Lead For Lunch

ON Sunday, January 28, there were about 50 people in the Avala restaurant. At around 3:15 p.m. there was a disagreement at a table for two. After an unpleasant talk, Radosav Stanisic (48) from Cetinje and Vladimir Bokan (37) from Belgrade drew pistols and shot at each other. Three shots were fired. Bokan was hit in the leg and taken to military hospital and Stanisic was shot in the arm and taken to another hospital.

According to another version there were only two shots and Stanisic walked out of the hotel. Details will probably come after an investigation.

Security at the Hyatt hotel appeared after it was all over and the duty manager got there after the police and a TV crew.

Hotel security do not carry guns unlike the private security company the Hyatt employed after the killing of Aleksandar Knezevic Knele in room 331 in October 1992. As a rule, hotel guests can carry guns while others who only come there to eat have to leave their hardware with security but the checks aren't strict.

Stanisic was at the hotel every day and he wasn't the kindest man in the world but caused no trouble. He is reported to have lived in France and is friends with Arkan.

Bokan is better known. He's from a prominent Cetinje family. He lived in Belgrade, graduating from a business school. He was a representative for Stefanel. Three years ago, someone shot at his red BMW in Central Belgrade but he walked away unharmed. The underworld said he refused to pay racketeers. He soon sold his boutique and moved to Greece where he developed a business and bought two apartments in Athens, a yacht and an expensive car. Bokan is said to be very rich. He always wears expensive clothes and is polite, he appeared periodically at the Hyatt and always tipped well. The rumor is that he has the exclusive rights to supply the market with Marlboro, a job that was secured by Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic.

Bokan was with Djukanovic for the New Year, since when Podgorica airport has been getting up to three cargo planes of cigarettes a day. The Ukrainian planes come from Rotterdam. From Podgorica the cargo is taken to the coast and across the sea and part goes to Albania. A VREME reporter saw a 10 van convoy being escorted by the police across the border at Bozaj, returning after unloading in no man's land.

The cause of clash between Stanisic and Bokan probably lies in someone's assessment that Bokan is too rich. The rumor is that Bokan was threatened in Athens and the fact that he arrived in Belgrade the night before the shooting shows that he didn't come here as a tourist. The daily press said Bokan and Stanisic sat with their hand son their guns. Interestingly both were calm enough not to kill the other in front of witnesses. They will undergo prosecution without a doubt.

Now, we can only speculate whether this was a classic racketeering attempt or a swing in the mood of the regimes in Belgrade and Podgorica which want to push their business partners into clashes.