GIP "Beograd"

The GIP (grafičko-izdavačko preduzeće, graphics & publishing enterprise) "Beograd", headquartered in Belgrade, was a Yugoslav printing company. The company was extremely productive during the 1970s and 1980s - it specialized in the printing of record sleeves and postcards, and was the first company in Yugoslavia to print a textured record sleeve - Riblja Čorba's Mrtva Priroda. Its clients included all major Yugoslav record companies - PGP RTB, Jugoton, Diskos and Jugodisk. The breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992 severely impacted GIP "Beograd" - Diskos and Jugodisk had lowered production to a minimum and established contracts with smaller, newly-founded private printing companies which offered better prices, and Jugoton had transformed into Croatia Records after Croatia seceded from Yugoslavia. The loss of these clients spelled out a certain end for the company, along with the severe and sudden shrinking of the postcard market - "Beograd" had sold and distributed them all across Yugoslavia. Even though the company maintained a relationship with PGP RTB and set up contracts with several newly-founded private record companies (such as ZaM), this was not enough and the company shut down cca. 1993. See also GIRO "Beograd" for a name variation.