Yugoslav Daily Survey, 96-10-31

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From: Yugoslavia <http://www.yugoslavia.com>

CONTENTS

[01] GENERAL PERISIC RECEIVES ROMANIAN ARMY DELEGATION

[02] YUGOSLAV-RUSSIAN INTER-GOVERNMENTAL COMMITTEE STARTS MEETING

[03] SWEDISH AMBASSADOR VISITS PRISTINA

[04] YUGOSLAVIA'S REINTEGRATION INTO INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS IS IN HUNGARY'S INTEREST

[05] RETURN OF YUGOSLAV ECONOMY ON WORLD MARKET

[06] PROMOTION OF MONTENEGRO'S ECONOMIC POTENTIALS

[07] BOUTROS-GHALI CRITICIZES CROATIA FOR FAILING TO COOPERATE WITH UNTAES

[08] BOUTROS-GHALI CALLS FOR EXTENSION OF UNTAES MANDATE

[09] SERB REGION AUTHORITIES CALL FOR TOLERANCE ON THE ALL SAINTS' DAY IN EASTERN SLAVONIA

[01] GENERAL PERISIC RECEIVES ROMANIAN ARMY DELEGATION

General Cioflin is heading a Military Delegation on a one-day working visit to the Yugoslav Army, the Army Press Service said in a statement. The talk focused on the promotion of future cooperation between the two Armed Forces, the statement said. Generals Perisic and Cioflin also exchanged experiences on changes introduced in their Armies in line with International Community standards.

[02] YUGOSLAV-RUSSIAN INTER-GOVERNMENTAL COMMITTEE STARTS MEETING

The Committee noted that a series of activities had been undertaken since the first meeting to expand bilateral economic cooperation, Yugoslav Information Secretariat said in a statement.

The Yugoslav delegation to the Committee is headed by Minister of Trade Djordje Siradovic while the Russian delegation by the First Deputy Minister of Economy Andrei Georgievich Shapovalyants, as co-chairmen of the Committee.

Siradovic said the present volume of trade exchange and the favourable import and export structure were good bases for continuing the traditional forms of cooperation and initiating new ones. A series of adopted Inter-governmental agreements has laid the legal framework for promoting and expanding bilateral relations and provided incentives to businessmen. The agreements also concern the export of Russian oil and gas to Yugoslavia, the development of scientific and technical cooperation and environment protection.

Shapovalyants said that industrial cooperation would remain the backbone of bilateral economic relations, especially as regards machine-building, ferrous and non-ferrous metal production, and chemical, pharmaceutical and light industries. The two co-chairmen pointed to the need for new forms of industrial cooperation, joint investments and joint ventures at third markets.

Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic gave a reception for the Committee co-chairmen and members, during which they discussed the intensification of bilateral economic cooperation especially as regards oil and gas trade, credit arrangements and bilateral trade liberalization, the statement says.

[03] SWEDISH AMBASSADOR VISITS PRISTINA

Meeting District head Aleksa Jokic, his assistant Milos Nesovic, and Information Secretary of Serbia's Southern Province of Kosovo and Metohija Bosko Drobnjak, the Swedish diplomats reiterated the stance of their Government and the European Union that Kosovo and Metohija is an inseparable part of Serbia and Yugoslavia, the Provincial Information Secretariat said.

Both sides expressed full support to the agreement reached last September by Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and ethnic Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova on normalizing the education system in the Province. They underlined that the Group 3+3 comprising representatives of Serbian Government and ethnic Albanian political parties of the Kosovo Democratic Alliance (DSK) was expected to resolve the issue of the return of ethnic Albanian children to schools in the best possible manner, within the framework of Serbia's Constitution and Laws. Albanian political parties in the Province should strongly condemn all forms of terrorism, it was observed during the meeting.

[04] YUGOSLAVIA'S REINTEGRATION INTO INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS IS IN HUNGARY'S INTEREST

Hungary wishes to live in peace, develop democracy and its economy and to become a part of Europe's Community in all fields, including defense, President Goencz said and expressed hope that his country would soon become a full NATO member.

Bulatovic expressed satisfaction with his talks with his host Hungarian Defense Minister Gyoergy Kellety, which resulted in the signing of a Protocol on cooperation in defense.

Bulatovic told Goencz that Yugoslavia was consistently fulfilling all its commitments contained in the Dayton and Paris Peace Documents, and the Florence Agreement on arms reduction.

Bulatovic was on Wednesday a guest of the Hungarian Parliamentary Committee for Defense and National Security. He told Hungarian parliamentarians that Yugoslavia's military policy was defense-based and that he personally believed that the border between the two countries would always remain a border of peace and cooperation between neighbours.

[05] RETURN OF YUGOSLAV ECONOMY ON WORLD MARKET

Total nine-month trade with the world was worth 3.914 billion dollars, of which Yugoslav exports account for 1.259 billion dollars, Krasin said.

The interest of world business for economic cooperation with Yugoslav partners and numerous visits by business delegations are indications, Krasin assessed, that the Yugoslav economy will be successfully incorporated into world trade.

Krasin said that the possibilities, manner and conditions for renewing, and even for exceeding, the former volume of economic cooperation, have been discussed by representatives of the Yugoslav economy with partners from some 50 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America.

Referring to certain contracts, Krasin specified that the results of talks with Greek businessmen was the founding of a joint firm for the production of automobile tires and the building of a plant for the production of ceramic tiles and aluminium profiles. A contract has also been signed with a Greek company on capital investment in the production of zinc and lead.

Meetings between Yugoslav and Russian businessmen resulted in the signing of contracts for the purchase of equipment for the needs of the Yugoslav metallurgy, the delivery of fireproof material for the needs of Russian cement plants, and the joint production of rail-road passenger cars.

On the basis of a three-year barter deal concluded with China, worth 350 million dollars, Chinese oil will be exchanged for Yugoslav products.

Krasin pointed especially to Italy, as Yugoslavia's biggest West-European trade partner, with which nine-month trade has totalled 437 million dollars. Representatives of 'Italgas' and 'Energogas' have decided to build a gas pipeline through Yugoslavia, to bring natural gas from Russia to South Italy. According to preliminary estimates, the gas pipeline will cost three billion dollars.

Businessmen from Germany, Krasin said, have expressed a willingness to invest in a whole range of sectors, from the food industry, the textile and leather industry, non-ferrous and ferrous metal industries, to the production of aircraft parts.

[06] PROMOTION OF MONTENEGRO'S ECONOMIC POTENTIALS

The event, organized in agreement with the Foreign Office and the London Chamber of Commerce, has sparked much interest in London, the statement said. This marks the start of a big promotional offensive of Montenegro's economic potentials and investment possibilities, with a special emphasis on the main project 'Montenegro Off-Shore Zone.'

The latest issue of the Student Paper Indeks, quoted Djukanovic as saying that the promotional campaign would start in London, which is one of the world's financial centres, after which it will move to the United States, where a General Assembly of the world Off-Shore Associations will be held in November.

According to Djukanovic, these promotional activities aim to 'attract, in a relatively short period, companies which will carry out their transactions and investment operations via Montenegro.'

The realization of the project 'Montenegro Off-Shore Zone' is expected to start in November when the first foreign companies should register in this Zone. Interest for this has already been expressed by firms from Romania, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Russia and the former Yugoslav republics.

The Montenegrin Government has, as part of preparations for the practical realization of the Off-Shore Zone, adopted corresponding regulations, primarily the Law on foreign investments.

[07] BOUTROS-GHALI CRITICIZES CROATIA FOR FAILING TO COOPERATE WITH UNTAES

'I regret, I cannot inform you that the Croatian Government has improved cooperation with UNTAES,' Boutros-Ghali said in a report to the U.N. Security Council. Boutros-Ghali said that Croatian officials support UNTAES in private contacts, but in practice, matters are different. He added that the situation in the Region is worsened by the Croatian media which does not favour UNTAES.

Underscoring that UNTAES has encountered a totally different conduct and mood in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Boutros-Ghali said that the Region's High Administrator Jacques Klein had on October 7. met, as part of regular consultations, with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic who had fully supported UNTAES saying that the Temporary Administration's mandate should be extended.

Boutros-Ghali said that Croatian President Franjo Tudjman had demanded, from Klein, holding of elections in this Region by the end of December. He also demanded the termination of the UNTAES mandate 30 days following these elections. Noting that conditions for elections in this mainly Serb-populated Region are not ripe, Boutros-Ghali said in his report that he disagrees with Croatia's demand that elections in the Region should be held by December 15. He also focused on the return of refugees and displaced persons both to this Serb Region and to Western Slavonija and Krajina from where the Croatian Army expelled over 250,000 persons in the Summer of 1995.

[08] BOUTROS-GHALI CALLS FOR EXTENSION OF UNTAES MANDATE

In a report, which he submitted to the Security Council on Tuesday, Boutros-Ghali said that the Council had to examine the possibility of extending the U.N. mandate until the end of 1997, Reuters said.

[09] SERB REGION AUTHORITIES CALL FOR TOLERANCE ON THE ALL SAINTS' DAY IN EASTERN SLAVONIA

A public statement underlines that the UN Transitional Administration (UNTAES) had promised that Croats would only visit cemeteries, that religious ceremonies would last one hour only and that the entire visit would be over in two hours.

The Council also expressed gratitude to UNTAES for agreeing, after obtaining Croatian Government's approval, to the request of Serb refugees to visit some of their cemeteries in Croatia on November 2, on the Orthodox All Souls' Day, to be followed by similar visits to other cemeteries one week later.

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