"Greece should insist that the negotiations with Macedonia be led on the basis of a so-called 'large packet,' which also includes the name," the former Greek Prime Minister Constantinos Mitsotakis said yesterday, who is also honorary president of New Democracy.
"A different course of events," Mitsotakis stated, following his meeting with the leader of New Democracy Miltijadis Evert, "will be regarded as 'national defeat' for Greece, as it would mean Skopje's recognition under the name Macedonia."
Mitsotakis added that "Greece must not give Macedonia its name," saying it would be a source of instability in the Balkans, which is not in the interest neither of Greece, nor the U.S., nor Europe.
The Greek commercial TV station "MEGA" reminds that Mitsotakis is in favour of accepting a "complex name" for Macedonia.
The same source says that during his stay in Washington, Miltijadis Evert "initially accepted the possibility" of reaching an agreement in the dispute between Athens and Skopje, on the basis of the so-called "small packet," and later on, within two months, to also discuss the name issue.
Macedonia's Foreign Ministry yesterday received the note from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, marking the official establishment of full diplomatic relations between the two countries, Macedonia's Foreign Ministry announced.
In the middle of the action of closing down more than 40 private RTV stations in Macedonia (out of a total of 250), the Steering committee of the association of private RTV stations asked the Minister of Traffic Dimitar Buzlevski yesterday, to give them a period of six months to get adapted to the new working conditions.
Pending the adoption of the new Law for radio- diffusion, the private RTV stations asked to be given temporary frequencies, that the ownership of the technical equipment be clearly defined, and that the RTV stations be listed in the court register.
The talks between the Steering committee and the ministry will continue in order to settle the problems in the radio-diffusion and to bring down the number of stations to a realistic level, on a legal basis.
The unofficial information concerning changes in the editorial staff of the program in Albanian language of the Macedonian Television proved to be true yesterday. With a decision of the MTV management, the editor-in-chief Skender Raufi was dismissed from this function and replaced again by Hisen Shakjiri, who carried out this function for nine years, before Raufi's appointment three years ago.
The reappointment of Shakjiri as editor-in-chief of the programs in Albanian language at MTV aroused considerable public interest, especially among journalists and other employees in this editorial office, i.e. they refuse to accept the arbitrary appointment of Shakjiri to this function and to work under him.
On the trail of this news, we spoke with the editor-in- chief of the political program on MTV Zoran Ivanov, who confirmed this news. "The organization inside the house is an internal question of MTV. We're not leading politics here, we're not electing ministers, nor a government. There are 20 to 25 employees in this editorial office, and one of them is the new editor. Maybe Hisen Shakjiri is the man who can suit the criteria of the new organization of the house, at this moment. The Albanian program has been extended three hours, and that hasn't been used up enough. In the three months, which is how long I've been to this function, a couple of editors have been changed," said Ivanov.
The new editor-in-chief said he did not have anything to state as he was appointed to this function by the management.
The journalists from this program are refusing to accept these staff changes, and taking the issue a step further, yesterday, they sent a letter to the management. As Skender Raufi told us, following the appointment of Hisen Shakjiri, "the editorial office is refusing to work any further, as Hisen was unanimously dismissed from this function three years ago, which he carried out nine years and now, in a totalitarian way and a clean-cut case of putsch, he is coming back to the function. Both then and now, the office is prepared to suggest its own candidate to this function (and that is its indisputable right). The letter is signed by 22 journalists from the Albanian editorial office," Skender said.
That the issue of the changing of the editor-in-chief of the Albanian editorial office at MTV is not an internal matter of the house alone, but also of the public, is also illustrated by the involvement and efforts of the Albanian political subject in relation to this question. Official sources say that the latest staff changes at MTV were discussed yesterday at highest state level. Unofficially, however, PDP supports the stance of the journalists at the Albanian editorial office, to chose their editor-in-chief themselves.
The Minister of Construction, Urbanization and Protection of the Living Environment Yorgo Shundovski stated at yesterday's press conference that out of a total of 60,000 state- owned apartments, 41,000 have been bought, i.e. privatized, by the families that have been living in them. This sale has been going on for a couple of years already, and it is expected to end in a certain period.
So far, the sale has brought in 286 million DM, while another 291 million DM are expected to be collected from the sale of the apartments that are sold on the basis of payments over a period of 40 years. The total sum that should be collected is 584 million DM. According to the minister, all these funds will be used to service the trapped foreign currency savings accounts of the citizens in the banks.
As to the business areas, according to the agreement with the International Monetary Fund and the World bank, another 40,000 m2 of business area have to be sold at public auction this year. In the first quarter of this year, 14,000 m2 went on offer, but only 3,000 m2 were sold, at an average price of 2,400 DM. The sale of the business areas will also continue in this quarter of the year, however, the criteria for the starting price have been changed.
On another subject, minister-spokesman Gjuner Ismail informed that the Government has determined the purchase price of the corn which is remaining at MKD 10 (US$ 0.262) per kilogram, and the purchase price of the small-leaf and oriental tobacco for this year, will be MKD 82 (US$ 2.15) per kilogram.
It was also informed that, according to the agreement with the IMF and the World bank, the state has 5,000 surplus workers in the administration, who receive their wages from the budget. 2% of this number of employees have to leave by the first half year, and by the end of the year, another 10%. At this moment, the Government is working on the most acceptable lay-off methodology.
According to information from the banks and the Macedonian Government, the trapped foreign currency savings of the citizens in the business banks in Macedonia total a sum of 1.58 billion DM. According to the Law for financial rehabilitation of the banks, the state has taken over this debt and it is in charge of paying it back. By the end of 1992, this debt reached 1.74 billion DM, and together with the interest, the debt has been reduced 308.8 million DM from January 1, 1992 to December 31, 1994.
Otherwise, the Macedonian citizens can withdraw up to 100 DM from their trapped savings per month, to satisfy their existential needs, provided their income is below the socially prescribed level, and, they can withdraw up to 1,000 DM in cases of death in the family, weddings, education in the country or abroad, medical treatments in the country and abroad, the payment of customs for the import of objects for personal use, the payment of tax on real estate, as well as the purchase of state- owned apartments, business areas or shares in the newly- privatized companies.
The book "International forwarding in Macedonia" by Nikola Kostov was promoted at the Macedonian Chamber of Commerce yesterday. Otherwise, Nikola Kostov is president of the Group for forwarding of the Chamber's Board for traffic and relations.
According to the reviewer of the book, Dr. Branko Zelenkov, it presents a guidebook for all those who practice and apply the rules of international forwarding and who work in forwarding and foreign trade companies, companies for international transport and public warehouses.
The working groups of the associations for agriculture, food industry, water supply, tobacco industry, forestry and wood industry with the Chamber of Commerce of Macedonia held a meeting yesterday which focused on the Government's draft-law for business associations.
In the meeting, it was said that the proposed text of the law is much too detailed, abstract and vague, and therefore, difficult to apply in practice. Furthermore, the law does not explain the essential matters and has no vision, i.e. it only reflects the momentary situation, without giving any directions as to future processes in the economy. The law does not provide continuity with the to-date regulations in this field, and the agricultural companies, which should also be encompassed, are left with an undefined states.