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Yugoslav Daily Survey, 98-01-13Yugoslav Daily Survey Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Yugoslavia <http://www.yugoslavia.com>Yugoslav Daily SurveyCONTENTS
[01] ZIVADIN JOVANOVIC IS NEW YUGOSLAV FOREIGN MINISTERTanjug, 1998-01-09Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic has appointed Zivadin Jovanovic as the new Yugoslav Foreign Minister. On the basis of article 100 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic appointed Zivadin Jovanovic as Yugoslav Foreign Minister. Kontic, in accordance with article 102, provision 2 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, informed Yugoslav Parliament about the appointment of Jovanovic, the Yugoslav Information Secretariat said. [02] REPUBLIKA SRPSKA ASSEMBLY WILL RESUME SESSION ON MONDAYTanjug, 1998-01-11The constituent session of the Republika Srpska National Assembly will resume in Bijeljina on Monday. The session opened in Bjeljina on December 27 but was adjourned after the deputies failed to elect their President, two Vice*Presidents and Secretary- General. The parliamentary parties have reached agreement on the election of the Assembly's bodies, but are still discussing who the Assembly officials are to be. In the first half of the session on December 27, the Serbian Democratic Party and the Serbian Radical Party failed to back President Biljana Plavsic's choice of Mladen Ivanic as Premier-designate. [03] DEPUTY HIGH REPRESENTATIVE KLEIN VISITS PALETanjug, 1998-01-11The international community's Deputy High Representative for Bosnia- Herzegovina Jacques Klein said on Sunday that he hoped the officials of the new Republika Srpska Assembly would be elected in the resumption of the legislature's session in Bjeljina on Monday. Klein said he hoped that the Assembly would next elect a new Republika Srpska Government, and specified that the Assembly session would be broadcast live. Klein expressed hope that the Assembly would elect a government with which the international community would be able to cooperate and which would have access to international aid. [04] RUSSIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER AFANASIEVSKI VISITS VUKOVARTanjug, 1998-01-11Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Nikolai Afanasievski on Sunday visited Vukovar, the first stop on his Balkan tour within which he will visit Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Yugoslavia, Russian media reported. On arriving in Zagreb, Deputy Foreign Minister Afanasievski flew by helicopter to Vukovar, the administrative centre of the predominantly Serb populated East Slavonia, Russia media said. The Russian news agency Itar-TASS set out that the mandate of the U.N. Transitional Administration (UNTAES) for the region expired on January 15 and that numerous complaints against pressures coming from the Croatian administration had been filed by Serbs lately. The media stressed that Russia, a member of the Contact Group, was highly interested in the success of the U.N. mission in East Slavonia, where it still had about 200 peacekeepers who were seeing to it that what had been agreed about the transition of power be carried out. Afanasievski will return to Zagreb from Vukovar for talks with Croatian leaders and the heads of UNTAES and the OSCE mission. The Russian diplomat is to meet in Bosnia-Herzegovina with leaders of all Bosnian sides, the international community's High Representative, and the commander of the multinational force SFOR. In Belgrade, the last leg of his tour, Afanasievski is to discuss with Yugoslav officials the situation in the region and the development of the bilateral relations after the recent visit to Moscow of Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic, as the Russian Ministry has announced. [05] BIOGRAPHY OF NEW YUGOSLAV FOREIGN MINISTERTanjug, 1998-01-09Zivadin Jovanovic, new Yugoslav Foreign Minister, was born on November 11, 1938 in Oparic, municipality of Rekovac. He went to highschool in Jagodina. After graduating at the Faculty of Law, Belgrade University, in 1961, he performed a number of social and political functions. He was officer in charge of legal matters in New Belgrade Municipal Assembly from 1961 to 1964. He then joined the Foreign Ministry, where from 1964 to 1966 he was an Attache, and from 1966 to 1970 Vice-Consul in the General Consulate of Yugoslavia in Toronto, Canada. From 1970 to 1974 he was an advisor in the Presidency of Serbia and from 1974 to 1978 Counsellor in the Yugoslav Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. Zivadin Jovanovic was from 1978 to 1984 Secretary of the Serbian Foreign Relations Council, and the next four years Under-Secretary in the Presidency of the SFRY. In 1988, Zivadin Jovanovic was appointed Ambassador of the SFRY (FRY) in Angola. In 1994, he was appointed Yugoslav Assistant Foreign Minister. In 1997, Jovanovic was elected Vice-President of the Socialist Party of Serbia and since September last year he is a deputy in the Serbian Parliament. Jovanovic has published a number of papers from the field of Constitutional Law, international relations and the Yugoslav foreign policy. He was conferred a number of Yugoslav and foreign decorations. He speaks English, French, Russian and Portuguese. He is married, two children. [06] YUGOSLAV INFORMATION SECRETARY ON TERRORISM IN KOSOVOTanjug, 1998-01-10Yugoslav Information Secretary Goran Matic said on Saturday in an interview to Radio Pristina (Serbia's southern Province of Kosovo-Metohija - Kosmet) that the stories of lack of democracy in Kosmet spread by ethnic Albanian separatists and endorsed by their world patrons such as Klaus Kinkel were aimed at achieving "anarcho-democracy in the media". The separatists want to undermine all forms of social organization based on contemporary democratic principles and destabilize and disintegrate all state institutions in Kosmet, Matic said. Matic described the activities of the Albanian-language media as the fruit of propaganda warfare. Some of the Albanian-language papers in Kosmet have nothing to do with democracy but advocate terrorism and serious violations of human rights and freedoms, he said. Asked whether such media can be placed under control without antagonizing the international community, Matic said there was no classic media control, only a monitoring of the press. Ethnic Albanians, like all other citizens of Yugoslavia, have the right to publish their press and express their views and opinions, with the exception of calls for undermining constitutional order or for violence, Matic said. Others in this country resort to such means too, but the time will come soon for tackling this problem and clearly defining the limits of democracy, of anarchy and of terrorism, Matic said. [07] YUGOSLAVIA RECORDS MEDIA BOOM IN PAST THREE YEARSTanjug, 1998-01-11Yugoslavia recorded a media boom in the past three years, as hardly any other country, Yugoslav Information Minister Goran Matic said on local BK TV late on Saturday. Minister Matic specified that Yugoslavia had about 2,700 media, including 24 dailies, of which three in Albanian and two in Hungarian languages, 700 radio and TV stations, mostly private, and six news agency, of which only Tanjug was a state-owned one. "The freedom of the press is guaranteed under the Constitution and other laws, censorship is prohibited," Matic said and specified that the information activities were open to private business, to every private citizen. Minister Matic said the abrupt increase in the number of media had led to an inundation of information, and many people had no business dealing in information activities. "We have a situation in which journalism suffers, and the next step, after the quantitative leap, is again to insist on the basic media postulates, professionalism, objectivity, truth, and ethics," Matic told BK TV. "It is our view that Yugoslavia must have not only a single economic space but also a single information space so that citizens would directly be informed, and not through some kind of middlemen, about matters of concern to the federal state and all its citizens," Minister Matic stressed. He urged that Yugoslav TV be founded in the course of 1998 and said it would be "open to everyone, just as the Federal Government is." Minister Matic announced that the Information Bill would be submitted to the Yugoslav Parliament in the first quarter of the year. [08] CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR SAYS NO MONEY WILL BE MINTEDTanjug, 1998-01-10Yugoslav Central Bank Governor Dusan Vlatkovic said on Radio Pristina on Saturday that no money had been or would be minted. "Some disruptions in the "dinar's" stable exchange rate occurred late last year, which we will eliminate early this year through measures taken by the Federal Government, the governments of both republics and the National Bank of Yugoslavia," Vlatkovic said. He expressed conviction that 1998 would be a successful year but noted that the economy and banks could encounter some difficulties due to a restrictive monetary policy. The Central Bank Governor said that if an influx of around 1 billion 450 million dollars was secured through the selling of state and social property and credits from international institutions, Yugoslavia would sustain the level of production and the social product. "We believe we will succeed and in that way secure also stable prices and exchange rate and increase consumer spending by 10% compared with last year, " Vlatkovic said. [09] INFLATION IN 1997 LOWER THAN EXPECTEDTanjug, 1998-01-09The rate of inflation in 1997 is 9.3%, Director of the Federal Statistics Bureau Milovan Zivkovic has told Tanjug. Retail prices had gone up only 1% in December, said Zivkovic, which resulted in the final figures to be lower than expected. The rate of inflation for 1997 was forecast at 9.6%. The annual inflation rate, when comparing December 1997 with the same month of 1996, was 9% in Serbia and 16.2% in Montenegro. The growth of prices in 1997, compared with the previous year, was 18.5%, said Zivkovic. Asked what effect, if any, devaluation of the national currency might have, Zivkovic said it would not be positive, mostly in regard with the increase in exports. According to economic theory, and practice, 3% of devaluation as a rule equals 1% of inflation. So, if the dinar were devaluated about 50%, then the price hike at the beginning of the year would be more than 18%, said Zivkovic. Prices in Yugoslavia are generally equal to world prices, said Zivkovic. However, nothing could convince directors who have business deals with foreign partners not to raise prices at least by that 1%. So the negative effect would outweigh any positive result, said Zivkovic. He said devaluation stimulated exports. But, with the outer wall of sanctions remaining, the loss of trade preferences by the European Union, and the normalization of relations with financial institutions still pending, devaluation alone could not compensate for all this, he said. It was imperative to continue with reforms, he said, above all privatization, which will attract foreign capital, step up ratings and relax the outer wall, said Zivkovic in conclusion. [10] YUGOSLAV GOVERNMENT SESSION - STATEMENTTanjug, 1998-01-08The Yugoslav Government at its session on Thursday, presided over by Prime Minister Radoje Kontic, drafted a law on ratifying Accords with the Russian Federation on military-technical cooperation and with Jordan on cooperation in the fields of health and medicine, the Yugoslav Information Secretariat said. The Accord on military-technical cooperation with the Russian Federation was signed on December 3, 1997, during the visit of Yugoslav Prime Minisrter Radoje Kontiuc to Moscow. The ratifying of the Accord in Yugoslav Parliament, will create conditions for cooperation between FR Yugoslavia and the Russian Federation in the development, production and marketing of armaments and military technology, conversion of the military industry, and joint activitis on third markets. The Government also reviewed the implications of the suspension of autonomous trade measures by the European Union. Confirming the commitment of Yugoslavia to further normalize economic and overall relations with the European Union, the Governmemnt charged competent bodies with proposing concrete measures for increasing exports, also on European Union markets. In accordance with international norms and the Yugoslav legislation, the Government adopted a decision on criteria for assessing the security of nuclear facilities. The platform was determined for conducting negotiations and concluding an agreement with the Government of the Republic of India on avoiding double taxation. The Yugoslav delegation at these negotiations, due to be held in Belgrade January 12-16, will be headed by Yugoslav Finance Deputy Minister Miodrag Bulatovic, the statement said. [11] YUGOSLAV OFFICIAL, FRENCH AMBASSADOR, DISCUSS COOPERATIONTanjug, 1998-01-08President of the Yugoslav Chamber of Commerce Mihajlo Milojevic and French Ambassador in Belgrade Stanislas Filliol on Thursday conferred about promoting bilateral economic cooperation and boosting trade. Milojevic said the Chamber welcomed the entrance of French investment, technology and capital in Yugoslavia. He said it would be good if the automobile industries Zastava and Peugeot came to a concrete deal on a joint project. That would affect the defining of a customs policy, and have a positive impact on overall business ties, he said. Milojevic said French companies could take part in the process of privatization, primarily in the electric, machine and textile industries. He said those foreign partners who put in technology, capital and production programs in Yugoslavia should have an advantage over those who only wished to sell their products on the Yugoslav market. Ambassador Filliol said Peugeot and Zastava had been negotiating on establishing cooperation and added that French manufacturers were interested most particularly in stable conditions for business deals and a clear customs policy. Filliol singled out a potential investment by Lafarge in the cement factory in Beocin. He said Lafarge was prepared to spend money on the factory, without sacking redundancies. Instead, Lafarge would employ them in small firms linked to the factory that it would also set up. He said the financially powerful Seita was interested in cooperating with Yugoslav tobacco companies. In order to promote economic ties, said Filliol, it is important that the embassies in Paris and Belgade reduce visa procedures. He said the French Embassy had put in much effort to facilitate the issuing of visas, not only to Yugoslav businessmen, but to all people in Yugoslavia. [12] FOREIGN PARTNERS INTERESTED IN INVESTING IN TOURISM IN SERBIATanjug, 1998-01-08Meetings were held on Thursday in the Serbian Ministry of Tourism with delegations of businessmen from Italy and Great Britain, the Serbian Ministry of Tourism said. Serbian Tourism Deputy Minister Radisav Stankovic informed guests about the possibilities of tourism and Serbia's commitment to develop tourism. Guests from Italy were especially interested in investing in hotels, especially in Vrnjacka Banja and on Zlatibor, while the group of experts from Great Britain showed an interest in investing in the development of mountain tourism. [13] SUPREME DEFENSE COUNCIL HOLDS SESSIONTanjug, 1998-01-08A session of the Supreme Defense Council was held in Belgrade on Thursday, presided over by the President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic, the President's Military Cabinet said. The Council reviewed at its session today current issues of financing the Yugoslav Army and the Yugoslav Ministry of Defense. The Supreme Defense Council also reviewed other issues from its constitutional competency. Taking part in the work of the session was Serbian President Milan Milutinovic, Montenegrin President Momir Bulatovic, Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kongic, Yugoslav Defense Minister Pavle Bulatovic, Yugoslav Army Chief of Staff General Momcilo Perisic, and the Secretary of the Supreme Defense Council, General Slavoljub Susic, the statement said. [14] FOR THE PROVISIONAL FINANCING OF FRY - 2.423 BILLION DINARSTanjug, 1998-01-08A Decree on the provisional financing of FR Yugoslavia, published in the latest issue of the Official Gazette, provides for setting aside 2.423 billion dinars for financing the federal state from January till March this year. The Government issued the Decree on the last day of last year, as the Bill on the Federal Budget for 1998 was not passed in the Chamber of the Republics of Yugoslav Parliament. The Chamber of Citizens endorsed on December 29, 1997 the proposed 9.693 billion dinar Budget. The operating procedure of the Chamber of Citizens provides that the Federal Budget for next year should be passed by the end of the fall session at the latest, or by December 31, and if that does not happen, the activities of the FRY are financed until the passing of the new budget, under the Constitution, in accordance with last year's budget. The Chamber of the Republics did not convene till the end of last year, because the Serbian Parliament has not yet appointed the 20 deputies who will represent it there. The budget for this year has to be endorsed by both Chambers of Parliament in order to be passed. According to the Decree on the provisional financing of the FRY, the greatest revenue in the next three months - 1.3 billion dinars - should be obtained from taxes on the turnover of goods and services and from the excise tax, or from real sources. The revenu from other taxes will be almost 209 million dinars, from customs duties and other import duties 750 million dinars, and the revenue of federal bodies and organizations and revenues obtained on the basis of federal laws - 162.5 million dinars. [15] MILUTINOVIC NO LONGER PERFORMS THE DUTIES OF FEDERAL MINISTERTanjug, 1998-01-08Yugoslav Prime Minister Radoje Kontic said in a session on December 31 that the newly-elected president of Serbia could no longer carry out the duties of Foreign Minister. Milan Milutinovic informed Kontic on December 29 that he was unable under the Constitution to carry out any other function during the duration of his mandate as President of the Republic, said a statement released by the Information Secretariat. [16] TRANSPORTATION WILL NOT HINDER EXPORT OF COMMODITIESTanjug, 1998-01-08Transportation will not hinder the export of Yugoslav commodities this year, members of the Yugoslav Chamber of Commerce Board for transport and communications said on Thursday. Goods are conveyed from Yugoslavia to western Europe mainly by road. However, it has become increasingly difficult to obtain international license for road transportation. Part of the commodities must be transported by rail or water. Some members of the Board proposed that a scientific study be made to adapt transportation to meet the demands of western Europe. This mode calls for combining means of transportation, with goods going directly from factories to trucks, and thence to tankers, to be conveyed by rail or water. Part of the cargo is directed, for environmental reasons, to the huck-pack rail system, or the river and sea RO-RO system. Other members of the Board see no reason for any previous preparations and urge that the new mode be put into effect immediately. Yugoslav Daily Survey Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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