CorD Magazine, December 2018 issue, no. 170

Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Serbia

BORIS MILJKOVIĆ

UNICEF Representative in Serbia

Creative director of Serbian national television company RTS

Children At Risk Of Poverty, Young Unemployed

www.cordmagazine.com

Solution For Kosovo And Resolution 1244 Inseparable

REGINA DE DOMINICIS

No Room To Create The New DECEMBER 2018/ ISSUE NO. 170

H.E. ALEXANDER CHEPURIN

interviews opinions news comments events TOBIAS FLESSENKEMPER

Concern Over Harassment &

INTIMIDATION OF JOURNALISTS FOCUS: HEALTHCARE

Money for nothing?

Exclusive

MARTINA LARKIN

783002 771451 9

Yes, The Western Balkans Can Leapfrog The Digital Divide

ISSN1451-7833

HEAD OF EUROPE AND EURASIA, WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM

CONTENTS

OPINION

HOW CAN COUNTRIES REDUCE POVERTY FASTER? While the total number of impoverished people worldwide is declining, the rate of progress is not as fast as it needs to be to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030. To increase the pace of poverty reduction, lessons from the recent past can help

08 YES, THE WESTERN BALKANS CAN LEAPFROG THE DIGITAL DIVIDE MARTINA LARKIN, Head of Europe and Eurasia, World Economic Forum

12 SOLUTION FOR KOSOVO AND RESOLUTION 1244 INSEPARABLE

H.E. ALEXANDER CHEPURIN, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Serbia

18 CHILDREN AT RISK OF POVERTY, YOUNG UNEMPLOYED

REGINA DE DOMINICIS, UNICEF Representative in Serbia

@CORD_MAGAZINE

@CORDMAGAZINE

CORD MAGAZINE

EDITOR IN CHIEF: Miroslava Nešić-Bikić m.bikic@aim.rs

22 GLOBAL DIARY

CONTRIBUTORS: Rob Dugdale, Maja Vukadinović,

EDITORIAL MANAGER: Neda Lukić n.lukic@aim.rs PHOTOS: Zoran Petrović COPY EDITOR: Mark Pullen

JOURNALISTS

TOBIAS FLESSENKEMPER, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade

28 SECURING THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION COMMENT

30 MONEY FOR NOTHING?

FOCUS: Healthcare

TRANSLATION & EDITING MRP EDITORIAL Halifax Translation Services

48 FROM REARING PIGS TO BEING A SELF-MADE BILLIONAIRE ZHOU QUNFEI, the world’s richest self-made woman

SALES MANAGERS: Biljana Dević, b.devic@aim.rs Nataša Trifunović, n.trifunovic@aim.rs Vesna Vukajlović, v.vukajlovic@aim.rs OFFICE MANAGER: Svetlana Petrović s.petrovic@aim.rs

VESNA BRZEV-ĆURČIĆ, Training psychoanalyst and supervisor medical psychology specialist

52 BECAUSE PAINTING

FINANCE: Milena Vuković Buha finance@aim.rs GENERAL MANAGER: Maja Vidaković m.vidakovic@aim.rs

IS BEAUTIFUL

CONTEMPORARY ART: Buenos Aires’ Street Art

56 NEW GENRE OF PERFORMING ARTS CONTEMPORARY CIRCUS

58 CORD CEREMONIOUSLY CELEBRATED ITS 15TH BIRTHDAY 61 FACES & PLACES

35 BUSINESS DIALOGUE

51 GROWING UP IN SERBIA

24 CONCERN OVER HARASSMENT AND INTIMIDATION OF

Mirjana Jovanović, Miša Brkić, Radmila Stanković, Steve MacKenzie, Zorica Todorović Mirković, Sonja Ćirić

DESIGNER: Jasmina Laković j.lakovic@aim.rs

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63 NO ROOM TO CREATE THE NEW

BORIS MILJKOVIĆ, Creative director of Serbian national television company RTS

68 CHILL OUT 70 THE TIME OF GIVING

FASHION: Christmas & New Year Gifts

72 CULTURE CALENDAR 74 AFTER WORK

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December

Opinion

How Can Countries

Reduce Poverty Faster?

ANTONIO SAVOIA PROJECT SINDICATE

C

an the world end poverty by 2030, the target set by the United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development? The UN General Assembly recently reaffirmed this deadline but conceded that meeting it will require “accelerating global actions” to tackle poverty’s causes. As the international community explores new solutions, lessons from the past could be instructive.

Poverty reduction has been central to development policy for decades. During the 15 years of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the predecessor to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the percentage of people living in poverty – defined as less than $1.90 a day – declined significantly, from nearly 27% in 2000, when the MDGs began, to about 9% in 2017.

At first glance, the rate of poverty reduction in the first few years of the SDGs has also been impressive. Between January 2016 and June 2018, an estimated 83 million people were lifted out of extreme poverty. And yet, to remain on track to meet the 2030 target date, about 120 million people should have escaped poverty during that period. Despite the welcome gains, the pace of progress has been less than satisfactory.

In a recent paper co-authored for the journal World Development, we examined what factors drive successful poverty reduction. Using poverty statistics from developing countries during the MDGs era, we assessed whether countries with higher levels of income poverty – that is, more people living on less money – experienced faster reductions in their poverty rates than economies with lower income-poverty

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While the total number of impoverished people worldwide is declining, the rate of progress is not as fast as it needs to be to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030. To increase the pace of poverty reduction, lessons from the recent past can help levels. Using limits of $1.25 and $2 per person per day, we found that poverty tended to decrease faster in countries that started out poorer.

But these findings, while positive, tell only part of the story. In many countries, the end of poverty remains a distant goal. For example, at the current pace of poverty reduction, we estimate that Mali, where 86% of the population lived on less than $1.25 a day in 1990, will require another 31 years to eradicate extreme poverty altogether. But even in Ecuador, where only 7% of the population lived on less than $1.25 a day in 1990, eliminating poverty will take at least another decade.

The differing experiences of countries in Africa and Asia illustrate that while adoption of the MDG agenda did accelerate poverty reduction, the degree of progress has varied widely. In the early 1990s, poverty levels in Nigeria, Lesotho, Madagascar, and Zambia were similar to those in China, Vietnam, and Indonesia. But by the time the MDGs ended in 2015, the Asian countries had reduced levels of poverty dramatically; the African countries had not.

This divergence continues.Today, extreme poverty is mostly contained to Africa; according to the World Bank’s 2018 Poverty and Shared Prosperity report, 27 of the world’s 28 poorest countries are on the continent, and each has a poverty rate above 30%.

In fact, at current rates of poverty reduction, more than 300 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa will still be poor in 2030.

Many factors have contributed to the shifting geography of poverty. In Africa, weak economic

performance – fueled by conflict, ineffective policies, ethnic fragmentation, and external shocks – has made it more difficult for countries to fund povertyalleviation programs. But the most important factor may be state capacity. After all, weak state institutions cannot effectively deliver public goods and services.

Of course, this leads to another question: what factors determine a state’s capacity? In general, states work better when ruling elites are bound by limits on their power. But administrative experience also plays a role. China, with a slightly longer period of modern statehood than most of its younger African counterparts, may simply have developed a greater ability to administer its territory.

And yet, whatever the reason for the variation, there is no doubt that state capacity is one of the key ingredients for successful poverty reduction.

We found that during the MDGs, high-poverty countries with strong state institutions were able to reduce poverty twice as fast as countries with feeble capacity, and were more likely to achieve the MDGs’ target of halving poverty by 2015.

Poverty eradication remains a top priority for the 193 governments that have adopted the SDGs. But as the international community learned from the MDGs, goals do not guarantee progress. To ensure that the 725 million people who remained in poverty at the end of MDGs period can escape requires investing in programs that aim at building effective states. Otherwise, an end date for poverty will remain elusive.

The author is a senior lecturer at the University of Manchester.

Interview Exclusive MARTINA LARKIN

HEAD OF EUROPE AND EURASIA, WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM Could the Western Balkans repeat the success of Estonia in taking bold, innovative and entrepreneurial steps toward building a society based on a digital revolution? Obviously, this is a sort of billion--dollar question, and yet the countries of the region have pledged to try to leapfrog the current digital divide and to build their growth strategy on turning their labour intensive economies into knowledge-based ones. Such a task wouldn’t be an easy one even for a developed country, while it is much more challenging for developing countries, such as those in the region. We spoke with the World Economic Forum’s Martina Larkin, Head of Europe and Eurasia, about how this shift can be made viable.

“The over-riding objective of the World Economic Forum’s strategic dialogue on the Western Balkans is to assist the six economies in addressing challenges when it comes to economic growth, improvements in infrastructure and the functioning of markets, and in attracting and retaining the talent that they will need to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” says Larkin.

The World Economic Forum (WEF), which has been leading the global dialogue on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, is to become a new guardian

Yes, The Western Balkans Can Leapfrog

The Digital Divide

With an agenda focused on producing firm commitments towards common goals, there is considerable expectation that, by the next time the Western Balkan leaders meet in Davos in 2019, they will already take some important steps towards forging a new regional strategy for transformation that’s in line with the Fourth Industrial Revolution 8

December

DEDICATION

The aspirations of the Western Balkan leaders to join the European Union depend greatly on their ability to raise economic growth and competitiveness levels closer to the European norm of the region’s aspirations to change its destiny and shift to the fast lane of development efforts.

“We aim to re-energise efforts towards this goal and to foster greater cooperation in the Western Balkans”, says Larkin. According to her, when the next time leaders meet in Davos in 2019, they will be able to show some concrete steps taken towards a new regional strategy for transformation in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

“The idea of a Regional Southeast European Summit in 2019 is to bring together all relevant leaders from the region and Europe to discuss the future of the SEE region,” explains our interlocutor.

This summit will be an opportunity for a region that’s marred by past conflicts to turn the page and try hard to use the opportunity to bring enduring economic growth to this region and to make that growth broad-based and socially inclusive.

OPPORTUNITY

It is exactly those regions that are not yet fully engaged in the Fourth Industrial Revolution which have a unique opportunity to leapfrog others

tinued commitment of leaders from the Western Balkans to strengthen economic and social ties and prepare the region for the future. Is this intrinsically more of a peacebuilding effort, to which the WEF isn’t a stranger, or more of a developmental effort?

The over-riding objective of the World Economic Forum’s strategic dialogue on the Western Balkans is to assist the six economies of the Western Balkans – Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia – to address the shared challenges they

CHALLENGES

The youth of the region is most concerned about crime and employment rates, followed by concerns about the emigration of citizens working abroad and freedom of speech and free press face collectively: boosting economic growth, improving infrastructure and the functioning of markets, and attracting and retaining the talent they will need to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Strategically important, given their geographical position and history, the Western Balkans Six nevertheless lag behind many of their European peers in economic terms. According to our Global Competitiveness Index 2018, Albania is the most competitive among the group, ranking 75th, followed by Montenegro and Serbia, at 77th and 78th respectively. Their aspirations to join the European

How would you explain the reasons that the Western Balkans have suddenly come under the spotlight (this October) after – at least in the eyes of lay observers – being a third-rate player at Davos in January 2018?

The presence of Western Balkan leaders at the Annual Meeting in Davos 2018 was an important first step to start a dialogue on the World Economic Forum’s platform on the future of the region, together with relevant business leaders and European political leaders interested in advancing the region’s development and integration. Since then we have continued this strategic dialogue, at a meeting on the occasion of the EU Summit in Sofia, co-hosted with the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, which then held the EU Presidency, and most recently in Geneva with political leaders from the region. The Forum’s aim is to host this strategic dialogue as an important ongoing process that complements other efforts regarding the region’s future. What would you single out as the most important message emanating from the meeting at the World Economic Forum’s headquarters in Geneva?

An important message for us was, and is, the con-

The future of the Western Balkans should be of great interest to Europe and the wider region, as the peaceful and prosperous future of the Western Balkans is essential to stabilising and advancing the region’s development

Union depend greatly on their ability to raise economic growth and competitiveness levels closer to the European norm.

We aim to re-energise efforts towards this goal and to foster greater cooperation in the Western Balkans. With an agenda focused on producing firm commitments towards common goals, there is considerable expectation that by the next time leaders meet in Davos in 2019, concrete steps will have been made towards a new regional strategy for transformation in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. What was the rationale behind inviting

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Interview Exclusive countries to the meeting that aren’t from the Western Balkans, with the obvious exception of Switzerland? For example, what roles could Croatia, Slovenia or Slovakia play in the envisaged activities?

Who would occupy places in the Western Balkans Competitiveness Council, and what kind of power and financial backing will the Council have available in its effort to improve the region’s fundamental productivity drivers?

Countries like Croatia, Slovenia and Bulgaria are important partners of the Western Balkans, as they don’t just share geographic links, but also historic, cultural and economic ties. Furthermore, the future of the Western Balkans should be of great interest to Europe and the wider region, as the peaceful and prosperous future of the Western Balkans is essential to stabilising and advancing its development. One of the activities envisaged in the Forum Communiqué on the Western Balkans is the organisation of the Regional Southeast European Summit in 2019. Is this a new version of the Berlin Initiative? If not, how does it differ?

The idea of a Regional Southeast European Summit in 2019 is to bring together all relevant leaders from the region and Europe to discuss the future of the Southeast European region, and seize a unique opportunity to ensure that economic growth is enduring, broad-based and socially inclusive. At the same time, we are aiming to engage leaders from the public and private sectors, as well as youth and civil society and media in a dialogue on mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution and ensuring its benefits are spread across the region. Which challenges do you expect in the transforming of a region that is still in limbo between the second and third industrial revolutions into an advanced region at the heart of the Fourth Industrial Revolution?

It is exactly those regions that are not yet fully engaged in the Fourth Industrial Revolution which have a unique opportunity to leapfrog others and make the mastering of the Fourth Industrial Revolution a strategic objective. Just look at how Estonia has evolved into a global poster child for the digital revolution – Could the Western Balkan countries take a similar strategic decision and propel themselves into the future by thinking and acting in very bold, innovative and entrepreneurial manner? Could they stop the brain drain by developing strategies and action plans that boost economic growth and innovation, improve infrastructure and the functioning of markets and attract and retain the talent they will need to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution?

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Establishing an affiliate Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution as part of the Forum’s network of Centres for the Fourth Industrial Revolution will help prepare the region for fundamental economic and societal shifts What precise role would the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution play in preparing the region for the fundamental economic and societal shifts heralded by emerging technologies like artificial intelligence?

The World Economic Forum has been leading the global dialogue on the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

One of the central questions is how can we maximise the benefits of science and technology for society?

That’s our mission. To achieve it, we’ve created a global hub of expertise, knowledge-sharing and collaboration, based in San Francisco. We partner governments, leading companies, civil society and experts from around the world in co-designing and piloting innovative new approaches to policy and governance in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. As such, establishing an affiliate Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution as part of the Forum’s network of Centres for the Fourth Industrial Revolution will help prepare the region for the fundamental economic and societal shifts presaged by emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, IoT, blockchain etc.

The Western Balkans Competitiveness Council would bring together representatives from the private sector, government, academia and civil society, on issues related to productivity and economic development in the Western Balkans. This group would develop recommendations and seek to promote initiatives and strategies to improve the region’s competitiveness, productivity and inclusive growth.

The aim is to have this Council run and managed by the most appropriate institution in the region, to ensure countries share research and good practises, helping them to learn, connect and implement. How should the new leaders of the Western Balkans shape themselves and what would be the role of Global Shaper hubs in promoting them? Will there be new politicians, business leaders or civil rights defenders?

We believe in a world where young people are central to solution building, policymaking and lasting change.

The Global Shapers Community is a network of inspiring young people under the age of 30 who are working together to address local, regional and global challenges. With more than 7,000 members, the Global Shapers Community spans 369 city-based hubs in 171 countries. The Western Balkans face a big challenge of countering the brain drain, and there is an unprecedented opportunity for young people to take an active role in shaping the future of the region. This generation has inherited enormous global challenges, but has the ability to confront the status quo and offer youth-led solutions for change.

We have asked the Shapers from the Western Balkans to share their hopes and fears for the region.

When asked about their hopes for their country, 29% stated “strong and citizen-oriented national governance”, 22% hope for an effective fight against corruption and 22% wish for lower unemployment rates. Youth represented by the Shapers of the region in general don’t trust, or have little trust, in political parties (80%), parliament (58%) or the judiciary (58%), but they share trust with NGOs to some extent (48%). They are most concerned about crime and employment rates, followed by concerns about the emigration of citizens working abroad and freedom of speech and free press.

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Interview H.E. ALEXANDER CHEPURIN

AMBASSADOR OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION TO SERBIA

Preparing for the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Serbia, Ambassador Alexander Chepurin says that this will be the third meeting between the two countries’ leaders during a ten-month period, which – as he explains – confirms that they have plenty to discuss, but also testifies to the level of trust that exists between President Putin and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. The meeting between the leaders will include the signing of a large number of bilateral agreements, some of which could provide the basis for the launch of cooperation in the field of atomic energy.

In this exclusive interview for CorD Magazine, Ambassador Chepurin adds that the issue

Solution For Kosovo And

Resolution 1244 Inseparable

Russia will support the decision that Serbia considers acceptable for itself. If Belgrade is satisfied with the delineation with Kosovo’s Albanians, I see no reason for objections from Moscow. The decision should be taken without blackmailing Belgrade, on the basis of and with respect for Resolution 1244, which fixes the territorial allegiance of Kosovo to Serbia – Alexander Chepurin 12

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SUPPORT

Russia will support the decision that Serbia considers acceptable for itself. If Belgrade is satisfied with delineation with Kosovo’s Albanians, I see no reason for objections from Moscow

of Kosovo will be an unavoidable topic of the discussions, noting that Russia’s position on this issue remains unchanged and insists that – any agreement on future relations should be based on UN Security Council Resolution 1244.  Your Excellency, you recently announced the upcoming visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Serbia. How are preparations for his arrival in January progressing?

Both Russia and Serbia attach great importance to the upcoming visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Belgrade. It’s no secret that this event is being prepared very thoroughly.

First of all, work is being done on its content.

A number of agreements are being prepared for signing. Deputy Director General of the State Corporation Rosatom, N.N. Spassky, recently visited Belgrade and discussed with President Vučić a promising area of cooperation – the use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes, primarily in the field of medicine.

During a recent visit to Belgrade of Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov it was agreed that there would be vigorous promotion of bilateral economic cooperation to ensure a more complete utilisation of existing possibilities.

Good prospects are emerging in advanced technologies (with giants such as Rostec, Rosatom, Roscosmos, Yandex, Kaspersky, Mail. ru etc.), the energy sector (Gazpromneft and Power Machines), the gas sector (Gazprom), agriculture, transport infrastructure (Russian Railways) and other areas. We need to explore new frontiers. President Vučić was President Putin’s guest in Moscow as recently as October.

How do you explain such frequent meetings at the highest level?

The intensity of contacts at the highest level of Russia and Serbia testifies to the relations of trust between its leaders, this is the first point.

Secondly, it means that they have something to

NATO

As for NATO, we have long warned about the negative consequences of the bloc’s eastward expansion

discuss. Russia and Serbia are firmly committed to the development of bilateral relations that satisfy the interests of our countries and peoples. This will be the third meeting of our leaders over the past 10 months, with them having met in Moscow on 9th May and 2nd October this year. Are the topics of the January 2019 talks in Belgrade already known?

It is not difficult to guess that the range of issues will be very broad. First of all, this is a bilateral theme: political, economic and cultural.

The exchange of views on the situation in the Balkans is also important. An obligatory subject is, of course, the settlement of the Kosovo issue, where our approaches are very close. It is important to rely on international law. The solution to the problem is possible on the basis of UN Security Council Resolution 1244. Russia is in favour of both dialogue and agreements.

PARTNERS

In terms of the total turnover, Russia is consistently (together with Germany and Italy) among the top three key partners of Serbia, with a share of about 7%

Following a recent meeting between President Putin and President Vučić, the Russian “Kommersant” announced that the idea of the Serbian President to demarcate the Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo was rejected in Moscow. You have repeatedly said that a treaty is acceptable to Russia if it is acceptable to Serbia, does this include division?

Russia will support the decision that Serbia

considers acceptable for itself. If Belgrade is satisfied with delineation with Kosovo’s Albanians, I see no reason for objections from Moscow.

Two things are important here. The decision should be taken without blackmailing Belgrade, on the basis of and with respect for UN Security Council Resolution 1244, which fixes the territorial allegiance of Kosovo to Serbia. Secondly, such a decision, if reached, should be fixed by the adopting of a new UNSC resolution.

It should be also implemented. We can see

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Interview that European Union efforts failed, because Pristina completely ignores interim agreements reached within the framework of the Brussels process, including the establishment of the Community of Serb Municipalities.

Now Pristina raises the question of the armed forces, tariffs.

There is no visible progress on the return of

Russia and Serbia are celebrating 180 years of diplomatic relations. You have been personally involved in this cooperation for the last six years, as ambassador to Serbia. Are there any challenges in what is commonly referred to as the best possible cooperation between the two countries?

I consider it positive that within the framework of the partnership between Russia and Serbia there is room for development, especially in the economic sphere, which should become a priority task during the years ahead. Moreover, such opportunities have expanded significantly and it’s now time to further expand this potential. The analyses of experts increasingly refer to Serbia as a country where Russia and the West demonstrate their power on the international scene. What is Russia’s interest in Serbia?

You know, analysts say the same about many other countries, based on the logic of confrontation. But the world today consists not only of the West and Russia. The world today is experiencing dangerous tensions. It would be nice for everyone to look to the example of relations between Russia and Serbia, which have an extremely positive, mutually beneficial direction. Speaking about your service in Belgrade, in an interview for the Moscow Institute of International Relations of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs you said that “the Serbs are the main fans” of Russia and that Serbia is the only European country that has not introduced sanctions against Russia. How are you looking at Serbia’s strategic approach to EU membership and enhancing cooperation with NATO within the Partnership for Peace programme?

Serb refugees. The Serbian Orthodox Church is exposed to new attacks. The special court never started its work in Kosovo. And what about the investigation into the murder of Oliver Ivanović, which is being led by the Kosovars?

All of this does not add optimism. Nevertheless, you stated recently that “Kosovo should return to the legal and state field of Serbia in accordance with international law”. How realistic is such an option, considering that Kosovo’s independence also has the support of part of the international community, including the United States and 23 EU members?

The recognition of Kosovo’s “sovereignty” by individual countries does not change the international legal status of the province. It is necessary to seek a solution within a legal framework. And that framework is Resolution 1244.

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The recognition of Kosovo’s “sovereignty” by individual countries does not change the international legal status of the region. It is necessary to seek a solution within a legal framework.

And that framework is Resolution 1244 You know, I am used to hearing the opinion, even very often, that Russian-Serbian cooperation has reached a qualitatively new level, which is true. It is characterised by durability and respect for mutual and individual interests.

You will not find a single official statement in which Moscow opposes the European integration of Serbia or is against European integration as such. At the same time, and it is important, Belgrade should not be imposed to ultimatums and asked to break its partnership with Russia. When it comes to the example of EU countries themselves, one can see the negative consequences of such inconsiderate and counterproductive steps.

As for NATO, we have long warned about the negative consequences of the bloc’s eastward expansion. However, the Serbian authorities clearly adhere to the principle of military neutrality. Belgrade does not want to join NATO, nor to join anti-Russian sanctions, and the Western countries should respect this position. Furthermore, Serbia is familiar with NATO’s activities not via its pretty pictures, but via its bloody bombardments and inhuman and coward military actions launched

against the civilians of Yugoslavia.

Serbia, as a sovereign state, cooperates with both the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) and North Atlantic treaty Organisation (NATO)– and this should not raise any questions. Russia itself joined the Partnership for Peace programme back in 1994.

At the same time, as you know, we were totally against all actions of force unauthorised by UN Security Council that were undertaken by the Alliance, including the bombing of Yugoslavia.

However, back then NATO and the United States felt like the Masters of the World and were itching for blood.

Why would the Serbs want to join NATO after all this? Serbs are a proud people with a strong character; this is what they always were and remain so today.

In terms of the total turnover, Russia is consistently (together with Germany and Italy) among the top three key partners of Serbia, with a share of about 7%. At the same time, our trade turnover is quite diversified.

The share of non-energy exports from Russia is increasing, and the share of industrial goods and high value-added products in

Russian-Serbian business ties is far from being exhausted. We are set to increase the volume and quality of our economic partnership. It’s quite realistic to increase trade volumes to an indicative $5 billion in the next three-four years. I am convinced that this fully meets the interests of Russia and Serbia, contributing to the improvement of the well-being of our peo-

From your perspective as a career diplomat, how would you assess current relations between Russia and the United States, which we are discussing in light of the U.S. President’s latest announcement on withdrawal from the so-called “nuclear agreement”?

Unfortunately, many foreign policy steps of the current American administration are due to the internal political war in America. Thus, the White House announced its intention to quit the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty on the eve of the midterm congressional elections of 6th November, in the hope that this would reinforce the position of the Republican Party before the vote. We believe that the dismantling of the INF Treaty is fraught with negative consequences for strategic stability and runs the risk of drawing regions into a new arms race.

The world will become even more dangerous.

What use is that to Russia? Russia, as well as Serbia, has gigantic creative tasks ahead. In spite of good political relations and a free trade agreement, it can often be heard that trade exchange between Russia and Serbia is much lower than with the EU, for example, and that Serbia’s exports to some countries of the former Yugoslavia are higher than exports to Russia. Do you see a way to increase this cooperation?

I will note that it is incorrect to compare Russia and an integrated association consisting of 28 countries.

We believe that the dismantling of the INF Treaty is fraught with negative consequences for strategic stability and runs the risk of drawing regions into a new arms race exports from Serbia increasing, too.

In the period from January to September this year, the turnover increased by 20.5% compared to the same period in 2017, reaching a total of $2.3 billion. We can expect to exceed the $3 billion mark by the end of this year.

Of course, the development potential of

ples and the competitiveness of our economies.

Moreover, trade and economic relations between Russia and Serbia are today becoming innovative. Promising initiatives are being discussed in the fields of atomic energy and space technologies, IT, digital technology and medicine. Interaction is intensifying between Russian technology giants “Skolkovo” and “Innopolis” and Serbian IT companies. A meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee on Trade, Economic and Scientific Cooperation was held in November.

What are the current effects of the work of this body and what are the key messages of the session in Belgrade?

The Intergovernmental Committee (IGC) is the central platform for Russian-Serbian economic cooperation. Specifically, it is there that the strategic plans of the parties are coordinated,

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Interview (NSTC) in Serbia, on the basis of which scientific research will be conducted, radiopharmaceutical products will be created, and high-tech processing of agricultural products will be carried out. The agenda also includes the development of industrial cooperation and the localisation of production, primarily in the automotive and civil aviation sectors. I talked about this in detail at the beginning of our conversation. You recently noted that the possibility of exporting Kragujevac-produced Fiat 500L cars to Russia is still being discussed at the state level. How realistic is it to expect such an agreement to be forthcoming?

ideas and proposals are expressed and joint projects are substantively discussed. Meetings of the IGC co-chairs, and meetings of relevant working groups of the IGC on cooperation in the field of energy, agriculture, transport and tourism are held regularly. Following the meeting of the IGC in Sochi in February this year, a new cooperation working group was formed in the field of innovation, technological development, science and the digital economy.

During the last meeting of the IGC cochairs – Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov and Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić – held on 9th November this year in Belgrade, the emphasis was placed on high-tech cooperation. SC “ROSATOM” has very serious plans that include the construction of a multifunctional Nuclear Science and Technology Centre

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Trade and economic relations between Russia and Serbia are today becoming innovative.

Promising initiatives are being discussed in the fields of atomic energy and space technologies, IT, digital technology and medicine. Interaction is intensifying between Russian technology giants “Skolkovo” and “Innopolis” and Serbian IT companies

Let me clarify a few points. The Russian-Serbian free trade agreement of the year 2000 does not prohibit the export of any goods. As part of this document, Russia and Serbia jointly agreed on a list of exemptions from the free trade regime in the interests of protecting their most sensitive markets.

Russia today has a production capacity of 3.5 to 4 million cars of virtually all of the world’s leading vehicle manufacturers. And it produces almost two times less due to the limitations of the domestic market. The competition is very high. A large enterprise for the production of Mercedes vehicles will open near Moscow in the next two months.

Russia could export cars to Serbia and import Serbian products. The export of cars from Russia increases from year to year. When creating a preferential mode, the possibilities of exporting Russian cars to Serbia and Serbian cars to Russia are increasing, but that will be done in a competitive environment.

Currently, the technical negotiations are continuing between Serbia and the EEU, which includes Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, on the conclusion of a free trade agreement. The second round of talks took place from 3rd to 5th October this year in Moscow. The third round will be held at the beginning of 2019 in Belgrade.

The most important task is to clarify the modalities of the free trade regime, including lists of exemptions. We expect the parties to be able to promptly sign the document. Let’s see what its final parameters will be. Russia is ready to find mutually acceptable solutions.

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Interview REGINA DE DOMINICIS

UNICEF REPRESENTATIVE IN SERBIA

Statistics show that 9.5% of children in Serbia live in absolute poverty, while 30% of children under five don’t have three children’s books at home. Young people are experiencing challenges in health, education, employment and protection, so we will work on strengthening meaningful learning outcomes, improving access to life and digital skills, employability and active citizenship – Regina De Dominicis

Children At Risk Of Poverty,

Young Unemployed Serbia is one of the countries with the highest level of inequity between rich and poor, warns Regina De Dominicis, the new UNICEF Representative in Serbia. She adds that the most vulnerable categories are children with disabilities, children from larger families, those in remote rural areas and Roma children. In this interview for CorD Magazine, Ms De Dominicis says that UNICEF will soon prepare a

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new country programme of cooperation with the Government of Serbia, building upon existing good results and addressing new challenges. You recently took on the role of UNICEF Representative in Serbia. What are your priorities now and in the period ahead?

I feel at home in Belgrade. The team and all partners

have been wonderful in welcoming me. We are already accelerating together important results for children.

Within the UNICEF mandate, rooted in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Sustainable Development Goals, we focus on children who are left behind, supporting governments in implementing commitments and monitoring progress.

The priorities in Serbia are in line with identified

needs and the government’s priorities, including the EU accession agenda – high quality and inclusive health and education, protection against violence, abuse and neglect, and justice for children. Monitoring children’s rights, advocacy and social mobilisation are part of our engagement with the National Assembly, academia, the private sector and civil society.

In the period ahead, while still addressing the “unfinished business” of early child development, we will also engage in the youth agenda. Data shows that young people are experiencing challenges in health, education, employment and protection, so we will work on strengthening meaningful learning outcomes, improving access to life and digital skills, employability and active citizenship.

The identification and co-creation of innovative solutions for youth empowerment will be pursued by brokering new public-private partnerships and guaranteeing the participation of young people, especially girls.

would you comment on these statistics and what can be done to change such a situation?

There has been impressive economic growth in Europe and Central Asia over the past 20 years, alongside improved living standards and a halving of the number of people living in poverty. But this progress masks equity gaps, with the benefits of economic advances shared unevenly. Serbia is one of the countries with the highest level of inequity between rich and poor. The most vulnerable categories are children with disabilities, children from larger families, those in remote rural areas and Roma children.

Poverty in childhood can have life-long consequences. The poorest children are less likely to access healthcare or complete education and are more likely to suffer from poor nutrition. They cannot fully contribute to social, political and economic growth, and are more likely to perpetuate a cycle of

poverty. The roots of the problem lie in a mix of the poor prioritisation of social protection programmes that benefit children, limited budgets and human resources, bureaucratic processes, a lack of information regarding entitlements and discrimination against the most vulnerable.

UNICEF helps to gather and analyse evidence on possible solutions, and to have that evidence translated into tangible policies and activities for children, especially the most disadvantaged.

To improve protection of the poorest children, we must look beyond monetary poverty. It is important to ensure that the level of investments in child-sensitive social protection is adequate and that coordination is effective between the sectors of health, education and child protection. You’ve also worked in institutions of the European Union. To what extent does UNICEF’s

You commemorated Universal Children’s Day in Serbia on 20th November. Are you satisfied with the reaction of the Government and the public?

The participation was beyond expectations, proving that children and young people are high on the agenda of the Serbian Government and the society as a whole.

Numerous activities were organised by governmental and non- governmental organisations, independent human rights monitoring bodies, corporates, faculties, individuals, and children and young people themselves.

Together we celebrated progress, re-confirmed commitments and discussed work that’s still to be done.

Buildings and monuments in Serbia were lit up in blue. Street artists painted murals with children in their schools, while numerous celebrities joined UNICEF in raising additional funds.

Local 14-year-old Biljana Stojković was appointed as UNICEF’s Youth Advocate to elevate the voices of the youth about their rights, their concerns and their solutions for issues that impact on their lives.

Most importantly, the Government of Serbia re-affirmed its commitment to end violence against children by initiating the process of becoming a partner to the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children. Research shows that the number of children in Serbia living in absolute poverty has increased and now totals 9.5%, while around another 30 per cent live at risk of poverty. How

work in Serbia correspond with the European integration process, which also implies the

Data shows that young people are experiencing challenges in health, education, employment and protection, so we will work on strengthening meaningful learning outcomes, improving access to life and digital skills, employability and active citizenship

realising of sustainable development goals?

The UNICEF and UN programmes of cooperation with the Government of Serbia are fully aligned with the EU accession and SDG Agenda priorities.

UNICEF and the EU are partnering to support national authorities in promoting children’s rights as part of the ongoing process of harmonising national laws and policies with EU standards, and localising the 2030 Agenda.

The complementarities between the EU Accession Process and the SDGs, and the “social dimension” of the EU Agenda, offer additional opportunities to strengthen our strategic partnership.

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Interview contribute to international emergencies when needed.

We have volunteers who are supporting our work.

Apart from poverty, what do you see as the biggest challenge for Serbia when it comes to care for children and youth?

There are only 17.3% of children under the age of 18 in Serbia. They are a precious resource and require full support for their development. And yet, the infant mortality rate among children in Roma settlements is almost twice the national average. Only half of children complete preschool education, while that figure is only 9% among the poorest and 6% among children from Roma settlements. Some 30% of children aged under five don’t have three children’s books at home.

Every fourth child aged 1-2 is subjected to physical punishment. Violent disciplining at home is widespread.

Nearly 60% of girls from Roma settlements marry before the age of 18, while just 21% of Roma children attend secondary education and 17% of the youth aged 15-24 are not in education, employment or training.

How does UNICEF help children and young migrants stranded in Serbia?

The needs of refugees and migrants stranded in Serbia have grown. By coordinating closely with the Government of Serbia and UN agencies, UNICEF is assisting children in accessing protection, education, nutrition and other services. We are scaling up direct service delivery and outreach, providing technical assistance, building front-line workers’ capacities, advocating for the protection of refugee and migrant children. With our support, children receive psychosocial support in child-friendly spaces and mothers get support with breastfeeding practises and hygiene items in mother-and-child spaces. Our technical assistance helps the Ministry of Education to integrate these children into formal education.

We support the identification and referral of unaccompanied minors and other vulnerable children to child protection services, and secure warm clothes for children at all refugee centres. All this has been made possible thanks to our donors.

How satisfied are you with your cooperation with state bodies and institutions in Serbia that are responsible for the care of children and youth?

UNICEF cooperates closely with the Government of Serbia at all levels. Progress has been made in early child development, education and de-institutionalisation.

New challenges are, however, emerging: in youth unemployment, with growing disparities between urban and rural communities, and among vulnerable groups. We will soon be preparing a new country programme of cooperation with the Government, building on good results and addressing new challenges.

Essential partners for success also include a vibrant civil society, a socially-engaged private sector, strong independent monitoring institutions and the media. UNICEF’s policies also imply cooperation with the private sector. What’s the level of awareness among companies in Serbia when it comes to the importance of UNICEF and

It is important to ensure that the level of investments in child-sensitive social protection is adequate and that coordination is effective between the sectors of health, education and child protection Nordeus, PhiAcademy, GSK, Vojvodjanska Bank, VodaVoda, Telekom, Algotech, UNIQA and over 23,000 individual donors who support our work.

do they also support UNICEF as part of their

The former Yugoslavia first received as-

CSR activities?

sistance from UNICEF in the immediate

Partnership with the private sector aims to embed children’s rights into companies’ sustainability agendas and for them to nurture opportunities to make a difference for children through their operations and business policies.

The business sector is willing to collaborate.

They contribute through the creation of innovative technologies, products and business models to address social challenges.

We have successful partnerships with Telenor,

aftermath of WWII, in 1947. To what extent

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are Serbian Serbia today ready to support – privately and based on their own initiative – UNICEF’s work in other imperilled parts of the world?

There is a solid tradition of giving in Serbia. Some people still remember receiving aid from UNICEF after WWII. UNICEF greeting cards have been a symbol of solidarity. Our individual and corporate partners donate to UNICEF in Serbia, but also

There is a significant number of migrants in Serbia today, many of whom are minors without adult supervision, how would you rate the approach to this problem by the authorities in Serbia, particularly given the accusation that the treatment of migrants is bordering on the cruel?

The humanitarian context remains challenging throughout Europe, especially in relation to invisible migration routes, increasing political polarisation, immigration detention practises and exposure to genderbased violence, along with insufficient best interest determination and protective measures for children.

Like elsewhere, unaccompanied and separated children (UASCs) in Serbia need specific help – legal and psychosocial support, appropriate accommodation, adequate case management, access to education and life skills development.

These UASCs are now accommodated in one of three children’s homes within the regular foster system, which can mitigate the risk of exposure to abuse. The social welfare system assigns guardians who UNICEF and UNCHR have trained for supervision and monitoring.

Identification of UASCs remains important, as they don’t want to be “recognised” and enrolled in the welfare system, fearing this will stop their journey.

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GLOBAL DIARY

Deal

“I will take this deal back to the House of Commons confident we have achieved the best deal available, and full of optimism about the future of our country.” – THERESA MAY, PRIME MINISTER OF THE UK

GIFT OF 600 CARS TO EMPLOYEES Six hundred employees of Hari Krishna Exporters, a diamond trading company run by Savji Dholakia, received cars made by Indian manufacturer Maruti Suzuki, while around a thousand more staff were offered gifts of cash deposits and apartments in a huge outdoor ceremony in Surat, Gujarat.

Indians often give each other gifts in the run-up to Diwali, a major Hindu festival celebrating the triumph of good over evil that this year falls on Nov. 7.

Dholakia is famous across India for giving lavish gifts to his employees at Diwali, including hundreds of apartments in 2016’s ceremony.

The showroom value of the 600 cars would be more than $2 million.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi helped a diamond merchant hand over hundreds of cars as gifts to his employees. He addressed the prize-giving in his home state of Gujarat via video link.

CITAKU MEETS WITH IVANKA TRUMP Kosovo’s Ambassador to the US, Vlora Citaku, met Ivanka Trump, the daughter of US President Donald Trump.

The meeting took place as Citaku was attending a gathering with other ambassadors accredited in Washington.

Citaku took to Facebook to write about the meeting with Ivanka Trump.

“It was an honor to be able to share with Ivanka Trump and my fellow Ambassadors accredited in Washington DC, the amazing job that USAID and MCC are doing in empowering women and ensuring women’s participation in Kosovo’s economy,” Citaku wrote.

INTERPOL ELECTS SOUTH KOREAN AS PRESIDENT Interpol has elected a South Korean Kim Jong-yang as its new president to a twoyear term. The election was needed to replace Interpol’s former president, Meng Hongwei, who was China’s vice minister of public security and who went missing while on a trip to China in September. China later said Meng resigned after being charged with accepting bribes.

When Meng was approved as president by the agency’s general assembly two years ago, human rights groups raised the alarm, with Amnesty International criticizing “China’s long-standing practice of trying to use Interpol to arrest dissidents and refugees abroad.”

The vote followed mounting concern among Kremlin critics and Western lawmakers that Aleksandr Prokopchuk, a Russian police general who is now an Interpol vice president, KIM JONG-YANG would be elected.

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Agreement

“I assume that we find an agreement as to the terms of the withdrawal.

We also need to agree on a political statement that accompanies this withdrawal agreement. We are not that far yet.” – JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT

OLYMPICS MINISTER: ‘I’VE NEVER USED A COMPUTER’

KOREA ENTERS INTO FULL ‘SUNEUNG’ MODE As South Korean students across the country honed their academic skills in the final preparation for this year’s “Suneung” college entrance exam, the authorities also prepared to support the youngsters for what many still consider to be a “life-deciding” test.

The exam has been held in Korea on the second Thursday of November annually since 1993. Although the college admission also includes interviews and essays, getting the top grades on the nine-level curved grading system is essential for entering top-tier higher education institutes here. A total of 631,187 students took the Suneung at 1,212 test venues set up in their adjacent schools.

Japan’s recently appointed cybersecurity and Olympics minister has told parliament he has never used a computer in his life, though he is responsible for overseeing cybersecurity preparations for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games.

Yoshitaka Sakurada, 68, was named to the two posts in September by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, having never held a cabinet position before during his 22 years in parliament.

The minister made the admission at a parliamentary committee meeting when asked by an opposition lawmaker if he was computer literate.

“I’ve been independent since I was 25 and have always directed my staff and secretaries to do that kind of thing,” Sakurada replied. “I’ve never used a computer!”

MINISTER YOSHITAKA SAKURADA

NEW YEAR’S DIVE IN NETHERLAND If you happen to be in the Netherlands on January 1st, don’t miss their annual New Year’s Dive. Dating back to 1960, the tradition of starting the year fresh with a plunge in the sea is celebrated in more than 60 locations throughout the country. The greatest dive, however, can be observed on the beach of Scheveningen, where over 10.000 brave Dutch swimmers jump together into the chilly waters of the North Sea. One hell of a spectacle!

CALIFORNIA BURNING The catastrophic fire in California, which, in addition to its death toll, destroyed more than 10,000 homes and businesses, began on a day of low humidity, strong winds and lingering drought, with soils and plants in some areas parched by more than 200 days with no significant precipitation. That was the environment in which the fire began.

As investigators try to determine what started the most devastating wildfire in California history, which has killed at least 70 people, the beginning premise is that human beings — through their mistakes, or their toys, tools and technologies — were probably behind it.

Historically, California fires end up costing billions in state and federal suppression costs, as well as insurance claims. And with dozens of fires across the state each year, the total amounts are often astronomical.

BILLIONAIRES AND THEIR CARS Oftentimes, billionaires focus on how luxurious and comfortable their transit to the workplace and other destinations is. And sometimes it becomes a statement of one’s success level and public image to the outside world.

Billionaires and their cars can be inseparable.

But that’s not the case with every billionaire. Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest person and CEO of e-commerce giant, Amazon with a net worth of around $128 billion, prefers to move around in a very simple and old car. He drives a 1996 Honda Accord model, which in today’s date would have cost around $4,000.

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Feature TOBIAS FLESSENKEMPER,

HEAD OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE OFFICE IN BELGRADE

Concern Over Harassment And Intimidation Of Journalists The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights previously noted numerous concerns re-garding the deteriorating situation for the work of journalists and the media.

According to Tobias Flessenkemper, “Politicians are urged to unequivocally condemn all cases of violence targeting journalists who play such a crucial watchdog role in society” Turning to the mini jubilee marking fifteen years of Serbia’s membership in the Council of Europe, Tobias Flessenkemper, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade, recalls that Serbia - by be-coming a member - accepted to engage itself on the advancement of values to which the Council of Europe is devoted, such human rights protection, strengthening the rule of law and democracy. With this in mind, he warns that Serbia has not yet fulfilled the recommendations of GRECO – the body of the Council of Europe devoted to the fight against corruption, although corruption is a problem recognised by a large number of citizens. In this interview for CorD Magazine, Flessenkemper explains that the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe gave a green light to proposed changes to the Constitution in the field of the judiciary, but that the subsequent parliamentary debate should take into account the attitudes of

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people from the judiciary, who stated during the public debate that the proposed reforms would not exclude the possibility of political influence on judges and prosecutors.

Serbia has not fully implemented any of the 13 recommendations it received from GRECO back in June 2015. The overall very low level of compliance with GRECO’s recommendations is “globally un-satisfactory”

Serbia became a member of the Council of Europe 15 years ago. How is Serbia doing in terms of the rule of law, citizens’ freedom and parliamentary democracy?

The 15th anniversary of Serbia’s membership in the Council of Europe can help us to understand how European cooperation and Serbia’s role have evolved. In 2003 it was the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro that joined the Council of Europe as its 45th member state. Serbia remained a member after Montenegro became an independent country in 2006, then Montenegro joined as the 47th and currently most recent member state, in 2007. Later, the legal-territorial set-up of Serbia further evolved, while at the same time Serbia engaged increasingly in cooperation with the Council of Europe. With regard to the values of our organisation – human rights, democracy and the rule of law – Serbian citizens and the government are participating in a number of

important reform processes. The government has identified the need to work on the independence of the judiciary by launching a process of reform that will probably last several years. Citizens are demanding the realization of their fundamental rights and freedoms, including by applying to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

The coming year will see also a number of our monitoring bodies present their results. GRECO, the Group of States against Corruption, found that Serbia has regressed according to some criteria. What is the situation?

Serbia, like all other 48 GRECO members, has been undergoing GRECO’s 4th evaluation round on corruption prevention in respect of Members of Parliament (MPs), judges and prosecutors. The last compliance report on Serbia, published on 15th March 2018, is publicly available at www. coe.int/greco. Serbia has not fully implemented any of the 13 recommendations it received from GRECO back in June 2015. The overall very

low level of compliance with GRECO’s recommendations is “globally unsatisfactory”. Serbia is, thus, in GRECO’s non-compliance procedure.

Of course, it is better for citizens, businesses and the administration if recommendations issued to a country’s government are implemented in time. The principle of European cooperation is that national authorities comply with the standards they have obliged themselves to, but - most importantly - that they promised their own citizens and partner European states to uphold. According to the Balkan Barometer of the Regional Cooperation Council, published in summer 2018, three out four citizens surveyed in Serbia agreed with the statement that the sectors evaluated by GRECO are influenced by corruption. Such levels of trust in the integrity of public institutions cannot leave us unconcerned. Could you explain the role of the Venice Commission in regard to the discussion about strengthening the independence of the judiciary?

The Venice Commission, which is our expert body on democracy through law, was asked by the Serbian Government to provide its views on two sets of draft amendments of the Constitution regarding the judiciary. Firstly, the Minister of Justice of Serbia requested an opinion on a set of draft constitutional amendments in April 2018, and the Venice Commission adopted its opinion at its 115th plenary session on 22nd-23rd June 2018. The second set of draft amendments was prepared by the Ministry of Justice of Serbia after the adoption and submission of the Venice Commission’s opinion for public consultation on 18 th September. Following public discussion and consultation between the Venice Commission and the Serbian Ministry of Justice, the second set of draft Amendments were modified and sent to the Secretariat of the Commission on 12th October 2018, just a week ahead of the October plenary session. So, the Secretariat prepared a Memorandum examining whether and to what extent the text submitted to the Venice Commission on 12th October

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Feature

adhered to the recommendations contained in its opinion of 22nd-23rd June 2018. The Venice Commission took note of the Memorandum at its 116th plenary session, on 19th-20th October, and it was published. There was no time to prepare a fully-fledged opinion, nor was that even necessary, since the revised amendments did not raise substantial new issues. The question of whether recommendations are followed is typically assessed by the Secretariat of the Venice Commission. The Venice Commission’s opinions are based on international standards and the practises of other states. International standards exclude any political interference in the decision-making of courts.

When it comes to decisions on the appointments and careers of judges, international standards strive to establish a balance between judicial accountability and independence. They do not exclude democratically legitimate bodies having any influence on the careers of judges.

They provide that ideally such decisions should be taken by judicial councils with a balanced composition, including both representatives of the judiciary and lay members, who may be elected by parliament, as is the case in Serbia, or appointed by various bodies. The observations of members of the judiciary are important for the forthcoming parliamentary discussion and also for future work on the independence of the judiciary, for the benefit of the rule of law in

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The adoption of the law on “missing babies” in Serbia would be important to Serbian society itself, to the parents who still, tens of years later, don’t know what really happened to their children Serbia. The amendments for judicial reform will still need to enter the parliamentary procedure.

It is important to consider work towards a more independent judiciary as an opportunity to add value to the realisation of the individual rights and freedoms of all people living in Serbia. What is the situation of minority communities and hate speech in Serbia?

Regarding minorities and anti-discrimination legislation, the Council of Europe’s Anti-Racism Com-mission (ECRI) noted in its latest report, published in 2017, that the authorities have improved pro-tection against hate crime through a new legislative provision making racist, homo- and transphobic motivation an

aggravating factor. The Criminal Code also protects persons and organisations promoting equality and the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination explicitly prohibits hate speech. The Anti-Discrimination Strategy provides for the introduction of legislation on registered partnerships for same-sex couples and on changes of name and gender for transgender persons. A considerable number of police officers and social welfare personnel have received training on LGBT issues. However, ECRI noted that the application of legislation against hate speech and violent hate crime was inefficient and that there was no decisive action against the activities of violent racist, homoand transphobic groups. The authorities should mobilise more energy on the implementation of the Roma Strategy, while a particular focus should also be placed on improving the housing conditions of Roma people and hiring a proportionate number of Roma and persons belonging to other minorities to the civil service.

We are cooperating in this area through our ROMACTED project, with the objective of capacity building and stimulating the empowerment of local Roma communities throughout Serbia. There should also be codes of conduct prohibiting hate speech in public institutions.

The recording, investigating and punishing of hate speech and violent hate crime should be improved. The authorities should efficiently implement the Strategy for the Prosecution of War Crimes and acknowledge, publicly and unequivocally, the entirety of the results of the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY ). How would you assess the level of media freedom in Serbia?

“Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.” This is taken from Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which was adopted in 1950. The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights has previously note many concerns regarding the deteriorating situation for the work of journalists and the media, stating that “politicians are urged to unequivocally condemn all cases of violence targeting journalists who play such a crucial

watchdog role in society.” According to the Council of Europe’s Platform for the Safety of Journalists, from the 2015 launch of the platform until 2018, there were 20 alerts on Serbia, two of which were resolved, while 18 are still active. The majority of these alerts concern harassment and intimidation of journalists, attacks on the physical safety and integrity of journalists, as well as other forms of pressure on independent journalists. It is particularly worrying when these attacks – be they from State or non-state actors – remain unresolved or unpunished. Why is it important to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe that Serbia adopt a law on “missing babies” as soon as possible?

In the first place, the adoption of the law on “missing babies” in Serbia would be important to Serbian society itself, to the parents who still, tens of years later, don’t know what really happened to their children. The judgement on the case of ZORICA JOVANOVIĆ v. Serbia about the failure to provide information on the fate of new-born babies who allegedly died in maternity wards in the ‘80s in Serbia, became final in September 2013. The judgement has not yet been executed.

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe that supervises the execution of judgments of the European Court, in its latest decision in June 2018 deeply deplored that, despite its repeated calls, the authorities have failed to adopt the measures required by the Court’s judgment on Zorica Ivanovic’s case. I would like to recall that the European Court itself indicated that Serbia should adopt a special law introducing a mechanism capable of providing credible answers on the fate of “missing” babies and providing redress to their parents. Pursuant to Convention, Serbia has a legal obligation to comply with the Court’s judgments, including in the case concerning “missing babies”.

Against this backdrop, the Committee of Ministers called again on the authorities to take all neces-sary measures to introduce this mechanism as a matter of utmost priority.

The Committee of Ministers, as indicated in its latest Decision of June 2018, will resume examination of this case in December 2018 to take stock of the progress made and, and in case the draft law is not adopted, the Committee

When it comes to decisions on the appointments and careers of judges, international standards strive to establish a balance between judicial accountability and independence. They do not exclude democratically legitimate bodies having any influence on the careers of judges might decide to examine this case at each of the Committee’s Human Rights meetings until the required measures are taken. Full and timely implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights should be seen as an important element of Serbia’s efforts to make progress on its European path.

Unfortunately, Zorica Ivanovic was not alone in her tragedy. A dozen other applications on the same issue are pending at the European Court: five such applications have been communicated

to the Government of Serbia; eight other similar cases are at a preliminary state of proceedings. What are the plans for the 70th anniversary of the Council of Europe? How will it be marked in Ser-bia?

Indeed, we are delighted to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the Council of Europe on 5th May 1949 in London. I remain convinced that the pursuit of peace based on justice and international cooperation is more vital than ever to the preservation of human society and civilisation, not least if we look to the common challenges we are facing all over Europe. However, in current times it is not easy to uphold our values, which are the common heritage of the peoples of Europe. Nevertheless, these values are the true source of individual freedom, political liberty and the rule of law; they are principles that form the basis of all genuine democracies. For 2019, we decided to stress togetherness as individuals and societies with the slogan: “Our Rights, Our Freedoms, Our Europe”. In times of division and hate speech, it is rights and freedoms that bind us together in Europe. With Serbia, we are planning an event later next year and there will also, hopefully, be a commemorative postage stamp, an essay writing competition for young people and the opportunity to name landmark places after the Council of Europe.

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Comment

Securing The Digital Revolution The world is hurtling toward a more decentralized digital future, characterised by unprecedented linkages among people, data, and objects.

In order to reap the benefits of innovation, without creating massive vulnerabilities, we need to anticipate and address the threats now

P

ity the person who invests heavily in canals right before the railways start operating. You could understand, for example, why the sponsor of the Bridgewater Canal (perhaps England’s first) would vehemently oppose the planned Liverpool and Manchester Railway. But the march of technology could not be stopped – nor could the new challenges it raised. The same is true of today’s digital innovations.

When the L&M Railway eventually opened in 1830, it was a revolutionary success, kickstarting the age of steam and changing the world in ways that could not have been foreseen. As the railway age unfolded, with metal tracks spreading across the industrializing world like veins on a leaf, a new level of connectivity was

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achieved, which criminals were quick to exploit.

Indeed, an entire police force eventually had to be created to manage railway security.

With the world on the brink of another revolution in connectivity, especially in terms of infrastructure that will fundamentally change the way we connect with each other, the lessons of this experience should not be ignored. And the coming phase of the digital age will affect far more than just transportation. We are not talking about the Internet of Things, but about the Internet of Everything: a more decentralized digital future, connecting people, data, and objects like never before.

In terms of security, we need to ensure we aren’t sitting, as it were, on a slow-moving canal barge while the 8:15 to Manchester flashes

past. We need to take a clear-eyed look at the strategic vulnerabilities that these technologies will bring, and anticipate how malicious actors could attempt to exploit new digital infrastructure for their own gain or to deploy it as a weapon.

Some challenges, such as the misuse of social media to spread disinformation – using, among others, cutting-edge tools like deepfake videos and artificial intelligence – are already clear.

But, crucially, we are also talking in terms of the infrastructure itself.

The fifth generation of mobile communication technology, 5G, poses a particular challenge.

It will be the backbone of global connectivity, which raises strategic and security questions about issues like supply-chain security and provenance.

How can we be sure that the components used

By Julian King

in future generations of European technology – not only 5G – will be secure?

Already, digital supply-chain security is far from airtight, reflected in recent reports of companies finding mysterious chips on their server motherboards, seemingly added at the time of manufacture. The British government has warned telecoms companies to consider their suppliers very carefully, while the United States has been looking to restrict some kinds of foreign direct investment in key technologies like semiconductors and robotics.

To secure the digital-infrastructure supply chain, we need greater transparency regarding the provenance of technological components.

Maintaining a diversity of suppliers is also vital.

Furthermore, common standards and rules are needed to establish the trustworthiness of international partners. That is the basis of a recent proposal by French President Emmanuel Macron, described in the Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace.

The internet, according to Macron, has

We need a strategy that balances our need to harness technological innovation in order to safeguard our economic future with the need to avoid creating massive security vulnerabilities in the process become a site of conflict, where malicious actors exploit the vulnerabilities of digital products and services. He proposes that Europe create an “Internet of Trust,” based on lawfulness and cooperation. I agree. Europeans should be able to continue enjoying their online lives secure in the knowledge that their fundamental values and rights, such as free speech, are protected.

We need a strategy that balances our need to harness technological innovation in order to safeguard our economic future with the need to avoid creating massive security vulnerabilities in the process. And with the technology train already hurtling down the track, we must act fast to mitigate current risks and ensure that we are laying the groundwork needed to avoid future threats.

In confronting this admittedly huge challenge, we need to avoid short-sighted responses, such as protectionism and other measures that stifle innovation. Instead, we must map the scale and extent of the risk, and decide what is truly strategic. For Europe, this means not just protecting supply chains, but also pursuing largescale, coordinated investment in our own tech industries. The European Commission is uniquely well placed to drive this cross-sectoral work.

It is not too late for Europe to safeguard its digital future. Even the owner of the Bridgewater Canal eventually saw the way the wind was blowing – and invested heavily in the rival railway.

December

29

Focus

Healthcare

Money For

Nothing?

The number of Serbian citizens who rate their personal health as being bad or very bad is twice the average of EU member states.

Simultaneously, indicators that could monitor the quality of health, comparable to European and global criteria, are often non-existent or are monitored in Serbia in a way that is incomparable with those parameters 30

December

T

he deterioration of health in Serbia occurs relatively early, during the most active years of life, and is connected with diseases that also confront the EU population, such as diabetes or coronary type diseases, but with increased instances of fatality.

Statistics that indicate a significant shortfall in the quality of health care/services that Serbia’s healthcare system provides to its users and what would be possible with the invested medical knowledge and resources is also shown in the level of mortality of mothers and children, but also the high rate of mortality as a result of diseases that are relatively easy to treat, such as breast and cervical cancer, due to the weakening of prevention.

Moreover, statistics show growth in the percentage of citizens who don’t have healthcare protection for some reason, despite needing it.

As a consequence of this state of affairs, there is a widespread impres-

sion among the citizenry that the quality of healthcare is decreasing. And this dissatisfaction is not due entirely to a lack of means or resources. In terms of spending on health as a share of GDP, Serbia is – on the basis of allocations (10.4%) - ranked alongside the richer and more developed countries that are, as a rule, able to allocate a larger share of GDP to healthcare. While expenditure from public funds in Serbia is within the average/expected range (6.3% of GDP), payments from pockets accounted for as much as 41.9% of total healthcare costs in 2015, i.e. 4% of GDP, which is among the highest rates in Europe.

Researchers point to a problem that exists with the efficiency of resource utilisation in healthcare services. This problem could worsen in the future, when demand for healthcare services rises among the older population, while the available financial resources become simultaneously more modest.

 What are the core measures for improving the efficiency of the public health system?  How can existing resources (both human and medical) be better utilised?  How should Serbia improve disease prevention and contribute to the longevity of its population?

MINISTRY OF HEALTH OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

HEALTHCARE IS A TWO-WAY PROCESS THE GREAT INTEREST AND MASSIVE RESPONSE OF CITIZENS TO FREE PREVENTATIVE CHECK-UPS IS THE BEST CONFIRMATION THAT SERBIAN CITIZENS RECOGNISE THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS ACTION OF THE HEALTH MINISTRY, BUT ABOVE ALL THAT PUBLIC AWARENESS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF PREVENTION AS A BASIS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF HEALTH HAS GROWN EXPONENTIALLY IN OUR SOCIETY The Ministry of Health has, for the last four years consecutively, been conducting various activities and measures aimed at establishing a faster, more efficient and higher quality healthcare system in Serbia. In this direction, alongside the construction of new clinical centres and hospitals, the procurement of state-of-the-art medical equipment and apparatus, the Ministry is decisively implementing the policy of strengthening the personnel of the healthcare system, employing young medical workers and approving the professional further training, or specialisations, of doctors.

On the other hand, we must consider that health care is a two-way process. So, as the state allows the provision of health services through the health system, so every citizen must take care of their own health. Thus, if you spend your whole life eating fatty food, don’t engage in physical activity, don’t properly maintain hygiene and smoke, you can’t expect from the state that the health system will prevent the emergence of disease.

And prevention is the foundation of preserving health.

As a nation, we – through tradition – have a specific and, I would say, not so responsible attitude towards health, which AROUND 100 is best reflected in the fact that the vast majority OF THE BEST of Serbian citizens only go to the doctor when MEDICAL SCHOOL they get sick with something. Well, we want GRADUATES to change that, to raise public awareness about RECEIVED AN the importance and possibilities of prevention.

OPPORTUNITY One step is timely health education and FROM THE STATE counselling for the preservation and improveTO WORK IN OUR ment of one’s own health, through learning HEALTH CENTRES, from an early age.

ENROL IN In parallel with this, the state and the Ministry of Health implement measures and SPECIALIST activities directed towards preventing, detecting STUDIES AND early and controlling diseases, which implies LEARN FROM national screening for breast, colon and cervical THEIR OLDER cancer as a type of preventative check-up of the COLLEAGUES population. In addition to this, the Ministry of Health organised free preventative check-ups in the past year on every last Sunday of the month at health centres throughout Serbia, under the auspices of which a total of more than 220,000 Serbian citizens have been checked to date.

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Focus

Healthcare DEJANA VUKOVIĆ PH.D.,

DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL STATISTICS AND INFORMATICS AT THE BELGRADE FACULTY OF MEDICINE

MORE EFFICENT FINANCING LEADS TO BETTER HEALTH OPTIONS IF WE WANT TO SECURE THE FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY OF THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM WE NEED TO WORK ON BETTER INCLUSION OF THE PRIVATE HEALTH SYSTEM AND ENABLE CITIZENS TO OPT FOR DIFERENT VOLUNTARY HEALTH INSURANCE SCHEMES. ONE OPTION FOR DOING THAT WOULD BE PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARNTERSHIPS Given that spending related to the delivery of healthcare services and out-of-pocket payments are on the rise, our health system is facing future problems with its financial sustainability. The most realistic methods to help improve sustainability include better inclusivity of the private sector and

KORI UDOVIČKI, PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNING BOARD OF THE CENTRE FOR ADVANCED ECONOMIC STUDIES (CEVES)

INCREASED INVESTMENTS IN PREVENTION WOULD LEAD TO MULTIPLE SAVINGS SERBIA HAS EXTREMELY HIGH MORTALITY RATES FROM ILLNESSES LIKE CERVICAL AND BREAST CANCER, WHICH INDICATES A PROBLEM THAT DOESN’T ARISE FROM LIMITED RESOURCES, RATHER FROM A LACK OF EFFICIENCY IN THE PREVENTATIVE CARE SYSTEM Serbia invests substantial financial resources in the health sector, and has significant physical and human infrastructure resources that are poorly maintained and irrationally deployed. The results achieved, such as life expectancy of 75.6 years in Serbia – which is shorter than in any EU member state with the exceptions of Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia and Lithuania – indicate a serious disproportion compared to the invested funds, the inherited health system and the high level of medical knowledge that exists in Serbia (see Graph).

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enabling citizens to opt for different voluntary health insurance schemes.

There are a number of possibilities for better inclusion of the private sector, one option being public-private partnerships at the municipal level, where costs and expenditures would be shared between the two sectors. Enabling citizens to opt for different voluntary health insurance schemes would lead to reduced out-of-pocket payments. Further support to the future financial sustainability of the system must be orientated towards more efficient use of financial resources through the improvement of payment mechanisms.

Strengthening primary care, ensuring that most healthcare needs are met at the primary care level and reducing referrals could contribute significantly to more efficient healthcare. In order to achieve that, payment mechanisms should be modified, with stronger incentives for the better performance of primary care and the provision of preventative measures.

When it comes to hospital-based care, it is expected that introducing new payment mechanisms through diagnosis-related groups will improve efficiency, though close monitoring of the effects will be necessary.

There are evident problems in our current human resources for health with regard to improper planning. To begin with, we have hyper-production of freshly schooled healthcare professionals. However, the opportunities for these professionals to secure employment are scarce, which leaves many of them unemployed. This creates an imbalance that forces the increasing emigration of these professionals to EU countries or the private sector. More adequate planning of human resources is essential in addressing this problem.

In order for the system to be more efficient, the allocation of the substantial resources invested in healthcare (10.4% of GDP, as much as 4% of which comes from citizens’ pockets) must be guided by a process that targets the full utilisation of funds spent. Serbia is currently attempting to simultaneously maintain an obsolete system that was built decades ago, when the demographic picture of Serbia was completely different, simply by augmenting it with high-tech and expensive methods. While the state system doesn’t adapt to priorities, the private sector keeps growing as a formalised supplement (speeding up tests and issuing expensive drugs when healthcare units lack adequate equipment). In order to avoid a situation in which basic necessities become a luxury for those unable to pay extra, clear rules for the operations of the private and public sectors need to be established and applied consistently in practise.

The institutional efficiency of health institutions could also be advanced through the better use of current resources, both human and infrastructure.

With the better allocation of resources, we could reduce the workloads of doctors who cover a large number of people and increase the efficiency of those currently working with a smaller number of the general population.

We also often tend to rely on more qualified healthcare workers for activities that could be carried out by less qualified employees.

What we need to understand is that increased investment in prevention would eventually result in multiple savings compared to the funds required for treatment once an illness occurs or develops. Serbia has extremely high mortality rates for illnesses like cervical and breast cancer, which indicates a problem that does not arise from limited resources, rather from a lack of efficiency in the preventative care system. Greater preventative care creates the possibility to detect those cancers earlier on and treat them, thus improving the possibility of reducing the mortality rate.

LARA LEBEDINSKI,

APPLIED ECONOMIST AT THE INSTITUTE OF ECONOMIC SCIENCES OF THE FOUNDATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF ECONOMICS

THOROUGH ANALYSIS OF THE SYSTEM WOULD SHOW THE DIRECTIONS OF ACTION IMPROVING THE EFFICACY OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM REQUIRES SERIOUS ANALYSIS OF THE UTILISATION OF STAFF AND EQUIPMENT, ANALYSIS OF THE CAUSES OF LONG WAITING LISTS FOR SPECIFIC SERVICES, AS WELL AS ANALYSIS OF ALL INDIVIDUAL COSTS TO THE HEALTH SYSTEM

Comparing Serbia to the countries of the NURSES AND region shows that budgetary allocations for OTHER MEDICAL public health, expressed as a percentage of STAFF COULD GDP, are higher in Serbia than in the regions TAKE ON GREATER other countries. On the other hand, one of the RESPONSIBILITIES key indicators of health system effectiveness – life expectancy – is shorter in Serbia than AND OBLIGATIONS IN DEALING in comparable countries of the region. These WITH PATIENTS, two statistics together indicate that the funds THEREBY EASING invested in public health are not being used efficiently.

THE BURDEN ON Improving the efficacy of the public health DOCTORS BASED system requires serious analysis of the utilisation ON THE EXAMPLE of staff and equipment, analysis of the causes OF OTHER of long waiting lists for specific services, as EUROPEAN well as analysis of all individual costs to the COUNTRIES health system. In terms of personnel, it would be necessary to analyse the percentage and number of doctors with different specialisations and their workload, as well as waiting times for consultations with individual specialists. Furthermore, in some EU countries it is the norm for nurses and other medical staff (technicians

Focus

Healthcare

/ midwives / medical support staff ) to take on greater responsibilities and obligations in dealing with patients compared to staff in Serbia, thereby easing the burden on doctors, so analysis should be carried out on the responsibilities and obligations of doctors and other medical personnel, with possible consideration given to the reassigning of these obligations. Ernst & Young’s analysis of the efficiency of Serbia’s healthcare system showed that inefficiencies exist in medical institutions when it comes to the use of equipment and that the auditing of public procurement processes is very poor and the control of the public procurement system is insufficient.

In order to improve the efficacy of the system, it is necessary to carry

SLAVICA KONEVIĆ,

MSC. HEALTH MANAGER, PRESIDENT OF THE ASSOCIATION OF NURSES AND MEDICAL TECHNICIANS IN THE PRIMARY HEALTHCARE OF SERBIA – UMSTPZZS

WITH SO MANY SICK PATIENTS, DOCTORS DON’T HAVE TIME TO DEAL WITH THE HEALTHY TODAY, DUE TO AN EXCESSIVE NUMBER OF SICK PATIENTS, ALLOCATED DOCTORS DON’T HAVE ENOUGH ROOM FOR PREVENTATIVE WORK WITH THE HEALTHY POPULATION. IF THIS RELATIONSHIP WERE TO BE REVERSED IN FAVOUR OF PREVENTATIVE CHECK-UPS, WE WOULD BE ABLE TO SAY THAT WE ARE ON THE RIGHT TRACK – TO SUCCESSFUL PREVENTION In comparing – back in 2014 – the standardised mortality rates for the leading causes of death in the Republic of Serbia compared to the European country with the lowest rate and the EU’s average rate for citizens aged from 0 - 64, per 100,000 inhabitants, it is notable that the values were highest in the Republic Serbia: ischemic heart disease (rate of 25.6 in the Republic of Serbia, compared to 6.6 in Israel and the EU average of 15.8), cerebrovascular disease (rate of 17.3 in the Republic of Serbia, compared to 2.1 in Luxembourg and the EU average of 7.2) and malignant neoplasms (rate of 101.6 in the Republic of Serbia, compared to 44.2 in Finland and the EU average of 66.7).

A logical question that emerges is why so many more people in Serbia die as a result of these diseases compared to the countries of Western Europe? The answer is clear: it is because these countries

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out comprehensive analysis and develop a long-term plan to improve the public health system. In terms of the system of prevention, it is necessary to use media campaigns to promote healthy nutrition and regular physical activity among children and adults. The percentage of smokers in Serbia is high and the State should work to reduce the number of smokers by imposing higher excise taxes, banning smoking in hospitality venues and implementing other policies that have helped reduce the numbers of smokers in other countries. The state should encourage and promote regular preventative check-ups (e.g. systematic check-ups, gynaecological check-ups etc.) on a larger scale, as well as investing more money in equipment for preventative medicine.

started dealing intensively with the prevention, organised screening and early detection of diseases back in the late 1980s, while Serbia is lagging behind. If the disease is detected on time, during the initial stages, treatment is more successful and prevents complications leading to fatalities.

Another reason is the poor raising of awareness among citizens regarding the importance of healthy lifestyles, care for their own health and the importance of regular preventative check-ups. Although they can schedule preventative check-ups with their SYSTEMATIC selected doctor at health centres, only a very small percentage of the “healthy” population AND TARGETED utilise this service. Organised screenings have CHECK-UPS ARE been conducted for certain diseases in recent TODAY ONLY years, but the level of response among these FREE FOR target groups at the national level is still CATEGORIES OF unsatisfactorily low.

THE POPULATION Prevention should be started as early as WHO ARE INSURED pregnancy (prenatal care), in order for our

BY THE HEALTH offspring to be born healthy. Preventative activities should be directed as a priority at INSURANCE FUND, WHILE IN the youngest age and maintained in continuity THE FUTURE throughout their lives.

COMPETENT Preventative activities should also target the active working population, as that repreINSTITUTIONS sents the target group that fails to control its SHOULD ALSO health regularly. Some countries have even COVER THE COSTS applied sanctions for those who don’t attend OF PREVENTATIVE check-ups (e.g. by refusing to stamp healthCHECK-UPS FOR care booklets if they fail to have a check-up).

THE UNINSURED Another problem is that today’s assigned doctors have so many patients who are ill that they have little room for preventative work with members of the healthy population. On average, during one daily shift every assigned doctor has around 35 patients who already have a diagnosis and expressed complications requiring treatment and three-to-four systematic or targeted checkups. When this ratio shifts to the benefit of preventative check-ups, we will then be able to say that we are on the right track – towards successful prevention.

Leaders’

MIHAILO JANKOVIĆ, CEO of Nectar d.o.o.

(Ltd.)

Two Decades Of Family Success PAGE /36

MEETING POINT 10th Anniversary of PRIMA International School

Each One, Teach One PAGE /40

MARIJANA VASILESCU, CEO, Sberbank Srbija a.d. (JSC)

Market Demands Continuous Advancement PAGE /41

BANE SPASOVIĆ, Mayor of Požarevac

City Of Great Potential PAGE /44

MIHAILO JANKOVIĆ, CEO OF NECTAR D.O.O. (LTD.)

20 YEARS OF NECTAR

Two Decades Of Family Success

From a small family business established in 1998 to a regional leader in the production of fruit juices in 2018, NECTAR has undergone a 20-year journey and marks its jubilee with impressive results: more than a billion euros of gross value added in Serbia since its establishment, 5,500 jobs in its value system and a large number of brands - all under the slogan “It does matter”

A

s the largest producer of fruit juices in Serbia, with a 30% market share, Nectar increased its share of the regional juice market to 22% with its acquisition of Slovenia’s Fructal in 2011 and now generates revenues exceeding 100 million euros annually.

How would you, as succinctly as possible, describe the chronology of the Nectar Group’s success; and what were the crucial junctures along the way?

Nectar has recorded constant growth

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December

over the course of the past two decades, always operating at a profit and making great advances for the Serbian economy through the acquisition and successful operating of Fructal, a company from the European Union market. If we were to define that 20 years of consistency, then it would be based on the family values of the founders and owners, the Radun family; values that have been transferred to their extended family – company Nectar. The company emerged in the way common to German Mittelstand or Italian medium-sized companies, so that basic DNA of our company led to dynamic and aggressive growth, speed of innovation and abilities to adapt to market demands, but also to acquisitions in Serbia and elsewhere in the former Yugoslavia.

We are proud that all decisions are taken exclusively in Serbia. Nectar’s acquisition of Fructal is one of the rare direct investments in Slovenia from Serbia and - at a size of 50 million euros - is among the largest.

What’s the capacity of Nectar’s production today?

The Nectar Group has the highest capacity for primary fruit processing in the region, exceeding 120,000 tonnes annually, with 95% of processing carried out at three locations in Serbia - Vladičin Han, Backa Palanka and Arilje. We have a total of six production facilities in three countries (Serbia, Macedonia and Slovenia), with a large number of state-

of-the-art plant lines for the processing and production of fruits and vegetables.

As Nectar-Fructal, we are ranked as the eighth strongest brand on the Valicon List of the top 25 brands in the region of the former Yugoslavia. That list is dominated by global brands, which makes it even more of a success that we are included in this prestigious group.

You say that your acquisition of Fructal was like graduating from high school. How did you pass this test of maturity?

At the end of 2011, Nectar acquired a majority stake in Fructal in a fierce market battle that included more than 10 reputable competitors. Now, seven years on, we can say with satisfaction that we won!

The acquisition of Fructal enabled Nectar to strengthen a long-term partnership with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which supported us with a loan of 35 million euros. All obligations towards the EBRD have been met throughout all these years, and Fructal has become an indispensable member of the Nectar family.

The Nectar Group’s annual sales figures have constantly exceeded €100 million since 2012. In 20 years of operations, you’ve generated sales revenue of more than €1.1 billion and an operating profit of €200 million. Which business standards have led you throughout all these years?

We’ve invested and innovated constantly. We invested more than €100 million in facilities, equipment and acquisitions.

More than 95% of cumulative profits, totalling almost 80 million euros, have been invested over the course of the past two decades. We’ve built relationships with farmers very carefully, because it’s important for us to know who we buy fruits and vegetables from for our products. In 2017 alone, we bought 68,000 tonnes of fruits and vegetables. Each year we pre-finance more than 1,300 farmers, while cooperating directly or indirectly with over 10,000 farmers. Apples, peaches, cherries and tomatoes account for over 80% of total purchases in the structure. Every sixth apple that remains in Serbia is processed at a Nectar plant.

The Nectar Group possesses over 30 brands and 743 individual products. What are all the product categories represented?

Our products are classified into four categories – food, juices, water and alcoholic beverages. Nectar’s first ever product was apple vinegar. We are particularly proud of our positive impacts on consumer trends in introducing healthy habits to Serbia. We don’t compromise on quality and have introduced – through innovation, market research and development – as many as 68 of our own innovations and three new state-of-the-art lines for the production of small packages in the last five years.

Nectar spent years developing various brands within the Nectar family – Family, Life, Tomatelo, Jam, Booster, Buzz, Kids...

Throughout all this time, we’ve been protecting and improving our acquired brands of Fructal, Frutek, Frutabel and Heba.

Nectar invests a lot in its corporate social responsibility. You’ve invested over €800,000 in CSR projects in Serbia since 2014 alone. Which of your activities are you particularly proud of?

Our biggest single action was “It does matter when babies come”, through which we donated significant funds for the reconstruction of the department for artificial

Nectar has recorded constant growth over the course of the past two decades, always operating at a profit and making great advances for the Serbian economy through the acquisition and successful operating of Fructal, a company from the European Union market

insemination at the Narodni Front Maternity Hospital in Belgrade. We are proud that the conditions have been created to increase many times the number of couples who have the opportunity to undergo artificial insemination procedures in Serbia.

Nectar is also a long-time sponsor of the Basketball Federation of Serbia with its Heba brand. In 2017 alone, we donated funds to 100 organisations in Serbia that require funding, with a special focus on the local communities in which we have production facilities.

You recently formed a strategic partnership with the Nelt Group. What benefits do you expect from this cooperation?

We decided to cooperate with NELT in the domain of logistics services. Nelt has excellent management and top logistics capacities and we believe that through this cooperation we will improve our operational level even further towards our customers and impact positively on Nectar’s operations in Serbia.

Given that the first 20 years have been extremely successful, it is to be expected that Nectar’s plans for the next 20 years will be even more ambitious. In which direction will your future activities be focused?

In the first 20 years we’ve conquered the markets of the former Yugoslavia and are today present on six continents and in 60 countries. In the next 20 we’ll conquer the global market. We want to continue to be a company that nurtures family values.

We want to achieve annual revenue of €500 million; to create five billion euros of gross value added in Serbia within our value system; for our value system to engage more than 10,000 full-time employees. We want to have exports to over 100 countries worldwide, for every second apple that remains in Serbia being processed at Nectar, to become a regional leader in the production of health food and a global player in the production of juices. And in everything we do we want to remain faithful to our ‘it does matter’ business philosophy.

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Perspective

“I ask the people of Kosovo to support the dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade, because I think that the successful outcome of this dialogue is the basis of your European perspective and also an opportunity to live together in peace and stability.“ – SEBASTIAN KURTZ, AUSTRIAN PRIME MINISTER

LOCAL NEWS SBERBANK

EIF

WON THE WORLD BRANDING AWARD

FITCH RATINGS

FITCH CONFIRMS SERBIA’ RATINGS AT ‘BB’ Fitch Ratings said it has affirmed Serbia’s long-term foreign- and localcurrency issuer default ratings (IDR) at ‘BB’, with a stable outlook.

Serbia’s ratings are supported by governance, human development and ease of doing business indicators that exceed the majority of ‘BB’ category sovereigns, Fitch said in a statement.

The presence of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) Policy-Coordinated Instrument (PCI) provides an anchor on reform and policy direction consistent with further strengthening of macroeconomic fundamentals and public debt reduction, Fitch said.

However, Serbia’s ratings are constrained by its lower growth potential, as well as higher level of public and net external debt ratios to gross domestic product (GDP) relative to category peers, the ratings agency warned.

At recently finished World Branding Awards, Sberbank has been named Brand of the Year 2018 in the Banking category. This prestigious award Sberbank has been won for the third time a row.

“The success of our brand is the logical conclusion of the company’s business success. The growth of our client base, increasing number of daily users of the mobile application, stronger client loyalty, development of new products, and high-quality advertising activity are key factors in brand development,” said Vladislav Kreynin, Vice President and Marketing Director at Sberbank. Key factors in determining whether a company should be awarded as “Brand of the Year” include achievements in its core business and brand development. A company’s final score is determined through three streams: market research, brand valuation, and public online voting with more than 200.000 voters. The World Branding Awards have been held since 2014 by World Branding Forum, a non-profit organisation headquartered in London. Sberbank also won Brand of the Year (Banking) in 2017 and 2016.

EUR 180M NEW LOANS THROUGH “EU FOR SERBIA – FINANCING FOR SMES”

REAL ESTATE

CONSTRUCTION IN ACCORDANCE WITH INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS Skyline Belgrade, as a complex comprising three towers – a central business tower and two residential towers, will provide its future tenants with quality and safety at the very heart of central Belgrade, on the famous Kneza Miloša Street. Project investor AFI Europe has been present on the Serbian market since 2005 and has proven with its projects – including the iconic Airport City Belgrade and Central Garden developments – that it is a market leader in terms of architectural and urban-planning achievements. The exclusive sale of apartments has been entrusted to Serbia’s leading real estate consultancy, CBS International, part of the Cushman & Wakefield Group.

The EIF endorsed the selection of five local banks (Raiffeisen bank, UniCredit bank, Banca Intesa, ProCredit bank and Komercialna bank), which will implement the “EU for Serbia – financing for SMEs” Guarantee.

EIF will provide a direct guarantee enabling the selected banks to support ca 1250 SMEs loans on favourable terms, such as reduced pricing, lower collateral, longer maturities or a combination of these. Over the next three years, the EU contribution of EUR 20 million will mobilise up to EUR 180 million in the form of loans at favourable terms.

AIR FRANCE

FLIGHTS PARISBELGRADE-PARIS FROM 31ST MARCH 2019

SCIENCE

RESEARCHERS FROM SERBIA GET WIPO MEDALS FOR INVESTORS Professor Dr Djuro Koruga, a pioneer in nanotechnologies and the founder of the Center for Molecular Machines at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Belgrade, and plastic surgeon Jadran Bandic received the Medals for Inventors of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), at the celebration of an anniversary of the IntelDR KORUGA PhD. (CENTRE) lectual Property Office.

The two researchers were awarded WIPO Medals for Investors in the category of inventors or a group of inventors and patents for an invention called “Analytic Methods of Tissue Evaluation”. They have patented this invention which contributes to an early melanoma diagnosis or prevention, in one of the biggest markets of the world – the USA. The award contest was organized by the Intellectual Property Office on the occasion of the 98th anniversary. WIPO is one of the UN’s specialised agencies in charge of international affairs pertaining to industrial property rights, copyright and related rights.

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After six years Air France will return to Belgrade. From 31st March 2019, Air France will operate daily on the Paris-Belgrade-Paris route.

Timetable according to the local time: AF 1660 flight will depart from Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris at 12:20, arrival time to Belgrade 14:35.

AF 1661 flight from Belgrade will fly at 15:25, with arrival time at Charles De Gaulle Airport at 5:55 pm.

Agreement

“The US supports Kosovo for reaching a comprehensive agreement with Serbia, which paves the way for mutual recognition and the membership of Kosovo into NATO, the EU and the UN.” – KOSOVO PRESIDENT HASHIM THACI ALIBABA

NEW LOGISTICS HUB IN SERBIA To reduce delivery times, the Chinese online sales giant has decided to create a logistics office that brings standards from the current 17 days to 17 hours. This new center will most likely be located in Serbia, which boasts particularly close relations with China. Indeed, Serbia and China already boast bilateral tradewhich in 2016 it reached nearly $ 600 million, marking a 8.2%, and that in the first four months of 2017 saw a 20% increase over the same period of 2016. The Secretary of State for the Economy Tatjana Matić said that the Serbian Government has already signed a confidentiality agreement with Alibaba.

CORPORATE COMPLIANCE ASSOCIATION

BELGRADE RECEIVES FIRST CORPORATE COMPLIANCE ASSOCIATION Belgrade gained its first Corporate Compliance Association on 23rd November and its goal is to better explain the importance of corporate compliance to as many people as possible and to clarify the role and responsibility for the sustainable operation of this system of both corporations and all its parts to the level of an individual.

The Association is comprised of professionals from different areas of business, who all have the same goal – to define what a compliant business is now, what it should be and how to develop correspondingly.

The Association is comprised of professionals from different areas of business, who all have the same goal – to define what a compliant business is now, what it should be and how to develop correspondingly.

GENERALI OSIGURANJE SRBIJA

FIRST FAMILY FRIENDLY FINANCIAL ORGANISATION IN SERBIA Generali Osiguranje Srbija is the first financial organization in Serbia and the region that has received the Family Friendly Enterprise certificate. The certificate is awarded to companies that enable their staff to more easily balance their private lives with their work. The certificate was received by the Chairman of the Executive Board of Generali Osiguranje Srbija, Dragan Filipović.

The certificate is awarded by TMS CEE d.o.o. according to the certification scheme of the Ekvilib Institute. Thanks to the benefits offered to its staff, Generali Osiguranje Srbija now counts among prestigious employers. It has become the first financial organization, out of over 90 in Serbia, to receive this important certificate, which confirms family responsible business operations.

Placements postings

&

appointments@aim.rs

H.E. HYOUNG-CHAN CHOE, NEW AMBASSADOR OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Ambassador H.E. Hyoung-chan Choe (51) holds a BA Degree in International Relations and an MA Degree in Public Policy from Seoul National University, as well as an MA degree in International Relations from the U.S. University of Virginia. His diplomatic career includes postings at the Korean embassies in Israel (1998-2000), China (2000-2003), Vietnam (2006-2008), the U.S. (20112013) and Iraq (2014-2015). Ambassador Choe has also held various posts at the Korean Foreign Ministry, including serving as Director for Overseas Missions within the Office of Planning and Coordination (2008-2009) and Director of the Republic of Korea-U.S. Security Cooperation Division in the North American Affairs Bureau (2009-2011), while he also worked as a Senior Director of the National Security Council Secretariat in the Office of the President (2015-2016).

Ambassador Choe also held the position of Director-General for International Policy at the Korean Ministry of National Defence (2016-2018).

He is a married father of a son and a daughter.

MLADEN PETKOVIĆ, NEW DIRECTOR OF ZASTAVA ORUŽJE AD

Mladen Petković is an expert with rich professional experience as director of the company Krusik Valjevo and Kovački Centar as an economic and financial expert.

He started his career in the company JAT Support.

In the last four years, Mladen Petkovic has been concentrating on the consolidation of Krusik’s business operations. Krusik is constantly modernizing existing products and investing considerable resources in developing new products based on new technologies. One of the most important events in the company’s operations lay in establishing a serial production of products from the missile programme. This programme strengthened Krusik’s position on the world market.

UROŠ BIDER, NEW GENERAL MANAGER OF PETROL D.O.O. BELGRADE AND BEOGAS A.D.

Uroš Bider has spent 35 years in various positions within the management structures of company Petrol. He was the director of retail sales in Croatia, leader of the project for the development of retail operations and retail supervisor for retail sales in Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro.

Since 2013 he has been at the helm of company Petrol BH Oil Company d.o.o. (Ltd.).

“We want Petrol in Serbia to intensify its development with the expanding of its network of petrol stations, to improve our brand recognition and strengthen our position on the Serbian market, placing a special focus on wholesale, increasing our market share in the sale of natural gas, and becoming a recognised regional provider of comprehensive energy and environmental solutions,” said Bider.

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10TH ANNIVERSARY OF PRIMA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

Each One, Teach One

PRIMA International School of Belgrade has been offering for the past ten years the best of a British and international education in a nurturing setting that is safe and stimulating for all families seeking the highest quality education for their children

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RIMA consists of Preschool, Primary and Secondary departments. PRIMA International School is an accredited Cambridge Assessment International Education centre and, as such, has gained a reputation as a serious educational institution.

Speaking at the ceremony celebrating the school’s tenth anniversary, Ms Brigitte MacIntosh Petrovic, Head of school, said: “There is no greater feeling than standing here before you in anticipation of what the next ten years will bring. We will continue to develop and improve, so that our students can achieve greatness, and we will continue to contribute to the educational and scholastic community for many years to come. We will do all this and I can say that with confidence because of my team.

Our teachers have a knack for finding what the child loves to do and then drawing it

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out of them and encouraging them. Our pupils have already grown in confidence and have the desire to further explore and freely express their imagination. PRIMA students have resilience, curiosity and compassion.”

Speaking about the principles and teaching methods applied by the school, Ms MacIntosh Petrovic noted: “My staff,

We will continue to develop and improve, so that our students can achieve greatness, and we will continue to contribute to the educational and scholastic community for many years to come

to me, are champions of education. Their dedication and hard work during school hours, and now at home, is to be commended. I know they are overwhelmed at times, but what I love the most about them is that they don’t give up. They continue to move forward, and as they do they reach back and pull someone forward with them.

The saying ‘Each one, teach one’ perfectly illustrates what they are all about.

You have all, at some point and time, had an impact on the life of a child here at PRIMA. From Preschool and Reception to Primary and Secondary, whether it be something you said, did, or showed, these students will move on and in their adulthood they too will impact the lives of people who come into contact with them. Those people will in turn move on and impact other lives. My teachers will cause a ripple effect of goodness in the years to come.”

MARIJANA VASILESCU, CEO, SBERBANK SRBIJA A.D. (JSC)

Market Demands Continuous Advancement “Sberbank is among the youngest banks on the Serbian market and we have a huge obligation to contribute, through constant innovations and improvements, to the stability and strengthening of Sberbank in this part of Europe”

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ompared to the same period of last year, Sberbank has recorded an increase in profit in Serbia of as much as 35 per cent. Speaking to CorD about the operations of this bank that’s one of the world’s largest financial institutions, as well as the advancement of Serbia’s banking market, is Marijana Vasilescu, CEO of Sberbank Srbija a.d.

Sberbank’s arrival in Serbia marked the completion of the bank’s transformation into one of the leading international banking groups. How would you rate operations in Serbia to date?

It’s a privilege to be part of one of the largest and most profitable financial institutions in the world, with a tradition dating back 177 years, and to be part of a bank that has, for the last three years consecutively, won the title of the best brand in the banking category at the World Branding Awards. On the other hand, Sberbank is one of the youngest banks on the Serbian market and we have a huge obligation to contribute, through constant innovations and improvements, to the stability and strengthening of Sberbank in this part of Europe. We can boast of the fact that, compared to the same period of last year, we’ve recorded an increase in profit of as much as 35 per cent. Certainly what’s

most important is the fact that our clients have recognised us as a reliable partner. This is supported by the fact that we achieved growth in total deposits of as much as 21%, as well as growth of 39% in consumer loans compared to the first nine months of 2017.

I am particularly proud of the fact that we’re succeeding in our mission and maintaining an excellent team spirit, which we’ve demonstrated in practise through numerous

created in the form of an advanced loyalty card “With Us on the Road”. For the needs of this co-branded payment card, Sberbank prepared a simple, digitised and fully automated process that enables users to submit a request for the payment functionality of this card and to sign contractual documents outside of the bank’s branch offices, at more 70 NIS Petrol and Gazprom filling stations.

We are proud that more than 32,000 requests have been submitted since the launch of this project.

It is an interesting fact that an average of 12 new “With Us on the Road” cards are issued every hour, and are done so without a single client having to physically come to the bank

The consolidation of the Serbian banking sector will also continue next year. What are your plans and in which area of your operations do you plan to invest the most?

The further development of our digital channels is moving in the direction of developing contracting services for credit products. With the entry into force of the Law on Users of Financial Services with contracting at a distance in June this year, the conditions were created for us to be able to create a completely new product, which will enable our clients to receive electronic approval for smaller loans. We will soon provide our clients with a superior user experience through applications for cash credit with just the consent to conclude such a contract and with the use of two elements that confirm the identity of the user, without going to the bank, and with just a few clicks.

We have a lot of work ahead of us, but we are motivated by precisely these kinds of challenges.

humanitarian-volunteer actions with which we’ve contributed to the better functioning of the community in which we operate.

You also cooperate successfully with other Russian companies, which is plain to see with the example of the partnership project “With Us on the Road”.

Sberbank Srbija focused part of its corporate strategy on building stable bridges between Serbian and Russian companies.

On this very basis, together with companies NIS and Gazprom Neft, a joint product was

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Dialogue

“Croatia will not get involved in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue but will monitor and encourage it.” – KOLINDA GRABAR-KITAROVIĆ, CROATIAN PRESIDENT

REGIONAL NEWS CROATIA

UNVEILED A NEW PRODUCT – SMART CYCLING POINT

ROMANIA

FORD IS HIRING OVER 1,700 JOB VACANCIES Ford is hiring staff for its factory in Craiova, southern Romania, with over 1,700 available job vacancies. Most jobs are for basic and skilled operators.

Ford is looking for people who should not live more than 35km away from Craiova, with the car maker pledging to reimburse a part of the commute or transport costs, to grant meal vouchers and salary benefits depending on the department they will work.

Ford representatives have met the mayor of 30 localities in Dolj county and with the leaders of the county councils asking for their support to find the needed employees, ProMotor reported.

Croatian smart bench manufactures Include has unveiled a brand new product at the Smart City EXPO World Congress in Barcelona.

Include, led by young innovator Ivan Mrvoš from Solin near Split, developed the hugely successful Steora smart benches and since launching have placed 855 smart benches in 250 cities on 5 continents.

“Three years after the initial creation of Steora smart bench, we have introduced the most advanced multifunctional bench ever designed – Monna. Monna cycling point is a simple entry point to the world of smart cycling equipment. A solarpowered point comes with multiple functionalities – bike racks and electrical sockets for charging electric bicycles, bike repairing tools, wireless charging pad and charging ports for wired phones, night illumination, data collecting etc,” the company announced. Two smart electrical sockets operated by 7″ display provide up to 250W of energy for charging electric bicycles, laptops and other electronic devices. Monna City is a perfect cycling point for urban locations, such as city squares, marinas or parks.

Earlier this year, Include was the first Croatian company to been named the fastest growing company in Central Europe in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Rising Stars category after growing a massive 1950% in the last three years of business operations.

ALBANIA

FIRST RENEWABLE ENERGY SUPPORT AUCTION Last month, Albania’s energy ministry said it has selected a consortium led by India Power Corporation for the construction of a 100 MW solar park worth €70 million euro in Akerni area, near the southwestern port city of Vlora.

“It is the first renewables support auction in Albania and hope that it will be followed in all Contracting Parties,” director of Energy Community Secretariat Janez Kopac.

The renewable energy auction in Albania was preceded earlier this year by Montenegro granting the tender for the construction on state-leased land and operation of a solar PV project with an installed generation capacity of 250MW without support, the statement added.

“The winning bid provides energy price of 59.9 euro/MW for a 50 MW capacity for 15 years and an additional capacity of 50 MW (100 MW in total) without support for energy purchases,” the ministry noted, adding that the construction of the solar park must be completed in 18 months.

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10 THINGS TO DO WHEN BUSINESS SLOWS DOWN

We are sure you’ve seen it happen every year: your business slows down during predictable times, like the summertime months or yearend, especially Christmas and New Years’ time. Should you just take a time off until things naturally pick up again? Or should you try to find the needle-in-the-haystack business that might be out there during slow times?

Here are our recommendation.

1. Clean your office.

2. Take a mini-break from work.

3. Get ready for tax season.

4. If the slow time falls around the holidays, use them to your advantage.

5. Do your accounting.

6. Become goal-oriented.

7. Go back to school. List the topics you’d like to study 8. Get some personal chores done.

Schedule your annual dental and eye exams.

9. Go shopping.

10. Spend time with family and friends.

Beavering

“I’m from last century. At that time, it was not be a shameful to feel, to love and behave decently”– ĐORĐE BALAŠEVIĆ, COMPOSER, SINGER, PERFORMING ARTIST

MONTENEGRO

TWO HUNDRED DEBTORS OWE €75.97 MILLION The Tax Administration has published a new Black List of 200 tax debtors, whose combined debt amounts to €75.97 million, out of which €42.04 million is subject to tax debt reprogramming.

With the debt of €7.4 million, Vektra Jakic is on the top of the list. It is followed by Vektra Montenegro, which owes €4.56 million, Tehnoput, whose debt amounts to €3.67 million, Fab-live with €3.1 million, Mercur System Budva with €2.69 million, Family shop Bar, which owes €2.55 million, and Old town invest group, with a debt of €2.47 million…

The list of tax debtors also includes Vuk & Petrol Kotor with a debt of €2.35 million, A-Kop with €1.77 million each, the Coalmine and the Fund for Solidarity Housing Development and whose respective debts amount to €1.39 million.

With the tax debt of €1.38 million, Montenegro Royal Management is next on the list, followed by Cijevna komerc with a debt of €1.26 million, Braca Kolic with €893,520, Sotto la Collina with €885,080, Inpek with €784,730, Euro pipe with €775,880…

The Tax Administration publishes the Back List quarterly, in compliance with amendments to the Law on Tax Administration.

BULGARIA

ARMS MAKER VMZ SOPOT TO START DRONE PRODUCTION State-owned Bulgarian arms producer VMZ Sopot has signed a technology transfer contract with Israel’s Aeronautics, allowing VMZ Sopot to start producing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), the economy ministry, reports Reuters.

Adi Cohen, marketing director at Aeronautics, said the Israeli drone maker’s aim was to set up an assembly and production line of UAVs in Bulgaria and approach new markets together with VMZ Sopot. In June, during a visit to Jerusalem, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said the Balkan country was interested in joint drone production with Israel. Israel rivals the United States as top UAV exporter and has cooperated with Russia and India on drone technologies.

HUNGARY

SPORTS GET €18MLN MORE The government decided to transfer HUF 5.83 billion (€18 million) with immediate effect from budget money set aside to provide finance for European Union tenders towards the financing of sports related and other developments, Hungarian news agency MTI reports.

The government resolution was

KOSOVO

ALBANIA, KOSOVO TO JOINTLY BUILD 200 MW HYDROPOWER PLANT Albania and Kosovo will jointly build a 200 MW hydropower plant (HPP) in the area between Dragash and Prizren, Kosovo Minister of Economic Development Valdrin Lluka said.

He said that the project will receive support from the EU in the amount of €20 million, Albanian daily news portal DRAGASH reported.

According to the minister, the idea of building the hydropower plant jointly with Albania is very close to receiving final approval.

The EU will provide a €20mln grant for the construction of the HPP to be used for electricity balancing in Albania and Kosovo*, Lluka noted.

This location between Dragash and Prizren has a strong potential for a hydropower plant, Lluka said.

In November 2017, Lluka revealed that Kosovo* plans investments in the solar energy sector through a new auction scheme. He said that the investments could reach €100mln. So far not a single solar power plant has been built.

The World Bank in October announced that it will not support a 500 MW Kosova e Re coal-fired power plant, but Kosovo’s government and the US-based ContourGlobal reaffirmed their commitment to completing the project. Kosovo has around 14 billion tonnes of proven lignite reserves, the fifth largest in the world.

published in official gazette Magyar Közlöny.

HUF 1.91 bln of the total is redirected to finance property purchases and investments related to sports developments. HUF 3.8 bln will be spent on state-assets related movables and other equipment and the remaining HUF 112 million will finance other state asset management expenses, according to the resolution.

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

THE HIGHEST PAID SALARY IN BIH

Data on monthly salaries of citizens of BiH, which were collected by the Tax Administration of the FBiH, reflect the social inequality that is present in our country, although it belongs to one of the least developed countries in Europe. The difference between the rich and poor is more and more present, and it is visible in the record amount of monthly salary in the year of 2017. The largest monthly net salary in the FBiH amounted to a total of 380,590 BAM (€194,300). According to Adisa Hamzic, the Adviser for Public Relations in the Tax Administration of the FBiH, the second highest salary amounted to 259.993 BAM (€132,700) and it is followed by 117.989 BAM, 92.577 BAM and 35.873 BAM. The amount of these salaries also included paid taxes and contributions.

The lowest salary in the FBiH amounted to 369 BAM (€188) in February 2017, which means that the lowest salary is 1,000 times lower than the largest salary in the FBiH.

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BANE SPASOVIĆ, MAYOR OF POŽAREVAC

City Of Great Potential I’m sure that we’ll attract “major players” again, with the strengthening of infrastructure, and that process is underway

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hen it comes to Požarevac, a city that’s extremely rich in resources and potential from almost all areas, it is our obligation to develop all resources and potential equally, paying equal attention to them, emphasises Bane Spasović, Mayor of Požarevac Požarevac and its surrounding areas have come to represent a very attractive destination in recent years. What has changed and in which branches of the economy?

I’m glad you think that we’re an attractive destination, but the results achieved in the past few years are just the precursors of what we outlined. In parallel with attracting investments and developing tourist infrastructure, we also had to develop communal infrastructure, which didn’t even exist in some parts of the city. If it weren’t for that, I’m sure that there would now be far more businesspeople employing far more workers, as well as visitors who would come here due to the attractive tourism offer. All of this is only waiting for us, particularly in the year ahead.

European and domestic funds have recognised the importance of investing in Požarevac. In which areas?

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The state, as well as certain funds of the European Union, have recognised the potential for development in us, but also a partner who will fulfil all projects in a contract up to the last letter. Thanks to the projects prepared by the Public Procurement Office, we received part of funding required for renovation of the Health Centre and several schools on our territory, while several others are planned and we will also gain access to capital for the renovation of the hospital facilities.

The City is obliged to devise projects, and I’m sure that in the years to come we will further improve conditions for treating citizens of the entire Braničevo District.

When it comes to foreign funds, one of the latest projects is “Culture without Borders”, which was co-financed by the IPA programme of cross-border cooperation between Romania and Serbia

When it comes to foreign funds, one of the latest projects is “Culture without Borders”, which was co-financed by the IPA programme of cross-border cooperation between Romania and Serbia. This project has, among other things, secured several mobile tourism stands and a modern stage with complete equipment that has already been delivered and is being

used, as well as a large sporting dome that is being installed.

The Danube, agriculture and historical heritage all represent great potential.

In what direction do you plan to further develop the city of Požarevac and its surroundings?

Perhaps, as a Požarevac native, I’m not objective when I say that my city is rich in resources and potential in almost all domains, but I’m obliged, as mayor, to develop all those resources and potentials equally, devoting attention to each of them equally. The proximity of the fertile Stig and the traditions of livestock farming and the processing of meat, fruits and vegetables testify to the fact that the development of agriculture is one of the priorities. As one of the strongest industrial zones during the late 20th century, besides company Bambi, which is still operating today, we were the home of giants such as MIP, Voćeprodukt, Žitostig etc. I’m sure that, with the strengthening of infrastructure, we will again attract “major players”, and that process is underway. When it comes to the development of tourism, we are exerting considerable efforts and funds, together with the state, to arrange stables and the hippodrome, which are the carriers of our most important event, under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Serbia, the Ljubičevo Equestrian Games. There is also the Požarevac Peace complex of on Tulba Hill, our galleries, the National Museum, the Viminacium Archaeological Park, and renovated streets and squares of Požarevac.

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Culture

“Russia is a part of European culture. Therefore, it is with difficulty that I imagine NATO as an enemy.” – VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA

WORLD NEWS NORWAY

KJELL INGE RØKKE THE COUNTRY’S MOST WEALTHY

DMITRY MEDVEDEV AND LI KEQIANG

RUSSIA

RUSSIAN-CHINESE TRADE TURNOVER MAY REACH $200 BLN Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has set a new level for bilateral trade between Russia and China, saying that a level of $200 billion is quite achievable.

He reported that he agreed with his Chinese counterpart on a number of additional steps for support for small businesses, the development of electronic trade and the development of payment system. Medvedev also promised to continue work to lift barriers in different spheres, not just in the bilateral format.

He stressed the importance of linking the Eurasian Economic Union and the Silk Road Economic Belt.

Medvedev added that the two countries have a number of investment projects in the energy, oil, gas and oil refining industries, high technologies, including manned space navigation, the establishment of new materials and the creation of artificial intelligence.

It was decided to pay special attention to issues of developing the Far East and wood processing.

Source:TASS

Kjell Inge Røkke received the top ranking on the list of the country’s most wealthy,with NOK 20.6 billion (€215 mlillion) equity capital according to the tax list.

Røkke thus took over the place of Salmar heir Gustav Witzøe (24). The Aker owner was listed in the tax report with an equilibrium capital of NOK 20.6 billion, against NOK 11.1 billion (€111 million) in 2016 wrote Dagens Næringsliv newspaper.

Taxpayers for last year were posted on the Tax Agency’s website.The publication is strictly regulated. You can apply to the register of all taxpayers; the neighbour, the parents, the wife and the cohabitant if you want, but then you also have to endure that the ones you apply for are informed about it. The rules for use and publication of tax lists were tightened in 2011.

Hovedeier Svein Støle (55), of Pareto brokerage, is Norway’s richest, with a fortune of 7.24 billion kroner, while the daughters of Ferd owner, Johan Andresen, Katharina Gamlemshaug Andresen, and Alexandra Gamlemshaug Andresen, are in 3rd and 4th place.They are both listed with a capital of NOK 6.8 billion.

ENERGY MINISTER GEORGE STATHAKIS

GREECE

EU APPROVES GREECEBULGARIA GAS PIPELINE The European Commission has made a decision regarding the Greece-Bulgaria Interconnector (IGB) gas pipeline, finding that the plans for its construction and operation were compatible with EU rules on state subsidies.

Greek Environment and Energy Minister George Stathakis welcomed the decision at an event organised by the Hellenic Cadastre. He also announced that Greece’s land cadastre should be fully completed by the first half of 2021.

“Completing the cadastre is one of the most important reforms carried out in Greece in recent years,” Stathakis said, noting that the governmental law had “done away with problems going back decades and replaced a status quo of grey zones with rules, regulations and a transparent regulatory framework.”

MALTA

MOST DIFFICULT PLACE IN THE EU TO DO BUSINESS Malta, according to the World Bank, will be the most difficult place in the whole of the European Union in which to do business.

Malta, in fact, was ranked in the authoritative study as being the 84th easiest place in the world to do business, out of the 190 countries surveyed.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Malta fared best in the area of ‘Dealing with construction permits’, where the country was ranked in a global 45th position. In all, 14 procedures are involved and an average of 170 days.

In terms of ‘Starting a business’, Malta ranked 103rd with eight procedures necessary and 16 days to open business’ doors. Malta ranked 77th in terms of ‘Getting electricity’, requiring an average of 105 days to get connected.

In the EU, just ahead of Malta was Greece, in 72nd place, and Luxembourg, in 66th.

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Problems

“One of the key problems today is that politics is such a disgrace, good people don’t go into government.” – DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT EGYPT

NGOS RECEIVE LE376 MILLION

CZECH REPUBLIC

AT 2.8%, UNEMPLOYMENT IS AT RECORD LOW Unemployment in the Czech Republic fell to another record low in the month of October, according to the Czech Labour Office (Urad prace CR). At 2.8%, the figure is the lowest since 1997. There are currently 215,622 people in the country without work, and a corresponding 316,900 jobs that are unfilled. Analysts expect another wave of wage increases as the busy Christmas season approaches, as firms struggle to fill open positions, and to entice staff to remain in their positions.

The value of foreign grants to NGOs in Egypt recorded more than LE376 million ($21 million) in October, Minister of Social Solidarity Ghada Wali announced saying they were approved by Egyptian authorities in accordance with law and that spending will be observed.

Wali explained that 55 foreign GHADA WALI, MINISTER OF SOCIAL SOLIDARITY entities provided 151 grants to 112 NGOs in Egypt working in the fields of development, charity, and micro-finance.

The grants were directed to programs targeting childcare; elimination of homeless children phenomenon and violence against children; healthcare; rural development; poverty and unemployment reduction; environment preservation; recycling; and, ending violence against women.

CANADA

LEGAL CANNABIS MARKET NEEDS 2 YEARS TO STABILISE

LATVIA

NORVIK BANKA CHANGES NAME TO PNB BANKA From November 9 Norvik Banka Group will be known as PNB Banka. The bank will continue providing all of its services without complications. All contracts and agreements signed with AS Norvik Banka remain in force. Communication with customers will continue as usual in all of the bank’s branch offices in Latvia, as confirmed

by PNB Banka communication manager Vineta Vilistere-Lāce.

The change to PNB Bank will be performed gradually. To enhance their positions on the Latvian marker, PNB Bank has been working towards making the bank’s work more efficient these past five years. Last year the bank reviewed the bank’s strategy, strengthened the bank’s management board and council teams. W PNB Bank believes changing it’s name is the next step for development, says PNB Banka board chairman Oliver Bramwell.

Canadians should expect legal cannabis prices to fluctuate for roughly two years, according to an analyst tracking the market price for marijuana. Brad Martin, director of Calgary-based Cann Standard, collects public price listings for cannabis and aggregates the numbers to establish an average. He used legalization in Oregon, where supply was initially low and prices were high, as an example. A period of over-supply and price compression followed, he said.

The lowest price available for a single gram of cannabis on 17th October ranged from $5.25 in Quebec to $13 in Saskatchewan and $13.13 in the Northwest Territories. Given supply shortages, the broader economic impacts of selling cannabis will be radically limited, according to Jason Childs, associate economics professor at the University of Regina. He predicted an initial spike in usage followed by a period of tapering off, though it’s unclear at what level the fluctuations will end.

MOLDOVA

PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH PROJECTS WITH IT SOLUTIONS TO GET GRANTS Authors of projects on increasing productivity of companies using IT solutions will get grants from the Organization for Small and Medium Enterprises (ODIMM). The initiative is set in the Strategy for the development of information technology and digital innovation ecosystem for 2018-2023. The same issue also includes the action plan on strategy implementation. The document aims at creating a competitive IT business environment, human capital development in ICT, increased innovation and investment in the sector, and increased exports of IT products and services.

To this end, networks of entrepreneurial hubs will be created based on ICT Centers of excellence and business incubators. The strategy also includes the development of a network of Moldovan digital ambassadors to promote the local IT industry internationally. Implementation of the strategy will cost 240 million lei (€12.4 million). Money will be largely allocated by the business community and development partners.

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Enterpreuner ZHOU QUNFEI,

THE WORLD’S RICHEST SELF-MADE WOMAN

Chinese billionaire Zhou Qunfei is the world’s richest self-made woman, according to Forbes, and she attributes her success to one thing: perseverance.

Zhou, the 48-yearold CEO of Lens Technology, has built an empire manufacturing glass for tech giants such as Tesla, Apple and Samsung, but it hasn’t been an easy ride to the top

From Rearing Pigs To

Being A Self-Made Billionaire 48

December

Zhou Qunfei’s success paints a picture of dedication, hunger for success, and defying every restrictive social norm - gender, poverty, class inequality. Born to a family with meagre means in Xiangxiang, Hunan Province in China, life was quite difficult from the early days. Times got even tougher after the death of her mother and her father slowly losing his sight. These turn of events eventually forced her to drop out of school and she later joined a small watch glass making factory in Shenzhen, where she learnt the trade of making watch lenses. Being made to work for more than 12 hours on most days, she still managed to scramble some time to educate herself in accounting.

Today, Zhou Qunfei is a prominent Chinese entrepreneur who is known best for her remarkable career high as the founder of Lens Technology which is a touchscreen maker.

Zhou Qunfei net worth is known to have made her the richest woman in China at present and the world’s richest self-made woman, the richest woman in tech. Zhou Qunfei story regarding her success is an influence t youths of the present age.

The distinguished and talented Chinese entrepreneur, Zhou Qunfei is known to be the richest woman in China. Her net worth has been amassed from the success of her venture, Lens Technology and through her investments.

Zhou Qunfei interview has revealed her story of hard beginnings and gradual success. Zhou Qunfei story of how she made her company public and earned a huge net worth is very inspiring.

She was born in 1970 in Xiangxiang, China to a father who was a former soldier. Her father lost a finger at war and became blind.

After the war, he went on to become a skilled craftsman and went on to see bamboo baskets and chairs and repaired bicycles. At the tender age of 5, Zhou Qunfei mother passed away.

Zhou Qunfei house was poorly built and to support her family, Qunfei had to raise animals.

Being made to work for more than 12 hours on most days, she still managed to scramble some time to educate herself in accounting From having to rear pigs and ducks as a child, to leaving her education, to toiling away in inhumane conditions as a factory worker, there were many points in Zhou’s life where she could have just given up.

“In the village where I grew up, a lot of girls didn’t have a choice of whether to go to middle school. They would get engaged or married and spend their entire life in that village. I chose to be in business, and I don’t regret it.”

She was the only one of her siblings to attend secondary school. Zhou Qunfei, however, dropped out at the age of 16 and then went on to work as a migrant worker in Shenzhen. Zhou Qunfei was set to pursue a government job but she decided not to. She then took part time courses in Shenzhen University and began working near the area.

She went on to study accounting, computer operations, customs, and processing.

Zhou Quinfei wanted to become a fashion designer but eventually went on to work on a watch making firm. She went on to earn 180 yuan a month. She quit the job three months later due to the bad working conditions. The letter of the resignation moved to the chief of the factory who offered her a promotion.

She was later encouraged to establish her own company at the age of 22. She used her savings of HK$ 20000 and established the company for high quality watches lenses. She worked with her brother, sister, spouses, and two cousins and did all sorts of work in her company including designs, and repair. In 2001, the company made a profitable contract with the Chinese electronics giant TCL Corporation to make mobile phone screens for them.

Eventually, her company saw its height when the company was asked by Motorola to make glass screens for its Razr V3. Zhou thought to expand the company into making touch screen and thus introduced the name Lens Technology. The marketing strategy that they used was to name it lens so that it would attract a lot of people searching for the word lens online. Eventually, the company went on to make touch screen lens or HTC, Nokia, and Samsung. In 2007, its market expanded

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Enterpreuner

when it began making the touch screen lenses for Apple’s iPhone.

At present, the company is receiving 75% of its revenue from Apple and Samsung alone.

The company is also working with Huawei. The Apple watches will also use Lens Technology’s glass and sapphire crystal screens which will increase the revenue. The company employs a total of 60000 employees and has 32 different factory locations. After working for 22 years as a private company, Lens Technology went on to trade on the ChiNext A-share market of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. On the first day, the company’s stock price arose at 44% which is greater than the market’s daily limit.

In the first quarter of 2015, the company went on to become the largest technology IPO. At present Zhou Qunfei is owns 87.9% of Lens Technology;s shares which is known to be worth $ 6.4 billion.

Zhou Qunfei net worth is known to be $7.4 billion as per 7th May 2017 reports.

When her company went on to become public, Zhu Qunfei net worth became $ 10 billion.

She thus became the richest woman in China.

Zhou Qunfei net worth is set to increase in the coming years through the company’s successful future. Zhou Qunfei net worth has made her recognized as the world’s richest self-made woman and richest woman in tech.

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Zhou Qunfei net worth is known to be $7.4 billion as per 7th May 2017 reports.

In 2018, she was named the world’s richest self-made woman, with a net worth of $9.8 billion Zhou Qunfei is a married woman. She was previously married to her husband who worked at her factory as the boss. Together the couple went on to have a daughter. They later got divorced. Zhou then went on to get married to her second husband Zhen Junlong in 2008. Her second husband was a factory colleague. His husband is working on the Lens board. Together they went on to have a son who is currently living in Zhou Qunfei house in Hong Kong. Zhou Qunfei house extends at $ 27 million in Hong Kong alone.

Zhou Qunfei is currently 48 years old.

Zhou has a strong and bubbly personality adored by all the people around her. She has a hefty body type. She has black hair that she likes to put short most of the times.

Zhou Qunfei interview with Gansu Televi-

sion revealed that the desire to learn was the secret to Zhou’s success. Zhou Qunfei story of difficulty, poverty and eventually success has been worth admiring and appreciating.

“Twice I had to sell my house to pay my employees’ salary.”

Yet she persevered and made something of her situation rather than cringe and blame the universe for her misfortunes. All the while she laboured at the watch lens making factory she kept learning the trade and the gig at factory later turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Purely because she never stopped learning and making her way out of the predicament.

“I had a mentality back then that I only wanted to learn whether you paid me or not.

I had a pursuit different from others because they all came from downtown areas with money but I didn’t have any. All I wanted is to change my destiny with my own efforts.”

“During the period of China’s rapid economic growth, there were plenty of opportunities for entrepreneurs, including women. It allowed me to develop my business.”

Even though Zhou’s official routine takes all of her time, she considers her work as her hobby. However, she does not give into the grind without taking time off to relax. Zhou loves mountain climbing and playing table tennis. This helps her to balance out the rigours of the entrepreneurial life.

She has been named at number 61 in 2016 Power Woman by Forbes. Zhou has also been placed at 205 in 2016 Billionaires, 30 in 2015 Richest in Tech, and 18 in 2015 China Rich List. She has also been ranked 18 on their 2016 Most Powerful Women of Asia-Pacific list, on Fortune. Zhou Qunfei is thus regarded as one of the world’s most powerful women.

Zhou Qunfei bio can be found on various social media sites.

In 2018, she was named the world’s richest self-made woman, with a net worth of $9.8 billion.

PROFILE

Growing Up In Serbia It is an astonishing fact for the elderly, and worrying for younger people, that maturity comes only around the age of 25. This is influenced by numerous factors, ranging from individual, through comunal, economic and cultural, to technological. In technological terms, this is mostly because young people are made more consumers and less creative and active participants, unless we include creativity in solving video games, posts on social networks and the extremely popular monitoring and commenting on such posts. Truth be told, this problem is facing the culture that is close to us all

VESNA BRZEV-ĆURČIĆ, TRAINING PSYCHOANALYST AND SUPERVISOR MEDICAL PSYCHOLOGY SPECIALIST

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hat is peculiar about the situation in Serbia is the “toll” taken by years of economic sanctions and cultural isolation during specific times that were so important for the psychological development of young people. It is an alarming fact to note what a small percentage of young people in Serbia even had a passport, and why would they have one when it was virtually impossible to obtain a visa, pointing to the impossibility of sharing experiences? In this I am also implying an inability to be in direct contact with other peoples, cultures, scents, colours, everyday life or tastes. The situation has now changed and greatly eased the acquiring of essential experiences that create, first and foremost, increased tolerance towards diversity. And this is also lacking in the world, is it not?

Today’s young people in Serbia do not differ much from their peers around the world in terms of the psychodynamics of maturing.

During the stage of early adolescence they most commonly have a problem with accepting the changed appearance of their body, growing sexuality – conditioned primarily by a storm of hormones, rebellion against all authority, especially parental, tendencies to consider various life issues and insecurity.

As maturing progresses, other problems emerge related to relations with peers – as the most important group shaping their relationship towards everything, emotional

The easy way to obtain money and, more importantly, visibility and fame, overshadows the great successes of other young people in the fields of science, art, culture and sports fluctuations in choosing a partner. The stage of late adolescence, or young adulthood, is characterised by a firmer choice of partner, professional identity and clearer life goals.

However, on the whole they are dissatisfied, often with a depressed mood, with no obvious prospects, feelings of hopelessness,

not many great opportunities to find adequate employment, “condemned” to remain with their parents for a longer period as a result of economic constraints. It is because of this that it is not uncommon for them to consume psychoactive substances and alcohol. This is also done by another section of young people who, unlike the first section, have good positions in business and great prospects, albeit with a clear start of working hours but no fixed end to the day. These are the people who, as youngsters say here, “check out” on Friday evenings and recover from the week on Sunday evenings, in time to start a new working week.

Serbia’s overall social scene imposes authorities and idols that are not positive, and some media outlets play a leading role in this. Inappropriate, unauthorised and uncultured behaviour receives gratification and is written about. Such individuals are also awarded monetarily, with sums of money that are unobtainable for the majority of people.

This is the easy way to obtain money and, more importantly, visibility and fame, which overshadows the great successes of other young people in the fields of science, art, culture and sports.

The young people who remain in Serbia are tasked with raising new generations of conscious people who will restore that which Serbia once had: optimism, strength, positive models for identification and decency that is not paid for with money.

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Contemporary Art Buenos Aires’ Street Art

Because

Painting Is Beautiful 52

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Argentine culture is as captivating and unique as it is diverse and varied. Influenced by colonial Europe, with strong Spanish and Italian undertones, this hot fusion can be found in different areas, from film, music and dance, to architecture, art and even sport

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uenos Aires, between its museums, galleries and street art, has recently become a landmark venue for many artists, but also an increasingly recognised and popular destination. Compared to Paris, the capital of Argentina is already a reference in the wide world of contemporary art.

Buenos Aires is one of a handful of major cities to have legalised graffiti. This lack of regulations allows and encourages many artists to take their creativity to the streets. A form of expression initially reserved mostly for political purposes, with explicit slogans

and messages painted in public places, Buenos Aires’ street art has also grown to be more sophisticated, evolving from simple words and clever stencils to bigger, brighter and much more elaborate murals. Even though there’s always a message embedded in each and every creation, not all of them are as politically charged as they used to be.

Rather than make you ponder for minutes, some of them simply put an instant smile on your face.

A few years back, most of the artistic graffiti works could be found in and around the Palermo neighbourhood, but since then they’ve gradually spread all across the city.

With the City’s welcoming attitude towards street art, local artists are also being joined by well-known international street artists, who are coming to Buenos Aires and adorning empty, ugly surfaces with masterpiece after masterpiece; bringing this urban art form, particularly in this city, to a whole new level.

Over the past decade, the walls of Argentina’s capital city have become a collective canvas for a boom in street art – with many works meant to beautify public places. Although this practise is technically illegal, the police mostly look the other way, and portenos - or Buenos

With the City’s welcoming attitude towards street art, local artists are also being joined by wellknown international street artists, who are coming to Buenos Aires and adorning empty, ugly surfaces with masterpiece after masterpiece; bringing this urban art form, particularly in this city, to a whole new level Aires residents - even commission pieces from an expanding stable of artists.

A banner at the top of the wall mural in Colegiales, a mostly residential neighbourhood near Palermo, proclaims the street artist’s manifesto: Porque pintar es lindo - because painting is beautiful.

The artists use different methods. Some work with household paint and brushes, oth-

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Art/Exhibitions Buenos Aires’ Street Art

Street artists don’t run with the standard art crowd, their works are more accessible. It’s not in a museum or a gallery, rather it’s open art that anyone can appreciate ers with aerosol cans or stencils with paint.

Subjects range from “traditional images with a twist” - such as an Argentine gaucho, or cowboy, holding a rock guitar, by Stencilland - to political statements,.

To be clear, street art differs as an art form from graffiti, which emerged in New York and France in the 1960s and was later adopted as a written form of hip-hop. A territorial language, graffiti doesn’t mean anything in particular to most people. Street art, on the other hand, belongs to the people.

Various artists have trademark styles. One artist called Gualicho dreams up “surreal mystical landscapes” of interconnected building parts, animals and plants - all with a “darker edge.” Jazz was partial to donkeys, but only for a while - he’s now into painting wrestlers and rowdy football fans. There are Nerf ’s cubist 3D shapes, shadowed with impeccable freehand.

One of the few female street artists, Zumi draws inspiration from nature for her peaceful yet disorderly scenes of blooming flowers and teeming oceans.

This is not to say that street art is a solo activity: just as it takes two to tango, it took

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By author

City authorities don’t always approve of street art on public buildings, many of which have historic value and shouldn’t be touched. But they enjoy street art when it’s “high quality,” and not depressing or violent

several artists to make many of the tableaux (15 artists created the power-station mural, for instance). The artists - most of whom do street art part time - often meet on Sundays to throw back some beer, crank up the radio and literally paint the town..

One of the city’s most prolific stencil artists goes by the moniker Rundontwalk. Suddenly, on a wall in the fashionable area of Palermo Hollywood, named for its many TV studios, he shows us street art in action.

Street artists don’t run with the standard art crowd, their works are more accessible. It’s

not in a museum or a gallery, rather it’s open art that anyone can appreciate.

City authorities don’t always approve of street art on public buildings, many of which have historic value and shouldn’t be touched.

But they enjoy street art when it’s “high quality,” and not depressing or violent. “Treating downtrodden areas in a proper way. By having art, people will care.”

Indeed, street art is popping up more in some historically rough districts, such as San Telmo, a once ritzy area that fell on hard times and is now prospering again. The area boasts a

popular mural of Che Guevara, for instance, which conveniently doubles as a PSA for practising safe sex. An eclectic mix of colonial-style buildings, Catholic churches and Evita-era monoliths, San Telmo is also known for its Sunday feria, or flea market, which springs up weekly along the main drag, Defensa.

The famous Plaza de Mayo, the longtime stage of Argentine sedition, is where first lady Eva Peron roused the shirtless masses from the balcony of the Casa Rosada, or Pink House. The large square is also where the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo gather for Thursday vigils for their missing children, many of whom were kidnapped and killed in the 1970s during Argentina’s Dirty War. Their symbol, a haunting white head scarf, is painted on the ground in the plaza and on buildings throughout the city - as a reminder that the mothers are still awaiting justice.

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Feature

Contemporary circus

New Genre Of Performing Arts Contemporary circus, or Cirque Nouveau, is a young genre of performing arts developed in the 1970s in France. The genre is an exciting, independent art form defined by its willingness to blur genre boundaries that redefines traditional circus

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he Contemporary circus, as a direction of performing arts, emerged in France during the 1970s. It is characterised by the formation of conceptual performances by synthesising traditional circus elements with other art movements. However, as artists

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and their shows tend to be so drastically different, the exact definition of what exactly is the contemporary circus would be difficult to provide.

Initially, the only common element of the new direction was multidisciplinarity.

Nowadays there is a trend to include non-

circus arts in the contemporary circus performances. Troupe in their performances demonstrate contemporary dance shows, video art, extreme sports, even the fine arts.

In addition, the goal is not to create a show that is fragmented into many small shows, but to create a seamless performance which

would be a synthesis of all the arts.

Besides the tendency to synthesize numerous artistic genres, there is also another element – monodisciplinarity. These are the troupe which does not offer the diversity of the shows to the spectators, but specialize in one field. Such artists as Un loup pour l’homme who have visited Latvia before – they use only acrobatics, Jérome Thomas with his troupe creates performances using only the manipulation with objects or juggling technique. However, no matter how different forms are used in the show, they are integrated into one whole story.

The most precise definition of the contemporary circus would be the following – it is a theatrical show in which the disciplines of circus arts and the performance of artists are subordinate to the idea of the performance as well as to the revelation of concept.

The genre thrives on its diversity and aim

to test artistic and physical boundaries. Old traditions are broken and elements of acrobatics merge effortlessly with theatre, music,

The most precise definition of the contemporary circus would be a theatrical show in which the disciplines of circus arts and the performance of artists are subordinate to the idea of the performance as well as to the revelation of concept

dance, new media and the visual arts. The result is an unbelievably diverse stage experience that shows that circus can be much more than just colourful entertainment.

While traditional circus is all about creating a spectacle and places its focus on presenting incredible artistic feats, established circus techniques in contemporary circus are no longer solely a matter of performing, but are also a means of artistic expression for the performers.

The urge to draw inspiration from other art forms and genres is reflected in the variety of names for contemporary circus: nouveau cirque, new circus and cirque actuel all refer to a genre that wishes to retain and expand its own creative freedom. Contemporary circus takes the liberty of defining its focus and its possibilities itself. It blossoms by questioning conventions, pushing the boundaries and constantly trying out new ideas.

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CorD Ceremoniously Celebrated Its 15th Birthday

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ogether with over 200 friends and associates in attendance, CorD celebrated its 15th birthday with a reception at Belgrade’s KC Grad on 14th November.

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The reception unfolded in a casual and relaxed atmosphere and was even extended due to popular demand, only winding down at 11pm. The first issue of CorD Magazine was published at the end of 2003, and read-

ers have since received their free copy of our publication every first of the month, with a total of 169 issues of CorD and countless special editions having been published to date.

SEE MORE: WWW.CORDMAGAZINE.COM

CORD MAGAZINE TEAM

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SEE MORE: WWW.CORDMAGAZINE.COM

FACES & PLACES

31/10/2018

Korea National Day Celebrated

29/10/2018

Turkish Embassy Marks The 95th Anniversary Of Republic Day

Embassy of Korea in Serbia marked the National day of this country with a gala opera concert held at the National Theatre in Belgrade. Many guests from the Serbian Government and members of the diplomatic community enjoyed the performance of the renowned Korean singer TaeJoong Yang and National Theatre Orchestra and Choir.

Ambassador of Turkey to Serbia, H.E. Tanju Bilgiç, hosted a reception on the occasion of marking the National Day of Turkey.

Following the welcome address by the ambassador to numerous officials, the message of Turkish President Erdogan was read in which he congratulates the Republic Day to the citizens of this country living abroad, as well as friends who share joy and pride with the Turkish people on this day.

The reception held at the Hyatt Hotel was attended by numerous figures from the political, diplomatic, public, cultural and religious life of the country.

1/11/2018

100th Anniversary Of The Liberation Of Belgrade In The Great War

AMBASSADOR BILGIÇ WITH MINISTER ĐORĐEVIĆ

Speaking at a ceremony on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade in the Great War, President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić said that for Serbia’s citizens there is nothing more important than to have peace, good relations and cooperation with everyone, because only in peace can they continue to build and elevate “our one and only Serbia”.

The commemoration was attended by numerous Government officials, members of the diplomatic corps and representatives of religious communities, cultural and public life of Serbia.

29oct/02nov

The Czech And Slovak Embassies Mark Three Anniversaries With a series of activities, the Embassy of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic in Belgrade marked three significant anniversaries: 100 years since founding of Czechoslovakia, the century since the end of the World War I, and centenary since the establishment of diplomatic relations with Serbia (Yugoslavia). The central ceremony took place at the Embassy of the Czech Republic, with reception enriched with a cultural and artistic program, and attended by representatives of the Government of Serbia, diplomatic corps, and friends.

The newly-appointed Ambassador of the Czech Republic, H.E. Tomáš Kuchta and Ambassador of Slovakia, H.E. Dagmar Repčeková welcomed guests and talked about exceptional relations between Serbia with Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The celebration of three important anniversaries, the embassies of Slovakia and the Czech Republic in Belgrade, crowned with the exhibition held on November 2nd at the Yugoslav archive entitled “100 Years”.

H.E. TOMÁŠ KUCHTA AND H.E. DAGMAR REPČEKOVÁ

PRESIDENT ALEKSANDAR VUČIĆ

2/11/2018

Italy’s National Unity And Armed Forces Day Marked On the occasion of the Day of National Unity and the Day of the Armed Forces of Italy, Ambassador of Italy H.E. Carlo Lo Cascio and military attaché Colonel Paolo Sfarra laid wreaths in honour of the fallen soldiers who rest on the Italian AMBASSADOR LO CASCIO Military Cemetery in Belgrade.

WITH HIS SPOUSE AND THE EMBASSY STAFF Ambassador Lo Cascio later in the day hosted a reception at the ambassadorial residence welcoming many members of the Serbian government and diplomatic community. This year the ceremony coincides with the centenary of the end of the First World War.

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FACES & PLACES

ZORANA MIHAJLOVIĆ, ANA BRNABIĆ, YANA MIKHAILOVA, SINIŠA MALI

7/11/2018

Foreign Investors Council Presents The White Book 2018 The Foreign Investors Council presented the White Book 2018 to the highest Government officials and stakeholder community. The White Book, written by FIC members, is the major product by which, for more than a decade, FIC gives recommendations aimed at supporting economic growth and better living standard of Serbian citizens. The event was opened with an introductory address

by FIC President Yana Mikhailova, followed by insight into FIC Index 2018 by White Book Editor-in-Chief Miroljub Labus, as well as addresses by Head of EU Delegation in Serbia Sem Fabrizi and Prime Minister Ana Brnabić.

SEE MORE: WWW.CORDMAGAZINE.COM

15/11/2018

Poland’s 100 Years Of Independence Celebrated The 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, which is celebrated all over the world, is a special date for Poland. Exactly 100 years ago, Poland regained its independence again and returned to maps of CHARGE D’AFFAIRES ANDRZEJ KINDZIUK Europe’s. To celebrate the building of the Polish Embassy in Belgrade was illuminated in colours of the national flag white and red. Embassy held a celebratory reception welcoming members of the Government, diplomatic community and friends of the Embassy. Charge d’Affaires of the embassy Mr Andrzej Kindziuk addressed guests in welcoming speech.

20/11/2018

85th Anniversary Of The Russian Centre For Science And Culture Prime Minister Ana Brnabić said that the Russian Centre for Science and Culture “Russian House” (Ruski Dom) in the Serbian capital was created thanks to the great love of the Russian people towards the motherland and that it became the site of Russian and Serbian encounter and cooperation, which was the AMBASSADOR CHEPURIN most intensive in the heaviest moments. At the ceremony marking the 85th anniversary of the Centre in Belgrade, Brnabić reminded of the inextricable cultural links between Serbia and Russia, primarily expressed in language and religion. The Prime Minister announced the opening of a Serbian cultural centre in Russia and stressed that Serbia is proud of those who promote it in the world, such as actor Miloš Biković whom Russian President Vladimir Putin recently gave a medal. Russian Federation Ambassador to Serbia H.E. Aleksandar Chepurin reminded that the Russian Center was founded in 1933 by Russian emigrants and that it was built in the country that became their second home.

21/11/2018

64th National Day Of Algeria Marked 11/11/2018

Remembrance Day 2018 This year, three Remembrance Day services were held in Belgrade, organised by the Government of Serbia and Embassies of Canada and France.

Every year, on November 11, Canadians, French, Australians, British and other members of the Commonwealth countries mark the Remembrance Day and thus pay tribute to those who fought and gave their lives for their country in the First World War (1914-1918), the Second World War (1939-1945) and the Korean War (1950-1953).

In addition, this year Ambassador of France H.E. Frédéric Mondoloni hosted a reception at the ambassadorial residence.

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Ambassador of Algeria H.E. Abdelhamid Chebchoub hosted a reception in honour of the 64th anniversary of the start of the country’s national liberation war. Ambassador Cheb- AMBASSADOR ABDELHAMID CHEBCHOUB choub reminded that this day marks the anniversary of November 1, 1954, the day when the struggle for national liberation began. Ambassador said that on this day Algerian people are reminded of the support that the former Yugoslavia and the people of Serbia provided the struggle that the Algerians led during those war years, as well as the special role that President Tito had. “Algeria and Serbia are developing a long-standing friendship, struck during the years of struggle and consolidated after gaining independence through joint efforts to promote the goals and principles of the Non-Aligned Movement,” said Ambassador.

My life

By Miroslava Nešić Bikić

BORIS MILJKOVIĆ,

CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF SERBIAN NATIONAL TELEVISION COMPANY RTS

NO ROOM TO CREATE THE NEW Boris Bota Miljković (born 1956) graduated in film and television direction at the University of Belgrade’s Faculty of Dramatic Arts.

During the 1980s, together with Branimir Dimitrijević Tucko, he authored numerous television shows and films. He is the author of a large number of award-winning television commercials and music videos (for groups: Laibach, EKV, Idoli etc.). His artistic video works have been exhibited at New York’s MoMA and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Houston December

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My life

Boris Miljković, Creative director of Serbian national television company RTS

H

is video installation ‘The Media Opera’ was presented in Paris’s Sorbonne University at the beginning of 2000, while Belgrade’s Republic Square provided the site for the constructed is his installation ‘Belgraders’, composed of 1,600 portraits of random passersby exhibition in a labyrinth. He’s directed theatre plays at Belgrade’s National Theatre and Atelje 212, as well as authoring six books of short stories and a novel. During the ‘90s he was engaged as a creative director at Saatchi&Saatchi and McCann Erickson in Cairo, Sofia, Ljubljana and Belgrade, while today he works as creative director at Serbian national television company RTS and lectures at the University of Art in Belgrade. As half of the famous ‘Boris & Tucko’ tandem (Branimir Dimitrijević & Boris Miljković), you were responsible for the new wave of the Socialist Yugoslavia, leading to pages being dedicated to your work in both English publication ‘NME’ and France’s ‘Liberation’, while you also received an MTV award for your video for the group of Laibach, as well as the most important award in the world of advertising, the Clio Award, which you won for an advertisement in the publication Komunist.

Do you consider yourself as being among the most familiar with that exciting time?

I have mixed emotions. On one hand, being considered a knowledgeable person is a compilation, while on the other hand it implies someone who has lived through a long period. I’d prefer to be less acquainted with the situation and for us to have had more opportunity to work. It seems to me that we’ve entered a time in which there isn’t enough space to create something new, because that which Tucko and I did is expensive. Today we are dealing with the consequences, with collateral damage, one of which is familiarity with the possibilities. I am trying, from a position of familiarity with the possibilities, to create a kind of brand that will take us back to the past through the series “Way to the Future”, with the desire and thesis to envisage our future. Like a psychiatrist who doesn’t know what will become of his patient, I turn towards the past.

We lived and still live in turbulent times, so this experience has proved quite useful to me. You say today that you were insolent back then...

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while we meet all the criteria. And the fact is that there wasn’t much resistance...

Like a psychiatrist who doesn’t know what will become of his patient, I turn towards the past.

We lived and still live in turbulent times, so this experience has proved quite useful to me That is absolutely correct. The two of us received some micro scholarship that was still enough to provide us with financial security. And due to the fact that we were good students, our then professor Sava Mrmak also invited us to get involved in television. And it was then that the two of us came up with the idea of changing the world.

Because you consider that to be totally realistic when you’re 20.

Back then television was a house with open doors for artists from various provinces, where you could encounter an entire encyclopaedia in the corridors. And in such company it would have been a pity to miss out on the opportunity to learn something from all those people. And we learned!

We stuck a foot in the doorway and said – here, if there’s someone better than us you find them,

To what extent can young people today be ‘insolent’ and follow your example?

If we’re talking about television, young people today aren’t inspired by television. In contrast, television acts as if it doesn’t need even the most ordinary artists, let alone talented ones. It’s as though it produces something by itself. That which produces itself is referred to by medicine as a tumour. And young men are full of rebellion.

I couldn’t agree that young people aren’t insolent today in that sense. It’s just that this insolence reflects in a different way. It seems to me that, as time passes, some of the theses born in 1968 – the thesis of a better world, changes, social equality, rebellion etc. - have relocated to some other forms or other areas. Young people today are more interested in the impression that IT can elicit. They are interested in being visible, but via channels and completely different media.

It is also lacking in consideration to suggest that young people are interested only in money. That’s not the case at all. Young people are interested in money the least, especially if we compare them to my generation. Young people have already shifted the world – here I mean with social networks, for example. Innovative young people are interested in good working conditions, in being able to sit for 20 hours in an extraordinary environment and demonstrate their knowhow in their own eloquent

By Miroslava Nešić Bikić

It seems to me that, as time passes, some of the theses born in 1968 – the thesis of a better world, changes, social equality, rebellion etc. - have relocated to some other forms or other areas

way. And if they aren’t given that, if they don’t recognise that chance, that will be a great loss for the whole society. They have a need to experience new horizons, new perspectives, to feel as though they are part of a larger and wider community. And if they are denied that, if the state closes off that perspective to them and moves in the direction of wars, hatred and similar things, those young people will seek their own place elsewhere. The question of what we will then do in a country of the elderly is another matter. During the peak of your career, at the end of the 1980s, you left for Cairo and revived your personal history, which you would later recount in the documentary film “Sugar Factory”.

I initially went to Cairo with my then wife and newborn son, led by a sense of adventure. That was in the midst of the projects of Tuck and myself, which brought us our first earnings. I headed out with those savings in the hope of checking out some stories from my family history. My father had lived in Cairo during World War, II and it turned out that the then ambassador was a family friend and a relative of my then wife was in Cairo on some Yugoslav works of the time. That naïve story would change completely in just a few months, because in those few months open conflict broke out in Yugoslavia, and I received signals that, if I didn’t have any better deal, I shouldn’t bother returning.

I soon became the regional creative director of

the Saatchi & Saatchi agency in Cairo and, as things turned out, opened the second chapter of my life. During that time, one of the biggest campaigns you did was for the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism under the production of CNN and a huge budget of Ted Turner. That ended, however, as a kind of counterpoint of life...

Even during those years, a careful observer could notice that conflict buried deep in Egyptian society.

On the one side, they strongly desired to progress, to get involved in some other world, in this case the Western world, while on the other side loomed the appearance of softly veiled hard Islam. For that region and that time, this was very bold advertising that showed a woman riding, revealing all her charms and beauty. And when the campaign started, CNN and Turner had a very powerful media plan, but at that moment several related terrorist attacks occurred and immediately created great caution regarding tourism in Egypt. However, at the same time, all foreigners in Egypt were specifically protected. My family and I were protected with great devotion, even though they knew that in my home country a bloody war was underway and that in that war, in their opinion, Islam was fighting against Christianity, even though they knew I was not Muslim. Father is a word that has multiple and multi-dimensional meanings in your life.

You even once said that you didn’t learn anything from your father...

I endured childhood in a family with a father and mother in which there de facto was no father. I was lucky that my mother was a very intelligent, educated and witty woman. However, father’s colourful personal history: a royal officer, a British airman, and later a dissident prisoner on Goli Otok... A man who spent his whole life trying to fly again – that was for me, both as a son and a young man, very challenging. When I said that I didn’t learn anything, I meant that he had tried all his life to pass on a lot of things to me, and I never managed to either understand or use that... Back then. You are a father of four. They are of different generations, with two of them already adults. How did you raise them and how will you raise the younger ones?

Yes, my oldest son is 27 and my youngest is a year old. One would presume that I’ve learned a lot about raising kids. However, as is usually the case, with every new challenge we learn everything from scratch, from the start. My two older children are following in my footsteps. My son is a director and my daughter is in her second year of studies in directing. Whether that’s a blessing or a curse is for them to see. However, for now we are laughing.

We will also have to wait and see what will happen with two younger sons. However, we mustn’t forget that in the first place they have their mothers, who are very interesting women from whom they will have a lot to learn, just as I learned from my mother. Now I recall the words of Duško Radović, who very accurately defined our mentality – mother is the forename and father is the surname. I understand that as mother being the one who wipes up and raises on

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My life

Boris Miljković, Creative director of Serbian national television company RTS

behalf of the BBC was declared the best to date.

And thus I returned to television in the form of a creative director.

In contrast to being the creative director of an advertising agency, here I’m responsible for much fewer things than I should be. I’m responsible for the visual identity of the entire story and the smoothness of the overall visual impression. That may seem minor, but it’s actually a huge job. It was challenging to create, from a rather ruined TV station of the ‘90s, a highly watched urban television that should represent the TV broadcasts of a respectable Serbia. Now, to paraphrase Dejan Mijač – whatever Serbia is like, so is its TV. We can’t have a television station that’s a lot better than we are. How much is your budget a limiting factor in the implementation of your ideas?

BORIS, ANĐELA AND JUGO MILJKOVIĆ

a daily basis, while father should provide an ethical and philosophical motto that defines all of that. In your working biography there are many of what you refer to as “collateral” interests. Thus, in 2013 emerged your KUVAR [COOKBOOK], which has a subheading that reads “What a young artist can learn from an advertiser, a machine, a fool?”

I’m like “The Harms Case”. I’m becoming collateral to myself. You initially think you’re a director because that’s what you completed in your studies, then life teaches you various collateral skills. I would personally prefer to have a single occupation and to be the best of the best, rather than having many other interests that I struggle with; I want to offer a message and be part of something. And on the other hand is the obligation for a man to feed his large family. As such, I will adjust as life carries me.

When all of this is collated, because that’s a rather imposing pot in which all those experiences have bubbled, then in one moment it crossed my mind to write down all of that experience. Listening to various people, I came to the conclusion that the very concept of art cannot be pushed into some niche, and that it isn’t a bad thing for a young painter to learn how to present himself to the public, for a young director to learn how to select an advertising campaign, or for a young sculptor

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It seems to me that we’ve been brought to a plain where things roll around thanks to their inertness and where it is very difficult to survive those 24 hours in which we live to learn about special effects for film. That would be a special, creative kitchen of the 21st century that I wanted to establish here. You became the creative director of the National Television of Serbia, RTS, around ten years ago. What does being the creative director of the national television company entail?

After many years and many life experiences, I was invited precisely ten years ago to create the Eurovision Song Contest event in Belgrade, and with that began “my slow return home”. The concept I proposed was accepted and I became the creative director of Eurovision. The Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade was a glorious success, rated as one of the best ever, and the part that I did on

The budget is certainly a limiting factor. And all issues related to money are limiting. If money was the one who’s supposed to speak, it probably wouldn’t have anything smart to say. I believe wholeheartedly in Disney’s motto that suggests you can do everything that you are able to imagine.

It seems to me that we’ve been brought to a plain where things roll around thanks to their inertness and where it is very difficult to survive those 24 hours in which we live. In the context of the existing television offer in Serbia, where is the place today for the definition you adopted from the BBC: Our duty is to improve human life through information, education and entertainment!

What does that look like in practise?

Yes, I did indeed adopt that BBC definition and would like to have taken on that goal. And in practise, here at RTS that looks better than on other television stations, though other television companies aren’t public service broadcasters. We are really fighting here to bring this huge idea to life to the greatest possible extent. However, it increasingly seems to me that we are making this television programming at a very strange juncture – a juncture in which it could be said that television isn’t at all important. Television today creates some menus of its own that you can use to make your lunch from whatever you want. On RTS that’s RTS PLANET, where everything exists together, including radio and publishing activities. Today it’s become very unusual even to define a public service

By Miroslava Nešić Bikić

People interest me in all of their entirety. From the unbelievable evil they are capable of creating and that is also mythical, to the unbelievable goodness that we are able to witness almost every day

BORIS(LEFT) AND TUCKO, 30 YEARS AGO

broadcaster, let alone to give it tasks. Your question is very good, but from the flow of this conversation it seems to fall out of context. At RTS I mostly deal with culture, but that has nothing to do with the influence it has. It can prove completely invisible on RTS, but is viewed on YouTube, shared via social networks, commented on through various platforms. And then you wonder whether there’s even a need for television to exist and for it to be a source of information. I tell you – it doesn’t! You have returned to the beginning of your television opus today by again establishing new formats on RTS. That includes the auteur serials, as you’ve called the documentary narratives “Road to the Future” and “My Personal Stamp”, which recount the history of the country in new, modern forms.

That’s right. I enjoy working in certain forms. I find joy in producing. However, it seems to me that television hasn’t said everything that it has to say. And in that search for a new form I came upon this documentary narrative that is actually divided between two approaches. On the one hand, the camera records what we see, while on the other hand the audio doesn’t support it and poses some new questions. So we get a new form that cannot be labelled as a documentary because it is not a document. Nor can it be said to be a subjective vision of objective reality. Some bastardisation,

some cross-breed, and it seems to me that this is an authentic film format. They emerged from my thesis that history emerged out of countless private histories. And what I talk about is my private history, because at no point do I say that this is precisely how it was, rather that this is how I saw that event. The places are authentic, the artefacts are authentic, but the context, so to speak, has been dreamt into existence. Is that a kind of testament for the generations of young people who know almost nothing about their more recent history?

I am lucky in that I remember plenty and that I lived in many different turbulent moments of our country, and I simply have a need to help the children who should travel to Skopje, Zagreb, Ljubljana etc., to grow their wings and be able to fly over that area that is now referred to as “the region” as though flying over their own homeland.

They have a right to that, and no political party or president can take that away from them. That’s a right that a cultural space offers to its citizens. And it will not force on us either Cyrillic or Latin scripts.

It will not force on us either frescos or oil paintings. It will not forcibly take from us Gorgon (art movement in Zagreb) or SKC (Students’ Culture Centre in Belgrade). That will become the legacy of this area, because all of this that we’re talking about didn’t only evolve in ‘the loop of the No.2

tram’ (Belgrade’s elite central hub), rather it grew from the permeation of a cultural space that was bound by the same or similar languages, the same or similar cultures and cuisine. And the point of the entire “Road to the Future” series is to establish continuity that counters our desire to tear everything down and start again from scratch every 20 or 30 years. And this isn’t only in art, rather we start all over again with ethical principles.

That which we shat on yesterday, we love today.

That which we loved 30 years ago, we rip apart today. That’s a schizophrenic template in which it’s difficult to grow. You once said that Serbs are Serbia’s best brand. And that also seems to be part of your creative opus... Which creative form do you consider as being the best for its branding?

What I meant when I said that is that we are not composed of hills and valleys, but rather of people.

You can’t be proud of a mountain pass, a sinkhole or a stream. They emerged because they emerged.

That which is interesting and can be spoken about is people. That’s why I’d rather talk about people than mountain peaks, meadows, flowers and birds.

People interest me in all of their entirety. From the unbelievable evil they are capable of creating and that is also mythical, to the unbelievable goodness that we are able to witness almost every day.

And if you ask me – I cannot say precisely what this thing is about people, but I can quote, for example, Mića Danojlić, who says that the Serbs are known as a nation that wants to share everything it has with those who have nothing, but the trouble is that it has nothing... He is both ironic and witty, and he elevates that poverty of ours, praising and scolding simultaneously. That which I think should be spoken about are shortcomings and not virtues.

December

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CHILL OUT

JAPAN

Huge Replica Made Entirely From Rice Crackers

SWITZERLAND

Playing Led Zeppelin To Cheese One cheese enthusiast in Switzerland has taken his passion to a new level. Beat Wampfler of Burgdorf, Switzerland has been playing music from the likes of Led Zeppelin to his cheese to see if this will make it taste better.

Much like mothers play music to their unborn babies from outside the womb, Wampfler has been conducting experiments with different music to see whether it may impact his cheese’s development.

A panel of expert cheese tasters is slated to sample the different cheeses on March 2019, and determine which one is best.

The Mona Lisa is one of the world’s most recognisable paintings, but chances are you’ve never seen it made from rice crackers.

Around 200 people gathered in Soka, north of Tokyo, to create the replica of Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece using rice crackers.

A total of 23,360 of the neatly-layered round objects covered 116.02 sq/m to help Soka-Senbei Promotion Conference set a new record for Largest rice cracker mosaic.

Rice crackers are Soka city’s local speciality and are known for their slightly hard-biting and irresistible crunchiness. Organiser decided to use them in a creative way to promote their crackers as well as the region that makes them.

For the attempt, 12 local producers of rice crackers provided seven different flavours and colours to create the palette for the Mona Lisa mosaic, including soy sauce (brown), sesame (black), and matcha (green).

Once the record was set the rice crackers were to the participants as well as children of Soka.

GEORGIA

Boxer Punches His Own Coach After Losing Fight

Pro boxer Levan Shonia tried to punch his own coach after losing a fight in Sofia, Bulgaria ― and he was unsuccessful in that match, too. Raging fighter throw two hard right hands at his ducking trainer and miss. The trainer responded by landing a slap jab. Shonia, a 34-year-old from the country of Georgia, lost his real fight by unanimous decision to Spas Genov. The beaten Shonia appeared to challenge the still-undefeated Genov into extending the fight after it was over, according to news.com.au. The referee pushed Shonia away, and the loser’s coach climbed into the ring to calm the fighter. That’s when Shonia attempted to hit the one guy supposedly on his side.

FINLAND

INDIA

Over 9,000 Women Participated In The Bathukamma Festival Bathukamma festival is a symbol of Telangana cultural identity and celebrated during the latter half of monsoon and before the onset of winter.

Over 9,000 women participated in the ceremony at LB Stadium. They achieved this feat despite bad weather and as they danced around bathukamma (flower stack, arranged with different unique seasonal flowers most of them with medicinal values).

The festival celebrates the inherent relationship between earth, water and the human beings. During the entire preceding week, women make ‘Boddemma’ (a deity of Gowri - mother Durga - made with earthly mud) along with ‘Bathukamma’ and immerse it in a pond.

It is believed that it helps reinforce ponds and retain more water.

The flowers used in Bathukamma have a great quality of purifying water and such flowers when immersed in abundance in a pond, it have the effect of cleansing water and making the environment much better.

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Cocktail Bar Bans The Use Of Smartphones Chihuahua Julep, a cocktail bar that opened in central Helsinki, Finland, in August, has banned patrons from using smartphones inside the venue to encourage real-world social interaction.Initially, the owners of Chihuahua Julep only encouraged visitors to put their smartphones away so that the light from their screens wouldn’t ruin the bar’s ambience, but after seeing that those who followed the recommendation seemed more relaxed and at the same time more engaged in conversations with their friends, they decided to impose an outright ban on handhelds. Now, anyone wanting to enjoy a drink inside the venue must store their phone inside a box on arrival.

MALDIVES

Hotel’s Underwater Villa Costs $50,000 p/n A luxury hotel in the Maldives has opened what it describes as the world’s first “underwater hotel residence,” a two-story villa under the Indian Ocean.

The Conrad Maldives Rangali Island said the underwater villa, dubbed Muraka, includes a private gym, a stocked bar, an infinity pool, butler’s quarters, an ocean-facing bathtub and an underwater bedroom with a panoramic view of the world 16feet under the surface of the Indian Ocean.

The top floor of the villa, located above the water, features a “relaxation deck” for sunbathing.

The luxury villa costs $50,000 per night with a minimum four-night package purchase required. The package includes a personal chef and use of a private boat. The Conrad is also home to Ithaa, an underwater five-star restaurant.

ROMANIA

Largest Human Image With Almost 5000 People Romania has entered the Guinness Book of Records with the largest map of a country made up of almost 5,000 people. Inside was the number 100, highlighting the importance of celebrating the Centenary of the Great Union.

Participants in this action came from all of the country’s historical provinces, coordinated by 350 volunteers. They received red, yellow and blue caps at the crossing points, and before the record validation, they sang the national anthem and shouted, unison, the names of the cities they came from.

In order to validate the record, the participants were forced, within five minutes, to calm down and stay as motionless as possible. The old record was set in February when more than 3,400 people built the map of Myanmar.

RUSSIA

Oldest Person In The World

The world’s oldest woman is said to be Russian Koku Istambulova, aged 128.

If true, it would also make Koku Istambulova - deported from her Chechnya homeland into internal exile by Stalin the oldest person who ever lived.

The claim is made by the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation and is based on her internal passport which shows her date of birth as 1st June, 1889.

If correct, Koku - who shuns meat and loathes soups but loves fermented milk - was already 27 when the last tsar Nicholas II abdicated, 55 when the Second World War ended, and 102 when the Soviet Union collapsed a generation ago.

UK

Man Who Lived As A Goat Known as “goat man”, Thomas Twaites, 34, has written a book, How To Take A Holiday From Being a Human after becoming disillusioned with life.

A man has been describing how he was so stressed with his daily life that he decided to live as a goat.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, he made the decision after dog-sitting his niece’s “happy, joyous” dog, when he thought “wouldn’t it be nice to just have a break from all of this stress”. He said he remembered thinking as a child that if he were a cat, he wouldn’t have to go to school.

December

69

Christmas & New Year Gifts

Claudie Pierlot

Enveloped in a timeless check print, the design is ideal for elevating minimal outfits.

The loose fit ensures no constriction of movement, making it perfect for styling over chunky knits €200

Michael Michael Kors Cross Body Bag The Michael Michael Kors Mercer accordion cross body bag is an update on one of the brand’s signature styles €305

The Time

OF GIVING Cartier Yellow Gold Clou Bracelet Crafted in 18-karat yellow gold with a sleek rhodium finish, this bracelet will add a rebellious edge to your accessories €2950

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December

The holiday period is also the period of giving.

Christmas and New Year presents are never seen as ordinary things. They are much more than that. They carry messages, attention and love. And that's why we choose and receive them with sincere intent to bring joy and satisfaction. Giving a gift chosen with the heart will make us just as happy as receiving such a gift.

Let's have fun and bring cheer to one another!

Tom Ford Su

This sungla nglasses ss Italian soph es lend istication to any look €290

Beanie Hat

Channel a heritage aesthetic with this beanie, expertly woven in Scotland from a supremelysoft cashmere and wool blend €190

auren Polo Ralph Lhirt Check S

Layer over a chunky-knit py prep sweater for yle st casual €145

ase Razor Travel C R1, ith w le tib pa Com razors R1-S and X1 easy d an st bu ro is ecting to clean, prot blade d an le nd ha your ling el av tr while €30

Tom Ford Silk Tie

A timeless offering for your work-toweekend edit, this tie is impeccably woven in Italy from the finest silk €185

Montblanc Reversible Rose Gold Buckle Belt This belt from Montblanc has been expertly crafted from pure leather €225

Merino Wool Stripe Scarf

A luxuriously soft addition to your winter accessories €110

Acqua di Parma Aftershave Lotion

This invigorating alcohol-based tonic lotion is lighty scented with the sophisticated notes of Colonia Essenza for an immediate fresh sensation €55

December

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Culture

Swan Lake Ballet on Ice

calendar

7 – Sava Center – 20.30

Funk Congress

The Swan Lake Ballet on Ice show performed by the Russian Ballet on Ice ensemble in St. Petersburg is returning to Belgrade. The Russian skaters will tread the board again at Sava Center on 7th December, starting 20.30.

Already famous to the Serbian audience, the members of the St. Petersburg Ballet on Ice Ensemble will bring to life again one of the most famous love story, accompanied by one of the most loved classic music signed

by Tchaikovsky.

The four-act libretto of the ballet has been written by Vladimir Berghicev and V. Ghelzer, inspired by an old Russian-German legend.

15 – Top of the Hub – 20.00

Giants of Serbian music and club scene, international guests and young talents will gather in Belgrade, at Top of the Hub on Saturday, December 15th.

Honorary guests Kornelije Kovač and Zoran Simjanović will open the 4th Funk Congress.

Fans of funk, soul and jazz will have the opportunity to enjoy a unique event on Funk Culture in all its aspects.

This event will gather living legends of the local music scene, young hopes of DJ world, as well as cult bands like Playboy, which will perform during the central part of the evening.

In addition, there will be performances

by Belgrade Funk Combo, Bob Hill (UK), DJ Timbe and DJ Machiavelli (RS), as well as several DJs of younger generation.

Additionally, part of the large Top Of The Hub area, which offers a spectacular view of the capital, will be dedicated

Ilhan Erşahin “Belgrade Sessions” 1 – Belgrade Youth Center – 21.00

Ilhan Ersahin is one of the most important contemporary artists of the global underground clubbing - Turkish descent, grew up in Sweden, owner of the influential New York club Nublu. The “Istanbul Sessions” project thrilled our audience last year, on the 33th Belgrade Jazz Festival, where Ershan during the long Saturday night until the wee hours entertained the audience at the Americana Belgrade Youth Center. He returns to the same place with a unique project - the first “Belgrade Sessions “, with Serbian musicians as guests.

Postmodern Jukebox 12 – Sava Center – 20.00

Postmodern Jukebox, also widely known by the acronym PMJ, is a rotating musical collective founded by arranger and pianist Scott Bradlee in 2011. PMJ is known for reworking popular modern music into different vintage genres, especially early 20th century forms such as swing and jazz. Postmodern Jukebox has amassed over 1 billion YouTube views and 3.6 million subscribers.[1] Each week, Postmodern Jukebox puts out a new video on YouTube. Although originally most were filmed casually in Bradlee’s living room, sets became more elaborate over time. The band has covered songs by artists ranging from Lady Gaga and The Strokes to Katy Perry and the White Stripes. Since their beginnings as a small group of friends making music in a basement in Queens, New York, Postmodern Jukebox has gone on to feature 70 different performers and tour six continents.

Exhibition Discover Sephardi opening 11 – Instituto Cervantes

to gramophone records and clothes that evoke the merry ‘70s.

Guests are “obligated” to leave the imagination at will, which clothes and hairstyle will choose for this authentic fan night, in addition to good comforts, and all combinations and arrangements will be recorded on photographs within a professional photo court.

The event starts at 8 pm and lasts until 2 pm after midnight.

The unique map for all contents of the 4th Fank Congress (conference, concerts, DJ performances, photo but, vintage market, snack) is 1000 dinars and can be purchased via the DD Tickets sales network, as well as at the club Strogi centar (Jevremova 43).

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December

The Cervantes Institute in Belgrade is organising the exhibition “Discover Sephardi”, which will be opened with the wine tasting and traditional delicacies, as well as with the presentation of the 18 cities that make up the Jewish Heritage Network of Spain.

Made of 20 photographs depicting today’s Jewish quarters in Spain, this exhibition leads us through cities that have preserved a recognisable Jewish spirit with brief illustrative texts in Spanish and Serbian. Visitors will also have the opportunity to enjoy Sephardic literature.

The Association of Jewish Heritage of Spain - The Roads of Sephardi, consists of the cities that preserve the architectural, historical and cultural heritage of the Jewish communities that lived there in their medieval complexes.

The Tiger Lillies 3 – Belgrade Youth Center – 21.00

The British cult band The Tiger Lillies, one of the most provocative and genredefying bands you could come across, the world of The Tiger Lillies is dark, peculiar and varied, with moments of deep sadness, cruel black humour and immense beauty. Mixing pre-war Berlin cabaret with anarchic opera and gypsy music, their songs echo the voices of Bertolt Brecht and Jacques Brel.

Goran Bregović

15 – Štark Arena – 20.00

Exhibition Magical Milena

until 31st March 2019 House of Jevrem Grujić

The Italian Cultural Institute in Belgrade organises an exhibition of one of the most significant Serbian painters, Milena Pavlović Barili, at the House of Jevrem Grujić (Svetogorska 17, Belgrade). The exhibition was opened in November and will run until 31 March 2019.

The exhibition will feature over forty Milena Pavlović Barili. Her self-portraits, portraits of her parents and celebrities, enigmatic and fantastic compositions and illustrations for prestigious fashion magazines, as well as the fashion of Igor Todorović inspired by Milena, will present the life of a delicate young woman - an intriguing painter and poet who marked not only Serbian but also world art scene.

“Goran Bregović, the only winner of the Grammy Award from our region, will host a spectacle in Belgrade that will not lag behind his concerts that are held everywhere in the world by the biggest and most prestigious halls, but on the contrary – he promises it will be one of his best shows. RTS Symphony Orchestra will join Goran on this concert, as well as friends and associates from his fruitful career.

This concert is part of Goran’s promotion of his new album “Three Letters from Sarajevo”, with the guests will be guests - violinists Zied Zouari from Tunisia, Gershon Leizerson from Israel and Mirjana Nešković from Belgrade.

12th Science Festival 29 - 2 – Belgrade Fair

For the twelfth time, December in Belgrade will be in the brightest colours of the science thanks to the Science Festival, the biggest event in the region that promotes science and education! From 29th of November till 2nd of December, at three halls of the Belgrade Fair, in more than 6000 square meters, visitors will be able to get in touch with some of the most exciting scientific experiments, adventures and challenges! This year’s Science Festival is held under the slogan „The Land of the Future”, because it best describes our aspiration to present challenges in maintaining our Planet “heath” through scientific exhibitions, contributing lecturers, interactive presentations and workshops. 12th Science Festival will present 67 different exhibitions and 62 institutions which will participate in this year’s program. Festival is supported by the Embassy of the United States of America in Belgrade, the French Institute, the Austrian Cultural Forum and the Center for the Promotion of Science.

Program: festivalnauke.org

Othello

16 – Yugoslav Drama Theatre – 20.00 Othello is one of Shakespeare’s four great tragedies, the immortal story of jealousy, lust, envy and hatred with Vojin Cetković as Othello and Nikola Đuričko as Yago – both of them at the peak of their acting careers – and directed by Miloš Lolić, one of the most successful and most exciting young directors of the generation. Lolić directed in Austria, Slovenia and Germany and had the great success and won numerous awards at festivals such as Borštnikovo srečanje 2011, Bayerische Theatertage 2012 and 46th Bitef. After winning the prestigious Austrian theatre award “Nestroy 2012″ in the category “Best young artist”, Lolić’s returned to the stage of Yugoslav Drama Theatre.

SEE MORE: WWW.CORDMAGAZINE.COM

Inside Out

3,7,31 – Terazije Theatre – 19.30

The story follows the fate of six women who meet once a week on psychotherapy session to face the obstacles they encounter in a more adequate way in the male dominated world they live in. Regardless of how accomplished they are as businesswomen, married or unmarried, wives or mothers, each of them in their own way tries to tackle the stereotypes imposed on them by the modern society or the media presentation of what an ideal woman who should to be: thin and fit, married, mother, financially independent, successful in business ... Each of the heroines presents the problem she is facing, hoping to find a solution and will dare to face her fear and create a new chance for herself.

RECOMMENDS

KIMONO AND THE COLORS OF JAPAN

Katsumi Yumioka 4125 rsd

This distinctive volume reveals a unique antique kimono collection through various delicate Japanese colours and their use in kimono. The Japanese sensibility is immediately apparent in the classification of the nine traditional colour categories of red, green, pink, blue, brown, purple, yellow, black/white, and gold/silver. Each spread presents a single colour showing a page-wide photo of a kimono accompanied by a description of the colour and its meaning in the context of Japanese culture. The author explains, “We organised the kimono and obi (sash) according to what I like to call ‘Japanese Kokoro no Iro’, colours of the Japanese heart.

Each category presents what individual colours express or signify. For example, we use white, black and gold as an expression of cheer. Red indicates the sun, blood, and fire. White, black, and silver express sadness.” With the knowledge of both Western and traditional Japanese fashion cultures, Yumioka presents and describes his collection in an easily accessible style.

EUROPEAN INTELLECTUAL HISTORY FROM ROUSSEAU TO NIETZSCHE Frank M. Turner, Richard A. Lofthouse 2473 rsd

One of the most distinguished cultural and intellectual historians of our time, Frank Turner taught a landmark Yale University lecture course on European intellectual history that drew scores of students over many years.

His lectures-lucid, accessible, beautifully written, and delivered with a notable lack of jargon-distilled modern European history from the Enlightenment to the dawn of the twentieth century and conveyed the turbulence of a rapidly changing era in European history through its ideas and leading figures. Richard A. Lofthouse, one of Turner’s former students, has now edited the lectures into a single volume that outlines the thoughts of a great historian on the forging of modern European ideas. Moreover, it offers a fine example of how intellectual history should be taught: rooted firmly in historical and biographical evidence.

WHAT I TALK ABOUT WHEN I TALK ABOUT RUNNING Haruki Murakami 1434 rsd

In 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, Murakami began running to keep fit. A year later, he’d completed a solo course from Athens to Marathon, and now, after dozens of such races, he reflects upon the influence the sport has had on his life and his writing.

Equal parts travelogue, training log, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon and settings ranging from Tokyo’s Jingu Gaien gardens, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston.

By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, this is a must-read for fans of this masterful yet private writer as well as for the exploding population of athletes who find December 73 similar satisfaction in distance running.

AFTER WORK 31 OCT SSCC MEMBERS’ REUNION Swiss-Serbian Chamber of CommerceSSCC held its traditional Members’ Reunion at the premises of the ’ Nestlé Adriatic’’. SSCC President Majo Mićović and Ana Grujović, SSCC Director, welcomed attendees and introduced SSCC member companies MSA IP-Milojević, Sekulić and Associates (Vuk Sekulić), Miteco Kneževac (Nevena Čolić) and Žunić Law Firm (Nemanja and Tijana Žunić), who presented their business activities. After the presentation, SSCC members also had an opportunity for further discussion and networking during the subsequent cocktail reception.

MAJO MIĆOVIĆ

ANA GRUJOVIĆ

YANA MIKHAILOVA

AMBASSADOR BHATTACHARJEE

01 NOV INDIAN EMBASSY HOSTS ART EXHIBITION

BRITISH AMBASSADOR DENIS KEEFE

31 SERBIA 48TH ON WB’S OCT DOING BUSINESS LIST On the World Bank Doing Business report for 2019, Serbia took the 48th position among 190 countries, which represents a fall of five places compared to last year, announced at the 3rd annual conference “Doing business 2019 - Digital Transformation and Strengthening of Serbia’s Competitiveness”.

At the 3rd annual conference organised by NALED, the World Bank and the British Embassy, it was estimated that Serbia was active in reforms in some categories, but these reforms were not done on time to be included in the list and their effects are expected in the next reports.

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December

The Embassy of India in Belgrade and the National Assembly of Serbia, in association with Indian Council for Cultural Relations, is organising an art exhibition “Rumals of Chamba: Embroidered Expressions of Pahari Women” at the House of National National Assembly, Nikole Pašića Square 13.

On 1st November H.E. Indian Ambassador Mr Bhattacharjee inaugurated the exhibition. The inaugural event was attended by Serbian Government and Parliament Officials, University Professors, cultural personalities, friends of India and media.

The exhibition is based on explorations, revivals and innovations using diverse stitches and textures in Pahari (hills) embroidery.

01 AMCHAM: NOV THE SIXTH LAP TIME CONFERENCE The findings of the research were presented at the annual AmCham “Sixth Lap Time Conference - Unlocking Reforms?” For the second year in a row, AmCham companies are more optimistic when talking about predictions of their growth. Almost 73% of the companies expect business growth, while 58% plan new employment in 2019. AmCham members are focusing on institutional reforms more every year, Improving the Rule of Law, public administration capacities in implementation of regulations, the efficiency of the judiciary, plus an active public-private dialogue in the legislative process.

Seventy-nine per cent of AmCham members gave a stable grade of 3 to the business environment in Serbia on a scale from 1 to 5. That is one of the conclusions of AmCham’s annual research to find key priorities for improving the business environment in Serbia.

SEE MORE: WWW.CORDMAGAZINE.COM

DANIJELA FIŠAKOV, MINISTER KSENIJA KLAMPFER AND SVETOZAR ALEKSOV

H.E. PHILIPPE GUEX, MINJA JOVANOVIĆ, H.E. AMR ALJOWAILY

08 LAUNCH OF THE GCSP NOV ALUMNI COMMUNITY HUB Ambassador of Switzerland H.E. Philippe Guex, H.E. Amr Aljowaily, Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Serbia and GCSP alumnus, as well as GCSP Head of Community Engagement Isabelle Gillet proudly inaugurate the Belgrade GCSP Alumni Community Hub at a reception hosted at the Residence of Egypt on Thursday, 8 November.

Globally GCSP’s alumni community forms a unique network of experts in the field of international security policy. Today the Centre counts some 7500 alumni, including military officers, government officials and international civil servants, with a global outreach to 176 nations.

In the lead of the Belgrade GCSP Alumni Community Hub is Minja Jovanović, alumna of the 2011 European Training Course in Security Policy.

07 NOV SPK WORKING MEETING The Slovenian Business Club (SPK) hosted a working meeting hosting the Minister of Labor of the Republic of Slovenia Ksenija Klampfer and representatives of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs from the Republic of Slovenia and Serbia.

The members of the Slovenian Business Club had numerous questions, including what are the key information regarding the employment agreement between Slovenia and Serbia.

08 NOV THE LAUNCH OF DUTCH-SERBIAN BUSINESS ASSOCIATION The Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, H.E. Mr Henk van den Dool, hosted a reception on the 8th of November to mark the founding of the Dutch-Serbian Business Association. The event gathered representatives of the Dutch business community, Serbian institutions, international financial institutions, other business associations and representatives of the business media.

In his speech, Ambassador van den Dool stated that he was proud that many Dutch companies are household names in Serbia, and positively impact the local communities in Serbia in which they are active. He highlighted the Dutch business community’s constructive role in representing the Netherlands abroad and the positive effects Dutch companies can bring to local economic development through improving business practices, advocating corporate social responsibility, labour safety standards and creating employment, amongst other things.

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AFTER WORK

08 THE LAUNCH OF DUTCH-SERBIAN NOV BUSINESS ASSOCIATION The Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, H.E. Mr Henk van den Dool, hosted a reception on the 8th of November to mark the founding of the Dutch-Serbian Business Association. The event gathered representatives of the Dutch business community, Serbian institutions, international financial institutions, other business associations and representatives of the business media.

In his speech, Ambassador van den Dool stated that he was proud that many Dutch companies are household names in Serbia, and positively impact the local communities in Serbia in which they are active. He highlighted the Dutch business community’s constructive role in representing the Netherlands abroad and the positive effects Dutch companies can bring to local economic development through improving business practices, advocating corporate social responsibility, labour safety standards and creating employment, amongst other things.

13 NOV WINNER OF THE SLUSH 2018 PRESENTED The Embassy of Finland and the Innovation Fund of the Republic of Serbia held a reception presenting Box System, the winner of this year’s local Slush competition.

Box System has designed a product called WooBox that is used to transport fresh foods that require certain temperature conditions.

Winning at the local competition, Box System won a ticket for the Slush 2018 conference, which takes place in November and December in Helsinki.

08 BOOK LAUNCH NOV AT THE FRENCH INSTITUTE As a part of celebrating the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, the French Institute in Serbia hosted promotion of the book “Merging the East and the West - Memorial of Professor Predrag Simić”.

Guests were addressed by French Ambassador H.E. Frédéric Mondoloni, Ambassador of France to Serbia, Jean-Baptiste Cuzin, Director of the French Institute, Jasminka Simić, book editor, Stanislav Sretenović, scientific adviser at the Institute for Contemporary History, and Blagoje Babić, Institute for International Politics and Economy.

The book “Merging the East and the West - Memorial of Professor Predrag Simić” is a collection of the most representative works by the professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences at the University of Belgrade and the Ambassador of Serbia in France Dr. Predrag Simić, in the field of science, diplomacy and media cooperation.

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AMBASSADOR PERTTI IKONEN WITH LOCAL SLUSH WINNERS FROM BOX SYSTEM

SEE MORE: WWW.CORDMAGAZINE.COM

15 OPENING OF NOV THE FRENCH WEEK 2018 French Week was opened in Belgrade, organised by the French-Serbian Chamber of Commerce (CCFS). This year the event, which will be held from November 15 to 22 for the sixth year in a row, is titled “Digital Memories”.

The goal of French Week is to promote historical, cultural and business connections between France and Serbia. French Week is linked to the popular French custom of welcoming young French wine, Beaujolais Nouveau.

13 AN EXHIBITION: SERBIAN HEROES OF THE NOV BATTLE OF KOSOVO - RULERS OF ETERNITY The exhibition of the artist Ljubinka Šibe Fimić entitled “Serbian Heroes of the Battle of Kosovo - Rulers of Eternity” was held at the Vlade Divljan Cultural Center in Belgrade. According to the artist, the exhibition expresses the content, intentions, needs, support of the Serbian people. “In the early childhood we learn about the great battle, where victory has been turned into slavery, a unique case in history. I have transfered the echo of our ancestors into these art pieces. I was led by the energy of a need from the past and the present to remember, to preserve the memory and to last”.

DRAGOLJUB DAMJANOVIĆ AND SANJA IVANIĆ ARTIST LJUBINKA ŠIBE FIMIĆ

23 NOV 4TH SERBIAN VISIONS Serbian Visions, the only multi congress in Serbia, was organised by the GermanSerbian Chamber of Commerce (AHK) and supported by the Chamber of Commerce & Industry for the fourth year.

Congress was opened by the AHK Director Martin Knapp and Doris Danilović, AHK Deputy Director.

The two-day event, held in Radisson Collection Hotel, traditionally provides a platform to institutes, associations, universities, colleges, expert associations, companies, NGOs to present themselves and their engagements related to improving the efficiency of the economy, the civil sector and overall development of Serbia.

DAVID SKALMANI, DIRECTOR, CULTURE ADVISOR OF THE EMBASSY OF ITALY (LEFT), H.E CARLO LO CASCIO AND MARINA SCOGNAMIGLIOM DIRECT

19 THE 3RD WEEK OF NOV ITALIAN CUISINE IN THE WORLD The third Week of Italian Cuisine in the world, which was held in Serbia from November 19 to 25 in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš and Subotica. This year the theme was “Mediterranean Nutrition” and was be presented at over 1,300 events in 110 countries around the world. The food sector is a symbol and identity of Italy, which includes over € 220 billion in sales in Italy, € 44 billion in exports and affects 13% of a gross domestic product.

The Italian Cuisine in Serbia was organised by the Embassy of Italy in Belgrade in cooperation with the Italian Institute of Culture (IIC), the Italian Foreign Trade Agency (ITA), the Chamber of Italian-Serbian Businessmen (CCIS), Confindustria Serbia, Honorary Consulate of Italy in Subotica and Cultural Center “Piazza Italia”, supported by the brand Maxi (the main sponsor) and AgriSer.

MARTIN KNAPP

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SEE MORE: WWW.CORDMAGAZINE.COM

23 NOV “TASTE OF KOREA” IN BELGRADE The Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Serbia and the Korean Agency for Trade and Investment promotion – KOTRA organised an event “Taste of Korea” promoting traditional Korean cuisine in Serbian capital, Belgrade.

The citizens of Serbia had opportunity to get acquainted with the authentic Korean cuisine and to taste traditional Korean dishes, spices and snacks.

28 DIWALI CELEBRATION NOV AT THE INDIAN EMBASSY A Reception Dinner was hosted by Ambassador of India to Serbia H.E. Subrata Bhattacharjee to celebrate ‘‘Diwali - Festival of Lights” on Wednesday, 28 November 2018. The event was attended by senior officials of Serbian Government, friends of India, members of diplomatic corps, prominent representatives from business, media and other fields.

Speaking on the significance of Diwali, Ambassador Bhattacharjee highlighted the commonalities between the culture of India and Serbia. Pointing out that Diwali also signifies the victory of the good over the evil, he underlined the need for continuing this battle, particularly against the menace of terrorism. There was also a performance of Indian classical dances by a group of Serbian dancers.

AMBASSADOR OF KOREA H.E. HYOUNG-CHAN CHOE

30 CONVENTION ON NOV THE ART OF ŽIVOJIN PAVLOVIĆ

23 EMBASSY OF EGYPT WELCOME NOV PARTICIPANT IS WORLD YOUTH FORUM The Ambassador of Egypt H.E. Amr Aljowaily, hosted a dinner reception for the National Basketball Team and the Serbian participants in the second edition of the World Youth Forum, attended by Darko Stanić, State Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Serbia, Vukašin Grozdanović, Sade the Youth Capital of 2019 in northern Serbia.

Ambassador Amr Aljowaily highlighted that the field of youth and sports is a priority in the embassy’s activity, given the value of youth initiatives in social work, creative ideas in cultural work, and the role played by sport as a form of featured national representation reaching the large crowds that follow their activities. The Ambassador of Egypt to Serbia said that a memorandum of understanding will be signed between the Egyptian and Serbian Ministries of Youth and Sports shortly.

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The Institute for Literature and Arts in Belgrade and the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade organised an international convention on 29 and 30 November: The Art of Živojin Pavlović: Tales, Worlds, Media.

This will mark the 20th anniversary of Pavlovic’s death, along with many activities of the Yugoslav Film Archive (Kinoteka) and the Auteur Film Festival. The two-day convention discussed the extraordinary body of work of our multimedia artist, one of the main representatives of the Black Wave in Serbian cinematography. This artist is also distinguished among many authors by his exceptional literary productivity, especially in his voluminous work about the Jotić family called Wild Wind. His importance as a writer is ever growing as time goes by. During the summer of 2018, the Institute accepted the work of our colleague Vesna Vukajlović from CorD magazine, and she gave a lecture on the topic: The Poetry of F. M. Dostoevsky in Živojin Pavlović’s film The Deserter, one of the most important of Pavlović’s films, based on the novel The Eternal Husband by F. M. Dostoevsky. Everyone in CorD magazine is proud of our colleague’s participation in the event.

transport & 2019 logistics

PLUS

TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS FORTHCOMING TRENDS

Risks And Opportunities Like most other industries, transportation and logistics (T&L) is currently confronting immense change; and like all change, this brings both risk and opportunity. New technology, new market entrants, new customer expectations, and new business models 4

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here are many ways the sector could develop to meet these challenges, some evolutionary, others more revolutionary.

In this paper we discuss four key areas of disruption logistics companies need to focus on now, and explore some possible futures of the industry.

FOUR AREAS OF DISRUPTION Customer expectations are increasing greatly. Both individuals and businesses expect to get goods faster, more flexibly, and – in the case of consumers – at low or no delivery cost.

Manufacturing is becoming more and more customised, which is good for customers but

hard work for the logistics industry. Add it all up and the sector is under acute and growing pressure to deliver a better service at an ever lower cost.

It can only hope to do this by making maximum and intelligent use of technology, from data analytics, to automation, to the ‘Physical Internet’. This promises lower costs, improved efficiency, and the opportunity to make genuine breakthroughs in the way the industry works.

But ‘digital fitness’ is a challenge for the sector, which is currently lagging many of its customers in this respect. Attracting the right skills is one issue, but developing the right strategy is even more crucial.

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An increasingly competitive environment is another big factor in the mix. Some of the sector’s own customers are starting up logistics operations of their own, and new entrants to the industry are finding ways to carve out the more lucrative elements of the value chain by exploiting digital technology or new ‘sharing’ business models, and they don’t have assetheavy balance sheets or cumbersome existing systems weighing them down.

‘Sharing’ is a big story for logistics now – from Uber-style approaches to last-mile delivery, to more formal (joint venture) JVs and partnerships at corporate level, the whole sector is redefining collaboration. But much of this is hampered by inconsistencies in everything like shipment sizes, processes or IT systems.

The Physical Internet promises great things for the sector, coming along with increased standardisation in logistics operations.

POSSIBLE FUTURES What will the logistics marketplace look like in five to ten years? That’s still a very

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open question. If we make a closer look at how some of the key disruptions facing the industry may interact, the future scenarios should involve combinations of these four factors, weighted according to how important specific trends become: The dominant theme in this scenario is the growth of collaborative working, which allows the current market leaders to retain their dominance. This could for example see a greater use of ‘Physical Internet’ (or ‘PI’) solutions, based on a move towards more standardised shipment sizes, labelling and systems Start-up, shake up: in this scenario new entrants in the form of startups make a bigger impact. The most challenging and costly last mile of delivery, in particular, becomes more fragmented, exploiting new technologies like platform and crowd-sharing solutions. These start-ups collaborate with incumbents and complement their service offers.

Complex competition: here the competitive set evolves in a different direction, as large industrial or retail customers and suppliers

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has thus far been slow to seize it. In recent PWC’s study, the percentage of T&L companies that rated themselves as ‘advanced’ on digitisation was just 28%. Some of the industry’s customers are already well ahead of this – 41% of automotive companies and 45% of electronics companies already see themselves as advanced. The lack of a ‘digital culture’ and training is thus the biggest challenge for transportation and logistics companies. T&L firms are in line with other DIGITISATION industries in planning to invest 5%9 of their Logistics companies are facing an era of revenues per annum until 2020, but the next unprecedented change as digitisation takes few years will be critical: companies that don’t start soon risk being left behind permanently Labour is a critical element of any logistics operating model, and up till now there’s always been a trade-off between service levels and costs. But automation breaks down this equation, allowing firms to offer better service and save money at the same time.

Some of the industry’s most labor intensive processes are on the way to being fully or partially automated, from warehousing to last-mile delivery. Automated solutions in the warehouse are already being implemented and their level of sophistication is increasing. For example, automated loading and unloading systems hold and customer expectations are already available, but in the The lack of a ‘digital culture’ and training is evolve. New technologies are enafuture these are likely to be able thus the biggest challenge for transportation to bypass obstacles and adjust bling greater efficiency and more and logistics companies routes automatically. Advances collaborative operating models; in data processing and optics now they’re also re-shaping the marketallow tasks to be automated which were once place in ways that are only just beginning to cantly improved forecasting to scale capacity thought too complex – like trailer loading and become apparent. New entrants, whether they up or down and plan routes. Adding machine offloading at acceptable speeds. be start-ups or the industry’s own customers learning and artificial intelligence techniques to Package delivery could also make more and suppliers, are also shaking up the sector. data analytics can deliver truly dynamic routing. use of automation, through innovations like The race is on to define the industry’s Cloud technology can enable platform autonomous vehicles or delivery drones. future. And with an estimated US$4.6 trillion solutions, which in turns makes it possible Google has already started working on selfof revenues at stake, companies can’t afford to use new business models, such as ‘virtual driving lockers and the trucking industry is to sit back and watch; they need to adapt to freight forwarding’. It can also provide flexpartnering with OEMs on partially automated changing markets proactively. ibility and scalability, as well as standardized truck convoys. Even if more radical solutions We’ve developed a transformation frameand harmonised processes across the whole are a long time coming, other technologies organisation. That’s especially important work to describe how megatrends affect a which could make drivers more efficient are in for those LSPs or carriers who have grown given industry, taking into account the key the offing too, like augmented reality solutions through acquisitions, and currently rely on a disrupting forces that create uncertainties that give drivers more information about their patchwork of legacy systems. for every organisation in the sector. Based environment and the packages still on board.

The potential is huge, but the industry on these uncertainties, we outline distinct become players in the logistics market themselves, not just managing their own logistics but turning that expertise into a profitable business model. Scale matters: and finally, in this scenario, the current market leaders compete for a dominant market position by acquiring smaller players, achieving scale through consolidation, and innovation through the acquisition of smaller entrepreneurial start-ups.

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scenarios to explore possible futures for the sector. This framework will help you plan for this uncertain and volatile future.

Digital is still a challenge for the sector.

There is no other industry where so many industry experts ascribe a high importance to data and analytics in the next five years than transportation and logistics – 90% in T&L compared to an average of 83%.8 The sector has never had access to more data. There are vast opportunities here to improve performance and serve customers better, and LSPs who are part of a digitally integrated value chain can benefit from signifi-

TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS

BUSINESS NELT, 25 YEARS OF SUCCESSFUL OPERATIONS

NELT’S DISTRIBUTION AND LOGISTICS CENTRE IN DOBANOVCI

Investments Ensure Success The Nelt Group, one of Serbia's most successful domestic business systems today, employs 4,000 people in 11 companies on as many markets in Southeast Europe and Africa. As a leader in the provision of state-of-the-art distribution and logistics services, the Nelt Group will generate a consolidated net income of â‚Ź930 million in 2018 8

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he business successes that Nelt has achieved over the past 25 years are the result of constant investments in the improving of services, the applying of new technologies and investment in staff education and development.

In line with the principles of ethical, responsible and sustainable operations, expansion to new markets and further organic growth are planned. This year Nelt started business operations on the Albanian market, with the acquisition of the Tirana-based All Balkan Corporation. Two new strategic partnerships have also been established with Nectar and Nestle in the field of logistics services. Moreover, distribution on the markets of the Western Balkans of the brand TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS

Nutrino, which produces children's food products at a factory opened in Dobanovci.

This is a greenfield investment worth 34 million euros.

This year Nelt Group invested 15 million euros in the regional expansion of integrated logistics services. There have been investments in the construction of two storage and distribution halls in Belgrade and Sarajevo, with a total capacity of 22,000m2 of warehousing and office space. The fleet has been increased with 30 new delivery vehicles. The capacity of the lorry terminal in Danilovgrad has been expanded on the site of company Montenomaks, which is a member of the Nelt Group. A freight forwarding sector has also opened in Macedonia.

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Digitisation and This year Nelt Group invested 15 million the automation of euros in the regional expansion of logistics processes integrated logistics services. There have is planned to conbeen investments in the construction of two tinue in 2019. WMS storage and distribution halls in Belgrade technology and and Sarajevo, with a total capacity of standards applied 22,000m2 of warehousing and office space in distributive logistics centres in the such as care for new mothers, a company region will be implemented at all regional doctor or private health insurance and onecentres in Serbia. Moreover, there will also off financial assistance for family expansion, be investments in transshipment equipment as well as compensation packages that and software at the intermodal freight stimulate employees in terms of dedication terminal in Dobanovci. and efficiency, and which rewards them Nelt continues its practise of reporting adequately for that. on sustainable business in accordance with internationally recognised GRI methodology. Unlike the first report, which presented Nelt's business operations in Serbia, the second Sustainable Business Report "Healthy Organisation" has been expanded to all Nelt Group companies in the countries of the Western Balkans, presenting data from 2016 and 2017.

The group has entered a new era with a new visual identity and a new CSR strategy, which will focus more on employee engagement, and joint projects with business partners of wider social impact. The company has offered its employees benefits 9

BUSINESS DEJAN TUBIĆ, DIRECTOR, HOLLEMAN TRANSPORT LTD.

Wind Turbines On The Roads Of Europe Over 2,000 wind generators transported throughout the continent of Europe are our speciality

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olleman transport distinguishes itself through the quality of its workmanship, reliability, ease of use and safety. Our Serbian staff members have to date been trained in other countries to prepare for the transport of wind turbines in Serbia. Now we are working in Serbia on the Košava project, says Dejan Tubić, Director of Holleman transport Ltd., speaking in this CorD interview.

Since its founding, Holleman has invested enormous resources in the transport of oversized and heavy cargo domestically and internationally. In which part did you invest the most?

- We try to keep pace with events and novelties on the European and world markets regarding innovation in the transport industry, in order to match the competition on the European market, both in terms of the means of transport we use and the level of services we provide. In addition to modern towing vehicles - tractors and all new traction power features, exhaust 10

gas emissions, we have invested a lot in the procurement of new trailers that are characterised by quality of production, reliability, simplicity of use and safety.

And, most importantly, at Holleman special attention is paid to the continuous education of our personnel; we invest in training drivers and others to make our

service even better, more economical and efficient and, above all, characterised by a high level of safety.

The transport of wind turbines is your speciality. What challenges do you face?

- We are pioneers in this business on the European market, as shown by over 2,000 wind turbines transported across the continent. Our Serbian staff members have to date been trained in other countries to prepare for transporting wind turbines in Serbia. Now we work in Serbia on the Košava project.

I must admit that we face many administrative problems, without the support of public enterprises, which unfortunately have no interest in jointly presenting the transport of wind turbine parts in a completely We face many administrative problems, new and modern way. Lack of without the support of public enterprises, knowledge and resistance to which unfortunately have no interest in learning and adjustment to an jointly presenting the transport of wind innovative way of working are turbine parts to the European and world the main causes of such unacpublic in a completely new and modern way ceptable behaviour.

TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS

BUSINESS

Cost-Effective And Eco-Friendly Distribution

Responsibility towards business partners, employees and the environment, as a guarantee of success

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s one of the most successful distribution and logistics companies operating on the Serbian market, Centrosinergija works continuously to improve its quality of services for business partners, while taking care of its employees, working conditions and the environment.

As of October 2018, Centrosinergija has been distributing goods to an additional 5,500 points of sale, which means that the company is currently present and available to its customers in a total of 17,000 retail outlets. The company takes great pride in the fact that the expansion of its operations has enabled it to employ a hundred new workers.

“Thanks to great effort, hard work and expertise, we are in a position to meet the high standards and satisfy the needs of the most demanding clients. At Centrosinergija we work continuously to improve our business, while remaining responsible to the society, community and future generations,” says the company’s managing director Zoran Popović.

The project to expand Centrosinergija's volume of business includes investing in the company’s logistic fleet, which has so far consisted entirely of vehicles with EURO 5 new generation engines, in accordance with the European Union's requirements for CO2 emissions reductions. In September this year, Centrosinergija invested in eco-friendly vehicles that run on compressed TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS

THE IVECO BRAND DIRECTOR, MR. PIERRE LAHUTTE, HANDED OVER TO ZORAN POPOVIĆ, DIRECTOR OF CENTROSINERGIJA, THE KEYS OF 11 IVECO DAILY BLUEPOWER CNG VANS

natural gas (CNG) that's compliant with the EURO 6 standard. There are several benefits from using CNG, such as a reduction in harmful gas emissions, the absence of sulphur and organic lead, or toxic petroleum additives, while noise is additionally reduced by up to 50 per cent. The fleet's new vehicles will contribute to reducing exhaust emissions in the most polluted urban zones. In addition to protecting the environment, the purchase of these new vehicles also ensures better care for employees in terms of improved working conditions, reduced noise and more comfortable rides.

“When purchasing new vehicles, we focused on reducing harmful effects on the environment, as well as on the comfort and security of the driver, because we wanted to ensure better working conditions for our employees. Besides

that, vehicles which run on natural gas are more economical than conventional petrol and diesel engine vehicles. One limitation we are facing is an insufficiently developed network of gas filling stations. However, we are hoping that other distribution and logistics companies will follow our example and that this will result in the number of gas filling stations increasing in the years to come. This would make our economy more competitive and preserve the environment.”

By further expanding its distribution portfolio and volume of business in a socially responsible way, nurturing a corporate culture based on respect for the local community and business partners and preserving the environment, Centrosinergija aims to create value for future generations.

For its business partners Centrosinergija ensures sales growth, improved market presence and lower costs by continuously improving business processes and investing in technological development and innovations. The company's unified service of negotiation, procurement, storage, separation, transportation, delivery, sales of goods and services, monitoring and collection of receivables and administration enables its business partners to focus on their core business. Centrosinergija belongs to the Moj Kiosk Group, a business system that also encompasses the largest chain of retail kiosks and convenience shops in Serbia.

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MUAREM RAGIPOVIĆ, MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR SERBIA, EYEMAXX

To European Standards New large scale construction in Novi Banovci by EYEMAXX Logistic Centre Belgrade will enable leaseholders to expand their storage capacities

(Logistics Centre Belgrade) EYEMAXX Real Estate AG is a real estate company with a long-standing successful track record, focussing on residential properties in Germany and Austria. In addition, EYEMAXX also realises nursing homes in Germany and realizes commercial properties in the CEE / SEE region.

In the company’s recent past its corporate strategy has also included developing urban districts in Germany.

EYEMAXX’ business activities take a dualpronged approach. These include high-margin projects and also the continued expansion of its stocks of let commercial properties, which generate ongoing rental income and thus constant cash flows. In so doing, EYEMAXX uses the expertise offered by its experienced management team together with a strong team of real estate professionals, and also a well-established and broad network which opens up additional access to attractive properties and projects. The current project pipeline has thus been expanded to around EUR 975 million.

The headquarters of EYEMAXX Real Estate AG is located in Aschaffenburg, Germany. Operative activities are carried out in Leopoldsdorf near Vienna. The EYEMAXX Group is represented by branch offices and project offices in all countries with active projects like Germany, Austria, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. EYEMAXXEYEMAXX“Logistics 12

Centre Belgrade in Novi Banovci is situated in an excellent location, along the international motorway E-75, only 20km from the centre of Belgrade and 50km from Novi Sad. Only 15km away lies Nikola Tesla Airport. These facts are definitely important for easier placement of goods across the region”, says Muamer Ragipović, EYEMAXX managing director for Serbia to CorD magazine.

“LogMaxx Alpha of 18,000m2 and LogMaxx Beta of 30,000m2 are modern equipped storage halls, built according to the latest standards and respecting all urban, construction and environmental standards. With integrated ESFR sprinkler systems, mobile platforms, loading ramps, state-of-the-art heating and cooling systems and security systems for prevention and enabling quick and efficient response. Reputable leaseholders have moved into the premises.

“We are especially proud to have one of the most modern refrigerator units in Europe operating in the region of 0-4 degrees Celsius.

The leaseholders have parking spaces available with a total area of 10,000 m2”, says Ragipović.

“The centres have been built according to standards applied in the EU. This also applies to all the equipment that is installed and available to our current and future lessees. The capacity of the parking area is also important, both for

leaseholders and for all users of Logistic Centre Belgrade’s services.

“Good ideas should not be changed, so EYEMAXX is starting to build LogMax Gamma, in which around EUR 15 million will be invested.

The building has an area of 22,000 m2 and will be built according to the tried-and-tested EYEMAXX brand for the construction of logistics centres, which has been used in several facilities throughout various European countries.

“Thanks to modern equipment and the type of construction, we are able to meet our leaseholders practically on all issues and requirements in accordance with specific business conditions.

We will soon be able to offer an independent ADR warehouse whose construction is planned.

Here we should certainly bear in mind the fact that existing ADR warehouses on our market have extremely low capacities and as such are deficient, so in this specific area we can display one more advantage over the competition.”

Speaking about the price of the lease, he notes that the price of renting business premises is not fixed, but it depends on the specific demands of the leaseholders.

When it comes to plans, Ragipović points out that because of its large-scale land reserves nearby the Novi Banovci Logistic Centre EYEMAXX is in a position to build considerably more logistic premises at such site in Novi Banovci, which will allow all clients an additional extension and make EYEMAXX even more advantageous on the Serbian market.

You will also recognize the company by its slogans: -PASSION FOR PERFORMANCE -PERFORMANCE AT ALL LEVELS -PERFORMANCE THROUGH SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS -PERFORMANCE THROUGH A CLEAR STRUCTURE -QUICK YET EFFICIENT

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BUSINESS NEBOJŠA RADIĆ, DIRECTOR OF LOGISTIC HOUSE

Trust Is The Most Important Factor In our business it is still much more important to have stable, solid and amiable cooperation and business relations with our clients and partners, who are agents and owners of transport vehicles

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Apart from Serbia and the surrounding region, you've also expanded your operations to EU countries?

- As of this September, we have expanded our business to the territory of the EU and established company Logistic House d.o.o. (Ltd.) in Slovenia. With this move we've become one of the few Serbian companies to operate directly from Slovenia and in that way started engaging a large number of hauliers from the EU with which we overcome problems regarding transport permits, CEMT licenses etc. Our professional team and network of partners worldwide guarantees that LOGISIC HOUSE Slovenia will soon become one of Europe's leading companies in the field of organising

To what extent does the digital transformation process impact on the reliability of transport at your company?

- Today's technology enables us to have incredible precision in terms of information and data from hauliers and vehicles, their location and other associated parameters that enable us to track our clients' goods online. However, in addition to all of the aforementioned, I would like to stress that In our business it is still much more important Which kinds of transport and logistics are to have stable, solid and amiable cooperacovered by Logistic House?

- The core business of LOGISTIC HOUSE is tion and business relations with our clients, the organisation of the domestic and interon the one side, and with our partners, who are agents and owners of transport national transportation of all kinds of goods. vehicles, on the other. We are not assisted We have contracted cooperation with a large in that either by digitisation number of haulage companies, airor the optimisation of busilines and shipping companies, both We are one of the few Serbian companies to with small players and the largest. ness processes, but rather by operate directly from Slovenia and in that way This ensures that our company has knowledge, persistence, preciengage a large number of hauliers from the EU plenty of room to choose and lobby sion, fairness and the quality of with which we overcome problems regarding for the best offer for our clients. services provided... Alongside transport permits, CEMT licenses etc For our many clients, we conduct all the digitisation offered by regular import operations and offer today's technology, last week promotional prices for exports, in order to the transportation of goods according to the saw the entire Logistic House team visit a help the Serbian economy at least a little. highest international standards. The essence client for an hour to help with the unloading We organise daily container transports, air of logistics is in strategic planning and timely of goods from a lorry to a warehouse, due cargo shipments, oversized freight shipments consideration of possible shortcomings in to a fault with the forklift. So, digitisation and road-based haulage throughout Europe, maintaining the entire chain of logistics, as helped us in that we learned about the Russia and Africa, while we have direct agents well as undertaking preventative action to client's problem on time, but we still had in Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Vietnam, ensure solid connections between links in to don our overalls and roll up our sleeves.

Turkey, China, America, Greece etc. the chain at all levels.

Such is our job! e organise daily container transports, air cargo shipments, oversized freight shipments and roadbased haulage throughout Europe, Russia and Africa, while we have direct agents in Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Vietnam, Turkey, China, America, Greece etc., notes Nebojša Radić, director of LOGISTIC HOUSE, speaking for CorD.

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