We are pleased to invite you to the first international wine fair “Wine Vision by Open Balkan”, organized under the auspices of the governments of Serbia, North Macedonia, and Albania which will be held in Belgrade from 1st to 4th September 2022 and will gather more than 350 exhibitors from 20 countries.&nbsp;
This prestigious event will bring together the leading wine producers from Serbia, North Macedonia, Albania, and the region, as well as some of the most distinguished names in the wine world. The fair will also feature a number of wine experts, traders, distributors, Masters of Wine, wine journalists, critics, bloggers, and representatives from the world’s most important media. We cordially invite you to be our guest! The opening day of the manifestation is reserved for professionals, and all visitors and exhibitors will have access to comfortable and spacious rooms for B2B meetings, presentations, and workshops, as well as to full equipment and logistics for unhindered tasting.&nbsp; The “Wine Vision” fair provides a variety of opportunities for new business deals.
&nbsp;Click <a href="https://wine-vision-by-open-balkan.b2match.io/" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">HERE</a>&nbsp;to schedule your business meetings via B2Match platform.&nbsp;
 
Registration is necessary and meetings will take place according to a predetermined schedule, in accordance with the expressed interest and free appointments scheduled through the platform.&nbsp;

More information about the fair can be obtained by emailing <a href="mailto:winevision@pks.rs" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">winevision@pks.rs</a>
Be part of the “Wine Vision by Open Balkan”!

Join us at the “Wine Vision by Open Balkan”

Today, Belgrade is the center of world business, where representatives of large business systems of the Western Balkans and top managers of the world's most famous companies have gathered. We are here to look together for innovative and creative solutions for a future that is very uncertain and unpredictable said Marko Čadež, the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia at the opening of the first Interconnect Business Executive Summit.
The Summit in Belgrade gathered representatives of multinational companies whose total annual turnover exceeds 50 billion euros and almost 200 companies from the Western Balkans that export to 124 markets around the world. During the two days of the summit, global business challenges, digitalization, and the inclusion of our companies in global supply chains will be discussed.
 
"This event is not only an event about buying and selling but also how to be creative in finding answers to global challenges, to connect companies and learn something new," Čadež said. As he pointed out times of global crisis bring uncertainties and require a new approach. &nbsp;" You who are present here create innovations and write the future in various industries. The goal is to listen to great people and to find solutions to the challenges that lie ahead of us together," emphasizes Čadež.
 
Summit gathered managers of Thyssenkrupp Automotive, INEOS, L'Oréal, Zentis, OSCE, Celonis, and many others.
 

<div class="article-photo">One of the organizers of the meeting, Director of Mercuri Urval Mathias Loidold, says that Serbia and the Western Balkan region are excellent places for investments, especially for nearshoring.&nbsp; </div>


Ferdinand Wieland, in charge of the procurement sector at Thyssenkrupp Automotive, points out that the Western Balkans is a region with great opportunities for companies from the automotive industry that can transfer part of their production here from distant destinations. " Interconnect Summit is a great opportunity to connect with companies from this region," says Wieland. 
&nbsp;Yasar Hanli, Director of Digitization at L'Oreal emphasizes that there are great opportunities for the exchange of knowledge and experience in the field of digitalization of business and that this summit is the right place for it.
Over the course of two days, participants of the Interconnect Executive Summit will have the opportunity to connect with partners via the B2B platform, as well as participate in workshops, and hear opinions and advice from experts in the field of digital transformation and supply chain management.
 
The two-day summit is organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, the Chamber Investment Forum of the Western Balkans (CIF WB6), and the Convenstenics company. The summit gathered companies from various sectors- information technologies, the automotive sector as well as the metal and electrical and food industry.
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Director of Mercuri Urval, Mathias Loidold
 
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Daniel Steinberg, Alliance Lead for Central & Eastern Europe, Teradata&nbsp;

Čadež: Belgrade is the Center of World Business, We Are Looking for Future Solutions

Serbia and Egypt have the capacity to, in addition to already started joint projects, develop new ones in the sector of innovative healthcare and road infrastructure, it was pointed out at the meeting of Marko Čadež, the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of&nbsp;Serbia (CCIS) and the business delegation from Egypt. These projects such as mobile hospitals, state-of-the-art traffic signals, and road safety equipment will soon be introduced to Egypt's business community.
As it was pointed out, ready-made mobile hospitals with complete infrastructure represent innovation and the future in the health sector and the improvement of the quality of health services, and they can effectively respond to the modern challenges that the world is facing. The WorldWide Hospitals project, which includes these mobile hospitals, was presented to Egyptian businessmen, and the first hospital is already under construction in Pancevo.
 
The Netherlands, some Mediterranean countries, and Indonesia are already interested in such hospitals, and Egyptian businessmen assess that innovations of this type represent top-notch technological progress and improvement in the quality of healthcare.
 
Serbian companies can also offer quality and applicable solutions in the field of traffic such as innovative traffic signals, safety equipment, as well as other projects in the field of the road equipment.
 
The cooperation between our two companies, Elixir Group and Sigma, with Egyptian partners, also speaks of the increasingly intense economic relations between Serbia and Egypt. Elixir Group has agreed to cooperate with the leading Egyptian company for the exploitation and exploration of phosphate ore Misr Phosphate Company (MPCO), which includes joint activities starting from the exploitation of new ore fields in the Red Sea area, through the exchange of knowledge and technologies to the construction of a joint factory in Egypt.
 
The company "Sigma" from Crvenka signed two memorandums of understanding with the companies "Technical Chemical Laboratories" and "Rampex" from Cairo, with which they will establish a joint venture in Egypt for the production of ecological disinfectants.
 
"Sigma" will export its technology from Serbia, and through a joint venture with two Egyptian companies, which employ 14,000 people in the chemical industry there, Serbian disinfection products will be present on the market of the entire African continent.
 
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New steps in cooperation between Serbia and Egypt

For all event information:&nbsp;<a href="https://interconnect.pks.rs/">InterConnect Executive Summit&nbsp;</a>
To apply for remaining tickets: <a href="https://interconnect.pks.rs/registration/">Registration – InterConnect Executive Summit&nbsp;</a>
&nbsp;
The most important business event this year in the Western Balkans region, the two-day InterConnect Executive Summit&nbsp;will gather some of the most important names in the global world of business in Belgrade at Hotel Hilton on September 28-29, namely, representatives of 20 large international corporations and nearly 200 local and regional company leaders, mostly from the sectors of metalworking, electrical and wood industries, pharmaceutical, and medical sectors, but also the financial sector, transport, and agriculture.
InterConnect is all about matchmaking but on a completely different level. According to the participant’s feedback, it is new and did not exist before in such a way. The mission of the summit is to connect the local economy with global decision-makers, that share the same interest in doing business, and are looking at the same challenges so that new relations and solutions arise. It is purely driven by the global economy, not by politics.
The state of the world economy today, the projections of the future economic trends, the solving of problems in supply chains, the digitization of business and new ideas for overcoming the global crisis are only some of the topics to be discussed by the leading people of local and global business.
 B2B meetings between Western Balkan and hosted C-levels will be an excellent opportunity for the internationalization of local companies, the establishment of partnerships, and new projects with foreign companies and among each other.
Participation has been confirmed so far by companies from Serbia and the region, from nearly 20 different industries, and, over the course of two days, the capital of Serbia will host top managers of multinational companies whose annual turnover exceeds EUR 50 billion. 
&nbsp;A special guest for the included gala dinner at Belgrade Waterfront will be Jean-Marc Gales, one of the most important and influencing C-levels in the Automotive sector. Jean-Marc (a native of Luxembourg) was a C-level board member of Volkswagen, Daimler, FCA (FiatChrysler), General Motors, Groupe PSA, and Plastic Omnium (Faurecia). Recently he was CEO of the carmaker Lotus and took care of the acquisition by Chinese global player Geely. Currently, he is a multiple Non-Executive Board Member of Tevva Trucks (electrical Truck start-up), Tikehau Capital, LuxProvide, Euro Group, and Williams Advanced Engineering. In a nutshell, Jean-Marc is one of the few people worldwide that can speak clearly about the future of the Automotive and connected sectors.
 Who are the speakers and guests of the summit?
 The speakers at InterConnect 2022 will be:
<ul class="text-justify"><li class="text-justify">Dr. Oliver Frille, CPO & Managing Director, INEOS Automotive, carmaker (projected turnover in 2023 1.7 billion EUR). 
 </li><li class="text-justify">Ferdinand Wieland, SVP Procurement & Supply Chain, ThyssenKrupp Automotive Technology, Automotive Tier 1 supplier, 5 billion EUR turnover, spend responsibility 1.7 billion EUR.
 </li><li class="text-justify">Yasar Hanli, Director Digital, L’Oréal Germany & Austria, Luxury & Consumer Goods, 32 billion EUR turnover. </li><li class="text-justify">Lukas Leutgöb, Head of R&D and all B2B Business, Zentis Group, Food & Food Processing, 600 million EUR turnover. 
 </li><li class="text-justify">Daniel Steinberg, Alliance Lead for Central & Eastern Europe, Teradata, Digital Transformation, 2 billion EUR turnover. 
 </li><li class="text-justify">Branko Živanović, Senior Director, Celonis, Digital Transformation, company validation of 13 billion EUR. 
 </li><li class="text-justify">Dragoljub Kelečević, CPO, OECE, NGO, 350 million EUR turnover.
 </li><li class="text-justify">Matthias Loidold, Director, Mercuri Urval (MU), Executive and Organisational Consulting, 85 million EUR turnover. 
 </li><li class="text-justify">Marko Čadež, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia (CCIS) and President of the Managing Board of the Western Balkan 6 Chamber Investment Forum.
 </li></ul>
&nbsp;Moderators are:
<ul class="text-justify"><li class="text-justify">Marta Arsovska Tomovska, Director for the reform of the public administration and eGovernment, in the cabinet of the prime minister of Serbia.
 </li><li class="text-justify">Aleksandar Međedović, Senior Expert at IFC (World Bank Group).
 </li></ul>
Guests of the summit are: 
<ul class="text-justify"><li class="text-justify">Uwe Ackermann, Vice President Procurement, PUREM by Eberspaecher, Automotive Tier 1 supplier, 5 billion EUR turnover.
 </li><li class="text-justify">Nenad Pavletić, Managing Director, Gedeon Richter, Pharmaceutical, 1.5 billion EUR turnover.
 </li><li class="text-justify">Hans-Jörg Leuze,&nbsp;Managing Director, König Metall, Metall Processing, 220 million EUR turnover.
 </li><li class="text-justify">Giacomo Bertossi,&nbsp;Commercial Director, mevis spa, Metall Processing, 200 million EUR turnover.
 </li><li class="text-justify">Cyril Corbaz,&nbsp;Head of SCM and Procurement, EAO AG, Human Machine Interfaces, 150 million EUR turnover.
 </li><li class="text-justify">Christian Lechner,&nbsp;Managing Director (CEO), vandaglas Austria, Glass Processing & Associate Director at AEQUITA, 50 million EUR turnover.
 </li></ul>
<ul class="text-justify"><li class="text-justify">Giuseppe Zini, Owner & CEO, SAG Tubi, Metal Processing, 50 million EUR turnover.
 </li></ul>
<ul class="text-justify"><li class="text-justify">David Heer,&nbsp;CPO & Head of Supply Chain, SAG Tubi, Metal Processing, 50 million EUR turnover.
 </li></ul>
<ul class="text-justify"><li class="text-justify">Edin Dacić, CEO,&nbsp;Daccomet AG, Wood & Furniture, 21 million EUR turnover.
 </li></ul>
<ul class="text-justify"><li class="text-justify">Muamer Babajić, Founder of DKR – German Center for Robotics & Founder and Managing Director (CEO), MASTERWERK, 5 million EUR turnover.
 </li><li class="text-justify">Franco dal Molin, CEO, Value Leap, IT Nearshoring (Ex Ciklum Executive).
 </li></ul>
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Company Leaders from Serbia and the Region will Meet on September 28-29 in Belgrade

The video game industry is a huge force in the development of Serbia, where 3,000 people work in 130 gaming companies whose total revenues last year alone amounted to around 125 million euros, it was said at the regional meeting "Level Up your IP: 101 Strategies for Videogame Developers" in Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia.
Due to the rapid growth of the gaming industry and its global importance, the protection of intellectual property rights plays a key role in the further development of this type of business in Serbia, said Mihailo Vesović, Director of the Sector for Strategic Analysis, Services, and Internationalization at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia.
 
"With more than 200 billion dollars a year, the video game industry in the world and in our country is starting to be a huge force of development. "More than 130 companies in Serbia employ about 3,000 people in this industry," said Vesović.
 
This fast-growing industry is predicted to be worth around $330 billion in 2026, and the number of gamers in the world will soon reach three billion.
 
Vladimir Marić, Director of the Institute for Intellectual Property, pointed to the fact that in the 70s of the last century, the share of so-called intangible assets, patents, trademarks, and industrial design in the company's assets, amounted to 17 percent, and today that percentage is 85 percent. He added that five percent of the GDP in Serbia is created by creative industries, and half of that amount comes from the ICT sector.
 
"Entire economic branches and industries have grounds on intellectual property." Therefore, every modern society must take care of the protection of intellectual property, among other things, by working on education in this area, first of all its businessmen and academic citizens, but also all others who participate in the cultural and economic life of our country “, Maric said.
 
The ICT sector in Serbia has achieved great growth in recent years, and gaming, along with blockchain, is seen as one of the most promising sectors. The three biggest acquisitions in Serbia that happened in the ICT sector came from the gaming sector, recalled Relja Bobić, Program Director of the Association of Video Games Industry of Serbia.
 
Virag Halgand, Head of the Department for Central Europe and Baltic and Mediterranean countries at the World Intellectual Property Organization emphasized that with 300 billion dollars of global results in two years, the video game industry has shown resilience and that the demand is growing and not decreasing.

Gaming Industry - the Development Force of Serbia

Stronger promotion of digital services, improvement of digital skills, and assistance to companies in the process of digital business transformation are the priorities of the Chambers of Commerce of the Western Balkans, it was pointed out at the opening of the Digital Academy, which will be held from September 20 to 23 in Brezovica, organized by the&nbsp; Western Balkans Six Chamber Investment Forum ( CIF WB6).
Tatjana Šterjova Duškovska, Secretary General of CIF WB6, pointed out that chambers of commerce must monitor changes in the market and develop services that will contribute to competitiveness and better cooperation of companies in the region, bearing in mind the European perspective of the Western Balkan region. "It is important for the chambers to support companies in the development and use of digital tools," said Duškovska and added that the three-day academy, with the participation of experts from the region, will be an opportunity to present the best digital services for companies, their functioning, and transferability to other chambers. The head of the Department for Digital Transformation in the European Commission, Malgorzata Nikovska, says that the focus of digital transformation in the EU is on networking, development of business infrastructure and skills in using digital services, as well as financial support for companies in the digitalization of business. "Only 60 percent of companies in the EU are digitally literate, and our goal is that in the next ten years, most companies will fully use digital services. That's why we are developing digital hubs where people can get direct help in this process," said Nikovska. Lina Konstantinopolou, Policy Director at Eurochambers, said that companies in the EU and the Western Balkans region are increasingly investing in the development of digital tools, but also face a lack of financial support in this area. "It is important to provide support for the development of services that would speed up the formation of a single regional market and facilitate the flow of goods, capital, services, and people," pointed out&nbsp; Konstantinopolou. The "Digital Academy" was organized with the support of the European Commission and the Eurochambres, and gathered more than forty representatives of regional chambers and experts for the development of digital services from Italy, Hungary, Austria, and Croatia.

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On the second day of the academy, the Center for Digital Transformation of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia presented a project that was implemented in cooperation with the German Organization for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the Austrian Chamber of Commerce (WKO). „During three years project, 68 consultants were trained and certified (ISO 17024 standard) in the fields of business models and processes, e-commerce and social media, as well as IT security and GDPR, artificial intelligence. Also, 6 trained and certified CDT trainers for future generations of certified consultants were trained and our plan is to have around 100 certified consultants in the next two years in order to reach 1,000 companies that will go through the CDT consulting process as part of the Digital Transformation Support Program for MSMEs," said Tijana Kolaković from CDT. 

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Digitalization of Services Priority of the Chambers in the Western Balkans

(Photo Tanjug)The Republic of Korea recognizes Serbia as one of the most important investment destinations in Europe and is ready to continue investing in our country by opening new factories, as well as working on joint projects with Serbian companies in the spheres of energy, information, and communication technologies, e-mobility, and food industry, it was said at the third investment forum "Korea - Western Balkans" in Belgrade.
"Korean partners are extremely interested in the Western Balkans and Serbia. Cooperation with Korea, which is the fourth Asian economy, the tenth economy in the world, and the seventh largest exporter in the world, is extremely important. They need food, they are big importers of copper products from Serbia, as well as corn," says Mihailo Vesović, Director of the Sector for Strategic Analysis, Services and Internationalization of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia.
 
Serbia is interested in technological cooperation with R. Korea, especially in the field of energy and the transfer of knowledge and experience in the sphere of the use of nuclear energy, food production, solutions in the field of "smart cities" and digital transformation.
 
H.E. Jaewoong LEE, Ambassador of Korea to Serbia, says that Korean companies in our country employ about 10,000 people, mostly in the field of the automotive industry, and that in the coming period, the goal is to increase trade between the two countries and open new Korean factories in Serbia.
 
"Our idea is to additionally represent Serbia as an investment destination, to help promote Serbia in this way, and for as many Korean companies as possible to open their representative offices in your country in the future," said Jaewoong.
 
16 Korean companies and 90 domestic and regional companies participated in the forum, and around 100 B2B meetings were held.
 
The total foreign trade exchange with the Republic of Korea amounted to 418.3 million euros in 2021, while in the first six months of this year, the exchange of goods reached the figure of 295.4 million euros.
 
The third investment forum "Korea - Western Balkans" was organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Belgrade, the Korean Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), the Korean National Information Agency (NIA), in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia.

Korean Companies are Looking for Partners in Serbia

InterConnect Executive Summit is the top business network event in the Western Balkans region, planned and organized with global economic excellence. This recurring event connects local company owners and C-levels, with speakers and guests of global rank – and with each other.„Unlike the usual conferences where current topics are discussed, the business conference InterConnect (InterConnect Executive Summit) brings something new, because it will connect our companies with the directors of the largest multinational companies from Europe and the world who are looking for new suppliers and services, to make a new deal“, said the president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia (CCIS), Marko Čadež. The business summit, organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, the Chamber Investment Forum of the Western Balkans will be held in Belgrade on September 28 and 29, and according to the president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, it will bring to the Serbian capital the top management of multinational companies whose total annual turnover exceeds 50 billion euros. "The conference will be an opportunity for our businessmen to meet with the managers of those companies who decide with whom they will work and to find new business. From large companies, among others, we expect representatives of Celonis, L'Oréal, Teradata, Zentis Group, Ineos automotive", Čadež pointed out.&nbsp; Companies that will participate in the business forum are from various sectors but most of them are from the automotive, and metal processing industry, but also the food and furniture industry, as well as glass processing. It is expected that representatives of about 200 of our companies will be present at the summit, and when it comes to the topics that will be discussed, it will, first of all, be a digital transformation in all business segments, then robotics and supply chain management. "The topics are very complex, but the most important thing is to exchange experience about the current moment and what are the expectations of business people in the world, where are we in all this and how can we better respond to the problems that are the same for all of us", Čadež concluded. It is planned that during both days of the conference B2B discussions will be held in parallel with the thematic and plenary parts of the program.

InterConnect Executive Summit- The Top Business Network Event in the Western Balkan Region

The delegation of the International Bureau of Exhibitions (BIE) visited the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia and spoke with representatives of the Serbian business community about the country's candidacy for the specialized world exhibition Expo 2027. The economy supports such events and Serbia has the capacity to be a good host. This has been confirmed several times in practice, it was pointed out at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia. Such events serve the purpose of promoting Serbia at all levels, from the economy to the culture of sports and art.
"BIE members have the task of determining whether Belgrade and Serbia are ready and in what way they are able to organize a significant world exhibition. What is important for us is that they came to CCIS to talk with businessmen about our possibilities. The economy is looking forward to this event, which is not only important for one sector, for example, tourism, but for the complete branding of Serbia and the creation of an atmosphere of international trust in business, but also an excellent opportunity for a large number of business people and decision-makers to visit Serbia," said Mihailo Vesović, Director of the Sector for Internationalization of CCIS.
Serbia is an official candidate for the organization of the Specialized exhibition EXPO 2027. The candidacy of Serbia is based on the topic “Play for humanity – sport and music for all”.&nbsp; 

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Representatives of International Bureau of Exhibitions meet Serbian Business Community

The jury consisting of 25 international wine judges, including five Master of Wine holders, announced the best wines in nine categories, two of which are for autochthonous grape varieties, at the first international wine fair “Wine Vision by Open Balkan”.&nbsp; &nbsp;
Awards were given in the categories of white, red, rosé, sparkling, sweet, orange and fortified wines, and special awards for autochthonous varieties were given in the categories of red and white wines.
The trophy for the best white wine was won by Pesak sivi pinot grigio 2021 by winery Vrt, Ridjica, Serbia, the best red wine was Rodoslov Reserve 2016 by winery Aleksandrović, in the rosé wine category, the winner of the Open Balkan Wine Trophy was Nemir Rose Prokupac Cabernet 2021 by winery Despotika, in the sparkling wine category the awarded wine was Triumph noir sparkling 2019 by winery Aleksandrović. 
In the special category of orange wines, the trophy was given to The Orange Gewurztraminer 2019, Chateau Kamnik Macedonia, in the category of sweet wines, the trophy was won by Tri sunca traminac late harvest 2016, winery Fruškogorski vinogradi, while in the category of fortified wines the trophy went to Medusa crvena 2021 winery art et vinum Serbia. 
Top rated wines from the autochthonous varieties of the Balkans in the category of red wines were Barovo red 2019, Tikveš Chateaux and Domains, North Macedonia, as well as Grašac beli 4.0 2021, winery Verkat Fruška gora. 
The awards were given by the Prime Minister of Serbia, Ana Branabić, who highlighted that “the best emotion that was felt among the countries of the Western Balkans was the one that was felt during the previous three days of the fair”. The Prime Minister expressed her hope that the fair, which was attended by about 400 exhibitors from 22 countries, would become a traditional one. 
The wine evaluation coordinator, Igor Luković, emphasized that it was very important that judges of the highest rank gathered in Belgrade and that the evaluation was held at the same level like in other major world wine fairs.
 
&nbsp;“This is a big step towards the international wine scene and a return to the oldest wine Europe, because the wine culture first arrived here and then moved to the north and west”, underlined Luković.&nbsp;He added that the sommeliers transferred 2400 bottles of wine and washed more than 2000 glasses in the previous two days.
 
The head of the jury was Caroline Gilby, Master of Wine, considered the world’s greatest authority on the wines of Southeastern Europe and the Western Balkans. She has been engaged in wine from this area for more than 30 years and has seen a real revolution in production and progress in technology. “I believe that local types of wine such as the Prokupac Vranac and Grašac, which had a difficult past and a long history, are very important”, she said.
 
As part of the fair Wine Vision by Open Balkan, the Association of Brandy Producers of Serbia awarded trophies and plaques to distilleries for the top-rated plum fruit brandies and other fruit brandies, at Moskva Hotel on August 28, 2022. A seven-member committee evaluated the quality of 47 samples of fruit brandies. &nbsp;In the plum fruit brandy category, the top-rated sample was from EKO Technology distillery - Čedina rakija, old plum brandy, while in the other fruit brandy category, the winning trophy went to Braća Tomašević distillery for Ognjena rakija apple brandy. Other awarded brandies are from the following distilleries: Dar Visova, Zavet distillery, Rubin a.d.&nbsp;Kruševac, Stara Pesma, AS Group, BB Klekovača, Zlatna Kap distillery, Zarić, Tribalija, Gegula, Rakija Potpis, Floriva, Gorda, TOK, Hubert 1924, Simex original, Podrum Pevac, Staničić 1884, Momirović distillery, Pruna, Rakija iz Rakije, Kolarević, Zlokolica, Šamar rakija and Tzuga rakija.

Winners of the Open Balkan Wine Trophy Announced at the Wine Fair

Famous Austrian magazine on wine, food and travel, Falstaff, marked Serbia as a winegrowing country on the rise, whose winemaking culture dates back to ancient times, having estimated that our country today has modern equipped wineries in all wine growing areas where a wide range of premium quality wines are made.
Falstaff is the most significant European magazine on wine, food and travel, with the circulation over 100.000 copies and that has been published since the 1980’ and distributed in 41 countries worldwide. 
 
On the occasion of the coming international wine fair “Wine Vision by Open Balkan” in Belgrade,&nbsp; Peter Moser, Editor in Chief, in his author’s text emphasises that Serbia has an excellent opportunity to present best from its wine cellars “on the stage that promises a lot”.
 
“Wine culture of Serbia has its deep roots in the history, in addition to the impact of Thracians and Greeks, Romans were those who used this good local climate and land for wine growing. After a long period when it was forbidden to make wine out of the central Roman empire, in the third century A.D. the wine production started again here in today’s territory of Serbia, primarily in the region of Fruška gora in Vojvodina, which then was called Sirmium”, Moser states in the text. 
 
He emphasizes significant historical moments for the development of winegrowing in the territory of Serbia, from Roman Emperor Probus, who was born in the territory of today’s Sremska Mitrovica, and who was respected by wine lovers and winegrowers in many areas of Europe, then Constantine the Great, over the monastery estates of the Serbian orthodox church that had their own wine production, particularly in the Monasteries Ravanica Manasija, Gračanica, Serbian resistance to Turkish prohibition to cultivate vineyards, and to large industrial wine production in the former Yugoslavia.
 
“Over the last three decades, ancient wine culture in Serbia has been again on the rise. &nbsp;The country has various terroires and climate zones, which means that excellent quality wine can be made out of a large number of varieties and styles“, estimates Moser, mentioning elegant and dry white wine from Riesling in Fruška gora, to Chardonnay, aromatic Tamjanika, Smedrevka, Krstač, Prokupac&hellip;.
 
The current area covered by grape vine in Serbia amounts to 20,113 hectare, and is divided in 77 winegrowing regions and subzones. In 2021, there were 430 registered wine makers. 
“Today, Serbia possesses modern and equipped wineries in all winemaking regions where a wide range of premium quality wine is made. In addition to the autochthonous grape varieties, demand for high quality global grape varieties is increasing. At the new trade fairs, such as the Open Balkan wine fair, guests and wine lovers from both the country and abroad could now get a better insight into the development level of Serbian wine and get information from winegrowers firsthand”, Moser stated, inter alia, having concluded “One thing is clear: there is something to be discovered in Serbian wine cellars”. 
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Top European Wine Magazine: Serbia is a Winegrowing Country on the Rise 

Serbian companies will prepare an export offer of food products and chemical industry products, given the interest expressed by Equatorial Guinea. This was agreed upon at the meeting of the director of the Internationalization Sector of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia (CCIS), Mihailo Vesović, and representatives of the delegation of Equatorial Guinea led by&nbsp;Minister of Trade,&nbsp;Micha Ondo Bile and Secretary of State,&nbsp;Obono Angue. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the companies Beohemija, Min Komerc, and Yumis, which is a long-standing exporter to Africa.
We are interested in cooperation with Serbia, especially when we talk about the import of food and chemical products that will help us to overcome the crisis that our country is currently facing, which was caused by events in the world and disruptions in the world markets," said Obono Angue, Secretary of State.&nbsp;She pointed out that Equatorial Guinea has an economic growth rate of 3.5 percent, inflation at the level of 2 percent, and that the country has over 3,400 kilometers of paved roads, eight ports with deep water, and five airports, all of which favor the development of industry and trade. "Our current priority is to supply the market with the necessary products, but we are interested in cooperation with Serbian companies in other sectors as well as investments from Serbia," Angue said.
 
Mihailo Vesović, Director of the CCIS Internationalization Sector, said that Serbian companies recognize the interest in cooperation with Equatorial Guinea. "We want to improve economic relations paved by developing political relations. Payment transactions between the two countries are functioning, which is important for business development, while trade relations will be followed by the development of investments," said Vesović, and invited Serbian companies to prepare an export offer based on the expressed interest in products, quantities, and deadlines.
 
In the previous period, Serbia exported to Equatorial Guinea mainly conductors, plastic pipes and equipment for agriculture and agricultural mechanization, bus tires, and tools. Foreign trade exchange in 2021 amounted to around 1.5 million dollars, while in the first half of 2022 the exchange reached about 375 thousand dollars.