EXBS: SERBIA, ADVISOR MONTHLY REPORTING CABLE - JULY, 2009

UNCLAS BELGRADE 000842 C O R R E C T E D COPY - TEXT SIPDIS DEPT FOR ISN/ECC - JFRIEDMAN ACHURCH AND RBALDWIN ISN-EXBS-AMT-DL USDOE/NNSA FOR TPERRY DPAL CPB/INA FOR JGOUGE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETTC MNUC PARM PREL KSTC KNNP PBTS SNAR KCRM SR BK MW SUBJECT: EXBS: SERBIA, ADVISOR MONTHLY REPORTING CABLE - JULY, 2009 ¶1. BROAD AREAS OF INTEREST TO ADVSORS AND AGENCY MANAGERS -- The initial set of technical systems definition requirements for the Montenegrin Maritime Surveillance System integrated software package has been submitted for the further development of an RFQ. This system should provide a "fused" situational picture of the entire maritime border. A follow-on visit to Estonia may still be advisable to finalize the system configuration, based on actual working Estonian systems. -- The Government of Montenegro officially announced on Thursday, 23 July, the replacement of the long-standing Director General of Customs of Montenegro Miodrag Radusinovic. Replacing Mr. Radusinovic is Mr. Bozidar Vuksanovic. Although there were rumors of an impending change, this selection was somewhat of a surprise. Mr. Vuksanovic comes from the position of Director of Prisons. Mr. Vuksanovic has a Masters Degree in Economics, is a member of the majority party, and a Member of Parliament (MP) - it remains unclear if he will remain an MP while in this DG position. Mr. Vuksanovic sent an introductory letter to EXBS announcing his appointment and indicating his intent to continue to develop our relationship and to increase cooperation in increasing the efficiency of the Montenegrin Customs Service. EXBS will request a bio on Mr. Vuksanovic during an introductory office call scheduled for 26 August; the DG's vision for Montenegrin Customs will be discussed. Mr. Radusinovic's status at this time is unknown, however, the change appears to be of a purely political nature. The idea of an executive trip remains important with Mr. Vuksanovic's appointment. It would be very useful to give him a good top-level overview of Customs operations and concepts, especially in an international context. ¶2. SITE ASSESSMENTS AND MEETINGS DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD -- On 16 July EXBS met with Serbian Assistant Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade Development, Ana Blagojevic. When asked about Serbia's interest in joining the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA),Ms. Blagojevic said that Serbia is very interested in joining all major non-proliferation and AT agreements, and feels that doing so is a good strategic idea. The GoS has submitted the application for WA membership, but as yet has not received a reply. They expect a response either acknowledging the application, a request for additional information, or a request for a meeting or review prior to admission. If no response is received in the near future, they will take the initiative to inquire with Vienna. On a separate note, Ms. Blagojevic feels that Serbia needs an Industry Outreach program to explain the new export control law (yet to be ratified), but that such an effort would make sense only after the law has passed and is fully clear to all of its GoS administrators. The recently completed and translated Commodities Identification List will be appended to the new law; this list is harmonized with the corresponding EU list, however, one of the subtleties in this matter is that the EU has very recently up-dated list. It is too late to translate and append this new list (changed only slightly from the appended 2007 list, but a careful check is still required) to the bill going for ratification. The government has sent the bill to the Assembly, and Ms. Blagojevic expects it will be ratified soon after the summer recess. As a result of the up-dated commodities list, the new law would have to be modified almost as soon as it comes out - however, this might take some additional time because of the up-coming vacation period and parliamentary recess. The GoS is currently considering the best mechanism through which the law can be adjusted to accommodate the up- dates in the future. The law that is going in for ratification is two months late due to difficulties in the inter-ministerial coordination process of the draft distributed by Min. Econ. (per Asst. Min. Blagojevic). Note: In a teleconference on a similar subject with BiH Assistant Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations (MFTER),Dragisa Mekic, he indicated that BiH was very interested in pursuing the WA membership. In fact, the MFA has already taken the initiative to do this: they have coordinated the matter, getting agreement from other relevant BiH ministries including the MFTER. He referred to MFA Asst. Min. Mandic on the current status of the process, as the MFA is in the process of filling out the application at this time; it has not yet been submitted. They will need to find a member to help them with the process. Mr. Mekic also indicated that he had discussed the matter of Industry Outreach with BAFA representatives during the week of 28 June, and they had agreed on a late October, early November time frame for their next meeting; the BiH export control legislation is unratified as of this report, and, as with Serbia, an Industry Outreach program would only make sense once the legislation was in place and clear to the implementers. End note. -- On 14 July EXBS met with BiH Border Police DG Vinko Dumancic to discuss technical requirements for the possible EXBS donation of a patrol boat suitable for BiH's Adriatic and Neum Bay sector (about 20 Km of seacoast). This was also the main subject of a follow-up regarding the Bosnian maintenance issues and capability. Maintenance, responsibility and accountability for government donated equipment in general, and specifically this boat was discussed with DG Dumancic over the last several meetings. Mr. Dumancic confirmed BP commitment to proper funding, staffing and care of this boat. These discussions with the DG included various scenarios for maintenance to match requirements with support available in BiH - this also included the development of organic BP maintenance capability. DG Dumancic examined and rode on the potential candidate boat of the type used by the Serbian BP on the Danube, which was used in the Zvornik USCG training. This is a boat with a Zodiac RHIB (rigid-hull-inflatable) platform, about 30 feet long, with a locally (Serbian) manufactured cabin module reasonably suited for year-round bay and near-coast operations. The BP assigned the acquisition of such a patrol vessel a top priority (also in timing); note, no EXBS commitments were made at this time. ¶3. TRAINING CONDUCTED DURING REPORTING PERIOD -- 13-24 July: Zvornik, BiH; Advanced Small Boats Training; Regional, R Border Police and Customs from Serbia, BiH and Montenegro. DHS/USCG/EXBS. The Advanced Small Boats Operations Course brought together many of the personnel who received the Basic Course at Zvornik in 2008 as well as the recent 2009 Serbian Velike Gradiste (Danube) training. Based on the results of the "Basic" course, USCG tailored the Advanced Course to reflect regional specifics and req uirements. Some of the tailoring included previously recommended additional possible training (e.g. including navigation and maritime border patrolling legal issues). Sequences of logically and operationally related courses allow USCG MTT's to gauge the results of previous instruction, the pace and quality of local maritime force development, assess their mission performing capability, and their ability to perform cost-effective maintenance, given the size of the region's riverine and maritime forces, their assets and resources. Some of the additional training that was provided during the second week included significant under way practice. The course tailoring also minimized any duplication between basic and advanced courses. The feedback from participants strongly supported under way and applications training. This allowed the greater use of a larger class of Serbian Danube River patrol boat. This training also provided a rare opportunity for participants of three countries and two agencies from each (Cust. and BP),to conduct practical under way work in a coordinated joint capacity. It must also be noted that with the budgetary crisis affecting all regional border service budgets, the EXBS provided funds for fuel, specialty oils, etc. for under way training allowed the participants to take full advantage of the scarce training assets for actual operational practice - something all were keen to do - a healthy attitude that we also wanted to encourage. The USCG team was flexible enough to make this happen; this was very much appreciated. The opening ceremony involving representatives from the region's three US embassies (Serbia, BiH, and Montenegro),and the officials of the Border Services of the three participating countries, hosted by the Director General of BiH Border Police, Vinko Dumancic went a long way in relationship-building between countries and agencies. The event included an under way demonstration by the USCG and participating nations' crews, and a lunch hosted by BP DG Dumancic. The event was reviewed very positively by all participants and also provided fine visibility for the USCG and general top-level support for EXBS programs, and joint regional cooperation. EXBS/USCG oriented training for the next FY will focus primarily on sustainment and infrastructure related training. ¶4. EQUIPMENT DELIVERED DURING REPORTING PERIOD -- No equipment was delivered in this increment. ¶5. IMMINENT TRAINING or EQUIPMENT STATUS UPDATE -- No training has been scheduled for the coming increment due to the combination of the general European vacation period and the simultaneous advent of the high tourist season that will seriously occupy Border Services during this period. -- The following equipment items are expected to be turned over the Indirect Taxation Authority of BiH in August: vehicle tracking devices (GPS/cell phone technology). ¶6. SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS IN EXPORT CONTROLS, NONPROLIFERATION, OR RELATED BORDER SECURITY -- In a regional item of non-proliferation concern, a series of events have occurred in the joint US, Russian Federation, IAEA effort to remove the remaining Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) from Serbia's Vinca Institute of Nuclear Research. This HEU is in the spent fuel rods of the Vinca nuclear reactor decommissioned in 1984, stored at the institute. Last month a U.S.-designed cesium clean-up system was installed by DOE personnel to reduce containment vessel water contamination levels prior to HEU separation and packaging for shipment back to Russia for reprocessing. Specialists from the "Sosny" Company (a Russian subcontractor to IAEA) have arrived at Vinca Institute and are installing specifically designed equipment for handling and packaging the HEU in preparation for transport. In a letter to the Ministry of Science and Technological Development of Serbia, the Russian Federation State Atomic Energy Corp. "ROSATOM" has confirmed related coordinating information. The deadline for separation, packaging and transport is Oct. 2010, dependent primarily on the availability of the special transport containers approved for this purpose. Their availability is at a premium, and they may not be available again for some years if this deadline is not met. Following this effort, there will be no HEU remaining in Serbia. Serbia has recently instituted the Federal Commission for Nuclear Energy, Aleksandar Rankovic, president. The government of Serbia has also authorized the formation of a separate Vinca Corporate Enterprise headed by Mr. Radojica Pesic (the new entity registration expected in August 2009). Mr. Pesic is the current director of the VIND (Vinca Institute Nuclear Decommissioning) program. The new corporation will assume responsibility for providing clean-up and other nuclear/radiological handling and abatement services to the Institute and the Min. Sci.; it will also take over all existing Min. Sci. and Vinca Institute contracts in that realm. On 13 to 15 July, Sandia Labs/Lockheed-Martin representatives visited Vinca Institute for the purpose of assisting with site safety and security. During the Sandia team exit meeting, MOI Inspector, Protection and Rescue Sector, Predrag Bogdanovic, gave a briefing on MOI provided site and object security. The topics discussed included: * A review of the current status of Vinca safety and physical security arrangements for the decommissioned fuel rods stored in the primary containment area, and the monitoring and control of the containment area's near perimeter. * A discussion of physical safety and security requirements, system enhancements, and systems maintenance (routine scheduled and unexpected) * Determining a cost estimate for the above (both routine and unexpected), and setting up an agreement and maintenance contract for a period of three years. * Later work on an overall operational concept in security with clearly defined roles for: MOI, Vinca, MOD, National Fire Protection (NFP),and their respective interfaces. * Develop test procedures for the security systems, perform periodic technical security system tests and conduct Operational Exercises to test security and security procedures, and response task force roles and coordination. * Develop a "security culture" at Vinca (including seminars abroad). * The MOI role in site and object security. The current state of security at Vinca Institute is both inadequate and incomplete. This includes both the awareness of security, "security culture" on part of all security-related participants, and the state of physical security in facilities and equipment. The Sandia Labs representatives provided a contractual vehicle for enhancing and maintaining security. The meetings concluded with the preliminary signing of a contract to this end, which is expected to go into effect almost immediately upon clearance. Initial steps include a "table-top" exercise including all major projected participants. The first step would be to build an accurate scale, topographical model of the entire site (diorama). The table-top exercise would be followed by actual operational exercises based on a variety of mutually developed emergency scenarios. The MOI representative, Inspector Bogdanovic agreed to the tabled proposals, including the operational exercises. A DOE/NRC person would most likely be present for the operational exercises. The security response force composition has yet to be defined; it would likely be a task force comprised of MOD and MOI elements (including AT units, and possibly NFP, as required. This would require some manner of legislative basis - a matter for the GoS to address; as yet there is no "nuclear object protection" law in Serbia. Vinca would have to develop a set of security requirements and documents based on MOI criteria. Sandia suggested a class/course for response planners including a "radiation hazard" course along the lines of a NRC "health physics" courses. A follow-on meeting in Belgrade between Vinca Institute, Sandia Labs, and IAEA, will be planned for September. A "Maintenance and Sustainment Management Seminar" is planned in the Czech Republic for April/May 2010. Sandia representatives recommended that Vinca program leads attend. BRUSH