There are no secret contacts between Macedonia and Greece, Macedonian Foreign Minister Crvenkovski said at yesterday's government press-conference. He underlined that a new round of talks has not yet been scheduled, saying it would be better to continue with contacts through UN mediator Vance in order to speed up the negotiating process. In regard to a recent news item on an alleged visit to Skopje by the former Greek general Nikos Grilakis, aired by A1 Television, Crvenkovski refused to comment on any 'misinformation and speculations of the media.'
He also informed reporters of his visits to China and Japan and the importance of the meetings there to finalize agreements on economic and financial cooperation. Japan, he said, approved a $5.5 million grant for Macedonia and formed a committee for economic cooperation with Macedonia, consisting of about 30 Japanese businessmen. Crvenkovski announced that Niel Petersen, Foreign Minister of Denmark, will pay a three-day official visit to Macedonia toward the end of the week.
At yesterday's press conference, spokesman for the government, Djuner Ismail, summarized the government session of two days ago and reported that the Elementary Education Law has already been submitted to parliament for further procedure. The Law states that elementary education will be in the mother tongue, while minority groups will be obliged to study the Macedonian language, as well. Ismail informed that there are 261,385 pupils at elementary level in the country; 183,489 of them are taught in the Macedonian language, 71,767 in Albanian, 5,456 in Turkish and 753 in Serbian.
The government, he added, also reviewed a report on the work of the Privatization Agency and introduced a special tariff (of 6 Denars per liter) on imports of refined oil to protect the domestic production. Asked about rumors of bitter debates at the session in Ohrid last weekend between highest SDSM leaders and President Gligorov, Ismail confirmed the meeting took part, but denied there had been rows.
The visit of Macedonian parliament members, led by vice- president Tito Petkovski, ended the talks with several Bulgarian Parliament officials. The general impression following the series of talks between Macedonian and Bulgarian parliamentarians, Macedonia Radio comments, is that both sides are ready to undertake efforts to move mutual relations forward, especially in the economic arena. The present slowdown, it was concluded during the meetings, is of no use to either Macedonia or Bulgaria. Prior to leaving Bulgaria, Macedonian MP's held a joint press-conference with their Bulgarian colleagues. Petkovski told reporters the talks had been sincere and friendly, stressing the problem of delay in signing many agreements important for both sides was due to an irrational refusal of the Bulgarian side to acknowledge the Macedonian language. Meantime, the Macedonian and Bulgarian national television studios yesterday signed an agreement on cooperation.
Two Financial Times journalists, Anthony Robinson, East European Editor from London, and Kerin Hope, Financial Times Correspondent in Athens, are in Macedonia this week interviewing the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance, several other ministers, World Bank and IMF representatives and various business leaders prior to writing a FT survey on the Republic of Macedonia. The survey is due to be published on Friday, July 7. It is still possible to advertise in this survey which will be distributed with the paper itself. The advertising deadline is Friday, June 23.
The NATO Assembly is currently holding a conference in Sofia, Bulgaria, to discuss regional stability and security. Parliamentarians from most countries, including Macedonia, are attending the conference. Ljubomir Popovski addressed the participants two days ago, presenting the Macedonian Parliament's stance on the need for security systems and cooperation in the Balkans. He added Macedonia has applied for NATO membership and the Partnership for Peace project.
The board of the University St. Cyril and Methodius of Skopje decided to elevate the pedagogical academies in Skopje and Shtip to the level of faculties with the start of the next school year in October. The decision was made on the basis of an expert report on the need for educated teachers. From now on, future teachers will be educated for 4 years. This will also resolve the problems in the education of national minorities, as optional and methodology classes will also be taught in minority languages. The necessary funds will be provided by the ministry of education.
Macedonian Television reports on a meeting of representatives of parties, associations and citizen initiatives of Albanians in Macedonia, held in Tetovo two days ago. The Union of Albanian Intellectuals says the meeting was organized as a result of the refusal of demands made by Albanians and their deteriorating position in Macedonia. Leaders of several political parties, such as Abdurahman Aliti, Arben Dzaferi and Iliaz Halimi, also attended the meeting. It was said that the parties are unable to change the position of Albanians in the country, mainly due to a lack of coordination between the parties of Albanians. It was agreed to build common goals in the future and to present them to both the domestic and the international political arena.
The joint-stock company "Zhitoluks" of Skopje yesterday successfully completed its ownership transformation. According to an agreement signed at the Privatization Agency, 1200 of the total of 1800 employees have bought managing interest (59 per cent of the total 432,000 shares issued) in the company by a management buy out model. The managerial team and employees in the company have already signed a contract to regulate mutual relations.
(Vecher, 14 June 1995) Is the macroeconomics policy in Macedonia facing possible changes? This is a dilemma provoked by two meetings last month, the first being the one between Prime Minister Crvenkovski and Trade Union president Tolevski (under patronage of President Gligorov), and the second one between senior Macedonian officials and executive directors of the World Bank. An additional consideration is the government announcement of a delay in the talks with the Paris Club, scheduled for the end of the month, by request of the 'Paris people', as a high cabinet official said.
Since logic advises not to change a winning team, no changes of bigger importance should be expected in the macroeconomics. Tre Ein of Britain ranked Macedonia as 11th on a list of 27 countries in transition. Macedonia belongs to a group of 'small miracles' countries (as described by the British) that have 'accomplished encouraging progress.' Their basis for evaluation are results achieved in the first three months of the year in the fields of: macroeconomics, inclination toward reforms, stability, foreign investments and general economic climate. In their eyes, Macedonia is showing a tendency toward further improvement.
Prime Minister Crvenkovski reservedly says that certain changes in the macroeconomics policy are possible once the international sanctions against Yugoslavia are lifted. In any case, a new chapter is to be expected by the end of the month. Paul Tompsen, Head of the IMF Mission, is arriving in Macedonia to discuss results achieved in the first half of the year. At this moment, it is more than clear that his visit will be used to turn the stand-by arrangement into an ISAF one. The latter is to be effective for three years, which would hopefully enable a more relaxed and, naturally, long-term stable economic policy.
The two main elements of the economic policy, exchange rates and inflation, have already been restrained to a certain extent. Inflation movements so far indicate chances for an annual level even below the one agreed upon with the World Bank (it should not exceed an annual 15 per cent). The mild alleviation in the Denar-German mark parity, having occurred about the middle of last month, also indicates something is being done in the exchange rate policy. In addition, the government plans to transfer an additional 1,225 billion Denars of budget funds to the account of the National Bank, for the purpose of protecting the national currency.
Lowered interest rates lead to a double conclusion: an awareness of a serious concern of the prime minister with the extremely large decrease in production (threatening to fall down to only 20 per cent of industrial capacities being in use); and a realization of the risk the economy undertakes by lowering the interest rates, as this could easily lead to an increase of the Denar-German mark parity. Anyhow, the interest rates were lowered to provide an adequate treatment for the heart failure of the current government regarading economic construction, i.e., the recession. On the other hand, the lower interest rates are to provide an excuse for the Crvenkovski administration for possible serious accusations of imposing additional burdens on the economy. On a potential improvement, there is simply no comment. How did the cabinet ever project a 0.7 per cent increase under such circumstances?
The frequent meetings between Crvenkovski and Tolevski (focusing mainly on privatization and lowest guaranteed wage) indicate strong Union pressure for corrections in the Privatization Act. Pressure is increasing because the public opinion seems to be turning against the privatization after the hurried transformations of the Skopje brewery, 'Fershped' and 'Makedonija Turist', as well as after the still ongoing 'self management' privatization cases of the Skopje Fair and 'Makedonija Sport'. There are indications of an opportunity for possible compromise between Crvenkovski and the Trade Union, should the going get too tough. The compromise could include free shares for employees and lowering the set of shares to be offered to employees at lower prices. In the long run, the privatization itself would remain unchanged and a false impression would be created that the Union has for once succeeded in winning its struggle for workers' rights. Be as it may, let's first wait and see what Paul Tompsen will have to say!