CorD Magazine, September 2019, issue no. 179

H.E. MUBARAK SAEED AHMED BURSHAID ALDHAHERI Ambassador of the UAE to Serbia

DAVID VUICH

Let’s Start Love Over

Don’t Forget Your Roots

Bitef Artistic Director and Selector

Apollo Mission Member

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SEPTEMBER 2019/ ISSUE NO. 179

Exceptionally Friendly Relations

IVAN MEDENICA

interviews opinions news comments events ZORAN PANOVIĆ

Half A Century Of Woodstock FOCUS

This Isn’t Time For You To Sleep

Exclusive

LADY OLGA MAITLAND

783002 771451 9

Fake Media Distort Reality

ISSN1451-7833

POLITICIAN, JOURNALIST AND SECURITY EXPERT

CONTENTS

COMMENT

ZORAN PANOVIĆ

HALF A CENTURY OF WOODSTOCK Rock culture is an historically young phenomenon, and it is forgotten in marking the half-century of Woodstock that all the headliners there were young. Even Johnny Winter was only 25 at the time!

10 FAKE MEDIA DISTORT REALITY

LADY OLGA MAITLAND Politician, journalist and security expert

28 LET’S START LOVE OVER

IVAN MEDENICA Bitef Artistic Director and Selector

DAVID VUICH Apollo Mission Member

16 EXCEPTIONALLY FRIENDLY RELATIONS H.E. MUBARAK SAEED AHMED BURSHAID ALDHAHERI Ambassador of the UAE to Serbia

31 BUSINESS DIALOGUE 44 THE RAISE & FALL OF A BRAZILIAN BILLIONAIRE EIKE FUHRKEN BATISTA DA SILVA

STANISLAV SRETENOVIĆ Historian

WWW.CORDMAGAZINE.COM

20 GLOBAL DIARY 22 THIS ISN’T TIME FOR YOU TO SLEEP

@CORDMAGAZINE

FOCUS

CORD MAGAZINE

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

Mirjana Jovanović, Miša Brkić, Ljubica Gojgić Radmila Stanković, Steve MacKenzie, Zorica Todorović Mirković, Sonja Ćirić, Miloš Belčević

DESIGNER: Jasmina Laković j.lakovic@aim.rs CONTRIBUTORS: Rob Dugdale, Maja Vukadinović,

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SRĐAN OGNJANOVIĆ Director of the Mathematical Grammar School

55 DON’T FORGET YOUR ROOTS

47 SERBIA CAN BECOME THE REGION’S “SWITZERLAND”

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54 WORLD CONQUERED

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48 FROM IMAGINATION TO VERACITY INDIAN CONTEMPORARY ART

60 CHILL OUT 62 BEST TIME OF THE YEAR FASHION

64 CULTURE CALENDAR 66 AFTER WORK

Exclusive WITH MARINA ABRAMOVIĆ The Mother Of Performance Art

52 FACES & PLACES

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Comment

Half A Century Of Woodstock

Rock culture is an historically young phenomenon, and it is forgotten in marking the half-century of Woodstock that all the headliners there were young.

Even Johnny Winter was only 25 at the time!

BY ZORAN PANOVIĆ XX

W

e don’t know what many of them would have been like if they’d grown old: would grandpa Jimi Hendrix – like Eric Burdon – come to Belgrade’s Union House and perform a concert, with the media recalling that he’d once been one of the world’s best guitarists, whose morbid rendition of the American national anthem closed Woodstock in front of the most persistent 40,000 attendees remaining of the nearly half a million who’d gathered in 1969 at the Max Yazgur farm, making a pilgrimage and creating a myth and parody of pastoral provincial scenes.

All subsequent rock festivals and stadium tours would carry in them something of the ‘criteria’ of Woodstock, which would enter into colloquial speech as a metaphor for almost every mass event on a meadow, including political gatherings and folklore performances.

Joe Cocker did then sound and look proletarian, but – despite its anti-system stance - Woodstock could only have happened in the capitalist West, with all of its class divides and other contradictions. The ;Exit Tribe’ is also a direct consequence of the ‘Woodstock Nation’ as ideologue Abbie Hoffman entitled his book. Capitalism inevitably absorbed the rock culture, turning it into an industry, which doesn’t have to be interpreted so cynically: the fact that you’ll have clean and neat toilets and bars doesn’t mean you can’t also have a clear political stance.

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Old men don’t have the charisma of those who died prematurely, like Hendrix and Janice Joplin, but they have longevity. In 2015, in Padova, I saw Crosby, Stills and Nash (without Young), who had a notable performance at Woodstock. They essentially still represent a protest band. The fact that we today live in a world without utopia doesn’t mean that it isn’t a strong idea of better people and a better world. Their music represents an important part of the soundstage of America’s entire anti-war movement, which was launched in

All subsequent rock festivals and stadium tours would carry in them something of the ‘criteria’ of Woodstock, which would enter into colloquial speech as a metaphor for almost every mass event on a meadow, including political gatherings and folklore performances response to Vietnam. Many young people at the time got the picture of that in a roundabout way, with delays, and mostly watching the cult 1970 film The Strawberry Statement, which was translated in Yugoslavia as ‘About strawberries and blood’.

Yekaterina Furtseva, a member of the Soviet Politburo with a strong influence on the culture there, was dismayed by BITEF. This was also

made clear as an ideological remark to BITEF organiser Mira Trailović. But the fact that ‘Hair’ was performed in Belgrade doesn’t mean that it was easy for members of the ‘Woodstock Tribe’ around the provinces. Freedom had to be won by conquest. My friend Mitat The Beli, who is today unfortunately no longer with us, experienced harassment at the factory where he worked. The Beli was inspired by Woodstock, both its look and the music. In protest, he donned a Serbian folk costume and in 1975 headed to Belgrade for a Deep Purple concert, where he was welcomed with a standing ovation. Fortunately, due to a pact between Tito and Bregović, rock was viewed – with some subsequent (following Tito’s death) dramatic exceptions (‘The Marshal Croaked’ - Nele Karajlić, ‘Fools die for ideals’ - Bora Đorđević etc.), with indulgence, so gradually The Beli also gained ‘legitimacy’.

I saw Neil Young and Crazy Horse in 2014 in Vienna. That was the first and only time in my life that I received a free T-shirt from a performer: with the message “We’re Saving the Earth”. Ecology is also Woodstock. And is more current than ever.

In his book The Sociology of Rock, Simon Frith recalls that the term ‘youth’ was often used as an ideological term, and that middle-class children deliberately adopted the mannerisms and values of the lower classes, including cruelty, in conscious opposition to the values of their parents, as opposed to teenagers of the working class, who simply had fun on the road to a conformist life.

But those considerations are actually closer to punk, rap and metal than the hippie movement.

Interview Exclusive LADY OLGA MAITLAND

POLITICIAN, JOURNALIST AND SECURITY EXPERT If our interlocutor, Lady Olga Maitland, manages to come to Belgrade in September, as she was planning at the time of this interview, her colleagues – politicians, journalists, and security experts – may struggle to decide how to portray her. She is a British Conservative politician, a former Member of Parliament for Sutton and Cheam, but throughout her career she has worked intermittently as a politician and a journalist, following the path of her father, Patrick Maitland, the 17th Earl of Lauderdale. During times when this was more of an exception than a common practise, she became a prominent female figure involved in top security issues.

In this interview, we took the opportunity to ask questions related to all parts of her career and to seek her opinions regarding many contemporary issues related to politics, journalism and security.

For example, knowing that she served in 1996–97 as Parliamentary Private Secretary

Fake Media

Distort Reality

Like many others – from current UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to her own father – Lady Olga Maitland followed the career path of a journalist turned politician, who later also become a security expert. As a stateswoman, she was once involved with the issue of the former Yugoslavia, which is a country of origin for her on her mother’s side. And she is coming to Belgrade this September, to refresh her memories 10

September

BREXIT

There were various people in the Brexit campaign who wanted to leave the European Union and used a lot of factually inaccurate information to promote that

to Sir John Wheeler, then Minister of State for Northern Ireland in the Northern Ireland Office, we asked for her opinion about the possible effects of Brexit on border issues between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Considering that she’s held all ranks as a journalist of various media outlets, including the Fleet Street News Agency, the Blackheath & District Reporter, and The Sunday Express, and that she is currently a contributor to The Daily Mail, we addressed some hot topics, such as fake news and press freedom.

For those interested in gender equality in defence, let’s say that after being engaged in the topic during her career as an MP, it was in 1983 that our interlocutor founded, and later chaired, Families for Defence – a campaign group tasked with promoting national self-defence capabilities. That group morphed into the Defence and Security Forum in 1992, a security policy thinktank that she presides over and which has been engaged in many different parts of the world.

During her time as an MP, she served as a member of the Yugoslav Parliamentary Group, which gave her the opportunity to better acquaint herself with the country of origin of her mother Stanka (née Lozanić), daughter of Serbian chemist Milivoje S. Lozanić and granddaughter of Sima Lozanić, also a renowned Serbian chemist, president of the Royal Serbian Academy and the first president of Belgrade University. We loved hearing her thoughts about her Serbian family.

Maitland hasn’t just had a rich career in her own right. She’s also married to Robin William Patrick Hamilton Hay, M.A., LL.B., a barrister who later became a Crown Court Recorder, and has two sons – Alastair and Fergus – and a daughter – Camilla – and as many as nine grandchildren. Some of her close relatives on the Serbian side still live in Belgrade and, not surprisingly, are also journalists. Being a journalist and a politician would be a rare combination in Serbia. What

ASSET

Journalism is a great asset if you are a politician, because it gives you the means to look at any issue with a critical eye, to ask questions and persist in getting answers

FAKE NEWS

Today, sadly, the fake media has really distorted the news and made it much more difficult for people to know what news is true, and what is factually correct

Politics and journalism have always been a natural combination in the UK. Journalism is a great asset if you are a politician, because it gives you the means to look at any issue with

a critical eye, to ask questions and persist in getting answers. These traits are very important for any politician. To listen, to learn, to hear, and then obviously to interpret. Being a politician with a career in journalism is quite common in our politics. Take, for example, Prime Minister

I’ve enjoyed my life. I’ve been very privileged, with a wonderful heritage that played a huge part in my whole life. If it weren’t for my parents, I wouldn’t be who I am today. My family was always the rock of my life

Boris Johnston, who was a journalist and went on from that position to become a Member of Parliament and then Mayor of London.

My career was no different, I was a journalist, and then I always wanted to be a politician. I am of the older generation, and I never thought it would be possible, but when I got into my thirties, I decided I would give it a try, and I finally became an elected politician when I was 48. I had been a working journalist until that time.

My late father was also a journalist who became a politician. He worked with all the major newspapers during World War II. He

compelled youto switch between those two professions?

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Interview Exclusive was correspondent of The Times newspaper for the Balkans and spent some time in Belgrade, before returning to Poland. So, journalism has always been in our family. Indeed, my father later became a politician, a Member of Parliament up

interests and position in the social leader – changed over the century? Which impressions do you have from the times when your father was an editor in The Fleet Street Letter Service and The Whitehall Letter?

being factually correct and accurate. Those rules were very much controlled by the professionalism of journalism and the legal system. And people had the right to complain, the right to seek compensation if their reputation was damaged. But today, sadly, the media - the fake media - have really distorted the news and made it much more difficult for people to know which news story is true and what is factually correct. And this is particularly commonplace on social media.

President Trump is a classic example of using social media, Twitter, and putting out factually incorrect information, and he gets away with it. So that is dangerous. The other side of the coin is that there is much more television, much more radio coverage, and therefore people are interviewed. They might not tell the truth, but at least you are able to get them interviewed. The journalism profession used to have a better status in society. Do you think that, in your early career, journalists felt more comfortable than they do today, when even well-established media outlets, such as The Guardian, are fighting for their place under the sun and journalists increasingly find themselves among precarious sections of the workforce?

in Scotland for eight years, and then a few years later he went into the House of Lords, where he served for 40 years. That’s very interesting, because in Serbia I would say that people will say that if somebody is a journalist they cannot take a political stance and at the same time remain impartial.

Well, I was politically neutral before I became a politician. Also, for example, when Boris Johnson was a journalist writing for The Daily Telegraph, everybody knew his political stance, and he was actually writing for the same newspaper, which he’s now, of course, had to stop doing as prime minister. But there is no harm in that. In fact, there are a lot of positives if you happen to be a politician who knows how to write and how to communicate. Clearly it is a major asset. How has journalism – with its ethics,

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There is no reason why women can’t be security experts; they do it increasingly and do it extremely well The medium of communication has changed.

We now communicate through social media like Twitter, we write articles that go out on the internet and don’t necessarily get printed in the newspapers so much. Readership levels of newspapers have dropped, because people now get their information through the electronic media.

We will always be working and communicating, just in a different way. When I began working in journalism there were very strict rules about

I think they are respected; they certainly are in this country (UK). They have a very important role to play. In an open, democratic society, you have to have freedom of speech and the right to be able to question the decision making of the government. If you have a country, let’s say Turkey, that has closed down the freedom of the media, social media will raise. The point of my question was more that the financial status of journalists isn’t good. For example, when I look at The Guardian, it now has a completely different way of financing itself.

You are right. First of all, journalists never had big salaries, they never do.They earn a very average salary.

Newspapers and media rely on advertising to get their money. Print newspapers, like The Guardian, don’t have much advertising, but they rely on people paying subscriptions. So there are different ways of funding the media. However, I would say that journalism isn’t a profession for everybody…if you are a millionaire, you don’t become a journalist; you do it due to a belief in what you are doing.

From your perspective as both a politician and a journalist, do you feel that people in the UK had enough facts at their disposal to make an informed decision about Brexit?

No, they did not. This is really where the campaign blocked out the truth, and there’s no doubt about it. In the Brexit campaign, various people that wanted to leave the European Union used a lot of factually inaccurate information, and they tried to make… I can give you endless examples – say, that Britain would save 350 million pounds a week if it left the European Union.

Well, that figure doesn’t exist, because while we do contribute to the European Union, they also pay back to us. So, there are a lot of distortions and inaccuracies. The European Union had a difficult battle, because it is always a challenge to assure people that the current situation is the best. People like looking at something new and fresh, and they were excited by the idea ‘We can go it alone without Europe’, ignoring the reality that Europe is a good Europe ... There are a lot of areas where Europe can adjust to operate

better, but by and large it functions well. There was a lot of misinformation; disinformation being put out and then we saw racism rising on the basis of migrant issues … which made the whole situation even more difficult. So, the Brexit campaign was very difficult and indeed today, nearly three years on, people say ‘I voted to leave, but I had no idea what was involved, and if I had known I wouldn’t have voted’. So that was a very difficult campaign, and I hope it will never be repeated. Being familiar with the situation in Ireland, and as someone knowledgeable about security issues, how do you feel about the changes Brexit will bring to the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland?

Nobody knows right now how the Northern Ireland issue will finally be resolved. The problem now is that Northern Ireland wanted to stay within the European Union. Due to the difficulties that the border line may bring, they

didn’t want to have a formal border with the EU. The question is whether we let them remain within the European Union when they are part of a UK that is withdrawing. There are many different interpretations and analyses about how the Northern Ireland issue will be solved. Former Prime Minister Theresa May thought that a soft boarder would be a solution, but other people say they don’t think that we can rely on technology, and if we do, then it would be a loose boarder. There are a lot of politics coming into it at the moment, and Boris Johnson has not come up with an answer.

And nobody has. So we are stuck. It is not easy to say ‘Okay, let’s now leave on 29th March’, but there are other issues as well. I think we will rely on the technology. It won’t be perfect, I suspect there will be a degree of smuggling going on, but I think this will be a final decision. Judging from your own career, what do you think women bring to theory and practise with regard to defence and security deliberations?

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Photo by PA Images via Getty Images

Interview Exclusive

PRIME MINISTER MARGARET THATCHER (CENTRE) RECEIVES A DEPUTATION FROM THE WOMEN AND FAMILIES FOR DEFENCE

BY CHAIR OF THE GROUP, LADY OLGA MAITLAND. FROM LEFT: MRS ANGELA BROWNING, EXETER; MRS EVELYN LE CHENE, GRAVESEND; ADAM PRITCHARD, COVENTRY; JANET PARRETT, 17, ELTHAM; ANN WIDDECOMBE, LONDON; LADY OLGA MAITLAND; MRS THATCHER; MRS SANDY HEARD, SOUTHAMPTON; MRS MERLENE, SEEDHOUSE, LEEDS; MRS CHRISTINE WEST, MANCHESTER; GROUP CAPTAIN PAUL HARRIS, NUTFIELD, SURREY; MRS BETTY WARR, NEWBURY, AND MARGARET CLARKE, NORWICH

Well, let me give you some very good news. In the UK, we have a woman defence minister.

Germany had a woman defence minister. And I think there’s no doubt that women make excellent security experts. I know many well-qualified women in the security world, in think thanks, dealing with Middle East units or security units.

There is no reason why women can’t do it; they do it increasingly and do it extremely well. You are no stranger to many places that have been in some sort of uproar, from Algeria to the former Yugoslavia. As an initiator of the British Business Council in Algeria, how would you rate that country’s prospects for a peaceful and prosperous future?

[Laughs] I have always taken an interest in countries. Now, Yugoslavia is of course my heritage, and I hope Serbia will one day become a member of the European Union; I think it should be. But there are a lot of issues to sort out before that. Algeria is an interesting country; it’s enormously rich and has been rather distanced

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Many years have passed since I’ve been to Belgrade, but there is a new generation that brings hope, and I think that’s terrific from the world; it’s a socialist country and socialism ultimately never produces a good economy, which is why they have the current revolution going on. Do you have time to follow what is going on in Serbia?

Well, I would love to have more time. I tried endlessly over the years to forge relationships with your ambassadors in London, but – frankly – they never responded, so I gave up. But I think there are a lot of positives that I see in the work of Crown Prince Alexander, for example. I am still part of the

Serbian community in London, and it is amazing to see how many people now have second homes in Belgrade and want to go back there. How well do you know your Serbian heritage, and how much does it mean to you? Have you been engaged in Serbian issues since Yugoslavia collapsed?

My Serbian heritage means an enormous amount to me. Interestingly enough, I was brought up equally in the Orthodox faith as in the Anglican faith, so as an Anglican I am totally at home with the Orthodox church and we celebrated all the great Orthodox Church feasts throughout my childhood. We went to the Serbian Orthodox church in Belgravia in London. Over the years, a lot of my relatives have left Belgrade, but I still have a very dear cousin living in Belgrade.

I hope that when I go in September I will get to renew all my old relationships and visit the sites where my family lived. You may know my cousin Boško Čolak Antić, who is a journalist and interpreter. I’ve always admired him, as he is a very special person.

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Interview H.E. MUBARAK SAEED AHMED BURSHAID ALDHAHERI AMBASSADOR OF THE UAE TO SERBIA

Cooperation between the UAE and Serbia, which exists in many domains, is seen by Ambassador Mubarak Saeed Ahmed Burshaid Aldhaheri as confirmation that a true alliance has been forged between the two countries in a short period of time. In this interview for CorD Magazine, the Ambassador announces the strengthening of relations in the areas of trade, tourism and industrial production, but also in the field of energy efficiency and the production of energy from alternative, renewable sources, which will be the concern of the Intergovernmental Commission. The UAE ambassador says that he’s surprised by the lack of public confidence in UAE investments and business arrangements made by Serbian companies there, insisting that a “small and brief internet search, can check the international credibility and success” of the UAE companies that are investing in Serbia.

Exceptionally

Friendly Relations Two major investments since our last interview – Al Dahra’s acquisition of PKB and the privatisation of the Port of Novi Sad by DP World – are important for both the United Arab Emirates and for Serbia. However, bearing in mind that these two Emirate companies are present in many countries of the world, their significant positive impact is indeed international. I hope this positive trend will continue - Mubarak Saeed Ahmed Burshaid Aldhaheri 16

September

RELASTIONS

In my opinion, our countries really do nurture exceptionally friendly relations

Your Excellency, how would you characterise relations between the UAE and Serbia?

The UAE and Serbia have had a very noteworthy development of diplomatic and economic relations in a very short period of time. The leadership of both countries at the highest level definitely provided the incentive, but an even more important fact is how that incentive has been really utilised in recent years and contributed to in the best possible way by participants of both our public and private sectors. This has enabled UAE and Serbia to become true allies in many different fields. In my opinion, our countries really do nurture exceptionally friendly relations.

COMMITMENT

The UAE is very committed to developing bilateral relations with both Kosovo and Serbia

assisting their citizens when abroad – whether the reason for their journey is private, tourist or business. This is really very important in the case of our two countries, because - as you know - the number of travellers and exchanged visits is increasing year by year. Serbia’s ambassador to the UAE says that relations between the two countries are exceptional despite political disagree-

You arrived in Belgrade last year, when Serbia also appointed its first ambassador with permanent residence in the UAE. What does the opening of representative offices mean for relations between the two countries?

Even though the role of embassies has changed in the modern age, they are still very significant instruments of governments in many areas. Apart from the obvious fact that the opening of representative offices means that countries have direct diplomatic relations, their importance is huge in many other matters. Firstly, and in my opinion most importantly, is getting the chance for more detail and a clearer understanding of political, economic, social, or any other interests, or an official position of the country where an ambassador is accredited.

This is why having an ambassador on the ground in a foreign country enables any government to develop a more comprehensive picture of their counterpart.

An ambassador is a channel that contributes to more precise communication between two countries, in terms of advising their policies by closely representing their country’s national interests in the country of accreditation, but also representing the interests of the host country to his government back home, simultaneously having both advisory and mediation roles. Additionally, embassies and ambassadors are extremely important when it comes to organising visits of high-ranking officials and business delegations, where local knowledge contributes a lot to the success of these visits. And, of course, embassies are of great importance for

RATING

I can say that I would give a very high rating to all of our joint projects

ment on the stance regarding Kosovo, which is a very important issue for Serbia. Do you consider that space exists for the UAE to shift its approach to date, which has been to fully support unilaterally declared independence?

Considering that the International Court of Justice at The Hague in 2008 ruled that the Kosovo Declaration of Independence did not violate general international law, because it did not contain a “ban on the Declaration of Independence”, Kosovo was recognised in accordance with the United Arab Emirates’ support for its legitimate right of selfdetermination. I really hope that both sides will be able to reconcile their differences and find the best possible solution to the ongoing situation, as this will further contribute to the stability of the Balkans. The UAE is very committed to developing bilateral relations with both Kosovo and Serbia.

This is what I can state at this moment. In one of your first statements in Serbia, you said that you’d been instructed in your country to work on finding opportunities for new joint projects with Serbia. You’ve identified new opportunities for cooperation in the fields of energy and construction. Have any plans already been made in this regard?

In particular, we agreed to further cooperate in the fields of trade, tourism, investment, industry, energy efficiency, renewable energy and alternative fuel, and, of course, agriculture

Small and large scale projects are constantly active, many of which have already been launched and some even completed. What I can definitely say is that all projects are planned very carefully and strategically from both sides, and both sides are constantly searching for new opportunities. We can mention two major investments since our last interview - the acquisition of PKB by Al Dahra and the privatisation of the port of Novi Sad by DP World. These two projects are important for both the United Arab Emirates and Serbia, but bearing in mind that these two Emirate companies are present in many countries of the world - a significant positive impact is indeed international.

I hope this positive trend will continue. Are the effects of the work of the Joint Committee on Business and Economic Cooperation evident, and what will be its main aims?

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Interview We held the first session of the Joint Committee in Belgrade in April this year, in the mutual desire to strengthen and deepen friendly relations between the Republic of Serbia and the United Arab Emirates at all levels and in all spheres. The sides informed each other about the positive trends of economic policy implemented by the governments of both countries. In order to enhance trade and economic relations, both sides discussed issues of common interest, focusing on measures of support for and expansion of traditional mutually beneficial economic relations. In particular, we agreed to further cooperate in the fields of trade, tourism, investment, industry, energy efficiency, renewable energy and alternative fuel, and, of course, agriculture. We agreed to facilitate the further intensification of cooperation at the business level, including the exchange of information on holding specialised and sector-specific exhibitions and other business events, as well as the need for comprehensive support to the economic structures of both countries in order to expand the capacities of the industrial sector.

In order to ensure a wider and more meaningful presentation of tourism opportunities, attract greater number of tourism companies to cooperate, and to increase the volumes of tourist flows between the Republic of Serbia and the United Arab Emirates, we agreed to exchange information regarding the holding of tourism events in both countries, as well as presentation materials about the tourism possibilities of Serbia and the United Arab Emirates. In the case of agricultural cooperation, the Serbian side proposed consideration of the possibility of increasing the supply to the UAE of livestock products – including meat and dairy products – products of the processing and food industry - including flour mill products, confectionery, oil and fat products – as well as organic products. We’ve agreed to exchange lists of products that can be exported to the markets of both countries, but also to intensify cooperation in veterinary and phyto-sanitary fields. Several agreements were signed on this occasion to support the aforementioned areas. We are looking forward to meeting for our next session in 2020, in the UAE. You were awaited in Serbia by a large number of works and investments by UAE companies that had already been launched.

How would you rate investments realised

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The works that connect the UAE and Serbia – such as the Air Serbia-Etihad partnership, the privatisation of PKB, the construction undertaking on the Sava riverbank in Belgrade – receive poor ratings among sections of the public. Critics primarily resent the lack of operational transparency. How you respond to such concerns?

We’ve agreed to exchange lists of products that can be exported to the markets of both countries, but also to intensify cooperation in veterinary and phyto-sanitary fields to date – in Air Serbia, agriculture and energy, and construction of the Belgrade Waterfront development?

First of all, I would like to point out that each of the specific projects you’ve mentioned have their own boards of directors and expert teams who manage them. Having said that, I can only point out that, although I am an ambassador, I cannot comment on the business performances of these companies in this way. What I can say is that, in my frequent conversations with representatives of these companies, I can truly note their positive impressions and strong desire to continue strengthening cooperation. This is the exact reason why, in my opinion, I can say that I would give a very high rating to all of our joint projects.

This is still one of the few situations that has been really surprising to me since I arrived at my mission to Serbia. I cannot say that the insecurity of a certain part of the Serbian public was not somewhat understandable to me at the beginning – that is, when our relations had just been established. People tend to be blind-sided and scared by the unknown.

However, today I really don’t see the reason for that any longer. Each of the aforementioned projects is already at an advanced stage, while at the same time the UAE, as a country, and its people are not unknown to Serbia today.This is especially applicable in the case of UAE companies that have completed mergers or privatisations of certain companies in Serbia, because truly, with just a small and brief internet search, one can check the credibility and success of these same companies in the international market, especially the success and contribution of their investments in some of the world’s most developed countries, whose sources your public may consider as the most reliable. I sincerely hope that there will be fewer and fewer people with a negative attitude, because, I repeat – through the acquiring of just slightly more thorough information about these businesses, or about our country on the international scene, the public can find answers that would dispel those concerns. You’ve stated that the UAE led the world in foreign aid donations in 2017 and 2018.

One donation from your country resulted in the recent opening of a textile factory in Raška. Are you planning another donation in Serbia?

The UAE Embassy Belgrade – of course on behalf of our Government and its humanitarian organisations, is really constantly providing assistance, in every way we can, to the institutions and people of Serbia. This is also the international trend that we will continue nurturing in the future, with God’s help. Of course, not all donations have a value like the one you mentioned, but they are certainly equally important to their recipients. Although at this moment I really do not have information

that a donation of this scale is planned - I am sure that assistance to Serbia will continue, and this is certainly not the end.

frequent last-minute tourist and business trips to the UAE or Serbia, I think this is really great news and a relief to everyone.

An amended visa protocol came into force in May that has reciprocally abolished travel visas for citizens of the UAE and Serbia.

What effect do you expect from this visa-free regime between the two countries?

Your counterpart, Serbian Ambassador to the UAE Stanimir Vukićević, has spoken about the potential of tourism and strengthening cultural ties between the two countries. What is required to increase mutual interest between two nations?

Although the procedure for obtaining visas for Serbian citizens who wanted to travel to the United Arab Emirates was not really complicated, I’m sure that the moment of the entry into force of this decision was indeed positive news for all Serbian citizens. Also, considering that most flights to and from Asia and Australia take place via Abu Dhabi International Airport thanks to the joint partnership of Air Serbia and Etihad - this was definitely a facilitating circumstance for anyone in transit who chooses to enter and briefly visit the UAE before continuing their journey – which has really been a frequent situation to date. In any case, given the pace of modern life and very

The fields of culture and tourism are indeed specific areas, because there must be direct and personal contact between the peoples of the two countries to ensure their proper development and progress.

A lot of work has been done by the UAE Embassy in Belgrade and the Serbian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, whether that relates to the organising of different exhibitions, meetings and conferences in both countries, or in the promotion of some very important international events, where institutions and individuals from the UAE and Serbia were encouraged to participate and expand their activities by exchanging experiences and practises with

their counterparts or possible business partners.

This has led to the intensification of exchanges of visits of officials, artists, athletes and all other representatives of different fields of importance – contributing greatly to the development of cultural and any other form of cooperation. Serbian citizens travelling to the UAE could be concerned about the security situation in your region, which has been referred to of late as the “key geopolitical point of the region” and a potential hotspot for global crisis. How do you see the development of the situation in the Gulf of Oman following incidents in the Strait of Hormuz?

Considering that the situation in the region really requires a lot of time to be discussed properly properly, I would avoid commenting on it at this point.

However, what I can say with a lot of pride, and certainty to all Serbian citizens, is that the United Arab Emirates – thanks to our wise leadership – is one of the safest destinations in the world. I sincerely urge them to see and experience it for themselves.

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GLOBAL DIARY

Money

“We’re doing tremendously well, our consumers are rich, I gave a tremendous tax cut, and they’re loaded up with money,” – DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

WORLD LEADERS GATHER FOR G7 World leaders have gathered in France for the G7 summit, a meeting that European Council President Donald Tusk said was a “difficult test of unity and solidarity” due to deep divisions over a range of issues including trade and climate change.

The annual gathering of the G7 nations, some of the world’s key industrial countries, kicked off in the French coastal town of Biarritz. Summit takes place against backdrop of U.S.-China trade war, UK’s impending exit from EU, and concern over Amazon fires.

The three-day summit is taking place against the backdrop of an escalating trade war between the U.S. and China, Britain’s impending exit from the European Union, growing tensions between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear programme and global concern over fires ravaging the Amazon rainforest in Brazil.

BEER WITH THE PRINCE MARKS 300TH ANNIVERSARY The tiny principality of Liechtenstein celebrated its 300th anniversary as an island of peace and prosperity in an unsettled world — and a place where citizens can go drink a beer with their monarch.

Prince Alois, the 51-year-old acting head of

PRINCE HANS-ADAM II OF LIECHTENSTEIN

NEW ZELAND SPEAKER FEEDS COLLEAGUE’S BABY DURING DEBATE Trevor Mallard tweeted a photo of himself feeding MP Tamati Coffey’s newborn son while in the speaker’s seat. He captioned the picture: “Normally the Speaker’s chair is only used

by Presiding Officers but today a VIP took the chair with me. Congratulations @tamaticoffey and Tim on the newest member of your family.”

The images have since been shared and liked hundreds of times, with many commending Mr Mallard for taking on the babysitting duties.

Mr Coffey’s son was born via a surrogate to him and his partner Tim Smith in July.

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state and heir to the throne, struck the same tone in a speech to thousands of flag-waving compatriots assembled in an Alpine meadow.

Along with Norway, Iceland and Switzerland, Liechtenstein is part of the European Free Trade Association of countries belonging to the European single market without being EU members.

Cooperation

“History has proved that cooperation is the best choice for both sides. Sino-U.S. relations are at a vital stage,” – XI JINPING, PRESIDENT OF CHINA

AMAZON RAINFOREST BURNING UNCONTROLLABLY The biggest rainforest, Amazon, the wildfires - roaring in an area of around 2254 sq. kilometres - are so big that columns of smoke can be seen from space. The Sky in São Paulo went dark on Monday 19th August at around 3pm, as the smoke from the fires reached the city. Residents have not experienced a similar phenomenon before; not even in the darkest days of the rainy season. According to the Global Fire Emissions Database, 8,668 fires have been detected in the Amazon.

The Amazon rainforest is the largest tropical forest on Earth. It produces 20% of the oxygen in the planet’s atmosphere and is often called “The lungs of Earth”. The Amazon has long been fire-resistant due to it’s natural moisture and humidity, which is why NASA assumes that the wildfires are being caused by drought and human activity.

BERLIN’S OLDEST BOYS’ CHOIR SUED A five-century-old boys’ choir has been accused of gender discrimination for not accepting a nine-year-old girl. Her mother is suing Berlin’s oldest musical institution for not embracing modern world realities.

The State and Cathedral Choir Berlin’s gender-

ETHIOPIA PLANTS 350 MILLION TREES IN ONE DAY About 350 million trees have been planted in a single day in Ethiopia, according to a government minister.

The planting is part of a national “green legacy” initiative to grow 4 billion trees in the country this summer by encouraging every citizen to plant at least 40 seedlings. Public offices have reportedly been shut down for civil servants to take part.

The project aims to tackle the effects of deforestation and climate change in the drought-prone country. According to the UN, Ethiopia’s forest coverage was just 4 per cent in the 2000s, down from 35 per cent a century earlier.

Ethiopia’s minister of innovation and technology, Dr Getahun Mekuria, tweeted estimates of the number of trees planted throughout the day. By early evening on Monday, he put the number at 353 million.

based admissions criteria violate Germany’s constitution, the girl’s mother has declared, hauling the boys-only choir into court on charges that it violates her daughter’s right to equal opportunities in state support.

The internationally famous choir has never admitted any females in its 554-year history, although it has a girls-only partner choir that her daughter is welcome to join.

OLDEST MAN COMPLETES LONGEST MULTI-HORSE RACE IN THE WORLD Bob Long, 70, just became the oldest person to finish what Guinness World Records calls the longest multi-horse race in the world - the Mongol Derby.

And he also came in first.

The annual race, a gruelling 1,000-kilometre competition across the steppes of Mongolia held over 10 days, traces the former mail routes of Genghis Khan with riders changing horses every 40 kilometres.

Mr Long, an amateur rider from the U.S., beat 43 competitors this year, riding about 100 hours in about seven and a half days, on 28 different horses, according to his tally.

September

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Focus

Entertainment or Rebellion: where is the place of culture in Serbian society?

This Isn’t

Time For You To Sleep Seven respondents to our survey offer seven answers to the question of what we will do with culture and with ourselves. None of them are reassuring, but all offer enough space to seek an answer 22

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A

re we teetering on a bare ledge or in the forests of something that, rightly or not, we call culture and art? CorD’s interlocutors offer thought-provoking material that follows and precedes every listing of the repertoire of the cultural events ahead of us.

IVAN TASOVAC

DIRECTOR OF THE BELGRADE PHILHARMONIC AND FORMER CULTURE MINISTER

NEW NARRATIVE FOR A NEW GENERATION DIGITAL ANARCHY HAS – IN PARALLEL WITH TRASH – BROUGHT US TOP ARTISTIC CONTENTS. FAILURE TO CONSIDER THIS JUNCTURE, WHICH IS IMPORTANT FOR CULTURE, MOST OFTEN REPRESENTS CLASSICAL GROUCHINESS ARISING FROM ARTISTIC WEAKNESS. THE BELGRADE PHILHARMONIC HAS A BETTER ANSWER THAN THAT Although we live in a time when trash is ubiquitous and, above all, easily accessible – both for provincial consumption and for the no less provincialism of public outrage – it is unlikely that anyone will bring into question, even 250 years after the fact, that Ludwig van Beethoven became/remained one of the greatest influencers in the business that we, out of grace, call culture and art.

It will probably sound paradoxical, but there’s never been a better time for culture and art. And that’s precisely because of digital technologies which we – sometimes justifiably, but sometimes too lightly – declare the main culprits for the domination of aggressive uncultured behaviour in public discourse.

Without the internet and social networks, Ludwig van Beethoven and his music wouldn’t be available to the widest possible audience today. Without this, his influence – as was the case in the past – would remain within the narrow circle of professionals or dedicated fans.

And the marking of the anniversary of his birth probably wouldn’t be a IT’S AN EXCLUSIVELY planetary event.

PERSONAL CHOICE And so digital anarchy, along with trash and various other monstrosiWHETHER YOU USE ties, also brought us top-notch artistic contents.

The promoting and consuming of top culture has never had an easier THE INTERNET AS A path to the end user, whether they are in New York or Zvonačka Banja.

TREASURE TROVE OF It’s an exclusively personal choice whether you use the internet as a KNOWLEDGE AND COOL treasure trove of knowledge and cool stuff, or as a pornographic search STUFF, OR AS A engine.

If you are aged at least 18, both are legitimate choices. If you are a PORNOGRAPHIC minor, I hope that in some break from the gloom and murdering of opSEARCH ENGINE. WE timism with grouchiness caused by the twilight of civilisation, you will GIVE YOU THE 2019/20 discover that YouTube is the largest library of classical music that we couldn’t have dreamt of just a few years ago. I recall my student days #FOLLOWBEETHOVEN and how I spent weeks, sometimes months, in order to get recordings SEASON of Horowitz, Glenn Gould or Rachmaninoff – recordings that are available today at a single click, for free.

Failure to consider this juncture, which is important for culture and this aspect of our reality, most often represents classical grouchiness arising from artistic weakness, or as a result of personal inability or idleness.

That’s why the 2019/20 season, #zapratibetovena [#followbeethoven], is an important first step with which the Belgrade Philharmonic begins creating a different narrative that’s needed for new generations to understand – not only the authors of today’s anthem of the European Union, but also other great figures of the classical music scene.

For our full-time subscribers, devotees to the concert scene, with whom we share a fascination with the best pages, conductors and soloists of timeless music every week, a new narrative is probably superfluous, but it is essential when looking at the broader picture and future of culture.

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Focus

Entertainment or Rebellion: where is the place of culture in Serbian society?

JASNA DIMITRIJEVIĆ DIRECTOR OF THE KOLARAC FOUNDATION, PRESIDENT OF THE MANAGEMENT BOARD OF THE NATIONAL THEATRE

MANY SOMETIMES SAY TOO LITTLE I DON’T HAVE THE IMPRESSION THAT CULTURE IS IMPORTANT IN OUR SOCIETY AS A FACTOR THAT INFLUENCES THE RAISING OF AWARENESS OF A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE. THE NUMBER OF CONTENTS WE CREATE DOESN’T MEAN ANYTHING IF THEY DON’T INFLUENCE CHANGES IN ATTITUDE OR THE GAINING OF NEW EXPERIENCES, AND DON’T ENCOURAGE CRITICAL THINKING WITH REGARD TO REALITY The question is whether it suits us, through entertainment, as an illusion of culture, to stifle any kind of engagement and rebellion, to reconsider reality or encourage creativity and critiques of society, as factors of progress and development?

Culture is like an umbrella that covers various phenomena and symbolic

JELENA TRIVAN

DIRECTOR AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF THE OFFICIAL GAZETTE, CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE FILM CENTRE OF SERBIA

MISTAKEN MESSIAHS A NEW PHENOMENON OF FALSE DISSIDENCE IS EMERGING IN SERBIA, IN WHICH ARTISTS PARTICIPATE IN POLITICAL STRUGGLES, RATHER THAN IDEOLOGICAL OR SOCIAL ONES, WITH THE AIM OF CHANGING THEIR OWN POSITION AND NOT THE WORLD. IT ISN’T THEIR WORKS THAT ARE ENGAGED, RATHER THEM PERSONALLY From the dilemma over whether art dare only be about satisfying the need for the beautiful or whether it must have a deeper impact on society, the new millennium and the influence of the electronic media have brought a new dilemma – whether culture has actually become equal to entertainment. This dilemma includes one dangerous assumption – that culture, if

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practises. A set of mindful and imaginative works that recorder and recall human thoughts and experiences in various ways. That which is the best in thinking and creating. Culture is the most comprehensive critique of society in all of its aspects. Culture is a rebellion against hatred, lust, evil, lies and injustice. In the name of striving towards and recognising the need for communication, mutual respect, understanding, endeavouring to make the world better and more just than it is. It is through culture that taste and a system of values is formed, one learns more than has been enabled by the education system, developing a critical awareness of the time in which we live. That is is crucial in the development and advancement of society. On one side, the place of culture is determined by cultural policy, through the work of institutions, education, support to civil society in culture and artists, while the key on the other side is the audience and on the third side is the media. When artists are creating their works and cultural institutions, when they are creating their contents, they must consider the audience that they are addressing. The audience today is everything but a homogeneous structure that’s addressed in one direction. The audience seeks an opportunity to participate in the creative process, to change the flow of elaborating a work and for there to be a close relationship between the artist and the audience. In the context of the technological revolution, we are witnessing the almost complete individualisation of the needs and possibilities of the personalised choice of content, values etc. In such a model, classical institutions of culture become places that must take into account the tendencies and habits of the global audience, and - in creating their programmes – must encourage critical thinking, create space for new experiences, develop the need for communication, educate and influence lifestyles and life habits.

I don’t have the impression that culture is important in our society as a factor that influences the raising of awareness of a better quality of life. Culture isn’t dominant in defining the kind of society we want and the values we care about. The number of programmes, events and festivals does not mean anything if these contents don’t influence changes in attitude and the gaining of new experiences, and if they don’t encourage critical considerations of reality.

it is proper, cannot be entertaining, which pushes people away from it, and that entertainment necessarily carries within it the assumption of cheap, raw enjoyment. If we return to the origins of culture’s emergence, we will be recall that it was created together with the emergence of leisure time and the need for people to find additional spiritual content within that. As such, it must awaken in people a sense of satisfaction, but beyond that also consideration and a need to act. The ancient philosophers feared the power of art to diminish or destroy the fear of the gods among people. Thus, they considered it a powerful instrument with which human consciousness changes. And that’s indeed what it is. However, the moment the artist thinks that his personal rebellion has the power to change the world he has become deluded in a way that Jean-Paul Sartre best defined in writing about committed literature: “That literature reveals to readers their own personal situation so that they can take responsibility for it”. Thus, the artist isn’t the Messiah leading the unaware, rather the work of art itself carries within it the awareness that leads people to change themselves and their deeds if they so desire.

Why is that important today? Because the world has become filled with great artists with minor works, whose appearance as a phenomenon is greater than their art. A new phenomenon of false dissidence is emerging in Serbia, in which artists participate in political struggles, rather than ideological or social ones, with the aim of changing their own position and not the world. The irony is complete due to the fact that it isn’t their works that are engaged, rather them personally. That’s why entertainment rules, because art – primarily theatre, film and literature – cannot recognise the real dreams, needs and hopes of today’s man, who doesn’t think about Kosovo or boycotting elections, but rather about a lack of intimacy in times when people don’t have time for anything.

KOKAN MLADENOVIĆ THEATRE DIRECTOR

HOW TO DISTANCE ONESELF FROM ZERO? THE ZERO THAT STARTS WITH THE AMOUNT OF FUNDING EARMARKED FOR CULTURE – 0.62% OF OUR STATE’S TOTAL BUDGET – IS NO ACCIDENT. IT IS THERE AS A REPRESENTATION OF A CROSS-SECTION OF THE KNOWLEDGE, EDUCATION, CULTURE, UPBRINGING AND AWARENESS OF THOSE WHO MAKE DECISIONS IN OUR COUNTRY

MILENA MINJA BOGAVAC

DIRECTOR OF THE ŠABAC THEATRE

A NEW CULTURE WILL ENGULF US WHILE WE CONDUCT BORING CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THE GENERAL PLACES OF HIGH ART AND CLASHES OF THE TRADITIONAL AND THE CONTEMPORARY, BEHIND MY BACK I CROSS MY FINGERS CHILDISHLY FOR THE COUNTER-CULTURE. I HOPE THEY WILL FLY IN LIKE BARBARIANS ENTERING ROME AND THAT WE QUICKLY WON’T KNOW WHAT HIT US! In response to the question of where the place of culture is in Serbia, it is impossible to give a single and correct answer.

All answers are correct, which is the same as them all being wrong… that’s because culture is never a unique and homogeneous notion.

Culture is everything that man preserves and cultivates, and Serbia is a country where plums are cultivated – because of rakija brandy, and pigs – because of roasting... and many other more complex things, but

The place of culture is clearly determined by voting in the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, or – more precisely – with the adopting of the budget for the current year, which envisages 0.62% of the total budget of our country for culture. The place of culture in that country starts from zero! That zero is not accidental. It is carefully designed. It is there as a representation of a cross-section of the knowledge, education, culture, upbringing and awareness of those who make decisions in our country.

When you draw a line under their fake diplomas, media illiteracy, the censoring of all critical and free thinking considerations, when you add and subtract their illegal projects, like the Belgrade Waterfront, when you count the dead workers who perished in their Tutankhamun-ization of Serbia, when their attitude is summed up towards cultural housing, the culture of communication, the culture of tolerance and culture in the narrower, broader and every other sense, you end up with one big zero.

Everything that’s multiplied by that zero becomes zero. Anyone who adds up their zeros will eventually be stripped of their essential culture. Everything that starts with zero also ends with zero. While zeroes decide about us – we will always be zeroes. There is simply no place for culture there. Culture despises lies, aggression, a lack of arguments and a lack of freedom in every sense. Thus, one must fight for culture. By minimising all of the foundations of their system of non-culture, or their villas, whichever pleases you.

to a much smaller extent. If we define the notion of culture through the notion of art, things only become a little simpler: artists are, for the most part, at counters; of the National Employment Services Bureau, or somewhere where they write projects and make budgets, and then compile narrative and financial reports.

They don’t have too much time left to deal with art... and if they were lucky enough to gain employment at an institution, they seem to haven’t forgotten about art while waiting at the counter. They dropped it while queuing. Now they’re waiting again – for their salary, and that salary is miserable and low, so they quickly come to the conclusion that working isn’t worth their while. They “process”, which isn’t the same as actually working... Simultaneously, some new cultures are flourishing.

Turbo-folk culture has reached the degree of complex eclecticism of late postmodernity. Tabloid culture is served alongside all three meals, at every news-stand, on every front page and all TV channels. Reality culture has entered every home, so the chaplains complain about how that impacts badly on children and young people, because they don’t see that it actually impacts on the elderly the worst. Kids have their own culture. The children have long been on YouTube. They record clips that adults don’t understand, and just because they don’t understand it they say “that’s not culture” ... And the thing is, in fact, very complex, because old, good culture has been destroyed by censorship and self-censorship, and another, new culture passes under the radar and under the guard of the so-called “cultural elite”. I believe in that!While we conduct boring conversations about the general places of high art and clashes of the traditional and the contemporary, behind my back I cross my fingers childishly for the counter-culture. I hope they will fly in like Barbarians entering Rome and that we quickly won’t know what hit us! We don’t deserve any better, because the story of culture is always like that old American story of the two wolves: it isn’t the good or the evil one that will win, but rather the one you feed more. The culture we were taught in school has intentionally been left to die of starvation. In its place will come something that nobody taught us about and it will be fun to see what happens afterwards… if there will be any survivors and those who know how to see.

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Focus

Entertainment or Rebellion: where is the place of culture in Serbian society?

ZORAN ĐERIĆ

DIRECTOR OF THE SERBIAN NATIONAL THEATRE IN NOVI SAD

BETWEEN TWO EXTREMES IF WE COUCH REBELLION IN AN ELITE CULTURE IT WILL BE HARMLESS, BECAUSE ITS AUDIENCE IS SMALL. IF IT WERE IN MASS CULTURE, IT WOULD CAUSE CONCERN AMONG THOSE AGAINST WHOM IT IS DIRECTED. EVERYTHING IN OUR COUNTRY IS BETWEEN THOSE TWO EXTREMES

If you insist on one (entertainment) or other (rebellion) definition of culture, then you reduce it to the trivial, in the first instance, or you attach more importance and power to it, in the other. There are elements of entertainment in culture, but it isn’t good if entertainment is the end in itself, as that belongs more to so-called subcultures. There are also elements of rebellion in culture, but that belongs more to that which is called counterculture, while it can also be pseudo-culture, when culture is just a mask, a shell for hiding real intentions or goals. Thus, we can talk about real and fake culture. Due to forgeries, concealment, illusion, it is difficult to really recognise her true face. When I believe that

ZORAN HAMOVIĆ

DIRECTOR AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF PUBLISHING COMPANY CLIO AND PRESIDENT OF THE ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL PUBLISHERS OF SERBIA

REBELLION IS A WORKING TASK 26

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culture is an urgent need, then it seems commonplace. I don’t come across as convincing, because in our country everyone deals with culture, recognising and defining it, both where it exists and where it doesn’t. That also apples to how it is financed, mostly weakly and insufficiently, and they expect a lot and even too much. It is presumably expected that each individual, in accordance with their own needs, will participate in financing. That’s why we have the dominance of trivial cultures.

Paradoxically, they are the cheapest IN OUR COUNTRY forms and generate the most profit.

EVERYONE DEALS WITH The most expensive are so-called elite CULTURE, RECOGNISING cultures, while the income from them is the lowest. Let’s take, for example, AND DEFINING IT, BOTH an opera. Its realisation, for instance, WHERE IT EXISTS AND with us at the Serbian National Theatre WHERE IT DOESN’T. in Novi Sad, requires the participation THAT ALSO APPLES TO of several hundred people, from artistic ensembles (choir and orchestra), via HOW IT IS FINANCED, soloists, conductors and accompanying MOSTLY WEAKLY AND staff, to the necessary technical requireINSUFFICIENTLY, AND ments (from the creation of costumes, THEY EXPECT A LOT sets and props, to stage setting). Add to that royalties, material costs and other AND EVEN TOO MUCH expenses, and you will get one piece of art, an opera, which has its own audience, but that audience cannot and does not cover all the costs, so they can’t gain a return even when the hall is full. And that isn’t even expected in our country, because art is always donated by the state. The example is similar with other expensive arts, such as ballet, but even dramatic plays aren’t cheap, as a great spectacle requires great investment, while expectations are also high, and the results - they are sometimes lacking, or not at the level that would rank them among top artistic works. With the most common excuse being that not enough money was invested. Paradoxically, the elite culture needs excuses, i.e. monetary, while mass culture receives that money because it offers a good time and doesn’t pose questions. And where is the place for rebellion? If it is in the former, then it is harmless, almost invisible, because it is exposed to only a few consumers. If it is in the latter, then it would cause concern amongst those against whom it is directed. With us everything is between these two extremes.

IT SEEMS THAT THERE’S NO PLACE FOR CULTURE IN AN ATMOSPHERE LIKE THIS, BUT THAT’S NOT SO. FREE CITIZENS, PARTICIPANTS IN PUBLIC AND CULTURAL LIFE, MUST STRUGGLE AND FIGHT FOR THE VALUES THEY CARE ABOUT

Culture is always rebellion, the production of a new world. There is no kind of dilemma in that. Entertainment is the consuming of culture.

Rebellion is expensive for the individual, because as a rule it turns them into a victim, just as entertainment does to a society. The ruling Serbian politics has a cheap showbiz character and the society is ori-

entated towards continuous amusement. This is about subjugating the audience with the lowest human urges, manipulation for the consolidating power, and not for advancing the life of the community. Cheap entertainment is the field where populist authorities and voters most like to meet and do so the most. Populist politics therefore equate culture and entertainment.

Now we also have official confirmation that Serbian society is becoming an anti-intellectual environment. With the recent ‘decree’ of the incumbent Serbian president, intellectuals have been clearly declared as quasi-elite and opposed to plebs, which translates as “my people”.

Critical thought is forbidden and intellectuals are brought before the people’s court. At the same time, a new elite is being proclaimed and deployed. It is an elite composed of firefighters, chauffeurs, bus conductors, undergraduates, complete idiots, water meter readers and tilers, who - on average - have been able to graduate and earns their masters and doctorates in just two years. A strong stimulus of ignorance and wild ambition yielded faster, stronger and better results.

Instead of encouraging originality and intellectual abilities, weaknesses are favoured, with stronger reproductions, plagiarism, party ownership over the results of others.

Those who are the most deserving and most significant in culture are being discredited by the media as unnecessary and incompetent. The

totalitarian pattern of behaviour in which culture becomes a victim of political entertainment – the hysterical robotic production of subservience and obedience - is consolidating gradually but noticeably.

It has culminated in the language of simplicity and primitivism in media THE RULING SERBIAN expression, and become a significant POLITICS HAS A CHEAP factor in anti-cultural pedagogy for both young people and adults. A large number SHOWBIZ CHARACTER of regime-friendly print and electronic AND THE SOCIETY IS media, spreading the infestation of more ORIENTATED TOWARDS dangerous entertainment and products CONTINUOUS of an atmosphere of ‘reality’ that extol corruption, prostitution and crime.

AMUSEMENT It seems that there’s no place for culture in an atmosphere like this, but that’s not so. The majority of cultural creators express their determination towards events in society and culture with critical expression; they are incorruptible and don’t allow themselves to be undermined. We know that the elite is composed of free citizens, participants in public and cultural life who must struggle and fight for the values they care about. But we also know that the silence of the intellectual and cultural elite is inexcusable. Rebellion is a continuous working task and the meaning of its existence.

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Feature IVAN MEDENICA BITEF ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AND SELECTOR

“Bitef wants to save what can be saved, because it was never just an artistic review, but rather also a platform for the social struggle in favour of progressive values, and those are today the most basic, human values: normalcy, goodness, love.”

Let’s Start Love Over I t was a great honor for me, as Bitef ’s artistic director and the sole representative of the theatre scene, to be invited to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron, and I was very pleased that Macron himself initiated a meeting with stakeholders in the Serbian cultural scene – wrote our interlocutor at the beginning of an article published in Serbian daily Politika. The presence of Ivan Medenica at such a gathering also testifies to the values of Bitef, which Medenica has led for the last four years, but also, of course, to the position of our interlocutor in domestic and European theatre circles.

The occasion for the interview that follows, however, is a future event: the upcoming 53rd instalment of the Bitef Festival. Providing only the basic information, we will note that

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from 17th to 26th September there will be performances of 12 plays from all over the world at several locations in Belgrade, unified under the slogan “Let’s Start Love Over”.

This year’s Bitef will be opened and closed

by Belgian plays - Orestes in Mosul by the NTGent theatre and Invited by theatre Ultima Vez - while the programme also includes plays from Germany, Nigeria, France, Brazil, Slovenia and Croatia, as well as two from Serbia - Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? by the Yugoslav Drama Theatre and Tartuffe – produced by the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad and National Theatre Sombor.

Every day of this year’s Bitef will also see the performing of the play Remote Belgrade, by Berlin-based Rimini Protokoll, at various locations across the city.

The message of this year’s Bitef, “Let’s Start Love Over”, is unexpected, because - in this time of hatred and division - one doesn’t even hope for a call to a new beginning that leads to good. It could be said that Bitef is a voice of reason, that it is attempting to save what can be saved. How do the selected plays convey that positive message?

I’m very glad that you’ve recognised how important it is, in our times of social entropy, meaninglessness and cynicism, to be courageous and responsible and, if I may say, for a mature and in no way naïve call for solidarity, exchanges, togetherness... However, of the twelve selected plays, only three – which we, of course, left dramaturgically for the end – can be boiled down to an optimistic perspective (I will explain how they do that in my response

By Sonja Ćirić

to one of the subsequent questions) ... That’s because we don’t want to offer irresponsible and naïve optimism: the other plays treat the crisis in, or total disintegration of, the community in the modern world, from political communities to partnerships. However, as you note, Bitef wants to save what can be saved, for it was never a mere artistic review, also a platform for the social struggle in favour of progressive values, and those are today the most basic, human values: normalcy, goodness, love.

You reserved the play Orestes in Mosul before it was even produced, which supports the prevailing opinion that you have an indescribable instinct for the quality of plays – based, of course, on your experience and knowledge.

On what basis did you determine that this play would be a hit?

Thank you for the compliment, but it wouldn’t be fair for me to accept it, or at least not in this form. I can only accept it by recognising it as an acknowledgement of that which I’ve done at Bitef over the last three years, while the fact is that NTGent offered us to work on this project as co-producers. We ultimately opted not to be co-producers, but to reserve the play in advance for the 53rd Bitef (also without having seen it), because it was more favourable financially for us to do so. The fact that it worked out for us, despite such an arrangement not being in the financial interests of NTGent, is also an acknowledgement of Bitef. Of course, we wouldn’t have “lusted” after the offer simply because it comes from a prestigious partner if we hadn’t first received a synopsis of the project which showed that Rau, along with playwright Stefan Bläske, was devising a very radical adaptation of Orestes, multilayered politically and intellectually, and relevant to our times.

Who is this Orestes who will bring into question today’s understanding of justice and democracy in Mosul? Does this play condemn the Western world?

Milo Rau’s plays usually intertwine fiction with documentary material. Orestes is played by an actor who emigrated to Belgium from one of the Baltic states of the former Soviet Union and who did so, among other things, because he didn’t manage to achieve self-realisation as a gay man in his small community. In this

version of the play Orestes is gay, and his ally in achieving revenge isn’t his sister Electra, but rather his friend Pylades, who is also his lover and is played by an Iraqi actor; their scenes in Mosul were performed (and filmed) on top of a building from which members of the Islamic State members threw their homosexual countrymen into an abyss, to their deaths... That’s

One of the focuses of this year’s Bitef is reconsidering the possibility of theatre as a platform and/or vehicle for the renewal of the concept of community that has been completely devastated in the modern world just one of many very complex moments of the interweaving of the fiction of Aeschylus and documentary material...

If I have to make a decision on the question you pose, then yes, I think it condemns the Western world. The Democratic Order of the West, the roots of which are celebrated in Aeschylus’ Orestes, has mutated over the

centuries into a “merciful angel” who will – for the sake of the fight against undeniable evil like that of the Islamic State – wipe from the face of the Earth a city that emerged on the foundations of one of the world’s oldest civilizations, the Assyrian city of Nineveh...

The main character is not Orestes, but rather Mosul – and the video footage of this devas-

tated city and its inhabitants who are trying to breathe life back into it, and to do so by - among other things - working in ruins to restore the theatre academy whose graduates perform in the play – well, actually only in its filmed part, because they cannot leave Iraq, which is the most upsetting element of the play.

The aesthetic focus of this year’s Bitef is on so-called immersive theatre, which is primarily a new concept for many. What does it mean specifically, and does immersive theatre exist on our scene?

This is about theatre in which the audience participates in the play, in which the boundaries between the stage and the auditorium are erased, in which the reality of the theatre hall plunges into the fictional world of the stage: that kind of theatre of participation has been known to us since at least the historical avant-garde movement of the 1960s. However, what is specific about immersive theatre is that – as French theatre studies professor

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Feature Patrice Pavis points out – the performers address the viewer as an individual rather than as part of a group, inviting them very gently and carefully to participate, offering them a unique and transformative experience – one that will “reveal the world, people and

this is not, among other things, the selector’s preference for physical theatre, but rather its conceptual, curatorial nature. One of the focuses of this year’s Bitef is reconsidering the possibility of theatre as a platform and/ or vehicle for the renewal of the concept

strategies themselves. What physical theatre offers – especially if, as in the case of Belgian Dance Company Ultima Vez’s play Invited, which represents the conceptual peak of the 53rd Bitef, it is of an immersive nature – is the basis for the renewal of any community.

Those are sight, touch, an offered hand, bodily support, exchanges of energy etc. The other reason for the greater representation of physical theatre is that it will be easier for us to be reached – from significantly different cultures such as those of Nigeria and Brazil – by plays that use the universal language of the body.

Are classic plays in which the actors offer the audience a story retreating in the face of dance and performance? Does Bitef follow this possible tendency?

In world contemporary theatre, all of these tendencies are mixed and equal, though it is a fact that there is ever less classical drama theatre. I hope that, throughout all these years, Bitef has succeeded, in the local area, in fighting for the equality of various forms of performing arts.

themselves to them afresh” ... Both domestic plays in the main programme – the YDT’s Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? and the SNT in Novi Sad and National Theatre Sombor’s Tartuffe – are immersive in a certain sense, because in them – with the closeness of the stage space and the auditorium, lighting in the hall and direct addressing – the audience is “drawn into” the game, and in such a way that they become passive accomplices to the perishing of the hero.

Is it justified to have the impression that the return of physical theatre to Bitef, which somehow began with your arrival as artistic director, will also be realised this year?

Of the twelve plays in the main programme, three fall under the category of contemporary dance, one is categorised as new circus, and one is installation-performance without a single word, all of which can be unified under the most widely perceived notion of “physical theatre”. The reason for

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I hope that, throughout all these years, Bitef has succeeded, in the local area, in fighting for the equality of various forms of performing arts of community that has been completely devastated in the modern world. This can be achieved through a narrative, through the discursive affirmation of specific values, such as the triumph of love in the Slovenian play Ali: Fear Eats Your Soul, developed on the basis of Fassbinder’s social melodrama.

However, we consider that theatre has an even more powerful means of affirming togetherness, and that is the performance

Bitef provides an opportunity for the local audience to see the current international scene, but also for foreign guests – which I’m sure will, as always, come in large numbers – to see our top plays. With what will we present ourselves to them?

Yes, it looks like there will be more foreign guests, critics, festival selectors, producers and artists this year than during any of the previous editions over the last ten years, which we consider as a major compliment to our programme. The application process isn’t over yet, and we already have confirmations from Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, England, Montenegro, Russia, South Korea, Japan etc. It has already been noted that our domestic theatre scene will be very representatively presented, with the two aforementioned performances. What is particularly significant is that the plays Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? and Tartuffe are productions of institutional theatres, which shows that in this context “Bitefian” theatre sometimes happens, both artistically and socially – thus, progressive, radical and critically intoned.

Leaders’

MLADEN VUKANAC General Manager at Sauter Building Control Serbia

MEETING POINT ZORICA POPOVIĆ General Manager, Elixir Group

ASSOC. PROF. MIODRAG ŠĆEPANOVIĆ DDS, PhD, CIRKONIJA CENTAR

Sauter Combines High Performance With IoT Architecture: Modulo 6.

We Use All ‘Best Practise’ Solutions

Digital Dentistry & Zirconia For The Perfect Smile

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MLADEN VUKANAC, GENERAL MANAGER AT SAUTER BUILDING CONTROL SERBIA

Sauter Combines High Performance With IoT Architecture: Modulo 6.

Sauter is a global brand in the field of automation of office buildings, hotels, shopping centres, hospitals and all other types of facilities

A

s a company that’s been present in the area for over 50 years, this March - at the ISH fair in Frankfurt – it presented its latest technical solution: Modulo 6.

Here Mladen Vukanac, General Manager at Sauter Building Control Serbia, talks about the Modulo 6 solution, digital facility planning and green building in Serbia.

“Sauter is opening new horizons and setting new standards in the field of automation through the concepts of digitalisation, iCloud and the “Internet of Things”, as applied in the Modulo 6 equipment and solutions. Building automation has thus entered the digital age, as was to be expected.

“Traditional systems are being replaced with the “Internet of Things” (IoT) and iCloud, and SAUTER Modulo 6 seamlessly connects to the cloud and IoT as safely as it does to existing systems.

Using the MQTT protocol, data can now be automatically stored in the iCloud if needed, or integrated into a local system from the iCloud. Cloud services are available for monitoring operations and engineering. The Cloud offers new and fantastic possibilities for the optimisation of building performance. Data analysis of information, like usage levels of devices, actuators and valves, can provide us with the life expectancy of a device. We can diagnose devices in a Sauter system at any moment and act preventatively, before a malfunction causes a standstill in the operation of the whole system or one of its parts. Modulo 6 allows us to

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communicate with our building using voice commands and through the Cloud, as well as locally, using the Bluetooth integrated in Sauter equipment.”

In the past few years, Sauter has been dealing intensively with energy-efficient solutions and green building. How prepared is the Serbian market for this kind of construction and how can it be further improved?

It seems to me that Serbia has recognised green building, but promoting such a concept needs to be present at all times. Our country needs to take into consideration investors’ interests and try to provide incentives for that type of building. Green building certainly contributes not only to energy savings, a healthier environment and improving the quality

of people’s lives, but is also the driving engine of economic development. If we know that green building stimulates local producers and the local workforce, then any initiative in that sense can be beneficial to us all. When it comes to green building, our position compared to Europe isn’t bad, but there’s certainly a lot of room for progress.

Sauter also has its own tools for the digital planning of facilities and building management software. To what extent does the implementation of modern technologies contribute to the development of your operations and in what way?

The implementation of digital technologies certainly opens a lot of new space for our future development, but also raises many questions about where

this development will go and what the future will bring. Our interest as a world brand in the field of building automation is to be creators of development in the automation of IoT buildings, which we are doing this year by implementing our new Modulo 6 solutions, which are based on

As a leading provider of solutions for building automation technology in Green Buildings, Swiss company SAUTER provides an enjoyable atmosphere and a sense of well-being in sustainable environments. SAUTER is a specialist in developing, producing and marketing products and systems for energy-efficient total solutions, while it offers a comprehensive range of services to ensure the energy-optimised operation of buildings

IoT and Cloud technologies implemented in the Building Automation concept.

Where is Serbia in your field of operations (building automation) compared to other countries of the region in which you operate, and where is it compared to the European market and beyond?

High standards need to be accompanied by quality. Sauter is the kind

of company that, if it has to give up something, quality will be the last thing it gives up.

Our market recognises quality, otherwise Sauter would not have survived this long. I can say that the level of technologies and solutions we use in projects in our country stands shoulder-to-shoulder with projects in much more developed EU member states. All our clients think in the long-term, therefore Sauter is a logical choice for them.

Which Swiss values do you implement in your operations?

Four concepts are always related to our operations: constancy, innovations, reliable quality and knowledge.

How would you rate Sauter’s operations in the previous period – globally and on the markets of Serbia and the Balkans?

What have been the main challenges?

The company records constant growth globally, which allows us to invest in research and development, which is very important in the business that we’re in.

There are plenty of challenges, both long-term challenges and those that appear daily. It’s really hard to say which ones have been the most difficult, but it’s fully clear that, without challenges, our job would be boring, and the job needs to be fun at least, partly in order for us to be able to do it successfully in the long term.

What are the company’s expectations and plans for the period ahead?

In the upcoming period, we expect the wave of investments initiated in the construction sector to continue, and we are looking forward to that. We are preparing existing capacities and trying to grow alongside the market.

Our products, solutions and services enable high energy efficiency throughout the entire life-cycle of a building, from planning and construction, through operations in office and administrative buildings, research and educational facilities, hospitals, industrial buildings and laboratories, airports, leisure facilities, hotels and data centres. With over 100 years’ experience and a track record of technological expertise, SAUTER is a proven system integrator that stands for continuous innovation and Swiss quality. SAUTER provides users and operators with an overview of energy flows and consumption, and of the development of the costs involved

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Recognition

“The EU, especially Germany, is against the demarcation, while the U.S. is open and not interested in what the deal is. The U.S. isn’t delighted with the idea, because it recognised Kosovo, but it wants mutual recognition’’ – ALEKSANDAR VUČIĆ, PRESIDENT OF SERBIA

LOCAL NEWS NOVI SAD

P&O PORT DUBAI TO INVEST EUR 29 MILLION IN PORT

INĐIJA

TOYO TYRES TO INVEST EUR 390 MILLION After three years of negotiations, the world’s largest producer of tyres, Toyo Tyres, had decided to come to Serbia, more precisely to Inđija.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said that he had received a letter from the president of the Japanese company, confirming that Inđija had been selected for their factory, which should start being built on a 60-ha parcel several months later.

– This will be the first factory of Toyo Tyres in Europe. In the first phase, EUR 390 million would be invested and 523 workers would be employed.

The average salaries at this company, he says, are far above the domestic average.

The company P&O port Dubai, which bought the Port of Novi Sad for EUR 8 million in May, will invest around EUR 29 million in this port company, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said and added that the new owner would first invest in the opening of a terminal for international passenger transport.

The agreement was signed on 7th August 2019, and the Port of Dubai, which is, as Brnabić says, a serious company, will start investing accordingly.

– For the people of Novi Sad and Vojvodina, what’s important is that this agreement entails the carrying out of port activities at the cargo port, but also a terminal for international passenger transport, which will be the first investment – Brnabić said and added that it meant the opening of Novi Sad and Vojvodina in another way.

SOMBOR

ITALIAN PROGGETTI NEW SHOE PRODUCTION PLANNED Italian company Progetti bought three land parcels on in the Sombor industrial zone where it will build new facilities for shoe and shoe parts production.

Italians bid three land parcel covering the area of 11,372m2, 5,584m2 and 26,754 respectively at the initial price of RSD 20,272,200 or RSD 460 per square metre, the report said.

Progetti manufactures high quality semi-finished shoe parts (uppers), as well as beautifully stylish shoes, the company site states.

Prada shoes are already produced in Serbia (around 75,000 pairs of shoes a year) in the Progetti factories in Vrsac, from which the shoes bearing the “Made in Serbia” mark are distributed worldwide.

Progetti currently employs more than 1,000 people in its factories in Sombor, Vršac and Vladimirci.

SREMSKA MITROVICA

KONSTRUKTOR GIVES FIFTH “TURNKEY” TO IMMOFINANZ After the successful construction of Stop Shop retail parks in Niš, Lazarevac, Valjevo and Vršac for which Konstructor Konsalting was hired as the main contractor, another Stop Shop retail complex has been opened in a new location in Sremska Mitrovica.

The building covers an area of 7,500m2 while the size of the exterior property is 16,000m2.

Konstruktor Konsalting has built five buildings in a row under a turnkey system and according to the highest quality standards of the renowned Austrian investor Immofinanz.

This is the tenth building for Immofinanz in Serbia.

Konstruktor Konsalting has expressed satisfaction for being hired on the construction of the fifth Stop Shop retail park. Continued and successful cooperation with the acclaimed and ambitious investors is one of the company’s strategies.

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Stability

“Normalising relations with Kosovo will strengthen stability and prosperity for Serbia, the Western Balkans and the Transatlantic community.” – MICHAEL POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE

Placements postings

&

appointments@aim.rs

ANDREW DERRY, NEW DIRECTOR OF THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF BELGRADE

PANČEVO

GAZPROM’S UNIT INSTALLS TWO ANSALDO GAS TURBINES AT SERBIAN POWER PLANT Gazprom Energoholding, a subsidiary of Russia’s Gazprom, has completed the installation of two gas turbines at the 200 MW Pancevo gas-fired combined cycle power plant in Serbia.The equipment was manufactured by Italian group Ansaldo and was delivered by sea from the Italian port of Genoa to Romania’s Constanta, and then on the Danube to Pancevo, Gazprom Energoholding said in a statement.

“The choice of Ansaldo’s gas turbines was motivated by their high efficiency and reliability, as well as the experience of the company in operating similar turbines at the power plants of Gazprom Energoholding in Russia,” the director of Gazprom Energoholding Serbia, Aleksandr Varnavskiy, said in the statement.

The commissioning of the power plant is planned for 2020.

Andrew Derry has become the new Director of the International School of Belgrade. Having worked in international education for 28 years and school leadership for 22 years, Andrew previously led schools in the U.S., Zimbabwe, Budapest, France and Switzerland. A regular speaker and consultant on ‘Schools of the Future’, he has served on a variety of boards and advisory committees, including those of Economic Development Councils, Universities and The International Baccalaureate.

Andrew and his wife Anne-Marie are the proud parents of four children who all see themselves as global citizens.

BELGRADE

ADVOC EUROPE OPEN BOARD MEETING 2019

KIKINDA

TISZA AUTOMOTIVE TO OPEN ANOTHER FACTORY

The Hungarian company, Tisza Automotive, launched its operations in Kikinda in early August, hiring over 300 workers.

The plan is for the 160 people who currently work at the company’s production facility in Senta to be transferred to Kikinda and for another 160 to be employed.

Tisza Automotive currently has around 1,900 employees in Serbia, but the plan is to hire up to 2,500 people in the upcoming period, along with an increase in the production volume.

In the period from 11th to 13th October 2019, Belgrade will have the honour of hosting ADVOC Europe Open Board Meeting 2019.

ADVOC is a leading international network of law firms with 91 members across 72 countries, born from a need to ensure that clients can find expert international legal advice without using global law firms. The relationships between the members, coupled with the fact that they are all experts in their jurisdictions, means that members of ADVOC are able to consistently deliver a high professional standard and connect investors and businesspersons from different markets.

Host of the Europe Open Board Meeting 2019 is the Serbian member of ADVOC, Law Office Milošević, a reputable Belgrade-based law firm with 30-years’ experience in provision of legal services regarding many of the leading investment projects in the region.

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ZORICA POPOVIĆ, GENERAL MANAGER, ELIXIR GROUP

We Use All ‘Best Practise’ Solutions The Elixir Group is a regional leader in the production of complex high quality mineral fertilisers and phosphoric acid, as well as many other agribusiness segments. The Group exports as much as 70 per cent of its production to more than 50 countries on all continents

T

he Elixir Group’s greatest success is its global recognisability in the mineral fertiliser market, which was also one of its strategic goals.

Mineral fertilisers produced at the Šabac and Prahovo factories are used everywhere, from China and New Zealand, to Mexico and Argentina, as well as in the countries of the EU.

Are each of the five companies operating within the Elixir Group equally successful?

The Elixir Group is mostly orientated towards the agribusiness as most of our production based on mineral fertilisers for feeding plants, however, it is also increasingly present, through new product lines, in many other branches of industry. All members of the Elixir Group are interconnected and each of them is extremely successful in its segment. The Elixir Group Chemical Division vertically integrates the activities of several member companies, from the production of phosphoric acid at Elixir Prahovo, with a capacity of 180,000 tonnes, continuing with a capacity of 600,000 tonnes of various mineral fertiliser formulations at both Elixir Prahovo and Elixir Zorka, to distribution to the domestic, regional and global markets carried out by Elixir Agrar. Members of the chemical division are, based on their results and potential, the carriers of the further development of the business system.

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You’ve shown that constantly investing in advanced technological solutions, but also in human resources, can ensure quick progress.

Is that the winning recipe for our agriculture, economy and entire country?

Considering that we place part of our products on the global market, where our

Serbia’s potential is not yet fully utilised, and with high-quality investments in technological development and human resources we can certainly achieve exceptional results

competition is multinational companies, we strive to utilise all “best practise” solutions when it comes to technology, in order to be competitive according to all parameters.

When necessary, we use the knowledge of world experts who are engaged as our constant consultants and associates on new projects, while investment in human resources and organisation is essential to ensuring the use of the latest technologies is implementable in practise.

Serbia has successful crop, vegetable and fruit production, and is included on the map of European exporters. Although plenty

of progress has been made in recent years, following several successful privatisations of former agro-industry giants, Serbia’s potential has yet to be fully exploited.

Is it difficult to conquer new markets in such serious international competition? Are you satisfied with export results?

Production of the chemical divisions of the Elixir Group are competitive even on the most demanding and developed world markets, such that we currently export 70 per cent of our production to more than 50 countries.

We can say that the biggest success of the Elixir Group is the fact that we’ve gained global recognition in the mineral fertiliser market, which is one of our strategic goals.

At the moment, mineral fertilisers produced at the factories in Šabac and Prahovo are used all over the world, from China and New Zealand, to Mexico and Argentina, as well as in the countries of the EU. From being a manufacturer of phosphoric acid for our own production, we’ve grown to become an important supplier of this acid to various industries in 19 highly developed European countries. Thus, phosphoric acid from Elixir Prahovo is used today for tomato plantations in Italy, to protect wood in Sweden, to treat wastewater and for the paper industry in Austria, and in the detergent industry in Poland. However, despite that, we are working constantly on the development of new products.

ASSOC. PROF. MIODRAG ŠĆEPANOVIĆ, DDS, PHD, CIRKONIJA CENTAR

Digital Dentistry & Zirconia For The Perfect Smile Following the latest trends and innovations, the A1 Dental Studio established Cirkonija Centar, the place where advanced technologies and premium materials are combined for creating a perfect smiles Zirconium is one of the most advanced materials today, used even in the space industry.

When it is combined with digital dentistry, you say, a revolution occurs. What does the process of creating zirconia crowns look like and what makes it revolutionary?

With us, the process of making zirconia crowns is fully digitalised. This yields The term digital dentistry is being increasingly used in recent times. We’ve asked Dr Miodrag Šćepanović, DDS, PhD., to explain us how is dentistry becoming digital and how do digital technologies influence his work?

Dentistry will never be the same again.

Digitalisation is a process that opens up a new dimension to our work as dentists.

In our daily work at the Cirkonija Centar we use the Trios 3Shape intraoral scanner, which is currently the best intraoral scanner in the world. This scanner replaces standard impression techniques using imprint materials and impression trays. The scan is done without contact with the teeth and is completely painless. It generates a 3D image of the tooth - this is where our work enters the digital dimension. The scanning procedure is very fast, completely harmless and absolutely precise!

Following the scan, photo and video records of the teeth are taken to enable detailed analysis using the Digital Smile Design platform, to determine the kind of teeth you need for the perfect smile. Our technicians use the digital CAD/CAM method, ensuring precision and predictability are elevated to the highest level.

We finally awaited the fully digital production of dental crowns or bridges. We use the best scanner for creating digital imprints, as well as ceramics and machines for creating premium quality crowns. It no longer makes a difference whether you produced a crown in New York, Tokyo, London or here in the heart of Belgrade, in Vračar

outstanding results and an experience with maximum comfort for the patient. It is no longer necessary to explain to patients what their teeth will ultimately look like, because they are shown what their future smile will look like prior to the intervention! When the patient says “Yes, that’s it”, we continue onwards.

We like the course of our work to be predictable. We make a thorough analysis of the photographs, scans and videos of patient’s teeth and smile, taking into account patient’s expectations. Than we make precise treatment plan so patient could know exactly what to expect at the end of the treatment.

After the teeth are prepared to accept the crowns, a digital imprint is taken using an intraoral scanner, which is sent to a dental technician with a single click on the screen.

Based on the already clearly defined shape and length of the tooth as seen by the patient in their mouth, the technician conducts a virtual design process.

The next stage is a prototype testing.

The prototype crowns are made to fit the designed shape, but are made of plastic.

Patient can see what the final product is going to look like and whether any corrections are necessary. Corrective adjustments are extremely simple and quick at this stage, after which everything is ready for production of zirconia crowns.

Primacy in our work is being taken over

by Monolithic Multilayer Crowns. Monolithic means that our entire crowns are made of a zirconium block, without any additional ceramic layers, and are thus much more resistant to breakages than any material previously used. Multilayer means that the colour of the crown is subject to a gradient, which provides a unique impression of naturalness.

In the digital era, don’t allow for your smile not to be made digitally!

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Gratitude

“We Germans recall with great gratitude Hungary’s contribution to overcoming the division of Europe and also Hungary’s contribution to achieving German reunification,” – ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR

REGIONAL NEWS BULGARIA

SHARE ROAD FUNDING WITH EU

ALBANIA

GOVERNMENT DOUBLED HIGHWAY COST The feasibility study for the ThumanëKashar highway shows the government awarded the concession contract for its construction to a private company at double the cost.

The Albanian government planned in its 2019 budget, and awarded the €330 million concession contract for the construction of the 20.4 km-long highway, without a prior feasibility study.

In January, 2019, during the student protest in Albania, the government announced it was cancelling the contract in order to funnel the money to education.

A Ministry of Infrastructure report dated June, 2019, shows that the feasibility study estimated the actual cost for the construction of this highway at €169,3 million, nearly half the cost planned by the government.

The Bulgarian government has promised almost €380 million to fund the construction of a 23.6km section of the Struma motorway, between Kresna and Krupnik in the southwest of the country, reports khl.

The motorway, which will stretch to 173km when completed, is also being partly funded by the European Union (EU), as part of its Transport Infrastructure strategy for 2014 – 2020, and will ultimately become part of the pan-European transport Corridor IV. The EU’s funding agreement stipulates that the road’s construction must be completed by 2023; with this in mind, the project was divided into two lots. In a statement, the government said some of its funding would also go towards the rehabilitation of 18km of the existing E79, which will become part of the motorway, connecting the capital Sofia, with Kulata, which sits on the Greek border.

CROATIA

BRODOSPLIT ' IMPORTING'' 200 INDIAN WORKERS The demographic crisis in Croatia is continuing to bite, and while chronic staff shortages remain the main plague of Croatian employers, many companies across the country are now turning to the ''import'' of third country nationals, such as Indians. More than 2000 workers are currently employed at Brodosplit.

The first group of workers from India will start working in Brodosplit in early September. It is estimated that there will be about two hundred Indian workers at Brodosplit by the end of this year.

According to the currently available information, Brodosplit's Indian employees will have a monthly salary of around 950 euros. Otherwise, workers in Brodosplit can earn up to 1,500 euros net per month, while subcontractors, which is the status the company's Indian workers will have, are paid around 12 to 16 euros per hour.

BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA

RICHARD BRANSON HIRES NEW WORKERS IN TUZLA Virgin Pulsea product is a unique and innovative digital platform used by companies The and corporations in various industries to promote healthy living among its employees.

The platform, established and developed in Tuzla, is used around the world, with 10 percent of Fortune 500 companies in the list of the most successful global companies. Richard Branson previously took over Tuzla-based firm Pixel Interactive, which employed about 100 young and educated people, which became part of the Virgin Group and changed its name to Virgin Pulse Bosnia. The company has announced that it will double its Tuzla workspace to 2,300 square meters, and will hire another 15+ software engineers.

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10 THINGS EVERY BUSINESSMAN NEEDS

Business folks often get by on confidence, competitiveness, charisma and common sense, but to compete successfully, there are about 10 items every businessman or businesswoman requires beyond a whiteboard, cell phone and a PC or some other largescreen device. It’s not all about entrepreneurial success, though.

A couple of the following items can even help you live longer and save you from an embarrassing situation.

1. Organizer to Keep on Schedule 2. Luggage Tracker and Charger 3. Standing Desk and Ergonomic Chair 4. Power Outfit to Look the Part 5. A Great Carryall 6. Hands-Free Headset 7. Cloud Storage for Data 8. Analytics Tool to Understand Customers 9. Good, Old-Fashioned Business Cards 10. Mentorship and Guidance

Protecting

“We believe that we are the fortress captains of the Germans when we are protecting the external borders of Europe, which are also at the same time Germany’s external borders.” – VIKTOR ORBAN, HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER NORTH MACEDONIA

KFW BANK SUPPORTS ENVIROMENTAL PROJECTS

HUNGARY

PAPRIKA PRODUCTS AWARDED AT ‘OSCAR OF THE FOOD WORLD’ The Great Taste Awards, described as the ‘Oscars’ of the food world and the ‘epicurean equivalent of the Booker prize’, was held in the United Kingdom, where a variety off foods and drinks are competing and judged with a blind test by an international jury. This year’s competition attracted 12,772 products from over 100 countries and the Hungarian Rubin Paprika has won five prizes in its category.

Products that won the prizes can use the Great Taste logo on their packaging, which is the guarantee a product has been through a rigourous and independent judging process with blind tasting.

Rubin Paprika came home with 5 prizes from the 2019 edition of the competition. The Pepper Seed Oil of the company, a 100% edible cooking oil pressed from the pepper seed, which gets its bright red color from the tiny pieces of peppercorn pressed between the seeds during the process, got two stars.

MONTENEGRO

50 MILLION EUR FOR PROJECTS IN NORTHERN MONTENEGRO The Government allocated over 22 million EUR in the capital budget for Northern Montenegro for the implementation of projects worth over 150 million EUR, whose implementation will continue in the coming period.

Of the 29 capital projects identified in the List Proposal for Northern Montenegro, multi-year projects with a total estimated value of 91 million EUR are predominantly present, and the projects identified in the Final List will be implemented in the following years.

In addition, projects regarding Northern Montenegro regulated by a special regulation, that is, projects established by the Law on the Motorway and the Law on the Old Royal Capital, are not subject to evaluation criteria in accordance with the Decision, and they are not included in the proposed List of priority projects.

The Minister for Environment and Physical Planning, Naser Nuredini held a meeting with René Eschemann, the Director of KfW Office about current support and cooperation from the Government of Germany, as well as implemented and ongoing projects where KfW is a partner.

Pledging further development of the cooperation, the Minister Nuredini presented the challenges that stand in front of North Macedonia, especially in the area of waste department (recycling), waste water treatment plants and nature protection in Ohrid and Prespa region.

Director Eschemann confirmed the readiness to support the realization of activities that Republic of North Macedonia should fulfill regarding requirements for EU membership and Chapter 27, through availability of the finance from KfW Bank.

ROMANIA

KAZMUNAYGAZ INVESTS USD 3 MLN IN ROMANIAN REFINERY Rompetrol Rafinare, a company of KMG International - controlled by Kazakh state group KazMunayGaz, has invested USD 3 million in the modernization of “in-line” fuel mixing plants, part of the digital transformation program of the Petromidia Năvodari refinery.

The investment will allow the refinery to increase the production volumes and achieve greater flexibility in adapting to market requirements.

Currently, Rompetrol Rafinare operates Petromidia Năvodari - the largest refinery in Romania and one of the most modern and complex in the Black Sea region, Vega Ploiești - the longest-running processing unit in operation (1905) and the only domestic bitumen and hexane producer, plus a petrochemicals division - the country’s only polymer producer.

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Marketing

The Future of Social Media Platforms Ever since the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the resulting backlash from the media about the negative effects of social media on our lives, users have been flocking from Facebook in droves. In fact, according to Pew Research as much as 40 percent of U.S. users have taken a break – sometimes for weeks on end – from checking their account

N

ot only are these users concerned about corporations’ misuse of their data, but they’re tired of watching other people’s life highlight reels.

Those highlights often come across as a fabricated reality that makes many of us doubt our own life choices and compare our achievements and happiness to others’.

Cyberbullying has become a growing concern among teens, as well, and studies have found that excessive use of social media can generate “Facebook depression.” If you’ve ever felt a pang of envy seeing an old college friend climb Machu Picchu or meet for drinks in a Paris nightclub, you can most likely relate.

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September

Your own life, stuck behind a computer, starts to seem inadequate, even if you tell yourself that it’s not reality you’re seeing. Then there are the endless posts about people’s babies, photos of what everyone is eating and mundane daily activities documented for the world to see.

This panorama is occurring amid general frustration with untargeted, unscrupulous social media and people who have a thousand “friends,” the majority of whom they’ll never meet.The result is that the prospects of social media seem to be changing fast. And that’s a good thing, because it means that a new generation of social networks is cropping up to offer a different value proposition --one meant to be more personal and real.

THE FUTURE IS NICHE Social media isn’t going to disappear. In fact, almost 42 per cent of the world’s population has at least one social media account, according to new reports from We Are Social and Hootsuite.

But, “the new social” doesn’t aim to target everybody anymore. Instead, the future is niche, as more networks arise to unite people who share a common interest -- be they neighbors, parents,

women, shoppers, entrepreneurs or members of any other group.

Despite their latest efforts to curb the reach of brands and marketers, traditional social networks have become less about people. They’ve failed their users by selling their data to advertisers, causing a wide range of adverse and long-term side effects.

As a business owner, you need to be aware of these changes and adapt your content to keep up with these trends, especially as new social platforms become more user-oriented than their predecessors.

It’s time to return to the personal touch.

In this context, any social media platform that provides its users with a more personal experience is more likely to gain a place in their lives. This new wave of social media is ready to capture the attention of internet users and, as these media grow, they will open new business opportunities for marketers and advertisers.

A new women-only social network, FindSisterhood, for instance, allows users to discuss personal issues from entirely anonymous accounts. The platform encourages women to ask any question, with no barriers. That feature

By Jennifer Spencer

makes this social network a goldmine of valuable insights for marketers.

“The special thing about our app is that it’s an anonymous social network for women only,” says founder Ana Pompa Alarcón Rawls. “We use one-way cryptographic to make every single post and comment untraceable. No one, including our team, will ever know who posted what.”

Anonymity is what allows users to be candid, and that could prove to be very fruitful for businesses. Let’s say your company wants to know more about the lifestyle of your target market.

Simply ask the right questions and you’ll get all the information you need, to build an effective marketing strategy. The social platform also uses sentiment analysis for content analytics. So, you can track hot topics in a specific geographical area and the reactions those topics generate.

For example, when moms from a particular New York neighborhood talk about the difficulty of juggling work and childcare, that information could benefit a local daycare business, which could then address these concerns to capture the attention of its target audience. This is the kind of valuable information that could help you to build highly personalized content for your target audience.

the topics that generate engagement in the area.

The platform can also be used to drive targeted traffic to websites or blogs and raise awareness on specific topics related to the community.

SMALL COMMUNITIES PERFORM BETTER One of social media’s biggest problems is size (it matters). Every minute, Facebook registers around 300,000 status updates and half a million comments, according to a data roundup published

by Zephoria Marketing. Every second, 6,000 new tweets are registered on Twitter.

around 30 million members. That’s eight times less than the size of Facebook in the United States but that doesn’t necessarily make it less powerful as a marketing tool. Care2 users are looking for ways to change the world for the better. Its main topics are petitions, causes and healthy living. Care2 also promotes brands willing to support causes and get involved in the lives of their communities.

The platform opens up a different kind of business opportunity for brands looking to connect with members using those people’s

KEEP IT NEIGHBORLY Businesses can find potential customers with NextDoor, a safe platform where users can easily exchange information with their neighbors. It’s an effective way to keep up with everything that’s going on in a given neighborhood. Since the app uses geographical location to display posts from other users in the area, it’s a goldmine for finding people nearby.

Marketers may find this app difficult to monetize at the beginning because the platform checks all addresses before accepting an account, through a procedure similar to the one used by Google My Business. Moreover, business pages aren’t available in all countries for now.

However, there is an option for users to recommend businesses they have had positive experiences with, and considering that many users ask questions that are typical for a newcomer to a neighborhood, such as where to find the best tailor or family-friendly restaurant, there are plenty of opportunities to get word-of-mouth advertising, which can steer dozens of customers to a business.

Once businesses gain a foothold, they can track discussions in the neighborhood and identify

Social media isn’t going to disappear. In fact, almost 42 percent of the world’s population has at least one social media account, according to new reports from We Are Social and Hootsuite Many internet users are looking for smaller platforms, for more authentic interactions with their friends, families and followers. Users want platforms that have no algorithms in place to filter information and that have a higher purpose than just a place where users can chat and share viral videos.

Care2 is such a place. It’s a community of

core values. The intent is to make things more personal, which is exactly what internet users are looking for when they switch rom the giants to smaller social media.

BUSINESSES MUST PROVIDE A CURATED EXPERIENCE As you migrate from Facebook to niche social media, be sure to align your message with the new expectations of your audience. Come up with a fresh approach that will allow you to strike up user-centered conversations, without alienating or annoying that audience.

Related: Facebook’s Relationship Status With the Public Is ‘It’s Complicated’: What Mark Zuckerberg Needs to Do to Get the Thumbs Up The future of social media lies in one-on-one conversations with your fans and followers, exchanges in which they not only want to take part but take the lead. The less intrusive you are as a business, the higher your chances will be of building a substantial community around your brand, getting new leads and increasing conversions.

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Deal

“There are all sorts of people who will take any excuse at all to interfere with trade and to frustrate trade deals and I don’t want to see that.” – BORIS JOHNSON, PM OF THE UNITED KINGDOM

WORLD NEWS INDIA

CONTINENTAL COFFEE TO INVEST $20 MN ON VIETNAM PLANT

USA

APPLE, GOLDMAN SACHS START ISSUING APPLE CARDS TO CONSUMERS Apple Inc and Goldman Sachs Group Inc rolled out a virtual credit card, which will help the iPhone maker diversify from device sales and also build out the Wall Street bank’s new consumer business.

With the card, Apple aims to draw in iPhone owners with 2% cash back on purchases with the Apple Pay service, no fees and an app to manage related finances.

For Goldman, the card will enhance the bank’s focus on its Marcus consumer banking brand, which it started in 2015 to even out volatile results from businesses such as trading and investment banking.

Apple will offer an option for a physical card made of titanium, but with no visible number. Instead, the card’s number is stored on a secure chip inside the iPhone, which will generate virtual numbers for online or over-the-phone purchases that require a number.

Continental Coffee Limited (CCL Products) plans to invest $20 million to expand capacity of its Vietnam plant and set up an agglomeration and packing facility in India during the current financial year.

While the capacity of Vietnam plant will be enhanced from 10,000 tonnes to 13,500 tonnes per annum, the agglomeration and packing unit to come up at Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh will have a capacity of 5,000 tonnes.

CCL, claimed to be the world’s largest private label instant coffee manufacturer, exports its processed coffee to about 90 countries and currently has a capacity of 50,000 tonnes per annum at four plants -- two in India and two abroad.

The company offers over 100 products in 1,000 blends and it claims customization as its Unique Selling Proposition (USP).

JAPAN

MITSUBISHI WILL NOT INVEST IN RUSSIA’S ARCTIC LNG 2 PROJECT Japan´s Mitsubishi decided not to invest in Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 project after conducting comprehensive studies, reports quoting the company’s Chief Financial Officer Kazuyuki Masu.

The Arctic LNG 2 project has made significant development progress since May 2018.

Front-end engineering and design (FEED) work has been completed in October confirming the preliminary cost estimates between $20 billion and $21 billion.

The Arctic LNG 2 project envisages constructing three LNG trains at 6.6 million tons per annum each, using gravity-based structure (GBS) platforms.

The project is based on the hydrocarbon resources of the Utrenneye field. This is the 2nd large-scale LNG project led by Novatek, after Yamal LNG.

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GERMANY

SIEMENS HEALTHINEERS TO BUY U.S. FIRM CORINDUS FOR $1.1 BILLION Siemens Healthineers has agreed to buy Corindus Vascular Robotics for $1.1 billion in the biggest acquisition since the Siemens subsidiary listed on the stock market last year.

Healthineers is paying $4.28 per share for Massachusettsbased Corindus, which develops robotic systems for minimally invasive vascular therapy procedures, a 77% premium to the U.S. company’s closing price.

Systems produced by Corindus, which has approximately 100 employees, allow doctors to guide catheters and stent implants with controlling modules.

Corindus made a loss of $35 million last year on revenue of $10.8 million. But Jochen Schmitz, Healthineers’ finance chief, told analysts on Thursday he expected the unit to post a profit in 2023.

Siemens and Corindus said the deal is expected to close by the end of the year.

No-deal

“PM Johnson will not like to go down in history as ‘Mr. no-deal. The EU is ready to listen to operational, realistic ideas acceptable to all Member States including Ireland” – DONALD TUSK, PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL

RUSSIA

NHEAVYWEIGHT WCOMBAT DRONE ‘HUNTER’ SUCCESSFULLY PASSED THE TEST

SWITZERLAND

ST GALLER KANTONALBANK EMPLOYS ROBOTS After a successful test run, St Galler Kantonalbank, a 151-yearold Swiss bank decided to employ three bots for jobs such as compiling information and using it to fill out forms. The company plans to add a fourth soon and has set up a fivemember team to look at ways of employing the technology.

With stricter regulation and low interest rates, banks are under pressure to reduce costs and robots can help to achieve that goal. While lenders have been using robots for several years, only a few of them have actually started using them broadly and long-term to help run the company.

While the use of robots at St Galler Kantonalbank means the company eventually needs fewer employees, the measure hasn’t led to redundancies.

SWEDEN

ACCENTURE BUYS STOCKHOLM NORTHSTREAM Accenture has acquired Northstream, a Stockholm-based consultancy to communications service providers and networking services vendors. The US company said the deal would boost its capabilities in the Nordics to help service providers with digital and operational transformation.

Northstream’s skills include business strategy development, technology and product assessment, industry research insights and transformational programmes.

The unit will focus on 5G deployment and internet of things (IoT) connectivity, as well as large transformational programmes that may include telco network cloud deployments and operating model transformations.

The Russian state-of-the-art heavyweight combat drone ‘Hunter’ has successfully performed its maiden flight, the Russian Defense Ministry has said. The flying-wing-type unmanned aircraft has hit the skies after taking off from one of the test airfields and stayed in the air for about 20 minutes, the ministry told the Russian media without revealing the exact location of the test flight. The technical specifications of the brand new UAV still remain a secret, although some media reports suggest it boasts a takeoff weight of between 20 and 25 tonnes and an operational range of 5,000km while being allegedly able to operate at a supersonic speed of 1,400 km/h (870mph).

UK

BENTLEY ENTERS IN HONEY BUSINESS Bentley Motors’ historic site in Crewe is already famous for producing the models that have carried its “flying B” emblem on the bonnet for one hundred years, but thanks to a new biodiversity initiative, the company is now creating a buzz with the introduction of 120,000 “flying bees” of a different kind.

With the help of local beekeepers, two national hives, which are collectively home to 120,000 British Apis Mellifera honey bees, have been successfully installed on grassland at the edge of the Bentley site. The area has been sown with bee friendly wild flowers – and as it borders the Cheshire countryside, it is proving to be the perfect habitat for the bees, who are settling in well and showing promising signs for the first honey harvest at the end of the summer. Each hive has the potential to create around 15kg – or approximately 50 jars of honey.

CHINA

XINJIANG LAUNCHES PRECISION AGRICULTURE PROJECT Xinjiang recently launched a pilot project using the Beidou Satellite Navigation System (BDS) in precision agriculture in a bid to accelerate growth in the region.

The project is designed to unite social forces and sources to promote the growth of the innovation zone in Xinjiang through precision agriculture.

This project, taking advantage of opportunities brought by the Belt and Road Initiative, will thrive in Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and as a model could expand across the country and even to central and southern Asia, said Qi Liang, honorary president of a particpating organization.

Ultimately it could help build a new technological and strategic highland in the agricultural equipment industry and become a new driver of economic growth, Qi said.

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Enterpreneur

EIKE FUHRKEN BATISTA DA SILVA

The Raise & Fall

Of A Brazilian Billionaire 44

September

Eike Fuhrken Batista da Silva is a Brazilian serial entrepreneur who has made and lost a fortune in the mining, oil and gas industries. He engaged in a quest to promote Brazil’s infrastructure with large-scale projects, such as the Porto do Acu, which ultimately led to his companies going bankrupt Known for his displays of ostentation, exbillionaire Eike Batista is one of the few people who is familiar with being near the top of the world’s rich list and who subsequently fell from grace – after being convicted of bribery and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Once among the world’s richest men, oil and mining magnate Eike Batista will likely be remembered for altogether more unsavoury reasons after he was found guilty of bribing former Rio de Janeiro governor Sergio Cabral – to the tune of €17.8 million – in exchange for contracts with Rio State.

However, while his public profile has been forever stained, Mr Batista’s wealth – which peaked at €30 billion – has waned over the years following an explosive rise to the pinnacle of the world’s rich list.

While the business world is no stranger to individuals climbing high and then falling far, rarely does anyone do it quite to the extent of this Brazilian.

In 1974, a then 18-year-old Batista proved his enterprising mindset by selling insurance policies door-to-door in order to make ends meet while studying metallurgical engineering in Germany.

By his 23rd birthday he had returned to his home country and launched his own gold trading firm, Autram Aurem, which yielded profits of €5 million just 18 months later.

His profitable relationship with the business of precious metals only grew from there and he was soon CEO of Canadian mining company TVX Gold at 29.

Between 1980 and 2000, he created $20 billion in value with operations at eight gold mines in Brazil and Canada – in addition to

Between 1980 and 2000, he created $20 billion in value with the operating of eight gold mines in Brazil and Canada – in addition to a silver mine in Chile, tripling the company’s value in the process

a silver mine in Chile, tripling the company’s value in the process.

From 2004 to 2010, Batista focused on creating and expanding his business empire at a time when Brazil was experiencing an unprecedented commodities boom that lasted much of the decade.

Capitalising on this, he branched out of the sector he had grown to dominate and established numerous new companies.

He founded OGX, an energy exploration and production company, in 2007 and used

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Enterpreneur

his considerable financial capital to outbid the competition – often by as much as 100% – so as to garner the lion’s share of offshore leases.

Sticking to the three-letter format, he then began new companies in new industries, including logistics (LLX) and offshore (OSX) interests.

The world had started to take notice of his exploits by 2010, and it was during that year that he was named as Bloomberg Markets Magazine’s 58th most powerful man in the world.

The next year saw Forbes name him the eighth richest person in the world and the richest in South America, with his personal wealth having reached an estimated $30 billion.

The 62-year-old’s enormous wealth dissipated almost as quickly as it was amassed, and by 2013 none of his companies were operating profitably.

The foundation on which he built his business empire – the precious metals mining industry – began to crumble at that time, resulting in his companies going bankrupt one by one.

And the deterioration of his public profile likely didn’t help: between 2012 and 2015 he was tried on two counts of insider trading and one each of misleading investors, market

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Once the richest man in Brazil, Batista has been fined around $134 million for insider trading and remains under house arrest pending an appeal against his 30-year jail sentence

manipulation, criminal conspiracy and false representation.

Batista’s wealth fell by more than 100% during that three-year period, from a peak of $35 billion to less than zero.

Things got even worse for Batista in 2017, when he was initially arrested and charged with the bribes for which he has now been convicted.

He has since become the subject of derision in Brazilian discourse, with the police confiscating expensive watches, sculptures, pianos, a Lamborghini and even a counterfeit Fabergé egg during raids of his various residences.

Once the richest man in Brazil, Batista has been fined around $134 million for insider trading and remains under house arrest pending an appeal against his 30-year jail sentence.

Apart from the massive fine, Batista also was also banned from running a publicly traded company for seven years.

Batista has also been accused of selling shares in his oil company, OGX, in 2013 when he knew it would be unable to explore blocks acquired at an auction in 2007. It was the second time he has been fined for insider trading.

Batista was also one of nine people arrested in 2017 as part of a larger investigation concerning a $100m corruption scandal.

Regarded by many as the face of Brazilian capitalism, Batista will now be more associated with the greedy side of business.

PROFILE

Serbia Can Become The Region’s “Switzerland” The 21st century’s age of electronics and rapid communication requires experts in the social sciences and humanities, especially historical sciences, as they contribute to the development of a critical mind and democracy

STANISLAV SRETENOVIĆ, HISTORIAN

W

ith a mixed feelings of satisfaction and hesitation – the sentence in the sub-title of this text was my first thought when your reputable magazine approached me to contribute as a “successful” person. However, I responded positively to your call because I consider that my experience in education, research and the transfer of knowledge could be of benefit to all interested people, especially young people, in different disciplines that extend beyond the world of science and culture exclusively, to enter the field of social relations.

During studies at the Vladislav Ribnikar Serbian-French Primary School, the 13th Belgrade Grammar School and the Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy’s Department of History, then postgraduate studies in France and my doctorate in Italy, as well as during my life, additional studies and research work in France, Italy and England, I became familiar with different education systems, cultures and ways of thinking and working, and endeavoured to adopt those that had the richest and the most comprehensive content. In addition to this is my knowledge and experience gained at the European University Institute in Florence, where I received my Ph.D. in the history of international relations and diplomacy, focusing on relations between France, Italy and the new Kingdom

of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes that emerged in 1918 at the end of the Great War, as a young and unsure country that struggled to find its place on the local and international scene.

The work of historians is actually mostly linked to solitude and the four walls of a working office, library and archives. Alongside Serbian archives, I’ve conducted research in many European and world archives and libraries. But this work and its results also allow the researcher to be an actor in transferring knowledge through scientific publications, university lectures and conferences for professionals or the general public. I’ve held many lectures and participated

Viewed historically, despite the heavy legacy of communism and Yugoslavism, Serbia can strive to become the “Switzerland of Southeast Europe” - a country of new ideas, good governance, tolerance and progress.

Whether that will come to be depends on us in many scientific conferences and seminars throughout Europe and around the world, from Africa to Japan; I was a guest professor in France, Italy and England, and during 2019/20 I should be a guest lecturer at the University Paris 1- Panthéon-Sorbonne. In recognition of all my work to date in the research and

academic field, and my contribution to the development of French-Serbian relations, I was decorated in July this year with the French National Order of Merit.

The research issues I faced when writing books and scholarly papers were in fact life issues, but in past time, which – through recollections and relayed experiences of generations – is linked to the people of our age and to us personally. Human thinking, deeds, sharing of experiences, seeking new solutions, strategic partnerships or friendships in the past as well as my critical interpretations of past times, taught me to maintain my Serbian identity, to seek the right measure in my activities and to build bridges to people and different cultures, to accept multiculturalism and remain as far away as possible from ideologies, dogmas or myths. I often put the gained knowledge and critical thinking about scientific or current issues into an historical perspective, in longlasting processes, trying never to offend the humanity, integrity or emotions of my interlocutors, while I also tried to listen to opposing opinions and arguments, and to sometimes correct my views.

Many years of international experience and acquired knowledge have strengthened my desire for Serbia to prosper as a rich and democratic country that manages institutions well, always seeking optimal, practical solutions in scientific or economic projects and in everyday life. Viewed historically, despite the heavy legacy of communism and Yugoslavism, Serbia can strive to become the “Switzerland of Southeast Europe” - a country of new ideas, good governance, tolerance and progress.

Whether that will come to be depends on us.

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Art

Indian contemporary art

FRANCIS NEWTON SOUZA, HEAD IN A LANDSCAPE

From Imagination

To Veracity

Indian contemporary art is really that which is produced by ‘new age’ painters for today’s vibrant and growing market. Renowned artists and those of the new genre paint on several themes depicting diverse cultures and societies.

Paintings produced by Indian artists have moved away from being plain, beautiful and skilled, to become interesting and unusual 48

September

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iewing these paintings leaves you pondering the artists’ thoughts and expressions. If you were to trace the history of Indian contemporary art through the last century, you would observe a varied range of imaginative rejoinders to veracity.

Western and colonial influence had replaced much of traditional Indian painting during the late 19th century, until the Bengal School of Art – established by Abanindranath Tagore and E. B. Havell – made a conscious attempt to reconnect Indian artists with their past. Paving the way for the future modernist movement, the Bengal School did a great deal to reshape contemporary tastes by drawing inspiration from the past and bringing awareness to the heritage of Indian artists. A resurgence of interest in the Bengal School of Art among scholars and connoisseurs emerged in 2012, and today this school continues to produce some of contemporary India’s best artists, including Ganesh Pyne, Manishi Dey, Nirmal Dutta, Nilima Dutta, Jahar Dasgupta, Bikash Bhattacharjee, Sudip Roy, Devajyoti Ray, and Paresh Maiti.

The initial period saw painters appearing to engage mainly with the local community, but then modernists came along, followed by contemporary artists. The last were born after 1947, when India’s attitude and viewpoint shifted radically.

The evolution of the country was evident in the 1980s and ‘90s, and this impacted massively on emerging Indian painters. The rise of clear cut modernism over traditional Indian art paintings was witnessed. With borders disintegrating and the economy going global, Indian contemporary art scaled new heights. A pluralist and disjointed disposition reigned supreme in the ‘90, with some coarse limitations remaining despite the hazy partitions caused by the fast paced advancement of technology and information. Yet many artists, like Jayashree Chakravarty, G. Ravindra Reddy et al, created works that could not have been envisaged by their predecessors.

Modern Indian art typically displays the influence of Western styles, but is often inspired

by Indian themes and images. For example, S. H. Raza’s works are mainly abstracts in oil or acrylic with very rich use of colour, replete with icons from Indian cosmology and philosophy.

F. N. Souza employs an expressionistic style to illustrate both the highs and lows of Indian social life. M. F. Husain utilised a modified Cubist style to create narrative paintings. Jayasri Burman works primarily in watercolour, using rich, strong hues and bold themes to portray female figures or mythical elements, such as hybrid animals with human heads. Other well-known artists who are associated with the group and continue to be influential today include Bal Chabda, Manishi Dey, Mukul Dey, V. S. Gaitonde, Ram Kumar, Tyeb Mehta and Akbar Padamsee.

It was during the 1990s that Indian artists began increasing the number of forms they use in their work. Following the country’s economic liberalisation that took place during that decade, Indian art began introducing new concepts and working both within and outside previous academic traditions. For example, artist Devajyoti Ray introduced a new genre of art called Pseudorealism, in which he used offbeat colours and abstract shapes to create imagery depicting regular scenes of Indian life. Akbar Padamsee, a contemporary Indian artist and painter, has worked with various mediums, from oil painting, plastic emulsion, waRAM KUMAR, VAGABUND

Modern Indian art typically shows the influence of Western styles, but is also often inspired by Indian themes and images

V.S. GAITONDE, UNTITLED

RAVINDRA REDDY, UNTITLED

September

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Art

Indian contemporary art

Novel kinds of Indian paintings are emerging on the art scene, with trends never seen before and not belonging to any specific genre tercolour, sculpture and printmaking, to computer graphics and photography. He has also worked as a filmmaker, sculptor, photographer, engraver and lithographic artist. Other leading Indian artists exploring radical new directions in both painting and sculpture include Subodh Gupta, Narayanan Ramachandran, Vivan Sundaram and Jitish Kallat. Abstract artist Natvar Bhavsar and post-minimalist sculptor Anish Kapoor have gained attention on the international art market, while other major artists continue to gain international recognition among both Indian expats and non-Indian audiences.

Although Indian contemporary art draws inspiration from several styles and sources, it still has its own distinctive dialect. Novel kinds of Indian paintings are emerging on the art scene, with trends never seen before and not belonging to any specific genre. You can buy the best modern art online and not only does it enrich your discernment by viewing these dazzling pieces, but investing in art is also a lucrative business proposition. The value of Indian contemporary art is increasing by leaps and bounds, and this market has the strength to handle enough transactions. Buy Indian art online, as it is as diverse as it could possibly be and ranges from abstract via figurative and surreal to contemporary. The past few years have seen Indian contemporary art enter the dining rooms of the middle classes, after being previously monopolised by royalty and elite corporate houses. It has also journeyed overseas, with works achieving exorbitant prices.

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September

JAYASHREE CHAKRAVARTY,UNTITLED

MANISHI DEY, UNTITLED

By author

AKBAR PADAMSEE, ROOFTOPS

S H RAZA SURYA NAMASKAR

GANESH PYNE,RAMA

Over the passage of time, the dissimilarity between grouping, portraits, sculpture, collages and fittings has begun to blur. All sorts of mediums are being chosen by new Indian painters who want to enhance their work and are not afraid of experimenting. They don’t want to be labelled in a particular category and dubbed as,

say, a water-colourist, terracotta artist or oil painter.

Buying paintings online is a great advantage, as online galleries stock a wide range and buyers can take their time viewing and assessing the appropriateness of works to the space they envisage. Prices are also lower online, as website maintenance costs are negligible compared to the

SUBODH GUPTA, COOKING THE WORLD

overheads for owners of physical sales galleries.

Customised, bespoke paintings are now being created by artists for people who are attracted to their work. You can request what you imagine, give the measurements of your walls, clarify the colour scheme and wait for the painting of your dreams to appear before you.

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51

&FACES PLACES

AMBASSADOR PHILIPPE GUEX AND MRS FRANÇOISE EMMENEGGER

AMBASSADOR MOHAMMED AMINE BELHAJ

30/7/2019

Embassy Of Morocco Marks 20th Anniversary Of The Enthronement Of King Mohammed VI

The Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco in Belgrade, headed by Ambassador H.E. Mohammed Amine Belhaj marked the 20th Anniversary of the Coronation of King Mohammed VI. In his speech, Ambassador Belhaj thanked all attendees for honouring this important occasion.

“Throne Day has a strong symbol and meaning in the country of Morocco.

It reflects the act of alliance between the Throne and the Moroccan people.”

Ambassador of Morocco said that the country’s Tanger Med 2 port is the largest both in Africa and the Mediterranean and as such presents a worldclass platform connected with 186 other ports in 77 countries.

The reception was attended by representatives of the Serbian state and government, Crown-Prince Alexander Karađorđević and Princess Katherine, representatives of religious and diplomatic communities, as well as personalities from the cultural and public life of Serbia.

31/7/2019

Celebration Of The Swiss Confederation National Day

Ambassador of Switzerland to Serbia H.E. Philippe Guex and Mrs Françoise Emmenegger hosted a celebration marking Swiss National Day. The Swiss National Day is the national holiday of Switzerland, set on 1 August. Although the founding of the Swiss Confederacy was first celebrated on this date in 1891 and annually since 1899, it has only been an official holiday since 1994.

Ambassador Guex and Mrs Emmenegger addressed guests in both Serbian and English, thanking guests for joining in the celebration of the country’s national day. They reminded of the strong ties between Serbia and Switzerland, from the economy to the famous sports rivalry between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.

The event was attended by the members of the Serbian Government, diplomatic community as well as representatives of the Swiss companies operating in Serbia.

Special edition by CorD Magazine, dedicated to bilateral cooperation between was presented at the reception.

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SEE MORE: WWW.CORDMAGAZINE.COM

8/8/2019

ASEAN Day 2019 Flag Raising Ceremony

To commemorate the 52nd anniversary of the foundation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a Flag Raising Ceremony was held at the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Belgrade.

This year’s ASEAN Day celebration, which was annually co-hosted by Diplomatic Missions of ASEAN member countries in Serbia (Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar), had also included Cambodia for the first time as its Embassy was recently opened as the fourth ASEAN Diplomatic Mission in Belgrade.

The Flag Raising Ceremony was attended by the Serbian Government officials, members of the diplomatic corps from the Asia Pacific embassies, ASEAN Dialogue Partner countries and international organizations’ offices based in Belgrade.

In his speech on behalf of the Heads of ASEAN Diplomatic Missions in Serbia, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia H.E. Mochammad Chandra Widya Yudha highlighted ASEAN’s continuing focus to strengthen its 3 pillars, namely ASEAN Political-Security Community, ASEAN Economic Community and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, in facing the dynamics of the current world.

15/8/2019

Celebration Of Independence Day Of India

Embassy of India in Serbia, led by Ambassador H.E. Subrata Bhattacharjee marked 73rd Independence day of this country with a flag hoisting ceremony held at the Embassy garden.

AMBASSADOR SUBRATA BHATTACHARJEE

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Feature

World Conquered

By Knowledge

SRĐAN OGNJANOVIĆ Director of the Mathematical Grammar School

S

pecifically, these dilligent, talented and successful secondary school students should serve as an example and role model to their peers, and not as is the case today – when the participants of reality shows like the Cooperative, Big Brother, Couples are literally ringing on all bells.

Many wonder how it’s even possible for students of a small school in Serbia to retain an equal standing for years with their counterparts from the most populous and powerful nations: China, the United States and Russia; and for them often - as was the case this year – to prove more successful than all European countries, but also Japan, India etc.

The simplified answer is – great enthusiasm and good organisation.

For over half a century, this school has been working with talented youngsters with great love.

The energy brought in the 1960s by the school’s founder, Professor Vojin Dajović, and his associates has multiplied over time. Namely, after just a few years, when the best students of the first generation returned to the Grammar School as

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“Three Golds for Mathematicians”, “Subscribed to Medals”, “Serbian Mint of Knowledge”, “Top of Europe for our Mathematicians”, “Best also at Cambridge”. These are just some of the headlines that have appeared in the media during recent years. And with good reason. The students of the Mathematical Grammar School achieved successes earlier, actually since 1966, when the school was founded, but they were not spoken of, or were mentioned very discreetly. Now they are noted more often, but still not enough, in my opinion teachers, they passed on the love of mathematics that they’d received from their professors to their own students. And so it is to this day, such that whoever comes to the Mathematical Grammar School experiences it as a big family.

Of course, serious organisation is also essential. It is necessary to monitor and select the most gifted students, to motivate them and provide them with the best conditions, because they deserve that, and above all it is necessary to find talented teachers, enable them to work in a high quality way, to included in that work students and young assistants from the University, former competitors, to find funds for essential equipment and trips to the world Mathematical Olympiad Series, but also to numerous local preparatory competitions.

When talent, perseverance and hard work are combined, results are not lacking. That’s how the Mathematical Grammar School can boast of having amassed almost 600 medals at the World Mathematical Olympiads and almost as many Ph.Ds, but also numerous pupils who’ve received scholarships to study at top universi-

ties – Cambridge, Oxford, Princeton, MIT etc.

The fact is that no other secondary school in the world has achieved such results.

I will allow myself to conclude by being slightly personal. I’ve spent my entire life – since I enrolled in the Mathematical Grammar School in 1969, and after graduating from college and becoming a professor in 1976, and then director in 2008 – at this school. It has been gruelling and difficult, but also a wonderful period of my life, dedicated to gifted children, monitoring their maturing, advancement and top results.

Much has been achieved – not only in competitions, but also in the great contribution given to the advancement of education and science, but space will always exist to fix things, improve and innovate. The Mathematical Grammar School should continue to always be open – as it has been to date – to creative pursuits, and the children who complete their education at this school, which can freely be described as an institution, should be tomorrow’s leading lights of Serbian science and Serbian society as a whole.

My life

David Vuich, Apollo Mission Member

DON’T FORGET YOUR ROOTS David Vujich was among those who participated in the mission to send man to the Moon 50 years ago. In this account, he reveals interesting details of his origins, upbringing, working life and the great success that he achieved September

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My life

David Vuich, Apollo Mission Member

H

e’s a Serb born in America who achieved the ‘American Dream’.

He almost touched the Moon.

An engineer who was actively engaged in the area of military aviation and flights into the cosmos, he was an official spokesman of NASA and the Apollo 11 programme that enabled Neil Armstrong to walk on the moon. He is now 84 and rich with lucidity. When did you first become aware of your Serbian roots?

My parents immigrated to the United States before and after World War I. My father was from the village of Okučani, Slavonija, and was an officer in the Serbian military who fought in the two Balkan wars prior to relocating to the U.S. My mother was of the Todorović family from the Lika village of Glina. My parents, like a number of other Eastern European immigrants, found solace and a home in Midland, Pennsylvania, which was a steel producing town. I was born and raised in that small community to the north-west of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There were many others in Midland from places Lika, Kordun and the Banija region of the former Yugoslavia. My family spoke Serbian in our home, as well as with friends and relatives, as well as with close neighbours who also came from the same region.

My father spent many hours telling me and making sure I was aware of my Serbian heritage, about Serbia’s heroes, customs, traditions, folklore and faith. So, we prepared for our slavas with žito and kolač. Christmas included pečenica, pogača, sarma and česnica, and at Easter we had jagnjetina.

My father always reminded me that I was most fortunate to have been born an American, but that I should never forget the place of our ancestors. And that, because of my Serbian heart, I had to be prepared to share whatever I had with our people, with our fellow Serbian-Americans, if they were in need.

The Serbian community of Midland had established a social club, the Serbian-American Club, which was the focal point of all of our activities, serving initially as our Serbian Orthodox Chapel where we also held wedding receptions, slavas, celebrations of Christmas and Easter, choral concerts, dramatic performances, folk dancing, music festivals and, most importantly, fund raising events designed to raise the capital necessary to build a new church.

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IMPROVED T-39

My father spent many hours telling me and ensuring I was aware of my Serbian heritage, about Serbia’s heroes, customs, traditions, folklore and faith. So, we prepared for our slavas with žito and kolač My father was one of the original benefactors of our church, the St. George Serbian Orthodox Church of Midland, from its embryonic stages until its final construction and consecration. It was finally completed in the late 1940s and our very first parish priest, Father Milorad Dobrota, was from Šibenik. He established a very strict church and a school programme that further emphasised the importance of our Orthodox faith and Serbian heritage, conducting weekly classes on Serbian history, customs, traditions, folklore and language. I became one of his first altar boys, and assisted him in the celebration of many slavas throughout our community. I was also a member of our church choir, named in honour of Dr Laza Kostić, which not only sang the responses to our

liturgy, but also performed the compositions and rukoveti of Bošnjaković and Stevan Mokranjac at various concerts. Those were complicated pieces, but exciting to perform.

In addition to community and church activities, my family was a member of the Serbian National Federation, which was established in the early 1900s to provide insurance support to early immigrants throughout the U.S. We received Srbobran, the organisation’s monthly newsletter, which provided information on Serbian activities both in the U.S. and back in the homeland. The Federation also organised many social and sporting events that included the Serbian Singing Society, as well basketball, golf and softball tournaments in various communities with a large Serbian population that brought together many members of our ethnic group on an annual basis.

As you may well appreciate, my Serbian roots were well established at a very young age, which is something for which I am most grateful. When did you first visit Yugoslavia? Which places did you see? And what were your first impressions of the land of your ancestors?

My first visit to Yugoslavia was in the late 1960s, shortly after the successful Apollo moon landing.

Many of my colleagues and I were finally granted extended leave, a nice break after the intense schedule commitment required by the Apollo Programme.

By Radmila Stanković

I cannot tell you how proud I am of the efforts of Mike Vučelić and my other American-Serbian colleagues who have since, unfortunately, passed away. They helped the Eagle lander make it to the surface of the moon

VUICH’S AT THE WHITE HOUSE AT CHRISTMAS

I was travelling with a close personal friend and colleague, Don Erjavec, who was a music professor and jazz trumpeter, and who had agreed to visit Yugoslavia, where we would meet for the very first time with relatives in Belgrade, Okučani and Ljubljana.

We spent several days enjoying the sights of Belgrade, then rented a car to drive to Okučani and Ljubljana, in order to visit with family. We continued our travels down the Adriatic Coast, beginning with the ancient city of Pula and its Roman Colosseum, to the city of Split and the Mausoleum of Augustus Caesar, Dubrovnik and finally to Kotor, to participate in the jazz festival.

On our return journey to Belgrade, we travelled via Sarajevo, stopping along the road on many occasions to enjoy fresh roasted jagnjetina [lamb] and walk through the Baščaršija bazaar to engage in a bit of shopping.

We were amazed at the beautiful and variable landscapes throughout our driving experience, from gentle plains to rolling hills, mountains, and even a small desert, all of which represented a miniature topographical version of the U.S. The people were so pleasant, accommodating and hospitable, and it was a great pleasure to visit many of the ancient and historical regions that my father had mentioned to me on several occasions. Tell us about your visit to the places where

DAVID AND GINGER WITH FOX TELEVISION COMMENTATOR NEWS ED HENRY ATTENDING THE FUNDING RAISING EVENT FOR HOMELESS VETERANS your parents came from. Do you have any extended family members still living in the region?

My first visit to Okučani-Trnakovac was among the most enlightening and emotional experiences that I’ve ever had. For the very first time in my life, I had the great pleasure of meeting the Vujić family. My family included my father’s only sister, my Aunt Natalija, who was a gorgeous woman with deep and penetrating blue eyes identical to my late father’s. Rest assured that there were many tears.

I guess there had been some concern that, as an American, I might not be able to communicate with them, so they were immediately surprised when they saw that I spoke Serbian reasonably well and were happy when they realised I could respond to their questions. I remember a resounding chorus of “Hvala Bogu” [Thank God]. They celebrated our common slava, of course, and continued celebrating all our Serbian traditions as my father had taught me.

As a result of the many unfortunate crises that have occurred in the region, many of my relatives have since relocated to Banja Luka and Belgrade.

On my trip to Serbia in July, I had the great pleasure of reuniting with members of the family.

The majority currently live in Belgrade, but others travelled from Germany, France, Banja Luka and Senj. I look forward to meeting with them again in the very near future.

What was your childhood like? How were you raised? What’s the most precious thing that your parents instilled in you during your upbringing?

It’s probably already clear to you how my family instilled in me such a deep pride in being Serbian and honouring our culture and traditions.

Beyond that, I was always taught that you should be kind and respectful to your elders, to care for your immediate family, to study with intensity, to prepare yourself for an advanced education at a college or university, to strive to become a respected and productive professional, to avoid insignificant controversy in your life, and to give something back to your community and your country.

You know, my father could be a strict disciplinarian, but he was also a kind and charismatic gentleman who not only provided for his family, but also assisted many of the immigrants from his region in gaining employment in the steel factory.

From time to time, he even provided shelter for a number of them, giving them a place to live in our home. That was a good lesson for me about the sense of community among Serbian Americans, and the responsibility we felt for each other. What kind of a student were you?

To be honest, I was just an average student in high school and college. I was committed, maybe overwhelmingly, to music and sports. And I worked on many odd jobs in order to have enough money to complete my education. What were your favourite games or toys?

Did you have a favourite book that made a big impression on you when you were younger?

My favourite games included football, basketball,

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My life

David Vuich, Apollo Mission Member that happen? What do you recall of that meeting?

As I mentioned earlier, I visited Yugoslavia after the successful moon landing with my friend Don Erjavec. Since we were both jazz musicians, we were looking forward to meeting with Vojislav Simić and listening to his jazz orchestra at Radio-Television Belgrade. We actually wound up meeting Duško Gojković, who was then already a famous jazz trumpeter in Europe, and he asked us to join his group as guest artists on his show entitled “Jazz at Studio Six.” That included Mića Marković on the saxophone, Vlade Vitas on piano, Jimmy Stanić on bass and vocals, “Nafta” Milisavljević on drums and Duško on the trumpet. My colleague, Don, played the trumpet, of course, and I had the honour of filling in for Nafta on the drums. Duško was very pleased with our performance and invited us to join his group at a jazz festival in Kotor. Performing with these musicians was just a tremendous and rewarding experience.

WITH CONGRESSMAN TED POE -TESLA SCIENCE FOUNDATION

baseball and swimming. Toys were not affordable, so they were not an important part of my early life.

However, as a newspaper delivery boy, I saved some money and became a bit resourceful. I invested in a bicycle, a snow sledge and even a wagon, which made it easier to haul my newspapers.

There were several books that I found of tremendous interest when I was a young man, including The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie, Old Soldier’s Never Die, and Petrović’s Hero Tales and Legends of the Serbians, plus a collection of Shakespeare’s plays – I especially enjoyed King Lear, Macbeth and Othello. I also read extensively about the Wright Brothers and General Douglas MacArthur. I remember a book about the court martial of WW1-era Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, which also had a major impact on me. When did you start practising music?

Which instrument/s did you play?

I was fortunate to have been introduced to musical instruments at a very young age, as a result of my family having a piano in our home. I studied piano, then guitar, and later became interested in percussion as a result of our high school band director, who was also the principal percussionist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Through

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I am honoured to have been associated and directly involved in one of the most pioneering accomplishments in the history humankind his expert instruction, I became quite proficient at playing all percussion instruments, from the snare drum to the classical tympani. What were your first interests when it comes to pursuing a vocation in life?

My musical training gave me the confidence to take up the serious study of Classical Composition and Music Education. However, when I was introduced to the subjects of Aviation and Aerospace Engineering while attending college, that led to an abrupt change in my career path and I went on to serve in the U.S. Air Force for a number of years.  I understand you met Milivoje Mića Marković and Duško Gojković. How did

What were your college studies like and how did you pay for them? Did you get a scholarship or pay your own way? Did you work while studying?

As I mentioned earlier, I initially was very involved in the study of music education, with a major in classical composition and a minor in business administration. My workload at college was taxing on me, and the subjects were complex, but I knew all that was necessary to prepare me for a good career. I was awarded a partial scholarship for my studies and received some corporate grants, but the cost of the greater percentage of my higher education came as a result of pay I received for my musical performances and from odd jobs. That seems pretty typical to me. You’ve had important jobs with great responsibility. What was the toughest assignment in your career and what has given you the greatest sense of satisfaction?

I actually have a number of examples of that, and - if you don’t mind – I’d like to look beyond the scope of the space programme. I enjoyed the challenges involved in several experiences in which I worked within a complex environment with limited resources and vague business development objectives (In comparison, the Apollo Programme’s goals were quite clear: Landing a man on the moon and bringing him and the crew back to earth safely).

By Radmila Stanković

was Vice President of a firm that was involved in the development of the strategic partnership that made that happen.

Throughout the years, I have figured out that good, sound working relationships with executive colleagues, fellow employees, sub-contractors and suppliers are vital in the processes of combining resources and focusing efforts that are key to achieving success. The ultimate objective always demands the recognition of the importance of well-defined personal and professional relationships. Could you explain to us why it is only now, after so many decades, that there is talk in public about Apollo Serbian Seven, this group of people of Serbian origin who worked on sending man to the Moon?

WITH DR. SEBASTIAN GORKA, PRESIDENT’S INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR AT A RECENT RECEPTION

For example, I remember helping one commercial aircraft company that had been unfamiliar with the defence industry procurement process.

The firm really hadn’t realised what it had signed up for when it merged with another aviation company and was trying to get into the market for the development of maritime surveillance aircraft. With the support of many experts, working long hours under my supervision over the course of many months, I came up with a solid business plan. The firm finally made this leap in its understanding of the procurement process and figured out a way forward. I am proud to say that, as a result, this aircraft company signed a major contract with the ‘Department of Defense’ and eventually became a primary contender in other big tender opportunities.

In another case, as an executive for an aviation telecommunications firm, I leveraged my past experience working on environmental issues in the U.S. Congress to introduce company officials to military decision-makers, to bring them to military facilities and to develop an understanding of the Pentagon’s concerns. I again worked on a business plan for the company, which ultimately secured an $18 million contract a year later.

One final challenge that I found very rewarding was bringing company FEDEX to Canada. I

My recent visit to Belgrade was wrought with nostalgia, as I made my presentations on the Apollo moon landing to many audiences throughout the city I’m not sure, but - as you know - I myself have tried to emphasise the importance and significant contributions to the success of the moon landing that was the ultimate goal of the Serbian-Americans working on the Apollo Space Launch Team. I cannot tell you how proud I am of the efforts of Mike Vučelić and my other American-Serbian colleagues who have since, unfortunately, passed away. They helped the Eagle lander make it to the surface of the moon. They were also responsible for decisions and innovations that reduced the risk to astronauts, whose lives always hung in the balance during these space missions. Mistakes on our part could have had catastrophic consequences. Was there a kind of oath of silence among the experts who worked on this project?

No, not at all. However, naturally, security clearances were required for most people working on the project. Certain critical design characteristics, materials, methodologies and other things were classified. So, along those lines, I guess you could

actually say that each of us took “an oath of silence,” but only on those specific parts of our work that were classified by the government. We were otherwise proud to talk about our work. What are the realistic chances of man returning to the Moon and what would be the objective of such a mission this time around?

NASA was recently given approval to proceed with the design, development, testing and evaluation of technologies necessary to send the next team of astronauts to the Moon. The emphasis is on the planned construction of a lunar space station that would replace the current International Space Station. It would furthermore provide a base of operations to launch space exploration vehicles from the moon’s surface to other planets.

The technologies involved are far more advanced than that of the Apollo programme. Some are already available and many are being designed and developed by commercial contractors. Several other countries are also very strongly considering similar space exploration programmes, including Russia, China and India. China recently successfully launched a satellite to the dark side of the Moon, which indicates their level of interest. You participated in such an historic event. How conscious of that are you today?

What kinds of emotions do you now feel when you think back to that extraordinary achievement?

I am honoured to have been associated and directly involved in one of the most pioneering accomplishments in the history humankind. My recent visit to Belgrade was wrought with nostalgia, as I made my presentations on the Apollo moon landing to many audiences throughout the city.

I spoke about the evolution of the development of the Apollo Programme, basically starting from scratch, and emphasised recognition of the importance of my departed colleagues, the Serbo-7 Apollo Space Launch Team. My objective was to inspire my Serbian audiences, but I also wanted to convey to them that we American-Serbs have not forgotten who we are or where we came from. I think I can confidently state that they joined me in expressing mutual pride in our accomplishments, beginning with the likes of Nikola Tesla and Mihailo Pupin, and through the work of the Serbian Apollo Seven Team.

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CHILL OUT SPAIN

Bullfighting Returns To Majorca A law adopted by the regional parliament that banned the killing of bulls during fights has been overruled by Spain’s constitutional court, which argued that it was an essential part of the “sport”.

This cleared the way for the first fight to be held in Majorca after two years.

Majorca’s Coliseo Balear venue is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year, while 25-year-old Conchi Rios is one of only four female matadors fighting bulls in Spain.

The country’s constitution protects bullfighting as part of Spain’s “national heritage”.

Bullfighting has existed in Spain in some form or other since at least Roman times, while the most typical contemporary format - involving a bullfighter with a cape and sword - took its definitive shape in the 18th century. Fighters can be awarded the bull’s ears, tail or hooves as a trophy.

TAIWAN

U.S.

Serving The Same Soup For 45 Years

Ice Cream Sandwich With Hot Dog Meat

Wattana Panich is a one of the most popular restaurants in Bangkok’s Ekkamai neighbourhood, where hundreds of hungry patrons come on a daily basis to feast on its selection of delicious soups and stews. But the secret of the tasty dishes served at this Thai eatery may put a lot of Westerners off!

One of the most popular dishes at Wattana Panich is the rich beef noodle soup, made with stewed and raw beef, tripe, meatballs, internal organs and spices, but the most important ingredient is the broth itself, which – believe it or not – has been simmering for 45 years! Instead of throwing away the leftover broth each night, Wattana Panich’s owners carefully strain it and store it to be used as the base for the next day’s batch of soup. They’ve been doing this every day for over four decades, and claim that this is the main secret to their delicious dishes.

Meat purveyor Oscar Meyer is branching out into the dessert game with its latest product – ice cream sandwiches with bits of real hot dog.

Oscar Meyer announced ahead of National Ice Cream Sandwich Day that it had partnered up with New York-based ice cream company il laboratorio del gelato to create the Ice Dog Sandwich, an ice cream sandwich inspired by hot dogs.

The sandwich, which features cookies as “buns”, actually contains bits of candied hot dog meat and spicy mustard ice cream.

The company said its ‘Wienermobile’ was driving around Manhattan to distribute free samples of the unusual dessert.

The announcement comes just after condiment company French created a mustard flavoured ice cream that it said will be available in select U.S. cities during the summer.

SWITZERLAND

Festival Of Winegrowers The Festival of Winegrowers held in Vevey, Switzerland (18th July - 11th August), represents a three-week celebration of the wine regions of Chablais vaudois and Lavaux. Held this year for only the 12th time since its inauguration in 1797, the festival is traditionally only held once every 20 to 25 years — with the last ‘Fête des Vignerons’ having taken place in 1999.

Festivities kicked off with a Coronation Ceremony held in a special 20,000-seat arena constructed for the occasion, which “praised and highlighted the best winemakers” in the region.

Given that the UNESCO-protected Lavaux Vineyard Terraces are located near Vevey, those crowned during the coronation could also be considered among the world’s best winemakers.

Featuring 5,500 local actors and actresses, 900 singers and 268 musicians, the show was billed as a “magical, grandiose, dynamic and poetic performance” that “represents a year in the life of the vineyard”.

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FRANCE

’Flying Man’ Crosses Channel On Jet-Powered Hoverboard French inventor Franky Zapata has succeeded in crossing the English Channel on a jet-powered hoverboard that he himself designed, zooming over the Strait of Dover in just over 20 minutes.

After a previous bid in July that ended with him falling into the sea, Zapata took off from Sangatte, just outside Calais, France, at about 6.17am GMT, using a mini platform powered by five small jet engines and carrying kerosene in a backpack.

Flanked by three helicopters, he reached Britain after a stop on a boat halfway through the 35-km crossing to refuel, waving to onlookers before landing safely in Saint Margaret’s Bay, close to Dover on Britain’s southern coast.

NORWAY

UK

Turkish design studio Hayri Atak Architectural Design Studio has released its proposal for the Cliff Concept Boutique Hotel in southern Norway, to be situated atop a 600-metre-high cliff.

It features a large viewing platform on the top deck that doubles as the entrance to the building, with three floors of guest quarters below.

The lowest level of the hotel has a swimming pool that juts out from the cliff face, with a viewing deck that provides a place for guests to relax, while each level has a protruding balcony that provides stunning views over the surrounding landscape.

The medieval nave at the UK’s Rochester Cathedral has been transformed into an adventure golf course for the summer, in a bid to attract a younger crowd and encourage visitors to learn about the engineering behind the nearby Rochester Bridge.

‘Cliff Hotel’ Represents Edgy Design Concept

Crazy Golf At Rochester Cathedral

GERMANY

Super-Strong Glue Delo, a small German company specialising in industrial adhesives, recently set a new Guinness Record after successfully suspending a 17-tonne truck in the air for an hour using only super-strong glue.

In an attempt to show that it produces the world’s strongest adhesives, Bavaria-based Delo set out to lift a 17.5-tonne truck one metre above the ground using only three grams of a very strong glue developed specifically for this event. They used an industrial crane and four aluminium cylinders with a cover surface of of 3.5 cm (the diameter of a standard drinks can) bonded to the wheels of the truck with a few drops of high-temperatureresistant Delo Monopox adhesive.

The truck hung in the air for a full hour, thereby breaking the previous record of 16.09 tonnes.

Organisers have used the crossing over the River Medway as the main inspiration behind the nine-hole challenge, but it also features homages to similar local routes like the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge at the Dartford Crossing.

The course at the 1,400-year-old church was financed by the Rochester Bridge Trust - which has maintained numerous Medway crossings since medieval times - and designed by HM Adventure Golf.

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Best Time Of The Year September is probably the best time of the year, as it marks the transition between summer and winter and is known as a month of festivities! Some days may be hot and sticky, but most days will be warm and pleasant. So, be sure not to let this season's confusing weather to leave you without a fashion solution. Let September bring the best out of you.

When heading out for a regular workday or business meeting, make sure you look impressive and unique. It’s time to embrace September’s warm days and cooler evenings with some comfortable clothing that can let you stay cozy and comfortable, and what could be better than a lightweight yet warm sweater? Make sure you're also ready for pleasant summery days and post-summer parties.

ALICE + OLIVIA

MEDEA

Prima Hanna small leather tote €505

Arwen open-back embellished embroidered cotton maxi dress €2,545

PAUL & JOE

Crepe blazer €550

AMINA MUADDI Begum crystalembellished iridescent PU pumps €750

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BOYY

Karl buckled color-block PVC and leather tote €725

STONE ISLAND

TED BAKER

Crewneck cotton-jersey sweatshirt €240

Romney floral-print silk pocket square €34

PAL ZILERI

Paisley pattern silk tie €166

PLAIN TOE BLUCHER

Color 8 Shell Cordovan €990

MADISON JACKET Cardinal €245

TODD SNYDER

Todd Snyder linen “Sutton” suit €676

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Culture

calendar

Ruf Records Blues Caravan 2019 21 – Belgrade Youth Centre – 20:30

Concert honouring the Serbia-Japan Friendship 8 – National Theatre, Belgrade – 11:00

On Sunday, 8th September 2019 at 11:00, the Concert of Serbian-Japanese Friendship will be held at the National Theatre in Belgrade.

Admission is free, so no booking is required.

For all information regarding the concert please contact the National Theater on +381(0)11 3281 333.

Ruf Records Blues Caravan embarked on the journey in 2005 as a travelling blues show featuring three prominent performers each year from the current catalogue of one of the most important blues and record labels, Ruf Records.

In recent years, BC has introduced to Europe and the world many significant blues artists and set the “gold standard of modern blues”. In keeping with his programmatic commitment, Blues Caravan has also promoted many young musicians and opened the door to the big stage for them. This year we have the opportunity to meet three young and, we are sure, future major stars of world blues: Ina Forsman, Ally Venable and Katarina Pejak.

The concert organisers are the Belgrade Youth Centre and Blues Time, with the support of the U.S. Embassy in Serbia.

European Day Of Languages

26 – Various Locations - 12:00-22:00 Every year on 26th September, the European Day of Languages is celebrated across all parts of Europe. This Council of Europe initiative dating back to 2001 is dedicated to highlighting the importance of all European languages. The European Day of Languages in Serbia is organised by EUNIC Serbia, in cooperation with the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia and the Council of Europe.

You are invited to visit the Goethe Institute, Cervantes Institute, the French Institute and the Turkish Cultural Centre, all of which will feature numerous European cultural and linguistic institutions present in Serbia. During the open door period, a quiz will be organised on the knowledge of European languages and countries.

During the afternoon, a concert will be held with performances in numerous European languages at the Vuk Karadžić cultural institution. Latin rhythms that evening will be the responsibility of the band “Salsa Primera”.

Programme: https://www.facebook.com/pg/EUNICSrbija/

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RECOMMENDS

Researchers’ Night

27 - Various Locations – from 16:00 European Researchers’ Night is held annually throughout Europe and its neighbouring countries on the last Friday in September. This year’s Researchers’ Night will take place in over 300 cities on Friday 27th September.

European Researchers’ Night is an event dedicated to popularising science and learning through entertainment. This is a unique opportunity to meet researchers, converse with them and discover what they really do for society, in an interactive way. A large number of experiments, popular science lectures, children’s activities, visits to research laboratories, scientific quizzes,

Eros Ramazzotti Concert

24 - Štark Arena – 21:00 The Italian Embassy and Italian Culture Institute are bringing the biggest Italian pop star of today, Eros Ramazzotti.

One of the greatest Italian authors and singers, Ramazzotti has announced the release of a new album. The upcoming edition of “Vita Ce N’è” will be on sale as of 23rd November via Polydor in a variety of formats: CD, CD Deluxe, 2LP, 2LP Colored & Super Box Deluxe.

games and competitions with researchers are among the contents awaiting visitors on the night itself.

The Institute for Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering (IMGGI) and the Faculty of Physical Chemistry are jointly organising Researchers’ Night for the 8th time. Mark the date of 27th September in your diaries!

THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY Henry James 1115rsd

Having travelled from her native New York to London to meet her relatives, Isabel Archer, a young, independently minded young woman, rejects the marriage proposals of two suitors in her determination to stay in control of her destiny. When she suddenly comes into a large legacy, Isabel believes that this windfall will finally ensure the freedom that she yearns for and embarks on an exhilarating journey through France and Italy, only to find her endeavours thwarted by the sinister plotting of some of her acquaintances.Considered by many to be Henry James’s finest novel, The Portrait of a Lady is a subtle examination of Victorian society and power relations, providing a groundbreaking psychological study of its protagonist. This volume is based on the authoritative New York Edition, and includes the author’s seminal preface.

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AFTER WORK 30 FOUNDATION STONE LAYING CEREMONY JUL OF THE HBIS GROUP PLANT FACILITY AGLOMERACIJA Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has said that the launch of the construction of the new Aglomeracija plant facility of HBIS Group Serbia at the Smederevo Steelworks signifies an important investment, showing his gratitude to Serbia’s Chinese friends for their investments in the Smederevo Steelworks.

President Vučić noted that Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the Smederevo Steelworks during his official visit to Serbia in June 2016.

Vučić added that over 5,000 people work at the Smederevo Steelworks today and that, over the course of the previous year, 269 young people gained employment, while 501 workers were shifted from fixed-time contracts to full employment contracts.

“All this testifies to the commitment of HBIS, China and President Xi Jinping aimed at the success of the Smederevo Steelworks,” said President Vučić speaking at ceremony to lay the foundation stone for the new plant.

President Vučić asked Chinese Ambassador H.E. Chen Bo to convey an invitation to President Xi to return to Belgrade, promising that even more people would welcome him than was the case the last time he visited our country.

PRESIDENT ALEKSANDAR VUČIĆ AND CHINESE AMBASSADOR CHEN BO

30 JUL SERBIA AND NORTH MACEDONIA CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION PROGRAMME The first call for proposals under the Serbia-North Macedonia Cross-Border Cooperation Programme was presented at a ceremony held in Leskovac.

The call will cover projects worth 1.2 million euros, mostly secured from EU pre-accession funds, with interested parties invited to start preparing proposals.

Projects must be well designed, relevant, sustainable and have a cross-border dimension, says Ambassador H.E. Sem Fabrizi, Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia.

According to Serbian Minister for European Integration Jadranka Joksimović, the cross-border cooperation programme provides an opportunity for local governments and non-governmental organisations in the Jablanica and Pčinja districts to connect with partners from the Skopje area.

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02 EBRD SERBIA’S IMPORTANT PARTNER IN AVG INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

WANG YULAN, THE PRESIDENT OF HBIS SERBIA, CHEN BO, CHINESE AMBASSADOR AND ALEKSANDAR VUČIĆ, SERBIAN PRESIDENT

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlović has met with European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Director for the Western Balkans Zsuzsanna Hargitai to discuss joint projects in road, rail and water transport.

Hargitai stressed that Serbia has been building a lot in recent years and that the EBRD is here to support both current and new infrastructure projects that the country is launching.

The officials agreed that cooperation on the construction of Corridor 10 is going according to plan and without any problems.

They also discussed the construction of the new Niš-Merdare-Pristina highway, with work on the first section, from Niš to Plocnik, set to begin next year.

EBRD Director Hargitai expressed her gratitude to the Deputy Prime Minister for the good cooperation to date, before adding that this international financial institution is implementing many projects with the Serbian Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure.

ZSUZSANNA HARGITAI WITH DPM ZORANA MIHAJLOVIC

06 EMBASSY OF INDIA HOSTS DANCE PERFORMANCE HONOURING GANDHI’S LIFE AVG Continuing the commemorating of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi, the Embassy of India in Belgrade hosted a performance of the Indian classical dance Bharatanatyam.

Ambassador of India to Serbia H.E. Subrata Bhattacharjee and Mrs Bhattacharjee welcomed friends of India, media representatives, members of the Indian community and dance fans who attended this dance performance.

An innovation that explores the social and political philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi through a non-linear narrative, the performance looks at the crux of Gandhi’s ideology – looking into oneself to find the truth.

The production is an unbiased, neutral and truthful depiction of Gandhi that intrigues and compels viewers to start the journey of discovery of their own mind, body and soul.

The dance was performed by a nine-member group led by Satyajit Dananjian.

The event was organised in cooperation with the Indian Council for Cultural Cooperation (ICCR).

AMBASSADOR SUBRATA BHATTACHARJEE AND MRS BHATTACHARJEE

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08 U.S. AMBASSADOR KYLE SCOTT AVG DONATES BLOOD FOR SERBIAN CITIZENS The Embassy of the United States of America in Serbia, led by Ambassador H.E. Kyle Scott, commemorated the 18th anniversary of the tragedy of 11th September 2001 with blood donation to citizens of Serbia.

This was the sixth time that Ambassador Scott has donated blood for Serbian citizens and will be the last as a sitting Ambassador, as his term in Serbia is coming to an end.

Ambassador Kyle Scott’s began his term in Serbia on 5th February 2016.

US AMBASSADOR KYLE SCOTT

10 AVG ČORTANOVCI VIADUCT SYMBOLISES SERBIA’S OVERALL PROGRESS Sertbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlović visited the construction site of the “Čortanovci” viaduct on the Stara Pazova-Novi Sad section of the high speed railway between Belgrade and Budapest.

Vučić said that he is very pleased with how work is progressing, stating that it would take 30 minutes to travel from central Belgrade to central Novi Sad once the project is completed.

Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Serbia, H.E. Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, said after the visit that this is a magnificent project that’s of European importance, as it will further connect southern Europe with central and western parts.

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PRESIDENT ALEKSANDAR VUČIĆ AND AMBASSADOR BOTSAN-KHARCHENKO

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21 AVG CONTINUED SUCCESSFUL COOPERATION BETWEEN IT OFFICE AND UNDP Director of the Office for Information Technology and Electronic Governance of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, Mihailo Jovanovic, spoke with the new UNDP Resident Representative in Serbia, Francine Pickup, on the cooperation of the two institutions in the field of e-government and the ICT sector.

The successful cooperation established between the Office for IT and UNDP will continue towards establishing a Regional Center for the World Economic Forum to legislate for the implementation of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, blockchain and IoT technologies and FRANCINE PICKUP AND MIHAILO JOVANOVIC smart cities.

22 UKIYO-E GRAPHIC ART PRESENTATION AVG AT THE JAPANESE EMBASSY A lecture and workshop about Japanese graphic art Ukiyo-e took place at the Embassy of Japan in Belgrade on 22nd August 2019.

The presentation of Japanese graphic art Ukiyo-e (pictures of the floating world), created in a woodblock printing technique, organised by the Embassy of Japan in Belgrade with support of JBAS member Epson and JBAS, gathered together both JBAS members and admirers of Japanese culture.

Ambassador of Japan H.E. Junichi Maruyama greeted the participants and expressed particular thanks to company Epson, member of the Japanese Business Alliance, for contributing to the organisation of this technique’s presentation, as well as Ukiyo-e artisans from Takahashi studio, who travelled to Belgrade from Japan for this occasion.

AMBASSADOR JUNICHI MARUYAMA

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THE BEST PLACES FOR CALM AUTUMN SUN

TOURISM

"HYPERMOBILE" Era Tourism has always represented a societal response to the human need for well-being and personal development, through interaction with other people and the natural environment

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ore than any other sector, tourism is responsible for the movement of people across the globe. Tourism is also one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing economic sectors, responsible for nine per cent of global GDP and the creation of 1 in 11 jobs worldwide. The international tourism sector ranks fourth behind fuels, chemicals and food, and – accounting for six per cent of all exports globally – outdoes the auto sector. Total international tourism arrivals have reached almost 1.2 billion. These people are called ‘visitors’, while tourism can be defined as the totality of activities carried out by them. A visitor is usually classified as a tourist (mainly for statistical reasons) if their trip includes an overnight stay. If there is no overnight stay, the visitor is called an excursionist or same-day visitor.

And – accordingly - tourism has implications for the economy.

Many of the most popular tourist destinations are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 40 per cent of which are located in Europe.

Tourism is becoming increasingly specialised as a result of the globalisation culture 4 |

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and communication trends, the internet – based economy, but also the affordability of holidays and travel for greater numbers and strata of the world’s population.

The combination of globalisation, access to technology and social media, along with the rapid growth of low-cost airlines and the emergence of new economies, have led to increased access to travel for larger numbers of people and increasingly diverse layers of the world’s population.

This shift has been reshaping the travel and tourism industries, perhaps nowhere more so than in Europe. Due to its natural and cultural attractiveness, variety of landscapes and long-standing tradition of hospitality, Europe is the most popular tourism destination in terms of arrivals and overnight stays for international tourists. It is also the number one source of travellers worldwide. As a consequence, European tourism and tourism in Europe have changed substantially over recent decades. People travel further, more frequently and in all seasons, while the average duration of trips has fallen. Moreover, special interest trips (e.g. rural tourism,

industrial heritage tourism, ecotourism etc.) are on the rise, while the average age of tourists has also increased steadily.

Furthermore, better aviation connections between European cities, higher levels of education and longer periods of leave from work mean Europeans have become more cosmopolitan, or ‘hypermobile’.

People are attracted by different aspects of travel destinations, some of which are inherent to a specific place. These include nature, cultural values and aesthetics, but also the possibility to engage in certain leisure activities (e.g. playing golf or hiking).

The combination of these elements results in the emergence of tourism hotspots. Besides traditional statistics (tourist arrivals and overnight stays), the intangible concept of tourism attractiveness is indicated by the spatial proximity of those places that are more attractive to tourists.

Seasonality is an important element to consider in examining the interrelation between socio-economic aspects and the environment. Seasonality implies a large number of tourists, but also temporary workers in tourism areas during certain seasons.

BUSINESS LUÅ TICA BAY

A SEAMLESS Chedi Experience

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With effortless luxury, endless hospitality and an action-packed summer, The Chedi Luštica Bay creates a five-star experience that goes beyond expectations

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pened only last year, the already award-winning five-star The Chedi Luštica Bay hotel is has eagerly embraced its second summer season. With its reputation as a world-class, luxury retreat established, its focus is now on celebrating The Chedi experience.

Evolving alongside the town of Luštica Bay, it has extended beyond the boundaries of a mere hotel to become a lifestyle destination with exceptional dining, personalised wellness and a programme of events and activities set to fill the summer months. Whether it’s a morning yoga class, a dance workshop, a talk, course or exhibition, guests and visitors are invited to make the experience their own.

Located along the waterfront of Luštica Bay’s happening Marina Village, the hotel sits between the verdant hills of the Luštica peninsula and perfect, aquamarine waters. Despite being among the largest hotels in the Bay of Kotor, the building blends into its surroundings with traditional architecture, green roofs, a village-inspired layout and natural, breathable interiors. Encompassing 111 rooms, in addition to suites and penthouses, two restaurants, three bars, an events centre, fitness suite, spa, indoor and outdoor pools, and a private beach.

It truly offers a remarkable experience that has already been recognised with an

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For those seeking instant tranquillity, The Chedi’s spa has proved to be one of the hotel’s most popular attractions

award from CEEQA (Central and Eastern European Real Estate Quality Awards) for Southeast Europe’s Building of the Year.

Within the hotel itself, guests can expect the first-class Chedi service and outstanding amenities, as well as a Chedi experience that goes beyond expectations.

The events and activities programme draws on the beautiful surroundings, rich community and warm Montenegrin culture to deliver something new every single day.

From Latin nights and tango marathons, to arts and antique fairs, a local produce market and food festivals, the vibrant summer events programme extends into the autumn months.

Culture-seekers can head to one of the many wonderful events spaces – from The Chedi ballroom, via the new multi-purpose amphitheatre outside, to the stunning setting of the marina promenade – for thrilling concerts and performances.

For those seeking instant tranquillity, The Chedi’s spa has proved to be one of the hotel’s most popular attractions.

Inspired by nature, it’s a nourishing place for the mind, body and soul, offering a range of holistic Eastern treatments from body polishes to therapeutic massage to bathing treatments. Afterwards, guests can unwind in the indoor pool, sauna and steam room or take a dip in the hotel’s outdoor infinity pool.

These offerings are just the beginning, The Chedi is very much part of the town of

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The Chedi’s staff are on hand to book water-sports activities on the hotel’s beach or recommend hiking and cycling routes through the surrounding hills

Luštica Bay. Guests need only step beyond the hotel doors to discover the attractions of the Marina Village promenade, complete with restaurants, boutiques, a salon, health studio and art gallery. The state-of-the-art marina sits in front of the hotel, offering professional yachting services as well as boats for charter, while keen golfers can head to the Luštica Bay driving range to practise their swings while enjoying views of the entire bay.

The Chedi’s staff are on hand to book water-sports activities on the hotel’s beach or recommend hiking and cycling routes through the surrounding hills. The wider delights of Montenegro are within a short drive – spend a day getting lost among the cobbled streets of the ancient towns of the Bay of Kotor or exploring the inspiring wilderness of the country’s national parks. Whatever you decide, your spacious Chedi room will be waiting upon your return, with Egyptian cotton sheets, a selection of local wines and a private balcony for your own sunset panorama.

If you don’t want the experience to end, there are a limited number of Chedi Residences available to buy! These aren’t only perfect holiday homes, but also an investment opportunity with a secured rental programme that guarantees a 5% ROI. With Luštica’s new payment offer spreading payments into manageable quarterly instalments, it’s never been easier to make The Chedi life your way of life.

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BUSINESS EST ADVENTURE

TEAM BUILDING In A Different Way The vast majority of employees have to date been included in several team building exercises.

If you were to ask them how they found it, the vast majority would again say “nothing special”. Or perhaps the highlight for them would be - “we didn’t go to work that day”

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nfortunately, the actually practise of team building in Serbia has lost its original meaning and been turned into a short break from the office or an invitation for free food or drink. Of course, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but the very words “team building” suggest that something major is missing here.

To an extent, the problem is in the organisers of team building events themselves. I don’t believe that anyone wants to stand with a group of strangers in a circle and sing songs that are more appropriate to preschoolers, or to transfer eggs from one basket to another with the help of 10 |

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a spoon. Moreover, most will pretend to enjoy the activity and thus contribute to the paradoxical depiction of enjoying the actually game. However, to be realistic, everyone will return to their homes once these activities are over and they’ll be glad it’s finally finished.

Again, this doesn’t imply that every team building event has to be like this and, generally speaking, the goal of every well-organised team building exercise is to: • Familiarise employees with one another • Connect and acquaint various departments within companies • Raise the level of involvement among

individuals (everyone contributes to achieving a common goal) • Build trust between teams and employees (we’re here to make work easier and better for everyone) • Encourage teamwork and build a stronger team culture within the company (we can do it together) • Develop better communication and collaboration among employees (I’ll listen to you - you listen to me) • Let employees have fun (a more pleasant atmosphere yields better results) One problem is that, despite all team building organisers - be they HR departments or event managers - having all of

these items in mind when organising their next team building, they never turn out the way they should. Why is that?

Most people forget the reason why successful firms are successful and what it is that makes good teams better than others.

It is the approach to unforeseen situations and their reaction to them.

Situations that draw people out of their comfort zones show, honestly and without any hidden motives, how people respond to stress, how they mutually interact in difficult situations, how and how much

they collaborate with others. They show you, without a filter, the strengths and weaknesses of your team.

In addition to this, another wonderful thing will happen – people come together the most by living through shared experiences, through working together on a problem they solve successfully. They will have something that makes them a successful team, even when the team building exercise is over and everyone goes their own way. That experience will remain within them and they will gladly recall it.

If they were, this time, asked how they found the experience, they would have something to say - “we managed to descend a 15-metre cliff face”, “I succeeded in overcoming my fear of heights”, “it was unbelievable how our team solved the task and won the competition.”

And such experiences and memories re-

main with you for the rest of your life.

We have amassed more than 20 years of experience on all continents in the field of outdoor sports and have been engaged in the organising of team building activities for over 15 years, covering the entire territory of the Balkans for all types of outdoor activities.

Our instructors possess internationally recognised licenses: UIAA, ICOPRO, ICU, IRF etc., and our team includes people who have conquered Mount Everest, former Olympians, GSS instructors and other experts, who contribute through their experience to the proper conducting and executing of team building operations.

We transfer to your employees our knowledge and experience of working with people in the most extreme conditions, via intellectual, creative, educational, entertaining and high-adrenaline activities.

We are EST Adventure.

EST Adventure E-mail: info@estadventure.com FB: fb.com/ESTAdventure Instagram: @estadventure www.estadventure.com

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BUSINESS HOTEL MAESTRAL

MAESTRAL IS THE JEWEL Of The Southern Adriatic If there were no refreshing maestral (mistral) north-westerly wind, the Adriatic Sea would not be one of the most attractive destinations for lovers of good holidays, and if there were no Hotel Maestral – as a jewel among hotels – Montenegro would not be a year-round destination for the most demanding guests of sophisticated tastes from all over the world

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ituated directly beside the seashore in the fishing village of Pržno, the five-star Maestral Resort & Casino is characterised by a rich heritage of premium service, while its half-century tradition is woven into every millimetre of the complex.

From the very first step, the instant you enter the hotel, you will be amazed by the sophistication and elegance of the art-deco lobby, but also the rooms and suites decorated in a classic, superior and deluxe style. If you decide to spend your summer holiday at this resort, which is dubbed by our regular guests as “our little paradise”, you will enjoy the hotel’s private beach, which is among the most beautiful in the Mediterranean, and if you visit during spring, autumn or winter, you will have at your disposal one of the most luxurious wellness & spa centres anywhere in the Adriatic region, with authentic Thai massages and an incred-

If you think that you also deserve the very best, Maestral Resort & Casino is the right place for you!

ible, superior offer of beauty treatments.

At the Maestral, you are awaited at every moment by a selection of fine wines, Montenegrin specialities, international dishes and authentic Chinese cuisine.

You will find good fun at the casino, which offers various types of modern slot machines and tables for different live games. Here you are awaited throughout the year by the best of times, complete with fantastic musical performances by local and regional stars, as well as guest appearances by renowned cabaret troupes from different parts of the world.

Designed with the aim of creating an authentic experience of luxury and privacy, this unique hotel destination represents the best choice for guests who never accept compromise and who expect nothing less than perfection from their holiday.

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BUSINESS RADOMIR SAMČEVIĆ, DIRECTOR OF AGENCY HT

GUESTS VALUE Simplicity Agency HT offers the widest possible variety of services, ranging from consulting, the managing of different processes, to the educating of hotel management and staff, whether that relates to facilities operating within the scope of large chains or small independent hotels

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The hotel business is very complex, comprising many different fields of work that must be integrated. Consulting companies are there to help in reducing costs, more quickly resolve challenges and prevent problems before they arise, and we have the expertise and experience to do that, says Radomir Samčević.

Is it easier for employees working in hotels belonging to major global chains than for management and workers in hotels operating independently? Is that where your company enters the scene?

Yes, it could be said like that at first glance.

Large hotel chains have clearly defined standards of work, rules and procedures, which ease work greatly, especially for newcomers to teams, facilitating work processes, defining training courses and thus easing socialisation. On the other hand, the control and monitoring process is easier for managers.

Small, independent hotels need to create their own standards that should make it easier for them to work and enable them to stand out from others in such a way that they are recognisable and unique on the market.

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performances of individual segments or hotels as a whole. There’s also integrated branding, market recognition, networking or cooperation with airlines aimed at realising additional benefits for loyal guests...

It is essential for independent hoteliers to have professional help, both in the design phase of a hotel and in the pre-opening phase, but also later, when adjustments, improvements, additional education and staff training are being conducted. Such expert assistance is provided by various consulting companies, one of which is the HT agency, of which I am the founder and director.

If investors turned up who were willing to invest in and re-open all those hotels that used to operate in Serbia’s spas, what would you advise they do?

The only question is how willing investors are to listen to advice. Serbian spas are pearls of our tourist offer, because – alongside mountain centres and major cities – they attract the largest numbers of guests, though they’re not what they used to be. Young people avoid them because the prevailing opinion is that they are places for the sick, but then our people are happy to visit Slovenian spas, precisely in the pursuit of rest and relaxation.

Our spas lack higher category hotels,

hotels intended for young people – millennials, in terms of themed hotels of those with a different concept and offer that will attract a larger number of urban guests, both from within the country and from abroad. Hotels need to distance themselves from health tourism whilst relying on contemporary spa and wellness facilities.

You are the author of the book Šta je to recepcija [What is that reception], which you wrote - among other things - on the basis of your own experience. What represents the personal I.D. card of each hotel?

Apart from the book ‘What is that reception’, I’m also the author of the book Triglav Interes [Triglav Concern], which deals with the hotel management business. Within it I deal a lot with the topics of service, top-notch service and the question of why guests identify with a particular hotel. The personal I.D. card of every hotel is in the level and recognisability of the services it provides to its guests. It is much easier for management and employees of hotels that belong to some of the chains to position themselves on the market, because they already have an I.D. card created for them, which is a major challenge for independent hoteliers who have to create their own I.D. in order to become unique and inimitable, and in order to exceed the expectations of guests.

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BUSINESS MIONICA

TOWN MADE To Measure

In the foothills of the proud mountains of Suvobor and Maljen is a picturesque area that warmly welcomes everyone who visits this jewel of Western Serbia. The Mionica area is opening its doors wide in a desire to present all the wealth gifted to it by nature and its rich history

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ll those whose travels take them to the municipality of Mionica can enjoy the abundant benefits of pristine nature, rich history, preserved cultural heritage and the flavours of traditional dishes prepared superbly.

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VALLEY OF HEALING WATERS The municipality of Mionica sits on healing thermal-mineral waters, and in this sense it is a real pearl of Serbia, with springs of capacities that reach 200 litres per second and an incredible temperature of 37oC in some locations. The hot spring

water that’s known locally as “Miraculous Water” has an extremely positive effect on the human body, with beneficial impacts in the treatment of rheumatism, gynecological diseases, dermatological and ocular illnesses, anemia and kidney stones. Tourists can even swim in this water, which possesses a perfect balance of all minerals that are extremely important for the health of every human, at swimming pools in the spas of Banja Vrujci and Banja Lepenica, with the water of Banja Lepenica characterised by extremely high levels of sulphur that are suitable for treating skin disorders.

IN PERFECT SYMBIOSIS WITH NATURE The harmony of man and nature is carefully preserved in the municipality of Mionica. For all those who’ve lost touch with nature, the ideal holiday involves swimming in the River Ribnica, reading a book whilst enjoying the rustling of centuries-old linden trees, or explore Ribnica Cave in the Ribica Nature Park near Mionica. The villages of Mionica and their hospitable locals offer walks through meadows filled with medicinal herbs, rich, traditionally-prepared spreads, a glass of cold spring water, traditional sweet syrups and plum brandy. This is the right place to feel nature within you and all around you. In the vicinity of the Ribnica Nature Park is a farmstead that houses the Museum of Stone and a House of Tea, where visitors can hear wonderful stories of nature recounted, drink a medicinal beverage or read a mystical recipe from 1856 carved into stone.

TOWN WITH A RICH HISTORY Mionica gained the status of a town (varoš) back in 1895 and has a special charm provided by its rich history and nurtured folk tradition. Mionica natives speak proudly of their famous fellow townsman, Field Marshal Živojin Mišić, who was born in the village of Struganik. The house representing the birthplace of this duke, who commanded the Serbian army masterfully during World War I, today proudly dominates the hilly countryside of Struganik and welcomes every visitor wanting to more closely acquaint themselves with the story of the warfare experienced by the Serbian army and the personality of this celebrated military leader, but also to walk through the environment and feel the atmosphere of a Serbian cooperative family from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Visitors to this complex are greeted at the entrance by girls in traditional costumes offering

traditional cornbread cake and salt, while a traditional duke’s breakfast and the story of the life of Field Marshal Mišić is served in the old cellar.

A WORD FROM MUNICIPAL PRESIDENT BOBAN JANKOVIĆ With the opening of the Miloš Veliki [Miloš the Great] Highway, Mionica has an even greater chance to accelerate the development of tourism and an opportunity, in the period ahead, to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the most attractive tourist destinations in Serbia. The focus of our activities is on increasing the quality of the tourist offer and attracting investors, who are offered special investment benefits by the Municipality. We are particularly proud of one project that has a significance which extends beyond local parameters. It is the multifunctional setting of the House of the Battle of Kolubara, the construction of which is set to begin in Mionica soon. Covering an area of 400 square metres, here visitors will be able – with the smell of gunpowder and the sounds of gunshots and shouting soldiers - to experience the Battle of Kolubara, one of the greatest battles in the history of Serbia.

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BUSINESS Photo: pozarevacinfo.rs

POŽAREVAC

VIKA THE MAMMOTH

MUSEUM City The most common associations with Požarevac in past decades were Milena Pavlović Barili, Viminacium and Vika the mammoth, horses and Ljubičevo, Zabela Prison, Slobodan Milošević, company Bambi and the famous ‘Plazma’ biscuits, while today it is one of the symbols of Serbia’s rapid development

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ituated between important road transport routes and three rivers – the Danube, Mlava and Great Morava – approximately 80 kilometres from Belgrade, is the city of Požarevac. The history of this city, which is the centre of the Braničevo District, dates back to 1467, while it made its first significant entry in the history books in 1718, when the Požarevac Peace Treaty, or the Treaty of Passarowitz, was signed 18 |

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between Austro-Hungary and Turkey.

It experienced its own flourishing and golden age with the coming to power of Prince Milos Obrenović, who is responsible for the raising of the Cathedral of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel (1819), the Palace-Residence (1825), the new čaršija bazaar (1827) and Ljubičevo (1860), the arranging of which was continued by Prince Mihailo Obrenović.

TOUR THE MUSEUMS AND MILENA’S MEMORIAL GALLERY The city itself is home to around 40,000 inhabitants, while its total population is double that with the inclusion of the surrounding villages and communities. Although life in Požarevac is generally very dynamic, the city becomes even livelier every summer, when many tourists arrive, but also locals who return after spending most of the year working

NATIONAL MUSEUM

abroad. The centre becomes a meeting point for visitors to numerous cultural and artistic events, the city park dominated by its monument to Prince Miloš Obrenović and the National Museum, which is the second oldest museum in Serbia – after Belgrade’s National Museum – and contains some relics of global significance, such as the Calamus pen that was used during Roman times for writing wax tablets.

The National Museum in Požarevac manages 17 facilities in six locations. In addition to the main museum building, featuring a permanent exhibition dedicated to prehistory and antiquity, there is also a Museum of Cultural History, “The House of Peter Dobrnjac”, with an ethnological exhibition covering the development of the lives of Požarevac natives; the legacy “House of Miodrag Marković”, with a permanent exhibition of works by painters dating back to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia; the Tulba EthnoPark, featuring houses and furniture from the 19th century; the “Požarevac Treaty”, as an exhibition commemorating the peace treaty of 1718, and the City Gallery of Contemporary Art. In the vicinity of the museum is the house that marks the birthplace of painter Milena Pavlović Barili, which has been converted into a memorial gallery.

Thanks to Milena’s mother Danica, who bequeathed the house to the City of

Požarevac in 1962, visitors to the gallery can enjoy a permanent exhibition of paintings and view personal items, furniture and the artist’s personal library.

Founded in honour of the life and work of this major global artist, the memorial gallery has organised the Biennale “In the Light of Milena” for almost two decades, representing an artistic event that attracts interest from around world.

THE CENTRE IS BEAUTIFUL, BUT THE PERIHPERY IS EVEN PRETTIER Located sightly further away from the city centre, on a hill of the same name, is the Čačalica Memorial Park, which covers an area of 28 hectares and is a favourite excursion area for locals, but also a veritable mecca for

an increasing number of tourists – as it offers panoramic views of almost the entire city from certains spots. At the top of the hill is the “Star” monument, while the park is also home to some rare plant species and numerous small animals.

And while lovers of art and culture flock to the city centre, the areas surrounding Požarevac primarily attract lovers of history and archaeology, with the Viminacium archaeological site – located 12 kilometres from the city – standing out in particular due to its attractiveness. Viminacium was a Roman military camp and spent some time as the capital of the Roman province of Upper Moesia. It boasts numerous buildings and objects that recount the history of this ancient city.

ČAČALICA MEMORIAL PARK

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MILENA PAVLOVIĆ BARILI

This complex is open to visitors, who are most attracted to the skeleton of a mammoth female named Vika that dates back to the prehistoric Miocene Epoch. Vika is among the world’s oldest specimens of its kind. Apart from Vika, the palaeontological park known as ‘Mammoth Park’ also includes the remains of four other mammoths, called Socks, Trbuško, Đomla and Lenka, which are 180,000 years old.

BOOK ACCOMMODATIONS FOR THE EQUESTRIAN GAMES Tourists don’t need to choose a specific time of year to visit historical and cultural monuments in and around the city, but when it comes to numerous events – including the most famous Ljubičevo Equestrian Games, the Milivoje Živanović Acting Celebrations, the Festival of Flowers, the Milena Pavlovic Barili Biennale – it is neccesary to check the calendar of the Požarevac Tourist Organisation.

Coming up next are the Ljubičevo Equestrian Games, representing a tourism and competitive sporting event that has been organised during the first weekend of September since 1964 and which will this year take place from 30th August to 1st September, with its international competition encompassing regular equestrian games in multiple disciplines, including courier riding, mounted spear throwing, archery, mace 20 |

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Last year was the most successful year for the Tourist Organisation of the City of Požarevac since it was founded, while this year could be just as good – if not better – provided the trend continues

and sabre-cutting... There will also be hurdle jumping, galloping and trotting races, and demonstrations of stuntrider skills, but also a rich cultural and entertainment programme.

Running from 5th November to 5th December will be the Biennale “In the Light of Milena”, while late November – from 25th to 29th - is reserved for the Živka Matić Meetings of Amateur Theatres Pomoravlje and Podunavlje.

Judging by the interest and announced arrivals of guests from home and abroad, it won’t be easy to provide sufficient accommodation capacities for everyone. According to the latest study, the city of Požarevac lacks around 500 beds for overnight visitors, but the data has since changed to make that shortfall even greater.

This will be resolved... let the guests just come...

LJUBIČEVO HORSE GAMES

BUSINESS MILICA ALEKSIĆ, MANAGER, METRO HORECA CENTRE

THE CONCEPT OF GASTRONOMIC DIPLOMACY From The Perspective Of The Metro Horeca Centre The cultural value of food and the specificity of ingredients in a particular area, expressed through the tradition of dining, have in recent years played an essential role in the understanding of authentic lifestyles

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n the past, but also today, the need for food precedes the needs of diplomacy, opening up avenues of trade that have today been shaped by the global economic scene. Food was once a means of payment, while it today symbolises prestige and a special form of non-verbal communication, in which the provision of food and drink services has grown into the concept of gastronomic diplomacy.

The gastronomic diplomacy concept is built on the specific foundations of the produce of national cuisine and the universality of experience during their consumption. Conceived as far back as the 1770s, when French gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin claimed that “the fate of nations has often been sealed at banquets”.

The concept is old, but the terminology of the concept is new and emerges at a time when individual states and nations decide to incorporate gastronomy into their public diplomacy strategies.

The term symbolises the ways in which

nations utilise food as part of their intention to promote their own culture and local food industry, to attract tourists and build national relations with the international public.

Gastronomic diplomacy is an exceptionally powerful way of conveying the cultural assets of a nation through the presenting

values, identities and attitudes.

In the hospitality sector, as a service industry, constant changes occur as a result of changes in life dynamics and technical and technological advancements.

Considering the specifics and qualitative requirements of providing food and bever-

the need for food precedes the needs of diplomacy, opening up avenues of trade that have today been shaped by the global economic scene. Food was once a means of payment, while it today symbolises prestige and a special form of non-verbal communication, in which the provision of food and drink services has grown into the concept of gastronomic diplomacy

of national gastronomic products that illustrate tradition, the culture of nutritional values and lifestyles, thus conveying a certain symbolism. The symbolism of food can be used in the exchange of ideas,

age service in hospitality facilities, we at the METRO HoReCa Centre carefully select the professional novelties that we pass on to attendees of our training events, workshops, and other activities related to gastronomy.

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BUSINESS JAGODINA

MORAVIAN GEM Of Serbia

T

hanks to its central location, Jagodina isn’t only at the heart of the Pomoravlje District and Central Serbia, but also represents the central point of Serbia, which will win over every visitor with its well-intentioned and hard-working people, rich cultural heritage, strong tourism and gastronomic offer, attractions and orderliness.

This city that emerged at the foot of Đurđevo Hill, in the plain of the River Belica – the left tributary of the Great Morava – offers every visitor space to spend time in a highquality way and an unforgettable holiday.

Depending on affinities and interests, everyone will find something for themselves.

Heading along Pan-European Corridor A-10, via International Highway E-75, at the point 136 kilometres south of Belgrade and 108 kilometres north of Nis, you will find the very centre of Serbia, the city of Jagodina

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the Faculty of Education (the remains of the Arborarium of Sreten Adžić) or, during the summer months, Kneginja Milica Street, which becomes a pedestrian zone during the evenings. All of this will combine to make your stay unforgettable.

Musts for lovers of sacred art include visits to the Temple of the Holy Archangel Michael (endowment of Miloš the Great), via Jošanica Monastery and the Temple of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, to the Temple of St. John the Baptist in Končarevo.

Architecture lovers will enjoy the construction projects of architects Dragiša Brašovan or Momir Korunović.

Many visitors will find themselves intro-

Jagodina, as the central point of Serbia, will win over every visitor with its well-intentioned and hardworking people, rich cultural heritage, strong tourism and gastronomic offer, attractions and orderliness Lovers of water attractions will enjoy the first and most highly rated Aqua Park in Serbia, with seven swimming pools and a system of water slides covering more than 600 metres. Visit the only waxworks museum in Serbia, Tigar Zoo - the only zoo in Serbia south of Belgrade, the Museum of Naive and Marginal Art and the Homeland Museum. Stroll the city’s Potok-Đurđevo brdo Park (which tourism experts have dubbed part of the Garden of Eden), which boasts the first artificial waterfall in the Balkans, a system of fountains covering 122 metres and the Summer Stage (hosting free weekend shows for children, concerts and performances by eminent creators). Then visit the popular City Square, the Park of

duced for the first time to little-known details of the lives of Serbian greats connected with Jagodina (Princess Milica, Prince Miloš, Branislav Nušić, Đura Jakšić and others).

Every visitor, traveller, passer-by or investor who comes, sees, experiences and familiarises themselves with Jagodina is filled with a desire to remain there permanently!

All of the aforementioned, combined with a rich culinary offer and ample accommodation capacities, will ensure that visitors themselves confirm the famous maxim of the best-known native of Jagodina, world-traveller Jovanča Micić, which reads: “I toured the whole world, but something like Jagodina – I DIDN’T FIND ANYWHERE!”

BUSINESS ZORAN LJUBOTINA, DIRECTOR OF THE TOURIST ORGANISATION OF ZRENJANIN

WE CAN Offer A Lot This year’s Beer Days event exceeded the expectations of both hosts and guests. More than half a million people passed through Zrenjanin, hotels were full, as were most private accommodation capacities, and the atmosphere was wonderful

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renjanin locals always strive to outdo themselves, to provide as many contents as possible and to bring the best performers. However, as their desire is for guests to come throughout the entire year, even after Beer Days event, they are working seriously to enrich the tourist offer.

You have just lowered the curtain on this year’s Beer Days event, which has been bringing hundreds of thousands of guests to Zrenjanin from elswhere in Serbia and Europe for 34 years. Are you satisfied?

Zrenjanin has been a gathering place for lovers of beer and good times for decades, and that was the case this time as well. This year saw Zrenjanin residents and our guests entertained by Lepa Brena, Crvena Jabuka [Red Apple], Halid Bešlić, Alen Islamović, “Zana”, the Zrenjanin Philharmonic Orchestra, four of Serbia’s Eurovision representatives etc. Apart from the music programme, we organised numerous children’s, drama, sport, culture and art programmes at more than 40 locations.

Judging by the atmosphere and the comments, everyone enjoyed the parade of majorettes, equestrian show, goulash fair, beer brewing symposium, fishing competition, archery

competition etc. Otherwise, the symposium on beer, brewing, brewery equipment and raw materials was held for the third time and attended by experts from around the world.

Our idea is for the symposium to grow into a congress in the coming years, in such a way that Zrenjanin would also become a centre for congresses.

For the third consecutive year, we also organised the Festival of Tradition and Culture, hosting our dear guests from Hungary, so visitors to the Beer Days were able to familiarise themselves with the gastronomic offer of our neighbours. We also had a sightseeing tour of the city from an open-top bus and the river, as we devoted one segment of the event to tourist boat trips around the River Begej.

These contents also remain available after the Beer Days, as developing nautical tourism is another of our goals.

Although guests who’ve attended the Beer Days event even once tend to return, tyou are also striving to attract new tourists to Zrenjanin.

Are you doing serious work on that?

Our aim is to enrich our tourist offer, and recently we’ve been doing a lot of work on the development of hunting tourism. In cooperation with the Hunting Association, we’ve arranged and equipped a shooting range that’s beside the road to Belgrade and purchased a machine for shooting flying targets. We believe that all prerequisites for organising hunter competitions in our city have no been met.

When it comes to enriching the tourist offer, we always listen to the wishes and needs of potential guests, so from 5th July to 10th August, on the Friday and Saturday from 7pm

to midnight, we organised the “Korzo Fest”, with a variety of cultural activities, entertainment and children’s programmes on the main street. There is great interest in cycle tourism in Banat, so organised groups of cyclists are expected to start coming to our city soon, primarily from Germany, Slovenia and Austria.

Few municipalities in Serbia can be raised by its number of villages in the way Zrenjanin can. Do you have a plan for the development of rural tourism?

All of the 22 settlements on the territory of the municipality hide a rich cultural and historical heritage, ethno houses, salaš farmstead ranches, traditional events and other attractive contents that even many Zrenjanin locals have never heard about. In a desire to change that, we conducted a survey in the villages two years ago in order to determine the capacities and potential at our disposal. With the aim of promoting and popularising rural tourism, we organised the event “Banatska Bajka” [Banat Fairytale], a summer in the city garden, which ran from 5th June to 20th August. It was shown that there is a will to develop villages and rural tourism, but there are also certain obstacles that we’re working hard to overcome.

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