MAK-NEWS 13/04/95 (M.I.L.S.)

From: "Demetrios E. Paneras" <dep@bu.edu>

CONTENTS

  • [01] TURKISH DEFENSE MINISTER VISITING MACEDONIA

  • [02] GLIGOROV ADDRESSES MILITARY LEADERS

  • [03] WORLD BANK DELEGATION ARRIVES IN SKOPJE TODAY

  • [04] GERMAN MEDIA ON KINKEL'S VISIT TO SKOPJE

  • [05] DIFFERENT VIEWS ON EDUCATION

  • [06] GOVERNMENT-TRADE UNION TALKS

  • [07] FOUR MACEDONIAN AMBASSADORS APPOINTED

  • [08] SPECIAL GREEN CORRIDOR FOR AGRICULTURE

  • [09] ECONOMIC FIGURES

  • [10] SUPREME COURT PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS APPOINTED

  • [11] CULTURE

  • [12] MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: POINT OF VIEW ON THE ISSUE OF DENATIONALIZATION (The Association for Protection of Interests of Owners of Confiscated Property)

    •

    M I L S N E W S

    Skopje, 13 April 1995

    [01] TURKISH DEFENSE MINISTER VISITING MACEDONIA

    Upon an invitation of Macedonian Minister of Defense Blagoj Handziski, the Defense Minister of Turkey Mehmet Golhan yesterday arrived in a three-day official visit to Macedonia. "The visit," Golhan said at the airport, "is a continuation of the extraordinary successful cooperation between Turkey and the Republic of Macedonia. The common history and culture are the bases for our future cooperation. Thus far, Turkey has signed several agreements on cooperation with Macedonia at all levels. This time, we will ad another agreement in the field of military industry cooperation. It is our desire to see fully developed cooperation in all possible fields." Handziski said Macedonia highly appreciates its relations with Turkey. The good political relations, he said, have enabled successful cooperation at all levels, and this new visit will only contribute to further development of the cooperation. He said the visit by his Turkish counterpart will be made maximally effective, as he is to meet all senior politicians in Macedonia.

    [02] GLIGOROV ADDRESSES MILITARY LEADERS

    "The Republic of Macedonia has a long-lasting determination for peace, open borders, equal cooperation with all and integration of the Balkans into Europe. This calls for urgent stop to all ongoing Balkan conflicts and clashes," said President Gligorov, taking part in yesterday's meeting of Macedonian Army leaders. The meeting was a working agreement on future activities of top military officers in the development of Macedonia's defense system. The meeting was also attended by Defense Minister Blagoj Handziski and General Dragoljub Bocinov, Chief-of-staff of the Army. Addressing the officers as a Supreme Army Commander, Gligorov said, "If the Republic of Macedonia is to have a respectable role in the Balkans and the wider region, it must be able to defend and protect its territorial integrity. The defense of Macedonia is to be secured primarily by its own forces, but also as part of the collective security system. Although we are a small country which cannot have a large army, and although we have historical heritage and neighbors such as we have, we do need a modern and equipped army. In order to build up an efficient defense system and to preserve peace and stability in the country, we also must build good ethnic relations in Macedonia." Furthermore, President Gligorov pointed out that, unlike Macedonia, many European countries have not yet established a civilian leadership over the army, which is a positive political point for Macedonia. "This is by no means distrust or an attempt to draw a line between the political and army leaders. Just like the government in a democracy has to be divided in legislative, executive and judiciary branches, the political and civilian control over and cooperation with the army is an unavoidable feature of a democratic society."

    [03] WORLD BANK DELEGATION ARRIVES IN SKOPJE TODAY

    World Bank vice-president Wilfred Talvic and Rachel Lomax, in charge of the Bank's European Department, are arriving in Macedonia today for a three-day working visit. The aim of the visit is to acquire first-hand information on current reforms in Macedonia's banking system. The bank officials will also meet representatives of the highest loss-producing companies and private farmers.

    [04] GERMAN MEDIA ON KINKEL'S VISIT TO SKOPJE

    The media in Germany paid considerable attention to the recent one-day working visit of German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel to Macedonia. The daily Die Welt pointed to the need for urgent solution to the Greek-Macedonian dispute, voicing no optimism regarding the issue. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes that the visit could indicate that tensions between Macedonia and Greece are easing, and the Koln daily Kolnebastatanzeiger says the visit can contribute to stabilizing peace in the region.

    [05] DIFFERENT VIEWS ON EDUCATION

    Albanian Prime Minister Alexander Mexi, currently visiting the Russian Federation, said at a press-conference in Moscow yesterday that the talks with Russian diplomats also included Albanian-Macedonian cooperation. He concluded that a stable Macedonia also means a stable Balkans. Mexi pointed to differences between Albania and Macedonia regarding the basic human and educational rights of the 800,000 Albanians living in Macedonia.

    [06] GOVERNMENT-TRADE UNION TALKS

    Representatives of the Macedonian Trade Union Association met with Government officials in Skopje yesterday, to present their demands concerning the implementation of workers' economic and social rights during privatization processes, determining lowest guaranteed wages, and introducing the category of a minimum wage for all workers in the country. Negotiations were held behind closed doors. Should the Government remain deaf to the demands, the Union announced a possibility of a general strike. The media in Macedonia say an agreement has been reached only on the first demand.

    [07] FOUR MACEDONIAN AMBASSADORS APPOINTED

    Macedonian President Gligorov appointed the following 4 new ambassadors of the Republic of Macedonia: - Srgjan Kerim, ambassador to the Swiss Confederation; - Risto Nikovski, ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; - Luan Starova, ambassador to the Republic of Portugal; and - Dimitar Mircev, ambassador to the Holy See.

    [08] SPECIAL GREEN CORRIDOR FOR AGRICULTURE

    The Macedonian Customs Department announced that, commencing on April 15, a so-called "Special Agricultural Corridor '95" is to be put to use in an attempt to facilitate exports and mitigate losses in the transportation of agricultural products to Western and Middle European markets. Official border-crossings of the corridor will be: Deve Bair-Gueshevo on the Macedonian-Bulgarian border, Ruse-Ghurghu between Bulgaria and Romania, and Barash-Artand on the border between Romania and Hungary. All vehicles using the corridor must have TIR carnets, and customs procedures and issuing licenses for using the corridor will be performed by internal customs authorities.

    [09] ECONOMIC FIGURES

    By the end of March 1995, the number of unemployed in Skopje alone increased by 13.66 per cent against the same number last month. Their number amounts to 52,849 unemployed at the moment. 3,500 of them have applied for state compensation for protection of the living standard, in the amount of a social welfare.

    [10] SUPREME COURT PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS APPOINTED

    At its 18th session yesterday, the Macedonian Parliament appointed a president and 15 (out of the total number of 24) members of the Macedonian Supreme Court. Dimitrie Dimishkovski was appointed president, and the following judges members of the Supreme Court: Kiril Cavdar, Dimitar Uzunov, Pavel Manev, Agim Miftari, Vangel Gagacev, Fidanco Stoev, Konstantin Hadzi-Lega, Zekjir Selimi, Milojka Kajkashlieva, Vasil Petkovski, Milica Smickova, Ranko Maksimovski, Petar Golubovski, Blagorodna Dulic and Ljubinka Muratovska-Marovska.

    [11] CULTURE

    In an organization of the French Cultural Center in Skopje and the Skopje Art Gallery, an exhibition of paintings by Annick Claude of France will be open at 8 p.m., on April 14, at the Skopje Art Gallery Daut Pashin Amam.

    [12] MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT:

    POINT OF VIEW ON THE ISSUE OF DENATIONALIZATION (The Association for Protection of Interests of Owners of Confiscated Property) The Association for Protection of Interests of Owners of Confiscated Property (in the further text as "the Association") represents a large number of individuals whose personal and commercial properties were confiscated by the regime of the former Yugoslavia. While the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia guarantees the property rights of former owners (see articles 8 and 30), and respect for "basic freedoms and rights of the individual recognized in international law" (article 8), the Government of the Republic of Macedonia has not yet taken appropriate steps to ensure that the property rights of the original owners are adequately preserved and protected. In particular, the Government has chosen to move forward and enact legislation to privatize companies with socially owned capital prior to enacting legislation on denationalization. This in itself defies logic since, by definition, property rights can only be "privatized" if those rights are not already held by private individuals. .The existing Privatization Law, moreover, is structurally flawed since it purports to pursue two distinct processes simultaneously. The process of denationalization is based upon consideration of principle, i.e., to recognize the rights of former owners to confiscated property by either returning the property or providing fair compensation for it. The process of privatization, on the other hand, is based upon consideration of policy, i.e., to increase the overall efficiency and productivity of the market by transferring ownership of enterprises into private hands. In balancing principle against policy, liberal-democratic states are committed to err on the principle side (which forms the basis of an individual to vigilante protection by the state of that individual's property interests). Considerations of policy may only compromise individual property rights where there is an overriding state interest to do so (usually associated with the advancement of some public interest). The Government of the Republic of Macedonia, in proceeding to enact a Privatization Law which "bootstraps" rudimentary references to denationalization, has neither demonstrated an overriding public interest nor provided adequate procedural protection to the rights of former owners. While the privatization law does not include provisions which appear to address the rights of former owners (Part Two, articles 33-40), a closer examination of those articles reveals that the rights of former owners are to be determined "in accordance with [sic] denationalization provisions" (articles 33, 38, 39 and 93); the provisions, however, have not yet been enacted. This raises at least four problems which not only detrimentally affect the rights of former owners but will also have a deterring impact on potential foreign investors when "due-diligence" reveals to them that these claims are unresolved. Firstly, given that the privatization law contains multiple cross-references to provisions of a denationalization law which does not yet exist, the content and scope of the rights of former owners will not be fully known unless and until a denationalization law is enacted. In many instances, this will be an indeterminate point after the properties of socially owned enterprises have been "privatized". Secondly, former owners are not provided with a voice in the transformation process, For instance, stock ownership audits are being performed without the input of former owners. Thirdly, the rights and interests of former owners in property being transformed under bankruptcy are patently unclear (Privatization Law, Part VI, articles 80-86). It is also noted that the Government of the Republic of Macedonia has not yet adopted a Bankruptcy Law. The only bankruptcy legislation cross-reference in the Privatization Law is to an old 1989 SFR Yugoslav law on Compulsory Readjustment and Bankruptcy which is grossly inadequate to properly handle the transformation procedures now in place. Fourthly, the rudimentary procedures purporting to "protect rights of former owners", as they are set forth in the Privatization Law, violate fundamental standards of procedural due process. It is our opinion that a true liberal democracy and free market economy cannot be properly developed in the Republic of Macedonia unless and until the properties belonging to members of our Association and others are either justly returned or their original owners fairly compensated. Macedonia, moreover, is in desperate need of foreign investment and we believe that the aforementioned problems will present a significant deterrent to potential investors.

    (end)

    mils news 13 April '95

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