Consul

Judging by Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic's critical statements concerning the federal diplomacy cadre list, pressures will soon yield results. Apart from several top posts in the Federal Foreign Ministry in Belgrade, Montenegro will soon bring to a successful end its battle with Serbia for a greater number of its diplomats in diplomatic-consular offices abroad.

Former Montenegrin Minister of the Interior Nikola Pejakovic was released from duty last week by the Montenegrin Assembly and will probably take up a consular post soon, as VREME learned from its sources. It is possible that his posting could be Milan. This post has been empty for some time and there was talk that Kragujevac-based "Crvena zastava" automobile plant director Radoljub Micic might be sent out. Micic, however, failed to pass the Italian language test after several tries. If he goes to Milan, Pejakovic will take over from Janko Jeknic who was named Montenegrin Foreign Minister last week. After his term as Consul ended, Jeknic stayed on in Milan for a while (the Federal Ministry Foreign Ministry has no knowledge of what he did during this time), and then showed up in Podgorica as the Foreign Minister. VREME's sources claim that this happened shortly after Djukanovic met with him in Milan.

Vitality

After opening the water-bottling factory in Vlasotinci last week, Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Marjanovic said: "It gives me great pleasure to be here in the south of Serbia, where, in spite of the burden of inherited under-development and sanctions, the vitality of our economy is being expressed in the best possible manner."

And the "vitality" the PM mentioned concerns the following: the textile industry in Southern Serbia is incurring the greatest losses in the past 30 years; half of the 10,000-strong work force is on compulsory leave, symbolic salaries are months late in arriving, and practically all the firms have receivership managements. The wool industry "Leteks" which in years prior to sanctions exported 12 million dollars' worth of goods is going downhill at an alarming pace. The metal-working complex which employs 4,000 workers faces financial ruin. The complex is working at under 30% of its capacity, so that a great number of the metal workers are forced to sell smuggled goods. Some ten thousand families survive in this way. The shelves of state-owned shops are half empty, construction workers look for work in vain...

Roast Ox

The Ministry of Defence and the Valjevo-based factory "Krusik" held a three-day scientific-research gathering in Divcibare, the second of its kind, called "Quality in the Special Purposes Industry and the Yugoslav Army". The gathering was attended by over 300 experts and directors of military factories, the Federal Minister for Science and Development Janko Radulovic, General Savo Pustinja and head of the Army Quality Control Department Dusan Buncic while Chief of the General Staff General Momcilo Perisic arrived on a working visit. It was demanded and upheld by all at the gathering that the Federal Government "adopt a law in the shortest possible period which would resolve the status of the military industry and create conditions for the further promoting of standards in the field of quality". General Perisic praised the present level of quality and hoped that the same would be true in future of other "selections".

Since the topic was serious, the hosts acted accordingly. An ox was roasted whole on a spit, and served as desert. Rain spoiled the treat, but the soldiers and experts lined up patiently, two by two, in front of the ox until only the ribs were left.

Persistence

The municipal committee of the League of Communists - Movement for Yugoslavia (SK-PJ) is preparing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Torch of Youth.

The communists of Kragujevac have called the manifestation "That Which Cannot Be Erased Or Forgotten", and a delegation will lay a bouquet of flowers at the monument to the first Torch of Youth, in the center of Kragujevac.

Tito is no longer with us, there is no Youth Torch, but the monument to it survives: in fifty years' time future Communists in Sumadija will be able to celebrate the centenary of the Youth Torch and the fiftieth anniversary of that which is indelible and unforgettable.

Aids

The answer to question why Serbs don't have AIDS used to be - because it is a disease of the 20th century. Now this phenomenon can be explained differently: in an article published by three American researchers and published in the London-based medical journal AIDS, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are accused of spreading this horrible disease. The authors claim that these two financial institutions often undermine the social structures of developing countries and that the "behavior of the populations changes, putting them at a greater risk of contracting the virus".

This could mean that Serbia and Montenegro are protected in a way, because thanks to a certain set of unfortunate circumstances they don't have any contact with the World Bank and the IMF.

If we look after sanctions, sanctions will look after us.

Forging Ahead

"VREME International", no 52.

On the 31 May 1994, our weekly (no. 188) was printed with the logo "VREME International" for the first time. The publisher is the company "VREME International GmbH" with headquarters in Vienna, and the paper is printed in Ljubljana and distributed via the ASV network in Austria, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the USA, France, Cyprus, Luxembourg, and through the "Mladina" newsboy network in Slovenia and through the "Delo" network in Croatia. It also arrives at the addresses of subscribers in another ten odd countries, including Japan.

Establishing contact with VREME readers who in recent years have left the territory of the former Yugoslavia, or are now living in one of the newly-formed states, the possibility of doing business with the world and according to world standards, and alleviating the problems faced by the domestic issue - were the most important reasons in launching VREME International. With the 12,000 copies which are printed at present it wasn't possible to reach all those place where VREME International could be found and bought regularly by our old and future readers, without risking a large number of unsold copies. This is probably the reason for the insufficient number of paid ads, and the biggest problem in the first year of publication.

We are happy that the number of subscribers keeps growing, and that the business done by the Vienna branch is increasing, especially the sale of books and discs, and the establishing of contacts with producers and retailers of graphic material... In this sense we can truly say that the first 365 days were VREME International's year of taking a big leap and forging ahead.

During the year we cooperated very well with a number of big institutions and firms and would like to mention "Press Now" from Amsterdam, the "Delo" Printing works and Distribution from Ljubljana, "Ekostar" from Ljubljana, ASV from Ditszenbach (Germany), "Oslobodjenje from Sarajevo, "Feral Tribune" from Split, "Arkzin" from Zagreb, the Frankfurt "News", the "Morawa" company from Vienna, "Palair Macedonian" from Skoplje...