HT UNION SEEKS GOVERNMENT'S PROTECTION

ZAGREB, June 26 (Hina) - The Croatian Post and Telecommunications workers union on Thursday asked the government to stop the majority owner of the Croatian Telecom (HT), Deutsche Telecom, from cutting the number of HT employees. #L# As a minority shareholder in the HT, with 49% of shares, the government can exercise the power of veto on some decisions of the majority owner, but instead of asking for the promised investments into the HT and protecting employment, the government is supporting DT's moves, the union's president, Jadranko Vehar, told reporters in front of the government building today. With 1.8 billion kuna of profits last year (EUR240 million), the HT is the company with the biggest earnings in Croatia, but plans envisage decreasing staff from the current 9,000 to 4,500, he warned. "At the signing of the agreement on purchasing the majority of shares, DT pledged to invest EUR700 million into HT's development, train and re-train 3,000 HT workers, which it never did," Vehar said. (hina) lml sb