Environment In Serbia Research Articles

The Assessment of the Danube River Water Pollution in Serbia

Actual problems of water ecosystem pollution require the ecological classification and the identification of the most influential parameters on the variability of water quality, stressing the importance of both in the realization of the sustainable water management principles according to the Water Framework Directive European Union (WFD EU), and the preservation of the quality of the environment. The aim of this paper was the assessment of the ecological status of water quality and calculating water pollution index (WPI) of the Danube River in Serbia. For all surface waters, the WFD requires “good ecological status,” i.e., low level changes of the natural state that occur as a result of human activities by 2015. The assessment was based on the data obtained from ten hydrological measuring stations on the Danube River in Serbia for 2014. It was ascertained that the ecological status of the Danube River water quality was class III, corresponding to “moderate ecological status” and deviating from the required “good ecological status.” According to the calculated WPI = 1.352, the water pollution of the Danube River in Serbia was characterized as moderately polluted and corresponded to class III of surface water. The ecosystem approach clearly indicated that the concentration of physico-chemical parameters of the watercourse deviated from the target values. Therefore, there is an urgent need to take some measures to prevent pollution and improve the water quality of the Danube River as an integral part of the environment in Serbia.

Transposition of European Directive on the assessment of the effects of plans and programmes on the environment in planning in Serbia

Serbia faces with major challenges in terms of environmental protection, in particular in connection with the implementation of the European Directive on the assessment of the effects of plans and programs on the environment. These challenges are further gaining strength due to negotiations on the accession of Serbia to the EU, given the poor performance of public policy of Serbia in the field of environmental protection. The aspect of environmental protection in Serbia is still treated as a peripheral problem which results in a range of negative impacts on the space. Although the Government of the Republic of Serbia in the last twelve years has brought a large number of regulations in the field of environmental protection, including the Law on Strategic Environmental Assessment, which has improved its policy in the field of the environment and the challenges of European integration, but is questionable the quality of harmonization carried out, in particular the effect on implementing the objectives of the Directive. The paper analyzes the key problems in the transposition of the Directive on the assessment of the effects of plans and programmes on the environment in Serbia, with a framework proposal for solving the identified problems.

Demographic changes in gender and age of population and their impact on contemporary business environment in Serbia

Demographic changes are caused by different factors - economic, political, environmental, health, migration, etc. Demographic changes, observed through changes in gender and age of the population, largely affect changes of the business environment and work in modern organizations. The former organizational structure, business rules, norms of behaviour, work processes and behaviour of people are no longer adequate, that is, they cannot be automatically implemented in the new conditions. In order to prepare societies, states and business organizations for this new situation, it is important to explore and became familiar with the changes that are happening and with possible impact they could have on the business surrounding on particular levels of management. The aim of this paper is to explore the most significant changes that have occurred in business surroundings in terms of population by sex and age, and to explain the most important possible impacts of these changes on a global, national and organizational level. The authors have paid special attention to the analysis of long term structural changes, these impacts at the organizational level, and how organizations can change their structures and processes to more successfully manage the new workforce contingent.

English

The main objective of the paper is to identify the sources of competitive advantage of small and medium-sized enterprises in Serbia. Gaining a competitive advantage is the key priority of market-oriented enterprises regardless of their size and sector. Since business environment in Serbia is not stimulating enough for enterprises’ growth and development, the paper highlights the role of strategic orientation in business promotion and development. In order to identify the sources of competitive advantage, the empirical research is conducted by using the survey method. The research sample is created by using a selective approach, namely, the sample includes enterprises with more than ten employees, and enterprises identified to have the potential for growth and development. The research results indicate that small and medium-sized enterprises in Serbia are generally focused on costs as a source of competitive advantage, i.e., they gain competitive advantage in a selected market segment by offering low price and average quality products/services. In addition, the results of the research point out that the Serbian small and medium-sized enterprises are innovation-oriented. Organizations qualifying as middle-sized enterprises are predominantly focused on process innovations, while small businesses are primarily oriented towards product innovations. One of the limitations of the research refers to the small presence of the research sample within the category of middle-sized enterprises. The smaller sample presence than it was previously planned is mostly due to the lack of managers’ willingness to participate in the research, as well as to the fact that these enterprises account for the smaller share in the total number of enterprises in the small-and medium-sized enterprises’ sector. Taking into account that the sector of small and medium-sized enterprises generates around 30% of the country’s GDP, we consider the research results to be beneficial for both scientific and professional communities, as well as for economic policy makers in Serbia.

The importance of bank guarantees in modern business (business environment in Serbia)

In contemporary international payment transactions, there takes place frequent use of bank guarantees as collateral payment in commercial transactions. The bank guarantee is usually required when it comes to specific business agreements that require stronger commitment and assurance that all contractual obligations will be implemented exactly as indicated. Knowledge of the use of bank guarantees allows better negotiating position in making business, quicker response to the demands of public calls for tenders and the provision of their own claims. Because of its rapid and efficient implementation, the bank guarantee is one of the most commonly used collateral in international business. Keywords: bank guarantee, business environment in Serbia, legal framework of bank guarantees. JEL Classification: G21, M16, M21

Environmental protection in food industry with special emphasis on water protection

It has already been confirmed that the uncontrolled technological development is the major cause of the reduction of natural resources and environmental pollution. The impact of environmental protection on food industry and vice versa is much larger and more important than it appears. This paper will discuss the relationship of the environment and the food industry in more detail and the impact the food industry has on the environment. Special attention will be given to the importance and protection of water in food industry. Environmental protection is considered to be a global problem, therefore, this issue will be discussed through the prism of international conventions, principles, standards and regulations that define the rules of conduct in relation to the environment. Water, as a main natural resource, is of great importance for the functioning of food industry and it has established strict obligations of treating wastewater that originates from its technological processes, which will be presented through examples of most important activities of the food industry. In consideration of these issues, legal protection of the environment in Serbia though legal and other regulations will be presented as well.

Cyber procedures for a business environment in Serbia

Through a practical experience, it is getting clear that medium and small enterprises as well as some foreign companies in Serbia suffer the serious lack of cyber security procedures. In a business environment of our country, there is a strong need for a comprehensive and systematized document that would suggest how to resolve any cyber situation from the practice. The document would comply with employer's interests and assure a secure working process of employees, at same glance. In this overview, we will attempt to define basic guidelines in sense of cyber procedures.

Implementation of international standards in Serbian contract law: An overview of solutions offered by the future civil code of Serbia

The paper presents a brief analysis of the most important issues related to the implementation of international standards in Serbian contract law. In that respect, the paper examines main transnational documents relevant for contract law - international conventions and other sources of uniform contract law, the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), the sphere of its application, the main differences between the CISG and the Serbian Law of Obligations, the application of the CISG by Serbian courts and arbitrations and the advantages of its application in business practice. Furthermore, it provides readers with an overview of the future Civil Code of Serbia, its central principles, solutions and reforms in the field of contract law, particularly with regard to the acceptance of international standards and principles. The analysis has lead the authors to the conclusion that the future codification in the form of Civil Code is a continuation of the process of full harmonization of Serbian contract law with the internationally accepted standards and achievements of European legal civilization, which can strongly contribute to the overall improvement of business environment in Serbia.

Risks of lending to small enterprises in the Republic of Serbia

Bearing in mind the major risks of lending to small enterprises and entrepreneurs in Serbia, this paper analyzes this problem and presents the concrete activities that commercial banks should undertake to mitigate these risks. After analyzing the business environment in Serbia and the current lending practice, we have concluded that in the process of approving loan applications, without exception, the following analyses and activities need to be undertaken: verification of the client's status, financial analysis of the entrepreneurial business, analysis of the entrepreneur's business operations, assessment of how regularly the entrepreneur settles his liabilities, analysis of risks entailed by the bank's offer (i.e. the set of products), evaluation of loan collaterals, currency risk of lending to the business, and risks of lending to a start-up entrepreneurial business. Similar studies were conducted in the United States, yet this particular analysis focuses on the needs and practices of the banking sector in Serbia, with the aim of suggesting to commercial banks to implement the above stated activities and analyses persistently and comprehensively, putting them ahead of accelerated lending procedures, acquisitions and sound, short-term business results.

Evaluation of Local Business Environment in The Republic of Serbia

Certification of Business Friendly Municipalities (BFC process) is a process which promotes standards of efficient and transparent local administration and enables evaluation of the quality of the services that municipalities offer to businesses. Business friendly certification developed in 2007 in Serbia has been successfully tested in Croatia, FYROM and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The regional label Business Friendly Certification in South East Europe (BFC SEE) and a regional network of certification bodies have been established in 2013. The problem that is going to be concerned in the paper is based on the fact that local business environment is still marred by many impediments that reduce its attractiveness for investment.Assessment of local business environment in Serbia on the basis of twelve criteria used under the NALED methodology and seventeen certified cities and municipalities in Serbia can be obtained using different statistical methods. For the purposes of the present paper we applied cluster analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Using cluster analysis, selected municipalities were clustered into three homogenous clusters according to the level of compliance with the given criteria. The analysis of variance was applied to determine the significance of differences in the average fulfillment of the criteria between previously determined clusters of cities and municipalities.

Improving the business environment in cities and municipalities in Serbia

One of the ways to determine the benefits of a particular municipality and indicate its readiness to cooperate with potential investors is to promote standards of effective and transparent local administration. This task can be realized through the certification of cities and municipalities with a favorable business environment. Certification is a process that, among other things, allows the assessment of quality of services and information that municipalities provide for investors and businessmen. It is a process aiming at improvement of business environment in Serbia through institutional reforms with the active participation and cooperation of industry, municipalities and citizens. One of the key questions is to determine the importance of the criteria relevant for evaluating the attractiveness of municipality in terms of potential investors. Analysis of criteria importance for certification of cities and municipalities with a favorable business environment, shown in this paper, aims to identify those who have played a key role in the efficiency of municipalities and cities in attracting foreign direct investment. This paper presents three alternative ways of determining the importance of the criteria. The results of this analysis should indicate to the authorities of cities and municipalities possible ways of improving their position at the list of those with a favorable business environment.

The impact of the global economic crisis on the economy of the Republic of Serbia

The global economic crisis has certainly had a significant negative impact on the economic situation in Serbia. However, it is wrong to relate all the financial difficulties of the Serbian economy to the global crisis, and an even greater mistake would be to hope that all its problems will be solved by the termination of the global economic crisis. Our economy is, we can say, in the decades-long decline. Its losses accumulated over the past seventeen years increased from 3.8 billion to 2,462 billion dinars, or 648 times. This paper aims to point out the bad financial and structural position of Serbian economy that constantly hampers the economic activity and causes the distortion of the companies' worth. Keeping this in mind, after the introductory discussion in the first section of this paper, we provide some elaboration on the interdependence of macroeconomic indicators and the performance of the economy. The second section presents macroeconomic environment in Serbia in the period of the analysis of the Serbian economy financial position. The third section highlights the fact that business losses and their accumulation affect the financial structure of the economy. The fourth and the fifth sections deal with the analysis of net working capital, which is an important tool for assessing the financial structure.

Radioactivity in the indoor building environment in Serbia

Measurement of activity concentrations of radionuclides in building materials and radon in indoor space is important in the assessment of population exposures, as most individuals spend 80 % of their time indoors. This paper presents the results of activity concentration measurements of: radon emanated from the soil, radionuclides (226)Ra, (232)Th and (40)K in the soil, indoor radon in the city of Novi Sad (the capital city of Vojvodina) using charcoal canisters and indoor radon in the Vojvodina region using alpha-track detectors and the radioactivity of some building materials. Influences of floor level, space under the rooms, boarding, and the heating system on indoor radon accumulation in the Vojvodina province, situated in the northern part of Serbia, are also presented in this paper. The total effective dose and the activity concentration index are calculated applying the dose criteria recommended by the European Union for building materials.

Resolution of commercial disputes through arbitration as a contributor to improvement of business environment in Serbia

The paper presents a brief overview of selected arbitration-related issues (legal framework for arbitration, different types of arbitration, arbitration agreement, arbitrators, seat of arbitration, law applicable to the arbitration proceedings and merits, arbitration award, costs), in light of contemporary arbitration trends and practices and with special emphasis on Serbian legislation and existing arbitral practice in Serbia. Furthermore, it provides readers with drafting considerations when agreeing to arbitration, and comparative analyses of advantages and disadvantages of arbitration, as dispute resolution mechanism which can, in authors' view, significantly contribute to reduction of transaction costs and overall improvement of business environment in Serbia.

The application of information technology and environmental protection

The Aarhus Convention became a part of the Serbian legal system through the adoption of the Law on Ratification of the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters in May 2009. Although the legislation in Serbia, prior to the ratification of the Aarhus Convention, pointed, to some extent, to the realization of ideas promoted by it, following the ratification, there was the formal possibility of the consistent application of rights stipulated by the Convention. This article analyses the role of information technology (IT) in providing public access to environmental information. There are three basic ways IT may be applied in environmental protection. First, through the use of IT for environmental matters, the public can be informed about the general condition of the environment. In the legal system of Serbia, the Agency for Environmental Protection is obliged to collect environmental information from local government and compile annual reports on the environment that should be presented on the Agency website. This article analyses the information systems of the Serbian Agency for Environmental Protection and the further possibilities of using these. Second, IT can be used as a way of regular communication between government and citizens. In accordance with the principle of transparency, government bodies are obliged to provide an adequate way for the public to have an insight into their work. In addition, the authorized person is responsible for the accuracy of this information and for providing public access within a reasonable timeframe. In this sense, the article analyses the legal framework of e-access to environmental information and the relevant practice of the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection. Third, the application of IT in environmental matters can promote public participation in environmental decision-making. If there were a legal framework, the public would be able to participate in procedures, such as environmental impact assessments, by submitting their opinions as e-documents. This article points out the relations between the application of IT and the level of public awareness about the environment, and the impact these relations have on environmental protection. Points for practitioners The article examines whether there is a possibility of using IT as a means of achieving daily communication between government and citizens in matters of the protection, preservation and improvement of the environment in Serbia, how the application of information technology achieves wider public participation in environmental decision-making, and whether the application of IT can eliminate deficiencies in the assessment of environmental impacts which occur in practice. The article provides an overview of environmental legislation in Serbia, which regulates the possibility of using IT in environmental protection and administrative practice.

Combination of knowledge in the system suppliers-MSP-customers in the transitional economy environment in Serbia

The paper presents the results of research of the combination of knowledge in the system: suppliers - SMEs - consumers in case of SMEs in Eastern Serbia. A theoretical model of a combination of knowledge was established in the investigated system. By using the statistical analysis of the results a satisfactory statistical significance of acquired results was determined, which allowed the testing of the defined model using LISREL software package. The results show the importance of the established hypotheses for the impact of the cooperation with suppliers on a combination of knowledge, as well as the combination of knowledge of customers and suppliers on the creation of the new knowledge in SMEs. The hypothesis about the positive influence of the sharing of knowledge with customers on the combination of the knowledge in SMEs has not been proven. These facts suggest that SMEs in Serbia do not collaborate with their customers. The cause of such a situation is the lack of system quality (SQ) in the SME sector in Serbia, as well as not applying the principles of TQM practices, which provides the best explanation of the short life cycle of SMEs in Serbia and the inability of their internationalization.

Impact of value added tax on management and performance of enterprises in Serbia

The aim of this paper is to show that in the recession economic conditions, and current business environment in Serbia can be regarded as that, due to the impact of the global economic crisis, market, social, political and other factors, Value Added Tax is not neutral on the business results of the company. Namely, because of lower economic activity and lower GDP, companies on the market have problems with collecting receivables. Therefore their liquidity position is deteriorated. In this situation, collecting VAT, not VAT itself, even more contributes to the current problems. So the way in which the VAT is collected by the tax authorities indirectly affects companies cash flow, operational management and overall performance of the company. Also, the aim of the study is to present the managerial tactics by which these negative effects can be overcome or at least reduced. These tactics largely rely on the detailed planning and enhanced control of cash flow.

Woody plants and herbs as bioindicators of the current condition of the natural environment in Serbia

Being the inhabitants of all parts of the environment (water, air, soil) plants can very precisely point to the ecological conditions of the environment. Vascular plants are often used for biomonitoring of heavy metals. The analyses are most often performed on plant leaves. The results of this research clearly indicate that pollution with lead on the locations of Avala (locations 1, 2 and 3), although being of an anthropogenic origin, do not result only from traffic, while on location 4 due to the frequency of traffic, the greatest agent of lead pollution is traffic. The accumulation of heavy metals in plants in higher concentrations indicates the relative increase and pollution spread all over the habitat. Key words: Protected natural resource, belgrade, plants, lead concentrations.

The” Zero Waste” concept in Serbia

The characteristics of the living environment in Serbia are, according to the level of degradation, similar in many aspects to those in high-industrialized countries, although there are many differences regarding to the industrial and urban development. Practically, Serbia has faced the critical ecological phenomena largely than it would be appropriate to the degree of its economic development. The problem of the environmental protection in Serbia has been for long out of the social policy focus. These problems have not been often realized because they have been left to individual and local initiatives and solved mostly by some regulations, but their application is not guaranteed by appropriate material conditions. The possibilities of applying the ‘zero waste concept’ in Serbia are conditioned by the strict hierarchical track of waste reduction according to the European waste directives and laws, i.e. the implementation of these provisions in our legal norms and, more important, carrying out these norms into effect.

Foreign direct investment impact on environment in Serbia in the period 2000-2008

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is currently the largest source of capital reaching developing countries and a stimulant to economic growth. Although FDI benefits the economy of the ?host? country, its impact on the environment can vary from pure exploitation of slack environmental regulations and the creation of ?pollution havens?, environmental political ?chilling? effect, to the transfer of new clean technologies and the formation of ?pollution haloes?. This paper focuses on FDI environmental impact in Serbia, in the period from the opening of the borders to foreign capital in 2000 until 2008, when the FDI in Serbia drastically decreased. The FDI growth of 65 times in the period of five years emphasizes the relevance of this analysis, if sustainable development is to be achieved. This paper envisages FDI impact and visible actual tendencies on Serbian environment, and defines to which of the theoretical concepts it could be arranged. The paper explores whether FDI influence in Serbia resulted in a dominant transfer of pollution intensive industries or a transfer of environmentally friendly technology and know-how, in reducing or improving environmental regulations in Serbia.