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PRESS CUT - Croatian Press News in English	

October 21, 1998


* CROATIA
1. WORK ON BREGANA - ZAGREB HIGHWAY BEGINS
2. TORRID RAINS CAUSE FLOODING ALONG THE COAST AND IN LIKA
3. UN SECURITY COUNCIL CONFIRMS CROATIAN SOVEREIGNTY
4. BOKA RESIDENTS WANT DIRECT TALKS WITH CROATIA
5. SKEGRO OPPOSES MULTIPLE TAX RATES
6. MOVE YOUR CLOCKS BACK ON SUNDAY
7. CROATIA HAS AN UPHILL BATTLE AHEAD IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
8. VARTEKS HAS HIGH HOPES FOR 2ND ROUND OF CUP WINNERS CUP
9. TWO WINS FOR CROATIAN BASKETBALL TEAMS

* ICTY

10. LEGAL EXPERTS FROM B&H, CROATIA AND FRY AT ICTY

* BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

11. B&H NEEDS TO INVEST IN MANUFACTURING TO LOWER ITS DEBT
12. B&H AIRSPACE IN CIVILIAN CONTROL
13. OBN UP FOR SALE

* YUGOSLAVIA

14. CONFUSION IN KOSOVO
15. COOK WARNS UCK
16. INTERNATIONAL THREATS DO LITTLE TO CHANGE KOSOVO SITUATION
17. UCK RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SELF-DEFENCE

* NEIGHBOURHOOD NEWS

18. MACEDONIAN OPPOSITION STILL LEADING



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***


* CROATIA

1. T.P., Croatian Information Centre - Zagreb, October 21, 1998.
WORK ON BREGANA - ZAGREB HIGHWAY BEGINS

SAMOBOR - The President of the Republic of Croatia, Dr. Franjo Tudjman,
officially opened construction of the 13.6 km long stretch of highway
between Zagreb and Bregana, which will connect with the Zagreb - Dubrovnik
highway.

"The highway being built is very important for Croatia, because it will
connect its north-western and south-eastern parts, as well as passing
through Bosnia and Herzegovina," stated Tudjman. "It will also be a new
link with other neighbouring European countries. Croatia has shown it is
prepared to invest in connecting all Croatian areas with the rest of the
world, especially with its neighbours."

The highway will run along the Bregana - Zagreb - Sisak - B&H - Dubrovnik
route, and is being built by the American construction company Bechtel,
in co-operation with Turkish Enka and a number of Croatian companies.
This first stretch of highway should be complete by 2000 and will cost 70
million USD.

***

1. Hina, T.P., Croatian Information Centre - Zagreb, October 21, 1998.
TORRID RAINS CAUSE FLOODING ALONG THE COAST AND IN LIKA

ZADAR, RIJEKA, GOSPIC - Extreme thunder storms and huge amounts of rain
have caused millions of kunas in damages all over the coastal regions of
Croatia, particularly in the Rijeka and Zadar areas. The Lika region was
also hit, as violent thunder storms caused numerous power outages. Licki
Osik, Klanac, Zaluznica and Vrhovine are all without electricity. The TV
transmitter at Celavac is also down due to the lightning strikes near Gracac.

In Zadar they were telling jokes that Noah has begun collecting pairs of
animals. In fact, rain, hail and strong winds caused natural disaster
conditions in some parts of the Zadar area. The Fall harvest in most of the
area also was completely destroyed. In Sukosan alone damages are estimated
at over 10 million kunas.

The Rijeka and Istria areas were also hit by heavy rains, as traffic was
paralysed in Rijeka due to flooding and all around chaos. Many houses and
businesses suffered extensive flood damage, as basements flooded with water
up to two metres in depth. Cattle and other domestic animals drowned in the
flooding and harvesting will only be a dream for many farmers in the Istria
region.

***

2. T.P., Croatian Information Centre - Zagreb, October 21, 1998.
UN SECURITY COUNCIL CONFIRMS CROATIAN SOVEREIGNTY

NEW YORK - "The United Nations Security Council welcomes and supports
Croatian - Yugoslav talks on Prevlaka," said the UN SC chairperson and
British Ambassador, Jeremy Greenstock. On Tuesday, the UN SC examined a
report presented by Secretary General Kofi Annan on the implementation of
the UNMOP mission to Prevlaka. After consultations, Greenstock made a
statement to the media stressing that the UN SC has confirmed the
territorial integrity and sovereignty of Croatia in that region. "We hope
the talks will show some results in the very near future," concluded
Greenstock.

***

3. Olja Obradovic, Bokeljani za izravne pregovore s Hrvatskom, Vecernji
list, October 21, 1998, Back Page.
BOKA RESIDENTS WANT DIRECT TALKS WITH CROATIA

KOTOR - Boka residents are bitter and upset with the news that the FR
Yugoslav government has refused to negotiate with Croatia on the opening of
the Debeli Brijeg border crossing as a separate point in the border marking
negotiations. Residents are visiting municipal committees of the Social
Democratic Party (SDP) in large numbers, as this party has previously
collected a 5,000-signature petition for the Montenegrin government to try
to open the Croatian - Montenegrin border as soon as possible, while
supporting the current governmental policy to not participate in talks
given the current conditions. The collection of signatures was stopped
after the Montenegrin government intensified its involvement with this
problem.

The SDP in all Boka municipalities feels that the Montenegrin government
should continue to directly negotiate with Croatia, regardless of
Belgrades behaviour. They are at least hoping for the border crossing to
be opened occasionally to border-area residents wanting to make private
visits.

***

4. Hina, Skegro protiv poreznih stopa, Vjesnik, October 21, 1998, Front
Page.
SKEGRO OPPOSES MULTIPLE TAX RATES

ZAGREB - "A successful tax system guarantees healthy finances, which in
turn guarantee macroeconomic stability and economic growth. The Croatia
fiscal form has made this possible. Next year the income from the Added
Value Tax (PDV) will be 22 million kunas," stated Finance Minister Borislav
Skregro at a Tuesday at the presentation of Croatian tax system reforms.

This occasion marked the five year co-operation between the Republic of
Croatia and the GTZ company and the creation and implementation of the tax
reform program. As far as lowering the PDV rate, Skegro is of the opinion
that whoever finds a way to lower the state overhead of one billion kunas
will have found a way to decrease the PDV rate, but only by one percent.
Skegro is opposed to multiple tax rates because "all tax shelters meant for
the poor end up in the middle class."

***

5. T.P., Croatian Information Centre - Zagreb, October 21, 1998.
MOVE YOUR CLOCKS BACK ON SUNDAY

ZAGREB - Summer daylight savings time will officially be over this
weekend, as residents living in the Central European Time (CET) zone will
be getting an extra hour of sleep on Monday morning. During the night
between Saturday October 24 and Sunday October 25, at 3:00 (CET), clacks
should be moved back by one hour. In other words, it will be 3:00 two times
on Sunday morning.

***

6. T.P., Croatian Information Centre - Zagreb, October 21, 1998.
CROATIA HAS AN UPHILL BATTLE AHEAD IN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

PORTO - Croatia will play in the third round of the UEFA Champions League
against Porto tonight at 20:45 (CET). If history means anything, these two
teams are deadlocked, as is the case in the Group A standings of this
years Champions League. Their first official European meeting was in 1963,
when Dinamo defeated Porto 2:1 in Porto (0:0 in Zagreb) in the second round
of the UEFA Cup. They did not meet again until 1987, when Porto eliminated
Dinamo (1:2, 1:0) in the Champions Cup, which they ended up winning that year.

Coach Kranjcar plans to upset the Portuguese champion tonight with the
following line-up: Ladic, Juric, Simic, Tokic, Rukavina, Saric, Jurcic,
Jelicic, Krznar, Maric and Sokota (instead of Viduka). Here are the Group A
standings:

Olympiakos	+2	4
Ajax		+1	4
Porto		-1	1
Croatia	-2	1

***

7. T.P., Croatian Information Centre - Zagreb, October 21, 1998.
VARTEKS HAS HIGH HOPES FOR 2ND ROUND OF CUP WINNERS CUP

VARAZDIN - Varteks will play the first leg of the second round of the UEFA
Cup Winners Cup in Holland against Heerenveen tomorrow night. After getting
by Rudar from Velenje (Slovenia), Varteks has already acquired a fair
amount of points on the UEFA rating list and is hopeful it will get by this
formidable Dutch team. Heerenveen is currently in second place behind
Feyenoord in the Dutch Premier Division. Their game is an open attack with
attractive moves and a high percentage of shots on goal, many of which end
up behind the back of opposing goaltenders. On the other hand, Varteks is
not doing all that well in the Croatian Premier Division, but has invested
all of its efforts, up to now, into European play. Tomorrow we will see how
well coach/player Besek has prepared his bumble bees for the Dutch
scoring machine.

***

8. T.P., Croatian Information Centre - Zagreb, October 21, 1998.
TWO WINS FOR CROATIAN BASKETBALL TEAMS

ZAGREB, SPLIT - Both teams needed a win and both team got one! Zagreb
defeated Atomeromu (Hungary) 93:85 (53:39) last night in Raimond Saporte
Cup action. The top scorer of the game was Zagrebs Sesar with 25 points.

Split was in a similar situation, where they needed a victory against
Slovakofarma (Slovakia) in the Raimond Saporte Cup. They defeated their
guests 92:83 (48:31). The top scorer for Split was Miller with 18 baskets,
while Slovakofarmas Ristanovic was top scorer of the game with 24 points.

***


* ICTY

9. Hina, Pravnici iz BiH, RH, i SRJ u ICTY-u, Vjesnik, October 21, 1998,
p. 2.
LEGAL EXPERTS FROM B&H, CROATIA AND FRY AT ICTY

THE HAGUE - A two-day symposium was held October 15 - 16 at the
International War Crimes Tribunal (ICTY), where 13 legal experts from
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and FR Yugoslavia listened to lectures and
spoke with high ranking ICTY officials. The reason for this symposium,
according to the ICTY, was to explain "certain misinterpretations of the
ICTY present in the former Yugoslavia." The Croatian delegation included
Burjacenko Grubisa of the Croatian Helsinki Committee (HHO), as well as
Damir Kos and Marin Mrcela of the Zagreb Municipal Court.

***


* BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

10. J.C., Croatian Information Centre - Sarajevo, October 21, 1998.
B&H NEEDS TO INVEST IN MANUFACTURING TO LOWER ITS DEBT

SARAJEVO - Bosnia and Herzegovinas foreign debt is currently at 3.4
billion USD, out of which 1.4 billion goes for debt servicing, announced
Nikola Grabovac, Deputy Foreign Trade Minister, yesterday.

Grabovac pointed out that the debt is quite large considering the level of
production in B&H, but it can be decreased with greater investment in
manufacturing.

"The yearly annuities are about $150 million and our total annual exports
are approximately $120 million," explained Grabovac. "Therefore, the
current level of exports and production do not guarantee repayment of the
loan."

He added that debts are not necessarily bad if the money is invested in
manufacturing. However, most of B&Hs credit funds were invested into
infrastructure renewal, which does not have a monetary return.

Additionally, said Grabovac, most of the banks in B&H do not lend money for
manufacturing start-up.

"Alhos, for example, needs $3 million in credit to hire 500 workers for
export related work, but cannot get it. Similarly, Volkswagen Sarajevo
needs $500 million to hire another 150 workers, but cannot get it,"
explained Grabovac.

***

11. J.C., Croatian Information Centre - Sarajevo, October 21, 1998.
B&H AIRSPACE IN CIVILIAN CONTROL

SARAJEVO - SFOR has passed on its authority over the upper part of B&H
airspace to the B&H Office of Civil Aviation.

SFOR spokesperson Sheena Thomson announced at yesterdays press conference
that the interim agreement on airspace control between SFOR, Zagreb and
Belgrade remains in effect. However, the OCA is the proper successor to
SFOR in the matter and will now be able to negotiate and sign agreements
regarding Bosnia and Herzegovinas airspace.

The acting director of the OCA, Ismet Secic, said the agency is satisfied
with the change and that it is only natural that airspace control be
returned to the civilian authorities.

"This is our legal right, in order not to find ourselves in a situation
where, for example, Belgrade or Zagreb, present unacceptable conditions,"
pointed out Secic.

However, Belgrade is already causing problems according to a report in B&H
daily Oslobodjenje. Everyday there are 140 - 150 flyovers over B&H
territory. During the tourist season this number can get as high as 1,000
per day, with an average minimum of 600 flyovers. Planes flyover B&H at a
height between 33,000 and 45,000 feet (10,000 - 14,000 metres). This
altitude is much higher than in other places around the world, where air
traffic is heavier. As such, SFOR has proposed that the flyover altitude be
lowered to 27,000 feet. Zagreb has accepted this proposal, but Belgrade has
not.

"Belgrade is demanding that an agreement between civilian authorities in
B&H and FR Yugoslavia be signed first," said Secic.

A related issue is money: the greater the number of flights over a
countrys territory, the more it earns. The OCA has signed an agreement
with Eurocontrol, an organisation which collects payment from airlines for
airspace usage, on behalf of most European countries for a small fee. The
payment proceeds are held in an account and paid out to the countries every
so often.

Last year, an airspace payment system for Croatia, B&H and FRY was devised,
whereby 150 daily flights would garner 1 million USD. In 1998, 25 percent
should go to B&H, 31 percent to Croatia and the remainder to FRY as it
controls the largest portion of the airspace. However, this money has not
been paid-out yet and Belgrade opposes payment until and agreement is
signed with B&H civilian authorities.

According to Secic, this is because Belgrade wants an agreement for a
longer term than the current one.

***

12. J.C., Croatian Information Centre - Sarajevo, October 21, 1998.
OBN UP FOR SALE

SARAJEVO - OBN Television is beginning to look for buyers, announced its
General Manager, Michael Challenger, yesterday.

The international community, which funds the Open Broadcast Network, has
begun seriously  considering the networks sale, realising the final goal
of making it a Bosnian network. This goal is one of the reasons the Tras
company was formed.

How much will OBN cost? Equipment has been evaluated at 7 million German
Marks, said Challenger, but the expertise and all other worth elements have
yet to be determined. Challenger also said that a private buyer will not be
considered, as the rules of the 12 countries funding OBN would not allow
"private money to end up in private hands."

Challenger admitted that the international community has no guarantees that
the future owners of OBN will respect the standards it has set. Still, the
network has a team of experts, who will decide on the purchase conditions
to best protect the interests of OBN Television.

"OBN must remain independent and an inter-entity organisation," said
Challenger.

For OBNs immediate future, Challenger said concrete steps are being taken
to put the whole of OBN programming in Bosnian hands. The station must also
eventually become self-sufficient through sponsorship and an eventual buy-out.

OBN began broadcasting in March 1996, thanks to funding from EU countries,
the United States, Sweden, Japan and the Soros Foundation. OBNs start-up
was 1.2 million USD. To date, the station has cost its founders 14.2
million USD.

OBN affiliates are TV Mostar, Oskar C, TV Zetel, TV Tuzla, OBN Bijeljina,
OBN Trebinje, TV Cazin, ATV Banja Luka, TV 33 Prnjavor, TV Tesanj, TV
Zavidovici, ATV Banovici, TV Kiss, TV Travnik, TV Rudo and TV Vitez.

***


* YUGOSLAVIA

13. T.P., Croatian Information Centre - Zagreb, October 21, 1998.
CONFUSION IN KOSOVO

PRISTINA - A spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) Stated that this organisation has cancelled plans to send
two humanitarian aid convoys from the capital pending clarification of the
military situation in the field.

Meanwhile, Serbian spokespersons say that the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK)
recently took advantage of the agreement reached by Yugoslav President
Slobodan Milosevic and U.S. Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke to re-take lost
territory and to attack Serbian police. Furthermore, they claim that the
security forces are restoring order. Serbian spokespersons also deny Kosovo
Albanian reports that the Serbs are shelling villages. Kosovo officials
argue that the Serbs have launched an assault on unarmed civilians in
response to the killing of four police officers.

According to Washington Post reports, western diplomats are unable to
"determine what side is telling the truth." Diplomats do not agree among
themselves whether the movement of the security forces violates the
agreement.

***

14. T.P., Croatian Information Centre - Zagreb, October 21, 1998.
COOK WARNS UCK

LONDON - British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook stated on Monday that the UCK
has recently committed several breaches of the ceasefire. He added, "Such
continued acts of hostility serve only the interests of those who wish to
undermine the political process and return to war. We have no intention for
NATO to be conscripted as a sort of airforce for the UCK."

***

15. T.P., Croatian Information Centre - Zagreb, October 21, 1998.
INTERNATIONAL THREATS DO LITTLE TO CHANGE KOSOVO SITUATION

BELGRADE - Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is trying the patience of
the West, as Serbian forces continue to be present in the field and the
humanitarian crisis continues to be extremely serious. The weather is
getting colder and colder, with over 50,000 of refugees sleeping in the
open. Special American Envoy Christopher Hill was in Belgrade yesterday and
stated he hopes a Serbian - Albanian agreement could be signed by
mid-November. He also reflected on the repressive media law adopted by the
Serbian parliament, which stipulates extreme fines and other legal actions
against all those re-broadcasting or re-printing anti-Serbian propaganda,
including the programming of such institutions like the Voice of America
and Radio Free Europe.

NATO European Commander Gen. Wesley Clark was also in Belgrade yesterday,
where he met with Slobodan Milosevic and the commander of the Yugoslav Army
HQ, Gen. Momcilo Perisic. He told his hosts that NATO air strike threats
are still real and that the FRY must "hurry up and make things right" if it
does not want to suffer the consequences.

These threats are empty, according to the Democratic Union of Kosovo (DSK),
which claims the Belgrade regime has done nothing to adhere to UN Security
Council Resolution 1199. In fact, all it is doing is moving Yugoslav police
and military forces back and forth, instead of sending them back to
barracks and nothing has really changed in the field except that Serb
attacks are not as intensive.

***
16. T.P., Croatian Information Centre - Zagreb, October 21, 1998.
UCK RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SELF-DEFENCE

PRISTINA - The Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) issued a statement that they
respect the efforts of the international community in its attempts to try
and broker peace in Kosovo, but Yugoslav forces are still in the field and
continue to attack unarmed civilians. According to the statement, the UCK
will not initiate any attacks, but reserves the basic right to self-defence.

***


* NEIGHBOURHOOD NEWS

17. T.P., Croatian Information Centre - Zagreb, October 21, 1998.
MACEDONIAN OPPOSITION STILL LEADING

SKOPJE - Ljubco Georgievski, who is the leader of the Internal Macedonian
Revolutionary Organisation (VMRO-DPMNE), pointed out that Macedonia has
entered a new era by giving victory to the VMRO and its ally, the
Democratic Alternative, in the parliamentary elections in that country.
Spokespersons for the governing Social Democrats (SDSM) replied that
Georgievski's initial vote tallies are inaccurate and that the SDSM could
still win in the second round on November 1. Official results are expected
shortly.







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