ZAGREB, March 19 (Hina) - Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan said on Monday night that citizens would not be affected in the Rijecka banka case. "The Croatian government and the Croatian National Bank had to 'bear the grunt', which
should be guarantee enough for citizens not to panic," Racan said ahead of a session of his party's, Social Democratic Union (SDP), presidency.
ZAGREB, March 19 (Hina) - Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan said
on Monday night that citizens would not be affected in the Rijecka
banka case.
"The Croatian government and the Croatian National Bank had to
'bear the grunt', which should be guarantee enough for citizens not
to panic," Racan said ahead of a session of his party's, Social
Democratic Union (SDP), presidency. #L#
Two of the bank's largest shareholders -- Byerische Landesbank,
with about 60 percent of shares, and the state, with 25 percent of
shares -- on Monday agreed to cover damages caused by embezzlement
in the bank.
Racan said they could make this move only when they received support
and cooperation from the German bank. The fate of Rijecka banka also
depends on the attitude of the media to the case, he said.
Racan said the issue of malversation in the bank had not been
resolved yet, but the amount of money that had been embezzled was
known. Citizens are getting a clear message that they will not be
suffering losses, said Racan.
The prime minister expressed reservation with a statement by Graham
Blewitt, deputy chief prosecutor of the international war crimes
tribunal in The Hague, that three to four new indictments could be
issued for Croatian military operations "Storm" and "Pocket of
Medak".
"We are aware that some investigations are being completed at the
Hague tribunal, not only concerning us, but the entire region of the
former Yugoslavia. Searches and pressures on all to extradite
indictees are being intensified. It is logical to expect some
investigations regarding Croatia to be submitted to us, if they
result in indictments, Racan said.
"We have a very precise legally regulated conduct in the case of
cooperation with the Hague tribunal."
It would not make sense for any extensive forces to be found in
Croatia which would push it into conflicts with the tribunal and the
international community by refusing to cooperate with The Hague,
Racan said. "That would push Croatia into the dark Balkan abyss and
a conflicts with the world," he said and added that he did not expect
this to happen in a mature and democratic Croatia, or from the
Croatian government.
Asked whether a programme agreement would be signed by parties of
the ruling coalition, on which the SDP insisted, Racan said some of
it would probably be signed on Tuesday.
This is not a special programme document, but rather specification
of some items from our programme, Racan said.
Members of the five-party ruling coalition will start by agreeing
on the government's plan of work for four years, the Partnership for
Development document and development priorities the government
adopted for this year which also specify and accentuate several
elements of the government's programme that the coalition has
adopted as its own, said the prime minister.
An agreement relating to personnel changes in the government will
not end tomorrow, but possibly by the end of the week, he said.
(hina) lml