Shorts

Passports

Claims made by FR Yugoslavia’s first ambassador to Skoplje Zivan Stojanovic on imminent changes in the border regime between the FRY and Macedonia probably won’t come true. Stojanovic said in Leskovac that passports will be replaced by personal ID cards. That made a lot of people on both sides of the border happy because it’s a practical solution but what’s practical can’t immediately be considered useful.

The competent Macedonian services said they knew nothing about an inter-state agreement nor did they have any instructions to change things. Jovan Cicakovski, a consular affairs official in the internal affairs ministry in Skoplje told Dnevnik daily that Stojanovic’s statement was probably just political marketing.

The public linked the whole thing to a visit by FRY Prime Minister Radoje Kontic which was scheduled for early August and later postponed for next month and a reported package of inter-state treaties he’ll sign.

Exports

Serbian government coordinator Dragan Tomic said exports had risen by 73% but a report in the next day’s press inserted the period he omitted to turn the figure into 7.3%.

So readers have nothing to complain about really. They had an entire day to rejoice at the well earned success of our born again economy and they can go on rejoicing because 7.3% isn’t a small figure either. In any case what wasn’t true yesterday might be true tomorrow.

Suburb

Angry at irregular water supplies, Bolec suburb residents struck back with irregular bill payments.

The authorities could cut off their water supplies but that would include the people who pay their bills regularly and no one would know if the communal services were imposing sanctions or the cut-off was just part of what they’re used to.

So the communal services company brought in more bill collectors and set up collection services with the local council.

They got ready to teach Bolec a lesson; suppliers want regular payments for the water that does reach the suburb and locals want to combine their revolt and galloping pauperization and pay nothing. Siding with the people is what you should do but the authorities are the safe bet.

Jet Set

Renowned Yugoslav, international director of Sarajevo origins Emir Kusturica got a nice present from the Budva municipality - a plot of land on Sveti Stefan. The gift includes permits to build a house which, Vecernje Novosti said, was an injustice corrected years late.

Kusturica bought land on Sveti Stefan in 1987 but couldn’t get a building permit. After four years of fighting bureaucrats the film maker gave back the land and got his money back.

Local officials might say their gift to Kusturica is an investment because the fact that a famous artist lives on the island will attract other famous artists, public figures, rich people, snobs from around the world. It’s harder to say why Kusturica agreed to the gift. He was honestly pleased by the gift and stressed that "no one can buy me for anything".

Customs

A VREME reporter witnessed an unpleasant scene on an FRY border crossing. While departing FRY, European Union citizen was asked by a customs officer how much money he had with him and in what currency and was told all his money would be confiscated because he didn’t have any document proving he had brought it into the country. The man reacted fiercely saying he didn’t know of that regulation when he entered the country. The officer replied that he could have read it on the board at the crossing and told him to go to the Yugoslav embassy when he gets home. Every foreigner who enters the country will have to be able to read English or French because customs officers won’t ask him anything unlike the officers who stop him when he tries to leave the country. The job of Tim Bell, hired to improve the image of the FRY in the world, is all the more delicate because of that. Perhaps part of the confiscated money should go to him for the extra effort he’ll have to invest.

Markets Banned

A protest against the Serbian government decision to ban sales of new goods at open air markets cane from an unexpected side. The fiercest criticism of the decision came from cabinet member Milan Markovic, aide to the entrepreneurship minister, who told a protest gathering of vendors in New Belgrade: "the gray economy can’t be suppressed by taking away bags but by controlling trucks and street vendors have to be secured the right to work". So the ministry rose up to protect over 60,000 people who make a living from sales in open air markets. The reason for that was not just to preserve social peace but also because the state makes a huge profit from those people. Markovic said the state collects over half a billion dinars a year in taxes. Belgrade city officials Goran Aleksic and Milutin Milosevic also lent support to the vendors.

Vendors’ association president Vladimir Markovic denied statements by the chief republican inspector that stolen and smuggled goods are sold at the main open air market in Belgrade. "We’re not smugglers or thieves. Members of this association have documents to prove they paid customs duties and taxes for their goods."

SPO Conditions For A Coalition

The Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO) is making demands to its Zajedno coalition partners the Democratic Party (DS) and Serbian Civil Alliance (GSS). The SPO wants elections lists to be drawn up according to achieved results in the 1993 elections and wants the coalition not to have people on its lists who left their parties in an undignified way, SPO spokesman Ivan Kovacevic said in a statement. The statement came after Milan Paroske was placed on the DS list. The SPO said Paroski can’t be a coalition candidate because of his nationalist stands among other things and added that he was thrown out of the SPO for a public statement that "everything not Serb should be slaughtered like dogs". "Paroski is now advocating cleansing Serbia of Montenegrins and has made a number of nazi-like statements. The SPO can’t join a coalition with nazism. That is a deep rooted program, democratic and coalition issue," Kovacevic concluded.

Kovacevic then said the SPO would hand DS leader Zoran Djindjic a written proposal on the coalition soon and added that there was a verbal agreement to form the coalition once the parties in it sign an agreement.

Election race Begins

Federal elections will be held in Yugoslavia on November 3. FRY President Zoran Lilic decided to schedule the elections for the federal parliament chamber of citizens under article 96 of the constitution which means the election race begins on August 15.

In his statement Lilic said he took the decision since Montenegro had already called republican elections and added that he believes the most rational thing in terms of the economic situation is to hold the federal elections at the same time.

Lilic also cited the weather as another reason saying elections to date had been held in the worst of winter which caused a low turnout. He said he also took care to give all parties enough time for their campaigns.

VREME Election Rules

During the elections campaign and under the usual financial conditions, VREME will enable parties and citizens groups to buy space and present their political programs and leaders, call for voter turnout or boycott.

Those messages will be visibly different from the parts of the magazine produced by VREME staff.

VREME reserves the right not to publish messages

- which cause racial, religious, national or sexual intolerance,

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