle which had gathered around Dr. Rusmir Mahmutčehajić, the grey eminence of the then-fledgling SDA, instrumental in the plans for B&H independence. He joined the Army of B&H from the moment it came into existence, and served as a member of the Supreme Command Cabinet, spending the entirety of the war in Sarajevo, during which time he lost several members of his family.

In 1995 Radončić started the daily newspaper Dnevni

Avaz, which became the most influential Bosnian print medium, surpassing even Oslobođenje.

The newspaper advocated the struggle against corruption and fought for the protection of citizens from repression and abuse of power. Radončić had a (then quite rare) policy of reinvesting his profits into domestic development projects, and it was he who built one of the first large scale projects in post-war Sarajevo – now the HQ of Hypo Bank.

Expanding his construction enterprise Radončić developed projects throughout the country, and his portfolio now includes the 5 Star Radon Plaza Hotel in Sarajevo and the Avaz Twist Tower, which stands 175 metres high and has been counted, by several international publications, amongst the ten most beautiful buildings in the World.

In 2009 Radončić took his most important step into the world of politics when he founded the Alliance for a Better Future for Bosnia and Herzegovina. They are a centre-right, but in terms of ethnic discourse moderate, Bosniak party advocating economic development, the fight against corruption, religious liberties, and accession to NATO and the European Union. In the 2010 elections SBB won four seats in the House of Representatives of the Parliament of B&H and thirteen seats in the House of Representatives of the Federation Parliament.

Radončić placed second in the race for the Bosniak member of the Presidency, polling 32%.

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politics

It must be asked who benefits from Holy’s resignation, seeing as how the illfated Minister has been the subject of a number of gruesome death threats.

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Mirela Holy’s Graceful Fall from Grace The Government of Zoran Milanović, just short of two hundred days in office, has seen yet another Minister, Mirela Holy, offer her resignation. The Minister of Environmental Protection and Nature leaves her post after a rather tame 'scandal' involving Croatian Railroads and an employee of theirs, and while the move has been welcomed by many (as a quantum leap forward in the culture of Croatian politics), the country seems in doubt as to the true reasons behind why the Minister had to go...

By Miroslav Tomas

G

iven the general standards of political accountability in Croatia, it must have seemed a day like any other when the then Minister Mirela Holy, appearing on a National Television (hrt) talk-show, was faced with her email to Rene Valčić, the President of the Management Board of Croatian Railroads.

What was unexpected was that Holy, the following morning, offered her letter of resignation to Zoran Milanović, her party leader and Prime Minister. With the offer being accepted without delay, potentially nipping any scandal in the bud, many could be forgiven for feeling that congratulations were in order: to both Mirela Holy and the Prime Minister alike.

After all, the matter was being dealt with in a politically mature and pragmatic fashion, and, moreover, it elevated the standards of political accountability to a level never seen before in Croatia (or the wider region for that matter).

The incriminating email itself could be deemed, quite easily, as ethically dubious, seeing as how it related to Heidi Mazija, the spouse of an sdp colleague: Mazija felt that her job, with Croatian Railroads, was under threat on account of her receiving her position during the reign of hdz.

The Minister then approached Valčić and, stressing party loyalty, indicated that it would be preferable if Mazija were retained, or at least moved sideways into

If she was doing the right thing, having professed her guilt, she was equally adamant that she would pursue the leak. another role. Ethically dubious indeed, as one should be protected from having their employment terminated on the basis of their party political affiliation (or lack thereof), and Mirela Holy certainly referred to Mazija as being of the ‘proper political colour’.

When all is said and done, one can hardly be surprised by the content of the email in question, especially as it has become an unfortunate habit of this posttransition society to see anything done only if it is accompanied by the gentle nudge of a notable political figure or authority, such as Mirela Holy was; perhaps as she still is. With all of this in mind, it

is nonetheless clear that the email is (extremely) tame when compared to many such correspondences conducted over the years, and when we think of Croatian Railroads far more egregious scandals might spring to the tip of the tongue.

The Croatian public has had, in the past, the unfortunate honour of having witnessed a letter from one Ivan Medak to Luka Bebić, the then-President of the Croatian Parliament: in this letter Medak sought to expedite his appointment to a managerial post within Croatian Railroads for reasons, if no other, of the men’s shared political allegiance and place of birth. It is unclear if Bebić in fact acted upon the letter, but we do know that Ivan Medak was appointed to the desired post, only to have his name emerge in tragic circumstances following a train accident which claimed the lives of six people. An herbicide, acquired in penny pinching fashion

by Medak and clearly of inferior quality, had been sprayed on the tracks causing the train to lose traction. It might be expected that, in the aftermath of such an event, resignations might be forthcoming from management and from the relevant Minister (Božidar Kalmeta at the time), but nothing of the sort happened, with the Minister even going so far as to say that it was not his place to trifle with such matters. The only lasting upshot of the entire affair was that Bebić gained the mocking

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moniker of ‘Barba Luka’, a name by which Medak usually addressed him and a name which does not adequately translate into English: though Godfather, as imagined by Mario Puzo, might come close if you were inclined to interpret it thus.

another one lost This is not the first reshuffle that Milanović’s Government has faced: Zlatko Komadina was forced to resign his post as Minister of Transport due to his poor health – or so runs the official version – earlier in the year; but it must be noted that the Government is not yet even 200 days in power. Milanović faces plenty of difficulties still: a new recession; a decline in exports and industrial production; a rise in unemployment, and an overall bleak economic outlook. It is, perhaps, because of these travails that there appears the prospect of a silver lining in the increasingly cloudy present: that the Government is capable of acting in a mature manner in what is a generally a troubled pre-eu society.

For there is a question as to how exactly the Good Samaritan, who leaked Minister Holy’s email in the first place, actually got his hands on the document in question: we know it wasn’t Valčić – or at least he says so – and Mirela Holy was the only other person who was privy, legally speaking, to the correspondence. If she was doing the right thing – having professed her guilt in the matter and having donned the proverbial sackcloth and ashes – she was equally adamant that she would pursue the leak and, flamboyantly perched upon her scooter, she made her way to the State Attorney’s Office in order to file charges against the as-yet unknown offender. It must also be asked as to who benefits from Holy’s resignation, seeing as how the illfated Minister has been the subject of a number of gruesome death threats, supposedly related to her attempts to change city ordinances with regard to waste management – a lucrative industry for the few individuals who hold a near-monopoly, a monopoly which would have been

Mirela Holy – A Biography

Mirela Holy was born in Zagreb, on the 15th of December 1971, to a Croatian mother and a Czech father. Mirela Holy’s father’s distant ancestor, Jan Holy, was the first man to translate the Bible into the Czech tongue. As a child Holy travelled around the globe with her parents, a fact which may well account for her liberal acceptance of all things, and all people, which might not necessarily be the norm in the region.

She received her diploma from the Zagreb School of Applied Arts and Design, majoring in fashion and clothing design. She had a particular passion for creating hats, which were of a particularly eccentric design. However, such fashion was not yet commonplace in Croatia – nor is it nowadays – so she returned to her studies, earning a PhD in Comparative Literature with a concentration in Cultural Studies from the Zagreb Faculty of Philosophy, although not before trying her hand at a number of other courses.

She worked in journalism for several women’s and lifestyle publications, and in the field of public relations for several NGOs and Governmental Ministries. She also worked with Maksima

Communications PR, eventually becoming Executive Director. She has lectured at the London School of Public Relations and VERN College, Zagreb.

In 1998 Holy entered politics, joining Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the same year. From there she worked her way up the ranks of the SDP Zagreb Women’s Forum, the SDP Executive Board, and founded the SDP Eco Forum (which later became the SDP Council on Environmental Preservation).

She is currently serving in her fourth term as a Member of Parliament and is well known for her strong position on environmental issues, sexual equality, as well as human rights in general. What little time she has to herself is spent enjoying a variety of musical genres, including rock, new age, and classical, and she has been known to read fantasy literature whenever an opportunity presents herself. She herself is a published author of several titles relating to the ecology and women’s rights. As a feminist she is opposed to the idea of traditional marriage, but is quite content to share her life with her boyfriend of many years.

The individual most affected by Holy’s ‘green war’ would most certainly be the Minister of the Economy, Radimir Čačić.

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threatened had Holy succeeded in her efforts. The ecologically aware Minister had also attempted to put an end to the notion of free plastic bags within shops, something which many European countries had already done away with.

Death threats and the type of people who like to make them aside, Mirela Holy has managed to step on more than a few toes during her short-lived appointment.

The individual most affected by Holy’s ‘green war’ would most certainly be the Vice-President of Government and Minister of the Economy, Radimir Čačić, who, as part of his ‘New Deal’, had decided to resurrect decades old energy projects such as the Plomin 3 power-plant and the Ombla hydro-electric plant. Although these projects were deemed viable, at least according to the feasibility studies, Holy conducted a further environmental study which showed that they would not be in sync with her most recent legislation. The environment, alas, must often take a back seat, during times of recession, in favour of such antiquated projects, even if the money involved might prove to be of more value in the long-term if invested in green energy. Čačić, in desperate need of short-term and visible results, chose to overlook Holy’s findings.

the aftermath Mirela Holy has been succeeded by Mihael Zmajlović, the Mayor of Jastrebarsko, a small town near Zagreb, who is also Head of Zagreb County sdp and President of the Parliamentary Board on Zoning and Construction. At the age of 34 he finds himself one of the youngest ever Croatian Ministers. He is a graduate of the Zagreb Faculty of Economics and has been the head of the Jastrebarsko Municipal Utility Company since 2001. He won the mayoral election for his town in 2009.

His biography is quite impressive, and would be for anyone and not just someone of his age: whether we can categorise Mr. Zmaljović as an over-achiever or a political lackey remains to be seen. What we can say is that Mirela Holy, the most eccentric of all Croatian Ministers, a lady of firm attitudes, a feminist author, a fashion designer, and someone who is never afraid to voice her opinion when it comes to the preservation of the environment and social equality, is being replaced by a man who appears to be a flavourless technocrat.

Thermal power plant in Plomin

OMBLA & PLOMIN PROJECTS Ombla hydro electric power plant is to be constructed where the River Ombla, also known as Rijeka Dubovačka, rises – a location from which the city of Dubrovnik is supplied with its drinking water. The location presents the first problem: the risk of this water supply, the only one available to Dubrovnik, becoming polluted. Since the power plant would use a subterranean Vilina špilja (a cave) as an accumulation basin, the already endangered animals and plants, indigenous to the site, would likely be wiped out. The last problem, however, is also probably the biggest one and concerns even the non-environmentalist resident: Dubrovnik is already prone to earthquakes and any hydroelectric project in the area would likely increase the frequency, and severity, of such events. More than seven NGOs, both foreign and domestic, have made their objections be known and point to the fact that three out of four environmental impact studies deem such a project to be unfeasible. That fourth study was authored by the same person who penned the original feasibility study back in 1999.

The Plomin 3 Thermal Power Plant is to be an addition to the already existing Plomin 2 Power Plant, a facility that has been a major pollutant of the Istrian hinterland for over 30 years. This

It may be that those progressive and worthwhile policies of Holy’s administration will yet come to be instigated by this new appointee, and show us whether this reshuffle will be a gain or loss for Croatian society. As for Mirela Holy, we can do

addition would be coal-fuelled, which would result in an extremely high carbon dioxide output as well as toxic ash fallout. The local communities are ardently opposed to any construction taking place but, perhaps accepting that they will not be able to prevent the project, have also pleaded for Plomin 3 to be run on natural gas instead of coal – pleas which have thus far fallen on deaf ears.

The main dispute which arises from the two proposed projects is twofold – the obvious environmental concerns, and then there is the matter of principle: the coalition, in their Plan 21 programme, had explicitly affirmed that they would not be backing any projects which might have an adverse ecological impact; indeed both Plomin 3 and Ombla were mentioned as being two such projects. While it is true that many a voter cast his ballot against HDZ rather than for the Kukuriku Coalition, there must surely be a few members of the electorate who consider this move by Čačić to be a proverbial slap in the face.

Needless to say that both projects would need a tremendous amount of construction, which might not necessarily be the case were they solar plants or wind farms: Čačić, of course, has been known to favour the construction industry in the past…

naught but salute her for rising to the occasion and creating what should prove to be a precedent for Croatian and regional politics. We wish her the very best of luck, for she most definitely proved graceful in her fall from grace.

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feature interview

Vladimir Ferdelji: We Need Reindustrialisation Having just staged the second annual Managers' Congress a few weeks back, the President of the Croatian Managers' and Entrepreneurs' Association (croma) sits down with us to discuss his short-lived appointment as Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Croatia's largest and most volatile Ministry. And a great many other things...

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EE Right to the heart of the matter… how bad are things? Is it really bad, or bearable?

VF The situation is still bearable, with public debt amounting to some 65% of gdp, but what is really bad is that there are no signs of improvement. We need both systematic and systemic change, and that kind of change is not happening. In other words, we've borrowed money, which is not necessarily bad in and of itself, but we've not spent it wisely. And we're still not spending it wisely, or in such a fashion as would jumpstart industrial production and create added value.

SEE Indeed, you were using the same critical voice even during those three weeks while you were Deputy Minister of Infrastructure et al, which is why - we mean no disrespect - you were forced to leave.

VF Nothing disrespectful there. When I came to the Ministry, I tried to make things happen, improve the system, install competent supervisory personnel in the most troublesome companies, namely Croatian Railways and the companies that manage roads and motorways. But the moment I put my mind to this task I realised that the system was set up in such a way that I would have to hire as many as seven or eight administrators in the Ministry

to have only one competent supervisor in each of these companies, or in the 'field', if you will. Naturally, as I didn't want to incur further cost, I complained. All I would ever hear by way of a response was, "The system is such as it is, you can't change it."

SEE You made quite a few headlines back in February, especially for criticising pm Milanović as well.

VF When I started making waves, so to speak, pm Milanović publicly commented that he had actually never met the 'gentleman in question', which was myself. And therein lies the problem. The same Prime Minister who prides himself on being a 'team player' never actually met a member of his team - and I think you would agree with me when I say that I was a relevant member of that team - and he had three weeks to do so. But the main reason

why I made quite a few headlines, as you say, is that I actually criticised the efficiency of the public administration in an almost unrestrained way. And I shall say it again: Croatia's State Administration is archaic and inert, and it is not doing its job adequately, which is first and foremost filling the Public Purse and managing the nation's natural and technological resources. In fact, I believe I said that it was quite simply catastrophic.

SEE Is this the primary reason why Deputy pm Čačić's efforts to initiate an investment cycle have not met with much success, at least for now?

VF His enthusiasm is commendable, but much of his reasoning is misplaced.

For instance, his initiative to launch an investment cycle by spending money on improving energy efficiency in

“Croatia's State Administration is archaic and inert, and it is not doing its job adequately. In fact, I believe I once said that it was quite simply catastrophic.”

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Vladimir Ferdelji

State-owned buildings and on fixing up facades may be commendable on the level of an idea, but this is essentially no more than cosmetic surgery, especially in the absence of major investments into industrial production. Also, if you want to revitalise the energy sector in a proper fashion, digging up old projects, such as Plomin and Ombla power-plants, from a dusty drawer just won't do. Čačić seems to believe that, just because he has managed, say, to reduce the number of permits necessary to build a small solar plant from fifty to seven or eight, he has actually made headway. His job, as the Minister of the Economy and Deputy Prime Minister, should be to improve the economies of scale in the solar energy industry, incentivise the production of photo-charged cells, ensure type permits for central plants...the same goes, need we mention it, for all other industries.

For we need a complete turnaround in the way state-owned companies are run; we need optimisation of manufacturing and industrial production with a view of the impending eu accession; a battle against illiquidity; a reduction of para-fiscal dues; territorial reorganisation with the aim of creating a more efficient and cost-effective public administration; a more efficient energy policy as

well as legislative and judicial processes; integration of science and education into industrial production...I shall repeat what I said last year, when we came out with our Masterplan. Instead of an economy based on the tertiary sector, we need a strong industry after the fashion of the most developed countries of the world whose products we buy and consume on a daily basis. A strategic turn towards a reindustrialisation of the Croatian economy is the first step on a path to recovery and exit from the crisis.

SEE Indeed… You know that we have always been among your staunchest supporters, but is this not too much to expect in such a short period of time? After all, this Government has been in power for less than 200 days.

VF Do not get me wrong. I am not a politician, and I do not criticise the Government in order to score political points.

Of course that it is impossible to see major change in such a short period of time, but what is disconcerting is that we are still not building the type of system - and thinking in the right frame - which would facilitate those changes. Our proposals, as coming from croma, are not meant to deride the Government. On the contrary, we wish to help.

An engineer by profession and one of the most successful managers in post-communist Croatia, Vladimir Ferdelji has been and remains one of the most constructive critics of the Government's overall economic policy. He has been active and played leading roles in the Croatian Employers' Association (HUP), the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK), and in the Croatian Managers' and Entrepreneurs Association (CROMA), advocating free market principles and re-industrialisation. Having stepped down as CEO of Elektrokontakt, one of Croatia's largest exporters and a company he ran for over two decades, earlier in the year after a dispute with German owners who had the medium-term plan to relocate part of the production elsewhere, he became Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Public Works and Maritime Affairs, but he held this position for only three weeks, his direct and unsparing criticism of the Government in an interview for the leading weekly Globus back in February putting an end to his Public Sector career. In that brief period, he was responsible for as many as fifty public sector companies, which effectively made him the most powerful Deputy Minister in PM Milanović's Government. Still President of CROMA, it cannot be ruled out that he will run for office in next year's Mayoral Election in Zagreb, as an independent candidate.

However, let us not forget that one of Čačić's campaign promises was that, if there were no visible improvements after the third quarter of 2012, he would step down. The clock is ticking. I have nothing against him, but we also need to start creating a climate in which public officials will behave in an accountable way, especially with respect to their own promises.

This may sound like a solipsism, but Čačić, like any man, should learn to keep his word. True, this government has shown a higher level of accountability than the previous hdz-led government, but the truth is that prior standards were so low that this is not to say much.

SEE How do you see the role of Slavko Linić, the finance minister?

VF He is an excellent book-keeper, and I do not mean this in a derogatory way. In a

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very depressing situation, he has found the mechanisms by means of which to consolidate State finances - at least to a measure and to collect and raise the necessary funds.

Or, rather, he has managed until now, but with the way things are going I am not sure that he will manage in the future.

SEE And what of the recent changes in the Croatian National Bank (hnb), with Vujčić replacing Rohatinski?

VF I personally think that Rohatinski did his job extremely well. He did not work to further the interests of industrial manufacturers and exporters, but, then again, that was not his job. His responsibility was to ensure the stability of the domestic currency, as per the Law on the Croatian National Bank. It is this Law that the legislator should change, as, in these circumstances, the Governor of the National Bank is actually not responsible for the effects of monetary policy on the performance of the whole economy. As for Vujčić, he is Rohatinski's pupil and will, as such, probably continue in the same vein.

Though I cannot speak on this issue with complete certainty, Rohatinski stepped down - or was replaced - because he was not willing to make certain compromises with the new Government, namely with regard to how high the National Reserve should be at all times. But, as I said, it is very difficult to do anything in this situation: the Governor is tasked with protecting the Kuna… and little else. Vujčić will probably perform well at that job. I don't see him making waves of any sort, at least not in the foreseeable future.

SEE For last, tell us something about the mechanism of monetary scissors, a phenomenon you first discussed in detail as far back as three years ago and which, if taken into account, would improve the lot of industrial manufacturers and exporters. Also, is there any chance that the Government, this or some other, might implement it in the future?

VF Fiscal policy can be used to great effect: if it is our intention to incentivise exports, one of the things we must do is to compensate for the excessively strong national currency. The oft cited reason for keeping the Kuna so strong is that, as most loans to the public were given in Euros or Swiss Francs, any manner of depreciation would have a devastating effect on the already depleted wallet of the average citizen.

Thinking up a master plan

“By paying heed to monetary scissors, the State could have collected two and a half times more money on corporate taxation...”

Monetary scissors, however, do not imply depreciation as most people understand it: they record the difference between inflation on one side of the equation, and the exchange rate - with respect to the most relevant currency, in this case the Euro on the other. If annual inflation in Croatia is higher than that in the Eurozone, than it is only natural that the natural currency should become that much weaker.

In the last twelve years cumulative inflation has been about 80%, whilst the Kuna has been overvalued by at least 20%; the equation quite simply tells us that the impact of monetary scissors, in the said period, came at a rate of 95%.

Now, since exporters incur all their costs in the domestic market - labour, electricity, water - whilst generating their revenues abroad, they find themselves at a disadvantage when compared to importers, who have been reaping benefits from the effect of monetary scissors. It would therefore be quite logical if we were to reduce the corporate tax levied on exporters by the amount congruent with the negative effects as exacted by monetary scissors; conversely, importers should see their corporate tax increase. Furthermore, such a measure would not have any adverse effects on the public, as there would be no modification in the exchange rate; not to mention that it would also protect investors from potentially volatile scenarios in the monetary arena, which would no doubt attract more green field investment into this country.

For do not forget, Croatian imports are two and a half times bigger than Croatian exports, which means that, by paying heed to monetary scissors, the State could have collected two and a half times more money on corporate taxation than it has. How's that for filling the State purse? And, yes, it can be implemented. As to whether it will... probably not. For, you see, that too would require that significant changes in the system take place, and as we have established, that sort of leap is yet to be undertaken.

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in perspective

Montenegro: Summer’s Heating up, Metal’s Cooling Down Is the Montenegrin economy performing so badly that it calls for a radical political change? If so, why does the Government feel so confident in announcing early elections? We’ve seen this before, in Serbia, and it may be that Lukšić will be suffering similar regrets later this year…

By Miša Milošević

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t was only in May that the Montenegrin Government announced that their small Balkan-Mediterranean country had the highest gdp per capita in the region, surpassed only by Slovenia and Croatia. Montenegro scored similarly when it came to average pensions – higher even than Bulgaria and Romania, both members of the European Union.

The country’s main industry, tourism, has shown a steady growth in income over the past half-decade, reaching 700 million Euros in 2011, which is approximately 10% of what Croatia, a country seven times larger and possessing infinitely superior infrastructure, generated in the same period… which is not bad. So then, why do these above-average figures still make the 620,000-strong Montenegrin population so unsettled, and why do individual industries, and privatisation, show us a different picture?

the mob jobs The main problems facing Montenegro are its growing insolvency and the high level of Government debt. In addition to this, there are 120,000 pensioners while there are only 200,000 Montenegrins in the workforce, a nearly unsustainable ratio: in fact José Pinera, the creator of

the so-called Chilean retirement system, which Montenegro uses, felt compelled to warn Podgorica that soon it would have a scenario much like the Greeks are enduring. Or the Croats, where the ratio of those employed vs. the pensioners is a meagre 1.15 : 1.

The Montenegrin Government has tended to ignore the general fiascos which have surrounded the privatisation process: companies which were sold have mainly failed or succumbed to the lures of corruption, and the Government did little

or nothing to try and correct the situation or repair the damage already done. The hardest case seems to be kap (Podgorica Aluminium Combinate), which was privatised via an auction to Salamon Enterprises, an offshore company allegedly owned by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, in 2005. This facility seems to perform a vital role for the Montenegrin economy because of the complex technology and connected businesses involved in the production chain, mainly the Montenegrin State Railway, Nikšić coalmine, and the

MONTENEGRO: THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM Party

Bosniak Party

Democatic Party of Socialists (DPS)

New Serbian Democracy (NSD NOVA)

Leader

Amer Halilović

Milo Đukanović

Andrija Mandić

Ethnic

Left

Centre Right

• Rights of the Bosniak minority

• EU • Democratic socialism

• Serbian-Montenegrin Unionism • National conservativism

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NSD, SNP, PZP

DPS, SDP

Orientation Key promises and ideology

Opponents

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Port of Bar: but is this really the case?

On the face of things the situation looks quite different: the Russian investor uses imported coal, and uses truck transport to the Port of Ploče in Croatia, meaning that none of the three State bodies mentioned benefit from kap. Moreover, kap’s contribution to Montenegro’s trade deficit is pretty much negated by its import of raw materials and by its consumption of State-subsidised electricity. The Combinate aspect of kap is virtually nonexistent, since the only surviving, and

Problems facing Montenegro are its growing insolvency and a high level of Government debt.

working, part is the electrolysis facility which delivers aluminium ingots, a prime material indeed, but a prime material which brings in much lower income than the semi- and fully-finished products.

Lastly kap is burdened by 530 million Euros worth of debt, of which 170 million Euros was accumulated over the last seven years and must be repaid by the taxpayers. During that same period the investors did not pay their electricity bills with great regularity and the debt grew by 40 million Euros. The State owned power company, Elektroprivreda Crne Gore, does not want (or does not dare) to cut kap off, explaining that “due to the technological process, that would put a definitive end to kap”. In short, the cost to restart the company would be prohibitive. In any case the plant workers stood by kap and said that they would prevent the electricity company from taking any serious action, while kap also reiterated that it would reduce delivery to private homes in continental Montenegro. Surely this is nothing more than a hostage situation? The Parliamentary Opposition certainly seem to think so.

“Montenegro is hostage to kap, but also of our Government’s irresponsible policy,” said Mladen Bokanić, coordinator of the newly established party ‘Positive Montenegro’ (somewhat reminiscent of Positive Slovenia). “Those workers are deciding whether kap continues or not: that’s blackmail,” continued the politician.

Bokanić wasn’t the only one who felt the same way: Branko Radulović, Vice President of the Movement for Changes,

Movement for Changes (PZP)

Social Democratic Party (SDP CG)

Socialist National Party (SNP)

Croatian Civic Initiative (HGI)

Positive Montenegro

Justice for Montenegro

Nebojša Medojević

Ranko Krivokapić

Srđan Milić

Marija Vučinić

Darko Pajović

Rade Bojović

Centre Right

Nationalist Left

Centre Right

Ethnic

Centre left

Centre Left

• EU • Conservative liberalism

• EU • Socialism • Montenegrin nationalism

• Social democracy • Serbian-Montenegrin Unionism

• Rights of the Croatian minority

• Reforms • Conservative liberalism

• Reforms • Conservative liberalism

DPS, SDP

NSD, SNP, PZP

DPS, SDP

-

DPS, SDP

DPS, SDP

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is of similar opinion: “a responsible Government would not have made such an agreement. If this Government were responsible it would terminate the contract between kap and the electricity company. If the State Attorney were in any way a professional he would have sent many people to Spuž (Montenegro’s largest prison) a long time ago.” Nikšić Steel Combinate is in a similar situation, though on a smaller scale, just like much of Montenegro’s economy under current circumstances.

The ruling coalition seems to have the answer, at least in theory. “We should get rid of bad investors and owners, and take back the companies into State ownership.

Then we should try to bring those companies back to the condition necessary for a new privatisation process, and start looking for new investors who will have the expertise to bring the companies to profitable levels”, said Zoran Vukčević, DPS official. This sounds like a great plan, but if the Government felt so strongly about it, one might have expected them to take some action. Is it time for new politics in Montenegro?

the political perspective The ruling dps party has already announced elections for the coming Autumn, and it looks like the campaign is already ongoing. “It seems that we have never had an earlier start to an electoral campaign, because this is exactly what is going on in the Montenegrin public space right now”, said Dragan Koprivica, Executive Director at the Centre for Democratic Transition in Podgorica. “Judging by its beginning, the campaign will be extremely negative”. By that, Mr. Koprivica indicates he expects it to be dirty.

The traditional dichotomy between North and South, hills and the sea, proSerb and pro-Montenegrin, is reflected on the political scene as a high contrast between the ruling dps of Milo Đukanović on one hand, and the opposition parties, including the socialists, pro-Serbian nationalists and the reformists, on the other.

Bearing in mind that the newlyformed parties Positive Montenegro and Just Montenegro are unlikely to have a major impact on the current political landscape, we can expect the following scenario: “the opposition will depict the Government as a cartoon-type negative

Dragan Koprivica

Kap is burdened by €530 million worth of debt, of which €170 million were accumulated over the last seven years and must be repaid by the taxpayers. guy emanating all the evils of this world, all the while presenting themselves as ‘victims of a dreadful mafiocratic regime”, continues Koprivica, adding that dps will, of course, keep all the credit for European integration and Euro prefixes while blaming the global crisis and, should they decide to go into the elections alone, their political allies. In addition, the ruling coalition will promote itself as the sole guarantee of Montenegrin

statehood, the paramount argument in a country which gained its sovereignty only six short years ago.

This could be the exact reason why vital economical and political issues might not be the key topics in current political campaigns; according to Koprivica, many politically aware people fear just that. “If you look at the political market, you will realise that people who are aware of real issues are much fewer than those who choose the leader, the nation, the religion and the hymn as key decision parameters.

This is the reason why economic issues are suppressed, even now”.

Another reason, which potentially draws Montenegro away from facing this reality, is that all parties tend to promote the same concept of “landlord's management”, a euphemism used in place of the long forgotten word “responsibility”, which remains elusive to this day. Moreover, most of the parties are incapable, or unwilling, of developing their own, competent strategy of development and exploitation and distribution of resources, being well aware that it would require hard and unpopular cuts and measures.

Given the fact that, for years now, Milo Đukanović’s dps hasn't had a true competitor or a good alternative, the chances that Montenegro can see a similar scenario to the Croatian or Serbian elections – i.e., a change in power – appear quite slim.

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the economy

A Most Crucial Misnomer We all like to criticise the State, and we all know that the market should be allowed to work its magic – with a degree of regulation, of course. But what makes this region particularly troublesome in this respect? Certain ‘communist’ legacies and mentalities, perhaps?Esad Čolaković of CROMA explores an idea…

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he only organisation that can enjoy a risk free annuity is the State. Using the instruments of macroeconomic policy and the executive branch, the State can reinsure ahead of time any economic failure, simply by nationalising all income and conversely by socialising all the losses of the public sector: in other words, it does so by raising taxes and reducing the level of social giving.

In an of it itself, this concept cannot lead either to economic growth or maximisation of the sum total of social capital, but it will be put into practice for so long as the political decision-makers have the option of further borrowing on one hand, and selling off national assets on the other.

Unfortunately, once these resources have dried up, there usually comes the time for the settling of bills. It is an age-old malaise, the first symptoms of which are manifested in the decline in economic activity, followed by recession and stagflation, all accompanied by the threat of the public purse going bankrupt.

Such rent-based mentality, not necessarily indigenous to the Balkans but certainly practised here to the utmost, is in large measure one of the legacies of the system of values typical of Command or Controlled Economies, best seen in the staffing policy (party clientelism) and administrative-operational management of public affairs (rigid, hefty, and inefficient systems).

The bigger the share of the public sector in a nation’s gdp, the more this becomes apparent, as the State, by exercising control over economic conditions – monopolistic activities figuring largely in the equation – directly and decisively influences all processes of production, exchange, distribution and consumption, while the share of the real sector and the market economy dwindles. In such circumstances, the competitive capacity of economic ventures

By Esad Čolaković

One of the staunchest supporters of entrepreneurship and free market ideas, Mr Sc Esad Čolaković has acted in the capacity of Secretary general of CROMA (Croatian Managers’ and Entrepreneurs’ Association) for over twenty years.

declines, there are massive layoffs and bankruptcies, and, owing to the markedly anti-entrepreneurial climate, there are no new investments. Through monopolistic pricing and tax pressure the renter cast are in fact redistributing not wealth, but poverty, all the while creating an illusion that public sector investments will trigger a new economic boom.

The economy, therefore, is not run by market forces, as it should be, but by political renters, whom one may just as well call takers. More than twenty years after the fall of communism, the ideas of Command Economy are still running amok.

Instead of professional managers and value-creation, we have old-school bosses and profiteering; instead of competitive industrial enterprises, we have budget takers and state investments implemented in the spirit of political voluntarism, which is perhaps best summed up in the omnipresent term ‘political will’. And indeed, the concept of administrative-operational development was created at the time when the economy was centrally planned, while

the term ''gospodarstvo'', which is used synonymously with the word economy – at least in Croatia, where we even have Ministarsvo gospodarstva – draws its roots from the Russian word ''hazjastvo'', alluding to ‘mastery’ over a ‘husbandry’ or, more precisely, a small rural household. Even in this global(ised) world of the 21st century, the political elites and the national psyche alike still find it difficult to shirk the apparently deeply ingrained terminology of Stalin and Brezhnev, their five-year plans and unsubstantiated affectations of grandeur.

There is no denying that the State must play an important role in guiding economic policy and facilitating the growth of social wealth, but in modern national economies it can no longer work by the ‘pharaoh’s method’, where political elites exercise direct stewardship over public property; instead the legislative, executive and monetary authorities should (at least be seeking a way to) implement systematic industrial policies and macro-economic levers. This is precisely the reason why, in various executive structures of developed and economically functional countries, we cannot even find the name such as the Ministry of the Economy, as this all too important activity is carried out through interdisciplinary coordination of the ministries of industry and commerce, moreover through direct cooperation with independent professional associations and economic institutions. If Croatia, or any country in the region, is to implement any sort of successful and sustainable reform, the Ministry of the Economy should be restructured into the Ministry of Industry and Trade and given mandate to play a key role in the re-industrialisation and development of domestic economies.

Otherwise we will be stuck with the Ministry of Hazjastvo, which, whatever its official name, hasn’t done us much good over the last twenty-odd years.

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editorial

Wealth has its own special office, a set of peculiar duties, to perform that society may benefit. Wealth is our best tool for building a better future.

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Revitalising the World Economy: an Action Agenda In a follow up to his insights on the State of the World Economy, published in the previous issue, Steve Young of Caux Round Table explores the underlying causes for this hardly enviable situation we find ourselves in.

Though often discussed. What is laid out here is systematic, well thought through and, yes, recommendations as to how to get out of the gutter, sustainably, follow suit.

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he state of the world economy is disappointing and a cause for global concern. Without economic growth, what real hope do we have for social justice? And what real hope do we have for combating unemployment, creating jobs and addressing poverty when the gap between the haves and have-nots continues to grow?

Who has disappointed us? In three words: Wall Street and governments. And in this fourth year since the great self-destruction of financial markets, financial leaders and governments have yet to find a way back from that debacle of hubris and greed, on the one side, and failure of prudential regulation on the other. This is no time for finance as usual; this is no time for governing as usual. We are reminded of Cicero’s outrage when those responsible for public harm show no remorse: “Quo usque tandem abutere patentia nostra?”

First, two parties - governments and owners of private capital - must be mobilized to work together enthusiastically in charting, and then following, a new path to sustainable growth and the advancement of prosperity and social justice for all.

Owners of private capital must be at the table because it is the private sector that creates sustainable wealth, not governments.

By Stephen B. Young

Stephen B. Young received his ab degree from Harvard College in 1967 and his jd degree from the Harvard Law School in 1974. While in the Harvard Law School, he was made a term member and then a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and the served, among other things, as a university professor, consultant for a number of governments, Dean of the Hamline University School of Law and, from 1990 until 1996, as the Honorary Consul of Singapore in Minnesota. Stephen B. Young became the Global Executive Director of the Caux Round Table in 2000. He wrote the book Moral Capitalism to explicate the economic and moral approach of the Caux Round Table to free market capitalism.

Wealth arises from our labour, our imagination and aspirations for the future, our desires for self-improvement, our willingness to collaborate, our savings, our skills in organisation, our dedication. Governments may attempt to command these attributes into being, but they will fail. If we need wealth, we must therefore motivate and support those who create wealth.

To insure a constant flow of wealth creation, our Convention of Independent Financial Advisers has adopted the Charter of Investor’s Rights, which has been filed with the United Nations. The private investor has a right to use his or her best judgment in finding the most appropriate way to invest and earn profits. He or she has the right freely to choose the structures and institutions that he or she judges will more adequately accommodate the modalities of his or her property as well as the revenue that results from its use by others.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides further directive guidance to sovereign states as to their obligations and responsibilities to individuals: Article 17.

(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.

(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

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But to affirm that wealth creation is fundamentally a process for the private sector, thus enhancing the value of private goods, is not to say that private property is immune from responsibility. No, wealth is a social product and must respond to the social requirements that permit it to exist and to grow. It is not removed from the ethical demands of human intercourse just because it may be at the disposition and under the dominion of a single individual at any given time. Wealth has its own special office, a set of peculiar duties, to perform that society may benefit. Wealth is our best tool for building a better future.

The Caux Round Table, an international ngo, has advocated a moral capitalism for 25 years. The Caux Round Table ethical principles for business provide a road map for the responsible creation of private wealth. Recently our distinguished membership was consulted via a survey as to what steps are needed now to improve the state of the world economy, the results of which were published, among other channels, in the previous issue of this magazine as well. Integrity in governance was recommended as having highest priority in the effort to rejuvenate global capitalism. The four priorities most advised for immediate attention were: addressing inequality, more discipline in public finances, separating banking from proprietary firm trading, and improvement in corporate governance.

For wealth flows from people when they are rightly inspired. Because wealth is an economic and social outcome as well as an input into economic growth and social well-being, it cannot thrive all on its own. It is not autonomous, but dependent on prior conditions. Securing that necessary inspiration is the task and duty of government. Establishing correct conditions for sustainable financial intermediation is a sovereign responsibility that may not be delegated to private firms. Today, to renew global economic growth, the first action step must be taken by governments. The foundation of economic growth in today’s global economy is financial intermediation.

The access to spendable liquidity either in the form of equity investment or repayable debt permits the commencement of business ventures and sustains operating businesses of all sizes and varieties.

Where access to such liquidity is limited, economic growth stagnates; where

The foundation of economic growth in today’s global economy is financial intermediation. excessive liquidity is made available, asset prices become distorted, unsustainable price bubbles emerge, and financial collapse occurs, damaging economic activity and lowering living standards.

Thus, the sovereign responsibility to promote economic growth calls forth a subordinate responsibility to provide optimum conditions for private sector financial intermediation. Institutions of financial intermediation consist of banks, securities underwriters, insurance and reinsurance companies, broker/ dealers, financial advisers, investment banks, accountants, legal counsel.

Governments and private property must be put in a collaborative balance if wealth is to flow forth from the people and fuel global economic growth. Today the state of the world economy needs a partnership between governments and private capital. It needs interdependence, a duality of function, an interaction of public and private with each respecting the respective contributions of the other.

Should the government fail to meet its responsibilities in this collaboration, the private sector cannot and will not make up its shortcomings.

On the other side of the partnership, the duties of the private sector are, roughly, to conduct business as an office subject to the standards of corporate social responsibility with respect for stakeholder interests. Private profit is the reward for private services well done.

The duties of governments are to provide protection for private property and the legitimate expectations of private persons to improve their stations in life, law and order for society, and checks and balances on abusive use of private power. Sovereign states have a responsibility to promote economic growth. They are trustees for those under their authority.

In particular it is the duty of governments to provide for liquidity to finance private sector wealth creation. Liquidity – money if you will – though it is most creative and powerful when held in private hands, is a public commodity protected in circulation ultimately by the state.

The Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations recognises that nations should “promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom” and “employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples”. Also, Article 55 of the un Charter imposes on sovereign authorities responsibility for the promotion of economic growth: “With a view to the creation of conditions of stability and well-being which are necessary for peaceful and friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and selfdetermination of peoples, the United Nations shall promote:” 1. Higher standards of living, full employment, and conditions of economic and social progress and development; This profound and fundamental responsibility of states was acknowledged by governments subscribing to the Millennium Declaration of the year 2000, which says: “We resolve therefore to create an environment – at the national and global levels alike – which is conducive to development and to the elimination of poverty.”

It was further noted by states signatory to the 2002 Monterrey Consensus that: 3. … Our goal is to eradicate poverty, achieve sustained economic growth and promote sustainable development as we advance to a fully inclusive and equitable global economic system.

4. … We commit ourselves to sound

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policies, good governance at all levels and the rule of law. We also commit ourselves to mobilizing domestic resources, attracting international flows, promoting international trade as an engine for development, increasing international financial and technical cooperation for development, sustainable debt financing and external debt relief, and enhancing the coherence and consistency of the international monetary, financial and trading systems.

10. In our common pursuit of growth, poverty eradication and sustainable development, a critical challenge is to ensure the necessary internal conditions for mobilizing domestic savings, both public and private, sustaining adequate levels of productive investment and increasing human capacity. A crucial task is to enhance the efficacy, coherence and consistency of macroeconomic policies. An enabling domestic environment is vital for mobilizing domestic resources, increasing productivity, reducing capital flight, encouraging the private sector, and attracting and making effective use of international investment and assistance. Efforts to create such an environment should be supported by the international community.

11. Good governance is essential for sustainable development. Sound economic policies, solid democratic institutions responsive to the needs of the people and improved infrastructure are the basis for sustained economic growth, poverty eradication and employment creation. Freedom, peace and security, domestic stability, respect for human rights, including the right to development, and the rule of law, gender equality, market-oriented policies, and an overall commitment to just and democratic societies are also essential and mutually reinforcing.

12. We will pursue appropriate policy and regulatory frameworks at our respective national levels and in a manner consistent with national laws to encourage public and private initiatives, including at the local level, and foster a dynamic and well functioning business sector, while improving income growth and distribution, raising productivity, empowering women and protecting labor rights and the environment. We recognize that the appropriate role of government in market-oriented economies will vary from country to country.

CRT RECOMMENDATIONS When the governments signatory to the Monterrey Consensus agreed to mobilise domestic resources under conditions of good governance, they accepted the duty properly to encourage financial intermediation. The first requirement of sovereign management of financial intermediation is to keep asset values – both public and private - within a range of prudent expectations.

This will stimulate and reward private economic activity.

The Financial Stability Board has issued standards which provide for transparency of the monetary and financial policies of sovereign states.

These standards are supplemented by the Caux Round Table’s recommended ethical principles for government.

The Financial Stability Board’s standards permit assessment of the responsibility exercised by sovereign authorities in their management of key components of private sector financial intermediation. These standards are: Financial regulation and supervision Banking Supervision: Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision Securities Regulation: Objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation Insurance Supervision: Insurance Core Principles Institutional and market infrastructure Crisis Resolution and Deposit Insurance: Core Principles for Effective Deposit Insurance Systems Insolvency: Insolvency and Creditor Rights Corporate Governance: Principles of Corporate Governance Accounting and Auditing: International Financial Reporting Standards and International Standards on Auditing Payment, Clearing and Settlement: Core Principles for Systemically Important Payment Systems, Recommendations for Securities Settlement Systems, Recommendations for Central Counterparties Recommendation: The General Assembly of the United Nations should adopt a charter of Responsible Practices for Sovereign Nations incorporating the standards recommended by the Financial Stability Board with respect to financial intermediation to promote sound and sustained global economic growth.

In the fall of 2008, it became an unavoidable truth that global capitalism’s so called immune system of laissez-faire market discipline failed the test of practical success and the underlying causes of this systemic failure - greed and narrow self interest - must be addressed by the global community. Failures properly to assess risk and a dysfunctional and short-sighted system of incentives and remuneration have been at the heart of the problem and have subjected the global economy to too little growth in assets and incomes.

Also at the core of the problem has been a failure of governance. Boards of directors were not sufficiently encased in an environment of sound risk management, responsibility, transparency and ultimate accountability. And financial regulation failed to offset the inherent dysfunctionality of the markets. Despite the need for urgent action to address the underlying causes, there are inadequate reforms on the table.

The following reforms will restore growth to the world economy and bring about the right balance of innovation between the private sector and governments: (1) Require board directors to consider interests beyond shareholders’, which may affect the company’s success, by codifying the principle of “enlightened shareholder value” in company law.

(2) Require minimum standards of corporate governance knowledge and expertise for corporate board directors.

(3) Require corporate boards to have a dedicated board committee responsible for risk oversight across the full spectrum of risks - financial, governance, social, environmental.

(4) Regulate executive remuneration structures to ensure that they are consistent with prudent risk management, align with long-term wealth creation, and do not reward poor performance.

(5) Implement stronger and globally coordinated financial and banking regulatory reforms to prevent systemic risk build-up or market manipulation.

(6) Regulate all financial markets instruments and investment activities that materially impact on financial system stability and on superannuation and pension system viability.

(7) Reform and adequately resource the IMF and other multilateral institutions to ensure they are effective forces for economic and social justice globally.

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social economics

The EUforija project With membership to the European Union just around the corner (figuratively speaking), Croatian entrepreneurs will do well to familiarise themselves more intimately with the intricacies of the European business model. For that to happen we need projects such as EUforija.

By Miroslav Tomas

C

roatian society finds itself at a crossroads and, while we know the direction it’s headed in, the path remains a mystery to a vast majority of the population. Enthusiasm (or scepticism) aside, the clock is ticking and for many entrepreneurs, of any age, there is a need to brush up on the skills needed to navigate through any and all newly emerging circumstances. With all the Government initiatives to familiarise the public, and more importantly our entrepreneurs, with the inner workings of the eu markets virtually ceasing after the yes vote following the January referendum, it falls to the ngos to do this much needed work, a process of paramount importance given what lies ahead.

key issues The EUforija initiative was started by the Centre for International Development (cid), the Croatian Exporters Association, and tf Marketing: it fell to this group to organise a series of lectures, panels, and workshops, under the name EUforija. This series, which will comprise of 13 separate monthly events, is sponsored by the eu Delegation and the Ministry of Regional Development and eu Funds. It is aimed at preparing Croatian entrepreneurs for the types of situations which they might face once they find themselves doing business in the expanded European environment.

The first EUforija event was held, in Zagreb, on June 13th and focussed on the topics of the manufacturing industry, competition, and the internal market.

The lecture started with an address by H.E. Paul Vandoren, Head of the eu Delegation to Croatia, who spoke to the conference,

saying: “The Big Bang won’t take place on July 1st 2013. It’s already taking place – because Croatia is currently part of the integrated European market. The challenge for Croatian companies, which lies ahead, is in finding a market niche for their products within the eu – with competitiveness and quality being key to the process.” The Belgian continued by emphasising the fact that the European Commission will seek a mandate to modify the disadvantages emerging from Croatia’s leaving of cefta: work which, however, remains a matter to be handled by the Croatian Government through bilateral agreements with other cefta member states.

Dr. Ante Babić, head of cid, continued by telling the assembly that although membership of the European Union brings with it a series of elevated costs,

The challenge for Croatian companies, which lies ahead, is in finding a market niche for their products within the European Union.

through excise duties on all forms of energy, it also brings with it an end to the favourable position of certain Croatian companies currently enjoyed on the domestic market. Once accession has been fully ratified, these companies will be left to the vagaries and workings of the free market, and if one thing is self-evident, it is that eu regulations pay no favours: the elimination of privileged market positions, which many companies have become accustomed to, will see these ‘large’ Croatian companies competing with other pan-European and global firms that are far larger and far more capable in this wider economy. These difficulties are a problem which is to be faced head-on, but they’re also an opportunity for the small businesses that have been damaged by the clientelism of the Croatian market and its regulators.

Suzana Kuliš, owner of tf Marketing, shared her insights into the importance of product branding and pr campaign management, especially through social networks and customer relations policies.

Veljko Drakulić of Bonline gave a lecture with a series of pointers for checking up on the credibility and solvency of potential trade partners when operating in the larger eu market. But the crowning event of the conference was a panel attended by Darinko Bago, Managing Director of Končar ei, Metka Jerina, former head of International Affairs in the Slovenian Ministry of Economy, and Professor Zoltan Pogatsa of the University of West Hungary. The panel, moderated by Dr. Babić, discussed the challenges which lie ahead for Croatian industry, with Mrs. Jerina underlining the perspectives which will emerge with European Union

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membership and subsequent membership of the now-troubled Eurozone. Professor Pogatsa stated that with the current state of affairs a steady rise, if not a surge, in Foreign Direct Investment (fdi) could be expected once full membership of the European Union is attained. He pointed out that Croatia is in a favourable position given the number of domestic brands and companies, especially when compared to Hungary which has been relying on foreign Green Field Investment, particularly in the auto-motive industry, to ensure employment: the profits, in other words, go to multinational companies, something which Croatia has a chance to avoid, at least to some measure.

Darinko Bago commented on this point by saying: “In the 1990s the large industrial complexes were referred to in derogatory terms, as ‘Socialist Mastodonts’, and as such were liquidated. What remains of Croatia’s production industry, as competitive as it might be, is still going to be an underdog in the European market. It will be, to use a metaphor, like assaulting

a tank with a machine gun… it is a process that will require our full dedication, if we are to make any progress, that is.”

patience is a virtue Of course we cannot fool ourselves into thinking that everything will automatically be worked out in the end, and the most important thing now for EUforija is that the entire series, all 13 instalments, occur with the same level of vim and vigour as this first one did: and not just on the part of the panellists who are giving up their valuable time to try and impart their experience to others, but on the part of the entrepreneurs and young business men and women who are looking for that edge to help them get ahead.

It won’t be easy – if it were, everyone would be running multinational corporations. This is not a race, but a marathon, and patience is an essential virtue under the current economic malaise. If you consider yourself an entrepreneur, and harbour ambitions of making it in a

EUFORIA SCHEDULE Services, Competition & the Internal Market Jul 13th 2012.

Transport Sep 5th 2012.

Energy Oct 3rd 2012.

Tourism Nov 7th 2012.

Taxes Nov 21st 2012.

Agriculture, Fishing, Forestry, Food Dec 5th 2012.

Manufacturing Industry, Competition and the Internal Market II Jan 21st 2013.

Construction and Real Estate Feb 13th 2013.

Environment Mar 3rd 2013.

Customs and Foreign Trade Apr 3rd 2013.

Consumer Protection & Trade May 8th 2013.

Information Society Jun 6th 2013.

larger market, then you could do worse than make the time to attend future EUforija events.

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in medias res

Croatian Pride Parades: the Next Chapter Bob Dylan has long told us that “the times, they are a-changin’”, but it must come as a shock to certain conservative elements of Croatian society that those changes are happening here too. However, having found the homophobe of the year in the Mayor of Split, Željko Kerum, and homofriend in Boris Dežulović, one of the leading Croatian columnists, the LGBT community is now ready to take it to the next level...

By Lee Murphy

W

hat a difference a year makes.

With the Pride parades in Split and Zagreb having just passed us by, we can reflect on the differences between what happened (or didn't) this year with what happened during the 2011 events. Split Pride took place for the first time last year and it made the headlines for all the wrong reasons: a large number of protestors (roughly 10,000) gathered to throw rocks and glass and whatever else was available at some 300-odd marchers. Just let those numbers sink in for a moment… 10,000 and 300.

Split Pride 2012 was in the headlines again, if only because conservative elements within the community sought influence over the parade route, something the city officials agreed with: Split waterfront, the expected end-point of the parade, was ruled off limits for those marching, with public safety being cited.

Still, in the end, Split Pride 2012, 700 marchers strong, went off without incident. It could not have hurt the cause of the march that so many of the Croatian politicians were rallying behind the overall event. President Josipović himself recorded a video message in support of Split Pride, condemning the violence which had occurred only a year previously, and the parade was also attended by Vesna Pusić, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Arsen Bauk, Minister of Administration, Ivan Vrdoljak, Minister of Construction and Physical Planning, Ranko Ostojić, Minister of the Interior, and

Predrag Matić, Minister of War Veterans.

Matić had even attempted to solicit the support of several veterans’ associations, asking them to provide security details for the parade, but his ideas were not met with approval amongst his once brothers in arms. Srđan Dragojević's 2010 film 'Parada' (the Parade), which dealt with the fictional – and abortive – attempt at organising a gay parade in Belgrade, was thus very close to proving the old maxim that life often imitates art (very watchable art in this instance). In the film, a curious bunch of war-veterans (and picturesque criminals) – a Serb, a Croat, a Bosnian Muslim, and a Kosovar – did rise to the occasion, in spite of themselves, and secured the parade; in real life, they did not.

Be that as it may, the Croatian Prime Minister, Zoran Milanović, made it quite clear that his party would support increased rights for all aspects of the gay community: “It is essential to ensure a greater judicial security to those people who are also part of our community,” said the Prime Minister back in May. “It is elementary social empathy and politeness to accept people of different sexual orientation as normal.” Such a position is not new for Milanović and his party, the Social Democrats: this was part of their campaign manifesto, which was in direct contrast to that of Jadranka Kosor and the hdz position. Already plans are underway to recognise same-sex marriages, and it is expected that the Government will look to enshrine these rights in civil law

Scene from Srđan Dragojević's film ‘The Parade’

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rather than attempt to amend the Family Law – if only to avoid a knockdown fight with the Church hierarchy and other similarly minded groups. There will be a more open and public debate on the matter at some point after the summer, but it is quite clear that the Government has the bit between the teeth on this issue and will accept nothing less than victory. The Prime Minister put it bluntly when he said “human rights are, quite simply, human rights”, and “giving stronger civil legal rights to the gay community will not deprive anyone of their rights”.

These statements would appear all the more pertinent in recent times, given the lack of respect afforded the institution of marriage by celebrities such as Britney Spears and Kim Kardashian, who both engaged (forgive the pun) in rather shortlived, heterosexual, marriages which

President Josipović himself recorded a video message in support of Split Pride, condemning the violence which had occurred only a year previously.

lasted 55 hours and 72 days respectively.

The notion amongst the liberal community is that, if these would-be ‘role models’ can be allowed such behaviour, then why not everyone? We would love to delve into the concept of marriage which existed long before the modern Church absorbed the ritual, but, alas that is for another article.

What might be of immediate relevance is the impact these reforms might have upon the economy, under such strain as it has been for so long now: it is readily accepted that the power of the ‘pink pound’ is somewhat stronger than that of its more ‘traditional’ counterpart. Gay couples usually have more disposable income, and since the reforms, as suggested by the Government, are likely to maintain a ban on adoption, such disposable income will probably remain high. It would benefit all involved, those couples seeking to formalise their relationships, and the economy, were this legislation to be expedited.

Marko Juričić, one of the chief organisers of Zagreb Pride, could not have been more concrete: “The Government has announced that they will "regulate same sex relations", and, as we understand it, this means that they will introduce "life partnerships" instead of re-defining marriage within the family code. Therefore, we have written a proposal, a bill that we call a 'Life Partnership Act' instead of 'Registered Partnership Act' or 'Same-sex union Act' that the Government officials use. Our proposal is to offer another institute, which will allow two people to register, regardless of their sex/gender, and which will regulate "family life". The only issue that we think will be unclear to the end are 'adoption rights': we will, of course insist on full equality...”

As to how it all looked, both the Split and Zagreb parades, well it all looked rather tame, strong police presence notwithstanding. Not without reason, the lgbt community seems to be careful – pragmatic if you will – which means that the two parades, merry and colourful as they were, lacked those more 'extreme' elements usually abounding in more seasoned Prides (think, say, of the Berlin Love Parade): in other words, very little spandex, lycra, leather, latex, platform shoes, cross-dressing and so forth could be seen. Instead, young people dominated the crowd, intermixed with their obviously heterosexual supporters. The gay community is maturing, and is finally ready to take it up with the legislator.

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lifestyle

18th Sarajevo Film Festival Born amidst the turmoil of the Siege of Sarajevo the film festival which bears its name is fast approaching its second decade. And, make no mistake, ‘Sarajevo’ is one of the highlights of the European film calendar, and the most relevant event of this sort in the region. The buzz is that between the 6th and the 14th of July we’ll see some true heavy hitters arrive, most notably Robert de Niro, but it is first and foremost the atmosphere in Sarajevo that we must recommend for the week in question.

By Aida Tabaković

I

t all began in the most unlikely of places, or rather at the unlikeliest of times: in 1995, during the Siege of Sarajevo.

Despite the tragedy which was unfolding at the time 15,000 people came to see 37 films from 15 countries.

Ever since that time the Festival has been growing apace, and has attracted some notable guests such as Bono, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie... That, however, has never been the Festival’s main selling point; Sarajevo as a city has always treated both its own and visiting celebrities rather indifferently – something that, in an age dominated by the paparazzi and crazed fans, Tinseltown aristocracy certainly can appreciate.

In 2001 the Festival gained even more prestige, when it was made one of only eleven European festivals which could nominate a film for ‘Europe’s Best Short Film’. There was also the matter of the festival’s 2001 main category laureate, ‘No Man’s Land by Danis Tanović, going on to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film that year.

The Sarajevo Film Festival is also so much more than the name immediately suggests, with additional programmes such as the Sarajevo Talent Campus which, for a select few from the South East Europe region, translates into an opportunity to meet and network with industry experts and prominent professionals. In a similar vein the festival features CineLink, an event which runs for the duration of the year, culminating in the CineLink Market which presents a number of regional film projects from young film-makers,

producers, and directors. It should not be beyond the realm of possibility that these two programmes might unearth the next von Trier, Besson, or Gilliam.

There are, as you might well expect, a number of categories in which a film might compete: the main award has been renamed ‘The Heart of Sarajevo’, and has been won in the past by Lars von Trier’s ‘Breaking the Waves’, Gaspar Noé’s ‘I Stand Alone’, and the aforementioned ‘No Man’s Land’. Short films and documentaries also receive their due at ‘Sarajevo’.

Like any event born in a time of intolerance, the Festival is incredibly openminded when it comes to the concept of ‘film’ – New Currents is a programme which looks to discover new and innovative ways to tell a story without necessarily reverting to tried and tested methodologies. You would have to imagine that David Lynch in his Eraserhead heyday

would have found any number of kindred spirits at such a gathering.

The festival does not seek to alienate itself from the wider masses either: film can be art, but that does not mean that it must be limited to arthouse screenings; any number of European, American, and Independent films will be shown outdoors, under the open skies, with directors and producers presenting their projects and answering questions.

Citizen Kane need not be your most favourite film of all time if you wish to attend, nor are you barred if you thought Sex and the City was a masterpiece. Get online and check out www.sff.ba, and you’ll find a week of events to sate even the most avid of film cravings.

And, of course, there is the City of Sarajevo, its cafes, theatres and cinema houses becoming even more vibrant than usual during this week dominated by cinematic delicacies and related parties.

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lifestyle

Zagreb’s Regent Esplanade Doubly Honoured The famed Orient Express used it as a stop over on its journey from Paris to Constantinople/Istanbul, and although the train service ceased operation in 2009, its Zagreb connection remains very much in business. Still, oh ye business travellers, there is more to the regent than just business.

By Dylan Alexander

T

rue, you’re unlikely to bump into Albert Finney or David Suchet if you were to pay Zagreb’s Regent Esplanade Hotel a visit, but what you would most likely notice are some recent additions to the 5 star hostelry’s décor. Not paintings, not sculptures, or any other such work of art, but something nevertheless as beautiful, especially to Ivica Krizmanić, acting General Manager of the hotel. You see, the hotel has recently received a pair of rather prestigious awards: the ‘TripAdvisor 2012 Certificate of Excellence’ and the ‘Great Rail Journeys Gold Food Award 2011’ – both of which came as a result of excellent customer feedback.

Dionis Sunko, from Zagreb, is the man whom many consider to have been the architect of the building, The Esplanade, although he modified the original designs done by a German architect, Otto Rehnig. Be that as it may, the Hotel enjoyed a rather risqué existence during its formative decades, as it found itself the centre of Zagreb’s night life. Over the years it has played host to a litany of famous personalities, including Charles Lindberg, Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Sophia Loren, Ella Fitgerald, Garry Kasparov, and, given that she has recently celebrated her Diamond Jubilee, it would be remiss of us not to mention that Queen Elizabeth II also stayed here.

In 2004 the hotel underwent full renovation and joined the Regent chain, becoming The Regent Esplanade Hotel. Now, not even a decade into its ‘new’ life, it has two new frames to hang upon its walls.

The Esplanade enjoyed a rather risqué existence during its formative decades, as it found itself the centre of Zagreb’s night life.

Mr. Krizmanić was in a particularly ebullient mood as he spoke about the first of the two awards: “The Regent Esplanade has held the top position in the city of Zagreb for years on the TripAdvisor web site, which makes us very proud. This award is true recognition of our excellence in providing a supreme service to our guests, and it is a great achievement indeed, as the award is based on the reviews of guests, their experience and satisfaction with the level of their accommodation, food and service. I am happy and proud of my colleagues who certainly deserve recognition for their dedicated work and the love they express every day for this iconic hotel. The Regent Esplanade deserves it.”

Regarding the second award we turn to John King, representative of Great Rail Journeys, who had this to say about the award they were giving to The Regent: “This award is proof of the high level of services and supreme quality of food served to guests in LeBistro and Zinfandel’s Restaurant. Guests who travel with us expect supreme treatment, and this award is proof of their satisfaction and surpassed expectations. My congratulations go to all, and especially to the kitchen and restaurant staff who did it all to provide our guests with complete enjoyment.”

The hotel, as Ivica Krizmanić suggested, is definitely iconic: you would be hard pressed for it not to be ingrained upon your memory. Certainly you might avail of the opportunity to sample the wares that John King was so keen upon. Is this a puff piece? No, we meant every word of it.

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good stuff

Seize the Tech… & the Day In issues past we have explored the world of high technology, nautical accessories, and even seasonal gifts. With school just finished for many and the challenges of University awaiting in the Autumn, we decided that we would address this instalment to the entrepreneur in all of us. Here are three things that have revolutionised the way we conduct ourselves on a daily basis, both socially and in the business world...

Panasonic TC-PST50 In 1926 Lee DeForest, inventor of the vacuum tube, had this to say: “While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially it is an impossibility, a development of which we need waste little time dreaming.” If only he had been correct...well, ‘Tis a different world we’d be living in. Instead, we got

the Panasonic TC-PST50, a flat screen plasma TV which provides better images than its LCD counterparts, and is also 3D compatible. It has a 1080p display format, a refresh rate of 600Hz, and (thanks to its Wi-Fi) it can also access a number of services online such as Skype, Youtube, etc. Of course it does have a downside, if that’s the right word…it starts at 55”, which might not work so well if space is a concern.

Origin Genesis X79 In an age when we have such organisations as One Laptop Per Child it is hard to believe that back in 1949 John Von Neumann claimed that “we have reached the limits of what is possible with computers.” If we had (quite pessimistically) agreed with this opinion, we most decidedly wouldn’t be looking at Origin Genesis X79, considered to be the ultimate when it comes to online gaming.

The world of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG) has exploded in recent years and it’s only right that there exists a PC capable of producing the best user-experience possible. The PC is ‘overclocked’ to begin with, offering 4.9GHz instead of 3.2GHz, and has the Frostbyte 360 cooling system in place to deal with the extra heat generated as a result. It has 16 gigabytes of memory and over 400 gigabytes of hard drive space. It also boasts three Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 video cards which ensure that whatever you’re playing does not suffer for the lack of picture quality. It is expensive, around 4,000 Euros, but it truly is a monster when compared to other machines in this class.

The Million Dollar Website Charles H. Duell, Commissoner of the US Office of Patents, made his way into the history books on the back of his now-infamous quote: “Everything that can be invented has been…” He said this in 1899. However, one Alex Tew clearly ignored such prophetic vision when, in 2005, he came up with the idea for www.

MillionDollarHomepage.com. The idea was simply to raise some extra money for his holidays but it made him, as the name suggests, a millionaire. Creating a webpage with 1,000,000 pixels he sold each pixel for 1 USD (the final few were auctioned away), earning him a total of 1,037,100 USD (before taxes, costs, and a charitable donation). There is a moral to the story here…if you can think of it, it’s possible. Tew made his million just over four months after the website had gone live, and you have to suspect that other similar ideas are floating around out there. Your mind is your most valuable commodity: don’t be afraid to use it.

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Men's strength in a capsule

FORMEN

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to-do list

Zakiya Hooker

Exit Festival

Duran Duran

June 29th

July 4th - July 11th

July 10th

Joe McPhee

The Garden Festival

63rd Summer Games

Solo jazz saxophone concert

Electronic music festival, starting this year on the island of Murter

Opening ceremonies in front of the Church of St. Blaise

June 30th

July 5th - July 7th

July 11th

Zakiya Hooker

Labin Jazz Republika

EUforija

Cankarjev Dom, Ljubljana (18h) /

The Garden, Tisno /

Dubrovnik (21h) /

Hard Place, Zagreb (20h) /

Kod Špine, Labin /

Cinestar Avenue Mall, Zagreb (9h) /

Blues concert

Jazz festival

Lecture on services, competition and the internal market

June 30th

July 5th - July 15th

July 12th - July 15th

Gala Concert

Croatia Open Umag

Exit Festival

National Theatre, Belgrade (20h) /

ATP Stadium, Umag /

Petrovaradin Fortress, Novi Sad /

National Theatre Opera Orchestra concert

ATP tennis tournament

Region's largest music festival

July 2nd

July 6th - July 7th

June 13th

Goran Bregović

Bledcom

Hwaum Chamber Orch.

/

Bled, Slovenia /

National Theatre Belgrade /

World music artist performs with the Weddings and Funerals Orchestra

International PR symposium

Korean orchestra performing works of Shostakovich, Lim and Tchaikovsky

July 3rd

July 6th - July 14th

June 14th

The Cult

Sarajevo Film Festival Sarajevo /

Duran Duran

Križanke Summer Theatre, Ljubljana (21h) /

Choice Of Weapon tour

18th International Film festival

All You Need Is Now album tour

Lighthouse Club, Vodnjan (22h)

Spaladium Arena, Split (20h) /

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