Business Dialogue - CorD Magazine No.162

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URSULA LÄUBLI, Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office Serbia, Counsellor at the Embassy of Switzerland

GORAN PUZOVIĆ, Director at Srbijavode

Four More Years Of Cooperation

Ever More Investment In Water Management

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ŽELJKO MILKOVIĆ, Director of Public Utility City Transport Company GSP “Beograd”

MILOŠ BORENOVIĆ, Director of Product Management, TeleSign Belgrade

We Respect Our Passengers’ Needs

Ease The Lives Of Citizens

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SWISS-SERBIA URSULA LÄUBLI, DIRECTOR OF THE SWISS COOPERATION OFFICE SERBIA, COUNSELLOR, EMBASSY OF SWITZERLAND

Swiss Cooperation Strategy Serbia 2018-2021

Four More Years Of Cooperation Switzerland’s overall international cooperation is based on efforts to reduce poverty, encourage sustainable development and contribute to global peace ■ Which areas or public policies in Serbia will be supported during the implementation of the Swiss Cooperation Strategy?

- In the next four years, Swiss bilateral support will focus on three fields that were also supported in the previous Swiss Cooperation Strategy 2014-2017.

These are governance, economic development and employment, and sustainable energy and resilient cities. Through our interventions, we work actively at the national and local levels with public institutions, civil society organisations and the private sector for the benefit of all citizens in Serbia.

Our long-standing commitment in these fields is based on the notion that

T

he Swiss Cooperation Strategy Serbia is part of the overall international agenda of the Swiss commitment to The Swiss Cooperation the international community. Serbia is in the focus of Swiss CooperaStrategy for Serbia 2018-2021 tion Office presence in the Western will foster expertise Balkans. The Swiss Cooperation Ofand knowledge transfer, fice supports Serbia and its society promotion of the Swiss in democratic and economic reform processes on the path to European long-lasting tradition of integration. democratic values and Switzerland is one of Serbia’s four financial support major bilateral cooperation partners. amounting to 95 million euros, That partnership is rooted in mutual trust, respect, understanding and a 10% increase in comparison a sizeable Serbian diaspora living in to the previous strategic period Switzerland.

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continuous support in the area of good governance and economic development is crucial for overcoming the challenges that Serbia is facing in broad reform processes. Some of these challenges include the inclusiveness of vulnerable groups, public administration accountability and transparency, efficient public financial management, competitiveness, a strong civil society, youth employment and gender equality. At the same time, Switzerland is contributing to the sustainable development of Serbia in the fields of sustainable energy, use of renewable energy sources, as well as improved management and targeted infrastructure measures to increase the resilience of cities.

The Swiss Cooperation Strategy Serbia 2018-2021 will foster expertise and knowledge transfer, promotion of the enduring Swiss tradition of democratic values and financial support amounting to 95 million euros, a 10% increase in comparison to the previous strategic period.

■ Why is the Western Balkan Region a subject of Swiss Cooperation?

- In the introduction of the Swiss Cooperation Strategy Serbia 2018-2021, it is highlighted that “the stability and prosperity of the Western Balkan countries constitute a fundamen-

tal aim for Swiss foreign and security policy“. Our commitment to global peace guides our bilateral cooperation. Therefore, for Switzerland, its peace and stability is interconnected with the peace and stability of other countries. The Western Balkans and Serbia, as one of the key stakeholders in this region, are both part of Europe.

We share the same continent, common history and values. If you put things

We share the same continent, common history and values.

If you put things in that broader context, we are neighboring countries even though we do not share borders. Having a good neighbor is a privilege and an additional value in our everyday life

KRISTINA LANG, Deputy State Secretary at the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs (left), URSULA LÄUBLI and H.E. PHILIPPE GUEX

in that broader context, we are neighbouring countries even though we do not share borders.

Having a good neighbour is a privilege and an additional value in our everyday life. If we live

in a safe and developed neighbourhood with neighbours who share our values and principles, the quality of our life is better and our future is more optimistic. The Swiss Cooperation Strategy Serbia 20182021 is built on this foundation. ■

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“I may resign from the coalition government if ‘personal vanities’ are not put aside…We will either function as a team without personal vanities and promoting of personal agendas and we will have results or I do not have to be the Prime Minister.” — ANA BRNABIĆ, Serbian Prime Minister

HUAWEI P20 PRO

WORLD BANK

Perfect business assistant

Supporting Serbia With €225.7 million Best Of 685 Competing Projects People working From Around The World in Serbian public

Before entering the new millennium, the concept of mobile phone was already familiar to us. Today, almost twenty years later, the unstoppable development of technology moves the border with the arrival of artificial intelligence, which not only brings significant changes to our daily lives, jobs and overall technology, but also the real value for end users. Global investment in artificial intelligence, an area dominated by technological giants such as Huawei, has grown rapidly. There are plans for its application in retail, manufacturing, healthcare and transport, while smartphones bring this technology to everyone’s finger tips.

Huawei has already done this by introducing the world’s first intelligent machine, the Mate 10 Pro smartphone. Artificial Intelligence will bring magical results, your phone will be able to reserve a ticket at the cinema right after you have shot a poster for a movie. Slowly but surely, smartphones are becoming intelligent machines that will be able to predict the user’s next move and perform the task instead. It remains to us to test all the benefits of successfully carrying out everyday business activities that the latest smartphone Huawei P20 Pro introduced on March 27th in Paris enables.

DIGITAL FARM

First Digital Farm Opened

OPENING CEREMONY

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administration will get equal pay for the same work.

Public enterprises such as EPS, Srbijagas and Serbian railways will lower their expenses and increase their revenues, while 70,000 households will benefit from support from the Energy Vulnerable Program. Some 2.8 million customers of the Serbian Post Bank (Banka Postanska Stedionica AD Beograd) and the government will benefit from the reform and improved performance of State-Owned Financial Institutions (SOFIs) and Development Finance Institutions.

Standardized quality of cancer treatment will be provided throughout Serbia once two new linear accelerators and computerized tomography imaging are installed in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina.

These are some of the expected results of three loans approved today by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors in the amount of €225.7 million supporting the Government of Serbia’s efforts to improve its management of public expenditures, to make energy and transport public utilities more efficient and financially sustainable, and to advance the health care of its citizens.

OFFICE FOR IT AND E-GOVERNMENT

The Serbian Office of IT and e-Government has won the prestigious world award for contributing to the development of the MIHAILO JOVANOVIĆ, Director information society, in the of Serbian Office of IT and category “creating a good e-Government environment for the development of the information society”. The prize was awarded for the seventh consecutive year by the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), jointly organised by ITU, UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD. The Office for IT and e-Government won amidst fierce competition from 685 registered and 492 projects nominated by government institutions, companies and civil society organisations from around the world. First, the Office was among 90 finalists, then among the top five projects with the highest number of votes won within their category, out of a million votes received online, and finally declared the winner.

“The World Summit on the Information Society has recognised the establishment of the Office for IT and e-Government and the results achieved in the field of e-government as one of the key factors for the development of the information society and digitalisation of Serbia”, said Mihailo Jovanović, PhD, Director of the IT and e-Government Office.

The ceremony was held at the WSIS Forum in Geneva, gathering 85 ministers and over 200 representatives of governments, non-governmental organisations, directors of ICT companies…

Photo: TANJUG

LOCAL NEWS

VANITY

VINCI AIRPORTS

Vinci Signs Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport Concession The Serbian government and Vinci Airports have signed the 25year concession agreement for the operation of Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. Vinci will make one-off payments of €417 million to the government and €84 million to investors in the airport operator.

The additional annual concession fee will range from €4.4 million to €15.1 million euro. Vinci will make investments worth €732 million during concession rehabilitate and reconstruct the airport’s runways.

The agreement was signed at the Palace of Serbia by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic, CEO of Vinci Concessions and President of Vinci Airports Nicolas Notebaert, Massimo Bruzzo of Vinci Airports Srbija and the acting director of the Nikola Tesla Airport, Sasa Vlaisavljevic. The signing was also attended by Ambassador of France to Serbia H.E Frederic Mondoloni.

On March 20, Prime Minister Ana Brnabic opened first Digital Farm in Serbia and the region in Krivaja, near Backa Topola. It represents a unique space in which the latest technologies and machinery are applied in a real production environment, in the field, the government announced.

Brnabic explained that the farm will enable farmers to learn on the spot and for free how to reduce risks in production, consume less water and fertilizers and invest less resources, and receive higher yields.

Prime Minister stressed that the building of the BioSens Institute, which will be a European center of scientific excellence, must be built as soon as possible, for which the government will set aside €14 million.

Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Sem Fabrizi pointed out that agriculture in Serbia is an important drive and factor of development, and that in the past few years the export of agricultural products from Serbia has doubled.

VOTING

BIZLINK

“Those who abstain from voting, or who take a stance against Brnabic as a candidate for PM, will in fact take a stance against Aleksandar Vucic. The SNS will not let anyone blackmail it, nor do we want to allow a political situation where we depend on anyone.” — ALEKSANDAR MARTINOVIĆ, Head of the SNS group in the Serbian Assembly

New Factory For Home Appliance Cables Opened

In the presence of Serbian President AleksandarVučićand BizLink Group CEO Felix Teng, a new plant for the production of cables for small home appliances has opened Serbian President ALEKSANDAR at the BizLink factory VUČIĆ and BizLink Group CEO in Prokuplje, where in FELIX TENG the next two to three years – alongside the existing 350 workers – jobs will be gained by another 500 workers. BizLink has operated in Prokuplje for five years and currently employs 350 workers. The company produces cables and cable systems intended for home appliances and other electrical appliances.

Founded in 1996 and headquartered in the United States, in addition to that country it also operates in Japan, India, Ireland, China, Mexico, Slovakia, Serbia etc.

ERSTE GROUP

Key Policy Rate To Remain At 3.25 Percent Until The End Of 2018

Although the drop of inflation to the lower limit of the target band of the National Bank of Serbia of 3%+/-1.5 pp and the continuation of appreciation pressures may justify the decision of the NBS Executive Board to lower the key policy rate to 3.25 percent, we believe that additional monetary policy easing at this time cannot have a significant impact on inflation. According to our projections, inflation will continue to move close to the lower limit of the target band mostly because of the effect of the high base and stronger dinar. In addition, against the backdrop of a highly liquid banking sector, persistently decreasing interest rates, steady credit demand and pickup in economic activity which is expected to result in a further increase in public and private sector wages, the reduction in the key policy rate has a limited reach. On the other hand, according to the forecasts of most analysts, this year is expected to bring an even stronger tightening of monetary policy in the US. Also, the imminent termination of the ECB’s bond-buying programme has been announced, which will have a significant impact on investors’ appetite for emerging market securities, so the NBS must maintain room for manoeuvre. Considering that a stronger dinar is a consequence of structural factors, such as higher demand for dinar loans, stable and relatively strong export sector performance and stronger FDI inflow, and not so much of portfolio investments that are sensitive to key policy rate changes, we believe that the interest rate cut, as an indirect monetary policy measure focused on the evolution of the dinar, will have a limited reach.

Placements & postings appointments@aim.rs

▪ H.E. NIKOLAUS LUTTEROTTI, New Austrian Ambassador to Serbia The new Austrian ambassador to Serbia graduated in Law from the University of Innsbruck and earned a master’s degree in International Economics and International Relations from Johns Hopkins University in the U.S. From 1999 to 2000, Mr Lutterotti served in the Office of the Legal Advisor for the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while from 2001 (Austrian Embassy in Beijing, China) he spent three years as Directorate General for Political Affairs; Department for Southern Europe. From 2003 to 2007, Lutterotti was Spokesperson and Human rights Delegate at the Permanent Mission of Austria to the UN, then from 2007 to 2018 he held the post of Deputy Chief of Staff of the President of the UN General Assembly, while during part of that period, from 2008 to 2011, he served as Political Coordinator for UN Security Council membership. In 2011 he was appointed Deputy Spokesperson of the Ministry for European and International Affairs, which he held until 2013, when he began a three-year term as Foreign Policy Advisor to the Austrian Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs, Sebastian Kurz. He spent 2016 and 2017 as the Deputy Chief of Staff and Foreign Policy Advisor to the Austrian Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs, Sebastian Kurz, and from 2017 to March 2018 he was Foreign Policy Advisor to Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. He was appointed Austrian Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia in March 2018.

Mr Lutterotti (45) speaks German (native), English, French and Italian. He is a married father of one daughter.

▪ JELENA PAVLOVIĆ, New Chairwoman of the AmCham managing board At the General Assembly of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham the majority of a new managing board was elected by a vote of the member companies.

The former AmCham MB first vice-chairwoman Jelena Pavlović, managing director of Philip Morris International (PMI), was elected to the chair. Jelena mastered International Law at the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Law. Before joining PMI, Jelena was engaged by the U.S. Treasury and the World Bank in programs supporting reform of the banking and real sectors in Serbia. In more than 13 years of experience with PMI, Jelena enjoyed an enriching cross-functional career in Serbia and abroad. She advanced through number of roles, including Director Corporate Affairs in 2010, Deputy Managing Director Serbia and Montenegro in early 2013 and Managing Director Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina in July 2015. As of 1st January 2016, Jelena was appointed Managing Director Southeast Europe, reflecting her exceptional performance track record and impressive portfolio of leadership skills.

THE RESIDENCES AT ST. REGIS BELGRADE

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The Residences at St. Regis Belgrade will fulfill all of your expectations when it comes to the ideal home and provide you with unforgettable moments with your loved ones.

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CORPORATE

GORAN PUZOVIĆ, DIRECTOR AT SRBIJAVODE

Ever More Investment In Water Management Serbia was hit by catastrophic floods in May 2014 that jeopardised human lives, destroyed numerous infrastructure facilities, flooded towns and municipalities, caused damage costing over €1.5 billion and halted the country’s economic growth

I

n this devastating wave of floods, water management facilities were also severely damaged. Immediately after the floods abated, the Government of the Republic of Serbia, led by Aleksandar Vučić, initiated the reconstruction of the country.

Recovery efforts initiated the rehabilitation of destroyed and damaged embankments, regulating structures, pumping stations and other facilities.

■ Which activities were undertaken to avoid the consequences of major floods like that of 2014?

- Works were undertaken on over 300 sites in 95 municipalities and cities, worth a total amount of 3.5 billion dinars. In parallel with these activities of Public Water Company ‘Srbijavode’, work was also actively undertaken on raising the level of protection with the preparing of technical documentation for the reconstruction of existing facilities and the construction of new ones. A loan from the World Bank was used to build six facilities, while IPA funds are currently enabling the construction of four capital facilities with a total value of €25 million.

■ In your opinion, which regions remain in the focus of special attention when it comes to possible flooding caused by burst riverbanks?

- It would be good for us to have a peace36 |

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ful year in a hydrological sense. But at the beginning of March we aready had a floodwave in the river basin of the South Morava and Timok, due to the sudden melting of snow. What is worrying is information that amounts of snow, primarily in the Alps, are at their highest since 2006, and that year we had to endure a long and difficult defence of the Danube and Sava. There are also still large amounts of snow in the Sava River Basin in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia, as well as in the Carpathian region. All of this indicates that the situation in April and

The budget for 2018 is higher than the budget of the previous year. The flood protection system consists of over 2,500 kilometers of embankments and riverbank reinforcements, 3,500 kilometres of canal networks, 42 high dams and reservoirs, 65 pumping stations and many other facilities May will not be easy and that we can expect high water levels along these rivers. The basins of the West and South Morava rivers, the Kolubara, Drina and Timok, must also be given special attention.

■ Where are works being carried out today on facilities that will prevent floods and

damage to both buildings and arable land?

- We today have active 75 construction sites in 45 cities and municipalities (Kraljevo, Vrnjačka Banja, Lučani, Leskovac, Vlasotinci, Lebane, Koceljeva, Smederevska Palanka etc.), where works are being carried out and the level of flood protection is being increased. The value of these works is 1.7 billion dinars. I would like to emphasise that last autumn we completed construction of the embankment and pumping station in Lučani, with which the settlement, industrial zone and arms industry facilities are protected, and that today we are conducting works on the other bank of the Bjelica, in order to protect the settlement of Đerađ.

The public should know that the degree of flood protection differs for towns, settlements, energy and other infrastructure facilities and agricultural areas. This means that agricultural areas are protected with the lowest level of protection. If every field or meadow were to be defended, that water would more quickly reach cities and other vital systems located beside rivers, and the defending against floods would be impossible with incalculable consequences.

■ How much progress has been made on reconstruction of the Parmenac-Katrga Canal and what will agriculture gain with the culmination of this project?

- This year it is planned to start the reconstruction of the first six kilometres from

Parmenac and enable irrigation of several hundred hectares of agricultural land in that part. With the leadership of the City of Čačak, plans are being harmonised for downstream sections, because the conditions on the terrain change with passing of the road corridor to the Morava valley.

■ The Kolubara River Basin is one of the most threatened in Serbia. What kind of plans are there for the protection of Valjevo, Ub, Obrenovac and other settlements, energy facilities and other structures?

- In May 2014, the Kolubara River demolished infrastructure completely and caused immeasurable adverse effects in all parts of its catchment area. We are in the final phase of developing a study on protection against harmful effects of the River Kolubara, and that study represents a comprehensive basis for everything to be planned and built in the next 20-25 years.

The development of preliminary designs for the construction of two reservoirs above Ub and Koceljeva, ’Pambukovica’ and ’Kamenica’, is underway, with the beginning of their construction expected by the end of next year. Project tasks for the project to reconstruct 32 kilometres of embankments beside the Kolubara are being prepared.

Here we are confronted by a few key problems that condition very long deadlines, both for design and construction. These primarily related to a lack of planning documentation and the difficulty of resolving property relations on the ground.

■ Compared to previous years, how much is allocated to Srbijavode from the budget today, and are these resources sufficient for flood protection needs?

- The Serbian Government has recognised this problem. The budget for 2018 is higher than the budget of the previous year. The flood protection system consists of over 2,500 kilometers of embankments and riverbank reinforcements, 3,500 kilometres of canal networks, 42 high dams and reservoirs, 65 pumping stations and many other facilities. From year to year, the Republic of Serbia is increasing its allocations for water management. The allocated funds this year

represent about 65% of the funds required for regular maintenance of the constructed facilities. The basic problem is insufficient investment in the water management system in the past three decades. As a consequence, we have devastated facilities and today we aren’t talking about regular maintenance, but primarily about remediation or reconstructions of water facilities. That’s why we expect even stronger financial and legal support.

higher education institutions – these are just some of the measures that, if implemented systematically, can yield results in the long term.

■ Serbia is one of the world’s countries that has great water resources. How can we protect this resource in the long term, given that water will soon be among the most sought-after resources?

- This kind of thinking creates problems and

■ What can Srbijavode do within the framework of its existing budget when it comes to maintaining watercourses and building riverbank reinforcements and other facilities, and what are your plans for the period ahead?

- Srbijavode has three priority tasks in the next four years.

Firstly, within the framework of the current budget, to determine priority areas and facilities where the available resources can ensure the achieving of maximum protection; for the regular maintenance of facilities

shapes our relationship towards water. Serbia is a country that, spatially and temporally, does not have good distribution. There are parts of the country where we do not have enough water or where it is of poor quality, for example in Vojvodina. On the other hand, in some parts of our country there are periods during the year, primarily in spring, when there is more water than necessary and during the summer or autumn we don’t have enough drinking water, not to mention water needed for industry and agriculture. Those are the valleys of Toplice, Pčinja, South Morava, Mlava etc.

We need to change our relationship with water systematically. Energy-efficient use of all water sources, reduction on pollution of surface waters, forestation, raising ecological awareness among our citizens, educating children from preschool to

to reach the required level and to halt the further destruction of water facilities and the entire water management system.

Secondly, to prepare projects for the new investment cycle as soon as possible, define maps of blue zones, establish an early warning system and define the full coordination of all stakeholders at the state and local government levels.

Thirdly is implementation of reforms of Srbijavode itself, strengthening staffing, improving and using of new IT solutions; the preparation of a new law on water and law on financing, in line with European water directives, as well as raising transparency in work and strengthening ties with international investment institutions.

The path of one drop of rain from cloud to spring lasts several hundred or thousand years. ■ APRIL

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REGIONAL NEWS

RESIGNATION

“The (railway project) took a new blow from those who want to stop the positive development of Slovenia. I don’t want to be part of such stories. Demands and suggestions have been becoming less and less feasible and even damaging to the state.”— MIRO CERAR, Slovenia’s Prime Minister

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

WESTER BALKANS

Bosnia's First Wind Farm Bosnian power utility Elektroprivreda HZHB brought online the 50.6 MW wind farm Mesihovina, located in Tomislavgrad. The wind farm, the first in the country, cost €82 million to build and consists of 22 wind turbines, EP HZHB said in a statement on Monday. In April 2016, the power utility announced it has awarded a €71.9 million contract for the construction of the first lot of the wind farm to a consortium led by German engineering group Siemens. The construction of the second lot was awarded to a consortium consisting of Croatia’s ABB and Elektrocentar Petek for €4.3 million. Elektroprivreda HZHB, the smallest of the three Bosnian state-owned power utilities, is based in the Federation. The country’s largest power utility is Elektroprivreda BiH, also based in the Federation, which together with the Serb Republic forms Bosnia and Herzegovina. Elektroprivreda RS is the power utility of the Serb Republic.

Positive Trend Expected In The Coming Period

CROATIA

Investment Plan Gives A Boost To Tourism The European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a loan of €16 million with Valamar Riviera d.d – Croatia’s leading tourism company.

This is the first EIB transaction in Croatia with a private sector company that benefits from the support of the EU budget guarantee under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the financing component of the Investment Plan for Europe.

The EFSI-backed EIB loan will co-finance the completion of the Valamar Girandella Resort in Rabac on the Istrian peninsula with the construction of its first five-star “Kinderhotel”, a family-friendly resort focused on children’s activities. With the hotel opening this month, the process of repositioning destination Rabac as leading leisure destination for high-end guests will be completed. This loan is complementary to an intermediated loan of €44 million granted to Valamar through Croatia’s public development bank HBOR in March 2017.

Despite the negative influence of political developments on investment and growth - reduced investment inflows and increased cost of capital; hindered capacity of the governments to implement reforms; and seized up business activity within the economies, in economic terms, the region has returned to a steady growth pattern, with positive trend expected in the coming period.

KOSOVO

Private Business Feeling Confident New report from the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce report says that despite the complex political situation, the private sector in the country is feeling increasingly optimistic. A report published mid last month by the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce said 84 per cent of 505 companies that were interviewed say the business situation in the country is improving. The head of the Chamber of Commerce, Safet Gerxhaliu, said the private sector had seen positive growth, despite being buffeted by political events. He added that much of this progress was down to the public-private partnership that the Chamber of Commerce has developed with various government departments, especially with the Ministry of Finance. Olivera Ceni, the chief researcher for the report, said that 46 per cent of Kosovo companies interviewed expected to increase their workforces this spring. “An increase [in employment] is mainly expected in the construction sector and manufacturing, followed by the wholesale trade sector,” Ceni stated. The average unemployment rate for January to September last year was 30.4 per cent, one of the highest rates in the Balkans, and almost 3 per cent higher than in 2016. A survey was conducted by UNDP Kosovo.

ALBANIA

Hotel Industry Growing Steadily Tax incentives and the increased number of international tourist arrivals are directing the construction sector toward the hospitality industry.

The number of building permits for hotels throughout the country during 2017 reached 53 or five times more compared to the previous year. This is the highest number of constructing permits issued during the last five years. Based on the number of building permits, the total land that will be used for the construction of hotels and other accommodation facilities is 89,000 square meters. In the meantime, the investment value is €22.8 million more than the investments made in power and water supply networks in the country, Top Channel reports. In the last stimulus package, the Albanian government decided that all the four and five-star hotels and resorts will be exempt from corporate income tax for a ten year period. Meanwhile, the Value Added Tax (VAT) for all the services supplied by five-star hotels was set at six percent. This is not the first initiative in support to the tourism sector. Years ago, special status was offered to investments in tourist villages and resorts. However, the purpose of those investments changed from commercial to residential use.

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A welcome development is the underlying rebalancing of the economy that has been happening over the past five years, with steadily increasing exports and somewhat subdued imports. This has led to a considerable reduction of the negative trade balance that the region has with is trading partners. Return of employment growth is another success story. The Western Balkans economies have managed to add almost 400,000 jobs in the previous five years.

Although performance differed between the economies, the trend is easy to spot and is also expected to continue into the next year. Croatia withdrew from the SEE 2020 monitoring process during this year due to its EU 2020 monitoring responsibilities. This had an obvious impact on the quantification of regional headline targets and on their composition. However, dynamic comparisons are still possible between the WB6 economies, allowing identification of some important trends and developments in SEE 2020 implementation.

In 2016 the region saw varied progress in SEE 2020 Strategy implementation. The constantly changing SEE 2020 implementation context significantly influenced the performance of participating economies.

COOPERATION “Our integration into NATO does not mean opposing the promotion of cooperation with the Russian Federation, because Macedonia in its strategic goals intends to strengthen and promote cooperation with the Russian Federation, primarily in economics, culture, education, and in all other respects.”— ZORAN ZAEV, Macedonian PM

FYR MACEDONIA

MONTENEGRO

Tax Debt Amounts To €157 Million

World Bank Withdraw $50mln Loan Over Excessive Debt

Tax debt owed by individuals and companies in FYR Macedonia amounts to €157 million These figures have been provided by the department of taxation, which explains that the list of its debtors counts over 4 thousand debtors.

This department also explains that in the recent months, payments from tax debtors have increased. According to statistics, the debt has fallen by €22 million, while the number of debtors has dropped by 400. Private companies are the

By Naser Pajaziti/ibna ones owning most of the tax debt.

The World Bank has withdrawn its $50 million loan support to Montenegro’s budget, saying a highway deal agreed with China would put too much strain on the Adriatic country’s finances. The World Bank loan was intended to help gradually reduce Montenegro’s public debt, estimated at around 58 percent of the gross domestic product. The €809 million highway loan could drive Montenegro’s debt up by another quarter of national output, the bank told Reuters.

“Due to the ... impact on debt sustainability, the bank dropped the budget support preparation” and shifted to investment lending for other sectors, the bank said in a statement for Reuters. Last month, Montenegro’s government sealed an agreement with the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), part of China Communications Construction Company , to build a 40-kilometre section of a 120-km highway connecting the south with Serbia in the north.

Transportation Minister Ivan Brajovic has said negotiations have already begun with China Export Import Bank about a loan to cover 85 percent of the total amount, while the remaining 15 percent would be covered from commercial loans. The World Bank has already disbursed $164.2 million in budget support loans to Montenegro under it 2011-2015 programme.

BULGARIA

Bulgartransgaz To Acquire Assets Of South Stream Bulgaria

ROMANIA

Lidl Invests €100 Million To Launch Its 2nd Largest Digital Hub Bulgaria’s gas transmission system operator Bulgartransgaz said it is planning to acquire 28 properties owned

by South Stream Bulgaria, a 50/50 joint venture set up

by Russia’s Gazprom and state-owned Bulgarian Energy Holding. The properties have a total estimated value of €6.7 million, Bulgartransgaz. According to media reports,

Bulgartransgaz will use the assets for the purposes of a project for an EU-funded regional gas hub near the Black Sea port of Varna. The hub is planned to dispatch gas deliveries to to Greece, Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and, via those countries, to EU member states in central and western Europe, as well as to non-EU Serbia, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The South Stream gas pipeline was planned to carry gas from Russia to central and southern Europe. The onshore pipeline had to connect Varna, on the Black Sea, to northern Italy, via Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovenia.

HUNGARY

Labour Shortage German discount food retailer Lidl has increased the paid-up share capital of its Romanian subsidiary with €100 million, preparing to launch the first local digital hub and the second largest in Europe, according to Profit.ro.

After the capital inflow, the total share capital of Lidl Romania rose to almost €215 million.

The capital increase has been completed and registered just before the opening of the Romanian digital hub of Lidl, the second largest in Europe after the German digital hub.

Lidl Digital is the e-commerce branch of Lidl and will employ around 100 people in Romania. Lidl has entered the Romanian market in 2010.

The availability of key skills is a challenge according to 95 percent of CEOs in Hungary, according to the PwC survey conducted late in 2017.

Among challenges, changing workforce demographics was mentioned by 76 percent and higher employee benefits by 73 percent of CEOs. The percentage of CEOs saying they would like to increase their staff numbers has been over 50 percent for years now. Fully 89 percent of CEOs are confident that their company’s revenue will grow in the next 12 months, 55 percent predicted the Hungarian economy will keep growing and 47 percent said that the global economy would expand. The outlook for CEOs’ own companies and Hungary has not changed, while their opinion of the global economy improved from a year ago. Nearly half of Hungarian CEOs picked Germany as their most important foreign market, followed by Romania, the United States and Slovakia.

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CORPORATE ŽELJKO MILKOVIĆ, GRADUATE MECHANICAL ENGINEER, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC UTILITY CITY TRANSPORT COMPANY GSP “BEOGRAD”

We Respect Our Passengers’ Needs Public transportation needs change from day to day, so GSP “Beograd” is preparing to increase the number of vehicles and rejuvenate them.

It is planned for the quality of transport to be raised to a significantly higher level in the next few years and for passengers to be provided with greater comfort during the summer and winter months

W

e were the first in Europe to introduce a line with new electric bus with super capacitors, which proved themselves to be excellent, so now other European cities are following in our footsteps.

This type of vehicle is the future of public transport in cities like Belgrade

a sufficient number of vehicles to fulfil the schedule defined by the Secretariat for Public Transport, but our goal is also to increase the number of vehicles and rejuvenate them.

Increasing the number of vehicles would also lead to shortening intervals between times of departures and arrivals at stations, reducing the number of passengers per vehicle and increasing their comfort, reducing the time needed for passengers to enter and exit transport at stops and, in the end, to a higher frequency of vehicles. It is also necessary to insist on better connectivity between peripheral municipalities and central city municipalities. The number of inhabitants of peripheral municipalities is constantly increasing, so transportation must also be adapted to this fact, and alongside that we are also obliged to provide the same conditions for all users of public transport. If the problem of charging for transport is resolved in the next

year or two, then our company would be in a position to finance the procurement of new vehicles from its own resources.

■ With your procurement of electric buses you’ve shown that you’re keeping pace with European and global standards. What is the benefit of these vehicles compared to old ones?

■ Last year you commemorated 125 - With the purchase of new electric buses years of public transport in Belgrade and with high capacity capacitors and the establishment of the first such commercial line in acquired 95 new vehicles. How much Belgrade - ECO 1, GSP “Beograd” – the City of work was done in the previous period to Belgrade and the Secretariat for Environmenimprove the quality of transportation in tal Protection, with the full support of Envithe city? ronmental Protection Minister Goran Trivan A lot has been done over the past four years and Belgrade Mayor Siniša Mali, we showed to improve the quality of transportation in that we are pioneers in the realisation of Belgrade. Is that enough? Certainly not, but such projects. We were the first in Europe about 5,800 employees at GSP “Beograd” to start using this type of vehicle, and now exert great efforts on a daily basis to meet our bold steps are being followed by many the needs of our fellow citizens in terms of other cities. Thanks to the conscientious high-quality, punctual and safe transportation. In addition to 90 buses produced engagement of GSP “Beograd” workers The management of GSP by domestic manufacturers and five elecand engineers, this project came to life tric buses, we also procured 12 school in just 13 months. The vehicles have been “Beograd”, the City of Belgrade buses that meet all the requirements operational for a year and a half, with an and the Agency for Traffic and standards of safe transportation for average of 80,000 kilometres travelled, Safety were the first in Europe to and we are very pleased with the results. our schoolkids. This is the first procurelaunch the project “Safe Seats ment of this type in Belgrade and Serbia.

In comparison to diesel engines, electric buses recoup the money invested after for Children, Mothers with ■ How many vehicles are required to Children and Pregnant Women”. six years of operations, which speaks meet the needs of Belgrade and its for itself. We are proud to have paved Although the project is still in the the way for the development of public suburban settlements? Can GSP “Beotesting phase, citizens’ reactions transport in Belgrade, but also for the grad” finance these procurements?

- Both GSP “Beograd” and private development and bright future of GSP have been very positive transportation companies currently have “Beograd”. ■ 40 |

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CORPORATE MILOŠ BORENOVIĆ, DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT MANAGEMENT, TELESIGN BELGRADE

Ease The Lives Of Citizens We are innovating to solve customer engagement problems and address specific challenges presented by our clients. And, we are succeeding – Miloš Borenović mental in securing and managing client relationships and building products that change the way businesses interact with their customers.

One of these products is built around a messaging platform that delivers SMSs on behalf of our customers to and from end-users all around the world. The socalled Application-to-Person (A2P) SMS is going through a renaissance period.

The main drivers of this are twofold. On the one hand, customers all over the world are increasingly reliant on mobile in all facets of their lives, from shopping to communicating, and they prefer to work with businesses that allow them

IDC has stated that TeleSign is poised for victory on this market.

■ What are some of the challenges and benefits of having a full-fledged ProdeleSign is probably the only IT uct Management department in Serbia? company in Serbia which has - In Belgrade, TeleSign’s local PM team products that were, at least consists of 10 experienced product managers who are working on all the jobs you partially, envisaged, designed would typically hire a PM to do – from and built locally, and which are used by Corporate Strategy and ideation to go-to20 of the 25 largest web properties in the market execution. Forming and maintainworld. We are instrumental in securing ing such a department has traditionally and managing client relationships and been a challenge in Serbia. Moreover, building products that change the way the customer base is international and businesses interact with their customers. gathering customer insights, which is a vital job of a PM, can sometimes be ■ What makes TeleSign unique?

The education system is challenging and include lots of travel - A vast majority of people have likely (i.e. high costs). Despite all of the used our products without even realnot well known for yielding ising it. From the moment someone aforementioned, TeleSign – mainly future product management wakes up in the morning and checks through investment in PMs’ knowlprofessionals and there is a edge base and internal processes their email, all the way until they go lack of companies offering – has found a way to not only have a to bed at night and check what’s new on their favourite social network, such positions and experience local PM department, but one that is successful and vital to the growth of they have likely used our products in TeleSign’s international business. a variety of ways. This ability to reach and to communicate via mobile devices, Our strong PM department works influence a great number of end-users especially SMSs. On the other hand, businesses are realising the effectiveness of to TeleSign’s benefit not only when it across the globe provides the purpose SMS communications, where more than comes to market success, but also inof our work and presents a privilege and ternally. Thanks to our instrumental role 90 per cent of messages are opened honour for us at TeleSign. in TeleSign’s vision and success, we are within three minutes and engagement is able to help bring alignment, meaning drastically increased compared to other ■ What types of products does TeleSign build and how much of business is and purpose to all other departments platforms like email. present in Belgrade? of our Belgrade office. We firmly believe This is reflected in numerous reports - Every facet of TeleSign’s business has a that meaning and purpose in our everyindicating strong and steady growth day jobs are an essential ingredient to presence in our Belgrade office. Whether of the A2P SMS and Communications being happy and engaged in our work, it’s development, sales, marketing or Platform as a service (CPaaS) market in and this helps us ensure our customers product management, a large part of general. TeleSign, which was founded are successful when we are successful at TeleSign’s success is created by our inand is headquartered in Los Angeles, renovative team in Serbia. We are instrucently launched its CPaaS platform, and what we do. ■

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WORLD NEWS

PLATFORM “Every day I work to bring people together and build a community for everyone. We hope to give all people a voice and create a platform for all ideas.” — MARK ZUCKERBERG, Facebook CEO RUSSIA

CHINA

Alrosa Diamond Invests $211mln In Production Development

Negotiation To Acquire Heineken's China Business

Russia’s Alrosa diamond producer will invest 12 billion rubles ($211 million) in further development of the Lomonosov deposit in the Arkhangelsk Region Within 2018 the company will begin projecting and will start buying additional mining equipment.

“According to the forecast, we shall work at the southern group of pipes to 2035, and from 2035 we shall go to the northern group of pipes, which are 5-6 km from the southern: those are pipes Pionerskaya, Lomonosovskaya - there we shall be to 2043-2045,” sajd Director General of Severalmaz (Alrosa’s subsidiary) Andrei Pismennyi Severalmaz owns a license for Europe’s biggest diamond deposit named after Lomonosov, where production began in 2005 from a mining-enriching plant with the capacity of one million tonnes of ore a year. The Arkhangelsk Region has two diamond deposits.In2017,diamondminingcompaniesearned there about 25 billion rubles ($440 million), where almost $70 million were paid in taxes. In 2017, about 7.5 million carats of diamond were produced in the Arkhangelsk Region.

ChinaResourcesBeer(Holdings)CoLtdisintalkstoacquire Heineken NV’s China business in a deal that could be worth more than $1 billion, as the country’s largest brewer seeks new growth from premium brands, five people close to the

ALROSA DIAMOND MINE

CARLOS GHOSN JAPAN

Nissan In Talks To Buy France’s Renault Renault SA and alliance partner Nissan Motor Co. are discussing plans for a closer tie-up in which the Japanese carmaker would acquire the bulk of the French state’s 15 percent Renault stake, people close to the matter said.

The carmakers are in talks with government officials over proposals by Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn that would see Paris give up influence at Renault and the French carmaker relinquish control over Nissan, according to three sources.

But any deal still faces significant hurdles — not least its extreme political sensitivity in France — and has yet to win government approval. To do so, it must balance French and Japanese interests, avoiding the appearance of a takeover.

The sources said Renault was being advised by BNP Paribas and Nissan by Nomura on the planned stake sale, which would happen either as part of a broader Renault-Nissan combination or as a “stepping stone” on the way to one. The banks did not respond to requests for comment.

President Emmanuel Macron’s government recently told Ghosn’s representatives it would be ready to exit or sell down its Renault holding as part of a merger deal that secured French interests, according to multiple sources close to the talks.

NORWAY

Telenor: “Europe Is The Backwater” Telenor’s chief executive, Sigve Brekke, wants the EU to be a top team when the giants from China and the United States come to full size.

Brekke believes it is urgent to seek out areas where Europe could become a leader. In the meetings with the European Commission, he drew special attention to three areas: SIGVE BREKKE * Digital health services: Online solutions can be used in hospitals and in home care. For example, people can have alarms and motion sensors at home that are connected to the web, or they can measure blood pressure and blood sugar themselves. * ‘Smart’ municipalities and cities: Digital solutions can be used, for example, to control traffic in cities or show people where there are available parking spaces. * Digital solutions to help small and medium-sized businesses.

Brekke said that he also spoke for European centres of artificial intelligence. Here, he believes that cooperation is needed simply because no country or business in Europe is big enough to go it alone.

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discussionssaid.Thenegotiationscomeasglobalbeergiants such as Heineken, AB InBev and Carlsberg are facing fierce competition from local rivals and each other in emerging markets, which have been touted as the growth engine for the world’s biggest brewers. China is the world’s largest beer market by volume. CR Beer’s biggest brand, Snow, is the world’s top-selling beer, but is almost exclusively sold Source: Reuters in China.

10 EASY WAYS

TO IMPROVE YOUR RESUME

Although your resume is not necessarily mistaken, the job-seekers could have much nicer, cleaner, more readable resumes if you just tweaked a few things. You’ll see significant improvements if you make these 10 easy fixes.

1. Use a bulleted style to make your resume more reader-friendly.

2. Follow “The Resume Ingredients Rule.”

The rule says that information on a resume should be listed in order of importance to the reader.

3. Eliminate “responsibilities” words from your resume vocabulary.

4. Eliminate clutter from your resume.

5. Use strong, concrete verbs to describe your jobs, and don’t mix noun and verb phrases.

6. Focus on describing past job activities that highlight the skills you most like to use and want to use in your next job 7. Don’t fret about the one-page resume rule.

8. Make sure your resume has a sharp focus.

9. Don’t emphasize older experience on your resume.

10. Be sure the reader will understand all the acronyms and jargon you use in your resume.

NATURE “I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We’ve created life in our own image.” — STEPHEN HAWKING, theoretical physicist INDIA

BRAZIL

NCLT Approves Airtel-Telenor Merger

Carnival Helps Rio Start Growing Again

The India’s National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved the proposed merger of Telenor India with Bharti Airtel.Thebenchapprovedtheschemewithcertainconditions.

Airtel and Telenor had signed the agreement for merger on February 2017 under which Airtel will acquire Telenor India’s running operations in seven circles -- Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, UP (East), UP (West) and Assam.

The proposed acquisition has already been cleared by Competition Commission of India, the market regulator Sebi and stock exchanges BSE and NSE, and it is awaiting telecom department’s nod.

The deal will include transfer of all of Telenor India’s assets and customers and is aimed at augmenting Airtel’s overall customer base and network.

One of the world’ biggest events is the Rio Carnival from January to January programme.

The Carnivals is expecting to bring R$ 3.02 billion (€750.7million) the state’s economy this year. The amount is 6.8% higher than in 2017 The year of 2018 is still starting and with it, the Rio de Janeiro a Janeiro programme (“Rio from January to January”), with events selected by the Ministry of Culture, aimed at generating income and employment in the state. However, the first two months of the year were enough for some results to be seen already.

Rio’s carnival will attract 6.5 million people this year, but Brazil will benefit for many more: the state’s entire population. The figures prove this: the revenue generated was 6.8% higher than that of the Carnival in 2017; 72 thousand jobs were created; The party also generated R$179 million (€4.5million) in taxes.

The flow of tourists in Rio increased by 7.6% compared to last carnival, reaching 1.05 million people. From this total, 931 thousand were Brazilians and 124 thousand were foreign nationals.

SWEDEN

The Most Cashless Society On The Planet

FRANCE

France Drops Bid To Host 2025 World's Fair

Swedes are advancing with great strides into a world of digital money. Throughout the country “no cash

accepted” signs are a common sight, whether you’re getting a cup of coffee or a beer, buying a bus ticket or even using a public restroom. Hard currency is no longer needed in everyday life; it’s a nearly cashless society.

In Sweden, the amount of circulating cash has dropped to 57 billion krona (€5.6). The percentage of transactions carried out in cash has slipped below the 20 percent mark. “In the not-too-distant future, Sweden may become a society in which cash is no longer generally accepted,” according to the Riksbank, Sweden’s central bank.

TURKEY

Norway's Sovereign Wealth Fund's Investment Exceeds $1bln EDOUARD PHILIPPE

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has announced that the country will pull out of the bidding to host the 2025 World’s Fair, saying it could punch a hole in public finances.

“I have decided not to continue with France’s candidature for the World’s Fair, which will be withdrawn. There are “structural weaknesses” in the French proposal’s economic projections ,” Philippe said.

With the government making a priority of reducing France’s budget deficit to the European Union’s required three percent of GDP, the prime minister argued that he could not take the risk of endorsing further commitments.

France’s withdrawal means that three countries are still in the running - Russia, Japan and Azerbaijan.

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest of its kind with a size of $1 trillion, invested around $1.3 billion in the shares of different companies in Turkey as of the end of 2017.

The fund last year invested some of its assets in the shares of 51 companies in different scales, which operate in various fields and are traded on the Borsa Istanbul, according to the information compiled from Norges Bank, which manages Norway’s sovereign wealth fund.

While the amount of investment made by the fund in Turkish companies totaled $1.3 billion, the investment portfolio of the fund includes shares from seven Turkish energy companies, namely gas company Aygaz, steel producer Kardemir, TüpraşTurkey Petroleum Refineries Inc., Enka Construction and Industry Inc., Petkim Petrochemical Holding Inc., Ereğli Iron and Steel Factories and Ulusoy Electric. The fund’s share in these seven Turkish energy companies amounted to $228 million.

The sovereign wealth fund made its largest energy investment in Turkey in Tüpras Petroleum Refineries Inc. with $86.2 million, followed by Ereğli Iron and Steel Factories with an investment of $80.2 million.

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