Fellows 2008

Aleksandra Stankovic
Aleksandra Stankovic, from Serbia’s southern city of Nis, has been a correspondent for TV B92 since 2003 and the author of several documentaries. Previously she worked an editor-in-chief at TV Pirot. Aleksandra has extensive editorial and journalistic experience as well as familiarity with the region in which she proposes to conduct her research.

The subject of her research is the dramatic changes taking place in the Stara Planina mountain range and the possibilities of harmonizing major energy and infrastructure projects with the goal of preserving the natural environment. Stankovic aims to examine the potential impact of damage to the natural environment on neighbouring Bulgaria, and to draw comparisons with Austria and Germany, where similar complex projects have been managed successfully.

Andreea Gheorghe
from Bucharest, in Romania, is an award-winning journalist and editor. Since 2006 she has worked as reporter and moderator at the Money Channel, following previous engagement on the national weekly, Capitol. In 2006, she won the Romanian press club’s economic journalism award.

Andreea aims to investigate national strategies on the reorganization of major mining complexes in Eastern Europe, its impact on the population and economy and the sustainability of the results of various financial programmes targeting mining regions.

Her research will focus on towns where mines have closed, been privatized or are awaiting privatization. At the same time, she will look at examples of Western towns where other investments and industries have replaced closed mines.

Dalibor Dobric
Dalibor Dobric, is from Zagreb, Croatia, and is currently an editor of Radio NET, building on his previous experience at the BBC World Service - Croatian Section, Radio 101, Business.hr, Croatian Radio channel 3 and others.

He intends to research energy efficiency and usage of environmentally friendly energy resources, based on the example of a two-bedroom apartment in Zagreb, which is home to a small family.

The investigation aims to find out what investment an average household has to make in order to substantially lower its energy consumption; it will show how old buildings can be adjusted and new ones built to become more energy efficient, the ratio between the money spent on such adjustments and the money saved on energy and what regulations need to be changed to “go green” in an urban environment.

Darko Duridanski
Darko Duridanski from Skopje, Macedonia is journalist at the daily Vest newspaper, where he has worked since 2002. He has several years’ experience in foreign news and has interviewed numerous important figures in that field.

Following claims that the recognition of Kosovo as an independent state may lead to the domino effect in some European regions, this investigation intends to show the real situation on the ground.

In his research, Darko plans to travel to regions in the European Union that seek independence, such as the Basque, Country, Northern Ireland and Northern Cyprus, to see how people in those regions are reacting to Kosovo’s independence and what the stand of the respective governments is.

Gjergj Erebara
Gjergj Erebara, from Tirana, Albania, is currently editor-in-chief of Gazeta ABC. Previously, he worked as editor-in-chief of Gazeta Biznesi, focusing on economic journalism, particularly in the energy sector, which he has regularly covered over the past two years or more.

Gjergj intends to argue that Balkan countries need to embrace cooperation in the energy sector, which would bring fast and cheap benefits for the entire region. His argument is that the entire region would benefit from having a joint energy policy, instead of each country attempting different and often incompatible solutions, based on their own national resources. The investigation will try to show how big projects like Nabucco, AMBO, and others could change the energy situation in the region and how people might benefit from them.

Lavdim Hamidi
Lavdim Hamidi, from Pristina, is a journalist with long experience of covering Kosovo’s economy, particularly the energy sector. He has taken part in many specialized training sessions and currently works on the daily newspaper, Zeri, as an economic journalist.

Lavdim wants to investigate the energy situation in Kosovo, which remains catastrophic, despite billions of euros of investment made by the European Agency for Reconstruction and the Kosovo government. As a consequence of constant power cuts, it is estimated that business in Kosovo annually loses more than a billion euros. Kosovo’s energy sector is also considered one of most corrupt in the newly independent country. The investigation will look at the misuse of funds and investments and the damage such practices causes.

Magda Munteanu
Magda Munteanu from Bucharest, Romania, has ten years’ experience as a journalist, mainly covering finance and the economy. She now works as senior journalist in the Romanian edition of the American magazine Business Week. She won the Young Journalist of the Year 2006 award for the Business & Finance section of the US-based foundation, Freedom House.

The thesis of her research is that increasing nuclear energy capacities are giving Balkan countries, especially those with uranium reserves and long-term strategy aimed at building nuclear plants, such as Romania and Bulgaria, a chance to become major energy suppliers and so play an active role in Europe’s struggle to achieve energy independence from Russia. The research will tackle the issue of the social and economic impact of nuclear plants on local communities and the prospect of gradually replacing resources based on coal, oil and gas with nuclear energy.

Mirsad Bajtarevic
Mirsad Bajtarevic, from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, is an award-winning journalist with more than 15 years of professional experience. He is employed in Bosnia and Herzegovina's radio-television as a reporter and editor of morning news. He has won numerous awards.

Mirsad aims to explore “the winds of change” – referring to Bosnia’s capacity to adopt alternative sources of energy with the focus on wind-generated energy on one hand and, on the other, on the human and institutional efforts needed to bring about those changes. He plans to look at the inefficiency of the government as well as the lack of readiness to cope with EU standards while answering the question concerning why Bosnia is not developing alternative energy capacities.

Stanimir Ivanov Kumurdjiev
Stanimir Ivanov Kumurdjiev from Sofia, Bulgaria, is an award-winning journalist with experience in economic and energy reporting. He is an editor at the daily 24 Hors, following previous engagements in the daily Continent and Business Post weekly. Stanimir has taken part in numerous professional training sessions, won a number of awards and to a wider audience is known under pseudonym, Vaglenov.

He intends to investigate the controversies over the South Stream gas pipeline project and tackle not only the economic aspects of the deal but its political and strategic aspects, too. This investigation will raise questions about the potential dangers and benefits of this project, Bulgaria’s participation as an EU member, Russian interests and the interests of other countries in the region, such as Serbia, which has sold a majority stake in its national oil monopoly to Russia. It will also examine the European position on the plan’s implementation.

Zvezdana Crnogorac
Zvezdana Crnogorac from Belgrade, Serbia, is a freelance journalist and author of a successful series of TV documentaries on EU issues. She was engaged as a reporter and producer on TV Station Studio B and in 2001 won the Nihon Shinbun Kyokai – Journalists of Europe Fellowship. Zvezdana works at the British Embassy in Belgrade.

Zvezdana aims to look at how cultural movements can channel energy into bringing about social change. The idea is to look at three festivals – EXIT, in Serbia, the Sarajevo Film Festival in Bosnia and The Fringe in the UK (Edinburgh) with an aim of examining how positive social changes are generated, and how these cultural movements are affected by politics. Through the research, Zvezdana aims to look at the issue of the perception of Europe and its values among the Serbian population, and especially among the youth.