MAK-NEWS 30/11/95 (M.I.C.)

From: "M.I.C." <mic@ITL.MK>

Macedonian Information Centre Directory

SKOPJE, NOVEMBER 30, 1995 (MIC)

CONTENTS

[01] MACEDONIA-EU: NEGOTIATIONS STARTING NEXT MONTH

By the middle of December, all the member-states of the EU should speak up whether they are in favour of starting negotiations with the Republic of Macedonia. That is the substance of the mandate that was given to Hans Van Den Broek, Commissioner for foreign affairs of the European Commission, towards the middle of November, to start negotiations with the Republic of Macedonia and political cooperation between the Union and the Republic.

So far, half of the member-states have come out in favour. After all 15 member-states submit statements to Hans Van Den Broek that they do not have any objections, there will be no obstacles for the EU and Macedonia to establish full diplomatic relations. The EU has a deadline until December 13th to make a decision on this issue, Radio NOMA reports.

[02] COORDINATED OPENING OF LIAISONS OFFICES

The Foreign Minister of the Republic of Macedonia Stevo Crvenkovski yesterday received, at his request, Aleksandros Maljas, first advisor in the Department on the Balkans in the Greek Foreign Ministry. At the meeting, the Greek diplomat informed about the activities surrounding the opening of the Liaisons Office of the Republic of Greece in Skopje, which will be coordinated to take place simulataneously with the opening of the Macedonian Liaisons Office in Athens.

It was jointly concluded that the opening of the liaisons offices will contribute to the strengthening of the cooperation and trust between the two countries.

[03] COMMON STRATEGY OF FORMER YU REPUBLICS

The meeting of government representatives from Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Makedonija, who are coordinating a common strategy for protection from the one-sided usurpation of the estate of the former SFRY by FRY, continued in Ljubljana yesterday.

According to sources of Radio NOMA, the delegations of these four countries, led by Miran Mejak, Sasko Georgievski, Bozo Marendich and Dzevad Derviskadich, have agreed on a strong common appearance.

It was agreed at the meeting to use the formula of the IMF for such and similar cases, in the determination of the criteria for division, namely, the participation of each republic in the GDP, the balance of payments, the foreign trade balance, and the number of inhabitants.

According to these criteria, Sloveni would receive 16.4%, Macedonia 6%, Croatia 28.7%, and Bosnia and Herzegovina 13%. Most of the estate of the former SFRY still goes to FR Yugoslavia, amounting, altogether, to a total of 36.5%.

[04] DECISION OF FRY GOVERNMENT: "NONSENSE"

The decision of the Federal Government in Belgrade to introduce customs duty toward Macedonia, is assessed in the Yugoslav Chamber of Commerce as very damaging. The president of the Chamber of Commerce Vlajko Stoiljkovich, apparently very irritated, stated, according to the BETA agency: "Ours introduced customs duty, ask Zebich and Premierre Kontich." Stoiljkovich did not say what the decision of the Federal Government was like, however, he said he though it was "nonsense" and that the Serbian Chamber of Commerce will ask for completely duty-free trade wiith Macedonia, which he said, was in the interests of both countries.

According to the recently signed agreement between businessmen from Macedonia and Serbia, the duty on all goods should amount to 1%, i.e. to pay only the customs expenses.

The Prishtina customshouse confirmed yesterday that the international observers have left the border point General Jankovich, following the suspension of the sanctions against FRY. As the Belgrade agencies report, the import of goods is carried out normally, with the "necessary" customs formalities. It is not stated whether the customs formalities are in accordance with the decision of the Federal Government and the reciprocal measure introduced by the Macedonian Government.

[05] SATELLITE FILMING OF MACEDONIA

The Ministry of Urbanization, Construction and Ecology yesterday signed an agreement with the French company "Spot Image" for the satellite filming of the territory of the Republic of Macedonia.

According to minister Sundovski, this agreement is of capital significance since the satellite filming presents a basis for the formation of a state Geographic Information System (GIS), which opens up possibilities for receiving a digital model of the terrain of the state, and planning its space, in general.

The activities surrounding the filming started four months ago, when the atmospheric conditions were favorable, and the first results are expected towards the beginning of April. This deal is worth 760,000 DEM.

[06] JAPANESE MEDICAL HELP OF US$ 5 MILLION

The Foreign Minister of the Republic of Macedonia Stevo Crvenkovski and the Japanese ambassador to Macedonia Cijasi Kurokawa exchanged notes in Skopje yesterday for the irretrievable help in the form of medical equipment, valued at US$ 5 million.

Macedonia's Health Minister Filipche stated on this occasion that this help has provided most of the clinics in Macedonia with the most modern and sophisticated equipment, expressing hope that the young medical students from Macedonia will have the opportunity to receive some medical training in Japan.

[07] AVERAGE SALARY 8,769 DENARS

The average net salary per worker in the Republic of Macedonia this September was 8,760 denars. According to the date of the Macedonian Bureau of Statistics, the average salary in the same month in the economic sphere was 8,478, and in the non- economy - 9,513 denars.

In September this year, 21.6% of the workers in Macedonia did not receive any salaries at all. In the economy, 27.3% were left without salaries, and in the non-economy - 3.5%.

The highest salary in the economy is paid in companies dealing with financial-technical and other services - 12,281 denars, and in the non-economy, in the state-owned political communities - 9,868 denars. Employees in the construction business received the lowest salaries - 6,591 denars.

[08] PARLIAMENTARY SESSION LASTING 10 MIN.

The Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia held the shortest session in its history yesterday. In only ten minutes, the daily agenda was adopted, the agreements on cultural, trade and economic cooperation with China was ratified, as well as the same type of cooperation with the Russian Federation. Afterwards, in only a couple of minutes, the proposal to pass a Law on sports was adopted, as well.

[09] EXCHANGE WITH SOUTH KOREA - US$ 46 MILLION

This year, the exports from Macedonia to South Korea totalled the value of US$ 34 milllion, and the imports, some US$ 12 million. Most of the South Korean exports to the Macedonian market, or 90% of the overall exchange, goes to cars and spare parts, followed by textiles and polyester. Macedonia mostly exports ferronickel and steel to this Asian country, as well as tobacco, expensive metals and zinc.

Although the two countries are very distant, as Rin Han Jun, representative of "Kotra" for the Balkan Penninsula and Slovenia said at yesterday's presentation of Korea in the Macedonian Chamber of Commerce, the economic cooperation between the two countries has realistic chances of growing.

MACEDONIAN PRESS REVIEW:

[10] "NOVA MAKEDONIJA": "Competent Bodies Are Hiding From the Public"

Nearly two months have passes since the assassination attempt on Kiro Gligorov, the President of the Republic of Macedonia and the investigation still represents a mystery. There is neither the knowledge about the activities, nor which bodies are included in the investigation, let alone whether there are any traces, suspects, or arrested.... At the news conference of the minister of the interior that was held over a month ago, few facts and findings were presented, which were more intriguing than revealing. Moreover, at the same news conference minister Frckovski committed himself to presenting any subsequent further data about the investigation in course. However, a long period has passed since that time, and the competent institutions are simply "locked" in silence.

There is a stereotypical position in the relationship between the official investigative bodies and the public opinion, according to which there is nothing to say because it is "in the interest of the investigation," which arouses absurd situations. For instance, with the desire to provide information about the hitherto activities in the investigation, yesterday we called investigative judge in the District Court Zdravko Vasilev. He is the man who is in charge of the whole pre-investigative procedure and the only competent person for the coordination of the activities and the actors in the investigation, and he told us that he was very busy until the end of this week and that he did not have the time for giving any statements. Nevertheless, he promised to us that in the course of the next week he might spare a few minutes for us and brief us about the point that the investigation has reached. In the Ministry of the Interior the situation is even more "delicate." There, only the minister approves discussions with the journalists, and so, in spite of the good will of deputy minister Stojan Trenevski to tell us something more about the activities of the criminal police, we did not have any success.

In the absence of official information, speculations are always intensified. One of these days, for instance, a speculation has been spread in the public according to which the Ministry of the Interior has allegedly arrested a number of suspects for direct participation in the assassination attempt on 3 October, among whom there are also two Macedonian citizens.

Parallel to this, another version has been spread in the public according to which the police has allegedly come across some data which indicate that a service of another state has been included in the whole case. These two constructions, we recall, have not been officially confirmed by any of the competent bodies.

If we review the hitherto official information, we can conclude that there are practically not any concrete data. For instance, at his news conference on 26 October the Minister of the Interior Ljubomir Frckovski remarked that a financial and economic grouping from a neighborly country had been involved, without mentioning any names, that a few days before the assassination attempt a foreign citizen had assembled the explosive somewhere in the "suburbs of Skopje," without revealing his identity, as well as that some Macedonian citizens had been the straight executors, without telling whether they have been discovered and arrested, and so on. Nearly a month has passed since the public appearance of the minister of the interior and since he promised to make all these announcements concrete. Not only they have not been made so, but there is the impression that the Ministry of the Interior and the investigative judge are closing themselves behind a wall of silence, making all possible efforts not to let information leak. In any way, unofficial speculations, constructions, and assumptions become more labored and there comes again the phase in which opposite affects are produced by concealing information from the public.

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