After a nightmare decade of war, sanctions, mismanagement and institutionalized criminality, Serbs are hoping for a speedy deliverance from a mounting economic crisis. Yet despite promises of aid to the post-Milosevic Serbian and federal Yugoslav governments, the situation is likely to get worse before it gets better. Erik D’Amato reports from the frontlines of the most critical European economic transition since 1991
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Many Serbs blame the countries'
economic woes on Milosevic....for now |
A man stands in a supermarket aisle, dazed at the rows of
bare shelves around him. Outside his view dangles a 500 million
dinar note, the symbol of his country's devastating hyperinflation,
alongside a mugshot of Slobodan Milosevic, the imprisoned ex-leader
of Yugoslavia and its heartland republic of Serbia. The billboard
image, while technically inaccurate - there are plenty of goods in
the stores, just no money to buy them - is driven home by a simple
slogan: "Who is to blame?"
The ad, one in a series sponsored by reform group Otpor, is not
just a challenge to Milosevic, currently in custody in a Belgrade
jail. It is also a warning of sorts to the new democratic
governments of Serbia and the Yugoslav Federation, charged with
cleaning up the economic wreckage left by decades of institutional
dysfunction, mismanagement, corruption and enforced isolation.
Without speedy and...
This is archived content. Your current settings does not currently allow access to the archive. To gain access visit the subscription page or call our hotline on +44 (0)207 779 8999.
If you are a trialist or subscriber, please enter your username and password at the top right-hand side of euromoney.com
Subscribers to Euromoney benefit from:
Level 1:
- Online access to the past 12 months content
- Tailored RSS news feeds direct to your desktop
- News delivered directly to your mobile device or PC
- Personalised email newsfeed of 'Top stories' and 'Breaking news'
Level 2:
- Exclusive access to euromoney.com - Read the latest issue early online, search for specific developments by region or sector, interrogate the results of Euromoney's benchmark polls, and view the archive dating back to 2000
- 12 monthly issues of Euromoney magazine
- More than 30 specialist research guides free
- The results of Euromoney’s polls and surveys
- Tailored RSS news feeds direct to your desktop
- News delivered directly to your mobile device or PC
- Personalised email newsfeed of 'Top stories' and 'Breaking news'
Click here to subscribe