A sudden agreement reached by the three strongest parties in Bosnia & Herzegovina may offer a way out of the current deadlock, but only if it is implemented.

Page 7

NEIGHBOURHOOD

1Friday • June 13 • 2008 NEWSNEWS

Issue No. 1 / Friday, June 13, 2008

Lure of Tadic Alliance Splits SocialistsWhile younger Socialists support joining a new, pro-EU government, old Milosevic loyalists threaten revolt over the prospect.

EDITOR’S WORD

Political PredictabilityBy Mark R. Pullen

Many of us who have experi-enced numerous Serbian elections rate ourselves as pundits when it comes to predicting election re-sults and post-election moves.

We feel in-the-know because our experience of elections in Ser-bia has shown us that (a.) no single party or coalition will ever gain the majority required to form a govern-ment, and (b.) political negotiations will never be quickly concluded.

Even when the Democrats achieved their surprising result at last month’s general election, it quickly became clear that the re-sult was actually more-or-less the same as every other election result in Serbia, i.e. inconclusive.

This is likely to continue as long as Serbia’s politicians form new political parties every time they disagree with their current party leader (there are currently 342 reg-istered political parties in Serbia).

Drawn-out negotiations are also the norm. One Belgrade-based Ambassador recently told me he was also alarmed by the distinct lack of urgency among Serbian politicians. “The country is at a standstill and I don’t understand their logic. If they are so eager to progress towards the EU and en-courage investors, how come they go home at 5pm sharp and don’t work weekends?”

Surely the situation is urgent enough to warrant a little overtime.

Costs Mounting

Economists are warning that pro-longed uncertainty over Serbia’s

future could scare off investors, lead to higher inflation and jeopardise prosperity for years to come.

“This year has been lost, from the standpoint of economic policy,” says Stojan Stamenkovic of the Econom-ics Institute in Belgrade.

Football Rebellion

While the football world watch-es events unfold at the Euro-

pean Championships in Austria and Switzerland, Bosnia is experiencing a soccer rebellion, led by fans, play-ers and former stars who are enraged by what they see as corrupt leaders of the country’s football association leaders.

By Rade Maroevic in Belgrade

Tense negotiations on a new gov-ernment have divided the ranks

of the Socialist Party, which holds the balance of power between the main blocs and has yet to announce which side they will support.

“It looks as if the Socialists will move towards a government led by the Democrats,” political analyst Mi-lan Nikolic, of the independent Cen-tre of Policy Studies, said. “But such a move might provoke deeper divi-sions and even split the party.”

Simultaneous negotiations held with the pro-European and national-ist blocs have drawn attention to a deep rift inside the Socialists.

This divides “old-timers” loyal

to Serbia’s late president, Slobodan Milosevic, and reformists who want the party to become a modern Euro-pean social democrat organisation.

After eight years of stagnation, the Socialists returned to centre stage after winning 20 of the 250 seats in parliament in the May 11 elections.

With the pro-European and nation-alist blocs almost evenly matched, the Socialists now have the final say on the fate of the country.

Nikolic believes the Socialists, led by Ivica Dacic, will come over to Tadic, if only out of a pragmatic de-sire to ensure their political survival.

“The group of younger Socialists gathered around Dacic seems to be in the majority”, Nikolic said, adding that these reformists believe the party

faces extinction unless it changes. However, a strong current also

flows in the opposite direction, led by party veterans enraged by the prospect of a deal with Tadic.

Mihajlo Markovic, a founder of the party, recently warned of a crisis if Dacic opts for the pro-European bloc, abandoning the Socialists’ “nat-ural” ideological partners.

Markovic, a prominent supporter of Milosevic during the 1990s, is seen as representative of the “old-timers” in the party who want to stay true to the former regime’s policies, even though these almost ruined the Socialists for good.

Some younger Socialist officials have voiced frustration over the con-tinuing impasse within their own

party over which way to turn. “The situation in the party seems

extremely complicated, as we try to convince the few remaining lag-gards that we need to move out of Milosevic’s shadow,” one Socialist Party official complained.

“Dacic will eventually side with Tadic in a bid to guide his party into the European mainstream, but much of the membership and many offi-cials may oppose that move.”

Nikolic agreed: “The question is will the party split or will the ‘old-timers’ back down,” he noted.

Fearing they might not cross the 5-per-cent threshold to enter parlia-ment, the Socialists teamed up with the Association of Pensioners and the United Serbia Party, led by business-man Dragan Markovic “Palma”.

Pensioners leader, Jovan Krkoba-bic, Palma and Dacic are all pushing for a deal with the Democrats.

The reported price is the post of deputy PM, with a brief in charge of security for the Socialist leader.

In addition, the Socialists are bar-gaining for other ministries, includ-ing capital investments, Kosovo and education, Belgrade media reported.

Tadic has denied talk of horse-trading with the Socialists, maintain-ing that ministries would go only to those committed to working for the government’s “strategic goal”.

At the same time, Dacic seems re-luctant to call off negotiations with the nationalists.

“If we don’t reach an agreement with the DSS and Radicals, the par-ty leadership will decide on future steps”, Dacic announced, following the first session of country’s new par-liament on Wednesday.Source: Balkan Insight (www.balkaninsight.com)

Business Insight Neighbourhood Matters

Socialist leader Ivica Dacic remains the Serbian kingmaker

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Weekly Issue No. 12, Friday, Nov. 14 - Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008

Kosovo, which declared inde-pendence on February 17, is teetering on the brink of crisis

in its relations with the European Un-ion. The crisis emerged after Kosovo’s government, under Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, rejected a deal between the EU, the UN and Serbia, which would have paved the way to the full deployment of EULEX, the EU’s po-lice and justice mission.

Up until last week, the principal problem blocking the mission was Serbia’s resistance to the deployment of EULEX in Serb-controlled areas of northern Kosovo.

Now, however, a six-point plan be-tween the EU, the UN and Serbia has been agreed. This foresees that some of the revenues from the two customs points in northern Kosovo will stay in the north, while in the Serbian areas the local police will remain “under the ex-isting chain of command”.

Kosovo leadership reject the EULEX deal Photo courtesy of Pristina Insight

What this means is that the govern-ment of Kosovo will not be entirely sovereign over the whole of Kosovo, and thus the agreement contains a “de facto” recognition of the situation on the ground.

It is this stark reality which has pro-voked the Kosovar rejection, plus the fact that the government of Mr Thaci now feels under pressure from opposi-tion parties not to be seen to be giving in to what they believe to be Serbian moves to consolidate power in areas under their de facto authority.

Kosovo’s leadership says the six-point plan breaches Kosovo’s sovereign-ty, territorial integrity and constitution.

According to one source in Brussels, there was a mood of anger amongst EU officials dealing with Kosovo.

“It is disingenuous of the Kosovars to claim now that they did not know what was going on,” one senior EU source in Brussels said. At every stage of the negotiations, Pristina was kept fully informed “and now it is in their best interests to let EULEX deploy across the whole country”.

Meanwhile, a senior Serbian source said: “We are not ready to change the deal in any way,” adding that any at-tempts to do so “might have grave con-sequences”.

Following months of negotiations, a deal was struck between the EU, the UN and the Serbian authorities on No-vember 7 on deploying the EU police and judges across the whole of Kos-ovo. This was to have been endorsed at the Security Council on November 11. Objections by the government of Kosovo have now led to the cancella-tion of the session.

Asked whether the mission would now deploy in Kosovo at all, the same EU source in Brussels said: “I don’t know”. However, if the mission indeed fails to deploy on account of the objec-tions from the Kosovo government, this would lead to a major deterioration in relations between Kosovo and the European Union.

All 27 members of the EU have backed EULEX, although five of these are countries that do not recognise Ko-sovo’s statehood.

EULEX is set to be a flagship EU mission, with some 1,900 police, judg-es and other staff. Most will come from EU countries although Americans and others will be involved.

Until now, however, the mission has been plagued with logistical and politi-cal problems. While the US has backed the deal in public, in private, sources say the Americans’ support for their European counterparts is lukewarm.

In the wake of Kosovo’s rejection of the deal, diplomats have launched a fresh bout of activity to break the deadlock. According to one European diplomatic source, negotiations are taking place that will allow the gov-ernment in Pristina to accept the deal after a possible exchange of letters with Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy supremo.

The thinking is not that the six-point plan, which covers policing, customs, transport and infrastructure, boundaries and Serbian holy sites, will be changed, but that Solana’s letter or statement could reassure Ko-sovo that while EULEX would, in ef-fect, be operating in different ways in different parts of Kosovo, this would not amount to a question mark over its territorial integrity.

The problem, according to diplo-matic sources, is that since Serbia has agreed to the six-point plan, European diplomats must not to give too much away to Pristina, lest Belgrade then also rejects the deal. “It is a question of dressing the Christmas tree,” said one diplomatic source, “but in such a way as to make sure it does not top-ple over”.

A senior Serbian source said that any exchange of letters between Sola-na and the Kosovo authorities risked putting Serbian agreement to the deal in question. “That could bring it all into jeopardy,” he said.

But a source close to the government in Pristina reiterated that they “will not accept anything that endangers a united Kosovo in terms of police, justice or customs”.

Lulzim Peci, head of KIPRED, Ko-sovo’s leading think-tank, said the EU had tended to take the Kosovars for granted, and in consequence, “we are entering a crisis”. Others were not so sure, though. One senior Kosovo gov-ernment source said Kosovo might lift its objections to the deal next week.

Kosovo Rejection Sparks First Crisis with EU

Julijana Mojsilovic examines the potential shift in Serbia’s politics to-wards a de facto two-party system.

Further falls on the BELEX this week indicate that Serbia is feeling the impact of the global economic downturn.

Page 3 Page 5

Our team recommend a selection of events to check out this week.

Page 12

GOING OUT

Zoran Milosavljevic previews Eurobas-ket 2009.

Page 14

SPORT

This week, we explore a charming Romanian border town.

Page 9

OUT & ABOUT

Belgrade’s street art scene has seen a movement away from the political graffitti of the 1990s.

Page 10

THE BELGRADER

The international financial crisis has already hit Serbia, says a UN official in Belgrade.

Page 4

BUSINESS

POLITICS

Representatives of the Allied pow-ers commemorate Armistace Day at cemeteries across Belgrade.

Page 6

ECONOMICS

BELGRADE

Source: www.weather2umbrella.com

By Tim Judah

Refusal to accept deal on deployment of EU police and justice mission marks first serious clash with Pristina’s European allies.

Friday, Nov. 14 - Thursday, Nov. 20, 20082 advert

3politicsFriday, Nov. 14 - Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008

Serbia Finally Embraces a Two-Party SystemAfter the split in the hard-line Radical Party, Nikolic’s breakaway Progressives are emerging as the most likely future challengers to Boris Tadic’s ascendancy.

COMMENTby Julijana Mojsilovic

in Belgrade

It is ironic that the until recently undisputed leader of the ultrana-tionalist Serbian Radical Party

effectively killed his own child from his prison cell at the Hague war crimes tribunal.

Vojislav Seselj’s party had been getting steadily stronger since the terrible defeat it suffered in the 2000 general elections, which ended the era of their ally, Slobodan Milosevic.

But then the party split recently under the heavy pressure that Ses-elj put on his leaders at home and to whom he sent confusing political instructions.

Seselj’s best student, his deputy, ended up outshining his tutor.

Tomislav Nikolic, whose loyalty to Seselj was the last thing anyone had doubted, seized the momentum, left the party that he had helped to form and set up his own.

The slowly fermenting disputes within the Radical Party erupted over the question of Serbia’s Euro-pean future.

Cursed by former colleagues who even put a spell on him and his grandchildren, branded a foreign spy by his ex-boss, Nikolic seceded and succeeded.

Operatives of the Serbian Secu-rity and Information Agency and police have been check-

ing several private business enter-prises in the capital Belgrade in the past week in an attempt to cut off fi-nancial support to the two remaining war crimes fugitives, Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic, a security agency official told Belgrade Insight.

“We want to see who is financ-ing them and how they are being fi-nanced, and we are getting some re-sults,” the operative said on condition of anonymity.”The financiers are the key to apprehending them,” he added, but declined to elaborate further.

The most recent operation came just days after the Serbian elite po-lice unit, the Gendarmerie carried out a five-hour raid on the Vujic factory just outside the city of Valjevo.

They left the factory with 13 pho-tos allegedly showing the owner of the factory with “some Hague fugi-tives but not Ratko Mladic” Serbia`s RTS web portal reported.

The company’s owner, Vidoje Vu-jic, denied allegations about ties to war crimes fugitives. “I have never seen or met Ratko Mladic,” Vujic was quoted by local media as saying.

Mladic, the Bosnian Serb military commander during the 1992-95 war, has been indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yu-

goslavia, ICTY, for war crimes and genocide, including the killing of as many as 8,000 Muslims from the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica.

In July, Serbian authorities arrest-ed Mladic’s political leader Radovan Karadzic and handed him over to the Netherlands-based court.

Hadzic, a former leader of Serbs in Croatia was indicted for his role dur-ing the 1991-1995 war there. He went underground after the ousting of former President Slobodan Milosevic in 2000.

The raid came ahead of the upcom-ing visit of chief war crimes prosecu-tor Serge Brammertz to Belgrade.

A positive report from Bram-mertz to the UN Security Council in December on Serbia’s cooperation with the tribunal will be vital for the implementation of the Stabiliza-tion and Association deal between the European Union and the govern-ment in Belgrade.

Only weeks after his split with Seselj, Nikolic’s Serbian Progres-sive Party was coming second in the opinion polls, less than 8 per cent behind the bloc of the pro-European President of Serbia, Boris Tadic. The original Radicals had lost 20 per cent of their former popular support.

In local election re-runs this week, Nikolic’s candidates came second in two out of the four munic-ipalities, while Seselj’s team failed to cross the minimum threshold of 5 per cent in one.

Back in 2000, Seselj’s Radicals won a mere 300,000 votes in the gen-eral election. But that figure grew to more than a million in subsequent polls, when the party was under Nikolic’s day-to-day leadership.

Serbian parliamentary elections in May left both Seselj and Kostunica in limbo as well as moving the axis in Serbian politics further from the far-rightwing.

Tadic’s Democratic Party and its coalition partners, positioned in the political centre, patiently waited for the Radicals to split while at the same time wooing the Socialists with nu-merous concessions.

Together, the two forces filled the centre and centre-left of Ser-bia’s political spectrum, leaving part of the right-wing political space to Nikolic who now abandoned hard-line nationalism for more moderate patriotism and an emphasis on social issues.

The remaining Radicals and the waning remnant of Kostunica’s na-tionalists were left with a smaller slice of the political cake, and facing the threat of marginalisation.

Nikolic has proved himself to be anything but a naïve politician. Tough opposition to Tadic’s Demo-crats remains the focus of his “anti-regime” vocabulary, he has dropped ultra-nationalist goal of a Greater Serbia from the political agenda.

What was once the sweet dream, or bloody reality, of “all Serbs in one state”, (engulfing parts of Croatia and Bosnia in the process), has now been discarded as unrealistic.

That has reassured those voters who feared new armed conflicts in

the Balkans and pushed them closer to Nikolic who they see as a leader capable of saving them from a pain of economic transition.

With his changed vocabulary and image, Nikolic has garnered great support in no time, becoming a real threat to Tadic’s coalition.

If the West accepts him as a re-formed leader, Nikolic could effec-tively challenge Tadic in the next presidential elections in five years.

By that time, Seselj might either be serving his jail term or be freed, if

his sentence does not exceed the time he has spent in prison already. Mean-while, his loyalists at home are likely to struggle to cross the 5-per-cent threshold needed to enter parliament.

Even if they join forces with Kos-tunica, their chances of taking power in Serbia are almost gone, unlike Nikolic’s, whose party alone will be able to challenge Tadic’s bloc. Final-ly, Serbia will have been transformed into a two-party democracy.

Source: www.BalkanInsight.com

Nikolic, left, and his former leader, Seselj

Police at the scene of one of the raids

Source: www.mooshema.com

Photo by FoNet

Serbian Agents Probe Financing of War Crimes Fugitives

4 business

Crisis to Hit Serbia, UN Official Says

Serbia to Finalize Talks With Gazprom

Serbia, Lithuania to Join MSCI Frontier Markets

Sale of Serbia’s JAT Tehnika FailsTwo Bids for Country’s River Fleet Bids Invited for FAP

ForexReserves Drop

The Serbian government will enter the final phase of talks with Russia’s oil and gas con-

glomerate OAO Gazprom over the sale of the country’s Naftna Indus-trija Srbije, NIS, oil industry and the development of a leg of the South Stream gas pipeline, an official said.

Dusan Mrakic a state secretary with the Mining and Energy Ministry told reporters that the deal over the sale of 51 per cent stake of NIS will be “signed by December 15 at the latest”.

Serbian media also reported that the government of Mirko Cvetkovic asked Gazprom to invest a total of 700 million in the overhaul of NIS.

Last year Serbia and Russia reached a tentative agreement by which Gazprom’s oil arm, Gazprom-neft, will purchase a 51 per cent stake in NIS for €400 million and invest a

The sale of Serbia’s state-op-erated aircraft maintenance company failed when no buy-

ers placed bids.The Privatisation Agency said in a

statement that although Israel’s El Al and Bedek Aviation, Hungary’s Ma-lev and another unspecified company purchased tender documentation, no bids followed.

The agency did not specify wheth-er it will launch a new round of bid-ding for JAT Tehnika. Previously, the Serbian government decided to aban-don the sale of the country’s principal air carrier, the state-run JAT Airways, in the absence of serious buyers.

In a tender offer in June, the Pri-vatisation Agency offered to sell a 70 percent stake in JAT Tehnika to companies involved in aircraft maintenance for no less than five years and with at least €100 mil-lion in 2007 revenues.In 2006 the state-operated JAT Tehnika, previ-ously a part of the national flag car-rier JAT Airways, posted revenues of €18.7 million and net profits of €157,113.

JAT Tehnika is licensed for the maintenance of all major aircraft types in the European Union and the United States.The sale of JAT Teh-

nika is a part of larger government project to privatise major enterprises and distribute shares to as many as 4 million people.

In addition to JAT Tehnika, Ser-bia plans to sell stakes in the state-operated telephony provider Telekom Srbija AD, the electricity utility Ele-ktroprivreda Srbije, JAT Airways, Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla airport and Galenika pharmaceuticals.

Serbia received two bids for the sale of a 69.99% stake in its river cargo fleet, the Jugoslov-

ensko Recno Brodarstvo, the coun-try’s media reported citing a trade union leader.

Ilija Ivosevic, head of the JRB Trade Union, was quoted as say-ing that Austria’s DDSG company, owned by Serbian businessman Zoran Drakulic and a consortium of France’s CFNR, Croatia’s Dunavski Lojd Sisak and Bomeks shipyard, placed offers for the purchase of the company. He did not elaborate fur-ther.

In October, Serbia’s Privatization Agency extended the deadline for the

Serbia’s Privatization Agency launched its second attempt to sell a majority stake in the

state-operated Fabrika Automobila Priboj, a loss-making truck and util-ity vehicles producer.

In a statement, the agency said it was planning to dispose of an 86.5 per cent stake in FAP, based in the western town of Priboj, by January 23 of next year. The agency said that prospective bidders must furnish their offers with €100,000 bank guar-antees.

To qualify, bidders are required to be companies with a minimum of three years of experience in the au-tomotive industry and at least €10 million in 2007 profits, financial in-vestors with more than €50 million in managed assets in 2007, or other in-vestors with profit of more than €15 million last year.

FAP currently employs some 1,500 people in its Priboj facility which has seen little investment in recent years.

Its output of trucks, buses and military vehicles, including light armored personnel carriers, has de-clined rapidly in the last decade as foreign imports have captured an ever increasing market share.

JRB sale without giving a reason.The agency which sells state-run

assets launched its second tender for the JRB after a consortium of Cyprus-based Tamoza Trading and Singapore-based Daxin Petroleum Pte, as well as a consortium of Mal-ta’s Palmali Shipping Sa and Palmali Holding Ltd, pulled out from the sale talks.

The Jugoslovensko Recno Bro-darstvo currently operates a single passenger ship and 16 cargo ves-sels. It freight fleet capacity was es-timated at more than 187,000 tones. In 2007, the company’s profits rose to €578,000, up 52 per cent on the previous year.

Serbia’s currency reserves fell by €436.6 million in October to €9.34 billion, the central

bank said. The decline came after the Na-

tional Bank of Serbia allowed commercial banks to draw €473.9 million, following the change in provisions on compulsory reserves adopted on Oct. 17, a statement said.

The central bank also sold €269 million on the currency market to bolster liquidity and in an attempt to arrest the slide of the dinar against the euro, which in October amounted to 9.9 per cent.

The bank also said it repaid €21.8 million to international cred-itors.

Serbia’s total currency reserves in October were €10.051 billion euros, including €704.9 million euros deposited by commercial banks.

Her remarks came after the IMF team, which is in Serbia to help lo-cal experts draft the 2009 budget,

warned the government last week that it expects the country’s eco-nomic growth rate to decline to 3.5

per cent in 2009 from the current 7 per cent. It also said that it expects the budget deficit to reach 50 bil-lion dinars (€588.8 million).

The delegation has also warned the government to abandon plans for an increase in pensions to 70 per cent of the average wage.

“Serbia must be prepared to de-crease spending by 15 per cent … by cutting back on the parts [of the budget] that contribute directly to spending, and on loans in the bank-ing system,’’ said Udovicki.

She said that the dinar must also continue to decline. The dinar has lost more than 10 per cent of its value in the past month. “The ex-change rate should decline faster than inflation,” she said.

“That would ensure a decrease in local demand for imports by placing locally produced products at a relative competitive advan-tage,” Udovicki said.

additional €500 million by 2012.Earlier this month Serbian ne-

gotiators reportedly asked their Russian counterparts to extend the current November 22 deadline for signing the deal as it remained un-clear whether Gazpromneft will fund the investments through a cash payment or a loan.

According to media reports the Russian side has said that it prefers NIS to take out a €500 million eu-ros loan which would be backed by Gazprom’s guarantees.

In July the Serbian government said it wanted to renegotiate the sale of NIS, arguing the proposed price was not sufficient. In August, Deloitte & Touche an auditing firm, valued Naftna Industrija Srbije at €2.2 billion.

However, Sergey Shoigu, Rus-

The international financial crisis has already reached Serbia and the country must brace itself for

the protracted consequences of a mar-ket slump, a top official with the United Nations Development Program said.

“The international financial cri-sis is reaching Serbia via two chan-nels,” said Kori Udovicki, the di-rector of the regional UNDP office in Belgrade.

Udovicki, the former governor of the National Bank of Serbia and former energy minister, told Bel-grade’s daily Blic that “the first chan-nel represents a great decrease in the inflow of foreign assets through loans or direct investments”.

“The other channel is a drop in purchases from overseas,” which will pose a problem for Serbian ex-porters, she said.

“A decrease in exports will in turn reduce the ability to finance imports,” she added.

Serbia and Lithuania will join MSCI Inc.’s stock benchmark for frontier markets later this month,

a move that will boost investment by money managers overseeing assets of as much as $3 trillion, a statement said.

The two countries, whose indexes have a combined capitalisation of $1 billion, will be added to the 19-coun-try MSCI Frontier Markets Index on November 25, the New York-based index provider said.

Two banks, the Komercijalna Banka AD and AIK Banka will make up the MSCI Serbia Index, with a market value of $166 million on a so-called free-float adjusted basis, the statement said.

MSCI is a provider of equity, fixed income, hedge fund indices and equity portfolio analysis. Its majority shareholder is Morgan

Stanley financial services. MSCI indices are used as the benchmarks for measuring performance of in-ternational equity portfolios. They are also used as the basis of passive investment products like index and exchange-traded funds.

The MSCI Lithuania Index, worth some $855 million will have stocks of the AB TEO LT communications company and AB Rytu Skirstomieji Tinklai, a power grid operator.

sia’s minister for emergency situ-ations and the key negotiator in the purchase of NIS, flatly rejected Ser-bia’s proposal.

Mrakic said that the two sides should also agree on the creation of a joint venture between Serbia’s gas provider Srbijagas and Gazprom, for the development of the South Stream pipeline and the completion of un-derground gas storage in the northern town of Banatski Dvor.

Gazprom’s Moscow HQ

JAT tehnika’s service facility

Kori Udovicki Source: UN official photo

Friday, Nov. 14 - Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008

The BELEX15, the index of the most traded shares in the Belgrade Stock Exchange, fell a further 3.48 per cent between Nov. 7th and the 14th, ending the period on 671.36.

Trading was again light all week with investors shying away from a market which is close to it’s all time low of 668.99. “The BELEX indi-ces closed lower on tiny turnover because of an ongoing shortage of fresh funds,” a broker told Belgrade Insight on condition of anonymity.

With the government’s financial direction still uncertain and with the IMF likely to cast doubts on Serbia’s

forward economic policy, the market looks likely to continue in this jittery shape for some time to come.

Markets across the region are per-forming similarly badly, and there seems to be little light at the end of the tunnel.

BELEX15 Report

Kosovo’s government may be losing as much as €700 mil-lion from tax evasion by un-

scrupulous businesses.An investigation by the Tax Ad-

ministration during the first nine months of this year discovered €40 million of unpaid – but legally owed - taxes and officials say this may just be the tip of the iceberg.

Alban Krasniqi, 22, spends an av-erage of €10 per day in his favour-ite cafés in Pristina. But he says he never receives a receipt along with his coffee.

Most businesses do not use cash registers, through which the Tax Ad-ministration could accurately meas-ure their taxable income and without a register to record each sale, many, it is alleged, under-declare their income and consequently avoid paying their taxes and commit tax fraud.

“If there were proper control and domestic collection of taxes, Kos-ovo’s budget would double. Simply put, if the government collects €700 million annually, better control would result in collecting another 700 mil-lion,” explains Mimoza Kusari-Lila, the head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo.

Meanwhile, Alban Krasniqi points out that it’s not just cafés; other busi-nesses do not supply their customers with printed receipts, either.

“I asked for receipts in cafes sev-eral times, but the waiters kept telling

me ‘I pay my debts without receipts, aswell’,” Krasniqi says.

Consumers in neighbouring coun-tries such as Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro are encouraged not to pay for something if the seller doesn’t give them a receipt and failure to provide printed receipts in other Balkan coun-tries can lead to fines and in some cases to a temporary closure of the business.

In Kosovo, Kusari-Lila, an eco-nomics expert, explains the simple mathematics. “If a customer pays €1 for a coffee and doesn’t receive a receipt, Kosovo’s treasury could lose the 15 cents of Value Added Tax, VAT, if the business owner does not declare the sale.”

Some businesses, particularly in the foodservice sector, she suggests may be declaring as little as 15 per cent of all transactions. “This is the way the treas-ury is deprived of revenues generated by businesses,” explains Kusari-Lila.

The second-in-command of the Tax Administration of Kosovo, Sakip Imeri, admits that Kosovo is over-whelmed by tax evasion. “There may have been more tax evasion, but our in-vestigations have uncovered €40 mil-lion over and above the taxes paid by businesses,” says Imeri. He also added that as of 1st November, ten businesses will start voluntarily using cash regis-ters as part of a pilot project.

However, officials from the Min-istry of Finance state that the project will only be implemented in 2009, after Kosovo’s Parliament ratifies the necessary legislation. According to Imeri, the use of cash registers was not possible until now due to a lack of controlling legislation.

Kusari-Lila declared that while there is tax evasion in businesses large and small, small ones are more difficult to control. According to her, the use of cash registers in Serbia and

Macedonia has been a success. “I don’t understand how this sit-

uation can be tolerated in Kosovo. While other countries in the region do not permit their customers to

pay without a printed receipt, the opposite is true for Kosovo,” says Alban Krasniqi.

Source: www.BalkanInsight.com

5business 5business

France’s SAGEMEyes Factory in Nis

The Serbian government and SAGEM, a French producer of elec-tronic appliances will launch talks over the opening of a production facility in the southern town of Nis, a top official said on Wednesday.

The talks come after a previous deal between SAGEM and EI Nis a maker of electronic components for the pro-duction of 130,000 electricity meters, said Bozidar Djelic, Serbia’s Deputy Prime Minister.

“After that successful deal, SAGEM is now interested in opening its own facility for the production of electric-ity meters,” Djelic told reporters. He did not give details of the talks.

SAGEM is one of France’s largest businesses and has interests in defence, consumer electronics and communica-tion systems.

Djelic said that the new facility will have a workforce of 250. “Bringing SAGEM on board is an opportunity for the French company to place its products in the markets of the former Soviet Union, and European markets as well,” he said.

At a later stage, SAGEM may open a Nis-based production facility for printers and other consumer electronic devices, Djelic said.

EI Nis was a major producer of consumer electronics in the former Yu-

goslavia. Since 2000, the new Serbian authorities have unsuccessfully tried to rescue the company and have sold parts to several private businesses. A portion of the company is still state-owned.

Serbian-Austrian Venture Places Offer for Kopaonik Hotel

A joint venture between Serbia’s MK Group and Austria’s Falkenstein-er-Michaeler, a tour operator, placed a €23 million bid to purchase the In-ternacional CG hotel complex in the Kopaonik ski resort, the Privatisation Agency said.

In a statement the agency said it will decide on the offer within a month.

The Serbian-Austrian group was the sole bidder for the complex which comprises an hotel, an apartment com-plex and a restaurant. The Kopaonik resort is some 220 kilometres south of Belgrade.

The Internacional CG hotel com-plex was previously a part of the now bankrupt Genex, a former key exporter and tour operator in the former Yugo-slavia.

Spar and Ramstore to Invest in Serbia

Austria’s Spar and and Turkey’s Ramstore retailers and supermarket chains will enter the Serbian market in

2009, a government official said. Spar has bought a location in Sub-

otica in Serbia’s north and “it is about to finalise” another investment in Novi Sad, the capital of the Vojvodina prov-ince, a Trade Ministry’s official told Belgrade Insight.

“Ramstore is still looking for a place for a shopping mall, but that will not be in Belgrade,” the official said. “It remains to be seen whether the glo-bal crisis will delay or alter their plans. So far it’s all going well,” he added.

Earlier this year the Serbian media also said that country’s trade minister Slobodan Milosavljevic had talks with Tesco, Britain’s biggest retailer.

In Serbia’s 7.5 million-strong mar-ket, Spar and Ramstore will face com-

petition from Germany’s Metro Cash & Carry, Slovenia’s Mercator, Greece’s Veropoulos, Croatian Agrokor and the local retailer Delta M.

BELEX Places Alfa Plam on B List

Serbia’s Alfa Plam, a producer of household appliances, became the country’s first enterprise to gain a B listing on the Belgrade Stock Ex-change, the BELEX, the company’s CEO said.

The company was previously trad-ing on the unregulated market, Alfa Plam’s CEO Velin Ilic said in a state-ment carried by local media. To gain a BELEX B listing, a company must

have capital of at least 4 million euros. It must also prove that at least 25 per cent of its equity is owned by minority shareholders.

Only two Serbian companies, the Tigar rubber producer and the Ener-goprojekt construction company are on the A BELEX listing, while shares of other companies are traded on the unregulated market.

Since 2000, Alfa Plam’s invest-ments have totalled €13.5 and in the first part of 2008 its gross profits were €1.8 million euros. The company con-trols 40 per cent of Serbia’s household appliances market and it exports some 65 per cent of its production.

Companies & Markets

Kosovo Loses Millions to Tax EvasionPlans to introduce tighter regulation have been delayed and tax evasion by unscrupulous businesses costs Kosovo millions every year.

By Lavdim Hamidi in Pristina

Am-Cham’s Mimoza Kusari-Lila Source: www.rtv21.tv

Friday, Nov. 14 - Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008

Ceremonies were held across Belgrade Photo by FoNet

6 belgrade chronicle

Serbia Marks Armistice Day10 Years Since Founding of Otpor

Ring Road Brings Relief to Central Belgrade

Top Serbian officials and Bel-grade-based representatives of the countries that won the First

World War marked Armistice Day in Belgrade commemorating the end of the war that was supposed to end all wars.

Politicians, state officials, mem-bers of the diplomatic corps and army officers placed wreaths and flowers at the Mausoleum of the Defenders Of Belgrade, the Commonwealth War Cemetery, the Tomb of Rus-

A decade after it played pivotal role in the ousting of former President Slobodan Milosevic,

the key student group marked its anni-versary. While some of the founding members have remained in politics, the majority of Otpor’s famous faces have withdrawn from public life.

Otpor started off in 1998 as a small student movement opposed to the nationalist and militarist poli-cies of Milosevic. With its trademark clenched fist motif, it became a sym-bol of non-violent struggle against Serbia’s autocratic regime.

“We wanted to change things. The people were brave enough, some might say crazy enough, to do some-thing at a time like that,” Nenad Kon-stantinovic, one of Otpor’s founding members told reporters.

After the 1999 NATO bombing, Otpor began its anti-Milosevic cam-paign and in 2000 evolved into a peo-ple’s movement.

A portion of the ring road around Belgrade was opened earlier this week, in a move

which should free up the notori-ously clogged streets of the Serbian capital

The section between Orlovaca to Ostruznica is a part of the 69 kilome-tre-long ring road which should di-vert freight and through-traffic form the city’s central areas.

At the opening ceremony, Ser-bian President Boris Tadic said that

the completion of the ring road was a great achievement.

“I want to thank the workers; this is a great victory, their victory. I know how hard it was for them. Without you we could not have completed this job. Our engineers have also showed that our construc-tion companies can work efficiently and thus regained everyone’s trust,” Tadic said .

Tadic, who is also the president of the National Infrastructure Council,

a top body tasked with the develop-ment of the national road and rail networks said that networking Ser-bia’s infrastructure with neighbor-ing countries is a precondition for country’s bid to join the European Union.

Completion of this section of the ring road should allow work to com-mence on the long overdue renova-tion of the Gazela bridge, which until now has formed a key section of the E76 highway through the capital.

Members of the movement joined the Democratic Opposition of Serbia’s protests, and launched the “Gotov Je” (He’s finished) campaign.

Otpor played a central role in the October 5 2000 ousting of Milose-vic, with its members leading tens of thousands of people who flocked to downtown Belgrade to protest against election fraud in the presi-dential vote a month earlier.

Milosevic was finally arrested in April 2001 and handed over to the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands where he died while on trial for his role in the 1991-1999 conflict in the Balkans.

In 2000 Otpor received MTV Eu-rope’s Free Your Mind award.

After toppling Milosevic, Otpor suspended its activities until 2003 when it participated in parliamen-tary elections as a political organi-zation, failing to pass the 5 percent threshold to enter parliament. It

merged with the Democratic Party in 2004.

Of the founders, Nenad Konstanti-novic, Ivan Andric and Srdjan Milivo-jevic are now politicians. Slobodan Homen is the state Secretary in the Justice Ministry, while Srja Popovic works as an adviser to the deputy prime minister. Milja Jovanovic, Branko Ilic and Vlada Pavlov have withdrawn from public life. Ivan Marovic, who now lives in the United States, has developed a video gamebased on the overthrow of dictatorships. He regu-larly posts blogs on the B92 website.

sian Soldiers and the French Military Cemetery.

“The graves of Serbian soldiers are scattered in 18 countries across the world, and it is our duty to pay tribute to those we owe so much to,” Minister of Education, Zarko Obra-dovic, said during a ceremony at the Mausoleum of the Defenders of Bel-grade.

As many as 20 million people, combatants and civilians, died dur-ing the 1914-1918 conflict

Friday, Nov. 14 - Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008

Bosnia’s ‘Historic’ Deal Brings Relief and DoubtThe surprise agreement reached by the three strongest parties may offer a way out of the current deadlock, if there is the courage to implement it.

7neighbourhood

By Srecko Latal in Sarajevo

European officials have “noted with satisfaction” the recent “historic” agreement between

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s three rul-ing parties and have “invited the Bos-nian political forces to unite around this project”.

The statement, issued by the Eu-ropean Commission’s External Rela-tions Council, refers to the out-of-the-blue agreement reached over the weekend by three parties – the Bos-nian Serb Union of Independent So-cial Democrats, SNSD, the Bosniak party of Democratic Action, SDA, and the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ – over some hotly disputed issues.

Resolution of these issues is seen as crucial for the continuation of Bosnia’s EU accession process and for the closure of the Office of the High Representative, OHR.

Only last month, European officials were describing the political deadlock in Bosnia in alarming terms.

On October 10, the Council “voiced deep concern at recent devel-opments in the political situation… particularly the use of nationalist rhetoric and the implementation of unilateral decisions by some leaders, thereby jeopardizing power-sharing and the foundations of the state.”

But while the latest agreement has been hailed as “historic” by local media and international officials, it may not take effect. Having strained already-fragile relations within the ruling coalition to breaking point, Bosnia may face new political dead-lock, or fresh elections.

“Everything is possible now”, an editor of the influential Sarajevo daily Dnevni Avaz, Sead Numanovic, told Balkan Insight.

For two years, Bosnia’s political scene has been dominated by infight-ing, radical rhetoric and personal ani-mosities among local leaders.

The principal quarrel has pitted Milorad Dodik, leader of the Bosnian Serb SNSD, against Haris Silajdzic,

head of the Bosniak Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina, SZBH.

The quarrels, which started ahead of the 2006 general elections, have tainted relations between the parties and increased ethnic tension.

The resulting political deadlock has blocked and, in some cases re-versed, the progress on crucial in-stitutional, economic and social re-forms, affecting the country’s hopes of eventual EU membership.

The international community, meanwhile, has appeared distracted by other foreign challenges, in Af-ghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo – and its coherence has been diluted by Rus-sia’s growing engagement in the Bal-kans, on the side of its Serbian allies.

The European Union finally awoke to the scale of the problem a month ago, after foreign diplomats and local officials warned that Bosnia faced di-vision or even armed conflict.

European diplomats launched an offensive, resulting in the drafting of a new strategy for Bosnia based on stronger engagement as well as a continued mandate for the EU peace forces, EUFOR.

Sources close to Brussels officials and Bosnia’s own leadership, told Bal-kan Insight that the EU offensive con-tributed to the “historic agreement” reached suddenly on October 8 in the northern town of Bosanski Samac.

Another key element behind this breakthrough was the action of the leader of the SDA, Sulejman Tihic.

In the October 5th local elections, the SDA scored a sweeping victory among Bosniak voters, reinforcing Tihic’s previously fragile position in his own party as well as his position in relation to his biggest rival, Haris Silajdzic of the SZBH.

On October 13th, Tihic surprised everybody by appearing at a tense session of the Bosnian Serb parlia-ment and tried to calm local politi-cians, infuriated by what they saw as Silajdzic’s anti-Serbian rhetoric.

On October 15th, Tihic met the President of Croatia, Stipe Mesic, and the Croatian Prime Minister, Ivo Sanader, in Zagreb, before traveling

to Belgrade on November 4th to meet Serbia’s President, Boris Tadic.

Western diplomats told Balkan In-sight that soon after the Belgrade meet-ing, Tadic telephoned Dodik, the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska.

Details of this conversation have not been made public but the conver-sation clearly helped create a posi-tive atmosphere for the November 8th meeting of Bosnian leaders.

At the meeting, Dodik, Tihic and Dragan Covic, leader of the Croatian Democratic Union, HDZ, agreed in outline, within just two hours, on how to resolve several issues that have vexed the country for two years.

One is the future status of the Dis-trict of Brcko. Here, they agreed that further constitutional reform and le-galisation of the status of the Brcko District would be undertaken by par-liament.

Another issue was a compromise

over which questions would be asked in the 2011 census. They also agreed on basic principles concerning the di-vision of state property.

If the agreement lasts, it will sat-isfy most of the key preconditions for the closure of the OHR, which would mark a major step towards fulfillment of the requirements for EU membership.

However, the successful implemen-tation of the deal was immediately put in doubt after two junior coalition par-ties in government – and their leaders – who were not invited to the meeting, rejected the agreement and denounced their their former partners.

A break-away party from the HDZ, HDZ1990, led by Bozo Ljubic, accused the big three parties of trying to establish “a monopoly” in terms of their representation of the three main ethnic communities.

Silajdzic went further, accusing

Tihic of “betraying” Bosniak interests and of yielding to Dodik’s pressure.

Both the three parties behind the agreement, and international offi-cials, rejected these criticisms.

In particular, the High Repre-sentative, Miroslav Lajcak, told the media: “This was a compromise and Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot ad-vance without compromise.”

However, harsh verbal duels have continued between Tihic and Silajdz-ic and local and international analysts say that these tensions pose a contin-uing threat to the stability of Bosnia.

Significantly, the SDA, SNSD and HDZ do not have a majority in the State Parliament sufficient to ensure implementation of the agreement. If the SZBH and HDZ1990 continue to oppose the deal, therefore, the three parties will have to seek new part-ners. One obvious potential partner is the opposition Social Democratic Party, SDP, whose support could ensure adoption of the agreement. However, it would also probably spell the end of the current ruling six-party coalition.

Gordana Katana, Banja Luka-based correspondent for the daily Oslobodjenje, said the current im-passe could last right up until the next general election in 2010, with disastrous consequences for all.

On the other hand, Tihic may go for an early general election in the Federa-tion of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Bosniak-Croat entity, to strengthen his hand against Silajdzic.

Analysts also point out that the animosities that formerly raged be-tween the ethnic communities have now shifted mainly to rival leaders within the same ethnic groups. This is especially so among the Bosniak and Croat communities. “These relation-ships are deeply, deeply disturbed,” Katana says.

The next meeting of leaders of the six ruling parties, scheduled for early December, will give some indication of the direction in which the country is moving.

Source: www.BalkanInsight.com

Miroslav Lajcak, the High Representative Source: srpska.etleboro.com

Tirana _ The International Monetary Fund lowered its forecast for Alba-nia’s economic growth for 2009 to between 3.5 and 4 per cent from be-tween 5 and 6 per cent, due to the turmoil that has hit global financial markets.

“Albania’s still limited integra-tion into global markets currently provides an important buffer, but the economy is not immune: export growth is expected to decline from recent heights, remittance payments could be affected and investors may reassess risks,” the IMF said in a statement.

“The mission recommends con-taining the 2009 deficit at below 4 per cent of GDP,” it added.

However, the Minister of Finance Ridvan Bode questioned the IMF’s forecast, arguing that growth will be

on target. “We have programmed that economic growth will be the same as in 2006, at six per cent, the strongest in the region,” said Bode.

IMF: Albania Growth Slowing Down

Bucharest _ The ratings agency, Fitch, has downgraded its sovereign ratings for Romania to below invest-ment grade.

The agency cut Romania’s debt rating to BB- from BBB, putting the country’s debt into ‘junk’ status.

Romania is likely to require ex-ternal financial support to prevent “a sovereign credit crisis”, Fitch said, as it deals with a current account deficit that is expected to exceed 14 per cent of gross domestic product this year.

Fitch’s move comes after a Stand-ard & Poor’s downgrade two weeks ago turned Romania into the only European Union member state with a non-investment grade credit rating.

Last month, Romania rejected criti-cism of its economic policies and de-nied rumours over a rescue package from the International Monetary Fund.

Fitch Cuts Romania’s Rating to ‘Junk’

Skopje _ Macedonia does not need any funds from the Inter-national Monetary Fund to shore up its economy, because its banks are stable, Finance Minister Tra-jko Slaveski was cited by local media as saying.

In an interview with the Guardian daily, cited by the local Makfax news agency, the Mac-edonian Finance Minister argues that the country’s banks are well capitalised.

“Banks in Macedonia have sig-nificant liquidity,” Slaveski said.

In addition, Slaveski dismissed calls made recently at the Vienna Economic Forum that govern-ments across Southeast Europe should work more closely togeth-er to respond to the current eco-nomic confusion.

“Like all of the countries across the region, we are worried, we are on alert,” Slaveski said. “Certain industries will be hit; investors have already started to delay their investments.”

Meanwhile, the country’s met-al and textile industries have re-ported considerable losses, as has the construction industry.

One of the biggest factories in the country, the ferro-alloy production plant, Silmak, said it would shut down four of its seven smelters temporarily, forc-ing some 200 workers out of their jobs.

Macedonia’s metals industry is one of it’s key export earners and production cutbacks are likely to seriously affect the country’s bal-ance of payments.

Macedonia Rejects IMF Funds

Global Downturn Affects the Balkans

Tirana

Friday, Nov. 14 - Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008

8 neighbourhood

Similar Method Used in Croatia and Macedonia Bombings Attacks

Kosovo Holds Two over Organ Transplant Scandal

Albanian MPs Go on Hunger Strike

Drug Use Still a Problem in Romania Albania Honours Actor Jim Belushi

Bulgaria Plans ‘Curfew’ for Young Drivers

Life Sentences for Briton’s Killers

Skopje_The method used in the recent murder of Croatian journal-ist Ivo Pukanic and his marketing chief, Niko Franjic, is similar to the one used in the attempt on a former Macedonian President’s life in 1995, local media have reported police sources as saying.

The head of Republika Srpska’s criminal police, Gojko Vasik, has confirmed this information, Croatian TV Nova said. Croatian police issued an international search warrant for Zeljko Milovanovic, nicknamed Ga-vro, as the main suspect in the killing of the journalist.

The suspect narrowly escaped an arrest operation carried out by the Re-publika Srpska police near the north-ern Bosnian town of Doboj, police of-ficials from Bosnia’s Serb-dominated entity of Republika Srpska said.

However, it is not clear whether the ongoing investigation into the Pukanic murder links the two cases.

The police in Republika Srpska have pointed out that several other

Pristina _ The secretary of Kosovo’s health ministry, Ilir Rrecaj, has been discharged from his position follow-ing a police operation to stop sus-pected illegal organ transplants.

According to the ministry, Rrecaj was discharged from his position af-ter it emerged that he gave a licence to a private clinic to carry out trans-plant operations.

Skender Berisha, a media advi-sor to Health Minister Alush Gashi, said that “the Ministry was not aware of the licence given by Rrecaj” and that the minister’s decision was “in accordance with Kosovo’s constitu-tion.”

Rrecaj said that his decision to issue the licence was based on an administrative directive. This was, however, denied by the ministry.

Kosovo police arrested two well-known doctors on suspicion of per-forming illegal organ transplants. The two have been detained while seven other people are being ques-tioned, police say.

Tirana _ Eleven lawmakers from Albania’s smaller parliamentary par-ties went on hunger strike to protest against proposed changes to the elec-toral code.

The deputies accuse the Democrat-ic Party, led by Prime Minister Sali Berisha, and the opposition Socialist Party, of a deal to change the electoral code, which according to them will be used to rig the parliamentary elections due to be held next year.

“We, the deputies and heads of the undersigned parliamentary par-ties, in protection of the constitution and free elections, have decided to go on a hunger strike to raise the public awareness of a coup d’etat which is being prepared,” reads an open let-ter sent to Albania’s President Bamir Topi last week.

The group has barricaded itself inside the Albanian parliament, while a small crowd of supporters staged aprotests outside the building.

The signatories include members of the Socialist Movement for Inte-

Tirana _ A court in the northern Alba-nian town of Shengjin handed down life sentences to two teenagers that killed a British man, Edward Cray-thorne, in a kidnap-murder plot a year ago.

Mario Pjetrushi, 18, and Arlind Vukaj, 19, both from the nearby town of Lezha were sentenced in in the town of Lezha after confessing to the crime.

The two were close friends of the victim and frequently visited his home, where he lived with his sister Eileen and his mother Sophia. The two women had moved to the Alba-nian town in 2004.

Craythorne, who was 21, was killed in February 2007, after he was robbed of his gold chain and home keys by the two Albanian youngsters, who later threw his body into a well in the remote village of Mal.

His body was discovered by local villagers two weeks after the murder.

Craythorne was buried in the local cemetery in the town of Shengjin.

gration, led by former Prime Minis-ter Ilir Meta, the Christian Democrats and deputies from a new splinter par-ty from the Socialists, PS91.

They charge that the changes proposed by the larger parties to the electoral code are politically motivat-ed and aim to push the smaller parties out of parliament.

Bucharest _ Drug use in Romania remains relatively stable but is still alarmingly high.

There are around 40,000 drugs us-ers in Romania, officials say.

“The main problem for Roma-nia is that more and more users are trying drugs at a very early age. For example, we’ve found cases of 11 year-old children using cannabis,” Pavel Abraham, chief of the Na-tional Anti-Drug Agency (ANA) said in a press conference.

Almost 15 percent of 16-year-olds have tried hard drugs at least once, ANA data shows.

Romania has some of the most dra-conian penalties in the EU with up to seven years in prison for using drugs and near-life sentences for dealing.

However, despite this, a coun-try that had virtually no consump-

tion or production of illegal drugs before 1989, Romania is now part of the so-called Balkan trafficking route to Western Europe.

Tirana _ Albania’s President Bamir Topi decorated the Hollywood ac-tor Jim Belushi with title ‘honour of the nation’ during a TV show held in Tirana.

The title was given to the star of the hit TV comedy because of his “love and dignity for his Albanian origins and Albania,” said Topi.

Belushi was born in Chicago as the third of four children of Adam Belushi, an Albanian immigrant who left his native Qyteze village in 1934 at the age of 15, and Agnes, who was born in the US to Albanian immi-grants. His brother John Belushi was also a famous comedian and actor.

“This is an important and heavy award with a big burden, which I don’t know if I merit,” said Belushi. “I was born and raised in America, but my genes are Albanian,” he added.

Belushi came to national attention through his role in Edward Zwick’s film “About Last Night” with Rob Lowe and Demi Moore.

He started his career on Satur-day Night Live, and in the TV series “Working Stiffs”. His credits since then show an extraordinary range: from James Woods’ spacey DJ bud-dy, Dr. Rock, to the mentally handi-capped dishwasher befriended by Whoopi Goldberg in the Andrei Kon-chalovsky film, “Homer and Eddie”; and the defiant high school principal standing up to drug dealers in “The Principal.” In 2000 Belushi co-starred in MGM’s “Return to Me,” directed by Bonnie Hunt and starring David Duchovny and Minnie Driver, and he received rave reviews for his work with Gregory Hines in Showtime’s “Who Killed Atlanta’s Children?”

Sofia _ In order to reduce car acci-dents in Bulgaria, new drivers will not be allowed to drive between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. if proposals by the Interior Ministry are adopted.

Furthermore, young drivers could be asked to drive at a speed 10 kilo-metres per hour lower than the exist-ing speed limits. Interior Minister Mikhail Mikov did not say how this could be monitored by traffic police.

What he did say, was that these limitations were not that severe and were not a form of discrimination. However, he said that a debate was needed on the issue.

“We just want to remind people that they need to be careful while gaining experience behind the wheel,” he was quoted as saying by Sofia daily, Dnevnik.

Mikov’s proposals will be dis-cussed by the Cabinet and then, if ap-proved, sent to parliament.

With close to 125 road crash deaths per 1 million inhabitants, Bul-garia has among the highest road fa-

talities in the European Union, more than 10 times higher that the safest EU states of Sweden, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

In one weekend alone in July, seventeen people were killed in road accidents.

Around 1,000 people die annu-ally and around 10,000 are injured on Bugaria’s roads, with many per-manently disabled.

The police launched an investiga-tion after a Turkish citizen, who said he had come to Pristina to donate a kidney, was stopped at the airport on his way home.

Police searched a private clinic and a two-storey house in the sub-urbs of the capital, and found drugs and blood in plastic bags.

They added they had detained an Israeli citizen who is believed to have received the kidney from the Turkish citizen.

“Investigations are going on to find out how the Turkish man and Israeli patient came to Kosovo and how this process was conducted,” said Elshani.

Veton Elshani, spokesman for the Kosovo police, said that they are investigating the extent of this prac-tice.

He said this seemed to be a busi-ness operating for financial profit.

Belgrade Insight tried to contact-the suspects and their lawyers for further comment but to no avail.

Reports on the arrests, in the meantime, have sparked interest across the Balkans.

Serbia’s war crimes court is currently investigating allegations of trafficking of human organs tak-en from Kosovo Serbs during the 1999 conflict in Kosovo, between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian guerrillas.

Human Rights Watch, an NGO, said they confirmed the allegations that were made public in a new book by Carla Del Ponte, the former chief prosecutor of the International Crimi-nal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, that around 300 Serb prisoners were kidnapped by former Kosovo Libera-tion Army fighters during the 1998-1999 war and transported from Kosovo to Albania, where they were locked up, killed and had their organs removed.

Authorities in Kosovo and Alba-nia have condemned the allegations saying they are simply a fabrication and rejected opening any probe into the claims.

murders across the Balkans were car-ried out in the same way as the Pu-kanic killing, with explosives being planted under the victim’s car.

In 1995 Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov narrowly escaped when a bomb exploded near his limousine, killing his driver and one bystander.

The culprits have never been found.

Sali Berisha

Ivo Pukanic

Jim Belushi

Friday, Nov. 14 - Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008

9out & about

The Metropolitan Orthodox Church Photo by Pat Andjelkovic Photo by Pat AndjelkovicUnity Square

Detail on one of Timisoara’s facades Photo by Pat Andjelkovic

Little Vienna in TransylvaniaBy Pat Andjelkovic

If “Transylvania” only makes you think of Count Dracula, think again. Located a mere 150 kilo-

metres from Belgrade, across the bor-der in the Banat region of Romania, is the beautiful city of Timisoara.

Driving from Belgrade, you can reach the city in a little over three hours, if the border crossings are clear. From Belgrade, take the road toward Vrsac, and follow the signs. When you cross the border, set your watches ahead one hour.

Timisoara has only about 340,000 inhabitants and is a large economic and cultural centre. It is a multicul-tural city with minorities of Hungar-ians, Germans, Serbs, Bulgarians and Roma, and a sizable Jewish popula-tion, too. Although the Bega river passes through Timisoara, the city re-ceived its name from the Timis river.

Timisoara, or Temisvar as it was once known, formed part of Hun-gary for many centuries. It was first mentioned in writing as a settlement in 1019, and as a city in 1474. The Ottomans conquered it in 1552 and it remained under their control until the Hapsburg army seized the area in 1716.

Demographic conditions of the re-gion changed dramatically during the 167 years of Ottoman rule. In 1582, the city was still mainly Hungarian. Later, the largest ethnic group in the city was made up of Muslim Turks, with smaller groups as Serbs, Jews, and Roma.

Later on, after the city became part of the Hapsburg Empire, the Muslim and Turkish population fled. According to census data from 1720, the largest ethnic group in the city then were the Serbs. Later, many eth-nic Germans were settled.

Timisoara is sometimes called “Little Vienna” because it belonged for generations to the Hapsburg Em-pire and the entire city centre con-sists of buildings reminiscent of old Vienna. It’s an important university centre with an emphasis on medicine, mechanics, and electro-technology. Timisoara was also the first main-land European city to have electric lighting. It was also one of the first European cities to have horse-drawn trams. In 1869, Timisoara became the first city in Hungary, then still part of the Hapsburg Empire, to have an ambulance station. Though not con-firmed, there are claims that Gustave Eiffel, the creator of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, built one of the footbridges over the Bega.

In 1718, the first brewery in Tran-sylvania was built, and the first to-bacco mill in today’s Romania was set up in Timisoara. Between 1728 and 1771 the Bega canal was built to unite the city with the Danube. In this way the city had greater contact with Europe and the world through the Black Sea, and trade increased.

After the First World War, Timi-soara became part of Romania, time passed, the communists took power, and on that fateful day of December 16, 1989 local people turned out to support an ethnic Hungarian Calvin-ist pastor, Laszlo Tokes in his strug-

There is a spring in the step of this stately old city, where the revolution that toppled Ceaucescu began almost 20 years ago.

gle against the Securitate secret po-lice, who had decided to exile him to a small provincial town.This trig-gered a popular uprising the next day against the regime of Nicolae Ceaus-escu, which put an end to the 40-year Communist regime a week later.

In recent years, Timisoara has en-joyed a significant economic boom as the number of foreign investments, especially in the high-tech sector, has risen constantly. It is considered the second most prosperous city in Ro-mania, following Bucharest, and there have been frequent debates on wheth-er the so-called “Timisoara Model” could be applied to other cities.

Indeed, since my last visit, 30 years ago, times have changed. For-eign car dealerships are everywhere, every third store is a mobile phone shop, and grocery stores carry for-eign produce as well as those from

Romania, a far cry from the jars of pale peas with hand-glued labels I’d seen all those years before.

Despite this growth, the city centre has maintained its calm, laid-back atmosphere. Pick up a map at a tourist office or your hotel, and set out. Timisoara is easy to explore on foot, but if you’re tired, try public transport. It’s user-friendly even if you don’t speak the language, and Romanians are quick to help. The system consists of 11 tramlines, nine trolleybus lines and 15 bus lines. The city is served by Roma-nia’s second busiest airport, Traian Vuia International Airport, which is the hub of the Romania’s second-largest airline, Carpatair, which connects passengers to a series of European and domestic destina-tions. Timisoara is a major railway centre and is connected to all other

major Romanian cities, as well as local destinations.

Some places not to miss are Lib-erty Square (Piata Libertatii), Unity Square (Piata Unirii), Victory Square (Piata Victoriei) with its beautiful ba-roque buildings, the Romanian Opera, the Banat Museum, and the Bega Riv-er and its bridges. If you have any in-terest in architecture, this city is sure to fascinate. Over two days, I took hundreds of photographs of beautiful facades.

Thanks to the warm climate, life is best observed outdoors, in the many public squares and lush green retreats, though of course in this cold season you’ll probably opt for one of the city’s pubs or cafés. If you have a sweet tooth, head for the pastry shop Violeta, on Piata Victoriei 6. When hungry, you’ll want to sample some hearty Romanian fare, which tradi-

tionally consists of pork, cabbage, potatoes and mamaliga, a cornmeal similar to Italian polenta. Don’t for-get to sample some of Romanian’s truly fine wines.

If you’re looking for typical handicrafts, you’ll find folk art, crafts and costumes of the Banat re-gion on display and for sale at the Banat Ethnographic Museum. Also check out Piata Victoriei, where lines of shops sell all sorts of sou-venirs and local crafts. Just for fun, you might stroll through the Iulius Mall, just a short distance away from the centre. It’s quite impres-sive, and it’s even bigger than Delta City. So, put aside Dracula’s part of Transylvania for this year, and treat yourself to a bite of Timisoara.

Pat Andjelkovic is a teacher, writer, and long-term expat.

Friday, Nov. 14 - Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008

10 the belgrader

Graffitti blights cities and towns across the world and Belgrade is no exception.

But now, alongside the political messages that are so prevalent across town, you may also find a pig, birds, girls, geishas, Tinkerbell, or the faces of Edgar Allen Poe, Virginia Woolf, and singers Beck or Jim Morrison, staring out at you.

Behind these drawings are young people, both individuals and groups who regard their drawings as art, designed to make the city more beautiful.

Operating under “noms de plume” their activities draw them into con-flict with the authorities and some-times belgrade residents.

TKV (“The Kraljica Vila”, or The Fairy Queen), says she works mainly on abandoned buildings or dirty and neglected street corners. “The uglier it is, I harder I try to make my stencil prettier,” she says. Together with Kata, she helped launch Belgrade’s street art scene. Since then, they’ve been joined by Milica, Lortek, Edit, Angel, Hope, Naza, E++ and 352, who are currently the most active in the city.

Besides abandoned buildings, their work can be seen on busy streets, intersections and phone booths. They claim to make a point of not targeting public institutions such as museums, monuments and churches, because they feel “responsible towards the public space”.

However, not everyone approves of these young people’s activities.

“I would send all of them to work in a field or mine. Then they would have no time to think about scrib-bling on walls. We pay and they de-stroy,” says angry 53-year old Milo-rad Radulovic from Belgrade.

Jasmina Vasic, from the city’s Secretariat for Communal and Resi-dential Affairs, said that around 25 million dinars has been allotted for the removal of graffiti and posters in Belgrade for 2008-9.

“Cleaning up graffiti and removal of posters is necessary if we want to maintain the city’s cleanliness at a satisfactory level,” said Vasic.

Working in a public space comes with risks, so the girls often work at night when there’s less chance of de-tection.

Painting the TownA vibrant community of guerilla street artists is transforming the capital’s drearier corners, but is it art?

By Pedja Popovic

TKV calls this ‘the vampire’ Source: TKV

You’ll find this pig on Palmoticeva street Photo by Pedja Popovic

Does it have artistic merit? Photo by Pedja Popovic

Source: TKV

One of 352’s monochrome stencils Photo by Luka Knezevic

From the E++ collective Source: E++

police, local kids, football fans and hooligans.

“Our worst experience was at the Mostar interchange, when we were approached by a group of people from a nearby settlement,” says Kris.

“They started calling us names, and threatening us. They tried to take away our paint, and then all hell broke loose. Rocks and clubs were flying and they poured paint on us. All kinds of things happened, some of us were badly beaten. However, he is keen to point out that “there are a lot more positive reactions”.

The attitude of the authorities to graffiti artists varies from support to condemnation.

Although in the past the authorities have commissioned work from some

graffitti artists, their response to the works of these street artists is gener-ally negative and the city’s clean -up teams make no distinction between regular graffitti and street art.

“There are people who respect street artists and their work, but un-fortunately, the team for the removal of graffiti includes professional clean-ers and not professional art critics.” said Jasmina Vasic.

Someone had posted it on the site deviantART and I felt great when I saw it.”

Love it or hate it, art or abomi-nation, TKV, E++, 352 and their colleagues look set to continue adding colour to Belgrade’s back streets.

Pedja Popovic is a freelance journal-ist, based in Belgrade.

here, even a wall by Banksy would be painted over right away,”

Banksy, a cult British graffiti art-ist. whose ironic and thoughtful works are often protected by city councils in the UK, has become an icon for street artists.

The international street art com-munity keeps in touch via the inter-net. “The internet has become a vir-tual gallery for street artists. It allows people to see your work on the other side of the planet. You are able to see a wall in Rome, New York, Bar-celona and talk to other artists,” says TKV.

“That way, we get to know each other and exchange ideas. It is an ex-cellent way to be inspired. I chanced on a work I did in Rome on the Net.

Kata explains how she deals with police. “You tell them it’s art, it’s pretty, and it’s necessary. Then they become confused. Maybe it’s be-cause I am a woman. They are also confused at the mention of the word ‘art’. They realise they don’t know anything about it and it is better for them to shut up and just say ‘don’t do it again’. So, I move down the street and then – come back.”

Unlike their female colleagues, the guys from E ++ have experienced a lot more problems with both the

“When everything is washed away, it looks kind of miserable,” says Vlada from E++. “Let the politi-cians and police look at the culture in other countries. You get culture for free there. People in Zagreb have realised that, which is why they are preserving old graffiti, as part of the art scene.”

He adds that “city officials should feel lucky, [that we do this work] considering how sad and grey the city normally looks. If nothing else, because tourists like it. But, over

Friday, Nov. 14 - Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008

Dining Out

We Recommend

Royal-Knez

By “Trencherman”

The Royal Knez, more than just a parent-friendly choice Photo by Quinn Van Valer-Campbell

With a visit from ageing par-ents approaching, for some time I’ve been seeking out

suitable restaurants - the kind of place where you know everything’s going to be “just so” and where, however hard they try, they won’t find any-thing that reinforces their conviction that things aren’t as good here as at home. The list of suitable restaurants, given this strict requirement, was al-ways going to be short. But I may now have the answer - Royal Knez.

The first impressions are definitely parent-friendly. It’s well maintained, with muted lighting, quiet booths lo-cated on either side of the main din-ing room, subtle colours, low music, nicely set tables and crisp linen table-cloths and napkins.

The place was empty, even though it was Saturday night. This was not a good sign; we half expected to see tumbleweeds blowing through the dining room. But the waiting staff were attentive and seated us in one of the booths to the side.

Named after a famous character in a novel by Oscar Wilde, this attractive restaurant on Strahinjica Bana is somewhat pricey. However, the food is varied, the wine list long, the service good and the atmosphere is especially chic when the the beautiful people turn up, as they invariably do.

Kralja Petra 87-89

The only restaurant located in the Kalemegdan fortress. From the bar area, you get a great view of confluence of the Sava and Danube. The food is pretty good too! Serbian and international cuisine with lots of salads, fish and grilled dishes.

Belgrade Fortress

Another place that’s as much known for location and atmos-phere as it food is Sesir Moj. Walking by, it looks like a flower shop. The shop front is decked with potted flowers that form a veritable wall of flora. The food is traditional Serbian - hearty, uncomplicated and meaty!

Skadarska 27

Trencherman was impressed on his recent visit. Pire (mashed potato) is trendy, has a well thought out menu and a great wine list. Owned by one of the country’s top fash-ion designers this is a great place to run into the “ladies who lunch.”

Cara Lazara 11, 0112634994

According to folklore, the long-ago owners of this restaurant wanted to call it “Next to the cathedral”, which the church authorities forbade. The annoyed owner put a question mark in its place and it stuck. The oldest traditional restaurant in Belgrade, it retains an old-school charm, the food is good and the staff friendly.

Kraljice Marije 3

Whilst the inside may look like you’ve walked into somebody’s house, its devoted patrons say the food is true to the name’s Greek inspira-tion. That means lamb, feta cheese, souvlaki and the famous Greek moussaka.

Kraljice Marije 3

You can get a feel for the centre of Belgrade from this café, placed right on Knez Mihailova, so people-watching possi-bilities are great if you sit beside the floor-to-ceiling windows. There is plenty to choose from on the menu and the atmosphere is pleasantly laidback.

Knez Mihajlova 50

If you can walk down Skadarska without twisting an ankle on the cobbles, Dva Jelena offers traditional Serbian food in a great location with live bands. This area is full of restaurants and if you visit at night, you are sure to find live-music.

Skadarska 32

A home for carni-vores, the menu here overflows with various types of meat dishes, though steak is the specialty. It is located in the business section of town, so if you visit around lunchtime, be prepared to sit next to the suit-and-tie brigade.

Masarikova 5

One of the few places serving Mexican food in the capital is Burito Bar, on Kraljice Marije. The theme inside is that of a fiesta, with wooden walls covered in ponchos and sombreros. The budget prices won’t ruin the festive mood either.

Kraljice Marije 3

The menu was modern-European with only a side glance in the direc-tion of Serbia and, as always in Bel-grade restaurants, Italy. It was wide enough in scope to cover all the bases but not so extensive as to arouse sus-picion about the freshness of individ-ual ingredients.

The wine list was wide-ranging and also had a strong Italian slant. Continuing my quest to understand local wines, I chose a Croatian white that I had not come across before, alongside a half-bottle of Chianti. No parent points here: both were unavail-able. We took another Croatian wine, a Posip, and the only other half-bottle on the list, a Valpolicella. The Posip was luscious and fruity. At 14 per cent this is a big wine, rounded and full with a long finish and at 1,950 di-nars, value for money. I was reminded that the last time I drank Valpolicella through choice was back in the 1980s, when cash was tight, Italian wines were cheap and I was less discerning. But after 45 minutes of breathing, and a big glass to swirl some oxygen in and bring out what nose there was, this tasted respectable.

To the food. We chose pasta with salmon and prawns and a chicken and avocado salad to start. The salad was uninspiring, the chicken in large pale chunks, with round lettuce and sweet-corn, but the avocado was ripe and creamy and the simple dressing had

enough acidity to balance the avoca-do. The pasta was close to perfection: well-cooked tagliatelle, a creamy but nonetheless light sauce, with chunks of salmon fillet and good-sized prawns. This half-portion was gener-ous and more than sufficient.

To follow, we chose a peppered steak and octopus linguini. To my consternation, the fillet been rolled in cracked peppercorns until com-pletely coated. I had expected fresh or preserved crushed corns, which are milder, so was not ready for what I got, though it was good, if a little spicy. The steak was spot on and served with a simple rocket and parmesan salad. The pasta was a treat.

The baby octopus was perfect – not soft and spongy but not chewy either, simply presented with linguini. The essence of Italian cooking – simple, fresh and with top-quality ingredi-ents. No fussy, elaborate sauce, no competing flavours.

By now, the restaurant had filled up, too, reminding me that we must go out later if we’re to get the buzz of Belgrade nightlife.

While I am seeking a better un-derstanding of regional wines, my dining companion seems intent on discovering the perfect crème brulée. This example was nicely caramelised and creamy but lacked a suitably in-tense vanilla flavour. I took a baked

pear, served in a sweet red wine re-duction, which was good enough on its own and not enhanced by a gloopy chocolate sauce.

All in all, a success. It’s on the list. It’s definitely parent-friendly. More than that, this isn’t just a “safe pair of hands” that won’t let you down. I’d choose to return and experience more of the cooking, and I can’t say better than that.

Price guide: 2,750 – 3,250 per head for three courses with a modest wine

Royal KnezKneza Sime Markovica 10Tel: 011 2635160

With its extensive menu, smooth service and low lighting, Royal-Knez is more than just a safe option.

Every week we feature a selection of restaurants picked by our team. They give a flavour of what’s out there on the Belgrade restaurant scene and should provide you with a few alternatives to get you out of your dining rut. Our choices may not always have had the full Trencherman treatment but you can be sure that one of us has eaten there and enjoyed it.

11the belgrader

Dorian Gray

Café Pizzeria Snezana

Dva Jelena

Steakhouse El Toro Burito Bar

Kalemegdanska Terasa Sesir Moj

Pire Slow Food ? Zorba

Friday, Nov. 14 - Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008

12 the belgrader

We Recommend

Going Out

The Optimist Vinski PodrumBy Vanja Petrovic By Quinn Van Valer-Campbell

I didn’t think there were that many real bars in this town. Of course, there are those trendy, well-lit places, frequented by

platinum blondes in mini-skirts, wearing high-heeled leather stiletto boots, and spikey-haired gentlemen dressed in already-ripped-when-you-buy-them jeans.

But, I’m talking about a dimly-lit place with no locks on the toilets. I’m talking about a place you go to sink a few with friends and colleagues. I’m talking about a place you go to after you publish issue 12 of Belgrade Insight.

The Belgrade Insight staff found this place one Friday and felt well received. The Optimist looks just like an English pub,but with waiting staff. It even had a fair selection of beer, though perhaps not enough to strike a nostalgic chord in the heart of the average Englishman. None-theless, the Optimist passed the high standards of our business manager, so we are happy to recommend it.

This is definitely not your average bar and it doesn’t pretend to be either. There is no real selection of drinks, no fancy

furniture and no thumping techno beats. Eve-ryone says that the nightlife in Belgrade is what makes this place a great city. You can find any type of music and you can stay out until the sun comes up. And often it’s not the music, the or the beautiful people but the location that sets the bars apart.

Vinarija is nigh on impossible to reach if you have never been there. But ask lots of people for directions or better still come with a local, brave the short walk past the drunk teenagers down the dark alley, and there you are, in a cave. The cramped bar fills to capacity early - by 10 at the latest and gets incredibly hot so make sure you leave your winter-wear behind.The bar serves cheap wine and not an awful lot else, and everyone sings along to

The drinks were cheap, we think, though we were too ‘refreshed’ to notice exactly. Nevertheless, as we were walking away, our business manager’s comment was: “Well, that was a fair price.”

every song that is played. As the night wears on, the wine somehow tastes better, the songs get better, people start to dance and, if you’re lucky, you can even convince the bartender to give you a free drink.

Bring a group of friends and be prepared to share a table with a ton of people and to belt out the lyrics to some classic songs.

The 1940s come alive on Saturday with the help of the songs of the UK Glenn Miller Orchestra. The big band sound will fill the room and people won’t be able to stop themselves from tapping their feet and bopping along to the jazz of this world famous group.Sava Center, Milentija Popovica 9.Tickets are available at Bilet Servis, Trg Republike 5 Mon-Fri 09:00-21:00, Sat 09:00-15:00.

House fans will not be let down when Tom Croft, Body-rox and Luciana take the stage. From car commercials to fan-cy clubs, their music has been played around the world and it is only right that they come to Belgrade to find the real enthu-siasts.Expo XXI, Spanskih Boraca 74a.

In this courtroom, the judge exhibits signs of narcolepsy and the accused comes up with a game-plan to fix all of the problems in the Middle East. David Mamet’s witty and fast paced play, packed with outlandish occur-rences is sure to have the audience laughing so hard they can barely breathe.Belgrade Drama Theatre, Milesevs-ka 64a. Tickets are available at the Belgrade Drama Theatre.

We’re not really sure if this band falls into any particular genre. They started playing death metal and in-corporated classical music into their repertoire. Now, they have developed a style that catches the attention, not only because of their strange sound, but because this bizarre mix seems to work for the story that the band is trying to tell in their newest album.Studentski Kulturni Centar, Kralja Milana 48

Imagine if Google didn’t exist. Finding that one piece of informa-tion you need for your paper or just can’t seem to remember at the mo-ment was harder before Stanford alums, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, came developed their Internet search engine. This documentary details the growth of a giant company that hundreds of millions of people now could barely live without.Dom Omladine, Makedonska 22/IV. Tickets, free and available at Dom Omladine.

Red Wave to the Blocks, originally from Belgrade, prove just how di-verse the music scene in Belgrade re-ally is. Drawing on influences from Nine Inch Nails to Velvet Revolver, they manage to make sounds that are all their own. Having finished their current album, they are coming back to their hometown to perform.Akademija, Rajiceva 10.

If a night of clubs and drinking isn’t what you had in mind, luckily for you, Belgrade is not just full of bars, techno and beer. Serbian musician, Zvonko Bogdan, will be performing on Friday with 16 other musicians in a concert featuring the traditional instrument, the tambura.Sava Center, Milentija Popovica 9. Tickets available at Bilet Servis, Trg Republike 5 Mon-Fri 09:00-21:00, Sat 09:00-15:00.

In this unusual play, performed in English by the students of the International School of Belgrade, the main charac-ter is the twisted barber of Fleet Street who kills wealthy and unsuspecting clients. To add insult to injury, Todd and his accomplice bake them into pies that people eagerly devour.High School Performing Arts Studio, Banjickih Zrtava 6. Tickets are available at the ISB Office during regular of-fice hours.

Sweeney ToddThe Glenn Miller Orchestra

Tom Croft, Bodyrox, and Luciana

Zvonko Bogdan

Romance

Haggard Red Wave to the BlocksThe Google Boys

SundaySaturday

Friday

Monday

Wednesday Thursday

The anonymous band, The Residents, is back in Belgrade. They have been performing since the 1960s and have yet to run out of ideas. From eyeball masks to Elvis Presley to Siamese twins, there’s nothing too bizarre for The Residents. Their loyal fans al-ways come back for more.Dom Omladine, Makedonska 22/IV. Tickets available at Bilet Servis, Trg Republike 5 Mon-Fri 09:00-21:00, Sat 09:00-15:00.

The ResidentsTuesday

Vinski Podrum - be prepared to sing

An English pub?

Friday, Nov. 14 - Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008

James Bond becomes James Blond once again as fair-haired British star Daniel Craig takes

on the epic challenge of saving the world from crooks. He astonished audiences and critics in his Bond serial debut, Casino Royale, which dealt with Bond’s entrance into the British secret service. Along the way, we learned that his heart was broken after his first true love betrayed him and died, thus explaining not only how Bond became a professional

killer but also why he turned into a serial polygamist.

The few voices that suggested that Craig lacked the necessary ‘savoir faire’ were quickly silenced. When a superhero offers his heart on a plate, the level of sophistication becomes irrelevant. To everyone’s great relief, Craig is more than a match to deliver the magic of the world’s most fa-mous spy in Quantum of Solace, too. His presence is more subtle in this film, but the emotional intensity he brought to Casino Royale, remains intact.

As indeed, are the villains from the previous film, now trying to master the water resources of Latin

America by installing and over-throwing regimes. In the meantime, they fly in private jets with CIA offic-ers, catching up on the way with ex-isting and wannabe dictators. Chief villain Dominic Greene is portrayed with brilliant coldness by Mathieu Amalric who displays both detach-ment from the world as well as a mad desire to govern it.

Craig entered the world of film hav-ing been one of Britain’s best-known stage actors. Therefore, it came as no surprise he won the strong endorse-ment of previous Bonds Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan as the right choice for an 007.

The journey from the streets of Siena to the deserts of Bolivia is conducted by director Mark Forster, a German not known for making ac-tion-packed films. His family drama,

Monster’s Ball, won Halle Berry an Oscar in 2002, while last year he took audiences on an emotional trip to Af-ghanistan with The Kite Runner.

The story of Bond, the agent of the Good on a permanent mission to save the world, arose during the heat of the Cold War. The need to see the world on the verge of destruction - and then see it saved by a charming spy who knows how to treat a lady – fast became a family favourite, start-ing with the first Bond film in 1962.

The films from the series have been released on average, every two years, with a pause between 1989 and 1995. But since the end of the Cold War obviously did not mean the end of anarchy, or of the desire for it, the saga continued, and after 22 rep-etitions and six men playing the spy, it is still going strong.

Previous films approached the

$150 million budget, and Quantum of Solace exceeded even its prede-cessors’ budget by some $80 million, making it the third most expensive film ever made, with $230 million spent.

But the dynamic sequence of ac-tion scenes, which burst into the senses from the second that Quan-tum of Solace opens and do not lose their intensity throughout the film, make the 250 dinars you pay to see the new Bond at the cinema a good investment.

Quantum of Solace

13the belgrader

FILM REVIEWBy Andrej Klemencic

My Picks

CINEMAS RODA CINEPLEXPozeska 83A , tel: 011 2545260

Quantum of Solace 18:00, 20:15 & 22:30Turneja (The Tour) 20:30Wall E 16:15Nights in Rodanthe 18:00, 20:00 & 22:00Jelenin svet (Jelena’s World) 16:30, 18:30 & 22:30Nim’s Island 16:00

DOM SINDIKATATrg Nikole Pasica 5, tel. 011 3234849

Turneja (The Tour) 18:30Quantum of Solace 15:30, 16:15, 18:15, 20:15, 21:30 & 22:15Righteous Kill 20:30 & 22:30The House Bunny 17:30 & 19:30Nights in Rodanthe 16:00, 18:00, 20:00 & 22:00Mamma Mia! 16:30

STER CITy CINEMADelta City, Jurija Gagarina 16 (Blok 67), tel: 011 2203400

The House Bunny 13:10, 15:20, 17:30 & 19:40Quantum of Solace 11:20, 11:40, 13:30, 13:50, 15:40, 16:00, 17:50, 18:30, 20:00, 20:40, 22:10 & 22:50Death Race 21:50Righteous Kill 12:40, 14:50, 17:00, 19:10, 21:20 & 23:30Nights in Rodanthe 12:20, 14:20, 16:20, 18:20, 20:20 & 22:30Mamma Mia! 12:20, 14:30, 16:40, 18:50, 21:00 & 23:10

TUCKWOOD CINEPLEXKneza Milosa 7, tel: 011 3236517

Quantum of Solace 15:30, 16:15, 18:00, 18:30, 20:15, 21:00, 22:30 & 23:15Turneja (The Tour) 16:00, 18:15, 20:30 & 22:45Max Payne 21:30The House Bunny 15:30, 17:30 & 19:30Milos Brankovic 23:25Nights in Rodanthe 15:55, 18:00, 20:05 & 22:15

CONCERTSGary Moore

Ageing British rocker Gary Moore on his “Close As You Get” tour. Some new cuts, but you have my personal guarantee that Parisienne Walkways will feature!

Sava Centre, Great HallMilentija Popovica 9November 16, 8pmTickets available at SC ticket office and Bilet Service, Trg Republike 5

Biohazard

Original lineup of one of the earliest bands to fuse hardcore punk and heavy metal with elements of hip hop reunites for their 20th anniversary tour.

Student Cultural Centre (SKC)Kralja Milana 48November 20, 9pmTickets available at SKC ticket office

EVENTSR. W. Fassbinder - The Filmmaker

Ten-film marathon paying homage to the enfant terrible of New German Cinema

Goethe - Institut BelgradKnez Mihailova 50November 18 - 21Screenings at 6, 8 & 10pm

OPERADon Carlos

A five-act Grand Opera by Verdi, following the life of Carlos, Prince of the Asturias, after his be-loved Elisabeth of Valois is married to his father Philip II of Spain as part of the peace treaty be-tween the houses of Hapsburg and Valois.

National TheatreTrg Republike 1aNovember 17, 7pmTickets available at National Theatre ticket office and Bilet Service, Trg Republike 5

Madam Butterfly

Modern staging of Puccini’s Madam Butterfly as a story of a cyber-geisha girl.

MadlenianumGlavna 32November 19, 7.30pmTickets available at Madlenianum ticket office and Bilet Service, Trg Republike 5

THEATREI too speak of a rose

Musical melodrama based on the story by contemporary Mexican author Emilio Car-

ballido.Terazije TheatreTerazije 29November 15, 7.30pmTickets available at Terazije ticket office and Bi-let Service, Trg Republike 5

Some Like It Hot

Musical based on the eponymous 1959 film.

Terazije TheatreNovember 18, 7.30pmTickets available at Terazije ticket office and Bi-let Service, Trg Republike 5

EXIHBITIONSO3one Gallery

Exhibition of young fashion designersRickhard Lindqvist and Daniel Palillo

Andricev vecnac 12Mon- Sat 1Midday – 8pmNovember 17 - 23

CLUBBINGThe Tube

Peppe & UraNovember 15, 10pm

Milic Spacewalker + Nikolor Braca BurazeriNovember 20, 10pm

Dobracina 17

Club Plastic

All That BassDrum’n’bass at its bestNovember 14, 11pm

Djusina 7

Buon Gusto

Average brands of Italian sauc-es and pastas can be found in many Belgrade grocery

stores, but I recently found a place where you can get all the ingredients

you need to put together a truly spe-cial Italian meal.

Buon Gusto offers pasta, sauces, olive oil, wine and chocolates at two locations in the city. Many of their pasta brands are handmade, all are advertised as health food and they even have gluten-free products.

On a recent visit, I picked up their Antico Pastificio del Gargano brand of Orecchiette del Gargano (270 di-nars for 500 grammes), which was excellent. You can pair this with a sauce easily made at home: sauted local spinach, garlic and kajmak from the nearby Kalenic market.

Buon Gusto has two locations:Baba Visnjina 45a 011-263-2314Dobracina 23A 011-244-5210

By Rian Harris

Buon Gusto offers a great selection of deli favourites Photo by Quinn Van Valer-Campbell

What’s On

Friday, Nov. 14 - Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008

Every week Rian Harris gives us one of her favourite places to shop.

14 sport

Serbia and Britain to Clash in Eurobasket 2009

No Icing on the Cake for Jankovic Sport on TV

By Zoran Milosavljevic

By Zoran Milosavljevic

It took Britain a while to get on Europe’s basketball map and now that it’s there, next year’s European

championship in Poland may provide the perfect stepping stone for long-term presence at top level. This may surprise a few people, but the British team will by no means be a pushover for any of their three group rivals: Spain, Slovenia and Serbia. While they will face an uphill task to upset world champions Spain, Britain’s encounters with Slovenia and Serbia should be most intriguing as neither of the Balkan rivals are even close to be-ing the powerhouse they represented as a single nation along with Croatia and Bosnia in the former Yugoslavia.

Britain, on the other hand will be boosted by a pair of top class NBA

Surely, the world must be at your feet if you wanted to quit tennis a little more than two years ago

and you’ve just finished the season as the world’s top-ranked player?

Not for Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic, who heads the women’s WTA rank-ings after a magnificent run in 2008 that left so little, yet so much, to be de-sired. The 23-year old from Belgrade was close to hanging up her racket in 2006 after a miserable spell including 10 straight defeats but this year she soared to new heights with a quartet of trophies, including successive con-quests of the Stuttgart Grand Prix, the China Open in Beijing and the Krem-lin Cup in Moscow. However, she still has no Grand Slam titles to her name after defeat in the semi-finals in this year’s Australian and French Open and losing the U.S. Open final at Flushing Meadows. Next season, she aims to put the icing on the cake by winning at least one of the world’s four biggest tennis events and silence the critics who claim she is unworthy of the throne she occupies ahead of a host of fierce rivals, including compa-triot Ana Ivanovic who finished this year’s WTA tour in fifth place.

“I expect big results next sea-son and definitely to win a Grand Slam event,” a delighted Jankovic said as she served the press with cakes at her season-ending press conference in Belgrade’s GEMAX tennis club, where she took up the sport as one of many young talents a decade or so ago.

“I would love to win all four of them of course but I am not putting myself under any pressure because I have achieved my childhood dream of being the world number one. No one can take that away from me whatever happens from now on,” she said with a big smile. “Now I can relax and en-joy my tennis because that’s the most important thing, more important than all the prize money I’ve earned.”

That state of mind was a very un-likely prospect in 2006, when Janko-vic languished in the doldrums.

“Two and a half years ago I was close to quitting and looking for an-other job because I am a perfection-ist, eager to get the best out of myself, whatever I do. However, I decided to pull through all the trials and tribu-lations. It took a lot of perseverance and hard work to get here.”

Jankovic bowed out of last week’s Masters in Doha with a tight semi-final defeat to Wimbledon winner Venus Williams but she has no regrets and is confident of giving tennis fans in Serbia plenty to cheer about next season.

“I want to stay the number one for as long as possible and I know I need to raise my game to another level be-

cause it’s a lot more difficult to stay on top than to get there. I will start training at the end of this month for the Australian Open in January,” she said. Seeing Ivanovic lift the French Open in June should further galva-nize Jankovic to finally win a Grand Slam and dispel any doubts she is a fitting tennis queen.

Friday, Nov 14: French Top 14 Rug-by Union: Montpellier v Paris (Eu-rosport 2 at 8.30 p.m.); Soccer: Han-nover v Bochum (Sport Klub 8.30 p.m.), Argentinean League - Gimna-sia La Plata v San Martin (Sport Klub + 00.15 a.m. Saturday)Saturday, Nov 15: Tennis: Men’s Masters Cup in Shanghai: Semifi-nals (RTS 2 and Sport Klub at 10.00 a.m.); Basketball: NLB Regional League – Zadar v Zagreb (HRT 2 at 5.40 p.m.); Soccer: Hoffenheim v Wolfsburg (Sport Klub 3.30 p.m.), Hertha Berlin v SV Hamburg (Sport Klub + 3.30 p.m.), Arsenal v Aston Villa (RTS 2 at 4.00 p.m.), Doncaster Rovers v Ipswich Town (Sport Klub 6.20 p.m.), West Bromwich v Chel-sea (RTS 2 at 6.30 p.m.), Le Havre v PSG (Sport Klub + 7.00 p.m.), Val-ladolid v Real Madrid (FOX Serbia 8.00 p.m.), Palermo v Inter Milan (Sport Klub 8.30 p.m.), Argentinean League - Gimnasia Jujuy v Arsenal de Sarandi (Sport Klub + 9.20 p.m.), Valencia v Sporting Gijon (FOX Ser-bia 10 p.m.); NHL Ice Hockey: New Jersey Devils v Washington Capitals (Sport Klub 1.00 a.m. Sunday) Sunday, Nov 16: Tennis: Men’s Masters Cup in Shanghai: The Final (Sport Klub at 9.00 a.m.); Basketball: NBA Regular Season: Miami Heat v Toronto Raptors (OBN at 10.30 p.m.); NLB Regional League: Par-tizan Belgrade v Red Star Belgrade (FOX Serbia 6.30 p.m.); NFL: Atlan-ta Falcons v Denver Broncos (Sport Klub 7.00 p.m.), Pittsburgh Steelers v San Diego Chargers (Sport Klub

10.15 p.m.); Soccer: Ajax Amster-dam v PSV Eindhoven (Sport Klub + 12.30 p.m.), Serbian League – Rad Belgrade v Cukaricki Belgrade (RTS 2 at 1.30 p.m.), Italian League – vari-ous matches (OBN, Avala and Sport Klub at 3.00 p.m.), Hull City v Man-chester City (RTS 2 at 5.00 p.m.), Werder Bremen v Cologne (Sport Klub at 5 p.m.), Olympiakos Piraeus v PAOK Salonika (Sport Klub + 6.00 p.m.), Croatian League – Hajduk Split v Rijeka (HRT 2 at 8.10 p.m.), Lyon v Bordeaux (Sport Klub + at 9.00 p.m.), Spanish League (FOX Serbia 11.15 p.m. delayed)Monday: Nov 17: Soccer: Premier League Highlights (RTS 2 at 8.00 p.m.)Tuesday, Nov 18: Soccer: African Champions League Final Coton (Cameroon) v Al Ahly (Egypt) on Eurosport at 9.45 a.m. Basketball: Olympiakos Piraeus v AEK Athens (Eurosport 2 at 3.00 and 8.00 p.m.)Wednesday, Soccer: Friendly inter-nationals – Serbia v Bulgaria (RTS 1 or 2 at 5.30 p.m.), Germany v Eng-land (possibly Sport Klub at 8.45 p.m.), Highlights of various matches (Eurosport 11 p.m.)Thursday, 20: Soccer: Friendly in-ternationals played on Wednesday, Eurosport 11.30 a.m. - France v Uruguay followed by Netherlands v Sweden (12.15 p.m.) and Greece v Italy (1.00 p.m.), re-runs from 3.30 p.m.

Note: TV channels reserve the right to change their schedules.

Next year’s European Cham-pionship in Poland will be un-charted territory for the British team while Serbia will be out to rekindle past glory earned with-in the former Yugoslavia.

Serbia’s top player ends the sea-son as world number one with-out a Grand Slam title under her belt.

players, Chicago Bulls team mates Ben Gordon and Luol Deng. Both should be a handful for any defence with Gordon averaging 20 points per game and Deng chipping in 13 and 6 rebounds in the world’s strongest basketball league. The supporting cast led by Andrew Betts, who plays for Spanish club Cajasol Sevilla, are expected to provide the same kind of solid backing they did in the qualify-ing campaign. Britain reached their first major basketball tournament in recent history after impressive per-formances that saw them finish top of their pool ahead of Israel, the Czech Republic and Bosnia, three much more heralded nations in a sport rap-idly picking up in London ahead of the 2012 Olympics.

While Eurobasket 2009 will be uncharted territory for Britain, it is a chance for the Serbs to redeem themselves for a pitiful performance at last year’s championship in Spain, where they were eliminated in the first-round group stage. Coach Du-san Ivkovic, back in his second spell in charge after guiding the former Yugoslavia to a haul of medals, has restored the steel and discipline re-quired to rekindle past glory but Ser-bia still lack the depth and wealth of talent that the combined Yugoslavia team was able to produce. Hence few fans here dare say that Serbia are guaranteed a medal or even a berth in the knockout stage of the com-petition, none more so than Ivkovic himself.

“It’s going to be a very tight group and we will have to be at our best to be among the three teams progress-ing to the second preliminary stage,” he said after the draw. “We must by no means underestimate Britain be-cause they will have outstanding NBA players in their ranks and the game has really improved in England ahead of the 2012 Olympics in Lon-don. We all know how good Slovenia are and any talk about Spain’s quali-ties is superfluous.”

Serbia know they will face a stern challenge from Slovenia, whose point guard Beno Udrih is a regular starter at the Sacramento Spurs while a host of top-level players based in Europe’s leading national leagues provide the makings of a very respectable team. Ivkovic will certainly entertain the idea of reinforcing his troops with some NBA stalwarts and with high-scoring guard Igor Rakocevic, who led TAU Ceramica to last season’s national title in Spain.

“We respect all our rivals but I feel the final group match with Britain will be crucial because it may well determine our course. We are looking at lot of hard work if we want to do well and get back to winning ways,” he said.

Indeed, none of the other three preliminary groups include a team anyone could mistake for the tour-nament whipping boys. Defending champions Russia have been pitted with Germany, Latvia and the winner of the final qualifying tournament in-

volving former medal winners Italy and France.

Croatia, looking for their first po-dium finish since 1995, are up against Greece, Israel and Macedonia while Lithuania should be too strong for Turkey, Bulgaria and Poland. The

top three teams from each group will progress to the second preliminary stage of two groups of six. The top four from those two groups advance into the last eight with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final to be held in Katowice.

Ben Gordon, left, will carry Britain’s hopes in Poland

Jankovic celebrates one of many wins in 2008

Photo by FoNet

Friday, Nov. 14 - Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008

15directory

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