CorD Magazine November 2017 Issue, no. 157

FRAGILE NORMALISATION H. E. ILIR BOÇKA

DIGITISATION – AMONG THE PRIORITIES OF THE SERBIAN GOVERNMENT

WE’RE LEFT TO THE DICTATORSHIP OFMONEY THAT DOESN’T EXIST

Director Of The Office For IT And E-Government

screenwriter

DR MIHAILO JOVANOVIĆ

SINIŠA PAVIĆ

www.cordmagazine.com

NOVEMBER ’17 / ISSUE No. 157

Ambassador of Albania to Serbia

interviews opinions news comments events PRICE 300 RSD FOCUS

Digitisation - Equal Chances For All Citizens OPINION

Catalan Independence Referendum And The Kosovo “Precedent”

FRANCO FRATTINI SPECIAL ADVISOR TO THE PRESIDENT OF SERBIA

Forget

E XC L U S I V E

2025!

ISSN1451-7833

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COMMENT BOŠKO JAKŠIĆ

Catalonian AUTUMN PAGE 6

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CONTENTS

November 2017

After weeks of crises during which the government in Barcelona showed the ugly face of separatism, while the government in Madrid showed the ugly face of power, it is tough to see how Spain could utilise some negotiated solution to emerge from this worst political crisis in the last four decades

CATALONIAN AUTUMN

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Boško Jakšić, Comment

HOW CHINESE ART BECAME CONTEMPORARY? Contemporary Art

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FORGET 2025!

Franco Frattini, Special Advisor to the President of Serbia

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FRAGILE NORMALISATION

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H. E. ILIR BOÇKA, Ambassador of Albania to Serbia

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TRANSPORTATION & LOGISTICS Opportunities And Risks In Current Confrontation Of Immense Changes

GLOBAL DIARY

20 DIGITISATION EQUAL CHANCES FOR ALL CITIZENS

FACES & PLACES

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Focus

WE’RE LEFT TO THE DICTATORSHIP OF MONEY THAT DOESN’T EXIST

Siniša Pavić, Screenwriter

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CATALAN INDEPENDENCE REFERENDUM AND THE KOSOVO “PRECEDENT”

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Opinion

Office Interior Design

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42

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CHILL OUT

76

CULTURE CALENDAR

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AFTER WORK

EMBRACING OPPORTUNITY

Danijela Čabarkapa, Executive Director of the Japanese Business Alliance in Serbia

@CorD_Magazine

OFFICE INTERIOR DESIGN AND DECORATION

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EDITOR: Ana Novčić a.novcic@aim.rs DESIGNER: Jasmina Laković j.lakovic@aim.rs CONTRIBUTORS: Rob Dugdale, Maja Vukadinović, Mirjana Jovanović, Ljubica Gojgić, Miša Brkić, Radmila Stanković, Steve MacKenzie, Zorica Todorović Mirković, Sonja Ćirić EDITORIAL MANAGER: Neda Lukić n.lukic@aim.rs PHOTOS: Zoran Petrović COPY EDITOR/TRANSLATOR: Mark Pullen TRANSLATION AND EDITING Halifax Translation Services office@halifax-translation.com PROJECT MANAGERS: Biljana Dević, b.devic@aim.rs Nataša Trifunović, n.trifunovic@aim.rs Vesna Vukajlović, v.vukajlovic@aim.rs Nevena Đurković, n.djurkovic@aim.rs OFFICE MANAGER: Svetlana Petrović s.petrovic@aim.rs FINANCIAL MANAGER: Dragana Skrobonja d.skrobonja@aim.rs EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Maja Vidaković m.vidakovic@aim.rs GENERAL MANAGER: Ivan Novčić i.novcic@aim.rs PRINTING: Rotografika d.o.o.

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COMMENT

Catalonian Autumn After weeks of crises during which the government in Barcelona showed the ugly face of separatism, while the government in Madrid showed the ugly face of power, it is tough to see how Spain could utilise some negotiated solution to emerge from this worst political crisis in the last four decades

By BOŠKO JAKŠIĆ

W

hether the chances of reaching agreement will gressive tactic of declaring unilateral independence: illegally from be used depends largely on two politicians, but the standpoint of the Constitution, contrary not only to the will of both Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and most of the people of Spain, but also most of Catalonia. Relying Catalan President Carles Puigdemont are firmly on radical separatism has made a huge contribution to the crisis. embedded in their positions, creating the prospects for trench Rajoy has paragraphs behind him, but that doesn’t justify warfare stalemate. him ignoring the demands of nearly a fifth of the nation he After five years of confrontation and months of aggresserves as prime minister. On the day of the referendum, finding sive agitation, Puigdemont fulfilled the expectations of a vocal himself in a tight corner politically, he decided to deploy batons minority and followed the referendum – considered illegal by and rubber bullets to defend the constitutional order. After 900 the country’s legal system – by declaring victory for the idea of people were wounded on the streets and two Catalan leaders Catalan independence. were arrested, nationalist sentiment only radicalised and led to Led by the idea of buying time or something else, he then new secessionists being recruited. postponed the formal act of secession for some later date, After relying on repression in a country with a developed expecting the central authorities to respond with readiness for democracy, Rajoy could declare victory for the Constitution, but dialogue. Rajoy sought a precise explanation of whether indeeverything looks like a Pyrrhic victory. The European Commission pendence had been declared or not. received the first lawsuits against the GovThe Spanish ernment of Spain, in which it is accused of With the Catalan leader having ignored two deadlines set to give up the secession government must not violating fundamental rights and freedoms, campaign, PM Rajoy remains decisive not miss the opportunity contained in Article 2 of the European Charter, during the course of the referendum. to allow the emergence of a Maginot Line to talk and, after a PM Rajoy’s contribution to the crisis is also to divide Spain. The central government is long time, hear what deemed as being enormous. activating a package of extraordinary measures in order to temporarily assume direct What now? For a start, Puigdemont would the Catalonians authority in Catalonia, with the intention of have to accept Spain’s legal system and try to have to say scheduling regional elections in January. change it through dialogue. Rajoy is relying The suspension of autonomy is an unprecedented move on the “nuclear option” of suspending Catalonian political autonomy, which diminishes the chances of a negotiated solution. in the history of Spanish democracy since the collapse of Former British PM David Cameron had a sense for political Franko’s dictatorship in 1975. Will Puigdemont respond by declaring independence, as announced in a letter to the Spanish delicacy when he promised Scots in 2014 that he would accept Prime Minister? the outcome of their independence referendum regardless of Both leaders could learn a lot from the “Catalan autumn” that the outcome. The Scottish people used their right, but did not threatens to divide the country. secede. Rajoy should remember that. The Spanish government Puigdemont is backed by the argument that the Constitumust not miss the opportunity to talk and, after a long time, tional Court of Spain in 2010 overturned most of the provisions hear what the Catalonians have to say. of the Statute of Autonomy and that Rahoy, as a sworn opThe EU doesn’t want to interfere, which is an understandponent of the independence of the region, turned a deaf ear to able stance: only the Spanish can find a stable and lasting solution to the crisis and ensure the continuation of life in peaceful calls for the constitutional crisis to be resolved by negotiations, cohabitation – as one or two states, as they agree. With words, thereby “undermining” Catalonia. and not sticks. ■ For the Catalan leader, however, this does not justify the ag6 |

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Forget

INTERVIEW

2025!

EXCLUSIVE

FRANCO FRATTINI SPECIAL ADVISOR TO THE PRESIDENT OF SERBIA

It is necessary for both Serbia and Montenegro to speed up their reform processes. Much has to be done, but how can you push the governments of these countries when you say that the target (to join) is 2025? This was quite an unfortunate statement, which I hope will soon be forgotten - Franco Frattini

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ormer European justice commissioner and Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini has for several years been helping the President of Serbia in the European integration process with his advice. At the recent Belgrade Security Forum, he reiterated that he is optimistic on the issue of Serbia’s entry into the EU, while in this interview for CorD he criticises the

BALKANS

KOSOVO

RUSSIA

The stability of the Balkans is in the interest of Europe even more than it is in the interest of Balkan citizens

Mr Thaçi has to be aware that Kosovo, together with Bosnia-Herzegovina, is the most behind schedule

Cooperation with Russia has never been one of the general criteria to be fulfilled by the candidates within the Copenhagen criteria

European Commission President’s statement that Serbia and Montenegro could become EU members in 2015.

■ At the Belgrade Security Forum you discussed the region, Serbia and the EU. Do you think Serbia has a European future?

- Yes, I think it is the only possible option. I don’t consider any alternative because Serbia is not only geographically and politically, but I would say systematically, part of Europe. I cannot imagine concluding the unification of Europe, which started in 2004 by bringing in countries like the Czech Republic or Hungary, without having Serbia in. So, my answer is yes!

tion of instability and insecurity caused by migratory flows and terrorism – all these elements need a political response badly, in terms of the stability of the Balkans. The stability of the Balkans is in the interest of Europe even more than it is in the interests of Balkan citizens. I can understand

■ When it comes to Serbia’s record of European integration, what do you think was done right and what do you see as obstacles on the road to full membership?

- The obstacles are of a political nature. There is a shared feeling in Europe called “European enlargement fatigue”. There is a feeling that, after the accession that citizens of the Balkans share the feeling I cannot imagine of Croatia, Europe needs to take of enlargement fatigue when they complain time before further enlargement. concluding the unification “We are waiting for Europe for so many years! of Europe, which started That’s enough”. It is understandable. But This is a political obstacle that could and should be overcome. they should also realise that we, EU member in 2004 by bringing My view is that there are more states, are even more interested now in having in countries like Czech positive than negative elements countries like Serbia, because it is a pillar of Republic or Hungary, to this. The positive aspects constability in the region. without having Serbia in sist of at least three main eleSecondly, the Western Balkans as a whole, ments. First, Europe is facing and Serbia in particular, represent a new, fragilities within the governments of the member states. promising market. We are slowly emerging from the crisis The incoming German government, for example, will be and new markets are needed. In Italy, industrial production boomed during July and August 2017, mainly because more fragile than the previous one, because it might include of export demand. In order to keep that level of export, Greens and Liberals whose views differ from those of the we need to find new markets. Serbia, which is vital in ofCDU on many topics. Furthermore, there is uncertainty fering opportunities for foreign investments, is one those regarding the outcome of Brexit, then there is the infiltraNOVEMBER

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new markets, along with the rest of the Western Balkans.

Finally, there is the element of having geostrategic meaning. We cannot imagine leaving this region as an enclave surrounded by EU states. Leaving the region as an enclave would be a time bomb, because it might become a place where all those who would want to plot against (the EU) would establish themselves. All those elements justify speeding up the accession process.

much more serious statement, because this one is like saying we are leaving everything for our great-grandchildren to decide. It is necessary that countries like Serbia or Montenegro speed up the process of reforms. Much has to be done.

But how can you push governments for change when you say that the target is 2025? This was quite an unfortunate statement, and I hope it will soon be forgotten.

■ Regarding Kosovo, Mr Thaçi said that EU failed keeping its promise to accelerate Kosovo’s European integrations after the establishment of the Special court for war crimes.

Now he seems disappointed?

- Mr Thaçi has to be aware that Kosovo, together with BosniaHerzegovina, is the most behind schedule. It is undeniable that Kosovo is facing a political crisis.

There were so many problems to get a majority to form this government, which now functions with just a slight majority. They have a number of domestic political problems, while there are still problems preventing the continuation of a dialogue with Serbia… So, before blaming the EU, they should do their homework. This is my honest piece of advice to Kosovo.

In the case of Serbia, I would like to see the conclusion of the negotiating process by 2020, maybe 2021.

But let’s avoid fixing ridiculous targets like 2025. Nobody knows how the world will be in 2025!

■ Jean Claude Juncker said that Serbia and Montenegro could be ready for EU membership by 2025. Do you think the goal is achievable in eight years?

- That statement is a ridiculous! I appreciate very much Mr Juncker; I’ve known him for a very long time and we have worked together, but as a president of the European Commission he should avoid such statements. From my experience, if there is political will, it is absolutely possible to open and close all the negotiating chapters in two or three years. I have already said that, in the case of Serbia, I would like to see the conclusion of the negotiating process by 2020, maybe 2021. But let’s avoid fixing the ridiculous target of 2025.

Nobody knows how the world will be in 2025! Rather, let’s say transparently that, for the moment, there is no political will to go ahead with enlargement. That would have been a 10 |

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■ However, that statement made the Albanian prime minister quite unhappy, given that Mr Junker singled out Serbia and Montenegro from the rest of the Western Balkans group.

- Well, Albania has to do more.

Albania is still lagging behind. A number of political crises in Albania affected its path to Europe.

I’ve was working on achieving the goal of Albania gaining candidate status when I was Italian foreign minister. I was also involved with Albania’s bid for NATO. But we have to recognise that more stable political leadership is needed in Albania. Though the government has to go ahead with more concrete results, Albania is absolutely essential to the process of the Western Balkans’ EU accession.

We cannot leave it behind.

■ How do you see the proposed “internal dialogue” in ■ Back in 2008, when Kosovo declared independence, western diplomats were saying it was a “unique Serbia on the future of Kosovo talks? It looks like that case”. After that, we have seen a “unique case” in some in Brussels have very high hopes about it. Do you Crimea, and now the referendum in Catalonia. After think that internal dialogue can change Serbian official all that, do you think it was more a policy that Kosovo’s self- declared precedent than a “unique case”? independence is unacceptable?

There will be a very - I don’t think so. The sentiment that important review exercise - It is very dangerous to multiply the of unique cases, because we independence of Kosovo is not legitibefore the end of the year, number mate is deeply rooted in Serbia. We have give the idea of double standards. Silence when a delegation from from the international community about been facing moments of frank exchanges the EU, for the first time Kosovo’s declaration of independence of opinions at the time my country recognised Kosovo in 2006 – during at the time, or even open support for comprising judges and the time of my predecessor as foreign it, and today’s almost unanimous “NO” prosecutors, will come minister, Massimo D’Alema. I don’t to Serbia to explore fight for the referendum in Catalonia, gives think people in Serbia will overcome the impression that there are double against organised crime standards. It is important to remain this stance. This is why it’s even more and corruption, freedom linked to international laws and princiimportant to launch an internal political dialogue and civil society dialogue, as of the judiciary and so on ples. The International Court of Justice came with an advisory opinion affirming decided by president Vučić. This is not general principles of trying to work for independence, but only depoliticising the issue of Kosovo, but de-dramatising the court did not take a position on Kosovo’s right to secede the issue of Kosovo. One of the merits of President Vučić is from Serbia and become independent. This was the ruling that he is ready to discuss Kosovo – it is no longer taboo.

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of the International Court of Justice and the case was solved only at the political level, not at the legal level. How was the problem solved? It was solved through the initiating of a political process in the UN. In Catalonia, the referendum was held and a few days later the leader of Catalonia called for a dialogue with no precondition. Why? Because he realised there was no right to secession. This is a clear principle and the same applies to the Crimea, because otherwise we couldn’t justify even thinking about sanctions against the

European Commission. I used to look at the press in Serbia, by translating it to Italian or English. The large majority of media are against the government, against the regime, against the president – similarly to what happens in Italy. And, of course, we have to fight to try to find the right balance. I don’t think that media should be in principle in favour of or against the government. They have to honestly report what happens or what doesn’t happen. It is in the interest of government to give full transparency on media freedom. I think President Vučić is pragmatic enough to understand that he is very strong; he has nothing to fear from opening completely to the media. It is something that Europe will continue to explore.

■ One of the future problems for Serbia on its EU path could be presented by its relationship with Russia. So far Belgrade has refused to implemented sanctions against Moscow, despite repeated calls from some European capitals to harmonise its foreign policy with that of the EU. How do you see future developments in that respect?

- Cooperation with Russia has never been one of the general criteria to be fulfilled by candidates Russian Federation. I am against sanctions I have to confess that my within the Copenhagen criteria.

These elements are completely in principle, but the basis of sanctions is that personal advice to then there was no right to secession of Crimea.

Prime Minister Vučić was outside the framework of negotiating chapters. I have to confess also to play an excellent that my personal advice to then ■ Despite the fact that praises are heard role in bridging the gap Prime Minister Vučić was also to from the EU on President Vučić’s acwith Russia, instead of count, both the European Commission play an excellent role in bridging and European Parliament often speak antagonising Russia. This the gap with Russia, instead pf about problems with the rule of law, kind of positive attitude is antagonising Russia. This kind of judiciary and media freedom in Serbia. positive attitude is proving to be proving to be right How do you see that? right, because everybody in the - There will be a very important review exworld is realising that, without ercise before the end of the year, when a delegation from cooperation with Russia, we cannot achieve anything in EU, for the first time comprising judges and prosecutors, fighting terrorism, in stabilising Libya, Syria and the Middle East. Everybody realises that Russia is a global player will come to Serbia, to explore the fight against organised with whom we have to cooperate. I think the sanctions will crime and corruption, freedom of the judiciary and so on... be overcome soon and the fact that Serbia was able to be a That will be a good opportunity for Serbia to present the bridge between Russia and the EU is another added value situation and demonstrate whether the country is on the for us. It’s no secret that from the very beginning Italy was right track when it comes to strengthening the rule of law, among the countries advocating for the restoring of coopaccording to Chapters 23 and 24. By the way, those were the eration with Moscow. ■ chapters that I was responsible for during my time with the 12 |

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INTERVIEW

Fragile

NORMALISATION H. E. ILIR BOÇKA

AMBASSADOR OF ALBANIA TO SERBIA

We are still in a phase where even a soccer match, or a stone pelted at a football stadium, can provoke an immediate emotional reaction in politics and the media, jeopardising all progress and achievements made throughout a long period of time. Our job is to expand and deepen communication, find common ground for cooperation and focus on mutual interests – Ilir Boçka that surpassed long-existing obstacles, and it will also be considered as an important moment for the creation of a new Rama-Vučić synergy, which continues to impact positively on relations between our two countries.

C

itizens of Albania and Serbia do not interact and communicate at the level they should, which is a consequence of inherited political stereotypes, says Albanian Ambassador Ilir Boçka in this interview for CorD Magazine. Not approaching the end of his term in Serbia, Ambassador Boçka still notes that things are changing in a positive direction, thanks in particular to the work of Aleksandar Vučić and Edi Rama. Out interlocutor considers that these two leaders have established a new standard in relations that implies cooperation and understanding despite “drastic differences” regarding opinions on the future of Kosovo.

■ Your Excellency, you have spent three years in Serbia already and recently noted that your term to date has been marked the most by the first visit of an Albanian prime minister to Belgrade in more than 60 years. How much did that visit impact on relations between Serbia and Albania?

- Thank you for the question. There has truly been a turning point in relations between the countries. Prime Minister Rama’s visit to Belgrade in November 2014 will be remembered as a significant moment of political decisiveness 14 |

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■ Prime Minister Edi Rama has also spoken about the normalisation of communication with Belgrade, or with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. However, surveys of the opinions of citizens suggest that, at this juncture, politicians understand each other the most. Citizens of Albania and Serbia are still unfamiliar with one another and rarely communicate. Could that be changed?

- Bilateral relations between our countries have progressed considerably during recent years. Nevertheless, we are still in the period of a “normalisation” process or, as an observer on Albania-Serbia relations would say, a “fragile normalisation”.

I use the word “fragile” because we are still in a phase where even a soccer match, or a stone pelted, or any other similar occurrence at any stadium, can provoke an immediate emotional reaction in politics and media, and can jeopardise all the progress and achievements made throughout a long period of time. Citizens of Albania and Serbia do not interact and communicate at the level they should, and this is not because of them, but rather a result of inherited political stereotypes. Our job is to expand and deepen communication, finding common ground for cooperation and focus on mutual interests, such as good neighbourly relations, trade, tourism, culture etc.

■ Serbia was also visited at the beginning of this year by Albanian President Bujar Nishani, making him the first president of your

CONSULTATION

INTERACTION

ALLIANCE

In consultation with the Serbian authorities, it was agreed that the visit would be realised, but it was not considered an official bilateral visit

Every day we see increased interaction among average citizens, tourists, and in merchandising, trade and services

Being a member of the most successful alliance since the end of World War II means being mindful in the way you act

Republic of Albania has excellent relations in every field. Serbia has a differcountry to visit Serbia after 50 years. Do you think that, apart from ent stance. It is a known fact that our positions differ drastically regarding Bujanovac and Preševo, he should also have visited Belgrade?

Kosovo, but this should not hinder us when it comes to expressing our views - That was not a bilateral visit. At the end of his mandate as president, Mr without exacerbating the current state of relations. This new standard, Nishani asked to make an unofficial visit to Preševo and Bujanovac to meet introduced in practise by the Rama-Vučić contacts, and greet Albanians living in those municipalities, was clearly seen during their bilateral meetings, whom he had met frequently during their visits to In consultation with the as well as the remarkable debate conducted last Albania. In consultation with the Serbian authoriyear at the Security Forum in Belgrade. ties, it was agreed that the visit would be realised, Serbian authorities, it but it was not considered an official bilateral visit. was agreed that the visit ■ Discussing the impact of the Kosovo issue Now, with the election of new presidents, would be realised, but it on relations between Albanian and Serbia, both in the Republic of Serbia and the Republic you recently described illustratively that the of Albania, we have all the possibilities to work was not considered an first thing that springs to mind when bilateral towards an official visit by either the Albanian or official bilateral visit relations are mentioned is ‘the drone’ (flown the Serbian president. into Belgrade’s Marakana Stadium during a 2014 football match between Serbia and Albania)! How would you ■ And to what extent do conflicting opinions on the issue of comment on the stance of the Croatian Judiciary that conditions Kosovo hinder the possibility of improving bilateral relations? have been met to extradite the drone’s operator, Ismail Morina, - We have different opinions on Kosovo. We see it as a independent country, to Serbia? Could this case have an impact on bilateral relations? recognised by more than half of UN member countries, and with whom the

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- Regarding the Morina case, it is still a pending process and I would like to refrain from expressing my opinion. I am thrilled to know which article of the Penal Code of the Republic of Serbia, or any other country, would be used to punish someone for flying a drone, even in the Partizan Stadium in Belgrade?

By the way, speaking about the Partizan stadium events during the match between the national football teams, the intolerably hostile atmosphere created in the stadium from the beginning and during the match, followed by the drone situation, are events I would like to forget.

■ When it comes to improving communication between Tirana and Belgrade, where do you think improvements have been most noticeable in the past few years?

- The greatest improvement has been that of the high-level communication in politics, which enables us to improve communication among both administrations, as they seek to cooperate regionally on their mutual path to European Union integration. Every day we see increased interaction among average citizens, tourists, and in merchandising, trade and services.

■ When it comes to cooperation within the Berlin Process, why does Albania oppose the Belgrade initiative for the headquarters of the regional transport union to be in Serbia?

- This must be one misperception. As far as I know, an initial proposal was made by the Serbian Ministry of Construction and Infrastructure in May 2015, which was not followed by a concrete discussion. In this case, there is no opposing position, but no follow-up situation either.

■ In an interview for Albanian Daily News, you also expressed reservations regarding the Serbians President’s idea of the former Yugoslav countries and Albania strengthening economic cooperation through the formation of a customs union. Why is that?

- Allow me point out that that there has been a lot of confusion regarding this topic. As far as I know, President Vučić has spoken about the “economic zone” of the region. Some sources have translated this idea as kind of a “Customs Union”, which led to different old phobias, or accusations of an attempt to bring back the time of the old Yugoslavia and so on. There is also a certain scepticism among other countries in the region about this. They manifest their concerns about the legitimate interests of manufacturers from their respective countries.

At the same time, it is important to mention here that the countries of our region have already signed the Agreement on CEFTA (Central European Free Trade Agreement), an agreement that focuses on the commercial harmony between member countries and includes steps to reduce customs barriers, optimise procedures for goods trading etc., in accordance with the models used by the EU.

■ Bilateral trade nevertheless remains at a low level with the total exchange standing at around 120 million Euro in 2016. And according to experts, Albania and Serbia are more rivals than partners when it comes to the regional economy. However, can you see areas where cooperation could be improved?

- The information that I have, from the Joint Serbian-Albanian Chamber of Commerce, is more promising and encouraging. In the period from January to July 2017, the trade exchange between ■ In your opinion, how realistic is impleAlbania and Serbia totalled €78 million, with mentation of the idea to connect Serbia growth of 34.9% compared to the same period and Albania via a motorway that would Every day we see last year. Goods imports from Serbia to Albania lead from Niš to Tirana and Durres/Drač? increased interaction increased by 32% during this period, compared - It is the most natural and shortest way of connectamong average citizens, ing Belgrade and Tirana, which also connects the to the same period last year; while Albanian exports during the same period were up 42% economy of Serbia with the most important see tourists, and in compared to the same period of the previous port of the Adriatic, which is the Port of Durres. merchandising, trade year. These are impressive indicators that clearly This road is only half the distance that Serbian show a new growth trend. Albania has a lot tourists travel to their traditional holiday destinaand services more to offer, such as raw minerals, fresh fruit tions in Greece, while the Albanian coastline is as and vegetables, besides very attractive holiday infrastructure along the beautiful and affordable for Serbian tourists. It is also the shortest distance beautiful and affordable beaches of the Adriatic and Ionian Riviera, which that will bring exports of the Albanian economy to Serbia and further on to are attracting increasing numbers of Serbian tourists. We have some of Europe. Therefore, I think the chances are high that this road will be built. the best offers in the region at present.

■ You were once in charge of NATO accession at the Albanian ■ What do you think of the Berlin Process and new platforms Ministry of Foreign Affairs. With this in mind do you consider NATO of connecting the countries of the Western Balkans? There are membership as being an obligatory precursor to EU membership? fears that this process could transform into a replacement for - By becoming a NATO member, Albania has benefited in many aspects.

EU membership. What do you think about that?

Being a member of the most successful alliance since the end of World - The Berlin Process is a very interesting cooperation platform among the War II means being mindful in the way you act. The feeling of being secure Western Balkan Countries. For the first time, countries from this region, goes hand in hand with great responsibility in domestic and foreign poliwhich have common aspirations like achieving EU membership, are playcies. Albania, as is emphasised by many political and security analysts of ing for the same team, producing positive synergy. By staying together this region, has become more responsible in the country’s foreign policy and working together on the assignments appointed to us on our path to towards its neighbours, and is also seen as a source of stability in the region.

European integration, we develop positive energy in moving forward as a Albania has proven to be a secure ally in the international cause of fightteam, so we can improve our chances of presenting our progress to Europe, ing terrorism. And the most important figure is that vast public opinion in but also our concerns and requests.

Albania has supported this development greatly. ■ 16 |

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BUSINESSES

GLOBAL DIARY

“I’m sure that we can both think very creatively and very positively about how to come to arrangements that suit our constituents on both sides of the Channel and benefit businesses not just in this city, but in Paris, Frankfurt and across the whole of Europe”. - Boris Johnson, British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs

PRINCE PHILIP MARRIES DANICA MARINKOVIĆ ▶ H.R.H Prince Philip Karađorđević and Miss Danica Marinković have been mar-

ried at Belgrade’s ‘Saborna’ Cathedral Church. The wedding service was conducted by His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Irinej. The maid of honour was H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, while the bestman was H.R.H. Prince Petar Karađorđević. The wedding was also attended by H.M. Queen Sofia of Spain, the groom’s mother, H.R.H. Princess Maria de Glória of Orléans-Braganza, Duchess of Segorbe, with her husband the Duke of Segorba.

The bride’s wedding gown was created by famous fashion designer Roksanda Ilinčić. After the wedding ceremony guests moved on to the White Palace for a reception and dinner. They were addressed by H.R.H. Crown Prince Alexander and Prince Philip. The wedding was attended by numerous members of European royal families: Prince Guillaume and Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg, Prince Amyn Aga Khan, Princess Jeet Nabha Khemka and Mr Nand Khemka, as well as numerous friends of the Karađorđević Royal Family and the Marinković family,various representatives of the diplomatic corps, prominent public figures from the spheres of culture, art, politics and members of the Crown Advisory Bodies.

SAUDI ROYAL PALACE COMES UNDER ATTACK

THE WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL MAN

▶ A gunman opened fire outside

the Al-Salam Palace on 7th October, killing two members of the Saudi Royal Guard. According to Saudi Arabian media, a security spokesman for the Interior Ministry confirmed that an attacker opened fire on the royal palace after exiting a vehicle.

Two royal guards were shot dead and three others were injured. The gunman was also shot dead.

The Interior Ministry has said that the attacker was carrying Kalashnikov rifles and Molotov

KING SALMAN BIN ABDULAZIZ AL SAUD

cocktails. The investigation into the circumstances surrounding the attack is ongoing.

King Salman was on a state visit to Russia at the time, holding bilateral talks in Moscow with President Vladimir Putin.

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SPANISH MONARCHY INCREASES ITS POPULARITY AT HOME ▶ During the last few months, the

Spanish monarchy has increased its popularity and support across Spain, peaking after the failure of Catalonia's independence referendum.

Their Majesties the King and Queen of Spain visited Mallorca recently, where they participated in a ceremony to appoint the new mayor of the city of Palma de Mallorca. There, the King and Queen were received by a much larger crow than usual.

Mallorca and the Balearic Islands are strongly associated with Catholic culture, and the people of the islands speak mainly Catalan. In recent weeks, Spanish royalists and monarchists have become more visible throughout Spain, as a result of the Catalonia referendum. Several pro-Spain demonstrations have been organised – even in Catalonia, where people have flown Spanish flags and carried pictures of the King.

▶ American presidents have a habit of describing their Chinese counterparts in terms of awe. A fawning Richard Nixon said to Mao Zedong that the chairman’s writings had “changed the world”.

To Jimmy Carter, Deng Xiaoping was a string of flattering adjectives: “smart, tough, intelligent, frank, courageous, personable, self-assured, friendly”.

Bill Clinton described China’s then president, Jiang Zemin, as a “visionary” and “a man of extraordinary intellect”.

Donald Trump is no less wowed. The Washington Post quotes him as saying that China’s current leader, Xi Jinping, is “probably the most powerful” leader China has had in a century.

Source: The Economist

CATALONIA HAS 'WON RIGHT TO STATEHOOD' ▶ Spain’s complicated relationship with the region of Catalonia is head-

ed for the unknown.

After violence by Spanish police, a declaration of independence by Catalonia’s regional government seems more likely than ever before.

On 9th October the government in Madrid held talks with Spanish parties to discuss a response to the biggest political crisis this country has seen in decades. According to Catalonia’s government, more than two million people voted in the referendum. Officials said that 90% of votes cast were for independence, but that an estimated 770,000 votes were lost as a result of 400 polling stations being raided by Spanish police.

More than 40 trade unions and Catalan associations called a regionwide strike due to “the grave violation of rights and freedoms”.

Catalan medical officials said that 844 people had been hurt in clashes, including 33 police officers. The majority had minor injuries or had suffered from anxiety attacks.

PAYMENT

“We Europeans have to be grateful for so many things Britain has brought to Europe. During the war, before the war, after the war. Everywhere and every time. But now they have to pay.” - Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission

SEBASTIAN KURZ TO FORM AUSTRIAN GOVERNMENT ▶ Austrian President Alexander van der Bellen officially asked Se-

bastian Kurz to form a new government on 20th October, less than a week after Kurz’s People’s Party (ÖVP) came first in a general election.

Van der Bellen invited Kurz to visit him and asked him to put together a coalition.

Kurz accepted the president’s offer and said he was aware of the “great responsibility” that the job brought with it. Kurz, who has served to date as the country’s foreign minister, Tweeted: “I accept this offer with determination and gratitude toward the voters.”

He added that he was going to talk to all parties in the parliament, and added that he “might even start today”.

To form his coalition, only two of Austria’s parliamentary parties, the Social Democrats (SPO) and FPO, have enough seats to give Kurz a majority if they go into coalition with the OVP.

SERBIA SEAL 2018 WORLD CUP SPOT ▶ Serbia qualified for the 2018 World Cup after a 74th-minute goal by substitute Aleksandar Prijović gave the country a 1-0 home win over Georgia and enabled Serbia to finish top of European Group D, with 21 points from 10 games.

It is the second time Serbia has reached the finals as an independent nation, having been knocked out in the group stages of the 2010 tournament in South Africa and

KIM YO-JONG BECOMES A MEMBER OF POLITBURO ▶ North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un

has promoted his younger sister to a senior ruling party post, state media said recently, praising the country’s nuclear weapons programme which has sparked international alarm.

Kim Yo-Jong becomes an alternate member of the party’s powerthen missing the next three major soccer tournaments.

ful politburo, the decision-making body presided over by her brother, the official KCNA news agency said.

The promotion was announced along with those of dozens of other top officials at a party meeting led

by Kim Jong Un. His sister, in her late 20s, has frequently been seen accompanying her brother on his “field guidance trips” and other events and is known to have been involved in the party’s propaganda operations.

FAROE ISLANDS LAUNCH LIVE TRANSLATION SERVICE ▶ The Faroe Islands have started their own online translation service in a bid to have their native Germanic language, Faroese, featured on Google Translate.

The Faroe Islands Translate service has been set up by the Visit Faroes tourism organisation, which - instead of providing instant machine translation - passes your request onto a volunteer, who then provides a live or pre-recorded video translation.

Even Prime Minister and former footballer Aksel Vilhelmsson Johannesen is helping out, offering a welcome to visitors in Faroese.

PRIME MINISTER AKSEL VILHELMSSON JOHANNESEN

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FOCUS

Digitisation - Equal Chances

FOR ALL CITIZENS

Enabling every citizen to access government information and services via their mobile phones, anytime and anywhere, would save significant time and money

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he role of governments is to ensure an appropriate implementation environment for the efficient digital transformation of society, which is why the Serbian government is striving to establish sustainable cooperation.

The Serbian government passed a decree in July on the establishment of the Office for Information Technology and Electronic Governance. The task of this Office will be to consolidate state IT resources, ensure the connectivity of various information systems and provide strong support and the basis for the development of Serbia’s e-governance.

“Digitisation must be a continuous and comprehensive process that will encompass different spheres of society. It will change our lives fundamentally. My goal is for citizens and businesses to be at 20 |

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the centre of electronic administration, to no longer be couriers of the state, but for them to become their service. This is a key condition that will enable faster growth of the competitiveness of our economy and more innovations, a different relationship between the state and its citizens,” said Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić. ■ For this issue of CorD, we asked our interlocutors to answer the following question: Prime Minister Ana Brnabić has included digitisation and the introduction of e-government among the fundamental priorities of the Government of Serbia. How would you evaluate the market environment for the realisation of this complex process and, in your opinion, what are the priorities of implementation?

Digitisation – Among The Priorities Of The Serbian Government Digital transformation is a fundamental change in all spheres of human society, prompted DR MIHAILO JOVANOVIĆ by the use of information DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE technologies. In a narrow sense, FOR IT AND E-GOVERNMENT digital transformation refers to a way of doing business “without the use of paper”, which can be applied in the economy, but also in different segments of society, such as public rights, entrepreneurship, education, medicine, mass communication and agriculture. However, as of recently, the digital transformation has a much broader meaning in the Republic of Serbia

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ith digitisation having been set as one of the priorities of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, digital transformation has begun to penetrate all pores of our society, leading to fundamental changes reflected in the emergence of an efficient, economical and transparent public administration. Thanks to the great commitment of Prime Minister Ana Brnabić to the comprehensive approach and the philosophy of digitisation, previous individual, ad hoc and often unsuccessful attempts to computerise certain segments of society have transformed into a systematic approach to changes, with quick and tangible results, to the satisfaction of Serbian citizens and the country’s economy.

By establishing an efficient and modern e-government system, which is implemented authoritatively and professionally by the newly established Office for Information Technology and Electronic Administration, the Government of Serbia is showing its deep commitment to education reforms, reflected in the introduction of IT and computer studies as a compulsory subject from the fifth year of primary school, increasing enrolment in IT courses at universities in Serbia by 20 per cent and successfully conducting re-

By establishing an efficient and modern e-government system, which is implemented authoritatively and professionally by the newly established Office for Information Technology and Electronic Administration, the Government of Serbia is showing its deep commitment to education reforms training programmes, as well as incentives for IT entrepreneurship through changes in legislation and enabling better conditions for start-up companies to launches their businesses, represent the evident results of the Government and Prime Minister Brnabić In the e-government domain, the Office is dedicated to implementing “tangible” projects that ease the life and business operations of the citizens

and business of Serbia on a daily basis: automatic verification of health booklets for 150,000 employers in Serbia means savings of about 500,000 hours a year, or around 1.5 million euros; the inclusion of increasingly more municipalities and cities in the eZUP information system for health insurance ensures that citizens no longer have to be couriers carrying documents from counter to counter, rather that is done for them by the state, while all banks, payment institutions and electronic money institutions are currently being invited to secure all types electronic payment options to the e-Government portal, thereby fully enabling the use of all e-government services via the internet, without the need to visit the counter of a bank or post office.

The Office is also dedicated to infrastructure projects, perhaps not directly visible to citizens and the economy, but essential to establish control and security of state data. Approaching its finalisation is the process of forming a national data centre, which will house the data, equipment and information systems of the state administration, but has also started to develop feasibility studies that should show the justification for constructing the state centre for ensuring the continuity of operations. Finally, with amendments to the Law on Information Security, the Office also became a CERT of state bodies.

The Office also promoted the National Open Data Portal, as modern infrastructure for establishing the data of state administration and local governments, public and local enterprises. At the very beginning, the portal included data from 10 organisations that were organised in about 50 sets of data, with almost 140 different files.

The expectations are that this first state interactive portal will gather hundreds of organisations, thousands of files and dozens of users in the next two years. The real value of this portal are in cases of its use – value added by raw data, value created by start-up companies and other IT organisations by processing data through various application solutions and making new profits on the domestic market. The National Open Data Portal is directly linked to the Open Data Portal of the European Union. This project is being implemented in cooperation with the UN Development Programme in the Republic of Serbia (UNDP) and thanks to donations from the World Bank, the UK Government’s Good Governance Fund (GGF) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).

Huge Potential For Further Growth

JELENA JOVANOVIĆ

SECRETARY OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION SOCIETY OF THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY OF SERBIA

Advanced technologies are currently the driving force behind what we call the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which has the potential to transform all industries and simultaneously impact on the social, economic and living environment

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he digital transformation of the business and social environment represents enormous growth potential. According to EU analysts, there are three dimensions of change that are significant to digital transformation: technological changes, social changes and changes to business models.

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The most important benefits that digital transformation will bring to Serbian companies include merely accessing customers via the internet creates enormous growth opportunities. Statistics show that SMEs which have actively approached consumers via the internet recorded a 22 per cent greater increase in sales over three years than those companies which did not use this channel to market their products and services. Those companies that do not utilise digital technologies fully will miss out on the chance to expand their operations and create new jobs, thereby marginalising themselves.

Fully accepting the Fourth Industrial Revolution and accelerating the digital transformation process across all sectors of industry has today become a priority It is estimated that (if all EU countries – or at least the first 15 members – achieve U.S. performance levels) as many as 400,000 to 1.5 million new jobs could be created thanks to the use of the possibilities offered by technology today. New technologies increase the development potential of traditional industry, primarily through increases in productivity. As much as 75 per cent of added value is created thanks to the use of digital technologies in everyday operations. It is estimated that the digital economy, which now accounts for eight per cent of GDP in the G20 countries, is approaching a value of €3.2 trillion (as the value of products and services raised to the digital level).

Priorities: • The digital transformation of education • The digital transformation of public services • Cooperation between the private and public sectors in this process Fully accepting the Fourth Industrial Revolution and accelerating the digital transformation process across all sectors of industry has today become a priority.

We’re Creating An Eco-System For E-Services

VIOLETA JOVANOVIĆ

NALED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

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The Government of Serbia, with the support of NALED, has defined preconditions for establishing an eco-system for e-services. In addition to coordinating bodies and amending regulations, it is necessary to educate on and promote digital methods of working among officials, in order for them to feel comfortable and to accept simplification. Demonstrating that this is certainly possible is the introduction of e-permits for construction, which has brought about a revolution in the work of the administration in just a year. The goal is for offices, couriers, file covers and other classic forms of communication with the state to disappear and be replaced by e-communications among bodies and portals for users that are as simple as Facebook.

The experience of other countries shows that digitisation brings savings of up to 75 per cent in the public sector, in terms of the time and costs required for implementing procedures.

From the perspective of citizens and the economy, the priority in the development of e-services is introducing electronic payment methods for all public services and easing “presentation” methods of state portals, which as yet do not offer qualified e-signatures. From the perspective of the state, the priority is for all bodies to have electronic data at their disposal, which are automatically exchanged, and for procedures to flow without a paper trail, which has long been a legal obligation – though technical conditions have yet to be met.

It is evident that demand for digitisation exists on the market – it is only important for us to arrive faster from point A to point B, and to work to establish general trust in the digital world.

Enable A Digital Identity For All Citizens

When it comes to digital operations, there are already fully digitised market segments. The best example is e-banking, which is available to the largest number of users, free of charge, faster and more convenient than conventional service at counters

he economy strives to rationalise business and additionally approach clients. Marketing is increasingly relocating to social networks, with companies investing a lot in IT – for improving internal processes, communicating with other companies and collecting market data.

What needs to be further developed is communication of citizens and the economy with the state in the digital format, as well as the digitisation of the public administration itself, in order to provide high-quality services with a view to rationalising the economy.

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In addition to coordinating bodies and amending regulations, it is necessary to educate on and promote digital methods of working among officials, in order for them to feel comfortable and to accept simplification

JASMINA VIGNJEVIĆ

PRESIDENT OF THE E-COMMERCE COMMITTEE OF THE FOREIGN INVESTORS COUNCIL

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We are pleased that digitisation is recognised as one of the key priorities of the Government, because this is about a global process that will change today’s economy and the habits of the population to a great extent

n this context, we see e-government as digitisation in the domain of public administration, which is one of the most important prerequisites for a modern and efficient society.

The economy is very interested in this topic. Alongside IT companies and telecommunications operators, increasingly more banks, retail chains and

other firms from spheres of traditional business are interested in transforming and digitising business processes and communication with clients.

We notice that the Government is focused on digitisation and the development of e-government. It is also essential to establish a comprehensive ecosystem that supports digitisation at all levels, including regulatory bodies from different areas. For example, in the domain of electronic payments, one gets the impression that there is no openness to new business models beyond traditional banking services.

When it comes to priorities, one of the key elements in the coming period is to enable all citizens to have a digital identity based on different levels of identification and the devices that citizens already own, such as a mobile

It is important to establish electronic registers as soon as possible and network state bodies in such a way that they can automatically exchange data phone. In this respect, I would like to praise the Law on Electronic Documents, Electronic Identification and Trusted Services in Electronic Commerce, which is currently in the procedure of the National Assembly. With its adoption, the foundations will be established for more flexible solutions in the domain of digital identity and the digitisation of paper documents into electronic form.

In the field of e-government, it is important to establish electronic registers as soon as possible and network state bodies in such a way that they can automatically exchange data. This will create space for the improvement of existing services for citizens and the introduction of news. Considering the 128% penetration of mobile phones, in which the share of smartphones is increasing constantly, it is also necessary to enable electronic services on mobile platforms - mGovernment.

Improving Services To Citizens

DR SLOBODAN TABAKOVIĆ

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NOVI SAD’S FACULTY OF TECHNICAL SCIENCES

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The introduction of digitisation to state institutions in the form of e-government, as well as the expansion of the implementation of electronic services in health and education, represents a logical and necessary step for the Government of Serbia with the objective of improving the functioning of services provided to citizens by the state administration

n this way it is possible to achieve the standards that have been present in surrounding countries for some time. Digitisation in social and economic activities involves the integration of already existing information resources that are present, to a lesser or greater extent, in all spheres of society, as well as creating the basis for the development of new ones, the application of which will be a pillar of support for the further development of state services. With this, the time and costs that individuals and businesses

The need to educate all participants in these processes, the need for a systemic approach to archiving enormous amounts of information, ensuring their safety, as well as developing appropriate legislation, must be the priorities in the first stages of the realisation of our government’s activities are exposed to in their daily activities will be reduced significantly.

As is the case with all milestones in the development of society, especially when they involve change in system functioning, sometimes “sluggish” state institutions, widespread application of information systems and their connection at all levels, implies confronting a large number of obstacles.

These primarily include: the necessity to educate all participants in these processes (both implementers and beneficiaries), the need for a systemic approach to archiving enormous amounts of information, ensuring their safety (and thus the safety of members of society), as well as developing appropriate legislation. This must simultaneously be among the priorities in the first stages of the realisation of our government’s activities in introducing digitisation to all sectors of its direct activities.

Considering the advantages that systematically designed and planned digitisation brings to the populations of countries where it has already been implemented, I sincerely hope that the initiative of the Government of Serbia will be realised with the fewest possible problems.

Regulatory Framework - As Soon As Possible Digitisation of all areas of modern business is inevitable, and digitisation in the domain of e-Government can bring multiple benefits to our country and citizens. In an environment in which ALEKSANDAR BLAGOJEVIĆ DIGITAL BRANCH AND SUPPORT operating businesses are exposed MANAGER, SOCIETE GENERALE SRBIJA to tremendous competition, it is necessary to ensure that every individual process in producing a product or service is optimised in order to ensure competitiveness

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ompetition is no longer represented by participants on the local market – as direct competitors, we have big global players, but also small, new start-ups that can use the internet to approach each individual customer in the country and offer their services or products. In such an environment, a public administration system based on physical counters and hard copy paper documents creates additional costs for the country itself, but also for the state which must allocate significant resources to maintain it (and those costs spill over the onto price of products and services produNOVEMBER

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Prerequisite For Economic Survival

ced in the country). On the other side, businesses and citizens must use their own resources to perform tasks related to public administration (go to the counter, store/use paper documentation etc.). As such, it is of great importance to have an effective e-Government system.

When it comes to priorities, the most important is the regulatory framework that should be adopted as soon as possible (particularly laws on

We need to invest a lot in education at all levels – both citizens and government officials – so that the new e-Government system is used on a large scale electronic document, electronic authentication and trusted services in electronic operations, as well as the law on e-Government), along with bylaws that will provide a detailed definition of implementation in practise. It is only after that that usage of different means of electronic authentication and signing will overcome technical complex solutions based on certificates that are, unfortunately, too complex for a great number of citizens to use. In parallel with this, we need to enable systems for electronic payments on e-Government portals, but also develop new services that citizens will be able to use remotely. It is necessary to change e-Government from being a “burden” and additional cost to becoming a service for citizens that will help them in whatever they are doing, thus enabling them to produce cheaper products and services and be more competitive on the domestic market, but also – much more importantly – on the global market.

We also need to invest a lot in education at all levels – both citizens and government officials – so that the new e-Government system is used on a large scale.

Full Support For The Digitisation Of State Administration

JOVANA LUKIĆ

COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR AT SBB SERBIA BROADBAND

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SBB Serbia BroadBand provides full support to projects aimed at modernising the administration, and has been contributing to this initiative for years by building a network that should help make progress on digitisation

e fully support the initiative to digitise the state administration.

Improvements in this area will bring great benefits to all citizens of Serbia, through savings in time, reduced administration, the efficient resolving of problem, transparency and many other advantages brought by the digital system.

What’s more, SBB has for years been building a network that should help these kinds of projects, with the ubiquitous use of the internet, digital networks and new technologies by the population. Modernisation projects like this one will always have our full support.

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DEJAN RANĐIĆ

FOUNDER AND GENERAL MANAGER OF ICT HUB

Companies and individuals have numerous modern solutions, technologies and innovations available to them that provide numerous opportunities to improve working processes, but also establish completely new models of operating

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lthough Digitisation and the Digital Transformation are processes that are very widely discussed, and which will be among the main topics in the period ahead, they actually represent a topic-area-process that is not yet fully defined. Viewed in general terms, we are talking about the use of modern “digital” solutions aimed at improving processes and operations, in the broadest sense of the word. Twenty years ago, the beginning of mass use of the internet created the possibility for new forms of business, while today those same opportunities are offered by Cloud, the Block chain, Chat Bot etc. Nothing more than tools in and of themselves, they have huge potential that enables you to transform your services, market products and access world markets extremely quickly.

The climate for change on the market is never “favourable”, but we must start with this process as soon as possible, primarily in order for that to be an additional incentive for the domestic economy to start its own “digital revolution” When it comes to Serbia, according to some parameters we are completely “in the game”, and even very advanced compared to the world average.

Nevertheless, in some areas we are a long way behind the rest of the world, especially when it comes to the participation of modern technologies and innovations in creating a business model in domestic SMEs, where we are still in the last century. Today, in 2017, the use of innovations and digital technologies in operations is no longer an opportunity to gain an advantage on the market, but rather a necessity and requirement for survival.

If we view the state apparatus that the Serbian Government operates in as a “business system” that provides citizens and companies with services for which we pay a price (taxes, fees, charges etc.), the introduction of e-government is a logical and necessary step in modernising those services and making them more acceptable for today’s business conditions.

The climate for change on the market is never “favourable”, but we must start with this process as soon as possible, primarily in order for that to be an additional incentive for the domestic economy to start its own “digital revolution”. Otherwise, the competitiveness of our SMEs will remain at a low level, and thus also their chances for further development and market survival.

By MILENA STERIO

OPINION

Catalan Independence Referendum And

THE KOSOVO “PRECEDENT”

On 1st October, the people of Catalonia voted to separate from Spain in an independence referendum that has been declared illegal by Spain. According to numerous news reports, Spanish police and government forces attempted to interfere with the referendum and engaged in tactics that some have branded repressive and “shocking”

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he European Union, however, failed to condemn the Spanish government and instead insisted that the referendum was an internal matter for Spain and that the Spanish Constitution and rule of law should be respected.

The Catalan referendum brings back memories of the Kosovo situation in 2008. Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has criticised the EU for its “hypocrisy” because of the EU’s seemingly conflicting stances vis-à-vis the recent Catalan independence vote and Kosovo’s secession from Serbia in 2008. After meeting with the Greek President, Vučić asked: “How come you’ve [EU] declared Kosovo’s secession from Serbia legal, violating international law and the foundations of European law?” In other words, the EU essentially “blessed” the Kosovar secession from Serbia, while in this instance it has supported Spain and failed to

recognise the Catalan “right” to an independence referendum. Are the situations in Catalonia and Kosovo drastically different? What does international law say about the matter of secessions?

First, the situations in Kosovo and Catalonia may be different because their respective mother states are different. Kosovo had been part of Serbia, which, while under the rule of Slobodan Milošević, engaged in brutal tactics to suppress an independence-seeking rebellion brewing within Kosovo. Thus, the international community got involved – through the 1999 NATO-led air strikes and subsequently through various NATO and EU-led administrative, security-based and civil missions. When Kosovo declared independence in 2008, United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described Kosovo as “sui generis,” in part because of the international community’s strong involvement in this region. The Catalans had expressed NOVEMBER

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their desire for independence and had held other independence referenda (leading to remedial secession) has never been invoked in this type of in the past, but the Spanish government never engaged in human rights context before. Thus, international law, at best, begrudgingly tolerates violations in Catalonia and the situation has remained peaceful. The secession in extreme and rare instances, where the mother state is not international community itself has never been involved in Catalonia and a democratic nation which respects human rights. The Catalan do not it may be that, factually, Catalonia remains an internal matter. If Catalonia have a sound international law-based argument, and despite Spanish is an internal matter, then, like in Scotland and in Quebec, any potential interference with the Catalan independence referendum, the Catalan secession would need to be worked out through peaceful negotiations cannot claim a particular legal right to secede. and a constitutional framework. If Spain says no, then Catalonia would Finally, how does one reconcile the seemingly different results (as of not have the right to unilaterally secede. This is the factual argument, now) in Kosovo, Catalonia, and Kurdistan? Kosovo unilaterally declared not based in international law. This leads me to my second point – what independence from Serbia in 2008 and within a short period of time, does international law it was recognised as a have to say about the new state by many in Catalan secession? the international community (although not International law

by Spain – understandis silent on secession. ably so). Interestingly, Almost all international law scholars would almost no states among agree that international those supporting Kosovo law does not entail a advanced international “right” to secession, and law-based rationales for that secession may be the Kosovar secession tolerated in internafrom Serbia; instead, tional law in rare insuch states continued stances, like in Kosovo, to distinguish Kosovo or in Bangladesh. We as a unique situation, sui know from the 2010 generis, a special case International Court of which should somehow Justice Advisory Opinnot create any type of ion on Kosovo that inprecedent in internaternational law does not tional law. Catalonia and specifically prohibit uniKurdistan have held inlateral declarations of dependence referenda independence, and that which have not been international law only condemns declarations supported by almost any states in the internaIt appears that the tional community. Many states have referred to of independence procured through an illegal international community these referenda as illegal because contrary to the use of force. We also know that international may accept such a role of wishes of their respective mother states, or as law contains the right to self-determination, internal matters, or as not representative of any but, as I recently wrote in the context of the domestic law in Kurdish independence referendum, it is unclear cases where the mother particular “rights” in international law. Accepting the argument that international law is silent whether the right to self-determination ever state is a democratic on secession and does not regulate secession, applies in the non-decolonisation paradigm, and nation or an emerging it would appear that secessions are matters of whether this right can ever lead to remedial domestic law. If this is the case, it appears that the secession. It is unclear that the Catalan can democracy whose international community may accept such a role invoke the right to self-determination in order sovereignty is deemed of domestic law in cases where the mother state to justify secession from Spain – the right to worth-while. This is a democratic nation or an emerging democracy self-determination in this instance may entail manner of reconciling whose sovereignty is deemed worth-while. This simply a right to autonomy within the larger manner of reconciling different referendum Spanish state. The Kurds may have a much different referendum results is not based in international law, but it stronger self-determination-remedial secession results is not based in rather reflects geo-political interests of other argument than the Catalan, as the former may international law, but powerful states. ■ be able to demonstrate much more easily that it rather reflects their mother state is not representative of their The author is a leading expert on interests. Spain is a democratic nation which geo-political interests international law and associate dean for respects human rights, and the international academic enrichment at Cleveland State of other powerful states University’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law law-recognised right to self-determination 26 |

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NOVEMBER BUSINESS LEADERS’ MEETING POINT

SAMANTHA BROSSETTE High School & College/University Counsellor at the International School of Belgrade

DR NEBOJŠA STANKOVIĆ Attorney

School As An Inspiration

Human To Human

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VUK RADOVIĆ Vice Chairman of the Board and General Manager at EKO Serbia

VLADICA STANKOVIĆ Director at GRUNER SERBIAN D.O.O. (Ltd.), Vlasotince

Creators Of Trends

German Ingenuity And Domestic Dedication

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MILOŠ VUJNOVIĆ Ph.D., President of the Executive Board of JUBMES banka AD (JSC) Beograd

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Negative Trends Halted NOVEMBER

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CORPORATE

SAMANTHA BROSSETTE, HIGH SCHOOL & COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY COUNSELLOR AT THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF BELGRADE

School As An Inspiration “The most important advice I can offer students is to begin the process of university preparation early,” says ISB High School & College/University Counsellor Samantha Brossette

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hen the name of the International School of Belgrade is mentioned to ordinary citizens, it sounds to them like something akin to Oxford in the UK – equally as “far away” and equally “unreachable”. However, the reality is different. This school, which is attended by children aged from three to 18, is traditionally more “Belgrade” and “Serbian” than many local schools, while by reputation it is “global”.

Founded back in 1948, with the aim of providing a high-quality education to children of the international community in Belgrade, ISB creates an inspiring, student-centred and individualised approach to the learning process.

In this interview for CorD, responding to the question of how ISB copes with so many different cultures, religions, ways of thinking, and lifestyles – considering that pupils come from the most diverse parts of the world – Samantha Brossette answers simply My first inclination is to applaud the parents of our students.

- When they enrol their children here, they fully understand and embrace the concept that not only are their children spending every day with students from multiple nationalities and speaking 28 |

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multiple languages, but they are also embracing the idea of their children being exposed to and taught from intercultural perspectives and educational philosophies that could indeed differ greatly from their own. Likewise, as teachers, support staff and administrators, we intentionally chose a career which provides this amazing opportunity for us to live in a foreign country and also engage with people every day who encourage us and challenge us to consider differing perspectives, as well as providing us with the ability to see the world through different lenses. We actively teach and encourage an ethos of curiosity, acceptance and celebration of other nationalities, which is facilitated both within the classroom

There is no question that our students are very fortunate, but – like all school-aged children around the world – they are growing and learning to become responsible, kind and hardworking people and without, and is also demonstrated through our International Day here at ISB. In our increasingly global society, this exposure to, and conceptualisation of, differing ideologies – be they regarding education, religion, political thought and so on – gives our students a brilliant advantage in terms of being and becoming global citizens. Additionally, most of our students opt to attend tertiary education in a foreign country; therefore, our international environment prepares them wonderfully for this experience.

■ On the other hand, as we have already mentioned, the perception of ISB is such that it appears to be a haven for children and teenagers who have no problems in life whatsoever. What specific problems do your pupils face; what problems do they come to you with, as a psychologist, for help?

- While ISB is indeed a vibrant academic institution, it would of course be remiss to state that our students have no issues whatsoever. There is no question that our students are very fortunate, but – like all school-aged children around the world – they are growing and learning to become responsible, kind and hardworking people; none are exempt from “growing pains.”

Many of our students are what we call “third culture kids” meaning they are being raised in a culture outside their own; this can certainly present challenges at times. Likewise, many of our students frequently move, due to their parents’ employment; this process of adapting to a new environment, making new friends, packing up and doing it all over again can be very daunting for some children. In my many years working with children and having lived in a culture outside my own as well when I was a young person, I fully understand that the strong need to feel accepted and to “fit in” has a profound impact on our students. Perhaps surprisingly, anxiety is an increasingly problematic issue that children deal with. Research literature, as well as my own clinical experience, reveals that even though children may seem to be coping externally, there exist internal struggles which children need some support to get through. We, as parents, often forget that things which may seem small or insignificant from our perspec-

able; flexible in terms of adapting to the enormous changes we are witnessing globally?

- ISB is a comprehensive International Baccalaureate School, which means our school ■ Would you say that the ISB educahas adapted an internationally recognised ■ Considering that one of your fields of tion system and curriculum are adaptcurriculum that “offers highly respected expertise is also university enrolprogrammes of international educament counselling, what kind of tion which develop the intellectual, ISB is a comprehensive specific advice do children seek when personal emotional and social skills International discussing their further schooling needed to live, learn and work in a Baccalaureate School, which and what do you help them with sperapidly globalising world”. The procifically? Students have a myriad of means our school has adapted gramme begins with this philosophy questions regarding their future and an internationally-recognised in primary school and culminates higher education. with a rigorous university preparation curriculum that “offers highly - Our students have so many oppordiploma programme for years 11 and respected programmes of tunities available to them in terms of 12, in which pupils are able to choose where they wish to study, I believe international education which courses that are interesting to them, this to be their greatest source of but also will benefit them in terms develop the intellectual, questioning: which nations’ approach university admissions and future personal emotional and social of to university is the best fit for them educational and career goals. Perhaps skills needed to live, learn individually. Naturally, broaching the many of you have read at least one of topic of where to study evokes questhe multiple reports written regarding and work in a rapidly tions around scholarships, particularly Finland’s exquisite education system? globalising world” regarding U.S. universities, as they can I believe that ISB in many ways follows be extremely expensive. They are this trajectory, in terms of inquirycurious about what kinds of doors based, project learning practises. will be opened to them with regard Just this week our middle years’ to where and what they will study. programme director presented The most important advice I can a pilot initiative of inquiry-based offer students is to begin the learning in which students will process of university preparation create projects through which early. Typically, students begin they integrate several core building their university profile in subjects. This kind of hands-on grade 9 - considering participation approach to integrated learning in extracurricular activities, leaderoffers students a “real world” apship, volunteering and the like, and proach to critical thinking, synthesising and team effort – elements most certainly academic excellence. that will be required when they Administration of aptitude tests is one day enter the workplace. ■ additionally important, since the tive may be colossal from the perspective of a young person. This is merely one of the reasons why it is so very important to maintain close and communicative relationships with our children.

application of these provides them with knowledge about themselves, and possibilities for the future which they otherwise may not have known existed.

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LOCAL NEWS

VOW

“As long as Aleksandar Vučić is the supreme commander and president of the Republic of Serbia, and as long as I am the defence minister, Serbia will not be a member of NATO and will not be a member of any military alliance, just as it will never impose sanctions on the Russian Federation”— ALEKSANDAR VULIN, Serbian Defence Minister

DIRECT MEDIA ACADEMY

NELT

Consumers Spur Trends

€15 Million In Logistics Expansion

Over 500 marketing professionals attended the Direct Media Academy’s Belgrade presenta- DAVID MATTIN tion of the world’s leading marketing expert hub, Trendwatching. The five global trends in marketing for 2018 that were identified during this presentation include offering a service or product by using artificial intelligence; being present everywhere and at all times in completely new places and contexts; connecting young people with peers who share the same interests; companies making internal changes for the better (and talking about it!); and, finally, being different and unpredictable.

“Consumerbehaviourandexpectationsarechanging faster than ever. Watching trends allows you to see newly emerging consumer expectations before they hit your business, so that you can innovative in order to respond. In an environment of rapid change, you need to become your own trend watcher!” said David Mattin,TrendwatchingGlobalHeadofTrends&Insights.

Direct Media Academy (DMA) is a regional education programme that has, to date, been completed by more than 300 participants. This year’s DMA hosted a team of Trendwatching lecturers: David Mattin, Delia Dumitrescu Lead Innovation Architect and David Mattin, TrendWatching’s Global Head of Trends & Insights.

The Nelt Group is set to invest 15 million eurosintheregionalexpansionofitsintegrated logistics services next year.

Nelt, one of the most successful domestic business systems, marks two and a half decades of doing business in 2018. Throughout that time, it has recorded stable year-on-year growth,expandedtonewmarketsandacquired companies from the distribution and logistics segment. The 13 companies of the Nelt Group today employ almost 4,000 people on eight

markets in Southeast Europe and Africa. As a leader in the provision of the most up-to-date distributionandlogisticsservices,Neltrecorded steady growth again this year, generating total net revenue of €900 million.

“Investing in the education of employees, as well as the production and service capacities of all companies in our system, and improving cooperation with the local community, will all remain in our focus in the future,” said Nelt Group CEO Miloš Jelić.

MILOŠ JELIĆ

GRUNER

New Production Facility In Vlasotince German company Gruner, which operates in Serbia, invested €3.5 million into a new production facility covering 3000m2 in its factory in Vlasotince, which will provide for the creation of 100 new jobs.

The new plant employs 50 workers, while the total number of workers currently engaged at the factory amounts to 480; the plan is to employ another 50 workers in the new facility by 2020.

Furthermore, a workshop was opened for training students specialising in industrial mechanics at the Technical School in Vlasotince. The new production facility was opened by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, while the floor was also taken by the General Manager of Gruner, Eduard Schpreizer, President of the Municipality of Vlasotince, Zoran Todorović, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Serbia, Axel Dittmann, and Economy Minister Goran Knežević.

Company Gruner Serbian d.o.o., which has been operating in Serbia for the past 10 years, is the daughter company of German company Gruner A.G., which deals in the production of relays, solenoids and actuators, which are mostly Source: JugPress applied in the automotive industry.

FOREIGN INVESTORS COUNCIL SERBIA

DIREKTNA BANKA

FIC Delegation Visits EU Institutions In Brussels

Piraeus Bank To Sell Its Serbian Operations To Direktna Banka

With a series of meetings with representatives of the European Commission held in Brussels on 5th and 6th October, the delegation of the Foreign Investment Council (FIC) continued its engagement in Serbia’s European integra- ANA FIRTEL, FIC Executive Director (left) tion process.

The main aim of the visit was to send clear messages to the European Commission to provide and expand its support to Serbia, both through accession negotiations and assistance instruments.

During this fourth annual visit to Brussels, the FIC presented its position on the business climate in Serbia and recommendations for its improvement, with a special focus on activities that the European Commission could implement in order to help reform initiatives. As a good step, the FIC highlighted the formation of the Working Group for the implementation of White Book recommendations that was formed jointly by the FIC and the Government of Serbia, and expressed expectations that it would contribute to accelerating reforms. The Council confirmed its willingness to cooperate with both the European Commission and the Government of Serbia in order to bring the Serbian market closer to the rules and practices of the EU - which will contribute to the business community, citizens and the state, and will certainly raise the entire business and investment climate to a higher level. And this is a key aim of the Foreign Investors Council.

Greece’s Piraeus Bank said it has agreed to sell its Serbian banking and leasing operations to Serbian lender Direktna Banka for a cash consideration of around €60 million. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2018, following the receipt of all necessary approvals.

“In accordance with our Restructuring Plan commitments to reduce our international presence, we are announcing the sale of our Serbian operations to Direktna Banka after a highly competitive sale process,” said Christos Megalou , CEO of Piraeus Group. The transaction is conditional upon the usual corporate and regulatory approvals.

In July, Direktna Banka Kragujevac completed the integration of Findomestic Banka Beograd, which it acquired from BNP Paribas in February.

Direktna Banka was established after Serbian entrepreneurs Andrej Jovanovic and Bojan Milovanovic acquired KBM banka from Slovenian Nova Kreditna Banka Maribor (NKBM) in February 2016.

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STRENGTH

BIOGEST

“No country in the region has the strength of Serbia, none has more than one MiG-29 - and we have ten. We measure ourselves against much more modern countries that are much richer”— ALEKSANDAR VUČIĆ, President of Serbia

Biogest Opens Production Facility In Novi Sad After England, Scotland, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Italy and France, Austrian company Biogest has opened a Serbian branch in Novi Sad. Biogest is an international manufacturer of biogas OPENING CEREMONY plants in Europe and covers the entire chain of biogas exploitation. Opening the office and branch in Serbia, Martin Schlerka, CEO and managing partner, pointed out that, in addition to mutual cooperation, this company’s goal is to hire subcontractors in the country in which they operate and to further develop their projects.

“We hope that these projects will encourage others to become involved in the exploitation of biomass. Over 130 projects that we have implemented on the territory of a large part of the European Union and beyond its borders speak in favour of the fact that biomass is the future in terms of RES “, said the director of Biogest.

Placements & postings appointments@aim.rs

▪ H.E. ANDERS

CHRISTIAN HOUGÅRD New Danish Ambassador to Serbia

H.E. Anders Hougård was born in 1954 in Jutland, Western Denmark. After completing his military service in 1975, Mr Hougård served in the Danish police from 1976 to 1992, during which he obtained an MA in Law from Aarhus University.

He entered the foreign service in 1992. Following postings in Riyadh, Moscow, Islamabad and St. Petersburg, he was appointed ambassador to Pakistan in 2008. Prior to arriving in Belgrade, he also served as ambassador in Tehran and Zagreb.

Ambassador Hougård received an LLM (Master of Laws) from Harvard Law School and additionally holds a university degree in contemporary Middle East Studies. He is married.

SERBIAN GOVERNMENT

Setting Up National Council For Tourism Development The Serbian government adopted the Decision on the formation of the National Council for Tourism Development of the Republic of Serbia, which aims to establish coordination and communication of all involved parties in the development of the tourism industry and the positioning of Serbia on the tourist map of the world.

The task of the Council will be to point out the importance of increasing competitiveness in the field of tourism in Serbia, as RASIM LJAJIĆ well as achieving a better business climate in tourism.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajić was appointed Chairman of the Council.

SOCIETE GENERALE

Supporting Small And Medium-Sized Companies Societe Generale Bank and Sogelease (100% owned by Societe Generale Bank) signed with the European Investment Bank (EIB) two finance contracts for support to small and medium-sized companies, Mid-Cap companies and priority projects in the amount of €60 million. The total loan arrangement amounts to €110 million, and the remaining portion of funds will be released in early 2018.

The contract was signed by Maria Rousseva, president of the Executive Board of Societe Generale Banka Srbija and Boris Stević, president of the Executive Board of Sogelease.

The funds provided under these contracts will be used for the financing of working MARIA ROUSSEVA (right) and BORIS STEVIĆ capital loans and investments with a repayment period of up to 12 years for loans granted by Societe Generale Bank and up to seven years for Sogelease investment loans.

“We are aware that small and medium business is a great challenge because, in addition to a good business plan and a good idea, being successful on the market also requires improving the overall environment,” declared Maria Rousseva, president of the Executive Board of Societe Generale Bank.

▪ H.E. GORDAN BAKOTA

New Croatian Ambassador to Serbia

H.E. Gordan Bakota graduated from the University of Zagreb’s Faculty of Law in 1991. Following an internship at the State Attorney’s Office of the Republic of Croatia, he gained employment at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and remained there as a

career diplomat.

Prior to his arrival in Belgrade, he has served as Croatian ambassador to the Republic of Austria, as well as the Republic of Turkey, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.

During his career, he has also served as state secretary, assistant minister and political director at the foreign ministry, as well as holding a number of ambassadorial duties in the Swiss Confederation, the Republic of Serbia and the United States.

He studied at Georgetown University in Washington.

A married father of two children, Ambassador Bakota speaks English and German.

▪ H.E. EMILIO JOSE

DE CARVALHO GUERRA

New Ambassador of Angola to Serbia

H.E. Emilio Jose de Carvalho Guerra (73) graduated in Agronomy in the former USSR and from 1970 to 1979 served as Director of the Institute of Education of Angola, Director of the Foreign Relations Department of the MPLA, Inspector General of the Ministry of Industry and Energy and Deputy Minister of Industry and Energy.

From 1979 to ‘87, Mr Guerra was Minister of Fisheries, and from 1984 to ‘94 he served as Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium, the Netherlands and the former EEC (current European Union). In 1994 he was appointed Ambassador to the Republic of Congo – Brazzaville, and from 2001 to ‘09 he held ambassadorial posts to the Republic of Gabon (resident) and respectively to Cameroon, Guinea and Chad (non-resident).

H.E. Emilio Jose de Carvalho Guerra arrives in Serbia having vacated the post of Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A married, father of eight children, Ambassador Guerra speaks Portuguese (spoken and written), French (spoken and written), Russian (still good knowledge), Spanish (spoken) and his native Kikongo language.

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CORPORATE

Human To Human

DR NEBOJŠA STANKOVIĆ, ATTORNEY

Of all areas of investment, investing in people is the riskiest, while the most binding contract is the given word of detailed business plans and analysis.

That’s why investors expect a simple and precise presentation of the legal framework, as well as practical experiences in an area where they want to invest on the principle of pro et contra. The more they recognise similarities between the legal regulations in Serbia and those according to which they operate in their countries of origin, or in the countries where they’ve previously invested, and provided the answers to their questions are acceptable to them, most often in the area of labour relations, tax regulations

this sense, I would rather use, although perhaps it’s neither trendy nor fancy, the attribute of “investment” patriot.

■ Speaking in an interview seven years ago about the conditions for investing in the region of Southeast Serbia, you stated that, in terms of the legal and business environment and its improvement, you are “a moderate optimist”. he Stanković law office from If you were to answer that same question today, would you remain in that Niš comprises a team of lawyers and legal trainees with ex“moderate” position, or do you think pertise in all areas of law who circumstances have changed? have advanced professionally by - Tough question. The briefest determination at this juncture would be learning their trade from the firm’s Practising law, according that I am an informed optimist. Serbia principal, Dr Nebojša Stanković, who to our interlocutor, is a deep has made considerable progress, is equally proud of his pedagogical personal relationship between primarily in the regulation of the work as he is of the professional a client and a lawyer based normative framework. Many laws and results he has achieved as a lawyer accompanying regulations have been and expert in the field of domestic on the client’s faith that the and international commercial law lawyer will, in accordance with adopted that impact directly on an improved investment environment and investment. the law, do everything to overall. Changes to legal regulations protect his rights and interests are certainly among the elements that ■ You are recognised, both at home and abroad, not only as the legal have, during the mentioned period, and subsidies for foreign investments, representative of a large number of impacted on improving Serbia’s position the shorter and quicker their route to domestic and foreign companies, but on the World Bank’s Doing Business List. a final decision to invest. Anyone who also as a “promoter” of the region of Still, in everyday life not much has progressed in the application of new regulashows a readiness to invest their own Serbia that gravitates towards Niš as tions, because that requires internal money in order to create new value on an investment destination. What key changes within all of us. The changes that the territory of Serbia receives an honest argument do you use in conversations are particularly difficult but essential are interlocutor who, from the aspect of the with potential investors? in our deep-rooted habits with which we legal profession and a wealth of experi- The main argument is the truth. Investors, as a rule, make a final decision on ence, presents both the advantages and express our attitude towards work and where to invest their money on the basis the risks of the planned investment. In order. After all, the riskiest investment is

T

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in humans. Positive examples exist and it seems to me that they are most evident in the information technology (IT) sector.

It is crucial for Serbia to retain its brains, biological resources and potential. I would like to be wrong in saying that one of Serbia’s possible future serious problems will be a lack of workers.

■ Although you are primarily known publicly as a lawyer in the field of the economy and banking, human rights is also one of your areas of expertise. Considering that we opened EU accession negotiation chapters 23 and 24 precisely a year ago, how would you assess Serbia’s progress in these areas?

- Viewed from a regional perspective, one influential judgement of the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg (ECHR) was the decision in the case of Branimir Đokić vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina, which I worked on for more than six years. When it comes to chapters 23 and 24, on the basis of the experience of other countries, these chapters are among the first to be opened and the last to be closed, in which the key chapter is actually 23. I consider that the moment of closing these chapters will also determine the date of Serbia’s full membership in the EU. The essence is that all citizens of Serbia feel tangible improvements from changes in the judiciary, and the most important thing when it comes to the pace is that we are still moving...

■ In your opinion, what impact does the successful conclusion of negotiations and work on negotiating chapters 23 and 24 have on Serbia’s position in the eyes of foreign investors?

- The impact is great. Business people, like most of us, want to feel like they’re at home wherever they are around the world. From the perspective of investors, the certainty that you can resolve a situation somewhere else in the same way you did in your own country makes you feel safer. Predictability is both a human

and a business necessity. The closer Serbia’s legal system and economic environment are to the system of the state from which the investor comes, the shorter the time the investor will need to make a final decision on investing in Serbia.

AWARDS ○ The World Bank Group awarded Nebojša Stanković with a certificate of appreciation ○ The World Justice Project awarded Nebojša Stanković with a certificate for his contribution ○ Nebojša Stanković is a recipient of the AAA Golden Certificate of Creditworthiness Rating, Bisnode, based on excellent business results

■ For the last several years you have been involved in the World Justice Project, which saw more than 2,000 legal experts from around the world analyse and evaluate the rule of law in 99 countries worldwide. Based on global movements and changes, primarily political, do you agree with the assessments of some Western experts that the rule of law, and above all human and civil rights, are facing serious challenges?

- It is a great honour to be part of the WJP team, but the responsibility is even greater. The selection criteria are strict and are reviewed every year.

The role of the evaluator is conditioned on the obligation to rise above everyday personal experiences with subjective elements in order to maximally take on the role of an objective evaluator. Objectivity in providing evaluations and responses defends the authority of the WJP project, but also simultaneously preserves personal and professional integrity. The challenges confronting the idea of the rule of law today don’t essentially differ from those of the conveyors of the rule of law in ancient times. The ancient philosopher’s determination to defend the rule of law from the imposing of brutal and autocratic will can today be compared with the challenge of man to protect his freedom from the imposing of virtual reality and the increasingly visible management of our lives by artificial intelligence precisely with the rule of law.

Every time carries its own burden, but the principle of the rule of law has remained and endured.

■ What gives you the most pride?

- I am proud to have learned from the best in the legal profession, including my postgraduate studies mentor Tibor Várady, as well the fact that I am able to transfer the knowledge and experience I’ve acquired to my colleagues. I am most proud of my family and that I live by persisting with a system of values in accordance with the motto “Of thy sorrow be not too sad, of thy joy be not too glad”. ■ NOVEMBER

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REGIONAL NEWS

CLEAR WILL “Unlike in the past, when cooperation was impossible, today there is clear will in Western Balkan states to work together”— EDI RAMA, Albanian Prime Minister BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

CROATIA

Footwear From Novi Travnik For World-Famous Brands

Rimac Within TOP 10 Tech Companies In CE

The company “Lubos”, which produces footwear for world famous brands, has opened a new factory in Novi Travnik. Since they have been operating successfully for many years, there is a need for expansion of production capacities. Lubos currently employs 160 workers and, after opening a new factory by the end of the year, there will be a total of 200 employees. Sedzad Milanovic, the minister of economy of the Central Bosnian Canton, said this is the first of three factories to be opened in Novi Travnik in the next few months. Novi Travnik is becoming a more convenient place for investment every day, and municipal authorities do everything to help investors.

The mayor of the municipality of Novi Travnik, Refik Lendo, said that the opening of this factory is good for the families of workers, but also for all citizens.

Amir Zlotrg, the director of Lubos, said that he hoped that the company would achieve good results in the upcoming period and that it would continue its successful work.

MONTENGRO

Huge Recoverable Natural Gas Reserves Greek oil and gas group Energean has said the two blocks it is exploring in Montenegro have recoverable natural gas reserves of 1.8 trillion cubic feet (aproximately 51 billion cubic metre) The CPR suggests that Montenegro sits in the ‘sweet spot’ of untapped potential in the eastern Adriatic, the CEO of Energean, Mathios Rigas said in a statement.

Energean is currently the sole operator, with 100% working interest, of offshore blocks 4218-30 and 4219-26, covering a surface area of 338 sq/km in shallow waters. The blocks were officially awarded in March 2017, following the signing of a concession agreement between the company and the Montenegrin government, the Greek company said.

The CPR is part of the first three-year exploration phase, which entails a mandatory work programme including a 3D seismic survey covering the two blocks that is planned to be acquired in 2018, and geological and geophysical (G&G) studies. The total cost of this initial exploration phase is estimated at $5 million (4.2 million euro), Energean said.

Eight companies from Croatia have been ranked in the 2017 Deloitte CE Technology Fast 50, including one in the TOP 10.

Rimac Automobili, which develops and produces high-performance electric vehicles, including the Concept One, the world’s first electric supercar, drivetrains and battery systems, were ranked in No.10 spot on the list.

According to the report, Rimac grew 1,059% and jumped from 20th to 10th spot this year.

In September Asia’s largest battery manufacturer, China-based Camel Group Ltd, entered into a Subscription Agreement with Rimac Automobili worth €30 million which was the single largest foreign direct investment in a Croatian technology company. The company has just opened up over 100 new jobs.

BULGARIA

Gas Deliveries Increased With 9.9% Between January and September 2017, Gazprom increased gas supplies to countries that may become “blue-fuel” customers under the Turkish Stream project in the future, reports Bgnes.

According to preliminary data, for the nine months of 2017, supplies of Russian natural gas to Turkey increased by 24% compared to the same period last year. Only in September it grew by 41.2%.

“The demand for Russian gas continues to grow in southern Europe and the Balkans. For example, exports to Serbia in January-September rose by 31.7%, for Hungary - by 26.9%, for Bulgaria - by 9.9%, for Greece - by 16.5%. Exports to Greece in September rose by 37.6% compared to the same month of the previous year, “the Russian gas company said in a statement.

KOSOVO

Using Modern Business Methods

Kosovo businesses often rely on oral contracts or “handshake” deals to conduct business transactions rather than putting agreements in writing. Such non-written agreements can result in numerous complications.

When a dispute arises under a verbal agreement, the parties are unclear on their rights and obligations and are subject to misunderstandings, uncertain contractual terms, and difficulty proving any details of the agreement. When businesses use wellwritten contracts, the terms are unambiguous. If a dispute arises, the parties can refer to the written agreement or present the contract as evidence in judicial or other proceedings.

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In 2011, USAID initiated the Qite n’Letër (Put It on Paper) campaign, educating businesses about the benefits of written contracts over oral agreements. The campaign has targeted businesses from various sectors, women and minority-owned businesses. Operating through public service announcements initially, the campaign expanded into roundtables to instruct businesses about the traps and pitfalls of.

To date, over 400 business representatives have participated in roundtables conducted throughout all regions of Kosovo.

The program aims to help Kosovo institutions improve the enforcement of civil judgments, dramatically reduce the backlog of court cases, and strengthen the contract and commercial law framework and systems, including those for bankruptcy and mediation.

POWDER KEG “The Balkans must no longer be a powder keg as in the past. All Western Balkan nations must be drivers of growth on par with EU member states.” — ZORAN ZAEV, Macedonian Prime Minister TURKISH AIRLINES

“Istanbul Bosphorus Experience”

The Istanbul Bosphorus Experience is a new program, specially designed by Turkish Airlines for its Business Class passengers who have a transfer time of seven or more hours in Istanbul. Turkey’s national flag carrier, recently awarded with four Skytrax World Airline Awards*, introduces this program to enable its transfer passengers to closely experience the beauty of Istanbul and the Bosphorus, before continuing their trip to their target destination.

“We always strive to offer our passengers the best flight experience possible – on board and on the ground. With the addition of the Istanbul Bosphorus Experience, we continue to improve our wide range of activities and services including our worldwide known “Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul”, that earned the top spot in the category “World’s Best Business Class Lounge” within the Skytrax World Airline Awards 2017, or our innovative Miniport service, and etc.” said Ahmet Olmuştur, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Turkish Airlines.

SEE

Unemployment And Corruption Remain Pressing Issues Unemployment and corruption remain pressing issues for the countries of Southeast Europe (SEE), despite an upturn in their economic performance, the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), an organisation fostering partnership in the Balkans and their Euro-Atlantic integration, has concluded.

Unemployment continues to be a major concern, while the perception of traditional democratic institutions, for reasons both complex and manifold, leaves much to be desired in terms of both performance and public confidence, RCC said upon the release of the Balkan Barometer 2017 survey. In response to the survey’s question, “How many people in your family who are able to work are unemployed?”, 29% of all interviewees said one person, 16% said two people, while 8% said 3 or more people.

The barometer also highlights a growing anxiety over corruption, as 32% of the interviewees rated corruption as one of the key problems for the region in 2017, compared to 27% in 2016 and to 15% in 2015.

“An upturn in economic performance by the region’s economies has brought about an increasingly optimistic outlook for the future that needs to be solidified through decisive government action,” RCC secretary general, Goran Svilanovic, said.

Despite notional support for European integration there continues to be widespread scepticism about the region’s short to medium term accession prospects, with 23% of respondents saying they believe EU membership will never happen, the barometer also showed. Slovenia joined the EU in 2004, Bulgaria and Romania followed in 2007 and Croatia entered the bloc in 2013. Serbia and Montenegro have opened accession talks and Macedonia has been granted candidate status.

The survey also found that business people continue to struggle with what they see as complex taxation and an unfriendly business environment with an unpredictable legal system, Vladimir Gligorov, GfK’s expert consultant for the barometer and researcher at the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, said.

Some 62% of business people in the region perceive it very hard or hard to start a private business in their place of living, while more than half of them believe that upgrading roads would have the most positive effect on their business.

“While 56% of respondents agree that the government takes note of their needs, but only to a limited extent, it is positive to record the decline in the number of respondents who feel ignored by the authorities down to 30% from 38% in 2015,” Gligorov said. The Balkan Barometer is one of the annual monitoring tools used to track progress in the implementation of RCC’s SEE 2020 Strategy when it comes to growth, employment and competitiveness in the region. Published for the first time in 2015, it surveys 8,000 citizens and 1,600 businesses in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia, on a wide range of issues dealing with the political, socio-economic, business and investment climate, infrastructure, rule of law and other developments in the region.

Source: SeeNews

ROMANIA

Tender For Bucharest District 1’s Magazine Large media groups such as Ringier Romania and Burda have taken part in the tender. Other bidders include the local subsidiary of Chelgate LTD UK and Romprint Fusion, reports local Profit.ro.

The Bucharest District 1’s City Hall wants to publish a magazine, which would be distributed for free to people and companies in the area. It will have a print run of 133,000 copies. The winner needs to publish it at least once a quarter and maximum once a month.

The magazine will have 36 pages and will inform citizens about the City Hall’s activity.

Bucharest’s District 1 spends €2.7 million for its magazine.

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CORPORATE VUK RADOVIĆ, GENERAL MANAGER AT EKO SERBIA

Creators Of Trends Photo: Igor Pavićević

EKO Serbia, which is part of Hellenic Petroleum, is this year celebrating 15 years of doing business in Serbia. The growth can be primarily characterised as sustainable development, and that’s also how EKO Serbia wants to continue. Innovation, dedication, teamwork, steps forward in quality of services and products are the characteristics of the company and the people the company employed from the very beginning

E

ver since its incorporation in the year 2002, the company has been led by a vision to be the customer’s number one choice and to make EKO petrol stations available to as many drivers as possible. Since than company was growing and changing as a result of new trends, market requirements, the advancement of technology and the ambitions of the company and the Hellenic Petroleum Group, to which EKO Serbia belongs and which is the regional leader in the energy sector.

such as high-octane gasoline, and we continued with the innovative product Diesel avio fuel - Euro diesel, which has been purified with filters used in aviation industry, while there is also a free service for checking key safety points for cars - Pit Stop. Our goals are aimed towards providing drivers with a place where they can find energy for cars, regardless of whether they are powered by fossil fuels, TNG, CNG or electricity, while at the same time we consider that today’s filling stations are also places that offer many additional services.

■ When you launched operations in 2002, your goal was to become available with a network throughout the whole of Serbia. Considering that you have practically achieved that, what goal have you now set yourself for the period ahead?

- If you compare the appearance and contents of filling stations 15 years ago and today, you will easily notice the challenges we face today in order to respond to new trends. We were the first to offer Serbian drivers differentiated fuels with enhanced characteristics,

■ There is already a stereotypical opinion that Serbia’s citizens have available lower quality fuels than the inhabitants of EU countries. As a member of Hellenic Petroleum, the largest group in this part of Europe, do you have balanced and unified quality within the entire group, regardless of the country in which it is positioned?

- Quality and safety have always been our priorities. Regardless of the source of supply, regardless of whether the fuel is produced in our refineries, delivered from imports or domestic production,

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the consumer must receive the quality they have paid for, in the amount they have sought. That’s why I mention security – thinking not only about the safety of our people at work, but rather about security in supplying the energy market.

It is important for us that our users feel secure and that they will safely reach their destination. I would also like to mention that all types of unleaded and diesel fuels that we sell are additionally enriched with the latest additives, which further improve the performance characteristics by influencing the efficiency and performance of engines. We believe also that petrol station appearance and service are important in terms of the impression they leave on a customer, which is also significant and can create an opinion on quality in general.

■ It is less known that Eko Serbia, in addition to its basic business, also deals with what we can call “educational and advisory work”. Your website offers reading material in the form of plenty of useful advice, from tips on how to change tyres to health advice. Why do you deal with these

extra jobs, which don’t generate any notable revenue?

- Part of the DNA of our company in Serbia, and primarily that of the Hellenic Petroleum Group, is corporate social responsibility. Many different projects can be in the focus of that, related to socially vulnerable groups, education, the renewal of important institutions, traffic safety etc. However, we are constantly resolved to show gratitude for the community in which we work by supporting local initiatives.

We have just sent six students from Serbia to take part in postgraduate studies in Greece, while the occasion of the company’s anniversary saw a protocol agreement signed on a milliondinar donation to the Centre for Children’s Resorts. We are here to stay and develop together, working on improving our society.

■ Eko Serbia also generally implements programmes for students and practical work placements.

There are few companies involved in this type of challenge. What effect does this training have on the company and students respectively?

- If you want a company to advance, it must have young people with new ideas and initiatives, and we must help young people gain experience and educate themselves, while providing them with opportunities to prove themselves. In the coming years, Hellenic Petroleum will support over 50 young people who will embark on postgraduate studies in Crete and Piraeus in the area of oil engineering and economics and low in energy sector. The best of them will also get an opportunity to gain employment.

Simultaneously, at the local level, as part of our cooperation with the University of

Belgrade, students who can participate in practical placements in different company departments are always welcome at our company. Some of them have already become part of the EKO Serbia team. Young people bring new energy and represent a driving force, which, in synergy with the knowledge and experience of their older colleagues, guarantees success.

I am very proud that EKO creates trends on this market and simultaneously helps the community in which it operates ■ When you arrived 15 years ago, Serbia had just entered transition following the changes of the year 2000. If you could draw an analogy, what has changed in the context of your business in Serbia during the past 15 years?

- In the area of our business alone, we can recall derivatives that are no longer used and are not sold on our market, such as D2 diesel and leaded petrol. We could spend a long time talking about the harmful effects of these products on the environment and human health. And today we are talking about differentiated fuels with specially improved features,

Euro 5 standards, with extra additives that secure a top performance. Likewise, parallels can also be drawn in the area of consumers, who then drove cars that consumed a lot more fuel, while today we are talking about better energy efficiency engines that have much lower consumption. In the communications domain, technology has enabled us to communicate faster and easier, introduce new higher standards to operational control, but also to be in direct contact with consumers through, for example, social networks or special company programmes like our ‘Smile’ Club, which, apart from rewarding our customers for their loyalty, also enables us to maintain constant communication with them. I would also further emphasise that consumer services and training people are increasingly in our focus.

■ In your opinion, how “fast” is Serbia when it comes to adapting to European standards in the energy sector?

- When it comes to regulations that relate to quality standards for petroleum products used as motor fuels, we can say that we have been fully harmonized with European standards for some time. On the other hand, in certain regulations related to trading conditions, the defined conditions may be too harsh for market participants, as they impose additional costs and reduce competitiveness somewhat.

However, it can be said that, in terms of legislation, Serbia is following and moving closer to Europe, and in this field one can sense determination to achieve the kind of market stability and regulation that attracts new investments. ■ NOVEMBER

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CORPORATE VLADICA STANKOVIĆ, DIRECTOR AT GRUNER SERBIAN D.O.O. (LTD.), VLASOTINCE

German Ingenuity And Domestic Dedication “Our employees are our greatest value, and Gruner in Serbia would not be this successful without their energy and commitment,” says Vladica Stanković, director at GRUNER SERBIAN D.O.O., Vlasotince, speaking to CorD

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he news that German company Gruner opened a new production facility on 18th October, in which it invested 5.8 million euros, is only a continuation of this company’s successful operation in Vlasotince, which started way back in 2007. It was then that Gruner made two moves: the first related to its place of business: instead of a “big” urban centre, the choice fell to Vlasotince; the second move was for Gruner to position itself as a significant player in the recent economic history of Serbia, given that it is the first company to launch automotive production in this area for a long time.

Today GRUNER Serbian d.o.o. has 480 employees in Serbia alone and a production facility covering 7,000m2.

“Vlasotince is, among other things, our location for automotive products, while the total investment amounts to 11 million euros,” says Stanković, speaking to CorD. - Ten years ago, we started working in one rented hall and with just a dozen workers. That year we exported a single product, designed for smart meters on the U.S. market, and we only produced 50,000 units. Today we export more than 30 different products in a total of 7.3 million units.

■ GRUNER has existed and operated in Germany for over 60 years. In your 38 |

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opinion, what influenced this company to recognise a small plant in Vlasotince as having the potential to be a serious business?

- In my opinion, our owners primarily recognised the potential of our people.

When I say this, I mean our experts, engineers and other highly qualified people.

And it’s not just about our “expertise” – I think they also recognised “good business energy” in us, as well as the determination with which we convinced them to constantly invest and expand operations. Thus, from a rented hall, we arrived at three serious production plants. The first two house production capacities for the automotive industry, while the third hall is used for the production of plastic and metal parts that are incorporated into our final products, as well as a tool

The management of our parent company in Germany provides us with support in every sense, and is also open to our ideas and projects shop for maintaining and producing new tools. I would like to emphasise that the buyers of our products are DaimlerMercedes, Renault, Peugeot, Porsche and many other top-class auto brands.

Along with expressing gratitude towards the management of our parent company, who provided us with support in every sense, I would also like to thank my colleagues, production manager Igor Rajković and quality manager Predrag Mladenović, for the 10 years of work and effort that they’ve invested to date.

■ With a view to the German model, Serbia is trying to apply its own model of dual education. And Gruner is already involved in that process. What tangible benefits do you gain from this type of education as an employer?

- Within the framework of the new plant we’ve also opened a training workshop for pupils studying to be industrial mechanics. Based on an agreement with the school and the local self-government, and with the great support of GIZ (the German Organisation for International Cooperation), Gruner has, along with five other companies in Vlasotince, become part of the dual education system. The local and regional needs of the economy were analysed, the subject was designed and formed in the school, and thus we started. Pupils from the second and third year of secondary school spend two and three days a week training at the factory under expert supervision. They are also stimulated with monetary compensation, which is actually a kind of scholarship. This is a very good and successful system, and the example of Germany proves that in many ways.

At the same time, we received qualified staff that respond to the needs of the economy, while young people get the chance to gain employment immediately after finishing school, and in their own town. It is very important to listen to the needs of businesspeople and to educate young people to be able to start working immediately after finishing school.

This method of cooperation between the economy, education and the state is the best stock for the future. ■

WORLD NEWS

NEW MARKETS

CHINA

“No doubt that this situation will be changing in the coming decade, which will lead to the formation of new markets, the geography and structure of energy demand will primarily shift to the countries of the Asia-Pacific region,”— VLADIMIR PUTIN, President of Russia FRANCE

Renault To Make Half Of Its Cars Electric Or Hybrid

Alibaba Regains Top Online Vendor Title Alibaba surpassed its U.S. counterpart Amazon as the world’s biggest e-commerce company as the Hangzhou-based company reached the threshold of US$470 billion in market value.

Analysts said Alibaba regained its title as the world’s biggest e-commerce company after over two years thanks to its incredible performance this year. As one of the top performers on the New York Stock Exchange, Alibaba has gained over 100 percent since January, while Amazon rose nearly 30 percent. The Chinese company’s stock soared 12 per cent in the past two months after it announced better-than-expected quarterly earnings in August. Alibaba’s net profit jumped 96 per cent to more than US$2.1 billion year on year in the first fiscal quarter ending June, beating market expectations.

French carmaker Renault has announced plans to make half of its models electric or hybrid by 2022 and to invest heavily in “robo-vehicles” with increasing degrees of autonomy.

LUFTHANSA

Lufthansa To Buy Over Half Of Air Berlin’s Jets Years of struggle for Germany’s second-ranked airline Air Berlin appeared on their final stretch, as Lufthansa announced plans to buy more than half the bankrupt carrier’s planes.

The deal has sparked controversy in the European aviation sector, with the German government facing accusations it helped steer the process under a plan to build the Frankfurt-based carrier into an all-conquering juggernaut.

Lufthansa will take over Air Berlin’s Austrian subsidiary Niki, German subsidiary LGW and 20 further aircraft, guaranteeing all jobs at the two smaller firms, Air Berlin said in a statement.

The deal includes 81 of Air Berlin’s 144 aircraft and 3,000 of its 8,500 staff, Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr said in Berlin, hailing it as a “great day” for his company.

A strategic plan aims to boost Renault annual revenues to €70 billion by 2022 from €51 billion last year, in part through an effort to double sales outside its traditional markets in Europe – especially Russia and China.

The plans reflect the vision laid out in September by the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi alliance, the world’s No. 1 carmaker by sales. Many of Renault’s new aims depend on saving money through sharing platforms and development with Nissan and Mitsubishi.

CEO Carlos Ghosn said Renault is aiming to sell more than 5 million vehicles annually by 2022 from 3.2 last year.

JAPAN

INDIA

Tsubame-Sanjo Factories Win Worldwide Attention

Tata Group To Sell Telecom Business

Small factories in Niigata Prefecture, Japan are attracting attention from around the world for the original technologies they utilise.

Hinoura Hamano factoy was founded in 1905, and initially focused on making Japanese hatchets. After attending the 2006 Ambiente trade fair in Frankfurt, however, it began focusing on kitchen knives. At present, about 80 percent of kitchen knives produced at the factory are for the European and North American markets.

Many foreigners visit the factory to buy its products.

About 10 companies from the Tsubame-Sanjo area attended the world’s largest design fair in Milan in 2014 and another trade fair held in Taiwan this year, to strengthen the region’s brand power.

There are 12 factories in the area where visitors can view activities on any day. The factories have an adjoining tax-free shop. A company official said, “We want visitors to know our products’ real value by looking around our factory.” The local government plans to create more opportunities to exhibit products such as kitchen knives abroad ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Ending a 20-year-old saga of poor decisions and mounting losses, Tata Teleservices on Thursday said it will merge its consumer mobile businesses with Bharti Airtel in a cashless deal.

The deal consolidates Airtel’s standing as the TATA SONS CHAIRMAN country’s No. 1 operaN. CHANDRASEKARAN tor in terms of revenue market share even if the Vodafone-Idea merger were to go through. It also gives Airtel access to valuable spectrum to thwart the latest challenge in 4G services from Reliance Jio. Under the deal, Airtel will get access to 178 MHz of additional spectrum and 40 million subscribers. Airtel is not paying anything to Tata Tele other than absorbing a substantial number of the 5,000 employees and paying part of the spectrum liability that the latter owes to the Department of Telecom.

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CORPORATE MILOŠ VUJNOVIĆ, Ph.D., PRESIDENT OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF JUBMES BANKA AD (JSC) BEOGRAD

Negative Trends Halted Activities carried out since the beginning of 2016 have brought a halt to unfavourable trends and changed the Bank’s financial situation, leading to the diversification and growth of the portfolio of commercial placements with clients and the deposits of private individuals to the highest ever level

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hile “Yugonostalgics” associate the name of JUBMES banka with some “good old times”, for today’s clients the name of this bank means reliability and efficiency. In this interview for CorD, JUBMES CEO Miloš Vujnović, Ph.D., responds extremely directly to the first question about serious banking competition as a “danger”.

- Considering our specific business concept, a highly competitive financial market is not necessarily a limiting factor for the Bank’s future prospects. Determined as we are to continue our tradition as an efficient bank, a large market share does not represent the primary business goal, but rather serving a market segment that primarily values commitment and the quality of services provided, whether those clients are corporate or private individuals. We are a small bank, which is why every client is in our focus, with an emphasis on fast and efficient services complemented by support in the form of providing advisory services. On the other hand, contemporary banking trends, such as digitalisation and online services, provides a chance for banks without a branch network, like ours, to make their products available to a larger number of potential clients.

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■ When it comes to regulations in Serbia, as well as their harmonisation with those of the European Union, to what extent do changes in banking legislation move towards easing banking sector operations?

- The regulations governing banks operations are becoming more complex and demanding year after year, primarily in the reporting segment. As such solutions are primarily a result of harmonisation with the regulations governing the operations of banks within the EU, instead of relaxing them, we can probably expect movement from the concept of presenting traditional reports towards delivering complex databases from which central regulators will be able to process data themselves. Considering that efficiency

Determined as we are to continue our tradition as an efficient bank, a large market share does not represent the primary business goal, but rather serving a market segment that primarily values commitment and the quality of services provided in the process of collecting receivables is extremely important to banks, the regulatory changes in this domain in recent years represent a significant step forward and form the basis for reducing the burden of non-performing exposures on banks’ balance sheets. This is reflected through an eased restructuring process, sales, but also write-offs

of non-performing exposures with tax treatment, which has been limiting factor in the previous period.

■ JUBMES banka has been operating for almost four decades. Which period in the operations of JUBMES represents the most challenging period for you as a banker?

- For almost a decade and a half, which is how long I have been employed with the Bank, changes like the continuous modernisation of operations have been driven by market conditions, but also partly by the specific position and inheritance of the Bank from the period of the export credit agency.

After many years of stable operations, during 2013-2015 period, extremly unfavourable trends were present in the Bank.

These trends were primarily reflected in a decreased volume of placements with clients and an NPL rate significantly above the banking sector average.

The growth of NPLs and the Bank’s extremely high losses in this period resaulted in a significant reduction of Bank’s capital. All this is the reason why the beginning of 2016 was the most challenging period for the Bank. Activities undertaken to address unfavourable trends and to turn the financial situation in which the bank found itself around, were implemented successfully and resulted in the diversification and growth of the portfolio of commercial placements with clients and deposits of individuals to the highest level historically, with the level of NPLs falling below the market average – and all of that while maintaining the liquidity and capital adequacy of the bank at the top of the banking sector. ■

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PROFILE

Embracing Opportunity “I truly believe that we should embrace the opportunities and let them build us up by developing our way forward,” says Danijela Čabarkapa, executive director of the Japanese Business Alliance in Serbia

DANIJELA ČABARKAPA Executive Director of the Japanese Business Alliance in Serbia

H

ard work, persistence and a willingness to learn and be personally challenged always pay off.

Have I ever planned for or imagined my professional path developing in this way? To be quite honest, not at all.

After completing grammar school, eager to embrace a wide choice of opportunities and ample flexibility, I started my studies at the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade, where I earned an MA in the field of international economy – international finance. Even though the idea was for finance to be the predominant factor, the international aspect turned out to be crucial.

Finalising my studies during the period when the country was waking up after the ‘90s, I discovered a pool of opportunities related to knowledge and work experience enhancement, and decided to leave my first job as a financial analyst after gaining an internship in Germany as a scholar of the Zoran Ðinđić Internship Programme of German Business, i.e. the German Government. I completed my internship at the German Investment and Development Company (DEG), which marked the beginning of my professional development in the field

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of international consultancy, and that continued to develop through my work at the Serbian Investment and Export Promotion Agency (SIEPA) and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia (CCIS). Through my work as a FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) advisor, and later as head of SIEPA’s Investment and Export Promotion Department, I came into contact with Japanese business culture for the first time. I had the opportunity to cooperate with Japanese institutions and Japanese experts in

In the period when the country was waking up after the ‘90s, I discovered a pool of opportunities related to knowledge and enhancing work experience the field of investment promotion, as well as in the field of SME development support, which I continued as deputy director of the International Economic Relations Sector at the CCIS. My most important experience in bringing Japanese business and life philosophy closer came in the form of a six-week training opportunity in Japan, which I was offered by the Government of Japan through JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) in 2012. The training was an excellent opportunity to learn more about the Japanese economy, the Japanese business approach and

culture, and that contributed greatly to improving my understanding of doing business with Japan, which I was able to incorporate into my everyday work and cooperation with Japan-related stakeholders and which I will continue to implement in my current role.

This is how it all led to my appointment as executive director of the Japanese Business Alliance in Serbia (JBAS) as of 1st September 2017, and a new page was turned in my professional challenges.

JBAS was founded in March 2017 as an initiative of Japanese companies present in Serbia, based on the growing presence and interest among Japan-related business circles in doing business in Serbia. The initiative is supported strongly by the Embassy of Japan and our mutual goal is to improve collaboration between Japan and Serbia, primarily by developing economic relations and advancing the visibility of Japanese business culture in the country, which will contribute significantly towards building stronger relations between the two countries.

The initial setup phase has been completed and in the following period the official start of JBAS’s work will be marked, together with the Embassy of Japan. We are excited to further strengthen the presence of the Japanese business society in Serbia.

To conclude, I truly believe that we should embrace the opportunities and let them build us by developing our way forward. 

CONTEMPORARY ART

How Chinese Art Became

CONTEMPORARY?

JACKY TSAI, Culture Clash

Most narratives of Chinese Contemporary Art start from the end of the Cultural Revolution. Around 1979, Chinese artists were suddenly exposed to western art history, which led to a rapid turnover of artistic styles. Different art historians have different opinions about what happened next NOVEMBER

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hen looking at the variety of theories about the beginning of Chinese Contemporary Art, it’s not difficult to notice that the differences among these theories are deeply rooted in the art historians’ different understandings of Modern Chinese Art. Judging from the framework of western art history, Modern Chinese Art might have existed for five centuries.

In his essay Double Modernity, Para-Modernity, Jonathan Hay pointed out that a modernity that does not ultimately derive from Euro-America might have come into being in as early as the 17th century in China.

However, most Chinese art historians would push this date forward by at least 300 years. For thousands of years, Chinese Art has developed in its own logic, which isn’t easily interchangeable with the western model. It was not until the late 20th century that people started to use the western framework to define and institutionalize Chinese Art. At the turn of the 20th century, under continuous military, economic, and cultural pressures from the West, Chinese intellectuals and artists began to seek help from the modern world to revive their weakening tradition. This New Cultural Enlightenment Movement not only legitimised western Modern Art in China, but also established a mainstream intellectual discourse that later became the foundation of Chinese modernity.

Other scholars believe that the Maoist ideology, which prevailed around the 1960s to the 1970s, dramatically broke the traditional CAI GUO QIANG, Heritage Wateringhole boundary, and directly influenced the first generation of Chinese Contemporary artists who were born in the 1950s.

Deng Xiaoping’s modernizing policies of the late 1970s offered artists more opportunities to learn about art from around the world, as well as the ability to work independently of state commission and the sanctioned Socialist Realist style. A profusion of different styles and experimental tendencies subsequently emerged.

The Stars Group, which included Ai Weiwei, produced works spanning several different Western avant-garde styles, while GU WENDA with his installation ‘Red Light in Heaven' the Xiamen Dada group created enigmatic works that subverted the logic of modernisation.

The ‘85 New Wave culminated in the 1989 “China Avant-Garde” 44 |

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WANG LUYAN

exhibition, which was shut down by the state after two days when Xiao Lu shot a bullet into her own sculpture. The early 1990s saw the ascendancy of two styles that engaged in sharp cultural critiques: Political Pop and Cynical Realism, as well as the performance-oriented East Village movement in Beijing. More recent movements include the Post-70s Ego Generation, which consists of young artists raised under China’s One Child policy who tend to take the self as subject rather than the collective. Many contemporary Chinese artists, however, such as Cai Guo-Qiang and Ai Weiwei most famously, continue to take broader social issues and traditions as the basis for their work In the 1980s, after Mao died and the Cultural Revolution ended, a new artistic generation embraced western Modern Art again. And this time, the avant-garde movement emerged with a more radical tone of social and cultural criticism.

The avant-garde artists saw themselves as cultural pioneers whose task was to enlighten the masses, fight for social reform and rebel against the past. They criticised the state-dominant ideology, which had long suppressed individuality.

This utopian ideology underwent a huge transition in the early 1990s, as a result of the Tiananmen incident and the shutting down of the Chinese Avant-Garde Exhibition in 1989.

With the failure of the democracy movement in the 1980s, and under the unexpected rise of mass culture, many artists abandoned their humanist passion. More neutral or even cynical attitudes gave rise to Political Pop and Cynical Realism in the 1990s. Realist painters have, for various reasons, attained monetary success. In contrast, avantgarde artists have lost their audience.

Some believe that this downturn of the utopian avant-garde in the 1980s can be traced back to some often neglected art projects that took place around 1986 and 1987. These projects signified deep dissatisfaction with the on-going Modern Art movement. They tried to break out of the historical framework of western art, and embraced local history, instead of being fixed on philosophical thinking.

Furthermore, they rejected collectivism and focused more on individual pursuits.

Interestingly, artists involved in these early projects, such as Wu Shanzhuan, Gu Wenda, and Xu Bing, all became the leading figures in the Contemporary Chinese Art movement of the 1990s. The rise of these artists coincided with the weakening of the 1985 movement. Some believe that the exhibition of Modern Chinese Art in 1989 was, in fact, the last effort to sustain the waning momentum of the Modern Art movement, rather than a visionary project to bring the future to the present.

These artists in the 1986 group had all travelled to the west during the late 1980s and early 1990s. If any sort of “rupture�

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really existed, it must have been in some way related to the artists’ lives overseas.

“Now that we have a completely different but equally powerful benchmark (the western art),” wrote Xu Bing in his letter about Modern Chinese Art in 2007, “our understanding of the value of our own culture has become deeper and more objective. The more we understand the West, the more we cherish our own culture.

Our traditional culture, socialist culture and even Cultural Revolution and Maoism are valuable.

Only if we are able to combine these traditions with the western culture, can we create art of the future… Chinese avant-garde should be showed to Chinese people, instead of just catering to the taste of western curators.”

This quote explains why the art projects around 1986 tried so hard to break out of the framework of Western Art, and embrace traditional Chinese Art. “My new work “Book from the Ground” may seem to be transnational and contemporary, and it incorporates new technology. However, the key to my inspiration for this work comes from our traditional hieroglyphic. Chinese people are the most sensitive to pictorial writings, this is why I’m AI WEIWEI’S 886 wooden stools so interested in this iconography,” Xu explained in his letter.

Although Xu Bing and other artists from the 1986 group gained international recognition almost at the same time as the Political Pop and Cynical Realism artists, the art critics and art historians discuss these two groups separately.

Many critics question the future market of Political Pop and Cynical Realism, but do not question the future market of the 1986 group. The fundamental difference between the two is that the former relies almost entirely on the West, and the latter sought out to represent their own cul- XU BING spent two years creating Phoenix, a 12-tonne sculpture made entirely from scrap ture and tradition.

But even Xu Bing himself has implied in his writing that Chinese Art hasn’t become Contemporary yet. Real Contemporary, as some 46 |

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WANG GUANGYI

CAO FEI

art historians have pointed out, is art that is de-“ideologicalised.”

Ever since 1980, the Chinese Contemporary Art movement has been centered on one issue, the conflict between the official ideology (“the state institution in its own interests, produces a purposely misinterpreted conception of reality and endows it with the status of the ‘truth’, making it the official discourse”) and the unofficial ideology (the motivation shared by avant-garde artists of the 1980s to break down the constraints of the authority of official discourse and reclaim freedom of expression). The continuous existence of ideologic-centricism lies in the prevailing antagonist way of thinking; the real “task” for the Contemporary artists is to carry out an “un-unofficial” art, which breaks out from the ideologic-centricism, and which encourages real freedom of creation.

In as early as 1988, a Beijing-based artist group named “New Measurement” Group had already noticed such necessities and had started to experiment with this freedom of creation.

These works were regarded by some art historians as the heart of the Chinese avant-garde movement of the 1980s and 1990s.

The three group members, Wang Luyan, Gu Dexin, and Chen Shaoping, spent eight years operating mechanically using rules, formulas, diagrams, signs, and manuscripts, which recorded their processes. This gave birth to a new ‘non-art’ language situated between letters, mathematics, and linguistic research; ideological problems were transcended by purely numerical and rational research.

Today, the market in China has grown faster than any other markets in the world over the past ten years, with its fair deals of side effects – positives and negatives. What we are witnessing now is as impressive as its growth: its capacity to change and adapt to new realities, in a fraction of time compared to the Western art market’s long history.

Chinese market is becoming far more international. Buyers of Chinese contemporary art are from all over the world, and this will increasingly be the case. With the number of international venues increasing quickly for Chinese artists, no doubt that this trend will continue. Similarly, as Francois Curiel, CEO of Christie’s Asia said “Chinese buyers are also beginning to buy European and American contemporary art.” A recent example of this was when Wang Jianlin, China’s richest man, bought a $28 million Picasso at auction.

There’s a fantastic new generation of artists in China whose creativity and originality only demands to be seen. Some experts, such as Arne Glimcher, Founder of Pace Gallery, go as far as saying that the “Western narrative has, to a large extent ended, and the Chinese one just began.” ■ NOVEMBER

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FACES & PLACES

SEE MORE WWW.CORDMAGAZINE.COM 26.09.2017

68th Anniversary Of The Founding Of The People's Republic Of China Chinese Ambassador to Serbia, H.E. Li Manchang, and his spouse, Ms Wang Dongying, hosted a reception at the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade to commemorate the 68th Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China.

Among the 800 guests in attendance were Prime minister Ana Brnabić, National Assembly Speaker Maja Gojković, senior representatives of the Serbian government, political parties, the diplomatic corps and various international organisations, non-governmental friendship organisations and Chinese nationals living and working in Serbia.

In his speech, Ambassador Li Manchang stated that China, as the world’s biggest developing country, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, has during the past 40 years of reform and opening up successfully achieved great peaceful, stable and prosperous development, as well as strengthening China’s self-confidence H.E. LI MANCHANG, Chinese Ambassador to in its developing path, ideology, system and culture.

Serbia and ANA BRNABIĆ, Serbian Prime Minister

H.E. LI MANCHANG

04.10.2017

01.10.2017

“UNICEF: 70 Years In Serbia” Ivica Dačić, Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and Michel Saint-Lot, UNICEF Director in Serbia officially opened a photo exhibition entitled “UNICEF: 70 Years in Serbia”, at the Museum of Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

The exhibition uses photographic images to show seven decades of the dedicated work of UNICEF in Serbia since 1947, when the first humanitarian aid shipments were sent to children and families in the former Yugoslavia, until the present day.

“Our many years of cooperation and partnership relations, developed through numerous successful initiatives over these 70 years, confirm the importance of the support that UNICEF still provides to the efforts of the Government of the Republic of Serbia today in its endeavour to secure a healthy and stimulating environment for the development, education and safe life of children,” said Deputy PM Dačić. “UNICEF has always been part of the history of this country. Since 1947 we have been helping in various ways – from providing humanitarian assistance to systemic support to the Government in reform processes...

Commemorating the 70th anniversary of UNICEF’s work in Serbia is an opportunity to recall the promises we made to children” said UNICEF’s Saint-Lot.

The Day Of German Unity Marked

H.E. AXEL DITTMANN

MAJA GOJKOVIĆ (left), H.E. AXEL DITTMANN, ALEKSANDAR VUČIĆ, ANA BRNABIĆ and Mrs DITTMANN

MICHEL SAINT-LOT and IVICA DAČIĆ

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The Belgrade ambassadorial residence of H.E. Axel Dittmann hosted an event to ceremoniously commemorate the Day of German Unity.

Addressing guests, Ambassador Dittmann said that Germany remains strongly pro-European orientated even after the recent parliamentary elections, while its support to Serbia on the road to the EU remains beyond question. He noted that there are still “several obstacles to be removed” in the process of Serbia’s accession to the Union, mentioning the rule of law in particular. He added that he is glad that Prime Minister Ana Brnabić singled out this field as a priority.

Ambassador Dittmann also gave special thanks to President Vučić for his contribution to raising the monument to Danubian Swabians in the town of Bački Jarak, referring to that as “a great gesture of reconciliation”.

He said that Germany and Serbia are today close partners, with excellent bilateral relations.

Guests of the event included Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, National Assembly Speaker Maja Gojković and Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs Minister Zoran Đorđević, as well as members of the diplomatic corps, businesspeople, leaders of opposition political parties and practitioners from the culture and public scenes.

08.10.2017

72nd Indonesian Armed Forces Day Marked

Colonel CHRISTIAN FREDERIK TANGJONG

Colonel CHRISTIAN FREDERIK TANGJONG and H.E. HARRY R.J. KANDOU

Colonel Christian Frederik Tangjong, Defence Attaché of the Republic of Indonesia resident in Belgrade and accredited for the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro, along with his spouse, Mrs Saltima Ripi Tangjong, hosted a reception to celebrate 72nd Anniversary of Indonesian Armed Forces Day. The event was also attended by Indonesian Ambassador H.E. Harry R.J. Kandou, while guests included members of the Belgrade Attaché Association, senior representatives of the Serbian Ministry of Defence, counterparts and members of non-governmental organisations, as well as Indonesian national living and working in Serbia.

Colonel Tangjong noted in his speech that this event provides momentum to rejuvenate the identity of the Indonesian Armed Forces as the soldiers of the people, soldiers of the nation and professional soldiers.

11.10.2017

Farewell Party For Ambassador Takahara The Embassy of Japan to Serbia organised a festive reception to mark the departure of Ambassador H.E. Juichi Takahara after a two-year term.

The general assement is that Ambassador Takahara has done a lot during his time in Serbia to bring the two countries closer together politically, economically and culturally.

The farewell reception was attended by numerous officials, including Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Nebojša Stefanović, Labour, Employment, Veterans’ and Social Affairs Minister Zoran Đorđević, members of the diplomatic corps and representatives of the country’s political, scientific, cultural and public life.

H.E. JUICHI TAKAHARA 12.10.2017

National Day Of Spain Celebrated

Serbian Prime minister ANA BRNABIĆ and H.E. MIGUEL FUERTE SUÁREZ

H.E. MIGUEL FUERTE SUÁREZ, Spanish Ambassador

Spanish Ambassador to Serbia, H.E. Miguel Fuertes Suárez, organised a reception at Belgrade’s Metropol Palace Hotel to commemorate the National Day of the Kingdom of Spain.

Ambassador Fuertes Suárez noted that Spain has endured ‘complex junctures’ in recent days, but also expressed his conviction that the country will overcome them with the support of its friends, among which Serbia has particularly stood out.

Speaking at the Metropol reception, which was attended by Serbian government ministers led by Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, EU Ambassador to Serbia Sem Fabrizi and members of the diplomatic corps, Ambassador Suárez expressed the gratitude of Spain to officials of Serbia for the support they have offered the country.

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FACES & PLACES

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The 72nd anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations was celebrated in Belgrade, with representatives of this global organisation in Serbia nd honouring members of the Serbian army and police for their contributions to preserving peace in the world.

Speaking at a ceremony held at the Students’ Culture Centre (SKC), Head of the UN Office in Belgrade, Simona-Mirela Miculescu, said that the UN praises the professionalism of Serbian peacekeepers, as well as Serbia’s efforts to increase the number of women participating in peacekeeping missions.

KARLA HERSHEY, UN Resident “Our work is based on the efforts Coordinator in Serbia that no one is left behind, that is, that each individual must have an equal chance in society,” said UN Resident Coordinator in Serbia Karla Hershey.

UN Day marks the anniversary of the entry into force of the United Nations Charter in 1945. With the ratifying of this founding document by the majority of signatories, including the five permanent members of the Security Council – China, France, the Soviet Union, the ZORANA MIHAJLOVIĆ, Serbian Construction, United Kingdom and the United States Transport and Infrastructure Minister – the UN officially came into being.

24.10.2017

Serbia Commorates 72 Anniversary Of The UN

24.10.2017

61st Anniversary Of Hungarian Revolution Marked The Embassy of Hungary celebrated the 61st anniversary of Hungary’s 1956 revolution, which began as a mere student demonstration in Budapest, only to be joined by tens of thousands of people from all over Hungary, many of whom lost their lives.

The reception hosted by Hungarian Ambassador to Serbia, H.E. Attila Pinter, at Belgrade’s Hotel Jugoslavija was attended by representatives of the Serbian government, the diplomatic corps and the Hungarian community in Serbia, as well as culture and public workers and other guests.

H.E. ATTILA PINTER, Hungarian Ambassador to Serbia 26.10.2017

Austrian National Day Celebrated Austrian Ambassador to Serbia, H.E. Johannes Eigner, hosted a reception to celebrate Austrian National Day on 26th October – the very date when, in 1955, the country committed itself to permanent neutrality with the signing of its Declaration of Neutrality, allowing for the departure of allied forces and the restoration H.E. JOHANNES EIGNER, Austrian Ambassador to Serbia of the country’s full sovereignty.

The City Hall reception was attended by members of Serbian government, representatives of the diplomatic corps in Serbia, military attachés of numerous countries, representatives of the economic, cultural and public life of Serbia, but also individual representatives of the Serb community in Austria.

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Transportation & Logistics Opportunities And Risks In Current Confrontation Of Immense Changes

INTERVIEW

Great Potential To Further Develop Logistics We have started and are planning significant infrastructure projects in all transport sectors, which will make Serbia a regional transit hub and attract investors in logistics

MIODRAG POLEDICA Secretary of State, Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure

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he Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure is carrying out all the necessary activities to provide developed and reliable railway infrastructure. Since 2015, 257 million euros has been invested in rebuilding 138 kilometres of railway trunk lines.

• How will major transport infrastructure projects impact on the pace of growth in the Serbian construction sector and related industries in 2017?

- The effects of the investment are primarily reflected in the increased speed

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of trains, from 40-50 km/h to 100-120 km/h, increased capacity of the renovated tracks and increased safety of the railway transport. As a result, the number of passengers to some destinations and the volume of international freight transport have increased. The best evidence of the latter is the growing number of container block trains, operated by Chinese shipping and logistics company COSCO, from 254

There is huge potential for new investments in logistics, but for that to be realised it is necessary for the entire region to have good quality and efficient infrastructure connections trains in 2016 to 388 just in the January–September 2017 period. It’s fair to assume that there may be twice as

many trains of this type this year compared to last year.

The accelerated construction of motorways has led to a constant increase in the number of vehicles on our motorways from year to year. For example, in 2014 there were 37 million vehicles, in 2015 there were 39 million vehicles, in 2016 there were 43 million vehicles, and by the end of 2017 up to 40 million vehicles are expected on Serbian motorways.

• What are your estimates regarding the volume and the value of works next year and the trends in the Serbian construction industry?

- Regarding the railway sector, the plan is to launch works on 143.4 kilometres of tracks in 2018, marking a project worth 372.4 million euros. The works that have started on 104.3 kilometres in 2017, worth 633 million euros, should also

continue. Bearing in mind that infrastructure development projects may last a few years and involve many domestic construction companies, the high funds that will be invested in the project will circulate on all levels, which will impact on the development of the construction sector and, consequently, the Serbian economy.

Regarding the construction of new motorways in 2018, construction works will continue on the Belgrade bypass (Ostružnica-Bubanj Potok section), 19.5 kilometres long, and on the 31-kiloemtre-long Preljine–Požega section of the E-763 (Corridor XI).

• What will be the total revenue from transport in 2017?

- According to the business plans of railway companies Serbia Cargo a.d. and Serbia Train a.d., the estimated total revenue from transport in 2017 will be 11.5 billion dinars. Of course, this is an estimate –total revenues and expenses will be known at the end of 2017.

Similar to other countries, passenger transport is subsidised by the state.

Our national freight transport company, Serbia Cargo, operated from its establishment to August 2015 without government subsidies, and all its profits were paid into the national budget.

With regard to road transport, there are around 1,200 registered private international road transport companies in Serbia. According to some estimates, their total annual income is around 80 billion dinars.

In the railway sector, the plan is to launch works on 143.4 kilometres of tracks in 2018, marking a project worth 372.4 million euros. The works that have started on 104.3 kilometres in 2017, worth 633 million euros, should also continue There are no opening benchmarks for these two chapters, which proves that our legislation in this area is good.

• What do you expect from the application of the Transport Commu-

nity Agreement now that all countries in the region have signed it?

- Considering that the Transport Community Agreement will allow for an increase in investments in transport infrastructure and its phased harmonisation with EU legislation and standards, the necessary preconditions for the establishment of a single regional transport market will be created. There will be numerous benefits, such as mutual integration of the transport markets of the signatory countries into a single market and its integration into the transport market of the EU, simplified administrative procedures when moving from one customs area to another, in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement concerning customs cooperation between the EU and each signatory country, and more efficient use of the funds of international financial institutions and the EU, in the spirit of expansion of TEN-T (basic and comprehensive) to the territory of the Western Balkans.

In addition, Serbia has officially applied to be the home of the Secretariat of the SEE Transport Community, and, with the support of all regional stakeholders, we hope Belgrade’s application to be successful.

• How prepared is Serbia for EU Accession Negotiation Chapters 14 and 21?

How likely is it for these chapters to be opened soon?

- The Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure has drafted the texts for Chapter 14 – Transport policy, and Chapter 21 – Trans-European networks, which are currently being harmonised with the European Commission.

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• How do Serbia’s priorities in this area fit in with the plans to connect the region on the infrastructural level and establish a customs union?

- Considering everything the Serbian Government is doing to become a member of the EU as soon as possible, this agreement has shifted the interests of transport towards the interests and objectives of EU transport policy and the convergence of the entire region in terms of honouring EU transport principles.

The establishment of the Customs Union would mean the abolishment of all internal customs tariffs and quotas, enabling the free movement of goods and thus making the region a more favourable environment for investment and more attractive to multinational companies.

The economic development of the region requires a well-developed transport network. Serbia recognised this a long time ago, while other Western Balkan countries have joined under the Connectivity Agenda over the past couple of years. In addition to their need to realise infrastructure projects, it is equally important for Serbia and the countries of the region to work together to remove non-physical barriers, as is the case with the initiative to establish joint border stations with all neighbouring countries.

• Experts say that we need logistics centres, goods terminals and intermodal transport systems to connect our businesses and our market with the European transport network and ports on the Adriatic, Aegean and Black Seas. How high on the Ministry’s agenda are these goals?

- Because the Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure follows global and European trends and tendencies with a view to reducing emissions of harmful gases, and it supports environmentally friendly modes of transport, intermodal transport is one of the ministry’s priorities.

The Development Strategy for Rai, Road, Water, Air and Intermodal Transport 2008-2015 was used as the basis for improving intermodal transport and developing logistics centres in Serbia. Strategically speaking, it is possible to develop logistics centres along Corridors X and VII,

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The accelerated construction of motorways has led to a constant increase in the number of vehicles on our motorways from year to year at the point of their intersection and in the regions located along these railways.

So, international and/or regional logistics centres will be developed on multimodal Corridors X and VII, in major regional economic hubs like Belgrade, Niš and Novi Sad, while national and local logistics centres will be developed in the gravitational zones of regional and business centres.

• What does this mean for the first intermodal terminal with a logistics centre in Batajnica, the building of which has been repeatedly announced for years?

- Intermodal transport will make it possible for the commodities to get to their end-users in Serbia faster, better and at a lower price, as is the case in the developed world. This is why we launched a project with the aim of building the first logistics centre in Batajnica near Belgrade, with an intermodal

terminal at its heart. The terminal will be a place where road and rail transport intersects, where freight trains from Adriatic ports and European centres arrive, and where containers are loaded and unloaded, stored and distributed to end-users by road, covering a radius of 100 to 150 kilometres. The entire logistics centre would operate according to the basic logistics principles “door to door” and “on time”. This will help reduce the share of logistical costs in the price of goods in Serbia to the European average. The share of logistical costs like transport, storage and stocking in the total price of goods in the EU is 10 to 12 per cent, while in Serbia it can be as much as 20 to 25 Per cent.

In the near vicinity of the intermodal terminal there should be a logistics zone, sprawling over nearly 70 hectares. It is estimated that dozens of companies could be grouped in the logistics zone, which means creating a 1,000 jobs.

• How developed is the Serbian private logistics sector and how competitive is it on the market?

- I think the Serbian private logistics sector is developed and has excellent scientific and educational bases in our higher education, especially in the Transport School of the University of Belgrade. There are many logistics companies, both foreign and domestic, which successfully provide their clients with a wide range of logistics services in water, road and rail transport, contractual and integrated logistics, and customs representation.

• How much foreign investment is there in logistics? What is your estimate of the potential of the Serbian market to attract investments in logistics?

- Bearing in mind the geographical position of Serbia, I think there is huge potential for new investments in logistics.

However, for that to be realised it is necessary for the entire region to have good quality and efficient infrastructure connections and to simplify transport and logistics procedures. ■

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CORPORATE DRAGANA ŠKRBIĆ, SUPPLY CHAIN DIRECTOR AT NELT GROUP

Logistics Of The Future “The most important decision for the future is to constantly employ talented people and continuously educate our employees,” says Dragana Škrbić, supply chain director at NELT Group, speaking to CorD

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stablished a quarter of a century ago, NELT today represents a role model in domain of distribution, logistics and trade marketing. NELT defined logistics as one of the strategic pillars, besides distribution, Nelt brands and start-ups. “We’ve dealt for a long time with distribution logistics, warehousing and warehouse manipulation, freight forwarding, delivery and the organisation of international and domestic transport.

Our logistics sector today employs 1,400 people in seven markets,” explains Škrbić.

According to her, Nelt has organised operations through 17 distribution centres, where high quality standards and innovative technologies are applied.

“Having opened and expanded the first private intermodal terminal in Belgrade, we also became a member of the European Food Network (EFN) and gained the status of an Authorised Business Entity in Serbia, leading to simplified customs clearance procedures and guaranteed safety and security in the supply chain. We have also established operations in Montenegro, acquiring an 80 per cent ownership stake in one of this market’s logistics leaders, Montenomaks Control and Logistics, and plan to continue developing at a similar pace in the future”,says Dragana Škrbić.

• NELT opened and expanded the intermodal terminal, through which it ensured connections with European ports. Is intermodal transport as highly valued in Serbia as it is elsewhere in Europe?

- The opening of the railway logistics

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terminal ensures secure and economical connections with Adriatic and Greek ports, but also northern European ports. Cooperation has also been established with large shipping companies – COSCO, CMA CGM and MAERSK – which recognised Nelt’s Intermodal Terminal as the logistical hub of the Balkans, thanks to its excellent location and infrastructure. In July 2015, the Government of the Republic of Serbia adopted the Regulation on stimulus measures aimed at improving combined transport, which was defined as entering into force as of 1st January 2018. We believe the state will stay the established course on this topic, which is of great importance to the development of business flows.

In the logistics segment of Nelt's business, this year we accomplished the cooperation with over 120 new clients and managed 24% higher revenues than planned • You mentioned membership in the European Food Network. What kind of significance and impact does this membership have on the company?

- Establishing cooperation with company DACHSER, which is one of the 15 leading global logistics providers, and the European Food Network, which it heads, is an important step in the development of Nelt’s logistical operations in the

Balkans. This cooperation enables weekly deliveries of food products from all over Europe to Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina via NELT’s logistical and distribution channels. We have become one of the 13 partners of the European Network the only transportation network that offers regular groupage shipments of food from Western Europe to Serbia, according to the regime from 0 to 4°C. This network covers 34 European countries and has available about 1.74 million square metres of storage space and about 10,500 refrigeration vehicles.

This partnership is also motivated by the end goal of offering the market a viable alternative to existing solutions.

• Alongside everything you’ve mentioned, what else is included in the company's investment plans?

- By the middle of next year, we will invest 15 million euros in the development of new services on the markets where we operate, construct over 20,000m2 of warehouse and office space in Belgrade and Sarajevo, and expand our fleet of vehicles. After completing implementation of ‘Pick by Voice’ technology in our warehouses in the Western Balkans, we will continue implementing new software solutions in inventory and transport planning. We are also planning to develop service logistics in Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, where we have already started working on the ground. ▪

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CORPORATE NENAD ZDRAVKOVIĆ, DIRECTOR OF SALES AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AT MILŠPED

Logistics Move Life And Connect People

“Milsped’s example is one of many, with presence in each of regional countries and opportunity to extend market without intermission of politics on defined business activities and future plans,” says Nenad Zdravković, Director of Sales and Business Development at Milšped, speaking in this interview for CorD

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ounded 23 years ago, Milšped is today among the leading companies in the region dealing with warehousing, transport and customs representation. Company employees and management are particularly proud of the number of integrated services they boast in the domain of warehousing and distribution. Nenad Zdravković sees this segment of operations as one of the advantages of his company, explaining why it is more profitable for a company to store their goods with Milšped than to invest in their own warehouse.

- One part of the argumentation for entering the warehouse of a logistics provider instead of investing in one’s own capacities is the professionalisation of the process. Collating the needs of different clients is Milšped’s greatest strength, along with the greater flexibility of our warehouse system. Quite simply, we adapt to changes easily and quickly, due to independence that enables us to work with more clients. What is especially good are reduced logistical costs, due to constant optimisation of space and resources in response to varying demands, while we are contractually obliged towards our clients to introduce KPI reports and monitor all logistics parameters.

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• You do business globally and are among the top players in the region. To what extent does political turbulence in the region impact on your business?

- As you stated in the question itself, Milšped is now a multinational company operating in international frameworks and is part of global logistics with vision to extend operations and market, with focus on EU countries.

Political turbulence and culture in region are changing continuously, all depends of internal circumstances and necessity of daily politic, as a part of

The applying of technological innovations in our company’s everyday operations is precisely why our clients place their trust in us unique environment in last 20 years (or more). I believe, that true business overcame this political conditions many years ago. Milsped’s example is one of many, with presence in each of regional countries and opportunity to extend market without intermission of politics on defined business activities and future plans. Our clients treat region as one unique market, open for their op-

erations and people of similar requests, habits and culture.

As we would like to say, Logistics move life and connect people. We truly believe in our motto, and this is one the reason of our presence in region, without boundaries from the perspective of a logistics company.

• To what extent does your domain of business monitor technological innovations that the companies using your services must adapt to in order to survive?

- As a leader in logistical services in the region, we base most of our services on the use of modern ICT solutions: Telematics and GPS systems in the field of transport, RF networks and terminals in warehousing, PDAs and RoutePlaning systems in distribution etc. Considering that electronic data exchange is something without which modern business in our industry cannot be imagined, we have a lot of experience in this segment and currently have over 250 customer engagements around the world. Something we are currently working on that is very interesting is digital collaboration platforms with clients, in order for us to provide – in addition to data exchange and document exchange – advanced graphical tracking of shipments in real time. ■

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CORPORATE DARKO BABIĆ, GENERAL MANAGER DHL

Logistics Company For The World Our customers need efficiency and cost control, incorporated with excellent quality of service

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y 2025, DHL transportation must have 70 per cent of our own first and last mile services, with clean pick-up and delivery solutions e.g. by bike and electric vehicle. Deutsche Post DHL Group will reduce all logistics-related emissions to net zero by 2050.

• DHL has available the largest logistics capacities for delivering packages as express shipments around the world. To what extent has efficiency increased in previous years thanks to the use of new technologies?

- In our 2020 Strategy we have defined our vision as being “The logistics company for the world”, stating that our mission is “Excellence. Simply delivered”. Innovation is alive and well in Deutsche Post DHL. Our two innovation centres, in Germany and Singapore, are places where customers, academics, partners and logistics experts meet to discuss the future of

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transportation and logistics, inspired by visions and the latest trends, combining ideas and new technologies to service the growing needs of our customers. And their need is efficiency and cost control, incorporated with excellent quality of service. We are in the service industry and without solutions to satisfy the demands from various industries we will not realise

The two DHL innovation centres, in Germany and Singapore, are places where the future of transportation and logistics are discussed, inspired by visions and the latest trends, combining ideas and new technologies to service the growing needs of our customers our strategy. For example, in supply chain and logistics we are looking into how we can find the best use of

IOT, robotics and drones for timecritical deliveries, “smart glasses” for warehouse assembly-lines and product picking. DHL has invested a great deal of time and money into the development of delivery drones, and over the last few years has run several trials targeting isolated communities on small islands and in mountainous regions. Its latest autonomous effort involves not a flying machine, but rather a ground-based robot by the name of PostBOT. If you’re a mail delivery worker, the good news is that PostBOT isn’t out to replace you, rather it wants to act as your buddy, accompanying you on your rounds, carrying all the mail and, importantly, freeing up your hands so you can more easily deal with letters and packages on the move. In Germany we already have ‘packstations’ to simplify our customers’ lives.

We have looked beyond efficiency and set clear strategic goals in corporate social responsibility.

• Is Serbia in a position, in terms of its infrastructure, to be able to keep pace with DHL’s standards and procedures worldwide?

- DHL in Serbia is integrated into DHL’s network, systems and procedures. When a new product is introduced, it is our duty to our customers to deploy it locally. Our customers are aware of our capabilities worldwide, browsing the internet or using the service abroad, so their obvious question is “When can I use this benefit in Serbia?”. For us, this is a matter of complying with local legislation and having the resources and infrastructure on our market to introduce the latest transport and logistics developments.

The best example is the e-commerce revolution that is taking place all around the world. Consumers in Serbia are not observers, but rather active participants, both as buyers and sellers.

• How significant is e-Commerce to your operations?

- Whenever discussion turns to the involvement of the internet or digitisation in the lives of Serbian citizens, I can only think of the hundreds of daily shipments that are imported with goods bought online.

E-commerce increased our inbound volumes in Serbia by 30 per cent last year and contributes 25 per cent of our total outbound parcel business.

Our sales reps are talking to customers all around Serbia on a daily basis, helping them set up their online shops for international shipping. Such is the demand from SMEs in Serbia that we are planning educational workshops for e-commerce in many Serbian cities, together with the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications and the Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Serbia. Entrepreneurs want and need this sales channel.

• World trends support the claim that new technologies and responsibility towards clients will be decisive factors in the growth of your sector. What is DHL doing on that front?

- The answer to this question is education. We have developed a learning and development programme for our employees that enables every single employee to perform as a Certified International Specialist. This knowledge platform, incorporated in our Focus 2020 strategy, has done wonders in terms of motivating DHL staff and embedding

With all the transformation of work caused by the implementation of technological innovations, we will still need people. And we need to educate them – both our employees and our customers our customer-centric culture. More than 100,000 employees of DHL Express worldwide have been trained over the years, which enabled staff empowerment through knowledge. I am really excited about this programme, as I was one of the first managers to attend training sessions in the UK and I witnessed the positive effect on the daily work of our employees in both the EU and Serbia.

• The Serbian Government has announced that digitisation and e-Commerce will be priorities in the period ahead. What are the high priority economic sectors from your perspective and where do you see DHL in that?

- Implementation is the key word.

There is demand with entrepreneurs, both small and medium-sized, on this subject, and we see that the Government has recognised it and is ready to act. Digitisation will definitely have a positive impact on our business. Digitisation and e-commerce will impact on all segments of industry. Look at the numbers of social media users and their understanding of the positive impacts of real time two-way communication. The Millennials are known for their increased use and familiarity with digital technologies and contemporary communication tools. If companies are not prepared to engage in these conversations, well they are in for a surprise. Not only will they fail in terms of revenue and profit, but their reputation will also come into question.

DHL in Serbia looks into these subjects very seriously.

• DHL Serbia marked 25 years of operations in the country last year. You deserve great recognition not only for achieving this anniversary, but also for persisting in fighting for DHL, despite objective and subjective difficulties, to achieve the status it has today. Which stages of DHL Serbia’s development proved decisive?

- The transport and logistics industry is challenging and rewarding. An individual player without a team is unthinkable in our line of work. The success of DHL in Serbia is a result achieved by all employees that have been and remain part of our success story. I am sincerely thankful to all of them for their high motivation to make our company in Serbia what it is today. ■ WORLD MARKETS AND OPPORTUNITIES

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INTERVIEW

Pionires Of Critical Express ALEKSANDAR MILIN General Manager at Express Cargo

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ompany Express Cargo d.o.o. (Ltd.) was founded in 2002 and deals with the transportation of parcels around the world. It offers clients a top service in the field of international air, water and road transport, complete importexport services, customs brokerage and door-to-door delivery, as well as offering some other specific services...

• Your company is recognised in Serbia as a leader in its field, which is also supported by the award received from the Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Serbia. Since the company’s establishment 15 years ago, how long was required for you to reach the high market position you hold in your field today?

- We are very proud of the recognition from the Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Serbia for SMEs that we received on the occasion of our anniversary, but alongside that it should also be noted that in 2013 we received recognition from Quintiles Laboratories. This award is presented for the high-quality delivery of services, and we

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This master of agricultural engineering, top man at a transport company specialised in delivering sensitive shipments, pioneer of dry ice transportation, owner of a distillery and co-owner of a restaurant, considers that work must have various forms in order for life to be high quality received it because we have been dealing successfully for 15 years with the specialised transportation of sensitive shipments and easily perishable goods.

Market position is something that’s built upon every day, and after many years, or after our 15 years, we can say that we are satisfied with our status, but that we are going further. It is particularly important to point out that, in addition to the basic work, we also set some new standards in coop-

We could realistically say that we are also pioneers in “cold transport”, a special type of goods transport under strictly controlled conditions, to which we pay great attention, working in an extremely professional and high-quality way, and in all of that we cooperate to a great degree with scientific institutions. Apart from that, we are also the first to transport goods using dry ice

eration with scientific institutions, impacting on the positioning, for example, of cold transport chains, which is increasingly in demand, while in addition to that we also improve our activities generally.

• How much have market conditions changed in the last decade and a half, including when it comes to increased competition?

- As in any other business, market conditions change, globalisation continues at an unbridled pace, with working also diversifying in our area. Through diversification giants are created, which conquer markets in different ways and fight with the competition, through truthfully not always in a fair and professional way.

Nevertheless, I consider that quality is the only argument and the only proper way to fight with the competition, and thus earn the market one deserves. As for expansion, for now I don’t think that my company should become big, because alongside this business I also want to develop in some other directions.

• Your work is practically connected to the entire planet. To what extent do political changes, instability, serious crises and even wars pose a challenge to transport works, regardless of type and scope?

- It is true that transport is like the flow of the bloodstream, that it moves everywhere, and that literally the entire planet, or at least a major part of it, is our market. Changes have become ever more frequent over recent years, such that you never know what can happen and disrupt the completion of a job you’ve started.

These constant obstacles are indeed a challenge, but believe me when I say that there used to be more of them. After a certain period on the job we can all say “I’ve seen it all and it all happened”, but that’s often not the case. We are always surprised by some new problem, but it is also a challenge to resolve it and move on.

All in all, the great experience we have, coupled with quality staff ready to work under pressure and to deadlines and obligations, ensures we always find a solution.

• If you had to note your company’s top asset, whether that’s a particular type of service or transportation, what would you say and why?

- We were pioneers in the transport of blood and blood plasma samples under special temperature conditions and samples for research in the pharmaceutical industry, and we still deal with that very successfully. Our activities fall under the category of “critical express”, and in order for us to deal with this area we had to obtain a series of licenses and permits that are issued by state bodies. Furthermore, the equipment we possess and the vehicles we work with are also specific and specially equipped, and it is also mandatory for us to have specially trained staff.

Express Cargo has just been granted a license for a public customs warehouse, so it will operate via a public customs warehouse that will be registered to accept and dispatch medicines, with a special temperature regime – and that’s what makes our company attractive to clients, because we are constantly introducing innovations, offering something we think they will need.

We constantly strive to gain some new

licenses, because for us they also mean new markets, new clients and new jobs. The continuous improvement of services and working methods is definitely something that distinguishes us from others.

• If we focus on clients, could it be said that certain types of services attract the most interest?

- When it comes to our clients, we are happiest that we have many permanent ones, who have cooperated with us for many years, which testifies to the fact that they are

Express Cargo has also spent the last four years working as a ground cargo handling agent for Cargo Lux, for which we transport goods by road throughout the region from a hub in Budapest, in the hope that we will be able to “relocate” it to Belgrade certainly satisfied with our work. The greatest interest is certainly in critical services or dedicated transport. However, I think that we achieved our comparative advantage the most in this way, because we do not rely absolutely on domestic clients and most of our portfolio comprises foreign clients.

• As the head of the company, are you among those people who delegate obligations and have trust in your colleagues, or do you belong to the other group of managers who believe in themselves the most and have a need to control even the less important details?

- Before I opened my own company, I

worked at a German firm and there, like everyone else, I had to pass through every position, in order to oversee the entire process and see the difficulties and specificities of every workplace in the whole company. So, I set up the same concept when I founded my own firm. I pay a lot of attention to rewarding and motivating people, for them to progress and move forward, but everyone must start from the initial courier position. As for me personally, the idea is that I do not need to participate in all operations and every process, but rather

my main role, as the general manager, is to bring work. And it is the duty of operatives to do that work efficiently and effectively.

• It is less known that you have broad interests that also encompass some other spheres. In addition to managing your company, you also deal with rakija brandy production and are the co-owner of a restaurant. Is that an additional business, a hobby or a form of relaxation?

- No matter how satisfied and successful I am in this transport business, I didn’t want to neglect my basic education in agricultural technology, which is why I opened my own distillery six years ago, where I convert my newly acquired knowledge from my master studies into high-quality brandy.

Thanks to my work taking me around almost the entire world, I have enjoyed culinary specialities everywhere. Due to my desire to bring those flavours to Belgrade, I became the co-owner of a restaurant. I consider that it's better to have something you can enjoy besides work, which exhausts us all, so I think I would recommend this kind of hobby-business to everyone. ■ WORLD MARKETS AND OPPORTUNITIES

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CORPORATE TAMARA ĐORĐEVIĆ LAZIĆ, DIRECTOR, ROYAL EXPRESS D.O.O.

Royal Approach “Our logo, slogan and vehicles distinguish themselves among the competition, and our couriers are truly the best ambassadors of our business mission,” notes Tamara Đorđević Lazić, Director of ROYAL EXPRESS, with pride

R

oyal Express is a relatively new company on the courier market.

However, in just a few months it succeeded in achieving that which many companies try for years to achieve, and now has more than 2,000 clients and over 19 distribution centres in Serbia. Speaking to CorD, company director Tamara Đorđević Lazić explains why the courier service is still essential in the “digital era” of the 21st century.

- Benjamin Franklin once said that time is money and he was undoubtedly right.

The truth is that if courier services today depended only on lovers of handwritten words or nostalgic urges to cultivate the beautiful tradition of sending letters, their existence would be absolutely unsustainable. Contemporary man has developed a need to express availability and for information and goods to travel, and in accordance with that, society is set the serious task of enabling that to happen.

With this in mind, we enable clients to transport the most varied types of goods, from documents to packages of various sizes with different contents and values.

Due to the expansion of internet and TV sales, as well as the demands and habits of numerous individuals and businesses, our target group is diverse in all parameters.

We are proud to state that we achieved tremendous success in just a few months.

With 19 centres in Serbia, we have real-

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ized optimal coverage of the region. We have signed over 2,000 contracts with clients, have over 320 employees and have implemented the latest technology and methodology. On a weekly basis we accept and deliver more than 50,000 items. We are in the process of obtaining the ISO: 9001 Certificate, while we’ve enabled our employees to participate in a number of training courses aimed at improving their abilities and developing a range of business, communication and strategic skills.

When it comes to the slogan “More than speed!”, our clients often add “More than service!”. Testifying to everything I’ve said is the fact is that we have been nominated by the prestigious “Belgrade Victor” event for a prize in the “Rising Brand” category.

We have over 260 new vehicles that have undergone all necessary controls and we strictly obey all rules and safety regulations • One of the key global issues on many fronts today is security. How do you ensure security in this segment of the business you deal with?

- Security is one of the basic postulates of our operations. We have over 260 new vehicles that have undergone all necessary controls. We strictly obey all rules

and safety regulations. Care for the environment is extremely important to us. We have an impressive number of vehicles running on methane, and this number is continuing to grow. During the next year we are also planning to gain the Standard ISO: 14001 Certificate, which relates to environmental protection.

• It is interesting that the company name contains the word “Royal”. What is its meaning from the perspective of your business?

- Everything that includes the epithet “Royal” in the title represents a commitment to a “royal approach”, a clear vision, optimal service and originality that gradually, but inevitably, ensures positioning at the very top of the market. This type of responsibility is the spiritus movens for developing companies that are striving to be recognisable for the quality of all the services they provide. Our company is no exception.

From the very beginning, we knew what we wanted to offer our clients, and that has never, for even a moment, been below the criteria that links us to “royal”.

Being recognisable means having an enviable advantage. Our logo, slogan and vehicles distinguish themselves among the competition, and our couriers are truly the best ambassadors of our business mission. ▪

WORLD MARKETS AND OPPORTUNITIES

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CORPORATE MARJANA DOBNIKAR, MANAGING DIRECTOR, FENIKSŠPED

Regional, And Global Feniksšped plays in the “first global league”. Testifying to the veracity of this statement is the fact that, during times of global economic turbulence, Expeditors International from Washington, which Feniksšped is part of, holds a firm position among the so-called “magnificent seven”. Confirming this thesis is growth of 0.8 per cent at a juncture when others are recording losses

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t was twenty years ago that Feniksšped became the exclusive agent of this global freight forwarding company, which has over 330 offices and 17,000 employees operating in more than a hundred countries.

The history of Feniksšped supports the thesis that, regardless of where you are from, responsibility, commitment and seriousness in business are recognised globally. The company was founded in Slovenia way back in 1991, with the majority owner being the Post Office of this former Yugoslav republic that is today an EU member, and Ljubljana Airport.

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Despite the fact that competition among freight forwarders is very fierce, in Serbia this company succeeded in “animating” more than 200 satisfied customers in just three years. Since 2014, with its office in Belgrade, Feniksšped has been providing a service in all transport domains – from air transport, marine, road and rail, all the way to multimodal, including warehousing and logistics, as well as customs brokerage services.

Although it has only been present on our market for a few years, it has already proven its reliability, in working with a large number of small and

medium-sized enterprises, but also some “big” players like NIS Jugopetrol and RTB Bor. When asked if Belgrade was chosen due to its geographical position or other reasons, the managers of Feniksšped in Belgrade answer simply: “in our business everything is important, but the most important thing is to be professional and reliable. We are relatively new to the Serbian market and our priority is to prove that we are worthy of trust in competition against serious players with a tradition in this part of the Balkans.” ▪

B y R A DM I L A STA N KOV I Ć

We’re Left To The Dictatorship Of

MONEY THAT DOESN’T EXIST SINIŠA PAVIĆ

SCREENWRITER

Photo:Petar Milošević

MY LIFE

In the 60-year history of Yugoslav and Serbian television, almost half a century belongs to Siniša Pavić. He has authored some of the most watched, most popular and most repreated television series: Graduates, Hot Wind, Better Life, Happy People, Family Treasures, Here Come the Dollars, The White Ship, Theatre in the House... He is the author of the book Višnja on Tašmajdan, which was adapted to film, and was the screenwriter of several feature films with historical themes, as well as documentary dramas with topics from recent history NOVEMBER

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iniša Pavić (84) has created numerous characters that are loved and remembered by the public, but one special and unique character is definitely Šojić from the series White Ship, who has become the image of a corrupt Serbian politician in the last few decades. Politics as a mockery became the main theme of this series, because politics has also become the greatest abomination in our lives: “I belong to a generation that believed in a lot of things. We believed in Yugoslavia, in the freedom that somebody would bring us, in Tito, in socialism, in self-management... After the collapse of Yugoslavia, we believed

Photo:Petar Milošević

see on television, but they don’t trust them. This is our paradox.

“And someone voted for that Šojić [character from the TV series White Ship] because he wouldn’t be able to enter parliament if someone didn’t vote for him. This Šojic is vulgar, uneducated, cunning, one could say underhand, very selfish, and very grateful for the creation of a situation in which human stupidity and greed fuse with normality. That’s because even though Šojić seems abnormal, he actually produces the new normality.

The White Ship series is a place where elites and scum meet. And the scum takes over the helm from the elite. That’s a sorrowful realisation, and I’m interested in whether thhe people who watch White Ship just laugh, or recognise the essence.

For me, the story of a mass auditorium is a hollow one, because I don’t think everything can be equated. You cannot equate yourself to someone who has not read a single book in their life. There is no common denominator there. I wouldn’t be able to write for all types of viewers. This Šojić has characteristics common to all of us: we all want to lie a little, to put down, to deceive, and that’a quite understandable to the viewer.”

Siniša Pavić’s father, Ante, was a Sinjanin, a Croat, but in terms of his ideas and affiliations he was a Yugoslav. He gave one of his sons a Serbian name, Siniša, and the other a Croatian name, Damir. Known as a righteous, honest and committed Yugoslav, in the years just prior to World War II he realised that he could not survive in Croatia. Siniša was five years old when the Pavić family moved to Belgrade in 1938. The father died in 1967 and remained a Yugoslav until his death: “I often return to memories of my father, that Slobodan Milošević We have reached the point where no man believes to whom I owe absolutely would do something for anymore in what he is told as a political project, as everything. From a happy Serbia, after 5th October some kind of vision. A man no longer trusts another and carefree childhood we believed in the new government, in democman; we no longer trust each other. There has been during the worst period of history, to those perracy. In human freedoms so mush assimilation of so-called deceptions, and rights... Something of sonal qualities that he swindles, empty rhetoric, false promises etc., that the things we believed in managed to transfer to ordinary people don’t believe anyone anymore even came to pass. What me. Today, it is clear to has gone backwards lateme that he still led a war, a war without bullets, but equally tough and honourable. I wish that he ly is the quality of life and relationships among people. We have reached could know, hear, that he won it. There are, however, no human qualithe point where no man believes anymore in what he is told as a political project, as some kind of vision. A man no longer trusts another man; we no ties and values that life doesn’t bite on and ulcerate. And that’s why it’s longer trust each other. There has been so mush assimilation of so-called necessary to go back, as often as possible, to those first pages as sources deceptions, swindles, empty rhetoric, false promises etc., that ordinary of strength and an always solid foothold.” people don’t believe anyone anymore. They vote for those people they Vlasotince is a small town in the south of Serbia that’s home to 18,000 inhabitants and of which Siniša is an honorary citizen. It was in this town that one of his most popular television series, Hot Wind, was shot, in which Ljubiša Samardžić shone and earned the nickname 68 |

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who knows a lot and is well capable of understanding. I think that such interviews actually represent a massive undertaking. I especially like watching English BBC series and am currently occupied by Downton Abbey. I have asked for it to ne burned for me so I can watch it all at once.”

Throughout his working life Siniša was a judge, and it was as a judge that he retired. Many were ready to explain that his selection of characters from the people was actually the result of his many years socialising with

Photo: Foto arhiva Novosti

Šurda, after the hero he portrayed. Also shining in that series was the young, gorgeous Vesna Čipčić. Pavić’s wife and associate on the script, Ljiljana, was born in this town, and the two of them have long since built a new house where they live there, ever rarely coming to Belgrade. Siniša buys all the daily newspapers every day, reviews everything, and reads what interests him: “I have all the sources and I read all people who are capable of writing. I don’t want to make a selection regarding the newspapers I read, rather I make a selection regarding the information I receive. I also like watching TV, albeit selectively. Whenever some of my series are repeated,

LJILJANA & SINIŠA PAVIĆ

I watch because I want to Throughout his working life Siniša was a judge, and lawmakers who came to court with the most see how that looks to me it was as a judge that he retired. Many were ready varied demands – ridicunow, whether I have a difto explain that his selection of characters from the lous, bizarre, sad. In one ferent attitude towards people was actually the result of his many years that now in relation to critique there was always the one I had yesterday. I socialising with lawmakers who came to court with consensus, and that is have a living relationship the most varied demands – ridiculous, bizarre, sad that Siniša loved those towards my work.” characters, those people It was with great pleasure that Siniša watched all four episodes of from the nation who were so well received among viewers. Although it was Oliver Stone’s conversations with Russian President Putin, broadcast almost obligatory during the time of the Socialist Yugoslavia for judges to locally on RTS recently: be members of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, Siniša was not “I really liked Oliver Stone’s approach. Simple, without excessive one, though his beliefs were always leftist. He went to work every day and officiality. I got the impression that the two of them simply chatted. I would write in the afternoons and evenings. He never had a study room, watched the body language, the expression on the face of Russian President nor even a desk. He wrote exclusively by hand. He produced more than Putin, I liked his remarks and his polite cynicism, just as I unmistakably 80,000 handwritten pages. He submitted those manuscripts for typing saw when he avoided answering direct questions. Stone is an intellectual and was always able to find a person who could read his handwriting: “I don’t have my own workplace, I do not have my own writing desk.

I never had that and I think it would bother me. I couldn’t work differently to writing on a piece of paper on my knee. That position suits me. I NOVEMBER

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can stop writing, look upwards and think, I can listen to what others are talking about and simultaneously think about the text. That’s an unusual way of working. Everyone’s astonished that I am able to write in a crowd, in a waiting room, to record something while waiting for the amber and green lights at the traffic lights. It happened that I had little time to write in my life. I worked as a judge for seven hours, drove my wife to work and returned home from work, and we lived a long way away – all of that

Photo:Petar Milošević

over 40. Then I reread my other favorite writer, Gogol. Gogol always attracted a character rich in qualities. I was always interested in that man with qualities and never interested in a man without qualities. I first come up with rhe character and then create the story. If he has a good character, then he starts leading me.”

One of the greatest Serbian actors, Milan ‘Lane’ Gutović, achieved enormous popularity playing Srećko Šojić in the series White Ship.

Known as an outstanding improviser, he says that he didn’t need to improvise for this character because Pavić’s lines were “clear, precise and accurate even without my intervention. The humorous edge of his texts is precise and focused on the right place, so it sometimes seems that the text is actually satirical, although I know it’s not. Sometimes it seems that reality lags behind events Mr Pavić has already written.”

In the series Hot Wind, Here Come the Dollars, Family Treasures etc., Pavić wrote a lot about people who believed in a better life. As the years passed, it seemed that the writer also started believing less in a better life: “I can write a series that will be entertaining, like the previous ones, and in the end everyone will go to the seaside, where the people will love each other and eventually have gentle feelings, or positive emotions, as they say now. But if you have talent, and I believe that I have, you have to say something that most irritates people at this moment. And people are currently most irriI was always interested in that man with restricted me and so I tated by the political situhad work when I had the ation. And social, because qualities and never interested in a man without time, and I sometimes connected. We are qualities. I first come up with rhe character and then they’re had it in very bizarre situa society in which you create the story. If he has a good character, then have one layer of people ations. I’m not bragging he starts leading me who run the country, and about it. It’s simply how an enormous number it was. If I’d waited for the of people waiting to see what will happen to them. I don’t think people conditions I have today, I would never have written anything. And when are divided, nor that the one who isn’t in power is good while the one in we say conditions, we are actually thinking of situations in which we power is bad. I that that we’ve all, in essence, lost some human values. are spared from great problems. I resolved them together with my wife.

The fact that we have lost them as people, as voters, as thinking beings, Nobody spared us, nobody gave us anything in life, nothing fell from the allows those who aren’t good to move up. sky, and I think that’s good.

“That negative selection is not a consequence of some party dictaI used to write very fast, but with the years that progresses increasingly slower. I’m constantly changing something, rewriting, adding... torship that could be explained at the time of Tito, when he chose those Actually, a person changes. For example, I read War & Peace for the first committed to the regime and the party, rather now that is something time in high school, at the age of 18. Then I read it ten years later, and that comes from us.”

I wasn’t aware of everything I had picked up from that book. In fact, CorD’s interlocutor insists that he never received anything from the 50 per cent of everything I know about the world and people, I know state, that he didn’t even want to use the privileges he could have had he from that book. The third time I read War & Peace was when I was accepted to become a member of the Association of Serbian Writers. He could live a decent life with his family from the money he earned, and at the time of the bombing in 1999, in the cellar of his house in Vlasotince, shelter was found by 18 people, mostly mothers with children whose 70 |

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Photo: Foto arhiva Novosti

husbands were in the army. Whenever required, he helps or organises assistance in Vlasotince, and he’s happy to live in an environment of modest people who have long considered him their own. That’s because whatever you want, but access to the money that enables the creation of he was left without his homeland as a child, was left without a mother artworks is more difficult for those who are not close to the current politiearly on, and when Ljiljana first brought him to Vlasotince to present him to her parents, he fell in love with the area. And accepted it as his cal establishment. That’s why there are so many artists today who allow new homeland. Many characters from his series are actually from here, themselves to be close to the government, to engage politically, to place themfrom this tranquil town on the banks of the River Vlasina, where Siniša feels the best.

Asked what worries and irrirtates him on the global front, he says he is truly struck the disappearance of the value system: “We are today exposed to the styles and dictatorship of money. And that’s money that doesn’t exist. Because if there was money, you would find a way in that system dictated by money, in addition to kitsch and crap, to also finance the creation of something worthwhile. In rich societies where there is money, alongside mediocre creations there are always capital and valuable artworks. And here?

I’m afraid we will soon have only a system of crap.

That the only things financed will be that which the market verifies quickly and immediately, and that no one will be interested any longer in insisting on creative patience, nor enduring values.

“However, I believe that a real artist will prove victorious in every situation. The only question is whether you will stimulate the artist in that effort or discourage him. You cannot rely solely on geniuses who will sacrifice everything to create their work.

You must socially stimulate people to create.

“In our nation there is one saying that relates to today’s times, and it In rich societies where there is money, alongside says – look at what you selves alongside some live from. It is especially political option, agitating mediocre creations there are always capital and common among young at pre-election rallies, valuable artworks. And here? I’m afraid we will people and means – look and then afterwards colsoon have only a system of crap at what can benefit you lect on that, getting jobs right now. And that then and having commissions means there’s nobody to kick start this country. It’s like we’re all directed approve their projects. No political option will tell you that you cannot towards people forming when little, and not as people of format.” create, but there is a way to conduct that.”

No matter how much the characters in his series dealt with politics, Pavić has worked a lot throughout his entire life, and it is only in Siniša personally never had even the slightest emotional relationship towards recent years that he has discovered the attraction of occasional idleness: politics. He is, as he attributes to his hero Šojić, an emotional observer: “There are days when I’m idle. Once actress Marina Vladi, who was “I had four offers for four very high political functions, and I declined married to famous Russian actor, writer and musician Vladimir Vysotsky, all four. That’s not a job that suits my moral being. I can’t claim that I’m said that she most loves being idle with a guitar. And she added: Don’t always right, nor that I I’m the most capable of everything, I wouldn’t be underestimate idleness, without which there would be no Dostoevsky. able to constantly praise myself before the people. That’a job that pushes That sentence makes sense, because only people who have plenty of free a man into banality, and what I do is an attempt to get us out of banality, time can observe the world and say something about it.” for us to rise above everyday trifles and trivialities.

And when asked whether he believes in the longevity of his works, “Unfortunately, today you have a situation whereby if you are not given that some of his series, which are two or three decades old, sre politically correct you are almost unable to find work. In fact, you can do still repeated on television today with great success, Siniša responds: “I care about my work standing the test of time. So far it has, but what will happen in the future is not mine to judge. Though I’m not sure that a writer like me will even be needed by the television of tomorrow. ” ■

OFFICE INTERIOR DESIGN

Office Interior

DESIGN AND DECORATION

W

hether your company is in an office for rent or an owned building, the interiors where employees spend the majority of their time should be well thought out and attractive to clients, vendors and other visitors. We offer a few ideas on how to go about your office interior design and decorate your office space to make it functional, productive, create a positive impression and overall amazing.

FUNCTION An office is a work space and therefore it needs to be designed in a manner that promotes ef-

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A minimum of eight hours in the office means you need to be able to keep alert and energised in order to be productive.

One key way to ensure that is simply having good lighting. The best (and free!) light is natural light right through your office windows

On average, people spend about 50 hours a week at work, and just evenings and weekends at home. It’s a no-brainer to most to decorate their homes and make it into a comfortable place to live, but some do not think to put much effort into their commercial property

ficient use by employees. Depending on how many people work there, the various departments and need for amenities, bathrooms or kitchen, the space must be designed for easy work flow and movement. You want to be able to have individual work stations or offices but it’s also great to have communal and collaborative hubs for quick huddles as well. Such interior design can either boost or hinder your company culture. Select specific décor elements that also clue into your brand but double as functional.

A minimum of eight hours in the office means you need to be able to keep alert and energised in order to be productive. One key way

to ensure that is simply having good lighting. The best (and free!) light is natural light right through your office windows. Rent an office that has large windows in each room or open space so there is plenty of sunshine to prevent headaches and negative impact on your eyes. You can select very nice blinds or curtains to add to your overall décor and they will also come in handy when you need to

limit the lighting for any reason. Of course, you will also need actual lights as well. It’s best to pick energy efficient lights to minimise your electricity bills.

COLOUR Colour adds interest to any space and your office interior design is no different. No need to be drab or stick with just neutral colours because it is an office. Plan a colour combination that is complimentary and attractive and gives the space life. The kind of business you are in might impact your choices as will your brand colour palette. Don’t shy away

from yellows, oranges and even red, if appropriate, as these colours are said to illicit happiness and creativity. You can also select very interesting and cool art pieces to add colour and a sense of class to your office interiors. Your colours can be implemented through wall paint but also furniture and carefully selected decor items like vases or the carpet.

You can also select very interesting and cool art pieces to add colour and a sense of class to your office interiors.

Your colours can be implemented through wall paint but also furniture and carefully selected decor items like vases or the carpet

BRAND Your office space is a trademark for your business and company and should reflect that in every way possible, especially in your office interior design.

From the outside, to the car park, to the reception, open areas and inner offices, the interior design should immediately show people who you are and what you are about. Your logo and brand colours should be visible and worked into the space. Have a business mission or vision or some mantra that inspires you as a team? You could have a painter creatively put that up on the wall in an open space that can inspire employees and give visitors further insight into what powers your company. ■ NOVEMBER

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CHILL OUT WORLD

BUMP IN THE NIGHT ▶ Halloween falls every year on 31st October, which was a Tuesday this year. It is widely thought that Halloween traditions came from Celtic harvest festivals of Samhain, although some people support the view that Halloween began independently as a Christian festival. It is held the day before All Saints’ Day, which is a Christian festival used to celebrate recognised saints.

Halloween activities typically involve trick or treating and dressing up in fancy dress. Samhain was a celebration of the end of the harvest season, and means “summer’s end.” People at this time thought the walls between worlds were thin and spirits could pass through into our realm, and it was feared they may damage crops for the next season. To appease any spirits, Gaels would set up places at their dinner tables for the spirits and light bonfires to scare off evil spirits. The word Halloween comes from Hallowe’en, meaning ‘hallowed evening’ or holy evening.

USA

'SURF CITY SURF DOG' ▶ Around 70 dogs paw-ticipated in the ‘Surf City Surf Dog’ competition at Huntington Beach in California.

This is the 9th year the contest has taken place. Each furry surfer joins their owner in the water for 10 minutes to see how many waves they can catch.

They get judged on how long they stay on the board and the difficulty of the ride.

Junior lifeguards were on hand to help make sure the dogs were safe.

FRANCE

THE LOUVRE REFUSES TO DISPLAY TOO SEXUALLY SCULPTURE ▶ Dutch art and design collective Atelier Van Lieshout describes their12 metres in height artwork ‘Domestikator’ as ‘a large scale artwork that serves as a totem, a temple and a beacon’. According to them, it symbolizes ‘the power of humanity over the world’. According to the world’s largest

art museum, however, the sculpture is also too sexually explicit to be put on display. The Louvre has decided to cancel the installation of the Domestikator, reports the New York Times.

The outline of the sculpture depicts copulation, and was to go on view on 19th October in the Louvre’s Tuileries Gardens as part of Hors les Murs, a public art program organized by the Fiac contemporary art fair. On social media too, many found the decision to withdraw the Domestikator an unfair one.

JAPAN

JAPAN'S VACUUM-SEALED WEDDING PHOTOS ▶ Titled Flesh Love, Tokyo-based photographer Haruhiko Kawaguchi features bizarre portraits of couples tightly encased inside vacuum-sealed plastic bags. According to Kawaguchi, it’s a way for people to express “how close and in love they are”.

The process involved is simple, albeit risky. Couples are first covered in lube to avoid friction with the plastic. A vacuum then sucks out all the air inside, sealing the lovebirds in an uncomfortable cocoon of love. Kawaguchi then runs to his camera to snap two quick photos before telling his assistant to open the bag. The pairs have to hold their breath for 10 seconds or more, before being handed a can of oxygen. A medic is also on standby just in case things go awry.

Despite the dangers present, Kawaguchi shared that the concept is becoming popular with newlyweds looking for unique wedding pictures.

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INDIA

DIWALI FESTIVAL 2017 ▶ Diwali celebrates the Hindu belief that good will always triumph over evil. The date of the festival is calculated according to the position of the moon and the Hindu lunar calendar and is usually in October or November. This year the main date was on October 19. Diwali is observed by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains around the world and is often celebrated by street parties and fireworks. The word itself means ‘series of lights’ and during the festival houses and shops are decorated with candles and lights.

Many people celebrate the legend of Hindu God Rama and his wife Sita’s returning to their kingdom in northern India after being exiled following the defeat of demon king Ravanna. During the festival, families and friends share sweets and gifts and there is also a strong belief in giving to those in need. It is also traditional for homes to be cleaned and new clothes to be worn. The five-day festival, which coincides with Hindu New Year, is seen to be one of the most significant in the Indian culture.

USA

WORLD'S LARGEST TEDDY BEAR COLLECTION ▶ Jackie Miley, 68, entered the Guinness Book of World Records after gathering 8,026 teddy bears from every U.S. state and 29 other countries.

“I never had a teddy bear as a child -- didn’t even know what one was until I was eight years

old and saw one at the Minnesota State Fair,” she said.

Miley won her first bear, which she named “Grandma Jackie,” while on vacation in 2000 and first considered sending her collection to Guinness for review after she wound up with more than 3,000.

“I checked into it...the rest is history,” she said.

Her collections contain bears of all sizes, shapes and designs with the smallest measuring 3/4 inches tall and the tallest measuring 8 feet.

BRASIL

WORLD

FOUR MONTHS DIGGING TUNNEL TO STEAL $317 MILLION FAILED

THE POWERUP DART KIT

▶ Brazilian robbers tunneled nearly 600 metres in a daring attempt to rob a bank in Sao Paulo, where they hoped to nab millions of dollars.

After a three-month operation, police arrested 16 suspects, just before the alleged gang was able to use its impressively equipped tunnel to enter the safe at a Banco do Brasil branch in the country’s financial capital. According to the authorities, the gang were after one billion reais, or about $317 million.

“It would have been the world’s biggest heist,” said police chief Fabio Pinheiro Lopes, speaking on Globo television.

Police said work on the tunnel began four months ago, starting from a house several blocks from the bank. It had sophisticated supports, fans and light.

▶ Paper aeroplanes, in our experience, are great until you actually throw them. All that effort, the precise folding, just to see your masterpiece of engineering nosedive pathetically into the carpet. It’s a problem Kickstarter stalwart PowerUp set out to fix with its first app-controlled dart, and its latest project is proving just as popular. The PowerUp Dart conversion kit (from $37) can be attached to any plane your imagination can design. Once airborne (simply hold accelerate after pairing), you’ll be pulling off wingovers, lazy 8s and loops in no time through a combination of tilt and on-screen controls. A 25 minute charge gives you a decent 10 minutes of flight time.

GERMANY

SURGERY ADDICT INJECTS RISKY ‘ETERNAL YOUTH’ BACTERIA ▶ A 45-year-old actress from Germany has been injecting herself with Bacillus F, a 3.5 million-year-old bacteria from the Siberian permafrost, to stop the effects of aging.

The woman, who goes by the moniker Manoush, describes herself as a “human lab rat” for being the first person in the world to inject herself with Bacillus F, an ancient bacteria whose cells apparently show no signs of aging.

She has been doing it for the past three months and claims it is already making her look and feel younger than her age.

It’s worth noting that this is only Manoush’s latest attempt to preserve her youthfulness. She has also spent around $50,000 on plastic surgery over the last 20 years, including face lifts, breast implants and nose jobs.

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Free Zone Film Festival

BUNT

1-6 – Sava Centre The Free Zone (Slobodna Zona) Film Festival will take place this year, simultaneously, in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Niš, from 1st to 6th November. The festival will officially open on 1st November at Belgrade’s Sava Centre, with the film “Liberation Day” directed by Ugis Olte and Morten Traavik.

1-9 The BUNT Festival was initiated with the goal of supporting fine artistic values; values worthy of the talent and professional accomplishments of musicians in Serbia. BUNT stands for diversity, a wealth of different artistic forms, participants, ensembles, musicians, pieces and authors, as well as a rich variety of musical styles, epochs, tendencies and tastes.

In August 2015, Traavik, a theatre director, conceptual artist, cultural diplomat and big fan of the music band Laibach, succeeded in merging the unmergeable - on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of North Korea from Japanese colonial rule, he mediated, contracted and organised the first concert of a rock band from the West in Pyongyang, the capital city of one of the most closed countries in the world. And not only that - he also succeeded in capturing this incredible adventure in a documentary film. The members of the cult Slovenian group Laibach, which had the honour of commemorating one of the most important dates in the history of North Korea, are followed every step of the way by the film crew, with rare and precious moments recorded behind the scenes of the “last communist dictatorship”.

Programme: freezonebelgrade.org

The formal opening ceremony at Kolarac will see the performance of three exceptional ladies: Katarina Jovanović – soprano, Rita Kinka – piano, and Jelena Filipović – viola.

Beethoven: Sonata Op. 109 1. Vivace ma non troppo. Adagio espressivo 2. Prestissimo 3. Gesangvoll, mit innigster Empfindung.

Andante molto cantabile ed espressivo

Kingdom Of Denmark - From Copenhagen To The Arctic 1-6 - Sava Promenade, Kalemegdan On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Denmark and Serbia, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark, in cooperation with PC “Belgrade Fortress” and with the support of Danish companies Novo Nordisk, Grundfos and NIRAS, is proud to present an exhibition that arrives straight from the North and offers us insight into the natural and urban wealth of this Nordic country.

The exhibition actually represents two individual exhibitions (‘SOLUTIONS FROM COPENHAGEN’ and ‘THE FUTURE OF THE ARCTIC - OUR FUTURE’) fused into one: ‘THE KINGDOM OF DENMARK – FROM COPENHAGEN TO THE ARCTIC’.

Two seemingly incompatible areas urban Copenhagen and the wilderness of the Arctic, firmly connected through heritage, culture and aspirations for a high quality and sustainable way of life.

The Kingdom of Denmark is usually

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Cinemafest 2-8 – Sava Centre The CINEMAFEST film review will be held from 2nd to 9th November, once again in the Great Hall of the Sava Centre and CINEPLEXX cinemas in Belgrade, Kragujevac and Niš.

The review festival opens with a screening of the most controversial Russian film of the year, ‘Matilda’, directed

by Alexei Uchitel, which depicts the relationship between ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya and future emperor Nikolai II. This creation has caused quite some controversy, such that a permit for screening it in its home country had to be issued by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. Polish actress Michalina Olszanska, who plays the title role, confirmed her arrival and will open the review festival with the Belgrade premiere at the Sava Centre.

CINEMAFEST 2017 brings other extraordinary titles too, including Beethoven: Songs of Op. 48 1. Bitten 2. Die Liebe des Nächsten 3. Vom Tode 4. Die Ehre Gottes aus der Natur 5. Gottes Macht und Vorsehung 6. Bußlied Brahms: Songs of Op. 91 1. Gestillte Sehnsucht 2. Geistliches Wiegenlied Beethoven: An die ferne geliebte Haydn: Arianna a Naxos Festival programme: www.bunt.rs

Woody Allen’s Wonder Wheel, which will be screened exclusively in Belgrade a month ahead of its release in American cinemas; then the new works of directors Doug Liman (The Wall), Walter Hill (The Assignment), starring Sigourney Weaver and Michelle Rodriguez, Todd Haynes’ long-awaited Wonderstruck, with Julianne Moore, George Clooney’s new project Suburbicon, written by the Coen brothers and having recently had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, while arriving at Cinemafest from the Toronto Film Festival is French comedy C'est La Vie!, co-directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano – creators of the great European cinema hit The Intouchables.

For more about the Cinemafest programme, visit cinemafest.rs LARA ARBAJTER J. Haydn: Sonata B major, hob. XVI / 41, F. Chopin: Etude Op.25, No. 2, F minor GALINA NIKOLIN F. Chopin: Nocturne Op.48, C minor F. Chopin: Etude Op.25, No.11, A minor UKI OVASKAINEN F. Chopin Mazurka op 6, No.2, C sharp minor Mazurka op.50, No.3, C sharp minor Etude No.2, A flat major (Trois Nouvelles Etudes) Etude Op.25, No.2, F minor 24 Prelids Op.28

Cinéclub at the French Institute 8 - Institut Français - 18:00

Autumn Echoes 2017 identified with continental Denmark, but since the 18th century it has also included the Faroe Islands and Greenland.

Part of the territory of the Arctic also belongs to Denmark, thus the country is also a member of the Arctic Council.

This exhibition shows Belgraders how much Danes, Greenlanders and Faroese love and care about their country. From smart solutions for the urban challenges facing an expanding Copenhagen, to sustainable exploration and utilisation of the resources of Greenland, the Faroe Islands and the Arctic.

The exhibition will be on show on Kalaegdan Fortress’s Main (Sava) Promenade until 6th November.

3 –Belgrade City Assembly – 20.00 A two-part homage dedicated to the “Poet of the Piano” Frederic Chopin.

Programme: MISTIK CELLO F. Chopin: Nocturne Op.20, C sharp minor

Cinéclub returns to The French Institute (Institut français) this autumn, with an array new films.

Film gatherings will be organised every second Wednesday of the month, from 6pm to 8pm, in the mediateque. Screenings are free of charge and are led by a French Institute professor, with whom guests will be able to share their impressions of the film whilst also practising their language skills.

A new addition is that Cinéclub is now open to school language pupils, members of the mediateque, parents of youngsters attending children’s workshops, but also their friends and family.

The Red Army Alexandrov Ensemble

Homage to Juan Rulfo

10 - Sava Centre - 20.00 The academic Alexandrov Ensemble of the songs and dances of the Russian Army is considered a symbol and the pride of Russian culture. It has a tradition dating back 87 years.

The rich history of this ensemble is closely intertwined with the history of the Soviet Union and modern Russia. The ensemble consists of more than 200 members, including 150 professional artists: soloists, a men’s choir, orchestra, dancing groups... Their repertoire includes more than 2,000 songs, consisting of folk, patriotic and military songs and dances, while they also perform spiritual music and classics of Russian and world composers.

Worldwide, this ensemble ranks alongside Russian brands like the Bolshoi Theatre, The Hermitage, Tretyakov Gallery and the Diamond Fund of Moscow’s Kremlin.

They sing in almost all world languages, including Chinese, Hindi, Turkish etc. In the course of their many years of work, the Alexandrov

14 - Instituto Cervantes - 19.00 This literary evening is dedicated to one of the most important Mexican writers, while the occasion for the event is provided by the centenary of his birth.

Ensemble has received the highest domestic and international awards, while its numerous recordings have generated sales of millions of copies.

The ensemble was founded by Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory professor and national artist of the USSR, composer generalmajor Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov, who led the ensemble for 18 years.

Juan Rulfo, author of The Plain in Flames and Pedro Páramo, used his pages to depict the eternal beauty, customs and colourfulness of southern Mexico, while providing each text with universal attributes that have seen him glorified throughout the world, especially in Spanish speaking countries. Juan Rulfo’s other works include The Golden Cockerel (El gallo de oro) and the short story Talpa.

These activities will include young Serbian Hispanics, who will give short, individual presentations on special aspects of his work.

This event will serve to give recognition to Juan Rulfo and Mexican literature, as well as providing a good opportunity to present Hispanic-American literature to those interested. This will also be an opportunity to announce the new editions of this author being prepared by publishing house Dereta.

Participants: Bojana Kovačević Petrović (Grupo) Društvo hispanista (Asociación de Hispanistas de Serbia)

RECOMMENDS

ORIGIN Dan Brown Trkulja performs what’s set to be a spectacular Sava Centre concert on 25th November, under the title ‘Balkanopolis 2.0’.

The concert will see him and his Balkanopolis band celebrate 20 years of creating “modern tradition” – the new, exciting sound and genre that has been shifting boundaries for two decades.

The last time this musician and innovator of ancient traditions of sound and his band presented themselves at the Sava Centre they gave a spectacular concert alongside the Netherlands’ famous Metropol Orchestra. That concert a decade ago marked a turning point in Trkulja’s world career, remaining remembered for having shifted musical boundaries, creating the “modern tradition of the Balkans” – the new sound and genre that Trkulja and Balkanopolis have become recognisable for both at home and worldwide. That groundbreaking Sava Centre concert led to successes mounting by themselves, via world awards and recognition, to cooperation with world famous symphonic and jazz orchestras, as well as duets with Mariza, Dalaras, Oleta Adams…

Exhibition Fidelium 28 - House of King Petar I - 20.00

Balkanopolis 2.0 25 – Sava Centre – 20.30 Multi-instrumentalist and singer Slobodan

2800rsd

Robert Langdon, a Harvard professor of symbology and religious iconography, arrives at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao to attend the unveiling of a discovery that “will change the face of science forever”. The evening’s host is his friend and former student, Edmond Kirsch, a forty-year-old tech magnate whose dazzling inventions and audacious predictions have made him a controversial figure around the world. This evening is to be no exception: he claims he will reveal an astonishing scientific breakthrough to challenge the fundamentals of human existence.

THE LAND OF GREEN PLUMS Herta Müller 2600rsd

Set in Romania at the height of Ceausescu’s reign of terror, The Land of Green Plums tells the story of a group of young people who leave the impoverished province for the city in search of better prospects and camaraderie. But their hopes are dashed, because the city – just like the countryside – bears the mark of the dictator’s corrosive touch everywhere. All the narrator's friends – teachers and students of vaguely dissident allegiance – betray her and do away with themselves, or both. As they do so, we see the way the totalitarian state comes to inhabit every human realm and how everyone, even the strongest, must either bend to the oppressors or resist them and thus perish.

French Week 16-22 The French-Serbian Chamber of Commerce is organising the fifth edition of French week. Parisian lights in the streets of Belgrade will once again highlight French culture, products and knowhow. This year’s topic is “Live digital”. This year’s French week will open with the celebration of young French wine – Beaujolais nouveau and French products’ Fair. A wine tasting workshop is also scheduled. A student’s debate and online Job Fair will be open for students and young managers throughout the week. Following last year’s successful edition, the online Map of French discounted products and services will be available in Belgrade and the region again.

French Week will also focus on the latest

STAR TREK, VOLUME 2 technologies in the health sector, with a business conference followed by B2B meetings to be organised.

The media will cover French Week in the traditional way, while specially branded cars with French Week symbols and logos will circle the city throughout the seven days. You will find enclosed different possibilities of participation; do not hesitate to contact to discuss them (only some events include the possibility of participation).

This exhibition brings together 10 prominent artists, including painters, sculptors and photographers, who are among the best young artists of Serbia’s contemporary art scene.

Among the exhibitors at the ‘Fidelium’ exhibition are multiple-award-winning artists who have represented our country at the world’s major artistic events: Gala Čaki, Tijana Kojić, Stefanija Mihajlović, Natalija Miladinović, Una Nikolić, Petar Mošić and Petar Sibinović, Marko Kusmuk, Nemanja Okiljević and Zdravko Janković.

Joe Corroney, Mike Johnson 2640rsd

The voyages of the new crew of the Enterprise continue in this re-imagining of the original series, using the altered timeline from the 2009 movie. Contained in this volume is the re-telling of the classic episode "Operation: Annihilate!" and an all-new, two-part story that takes place soon after the events of the first film!

Star Trek writer/producer Roberto Orci oversees this original story set in the timeline leading up to the blockbuster film sequel!

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22 SEP

Celebration Of ITEC Day

Indian Ambassador H.E. Narinder Chauhan, along with Serbian State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nemanja Stevanović, and State Secretary at the Ministry of Trade, Tourism & Telecommunications, Tatjana Matić, ITEC alumni, and prominent Indian and Serbian businesspeople, marked the annual Indian Technical & Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Day. In her inaugural address, Ambassador Chauhan gave an overview of the ITEC programme, stressing that it was an important pillar of bilateral cooperation with Serbia, underlining the noble objectives of the programme.

26 SEP

State Secretary Stevanović mentioned that India and Serbia share an excellent bilateral relationship, expressing hope that the bonds created through this education and capacity-building partnership would continue.

State Secretary Matić, head of the Joint Committee on IT & Electronics, expressed hope that such cooperation in training would also continue to grow in the future and provide a contribution to the Serbian Government’s digitisation programme.

Under the ITEC Programme, nationals of friendly countries are provided with training in various fields, on a fullyfunded basis. ITEC Training not only empowers scholars with professional skills, but also helps prepare them for an increasingly globalised world.

European Day Of Languages Marked

MATEJA NORCIC-STAMCAR, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia, TIM CARTWRIGHT, Head of the Office of the European Council in Serbia, JEAN-BAPTISTE CUZIN, EUNIC President and Director of the French Institute

The European Union National Institutes for Culture in Serbia (EUNIC Serbia) organised the European Day of Languages in Belgrade. Throughout the course of the full day, more than 1,500 school pupils, teachers and students attended open door events at the Cervantes Institute, Goethe-Institut and the French Institute, where they were able to meet and establish contacts with 18 different organisations promoting European culture and language diversity: culture centres and embassies, but also the European Union Delegation to Serbia and the Office of the Council of Europe in Serbia.

The highlight of the day was the public event that took place in Kalemegdan Fortress Park in the afternoon, where European languages were celebrated through music, dance and theatre. This public event was opened by Tim Cartwright, head of the office of the European Council in Serbia, Mateja Norčič-Stamčar, deputy head of the EU Delegation Union, and Jean-Baptiste Cuzin, EUNIC president and director of the French Institute.

27 SEP

BSBA Members’ Evening

The Board of Directors of the Belgian-Serbian Business Association (BSBA) organised a Members’ Evening at Belgrade’s IN Hotel in order to thank its members and friends for their continued support and dedication.

Ewoud Roes, First Secretary at the Belgian Embassy in Belgrade, welcomed guests and announced the BSBA’s assistance and support linked to the arrival of new Belgian investor Copahome in Zrenjanin. BSBA Chairman Dr Hugo van Veghel welcomed old and new members and friends, before announcing the release of the new BSBA website. As an association that enjoys the support of the Belgian Embassy and the Office of the Trade Commissioner, the BSBA is at the heart of a growing network with access to a variety of companies and institutions directly involved with prospects and business in both Serbia and Belgium. The Members’ Evening ended with a prize draw, with prizes sponsored by guests.

BSBA Chairman Dr HUGO VAN VEGHEL

Siemens Celebrates 130 Years Of Operations In Serbia

UDO EICHLINGER, General Manager of Siemens in Serbia

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Company Siemens d.o.o. Belgrade celebrated the 130th anniversary of doing business successfully in Serbia, with the celebration of the anniversary at the Belexpocentre attended by more than 400 representatives of the government, business partners, clients and the media. The celebration was attended by Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, H.E. German Ambassador Axel Dittmann and H.E. Austrian Ambassador Johannes Eigner. The ceremony was opened

by Udo Eichlinger, General Manager of Siemens in Serbia, who revealed the message of the jubilee as “Proud of tradition, orientated towards the future”.

“Siemens is a company that’s synonymous with reliability, quality and professionalism, and we are pleased that it has already been in Serbia for 130 years. Siemens today employs around 1,600 people in Serbia, around 1,400 of which are employed in its production facilities in Subotica, which testifies to the importance of this company for Serbia. Siemens is one of those corporations that are socially responsible and care for the community H.E. JOHANNES EIGNER (left), H.E. in which they operate,” noted PM Brnabić.

AXEL DITTMANN and PM ANA BRNABIĆ

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29 SEP

Start-Up Centre Opens At Belgrade Economic Faculty

BRANISLAV BORIČIĆ, dean of the Faculty of Economics

Work has started on the entrepreneurial ideas declared as being the three best at the Start-up Centre of the University of Belgrade’s Faculty of Economics, which aims to help and support the development and market realisation of students’ entrepreneurial projects.

The three selected student projects will be developed at this unique centre in the next three months. Alongside a mentorship programme involving experienced managers from the MVP Workshop and faculty professors, with project management and realisation support, regular training, workshops, lectures in a specially-equipped area, the best ideas will be given the opportunity to prove themselves on the market.

The Start-up Centre of the University of Belgrade’s Faculty of Economics was opened

by Branislav Boričić, dean of the economics faculty, Dragan Lončar, vice dean of the faculty responsible for cooperation with business, Ivan Bjelajac, director of the MVP Workshop, and Mihailo Jovanović, director of the Office for IT and E-Government.

02 OCT

Photo Exhibition Depicting Serbian-Moroccan Friendship Opens

Under the auspices of events marking the 60th anniversary of the establishing of diplomatic relations between Belgrade and Rabat, Moroccan Ambassador to Serbia H.E. Mohammed Amine Belhaj and staff of his embassy have organised a photography exhibition at Kalemegdan Fortress that will run from 2nd October to 3rd December, covering the topic “Morocco-Serbia: H.E. MOHAMMED AMINE BELHAJ Sixty Years of Renewed Friendship”.

The exhibition aims to serve as a reminder of the excellent relations that exist between Morocco and Serbia, as the successor to the former Yugoslavia, by highlighting the role of Morocco as a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement, which has a vision based on the values of peace, security, cooperation and respect for territorial integrity.

The exhibition also places an emphasis on significant moments related to historic visits to Belgrade by the monarch of Morocco – the late King Hassan II, as well as Josip Broz Tito’s 1961 visit to Morocco.

29 SEP

More Than 15,000 Visitors Attend th 8 Belgrade Researchers’ Night!

With the slogan “Knowledge at first sight” and under the organisation of the Siniša Stanković Institute for Biological Research and partners, 11 Serbian cities hosted events under the auspices of the 12th European Researchers’ Night.

The event was opened by the Head of Operations of the EU Delegation in Serbia, Steffen Hudolin, Charge d’Affaires and First Counsellor of the French Embassy to Serbia, Nicolas Faye, European Commission Representative Przemyslaw Jankowski and the Coordinator of the ReFocus Project of Researchers’ Nights at the Siniša Stanković Institute for Biological Research, Dr Tanja Adnađević.

The French Institute was one of the most visited locations in Belgrade that evening, alongside the Gallery of Science and Technology of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Belgrade Scientific Club, traditional locations on Kalemegdan, BIG Fashion and the Museum of Vuk and Dositej.

European Researchers’ Night was this year observed in 340 cities and 26 countries.

Events included millions of citizens and 18,000 researchers from across Europe.

Researcher’s Night is financed by funds from the HORIZON 2020 programme, which represents the EU’s largest research and innovation programme, and within the framework of the Maria Sklodowska-Curie sub-programme.

STEFFEN HUDOLIN (left), Dr TANJA ADNAĐEVIĆ, PRZEMYSLAW JANKOWSKI and NICOLAS FAYE

02 OCT

20 Years Of Madlenianum

In front of the packed hall of the Great Stage at Madlenianum, the Monograph of Opera and Theatre Madlenianum was presented, while the 20th anniversary of the existence of this theatre and first private opera in Serbia was also celebrated.

Speaking at the promotion were Miodrag Ilić, one of the authors and editor of the Monograph of Opera and Theatre Madlenianum, author Gordana Krajačić, artistic-graphic editor Ljiljana Martinović and theatrologist Radomir Putnik. At the end of the promotion, those in attendance were addressed by Madlena Zepter, founder and visionary of Opera and Theatre Madlenianum, who was – according to the authors – the initiator and supervisor of the publication. She thanked all the authors and participants in the making of this publication that is significant for both Madlenianum and the entire theatrical world, after which she gifted the first copy of the Monograph to actor Nebojša Dugalić, who was otherwise the moderator of this ceremony.

MADLENA ZEPTER

GORDANA KRAJAČIĆ (left), RADOMIR PUTNIK, LJILJANA MARTINOVIĆ and MIODRAG ILIĆ

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03 OCT

Night Of Architecture

Under the patronage of the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Serbia, headed by Ambassador H.E. Dagmar Repčeková, and the Belgrade University Faculty of Architecture, the historic first Night of Architecture in Belgrade was held on the premises of the Faculty of Architecture.

During this event, five Central European countries (Slovakia, Czechia, Austria, Hungary and Poland), along with Serbia, presented their exhibitions.

The Night of Architecture not only gave visitors a chance to see several creative architectonic models of various buildings and structures, but also to watch different films included in presentations by all participating countries and devoted mainly to various architectural styles and periods, or to hear interesting lectures by distinguished professors of architecture.

04 OCT

DEJAN MARKOVIĆ, General Manager of Schneider Electric for Serbia and Montenegro

05 OCT

VLADAN ĐOKIĆ Ph.D., Dean of the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade, and H.E. DAGMAR REPČEKOVÁ

11 OCT

Autumn Mingling With Ambassador Lundin

H.E. JAN LUNDIN and JASMINA VIGNJEVIĆ

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15th Aniversary Of Schneider Electric In Serbia And Montenegro Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management and automation, is celebrating 15 years of doing business in Serbia and Montenegro. Since the company’s founding, Schneider Electric’s business model has been built on the principle of partnership networks and the engagement of local companies, and this network in Serbia now brings together more than 70 companies and three licensed partners with local production facilities. In this way, Schneider Electric supports more than 3,000 jobs, through its own operations and those of its partners, for the needs of its business.

“For the last 15 years, our business has been characterised by a specific business model, created with the idea of engaging and encouraging the local economy. We are proud of our licensed partners, who have adopted and applied modern technologies,” said Dejan Marković, general manager of Schneider Electric for Serbia and Montenegro.

Working Meeting Of The Slovenian Business Club

A working meeting organised by the Slovenian Business Club has been held at Belgrade’s IN Hotel on the topic “Political and Economic Cooperation between Serbia and Slovenia, and the situation in the region”.

The meeting’s keynote speaker was Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić. H.E. Vladimir Gasparič, Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to Serbia, welcomed the guest of honour and attendees, saying: “Things have never gone better for us. Serbs have begun investing in our country, which is good. You are investing in banks, hotels, even airports and marinas. These are good tendencies”.

“Relations between Serbia and Slovenia have reached a level at which they can serve as an example of successful good neighbourly cooperation, which is not a common case DANIJELA FIŠAKOV, Director of in the region,” said Deputy PM Dačić. the Slovenian Business Club

The Swedish Ambassadorial Residence in Belgrade provided the venue for Ambassador H.E. Jan Lundin to organise his traditional Autumn kick-off and mingle cocktail reception for friends and members of the Nordic Business Alliance, which was attended by representatives of Swedish companies - members of the Nordic Business Alliance, officials and staff of the Swedish Embassy and the Swedish community in Serbia, media representatives, friends of Sweden and Serbia’s cultural and public workers.

The purpose of the gathering was to socialise informally, enable company networking and allow visitors to inform themselves about the upcoming activities of the Swedish Embassy in Belgrade and the Nordic Business Alliance.

Guests were addressed by Ambassador Lundin and Nordic Business Alliance President Jasmina Vignjević.

H.E. JAN LUNDIN

11 OCT

Seventh Belgrade Security Forum

The 7th Belgrade Security Forum (BSF) has been held, focusing on dialogue within the Western Balkans as the only path to solutions and problem-solving.

Speaking at the event, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić said that EU integration represents the main way forward for Serbia. “Serbia is the biggest country in the region, but it needs fiscal and monetary stability to play a leadership role in regional stability. The Berlin Process is also an important step for instrumentalisation,” said Brnabić, who also focused on three pillars of regional stability with regard to the most pressing challenges facing society, as well as highlighting as equally important factors the infrastructure agenda, economic and energetic stability, and regional youth cooperation.

Rose Gottemoeller, Deputy Secretary General of NATO, underlined that it is thanks to the political leadership in Serbia that

12 OCT

Messer Tehnogas Celebrates 20 Years Of Successful Operations

ERNST BODE addressing guests

13 OCT

many significant improvements have been made that deepen and advance partnership. She pointed to the professionalisation of the Serbian military and increasing joint military exercises in the context of deepening the NATO-Serbia Partnership. She interpreted the fact that Serbia’s neighbouring countries are aspiring or associated NATO members as one more positive factor, before adding that there have been many common shifts overall, but also that there is plenty of room to broaden fields of cooperation, especially in the economic area.

Company Messer Tehnogas has celebrated the significant anniversary of 20 years of successfully doing business in Serbia. The jubilee was commemorated with a celebration attended by nearly 1,000 guests from all over Serbia and across the world – customers and business partners – and included traditional Bavarian cuisine and the sounds of the trumpet players from the Dejan Petrović Big Band.

Addressing guests, Messer Tehnogas Executive Director Ernst Bode noted that this company’s customers are the focus of its business, power and pride. In the last ten years, Messer Tehnogas AD (JSC) has invested more than €100 million in various projects in Serbia. Standing out among the most important investments are: ASU Smederevo – an air separation unit with the largest capacity in the region of south, southeast and partly central Europe; ASU Bor, filling plants for helium, special gas mixtures and Freons.

A new air separation plant, to serve the needs of RTB Bor’s new smelter, in which Messer Tehnogas has invested €20 million, started operating in April 2015. The capacity of this plant is five times greater than its predecessor.

AHK Oktoberfest Held

The German-Serbian Chamber of Commerce (AHK Srbija) celebrated the annual Oktoberfest in Belgrade, together with its members, business partners and representatives of the Serbian economy. Around 1,500 guests, largley representing members of the business community, experienced a unique interpretation of this famous German festival and enjoyed draught German beer, Bavarian specialities, competitions in beer drinking and mug holding, as well as the music of the best known local brass ensemble, the Dejan Petrović Big Band, with the support of this year’s partner company Messer Tehnogas, which is this year celebrating 20 years of doing business in Serbia.

The honour of opening the event went to H.E. German Ambassador Axel Dittmann, who skillfully cracked open the first barrel of beer, thus formally signalling the start of the event.

Following welcome addresses by AHK Srbije President Ronald Seeliger, Ambassador Dittmann, AHK Srbija Director Martin Knapp and CEO of partner company Messer Tehnogas, Ernst Bode, came celebrations and socialising just like the original German event, though adapted to Serbian conditions.

AMBASADOR DITTMANN opens the first barrel of beer, under the expert supervision of RONALD SEELIGER

17 OCT

ROSE GOTTEMOELLER and ANA BRNABIĆ

Speed Business Meeting

NEBOJŠA MILIĆEVIĆ, director of the representative office of the British-Serbian Chamber of Commerce in Belgrade, ANA GRUJOVIĆ, SSCC executive director, and DANIJELA FIŠAKOV, SBC president

The Slovenian Business Club, the Swiss-Serbian Chamber of Commerce and the British-Serbian Chamber of Commerce have jointly organised a “Speed Business Meeting” at Belgrade’s Hyatt Regency Hotel.

With the aim of promoting networking among foreign and domestic businessmen, 12 individual one-on-one meetings lasting ten minutes each were organised, having previously been determined by a drawing of lots. This SBM was attended by 26 companies from different business sectors, whose representatives were able to connect and expand their base of contacts, with the aim of developing their businesses and acquiring potential partners.

Following the culmination of the formal meetings, a networking reception was organised for all participants, during which company representatives used informal meetings as an opportunity to continue connecting and exchanging additional information with fellow attendees.

AMBASADOR DITTMANN (left), RONALD SEELIGER, MARTIN KNAPP and ERNST BODE

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18 OCT

Exhibition “Zajedno/Come Together” Opens

SCENE FROM THE OPENING OF THE EXHIBITION

19 OCT

The opening of the Radine Vučetić and Ljubinka Trgovčević exhibition“Zajedno/Cometogether”attheYugoslavCinametheque Film Archives in Belgrade marks the 180th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Serbia and the United Kingdom (1837). Explaining the topic of the exhibition, Tracy Gallagher, Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy, said this is “an exhibition devoted to people who were often unjustifiably neglected and less visible to the public, although they have made a huge contribution to bringing together and promoting better understanding between Serbian and British society”.

Jugoslav Pantelić, Director of the Yugoslav Cinematheque Film Archives, announced that a cycle of British Film will start on 20th October, during which visitors will be able to enjoy 100 free screenings of works by British filmmakers.

The exhibition presents a series of stories about people and phenomena that have modernised, changed and culturally TRACY GALLAGHER enriched Serbia and Serbian society.

Serbia And France In The Great War

19 OCT

Amcham Business Dialogue With PM Brnabić

The business dialogue event organised by the American Chamber of Commerce in Serbia (AmCham) saw Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić and AmCham members conclude that the continuation of cooperation between the government and the private sector is key to the conducting of priority reforms.

“The key steps towards increasing our competitiveness are comprehensive digitisation and the reform of education, without which we will not be able to achieve long-term sustainable development,” said PM Brnabić.

“A large number of laws are adopted under urgent procedure and without public debate, and it is very important for the Government to ensure obligatory and broad public debate for all interested parties. According to the Prime Minister, this problem will finally be consigned to the past,” said AmCham Management Board Chairman Zoran Petrović.

“We can be optimistic when it comes to improving the business environment, but at the same time take note of the challenges confronting businesses – unfair competition, parafiscal charges and legal uncertainty,” said U.S. Ambassador to Serbia H.E. Kyle Scott.

NICOLAS FAYE, Chargé d'Affaires of the French Embassy to Serbia

Belgrade hosted the two-day International Conference “Serbia and France in the Great War”, organised by the SANU Institute for Balkan Studies, in conjunction with the French State Foundation for marking the Centenary of World War I and the French Institute in Serbia.

French and Serbian historians exchanged views on the decisive periods during the Great War, including Allied troop support on the Thessaloniki Front under the command of French generals from 1916 to 1918, as well as cooperation between French and Serbian civilians during the war period.

- Relations between Serbia and France are a key topic for the history of the Great War in Serbia, which has yet to receive its monographic treatment. That’s why it was necessary for us to try to jointly mark the stages and key moments of cooperation between Serbia and France - said Vojislav Pavlović, acting director of the SANU Institute for Balkan Studies.

22 OCT

H.E. KYLE SCOTT (left), PM ANA BRNABIĆ and ZORAN PETROVIĆ

62nd Belgrade Book Fair Opens

The 62nd International Book Fair, celebrating the achievements of the written word, opened in Belgrade under the slogan “The Key is in books” on 22nd October, with visitors presented with the stands of around 500 exhibi- PRINCE STEFAN OF LIECHTENSTEIN (left), H.E. Austrian Ambassador JOHANNES EIGNER, writer tors, including around 50 from abroad.

The honorary guest of this year’s fair is the German language. Accordingly, and former ambassador DRAGAN VELIKIĆ, H.E. German Ambassador AXEL DITTMANN and H.E. representatives of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein presented Swiss Ambassador PHILIPPE GUEX themselves within the “Four countries one language” programme. Visitors once again showed great interest in contemporary literary creativity this year, especially emanating from the German-speaking world.

During the course of the fair, visitors were presented with around 1,000 books by contemporary authors from these four countries, with as many as 350 titles premiering in Belgrade. The star of this year’s fair was Nobel Laureate Herta Müller.

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