MONEY - Economy, Business, Finance & Market
He also reminded that the measures undertaken so far, and what has been done, particularly with the Teachers' College, the return of the students after the boycott of the classes, passed in the shadow of the latest events. The concept prepared by the University had the same fate.
"The interest that our neighbors are expressing these days, for thing happening here, is quite understanding. For us, such interest is legitimate, but the thing we do not agree with is when that interest will overstep the line and turn into interference in the internal matters of a sovereign state. And, the instigation, even verbal, of acts that are contrary to the constitutional system of an independent and sovereign state is exactly interference in the internal affairs," stated Crvenkovski, commenting specifically the attitude of Albania and Greece.
"The Albanian public was informed with distorted and incorrect facts, so it responded appropriately. We believe that this is not an appropriate way for strengthening the mutual trust between the two countries."
"In Greece, this event is presented as a major argument for instability in the country. Time will deny this in the best possible way. Actually, the ability and strength of the RM to handle such a problem is proof of the stability of the state," the Macedonian Prime Minister underlined. He stated that the messages, coming from other international subjects with which our neighbors are called to respect the sovereignty and cooperation with the Macedonian authorities, present support of the current state policy.
As for the Government's responsibility for "untimely settlement of the problems," it was said that the Government proclaimed its stances even two years ago, so everything that was under its competence has already been done, but that also can not be justification for what happened later on." When asked about the comment of the British Foreign Office that the Government should fulfill its alleged promises made to the Albanian community, Crvenkovski responded that it was not a matter of any promises, but principled stance, from which there was no backing down. They should be realized, but that also requires cooperation with the educational institutions in the country, which, as the Prime Minister believes, "should have pushed forward the education within the framework of the Constitution."
Is a process of "Kosovization" taking place in Macedonia, or is there knowledge that Fadil Sulejmani is an agent from KOS (Serbian Counter-Intelligence Agency - trans. note), as some information says. Does the Government have information about inter-ethnic relations in the state, were also questions Crvenkovski focused on in his replies.
"There is no danger in Macedonia from 'Kosovization' due to a number of reasons. We don't have the historic experience from over there, the same quality of inter-ethnic relations and the tolerance between the citizens, is at a higher level than in Kosovo, and the policy and means with which it is enforces vary considerably from those used over there. Otherwise, it is an illusion to build a platform for inter-ethnic relations, and such a platform does not exist anywhere. There is a general policy that is built in the constitution and laws. In Macedonia, we have not intention to force an atmosphere which will treat exclusively national collectivities. The basic concept is a citizens' state and the individual rights and freedoms."
In regards to whether Sulejmani is an agent of KOS, Crvenkovski said: "We do not want to deal with speculations and if there is any information about that, the Government will come out with those facts," Crvenkovski said.
The PDP and NDP have initiated an irregular session of the Tetovo local assembly for today, at 10 h, which will focus on the situation following the Friday incident.
Unofficially, "Vecer" finds out that the Macedonian members of the Tetovo assembly will not be attending the session, if the stances of the Government regarding the illegal Tetovo university do not dominate the discussion.
Nevzat Halili was directly involved in the events around the university, particularly in the village of Poroy, where he lives.
The DEMOCRATIC PARTY, in yesterday's press conference, asked the authorities, instead of establishing relations along the line state-ethnic groups, to publicly say what it intends to do. This party calls on the authorities to openly state whether they intend to suspend the institutions of the state, as it is clear that Macedonia can barely cope with two, let alone three universities.
The DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF THE TURKS is particularly concerned because, in Macedonia, we are witnessing a dangerous radicalization of the inter-ethnic relations. This party emphasizes that the dialogue, as the only means of settling the inter-ethnic antagonism, is being suppressed.
After the Agency receives all the necessary information, it will decide about the way in which it will privatize the companies. The small companies will be sold with an offer of an ideal part of the company, while the middle-sized companies will be sold according to two models: the offer of stocks in order to get additional capital, and the sale according to management take over. With the second type of sale, the purchase of 20% of the value of the middle-sized company, one acquires the right to run it, with the obligation to buy up 51% of the value of the stocks, over the next 5 years.
The workers have priority in the purchase, up to 30% of the value of the shares, which means that they will have the advantage in the purchase of this percentage of the stocks. They can also buy shares above this percentage, but in that case, they will be treated equally with the other buyers.
In addition, according to Ginovski, some 180,000 "twins" will be replaced, and there are also plans to install around 5-7,000 new telephone booths, which will work on electronic cards. Around 1,000 telephone booths are to be set up during this year. An agreement has already been signed with the Turkish telecommunications company "Netas" for this purpose, which is a part of the Canadian "Northern Telecom."
Another fact revealed was that 60% of the companies in this field have not submitted annual financial statements for the year 1993, which means that they are not working or are only formally registered. As for the structure of employment, it was stressed that the average number of employees in a trade firm is 3.2 workers, while the average in the economy is 14.9 persons per company.
It was also said that the basic activity of 6,000 firms is retail trade, 8,648 deals with wholesale trade, while 375 firms are into foreign trade.
The indicators from the financial activities of the trade indicate that the overall uncovered losses, till the end of June 1994 were estimated at US$ 2 million. The unpaid obligations up to November 30, last year, are estimated at 799 million denars, while the accounts of 793 companies have remained blocked more than 75 days.
The prolongation of the process of transformation, according to the Association, turns away all investments. There are 253 companies in the trade with state-owned capital, of which 232 are small, 19 are middle, and only 2 are large.
On a daily basis, "Oslomey" produces and delivers 2.5 million KWH of electric energy to the electro energetic system.