Shorts

Homeless Readers

There’s an ongoing epidemic of competition which keeps the population in a state of hope that they’ll solve their housing problems. One of those, that attracted attention with its colorful name, has ended. The name Borba gave it was "No house, read Borba". The two first prizes were a house and a Polo Classic car. When the game ended, the lucky winners were told they could collect their prizes once they’d paid the taxes on them and customs duties on the car which means that the VW Polo is going to cost the lucky winner about 14,000 DEM.

Base Level

The Molotov cocktails that hit the offices of the SPS in Belgrade on the eve of the elections were thrown by members of a so-far anonymous organization. Dnevni Telegraf got a call from a young man who took responsibility for the attack, saying "there’s no other way to fight the communists". He also indicated more attacks soon.

Balkan Spy

Vanja Bulic’s Biseri talk show on BK TV featured former state security officer, now SIA detective agency owner, Boza Spasic. The show focused on what former state security officers were doing in the other former Yugoslav republics, and whether any of them are spies in the FRY.

Spasic provided viewers with instructions on how to recognize spies. He cited the example of a car crash where most people stand by watching while spies talk about how expensive the cars are and so on (so called passive agents), creating and stimulating an anti-regime mood.

Undermining the system is not the only field for spies. If you notice someone taking an interest in production or supplies of non-strategic products you’ve uncovered a Slovenian industrial spy since Slovenia hasn’t given up on getting back to the FRY market.

Inflation Fighters

Belgrade has some 130 chimney sweeps who also do maintenance work on heating system and ovens. They charge by the square meter. Reports said they charge three dinars for an apartment of 50 square meters.

Despite all that 60 people applied to become chimney sweeps.

Expensive Lies

Radoje Kontic’s federal government said the gross product stood at 15.9 billion dinars, i.e. 1,510 USD per capita. Financial experts would say that’s another lie but this one could cost the state a lot.

The Institute of Economic Sciences said the gross national product stands at 9-10 billion dinars with a public expenditure of 40%. That means Yugoslavia is not eligible for some benefits from international financial institutions. Under a realistic estimate of the gross national product with a 70% public expenditure the country could count on getting parts of its debt written off, lower interest rates and a 15 year delay in payments.

Stosic Still in Jail

The Belgrade fourth district court extended detention time for Dragoljub Stosic, head of the drivers’ union in the city transport company. Stosic’s lawyers said his client is still in detention although a judge suggested he should be released. Stosic was arrested on October 29 when police entered the GSP garage in New Belgrade. The lawyer said the detention period was extended after the court accepted a prosecutor’s request for further investigations because an unidentified witness was found who says he saw Stosic puncturing tires. Dragan Milanovic, head of the Association of Free and Independent Unions, said the protest to free Stosic would continue in front of city hall.

Bozovic Buys Apartment

VREME sources in Novi Sad reported that Radoman Bozovic, speaker of the federal parliament Chamber of Citizens, recently bought an apartment in the city and paid for it in cash. The street the apartment is in is the city’s equivalent of Belgrade’s Dedinje area. That was the first street in Novi Sad to get buildings with interphones and a permanent police patrol in the early 1980s. Virtually the entire local elite was concentrated there up to the yogurt revolution against the advocates of Vojvodina’s autonomy in 1988. Then the leaders of that popular uprising who were also Milosevic supporters began fighting for privileges and posts. Mihajl Kertes has done best so far along with Radovan Pankov, Bosko Perosevic, Nedeljko Sipovac and Sinisa Batalo. But Bozovic did better than all of them. At one point he had eight high-ranking posts, six of them full-time jobs. He became Serbian Prime Minister and later parliament speaker. He lost in the latest elections in his district (Novi Sad) to Mile Isakov (an autonomy advocate). There’s also a theory that his party helped cause his fall.

In the meantime, Bozovic decided that the apartment he had was too small, inadequate and in the wrong part of town (central Novi Sad). He bought his new home from Bosko Krunic, the last member of the League of Communists Central Committee.