MONEY - Economy, Business, Finance & Market
Among them were also the leaders of the political parties and Albanian members of Parliament. A protest poetry evening was announced for late last night, while the "first petition of dissatisfaction" is expected to be announced today.
The Macedonian political block reacted to the massive gathering in Mala Rechica with an announcement that says: "We are reacting strongly to yesterday's massive congregation of the members of the Albanian nationality from Tetovo and other parts, on the space in front of the para-university in Tetovo. That is another new, illegal and anti-constitutional manifestation with which publicly, openly and unsanctioned, the constitution and laws of the Republic of Macedonia are violated. We want the broader public to be fully informed about all of this, and those who allow such massive gatherings with the unhindered hoisting of the flag of the Republic of Albania to be organized and held, and who proclaim some kind of heroes of the education, to be called to account," the Macedonian political block emphasizes.
The announcement says that the "Senate and the whole Albanian political subject strongly support the continuation of the educational process at the university in Tetovo."
The students and citizens are informed that in line with the previous stances and the newly developed situation, appropriate forms for continuation of the classes and forms of information have already been found.
It is also made clear to the citizens that there is no need for them to gather around the premises where these classes will be held.
He emphasized that "Macedonia does not have any territorial pretensions against anyone, that it has a satisfactory level of co-existence with the various ethnic groups, and the Government is conducting a moderate policy." However, Fevre said "the situation is still frail, not because of the internal reasons, but because of the outside pressure from Greece and its embargo on the border which has, foremost, economic consequences for Macedonia, or because of the pressure coming from Albania."
The parliamentarian Renee Chabot briefly stated "my impression was that Macedonia has the biggest problems with Greece, now I feel that the problems are coming from Albania."
In the press conference, at the end of the visit, while speaking of the bilateral relations, Mr. Fevre underlined the possibilities for concrete help for the project Vardar valley and water supply in the Kochani valley.
In continuation, the chairman of the parliamentary group for friendship with the People's Assembly of the Republic of France spoke of the talks led with the member of the Macedonian Parliament Nano Ruzin, who is president of the group for Macedonian-French friendship. The product of the talks was the agreement for a mixed forum to be organized soon in Paris or Skopje, with some thirty participants, within that cooperation.
On the plan of university cooperation, the delegation visited the university in Bitola, whereby it reviewed the possibility of closer cooperation with some of the French universities.
Mr. Fevre reminded that France will hold the position of chairman of the EU till July 1, and expressed readiness to make use of that situation to help with the Greek embargo.
MONEY - Economy, Business, Finance & Market
The only problem, for now, is that the official organs have still not carried out expropriation of the land, on which the highway has to be expanded.
This highway will be 19 km long, with two paytolls at the entrance of Gostivar and Tetovo. There will be two lanes in every direction, with a driving area 3.5 m wide.
This help is a part of 7.5 million ECU which the Commission of the European Union allocated to Macedonia for the supply of critical products such as the oil derivatives.
This is only the first part of the realization of the help from the "PHARE" programme, which is valued at ECU 23 million, and beside the derivatives, this programme also contains funds for the supply of raw materials and essential spare parts, food products and equipment for some factories.
This programme will push for a 30% increase in the prices of railway transportation, while the prices will be coordinated every two months, depending on the inflation fluctuations.
1,500 workers less are expected to be on the payment sheets of the Macedonian railways, whereby 200 will be laid off with layoff money, 631 workers employed in the plants for track vehicles in Veles and track repairs from Skopje will be grouped in separate firms, while the surplus workers will be grouped into 4 groups and rotate by working one week per month, each, until the lifting of the Greek sanctions and those against Yugoslavia.
The programme also foresees that adoption of a Law for railways which is expected to be adopted in June, this year, and which should define the participation of the state in covering the expenses for the railway infrastructure. It has been agreed to stop investments and to reduce the services, while the construction of the railroad track Kumanovo - Bulgarian border will continue as a state investment.
As for reduction of the lines, the Macedonian railways have refused to cancel the non-profitable lines Veles - Bitola and Veles - Kocani, in regard to which the Government has to speak its mind.
The largest part of this production has been sold, however, the debts to the farmers from whom the fresh fruits and vegetables were bought, have still not been settled. Beside, problems in the supply of the expensive packaging material are expected to arise.
In the session, it was decided for the factories to determine the purchase prices of the fruits and vegetables themselves.
The Trade Union, namely, is requesting this as a large number of firms are not paying pension benefits for their employees, leaving them unable to realize their pension rights. The money from the sold objects would be paid in the Fund for pension insurance, so as to enable the employees in the trade to receive pensions.
In 1993, upon the control of the annual balance sheets of the companies, irregularities have been determined with 157 companies, which left the pension cash register with 10% less funds than what it had to receive.
On the other hand, last month, the number of non- employed reached 197,968, unlike 1978, when this figure was 100,000. This figure does not include 15,567 people who will lose their jobs with the restructuring of the "losers" over the course of a couple of months.
That is not all, however. The number of unemployed is also increasing on the basis of bankruptcy proceedings. Bankruptcy compensation money of 2,872 denars is being paid to 14,051 workers which is some 3,000 people more only in comparison with December, last year.