The Governor's Personal Dealer

"We will ensure enough ready money and then we will convince the people that ready money doesn't mean a thing if there is no accumulation of capital", is the key message from Borislav Atanackovic's scandalous press conference (July 28).

Even though some claim that it is absolutely logical that "Serbia's" greatest dealer has been appointed National Bank of Yugoslavia (NBJ) Governor, it isn't logical, but comic that Atanackovic should say on television that he saw the new 50 million dinar bill first when "dealing" ("... I'm surprised that as NBJ Governor I never saw that bill, I first got it from a man... I'd call him a dealer"...)

The new NBJ Governor armed himself with virulence and anachronistic arrogance when he faced the press, and spoke of journalists who wrote critically of "monetary grave-diggers". ("None of those journalists who write against the state will ever be allowed in the NBJ"). This rude style should not bother anyone, but it is unusual that the new governor should, at the start of his appointment, say that he "does not like" independent television Studio B and the Belgrade daily "Borba", even though he is committed to independence and impartiality under the new law on the Central Bank.

Those well informed of Serbia's recent financial history claim that in 1988 Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic installed his financial power-base in Borislav Atanackovic's office, at the time Serbian National Bank Governor, and that Serbia's financial policy was masterminded from there. That is why, when Atanackovic's four years in office expired, and he had fulfilled all the conditions for retirement (born 1932), there were no doubts that he would continue working. It is surprising that he reached the central bank with the task of turning it into a central institution for investments and the main tool for disciplining all those who, in setting their prices, do not stick to the principle of costs.

Even before being appointed NBJ Governor, Atanackovic had earned the epithet of being the "eminence grise of shady business". It would be going too far to say that he was the brain behind Serbia's notorious incursion into Yugoslavia's monetary system in late 1990, when Belgrade banks withdrew illegally 1.5 billion dollars' worth of dinars. Atanackovic covered the whole operation, and since that time has been responsible for the printing of dinars.

Thanks to a warped cadre logic, Atanackovic, was, perhaps, forced to accept the post of NBJ Governor in order to round off his mysterious links with "Dafiment Bank". The Serbian Radical Party has unearthed some documents which allegedly prove that Atanackovic Jr. received a 700,000 DM credit from "Dafiment Bank". Atanackovic Snr. denied the claims, but hasn't revealed to this very day the origin and amount of money he gave to "Dafiment Bank" a few months ago, when a brief statement said that "Dafiment Bank" had been granted a credit in accordance with market conditions and a safe security. Atanackovic has announced a strict control of the work of savings-banks and their closing down, as well as the expulsion and arrest of street dealers. July 29 was the deadline by which time the NBJ Governor had to decide if he would start bankruptcy proceedings or accept a program aimed at improving the financial state of "Dafiment Bank", all this with regard to a demand for damages made by lawyer Milenko Radic in the name of depositors.

And finally, to get back to the new governor's basic message. He promised the citizens that fresh money would be printed, that he would withhold money from the economy if it continued building up prices, and announced public works. It is impossible to see how he will carry out a "redistribution of nothing", so that the announced public works only mean that money will be printed faster than ever. It remains to be seen if this is at all possible.

The central bank has specialized in "producing" 60,000 billion dinars daily, but the people still haven't understood that dinars "don't mean a thing".