http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/country/serbia.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=98425 http://tobacco.org/news/273868.html The Croatian journalist Ivo Pukanic, who was murdered in Zagreb on October 23, had been one of the main witnesses in a Balkan cigarette contraband investigation of the police in the Italian city of Bari, the Italian Prosecutor Guiseppe Scelsi announced as quoted by the Trieste newspaper Il Piccolo. Scelsi expressed the alarm of the Italian prosecution over the assassination of the owner of the Croatian newspaper Nacional, who was also its Editor-in-Chief, because it was going to affect the investigation against the Balkan cigarette smuggling mafia. The Prosecutor also pointed out that another journalist who was also a witness in the tobacco contraband case - the Editor-in-Chief of Montenegro's Dan Daily Dusko Jovanovic - had been murdered in Podgorica on May 27, 2004. According to Scelsi, the current Prime Minister and former President of Montenegro Milo Djukanovic had also been investigated as potentially involved in the Balkan cigarette smuggling ring but the investigation against him would be terminated because of his diplomatic immunity. Novinite.com Italy Balkans Serbia Croatia Fri, 31 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://in.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idINTRE49G5OC20081017?sp=true http://tobacco.org/news/272612.html Croatia -- where almost 13,000 people, the size of a small town -- die of smoking each year, became the first to take more concrete steps on Friday, when parliament passed a tough new anti-smoking bill. The law banning cigarettes from all public places takes effect almost immediately, a move certain to displease almost one third of the European Union candidate country's 4.4 million people who smoke. Only cafe and restaurant owners will have a six-month transition period. The law also restricts any smoking-related media campaigns. "We want to do something for our health and catch up with European standards," Health Minister Darko Milinovic told parliament when presenting the bill this month. . . . So, the ban is likely to improve quality of life here, but will almost certainly impact cafe owners, who depend very much on smoking clientele, but face a fine of up to 150,000 kuna ($28,180) if found in violation. . . . Neighboring Serbia nominally banned smoking in public places in 1995 but the law has never been implemented and smokers can be seen everywhere in its sprawling capital Belgrade. Reuters india.advertising@reuters.com (Zoran Radosavljevic) Serbia Croatia Fri, 17 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.b92.net/eng/news/crimes-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=06&dd=30&nav_id=51526 http://tobacco.org/news/267925.html The trial of an organized cigarette smuggling group continued today at the Special Organized Crime Court in Belgrade. The members of the network, allegedly led by Stanko Subotić, are charged for having illegally imported cigarettes to Serbia during the 1990s. There has been no official explanation yet regarding the Russian authorities’ recent rejection of a request to extradite Subotić, held in Moscow since April and released last week, the Ministry of Justice said today. . . . The trial continued this morning with former Milošević-era Federal Customs chief Mihalj Kertes entering his plea. Kertes rejected all charges against him and said that "the only correct thing in the entire indictment" was his name. "The indictment says that I let trucks [loaded with cigarettes] through for three gangs, but it doesn’t say that I took my share. That’s impossible. Why would I allow the trucks to enter the country and not take my share? The prosecutor is trying to make me look like an imbecile . . . Kertes was indicted for his alleged membership in a criminal gang led by Mirjana Marković, and Marko Milošević – the wife and son of Slobodan Milošević. . . . The former customs chief also repeated the defense he used at his other trials, saying that "his end began" after he was appointed to the job, and after he managed to suppress smuggling and increase the customs revenues mulitfold in 1994. Radio B92 Yugoslavia Serbia Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=05&dd=31&nav_id=50700 http://tobacco.org/news/266686.html BELGRADE -- Today is World No Tobacco Day, marked every year around the globe on May 31. According to statistics, almost one in two men and one in three women smoke in Serbia. . . . In Serbia, much emphasis is placed on legal regulations intended to fight the habit, while at the same time, losing sight of the fact that these regulations have their limits linked to the interests of society in terms of revenue from the manufacture and sale of tobacco. Radio B92 Serbia Sat, 31 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.b92.net/eng/news/crimes-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=04&dd=28&nav_id=49817 http://tobacco.org/news/264296.html Stanko Subotić, one of the key suspects in the 1990s cigarette smuggling case, has been arrested in Moscow. Serbian police, MUP, today confirmed the news, and added that Subotić is now in detention pending his extradition to Serbia. Subotić, a Serbian businessman, is charged with organizing a criminal group that in 1995 and 1996 illegally imported and sold cigarettes in the Serbian market. Radio B92 Russia Serbia Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.b92.net/eng/news/crimes-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=04&dd=29&nav_id=49824 http://tobacco.org/news/264293.html BELGRADE -- The trial of Stanko Subotić and others suspected of participating in the cigarette smuggling ring of the 1990s, could be delayed. Subotić was arrested in Moscow yesterday. The Special Sector of the Belgrade District Court stated that the trial, scheduled to begin on May 19, could be pushed back until Subotić is extradited. The Special Organized Crimes Court stated that the trial, scheduled to begin on May 19, could be pushed back until Subotić is extradited. Radio B92 Russia Serbia Tue, 29 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.b92.net/eng/news/crimes-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=04&dd=08&nav_id=49213 http://tobacco.org/news/262829.html BELGRADE -- Sinisˇa Stojcˇic´, charged with illegally importing and selling cigarettes in the 1990s, yesterday pled not guilty. He told the Special Organized Crime Department of the Belgrade District Court that it is impossible that his brother, former deputy interior minister Radovan Stojcˇic´, a.k.a. Badzˇa, "who fought against crime, could have organized a criminal group", the so-called Tobacco Mafia. Sojcˇic´ said that the charges are a "product of hate against his brother and his business success". He added his brother, a high-ranking MUP commander during the Milosˇevic´ regime, could not have smuggled and sold cigarettes illegally in 1997, because he was killed in April 1997. . . . A group of nine people is being charged for illegally importing and selling cigarettes on the territory of Serbia in 1997, costing the state about USD 2mn. Radio B92 Yugoslavia Serbia Tue, 08 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Politics/?id=1.0.2024949321 http://tobacco.org/news/262405.html The testimony by Montenegro's prime minister Milo Djukanovic (photo) on cigarette smuggling before Italian prosecutors in the southern Italian city of Bari was a shame for the country, opposition leaders said on Monday. Djukanovic, who has been considered the absolute political leader of Montenegro for the past eighteen years, surprisingly appeared before Bari prosecutors last Friday, answering their questions for more than six hours. . . . Djukanovic is being investigated for a multimillion-dollar cigarette smuggling operation to Italy and for offering free access and shelter to Italian mafia members in Montenegro ports between 1994 and 2002. He has repeatedly denied the charges and the rumours that he was being investigated. . . . Nebojsa Medojevic, the leader of the main opposition party, the Movement for Changes, said Djukanovic had shamed Montenegro by refusing to answer all of the 80 questions put by Bari prosecutors, invoking diplomatic immunity. AKI Italy Montenegro Serbia Mon, 31 Mar 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/cigarette-smugglers-caught-at-bulgarian-greek-border/id_27350/catid_66 http://tobacco.org/news/259088.html Tens of thousands of cigarettes were seized at the Kulata border crossing between Bulgaria and Greece on January 31. Nikolai Shoushkov, head of customs at the border crossing, said the cigarettes were found in a car with a Bulgarian registration. The cigarettes were found in the luggage and in hidden compartments in the car, Focus news agency quoted Shoushkov as saying. Sofia Echo Bulgaria Greece Serbia Fri, 01 Feb 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.b92.net/eng/news/crimes-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=12&dd=15&nav_id=46207 http://tobacco.org/news/256705.html The Special Prosecution has announced that it has launched proceedings against the so-called Tobacco Mafia. The prosecution has pressed charges relating to abuse of authority and cigarette smuggling against nine suspects - Siniša Stoj?i?, Dejan Milenovi?, Mihajl Kertes, Petar Milenkovi?, Nebojša Nikoli?, Stojan Miši?, Radisav Gvozdenovi?, Nenad Živadinovi? and Zdravko Hristov. The inquiry determined that evidence existed that the group, whose ringleaders were Stoj?i? and his brother Radovan who was killed in 1997, by using the business structure of the R5 company in Niš owned by Siniša, and with the assistance of Customs officials and staff, allowed lorries carrying undeclared cigarettes to pass through the frontier unhindered. Radio B92 Serbia Sat, 15 Dec 2007 05:00:00 GMT http://www.b92.net/eng/news/crimes-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=12&dd=05&nav_id=45948 http://tobacco.org/news/256288.html The Organized Crime Prosecutor’s Office has indicted Stanko Subotić for involvement in cigarette smuggling activities. Fourteen other people have been indicted along with Subotić, the controversial Geneva-based Serbian businessman. The indictment states that the group illegally earned DM 56mn, together with some USD 8mn, during the 1990s. Former Customs chief Mihalj Kertes is among the indicted. Prosecution spokesman Tomo Zorić said that the investigation into this case had begun six months ago. . . . Those indicted include Stanko Subotić, Mihalj Kertes, Nikola MiloÅ¡ević, Milan Ranković, Ivan Krčmaričić, Jovica RanÄ‘elović, Stevan Banović, NebojÅ¡a Nikolić, Milan Milanović, Drago Dodevski, Ivana Olujić, Miodrag ZaviÅ¡ić, Milovan Popivoda, Miroslav PeÅ¡ić and Luka Nenadić. Radio B92 Serbia Wed, 05 Dec 2007 05:00:00 GMT http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=86099 http://tobacco.org/news/253375.html Bulgaria's border police busted on Saturday a cigarette smuggling ring at Oltomantzi on the border with Serbia, in the Kyustendil region in western Bulgaria. Two Bulgarian nationals were arrested on charges of organising the smuggling on the Bulgarian side of the border, together with nearly 37,000 cigarette packs, worth some BGN 73 000 on the Bulgarian market. Novinite.com Bulgaria Serbia Sat, 06 Oct 2007 04:00:00 GMT http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article2546365.ece http://tobacco.org/news/252918.html Her death robs British journalism of a doughty, principled and brave reporter, whose own long fight against cancer always came second to her insistence on pursuing a story to the end. . . . In one of her last dispatches, in March last year, she wrote an account of her six-hour meeting with him in his prison cell. She had smuggled in two croissants, and Milosevic, courteous but pale and clearly in poor health, offered her in return one of his Davidoff cigarettes. . . . her fairness, balance and refusal to be a propaganda outlet won her widespread respect: her disappearance after the Nato attack was front-page news. Eve-Ann Page was born in 1952 . . . impressing her colleagues with her passion for the plight of farm labourers in tied cottages, her dedication to smoking and her ability to drink a pint of Elgood's bitter in four and a half seconds. . . . She died of cancer on September 20, 2007, aged 55 Times Of London Ireland Kosovo Serbia Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:00:00 GMT http://www.economy.co.yu/eng/index.php?action=news&subact=full&id=511 http://tobacco.org/news/252852.html Parliament also adopted amendments to the Law on tobacco which put an end to the previously compulsory tobacco-purchase system and bring excise on home and imported tobacco to the same level. The Law on tobacco has thus been harmonised with regulations of the EU and the World Trade Organisation and the CEFTA agreement. The law aims at enabling equal and stable conditions for developing domestic tobacco industry, increasing productivity and exporting domestic processed tobacco and tobacco products. Economy - Serbian Business News Serbia Tue, 25 Sep 2007 04:00:00 GMT http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=09&dd=17&nav_category=113&nav_id=43822 http://tobacco.org/news/252539.html -- The Special Organized Crime Prosecution launched an investigation into a tobacco smuggling ring led by Anton Stanaj. Stanaj was arrested at Belgrade Airport on September 13, while waiting to board a flight to Podgorica. Interior Minister Dragan Jo�i� confirmed at the time that five more persons suspected of belonging to the same group had been apprehended, including Pajo Juri�, Stevan Stevanovi�, Erik Karadzon, Slavisa Jurisi� i Sre�ko Miranovi� . . . Joćić explained that cigarettes had been smuggled from China, Croatia and Dubai, transferred via the ports of Bar in Montenegro, Bari in Italy and Rijeka in Croatia to reach Serbia and Hungary. Radio B92 China Yugoslavia Serbia Croatia Mon, 17 Sep 2007 04:00:00 GMT