We are staying in the Hotel Balkan - http://www.balkanhotel.net/hotel_balkan_e.htm.  Our rooms are very small compared to our hotel stays in Germany and Italy.  It's still adequate, though, and I have slept very well which is the most important thing.  

Saturday morning, we took a bus to a town called Smederevo that is southeast of Belgrade.  We visited U.S. Steel Serbia.  Apparently, it was difficult to get a tour of the plant.  We had to leave our cameras at the security check (in case we are spies, I suppose).  



At the request of the Serbian government, U.S. Steel took over the management of the Serbian steel facilities in 2002.  These were state-run facilities until the take over.  According to U.S. Steel, they have improved the facility; there are three major business drivers:  employee safety, product quality/service, and protection of the environment.  U.S. Steel Serbia has 5700 employees, and they operate 24/7.  They emphasized their corporate social responsibility efforts.  U.S. Steel supports schools, foster children, sporting events, cultural activities, traditional festivals.  They also provide scholarships to local people and provide support to the university library. 

We took a tour of the plant.  We had to wear a lot of protective equipment.  We had bright orange pants and jackets, a hard hat, steel-toed boots, goggles, and ear plugs.  The plant  produces iron at two blast furnaces, then converts the iron to raw steel.  The end product is hot rolled steel.  A fellow named Marco lead us through the plant.  With all the noise and with our ear plugs in, there was a lot of information I didn't catch.