Belgrade, 17. 01. 2008.

C O N T E N T :

SERBIA – KOSOVO AND METOHIJA – UN SC

• TADICH DECISION ON KOSOVO TO BE MADE IN SECURITY COUNCIL
• US CALLS ON SERBIA TO MAKE WISE MOVES
• TACI: IT IS CLEAR TO ME THAT SC HAS NO CONSENSUS ON KOSOVO
• CHURKIN: RUSSIA WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT SERBIA
• RUSSIA WILL VETO KOSOVO'S INDEPENDENCE
• KHARCHENKO: UNMIK'S REPORT DOES NOT REFLECT REAL SITUATION
• SERBIAN WORLD CONGRESS FOR OBSERVANCE OF UN CHARTER

• KOSTUNICA: IT IS GOOD IF EU GIVES UP ON MISSION IN KOSOVO
• JANSA: KIM MISSION NOT THE SAME AS THOSE FOR INDEPENDENT STATES
• PUTIN: SOLUTION FOR KOSOVO MUST BE APPROVED BY BOTH SIDES
• FISCHER: KOSOVO IS EUROPEAN PROBLEM
• ZOGAR : EU AS ORGANIZATION CANNOT RECOGNIZE INDEPENDENCE
• BUSEK ON UNFORSEEABLE CONSEQUENCES OF KOSOVO'S SECESSION
• BARROT: KFOR READY FOR ALL EVENTUALITIES
• UNMIK DOES NOT SUPPORT, HAMPER ELECTIONS IN KOSOVO

• TADIC: EU IS SERBIA'S STRATEGIC INTEREST, TADIC
• DJELIC SAYS AGREEMENT WITH EU IN SERBIA'S NATIONAL INTEREST
• LJAJIC: JOINING EU HAS NO ALTERNATIVE
• SIGNING OF SAA IN JANUARY STILL POSSIBLE, REHN
• HOLLAND AGAINST SAA WITH SERBIA WITHOUT MLADIC IN HAGUE
• ARRESTS OF ICTY INDICTEES ABSOLUTE PRIORITY, SAYS BRAMMERTZ
• PLASSNIK: CHOICE BETWEEN EU INTEGRATION AND ISOLATION

• ELECTION CAMPAIGN SILENCE BEGINS THURSDAY MIDNIGHT
• COURT ANNULS ELECTORAL COMMISSION'S DECISION ON EMBASSIES
• "TRAP" ONE OF NINE FILMS SHORTLISTED FOR OSCAR NOMINATION

• DJELIC: RESPONSE IN KEEPING WITH STATE INTERESTS
• STRATEGIC COOPERATION IN MUTUAL INTEREST
• GAZPROM: SERBIA COULD BECOME AN ENERGY CENTER IN THE BALKANS
• MILOSAVLJEVIC: SERBIA SOON TO EXPORT DAIRY PRODUCTS TO EU
• HOLCIM TO INVEST EUR155 MILLION IN SERBIA
• ALLTECH PLANS TO BUILD BIOREFINERY IN SENTA

NEW YORK, Jan. 16 (Beta) - Serbia believes that the decision on the future status of Kosovo must be made in the U.N. Security Council and that the solution must be the result of a compromise and Serbia therefore advocates the continuation of the talks, President Boris Tadic said at the Security Council session on Jan. 16.

At the session, which started a little after 9 p.m. CET, Tadic said the Security Council must also give its consent for "any change of the makeup of a civil or military mission" in Kosovo.

Tadic once again stressed that Serbia will never recognize independence of Kosovo and that it will defend its territorial integrity and sovereignty "with all democratic means, legal arguments and diplomacy." The president, however, stressed that "Serbia will not resort to violence or war."

Tadic called on the Security Council member countries "not to encourage or allow the passage of a unilateral act on an independent Kosovo." He stressed that unilateral acknowledgment of Kosovo independence would be a precedent. The president also warned that "no one has the right to destabilize Serbia or the Balkans with a hasty or unilateral decision, which would have unforeseeable consequences on other regions with the problem of ethnic separatism."

Tadic called on the Security Council to decide to continue the talks and said that Serbia is ready "to constructively and responsibly take part in the continuation of the talks," in a form that the Security Council considers appropriate.

Commenting on the report by UNMIK chief on the situation in Kosovo, Tadic said "ethnically discriminated communities in Kosovo" are denied the right to the freedom of movement and added that cases of intimidation are frequent as well as attacks on the Serbian cultural and religious heritage. He added that "no results" have been achieved in the return of displaced persons.

Earlier on, it was announced that after the open part of the Security Council session, when Tadic spoke, the Security Council would convene behind closed doors, when UNMIK chief Joachim Ruecker and Kosovo Premier Hashim Thaci were to speak. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon did not attend the session.

NEW YORK, Jan 17 (Tanjug) - US Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad said late on Wednesday that the West heard and respected the stand of the Belgrade authorities and called on Serbia to make wise moves in spite of the problems which, beyond any doubt, would present itself during the resolution of Kosovo status.

We are offering a hand of friendship (to Serbia), the US ambassador told reporters outside the hall in which the sessions of the UN Security Council in New York are held. From the historical point of view, we have always had good relations and we want them to continue, he added.

Khalilzad welcomed the stand of Serbian President Boris Tadic, who said earlier in the day, during the Security Council session, that Serbia would use all legal means in defending its interests in Kosovo, and expressed hope that the authorities in Belgrade would not try to cut off water and electricity supply for Kosovo.

NEW YORK, Jan 17 (Tanjug) - Premier of the temporary Kosovo government Hasim Taci said late on Wednesday, at a session of the UN Security Council on Kosovo, that it was clear to him that there was no consensus in the Security Council on Kosovo status, pointing out that the implementation of the Martti Ahtisaari plan represented the best path forward.

It is clear to me that there is no consensus in the Security Council, but the implementation of the Ahtisaari plan, with supervised independence and the presence of the EU and NATO, represents the best path forward, said Taci, who addressed the 15-member world organization after Serbian President Boris Tadic. I guarantee a full implementation of that plan, he added.

Taci assessed that the time has come to resolve Kosovo's status, which, as he put it, was the last open issue in the process of a violent disintegration of former Yugoslavia.

NEW YORK, Jan. 16 (Beta) - Russia will continue to support Serbia in its efforts to preserve its territorial integrity, Russian Ambassador to the U.N. Vitaly Churkin said in the evening on Jan. 16, after meeting Serbian President Boris Tadic.

Speaking to Russian reporters, Churkin said the positions of Moscow and Belgrade are the same "both concerning the legal as well as the political aspects of the situation surrounding Kosovo."

The talks with Tadic was a traditional meeting with the Serbian representatives, who go to New York to attend U.N. Security Council sessions on Kosovo, Churkin said as carried by Itar Tass.

"Belgrade intends to continue to struggle for its territorial integrity and Russia will continue to support Serbia in the Security Council," Churkin stressed. He added that at the Jan. 16 session of the Security Council, Russia plans "to additionally clarify its conception of a detailed plan for Kosovo."

MOSCOW, Jan. 16 (Beta) - Russia will veto any decision by the U.N. Security Council linked with the declaration of Kosovo's independence, head of the Russian Parliament's Foreign Policy Committee Konstantin Kosachov said on Jan. 16.

"We will not let any decisions related to recognizing Kosovo's independence pass through the U.N. Security Council," Kosachov told journalists in Moscow.

He added that even if independence were proclaimed and then recognized by certain Western countries, "the prospect of recognizing Kosovo as a member of the U.N. does not exist." "In any stage of consideration in the Security Council, Russia has the right of veto, which we must exercise," he underscored.

Kosachov went on to say that the declaration of independence was becoming increasingly certain, while the status talks had not had much chance of success from the start, since one of the sides the Kosovo Albanians had been told that independence would be acknowledged sooner or later. According to him, the responsibility for this lies with those who have been sending signals to the Kosovo separatists, specifically the U.S. and certain EU countries.

MOSCOW, Jan 17 (Tanjug) - The latest report of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) that has been prepared for the UN Security Council does not reflect the real situation in the province, the Russian Foreign Ministry holds.

We do not approve of the report, and it does not reflect the real situation, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, an official of the Russian Foreign Ministry that represented the country in the Contact Group mediating Troika during the four-month negotiations on Kosovo status, has told the Moscow Interfax News Agency. Botsan-Kharchenko said that UNMIK's report portrayed the situation in a better light by claiming that the international standards that were required for the province's ethnic communities had been fulfilled, Radio EKHO Moskvy (Echo of Moscow) has reported.

The Security Council reviewed on Wednesday the report by UNMIK chief Joachim Ruecker and UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon on the situation in Kosovo and Metohija.

BELGRADE, Jan 16 (Tanjug) - President of the Serbian World Congress, which rallies Serbian Diaspora associations, Zoran Jovicic, has sent an open letter to UN Security Council member states on behalf of the three million strong Serbian Diaspora, in which he calls on them to observe the UN Charter and support further negotiations of Belgrade and Pristina until a solution acceptable to both sides is reached.

For the Serbian Diaspora is unacceptable a unilateral breaking away of Kosovo as that would set a dangerous precedent that would certainly lead to the breaking away of minorities in several dozen countries of Africa, Asia and Europe, Jovicic said. According to him, that could create hundreds of millions of new refugees, humanitarian, economic and ecological disasters. In the event of the unilateral independence of Kosovo, Jovicic said, it will be difficult and unjust to ban an independence referendum in the Republic of Srpska, particularly if we take into account the horrific genocide that the Serbian people suffered in BiH at the hands of the Ustasha, in WW II.

The danger of continued support to separatist movements is also reflected in the possible loss of independence of a growing number of small states. Former colonial powers would under the pretext of peacekeeping missions establish protectorates, or colonial governors, as the ones they have today in Kosovo and In BiH, Jovicic said.

BELGRADE, Jan. 16 (Beta) - Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica stated on Jan. 16 that Serbia's arguments against the deployment of the EU mission in Kosovo and Metohija were "incontestable" and that "it is good if the EU has abandoned its announced decision to send the mission illegally on Jan. 28."

"The issue of the EU mission was solved and taken off the agenda in mid2007, after the Security Council rejected six proposals for the resolution that would regulate the arrival of the mission for the implementation of Ahtisaari's plan. Nobody has the right now to send the mission that was rejected by the U.N. Security Council, to Kosovo and Metohija," it said in Kostunica's statement to BETA.

In his words, it is important for Serbia for the EU to respect international law and signed agreements because Serbia has started its European integration in the belief that the fundamental value, on which the EU is based, is respect for the law.

"The EU's giving up the decision to send the mission on Jan. 28 to create a false state, would represent a good and important step in the right direction. Serbia will always be a good and reliable partner in respect for international law, just as it will never consent to a false state being created in its territory, by means of an EU mission," Kostunica said.

STRASBOURG, Jan 16 (Tanjug) - Slovenia's Prime Minister Janez Jansa said Wednesday that the mission that the European Union plans to send to Kosovo and Metohija (KiM), is not the same as missions sent to independent and recognized states.

A defense-protective policy mission will be sent to Kosovo and such missions are not sent to independent and recognized states, Jansa said in Strasbourg after presenting Slovenia's stand on the Kosovo issue. That country currently holds the rotating EU presidency. At the same time, Jansa expressed pessimism in view of possibilities for reaching a compromise on the status of Kosovo. He also set out that there are still no concrete talks within the EU with regards the recognition of Kosovo.

Speaking in the European Parliament about Slovenia's activities as the EU president, Jansa underscored that Ljubljana urges a coordinated approach of the EU members towards the Kosovo issue. Jansa said he believes that there will be no threat of war in the Balkans, in case of the unilateral recognition of the independence of Kosovo. Pointing out that the lack of solutions brings uncertainty, Jansa said that there can be no new war in the Balkans, because the EU and the world have learnt much from previous experiences.

MOSCOW, Jan 17 (Tanjug) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that a settlement of the Kosovo issue must be approved by both sides involved in the conflict and become a precedent in international practice.

"Our position in this respect is utterly clear: any decision on Kosovo must be approved by both sides," he wrote in an article dubbed "Russia and Bulgaria: the Long-Standing Tradition of Friendship and Today's Challenges," which was published by Bulgarian media on the occasion of his visit to Sophia, Itar-Tass reported.

"It is also clear that any decision on Kosovo would be precedential to international practice," Putin added.” We shall be able jointly to achieve peace and prosperity only by taking the positions of one another into consideration, and by abandoning the stereotypes of the past, which, as experience indicates, bolster re-emergence of dividing lines," the Russian president said. Putin pointed out that the time-tested principles of strict observance of the norms of international law must be embedded in the foundation of united Europe.

VIENNA, Jan 16 (Tanjug) - Austrian President Heinz Fischer has stated in Vienna that Kosovo is a "European problem." Kosovo is primarily a European problem and that is why the European Union needs to assume special responsibility, said Fischer, adding that partners within the EU are united over the continuation of international presence.

"It is clear to Austria that the future of Southeast European countries may and have to be in the EU, Fischer said at a New Year's reception for the diplomatic corps in Vienna.

WASHINGTON, Jan 17 (Tanjug) - Slovenian Ambassador to the United States Samuel Zogar has said in Washington that, in the event of the declaration of Kosovo's independence, Slovenia would not strive to receive the recognition of independence from the European Union, but it would rather leave it over to its respective member-states.

As an organization, the European Union cannot recognize the independence of a country, but its member-states can do that individually, said the ambassador of Slovenia, the current EU president. Zogar did not want to prejudge Ljubljana's decision in the event of the proclamation of independence, pointing out that the this matter will be decided by the Slovenian parliament when the time comes, the Voce of America reported.

BUDAPEST, Jan 16 (Tanjug) - Special Coordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe Erhard Busek holds that the politicians in Belgrade live in the world of myth, warning, however, that Kosovo's secession would have unforseeable consequences.

While major economic success is being marked in Serbia, its leading politicians seem to be living in the world of myth, Busek said in an interview for the Wednesday issue of the Budapest daily Nepszabadsag. The situation will not change as long as Kosovo's independence does not become a reality, and this act brings with itself unforeseeable consequences, he added.

According to him, the West has underestimated the stubbornness of Belgrade's officials. However, one should expect that things will calm down several moths after the proclamation of Kosovo independence, Busek assessed.

PRISTINA, Jan 16 (Tanjug) - Kfor spokesman Jacques Barrot said on Wednesday that international peace-keeping forces in Kosovo are ready to ensure peace and security in all eventualities, including a declaration of the dependence of Kosovo.

We are ready to face any situation, including that one, but we will not speculate about the results of the process for determining status, the Kfor spokesman said. At a press conference of international institutions in Kosovo , KPS spokesman Veton Eljsani said that "the police has plans for different situations." In Kosovo is currently stationed a 16,000-strong Kfor force, some 8,000 Kosovo policemen and 1,500 UNMIK policemen.

PRISTINA, Jan 16 (Tanjug) - UNMIK spokesman Sven Lindholm said on Wednesday that the international administration would not support or hamper the holding of elections for president of Serbia in Kosovo.

Just as in the past UNMIK will neither support nor hamper them, Lindholm said at a press conference and added that for UNMIK police Serbian Radical party presidential candidate Tomislav Nikolic, who held a rally in Kosovska Mitrovica on Wednesday, had come "on a private visit to Kosovo." Kfor and Kosovo Police Service will not secure voting stations, but will react to any disturbing of peace and order, Kfor and KPS spokesman Barrot and Eljsani said.

BELGRADE, Jan 16 (Tanjug) - Serbian President Boris Tadic, said on Wednesday that the signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union is the state's strategic interest, and assessed that those who oppose to document's signing are motivated by the reasons of daily politics.

"I do not believe that there is anyone who seriously believes that our country can benefit from becoming weaker in the economic sense," Tadic said in an interview for the daily Vecernje Novosti.

According to him, the resolving of the future Kosovo status and the approaching to the EU are two separate processes, which is why it would not be good for Serbia if its political protagonists tried to bring into connection the issues that cannot be related.

"The way out is in what Serbia has been advocating so far, and that is the stand that the issue of the future Kosovo status and the process of the European integration are separate matters. It should stay that way, because it allows us to protect at the same time our province and enhance the potentials of our country. If an athlete deliberately breaks both of his legs before a race, this cannot be seen as a sign that he wants to win that race. Serbia has to fight for its interests in every way and at every place it can and there is to be no giving up," Tadic said.

BELGRADE, Jan 16 (Tanjug) - Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said on Wednesday that the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union was "in Serbia's deepest national interest" and expressed hope that the document would be signed on January 28.

In an interview with TV B92, Djelic said that the Agreement would boost our economy and that it was completely in keeping with the state policy on Kosovo and Metohija. He voiced expectation that we would sign the document "as soon as we are invited," pointing, however, to the fact that there "are several countries that have not forgotten the so-called ICTY condition," that is Serbia's full cooperation with The Hague Tribunal.

Reminding that a meeting between the foreign ministers the European member-countries of the Contact Group for Kosovo and the "top EU officials" would be held in Brdo near Kranj (Slovenia) on Saturday, Djelic estimated that "it is more probable now that a decision will not be reached on the sending of a EU mission to Kosovo," since it was obvious that there was no consensus within the Union in regard to the legal grounds for such a mission.

BELGRADE, Jan 17 (Tanjug) - Minister of Labour and Social Policy and head of the National Council for Cooperation with the ICTY, Rasim Ljajic, has said that Serbia's admission into the European Union has no alterative and expressed hope that The Hague will not represent an obstacle to the signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA).

"I am in contact with the representatives of the (Hague) Tribunal and the EU. We will present them the real state of things, but I expect that The Hague will not be an obstacle to the signing of the Agreement," Ljajic specified in an interview for Blic.

He pointed to the fact that Serbia was neither Norway nor Switzerland, and that it did not have oil, gas or gold holdings which could make it possible for the country to be an "isolated island." "For us the admission into the EU has no alternative. Why is it that most European countries are either in the EU or are trying to join it? Only here do we have a debate on whether or not we should join the EU. Even in Turkey there is no such debate," Ljajic underlined. He pointed to the importance that the SAA be signed with the EU as soon as possible, but remarked that it was of no major importance whether that would happen on January 28, or a few days before or after that date.

BELGRADE, Jan 17 (Tanjug) - EU Enlargement Commissioner has said that there are still chances for Serbia to sign the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) in January - if Serbia carries out urgent action in order to achieve the full cooperation with the ICTY.

"Serbia's full cooperation with the Hague Tribunal is a condition for signing of the agreement on stabilization and association with the EU. I have no doubts that Serbia authorities know well what they should do," Rehn said in an interview with the Belgrade daily Blic. Rehn added that he supports singing of SAA as soon as possible, but that the exact date has not been set yet.

BRUSSELS, Jan. 16 (Beta) - Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen on Jan. 16 said his country will not agree to signing a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with Serbia until Serbia proves its full cooperation with the Hague tribunal.

"We cannot sign a SAA with Serbia until that condition is fulfilled. The best proof of full cooperation would be to see Ratko Mladic before the Hague tribunal," Verhagen said after meeting Dimitrij Rupel, the foreign minister of Slovenia, the EU presiding country.

Verhagen further said the fulfillment of that condition lies in the hands of the Serbian authorities and not in the EU and stressed that "this is the firm position of the Netherlands."

Noting that there are differences in the positions of his country and the Netherlands, Rupel said even if a SAA is not signed in January "we can sign it later, when there is proof of Serbia's cooperation with the tribunal."

Both ministers stressed that Serbia has a clear European future, but cited cooperation with the tribunal is the key condition for that.

THE HAGUE, Jan 16 (Tanjug) - New chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Serge Brammertz said on Wednesday that the arrests and transfers to The Hague of the four remaining indictees still at large remain an absolute priority, in particular of Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic.

The ICTY Prosecutor's Office will continue relying on key support and help from the states of the former Yugoslavia and the international community finally to bring Mladic, Karadzic, Goran Hadzic, and Stojan Zupljanin to justice, Brammertz said in a written statement read at a press conference in The Hague by Prosecutor's Office Spokesperson Olga Kavran.

VIENNA, Jan 17 (Tanjug) - Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik on Thursday evaluated that citizens of Serbia will on Sunday presidential elections choose between moving closer to the European Union or isolation from the rest of Europe, adding that Serbia is at a turning point.

Serbia's citizens will have a choice at the Sunday election - to continue to move closer or to get isolated from the rest of Europe, underscored Plassnik in a statement issued after her meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

She said that the EU has to send Serbia clear signals of encouragement, adding that she urges the Stabilization and Association Agreement with Serbia to be signed. "We want a dialogue between the European Commission and Serbia on visa regime liberalization to start soon. We have to remove the feeling of isolation among the people in the region and make gain in security for all in Europe," underscored Plassnik.

BELGRADE, Jan 16 (Tanjug) - The ban on political advertising within the presidential election campaign in Serbia begins on Thursday midnight and that is also the deadline given to the Republican Electoral Commission (RIK) to determine the final number of citizens in the electoral register.

The election silence will last until polling stations close on Sunday, Jan 20, at 2000 hrs. Thursday midnight is also the deadline for Serbian citizens to register for voting, but only by a decision of the relevant court. According to the latest RIK statement, following the third change in the number of voters, 6,702,018 Serbian citizens will have the right to vote in Sunday's presidential elections.

BELGRADE, Jan. 16 (Beta) - The Serbian Supreme Court on Jan. 16 annulled a decision by the Serbian Electoral Commission banning the British and U.S. embassies from monitoring the Jan. 20 presidential election, a news release from the court said.

According to the news release given to BETA, the Supreme Court's objections and legal interpretation are binding for the Electoral Commission.

The appeal to the commission's decision was filed by a citizen, whose objection to irregularities in the process of electing the Serbian president had been dismissed as unsubstantiated.

"In the opinion of the Serbian Supreme Court, instructions for the implementation of the law on electing the Serbian president stipulate that the Electoral Commission cannot decide on requests from foreign monitors, but can issue authorization after receiving foreign monitors' applications, and the Electoral Commission is not authorized to freely decide on applications for monitoring the work of the bodies carrying out the elections," the court news release said.

An explanation of the court's decision says that the Electoral Commission's decision was also annulled due to serious violations of procedure, made during the vote on the objection, i.e. the procedure lacked the necessary majority of commission members' votes, as foreseen by the commission rulebook.

The Supreme Court also pointed out the guidelines adopted by the Venice Commission, according to which domestic and foreign monitors should have the broadest acceptable possibility to participate in election monitoring.

BEVERLY HILLS, California Jan 16 (Tanjug) - A Serbian film "Trap" directed by Srdan Golubovic is on a shortlist of nine films, five of which will officially be nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at this year's Oscars.

The best film shot outside English speaking region is chosen in two stages. Out of the 63 films, nominated by national film industries, on the shortlist along with "Trap" are eight more films, five of which will officially be nominated for an Oscar. Nominations for the 80th Oscars ceremony of the American Film Academy will be announced on January 22, and the ceremony itself is planned for February 24.

BELGRADE, Jan 16 (Tanjug) - Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic on Wednesday stated that the working group in charge of an agreement on cooperation with Russia in the area of energy would respond to Gazprom's offer in keeping with the state interests.

In an interview with B92, Djelic said that the working group is scheduled to meet today, underscoring that it is in Serbia's interest to secure stable deliveries of gas and oil. He also said that under the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU, Serbia has to liberalize trade of oil derivatives by 2010.

BELGRADE, Jan 16 (Tanjug) - Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Alexeyev on Wednesday categorically ruled out the possibility that Moscow's proposal on strategic cooperation in the energy field might bring any harm whatsoever to Serbia, or that the issue here is about humiliation.

I categorically deny that the Russian proposal might bring any harm whatsoever to Serbia, or that it humiliates the country in any way, Alexeyev told Tanjug. He recalled that the Russian offer includes three projects - the construction of South Stream gas pipeline, the purchase of 51 percent of the shares of the Serbian Oil Industry (NIS) and the construction of underground gas storage in Banatski Dvor.

Asked if there are some lobbies that might oppose to the realization of such a project, Alexeyev said that lobbies always exist, but that Serbia now needs to rise above lobbyist interests and take care of its national interests It seems to me that such a moment has come, he said. The question is whether Serbia wants to be energy secured, to be the key player in the Balkans as regards energy and to restore its key role in South East Europe not only in the economic but also in political sense.

The Russian ambassador did not want to reveal details of the latest offer by the Russian Gazprom, pointing out that it is a business secret and only said that the talks are under way and that every side has its proposals and ideas. He did not rule out a possibility that an agreement on the issue be reached on January 18, and pointed out that if this is not to be the case, the talks will be continued anyway.

MOSCOW, Jan. 16 (Beta) - Negotiations between Russia and Serbia about the gas arrangement, including the privatization of the Serbian Oil Industry (NIS), are under way, but it is still too early to speak about the deadlines for signing an agreement in this field, BETA was told by a spokesman for Gazprom, Sergei Kupriyanov, on Jan. 16.

Kupriyanov said that if the agreement is reached Serbia will become "the energy center in the Balkans and a very important player on the European energy market as a whole."

"First of all, Serbia will not be only getting money for a stake in the NIS and investments for the modernization of infrastructure, but also guaranteed deliveries of raw materials for decades in advance. Other contenders for NIS do not have the raw material base and it is not excluded that they will have to buy Russian oil. This is the undisputed competitive advantage of our proposal," Kupriyanov said.

Besides, said the representative of Gazprom, the passage of the main gas pipeline "Southern Creek" through Serbia will not only guarantee stable gas deliveries to Serbia, but also the status of a transit country for gas, which brings obvious financial benefits.

"All this is the very reason why Gazprom is advocating a complex agreement, which would envisage all the mentioned projects," Kupriyanov said.

As for the purchase of the controlling stake in NIS by Gazprom, Kupriyanov said, "this does not only give additional rights, but also obligations for the development of the company, which would become an efficient and competitive player on the European market."

"Gazprom is a commercial organization, whose strategy is oriented towards maximum business efficiency, and the increase of capital, which is in the interest of more than 500,000 shareholders, some of whom are foreigners. Our proposal to Serbia is aimed directly at this. From our point of view, this will not only be lucrative for Gazprom, but will enable Serbia to solve its energy problems for a long time," Kupriyanov said.

BELGRADE, Jan. 16 (Beta) - Serbian Agriculture Minister Slobodan Milosavljevic on Jan. 16 said that he expected the EU to allow the transit and export of Serbian dairy products to its market by early March at the latest.

A delegation from the veterinary section of the Agriculture Ministry will leave for Brussels at the end of this week, in order to work out the documentation with experts from the EU commission for health, veterinary medicine, food safety, and the protection of plants, Milosavljevic told BETA.

The issue of dairy products' transit through the EU arose on Jan. 1, 2007, when Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU, and Serbia could no longer export milk and dairy products to the Russian market through their territories. The Agriculture Ministry has estimated the loss caused by transit problems at US$12 million.

Milosavljevic expects agricultural exports to exceed US$2 billion this year, which would be some US$400 million more than last year. He also believes the suficit from agricultural exports will be bigger than in 2007, which amounted to approximately US$600 million.

BELGRADE, Jan. 16 (Beta) - The executive board of the Swiss concern Holcim has approved an investment of EUR155 million in Serbia over the next five years, aimed at stepping up cement production, Managing Director of Holcim Serbia Gustavo Navarro announced.

Of this, EUR83 million will be invested by 2010 to increase the daily production of clinker, the material which becomes cement when ground, from 2,200 to 4,000 tons in the Popovac cement kiln, Navarro told reporters.

Another EUR72 million will be invested in the increase of production capacities and the reconstruction of the factory by 2016.

SENTA, Jan. 16 (Beta) -. International biotechnology company Alltech on Jan. 16 unveiled its project for the construction of a biorafinery in Santa, about 200 kilometers north of Belgrade, which would produce bioethanol.

At a meeting with the head of the Vojvodina Executive Council, Bojan Pajtic, and Serbian Environmental Protection Minister Sasa Dragin, company owner Pearse Lyons said that 70 percent of the bioethanol would be produced from corn, while 30 percent would be made from cellulose.

According to a news release issue after the meeting, this is a new technology for making energy from renewable sources, and with the construction of the biorafinery in Senta, where Alltech has been operating as Alltech Fermin for six years now, Europe would get the first factory of this kind.

Minister Dragin said that every "green technology" was welcome in Serbia, stressing that the government was preparing benefits for investing in such technologies, which ensure the preservation of a healthy environment and sustainable development.

Alltech, which has facilities in 76 countries, is based in Lexington, Kentucky. The Sent abased yeast factory Fermin became a member of Alltech in 2002.