Balkan pot shortage costs addicts dear

Transcription

Issue No. 194 Friday, November 06 - Thursday, November 19, 2015
Pages 4 - 5
Gnezdo
Organic: food
with a
conscience
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Page 11
Balkan pot shortage
costs addicts dear
NEWS NEWS
A
local Belgrade drug
dealer who worked
the streets of the capital for more than seven years told BIRN
he has been forced to
“sell less for more” because the supply
of marijuana is so limited.
“It is harder for me to get a good
amount and I can easily get caught. The
police are brutal,” he said.
“I lost some customers, but every time
I text them, saying new ‘movies’ are in
town, so they come back,” he added.
Serbian dealers are far from alone in
having problems with supplies. Weed
sellers and users across the region remain shaken by a major marijuana
bust in southern Albania in June 2014,
which has reduced the supply on the
black market and increased prices.
Katarina MARKOVIĆ
Friday • June 13 • 2008
S
asked Music to take part in the play,
which he refused to do at first because
he had no prior acting experience. After a week, Rau called him again and
Musić agreed to take part by telling his
life story.
Four other actors tell their personal
stories in the play as well - stories of surviving the siege of Sarajevo, the NATO
bombardment of Belgrade in 1999, the
destruction and liberation of the German city of Bremen in 1945, and of immigrants from Soviet Russia who came
to live in Germany.
ince October 2014, Serbia
has climbed from 91st to
59th position in the World
Bank’s Doing Business report, which measures how
business-friendly regulations and policies are in 189 countries.
However, many Serbian entrepreneurs say this improvement has not
made life much easier, as most businesses are still struggling.
One entrepreneur who does not buy
into stories of huge progress in the Serbian business environment is Milan
Knežević, co-owner of Modus, a fashion-clothes manufacturer.
“It is clear that we improved our
ranking thanks to improvements in
construction permits, but things are not
that simple”, Knežević told BIRN.
“It takes less than a month to get a
construction permit, but the administration makes your life very difficult
during the previous step, when getting
the location permit.”
He says that the Serbian business
environment remains difficult for most
companies, not least because they are
faced with paying 147 para-fiscal fees (additional charges levied on businesses).
The latest report by the Serbian Business Registers Agency, APR, on commercial operations in Serbia during
2014, highlights many negative trends.
Aggregate losses for Serbian companies in 2014 reached 1.1 billion euros
(131.7 billion RSD), four times larger than
the previous year, according to the APR
report.
Continued on page 8
Continued on page 7
Users say that prices have more than doubled, turning marijuana from an affordable daily habit into a luxury item.
Photo: Atdhe Mulla
‘The Dark Ages’ turns
Bosnian War into drama
Real-life testimonies from people who lived
through recent conflicts in Europe have been
transformed into a gripping theatre play - acted
out by the people whose stories it highlights.
“M
y father was
killed immediately and thrown
into a well. I survived because
the driver of my school bus and a friend
of my father recognised me. Then they
771820 833000
Despite a higher
ranking on the
World Bank’s
Doing Business
report, experts say
Serbia urgently
needs more
regulation reform.
BIRN Team
Sven MILEKIĆ
9
01
Economic
crisis
and red
tape vex
business
world
Ever since Albanian police
cracked down on
the marijuana den
of Lazarat, supplies have grown
shorter and prices
have soared.
Continued on page 2
ISSN 1820-8339
BELGRADE INSIGHT IS PUBLISHED BY
deported me to a concentration camp in
a school bus,” Sudbin Musić recalls in his
native language on stage at the National
Theatre in Munich, shocking the audience with its authentic power.
In the play ‘The Dark Ages’, Musić,
a 41-year-old Bosniak from Prijedor in
north-western Bosnia and Herzegovina, tells the story of how he survived
+381 11 4030 306
the massive crimes committed in his
hometown in 1992, when Serb paramilitaries and police killed, imprisoned and
expelled local Bosniaks and Croats.
He said he met the play’s German
director, Milo Rau, when he came to
Prijedor to look at some of the sites of
mass graves and former concentration
camps.
“He got in touch with my cousin living in Germany and my cousin called
me to show him around Prijedor, although he had no intention of taking
me as an actor,” Musić told BIRN.
After visiting Tomasica, the biggest
mass grave from the 1990s war, Rau
[email protected]
Issue No. 1 / Friday, June 13, 2008
Shakespeare
reconnects
Serbian and
Kosovar
theatregoers
Page 10
1
Focus on
Refugees
2
BELGRADE INSIGHT, Friday, November 06 - Thursday, November 19, 2015
SERBIA
3
SERBIA
Balkan pot shortage
costs addicts dear
“O
nce you could
get four joints
for 500 or
600
dinars
[around €10].
Today
you
can only get one for that price,” a user
from the Macedonian capital, Skopje,
told BIRN. “And the quality? Well, no
one guarantees it anymore,” he added.
In June 2014, the Albanian government finally cracked down on marijuana farmers who had turned the
outlaw southern village of Lazarat
into a major drugs hub.
More than 1,000 police officers,
including interior ministry special
forces, laid siege to armed villagers,
exchanging fire with drug traffickers
as they took control of the terrain.
Dozens of suspects were arrested, including a notorious local drug baron,
Rezip Mahmutaj. In his three-storey
villa overlooking the village, police
discovered a drugs laboratory that
was used to process marijuana.
More than 130,000 cannabis plants
were destroyed and 80 tons of marijuana seized.
The street value of the drugs produced in Lazarat has been estimated
to be worth 4.5 billion a year, equivalent to nearly half of Albania’s GDP.
na dealers and users, turning a blind
eye to dealers in other drugs, resulting in marijuana price hikes and its
scarcity on the market.
Macedonian police dispute this
claim, insisting that they are waging
war equally against all kinds of drugs.
FORCED TO SMOKE INCENSE
COSTS MORE
TO BE A POTHEAD
The crackdown on weed farmers and sellers has forced some consumers
either to smoke less, or turn to synthetics and questionable substitutes.
A so-called “marijuana capital,” Lazarat was one of the main weed suppliers to the rest of the region.
Last year’s crackdown has influenced weed prices all over the region
with both dealers and users saying
that prices have more than doubled,
turning marijuana from an affordable
daily habit into a luxury item.
Before the raid on Lazarat, users in
Kosovo say three of four joints, totalling around 1.5 grams or more, cost
around five euros.
These days, five euros might get
a single, small joint containing less
than half a gram.
“I was smoking five to 10 grams
a day. It was cheap. Now I probably
smoke one joint, or none at all, during the week,” Agron, a user from
Pristina, said. “Now it’s such a hassle.
It costs a lot to be a pothead, unless
you’re selling.”
Some weed dealers justify the
price hike, saying they have to take
more risks to get hold of supplies. This
is because since the Lazaret crackdown, police raids in other countries
have intensified, too.
“Prices are going to stay high as long
as it's this difficult to get supplies, so
1,200 dinars [10 euros] is a realistic
Photo: Atdhe Mulla
price for the risks that I take and the
gas I spend driving around town. I'm always on guard,” a Belgrade dealer said.
It is the same in Albania, where
before the Lazarat raid a kilogram of
marijuana was sold for around €200.
Now the average price for the some
quantity is €1,000, five times more.
Consumers and dealers in Macedonia have been faced with a constant
price hike for several year, which is
linked to the rise to power of the socially conservative VMRO DPMNE
party in 2006.
Users say the Macedonian authorities have focused on busting marijua-
A shortage of marijuana and high
prices are not the only consequences
of the 2014 bust in Albania.
The crackdown on weed farmers
and sellers has forced some consumers either to smoke less, or turn to synthetics and questionable substitutes.
Dardan, a shop owner in Mitrovica,
Kosovo, told BIRN he used to smoke four
joints a day but had stopped entirely.
Apart from the price hike, he had
become frustrated with the number
of calls he had to make to locate a
dealer. Instead, he goes to his pharmacy and buys an anti-anxiety drug
called bromazepam, which he can
get without a prescription.
“I know the risk of addiction but
I hope I will get through this period
without problems,” he said. “A lot of
young people are doing the same
thing – using different kinds of pills
that are harmful.”
Other passionate weed users told
BIRN that they have started inhaling
smoke from burning incense, which is
also referred to as “synthetic marijuana”.
Nikola, aged 25, from Belgrade, is
one of them. He has sampled smoking incense, but argues that nothing
can beat weed.
“I was forced into buying that crap.
A friend of mine recommended this
to me and told me this was like marijuana,” he told BIRN.
“But it wasn’t. I didn’t feel very good,
my vision became blurry and I became disorientated,” he recalled.
Siniša Jakov Marušić, Nate
Tabak, Filip Avramović, Fatjona
Mejdini and Ivana Nikolić contributed to this text.
NO MAN’S LAND
Despite the raid in Lazarat, weed is still sold
across Albania. On October 17th, Albanian police
discovered a laboratory
in the port of Durres for
marijuana processing
and packing and 700
kilograms of marijuana.
Seven people were arrested, most of them
owners of clubs and bars
in Tirana.
Police have also seized
more than 1,000kg since
the end of September.
Besides, marijuana is still
cultivated in some parts
of Albania, which are
barely accessible. Some
of these “marijuana
zones” are in difficult terrain, in deserted mountain areas that no one
owns.
Dealers risk nothing by
cultivating week in these
lands because no one
possesses the land, so
no one is likely to be
charged if marijuana is
found and destroyed
there.
Besides, marijuana seeds
are very cheap to find in
Albania, costing only a
few euros each, depending on the quality.
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Serbian
tabloid calls
independent
media
‘foreign
mercenaries’
PRESS
COMMENT
REVIEW
Continued from page 1
Address: Kolarčeva 7
Pro-government tabloid Informer
promised to expose three independent
media organisations including BIRN
as “foreign mercenaries” trying to bring
down the government.
Saša DRAGOJLO
I
nformer announced that, as of
Monday, it will start publishing a
series of articles revealing who is
financing three Serbian “anti-government” media organisations.
Informer accused KRIK - Network for
Investigating Crime and Corruption, CINS
- Serbia’s Centre for Investigative Journalism, and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) of taking foreign
money “to bring down our government”.
“They are asking for 10 euro donations
from citizens, although they are getting
millions from the West,” Informer said in
its announcement.
Slobodan Georgiev, a BIRN journalist
whose photo was used in the illustration for
the announcement, said it was just another
episode in a tabloid campaign against BIRN
and other independent media.
“This is just a continuation of the campaign that Informer is leading against all
journalists who are taking their job seriously,” Georgiev said.
Informer article illustrated with pictures of journalists from KRIK, CINS and BIRN.
“When the government is feeling
threatened they always create this type
of ‘arrest warrant’ to discredit our investigative findings,” he added.
In August 2014, Informer published a
series of allegations about BIRN following
its investigation into a secret Serbian government contract with the United Arab
Photo: Facebook
Emirates carrier Etihad Airways.
Informer also alleged at the time that
journalists from BIRN and CINS had been
‘stalking’ Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić, causing him to cancel his
summer holiday.
Stevan Dojčinović, a journalist from
KRIK, told BIRN that the new Informer al-
legations are directly connected with a recent series of KRIK investigative reports
about property allegedly owned by Belgrade mayor Siniša Mali.
“It is clear that this is directly connected with the Siniša Mali stories. The City
of Belgrade is injecting a lot of money
into Informer in various ways and this
attack is nothing new. They will probably
publish old recycled articles about our finances, that’s all,” Dojčinović said.
KRIK has published several stories
about the Belgrade mayor over the past
two weeks.
On October 20th, KRIK claimed that
Mali bought 24 apartments on the Bulgarian coast in 2012 and 2013 as the legal representative of two offshore companies
based in the British Virgin Islands.
KRIK also published stories about Mali’s role in controversial privatisations of
state-owned enterprises.
Mali has denied all the allegations and
said he will sue KRIK for defamation.
BIRN tried to contact Informer editor
Dragan Vučićević for a comment, but he
did not respond.
Informer has often been accused of being the ‘official’ newspaper of Serbian PM
Aleksandar Vučić, because of its attacks
on the premier’s opponents and critics.
Editor Vučićević has his own talk show
on pro-government Pink TV which has
hosted Vučić as a guest in more than 50
per cent of the broadcasts.
A report issued on October 29th entitled “Media Reform Stalled in the Slow
Lane: Soft Censorship in Serbia” said that
the Serbian government continues to put
informal pressure on the country’s media.
BIRN Serbia was a research partner in
the report by the World Association of
Newspapers and News Publishers and
the Centre for International Media Assistance.
Independent media were regularly accused of being 'foreign mercenaries' by
the regime of Slobodan Milošević in the
1990s, when current PM Vučić served as
information minister.
4
FOCUS ON REFUGEES
FOCUS ON REFUGEES
Middle East and Balkan
war refugees share camp
Refugees'
shoes:
Snapshots
of human
tragedy
Refugees from the
1990s Balkan wars
are now sharing
their rundown
temporary
accommodation
in Belgrade with
people fleeing
more recent
conflicts in the
Middle East and
Africa.
Belgrade photojournalist Marko
Risović, whose images of refugees’
shoes went viral online, explains why
covering the crisis is a moral duty.
Ivana NIKOLIĆ
“A
t one moment,
I simply put my
head down and
I saw the guy’s
shoes.
They
looked apocalyptic. Those were nice shoes, but dirty
with mud. And I just asked him if I could
take a photo,” says Marko Risović, a freelance photographer, during an interview
for BIRN.
“The guy only smiled and said yes, but
didn’t understand why I would [want to]
do that.”
Risović, who has covered the refugee crisis in the Balkans since February, took several dozen photographs of
shoes worn by refugees on the SerbiaCroatia border at the end of October.
Many didn’t even have shoes and had
been reduced to wearing makeshift
footwear fashioned from plastic bags
and the like.
Many of the images went viral after
CNN, who originally commissioned him
to photograph the crisis, published them
on their official Instagram profile.
As well as documenting refugees
passing through the Berkasovo-Bapska
border crossing, Risović explains he
wanted to find a fresh way of telling their
stories.
“I tried to promote a story I thought
would be effective and that would tell
what is actually happening in a proper
way,” Risović explains, adding the idea of
telling refugees’ stories by photographing their shoes came to him spontaneously.
“Honestly, I didn’t go there [to the border] with the idea of doing that,” Risović
says.
Seeing some of the refugees’ footwear
– or lack thereof – reminded him of the
work of a photographer who had done
something similar when covering African refugees who were crossing the Sahara desert several years ago.
“With a simple detail - such as shoes
– which is constantly repeated [in the
photographs], you are showing a wider
picture,” he observes.
‘A CRITICAL
HUMAN QUESTION’
Risović is also a member of the Kamerades photo collective – a group of
five documentary photographers from
Serbia whose aim is to raise awareness
about social issues in the Balkans.
As each one of them has been engaged with the refugee crisis, they have
decided to put all their work on display
in December at the Parobrod cultural institution in Belgrade.
5
Filip AVRAMOVIĆ
Risović has covered the refugee crisis in the Balkans since February.
“This is a critical human question
which has to be reacted to and we want
to tell the people what it means and what
it actually looks like,” Risović explains.
The exhibition will also include photos taken several years ago, when refugees from the Middle East first started
coming to Europe.
“I feel a duty to document what is happening as I am a photographer living at
the time when it [the refugee crisis] is
taking place,” he says.
Risović has won many awards in Serbia over the years, most notably perhaps
the Press Photo Serbia Award in 2012 for
his photo story “Istočno od raja” (East of
Eden). In East of Eden, he documented
the lives of the younger generation in
Serbia outside of “fertile Vojvodina [Serbia’s northern province] and the Serbian
capital Belgrade.”
Mainly interested in covering social issues such as unemployment, politicians’
broken promises and younger generations’ perspectives, Risović says his next
projects will include work juxtaposing
Serbia as it really is with how the country
is commonly presented by mainstream
channels.
“I will play with that idea – how it is
presented by some people and [those at
the] centre of power and how it actually
looks like when you peek into the inner
Serbia,” he says.
PAST CENSORSHIP
Before turning freelance some seven
years ago, Risović worked for several
media outlets in Serbia. But he admits he
prefers his current choice, even though
freelancing is usually hard because of
the irregular income.
He recalls being censored several
times in the past and being told “what to
do and what way to do it”.
Photo: BIRN/Ivana Nikolić
The photographer worked for the now defunct Belgrade-based newspaper Borba at
the time when it served as a political tool for
the ruling socialist regime during the 1990s.
“From this distance, I would never
now accept to work at Borba. Now I feel
that when you are part of a system… you
implicitly approve of all their content,”
Risović says.
He now also contributes to the Serbian edition of National Geographic, something he describes as a childhood dream
come true.
Even though it is hard being freelance,
as there is no such thing as a steady job,
the photographer doesn’t seem to repent
the decision he made several years ago.
“The difference is in freedom. As a
freelancer you have the freedom to express your attitude and opinions, and
to me this is very important because it's
something that I’ve always been fighting
for,” he concludes.
H
alf an hour’s drive from
the centre of the Serbian capital Belgrade, a
dilapidated set of barracks-like huts in the
Krnjača district has been home since
1993 to refugees who fled the conflicts
in the former Yugoslavia.
The authorities promised to shut
down the refugee centre by the end of
2016 and rehouse 36 Serb families in
state-owned apartments across Belgrade - but since the massive migrant
influx began, the remaining Balkan
refugees have now been joined by
new neighbours from overseas.
A dilapidated set of barracks-like huts in the Krnjača district.
Dragan Radojević fled Kosovo after the war in 1999.
Photos: Marko Risović for CNN
Krnjača has been enlisted to serve
as one of five of Serbia’s temporary
accommodation centres for asylumseekers from the Middle East and Africa, and according to the country’s
Commissariat for Refugees, some
100 newcomers arrive at the camp
each day.
Most of the Middle Eastern refugees go to the main railway station
in Belgrade where their compatriots
gather during the day, only returning
in the evening to eat and sleep, leaving the Krnjača centre looking deserted in daytime.
But one of them, Nur Nurri, a
33-year-old who fled Afghanistan,
Photo: BIRN/Filip Avramović
was still in his hut because he had fallen ill, and recounted a familiar story
of fear, desperation and uncertainty
about the loved ones he left behind
when he fled.
“Afghanistan is devastated,” Nurri
told BIRN. “I lived near the conflict
zones, so I had to flee. My family has
decided to stay in Afghanistan. I don’t
know what is going on with them, or
how they are.”
M’Pak, a 25 year-old Nigerian, fled
his home country amid a brutal insurgency led by Islamist militant
group Boko Haram, which killed
thousands of people in the country’s
north-east.
A 33-year-old Nur Nurri fled Afghanistan.
“Boko Haram took my right arm, so
I had to flee,” he explained.
He said he had been treated well at
Krnjača, and has been promised help
in contacting relatives in South Africa
who could wire him money.
“I have been here for two days, but I
think I will spend a couple of months
here and then return to Nigeria. I really don’t know what will happen with
me,” he said.
M’Pak’s
neighbour
Dragan
Radojević, a 70 year-old Serb who
fled Kosovo after the war in 1999,
said he has been waiting for years
for a chance to move out of Krnjača
and is still hoping that the authori-
ties will give him an apartment in
Belgrade.
Although thousands of ‘new’ refugees from the Middle East and Africa
have passed through Krnjača on their
way to Western Europe in the past
few months, Radojević said that they
have not caused any disruption.
“We didn’t have any problems with
them. They don’t come in large numbers now and they don’t stay for long,”
he explained.
“Of course, there is some friction
sometimes, but that isn’t anything out
of the ordinary when you have people fleeing war and poverty and being
put in a camp like this,” he added.
As Radojević said, most refugees
fleeing foreign conflicts and poverty only use Serbia as a transit point
and do not stay in the country for
long.
One exception could be Fehim
Muday, a 19-year-old Somalian who
was heading for Western Europe but
changed his mind when he got to Belgrade.
“I came here and made some
friends. I have started learning Serbian and am very good at it,” he said
in almost-fluent Serbian.
“I like the people here and the lifestyle, so I would like to stay and go to
a university.”
6
BELGRADE
In an international
game of Chinese whispers, Belgrade’s reputation as a party capital
is spreading among
Generation Y, but the
city’s other appealing
traits seem to get lost
along the way.
Emma KRSTIĆ
Belgrade is still a relatively mysterious
capital for Gen Y coming from the
West. In fact, some people, it seems,
are still unsure where it even is. I kid
you not, when I said I was relocating
here one friend exclaimed: “I love
Ireland!” Perhaps they just confused
it with BelFAST (an easy mistake?), or
Serbia just isn’t on their radar, which
is a real shame.
Of course, sports fans are well aware
of Serbia because of Novak Djokovic,
and in recent times, the refugee crisis
has brought the country’s name out
of the shadows on a broader scale.
But little is known about the capital’s
personality and culture.
Slowly word is getting out though;
this week I even read somewhere that
Belgrade is the new Brooklyn, New
York. That’s quite the hype.
Among young, ‘intrepid’ travellers,
there are still many who view the
Balkans - and Serbia, being smack
bang in the middle of it - as a
somewhat undiscovered frontier;
a part of the world not yet firmly
on the tourist trail, where prices
are considered cheap by western
standards and people assume they
may still face an element of ‘culture
shock’.
In backpacking circles, Belgrade
is known for three things - its wild
nightlife, almost-lethal alcohol and its
attractive women. All of which can be
found at the boat-based nightclubs
docked on the Sava river, which too
are heading towards legendary status
– namely 20/44 where renowned
international DJs often feature on the
bill.
But beyond the city’s party reputation,
many people still don’t know quite
what to expect from the Serbian
capital. Based on my first impressions,
Belgrade has an individual and diverse
list of traits.
Well, here’s what my initial
observations have been. The people
are unmatched in friendliness, the
sandwiches are some of the best I’ve
ever tried (go to Fitbar, Nusiceva 4
and Vladimir Popovic 44), a haze of
smoke will greet you in every café,
bar, nightclub and kafana you enter
(of which I’d recommend Pub ‘Jedno
Mesto,’ Cetinjska 15) and the amount
of succulent meat devoured in one
dinner is enough to give you the
sweats.
Locals bend over backwards to be
helpful, and are all too happy to have
a conversation with a stranger on
public transport - something that I
haven’t experienced in many other
cities. The vibe is what I imagine
Berlin would have been like before
it became achingly cool and all the
hipsters moved in. And then there’s
the Serbian sense of humour, which
is fantastically black and down-onyour-luck. No one takes themselves
too seriously here and no one is trying
to impress. What you see is what you
get.
Now when people ask with surprise
“why did you move there?” I can’t
help but think: you don’t know what
you’re missing out on.
Share your impressions of Belgrade
on Facebook or Twitter using
#MeetBelgrade.
BUSINESS
Municipal
helpline to speed
up response
times
Economic crisis and red
tape vex business world
K
Filip AVRAMOVIĆ
B
elgrade mayor Siniša Mali told
the media on November 4th
that the newly-installed software will “enable the service
to be three to five times more efficient”.
The software will allow every call
about problems with municipal services such as heating, water, sewage
systems or parking to be recorded in
the system and then followed up by
Beokom staff who will then refer it onwards.
The system later monitors whether
the problem has been resolved or not.
“If employees do not react to the reported problem, we can then see why
they have not done what they were
supposed to do. If work has been done,
we will be able to see that the problem
has been resolved,” Mali said.
Beokom receives about 120,000 calls
each year and the new system will
make its work “more transparent”, he
added.
“Also, we have internal control which
monitors who is or is not doing their
job, who is working faster than others…
We can then reward or punish certain
secretariats and services, all in order to
serve the citizens better,” he said.
He also promised that there would
be investments in the IT systems of other municipal companies in the future to
make them more efficient.
REFORMS DELIVER
MIXED RESULTS
Photo: Flickr/Adam Olszanski
Green light for monument
honouring Serbian writer
City of
Belgrade
backs
proposal to
erect statue
of political
activist and
playwright
Borislav Pekić
on Vračar’s
Flower
Square.
T
Filip AVRAMOVIĆ
B
oard members of the City
of Belgrade have approved
an application to erect a
monument on Flower Square
honouring one of Serbia’s most famous
writers, Borislav Pekić.
Nikola Nikodijević, president of the
city parliament, said it was a “great
decision for Flower Square to belong to
Pekić, since he lived in that part of the
city (Vračar)”.
“It is a continuation of our strategy to
repay all deserving citizens,” Nikodijević
told Belgrade-based newspaper Blic.
The decision to build a statue of
Pekić was made following a request
by his family. The monument will be
financed by the Borislav Pekić Foundation, and will not require funds
from the City of Belgrade budget.
Pekić was a Serbian political activist
and writer. He was born in 1930 to
of 2015, this led to a drop of purchasing power in some sectors of more
than 40 per cent compared to 2008.
“At the same time, apart from abolishing part of the para-fiscal charges
in the second half of 2012, the economy did not feel significant relief
through the tax system,” Rajić says.
“On the contrary, operating costs increased with the amendments to the
law on taxation of property, amendments to the law on corporate income
tax, and changes of various other levies that business pay.”
He says that although some ministries work more actively in improving the business environment and
certain results have been achieved,
there are 144 laws and more than 250
by-laws relating to business which
creates huge bureaucratic costs and
many complications in practice.
“We need a general shift from the
policy of development based solely
on offering more and more privileges
to foreign investors, to the performance development policy stimulat-
nežević stresses that
24,500 companies
out of 120,852 recorded as active in 2014
didn’t submit their
financial
reports,
while those that did employed 18,839
fewer workers compared to the year
before.
“Losses increased fourfold and it is
a sign of several negative trends, not
just exchange rate losses… The deterioration in financial performance
last year was affected by a decline
in aggregate demand, slowing down
of investment and lending activities,
and drop in exports as well,” Knežević
wrote in an article for Danas daily.
“The economy is in total collapse
and [APR] report clearly shows it,”
says Knežević.
The Beokom municipal helpline
has installed new software that
it says will ensure Belgraders’
problems with heating, water and
other services are dealt with more
efficiently.
Hidden
Belgrade
BELGRADE
THROUGH
THE EYES OF
A GEN Y
7
a prominent family in Montenegro,
which was at that time part of the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia. He lived in
Belgrade from 1945 until 1971, when he
immigrated to London and was one of
the founding members of the Democratic Party in Serbia.
Following Pekić's immigration to
London in 1971, the Yugoslav authorities considered him persona non grata and for several years they prevented
his books from being published in the
former Yugoslavia.
Pekić distinguished himself in
the 1970s as one of the best Serbian
contemporary dramatists. He regularly
wrote radio plays for Westdeutscher
Rundfunk in Cologne, as well as Suddeutscher Rundfunk in Stuttgart. Of 27
plays written and performed in Serbia,
17 were first produced in Germany.
Many of them were transformed into
theatre and TV plays and received a
number of awards.
his memorial pillar – dedicated to the French poet and
politician Alphonse de Lamartine – was erected back in 1933
in a park in Zemun, one of Belgrade’s biggest municipalities
located north of the city centre across the Sava River. The
pillar was built by Serbia’s Association of Friends of France on
the 100th anniversary of de Lamartine’s 1833 visit to Zemun. Lamartine, who
was born in 1790 and died in 1869, was quarantined in the park. At the time,
Zemun was part of the Habsburg Empire and thus separated from the rest
of Serbia. All passengers coming to Zemun, and therefore the empire, from
across the Sava River had to stay in quarantine for some time.
Pekić was a member of the PEN
Association in London and Belgrade,
and was Vice-President of the Serbian
PEN Association between 1990 and
1992. He was elected to the Serbian
Academy of Sciences and Arts in
1985, and was made a member of the
Advisory Committee to The Royal
Crown in 1992.
Active both as an author and a public figure until his last day, Pekic died of
lung cancer at his home in London on
July 2nd, 1992.
The Pekić statue is just a part of the
planned 300,000-euro reconstruction of Flower Square. The value of
works on the Flower Square is about
€300,000, and half of the value of
works funded by the city and the other
half by Belgian food retail company
Delhaize.
The reconstruction was said to be
finished on October 10th, but work still
continues on day-to-day basis.
After several years of stagnation,
Serbia has managed to climb higher
up the World Bank Doing Business
rankings but the overall picture is not
all positive.
The drivers behind the higher
ranking were largely based on the
ease of applying for construction
permits and on this measure, Serbia
climbed from 178th to 139th place. In
terms of paying taxes, Serbia reached
143rd position, 22 places higher than
the year before.
The government passed new legislation on planning and construction
that reduced the cost of applying for
construction permits and introduced
electronic payment of taxes.
In eight other areas, Serbia’s position is weaker or the same as the previous year.
For example, Serbia dropped three
places in the category of starting a
business, and seven places in getting
credits, while enforcing contracts and
trading across borders remained the
same.
Taking into consideration recent
changes in methodology, which improved Serbia’s position in the previous year, the World Bank deems that
Serbia has actually progressed nine
places from 68 to 59.
Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar
Vučić confirmed last month that the
government aims to ensure Serbia is
ranked among the top 40 performers
on the Doing Business list, something
he says will allow Serbia to attract
more investment and so create more
jobs.
However, while experts acknowledge that the country’s ranking in the
Doing Business report is important,
they say it is not a decisive factor for
investors deciding whether to locate
production or other business activities in the region.
Dragoljub Rajić, a partner at the
Business Support Network consultancy, warns that the government often
overestimates the importance of the
Doing Business list for investors.
“Last year’s research on a sample of
74 German, Austrian, Swiss and Slovenian companies located in Serbia
showed only 4 of the 74 companies
had rated data from Doing Business
The Doing
Business list
in Serbia has
become a
number one topic
in the media,
but in practice
we need more
changes if we
really want to
attract serious
investors.”
” Dragoljub Rajić,
Business Support
Network consultancy
Vučić confirmed the government aims to ensure Serbia is ranked among the top 40 performers on the Doing Business list.
lists as important for their decision to
invest in Serbia,” he says.
Rajić explains that companies
looking to invest will first collect data
from partners already working in the
target market, then approach business chambers and embassies, and
also engage independent experts and
agencies to further research the market.
“All this is much more important
than the Doing Business list, and this
is especially true for investors from
EU countries who can check the situation from several reliable sources,”
he notes.
“The Doing Business list in Serbia
has become a number one topic in the
media, but in practice we need more
changes if we really want to attract serious investors.”
MORE REFORMS NEEDED
Business organisations in Serbia
have supported reform activities that
have influenced Serbia’s ranking and
expect further improvements.
The National Alliance for Local Economic Development, NALED, point
out that this year’s result is the biggest
improvement in the last nine years.
Ana Brnabić, vice-president of the
NALED’s board of directors, believes
Serbia will improve its ranking further with the introduction of unified
procedures in issuing permits and the
introduction of electronic building
permit application forms since January 1st, 2015.
On the other hand, she says that
during the last five years there has
been a sharp fall in the categories
Photo: Beta
of registering property and getting
credit, while Serbia’s position is unchanged in the category of establishing of new companies.
Serbia’s struggling economy has
cast a shadow over positive results,
as the overall business environment
remains challenging.
Rajić says even if Serbia is ranked
highly, domestic companies are suffering from the six-year economic
crisis and a chronic lack of budget
funding.
“If all of these changes on paper are
felt in practice, it will still take years for
the half-bankrupt Serbian economy
to feel an improvement,” he says.
He also stresses that Serbian companies are operating in an environment where purchasing power has
decreased since 2009. In the first half
ing the growth of small and mediumsized enterprises,” Rajić says.
Changes should, he believes, include the reduction and simplification of the legal framework, smaller,
cheaper and more efficient state administration, and reforms in the social
insurance and the pension system.
“The state would help more if it
stopped bothering and sucking the
money from businesses that would
use it more efficiently to increase
the volume of economic activity,
to purchase new machinery and
equipment, and invest in employee
education and job creation,” he explains.
“Only investments in development
and turning to the markets with high
purchasing power can pull the economy out of crisis.”
8
REGION
OUT AND ABOUT
‘The Dark Ages’ turns
Bosnian War into drama
“There is one rule in this play and
that is that everything said is true. Of
course I don’t know if it is, for example, the truth of Sudbin Musić, or if it’s
the objective truth,” he said.
Rau said that the play, which was
first staged in April this year, has generated powerful emotional responses.
“This play is extremely touching for
a lot of people. You have people crying in the audience... We were quite
surprised and, in a way, happy that
such emotions surfaced, since we
thought, ‘who would be interested in
stories from Sarajevo or Russia?’” he
said.
Rau believes the play is important
because it tackles the European habit
of forgetting the past for the sake of
the future – something that is hard to
do in the Balkans, where recent conflicts still shape everyday realities.
“It’s very problematic, especially for
Vedrana and Sudbin, to try to forget
what happened in the 1990s,” he said.
“In the end, as Sigmund Freud used
to say, ‘What you bury alive will come
back as a zombie.’”
FIVE
STORIES,
FOUR
COUNTRIES
Sudbin Musić (right).
“W
e put the
public into a
state of confusion; are
our stories
true or fictional? In other words, each
of us asks a question, where does our
reality start from?” he explained.
At one point, after telling the story of
how he exhumed his father, Musić
transforms himself into a contemporary figure of Hamlet, also playing his
father’s ghost.
Musić says that by acting in the play,
he is honouring those who lost their
lives during the war.“ I erected some
kind of monument to all the people I
lost during the 1990s,” he said.
All the actors had doubts that what
they were doing was a “striptease,”
revealing their personal traumas on
the stage, he continued. He also said
that he worried about his family seeing the play, fearing it would be overwhelming for them.
“Nevertheless, I can't wait for us to
perform in the former Yugoslavia,” he
added.
‘DON’T BURN
SHOES AS FUEL’
Another actor in the play, 39-yearold Vedrana Seksan, from Sarajevo,
said she is looking forward to per-
9
Photo: Thomas Ashuber/Residenztheatre
forming it in
the Bosnian
capital despite being
nervous
about her
mother and
other relatives
watching her.
“At one general rehearsal, my
16-year-old daughter was in the audience. At one moment I heard her
weeping and it was a very hard moment for me,” she said.
She explained that her daughter
was hearing some of her stories from
the siege for the first time because
she did had not wanted to “burden”
her with them before.
Her mother also offered some advice when they talked about the play,
telling Seksan “to inform people in
Germany never to use footwear for
heating, because it ignites too fast
and creates no heat,” referring to moments when people in besieged Sarajevo burned their shoes in attempts
to keep warm.
“I told my mother: ‘But mum, they
live in Europe, they have central gas
heating.’ She just responded: ‘I had
also lived in Europe with central heating [before the war].’”
During the process of creating the
text for the show, the actors recount-
What I’ve tried to
do is to tell the
story of what
happens when
one age is turning
into another age
- for example,
the end of Soviet
bloc, the end
of Yugoslavia,
the end of Nazi
Germany, and
what comes
after.”
Milo Rau, the director
of the play
ed their stories and thoughts on three
topics – ‘mother’, ‘evil’ and ‘art’ – describing what each means for each
of them. Their testimonies were transcribed for editing; Seksan’s alone
was around 14 hours long.
“In the end, with a lot of alteration,
my testimony is in the final version
cut to some 15 minutes, which falls
into a bigger story line along with the
testimonies of the other actors,” she
said.
“I never did this type of theatre before and I know I wouldn’t do it again,
because it’s an experience which is
beautiful, but also painful,” she added.
THE PROBLEM
WITH FORGETTING
Rau, the director of the play, said
that ‘The Dark Ages’ is the second
part of his ‘Europe Trilogy’. The first
part was called ‘Civil Wars’ and focused on the conflict in Syria. The
third, which will be staged next year,
will be called ‘Empire’ and will focus
on contemporary Europe.
“What I’ve tried to do is to tell the
story of what happens when one age
is turning into another age - for example, the end of Soviet bloc, the end of
Yugoslavia, the end of Nazi Germany,
and what comes after,” he said.
As well as the stories of
Musić and Seksan, ‘The
Dark Ages’ features Sanja
Mitrović from the town of
Zrenjanin in Serbia, who
recalls her life during the
NATO bombing of Serbia
in 1999.
Valery Tscheplanowa, 35,
originally from Kazan in
Russia, who emigrated
with her mother to Germany in the late 1980s as
the Soviet Union was falling apart, tells her story of
migration and integration
into German society.
Manfred Zapatka, 73, from
Germany, talks about the
liberation and destruction
of his hometown Bremen,
as well as his personal
story of early death of his
father and mother.
Slovenian avant-garde
band Laibach contributed
the music for the show.
The song they provided
for the trailer of the play is
a cover version of Jeanne
Moreau’s ‘Each Man Kills
the Thing He Loves’, with
lyrics by Oscar Wilde.
The Residence Theatre in
Munich co-produced the
play with film production
company the International Institute for Political
Murder.
Banjička
šuma:
Belgraders
favourite
woodland
Minutes from the city centre, Banjička
šuma is popular with joggers,
picnickers and birdwatchers alike – just
be sure to exercise caution after dark.
Ivana NIKOLIĆ
B
anjička šuma, located in
the Voždovac municipality in the upper part
of the city, is a favourite spot for Belgraders
seeking sports activities,
peaceful walks, picnics or even a bit of
open-air studying. You can reach the
wood quite easily on public transport,
with buses 47, 48, and 78 leaving from
Slavija Square. But you can also walk
there, especially if the weather is nice
which can be the case even in November.
Besides sports and rambling,
Banjička šuma is most famous as a socalled birds’ haven – it is home to several dozen bird and plant species, which
is why it was proclaimed a natural monument back in 2000. Here you will find
more than 60 bird species, 35 of which
are nesting birds, such as the kestrel,
pheasant, white wagtail, chiffchaff and
many others. You might not see them
but you will definitely hear them singing all around.
Many other species have also made
Banjička šuma home, including sparrows, hawks, owls, nightingales, and
woodpeckers.
And no story about Banjička šuma
is complete without mentioning the
man who helped its preservation
by securing state protection for the
woods, Timothy John Byford, a British
television director and scriptwriter.
Besides making some of the most popular Yugoslav children’s shows of the
1970s and 1980s, Byford – who died in
Belgrade in 2014 – was also a passionate birdwatcher. For more than three
years he intensively studied birds
and managed to persuade the local
authorities to put the area under its
auspices.
In a bid to honour him, the City of Belgrade in September decided to change
the name of the wood to Byford’s Wood.
The proposal was submitted by Byford’s wife and several other grateful
citizens and was more than welcomed
by the city’s assembly.
Walking around the forest – which is
quite deep – you will find some paths
lead to a small stream which is especially nice to explore during the autumn
when the leaves are falling and everything is turning yellow around you. If
you are keen on picnics, there are several wooden benches with tables available for public use.
SAFETY CONCERNS
However, even though it might
sound like a perfect and peaceful location for all sorts of activities, you will be
well advised to exercise caution after
dark. Banjička šuma is not the safest
place in the evening or at night. In recent months, this patch of woodland
has been in the media spotlight due to
several rape cases and other incidents,
including robberies.
Banjička šuma is most famous as a so-called birds’ haven – it is home to several dozen bird and plant species.
In July, the Belgrade authorities improved the lighting in an attempt “to
make it safer for citizens,” as Belgrade
Mayor Siniša Mali said at the time.
Since then, no new incidents have been
reported, but I would advise you not to
stroll around late in the evening – just to
be on the safe side.
Long before World War I, the wood
was deforested and various vegetables
were planted there instead. Following
the end of the war, the Yugoslav Army
built a vehicle repair workshop on the
site. It was not until the end of World
War II that it became a forest again.
From 1948 to 1950, Yugoslav youth re-
forested the area in a so-called voluntarily work action.
No matter the season, you will always
see people jogging or working out. If you
cannot find a place at some of several exercise areas, you can always use benches
for crunches or stretching. While exercising, taking long walks or having a picnic
is more than pleasant, I wouldn’t actually
recommend jogging – unless you are a pro.
The main path through the wood is
2.5 km long, and while there are many
smaller ones, all the paths are of clay so
jogging at Banjička šuma when it rains
or snows is not the best idea. In addition, jogging here is not a good idea if
Photo: Wikimedia Commons/NenaK
you find it hard to run up and down
as the majority of paths here are quite
steep. There are no proper running
tracks so be careful not to twist your ankle or fall over stones.
For some, there may be more disadvantages than advantages to jogging at
Banjička šuma, but you can still give it a
shot if you think you are up to it.
And proving there’s pretty much
something for everyone, if you like the
area but dislike the jogging paths, you
can always go to the nearby Banjica
Sporting Centre and enjoy the swimming pool, tennis courts and other
sporting facilities instead.
ROM
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10 BELGRADE INSIGHT, Friday, November 06 - Thursday, November 19, 2015
Hungarian Gypsy
Orchestra’s New
Year concert
The Hungarian National
Gypsy Orchestra will be
performing their New Year
gala concert on December
16th at the Sava Centre.
Led by “king of the violin”
Ferenc Santa, the orchestra has toured the world
showcasing their wizardry
on strings and incredible
musicianship. Tickets for the
event cost between €15 and
€22, depending on seating.
More information on www.
savacentar.net.
DINING OUT
Arts in brief
ARTS
Shakespeare
reconnects Serbian
and Kosovar
theatregoers
Opera, Ballet
and Classical
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 6th
Tamara Hadži-Đorđević, piano,
Guarnerius, Džordža Vašingtona 12, 8pm
Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra
with Zsolt Hamar – conductor, Andreas
Boyde – piano and Aleksandar Solunac
- trumpet, Ilija M. Kolarac Endowment,
Studentski Trg 5, 8pm
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 7th
Opera: Carmen, The National Theatre,
Francuska 1, 7pm
Krzystof Szumanski and Bojana
Dimković, AKUD Lola, Resavska 11, 9pm
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 8th
Taurunum Ensemble, Ilija M. Kolarac
Endowment, Studentski Trg 5, 11am
MONDAY NOVEMBER 9th
Nicolai Demidenko, piano, Ilija M.
Kolarac Endowment, Studentski Trg 5,
8pm
Aleksandra Radenković and Milica
Tanasković, piano, Belgrade Cultural
Centre, Trg Republike 5, 8pm
Finnish
cuisine at KC Grad
If you're looking to try some
exotic food from the north
this week, check out KC
Grad on November 11th.
Seura, the Serbian-Finnish
society, will be preparing
food that's perfect for the
cold weather. Entrance is
free and food will be dished
up on a ‘first come, first
served’ basis.
Ballet: Who’s That Singing Over There?
The National Theatre, Francuska 1, 6pm
Nikola Aleksić – violin, Nemanja
Marjanović – viola, Tea Dimitrijević
– harpsichord, Ilija M. Kolarac
Endowment, Studentski Trg 5, 6pm
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 13th
with Daniel Raiskin – conductor and
Dušica Bijelić - soprano, Ilija M. Kolarac
Endowment, Studentski Trg 5, 8pm
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 17th
Opera: Lucia de Lamermoor, The
National Theatre, Francuska 1, 7pm
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 18
th
Swedish piano
star with Belgrade
Philharmonic
Ingrid Fuzjko Hemming is a
Swedish classical piano star
who was born in Berlin in
1932 to a Japanese mother
and Swedish-Russian father
and was educated in Japan.
She will be performing
on November 18th with the
Belgrade Philharmonic.
Photographer
focuses on
childhood in Blue
Diary show
Serbian photographer Aleksandar Šiljković analyses
images from his childhood,
like carousels, toys and
parks, in his new Blue Diary
exhibit. The exhibition runs
until November 14th at the
Bartcelona Gallery in the
Belgrade Design District.
Entrance is free of charge.
Sandra Jakopović – piano, Ilija M.
6pm
Anton Eberl Chamber Music, Belgrade
Cultural Centre, Trg Republike 5, 8pm
Exhibitions
and Events
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 6th
Miki Manojlović, the director of the play.
With a Kosovo
Albanian playing
Romeo and a
Serb playing
Juliet, Predrag
Miki Manojlović’s
production of
the Shakespeare
classic is
intended to
bring Belgrade
and Pristina
closer together.
Ivana NIKOLIĆ
M
anojlović’s production of ‘Romeo and Juliet’
returns for a second run at Belgrade’s National
Theatre from November 13th-15th, and
the director believes it has already
made a difference.
“I am sure we built a bridge between
you [in Belgrade] who saw the play and
liked it, and someone in Pristina who
Photo: Courtesy of Radionica Integracije
also saw it and liked it,” Manojlović,
who is also a well-known Serbian actor,
told BIRN.
The play features Kosovo Albanian
actors playing Romeo and the Montagues and Serbian actors playing Juliet and the Capulets.
It is also performed in both Serbian
and Albanian, with brief parts in English, but there is no translation.
This is to show that the actors and
members of both communities “can
understand each other very well” despite the language barrier, Manojlović
explained.
A joint production by Belgradebased Radionica Integracije and Pristina’s Qendra Multimedia, it premiered
at the Serbian and Kosovo national
theatres in April and May respectively.
It was also important that wellknown actors from both communities
worked together, Manojlović argued.
“I can’t remember the last time the
Albanian language was heard on the
stage of the bigger theatres in Belgrade,”
he observed.
Sixteen years after the war, relations
between the two countries remain
troubled with Belgrade refusing to accept Pristina’s independence, declared
in 2008.
But there have been several attempts
to restore cultural links between Kosovo and Serbia.
One of them is the annual ‘Miredita,
Dobar Dan’ (meaning ‘good day’ in Albanian and Serbian) which brings Kosovo Albanian films, exhibitions and
concerts to Belgrade.
However, Manojlović admitted he
was a bit anxious about how the premiere would go in both Belgrade and
Pristina.
He said he feared that right-wing
groups could attempt to stage disruptions, but in the end it all went well.
The only minor incident happened
in front of the Pristina theatre, where
someone put up a banner saying that
Serbian actors were not welcome there,
but it was removed shortly afterwards.
“There are people who constantly
make bridges, they really do. Then
some moron comes and a war
erupts and they destroy everything,”
Manojlović said.
But the play did manage to bring the
divided communities together, even if
briefly, he insisted.
“My opinion is that for that one hour
and 52 minutes, which is how long it
lasts until the applause, it definitely
erases the borders. What is happening
after the play, I don’t know,” he said.
In the coming months, Manojlović’s
‘Romeo and Juliet’ will also play in theatres in Pristina, Sarajevo, Tirana and
Zagreb.
“It will also be [staged] in places in
Kosovo where Serbs live but also in the
places where there are no Serbs,” the director added.
A documentary about the process of
staging ‘Romeo and Juliet’ with Serbian
and Kosovo Albanian actors is also underway, which will be offered to television companies across the region.
“We will make it and offer it to everyone,” Manojlović said. “Whoever likes
it will play it. Whoever doesn’t like it,
doesn’t have to play it.”
Best
dining
spots in
the area
Gnezdo Organic: food
with a conscience
While you’re
downtown near
Karađorđeva
Street, you might
well want to
try these other
restaurants, most
of which are
located in the
Savamala district.
SOFA
Karađorđeva 2-4
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 12th
Havana D’
Primera announce
Salsa festival gig
The Havana En Belgrado
Salsa festival has already
kicked off, but the best is yet
to come. On November 7th,
legendary Alexander Abreu
and Havana D’ Primera will
be gracing the stage. The
event takes place at the Student Cultural Centre (SKC)
at 11pm. If you want to
attend all of the workshops
over the course of the day
and catch the performance,
tickets cost €60. Tickets for
the show and after party
cost €20. For more information, visit www.havanaenbelgrado.com.
11
Exhibition: Milica Vučković, Parobrod,
Kapetan Mišina 6, 7pm
Exhibition: Marko Salapura, Kolektiv
Gallery, Karađorđeva 53, 8pm
Exhibition: Yasunari Ishida, Bogić
Gallery, Pljevaljska 42, 7pm
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 8th
Baby Artish – concert for babies,
Belgrade Cultural Centre, Trg Republike
5, 10am
Exhibition: Biljana Cincarević, O3one
Gallery, Uzun Mirkova 10, 12pm
MONDAY NOVEMBER 9th
Exhibition: Kramberger and the
Krapina Neanderthal, Gallery of the
Museum of Nature Science, Kalemegdan
Park, 1pm
Exhibition: Sakari Viika, Grad Cultural
Centre, Braće Krsmanović 4, 8pm
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 11th
Film: Lady Grey (Fra/Bel/RSA, 2015),
Ilija M. Kolarac Endowment, Studentski
Trg 5, 8:30pm
Exhibition: Jelena Vitorović, Gallery 73,
Požeška 83, 7pm
Film: Blue Room (Fra, 2014), Ilija M.
6:30pm
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 14
th
Exhibition: The Border is Closed,
Museum of African Art, Andre Nikolića
14, 1pm
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 15th
Best Beard Competition and Beard
Event, Mikser House, Karađorđeva 46,
12pm
Norwegian Film Cycle: Victoria, Grad
Cultural Centre, Braće Krsmanović 4, 7pm
Sofa is the latest addition to
the stretch of trendy restaurants and bars on the Beton
Hala riverside dining strip.
With an Italian chef, Sofa
focuses on Mediterraneaninspired international cuisine. Alongside a number of
homemade salads, pasta and
fish dishes you’ll find ‘Sweet
Sofa’ desserts as well. When
it comes to wine, here you
will find some 30 labels with
domestic and foreign wines
equally represented.
amBar
Karađorđeva 2-4
amBar is also on the Beton
Hala strip in the Port of
Belgrade, offering a modern
interpretation of Serbian and
Balkan cuisine. The accent is
on meat dishes, as expected,
but vegetarian and seafood
dishes are present and
interesting as well. In terms
of wine, there are around 70
labels covering a wide range
of grape varieties. Here you
can enjoy cocktails and more
than 40 local rakijas. Still, one
drawback could be that there
is not a single local house
wine as one might expect
for this kind of restaurant
promoting local cuisine.
Berliner
Braće Krsmanović 6-8
This pub is located in the
famed Savamala district, almost directly under Branko’s
Bridge. Opened last year, it
began a wave of beer and
German-style pubs in the
capital. It actually is more a
pub than a restaurant, but if
you wish to try German-style
sausages, this is just the place
for you. Apart from sausages,
you can also enjoy chicken
wings but keep in mind that
Bavarian rolls and pretzels
are also served here. As a dessert, you might try handmade
plum noodles. Last but not
least, Berliner offers lots of
beer varieties, so you should
definitely pay it a visit if you
are in the neighbourhood!
Tranzit Bar
Braće Krsmanović 8
As it is called by its patrons,
this place truly is a ‘late night
restaurant’ – it is open every
day, except Mondays, from
the late afternoon. On the
menu you will find a broad
combination of French,
Greek and Italian cuisine
specialties. Here you can
also sample a so-called ‘open
kitchen,’ meaning you can
actually watch chefs prepare
dishes and have a sneak peek
into Tranzit’s food menu.
When it comes to drinks, you
can have whatever you like
but cocktails – prepared by
five barmen - are said to be
a must. This is a nice place if
you feel like partying after
dinner.
The café’s kitchen uses solely organic ingredients, delivered fresh from the farm to the table.
This organic
café, using
locally sourced
ingredients, is a
feast for the eyes
as well for the
stomach.
Anna SQUIRES
G
nezdo Organic is probably the only restaurant
in Belgrade whose WiFi password, translated
from Serbian, means
“rolled zucchini”.
It only follows suit that the café’s kitchen
uses solely organic ingredients, delivered
fresh from the farm to the table. Head chef
Biljana Matić chooses provisioners based
on their proximity to the café – farms are
typically located within a hundred kilometres of Belgrade – and on their commitment to a responsible, chemical-free harvest.
Even before the first bite, the café is a
feast for the eyes, for Gnezdo’s owners intended the Karađorđeva Street café to feel
like the “nest” it is named after.
Visitors follow electric-blue bird graffiti up a spiralling tower before they reach
the nest itself: a warm, sun-washed white
space with a high thatched-wood ceiling.
Solid wooden tables and benches add
a rustic coziness to the airy restaurant.
Eagle-eyed patrons will spot birdcages
and tiny wicker nests perched around the
room. And then comes the meal.
There is nothing inherently different
about a Serbian café that sources local
produce. The country’s GMO ban and vibrant agriculture ensure an abundance of
organic vegetables. Yet as one Belgrader,
Marija Pajković, admits: “Serbian vegetable culture isn’t very creative.” Enter Gnezdo, whose genius lies in punctuating rich
Slavic dishes with freshness and verve.
Case in point: the café’s updated risotto.
The risotto traditionally served in Serbian
restaurants is outrageously oozy, cooked
in butter and wine. Gnezdo’s fresh twist
on the dish is an earthy risotto folded with
seasonal vegetables, like Indian-summer
beets and crisp carrots.
Chef Matić’s autumn take on the dish
slips in sweet winter pumpkin. The result? Light fare that packs a punch. The
pumpkin imbues the dish with huge, robust flavour and a glorious sunset-orange
hue. And it is topped, of course, with Gnezdo’s famed rolled and grilled zucchini,
wrapped around slabs of goat cheese.
When the cheese melts into chewy rice
kernels, the risotto becomes pure, classic
decadence with modern mannerisms.
Photo: Anna Squires, Facebook
Gnezdo’s vegan vibe leaves room for
the carnivore. While the café prides itself on meat- and dairy-free options, the
menu isn’t short on organic, grass-fed beef.
Matić cooks a winter goulash as homey as
Grandma’s, but elevates the beefy shepherd’s stew with shredded cilantro, stewed
prunes, and buttered spinach and walnuts
to the side.
Athena Bender’s eyes light up as she
chows down on a vegetarian shish kebab
– another Serbian staple – made with caramelized tofu and zucchini and nested on
a bed of millet, cinnamon, and mint. She
follows the dish with dark chocolate truffles roosting on juicy orange slices and
feather-dusted with downy white chocolate shavings.
“In a perfect world there’s one of these
places on every corner,” the American
study abroad student says, and gives a
thumbs-up to Gnezdo’s best recipe: taking
well-known Slavic dishes and adding a
dash of modernity, a hint of tradition, and
a heaping spoonful of mindful consumption.
Gnezdo Organic
Address: Male stepenice 1a
Contact: +381 60 740 7408
Working hours: 12pm-12am every day
except Mondays
Anna Squires is student of the SIT Study
Abroad Program Serbia, Bosnia and Kosovo:
Peace and Conflict Studies in the Balkans.
This story was written as an assignment for
Program's Journalism Track.
ONCE KOVAČ, ALWAYS KOVAČ
ONCE ”KAFANA”, ALWAYS ”KAFANA”
RESTURANT KOVAČ
modern ethno restaurant
Bulevar Oslobodjenja 221, Tel: 011 2462 343
www.restorankovac.com
WHAT’S ON
ON THE SPOT
Jazz
fest gathers
celebrities
CLUBBING
AND LIVE MUSIC
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 6th
• All Stars, Dot, Francuska 6,
11pm
• Subterraneous: Timmo,
Izabella, Underground,
Pariska 1, 11pm
• Filip Xavi All Night Long,
Drugstore, Bulevar Despota
Stefana 115, 11pm
• Luigi Madonna, The Tube,
Simina 21, 11pm
• Pepe and Friends, Brankow,
Crnogorska 12, 11pm
• Trust Me You Can Dance,
Drugstore Play, boat on Sava
river, 11pm
• DJ Mirko and DJ Meex,
Industrija Bar, Karađorđeva
23, 10pm
• Time Machine, Tilt,
Karađorđeva 2, 11pm
• R&B and House Night,
Beton, Karađorđeva 2, 11pm
• Holy Friday, Mr Stefan Braun,
Nemanjina 4, 11pm
• Can’t Stop the Rock, KST,
Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra 73,
10pm
• Zoster, Mikser House,
• Two Gallants, Grad Cultural
Centre, Braće Krsmanović 4,
9pm
• Goca Trzan, Cinema,
Gračanička 18, 10pm
• Tijana Dapčević and Magla
Band, Kasina, Terazije 25,
10pm
• Kišobran Party, Drugstore,
Bulevar Despota Stefana 115,
11pm
• Umek, Belexpo Center,
Španskih Boraca 74, 11pm
• The Black Box, Dot,
Francuska 6, 11pm
• Tijana T All Night Long,
20/44 boat on Sava river, 11pm
• Blue Planet Corporation:
Live (Retro Trance Festival)
with Mars Flowers, Mark
Panic, Filip Nikolaević,
Sioux, Skadarska 40, 11pm
• Remote Enclosure Audio #27,
Tijuana boat on Sava, 11pm
• Egorythmia, Cuk Imago,
Dečanska 14, 11pm
• DJs Dooshah, Goran Starčević
and Danijel Čehranov,
Brankow, Crnogorska 12, 11pm
• Disco House, Beton,
• House Night, Drugstore Play,
boat on Sava river, 11pm
• Saturday Night Fever, Mr
Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4,
11pm
• DJ Prema, Industrija Bar,
• ‘90s, KST, Bulevar Kralja
Aleksandra 73, 10pm
• Karolina Gočeva, Ilija
M. Kolarac Endowment,
Studentski Trg 5, 8pm
• HRAST Metal Music
Festival: Despot, Rune,
Wolf’s Hunger, Eshaton,
Dom Omladine, Makedonska
22, 8pm
• Enormna Blajsna, Marko
A. Gajić, Freaky Fight
for Freedom, Božidarac,
Radoslava Grujića 3, 8pm
• Brit Floyd, Sava Centre,
Milentija Popovića 9, 8:30pm
• Rok Bulevar, Akademija 28,
Nemanjina 28, 10pm
• Mad Red, Barka boat on Sava,
10pm
• Replicunts, Jazz Bar Centar,
Knez Mihajlova 6, 10pm
• One on One – Sexy and Sweet,
Tilt, Karađorđeva 12, 11pm
• Party Time, KST, Bulevar
Kralja Aleksandra 73, 10pm
• Dj Gru and DJ Playa, Mr. Stefan
Braun, Nemanjina 4, 11pm
• DJ Oysha, Industrija Bar,
• Argo Vals and Liis Ring,
Grad Cultural Centre, Braće
Krsmanović 4, 9pm
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 8th
• Yudhisthira, Sioux,
Skadarska 40, 11pm
• Saturday Night Fever, Mr
11pm
• Hip-Hop and R’n’B by
DJ Prema, Industrija Bar,
• Ladies Night, Brit’n’Bass,
KST, Bulevar Kralja
Aleksandra 73, 10pm
• Blue Family, Akademija 28,
Nemanjina 28, 10pm
• Camera Darling, Cinema,
• R&B Night, Cinema,
• Sunday Beat, Mr Stefan
• Jose Gonzalez, Dom
Omladine, Makedonska 22,
9pm
MONDAY NOVEMBER 9th
FREE COPY
• Beautiful Monday, Mr. Stefan
Braun, Nemanjina 4, 11:00pm
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 10
th
Publisher: BIRN d.o.o.
Kolarčeva 7/5, 11 000 Belgrade
Phone/Fax: +381 11 4030 300
Editor in Chief: Gordana Igrić
BIRN editorial team:
Ana Petruševa, Marcus Tanner,
[email protected]
Sales & Marketing: Marija Petrović
Phone: +381 11 4030 302
[email protected]
Subscription & Distribution:
Goran Knezevic
+381 11 4030 303
[email protected]
Printing: POLITIKA štamparija d.o.o.
ISSN 1820-8339 = Belgrade Insight
COBISS.SR-ID: 149132556
Circulation: 4,000
13
• Dizel Party, Mr Stefan Braun,
Nemanjina 4, 11pm
• Nineties Night, Tilt,
• Left Lane Cruiser, Grad
Cultural Centre, Braće
Krsmanović 4, 9pm
• Girls Gonna Get Wild, Mr
Stefan Braun, Nemanjina 4, 11pm
• DJ Krush, Grad Cultural Centre,
Braće Krsmanović 4, 8pm
• Birds in Row, Eaglehaslanded,
Muerto Rico, Fest, Gradski Park
1, Zemun, 9pm
• R&B Thursday Delight,
• 1 on 1 Sexy & Sweet, Tilt,
• DJ Oysha, Industrija Bar,
T
he 31st Belgrade Jazz Festival
opened on October 28th at
Dom Omladine, attracting
several hundred jazz lovers keen to see their favourite local
and international bands perform.
Among others, contrabass player
Miloš Čolović, who at 17 years old
is the event’s youngest performer,
addressed the opening-night audience. Special guests included Davide
Scalmani, director of the Italian Institute of Culture in Belgrade.
Miloš Čolović
Photo: Facebook
• Nicolas Jaar, Apgrade,
Hangar, Port of Belgrade,
Žorža Klemansoa, 11pm
• Flegma and Middle Mode,
Underground, Pariska 1, 11pm
• PSM Night with Developer,
Drugstore, Bulevar Despota
Stefana 115, 11pm
• Trust Me You Can Dance,
Drugstore Play, boat on Sava
river, 11pm
• DJ Ike, Industrija Bar,
• Time Machine, Tilt,
• Holy Friday, Mr Stefan Braun,
Nemanjina 4, 11pm
• Can’t Stop the Rock, KST, Bulevar
Kralja Aleksandra 73, 10pm
• Threesome, Nikki Lauder,
KNNT, Grad Cultural Centre,
Braće Krsmanović 4, 9pm
• Last Thrill and Young
Husbands, Jazz Bar Centar,
Knez Mihajlova 6, 10pm
• Inspiracija and Ana Bebic,
Cinema, Gračanička 18, 10pm
Nebojsina 8
011/3863-999
[email protected]
www.restoranamici.rs
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 15th
• R&B Night, Cinema,
• Sunday Beat, Mr Stefan
MONDAY NOVEMBER 16th
• Girls Gonna Get Wild, Mr
11pm
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 12
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 17th
• R&B Thursday Delight,
• Get Ready For Vandalism,
Underground, Pariska 1, 11pm
• Dizel Party, Mr Stefan Braun,
Nemanjina 4, 11pm
• Nineties, Tilt, Karađorđeva 2,
11pm
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6
th
Concert Hall, 8pm
Cycle: For Adventurers
Conductor: Zsolt Hamar
Soloists: Andreas Boyde, piano
and Aleksandar Solunac, trumpet
Programme: Е. Rautavaara: Cantus
Arcticus
D. Shostakovich: Piano Concerto
No. 1
I. Stravinsky: Firebird
Production: Belgrade
Philharmonic Orchestra
Programme: Mozart
Price: 600, 800 rsd
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9th
Concert Hall, 8pm
Soloist: Nikolai Demidenko, piano
Programme: Brahms, Prokofiev
Price: 800, 1, 000, 1, 200 rsd
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12th
Concert Hall, 8pm
Soloist: Karolina Gočeva
Music Gallery, 6pm
Nikola Aleksić, violin
Nemanja Marjanović, viola
Tea Dimitrijević, harpsichord
Cycle: Encounter with an Artist
Programme: Handel, Bach
Production: Music Centre
Admission free
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8th
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14th
Concert Hall, 11am
Taurunim Ensemble
Programme: Tchaikovsky,
Shostakovich
Production: Music Centre
Admission free
Concert Hall, 8pm
35th Jubilee of the Drugstore of
Classical Music
Symphony Orchestra & RTS Choir
Soloists: Marija Čuposki, soprano
Dragana Popović, mezzo-soprano
Biljana Kovač, alt
Dejan Vrbančić, tenor
Atila Mokuš, bass
Conductor: Bojan Suđić
Programme: Handel, Bach
Leaders: Dejan Djurović and Ivana
Ljubinković
Production: RTS Music Centre,
Kolarac Endowment
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7th
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8th
Concert Hall, 8pm
BUNT Festival
String Quartet: Minetti/Vienna
Soloists: Josef Niederhammer,
Lidija Bizjak, Dejan Sinadinović,
Ljubiša Jovanović
Photo: Facebook
T
Actor Nikola Kojo.
KOLARAC
PROGRAMME
Davide Scalmani
Film
photographs
put on
show
T R AT T O R I A
PIZZERIA
• DJ Mooka, Ike and Prema,
Tilt, Karađorđeva 2, 11pm
• Beautiful Monday, Mr. Stefan
th
Photo: Facebook
he exhibition “Film is
Great,“ which showcases acclaimed work of
Serbian film set photographer Aleksanar Letić, arrived
at Belgrade’s Parobrod Cultural
Centre on November 2nd. During
his two-decade film career, Letić
worked with an array of domestic
and international stars, including
Salma Hayek and Pierce Brosnan.
Many famed Serbian actors –
such as Nikola Kojo - attended the
opening night.
Photo of Salma Hayek.
Photo: Facebook
Serbia’s
string quartet
welcomed in
Emirates
T
he Belgrade Philharmonic
String Quartet performed the
United Arab Emirates capital,
Abu Dhabi, and Qasr Al Sarab
Desert resort in the country’s south on
October 28th and 19th respectively. Musicians Jelena Dragnić, Vladan Lončar,
Boris Brezovac and Aleksandar Latković
played Beethoven and Ravel. Clarinettist
Ognjen Popović was a special guest at
the concerts.
String quartet with Ognjen Popović.
Photo: Courtesy of Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority
Photo: Courtesy of Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority
GOING OUT
SPORT
Club Idiott’s
recipe for
success
The return of
‘Milošević’s spin-doctor’
Relaxed, a mixed clientele and
well-priced drinks - Idiott has the
key ingredients needed to survive
Belgrade’s competitive nightlife scene.
Milorad Vučelić, one-time supporter
of Slobodan Milošević, returns to
public life as president of Serbia’s
Partizan Yugoslav Sports Club.
Slobodan GEORGIEV
David GALIĆ
T
he location of Club Idiott
isn't exactly perfect, but
it's close enough to several
key Belgrade clubbing areas to be on most clubbers’
radar. It’s on Dalmatinska Street, very
close to Belgrade’s Botanical Gardens.
In the summertime, you can enjoy its
very pretty outdoor area, from which
the Botanical Gardens are actually visible, but it’s pretty much your standard
basement club for most of the year.
Nothing really stands out about Idiott, especially when you compare it to
other medium-sized Belgrade bars
located underground. But one huge
advantage Idiott has over most similar clubs is that its opening hours are
pretty flexible. Since the area isn't very
residential, the club doesn't have a midnight curfew like many others. Because
of this, you will find people hanging out
in Idiott at all times of the night, especially during the weekends.
Another cool thing about Idiott is that
it seems to be open all of the time. Over
the summer, it's open all day and the
courtyard of the club is a fantastic place
to have an iced coffee in the shade.
But the fact that no one is telling you
to order your last round at midnight is
why the club remains popular during
the winter, when people are looking
for a place to continue hanging out, but
can't do so outside because of the cold.
It's also a place that has a pretty undefinable clientele. There really is no specific type of person at Idiott. You'll see people dressed to the nines, probably hitting
the bar before heading over to a nearby
club, sitting right next to guys who live in
the neighbourhood and are hanging out
in sweatpants, having a relaxed beer.
Another cool thing about the space
itself is that it's a bit more interesting
than most other basement bars. It is
a bit like a labyrinth. There are three
larger rooms with a few smaller ones
connecting them, and if you're walking
around it seems as if you are constantly
entering new rooms but always ending
up in the same one.
The main room is where the bar is
(obviously), along with a small DJ area.
Sometimes there will be bands playing, but this happens rarely as live mu-
M
Another cool thing about Idiott is that it seems to be open all of the time.
sic isn't really practical in such a small
space. The entire club is dimly lit and
doesn't at first seem all that interesting,
but if you stop and take a look, you'll see
plenty of cool posters and design details
all over the walls that have accumulated over time and give the club its charm.
Just looking at all of the pop culture
relics that have been collected around
the club over the years gives you a
sense of its history.
As to the sounds, don't come here if
you want to hear house music or Serbian pop, Idiott doesn't cater to those
Sava Centre hosts
Beijing Olympics
drum troupe
tastes. You'll hear all types of rock,
punk and pop from several decades. Of
course, the music is almost always foreign and very eclectic.
And if the main ingredient for a Belgrade club to be successful is flexible
opening hours, the second most important is probably drinks pricing. And
Idiott delivers in that regard as well.
Beer and liquor prices are very down
to earth, and the rakija is usually from
a homemade source and better than
you'll find at most other bars in the area
that usually only sell commercial spirits.
Photo: Facebook
So, on closer inspection, it really is no
mystery as to how Idiott has managed
to prosper for well over five years in Belgrade's cut-throat nightlife scene - and
five years really is an eternity for clubs
of this kind. The club is very down to
earth, inviting for all types of people,
open all the time and the drink prices
are reasonable. And that's a perfectly
good formula for success. Club Idiott
Address: Dalmatinska 13
Gramophonedzie
assembles live band
S
erbian super-producer Gramophonedzie has decided to
take his music to a new level
by incorporating a full live
band to bring his music to
life. One of the most successful electronic producers in the country, Marko
Milićević, aka Gramophonedzie, has
put together a live band of seven members, including vocals, drums, guitar,
keyboards, saxophone and percussion, to add a new dimension to his sound.
The first live show will take place at the Bitefartcafe on November 12th. The performance will
showcase new music that will be featured on his forthcoming Live Experience album, which is
currently being put together in the studio. Tickets for the concert cost €3 at the door.
M
anao is a group of 14 Chinese drummers and anyone who
watched the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics will probably remember them well. Their incredible
performances include more than stellar drum work and
hot rhythms. Manao's Return of the Flying Dragon performance is extraordinary both sonically and visually, with an out-of-this-world
light show and acrobatics complementing the music.
The show features eight different traditional Chinese percussive
instruments and a variety of ancient string instruments that work
brilliantly with the beats. The show will take place on November
15th at the Sava Centre. Tickets for the event cost between €21 and
€32 depending on seating.
ilorad
Vučelić
had almost been
forgotten by the
Serbian
public,
until he was recently appointed
president of the Partizan Yugoslav
Sport Club – the country’s biggest multisports association.
It seems that some people are destined to hold senior public roles in this
country, as some might argue the appointment of Vučelić, the 67-year-old
former lawyer, publisher and party
chairman under Milošević, shows.
Back in the 1980s, Vučelić was apparently part of a progressive youth movement in the socialist-era former Yugoslavia. As a member of the Communist
Party, he was a leader at Belgrade’s Student Cultural Centre where the local
punk, new wave and pop culture scene
was born.
He managed the centre – the hub of
the most important developments on
the Yugoslav arts scene – for some time
after the death of former Yugoslav leader Josip Tito in 1980.
Almost 40 years later, however, his
progressive background is still widely
interpreted as nothing but a cover.
Many believe he was sent to monitor
and control progressive youths by the
Yugoslav secret service, something
that was not unusual in the former Yugoslavia.
His time with the student centre
paved the way for his appointment as
editor of an influential literary criticism
magazine, where he began to publish
articles that articulated a new political
direction in Serbia that was personified
by the late former Serbian president
Slobodan Milošević.
And so, Vučelić played a not insignificant role in priming Serbia’s intelligent-
MILOŠEVIĆ VOLTE-FACE
After the fall of Milošević, Vučelić
took every opportunity he could to
speak to Belgrade media and inform
journalists that he was, in fact, a dissident of the Milošević regime.
He insisted he had been the first to
speak out against Milošević, while admiring Zoran Đinđić, leader of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia reform alliance that mobilised millions of people
to topple Milošević in October 2000, and
pledging his support for democracy in
Serbia. Đinđić was assassinated in 2003.
During the 1990s, Vučelić amassed
a personal fortune by combining running his own business with public engagements as a politician in the Social-
After a successful show in Belgrade
last year, blues rock band My Baby,
hailing from The Netherlands, will be
performing once again, this time in
Dom Omladine. The show is scheduled
for November 25th and tickets cost five
euros at the door or three euros if you
book in advance via the Dom Omladine box office.
Left Lane Cruiser
promoting new album
Seven years after playing Belgrade for
the first time, American blues/punk trio
Left Lane Cruiser are back promoting
their seventh album Dirty Spliff Blues. If
you like loud, energetic and dirty blues
rock with an edge, their show is a mustsee. They play at KC Grad on November
10th. Tickets cost €12 at the door.
Florida sludge
at Božidarac
US alternative
rock stars’ Belgrade debut
Thirty years after releasing their
critically-acclaimed first album Valley
of Rain, Arizona-based alternative rock
legends Giant Sand will be performing
in Belgrade for the first time. They will
take to the stage at Dom Omladine's
Americana hall on November 29th. Tickets cost ten euros at the door but can be
bought in advance for seven euros.
One of the most interesting and original
bands to come out of the American
stoner/sludge metal scene in recent
memory, Torche will be promoting their
latest album Restarter on November
27th. It will be their first time in Serbia.
Known for combining slow and crushing sludge metal with melodic vocals
and pop-influenced hooks, the band is
considered to be one of the brightest
and most unique talents in a scene riddled with copycat bands. The show is
on November 27th at the Božidarac cultural centre in Belgrade and tickets cost
€12.
BIRN contacted the JSD
Partizan for a comment concerning the choice of Vučelić
as the head of the sports
club and Zoran Stojanović
replied on November 4th:
Milorad Vučelić.
ist Party. While making a lot of money
Vučelić continued to present himself
as a “real leftist”, and appeared to consciously pose as a Che Guevara type,
complete with cigar.
After the fall of Milošević, it was widely expected that close associates of the
former Serbian leader would either be
prosecuted in connection to alleged
war crimes or subject to lustration for
the events of the 1990s. When it became clear Vučelić wouldn’t be subject
to either, he decided to launch his political career anew, all the while advocating for Milošević during his trial at The
Hague Tribunal.
Photo: Branislav Božić
Vučelić was defeated within the Socialist Party by the current party leader
Ivica Dačić, and his political ambitions
were put to rest once and for all. Instead, he returned to what he described
as his “profound love”: journalism.
Founding the weekly Pečat (The
Seal), Vučelić’s written work continuously advocated for Serbia to be part of
a Russia-Belorussia federation. He also
used the magazine to rewrite the history of Serbia since 2000 and the fall of
the Milošević regime.
He accused Đinđić and his associates
of being part of a criminal organisation
that sought to overthrow Milošević in
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“I think it is not at all necessary to ask this kind of
question because everything
is pretty clear here. It's clear
who brought him to Partisan
Football Club. It's clear what
his task is. It is clear why
[basketball coach] Duško
Vujošević was sacked as the
president of JSD Partizan
as well. Anyway, if it is still
unclear to you, contact [email protected].”
BIRN sent an enquiry to this
email address, but received
no answer by the time of
publication.
BIRN contacted Milorad
Vučelić, but didn't receive the
answer.
Available at:
Tourist Organisation of Belgrade
Knez Mihailova 5, +381 (11) 2635 622
Central Train Station, +381 (11) 3612 732
Nikola Tesla Airport, +381 (11) 2097 828
Belgrade Port, Karađorđeva
Whitesnake back in town
Hard rock heroes Whitesnake have
become regulars in Belgrade, so it's no
surprise they are back again, promoting
their latest music. This year's tour will
be a bit different, with lead singer David
Coverdale also paying tribute to his
work with seminal British rockers Deep
Purple. And while there will be a Deep
Purple theme to the show, 'Snake fans
can expect to hear all of the bands
classic material as well. They play at
the Kombank Arena on November
22nd, tickets costs €32 for the fan pit and
between €22 and €25 for seats located
farther from the stage. Book now if you
want fan pit tickets though as they are
limited to 1,000.
order to rob the Serbian economy and
bring down the state. In Vučelić’s world
view as presented in Pečat, Milošević
is the Serbian hero and martyr and
Đinđić the traitor/foreign spy sent to destroy Serbia.
And so, just as in the 1980s, Vučelić
was preparing the ideological ground
for another new government, elected
in 2012, represented by the Serbian Progressive party and led by Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić.
Perhaps that’s why Serbs old enough
to have seen it first time round are not
surprised that Vučelić is once again active in Serbian public life, close to government and poised to leap into the fire
again, albeit after having dropped the
‘Che’ cigars.
To be chief of the Partizan football
and sports club is a perfect niche for
someone looking for a few years of
power, and a place in the public spotlight, before a secure retirement.
He seems undaunted that the public
and Partizan fans are unlikely to forget
his past. Perhaps proximity to power in
itself is enough for some.
sia for the nationalist policies and wars
that would mark the collapse of the
former Yugoslavia. Put bluntly, Vučelić
helped secure support among the majority of intellectuals for Milošević’s
policies that would lead to war.
During the 1990s, the Milošević
regime duly rewarded Vučelić by appointing him CEO of Serbia’s national
broadcaster RTS. As all journalists
working at the time remember, all reporters who wanted to work to professional standards were sacked and
Vučelić was the only person permitted
to interview Milošević.
Those interviews are still remembered as failing to meet even the most
rudimentary standards of journalism
and are used to illustrate the very worst
of news interviewing. “It is worse that
Vučelić’s interviews with Milošević,”
you will hear people say.
At this time, his reputation worsened
considerable and he was widely regarded as a master manipulator, the living
embodiment of bad journalism and the
man Milošević trusted most.
And yet, he has survived.
CITY GUIDE
Dutch blues rockers
back in Belgrade
15
Hotel Moskva
Terazije 20, +381 11 3642 000
Hotel Excelsior
Kneza Miloša 5, +381 11 3231 381
Supermarket concept store
Višnjićeva 10, +381 11 2910 942
Hotel Townhouse 27
Maršala Birjuzova 56, +381 11 2022 900
Booking Rooms Hostel
Kralja Petra 30, +381 63 29 39 39
www.bookingrooms.rs
APROPO
Bookstore and tearoom
Cara Lazara 10
+381 11 2625839
At the Belgrade Airport
Hudson news odlasci / departures
Hudson news dolasci / arrivals
Hudson news čekiranje / check in
Hudson news transit zona / transit
Order online:
www.balkaninsight.com/en/page/
belgrade-city-guide
Map of City Centre
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Find your
copy of
Belgrade
Insight
here:
BALKAN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
NETWORK
Kolarčeva 7
11000 Beograd
Serbia
The Best National & International Cuisine in
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Skadarska 34
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Tel. +381 63 1872222
Email. [email protected]
www.malivrabac.rs
TEL AVIV HUMMUS HOUSE - ISRAELI
CUISINE RESTAURANT
Working hours: 00-24
Food delivery: 09-21
Carice Milice 3, 069/2632 224
Kičevska 21, 064/58 63 821
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telavivhummushouse.com
46 Karađorđeva Street
Working hours:
Evening events:
mon – sun
thu – sat
09 am – 11 pm
09 pm – 04 am
+381 11 26 26 068
mikser.rs
fаcebook.com/mikser.belgrade
OIL WORKSHOP. ECO ART. GIFT SHOP.
Edible oils, natural handmade cosmetics, gifts
Made in Serbia
All nut workshop
Čumićevo sokače 25
Tel: +381 60 44 24 777; +381 64 26 38 210
E-mail: [email protected]
FB: www.facebook.com/allnutbelgrade
Visnjićeva 10
(corner of Strahinjića Bana)
tel: +381 11 2910942
email: [email protected]

Balkan pot shortage costs addicts dear

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