09-IX-2001.
Two years in, already without a job, but holding steady.
Ford is sitting alone in former Zero's offices, like a phantom. I dropped by yesterday to get the disks. I peeked into the ground floor neighbors' offices to ask whether it's okay that I parked in the back - really didn't feel like going for the upper parking lot, and they said there's one guy who keeps sitting upstairs. He said he made a deal with Leevor to about 5000$ for each of us, not bad at all, except considering the 4000$ that Zero ended ofwing me.
And this from dad (with mom jumping in at some point)
Mom remimded me that in its time someone from oilery invited you to work there. Hence I remembered, so I am using this space between in time, to write you briefly a little about the oilery. In 1994 the oilers took loans from „dijamant* banka“ (!?!) and bought the stock, so became owners of the largest oilery on the Balkan. Evil tongues tell that the sale of stock lasted (on the one given day) from 7,00 to 7,15 hours, and anyone who came later remained short sleeved. For more than a year now, the city and the local press, with the „Otpor“ (resistance) movement, search for the list of stock owners, because it was leaked to the public that 28 privileged ones hold 62% of stock. The oilers state that everything went by the law starting with Ante Marković and his successors (meaning governments) and that in the passed period they had almost 5000 audits and MUP [ministry of interior] controls, of financial police, bank's organs, agencies for assessment of means and privatization, and the government's organs with a constatation that everything was legal. This summer they had a law of one-time taxation of all who used the society owned means to gain enormous profit or capital in such a „legal“ way.
The oilery stock owners were first in FRY who paid that tax at the level of 1,2 million DEM. Of course, they did so by taking a loan from Dijamant banka, and the bank they own. And they repay the loan from the dividends.
In the last issue of „Zrenjanin“ the „Otpor“ published, signed in full name and surname of their representative, the list of the elite (28) stock owners, listed by quantity thereof. Which all would not be interesting, were among them not three workers who died before 1994. One of the three is the father of your professor Sofija, who died six years before taking the loan and bying the stock. On the top of the list is Ana Pataki, once the chief accountant, who retired long ago and is very old, and had no idea that she's the biggest owner of the stock.
Few evenings ago Sava Knežević** was a guest on „Santros“. The talk took about one whole hour. He was fluent, but a considerable amount of words, even whole sentences, was repeated many times. What can we say. Milk and honey. When he got to the factory everything there got reborn, progressed, the factory acquired european fame, the doors of all business friends are open, with whom he does business without any guarantees from banks or state, even during the sanctions he didn't break any relationships. The sale of stock was announced for three weeks (didn't say how long did the sale last) and the announcements were posted in all the proper places everywhere in the factory. Not one worker ever complained during his mandate (SIC - he doesn't read newspaper) nor about the stock sale. I don't know how he is as a director, I remember how he was when he was a newbie and I didn't appreciate him, but judging by this talk on Santos, a demagogue squared. I have an impression that he thinks that the public (listeners) have sucked oars [ie. are gullible to the hilt].
We got an impression that this first performance was just the introduction, and the next time it will be with questions and comments from the audience. So we'd see how much milk and honey remained.
Oilery took a lot of space, really a gigant by production - 20.000 tons of bottled oil per hour, but Đinđić and Dragan Veselinov consider applying antimonopoly law on oileries. This s just part on oilery.
I replied the next day: „That oilery used to be a country unto itself while those were in power. Where else did it happen that the director pays an unknown amount to some outfit in Bulgaria to pronounce him the balkan businessman of the year, and then pays a bunch of his goons a bus to go there and to cheer and clap for him, while at the same time the peasants are blocking the factory gates because the last year's sunflower wasn't paid for yet“.
Today we visited Go and Ricardo in Alexandria, well, no more - Jose bought a house in Bridgewood, so we went there to deliver Go's linnen. Didn't have a place for it before.
The house is nice, the ground floor hardwood needs some work and the whole needs some cleanup, and then it'll be livable. Not exactly DC, this is a suburb, by the main local street, and even there only four lights to I-95, which is the main east coast highway, which goes from Boston to the very south, mostly following the coast. Some thirty kilometers to DC. It's a townhouse, there's a bit of a patio, less then ten meters square, and beyond it a meadow slopes down to a creek and then there's a basketball court on the opposing slope. The grass is manicured short, all the way to the creek, on both sides. Nice place.
Spent most of the afternoon at the fair, well, mostly the girls, who went for most of the rides. We two did share one ride with Lena on a Ferris wheel, which was interesting by itself, and not so challenging to the intestines. His younger brother was with us, and I think Marla too, not sure as I don't see her on the pictures.
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* „Dijamant“ (diamond) is the brand of their oil, and the oilery owned this bank. Even we in Avai held part of our money there, and our payroll went through it.
** Two errors here - the TV station is Santos, this is a typo. More important is that the CEO is not Sava, he's a Savo [as is customary in the montagnari regions], and Đ. Vojinović [we knew each other, though met rarely] was stretching this difference on his Kojot (coyote) radio for all it was worth, declensing it not the bosnian way Savo-Save-Savom, but as if it were french, a Saveau, Savo-Savoa-Savoom.
Mentions: Allan Robin (Ford), Avai, Gorana Sredljević (Go), Jelena Sredljević (Lena), Jose Bariero, Leevor, Marla, payroll, Ricardo Manuel Bariero (Ricardo), Sofija Letin, Zero Distance (Zero), in serbian