Apology

Roger Cohen of the New York Times turned our attention to a clumsy formulation in our story about Cedomir Mihajlovic, the self-styled defector who claims to have offered documents which - if genuine - could connect Slobodan Milosevic with the war crimes commited in former Yugoslavia. In our story (VREME No. 235, April 24th 1995, page 15) two questions have been asked: how Roger Cohen got hold of Mihajlovic; and how the Associated Press got the information from an "unnamed US diplomat" about the existence of a defector and his papers; "Only Roger Cohen knows the answers... " we said, implicating that he can answer both questions instead of only one (the former, obviosly). We apologize to Roger Cohen and our readers.

Milos Vasic

The Oil Race

Since the production of oil started in Yugoslavia, close to 31.5 million tons have been pumped up (including 1.5 million tons from Yugoslav-owned oil-fields in Angola. Nearly 22.4 billion cube meters of gas have been produced. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Pancevo and Novi Sad) can process 7.5-8 millions tons of crude, so that it is estimated that these capacities would be able to cover the normal requirements of the Yugoslav market by the year 2,000.

For the time being, domestic wells produce about 1.1 million tons of oil, while some crude is imported from the Republic of Serb Krajina (according to a statement by Zeljko Tapavica, president of the Mirkovci municipality executive council, around 1,000 people are employed in the local oil industry). Crude and petroleum products are also smuggled into the country. Of the above mentioned 1.1 million tons of domestic crude, two-thirds are of the paraffin type, which is good for the production of fuel, and one-third is petroleum naphtha which is usually used in the production of oil. Experts estimate that of this annual production, around 150,000 tons of petrol are produced, a little over 200,000 tons of diesel and 450,000 tons of heating oil. All this covers less than 25% of the domestic requirements, which means that Yugoslavia needs over 5 million tons of crude naphtha annually. The oil industry is beleaguered by an enormous demand which can't be met and because of the state's absolute control the industry is mired down in debts and insolvency.

Director of the Novi Sad Refinery's Development Department Borislav Mendebaba said that the state's requirements are such that 50% of heating oil is produced from domestic oil production, which from a general point of view is uneconomical, because the European average is around 20% (it would be less if Italy didn't leave a lot of masut after processing, because it doesn't have nuclear power-plants). Since Yugoslavia has a heating oil shortage, the drive for "deep" secondary processing in Pancevo FCC (fluid catalytic cracking) with an annual 5 million tons capacity, is practically out of work. This once state-of-the-art drive which was never exploited sufficiently, has in the meantime, from the European production viewpoint, acquired a technological drawback - it produces excellent petrol, but with too many aromatics and too much lead. To get rid of the aromatics it is necessary to add MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether) which is not produced here. Since it has been discovered that benzol is cancerous (our petrol has more than the allowed 5% limit) Europe has adopted a program to decrease its presence to 1% by the year 2,000. The lead content in our petrol is 0.40 per liter, while European standards allow for only 0.15. We produce negligible quantities of lead-free petrol, while in many European countries its production accounts for over 50% of the consumption. Mendebaba believes that we are closest to European countries only in diesel production. The Novi Sad refinery can produce around 200,000 tons of diesel annually with a 0.2% sulphur content, while the domestic average is 1%. With certain investments, the overall production of acceptable diesel could increase soon to 400,000 tons annually. The European Union will adopt a regulation next year which will not allow diesel to contain more than 0.05% sulphur, so that the modernization of our production facilities will have to follow suit.

Program

With only 100-150 dinars/month, a group of Belgrade University students create the program for Students' City cable television and the public address system. The TV program is a year old and only the minority with tv sets can follow it. The program which is broadcast three times weekly and lasts four hours, is a very makeshift affair. Once pigeons caused the cables to fall, and the editorial office wasn't aware for three months that nobody could see the program. The p.a. system works about two hours daily, and is said to be perfectly respectable, at least where the choice of music is concerned. Until November it broadcast folk music, which is what most of the students seem to listen to.

Pearls of Wisdom

The Belgrade bi-monthly "Duga" war columnist Dragos Kalajic has devoted due attention to the folk tradition on the origin of two surnames and recommended himself for godfather of the self-styled Belgrade Circle: "That a surname marks the fate of a man is proved by the fact that the anti-Serbian segment in Belgrade, in its pilgrimage to Islamic Sarajevo, is led by members of a family which for decades oppressed and exterminated all that is Serbian in Serbia, under Broz's (Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito) orders and with the proper competencies and fees. Long before this war, in a village above Ivanjica, the peasants told me the origin of the surname Stambolic or Stambolovic. It is carried by all the descendants of those Serbs who during the First Serbian Uprising tried to turn the people back from the struggle for liberation, claiming that Stambol (Istanbul) was an invincible force and that it was bound to win. That is why the name the 'Stambol Circle' is a much more appropriate name for the so-called 'Belgrade Circle of Independent (!) Intellectuals(!)'."

Monica Seles's Comeback

Former tennis champion Monica Seles will return to the tennis courts, in spite of serious psychological problems which resulted after a brutal knife attack during a tournament two years ago, said her father Karolj Seles.

"When I see how much Monica loves tennis, I am convinced that she will return to the courts," said Seles in an interview to German television.

None in the family said that she'd come back before, those were media speculations. From time to time she's her old self again, but sometimes she has psychological problems," said Karolj Seles. "She trains intensively, and then there are phases of fear and crises. I hope that she'll be happy again."

Two years ago at the Hamburg Open Tennis Championship, in a match against Germany's Steffi Graff, Gunter Prahe attacked Monica with a knife, for which he received a two year suspended sentence.

Bus Lines

Automobile traffic with Serbia is permitted in spite of the UN sanctions - this decision has been reached by the German Federal Court in Karlsruhe. The ruling annuls two earlier rulings of the Earth Court in Manheim made in March 1994 against two transport firms for violating the embargo. The driver was sentenced to a year, i.e. 11 months in jail. The accused had maintained a bus line between the German province of Baden-Wurttemberg and Belgrade after May 1992 when the United Nations introduced sanctions against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The line was used mostly by Yugoslav guest workers in Germany and their relatives. The Manheim Court considered this to be a violation of Germany's law on foreign economic relations. The Federal Court, however, believes that the embargo does not include passenger traffic, and that this is not punishable under German law.

Neighborly Cooperation

The Italian Charge d'Affaires in Belgrade Francesco Bascone said that "Italy wishes to see all roads to cooperation with Montenegro open and with unlimited prospects". In an interview to the Podgorica-based weekly "Monitor", Bascone said that future cooperation between Italy and Montenegro could be "very fruitful and varied, covering the tourist industry, ecology, maritime traffic, trade and industry", said Montena fax.

Bascone said that his country was prepared to help all Montenegrin initiatives aimed at revitalizing the aluminum industry, leather processing, the wood industry and steel production. On the economic plane it was necessary to establish the foundation for cooperation and Italy's presence immediately after the lifting of sanctions, said Bascone, adding that Italy was considering the possibility of opening a consulate in Bar.