MAK-NEWS 22/02/95 (M.I.C.) [*]

Ta nea ths hmeras, opws ta eide to MIC:

  1. * BRANKO CRVENKOVSKI: "CONSISTENT PROTECTION OF CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM"
  2. * CRVENKOVSKI: "THERE WILL BE NO KOSOVIZATION"
  3. * TETOVO: "NORMALIZATION OF SITUATION"
  4. * NEVZAT HALILI ARRESTED
  5. * PARTY REACTIONS
  6. * EXCERPTS FROM INTERVIEW WITH YASUSHI AKASHI FOR "KOHA," WHICH APPLY TO MACEDONIA

    MONEY - Economy, Business, Finance & Market

  7. . PRIVATIZATION - WHAT WITH THOSE WHO WERE LATE?
  8. . TELECOMMUNICATIONS - 330,000 NEW TELEPHONE LINES
  9. . RETAIL SALES - WORK INDICATORS
  10. . ORE - 20 MILLION TONES OF COAL FOUND


SKOPJE, 22 FEBRUARY, 1995 (MIC)

  1. BRANKO CRVENKOVSKI: "CONSISTENT PROTECTION OF CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM"
    At yesterday's press conference, Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski expressed the stances of the Government taken at the session held on Monday. Among the rest, the Prime Minister said: "In a legal and democratic state, initiatives can be realized only through the institutions of the system. Some of them will be accepted, and some will not. Without that, there's no democracy, there's no state. And, the RM Government will not allow that. The constitutional decree for the rights of the minorities in their mother tongue can be realized only if possibilities for education of the teaching staff through the system are created. From there, in the coming period, the Macedonian Government and the other institutions of the system, such as the two universities, the Teachers' College, should undertake concrete activities for realization of the Concept for education of the nationalities," the Prime Minister added.

    He also reminded that the measures undertaken so far, and what has been done, particularly with the Teachers' College, the return of the students after the boycott of the classes, passed in the shadow of the latest events. The concept prepared by the University had the same fate.

    "The interest that our neighbors are expressing these days, for thing happening here, is quite understanding. For us, such interest is legitimate, but the thing we do not agree with is when that interest will overstep the line and turn into interference in the internal matters of a sovereign state. And, the instigation, even verbal, of acts that are contrary to the constitutional system of an independent and sovereign state is exactly interference in the internal affairs," stated Crvenkovski, commenting specifically the attitude of Albania and Greece.

    "The Albanian public was informed with distorted and incorrect facts, so it responded appropriately. We believe that this is not an appropriate way for strengthening the mutual trust between the two countries."

    "In Greece, this event is presented as a major argument for instability in the country. Time will deny this in the best possible way. Actually, the ability and strength of the RM to handle such a problem is proof of the stability of the state," the Macedonian Prime Minister underlined. He stated that the messages, coming from other international subjects with which our neighbors are called to respect the sovereignty and cooperation with the Macedonian authorities, present support of the current state policy.

  2. CRVENKOVSKI: "THERE WILL BE NO KOSOVIZATION"
    One of the first questions addressed to the Prime Minister referred to the "minimum above which the Government would not go in the settling of the problems." "The Government will do everything to come to a full realization of the constitutional right of the nationalities for education in the mother tongue. That can not be realized if there are no conditions for education of the teaching staff within the framework of the high education. Possibilities should be created for education of such staff, within the framework of the system of the University 'Sts. Cyril and Methodius'," the Prime Minister said. This view, as it was said, goes in the direction of the views of the party PDP. It was also said that the ministers Albanians are behind the stances of the Government.

    As for the Government's responsibility for "untimely settlement of the problems," it was said that the Government proclaimed its stances even two years ago, so everything that was under its competence has already been done, but that also can not be justification for what happened later on." When asked about the comment of the British Foreign Office that the Government should fulfill its alleged promises made to the Albanian community, Crvenkovski responded that it was not a matter of any promises, but principled stance, from which there was no backing down. They should be realized, but that also requires cooperation with the educational institutions in the country, which, as the Prime Minister believes, "should have pushed forward the education within the framework of the Constitution."

    Is a process of "Kosovization" taking place in Macedonia, or is there knowledge that Fadil Sulejmani is an agent from KOS (Serbian Counter-Intelligence Agency - trans. note), as some information says. Does the Government have information about inter-ethnic relations in the state, were also questions Crvenkovski focused on in his replies.

    "There is no danger in Macedonia from 'Kosovization' due to a number of reasons. We don't have the historic experience from over there, the same quality of inter-ethnic relations and the tolerance between the citizens, is at a higher level than in Kosovo, and the policy and means with which it is enforces vary considerably from those used over there. Otherwise, it is an illusion to build a platform for inter-ethnic relations, and such a platform does not exist anywhere. There is a general policy that is built in the constitution and laws. In Macedonia, we have not intention to force an atmosphere which will treat exclusively national collectivities. The basic concept is a citizens' state and the individual rights and freedoms."

    In regards to whether Sulejmani is an agent of KOS, Crvenkovski said: "We do not want to deal with speculations and if there is any information about that, the Government will come out with those facts," Crvenkovski said.

  3. TETOVO: "NORMALIZATION OF SITUATION"
    The situation in Tetovo is slowly coming back to normal. According to informers of "Vecer" and "Nova Makedonija," the streets have gone back to their usual rhythm. All the political parties of the Albanians will not take part in the next session of the Macedonian Parliament.

    The PDP and NDP have initiated an irregular session of the Tetovo local assembly for today, at 10 h, which will focus on the situation following the Friday incident.

    Unofficially, "Vecer" finds out that the Macedonian members of the Tetovo assembly will not be attending the session, if the stances of the Government regarding the illegal Tetovo university do not dominate the discussion.

  4. NEVZAT HALILI ARRESTED
    Nevzat Halili, leader of the new political party of the Albanians in Macedonia PDP - National Unity, was arrested by the police yesterday morning.

    Nevzat Halili was directly involved in the events around the university, particularly in the village of Poroy, where he lives.

  5. PARTY REACTIONS:
    IMRO-DPMNU announces that the attempt to end the stalemate in the negotiations with the parties of the Albanian minority confirms that the authorities are trying to avoid a parliamentary crisis, at any cost. The new concessions to the Albanian minority will directly drag Macedonia into a much bigger crisis in the inter-ethnic relations.

    The DEMOCRATIC PARTY, in yesterday's press conference, asked the authorities, instead of establishing relations along the line state-ethnic groups, to publicly say what it intends to do. This party calls on the authorities to openly state whether they intend to suspend the institutions of the state, as it is clear that Macedonia can barely cope with two, let alone three universities.

    The DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF THE TURKS is particularly concerned because, in Macedonia, we are witnessing a dangerous radicalization of the inter-ethnic relations. This party emphasizes that the dialogue, as the only means of settling the inter-ethnic antagonism, is being suppressed.

  6. EXCERPTS FROM INTERVIEW WITH YASUSHI AKASHI FOR "KOHA," WHICH APPLY TO MACEDONIA
    KOHA: When we spoke last in Vienna, you said that you were concerned for Macedonia and that you wanted to visit it as soon as possible. What kind of processes were you talking about?
    AKASHI: "Our latest report from Macedonia is not the best. I had hopes that the dialogue between the Macedonian ethnic majority and the ethnic Albanians would develop well. I still believe that President Gligorov honestly hopes for a dialogue and I hope that the problem with the Albanian university will contribute to some kind of good and practical compromise. But, according to the latest news I received, the dialogue is not going well."
    KOHA: What, according to you, should UNPROFOR do in this case?
    AKASHI: "Our initial mandate is to cover the northern border for the ethnic conflicts not to penetrate to the south, into FYROM. But, Macedonia's stability can be threatened due to two other reasons: due to the economic difficulties, where there is enormous unemployment and the problem with the ethnic minorities - that is, the Albanian minority. In this respect, the mandate of UNPROFOR is quite modest. I am for that to offer my services in enabling a dialogue, but the responsibility in relation to the internal questions should remain within the international conference for former Yugoslavia."
    KOHA: Can you foresee an expansion of the UNPROFOR mandate in Macedonia?
    AKASHI: Our hands are full with Bosnia and Croatia. Why, then, should we ask for an expansion of the mandate. The UN are also preoccupied with the situation that developed after the cold war, so we are facing internal wars more and more, and therefore I think we should be careful and not deal with a lot of things we can't solve."

    MONEY - Economy, Business, Finance & Market

  7. *** PRIVATIZATION - WHAT WITH THOSE WHO WERE LATE? :
    All those small and middle-sized companies that did not meet the deadline for the start of the privatization process, December 10, last year, till when they had to submit their views on the privatization of the companies, are obliged to submit information to the Privatization Agency in the next couple of days, so that it can start the process of their privatization.

    After the Agency receives all the necessary information, it will decide about the way in which it will privatize the companies. The small companies will be sold with an offer of an ideal part of the company, while the middle-sized companies will be sold according to two models: the offer of stocks in order to get additional capital, and the sale according to management take over. With the second type of sale, the purchase of 20% of the value of the middle-sized company, one acquires the right to run it, with the obligation to buy up 51% of the value of the stocks, over the next 5 years.

    The workers have priority in the purchase, up to 30% of the value of the shares, which means that they will have the advantage in the purchase of this percentage of the stocks. They can also buy shares above this percentage, but in that case, they will be treated equally with the other buyers.

  8. *** TELECOMMUNICATIONS - 330,000 NEW TELEPHONE LINES:
    In the period 1995-97, the public company PTT "Makedonija" will install 330,000 telephone connections, which will make the number of telephone connections in the country 600,000. With its own funds of US$ 40 million, already for this year, 170,000 new connections should be provided for 17 municipalities out of 34 in the country, and 160,000 connections for seven municipalities are planned to be realized with a credit from EBRD of US$ 42.5 million, by the year 1997, at the latest. 117,000 connections will be installed in the capital city Skopje alone, 40,000 this year, stated the general manager of the PTT "Makedonija" Ivan Ginovski.

    In addition, according to Ginovski, some 180,000 "twins" will be replaced, and there are also plans to install around 5-7,000 new telephone booths, which will work on electronic cards. Around 1,000 telephone booths are to be set up during this year. An agreement has already been signed with the Turkish telecommunications company "Netas" for this purpose, which is a part of the Canadian "Northern Telecom."

  9. *** RETAIL SALES - WORK INDICATORS:
    In the meeting of the Sales Association within the Macedonian Chamber of Commerce it was said that 97.3% of the trade companies are privately owned, while only 16.6% of the capital of all trade companies is in private hands, while the rest is either state-owned or in the form of stock capital.

    Another fact revealed was that 60% of the companies in this field have not submitted annual financial statements for the year 1993, which means that they are not working or are only formally registered. As for the structure of employment, it was stressed that the average number of employees in a trade firm is 3.2 workers, while the average in the economy is 14.9 persons per company.

    It was also said that the basic activity of 6,000 firms is retail trade, 8,648 deals with wholesale trade, while 375 firms are into foreign trade.

    The indicators from the financial activities of the trade indicate that the overall uncovered losses, till the end of June 1994 were estimated at US$ 2 million. The unpaid obligations up to November 30, last year, are estimated at 799 million denars, while the accounts of 793 companies have remained blocked more than 75 days.

    The prolongation of the process of transformation, according to the Association, turns away all investments. There are 253 companies in the trade with state-owned capital, of which 232 are small, 19 are middle, and only 2 are large.

  10. *** ORE - 20 MILLION TONES OF COAL FOUND:
    New coal reserves have been found in the mine "Oslomey" near Kichevo. The reserves are estimated at 20 million tones, which will enable the thermal electric power plant to keep working for the next 20 years.

    On a daily basis, "Oslomey" produces and delivers 2.5 million KWH of electric energy to the electro energetic system.