The Athens news agency conveyed a White House report from Washington yesterday, which expresses optimism that direct dialogue would be achieved in New York, between Athens and Skopje, with the mediation of Cyrus Vance, Makfaks reports. The Athens agency reiterates that the meeting in New York is to take place on April 6.
The former Greek Prime Minister Konstantinos Mitsotakis, following his return from the visit to the U.S.A., stated that the initiative for starting a dialogue between Athens and Skopje is a positive step. Mitsotakis, who accepted the indirect negotiations between Athens and Skopje, stated that with their break off by the government of Papandreou, lots of valuable time was lost. The former Greek Prime Minister repeated that the dispute over the name should be settled with a "compound name." Mitsotakis did not specify exactly what kind of "compound name" he was talking about, however, added that it was a "proposal of the mediator Cyrus Vance." Konstantinos Mitsotakis told Greek reporters that during his stay in the U.S. he had met with Boutros Ghali and Cyrus Vance.
The internal political situation, the holding of the parliamentary and presidential elections in October, 1994, the announcement of the results of the 1994 Census, as well as the "intensification of the relations" between the Government and the ethnic Albanians, and between the Government and the nationalistic elements from the Macedonian ethnic minority, according to the Draft-report of the UN Secretary-General, prepared in compliance with Resolution 947 of the Security Council, are dominant events in the past six months in the Republic of Macedonia.
In the five items dedicated to the Republic of Macedonia, the Secretary-General Boutros Ghali conveys the assessment of the observes of the parliamentary and presidential elections that they were, mainly, conducted in a regular fashion and peacefully. This part states that the two main oppositional parties in the country, IMRO-DPMNU and the Democratic party, boycotted the second round, as they felt that the first round of election was irregular. "The parties that boycotted the elections have an influence on a large number of voters, so now, they don't recognize neither the Parliament, nor the President, and the prevailing situation does not lead to constructive political dialogue," is said in Boutros Ghali's Draft-report.
In relation to the Census, conducted from June 25 to July 11, 1994, with the purpose of getting the exact numbers of the ethnic composition of the population, after stating the Census results, it is said: "Despite the verification by the international observers, the leaders of the ethnic Albanians dispute the results."
The report also encompasses the reinforced demands of the leaders of the political parties of the Albanians for improving their political, economic, social, cultural and educational status, including the recognition of the Albanian language as second official language in the Republic. The leaders of the ethnic Albanians, involved in this initiative, are objecting that the two existing universities in the country, as well as the Teacher's College in Skopje, which recently adapted a part of the classes to be held in Albanian language, are not sufficient and that therefore an university in Albanian language is necessary.
The Government feels that the project for the formation of such an university outside the state system is anti- constitutional and illegal, and it is emphasized that the sympathizers of this project use the question of education for realizing their political ambitions for "federalization," and all with the aim of coming to the creation of a Great Albania in the end.
In a separate item of the Draft-report, it is stated that approximately 30% of the work force in the country are unemployed, as a result of the economic difficulties, which, in the first place, are a result of the one-sided Greek embargo and the sanctions against FRY, as well as the hesitation of the foreign investors over making investments in the country.
"Nevertheless, the Government is making great efforts for transformation of the economy into a system of market economy, and it's getting some help, along the way, from the IMF, the World bank, the European Union and some individual member states. The economy is showing signs of revival of some departments, but it is still facing great challenges and it needs further international support," is said in the Draft-report.
The part on Macedonia ends with the role of the UNPROFOR mission and it is assessed that "at the moment, there are no military threats" from the borders with FRY and Albania. The Draft-report, however, warns that there is still a possibility of confrontation on the border between FRY and Macedonia, due to the mutually unrecognized international border. "It remains of primary importance for a joint border commission to start work in relation to this important question," Boutros Ghali emphasizes.
In reviewing the report on the work of the State Census Commission and the report of the expert group, in the session held Monday, the Government concluded that the Census was conducted successfully, despite the short period of time left for preparing such a vast operation, the organizational problems and the attempts of certain political parties to prevent it from being carried out. The entire operation was carried out in conformity with the international norms and standards, and a high level of scope of the population was encompassed, except for the municipality of Debar, for which a part of the data was drawn on the basis of estimates. This was said in yesterday's press conference.
With regard of the financing of the Census, it was said that the entire operation cost some 3.3 million ECU, or over 86 million denars, of which, in line with the agreement by the EU and the Council of Europe, so far, 51.46% of the costs have been covered. The Minister of Economy Risto Ivanov underlined that the remaining 1.3 million ECU, which have yet to be covered by the EU and the Security Council, in the most part, are a result of the additional costs, connected with the organization, that is the increase in the number of enumerators and the municipal instructors and the prolongation of the deadline an additional five days, so as to fully envelope the population.
The first stock market in Macedonia started working yesterday within the Privatization Agency. Namely, it is a primary and internal market of the Privatization Agency.
In the first session, 81,175 stocks of the just privatized textile company OTEKS from Ohrid were offered, at a starting price of 75 DM.
The eight authorized domestic banks and two brokerage companies from Macedonia appeared at this first auction, who bought shares for their clients, although only a small part of the shares were bought.
The stock market will work every week, starting from Tuesday at 10.00h, and shares from many other recently privatized companies are also expected to appear in the coming sessions, which are not 100% purchased, so the rest of the non-purchased capital will be found on the market.
According to Olga Mihajlova - Tikvarovska, the director for development in the Privatization Agency, "within three months, the overall offer on the market will grow to at least US$ 50 million." Mrs. Mihajlova-Tikvarovska supported this with the fact that due to the speeding up of the privatization process, many companies will start selling the non-purchased parts on the market.
"Here, before all," according to Mihajlova - Tikvarovska, "will be shares from the three tobacco combines in Macedonia, whose privatization is underway, and whose overall value is over US$ 150 million."
This internal market is created after the unsuccessful attempt of the Privatization Agency, last year, for several banks and private companies to found a stock market, as the Macedonian Law for stocks does not allow private companies to act as founders of a market, but only banks and financial institutions.
The team from the Macedonian Government, in charge of negotiations with the international institutions left for Holland yesterday. The team, that also includes Borko Stanoevski, governor of the National Bank of Macedonia, and the ministers Ljube Trpevski and Jane Miljovski, will table their views in regards to the negotiations with the World bank.
Apart from that, toward the beginning of next month, the U.S.A. are expected to approve the FESAC credit from IDA to Macedonia, valued at US$ 85 million, intended for structural reforms in Macedonia. The final negotiations will be conducted from April 3-5, while toward the end of May and the beginning of June, the money is expected to arrive in Macedonia.
During the same period, the first installment of the stand-by arrangement would be received, which is expected to total US$ 55 million.
The signing of this arrangement depends on the call of the Paris club for negotiations. The Macedonian Government has sent a letter to the governments of the creditor countries in which it expressed readiness to negotiate over the Macedonian debt.
From Holland, the Government team will go on to London, where the annual session of the EBRD is held at the beginning of next month. So far, this bank has signed several arrangements with the Macedonian economy, and it is also expected to take part in the financial revival of "Stopanska banka."
Also in the game are a couple of other arrangements, including the US$ 25 million credit for the small and middle- sized companies.
The Privatization Agency today announced the public sale of 14 companies or the sale of shares of the non-purchased parts of the already privatized companies.
Nine of these companies will be sold according to the principle of sale of an ideal part of the company, while some of them will be announced for sale for the second time. On the other hand, 5 companies will be placed on sale according to the principle management buy-out.
The interested buyers have up to 30 days to make their purchase offers and a program for development of the company.