MAK-NEWS 29/12/95 (M.I.C.)

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

Macedonian Information Centre Directory

CONTENTS

SKOPJE, DECEMBER 29, 1995 (MIC)

[01] 1996 BUDGET ADOPTED

After several hours of debate, the Macedonian Parliament adopted the Budget for 1996 on Wednesday evening. All 82 MEPs present in the parliamentary hall voted in favour of its adoption.

Some of the MEPs expressed some reservation as to whether the Budget would have enough funds for the people who were left without jobs on account of the structural changes in the country, that, yet again, no solution for the payment of at least one of the outstanding pensions is offered, that not enough money is set aside for the social programs, the development of agriculture, etc.

Next year's Budget, as planned, will have both a restrictive and reformist character. It incorporates the global directions of the economic policy for next year and the conformations reached with the IMF. Furthermore, it includes the projection of the annual inflation - 6%, and the objective to increase the GDP 10%, and the industrial production 2%. Next year's Budget is planned to amount to 46.36 billion denars, of which 42 billion are provided from original sources. 400 million denars are expected to come from foreign donations, and 3 billion denars will come from credits from the international financial institutions.

[02] NEGATIVE OPINION ABOUT GOVERNMENT

The latest "Data Press" opinion poll, conducted exclusively for "Nova Makedonija," entitled "What do the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia think about the Government," shows that for the first time during its mandate, Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski's cabinet did not receive a positive assessment. Out of a total of 1,200 citizens polled, 29.17% have a very negative opinion, and 23.83% have a mainly negative opinion, which added up, gives a negative percentage of 53%. This is 17% more than those 36% that expressed a positive opinion about the Government.

As to the field in which it has achieved the best results, 32.33% of the respondents point out the international plan, while 35% feel it is time for the Government to turn its attention more to the economic problems in the country. Half of the respondents say that the Government only partly satisfied their expectations, 40.83% feel it represents only its personal interests (the respondents were mainly middle-aged men with high or higher education, Macedonians), and 42.17% have an impression that the government coalition is not functioning at all (again, mainly middle-aged men with higher and high education). In all the polls, the category that had no opinion about all the questions was the category of 18 to 29 year olds.

Beside the opinion poll regarding the work of the Government, "Data Press" conducted another survey, in regard to the rating of the ministers in the Macedonian Government.

1,200 new respondents, randomly selected by telephone, placed Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski in the first position. Namely, 43% of the respondents expressed a positive opinion about him, and he was the only one whose opinion is above the negative. With all the other ministers, the assessments were predominantly negative.

First on the list with negative opinions is Risto Ivanov, i.e. 48.5% of the respondents feel this way about him. A substantial number of citizens, between 20 and 30%, depending on which minister is in question, have no formed opinion, and there were also people who were unfamiliar with some of the ministers.

[03] GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT 2% LOWER

This year's retail prices, compared to 1994, are 15.9% higher. As a result of this, in the same period, the living costs rose 15.7%. The 1995 GDP will note a 2% reduction, compared to last year.

According to the data of the Bureau of Statistics, the biggest industrial growth is noted in the electric economy 3.3%, the production of coal 6.6%, non-metal minerals 3.2% and the processing of chemical products 4%.

According to the data on foreign trade exchange, this year's imports are estimated at US$ 1,206 billion, with the imports are covered by the exports 75.3%, i.e. a US$ 395 million deficit.

The average net salary per worker is estimated at 8,392 denars, which is 13.5% higher than last year. On a monthly average, a total of 73,409 workers or 20.4% of the overall number of employees in Macedonia received their wages with delay. By the end of the year, the number of employees in the companies in the Republic will reach 359,132 workers, while 216,111 are still looking for work, which is a 16.2% increase.

[04] AMBASSADORIAL MEETING IN NEW YORK

Greece and Macedonia will resume talks "over the name differences" on January 11 in New York, the Greek News Agency reported yesterday, calling upon sources at the UN.

The Athens agency, according to Makfaks, claims that Cyrus Vance will mediate a direct meeting between the ambassadors Zaharakis and Toshevski.

[05] ALEKSANDAR MEKSHI INVITED TO VISIT MACEDONIA

The President of the Government of the Republic of Albania Aleksandar Mekshi received the ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia to Albania Nikola Todorchevski, in Tirana yesterday.

On this occasion, ambassador Todorchevski invited Prime Minister Mekshi, on behalf of the Macedonian Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski, to pay an official visit to Macedonia at the start of next year. The Albanian Prime Minister accepted the invitation with great pleasure.

[06] BAD WEATHER IN WESTERN MACEDONIA

Bad weather, followed by strong hurricane winds, which exceeded 100 km/h in some places, hit the Shar mountain and valley region, near Tetovo. According to eyewitnesses, the strong wind damaged around ten weekend cottages, tearing out a couple of roofs. Some power lines were damaged as well, by falling trees.

The river Radika flooded a number of farms in the Gostivar region, threatening to flood the roads as well. Therefore, traffic near "Senecki most" was halted for a while. In Debar, there were waterfalls literally every ten meters, so the cards moved more on water than on land. In one place, the ground under the road was practically "taken away," so the roads were quite hazardous.

Nevertheless, the bridges near the village Jance (that connects the village with Galichnik) and the monastery St. Jovan Bigorski suffered the most damages, and are likely to collapse because of the flooded river Radika.

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