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Mineco Group representatives meeting the Serbian press

Posted by Aleksandra Hristov on January 27th, 2020 under Events | 1 Comment »

Hristov Consulting organized a meeting of Serbian media editors with leaders of the British company Mineco, one of the largest investors in the mining sector in the Western Balkans, at the Zepter Hotel in Belgrade on Thursday, January 16th.

Informal annual meeting of the Mineco Group CEO’s with media representatives was held for the fifth time, and traditionally. Mineco Group CEO Bojan Popovic spoke about Mineco’s results last year, while Mineco’s operations director Dominic Roberts briefed journalists on developments in the global market of metals, but also on the use of innovative technological solutions and on the penetration of new technologies in mining.

Invitation for this informal gathering was answered by 30 editors and journalists of the most influential Serbian media, including the economic ones, who expressed satisfaction with the exceptional communication they have with the Mineco leaders. After the meeting, a large number of news articles on this event appeared in the Serbian media.

Mineco Group has fulfilled its Plans for 2019

Posted by Aleksandra Hristov on January 16th, 2020 under Events | No Comments »

The British company Mineco Group, one of the largest mining investors in Serbia and the Western Balkans, is pleased with the results achieved in 2019, as it fulfilled its investment plans and the mines in the Group had certain sales of products.

“In terms of Mineco results in this region during 2019, this was a year of great and many small challenges. First of all, it was successful because we managed to provide certain sales of the products from our mines and to maintain the level of planned investments, although the situation on the market for the metals we deal with, became even more complex due to disruptions in the US-China trade relations”, said Mineco Group Director Bojan Popovic in Belgrade today.

Popović reminded that Mineco achieved the best results in 2017 since its establishment, while in the second half of 2018, prices on the international market of non-ferrous metals decreased, which directly affected the mines resulting in lower revenues. “This trend continued into 2019, but it did not slow Mineco’s development programme,” he added.

The mines operating within Mineco Group at full capacity – Rudnik Mine and Flotation near Gornji Milanovac, Veliki Majdan near Ljubovija and Gross Mine near Srebrenica, have continued a number of successful years – having fulfilled their production plans, continued exploration works and confirmed mine reserves.

Popović pointed out that Rudnik Mine on the Mountain of Rudnik achieved a special success because it managed to discover and confirm new mineral resources. “Four years ago, geological services followed with concern the diminishing reserves in ore bodies, but with great effort and millions of investments, new mineral resources have been found and now they are already being exploited. Now, this old mine has reserves confirmed for at least another ten years of production of lead, zinc and, to a lesser extent, copper concentrates, while future explorations will be focused on verifying the existence of other ore bodies based on new indications”, said Popović.

According to him, the impetus in the mineral exploration activity has inspired Mineco to include this activity in its regular business operations over the past two years – by purchasing sophisticated rigs for drilling at depths up to 500 meters, but also by engaging expert staff and retraining new personnel to perform these site work activities.

These expert teams have facilitated accelerated explorations on the Rudnik Mountain and at other sites, primarily near Foča in the Republic of Srpska, where Mineco has a concession for exploration and mining of lead, zinc and copper ores.

Mineco Director also said that he was particularly pleased that the construction of a brand new cerussite mine, lead oxide mineral, in Olovo, north of Sarajevo and a Plant for processing of that ore into lead concentrate was completed.

The first new mine with underground exploitation in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last 30 years was opened almost two years ago, but for the processing of ore in that mine it was necessary to construct a completely new gravity separation plant, which was purchased in South Africa. The delivery of this equipment to the mine was very complex and kilometres of forest roads were built. “Now all of the individual systems are installed in one technological unit at the mine site, and the production of concentrate has been commissioned and our experts are currently optimizing production parameters and the further training of operational personnel is underway“, said Popović.

As for another mine in this region that Mineco is developing, the Bosil-Metal mine in the Municipality of Bosilegrad, Popović recalled that a year and a half ago, a pilot project for flotation ore processing was commissioned, and a Feasibility Study Concerning the Construction of Commercial Lead, Zinc and Copper Ore Flotation Process was ordered and prepared during the last year.

“During this year, the Main Mining Project for the Bosil-Metal mine and the Environmental Impact Study will be prepared and all necessary approvals of the competent ministries of the Republic of Serbia for the construction of a commercial plant will be provided”, said Popovic, noting that the construction work has been planned for the third or fourth quarter of this year, in order that the commercial operation of the Mine could commence during 2021.

Mineco Director also estimated that 2020 might not bring a significant rise in metal prices on the world markets, but it is important for this company to successfully control the development of its projects. “This will give us an opportunity for two major capital projects to move into the revenue phase, which is an excellent basis for further development of other projects in the coming years,” said Popović.

Hristov Consulting on media language at the Serbian Chamber of Notaries Symposium

Posted by Aleksandra Hristov on December 15th, 2019 under Events | No Comments »

Within the format of the symposium, the Hristov Consulting consultants, that have cooperation with the Serbian Chamber of Notaries since June 2018., gave their presentation about the results of their work, and on the subjects of the language of the media and the professional attorneys’ terminology in media environment.

“Ever since we collaborate with SCN, jointly and within the media deadlines, we have responded to more than 40 journalists’ requests, and we had created and distributed 15 press releases about NPA and notaries activities”, Gordana Lazarević, Hristov Consulting consultant said.

However, journalists stated that on some occasions the answers tended to be overly complicated and elaborate, fact that motivated Hristov Consulting to, on this symposium, devote attention to the questions of the language in the media and use of the professional terminology, with intent to limit its use and explanations.

There was also a debate in reference to the language style related to the particular media profile, and how to avoid any confusion among journalists and wider public while following the various media.

At the symposium the notaries and their assistants from 133 offices in Serbia were present and actively took part in various panels.

Serbian Chamber of Notaries Symposium, over the weekend of 14th and 15th December 2019, at the mountain Kopaonik (Serbia) resort, had their Fourth yearly symposium where they discussed the rules of the notaries practice, their role in taxation process, and creating and use of the electronic documents.
Within the format of the symposium, the Hristov Consulting consultants, that have cooperation with the Serbian Chamber of Notaries since June 2018., gave their presentation about the results of their work, and on the subjects of the language of the media and the professional attorneys’ terminology in media environment.
“Ever since we collaborate with SCN, jointly and within the media deadlines, we have responded to more than 40 journalists’ requests, and we had created and distributed 15 press releases about NPA and notaries activities”, Gordana Lazarević, Hristov Consulting consultant said.

Ms. Lazarevic added that Hristov Consulting has received a positive feedback from the journalists following NPA, who all agreed they regularly receive timely and precise information without any avoiding of answering all the questions.
However, journalists stated that on some occasions the answers tended to be overly complicated and elaborate, fact that motivated Hristov Consulting to, on this symposium, devote attention to the questions of the language in the media and use of the professional terminology, with intent to limit its use and explanations.There was also a debate in reference to the language style related to the particular media profile, and how to avoid any confusion among journalists and wider public while following the various media.
At the symposium the notaries and their assistants from 133 offices in Serbia were present and actively took part in various panels.

The fourth yearly symposium of Serbian Chamber of Notaries: Work on regulating the notary practice

Posted by Aleksandra Hristov on December 14th, 2019 under Events | No Comments »

Serbian Chamber of Notaries – SCN, over the weekend of 14th and 15th December 2019, at the mountain Kopaonik (Serbia) resort, had their Fourth yearly symposium where they discussed the rules of the notary practice, their role in taxation process, and creating and use of the electronic documents.

“This symposium marks the continuation of the work on professional improvement of notaries practice”, said Mr. Srbislav Cvejic, the president of SCN, assessing that this gathering, as every year, represents the opportunity for notaries to clarify the doubts in reference to the application of regulations.

At the symposium opening, the notaries of Serbia were greeted by deputy justice minister Ms. Jelena Deretic, as she congratulated SCN on the work done to date, and emphasized the need for further development.

Ms. Jelena Deretic has announced the improvement of the electronic tools used by the notaries, and emphasized that these betterments shall bring even larger results of the notaries, and of the judicial security of the citizens.

At the symposium the notaries and their assistants from 133 offices in Serbia were present and actively took part in various panels.

The president of the SCN has reminded everyone present that the notaries this year in September have marked five years since the notary service had been introduced to the Serbian judicial system, and continued to say that the notaries within the short period of time have built the respectable organization that has a prominent role in the system of law.

“The notary profession has succeeded in its basic function – to protect the rights of the citizens, speeding up and control of the public transactions, and lessening the burden on the courts. Thanks to the work of notaries, the double selling of the real estate has stopped, and the number of court cases related to contractual obligations has decreased very significantly”, Mr. Cvejic had pointed out.

The president of the SCN has thanked the Ministry of Justice for its great support that the notaries have received from the beginning, and also pointed the outmost role of the Professional board at SCN with its judicial experts that constantly work on further improvement of the notary system and regulating it’s practice.

In five years since the notaries were introduced into the judicial system, the notaries have done more than eight million judicial jobs for which they are duly authorized. The majority of the cases go to notarization of the documents, almost seven million. The solemnization of the licenses that included the checking of the content of the real estate contracts was around 900,000 cases.

Crisis communication lecture to Faculty of Economics students in Belgrade

Posted by Aleksandra Hristov on November 13th, 2019 under Events | No Comments »

Aleksandra Hristov, director of Hristov Consulting, the only certified consulting firm for communication strategy in Serbia, gave a lecture on crisis communication to the students of the fourth year of the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade, at the invitation of Professor Galjina Ognjanov.

Students had the opportunity to hear from experienced professional and practitioner in the field of crisis communication, whose consulting firm has successfully solved more than 50 crises of its clients. At the same time, they learned about crises, whether and how could you prepare for crises, how to manage crises, or to be a successful navigator in crisis, what can be learned from crises and why it is important to manage reputation.

“I am very pleased to be at the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade for the fifth time and to share my experience with young people. Hristov Consulting is socially responsible business, and its consultants are always willing to give lecture to students on the strategic communications topics, which is our company’s expertise. I would like to pay my respect to professors such as Galjina Ognjanov who recognize the importance of inviting practitioners to be guest lecturers in order to allow their students to gain first-hand experience and thus contribute to the development of Belgrade University and society as a whole.” said Alexandra Hristov.

Hristov Consulting https://hristovconsulting.com/ also helps associations of persons with disabilities, as well as individuals who contribute to the development of society. Hristov Consulting is engaged in management consulting in the fields of reputation, media relations, crisis management, law and PR, public affairs and lobbying.

Five years of notary public profession in Serbia

Posted by Aleksandra Hristov on September 14th, 2019 under Events | No Comments »

Notary Public profession has succeeded in its primary function to protect the rights of its clients, increase the efficiency and control of the legal transactions, and to lessen the burden on the judicial system, all stated at the Celebration academy on the occasion of the fifth anniversary since first notaries public had opened their offices in Serbia.

In the presence of the minister of justice of Serbia, Ms. Nela Kuburovic, invitees from the judicial bodies of Serbia and the region, delegations from the notary public organizations and chambers, the president of the Notary Public Chamber of Serbia (NPCS), Mr. Srbislav Cvejic has pointed out that the notaries public have achieved within the past five years the outstanding results, and today we can say that the introduction of the notary public profession has improved the legal security of the citizens of Serbia.

The minister of Justice of Serbia, Ms. Nela Kuburovic, representing the government of Serbia and the ministry of justice, has personally congratulated the jubilee to notaries public, and added “with certainty we can say that the notaries public had fulfilled the expectations, and significantly lessened the burden on the courts, including increasing the legal security to higher level”.

Ms. Kuburovic highlighted that we are presently witnessing the widening of the perimeter of work of the notaries public, the consequence of their current scope of activity being done conscientiously and responsibly. She has also underlined the role and the advancement of the notary public profession during the last year, when many things have changed, and the notaries public have gained the access to many public official registries.

According to her, the notaries public will face many challenges in the future, especially in the area of implementing the Law of privacy protection.

“Your work and professionalism shall determine your stature and the future of notary public trade, and the Ministry of Justice shall strive to give you all the help necessary”, said Ms. Kuburovic.

The president of the NPCS stated that the notaries public of Serbia, in five years, have done 8,167,075 legal cases for which they were duly empowered. “Out of the respectable number of legal jobs, the vast majority are notary public authentications, numbering 6,705,983, and solemnizations of documents, numbering 871,768”, added Mr. Cvejic. According to him, thanks to the work of the notaries public, the double selling of real estate has dramatically decreased including the legal actions related to contractual transactions. Reminding that the Law of notary public profession has been brought in May 2011, and after two delays in implementation, finally became official in September of 2014, Mr. Cvejic has added that the beginnings were difficult, but the NPCS received the stable and clear support, above all, from the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Serbia.

At this time, in 198 notary public offices in Serbia, in addition to 198 notaries public, employed are 1,226 individuals, among them 69 notary public deputies, 90 notary public assistants, 450 apprentices, and 618 administrative staff. Following the Guidelines jointly issued by the Ministry of Justice and the High Court of Cassation in 2016, we witness the substantial increase in receiving the inheritance proceedings, so the notaries public so far had 362,808 such cases, half of which are the cases of putting together the official death notices.

The statistical data shows that on 173,218 inheritance cases solved there were 718 complaints filed, only 0,4 percentage points. The change occurred only in 31 inheritance cases. “This truly speaks volumes about the high quality of our notary public service. With pleasure we can say that the inheritance cases are handled efficiently, and the citizens are able to exercise their rights in the shortest time, proof that this whole system has significantly improved”, Mr. Cvejic pointed out.

According to the available data, notaries public, during this past Summer from June 01, until July 15, had done 122,031 free of charge notarizations of the documents needed for the enrollments into the High schools and universities. Mr. Cvejic has stated that the role of the notaries public has especially come to prominence since the Law of Real Estate Titles and Infrastructure Titles was brought. This law mandates that the notaries public beginning on July 01, 2018, can electronically send such Titles to the government agencies to be put on the official record.

“This procedure additionally secures the rights of the citizens by diminishing the possibility of officially recording the titles based on the falsified documents”, said the president of the NPCS. Furthermore, the president of the NPCS has also highlighted the big help that the notaries public of Serbia had from their colleagues from Europe and the world including the international organizations. “We lacked the wireless experience, but the biggest and the oldest notary organizations had selflessly shared their knowledge and achievements with us”, added Mr. Cvejic.

As the matter of the outmost importance, Mr. Cveic emphasized that, in October 2016, the NPCS has become the 87th full member of the International Union of Notaries (UINL), and in June 2017 became the member of the Notaries of Europe (CNUE) in the capacity of the member observer. The Serbian Chamber got the access to the European Notary Network (ENN) that enables the connection of the notaries from Serbia with their colleagues from the other European chambers.

At the Celebration academy the Thank you Plaques of the NPCS have been distributed to the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Serbia, High Commission of the notaries of France, Notary Chamber of Germany, and to the notary public from France, Mr. Stefan Zecevic. Whereas, the Plaques of NPCS have been presented to the law professor at the University of Belgrade, Mr. Dejan Djurdjevic, to the first president of NPKS, Mr. Miodrag Djukanovic, and to the notary public from Belgrade, Ms. Natalija Adzic.

Whereas, the plaques of the NPCS have additionally been given to the representatives of the notary chambers from Republic Srpska of Bosnia Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Germany, Austria, Romania, Bulgaria, Belarus, and Russia.

Presentation of ISO 20700 guidelines for managing of business consulting services

Posted by Aleksandra Hristov on June 21st, 2019 under Events | 1 Comment »

At the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, the Chair of the Quality Assurance Committee of the International Council of Management Consulting Institutes (ICMCI), Mr. Louis M. Loizou has emphasized the importance of the CMC designation, and the extraordinary contribution of management consulting to the economies around the world. ICMCI, brand name CMC Global is continuously working on the advancement of standards on management consulting.

Our foundational designation, Certified Management Consultant, CMC has, is and will be our top objective internally. Furthermore CMC Global is actively participating in the development of European and International standards directly related to Management Consulting Services. I can say today a CMC is qualified to contribute significantly to the development of industries, corporations, and economies in many countries”, Mr. Loizou said.

Aleksandra Hristov, CMC, the president of the Board of the Association of Management Consultants of Serbia, (UPKS) said that since its establishment, the Association has been working to establish the highest standards of the profession, firmly believing that only in this way the desired results for the clients could be achieved.

“The CMC certificate, for which a serious assessment is required, where number of documented evidence about the way how business consultant is working is needed truly guarantees to the client that he has engaged an expert who can significantly improve his business, his organization, or his institution “Said Aleksandra Hristov.

She added that the Association of Management Consultants of Serbia (UPKS) insists on ethical rules, which are also part of the certification process. “Companies, organizations and institutions in our country can count on our work to fulfill all the requirements imposed on business consultants, while respecting the consulting standards applied in the most developed countries of the world,” said Aleksandra Hristov.

As part of the process of advancement of consultants and consulting firms in Serbia, the ISO 20700 was presented, which was developed as a guideline for individuals or organizations for efficient managing of management consulting services. This standard was first published in 2017 and developed by the ISO Project Board ISO / PC 280.UPKS organized this event in cooperation with weekly newspaper Novi Magazin

Serbian Association of Lobbyists held 2nd training session on lobbying

Posted by Aleksandra Hristov on May 22nd, 2019 under Events | No Comments »

Aleksandra Hristov, Director of Hristov Consulting, a member of the Council of the Serbian Association of Lobbyists and Nenad Vuković, a lawyer and president of the Serbian Association of Lobbyists, held second training session for the educational program on lobbying organized by the Institute for Lobbying and crisis management in Belgrade.

Aleksandra Hristov presented the specifics of lobbying in various areas of economic and social life – public sector, business, non-government sector, trade unions, and talked about differences between lobbying, public affairs and public advocacy.

The Institute for Lobbying and Crisis Management, which aims to improve the capacity of democratic institutions through the education program by training students to argue for different interests, will organize more lobbying programs in the coming period.

Election Assembly of the Association of Management Consultants of Serbia

Posted by Aleksandra Hristov on February 28th, 2019 under Events | No Comments »

The Association of Management Consultants of Serbia (UPKS) held a regular election assembly, where Aleksandra Hristov, Director of Hristov Consulting was elected President of the Managing Board, and Daniel Tavčioski, an independent consultant, was elected President of the Association’s Assembly.

Aleksandra Hristov, who held the office of president of the UPK Assembly in the previous mandate, pointed out that the goals of the new management are promotion of the values of UPKS and the opportunities it provides, motivation of a greater number of consultants to join the association, and the realization of full membership in the International Council of Management Consulting Institutes (ICMCI).

“For 10 years, the Association has managed to bring people together with integrity, to be an affiliated member of the ICMCI umbrella organization, which brings together business consultants in 50 countries, and is a guarantee of quality in providing consulting services to clients” said Hristov.

The Association of Management Consultants of Serbia is an associate member of the International Council of Management Consulting Institutes ICMCI, a global organization that brings together the most prominent management consultants worldwide and awards CMC certificates that are the only internationally recognized brand dedicated to individual business advisers. By awarding the CMC certifications in 2012, the Association of Business Consultants of Serbia was recognized as a partner of the ICMCI in Serbia.

At the fifth assembly of the Association of Management Consultants of Serbia Andrija Gencel, independent consultant, Dario Daničić, director of Intema consulting from Belgrade, Borislav Čubrilo, director of BUS Computers from Kikinda and Ljubiša Petrović, director of the Smart Management Solutions Agency, were elected for the two-year mandate as the members of the Managing Board.
Aleksandra Hristov, who held the office of president of the UPK Assembly in the previous mandate, pointed out that the goals of the new management are promotion of the values of UPKS and the opportunities it provides, motivation of a greater number of consultants to join the association, and the realization of full membership in the International Council of Management Consulting Institutes (ICMCI).
“For 10 years, the Association has managed to bring people together with integrity, to be an affiliated member of the ICMCI umbrella organization, which brings together business consultants in 50 countries, and is a guarantee of quality in providing consulting services to clients” said Hristov.

A successful year for our client Mineco Group

Posted by Aleksandra Hristov on January 22nd, 2019 under Events | No Comments »

The British company Mineco Limited, one of the largest mining investors in Serbia and the Western Balkans, is pleased with its results in 2018, although in the second half of the year prices on the international market of non-ferrous metals decreased, which directly affects the mines in the group, resulting in lower revenues.

“After we achieved truly the best results in 2017 since our establishment, we can be satisfied with last year as well, despite lower prices on the international market of non-ferrous metals. Nevertheless, a slightly lower business profit compared to the previous year did not slow Mineco’s development programme”, said Mineco Ltd Director Bojan Popović, while presenting the results of the past year. Mineco’s total investments in 2018 in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina again exceeded $20 million, and the companies in which Mineco takes partial ownership opened about 115 new jobs.

Popović pointed out that during the previous year, Mineco opened the lead mine near Olovo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is the first new mine with underground exploitation in Bosnia in the last 30 years. “Then the exploitation of ore began and it is currently being stored and waiting for processing at the beginning of summer,” said Popović, adding that in addition to $4.5 million invested over the past 12 months in further development of the mine and its infrastructure, a gravity separation plant for production of lead concentrate from the ore has been commissioned as well.

According to Popović, in April this year all parts of this plant will be integrated in Olovo, after which the testing and fine tuning in production conditions will start, and the first deliveries of lead concentrate from this mine can be expected in the summer.

Mineco is in the final phase of work on the European project IMP@CT, which should result in a system of equipment and processes for enabling small scale mining. On this project, funded by the European Commission, Mineco is part of a consortium with several universities and equipment manufacturers. During the spring, the delivery of a containerload of equipment to BiH is planned, where the first field tests and production will be carried out in one part of the Olovo mine, as a test mine for this project.

“We hope that this facility will justify the idea of the project and allow the exploitation of small ore deposits of strategically important metals such as lead or antimony that are all over Europe, and that it will provide Mineco a primary access to this technology to utilize its resources for launching a few smaller mines in Serbia and BiH”, said Popović.

One of Mineco mines that is growing and developing is the Bosil-Metal mine in Bosilegrad. There is a project in a pilot phase, which examines the results of trial production of concentrates from excavated ore in order to develop a commercial flotation project.

“This mine represents a great development opportunity for Bosilegrad and we are confident that this municipality will rise from the lowest category of development when the commercial production of lead, zinc and copper concentrates starts in 2020/21″, said Popović.

As for other mines partially owned by Mineco: Gross near Srebrenica, Velika Majdan near Ljubovija and Rudnik near Gornji Milanovac have continued their good work, with positive results in the past year.

In these mines, exploratory works continued in order to ensure the future of operations. Gross, the largest mine, recorded an investment of around $3 million in development, while the Rudnik mine invested nearly $5.5 million in its production and future.

The Rudnik mine, a company of exceptional importance for the economy of the Milanovac region, can look calmly at the years ahead from the aspect of potential and capacity, Popović pointed out, adding that continuous large investments in geological research, both in Serbia and Bosnia, have led to Mineco adding a research drilling team to its team of geologists, which enables more efficient service to existing mines and new sites.

Popović also said that in the past year, the most demanding Mineco project, was the construction of a small hydropower plant on the Drinjač river in Bosnia, near Zvornik, primarily due to the extremely complex geological structure of the site. “During this year, all remaining works will be completed so that Medoš One will start delivering the first kilowatts to the Republic of Srpska’s electrical network”, said Popović.

ABOUT THE MINECO GROUP

Mineco is an international group of companies whose essential work lies in the international trade of non-ferrous metals and ore concentrates, investment in mining and geological research. Mineco invests in and develops lead, zinc and copper mines in the countries of south-eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, as well as in Canada and Turkey where the group takes partial ownership. The Mineco Group is the largest lead producer in the Russian Federation. Thanks to a wide partner network the Mineco Group operates globally in Europe, Asia, South and North America, connecting mines and metal smelters from Peru to China.

In Europe Mineco with its partners employs about 2,500 people, about 1,600 of them in the Western Balkan region.

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