People or corruption?

Work biography Dejan Šoškić it would take up a lot of space, that's why we list only the basic data. Full professor Faculty of Economics in Belgrade on the subjects Financial Markets, Analysis of Securities and Economic Statistics. As a visiting professor, he taught in America at the universities of Berkeley, New Haven and Rhode Island, he participated in many European projects, and trained in reputable European and American institutions. He was the governor of the National Bank in the period from 2010 to 2012. He is a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. He is the author of the book Securities: portfolio management and investment funds, co-author of books Financial markets and institutions, Economic statistics i Stock market glossary. He has published more than 70 articles and reports in the field of banking, monetary economics, financial markets and transition. With his 250 colleagues from the Student List, as well as students and citizens whose joint fight against the pernicious regime he joined, these days he is cruising around Serbia, meeting citizens, fighting for ideas that would make a devastated country an acceptable and safe place to live. Professor Šoškić speaks for "Vreme" about the economy, the falsification regime, preparations for the elections, but also about his personal choice to replace the professor's chair with an exhausting election campaign.

"WEATHER" You show optimism by claiming that it would, in economic terms, Serbia could withstand the change of government in such a way that the Student List would patch the holes through which the common money leaks directly into the pockets of the progressives or to their benefit. Is that enough??

DEJAN SOSKIC: Of course, Serbia can withstand a change of government in the economic sense because, as we know, a change of government does not cause any bankruptcy of the state. The economy continues to work, taxes are paid, the budget is filled, and budget users regularly receive their money, primarily salaries and pensions - both before and after the elections. However, state bankruptcy may follow if the systematic waste of citizens' money continues on overpriced and unproductive projects of questionable quality - EXPO, national stadiums and the like - and in a completely non-transparent manner that gives grounds for suspicion of large-scale corruption. According to Transparency International, Serbia is one of the four most corrupt countries in Europe, and on their list of perceptions of corruption, it has fallen by 36 places since 2012. From the same year and 2012 until today, the total growth of economic activity is about 40 percent, and the public debt is about 190 percent. Such trends are disastrous, especially since our country has not advanced enough in the field of economic competitiveness. This can be seen from the still unresolved issue of a relatively high and persistent deficit in the current part of the balance of payments.

photo: marija janković

In other words, The economy is bad..

Yes, it is a key proof that economic reforms have failed, and our economy is still weak. The victory of the Student List would bring suppression of corruption and collection of all unpaid taxes. This would reduce costs and increase the state's income, from which real foundations would be created for a permanent increase in wages and pensions in Serbia, as well as other appropriations from the budget. If in Montenegro from 2027 the minimum wage will be 1000 euros, and the minimum pension will be 500 euros, Serbia with its finances in order has no visible reason to lag significantly behind Montenegro in terms of salaries and pensions and other budget benefits. A detailed analysis after the change of government will show how much funds have been embezzled by corruption and how negative the financial effects of disastrous economic policies and the dissolution of institutions have been for more than 14 years. What can already be seen from the official statistics and analysis of investigative journalists is that the public debt has grown from 12,5 billion euros at the beginning of 2012 to more than 42 billion euros today, that Telekom's debt is probably more than five billion euros, that EPS owes more than one billion, that Srbijagas owes close to one billion, that the cross-border loans of our economy are around 20 billion euros, and that there are debts and outstanding obligations at the level of the city of Belgrade, other local governments and other public institutions.

If the Student List replaced the Essenes government, there is every chance that in "cockpit" found very unusual management mechanisms. Do you believe that the Student List has enough capacity in a relatively short period of time? "learn to fly"?

The functioning of the state should not be mystified. There is no cockpit and it is certain that there is no real pilot, because if there were, we would not be where we are. It is clear by which mechanisms the exchange rate of the dinar is maintained: foreign direct investments, constant borrowing and the sale of national resources to foreigners. Salaries and pensions arrive on time because we regularly and daily pay taxes and contributions both as citizens and as legal entities based in Serbia. Serbia settles external debts from its tax revenues and from new borrowings. There is no mysticism and no special wisdom. So who do we see as "great experts" in that regime who supposedly know something? Mostly trained people with purchased diplomas. Evidently, the biggest "experts" with them are one person who allegedly graduated from some badly ranked correspondence business school in rural America, one twice-proven plagiarist, and a woman who allegedly received her doctorate from a private university, where her party president completed his master's thesis at about the same time, the title of which he did not know when he was asked about it publicly. The student list has more than 140 PhDs. These are people of incomparably greater abilities. There is no need to waste words on the difference between honesty and morality.

And the whole regime is falsifying in nature: everything that students, citizens or persons from the Student List pronounce, mode takes over and repeats. There is also the posture in front of the cameras, What were you exposed to?, when they babble to cover the voices of their opponents?

This clearly shows lack of inventiveness, lack of education, but also panic in their ranks. The people have long seen the truth.

What economic model do you support??

For a market economy model that enables entrepreneurship and a free market, but strives for the economic system and economic activity to lead to the well-being of society as a whole.

Do you ideological diversity, necessary to oppose the autocratic regime, care or not?

I think that at this moment ideological diversity is less important because the struggle for preserving and restoring constitutionality and legality in Serbia is in the foreground.

The regime is, as always, is preparing to abuse people from Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Does the Student List have an answer to electoral engineering?

Students have an answer ready in advance for all possible and impossible situations.

photo: marija janković

It is quite certain that the regime would, in case of defeat, resisted from within. How to organize after the regime change?

All bad personnel appointed by the state can be removed from decision-making positions by the new executive power. The student list advocates the adoption of the law on lustration and the implementation of the law on the origin of property. The freed prosecutor's office and the entire judicial system will do their job, and independent professional commissions will choose the best candidates for decision-making positions in the public sector, in public competitions, in a completely transparent manner. Today it is much easier to know about quality people and find them. This regrettable decline of our country and state institutions in the last ten years has one great advantage for the future victorious government. People showed themselves as they are.

How important is support? "on the side"? The regime talks about some kind of huge money from the side that the Student List receives, while it is he who takes enormous sums from abroad.

The regime continues to be untruthful, and I think that is clear to everyone today. Candidates of the student list mostly independently finance the costs of travel and guest appearances in Serbia. There are also a lot of donations and voluntary contributions, for which we are all very grateful.

How would you compare the movement that fought against Milošević and Studentska List?

I think that even in the nineties, students and citizens are still fighting against similar political structures, even the same or similar parties and coalitions. It is essentially a fight for democracy, respect for the constitution and laws, freedom of speech, freedom of information, freedom to vote, respect for human and civil rights. It is a fundamental struggle for a civilized and advanced society, which Serbia deserves. We are obliged to fight for a better society for the sake of the generations of our ancestors, who invested their lives to create this country, but also for the sake of the generations of our descendants, to whom we should leave that better society, that better Serbia in which it is good to live and which has the prospect of survival. I think that the truth about the Student Movement and the Student List is becoming clearer every day to the citizens of the country, as well as to observers from abroad.

The campaign is exhausting.. How it all looks from your perspective?

It's a completely new experience for me. It is the result of a combination of circumstances and my promise to the students that I will support them if they want it. I travel a lot and I speak a lot with people all over the country, both on stands and directly. My impressions so far are outstanding. I talked to a lot of well-intentioned and smart people in different places and from different social strata of our society, all of whom are united by the need and will to save and improve our country. I also spoke with people who formally support the government in order to receive daily wages or because of some blackmail and intimidation. A large part of these people should not be criticized and belittled. They are in that unfortunate situation because of the absence of free and true information in the media, but also because of general poverty and a repressive system that blackmails, intimidates and humiliates its citizens. The legitimacy of the student movement is enormous. No one in the history of our country has gathered more people on the streets of Belgrade than the students in March last year. And that despite the suspension of railway and bus lines and a systematic media blockade. If we compare it with expensively paid meetings of the authorities, with transportation, food, drinks, bad but expensive music, blackmail, intimidation, bribery and the like, it is clear to everyone that the existing political structure has no legitimacy and that the mood of the citizens is convincingly on the side of the need for political change.

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