Yugoslav Daily Survey, 97-06-27

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Yugoslav Daily Survey

CONTENTS

[01] DUSAN VLATKOVIC ELECTED FOR CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR

[02] VOJNOVIC: CORRECT EVALUATION BY U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL

[03] VLATKOVIC: DINAR AND PRICES SHOULD REMAIN STABLE

[04] CROATIA RELEASES 6 OF 16 POWS

[05] YUGOSLAV-MACEDONIAN DRAFT AGREEMENT ON SOCIAL SECURITY

[06] DJUKANOVIC: LAWS FOR A BETTER FUTURE

[07] KLEIN ASKS FOR UNTAES MANDATE TO BE EXTENDED

[08] GRUDEN: EXTREMELY UNFAVOURABLE HUMANITARIAN SITUATION

[09] YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENT'S LOWER HOUSE ADOPTS BILL ON CUSTOMS TARIFFS

[10] YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENT'S UPPER HOUSE ELECTS STATE PROSECUTOR

[11] YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENT PASSES LAW ON NATIONAL HOLIDAYS

[01] DUSAN VLATKOVIC ELECTED FOR CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR

Tanjug, 1997-06-26

Both houses of Yugoslav Parliament elected on Thursday by public vote Dusan Vlatkovic for Yugoslav National Bank Governor.

Vlatkovic, Serbian Finance Minister, was suggested for the post by President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) Zoran Lilic, whose mandate expired Wednesday. The vote count was 70 for Vlatkovic, 23 against, and no abstentions.

[02] VOJNOVIC: CORRECT EVALUATION BY U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL

Tanjug, 1997-06-26

The President of the Joint Council of Districts, Milos Vojnovic, hailed on Thursday the report by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to the Security Council about the mandate of the UNTAES troops in Eastern Slavonija, Baranja and Western Srem.

"We still do not have the integral version of the report, but on the basis of reporting by some agencies, we hail its tone and good intenstions," Vojnovic said.

He underscored the Secretary General's view that the forms and length of the mandate would directly depend on Zagreb's readiness to fulfill its obligations towards the Serb population.

If everything goes according to plan, in keeping with Annan's proposal, the UNTAES military compenent would withdraw from the region in two stages. The first would begin on July 15 and end on October 15 when the Secretary General is scheduled to submit another report which will determine the further course of the mission.

"I believe that Annan's heightened caution is caused by the evident human rights violations of those who tried to return to their ancestral homes and were brutally prevented in this, as well as by the latest statements by Croat officials," Vojnovic said.

According to him, also encouraging is Annan's stand that the entire process of the pullout of the military component could be halted if problems arise regarding the setting up of local administration organs.

"It is a fact that such problems already exist, as the newly-elected organs of power are not functioning anywhere, but it is a good thing that the awareness about such a state of affairs and problems stemming from it also exist in the U.N. seat," Vojnovic said.

He said that encouraging is the linking of the UNTAES mandate to the readiness of the Croatian authorities to realize obligations such as the creation of conditions for the equal position and life of Serbs, their involvement on social programs and the right of the refugees and displaced persons to return home. Vojnovic said that this also represents a stimulus for further cooperation with the international community.

"The threat to Zagreb that is must sanction all forms of inter-ethnic violence and harrassment of Serbs, only proves that in question are not only verbal warnings and suggestions," Vojnovic said.

[03] VLATKOVIC: DINAR AND PRICES SHOULD REMAIN STABLE

Tanjug, 1997-06-26

"The basic goal of this year's economic policy is to maintain the stability of the national currency and prices and we shall realize that goal. That is why the restrictive monetary policy must continue, but to the degree which would not lead to deflation or stagnation of production," the Yugoslav National Bank new Governor Dusan Vlatkovic told Tanjug on Thursday.

"In order to secure an efficient monetary policy in other macro-economic policies, corresponding measures must be taken as soon as possible so as to ease the burden of the monetary policy," Vlatkovic said.

The privatization process has begun and the adoption of certain bills which are under procedure in Parliament should give it new impetus. Nevertheless, the programme for the sanation of banks and the economy must be made as soon as possible because the accumulated problems in that area appear as a serious factor limiting the successful implementation of the monetary policy, he said.

We must have a capable banking system with a satisfactory rating in international financial circles, in particular with international financial institutions (the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, development banks, and others), if we are to establish full relations with foreign financial organizations and banks, said Vlatkovic.

Vlatkovic said it was necessary at the earliest possible time to settle the issue of private hard currency savings accounts opened in the former Yugoslavia, because this would restore the confidence of citizens in the banking system, and stimulate savings in banks, which would in turn provide a necessary source of funds for creditting businesses and private citizens.

The solutions provided in the draft Law on ownership transformation, which has been proposed by the Serbian Government, are important in this repsect, he said.

The deficits in the public sector occur as a serious limiting factor for the successful implamentation of the monetary policy, he said.

When such deficits exist, it is possible that their monetization disrupts the achieved level of stability. The monetary authorities can not be asked to do this, and the National Bank will withold its support, Vlatkovic said.

The deficits in the real sector must be resolved through ownership transformation, because the monetary frameworks which secure the stability of the rate of exchange and prices do not permit the financing of these deficits from primary issue, he said.

In order to secure the efficient introduction of the monetary policy, the Yugoslav National Bank will duly apply all instruments at its disposal to establish and maintain financial discipline, he said.

Additional measures must be taken to strengthen the National Bank's hard currency reserves, because the maintenance of the stability of the rate of exchange will mostly depend on this bank's ability to intervene on the hard currency market, he said.

This implies that conditions must be created for the constant and normal operation of the hard currency market and the presence of the Yugoslav National Bank on this market, said the Governor.

A great facility in this respect is the possibility to engage part of the hard currency secured by sales of state capital, he said, which will be managed carefully in order to back financially economic growth under stable conditions.

Speedier development also requires additional sources of financing from foreign accumulation. In order to secure these sources, a precondition, in addition to ownership transformation, is to normalize relations with international financial organizations, he said.

The Yugoslav National Bank has special obligations in this respect and it will be intensely engaged, Vlatkovic said.

Vlatkovic pointed out that the maintenance of economic growth under stable conditions must remain the elementary obligation of the National Bank in adopting measures which are within its jurisdiction.

Without the stability of the national currency and prices, all other results of economic activities would only be short-term, so that a restrictive monetary policy must be maintained in the coming period, but to a degree that would not lead to deflation or stagnation of production, he said.

The Yugoslav National Bank will provide its full support to the programme of reforms which are being realized this year, in keeping with its authorities, Governor Vlatkovic concluded.

[04] CROATIA RELEASES 6 OF 16 POWS

Tanjug, 1997-06-26

The Croatian authorities have released Serb prisoners of war held in the Split jail since 1994 and 1995, the Belgrade Office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday.

The POW's were transferred from Zagreb to old Gradiska and handed over to the Republika Srpska authorities, the statement said.

Tanjug's Banjaluka correspondent said that after more than two years imprisonment were released Predrag Maric and Mihajlo Stanisic from Grahovo, Drago Vukovic from Celnici, Zeljko Jokic from Teslic, Miroslav Stamenkovic from Belgrade and Braco Krnetic from Krupa.

The six of a group of 18 POW's were several weeks ago released by the Croats, and at last week's meeting in Belgrade they promised to the International Commission for Missing Persons, headed by Cyrus Vance, that the reminding POW's would be set free by today.

ICRC President Cornelio Sommaruga then said that all 16 remaining POW's should be released immediately and unconditionally.

[05] YUGOSLAV-MACEDONIAN DRAFT AGREEMENT ON SOCIAL SECURITY

Tanjug, 1997-06-26

Experts from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and the Republic of Macedonia have coordinated a draft Agreement on social security which covers all categories included in the social security systems of both states, Assistant Federal Minister for Labour, Health and Social Policy Maksim Korac told Tanjug on Thursday.

"The draft agreement with Macedonia includes all spheres of social security - pensions, invalid and health security, compensation in case of unemployment and children's allowance," Korac said.

The future social security agreement, which will be submitted to both Governments for adoption, secures the complete protection of all categories and of users covered by both countries' security systems without making it conditional on citizenship.

Korac recalled that during the talks, conducted in Skopje from June 16-20, controversial remained only the claims by Macedonians for whom there is no legal basis and as such had to be rejected by the Yugoslav side.

"The agreement does not allow the reduction, freezing, annulment or seizure of pensions, money compensations, children's allowences and other funds, except those in case of unemployment, only because the user is a resident in the territory of the other signatory," Korac said.

Under the agreement, these funds are paid out under the same conditions when the citizen of the other signatiry is a resident of a third state.

[06] DJUKANOVIC: LAWS FOR A BETTER FUTURE

Tanjug, 1997-06-26

Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Vojin Djukanovic told Yugoslav Parliament on Thursday that the draft laws being debated at the current extraordinary session were aimed at accelerating the initiated social and economc reforms. Addressing the Lower House of the Federal Parliament, Djukanovic said that the proposed economic systemic laws nullified the provisions in force during the period under international sanctions or modified existing legislation to adapt it to the present conditions in which the effects of the sanctions are still being felt.

The new Yugoslav economic legislation will thus be coordinated with the laws in force in the European Union, and should bring about a liberalization of foreign trade and customs regulations in line with the requests of the World Trade Organization, Djukanovic said.

The Government has proposed a gradual approach to systemic changes, introducing considerably stricter conditions for economic activity as foreign backing is still not forthcoming and national accumulation level remains modest, he said.

Economic trends in the past five months have been relatively satisfactory, although below expectations, Djukanovic said.

Between January and May this year, production grew by 7.8 percent as against the corresponding period of 1996, and the volume of foreign trade increased by about 30 percent (imports by 25 and exports by 39 percent). The foreign trade deficit of 847 million dollars in the first five months of 1997 is still too high, Djukanovic said.

Djukanovic said the stability of the dinar had been maintained over the past few years, and the money supply increased 6.7 percent since January, totaling about six billion dinars, with cash participating a little above 50 percent.

An achievement since the beginning of the year is the stability of prices, said Djukanovic. He said the average price rise was 0.7 percent, but added that it should continue to drop if Yugoslavia wished to stand shoulder to shoulder with the world.

Regarding the realization of receipts and payments of the Federal budget, Djukanovic said the budget was kept in balance and that payments were made in level with the receipts.

Djukanovic said the framework of the reforms was the new Law on Customs Tariffs, and amendments to the Customs Law and the abolition of non-customs duties.

The Law on Customs Tariffs was coordinated with regulations on customs and non-customs protection in the World Trade Organization, he said.

The new customs tariffs provide for the regulation of "zero rate" for at least 65 products, which had been acccepted in earlier negotiations with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, said Djukanovic.

Import taxes were reduced on mineral and chemical products, ores, natural gas, crude oil, plastic mass, leather, wool, cotton, wood, metals, machines, appliances and electrical equipment, transportation vehicles etc.

Import taxes were raised on agricultural and consumer goods for the protection of the strategic, priority course in development, said Djukanovic in conclusion.

[07] KLEIN ASKS FOR UNTAES MANDATE TO BE EXTENDED

Tanjug, 1997-06-26

UN administrator for Eastern Slavonia Jacques Klein has asked the Security Council on Thursday to extend the mandate of the UN Transition Forces (UNTAES) until January 1998.

Klein proposed that his post be extended until mid-October, when a new recapitulation of the situation is due, in keeping with a proposal by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and the latter's report submitted to the Council.

Klein expounded his requests by saying the period ahead would be crucial for the return of refugees and that the process should be monitored closely by the UN.

[08] GRUDEN: EXTREMELY UNFAVOURABLE HUMANITARIAN SITUATION

Tanjug, 1997-06-26

Serbian Red Cross President Slobodanka Gruden told Tanjug on Thursday at the opening of a ten-day Red Cross summer school in Trsic that the humanitarian situation in the country was extremely unfavourable.

Gruden said that this is the consequence of the destructive effects of the international sanctions on the country's economy and the reduced foreign aid. She warned that "now in Serbia the humanitarian situation is more than difficult" and that the number of refugees and displaced persons from the territory of the former Yugoslavia had remained unchanged for years.

Gruden pointed out that this figure "remains above 500.000, periodically rising to 700.000, depending on the movement of refugees, the majority of whom are children, women, the elderly and ill."

"International humanitarian organizations recognize in their programs 200.000 - 400.000 refugees, while some relay on repatriation which is yet to start," Gruden said.

She set out that "in such a situation it would be natural for the state to help, but added that the lengthy sanctions prevented this in the measure needed."

Gruden said that "the international sanctions aimed not only to make things difficult for their duration, but also to result in consequences whose removing will last three times longer than the blockade itself."

[09] YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENT'S LOWER HOUSE ADOPTS BILL ON CUSTOMS TARIFFS

Tanjug, 1997-06-26

The Chamber of Citizens of the Federal Parliament adopted a Bill on customs tariffs at an emergency session on Thursday. The Bill is the basis for the drafting of concession lists which Yugoslavia will propose when joining the World Trade Organization.

The Bill was passed without a debate, with 74 votes in favour, 16 against, and no abstentions.

The Bill on customs tariffs envisages that customs are paid on all imported goods except 65 products. In earlier negotiations within the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the customs rate for these 65 products was consolidated at the level of "free."

Customs duty of 1-5% will be paid on raw materials and semi-manufactures which are not produced domesticaly, those whose domestic production is insufficient will be taxed by 6-12% customs duty, and those which are produced in Yugoslavia in sufficient quantities will be taxed with 13-21% customs duty.

Imports of equipment which is produced in domesticaly will be taxed with a customs rate of 21-30%, and equipment not made in Yugoslavia will be subject to much lower customs duty, from 1-15%.

Under the Bill, there will be a customs duty of 31-40% on imports of consumer goods.

This legal document, which is presented as the fundamental long-term instrument for protecting domestic production, will take effect on August 1.

[10] YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENT'S UPPER HOUSE ELECTS STATE PROSECUTOR

Tanjug, 1997-06-26

The Yugoslav Parliament's Chamber of Republics elected Vukasin Jokanovic as Federal State Prosecutor by secret ballot on Thursday.

The President of Yugoslavia proposed Jokanovic to the post after consultations in the republics of Serbia and Montenegro.

All twenty three deputies present at the session voted in favor of Jokanovic.

Jokanovic was born in 1939 in the village of Gornja Slatina, in Serbia's Province of Kosovo and Metohija.

He was Provincial Secretary of Justice and member of the Executive Council, Parliamentary Speaker in Kosovo and Metohija, Deputy Speaker in the Serbian Parliament, member of the Yugoslav and Serbian parliaments.

Jokanovic was the President and Vice President of the Constitutional Commission of the Serbian Parliament, a member of the Constitutional Commission of the Yugoslav Parliament, President of the Yugoslav Parliament's Lower House Committee for Justice, and Federal Interior Minister.

[11] YUGOSLAV PARLIAMENT PASSES LAW ON NATIONAL HOLIDAYS

Tanjug, 1997-06-26

The Lower House of the Yugoslav Parliament passed on Thursday afternoon a Law on national holidays of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, adopted last year by the Upper House.

The national holidays will from now on be celebrated as follows: New Year (January 1, 2), Statehood Day (April 27), Labor Day (May 1, 2), (WWII) Victory Day (May 9), and Republic Day (November 29 - the date in 1945 when the then Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia was proclaimed to replace monarchy).

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