Daily e-newspaper • N° 120 • Belgrade, October 13, 2016

Marko Djuric, Office for Kosovo:Following unilateral acts by the Pristinaauthorities, the level of Belgrade's trustin Pristina and its capacity to negotiatein good faith is understandably lower

Raffaele Cantone, Italy's Anti-CorruptionAuthority: I commend the steps taken bySerbia because the fight against cor-ruption is an added stimulus for foreigninvestors and economic recovery

Oana-Cristina Popa, Romanian Amba ssa - dor: Romania is ready to extend its techni-cal assistance to Serbian Government inorder to share experiences of the processof joining the European Union

President Tomislav Nikolic said in Saint Petersburg that relations

between Belgrade and Pristina were at “lowest possible point”

Nikolic: EU Intends to Help Albanians

Nikolic said that it was obvious thatEU representatives intended tohelp the Albanians secure inde-

pendence.“We are currently at the lowest possiblepoint of relations because the Pristinaadministration launched an attack onour property in Kosovo. This indeed canend with an agreement, but it can alsoend very badly because we are readyto respond in any way necessary. We’llmonitor the Albanians’ actions in thefuture so that we can respond ade-quately, and they shouldn't think thatthey can play with us or that we’ll sufferanother bombing,” Nikolic said.He said that “the Albanians have anobvious intention to secure independ-ence and EU representatives have anobvious intention to help them do so.”The Serbian president said that the UN“are our only shield and only protec-tion,” adding that “the UN SecurityCouncil will never entertain the idea ofindependence of Kosovo.”“We have this big problem with Kosovo,and it’s spilling over to our relationshipwith the European Union. The EU knowsthat we will never recognize the inde-pendence (of Kosovo),” Nikolic added.According to him, not a single EU official

has ever said that Serbia would have torecognize the independence ofKosovo, but the European Parliament,which also decides on Serbia’s mem-bership, has its own representatives whoconstantly talk about not making adecision on membership until Serbiasigns some kind of a generally accept-ed interstate agreement with Kosovo.Nikolic said that the EU itself had fivemember states that did not recognizeKosovo independence, adding that

their decision not to recognize Kosovo“has nothing to do with some big feel-ings of friendship toward Serbia, butinstead they feel they themselves couldpotentially face the same problem, andthen they would have nothing to relyon” in fighting to protect their sovereign-ty and territorial integrity.He reminded that under UNSCResolution 1244, Serbia was a sovereigncountry that includes Kosovo, which hassubstantial autonomy.

WBWESTERN BALKANS

e-MEDIA GROUP

Serb ia Dai ly, October 13, 2016

Clean YourDoorstep First

At a conference held in

Vukovar, Croatia, there

had been discussed

the position of Croat minority

in neighbouring countries,

including Serbia.

It was concluded that the

position of Croat minorities is

good nowhere, but of course

Serbia was mostly the target

of academics and intellectu-

als who gathered there.

Of course, there is room for

improvement of position of

minorities in all countries of

former Yugoslavia. After the

war, local ethnicities strength-

ened their own political and

national positions and disre-

garded everybody else.

It refers not only to those

who were enemies in war

but also to completely inno-

cent victims, who were "col-

lateral damage" of Serbo-

Bosniak-Croat wars, like

Roma for example, whose

suffering in 1990s war is still

an untold story.

Serbia is coping with issue of

minorities as good as it can

at this moment, but it is real-

ly interesting to note why the

neighbours in Croatia are so

keen on criticizing Serbia on

every occasion possible,

just after those nasty

episodes of mutual bicker-

ing are almost forgotten,

and now replaced by new

ones, in relation between

Pristina and Belgrade.

And talking about minorities,

what Croatia ever did to pro-

tect or help Serbian minority

in Croatia? They bring into dis-

pute even their desire to use

Cyrillic script in places where

there are mot of them?

Our good neighbours, it

seems, are forgetting that old

saying: clean your doorstep

first!

Daily

MarkersBy EMIR SALIHOVIC

EdItOR-IN-CHIEF

2

Serbian Prime Minister stressed that Switzerland

is a model for the implementation of dual education

in Serbia's education system

Significant Assistance of Switzerland in Dual Education

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucicreceived Swiss Ambassador toSerbia Philippe Guex.

Prime Minister Vucic and AmbassadorGuex, who has recently started hisdiplomatic mandate in Serbia, havereached an agreement that relationsbetween the two countries are on aconstant rise, to which frequentexchange of visits of officials con-tributed to a large degree.The Serbian Prime Minister stressed thatSwitzerland is not only a model for theimplementation of dual education inSerbia's education system, but also pro-vides specific technical assistance andsupport, for which he is very grateful.

The Prime Minister underlined that the visitof the Swiss expert for dual educationUrsula Renold to Serbia significantly con-tributed to the interest of businessmen inhiring students in their companies.Ambassador Guex said that he was gladto represent Switzerland at the momentwhen there is visible economic progress inSerbia, and that a large number of con-struction projects encourages optimism.The Swiss Ambassador reiterated theimportance of applying dual educationto develop entrepreneurial spirit andchange work habits, which makes hiscountry one of the most successfuleconomies with a small number of theunemployed.

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucicreceived Ambassador of the UnitedArab Emirates (UAE) in Serbia JumaRashid Al Dhaheri.Vucic and the Ambassador discussed theoverall bilateral cooperation betweenthe two countries as well as joint projectswhose implementation is in progress.The two interlocutors expressed satisfac-tion with the progress of works on theproject "Belgrade Waterfront" as one ofthe engines of the Serbian economy.It was noted that arrangements can beexpected on new forms of cooperationin various fields, such as agricultureand tourism.

The Serbian Prime Minister expressed hisgratitude to the Development Fund ofAbu Dhabi and in particular the CrownPrince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammedbin Zayed Al Nahyan, for their help andsupport to the development of Serbia.Vucic sent an official invitation to SheikhMohammed to visit Serbia, noting thatthe exchange of visits at the highestlevel contributes to the flourishing ofrelationship between the two countries.Vucic and presented a letter to theAmbassador confirming the participa-tion of Serbia at Expo 2020 as anopportunity to be presented in theMiddle East in the best way.

UAE, Serbia Cooperate in Agriculture

Serbia-US Relations on Upward Trajectory

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic receivedUS Ambassador to Serbia Kyle Scott.The officials said their countries' bilateralrelations are on an upward trajectory, asconfirmed by US Vice President Joe Biden'svisit to Serbia as well as by Vucic's meet-ings with US officials during the 71st UN

General Assembly meeting in New York.Scott told Vucic that an increasing num-ber of US companies are interested ininvesting in Serbia.Vucic and Scott also discussed the pres-ent situation in the region as well asother international issues.

O pINION

Viktor Marku is a civil servantin the Municipality of Klina.In late June 2010, contrary

to the laws in place at the time,he was dismissed by order of themayor of the municipality. For twoand a half years, Viktor filed com-plaints at the IndependentOversight Board for the CivilService of Kosovo, the MunicipalCourt and even the ConstitutionalCourt. They all ruled in his favorand ordered the municipality to

re-hire Viktor and compensate all pay for the period duringwhich he did not work. Viktor is not the only person to have suffered from arbitraryand political decisions in Kosovo’s public institutions, and theMunicipality of Klina is not the only municipality to havecommitted such violations. In the last five years, Kosovo’sbudget has lost a total of 30.8 million euros as a result of judi-cial decisions. These decisions include cases in which pub-lic institutions breached workers’ rights and were forced tocompensate, and cases in which companies were treatedunjustly in procurement processes or through late payments.In most cases the courts side with the damaged side andagainst public institutions. This happens for two reasons: first,that the judges feel more sympathy for the social conditionof individuals and companies than they feel for the statebudget; second, the defense of public institutions in judicialprocesses is conducted by public lawyers who are not ade-quately prepared, and lack the motivation, to defend thepublic’s interests. For example, a lawyer in the Municipalityof Prizren was accused by the prosecution of failing toappeal two decisions that had caused material damage tothe municipality.Lately, a new threat to public funds has emerged in the formof decisions by international arbitration courts. In late July2016, the International Court of Arbitration in Paris decidedthat the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) must pay compensa-tion of 5 million euros to the Austrian printing house to which ithad given a contract to manufacture passports. The MIA hadillegally terminated the contract with the Austrian firm in 2013.On the other hand, the public enterprise, Post and Telecomof Kosovo (PTK), is facing two judicial processes. This year, vir-tual mobile phone operator Z-Mobile sued PTK for breach ofagreement and is seeking 44 million euros in compensation;meanwhile the company AXOS, which competed in the

process of privatizing PTK last year, is seeking 50 million eurosin compensation following the annulment of the process.No one has been held accountable for the 36 million eurosthat have been lost in the last five years, and for the risk oflosing a further 94 million euros. In Viktor’s case, when themunicipality was damaged to the sum of over 8,000 euros,no one was held accountable.So in a poor and corrupt state, with courts that grantamnesty to abusers, who defends the interests of citizensand taxpayers — the only people who effectively lose out inthese processes? Currently there are no international mech-anisms to defend the citizens of a corrupt state against com-panies that sue the state in international courts.In a 2009 TED Talk, Peter Eigen, founder of anti-corruption NGOTransparency International, spoke of his experience as direc-tor of the World Bank (WB) in Nairobi, Kenya. On seeing thatKenya’s government was corrupt, and working to the detri-ment of its citizens, as director of the WB Eigen attempted tobuild mechanisms that would defend citizens from their gov-ernment. However, he was immediately halted by the legaloffice of the WB on the grounds that “these are internal affairsof the state and WB officials must not be involved in them.”After leaving the WB, Eigen found out that governments ofWestern countries, including his native country, Germany,allowed their companies to be involved in corruption casesin other countries. From 1997, the European Union has approved policies thatprohibit the involvement of companies from EU memberstates in corruption cases, including cases outside of the EU.In the passport case, at least eight people were convictedfrom the Natali Veliaj group, which was found guilty of distrib-uting 1.4 million euros, or 10 percent of the passport tender.The MIA’s defense lawyer in the arbitration process shouldhave questioned whether the Austrian company was alsoinvolved in the bribe case, as this is punishable under EU reg-ulations. However, it is unlikely that this issue was raised as itwould have implicated MIA officials further — despite thefact that 5 million euros might have been saved.The state prosecution must defend the interests of taxpayers,and not side with the corrupt. Also, regarding the two casesof judicial processes against PTK, the Government must notlet PTK organize its own defense; instead they must recruit acredible international company that would prevent the lossof approximately 100 million euros.Otherwise, cases like these lose the trust of businesses andcitizens in the state of Kosovo, and clearly endanger theprospect of foreign investments

BY AGRON DEMIKOSOVO 2.0

Who Defends Citizens of Corrupt State?Lack of accountability costs Kosovars millions of euros

Publisher: WESTERN BALKANS e-MEDIA GROUP l POENTA d.o.o. Sarajevo,

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4Serb ia Dai ly, October 13, 2016

We are used to double standards and I do not believe that the Albanians did all this

on their own, Serbian prime minister said, speaking about the Trepca issue

Vucic: "Albanians Are Not Alone in This”

Serbian prime minister once askedwhy there was not anybody fromthe EU reacting to the pungent

words from Croatia, but this time thereporters asked him why “not one part-ner” from Brussels was reacting toPristina’s decision on Trepca, as well aswhich table Belgrade wanted to sit at.“They’re not reacting because we are asmall partner. I assume that we won’thear from them, but I never expected it.They would react if I was to refuse to talkto a reporter from an outlet financed bythe EU, Rockefellers, Rothschilds... Thatthey would react to, but they’re notgoing to react to this. Is this a doublestandard? It is, we are used to that; butwhat choice do I have? I am not goingto destroy Serbia’s future,” Vucic said.He then suggested that Pristina politi-cians had support in making the contro-versial decisions on Trepca.“I’m not an idiot to think that theAlbanians are alone in this. Even if noone was helping them come up with

this, someone allowed them to do so.Listen, whoever thinks I'm too stupid iswrong, that much I do know. However,Serbia’s interests must come beforeeverything else. We'll sit at any table, wewill have important talks with anyonefrom Europe, America, Russia, orChina,” Vucic said.He used the occasion to also announcethat “one of the greatest European lead-ers will visit Serbia” in about 15 days.“We certainly won’t be making anymoves by using force or showing ourteeth, that we won’t do. We’re not mak-

ing any threats, but no one has the rightto exert force on Serbia or the Serbianpeople. If anyone dared to try, I’mafraid failure would be inevitable,”Vucic said.At the same time, the Kosovo govern-ment commented that the Serbianprime minister’s statements about nulli-fying Pristina’s decisions on Trepca wereunreasonable.The government made a statement say-ing that the decision would not haveany legal or actual effects.Kosovo Prime Minister’s Chief of StaffSokol Havolli told the media in Pristinathat the Serbian Government’s decisionhad no legal nor actual effect on theTrepca situation.“This is an unreasonable decision thathas no effect on Kosovo. The TrepcaLaw, passed by the Kosovo Assembly,applies to the whole territory and to allpeople, regardless of whether they livein southern, western, or any other part ofKosovo,” Havolli said.

Serbia will be eternally grateful to Russiaand, above all, to President VladimirPutin, for the sincere support for thepreservation of our territorial integrity andprotection of our national interests in theinternational arena, Serbian PresidentTomislav Nikolic said as the Serbian con-sulate in St. Petersburg ceremoniallyopened yesterday."A great visionary who is ensuring amore beautiful, calmer future for his citi-zens is today a support for many insuffi-ciently strong peoples threatened byforce, and the most significant supportin the fight against the great evil of theworld - terrorism," he said.Addressing Honorary Consul-GeneralGennady Nikolayevich Timchenko,Nikolic said Serbia was honoured by hisacceptance of the responsible role.

ConsulateOpens in St.Petersburg

IMF Mission to Visit Serbia

An International Monetary Fund (IMF)mission led by James Roaf will visitBelgrade during October 20 –November 1, 2016, to hold discussionson the sixth review under a precaution-ary stand-by arrangement with Serbia,IMF Resident Representative for SerbiaSebastian Sosa announced."The mission will review fiscal performanceand conclude discussions on the 2017

budget; follow up on progress in the finan-cial sector reform agenda; evaluateprogress in key structural reforms; and dis-cuss new structural conditionality for2017,” a statement released by the IMFOffice in Belgrade quoted Sosa as saying.In February 2015, the IMF concluded athree-year precautionary stand-byarrangement with Serbia worth 1.2 bil-lion euros.

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucicreceived Ambassador of Greece toSerbia Elias Eliadis.Vucic welcomed the Ambassador andwished him a successful diplomaticmandate in Serbia.The Prime Minister expressed his grat-itude for the principled support ofGreece to territorial integrity ofSerbia.He stressed the continued support ofGreece in the process of Europeanintegration of Serbia as an example offriendly relations and good coopera-tion between the two countries.The Prime Minister expressed hope

that the visit of Greek Prime MinisterAlexis Tsipras, to be agreed throughdiplomatic channels, will contributeto the cooperation between Serbiaand Greece to be raised to a high-er level, especially in the economicfield.The Ambassador noted that the rela-tions between Serbia and Greeceare an example of good bilateralcooperation and that by workingtogether we can promote issues ofcommon interest, such as solvingthe migrant crisis and maintaining astable situation on the WesternBalkan route.

Greece Continues Support to Serbia

Tomislav Nikolic

5Serb ia Dai ly, October 13, 2016

In 1991 there were more than 81,000 Croats in Vojvodina and today there are 47,033.

In 1961 there were 157,000, and they are continuing to migrate

Status of Croats in Serbia Unsatisfactory

At a scientific colloquium entitled"Croats as a minority in neighbour-ing countries: History, status, chal-

lenges," held in Vukovar, it was said thatthe status of the Croatian community inneighbouring countries ranged fromsatisfactory in Hungary to extremelyunsatisfactory in Serbia."When talking about the status of theCroatian community in neighbouringcountries, it varies. We wish to see thelevel of rights Croats enjoy in neighbour-ing countries and what we can do toimprove their status," said Drazen Zivic,the head of the Vukovar branch of theIvo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences.Tomislav Zigmanov of the CulturalInstitute of Croats in Vojvodina said thatthe status of Croats in Vojvodina andelsewhere in Serbia is not satisfactoryeven though at the last election theCroatian community managed to win aseat in the state parliament after twoyears and managed to retain its dele-

gate in the provincial parliament."Our demands are geared towardsolutions like those that exist in Croatia,that is, that as a minority we haveguaranteed seats at all levels of gov-ernment. That was signed in bilateralagreements between Serbia andCroatia on the protection of minoritiesand we will see during the process ofSerbia's accession to the EuropeanUnion whether Serbia will implementwhat it has signed," he said."We believe that now that electionswere held in Serbia in the spring andrecently in Croatia, satisfactory commu-nication will be re-established betweenthe two countries and that the mes-sages exchanged will be far more dif-ferent to those during election cam-paigning," Zigmanov said.He noted that attacks on Croats werecontinuing in Serbia but that they werenot the rule. "We are still not satisfiedwith the way the judiciary is acting or

those conducting investigationsbecause these crimes are still classifiedwithout any indication of ethnic motiva-tion, which is what we suspect is thecase. We want the political and socialclimate in Serbian society to be moreinclined toward Croats," he under-scored.He said that today there are 57,900Croats in Serbia, whereas in 1991there were more than 120,000. "In1991 there were more than 81,000Croats in Vojvodina and today thereare 47,033. In 1961, for example,there were 157,000, and they arecontinuing to migrate, mostly foreconomic reasons these days. Thenumber of Croats that have migratedbecause of threats or pressure isbetween 35,000 and 40,000 andnone of them have returned becausethere has not been any programmeto create conditions for a future forCroats," he said.

6Serb ia Dai ly, October 13, 2016

Legal situation after the mandate expired to Nina Samardzic is utterly unclear

Confusion with the Directors of Politika

On the one hand, Politika has itsother director, Mira Glisic Simic,but Danas hears from the

informed sources that her position isalso questionable.Sources claim that the mandate ofGlisic, the representative of the state inPolitika, expired even three years ago,and it is questionable how she can actas a director all this time. If this turns outto be true it would mean that Politikahas no director at all.In order for the director to be posted,the Assembly of Politika needs to have asitting, but this body never gathered thisyear. Danas was told by some of theAssembly members that they are alsonot being informed about the dealingsin this newspaper, so they found thatLjiljana Smajlovic left the newspaperonly from the media. And they are evennot getting their wages from the com-pany.Mira Glisic Simic was unable to com-ment the situation, asking that mediawaits for „day or two“, in order that thesituation clears at least a bit. So, untilthe end of this working week it shouldbe clear how Politika will act in thiscase, and it should be explained if themandate really expired to Glisic, for shesaid that „It is hardly possible“.Danas source, however, is firm with theclaim that state representative in Politikaactually has no contract for the directo-rial position, since this has to beapproved at the Assembly of the com-pany, „which has not happened“.„Let her show the contract, if she has is“,this source says. East Media Groupwhich owns other half of Politika has nointention to name its representative inthis newspaper. In reality it means thatthe state representative will continue torule „the oldest newspaper in Balkans“,

which already happened once, when ayear ago Mira Glisic was the only nomi-nated director, before Nina Samardzicwas elected. Samardzic herself said thisfor Insider, estimating that this meansthat Politika will have no problem withfunctioning, again.The loss of the Director is not the only dif-ficulty with which this newspaper faces inits owner-manager dealings. The otherproblem is that East Media Group waserased from the registar of business enti-ties in Russia. Namely, this companywhich owns 50 percents of Politika isactually Russian company. But sincethere were no transactions on itsaccount, as Russian law provides, it waserased from the commercial registar.Now, this does not mean that the com-pany ceased to exist, for Russian lawleaves open the possibility that the deci-sion on erasing gets denied, in case thatthe interested parties claim that their

interests would be endangered by theerasure. In such case, if legal require-ments are met, the return of the compa-ny into the registar is possible.Probably it will happen by the end ofthis month, the source of Danas says.There is nothing in this that happenedaccidentally, „The company is presentlyin the phase of inaction“, and will bereactivated in few weeks.It is clear that the owners of East MediaGroup could easily avoid erasure, sinceRussian authorities regularly informedthem that the expulsion from the registaris imminent. It was enough to make anytransaction through the company’saccount, even a symbolic payment,but the owners did not react.The owners of the East Media are notofficially known, but of the record it isobvious that the owner is MiroslavBogicevic, since both Bogicevic andthe media spoke of this several times.

The external review has finished,revealing the errors made while theboy Radenko Nikodinovic was in hospi-tal care, and emergency meeting hasbeen scheduled at noon with the chiefsof clinical centers and emergencyrooms and hospital directors.As the minister said, the review estab-lished found that a number of omissionswere made. “I saw the results and they are notgood. Procedures were not followed. Imade the decision to remove the hos-

pital director and the chief of surgery.Their replacement is now underway,”Loncar said. Loncar said that in the case of theboy’s death, the review by theMinistry of Health found that therewere no documents that would serveto determine how the boy’s injurieswere diagnosed. The minister of health announced thatin the following period measures wouldbe taken to prevent the possibility ofconcealing errors made by doctors, as

well as to prevent colleagues coveringfor each other. He also announced that in hospitalsin smaller towns were to expect expe-rienced doctors who would supervisethe work of the staff in these institu-tions. As a reminder, the boy from the villageof Kozjak was admitted to the hospitalin Loznica after he had broken his armon a slide and died six days later. Radenko Nikodinovic will be buriedtoday at the local cemetery in Loznica.

Dismissals at hospital for death of a boy

Mira Glisic Simic, Politika Director, nominated by previous government

7Serb ia Dai ly, October 13, 2016

More than 30 Italian companies will take part in the gathering,

which is supported by the Embassy of Italy in Belgrade

Italian Construction CompaniesArrive to Belgrade

The conference called Italy &Serbia: Building Together, dedicat-ed to construction and focusing on

infrastructures in transport, utility servic-es, energy, healthcare and tourism andthe issues of urban and spatial plan-ning, will be held in Belgrade onOctober 19-20, reported the ItalianTrade promotion Agency ICE."There's great interest of Italian compa-nies in the Serbian market, as confirmedby a large number of applications forthe upcoming Belgrade gathering",says Giovanni Mafodda, director of ICEBelgrade."The initiative was started as part of anall-encompassing action of promotingand internationalizing Italian compa-nies form the sector of construction andplanning activities", Mafodda explains.The action is being carried out by ICE incooperation with Italian associationswhich bring together companies fromthe following areas: ANCE – ItalianConstruction Contractors' Association(with over 20,000 members) and OICE –the association for engineering, archi-

tecture and technical and economicconsulting (with over 450 members).More than 30 Italian companies will takepart in the gathering, which is supportedby the Embassy of Italy in Belgrade. Theywill be addressed by high representa-tives of Serbian institutions and organiza-tions in charge of the relevant sectors.They will present the most important proj-ects in individual areas.At the same time, Italian companies willhave the opportunity to meet their Serbiancolleagues and get a complete picture ofthe construction sector in Serbia.As Mafodda emphasizes, the interest ofItalian companies in Serbia doesn't only

pertain to entering the constructionmarket, but is to a great extent directedtowards establishing the cooperationwith Serbian companies on differentlevels."In that sense, through this conference,we aim to provide information on cir-cumstances and possibilities of doingbusiness in Serbia, on the one hand,through presenting projects, primarilythose defined by the Government ofSerbia as priorities, as well as those per-taining to Serbia and the region, and,on the other hand, through presentingconcrete experiences of Italian con-struction companies in Serbia. At thesame time, we wish to provide all thenecessary support to Italian companieswhich offer or seek cooperation withSerbian partners for activities in Serbiaand potential joint ventures in third mar-kets. Our Belgrade office is available toSerbian companies from the construc-tion, engineering and planning sector,interested in meeting the Italian compa-nies which will take part in the upcominggathering", Mafodda announced

Societe Generale opened its newoffice building in Zorana DjindjicaBlvd in New. The bank had investedEUR 14 million in the facility.The new business facility, a so-calledsmart building, has a capacity of 420employees.The facility has been built in closeproximity to the head office buildingof Societe Generale in New Belgrade,at 48v Zorana Djindjica Blvd, andtakes up more than 10,000 m2 ofarea. Societe Generale has raised itsnew building in partnership with theImel Group and owns around 70% ofthe facility."This investment is another confirmationof our dedication to continuing to sup-port our retail and corporate clients. In achanging environment, we will keeppaying attention to our clients' needsand help them by developing innova-tive products and services and improv-ing processes", stated the chairwomanof the Executive Board of SocieteGenerale, Maria Russeva.

SocieteGenerale Opens

New Office

The strategic project of the preparationof the feasibility study and the planningof the Pancevo-Alibunar-Vrsac-Timisoarahighway was approved at the secondmeeting of the Joint Supervision Board ofthe Interreg-IPA cross-border coopera-tion program of Romania and Serbia, asannounced by the Romanian portalTion.ro and reported by BRCT Timisoara.The project is worth EUR 9.3 million andwill for the most part be financed bythe IPA cross-border cooperation pro-gram, with the mandatory participa-tion of the two states. The implementa-tion period is 42 months.The Roads of Serbia and the Ministry ofConstruction, Transport and Infrastructureand representatives of the competent

ministry and institutions in Romaniashould soon sign an agreement on car-rying out this strategic project.The Pancevo-Alibunar-Vrsac-Timisoarahighway, with 130 km of length, shouldbe a part of Corridor 11, which is agreat chance for the development ofthe South Banat district and drawingforeign investments.As the eVrsac portal writes, the construc-tion of a highway through South Banat isimportant especially considering the factthat the Vatin border crossing at Vrsac isthe busiest checkpoint on the border withRomania and the fact that numerousItalian companies which operate in theTimisoara area need to connect to thePort of Bar in Montenegro.

Feasibility Study of Pancevo-Timisoara Highway Approved

8Serb ia Dai ly, October 13, 2016

INTERVIEW

It's illusory to claim that the reduction of the amount of NPLs will stimulate

credit activity. It won't. NPLs are a matter of bad loans from the past, says Djordje Djukic,

professor at the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade in interview for eKapija

No End to Crisis in Sight

Do you expect a similar scenarioto occur as it did with theDevelopment Bank of Vojvodina,

Universal Bank, Agrobank and PrivrednaBanka?I don't expect that such great crashes tohappen any more, because, with theexception of Komercijalna Banka andPostanska Stedionica, all the otherbanks are privately owned, we knowwho the owners are and, in essence, nogreat disruptions can happen there. Ofcourse, that's only if the National Bank ofSerbia makes a timely effort to keepthose banks from reaching the mini-mum capital adequacy ratio of 12% bymasking risk-weighted assets, becausethen it can become dangerous, as, inthat case, badly secured loans cancome to the surface and the risk-weighted assets turn out to be even riski-er, which is bad for the banking marketof Serbia, but also for the environment,where the rule is: the banks will be mak-ing increasingly lower profits, and therewill be more demand to make a capitalincrease in some of them.Is the minimum level of capital adequa-cy ration prescribed by the NBS realisticin your opinion? Is there a basis for it tobe revised?I believe that the chance was missed,that the NBS needed to raise the mini-mum of 12% of CAR to 15-16% whenthe economic crisis was starting in 2008.That would have prevented many prob-lematic cases from happening, andfinally, force shareholders to protectthemselves from all upcoming risks. Mid-term and long-term capital is the onlytrue protection for banks.There are 30 active banks in Serbia. Doyou expect the local banking market toconsolidate soon?It's been talked about for years, butnothing significant has happened.When you compare the bank capital tothe GDP and when you look at thebanks' balances, it becomes apparenthow small the market is. It shows that theenvironment is such that, due to the lin-gering effects of the crisis, I don't expectthere will be any major acquisitions. Thelogical question is which shareholderhas it in their interest to buy a bank now. Will the announced privatization ofKomercijalna Banka lead to any powershifts in the market?The latest information indicates that thebalances of Komercijalna Banka havebeen cleaned, that it's only now that its

management, including representa-tives of the EBRD and the InternationalFinance Corporation (IFC) are able topresent the real state, which is puzzling,to say the least. Because, if those samerepresentatives of international institu-tions held those positions along withrepresentatives of state in the manag-ing board and appointed members ofthe executive board, why didn't they

ask for this earlier instead of adoptingreports with artificially inflated profitstied to the allocation of bonus points tomembers of the management? Bycleaning balances with a recorded lossof RSD 2.6 billion in the first six months of2016, they've drastically reduced thepotential sale price of KomercijalnaBanka. The Republic of Serbia, as thebiggest shareholder, will bear the bruntof it – the contribution to the budget willbe far smaller.Bankers often complain that there ismoney, but that there are fewer andfewer good projects and healthy, sol-vent companies. How to exit this patternwhere companies lack money, andbanks need companies? Empirical research shows that, in theperiods of great crises, one can neverexpect the relation in which the growthof credit as a leading variable pro-duces a greater economic growth towork. On the contrary, when, during acrisis, a wave of huge NPLs resultingfrom optimistic projections before thecrisis and the bankers' greediness,occurs, all the participants must returnto the cycle in which the rule is: in orderto increase the banks' credit activities,the only way is to have a growingdemand, whether from the public or theprivate sector, pushing the growth rateof the domestic product up. If there are

not enough investments in the publicand the private sector, along withreduced personal consumption to duedrastic saving measures tied to thearrangement with the IMF, what then isthe source of demand?The economic growth needs to act asthe driving force, automatically creat-ing the environment for banks based ona larger indebtedness capacity, prima-

rily of citizens, as a result of increasedconsumption thanks to higher realsalaries, diversification of public invest-ments leading to mass employment,automatically larger amount of salarieson the whole and the greater consump-tion as a result of that. This would auto-matically create numerous credit capa-ble clients willing to take out loans. Onthe other hand, it's illusory to claim thatthe reduction of the amount of NPLs willstimulate credit activity. It won't. NPLsare a matter of bad loans from the past,a matter of a different attitude of bankstowards reserves. If a bank had an ade-quate reserve policy, nonperformingloans could become a basis for makingprofit in the present, on the basis of acti-vating the collateral or selling debtors'property.In practice, however, to my amazement,it often happened that “goodwill” wastaken as collateral. What does this meanfor companies in Serbia? Nothing. Wemustn't, then, generalize what was bad.Banks with greater reserves which usedto sacrifice greater profits can now sell,as collateral: pumps, land, other piecesof real estate... The best banks had anabove average reserve rate comparedto their credit portfolio and the bankingsector average. This is an indicator thatthe bank's management was very con-servative.

9Serb ia Dai ly, October 13, 2016

Serbia’s joining the EU is a tangible and reachable objective

Serbia achieved steady progress towards EU

Prior to the Belgrade Security Forum,“European Western Balkans” spoketo Catherine Wendt, the head of unit

for Serbia in the European Commission'sDirectorate General for Neighbourhoodand Enlargement Negotiations, who par-ticipates in the special event“Enlargement Moving beyond Europe'sFatigue and Bilateral Disputes” which isorganized in partnership with theEuropean Fund for the Balkans.Wendt highlighted that Serbia has madesustained progress on its path towards theEU. This has led to the opening of the firstfour negotiating chapters, including onthe crucial rule of law area (Chapters 23and 24) and the normalization of Serbia’srelations with Kosovo (Chapter 35). Thishas made Serbia’s perspective of joiningthe EU a tangible and reachable objec-tive. It also shows that the EU remainscommitted to Serbia’s EU path.Wendt stressed out that the economicreforms are producing results, “Serbiahas climbed out of recession, with bet-ter-than-expected growth rates, newinvestors, new jobs and the prospect ofbetter salaries. Serbia is also construc-tively contributing to reinforced region-al cooperation, reconciliation and pre-serving peace and stability in theregion. And Serbia has handled themigration flows through its territory in atrue European spirit”.Talking about challenges on the Serbianpath to the EU, Wendt said that of coursethere is difficult challenges witch lieahead. For her this are in particular in thearea of judiciary, handling of war crimes,fight against corruption, freedom ofexpression, public administration, anti-discrimination and the economy. “Soundand sustainable implementation ofambitious and transformative reforms iscrucial. Equally important for Belgrade –and it has been clear from the outset -is

a continued constructive engagementon the normalization of its relations withPristina” she said.Wendt said that these are not minorchallenges at all. “Addressing them willtake time and will not always be easybut the EU will support Serbia throughoutthe process. We need to look into thefuture together, by defining commonstrategic goals and addressing com-mon challenges together, to the benefitof Serbian citizens, the region, and theEU” she pointed put.While speaking about the WesternBalkans’ Bilateral disputes, Wendtexpressed her opinion that the acces-sion process for the Western Balkans isbased on reconciliation, good neigh-bourly relations and regional coopera-tion. This requires joint, sincere effortsfrom all sides to resolve open issuesthrough constructive bilateral dialogueand mutual respect, and it is in the inter-est of all in the region to return to thisspirit and discourse.“The Commission is ready to play its partin trying to create an environment inwhich solutions can be found, but theenlargement process is not a platformon which bilateral issues should be tack-led. They must stay outside”, she added.As she will be speaking at the BelgradeSecurity Forum, she said that the forum isan opportunity for policy leaders and

decision makers to deepen ties andreach out to each other. From her point ofviews the question posed by this year’sBelgrade Security Forum – CanDemocracy Survive Global Disorder – ismore relevant than ever for the WesternBalkans region. “The European Union isfounded on the shared values of funda-mental rights, the rule of law and democ-racy, where peace and stability prevail.But numerous challenges lie ahead of us:the current migratory crisis is one of themost pressing ones; we have suffered theworst financial and economic crisis sinceWorld War II; our neighbourhood – fromUkraine to Syria, the Middle East and NorthAfrica – remains unstable” she said.Wendt is convinced that the BelgradeSecurity Forum will contribute to ourmutual understanding that those areglobal challenges that we need toaddress, in Europe and the region. “Theenlargement process is a key anchorfor building stability. We simply cannotafford any backsliding there – either interms of reforms being slowed down orregional ties loosened or even brokenagain” she concluded.Catherine Wendt spent two yearsbefore 2015 as head of unit for Kosovo.Prior to this she was head of the commu-nication unit of DG Enlargement, afterhaving been the adviser to the Director-General.

Montenegro’s membership in NATOcan be even more meaningful thanmembers believed it would be. A few days after Brexit, AmericanPresident Obama sent a letter of noteto the Senate so the process of ratifica-tion of Montenegro’s AccessionProtocol could begin, political analystDušan Janjić said to Pobjeda."The most recent events probably gave

significance, explanation and motiva-tion for such a moveIt would be realis-tic that it is over by the end of this year,as it would send a signal of vigor, evento countries such as Serbia, that are alittle lost on road of integration.Montenegro went through the wholeprocedure and political stability wasachieved at a most critical time. EU sit-uation showed that two global institu-

tions function in the world - IMF andNATO”, he said. Janjić said that NATO plans expansion inthe future, adding that Montenegro’saccession can be important for NATO now. Obama offered administrative supportand asked for a fast ratification, whichcould inspire other member states tothe same and work faster towards unit-ed, free and peaceful Europe.

Montenegro’s accession even more significant in light of Brexit

Catherine Wendt participates in Belgrade Security Forum

10Serb ia Dai ly, October 13, 2016

It's not easy to be a political cartoonist in Serbia

Serbian Cartoonist UnrepentantOver Skewering Of Prime Minister

Just how risky an occupation it maybe is illustrated by the case of DusanPetricic, one of the country's most

prominent cartoonists, whose work hasappeared in The New York Times, TheWall Street Journal, and the Toronto Star.On September 30 his contract withSerbia's main daily newspaper, Politika,was rescinded after seven years duringwhich Petricic's cartoons graced the frontpage of the paper's Sunday edition.Recently, Serbian Prime MinsterAleksandar Vucic has been a frequentsubject of Petricic's acerbic satire -- andhe strongly suspects that that is thesource of his troubles.In an interview with RFE/RL in Belgrade,Petricic said he believes the decision tofire him came from the very top, fromthe prime minister himself."I have no proof of this, but I am con-vinced that the editor in chief [ofPolitika] has been getting calls, whetherfrom the head [Vucic] or those aroundhim. I know that they've been upset fora long time over the fact that this isbeing printed," he said, referring to hiscartoons lampooning Vucic.Petricic's colleague, Predrag KoraksicCorax, suggested the same in this car-toon comment on his dismissal, whichshows Vucic peering through a rippedfront page of Politika.Petricic said that his dismissal couldhave been the initiative of the newspa-per's editor, Zarko Rakic, who he said isa supporter of Vucic's SerbianProgressive Party (SNS), but added that"if he wanted to remove me he wouldhave done so at the beginning." Rakictook over the post a few months ago.The next day, in response to a question

from Insajder.net, Vucic's office said thatit had learned about Petricic's dismissalfrom media reports.Vucic's office said the prime minister'sopinion was that Petricic should beallowed to continue publishing, because"far from being seen as offensive, his car-toons are a boost to the prime minister.""They are evidence of the strength of[Serbian] democracy, and…demon-strate that even those with the strongestaversion to the government, and with apersonal hatred of the prime minister,should be given space to work, as theyhave been until now."Almost immediately following this publicgranting of permission for Politika to con-tinue publishing Petricic's work, Rakicannounced that the cartoonist hadbeen reinstated even though he was"sometimes late with his submissions."The Politika editor also suggested thatPetricic was too expensive, but that hewould take him back anyway.This sudden and slightly farcical about-turn does nothing to allay suspicions thatthe decision to dispense with Petricic was

politically motivated. No one was moresurprised at the newspaper's attempt tobacktrack than Petricic himself, althoughhe was equally quick to insist that his fatewould not be decided by the Politika edi-tor or the prime minister:"Any future arrangement depends onme, too," Petricic said.He promptly accepted a rival offer fromthe established Belgrade weekly NIN.The most recent issue of the magazinecarries a cartoon that had been reject-ed by Politika, alongside a new contri-bution by Petricic."The cartoonist's job is to criticize and tosatirize those in power. There is no suchthing as a cartoon that is too harsh. Itsharshness is always a measure of theimpropriety that the government isengaged in." said Petricic, who willhave an entire page in NIN dedicatedto his cartoons from now on.One of Petricic's drawings portrays hisview of what an ideal TV program wouldlook like in the eyes of Vucic -- withVucic in the role of interviewer, intervie-wee, cameraman, and producer.

The European Commission has "takennote" on Serbian government standregarding the Pristina's law on Trepca -EC spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic.She has reiterated the views expressedon Monday at the European Commissionheadquarters in Brussels, with regard tothe Serbian Government’s decision toannul all acts of the Kosovo institutions.“We have taken note of the fact that abill on Trepca had been passed in theKosovo Assembly. We have also takennote of the Serbian Government’s posi-tion in response to it”, Kocijancic said in

a written statement delivered to Tanjug.Maja Kocijancic has once againstressed that the European Unionencourages all political representativesof Kosovo, whether they come frommajority or minority political parties, toremain engaged in the political dia-logue concerning such an importantissue for Kosovo.In an earlier statement for Tanjug,Kocijancic specified that bothBelgrade and Pristina must consent toputting the issue of Trepca on theagenda of the EU-facilitated dialogue

in Brussels.On Saturday, Kosovo Assembly passeda law on Trepca, according to whichthe Trepca mining complex will betransformed into a shareholding com-pany in which Kosovo government willcontrol 80 per cent of shares.As a response to this law, Serbian gov-ernment decided to annul all the legalconsequences of acts and actions bythe interim self-government institutions inPristina regarding the factual and legalposition of the Trepca mining complex,said Serbian PM Aleksandar Vucic.

The EC has taken note of Serbia’s response to the law on Trepca

Satyric Petricic's illustration of Prime Minister's ways

11Serb ia Dai ly, October 13, 2016

Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik is clearly on a high

Western PowerlessnessStrengthens Bosnian Serb Leader

He rammed through a referendumon the Day of Bosnia's Serb-domi-nated entity of Republika Srpska

on September 25, despite the stateConstitutional Court ruling it illegal anddespite widespread international criti-cism.At the SNSD’s post-election rally only afew hours after polling stations closed,Dodik took to the microphone, as is hiswont on such occasions, and launchedinto the chorus of a tune from popularfolk singer Mitar Miric: “No one can doanything to us. We’re stronger than des-tiny. They can only hate us. Those whodo not love us”, Dodik sang with gusto.The apparent powerlessness of EU andUS governments added much to Dodik'seuphoria. As things stand, Dodik can bejustifiably confident that he can contin-ue defying both domestic institutionsand the international community withimpunity.For months, EU and US officials wereconfident that Dodik's referendum initia-tive was only a ruse in order to win newconcessions from Western and Bosniakofficials.Then, a few weeks ahead of the refer-endum, when it became clear that thevote would take place, they ponderedpossible responses but decided to post-pone any serious move for after thelocal elections. But the local ballot haspassed and the West remains passive.Some diplomats now hope thatBosnians will be able to put the referen-dum crisis behind them and belatedlyto focus on European integration.Others expect that the HighRepresentative's next biannual report tothe UN Security Council, due inNovember, may rally international sup-port for stronger action against Dodik.Yet judging by Western lack of interestand even proper understanding ofwhat is at stake in Bosnia, Dodik, has lit-tle reason to fear.Dodik’s confidence is based on his suc-cess over the past decade in curbingthe influence of those domestic institu-tions he does not control and challeng-ing the international community.Since returning to power in February2006, he has benefited from the shift ininternational policy towards “local own-ership” of the peace process and divi-sions in the international community.After a decade of close internationalsupervision and frequent intervention,Bosnia was expected to move forward

under its own steam with the “push ofDayton” replaced by the “pull ofBrussels” – the carrot of eventual EUmembership.Whereas Bonn Powers were deployed777 times between December 1997and January 2006 by the second, thirdand fourth High Representatives –Carlos Westendorp, Wolfgang Petritschand Lord Paddy Ashdown – they haveonly been used 181 times by their threesuccessors – Christian Schwarz-Schilling,Miroslav Lajcak and Valentin Inzko –including, above all, decisions liftingbans on individuals imposed by theirpredecessors.For more than a decade, the interna-tional community has operated on thepremise that the prospect of Europeanintegration is sufficient to transformBosnia into a self-sustaining and stabledemocracy.Rhetoric and actions that would havebeen sanctioned by the HighRepresentative or another internationalbody in the first decade of the peaceprocess have been condemned butgone unpunished.When the Croatian Democratic Union,HDZ, organized a referendum onNovember 11, 2000, asking voters if theyapproved of greater autonomy for Croatparts of the Federation, the internationalcommunity acted decisively to end whatwas considered serious challenge topeace since the end of the war.The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which still hadoversight over elections, punished theHDZ by stripping it of ten mandates incantonal assemblies.The HDZ was also excluded from theFederation government and HighRepresentative Petritsch subsequently

removed Ante Jelavic, the HDZ leaderand Croat member of the BosnianPresidency, and three other senior HDZofficials for violating the peace accordafter they formed a body considered tobe a step towards a third, Croatian entity.The PIC was united and the HighRepresentative was using Bonn Powerson a regular basis. At the same time,the NATO-led Stabilization Force had32,000 troops and was in a position toenforce High Representative decisions,if necessary.This was obvious during the internation-al intervention against the HDZ, whenNATO armored vehicles and troopspoured onto the streets in a sign of sup-port for the High Representative.But since then the international pres-ence and engagement has changed.The European Union has systematicallyaccommodated Bosnia despite thecountry’s repeated failure to meet earli-er defined conditions.In this way, among other things, it acti-vated a Stabilization and AssociationAgreement with Bosnia in June 2015and just last month accepted the coun-try’s EU membership application.Despite all attempts, the political cli-mate has continued to deteriorate,which lead ultimately to unprecedent-ed discussion of the prospect of a returnto war in the wake of the referendum.Besides weakened political engage-ment, the EU and US have also reducedtheir military capacity in the country,although their mandate has – at leastofficially – remained the same.The High Representative must, neverthe-less, tread a fine line as EUFOR’s man-date will also be up for renewal nextmonth and he does not wish to risk thepossibility of a Russian veto.

Dodik sings just hours after the referendum

WEATHER OUTLOOK BELGRADE TODAY

Prolonged biometeo-rology situation contin-ues, with unfavourableeffect to the chronicpatients, cerebrovas-

cular patients and people with res-piratory diseases, as well as thosewith psychic problems. Drowsiness,anxiety and headaches are possi-ble meteopatic reactions.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Pumpkin day celebration in Kikinda. The other name is Crazy Day

Cineplexx - TC UsceBulevar Mihajla Pupina 4

19:30 Sully (Miracle on the Hudson)21:15 Marauders22:40 The Mechanic: Ressurection22:50 Sausage Party

Takvud CineplexKneza Milosa 7

17:20 Bridget Jones’s Baby19:30 Snowden21:00 Desierto22:20 Marauders

Roda CineplexPožeška 83a

16:00 Secret Life of Pets18:15 Bridget Jones’s Baby22:20 Snowden

NEW IN CINEMAS Dom sindikataDecanska 14

17:45 Miss Peregrine's Home

for Peculiar Children

18:00 Beatlemania: Eight Days a Week

18:45 Blood Father

21:45 Snowden

Cineplexx - Delta CityJurija Gagarina 16/16A

18:15 Blair Witch is Back

19:45 Miracle from Hudson

20:15 Desierto

22:30 Marauders