Wheat Column

After more than a month of proving that the Belgrade "Progres" and its director Mirko Marjanovic, the Serbian prime minister, were not exporting wheat from the state reserves, and when it seemed the prime minister had given up the lucrative business, "Progres" started exporting.

According to the bill of lading which "Nasa Borba" journalists discovered at the Pancevo harbour, the loading of wheat for Russia began on 19 March, the day when Prime Minister Marjanovic and the selected members of the Serbian Government were received by Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic on the occasion of the second anniversary of the "government of national unity." This almost symbolic coincidence simply shows who makes the final export decisions here.

For the time being it is not a problem that the prime minister's "Progres" will export 100,000 tonnes of wheat from the state reserves, the contingent for which, according to the people in charge, a 50 percent down payment has been made on the basis of the price of 162.5 dollars per tonne. According to the Serbian government's answer to MP Bogoljub Trkulja's question dated 18 March, the supplies of wheat in the Republican Reserves will "completely satisfy the needs for the product" despite the "pure export" of 200,000 tonnes from the reserves. However, the credibility of the government's answer to the MP's question is undermined by the circumstance that its authors were rather ambiguous when they said that the above mentioned export had been agreed "on the basis of a competition announced by the Republican Reserves Bureau."

All the participants in the competition claim they were informed that the competition had been canceled because the competition for the export of 400,000 tonnes of wheat had been announced before the international sanctions were suspended, so the Bureau, allegedly, agreed with the objection that the competitors did not have the time to find foreign creditors for the required advance payment (100 percent). When the competition was canceled, a new one was not announced and the Republican Reserves Bureau made a "direct deal" with the Belgrade "Progres" and the Novi Sad "Koprodukt" for the export of 200,000 tonnes of wheat. The two companies offered 50 and 40 percent advance payment, respectively, at the price of 162,5 and 160 dollars per tonne. In the case of "Progres," the direct deal was hindered by Democratic Party advertisements in "Telegraf," accusing the prime minister of making contracts for his company for the export of a million tonnes of state wheat. The deal was, on the other hand facilitated by the fact that former director of the Bureau Zivojin Matic was a member of the Serbian Government, which means he was subordinate to the "direct contractor," the participant in the canceled competition, the director of "Progres" Prime Minister Mirko Marjanovic.

The Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) based its statement for the public (dated 24 March) on the fact that both bread and knife were in the hands of Prime Minister Marjanovic in the wheat affair. SPO demanded that the prime minister resign because he exported state wheat through the company he directs for a two percent commission. "Nowhere in the world," said the statement, "could the prime minister get deals for his company from a government's institution." The SPO statement caused a nervous reaction by Serbia's Trade Minister Srdjan Nikolic (25 March) who "proved and claimed with full responsibility" that "Progres" had made the most competitive offer for the export of wheat. Nikolic never mentioned suspension of the competition but claimed there were "no privileges or irregularities" and that everything was done in accordance with the "previously determined criteria of the competition."

In the meantime, the collecting of money for the spring sowing is not too successful, but the Serbian Government assesses that money will be provided from real sources. The calculation concerning the amount of money necessary for the spring campaign seems to be changing all the time, i.e. is being lowered. Governor of the National Bank, Dragoslav Avramovic, on 25 March told a news conference that he was first asked to allow one and a half billion dinars, then it was announced that one billion was necessary, after that the figure of 430 million dinars was mentioned and eventually, after the unsuccessful sale of 107 million dinars, there were rumours which said that these means could ensure successful sowing. The governor was asked to have a "sharper course toward business banks" which do not want to finance sowing. The governor answered that last year he was forcing the banks to direct as much as 80 percent of the potential for this purpose which "stuck" the banks and that he could not do the same now.