A Chequered Fortnight

october 11th

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in memoriam / Boris Šprem, President of Croatian Parliament Passes

editorial / Husein ef. Kavazović: the New Reis-ul-Ulema

event horizon / The Arrest of Zoran Janković: or What’s the Slovenian for Tammany Hall? southeast europe · a fortnight in review no.14 / subscription only / 11th october 2012

in medias res / The Thin Lines of the Kosovo-Serbia Border Issue

in perspective / A Business Case for Open Data

A Chequered Fortnight

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content

introductory epistle

A Chequered Fortnight

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Fluctuations of fortune mark the period...in every sense. fortnightly news

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The Economy Of General Interest

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in memoriam

Boris Šprem, President of Croatian Parliament Passes 12 A eulogy for the rare decent politician. He will be missed. editorial

Husein ef. Kavazović: the New Reis-ul-Ulema

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The great Bosnian hope, but will he take the country by storm? event horizon

The Arrest of Zoran Janković: or What’s the Slovenian for Tammany Hall?

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Another...though innocent, the man, until proven guilty. No? in medias res

The Thin Lines of the Kosovo-Serbia Border Issue

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Or the makings of another Balkan linguistic dispute. financial

Serbia’s Cash Flow: Easy Money or a New Dip?

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The Dinar is recuperating, but how strong is the foundation? legal

Serbia’s New Law on Civil Procedure

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Mediation and peaceful settlement? May one say finally?

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politics

Karamarko Scores, or Does He?

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2:0 for the Opposition? Some would disagree. the economy

An Early Reflection on the Year in Tourism

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Numbers, numbers, numbers. But what of investments? in perspective

A Business Case for Open Data

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Free info? No secrets? Fresh revenues? Can it be? social economics

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Wild Cards of the 7th International Health Summit

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Reforming the health business is no easy task, unless... wine & gastro interview

Restaurant Week

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Let's see what the organisers have to say for themselves. wine & gastro

Blessed Are the Cheesemakers of Pag

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Perhaps we blaspheme, but as solid as the Bible, this cheese. good stuff

Some Great Regional Cheeses

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Montenegro, Macedonia, Slovenia and B&H represented...

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did you know?

A Small Homage to Ivan Meštrović

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Let us learn more about this sculptor's chequered past... a blast from the past to do list

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Support in managing innovations & internationalising business operations www.bicro.hr / www.een.hr

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introductory epistle

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 (Croatia) contributors Dylan Alexander (Permanent) Mark Ferrris (Permanent) Tatjana Ransom (Medical) Đorđe Novičić (Legal) photography Mens-Libera Photo, Shutterstock, IStock, Wiki Commons unless otherwise specified printer Stega tisak d.o.o.

Zavrtnica 17, Zagreb Croatia issn 1848-4107

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.

Ksaver 215, 10000 Zagreb tel/fax +385 (0)1 46 77 165

A Chequered Fortnight Chequered as in a chess board, but this relatively awkward word does not only pertain to a particular type of design. It is used to designate or qualify something that is marked by fluctuations of fortune, and that is exactly how this past fortnight seems to have gone.

On the worst note imaginable, we shall start by remembering that Boris Šprem, one of the rare truly decent politicians – which is why, I reckon, we have practically written nothing about him until now – has passed away. He has lost his battle with cancer, and Croatia has lost a composed, civilised and informed President of Parliament. An all too brief eulogy will open this issue, as, I believe, is only becoming.

Another politician, of a much more chequered past, has been arrested, this time in Slovenia: none other than Zoran Janković, the Mayor of Ljubljana. Wicked tongues are wont to say that this has been long coming, but it comes as a bit of a surprise nonetheless. Whatever else may be the case, he is probably another in a long line of examples which appear to tell us that public service and large fortunes do not mesh well together.

The Bosnians, for their part, have elected a new Reis-ul-ulema after almost twenty years, which is a pretty big deal indeed.

After very chequered twenty-odd years, if we may say so. Fortunately, in this instance, Husein Ef. Kavazović may well be just what the country has been waiting for,

as even the two leading parties, ever in a feud, agree that the man is learned, moderate, temperate, and yet an authority.

The Serbs, for their part, are witnessing somewhat of a comeback of their chequered currency, in spite of the rather dodgy manner in which the new governor of the National Bank, Jorgovanka Tabaković, has been appointed by Nikolić’s Government.

All other opinions – political and ideological – aside, we can only wish the Serbian Dinar an even faster path to full recovery.

And then there is cheese, that of Pag but also of other regional makers, which we decided to pay a slight homage to, just as, opening two new editorial sections – ‘Did You Know’ and ‘A Blast from the Past’ – we decided to pay brief homage to Ivan Meštrović, the great Croatian 20 th century sculptor, a large exhibition of whose works is now on display in the Rodin Museum in Paris. He was also a man with a rather chequered past.

And, for last, this also seems to be the fate of the see website, as it has been hacked yet again, by the same Serbian outfit as last time. Having been done in Word-Press, there is very little we can do to protect it.

Can it be that it shares the same fate as the region, which has so often been subject to volatile emergency scenarios it could do little to prevent? Which is another thing we can read about in this issue, in the article reporting from the 7th International cee Health summit, held recently in Prague.

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fortnightly news / the economy

rwe to construct hydroelectric plants on drina The Government of Republika Srpska has signed a deal with German consortium RWE for the construction of four hydroelectric power plants in the upper course of the Drina River.

This deal is worth 240 million Euros, and works are scheduled to commence in 2014. However, a problem has arisen concerning jurisdiction over the whole project. The area where the plants are to be constructed lies on the border with Montenegro, and it is the opinion of legal experts that this means authorisation must come from Sarajevo rather than from Banja Luka. In addition to this political hiccup, which will likely be resolved with relative ease, there are also concerns about the relocation of civilians who reside within the construction area, as well as the impact construction and operation would have on the local environment.

macedonia offers hope to the private sector Nikola Gruevski, Prime Minister of Macedonia, has offered some glimmer of hope to the struggling private sector. Speaking to a press gathering in Skopje the Governmental leader said that the treasury would repay that which it owed to various companies, in VAT refunds and unpaid commissions, by the end of Q1, 2013. Many businesses had complained that their difficulties relating to illiquidity were a result of monies owed by the Government, and have since welcomed, if somewhat carefully, this statement. The Opposition were not swayed, however, and have described the comments by the Prime Minister as insincere. Currently almost 50% of all Macedonian businesses have their accounts frozen as a result of the weakened economy. The World Bank threw a shadow on matters when they predicted that the general Balkan economy would shrink for the foreseeable future.

serbia sells euro bonds worth 1 bn usd

gredelj facing recivership A Zagreb railroad vehicles company, TŽV Gredelj, is facing receivership after its accounts were frozen at the beginning of September.

Gredelj owes a total sum of 70 million Euros to both banks and suppliers, in addition to suffering depreciation on its operation of 3 million Euros. A proposal for restructuring of the business suggests that Gredelj be split into two entities, with 750 of its 1,450 workforce being laid off. Naturally, such a proposal has met with sharp criticism from the unions who took to the streets to demand that at least 1,100 of the jobs be retained in any finalised deal. What is rather tragic about the whole affair is that Gredelj had only recently invested 150 million Euros in a new production facility, in 2010, and is now relying on the City of Zagreb ordering as many as 40 new trams. If this order materialises, then construction will be divided between Gredelj and Končar, who have collaborated in the past on similar projects.

croatian industrial production on the rise The Croatian State Statistics Institute has published growth figures for August, which reveal a welcome, if somewhat subtle, rise in the volume of national industrial production. Having suffered a decline of 6.1% in H2, thus far this year these figures show an increase of 0.7% from July, and an increase of 0.6% when compared to August 2011. The figures have caused quite a welcome shock, as several independent macroeconomists had already projected that industrial production would shrink for the same period, between 2.5% and 5%.

As of the end of September Serbia has sold 1 billion USD worth of Eurobonds in order to obtain funds to combat the budget deficit. “The yield of these Eurobonds is 6.625% per annum, which is a much better deal than under the previous Government when the yield was 7.5%”, said the Minister of Finance Mlađan Dinkić. Demand was high for this particular issue, with as much as 4 billion USD on offer between 10am and 7pm on the day in question.

The offering had been as low as 750 million USD, but in the face of such demand, and over 200 interested investors, the decision was made to increase it to 1 billion. 70% of the bonds went to American funds, 19% to Great Britain, and 9% to various European groups. The remainder went to smaller funds across the globe.

ultra wealth report for the region The yearly World Ultra Wealth Report 20122013, as published by Wealth X, lists the standings for 45 European countries. Croatia tops the local poll in having the highest number of multi-millionaires/billionaires, having as many as 260 controlling fortunes totaling 30 billion USD. This puts Croatia in 23rd position on the European list. Serbia is 29th on that same list, with 90 individuals accounting for 11 billion USD. Bosnia & Herzegovina place 30th with 85 people and 9 billion USD. Slovenia is next in 34th with 70 people holding 8 billion USD. Macedonia is in 42nd with 35 names on the list, and Montenegro in 43rd with 21. Top of the heap is Germany, with as much as 2.05 trillion USD spread amongst 15,770 very wealthy individuals.

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caliskan ‘teams’ up with dioki

new law on financial operations passed

A long anticipated move has finally taken place with the Turkish consortium Caliskan moving into a strategic partnership with the fallen Croatian petrochemical company DIOKI and its affiliate DINA Petrokemija. The Turks have guaranteed a sum of 5 million Euros for DIOKI’s bank accounts, which is to be used to settle back pay owed to their workforce, which will be expected to calm matters and avoid threats of road blocks and protests from escalating. Most importantly, the workers responsible for keeping watch over hazardous chemical facilities are kept onside, so as to avoid something much worse than a public protest. In addition to this sum of 5 million Euros, Caliskan will be investing a further amount of 15 million Euros to restart production. The company’s goal is to produce roughly 200 million Euros worth of chemicals per year, most of which will be exported.

The Croatian parliament has passed the new Law on Financial Operations with the backing and support of both the ruling coalition and the Opposition; the Opposition were able to have an amendment attached to the new bill, something which is as rare as a hen’s tooth in Croatian politics. Parliamentary consensus is seldom achieved, but all involved are confident in the new piece of legislation, which promises to put an end to illiquidity within the business world, amounting to 44 billion kuna (cca 6 billion Euros). Under the new law any company which is entering into receivership will now instead be allowed to access their accounts, but only so as to continue business operations and to service existing debt. The mandatory time frame for the settlement of invoiced payments has been set at a maximum of 60 days. Now the question is – and it is an age old one: will the new law be enforced in a quality manner?

ljajić: why did you raise prices?

Rasim Ljajić, Serbian Minister of Trade, has hit out at price increases within the food sector.

Serbia experienced a wave of price hikes at the beginning of October, mainly due to the VAT increase from 18 to 20%, but the VAT rate affecting food remained at 8%. The Minister feels that any price increases on food items is unacceptable. “I am not saying that everybody increased prices, but there is simply no justification for doing so”, stated Ljajić. He went on to say that his Government would act in order to lessen the current price shock in several ways: intervening from goods reserves, intensifying market inspections, and expediting import of oil and sugar so as to stabilise those markets. Consumer associations are all in agreement that there are no economic reasons for the new, higher, prices, and are blaming fat cat monopolists for abusing their market positions.

four companies to bid for plomin c HEP, the Croatian State electricity company has announced that four companies will be entering into the second phase of the tender for the strategic partnership in the construction and management of Plomin C thermal power plant. All four companies were able to satisfactorily present the necessary documentation and will now be focusing on their next steps. The four companies chosen include Edison (Italy), Marubei (Japan), KOSEP (South Korea), and POL-MOT (Poland).

The investment into Plomin C is estimated at 800 million Euros and HEP have already stated that they will be taking into consideration each company’s intentions regarding their future dealings with domestic companies.

the name's bonds, agrokor bonds Agrokor, the Croatian food and retail giant, is to issue as much as 475 million Euros worth of bonds. These bonds, which will mature in seven years, will be available in US Dollars, Euros, or a combination thereof. They are to be issued through Unicredit, BNP Paribas, and JP Morgan, and will be offered to investors and investment funds across Europe and the United States. The funds raised are earmarked for the refinancing of existing Agrokor debts, with Konzum and PIK Vinkovci to act as guarantors.

In April of this year Agrokor raised 300 million Euros through a similar issue. That earlier issue has an expected yield of over 9.8%.

Standard & Poors have assigned a 'B' rating to the latest endeavour, indicating a "fair" business risk, and a "highly leveraged" bond.

pliva to start new investment cycle Croatian pharmaceutical company Pliva will be investing as much as 200 million USD into upgrading and expanding their existing production facilities. Pliva CEO Tihomir Orešković has said that the funding will come almost exclusively from Pliva’s own resources, and that at least 80% of the increased output is earmarked for export. The upgrade is to include a new active substance production plant and waste water management system at Pliva’s facilities in Savski Marof, as well as expansion of their facilities in Zagreb.

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fortnightly news / of general interest

kosovo hoping to start eu talks Hashim Thaçi, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, has asked the European Union to formalise relations with his country by allowing them to enter in negotiations for the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. He made his request while meeting with Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative, while in New York recently.

Thus far Kosovo has met all the conditions necessary to enter into the Schengen agreement, and once this happens Thaçi feels it is only a matter of time before full membership comes ever closer. Kosovo has still yet to be recognised by five EU states, including Spain, Slovakia, Greece, Cyprus, and Romania. Much of Thaçi’s wishes will depend on Kosovo-Serbia relations over the coming months and years.

nikolić voices anti-eu sentiment Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić, while addressing an assembly of his Progressive Party, has commented upon a statement offered by Martin Schultz, the President of the European Parliament. Schultz, following a meeting with Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dačić, had said that “Serbian accession to the EU is dependent on the recognition of Kosovan independence”.

In response Nikolić has said that the Serbian habit of chasing after an accession date is over, since it is “that practise which has brought the country to the brink of poverty over the last eight years”. Nikolić has also said that the situation whereby Serbia would have to recognise Kosovo in order to join the European Union is akin to the case of the “dying man moving into a golden palace”. Štefan Füle, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement, sought to calm matters by saying that the pre-requisite for Serbian membership is not the recognition of Kosovan independence, but rather a “stabilisation of relations” between the two. Whatever the case, please read between the lines.

ngo seeks prosecutions for dubrovnik attack

plans for croatian road privatisation criticised Nikola Vuljanić, of the Croatian Labour Party, has accused the Government of being "cowards" in their plans to privatise certain sections of the country's motorway infrastructure. Citing their failure to make profit thus far, he told Parliament that the Government preferred instead to relinquish its obligations in this area, rather than to seek a real and lasting solution. The opposition parties, HDZ chief amongst them, has always been opposed to the idea of allowing foreign companies concessions in fields which directly impact on the working of the country. No alternative was presented on this occasion, but HDZ have said that any instance of foreign capital being accepted in return for Croatian infrastructure should be put to referendum.

These types of responses to the proposed road privatisation scheme have been expected, both from left- and right-wing populists.

kosovo census results The Government in Priština has released the official results of its first national census, which had been conducted with assistance from Eurostat. The data shows that Kosovo’s population is 1.74 million, not counting those members of the Serbian minority who live in the enclaves of Zubin Potok, Zvečan, and Leposavić. The gender split in the population is approximate to elsewhere, with 50.4% male and 49.6% female. According to the last official census conducted within the former Yugoslavia in which the Albanian community actually participated, Kosovo had 1,584,000 inhabitants. A decade later the Albanians boycotted the census and their population was estimated at 1,956,196: a rather precise figure for an estimate, it must be said.

Human Rights Actions (HRA), an NGO based in Montenegro, has called on those responsible for the shelling of Dubrovnik to be brought to justice. 21 years after the attack no one has yet been held to account for the actions of the Yugoslav People’s Army (which, in that area, was made up mostly of Montenegrin soldiers) during the siege of the peninsular city.

While the commander of the forces during the nine month attack, Pavle Štrugar, served time in The Hague, as of yet no one has been arrested for the looting which took place in the surrounding villages, or the reported murder of civilians in Zekovica. Former Montenegrin President Milo Đukanović had apologised, in 2000, for the suffering and destruction endured by the population of Dubrovnik.

mladić trial continues The Hague has been hearing accounts of life in Sarajevo during the siege in 1995. One witness described how he recalled the Markale market, as he went in search of his wife: “the street in front of Markale was covered in blood, from end to end, body parts everywhere…”.

This was not an isolated incident but more instances such as this are being recounted on a daily basis. The shell which caused this particular moment of carnage has been identified as one fired by the Sarajevo-Romanija Corps of the Army of Republika Srpska. Mladić has been refused permission to address the court or witnesses directly as a result of continued abuse and inappropriate comments, which he has become quite known for.

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vuk jeremić presides over un general assembly Vuk Jeremić, the former Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs, has taken over the presidency of the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Pledging his service to the UN cause, Jeremić stated that “Having consulted widely on the matter, I have chosen to underscore the settlement of international disputes by peaceful means as a theme for our work over the next twelve months”. According to Jeremić, as the key issues on its agenda the General Assembly will address the Millennium Development Goals, climate change and sustainable development, food security, the role of mediation in the peaceful settlement of conflicts, disarmament, and reform of the United Nations, including that of the Security Council. On the other hand, the newly elected Serbian president Tomislav Nikolić stated in his address to the GA that, even though Serbia is prepared to enter into talks which will lead to achieving a lasting peace between Serbs and Albanians, his country will never recognise the independence of Kosovo.

In the margin, we may also note that among those present was Croatian PM Zoran Milanović, on his first visit to New York as Prime Minister.

Whilst in the American city he met with members of New York’s Croatian Diaspora, at which time he stated his intentions to reform Croatian politics; he would admit that such a task was “a challenge which will take two, or perhaps even three Governmental mandates to resolve. Addressing the UN, Milanović expressed Croatia’s commitment to becoming a force of political stability and security within the region. He was also able to meet with US President Barrack Obama, with whom he shared an informal luncheon at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

“media reform will lead to censorship”

agricultural census in serbia

The Union of Macedonian Journalists and Media Workers (SSNM) has spoken out against proposed reforms within the country’s criminal code, which would see arbitrary fines and sentences done away with. While any codification of the law is welcomed in this instance, it will mean that reporters, editors, and owners of media outlets, would be liable to pay fines, in civil cases, as high as 10,000 Euros: a reporter’s average wage in Macedonia is 300 Euros per month. Under the new law a journalist who commits libel would no longer face criminal charges, but, as already pointed out, he or she would be vulnerable to civil prosecution.

In addition, a judge would possess the right to prevent a story from being published once a journalist has been sued by a related individual. Naser Selmani, of the Journalist’s Association of Macedonia (ZNM), feels that the new law is the best way to go, but that if any concerns arise in the meantime, proposed legislation should be amended before it goes to vote.

Tamara Causidis of SSNM is less enthusiastic and feels that the proposed changes to the law will enable a select powerful few to dictate the media agenda throughout the country.

Serbia’s first agricultural census since 1960 has been announced for this coming winter, and it will encompass family farms, agricultural companies, cooperatives, and individual farmers. According to an announcement from the Republic Institute of Statistics, their aim is to count “every single head of livestock”. This census had originally been planned for 2011 but was postponed due to a lack of funding; now it will strive to give an accurate picture of the numbers involved in agriculture, as well as the surface area of arable and farmed land, livestock numbers, levels of mechanisation, organic production, as well as data relating to fisheries and greenwood. The census is harmonised with European Union regulations and will be co-financed by Brussels.

ferdelji joins the race for zagreb mayor

mole hunt within croatian police Two Croatian police officers have been arrested and charged with the revealing of classified operational data. Both officers, one currently employed in the Zagreb Police and the other in USKOK, are suspected of having sold privileged and sensitive investigation-related information to unauthorised personnel, who are themselves suspected of having been involved with organised crime and/or relevant to the ongoing USKOK corruption trials. It has been suggested that the information, illegally passed on, has already hampered several clandestine operations, and has endangered the lives of the officers associated with them.

President of CROMA (Croatian Manager's Association), Vladimir Ferdelji, has recently announced his intention to run for the position of Mayor of Zagreb in the upcoming local elections, which are scheduled for May 2013. Ferdelji will be running as an independent candidate, but with the backing of the HSS-HSLS coalition (Croatian Peasant's Party and the Croatian Social Liberal Party). Joining Ferdelji in the race are Vjekoslav Jeleča (HSLS) and Nenad Matić (HSS), who will be on the ballot as candidates for the position of Deputy Mayor.

Ferdelji has already stated that he, as an accomplished businessman who hails from the private sector, will be pressing for changes in the way Zagreb has been run thus far, and that he seeks to ensure that all positions of power are filled with experts rather than political appointees. He also stated that he has plans to improve the entrepreneurial climate by means of utilising the municipal administration more efficiently and turning it into a more transport arm of the civil service. Ferdelji's motto is “equality in wealth, not poverty”.

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1958 - 2012

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in memoriam

Boris Šprem, President of Croatian Parliament Passes Croatia acknowledges the loss of Boris Šprem, the Chair of the Croatian Parliament, after he lost a well reported struggle with cancer. Šprem is survived by his wife and son Damjan, and is mourned by those of the political scene and public alike. A sincere eulogy for the rare sincere and modest politician is in order, before anything else.

by Miroslav Tomas

P

resident of the Croatian parliament, Mr. Boris Šprem, passed on Sunday, September 30th, in the Anderson Cancer Centre, Houston, Texas. It was there that he was undergoing an experimental drug treatment in an attempt to curtail the spread of cancer. Šprem had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma 15 months ago, but suffered a setback in June and was rushed to the United States. Although the initial prognosis was positive, Šprem took a sudden turn for the worse and was unable to recover. Boris Šprem is the highest ranking official to die in office since the death of President Tuđman in 1999.

Boris Šprem was born in 1958, in Križevački Bregi, into modest circumstances. He graduated from the Zagreb Faculty of Law, and started his political career as a member of the Croatian Communist Union in the early 1980s. As did many of his party, Šprem joined the newly formed sdp on the eve of inedependence, and performed various duties as an appointed official within parliament, and later the Coalition Government and the office of President Mesić.

He entered parliament as an mp in 2008, and served as head of the Parliamentary Defence Board. When his party

descended into crisis following the split of the Zagreb branch, after Milan Bandić was ousted, it fell to Šprem to take the role of Chair of the Zagreb Municipal Assembly. He then had to perform the unenviable tasks of cooling down the inflamed passions which raged between former colleagues. It was an occasion to which Šprem rose, showing his human and professional qualities, qualities for which he will be remembered.

Then, following the General Election in 2011, he was named President of the Sabor and took office on the 22 nd of December that same year. At this point he had already been diagnosed with his illness, but he nevertheless took office and the struggles which accompanied it: professionally he fought for a modern political culture, and the development of parliamentary dialogue; personally he had his own fight against cancer, but showed no signs of weakness whilst conducting the duties and obligations of his office.

It is safe to say that the public never really noticed Šprem, either before or after entering office. It was not until news of his illness broke in the popular media that his profile became more widely recognised. This is not to say that Šprem lacked charisma, for to say such a thing would

be a lie; those who had contact with him, either professionally or personally, can vouch that the opposite was very much the case. What Šprem lacked was a need to self-promote, and he resisted unwarranted media exposure. He considered the media to be an unavoidable part of his duties rather than a means to an end.

In an age of political sycophants and rampant populism, Boris Šprem might very well have been the odd-one-out.

‘Never speak ill of the dead’ goes the maxim, but the period of mourning which gripped the Croatian political community was honest and sincere. Both Government and Opposition are united, if only briefly, in their respect for the deceased politician. He was a man of many qualities, rare not only in locally or in the region but well beyond. For a brief period this quiet man showed all how the offices of the Sabor should be treated – in a graceful and professional manner. He greeted ally and opponent alike, never allowing pettiness to get in the way of his duties, remaining polite to a fault. He was laid to rest in Zagreb’s Mirogoj Cemetery on Thursday, October 4th. We would hope that his exemplary record in office will serve as a model for those who come after him, and may he rest in peace.

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editorial

Husein ef. Kavazović: the New Reis-ul-Ulema Better believe it, Efendija Kavazović's election as the Supreme Head of the Bosniak Islamic Community is a major development indeed. For a moderate, well-balanced moral and intellectual authority is precisely what the country needs. Kavazović? He certainly looks, and acts, the part.

by Igor Dakić

T

he electoral body, consisting of 374 individuals, who represent the Assembly of the Islamic Community of b&h, or members of the Rijaset along with the heads of religious communities, Islamic schools and faculties, heads of icb&h institutions and bodies, and imams fromb&h, Croatia, Slovenia, Sandžak and the Bosniak Diaspora have ruled: Husein efendija Kavazović is to become the 14th Reis-ululema, or the Supreme Head of the Muslims in b&h, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and the Diaspora, and is officially to take over the staff of leadership from Mustafa ef. Cerić on the 19th of November.

In a secret vote, passed by the electoral body in Gazi Husrev-Bey's Library in Sarajevo, ef. Kavazović won 240 votes, beating his rivals Nusret ef. Abidbegović, Mufti of Travnik, and Mufti of Sarajevo Husein ef.

Smajić, who won 45 votes. What followed were due congratulatory notes, the first one coming from the President of the b&h Islamic Community Assembly, Safet Softić, who said: “Congratulations to all the Muslims on the election of the new Reis-ul-ulema; it will be our principal task to initiate a wide dialogue within our community in order to construct a platform for the new Constitution of icb&h, which we hope will be ready by the end of 2013 and will be put into effect in 2014.”

who stands where?

These, of course, were the usual official cordialities, and a relatively unlikely one came even from the ‘deposed’ Reis, Mustafa ef Cerić, who stated, prior to the election but already aware of his imminent oust, that he looked forward “with joy to the moment when my heavy burden of responsibility will be passed on to my successor. I have done less than I have aspired to achieve, but it is also my hope that the new Reis will continue the positive practices of my leadership, correct the bad ones, and bring fresh energy to icb&h.” Ef. Kavazović himself stated, upon being elected, that “there is a lot of work ahead of us, but we shall continue with as much ardour as before to better the community.” What lay in the background, however, as could only be expected of such a high profile election, was a bit of politics.

Although the no longer eligible Cerić eventually backed Kavazović’s nomination, it is more than a rumour that his first choice was the hardliner Muamer Zukorlić, the Mufti of Sandžak, who allegedly stepped out of the race before it even began after a considerable amount of pressure was put on him. By whom? By the (political) circles.

For, all along, it was not difficult to surmise that something unthinkable had happened in Bosnian politics: the centre-left

sdp and centre-right sda, the two leading political parties in the country, had reached an unspoken agreement that, after twenty years of Cerić’s leadership – marked by a number of scandals, disagreements, and instances of howsoever cautious flirtation with the small but extremist Wahhabi community – it was time to elect a Reis who would distance himself from politics and discontinue the practices of his predecessor.

In fact, Sulejman Tihić, the leader of sda, and Cerić, have allegedly not been on speaking terms for some years now, as Tihić resented Cerić's meddling into political matters and his questionable position on Islamic extremism, which he has never condemned publicly. Ef. Kavazović, in other words, is expected to work on secularism and to restore Bosniak Islam to its traditional moderation by staunchly opposing the influence of the Wahhabis. These are something like the facts...

(bosniak) islam in the 21st century And now we must have a go at the age old essay form...

Islam is not Christianity, and Christianity is not Islam. This simple statement might seem superfluous, but upon second hearing, we would do well to remember that a religion is first and foremost and expression

…Ef. Kavazović, in other words, is expected to work on secularism and to restore Bosniak Islam to its traditional moderation…

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Husein Ef. Kavazović Husein Ef. Kavazović, born in Gradačac in 1964, comes from a long line uf ulema, which gave a number of muftis and hafis, and he was schooled in the Gazi Husrev-Bey's madrasa in Sarajevo where he achieved the title of imam, hatib and muallim. Between 1985 and 1990 he studied Shari’a Law at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo. After the completion of his studies, Ef. Kavazović served as imam in his home town of Gradačac, prior to being elected as mufti of Tuzla in 1993. During the war he was captured by HVO (the Croatian Defence Council) and imprisoned in a POW camp in Konjic. He is a lecturer of shari’a law at Behram-Bey's madrasa in Tuzla, and he speaks Arabic and has a passive understanding of English.as Head of NBS on the 6th of August this year.

of cultural ethos, of the spiritual legacy of a people – or, as it were, peoples – and that not all religions and cultures which they dominate have undergone the kind of secularisation and ‘separation of Church and State’ as has been the case in traditionally Christian Europe.

In most ‘Western’ – and hence by definition ‘Christian countries’ – the majority of the population has come to view religion as an heirloom, and most of us are nowadays no more than liturgical hobbyists, recreational sacrament takers, or spiritual softliners, choosing to observe the rules and theological (and moral) strictures we like and forsaking the rest as being ‘backwards’.

We would also do well to remember that Christianity, ‘proper’ Christianity of any denomination, is not a philosophically eclectic set of beliefs, where anything goes so long as ‘one is a good person’. There is a Heaven and there is a Hell, just like in Islam, and one does not get to Heaven by not strictly believing in the Trinity, in literal parthenogenesis

of Christ by the Virgin Mary, by not adhering to a strict moral and ethical code – and not only in terms of behaviour, but spiritual conviction also.

Therein probably lie most discrepancies between how predominantly Christian and predominantly Muslim societies see how life in the community should be arranged and conducted; therein lies the explanation why so many Muslims – and not only those we have the habit of calling extremists – have the feeling that the ‘West’ is forcing something upon them. For in Scandinavia, for instance, the strictures of the Old Testament and moral lessons of the New have long become the stuff of myth, much like Eda or Kalevala. Which is not necessarily bad.

On the other hand, in the Maghreb, say, shari’a law and Muhammad’s teachings (sunnah) collected in the Hadith are certainly no myth, but the ways the society must strive to follow. Which is also not necessarily bad.

And Bosnia, or at least one of its two entities, however ‘Western’ and secular it may appear at first glance when compared to most other predominantly Muslim countries, is still just that, a predominantly Muslim country. Fewer people drink, higher numbers of women cover themselves to varying degrees (we must not forget that this practice is still followed, as well, by a number of Oriental Orthodox Christian women), religious schools are thriving, the Qur’an is learned by heart.

In simple terms, things are less relative.

At this juncture, I choose to believe that Ef. Kavazović would agree with most of what I have said, and that his vision is a vision of a moderate, humane Islamic society which allows women and other religions equal opportunities, but an Islamic society nonetheless, the kind where not everything is relative, the kind where not only tradition would be preserved, but also belief.

I also choose to believe that he would not condone a hutba this author recently had the opportunity to hear on one of b&h’s religious tv channels, where a certain learned mufti, in Sarajevo’s Wahhabi sponsored King Fahd Mosque, spent good two hours quite vividly recalling the atrocities committed by the Serbs against the Bosniaks more than fifteen years ago, inciting those present, albeit between the lines, to retaliate, with the second part of his address being entirely dedicated to the horror of shamelessness in the best manner of rabid 16th century rogue preachers screaming from a makeshift pulpit.

And we would also do well to remember that the Ottoman Empire, of which Bosnia was then a part, was the first Islamic country to have implemented something resembling a separation of Church and State. The Sultan was the Kaliph, but there was also the parallel office of the Shei-hul Islam (of the elder, teacher, and guardian of the faith), who had the theoretical power of veto in those instances when the Sultan failed to comply with the edicts of the Qur-an and the Hadith.

In other words, the Bosnian Muslim community has a long and sophisticated legacy, and one which has often placed tolerance to the forefront, existing as a fully independent Muslim community since 1882. May no foreign influence, or import, bring that into question.

Only how well Ef. Kavazović must know what I mean.

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event horizon

The Arrest of Zoran Janković: or What’s the Slovenian for Tammany Hall?

The Mayor of the Slovenian capital and leader of the opposition party Positive Slovenia, Zoran Janković, said he would remember the 27th of September, 2012, for three things: the birth of his granddaughter, the signing of a 112 million Euros contract for a new waste treatment plant, and a police raid targeting him, his sons and several of their associates.

Slovenians may be forgiven for remembering just the latter.

by Sebastian Maček

T

he police raid in question is the culmination of an investigation which started a year and a half ago and was based on a Tax Administration report which had raised some suspicions about the construction of the Stožice Sports Centre on the outskirts of Ljubljana, and which was the biggest project of Janković’s first term as mayor of the city. Police had cause to suspect there was an “illegal financial transfer” worth about 10 million Euros, but what led them to Janković specifically was a transaction worth half a million Euros, which Ljubljana had given to the developer of the project, Grep. This rather large sum had apparently been diverted, first to the account of a company with close links to one of Janković’s sons, and subsequently to the son’s firm. Unofficial reports suggest that the sum of some 40,000 Euros was even transferred to Janković’s personal account, which the mayor denies.

As things stand, the mayor is accused of abuse of office, forgery of documents, fraud affecting the financial interests of the eu (Stožice received eu funding), and accepting financial favours in exchange for unlawful mediation. Understandably, and considering how high-profile this case is, police have said that a formal indictment would soon follow.

That, however, is unlikely – referring to the ‘soon’ part – considering how much time typically elapses from the end of an investigation to the start of judicial proceedings. Still, be that as it may, dozens of boxes of documents from Janković’s home, City Hall, and the companies involved in the transactions were confiscated and investigators will probably need weeks, if not months, before they can build their case.

Janković has described the investigation as a “blind shot” and commented that “they are welcome to investigate.”

Indeed, several months ago, Janković himself practically urged police to start an inquiry after Tax Administration documents were leaked to the media, some of which later turned out to be forgeries. He is adamant that he will not step down as Mayor of Ljubljana, or as the President of the biggest opposition party. Indeed he may be adamant, but what surely lies ahead of him is a tortuous uphill struggle in the arena of public opinion. Or, in all likelihood, something much worse. On a relatively humorous note, something has already been taken from him. Although the police confiscated a number of computers in the raid, Janković’s was not amongst them; that is because he does not have one, but he does have an iPad, which was duly taken.

Other Mayors Just as Popular The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption has been sounding the alarm about corruption at the local level of Government. Big municipalities in particular are playgrounds for lobbies and vested interests. The Mayors of Ljubljana, Maribor, Koper and Kranj are all currently subjects of investigation. Boris Popović, Mayor of Koper, has even received a number of suspended sentences. Franc Kangler, his counterpart in Maribor, has recently found himself under his 12th police investigation, although charges have been dropped in two of those cases already.

The PM & the President don’t say much Janez Janša, Prime Minister: I cannot comment on concrete actions of the police and other State authorities. It would be unfair.

Danilo Türk, President: I expect law enforcement to do their job in accordance with their powers. All citizens are equal before the law.

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the fallout The scandal has huge implications for Slovenian politics. Janković never campaigned as a ‘clean politician’. Questions about the ethical record of his multiple business ventures were raised long before he rose to national prominence, but that did not deter voters who awarded him the Ljubljana Mayoral office twice, or those who handed his party, Positive Slovenia, a victory in the 2011 election, based purely on Janković’s persona. But the case nevertheless puts his party, and the political left in general, in an awkward position.

Janković had, practically, been forced to contest the 2011 General Election after the main centre-left parties collapsed, following an acrimonious three years in

Government. He let bigwigs, including former President Milan Kučan, beg him to form a party so that they might take on Janez Janša’s centre-right Democrats (sds), who looked to be headed towards a landslide victory. And so he built his campaign around being a sort of un-Janša, often arguing how inappropriate it was for the leader of the centre-right to vie for the premiership (which Janša eventually secured) whilst on trial for his alleged involvement in kickbacks – kickbacks that Janša’s Democrats are believed to have received from the Finnish defence company Patria in exchange for securing a deal with the Slovenian Army.

Now, Janković’s supporters have been forced to change tack, awkwardly arguing that they continue to support him because he is innocent until proven guilty. The thing is, given all of his alleged trespasses, and his increasingly patchy political record, maintaining trust in Janković requires “pretending to be dumb,” as philosopher Boris Vezjak, a fiercely independent

critic of Slovenian politics, has put it.

What is more, his party was hastily assembled in the five weeks prior to the election, leaving little time for vetting. This resulted in a politically disparate amalgamation of individuals without a clear political agenda and with varying degrees of loyalty to both the party and the never-quite-defined cause. Janković appears to enjoy the support of his party, but that united front could well crumble as the case winds its way, slowly, through the judicial system. Defections are, therefore, not impossible, and judging by the recent record of other centre-left political outfits, this type of scenario could weaken Janković’s party to the point of irrelevance. If the party collapses, the political left could be left in the wilderness for years.

a blow for the president Janković’s supporters read too much into the timing of the police raid, some improbably going so far as to insinuate that the sting was timed to humiliate the family the very day that Janković’s son was expecting a child. But it is nevertheless conspicuous, coming as it did just six weeks before the Presidential Election. Janković’s party has thrown its weight behind the incumbent, Danilo Türk, who is very much despised by the right. The President currently enjoys a healthy lead in the polls, but the fallout from the Janković affair might erode his support enough to create an opening for the two other top contenders, Milan Zver and Borut Pahor, who are backed by the Democrats and the Social Democrats, respectively.

Janša’s party, in particular, appears well placed to exploit this scandal. Zver is far behind in the polls and looks unlikely to make it to the run-off, but insiders believe

that sds will gladly back Pahor in the second round against Türk. This would be a political pirouette of dizzying dimensions, considering that Janša’s sds had just spent three years bringing down Pahor’s Government. It may make the ideologues of a party, whose philosophy is firmly based on anti-Communism, a bit queasy to back a candidate with ideological roots in Communism, but Janša finds Pahor a more acceptable solution than Türk, who he may just have to stomach the hand he has just been dealt.

what of the future?

Janković succeeded on the national stage, in no small measure, due to strong backing from powerful, vested interests on the left. He does not seem to have been the first choice to take leadership of the left, but he was the only man with enough clout to defeat Janša. After disastrously failing to put together a Government, despite winning the election (we have written about that particular debacle back in February), and now getting into trouble with the law, there are rumours that his powerful backers are just about ready to renounce him.

There is nobody in sight to take over his role as leader of the left, but the corruption scandal may well be the beginning of the end of a political career which, less than a year ago, seemed unstoppable.

The Janković scandal dovetails with the prevailing public perception of the Slovenian political class as a self-serving clique of corrupt rent-seekers. Until the courts have had their final say, Slovenian voters will have a choice between two leaders at varying stages of corruption proceedings, which is a disastrous proposition for a country struggling for guidance in the most difficult period of its two decades of independence.

It is auspicious that political reactions to the scandal have been somewhat muted, both on the left and, somewhat more surprisingly, on the right (which ought to relish seeing Janković falling from grace).

If they were to be too loud calling for Janković to leave politics, they may well create expectations that they would have to honour themselves. It is easier for politicians to operate in an environment where everyone is seen to be at least a little bit corrupt, leaving the voters to pick their favourites on ideology rather than loftier criteria such as integrity or policy.

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in medias res

The Thin Lines of the Kosovo-Serbia Border Issue The implementation of the Integrated Border Management Strategy should bring Serbia that bit closer to the European Union, and put Kosovo further along its path to full sovereignty. Yet can it also be that these developments are bringing the two closer to one another?

by Miša Milošević

L

ast year (2011) was a busy year, full of talks and dialogues between Belgrade and Priština – almost all of which took place on a “technical level”, as the Serbian Government called them.

This label was there in order to remove any doubt, past, present, or future, amongst the public that there were somehow secret meetings taking place concurrently.

“Technical”, in this case, would mean bilateral steps, aimed at facilitating everyday life, administration, and the circulation of people and goods without touching that perilous grey zone in between the two. At no point in time were they ever to touch upon political issues. Ironically enough, the institution in charge of the negotiations with Priština is the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and they have spent a significant amount of time and effort on internal diplomacy in an attempt to deflect questions of a political nature which are arising from some of these ‘technical’ agreements.

Of course, there are also the obligations, or holdovers from the previous Government, which are only now emerging and awaiting implementation.

boundaries or borders During the technical talks between Belgrade and Priština, held in Brussels back in November 2011, it was agreed that the Integrated Border Management (ibm) procedure would be adopted and implemented jointly. ibm originated in Belgrade and was supposed to raise the profile of Serbia, in the eyes of Western Europe, on the eve of

The Kosovo process seems unstoppable, all the more so given the level of int. pressure…

Brussels’ decision on Serbia’s eu candidacy.

Borko Stefanović, who is head of Belgrade’s negotiating team, said that the ibm was, and presumably still is, fully in accordance with the Serbian constitution and the famous Resolution 1244, as well as noting that there would be no State insignia on border crossings between the two countries.

The ibm model, originally a part of the eu’s acquis communautaire, was developed as a separate set of guidelines in 2004, and then updated in 2007 so as to be adopted throughout the Western Balkans. It was hoped that it would act as a catalyst for the gradual harmonisation of national legislations with those of the European Union.

In short, ibm is the joint control of the borders, or, as Robert Cooper, eu facilitator in Kosovo, puts it: “It is an integrated management of all the things you have - customs posts, police posts, frontier posts.” So, there’ll be Serbian police, and police from Kosovo, and eulex…

“The principle idea behind these agreements is that in a single space you would have all the different services from Kosovo and Serbia working together to control the crossing points,” Cooper goes on. As an early adopter Priština has already held further ibm implementation talks with Montenegro, Albania, and Macedonia.

a question of language?

Similar models have already been successfully adopted and implemented across a number of European countries. Therefore it was no surprise that a Belgrade-Priština agreement, which implies Statehood, triggered rather loud opposition, though what was surprising was that this opposition first reared its head in Kosovo.

Dardan Molliqaj, leader of Kosovo’s opposition party Movement Vetëvendosje, points out that there are different terminologies being used with regard to the same document.

IBM is also being called the ‘Administrative Line Agreement’, while border crossings are also called ‘crossing points’ in some instances.

The ‘b’ in ibm could also mean ‘boundary’, at least in Molliqaj’s mind, and this would undermine the status of Kosovo’s state border.

“Kosovo cannot make an agreement for integrated border management with a state which does not recognise our borders”, he said quite matter-of-factly. Clearly the multiple terminologies, used to provide satisfaction to both parties, have only served to deepen the already evident distrust.

It wasn’t much different on the Serbian side either. Serb leaders from the North of

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Kosovo and Metohija for an uncertain future called ‘eu candidacy and membership’.”

a man of his word

Resolution 1244 in brief The UN Security Council…

Welcomes the acceptance by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia of the principles and other required elements, and demands the full cooperation of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in their rapid implementation; Demands in particular that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia put an immediate and verifiable end to violence and repression in Kosovo, and begin and complete verifiable phased withdrawal from Kosovo of all military, police and paramilitary forces according to a rapid timetable, with which the deployment of the international security presence in Kosovo will be synchronised; Decides that the responsibilities of the international security presence to be deployed and acting in Kosovo will include: A_Deterring renewed hostilities, maintaining and where necessary enforcing a ceasefire, and ensuring the withdrawal and preventing the return into Kosovo of Federal and Republic military, police and paramilitary forces; B_ Demilitarising the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and

Kosovo, who have been erecting barricades at crossing points between the two countries for months now, have indicated that they will challenge the constitutionality of the agreement in the Supreme Court, and that they will also ask Stefanović to submit the entire agreement to the Serbian community of Kosovska Mitrovica for acceptance.

The nationalist opposition have also heavily criticised the new Government for

other armed Kosovo Albanian groups as required; C_Establishing a secure environment in which refugees and displaced persons can return home in safety, the international civil presence can operate, a transitional administration can be established, and humanitarian aid can be delivered; D_Ensuring public safety and order until the international civil presence can take responsibility for this task; E_ Supervising de-mining until the international civil presence can, as appropriate, take over responsibility for this task; F_Supporting, as appropriate, and coordinating closely with the work of the international civil presence; G_Conducting border monitoring duties as required; H_Ensuring the protection and freedom of movement of itself, the international civil presence, and other international organisations; Demands that the KLA and other armed Kosovo Albanian groups end immediately all offensive actions and comply with the requirements for demilitarisation as laid down by the head of the international security presence in consultation with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General.

continuing along what appears to be a path to Kosovan independence. Petar Petković, spokesman for the Serbian Democratic Party (dss), said: “Solutions for Jarinje and Brnjak (both crossing points) are nothing less than the establishment of State borders between Serbia and Kosovo… This Government will be remembered for bringing Albanians to these points and introducing a State border to its own southern province! It is now trading

Meanwhile, back in Belgrade, Prime Minister Dačić has voiced no real concerns over the possible implications and meanings of the implementation of ibm implementation. Neither is he concerned about growing pressure coming from various eu member states and the seemingly ever-increasing checklist of conditions and requirements which Serbia will have to meet in order finally to get a concrete timeline for eu accession talks. Then again, Dačić was also part of the Government which made this agreement, as Minister of Police.

“I could agree that the Administrative Line Agreement is not an ideal solution and is not convenient for Serbia in many ways. It may have been concluded in a hurry, when we were pushing for eu candidacy. Now, we simply can’t say that it was a joke; we have to deal with what was left over from the previous Government,” said Dačić. It still remains to be seen what will be done about the matter.

The only strategy left to Serbia is to defend their formal status in Kosovo, and this is probably what Dačić had in mind when he said that Serbia would not continue to strengthen Kosovo’s independence by way of implementing, rather than signing or ratifying, any documents or agreements. eu spokesperson Maja Kocijančić has said, for her part, that the Eurpopean Union is proceeding with the particular agreement in the exact same way as it had done with the other agreements in the dialogue.

None of the previously agreed upon documents, however, have been signed. Still, Brussels expects that this agreement will be implemented as soon as is possible, and the eulex personnel have already been deployed. Until such time as this is fully resolved, we will likely witness Albanian border police putting stamps marked ‘Republic of Kosovo’ on passports while their Serbian counterparts cover them up with one marked ‘Annulled’, as is currently the case.

The Kosovo process seems unstoppable, all the more so given the level of international pressure, and in four years we might well see a new government in Belgrade assuming the obligations left behind

by Dačić’s lot. A fine state of affairs, as all the while Kosovo is becoming more of a State of its own.

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financial

Serbia’s Cash Flow: Easy Money or a New Dip? The Serbian Dinar is gathering in strength against the hard currencies of Europe and America. State bonds are being sold on international markets with lower yields than ever before. And the Governor of the Serbian National Bank is making waves. Surely all three are good signs of Serbia’s monetary recovery? Can it be?

by Miša Milošević

T

here’s no denying that it did not start well. In August Standard & Poors downgraded its foreign currency credit rating for Serbia by one point, pushing it into the junk zone of bb-, with a negative outlook to boot. s&p cited the new Government’s failure quickly to adopt policies which would promote confidence in the country’s monetary policy, or which would restore post-election fiscal stability, as the main reason behind their decision.

One month later, a whistle-stop visit to Belgrade by the imf failed to produce an eagerly awaited financial arrangement.

In fact, such matters weren’t even on the agenda for the imf. The imf were in town to voice their concerns over the new, centralistic legislation relating to the Serbian National Bank and its supervisory body, appointed by the parliament, which was already exercising “significant internal and external economic pressures”, which could be viewed as an undue political influence on monetary policy and the nbs itself. This left Serbia in an almost hopeless situation, juggling a budget deficit of 2 billion Euros, and little light on the horizon.

the gods must love serbian bonds Fortunately for Serbia, the financial markets did not punish the country, at least not unduly, for their failure to exact reform, not even for the reversals in position every time it seemed as if something might happen. The last gasp (partial) resort,

intended to bridge the budget deficit, was devised by Mlađan Dinkić, the Minister of Finance, and the “majority catalyst” of all post-2000 Governments in Serbia.

On September 27th, Serbia made an appearance on the international markets, offering Eurobonds worth 750 million usd.

Demand quickly exceeded 4 billion usd, and the decision was made to increase the bonds on offer to 1 billion usd. With yields of 6.625% Serbia has managed to outdo previous market issues; only last year Serbia sold a similar volume at a yield of 7.25%.

By way of comparison, Romania’s 10 year bonds have a yield of 6.87%, despite holding a better credit rating, and Ukraine’s return 9%. Croatia, in 2011, managed to sell their 5 year bonds at 6.37%, but at the time

“It will be hard to get all that money. Some of it is already in Serbia, but the remainder will need to arrive from abroad”

they had a better credit rating than Serbia.

The current yields on the Serbian Eurobonds are still considered high, in absolute terms, with a rate which suggests declining public finances. That the bonds were issued in usd might have seemed unusual at first, especially since the Euro is the main reserve currency of Serbia, and they the country has always focused primarily on the European market. Dollar buyers, however, are probably more easily found, and the demographic of the final sales figures supports this hypothesis: 70% of the bonds went to American buyers. It also happens to be the case that the US Federal Reserve’s current policy shows a tendency towards expansion and depreciation of the usd. This is likely more than a good justification for the collection of usd, and a better prospect for repayment; that is, unless the Serbian Dinar does not continue in the same vein as in 2011. Since the last issue of Serbian bonds, the rsd has lost 17% of its value against the Dollar.

Much less transparent are the financial arrangements with the Russian Federation.

An 800 million usd loan, announced this spring and earmarked for the reconstruction of Serbia’s railway infrastructure, has already been reallocated. At the beginning of September Vladimir Putin and President Nikolić met in Sochi, and agreed that 300 million usd will find their way into the budget, while a further 700 million usd will be reserved for use in 2013. This new total of 1 billion usd is a hefty loan, but the terms and conditions remain obscure and are secretively described as “convenient”.

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The New NBS Governor in Brief Born on March 20th in Vučitrn, Kosovo, Tabaković taught in secondary school in the eighties, and her later appointments included a spell with the State-owned Telekom Srbije. She in fact lived in Kosovo until 1999, when, in the mass exodus of Serbs from this territory, she moved to Novi Sad, where she still lives.

Tabaković holds a master's degree in economics from the University of Priština, and a PhD from the University of Novi Sad, obtained recently.

She joined Vojislav Šešelj's Serbian Radical Party

growing needs The Eurobonds issue and the loan(s) from the Russian Federation appear to have covered the hole in the budget, at least for now. Professor Srđan Vučković, member of the Serbian Fiscal Board, has spoken about what comes next, once the optimism has waned. According to his estimates Serbia will need as much as 6 billion Euros of fresh money in order to service the budget deficit until the end of 2014.

“It will be hard to get all that money. Some of it is already in Serbia, but the remainder will need to arrive from abroad”, says Vučković. According to the Professor, there are two alternatives: loans given by other countries and financial institutions would be cheaper than the financial markets, but the negotiations and cash flow would be much slower. The other possibility lies with shortterm securities, rsd and hard-currency

in 1992, and then stood as an MP; in 1998, when SRS entered Milošević's government as a coalition partner, Tabaković took over a truly quaintly named ministry, that of Ownership and Economic Transformation.

When the Radicals split in two camps in 2008, she sided with Tomislav Nikolić and his newly founded Progressive Party. Following the resignation of former Governor Šoškić, Tabaković replaced him as Head of NBS on the 6th of August this year.

indexed bonds, as well as any future issues of Eurobonds on the international market.

“However, State property should not be sold for anything during times of crisis”, continues the professor, implying that this might not be the best moment for the eventual sales of Telekom and Elektroprivreda Srbije, both of which have been mentioned in the debates raging around potential privatisation schemes.

Meanwhile, the new Governor of the National Bank of Serbia, Jorgovanka Tabaković, has changed her trademark flamboyant dress code for one of a more understated English grey. Her solemn promises that the National Bank will not engage in quantitative easing, while at the same time accusing the banks of placing their funds exclusively in State securities, match her new styling. “They are short-sighted and don’t see that their longterm sustainability depends on the employment and solvency of the citizenry, which

will guarantee profits for both sides.”

Oliver Roegl, President of the Board of Raiffeisen Bank Serbia, disagrees: “Banks can’t do well if the economy does not do well”, and points in the direction of those banks in Serbia which already suffer from a high rate of non-repayable loans, and ehich “will probably suffer even more.” Roegl sees the banking sector in Serbia as being generally stable, but he doesn’t exclude the possibility of there being another ‘Agrobanka’ case.

“There is a tendency within banks to procrastinate when declaring bad debts because of the obligation to form mandatory reserves.

On the other hand, many banks keep hoping that at least some of those bad debts might yet be resolved positively,” finishes Roegl. Doing business with the Government still remains attractive.

Governor Tabaković says that the National Bank will act, preventively, against any abuse of the financial system, and will seek to encourage the redirection of assets to securities of hard-currency trading. “We will dose the liquidity and prevent any bank's preferred status, while ensuring true competitiveness within the banking sector.” We have yet to see this declared liberalism of the National Bank, bearing in mind the recent changes to the laws governing such affairs.

While the new Governor has promised equal opportunities for all, s&p stated in their August report that they it could yet further lower Serbia’s ratings, should they see a continued worsening of the national fiscal position, or more reversals on prior commitments to structural reforms with the country’s labour market. A successful negotiation for a new reform programme, once the imf come back into town, could, and likely would, stabilise Serbia’s credit ratings. For Belgrade a new arrangement with the International Monetary Fund would offer strong backing and imply a guarantee (insofar as a Government can ever guarantee anything) a more responsible economic policy, both of which should lead to more flexible and cheaper loans.

It looks as if, despite a shaky start, the Serbian Government is finally getting to grips with the difficulties it has inherited, and created in some cases. A long journey is ahead of them, but if an agreement with the imf can be reached, that just might cap an above average start to their term in office.

An economically weak Serbia does no one in the region any good, so let us all hope, then, that cooler heads prevail should the crisis rear its visage once more.

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legal

Serbia’s New Law on Civil Procedure The ‘Principle of Efficiency of Trial’ certainly sounds good, especially in the region where the courts are cluttered and the back-log of epic proportions. As the concept of peaceful settlement is introduced, Đorđe Novičić of the Belgrade law firm Janković, Popović & Mitić clears a few things up for us.

T

he New Law on Civil Procedure (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Law’) entered into force on February 1st, 2012, bringing to an end the application of rules adopted in 2004 (though partially amended in 2009). The basic intention, when this new Law was enacted, was to make the litigation process more efficient and ‘costfriendly’. This was done by means of reducing the scope of obstruction and delays within any proceedings, so as to prevent any potential abuse whereby some trials could last a figurative eternity. The highlight of the new Law, therefore, is the ‘Principle of Efficiency of Trial’.

Under the new Law the courts are obliged to work alongside the dispute resolution plan, together with the litigants; this plan is essentially a timetable under which further proceedings would be conducted. Observing such timetables has always been a big issue, and now the judge would be liable for disciplining the parties if they were to breach the prescribed timeline. One of the newer aspects offered by the new Law, and which operates in close conjunction with our previous point, is the principle which specifies that all parties are obliged to present, at the very beginning of the process, all relevant materials for the case. That is to say that further evidence cannot be entered, nor alluded to, except in instances when it can be proved that the party was unable to produce the material until that point in time. This means that both parties will need to have a thoroughly prepared case before they come to court, which is meant to put a stop to abuse of time.

Now, as we all know, the parties involved could be natural or legal persons.

Persons who represent a legal entity in any

by Đorđe Novičić

Having received his LL.B. in 2005 from the University of Novi Sad, Đorđe Novičić is a Partner, Senior Lawyer and dispute resolution specialist at the Belgrade law firm Janković, Popović & Mitić (JPM). (djordje.novicic@jpm.rs · www.jpm.rs)

The basic intention, when this new Law was enacted, was to make the litigation process more efficient.

proceedings derive their status of ‘representative’ from the provisions of the New Company Law (and the by-laws construed upon it), so that the text of our subject Law is not burdened with unnecessary details,

which would only serve to confuse parties involved; we all know someone who has found the language of law to be difficult to penetrate.

With regards to the representation of parties involved, two new restrictions are introduced; first, if you wish to act under the legal remedy procedure, you can only be represented by a lawyer, and this restriction also prohibits legal trainees from entering into this particular arena. This rule is in place so that all involved can rely, one would hope, on the highest level of competence before the appeal courts. Second, if you wish to act on behalf of a company before the court, and you are not a registered with the bar as an attorney, you must have passed professional lawyer exams, and be employed by that same company.

Another difference from the previous incarnation of this law refers to the concept of a peaceful court settlement. Prior to these changes there was no obligation on either party (or even on the court itself) to attempt to settle disputes in a peaceful manner. Of course, no law can demand a peaceful settlement, but the court is now obliged to instruct both parties that such an option exists, either through the courts or by means of other mediation. It must be supposed that the roots for this particular solution lie in the non-efficient practises which abounded until now. In short, the new Law was constructed so as to address practical issues, as well as remove obstacles which were impacting on trial efficiency.

Although we do not yet know how this new Law will function in practise, over a longer period of time, we are quite optimistic in its success, especially if it is adhered to.

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politics

Karamarko Scores, or Does He? The Croatian Democratic Union (hdz) is back on the offensive, or at least they would have the public believe. The party has been consolidating, or at least attempting to, since their defeat in last December’s election.

In the interim they changed leadership and maybe, just maybe, the new hdz President, Tomislav Karamarko, has managed to score some much needed points against Prime Minister Milanović of sdp; his words, not ours.

by Dylan Alexander

A

strange thing happened recently in the Croatian Sabor, as Prime Minister Milanović, of the Social Democrats, ‘stood up’ for thelate President Tuđman, of hdz of course. Now, it would appear as if we’re going to a replay. Tomislav Karamarko, leader of the Opposition, stayed silent during that particular sitting of Parliament, electing instead to allow his party comrades to offer their own opinions on events. It is only after parliament broke session that Karamarko spoke to the media, choosing to use some footballing language, claiming that “hdz lead sdp 2:0”. He was referring, it must be assumed, to Milanović’s apparent ‘cheekiness’ in name-checking Tuđman in the manner he did.

What Karamarko had in mind were two particular facts. Firstly, sdp have agreed that there is a need for a two-thirds majority in the matter of ratifying the Tuđman – Izetbegović border agreement, whereas Milanović had previously claimed there might not be a need for anything more than a simply majority. Secondly, there is the matter of the Pelješac Bridge, initially an hdz project, and a pet one at that.

Milanović and his cabinet have reversed their decision, made earlier this year, to cease construction on the project, although there still remains resistance from within Bosnia & Herzegovina. The first point concedes hdz’s position that the 1999 agreement constituted an International border change, rather than some sort of amicable land swap; the second point, as Karamarko explained, merely showed that the Government was performing 180° turns on

policy. Any keen observer of the Croatian political scene, however, might well conclude that such changes in policy were simply an exercise in pragmatism, rather than weakness. Call it a tactical substitution, if you will.

Karamarko would make a tactical change of his own the following day, and although admitting his soccer analogy was perhaps uncalled for, he nevertheless pressed the attack; he referred to the Prime Minister’s rhetoric as “vulgar”. He was, in all likelihood, right in his assessment of the Prime Minister, as Milanović had been addressing opposition questions with a clear level of disdain. However, bearing in mind that former pm Ivo Sanader, and to a lesser extent another former hdz pm, Jadranka Kosor, were just as ‘vulgar’ when they were in power, Karamarko’s comments might not have had the desired effect.

For the time being, though deplored by the media as an awkward, camera-shy

autocrat, Karamarko has at least finally managed to make his party’s voice heard – for something other than corruption or scandal. He will be equally encouraged by the declaratively new, but in fact age old, hdz policy whereby members will have the party whip removed should they not tow the official hdz line. The first transgressor was none other than former pm and party chief Jadranka Kosor, who made comments to the press indicating that her Government would have ratified the border agreement, only that eu accession was more of a priority.

As for the matter of the alleged political victory over the Pelješac Bridge project, it must be noted that, regardless of its final shape, it will now be built with a sizeable contribution from the European Union, something which could never have happened without the delays incurred by the current Government; delays incurred in the name of alleviating strains upon the State budget.

And as for the matter of the border agreement with b&h? Even if one could consider the necessity of having a twothirds majority a victory (or defeat if you are Milanović), it is of little consequence.

Putting aside, for the time being, that such a ‘victory’ is entirely childish and possibly an instance of one-up-man-ship at its worst, even if Croatia were to ratify the Agreement there is close to zero chance that b&h will follow suit.

Call them victories if you will, but the real victors will ultimately be the Croatian taxpayers and the impoverished State coffers, and not Karamarko.

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the economy

An Early Reflection On the Year in Tourism The summer has finally gone, but what benefits did it yield for tourism along the Adriatic? For many, all the sun brought was drought and devastation, while for others it did exactly what it was supposed to do, make the holiday a sunshine holiday. But is that all the Adriatic Sea has to offer? Just sunshine?

by Mark Ferris

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ust last week the Council of the Croatian Tourist Board decided to remove Niko Bulić, after he had served twelve years as Director. Although he submitted his application to retain the position, he, along with six other candidates, lost out to the 38 year old from Zadar, Meri Matešić.

Matešić has several years experience in the tourism industry and marketing, and has already threatened to shake the foundations of what has been seen as haven for cronyism and other associated practises.

Upon securing the position, Matešić announced that she would embark on a new and innovative approach to marketing Croatia as a destination.

To date, the Croatian National Tourist Board has been inclined to advertise using traditional methods; Matešić plans to bring the tourist industry into the 21st century by moving, to a much larger degree, online.

The Minister of Tourism, Veljko Ostojić, said for his part that he wished Matešić all the success in her work ahead: “Before us all are new professional challenges, especially in terms of realising an ambitious and, dare I say, innovative programme.”

Matešić will have a budget of just under 35 million Euros for the coming year, which does not seem nearly enough given the tasks which lie ahead.

New investment in tourism has been announced too, totalling almost 3 billion Kuna for the coming year, but this always seems to be the case. Just as the summer season is winding down, those in the positions of authority are quick to point out that so much more could have been done, but next year will be different. Next year is always different.

a few (regional) numbers In the first half of 2012, Croatia saw an increase in visitors, a healthy 6% bump; 3,418,306 people arrived by car, bus, train, ferry, or plane, and decided that Croatia was the place for them. Non-domestic tourists were on the up by 8%, but domestic tourists actually declined by 4%.

Of course this will not worry the Tourist Board, at least not immediately: those tourists who come in from abroad, mainly Japan, Britain, Belgium, and the Netherlands, all come from stronger economies and their purchasing power is vastly improved once

Tourism does not come easily here – under strength budgets are wastefully spent, while Government investment comes only days after everyone has gone home.

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they’ve crossed the border or left the Eurozone. Indeed, those who visited Croatia stayed longer: 12,898,639 officially registered nights – a whole 7% more than in 2011.

Adriatic neighbours to the north, Slovenia, are enjoying some interesting tourist numbers as well, with almost 33% of the adult population taking, on average, as many as 10 trips each over the course of the year. For those Slovenians headed abroad for a holiday they simply went south, to Croatia; a whole 66%. Their internal tourist numbers are closely split, with one half staying domestically, and the other half crossing some border.

Further south is Montenegro. There the numbers are looking more positive than elsewhere in the region, as the total revenue for the first seven months was up by 4.6%, and stood at the figure of 690 million Euros.

Serbian tourism 2012.

As of July, Serbian figures show that the number of tourists coming into the country has stagnated when compared to 2011. Foreign tourism is up by 6%, but domestic tourism is down by 3%, mirroring patterns from around the Balkans. Serbia relies heavily on domestic tourism, which accounts for 62% of its total. With the decrease in domestic tourists the impact on hotel and hostelry revenue is obvious – the number of overnight stays has dropped by 4% since 2011.

The majority of foreign tourists coming into Serbia originate from Bosnia & Herzegovina, and it is worth noting that this number has dropped by 13% as well.

Belgrade remains the top Serbian destination for both foreign and Serbian tourists. An average Belgrade visitor is 35 years of age, and stays an average of three nights in the city, mostly over socalled long weekends. During his or her visit, they will spend an average total of 612 Euros and describe their level of satisfaction as excellent. The spending breakdown is as follows: accommodation - 360 Euros, presents and souvenirs - 160 Euros, and about 119 Euros on culture and entertainment, the latter being, of course, the famous Belgrade

a modest lesson to be learned

Following a similar pattern, the country has seen a marked increase in foreign visitors alongside a slight decrease in domestic tourism, though in this case the increases are greater than in the case of their neighbours, and, conversely, their decreases lower. The majority of those visiting Montenegro come from Russia and Serbia, which is more of a historical trend than anything else.

During the summer, the tv stations ran a minor news item, reporting that the Tourist Office in Split was closed on a busy day in August, at the very peak of the season.

An almost laughable story, but it strikes at the very heart of the main problem within the Western Balkans; tourism does not come easily here – under strength budgets are wastefully spent, while Government investment comes only days after everyone has gone home.

If a country wants to promote itself as a tourist destination, then it cannot put all of its eggs in the basket of July and August, purposefully ignoring the other ten months of the year. It’s as if the various tourist organisations had failed to notice there was a recession on, meaning that the domestic tourist might well be headed towards temporary extinction.

And the rest, as they say, is on someone else. Meri Matešić has landed one of most sought after jobs in the entire Croatian labour market, and while she doesn’t really

nightlife. Due to the fact that restaurants, bars and clubs, of course, do not have any statistics of guests, and that guests are often allowed to pay in Euros, the entertainment expenditure is likely higher than the official figure.

The most visited points of interest in Belgrade are the Belgrade Fortress at kalemegdan, Ada Ciganlija, the old town in Zemun, the Avala TV tower, the bohemian Skadarlija street and the Temple of St. Sava., the largest church in all of Orthodoxy and, some say, even all of Christendom.

Transport-wise, 35% of visitors come to Belgrade by bus, 30% by river cruisers (down the Danube River), 15% by car and only 7% by train. Well worth noting is that the airplane is missing from this statistic - the reason is the fact that low-cost companies still haven't developed their operations in Serbia, which would make Belgrade air-tours economical.

Dejan Veselinov, director of the Tourism Organisation of Belgrade, is satisfied with the development of his destination: “the summer season was very successful. Our visitors are mainly Europeans, but, traditionally, the majority are coming from around the region.”

have awfully big shoes to fill, she still needs to get up to speed quickly or else we’ll be reading in the papers next September about how the Government is planning on investing another 3 billion Kuna into the tourism industry.

They would do well to look at where that money might possibly go; while there might be tourism infrastructure enough to suit the domestic tourist and for those coming from similar economies abroad, there is a distinct lack of activities for those who come from a wealthier background.

Croatia is not a place one would necessarily be able to golf in; even the new golf course which opened in Šibenik – only the fourth in the country – is only 9 holes, something a golfing purist would be horrified by. There is a serious lack of quality 5-star hotels even along the coastline, much less inland Croatia. Croatia has some wonderful destinations away from the coast. And what of, say, medical tourism?

It is likely that 3 billion Kuna will not be enough, but perhaps if Matešić gets off to a good start, she’ll find funding more easy to come by.

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“Citizens have lost trust in the politicians, politics, and the political process. It’s hard to change that perception…”

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in perspective

A Business Case for Open Data Jadranka Kosor just sat there, stone faced, as the opening statements were made. All the while a slideshow, featuring past transgressions, played out on the screen above the gathered politicos: hrt, Fimi Media, Sanader. This was no trial, at least not of the nature you might expect, but rather a meeting of Government officials, various diplomats, and several ngos. And chief amongst those was gong, there to help oversee plans to beef up the Freedom of Information Act.

by Lee Murphy

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he former Prime Minister of Croatia, Jadranka Kosor, was only in the room to listen to plans, by the ruling coalition, aimed at changing aspects of the Freedom of Information Act (2010), an Act which she herself oversaw when leading the previous Government. She could not have been much pleased as statement after statement highlighted the failure which this particular piece of legislation has proved to be. And while it was, quite obviously, specifically about Croatia, the lessons learned could be applied equally well in any country, worldwide. That is if the political will was, well, willing.

Berto Šalaj, President of gong, who are a non-partisan organisation dedicated to encouraging citizens actively to participate in the political process, was quick to clarify the problem in Croatia (and it could be argued throughout the Western Balkans, Slovenia included): “Citizens have lost trust in the politicians, politics, and the political process. It’s hard to change that perception. Even if Croatia were to become the most transparent country in the world, it would take a long time to regain that trust. In short, there is a need for the political world to work more closely with civic society.”

Paolo Berizzi, First Counsellor with the eu delegation to Croatia, was there standing in for Paul Vandoren, and he continued in the same vein: “There are some serious shortcomings in the law as it stands.

It has a distinct lack of teeth.”

It was back in June that Milanović’s Government announced that they would be looking to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act. This was widely welcomed by various elements, heavily involved in Croatia’s journey towards eu accession, who praised the fact that these amendments were being made without any pressure from Brussels. But, as Berizzi

“There are some serious shortcomings in the law as it stands.

It has a distinct lack of teeth.”

pointed out, “the end result is the most important factor.” The Italian also stressed the need for work on the Act to continue, even after the new law is fully implemented. This echoed Šalaj’s comments on the lack of trust within the public sphere.

The Croatian Minister of Public Administration, Arsen Bauk, was sounding very much pro-active. As one of the youngest members of Milanović’s cabinet, he has everything to gain from cooperating with the ngos and other civilian bodies, and everything to lose should the Government be tarnished with the same brush as their predecessors have been, for an allegation of corruption need not be true for it to ruin a career. Nevertheless, there is every reason to believe that Bauk’s energy is very much the real deal. He spoke forthrightly and quite bluntly: “Withholding information, as had been happening under the original legislation, raises suspicions, and this is something which we must deal with… even though, unfortunately, many of these suspicions have proven to be true.” Brave words for a Government Minister, but welcomed by those members of the British and Dutch delegations who have the onerous task of convincing their own Governments that Croatian entry to the European Union is something worth ratifying.

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Perhaps the strongest voice in the room, or at least the most senior voice, was that of Josip Leko, acting Speaker of Parliament, and likely permanent replacement for the late Boris Šprem. In his words there, were “clear deficiencies on a local and on a national level, in the past”. And this showed just how badly the reformed law was. While he was simply repeating much of what had already been said, it was clear that this final statement was a sly swipe at hdz, perhaps even directed at Jadranka Kosor who sat opposite him at the conference table. Leko ended by telling those assembled that Freedom of Information requests had been increasing steadily, but that it was “not enough for citizens to have the rights to Freedom of Information – they must be aware that they have these rights.”

vanja of gong Vanja Škorić, gong’s legal presence at the table, was moderating one of the panels of experts, but rather than simply recount what she had to say, we felt it wise to get five minutes alone, to get what information we could… We started by asking how successful gong thought the new alterations to the f.o.i. Act would be, and their opinion on the various contributions from those speaking.

Vanja: “From our own research it is clear that the approach of public bodies to this Act has been inconsistent. In April gong requested data regarding a public tender from the Croatian Radio Television (hrt), which we did receive. Yet in May we sought data from hrt regarding the law firms who represent them, and the fees paid to those firms, but we were denied any information – they simply told us that hrt is “not a public body any more, and therefore not obligated to reply to f.o.i. requests.” We appealed that second decision and the Personal Data Protection Agency ordered hrt to comply with our request, since they

were, in fact, a public body. hrt declined to adhere to that ruling but no sanctions can be brought against them.”

“There are other contradictions within Ministry documents. The Ministry of Justice has refused access to certain documents on grounds which contravene their own internal classification guidelines. We appealed that as well, and won, but still nothing has been sent to us. This, above all, needs to be resolved. Unfortunately there are three main issues which are outstanding: 1) What independent body will have the oversight competences on access to information protection, and what resources will be available for its functioning? 2) Will the proportionality and public interest test apply on classified data, according to the Act on Data Secrecy in the appeal process or not? And 3) How will the re-use of public

The goals of the open data movement are similar to those of other ‘Open’ movements such as open source… sector information be implemented?”

“The presentation from Andrew Stott, of the uk Transparency Board, showed us how data could and should be used, in an ideal situation. gong believes that the

proactive publication of data is the best preventive of corruption, and today we heard an example of just how much data there is available. When the Ministry of Finance in the United Kingdom released a database of public spending, over 5 gigabytes of data, it crashed every computer in the media room. There was simply too much information for a basic machine to handle. But, in time, they were able to develop an understanding of how to interpret the data available. In effect, both civil society and the State were able to find a place where information could be exchanged freely. This is what we need here,” Vanja finished.

It was clear, at least to those from the eu, where such problems have been tackled in the past, that a Freedom of Information Act was always going to be a tough task for a society historically steeped in State sponsored secrecy. What can be said, with a decent amount of optimism, is that this Government does seem to want to change how things are done. With paperwork relating to business dealings set to diminish somewhat, and with Finance Minister Linić’s efforts to make so many tax defaulters cough up what is owed, any outside spectator would consider Croatia to be a country determined to get its house in order. The European Union has already admitted that mistakes and errors were made in relation to Croatia’s accession talks, but only a cynic would think that Croatia was another Greece in… well, another Greece in Croatian clothing. I would suggest we wait and see, but if everything goes according to plan, we can simply request the information we need through the new and improved Freedom of Information Act. If we can’t? Well then, we’ll have our answer, won’t we?

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High Economic Value According to Andrew Stott, open data has a very high economic value: • Open Data, belonging to the Government, would increase business activities in the EU by up to 40 billion Euros, with total annual benefits amounting to 140 billion Euros.

• A Spanish study found that 600 million Euros worth of business is generated on the back of open data, creating over 5,000 jobs.

• An Australian study found a ROI of approximately 500% from open data available there.

• A Deloitte study on behalf of the EU found that open data was reused 10-100 more times than if it was charged for.

• Releasing open data in Denmark led to a yearly benefit of 21 million Euros and 2,200% ROI.

best practices We suggested that this article would be of relevance to countries other than Croatia, but so far very little would support that claim. We feel that this might put the point across rather nicely…

Freedom of Information does not just relate to the public, it can relate to individual Departments, Ministries, Councils, Semi-State organisations, and the list continues on. The first thing to realise is that information under f.o.i. is rarely free. There are associated costs for man hours, printing, and other administrative tasks, which all go towards creating a sort of price tag, if you don’t object to the term. Where information is of a more statistical nature it is often sold, commercially, to companies which then choose to use

• Open weather data in the United States has led to the creation of 400 companies, employing 4,000 people.

• Use of open data in Canada exposed a misuse of charitable statuses amounting to 3.2 billion CAN$.

• Publishing the expenses of UK Senior Civil Servants led to a reduction in claims by 40-50%.

• Open data also exposed racial discrimination when it came to water supply in Zanesville, USA. The subsequent lawsuit earned the victims 10.9 million USD. • A number of civil servants were discovered to be earning considerably more than the Prime Minister of Great Britain, supposedly the highest office within the public sector.

it in whatever fashion they see fit. In this way the Government brings in a little extra for their budget, but the ironic thing is that if they were to release this data for free, they would gain much more in return in the long-run.

Open data is the idea that certain data should be freely available to everyone to use and republish as they wish, without restrictions from copyright, patents or other mechanisms of control. The goals of the open data movement are similar to those of other ‘Open’ movements such as open source, open content, and open access. The philosophy behind open data has been long established (for example in the Mertonian tradition of science), but the term ‘open data’ itself is recent, gaining popularity with the rise of the Internet, the World Wide Web, and, especially,

with the launch of open-data government initiatives such as Data.gov.

We may quote Andrew Stott of the uk Transparency Board once again: “Croatia needs to abandon plans to charge for commercial data. What the State loses in revenue will be gained, and then some, in taxes.” The evidence is pretty compelling.

Since most open data is reused, it can contribute to the generation of revenues over and over again. Where that data has had to be purchased from the Government, you find a lower inclination to share, or even to seek additional data. A 500% roi on the purchase of commercial data is a modest reflection of the possibilities if it is used optimally. When used in conjunction with a fully functional f.o.i. Act, the level of transparency and accountability increases exponentially, and this too can lead to further savings for the Exchequer. By utilising open data for purposes of accountability, there were also some impressive savings to be made.

Every Ministry and Department in Croatia (and in any of her neighbours), has the ability to distribute their data sets. The problem lies in negotiating the stubborn mindset of those civil servants who are used to doing things in one way, and one way only. Until the dissemination of information becomes the norm for any society one will be faced with a resounding ‘no’ at almost every turn, as one seeks to extract that data. The suggestion is to provide solutions for each any every reason offered by the State body as to why they cannot publish their data. Every journey starts with a small step, and nobody should ever expect massive changes overnight. As David Cameron, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, said back in May of 2010, “We’re making a small start next week. But eventually, it’s going to make a big difference. The information we’re publishing next week won’t be perfect, and I’m sure there’ll be some mistakes. But I want to get on with it.”

So too should this region get on with it. Utilising an open data model not only benefits the economy through creating entrepreneurial spirit, and generating an incredibly large return on investment, but it also acts as system of checks and balances for the purposes of monitoring for corrupt practise. It is, by any definition, best practise, and if you’re serious about making your business succeed, then you should look to use any advantage you can.

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social economics

Wild Cards of the 7th International Health Summit The future of cee (and hence see) healthcare? There is much to discuss indeed. Plus a cutting edge think-tank and a gas mask performance. So let's see what happened in Prague, and no, we're not talking about the proverbial Prague cemetery.

T

he 7th Prague International Health Summit was held from September 23-25th this year, and it painted a clear picture of the present situation as well as a thorough analysis of the possible strategic scenarios for the future of cee healthcare. Organised by the cee Health Policy Network, which was established two years ago in Bratislava, the Summit is the most significant international conference in the field of health systems and health care policy in Central Europe, as indicated even by Dr. James A. Rice, an experienced usa health analyst and Project Director for the Management Sciences for Health and usaid supported Leadership Management and Governance Project in Low and Middle Income Countries.

The main audiences of the summit were the top management representatives of healthcare providers, healthcare technology and equipment producers, pharmaceutical companies, ict, as well as those coming from educational and regulatory institutions and the state administration, mainly from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and other central European countries.

More than 130 people participated in the conference, hailing from ten countries, including the us.

Innovation, diversity and interactivity figured as the Summit’s key phrases, and also workshops were staged for a limited number of participants, where selected topics were discussed in depth by parallel,

by Tatjana Ransom

Dr. Tatjana Ransom is a graduate of the University of Rijeka School of Medicine, but also holds an Executive MBA from the Cotrugli Business School. She currently works as an independent pharmaceutical and healthcare consultant. Her areas of expertise are pharmaceutical sales and marketing management, strategy, and business development.

interactive work groups. Debating about the future of consumer-oriented healthcare systems, the lecturers from different European countries demonstrated how different the systems can be from country to country, offering their different points of view in line with their respective surroundings and economic and political situations.

The aim of the discussions was to share best practices, but also to stimulate ‘outof-the-box’ thinking, especially since, as is known far and wide, healthcare is one of the world’s most politicised sectors and markets. The reach of the regulator is long, its arm strong, entry barriers high, as the

State finds it ever more difficult to fund the exorbitantly expensive Health sector. In other words, the consensus is that in the future we need cheaper, curative medicine, which is both a challenge and an opportunity.

In the opinion of Dr Tim Evans from the uk, rampant cronyism and the status quo which permeate current health-care systems need to be replaced with genuine consumer driven markets. Information must be free and readily available, taxes must be lower. Customers – or patients – themselves must play a vital role in this process, as was, for instance, contended by Dr Stanimir Hasurdjev from Bulgaria who presented a case study showing how patient associations can serve as powerful leverage in the process of exacting change in health policy. This, naturally, is impossible if patients are not adequately informed, which is precisely the most difficult task that lies ahead for many nations.

the index The Euro Health Consumer Index, abbreviated ehci, is the measuring standard for European healthcare. Mr Johan Hjertqvist, the Founder and president of the Swedenbased think tank Health Consumer Powerhouse, talked on the occasion about the 2012 edition, which ranks 34 national European healthcare systems across 42 indicators, covering five areas that are key to the health consumer: patients’ rights and

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Dominant uncertainties define 4 strategic scenarios for 2020 Consumer's World

Consumer rules

Government Serves

Doctor's World

Industry Drives

Doctors Dictate

Liberal Environment

Regulated Environment

From left to right on the panel: Dr James A. Rice, Dr. Tim Evans, Dr Johan Hjertqvist, and Dr Stanimir Hasurdjev

CEEHPN CEE Health Policy Network is an independent think-tank which focuses on the areas of health policy and health economics in Central and East European countries, with a mission to facilitate change in the healthcare system in CEE countries, for the benefit of consumers. CEEHPN consists of two founding institutional members, the Health Policy Institute from Slovakia and the HealthReform.CZ from the Czech Republic, as well as twenty one individual members from eight countries (the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Switzerland, and USA).

information, waiting times for treatment, outcomes, prevention/range, the range of services provided, and pharmaceuticals.

The Index is compiled on the basis of public statistics, patient polls, and independent research studies conducted by hcp.

The 2012 ehci has been supported by unrestricted grants from efpia (the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industry), Pfizer Inc, Novartis sa, and Medicover sa, comparing healthcare systems performance in 35 countries from a consumer/patient point of view.

Of comparative interest is Croatia, especially in light of its impending 2013 entry into the eu. Placing in the middle of the scoreboard in 17th position, Croatia did, according to the Index, make some

EHCI total scores Netherlands Denmark Iceland Luxembourg Belgium Sweden Switzerland France Norway Finland Austria United Kingdom Ireland Germany Czech Republick Slovakia Croatia Estonia Slovenia Cyprus Italy Greece Malta Spain Portugal Lithuania Poland Hungary Albania FYR Macedonia Latvia Romania Bulgaria Serbia

872 822 799 791 783 775 769 766 756 752 737 721 714 704 694 675 655 653 638 627 623 617 609 603 589 585 577 577 535 527 491 489 456 451

headway: in comparison with the year 2009, it has jumped six places. Croatian patients are viewed as being in a good position with regard to their guaranteed rights, but waiting lists and access to new kinds of medication are still the weak points. It is important to remember that these two factors are key to Croatia’s interest in becoming a more popular medical tourism destination in the future.

The Netherlands was on top of the Index, and what can be learned from them is that one needs to increase transparency in the department of performance, establish consumer choice as an economic driver, boost competitiveness, and reduce the influence of state politics in the healthcare system. Keeping in mind that eu patient

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mobility directive will apply to Croatia in less than one year from now, not only is it a threatening reality that medical staff will be able more freely to look for better opportunities in elsewhere in Europe, but there is also the matter of patients having more opportunities and rights to chose other cities in Europe for their treatments, especially if a certain type of treatment is not available – or cannot be provided in a timely fashion – domestically.

Needless to say, this situation presents a challenge to the national healthcare system, but also an opportunity to private healthcare providers. Let us, for instance, look at the Swiss experience: the hardto-contest immediate benefits of private healthcare provision can be boiled down to the promotion of customers’ choices, flexibility and efficiency, closing of the gaps in the public healthcare system, and the injection of new money into the overall Health sector.

The Minister for Health at the Ministry of National Resources of the Republic of Hungary, Dr. Miklos Szocska, pointed out in his panel discussion that 15% of medical professionals left Hungary after the country joined the eu. Croatia, already registering a deficit of medical personnel, is now facing the same conundrum: how will it prevent the drain of medical professionals?

For one, eu accession will undoubtedly liberalise the Croatian healthcare system, especially in the sense of opening the door to private health insurance options as a logical solution to the currently almost completely centralised public health insurance system. As things stand, the patients don’t have too many options to choose from, and the system is marked by inefficiency, not to mention that is an enormous burden on the State budget. It is high time to reassess the situation and gravitate towards a sort of “win-win” solution, both for the people and the system which is – or should be – there to serve them. It is not an impossible scenario.

the wild cards The cee Health Policy Network developed possible strategic scenarios of the future of the cee healthcare system by 2020, and in fact presented them in a highly visually sophisticated, but also professional, manner, involving participants actively in discussions during the three day summit.

Peter Pažitny, msc., a Founding Member

And believe us, few things can cajole us out of our ‘sleep mode’ better than a visualisation of a veritable disaster. and Executive Director of the Slovakian think-tank, stated that strategic scenarios are rather mental maps of possible futures and not predictions per se. They are primarily meant to give us new perspectives to think about and enable us to think about the ‘unthinkable’, while preparing us for the future. They identify great opportunities, but threats also.

For it can’t be denied that there is a clear need for healthcare system reform and change in the accepted model. After thorough analysis and intensive work of a group of people on a project which was sponsored by gsk, it appeared that there are four different scenarios, as presented

by Mr. Pažitny: the industry drives, the doctors dictate, the consumer rules, and the government serves. Strategic scenarios

are written in back casting, as if they have already happened, and each scenario begins in 2012 and ends in 2020.

Unpredictable events of extremely low probability but of potentially devastating impact were also given thought (the methanol poisoning scandal, which recently forced the Czech authorities to place a temporary ban on the sale of spirits, would be one of the examples), and presented in a form of ‘wild cards’ or ‘black swan events’.

And believe us, few things can cajole us out of our ‘sleep mode’ better than a visualisation of a veritable disaster. If that is what it takes to shake things up, we can only welcome it. For we – principally meaning the State – must finally learn how to plan things strategically, and we also must be prepared for any scenario.

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Restaurant Week was not exactly an original idea – it has been running in New York for years, and more recently London.

We just altered the business model to suit Zagreb, and then Croatia.

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wine & gastro interview

Restaurant Week It started off as a Zagreb-only event, but soon went national. This, the 5th Restaurant Week, is now a highly anticipated event, by both diner and restaurant owner alike. What was once a somewhat stagnant scene is now, finally, beginning to move forward. We had the opportunity to sit and speak with the organisers of Restaurant Week, at a Sunday brunch thrown as a precursor to the event itself.

With food and drink provided by all the restaurants involved, work has never been as much fun. Ozren Drobnjak is one half of Restaurant Week, and he spoke with us while Željka Marjanović schmoozed the gathered guests.

S

EE So, getting right to the point – what prompted the two of you to start doing Restaurant Week?

OD Well it’s only right to point out that myself and Željka have been good friends for many decades now, and we both share a mutual love for good food and wine. We took an opportunity to travel, both of us going to different locations, and see how things were done, in the restaurant scene, elsewhere. Moreover, it allowed us to see what was lacking here, in Croatia. Željka felt that what we had here was rather dull, but she also felt that it could be changed.

Restaurant Week was not exactly an original idea – it has been running in New York for years, and more recently London. We just altered the business model to suit Zagreb, and then Croatia.

SEE So what was the main goal behind Restaurant Week? What were you hoping to achieve?

OD There are several facets to this event.

Primarily, we hope to attract people, to have them become acquainted with more restaurants and to develop a culture of dining out.

Secondly, there’s the idea of the diners rating and comparing the services of the different restaurants they eat at, and that this will also develop a healthy competition between the restaurants themselves. There’s also the added bonus of having all parties being able to walk away from the Week being fully satisfied; the diners get to enjoy a decent meal

at a fair price, and the restaurants have the opportunity to acquire new customers.

SEE So what was it that Croatian restaurants were lacking? Was there anything specific?

OD It would be unfair to generalise, since there are restaurants, and then again there are restaurants… On a national level there are significant differences in the mentality of the restaurateur community, but what can be said is that there is a distinct lack of diversity. Too many restaurants boast overly extensive menus, and ultimately that leads to a drop in quality. Other restaurants offer the same menu year in year out, and unless they offer something of amazingly high quality, it all becomes dull, repetitive.

A restaurant using a more flexible business model would only keep a handful of dishes on their menu, changing them over time.

This not only helps maintain a better quality level, since it is easier to master a few dishes rather than a few dozen, but it also encourages customers to keep an eye on the menu, just to see what might be on offer.

SEE Is it really just a matter of changing the business model? If that was the case, would it not have already happened?

OD The problem is double edged. It’s not just the restaurants which have become lax, but the customers as well. Croatians have become accustomed to dining out, not for the sake of enjoying the fine meal, but rather for the purpose of being seen, and for seeing who else is out. As a result, the contents of the menu, and the quality of what’s provided, take second place – proprietors seem more concerned with making their establishments more exclusive, focusing on interior design and visual impressions, instead of looking to ensure they provide the finest food possible. These kinds of improvements cost vast sums of money and inevitably lead to a vicious circle where prices are elevated to make ends meet, and customers slowly being priced out of the premises.

SEE This is the 5th time Restaurant Week takes place. You started the event in 2010. What have you observed over the past four events?

OD When we started with Restaurant Week we were actually surprised with how well the idea was received. All the restaurants which participated were fully booked for the duration of the event, and although they were operating at lowered prices, the increased turnover still resulted in a decent profit margin. The second time we ran it we extended the time frame to a fortnight, but the logistics of that was problematic for most

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of the restaurants involved; they began to run out of stock, staff were suffering from fatigue since they were working flat out for such a long period… two weeks was just too long. We split the difference and settled for ten days, which allows for top service for the duration of the event. And of course, we do run the events a few times per year.

SEE It must have been difficult to gain the trust of the restaurants involved. Organisation, at least for the first one, must have been a major headache.

OD As I’ve just mentioned, Restaurant Week, especially the second one, left the restaurants themselves very much strained. In the beginning we had to be more involved in the restaurants’ side of the event, suggesting table rotation, which was previously unheard of here. Now, when you book a table, you’re allocated a slot during set lunch hours, or dinner hours. The staff, too, had to be encouraged to double check on reservations so as to ensure there were no empty tables. Also, in the beginning we had instances of restaurants ‘holding’ tables back for their regular guests, meaning they were essentially refusing new patrons. Lessons were learned, and now it’s a given that top quality service will see more of these new guests return once Restaurant Week is over.

SEE Would it be fair to say that after two years of Restaurant Week the concept has made significant impact on the eatery scene?

OD I’m of the opinion that it has. We can see that more and more restaurants are offering special prices on three course meals all year round. Clearly the proprietors have found the courage to reach out to the customer, and they’ve surely seen the fruits of Restaurant Week’s labour. Competition is growing between establishments, and the quality of service is definitely improving. Restaurants have also become more educated when it

Soup Truck If there is one thing that is true about Croatians, it is that they love their soup. The Soup Truck will arrive at several pre-announced locations, selling a number of quality soups for 10 Kuna for 30 cc’s of whatever ‘juha’ you desire. The truck will have three different soups per day, but servings are limited to 550. In the past the soups were provided by participating restaurants, but as the idea grew, the organisers felt it best to provide the product themselves. All soups are made with natural stock, fresh ingredients, and use zero additives. Flavours include more traditional soups, but also a few secret recipes. Be sure to line up!

comes to wine. While some restaurants weren’t keen about charging such low prices for meals during Restaurant Week, they soon realised that a customer would usually order a glass, or even a bottle, of wine with their food. Given the high turnover on these events, you can be sure that the restaurants saw a healthy profit. We’ve shown the restaurants that customers will react better to a fairly priced, high quality wine, and that a customer who feels like they got a bargain is more likely to return than a customer who felt cheated. And of course, with a fairer price you see an increase in demand.

All in all, it’s fair to say that all involved are a lot happier.

SEE Do you foresee Restaurant Week growing in the future?

OD We certainly hope so, and based on previous experiences, we’re probably expecting it. Most of our participants are based in Zagreb, and now we’re focusing

The Concept of Restaurant Week It’s a simple idea: offer a three course meal; appetiser or soup; main course; dessert, and, depending on the restaurant, a glass of wine. All of this for a low low price of 100 Kuna (13 Euros). The event itself takes place twice a year, each one marking the beginning of spring and autumn, respectively. Guests are encouraged to frequent as many restaurants as possible and, if they so choose, to rate and comment on their service at ‘www.tjedanrestorana.hr’. If we were to list all the restaurants involved we would be here until SEE #15. Instead you should consult their website and discover for yourself who is taking part in your area, find out what’s on the menu, and more importantly, get their phone number so that you can call and make a reservation.

Cocktail at a Hotel As a bonus the organisers of Restaurant Week are also offering the ‘Cocktail at a Hotel’ programme. As the name implies, a number of select Zagreb hotels, five to be precise, will be getting all Tom Cruise for you, with discounted cocktails being available between the hours of 6pm and 8pm. Ideally you’ll indulge in a Shirley Temple or Harvey Wallbanger before heading out to wherever you have your reservations, ensuring a great night out. We would just ask that you do not drink and drive.

on expanding nationally. We’re pleased to see similar events in Ljubljana and Belgrade, which tells us that other regional capitals have recognised the potential involved in such an endeavour. We’d like to think they’re following in our footsteps. We need to expand ourselves, and we’re looking for more cooperation from the municipal tourist boards and are always interested in meeting new potential sponsors. After all, Restaurant Week is a public relations success and a tourist magnet.

SEE So what’s next?

OD We’re already in the planning stages.

We’re going to organise a ‘Secret Dinner’ event, once per month, to bridge the gap between Restaurant Weeks. It’ll be slightly different, but will still show our customers a memorable, top notch dining experience.

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Paški sir is, and we use this phrase almost too often, a sort of perfect storm.

© Simon Kerr

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wine & gastro

Blessed Are the Cheesemakers of Pag If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this article will surely take some time to read. So often are we confronted with images of partying teens and sun drenched beaches that it’s all too easy for us to forget that there’s life on the islands outside of the summer months. We here at see, too, are guilty at times of such tunnel vision. By way of penitence we decided to offer you something a little… cheesy.

by Lee Murphy

P

ag, as if you needed telling, is an island just north of Zadar, in the Adriatic Sea. It is Croatia’s fifth largest island and has been long known for its production of salt, and more recently for it being the home to Croatia’s first wind farm. In our summer special we presented our readership with ‘An Ode to Zrće’, a look at what is lovingly referred to as ‘Croatia’s Ibiza’, situated to the north of the island. Yet, as our premise suggests, there must be life outside of the party den; certainly the summer weather cannot occupy an island’s population for more than two months, and the local economy cannot be all about salt and wind power.

In other words, if you are familiar, at all, with Nick Park’s animated characters Wallace & Gromit, then you must be all too aware of the love some people can have for a fine cheese (although this author admittedly considers himself unlearned in such things). And Pag is particularly famed for a type of hard cheese known as Paški sir, which translates, as one might expect, as Cheese from the Island of Pag. No matter whether you love your cheddar, stilton, Edam – which is sometimes foisted upon unsuspecting patrons, by those without scruples, who believe they are in fact getting Pag’s famous cheese – or any such type of cheese, the consensus amongst ‘those in the know’ is that you

can’t get much better than ‘Paški’. That in itself should probably be enough to sway you, were you hesitant about trying it for yourself in the first place. We will, in this instance, forego a history of cheese in general, and refrain from offering you the scientific processes by which cheese is made.

That is for another article, and possibly another publication.

cheese for the palate Made exclusively from sheep’s milk – cow’s milk can also be used to make cheese but in the case of Paški sir that is simply not an option – so if you suggest otherwise, then we’re sure the purists can, and will, take umbrage: for Paški sir is, and we use this phrase almost too often, a sort of perfect storm.

Sheep’s milk will always produce a different cheese from cow’s, that’s simple science, but there is more to Paški sir than just the source of the milk used. The sheep’s diet is important, as is the climate in which their diet happens to grow. Our sheep will dine upon sundry plants and herbs, in addition to the more humble fare (being plain old grass): rue, wild oats, and Pag’s sage, a purple flowered plant which covers many of the slopes on the island.

And, again, it’s not just the plants which contribute to the overall product. Anyone who has ever spent time in the area will have undoubtedly experienced a wind of some infamy: the bura, or in some cases the ‘dark bura’. This cold wind drives through the neighbouring Velebit mountain range, and washes up onto the island, bringing with it salt – salt which then coats

No matter whether you love your cheddar, stilton, Edam...the consensus amongst ‘those in the know’ is that you can’t get much better than ‘Paški’.

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the island. So, in recap, the sheep eats the salted and aromatic vegetation, thus flavouring the milk produced, which in turn permeates the cheese it is used to make.

To accompany your cheese you could do worse, when visiting Pag, than to try some of the wines from the local Boškinac winery. These wines, which include varieties derived from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Gegić, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon, are also well regarded within the industry, and are primed to enter a wider market over the coming years. Make a note for the ‘good stuff’ section at some future date.

© Simon Kerr

marija had a little lamb (& some mint sauce) Cheese only comes from one half of the sheep population, and it is the fate of the other half to become dinner. Croatian lamb is an unusual affair: not unusual in that it is somehow different from the lamb you might get in Turkey, or France, or the United Kingdom, but rather that each region tends to produce a vastly different sort of meat from the next. This is, of course, the result of widely varying geographical and climatic factors. With each lamb tasting differently, it is certainly no surprise that those from Lika are proud of theirs, and the same goes for Dalmatia, Krk, to name but a few.

There is one lamb, however, above all of these, which is considered to be the best: that lamb is the Pag lamb. We’ve already covered one of the reasons why this is the case, specifically their diet: Pag lamb is self-seasoning from the moment it is born, suckling the same milk used for making cheese, and of course grazing on the island itself. It has been said that Pag lamb has been enjoyed by many of the royal families of Europe, and this being the case you would be mad not to set about devouring a leg of lamb should the opportunity arise.

And, if you are not of the carnivorous disposition, well, you always have cheese…

Croatia does not really have a ‘something’ which tourists might consider a ‘must buy’ item, something which one can bring home and have it be associated with your recent holiday. If we were to suggest one thing, it would be some Pag cheese.

And there are plenty to choose from. For those who are not tourists? Well Restaurant Week is upon us, so why not take the time to see which menus have Pag cuisine on offer?

© Simon Kerr

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Sirana Gligora We can’t really talk about cheese and the island of Pag without mentioning Sirana Gligora, an artisan cheese producer who have been there, in one form or another, for almost a century. The Gligora family had been making cheese, specifically Paški Sir, since 1918, and only in the last generation have they seen it fit to share their expertise with the rest of Croatia, and beyond. We were there over the summer and wanted to talk to the family about the history behind it all, but they were too busy with production; now, they’ve made the time to show us around their new facility. We met with Ivan, founder of the company, and his son Šime, Managing Director, and we started with a question about their production: Šime: Our family have been hand-making Paški Sir for four generations, here in the village of Kolan, but it was my father here, Ivan, who decided it was time to set up a small dairy back in 1995.

It was his willingness to put the work in that led to demand for our cheeses spike. As did his reputation. As time passed that demand outgrew the modest space we had, and so we built a new dairy in 2010 with the help of the EU SAPARD funding.

With this new and completely modern technology we can guarantee production on the highest level for the next five decades.

Even more importantly, the success of the factory has a positive effect on the community, and it helps us to protect the traditional way of life on Pag. Even though we use up-to-date technology these days, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that we were ‘industrial’. Our entire production process is still based on the same processes our ancestors used. Where they used a cooking pot over a fire, we have a sophisticated steam heated vat in which we cook the curds. Where they would use a rock placed on a mould to press the cheese, we use a fully adjustable pressure system to ensure consistency. We don’t ignore the old ways, we simply utilise modern technology to do things faster, and on a greater scale. The secret to our success is in the attention to detail, fair investment in our staff and milk providers, and the quality of raw materials which we use in production. I don’t think we know the meaning of the word compromise when it comes to Sirana Gligora and our cheese.

SEE: Well that’s fairly detailed. I don’t think anyone could have accused you of being a ‘money first’ corporation. But every company needs to make money, and I’m sure it was no different for

your family. Ivan, was there an obvious opening for another large cheese operation on Pag when you launched in 1995?

Ivan: Well, I don’t mind admitting that everyone was against me starting out on my own. There was already a large, and established, cheese factory on the island, and at the time it was backed by the State. Then, as now, I never wanted to compete with them. All I wanted was to produce the best possible cheese that I could, by using the skills that I had learned during 30 years in the dairy industry, as well as by using the heritage passed down to me through a long line of cheese makers in my family. We have also avoided a monopoly situation, which would have been disastrous for the shepherds of Pag – we’ve been able to keep both the price and quality of our source milk very high, with community investment, and as a result we can hope that husbandry will be a viable lifestyle for generations to come.

SEE: Ok, so you’ve merged traditional methods with modern technology, and clearly you have the community’s interests at heart in how you conduct your business. But, and forgive us if this seems blunt, how can you ensure that quality is possible in a mass production process, and how can you keep your product competitively priced?

Ivan: Ours is an artisan cheese, 100%. Every batch of milk that comes through our doors will have different characteristics: each batch has different levels of protein, and each batch behaves differently, depending on the season. All of these are taken into consideration by our artisan cheese maker, each morning. She is on hand each day, and drawing on her own long history in the making of Paški Sir she can know, instinctively, how best to manipulate the milk to create the best cheeses. A machine cannot do the same, nor is it likely that one will ever be able to.

We appreciate the technology available to us, but we appreciate the human touch even more. Our goal is to sustain the quality of the Paški Sir we produce, to keep it at the highest level possible.

Investment does come at a price, but if you spend wisely then you will reap the rewards. What we have now is not one, but several cheeses of undoubted international class, and that’s clear by our recent awards at the Global Cheese Awards.

More information awailable at: Sirana Gligora; Figurica 20, 23251 Kolan, Island Pag, Croatia; 00385 23 698 052; www.gligora.hr

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good stuff

Some Great Regional Cheeses We’ve already dedicated a considerable amount of space to Paški sir in this issue, and it would be most unfair if were to fail to mention a few of those other regional greats.

And so, without further ado, we would like to take you on a cheese, but by no means cheesy, tour of the Balkans. slovenia » bovški sir

b&h » livanjski sir

This cheese originates from the alpine Bovec region of Slovenia, which borders Italy on the Soča River. It can be traced as far back as the 18th century, when it was known as Formaggio di Plezo Vero. Traditionally it has been made from the milk of the Bovec breed of sheep, with about 20% of either goat or cow milk added in. Nowadays your modern Bovški sir is a hard and aromatic cheese, but 100% made from sheep milk, as the practise of adding goat or cow milk is now all but gone. Bovški sir is protected by the European Commission as an original and authentic Slovenian product, and so, if you’re eating Bovški sir, you can be assured that it came from Bovec, and was made from Bovec milk.

This particular cheese comes from the Livno region, which borders Croatia in the centre west of B&H. While very much a regional cheese, many people do not realise that it owes its form to a French cheese maker Cyrian Jailet, who arrived in Livno at the end of the 19th century. He was sent there, under orders from the Austro-Hungarian authorities, to teach the local farmers about techniques in cheese making. Although commercial dairies market cheese made from 100% cow milk, under this name the original version is actually a hard cheese made from a blend of non-pasteurised cow milk (75%-80%) and sheep milk (20%-25%).

montenegro » njeguški sir Our third cheese, Njeguški, is from the village of Njeguši, located on a plateau above the Bay of Kotor. Njeguši is also famous for its prosciutto, which is an ideal companion to our cheese. Njeguški sir is a semihard cheese, moulded into thin wheels and made in a number of varieties, either exclusively from cow or sheep milk, or some blend thereof. This cheese is cured for a period of two to three months before being considered ready for consumption. Its texture and aroma is quite similar to semihard Alpine cheeses, such as Emmental. The most appreciated version, and certainly the most aromatic, is made solely from sheep’s milk, which is often cut into cubes and stored in olive oil.

macedonia » galički kačkavalj Our fourth and final pick comes from the village of Galičnik in north-western Macedonia. This cheese is made in the same manner as kashkaval, which is a type of cheese well known around the central Balkans. The technique for making it is believed to have been spread throughout the region by Tzintzars, an ancient nomadic people who once roamed these lands. Galički kačkavalj is made only from sheep’s milk, and is a yellow, semi-hard, aromatic cheese. Galičnik, however, is perched 1,500 metres above the Albanian border, and it is this remoteness which has led to fewer and fewer people inhabiting the area, which has in turn resulted in the volume of production dwindling. More is the pity.

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In 1915 Meštrović became the first living artist to be given a one-man show at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum.

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did you know?

A Small Homage to Ivan Meštrović Only last month an exhibition, which features twelve pieces by the greatest Croatian sculptor ever, opened in the Rodin Museum in Paris. Ivan Meštrović has long been well known by the French public – and beyond – and, also, don’t forget there’s a Meštrović museum at Zagreb’s Gornji Grad. And we bet very few of you have been acquainted with the facts below… until now. humble beginnings · Born to a peasant family, in 1883, in

meštrović the architect · While known for his drawings,

the village of Otavice in the Dalmatian hinterland, Ivan, a shepherd boy, taught himself to read and write by comparing passages from the Bible, which he had been taught to recite by heart, with what was printed therein.

and sculptures in wood, marble, and bronze, he also worked in the field of architecture. Aside from his own resting place, the family mausoleum, and his atelier in Zagreb’s Upper Town, he constructed numerous sacral and monumental buildings, the most noted of which are the Njegoš Mausoleum at Lovćen, Montenegro, the Monument of the Unknown Hero in Belgrade, and the House of Visual Artists in Zagreb. The latter was built in 1934, at a time when it represented the first circular exhibition space on the European continent. Because of its shape, the building was converted into a mosque, by Pavelić's collaborationist Government, in 1942. Four minarets were added to the structure at that time, but they were just as expediently torn down once Tito came to power in 1945. The building then became the Museum of the People’s War of Liberation, but it is still, to this day, known to the inhabitants of Zagreb as the ‘Mosque’.

penning a memoir · Following the outbreak of The Great War, Meštrović got involved with the Yugoslav Movement, housing its leaders at both his Venetian and Roman residences, and putting them in contact with the Serbian Royal family, the Karađorđevićs. His numerous exploits during, and between, the two World Wars are described in his book, published in 1961, entitled ‘Memories of Political Figures and Events’, which is a first hand look into the upper echelons of Yugoslav and European politics of the time. in trouble with the nazis · Meštrović was invited to exhibit his works in Germany during the 1930s, which he refused. Given that the invitation came from none other than Adolf Hitler, this resulted in him being incarcerated, and sentenced to death, by the Croatian collaborationist Government.

Fortunately he was released in time to exhibit in 1942, thanks to an intervention by the Italian King Vittorio Emanuele III. This exhibit in question took place at the Venetian Bienniale, after which the artist took shelter in the Vatican, before moving on to Switzerland, and finally the United States in 1944.

refusing the communist godhead · Meštrović refused to return to Communist Yugoslavia, even though his property was never seized by the authorities and despite frequent invitations by Marshal Tito. In 1952 he donated his property, and the majority of his work, to the Croatian people, or rather to the State. He did return, although briefly, to Zagreb and Split, in 1959, at which point he finally met Tito. He only agreed to such a meeting on the condition that he also be allowed to meet Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, who was in prison at the time.

now, that’s success · In 1915 Meštrović became the first living artist to be given a one-man show at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. He also had a one-man exhibition in New York’s Metropolitan Museum in 1946, displaying works depicting human tragedies, all inspired by the events of World War II. Meštrović’s sculpture ‘A Slave Breaking his Bonds’ is depicted on the first postal stamp issued by the then Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. But perhaps his most eye-catching works are public monuments, such as ‘The Well of Life’, which stands in front of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, the statue of Grgur Ninski in Split (whose big toe is rubbed for good luck by the locals), ‘The Victor’, which is located at the Kalemegdan Fortress in Belgrade, and his depictions of two Indian horsemen, one wielding an invisible bow and arrow, and the other a spear, at Grand Central Park, in Chicago, Illinois.

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a blast from the past

mehmed pasha sokolović assassinated · Mehmed Pasha

croatian becomes the official language · Following an

Sokolović, or Sokollu Mehmed Paşa as the Turks knew him, was born in 1506 as Bajica Nenadić. He was a Serb from the village of Sokolovići, near Višegrad. As a part of the ‘Tribute in Blood’ the young Bajica was taken by the Turks to become a jannisary. Rising through the ranks of military service with remarkable pace, he eventually became the Grand Vizier, serving Suleyman the Magnificent and later both his son and grandson. Mehmed Pasha was one of the most influential people of his time, and he used that influence to renew the Peć Patriarchate, granting the Serbian Orthodox Church the privilege of protecting the interests of all Christians within the Empire. A monument to Sokolović still stands to this day, the bridge over the River Drina, built on his orders and later used as a point of reference in the book of the same name by Ivo Andrić, for which the author received no less a prize than the Nobel. Sokullu Mehmed Pasha was stabbed to death by a mentally unstable dervish on the 11th of October, 1579.

address by Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski to the Croatian parliament, in which he stressed the need to use a national language as the official form of communication within public services, it was decided to use the Štokavski dialect of Croatian, then referred to as Illyrian, as the official standard. That date was the 23rd of October, 1847, and the events that day represented the culmination of years of struggle for a national identity within the Hapsburg Empire by the Illyrian Movement and its leader Ljudevit Gaj, who penned 'The Basics of Croato- Slavonic Grammar.' The ‘Illyrian’ tongue replaced traditional Latin on the very eve of the revolution of 1848, during which, if only for a short while, Croatia, Dalmatia, and Slavonia were unified under the rule of Parliament and Viceroy, or Ban, Josip Jelačić. The latter would lead his countrymen into battle against the Hungarians, only to be ‘rewarded’ by a renewed onslaught of Viennese absolutism.

tesla files his first patents · Nikola Tesla, a firm favourite in the

vladimir gortan executed · With Istria having fallen to the Italians

SEE office and often referred to as ‘the man who invented the 20th century’, filed his first patents in New York City on the 20th of October 1887. The patents he filed included the reverse magnetic field, multi-phase alternating current, the asynchronous motor, and the principles for the construction of alternating current electric motors, generators and transformers, thus paving the way for a revolution in electronics. Though at the time working for Thomas Alva Edison, Tesla soon broke away and, funded by George Westinghouse, took part in the so called 'War of the Currents', his A/C finally prevailing over Edison’s’ potentially more lucrative, but impractical, D/C system.

after the end of The Great War, and the rise of fascist tyranny directed against the Slavic population, a secret organisation TIGR (Trieste-Istria-Gorizzia-Rijeka) was formed by the Slovenians and Croatians. TIGR was the first anti-fascist organisation in Europe, and they took the fight to the Italian aggressors, as they viewed them, not afraid to resort to violence whwn and where necessary. Following one such operation, a TIGR member Vladimir Gortan was captured, tried, and sentenced to death. Despite numerous international protests, Gortan was shot in the back by a firing squad, in Pula, on the 17th of October, 1929. Later companies and sreets would be named after him in former Yugoslavia.

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to do list

JOSIPA LISAC

Zagreb Film Festival

Marija Braut

October 10th - October 14th

October 14th - 21st

October 21th - 28th

Ecofair

Zagreb Film Festival 2012

Belgrade Book Fair

Fair Grounds, Belgrade /

various venues, Zagreb /

Fair Grounds, Belgrade /

International Environmental Protection & Energy Efficiency Fair

International film festival

57th International Book Fair

October 11th

October 15th - 18th

October 22nd

Jack DeJohnette Group

Jazz.hr Autumn

Live Sevdah Soiree

Kino Šiška, Ljubljana (20h) /

KD Vatroslav Lisinski /

Kino Bosna, Sarajevo (20h) /

Jazz concert

22nd International Jazz Festival

Sevdah music concert

October 13th

October 15th - 18th

October 11th - November 11th

Int. Academic Conference

Medveščak vs. Fehervar AV19

Josipa Lisac /

Dubrovnik Hotel, Zagreb /

Dom sportova, Zagreb (19:15h) /

Croatian pop icon concert

International conference on Economics, Law, Education, and Social Sciences

EBEL league ice hockey match

October 13th - 16th

October 16th

October 24th

Bellerouche

Dinamo vs. PSG

Coloseum Club, Sarajevo (22h)

Slowind Festival 2012 /

Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana (20h) /

Maksimir Stadium, Zagreb (22:45h) /

Chamber music festival

Fusion and electronic music concert

UEFA Champions League match

October 14th

October 16th

October 25th - 28th

B&H vs. Lithuania

Belgrade Jazz Festival

Slovenian Philharmonic Hall, Ljubljana

Paradise Lost

Kino Šiška, Ljubljana (20h) /

Olympic Stadium, Sarajevo (20h) /

Dom Omladine and other venues, Belgrade /

UK Gothic metal band concert

2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier

28th International Jazz Festival

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