ZAGREB, Aug 22 (Hina) - Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan said at the start of Thursday's government session that the situation in eastern Slavonia, where the Danube river has been threatening to overflow, was stable and that there
was no danger of flooding for the time being.
ZAGREB, Aug 22 (Hina) - Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan said at
the start of Thursday's government session that the situation in
eastern Slavonia, where the Danube river has been threatening to
overflow, was stable and that there was no danger of flooding for
the time being. #L#
The water level of the Danube at Batina at 5 am today was 729 cm and is
currently 735 cm, which is below the flood threat level, Racan
said.
The embankment is stable and its 11-kilometre-long section from
Zmajevac to the Kopacki Rit nature park is also under control, the
Prime Minister said.
Racan commended workers on the ground, expressing optimism
regarding the development of the situation.
The government today discusses measures on the financial
consolidation of the health system, one of the proposals being
granting the Croatian Health Insurance Institute the approval to
seek a loan worth 820 million kuna.
The government is also to analyse the situation in the shipbuilding
industry, which last year saw a loss of 2.1 billion kuna, of which
the largest part, totalling around 1.5 billion kuna, was incurred
by the "Brodosplit" shipyard. A six-million kuna loss was incurred
by "Treci maj" and another 20 million by the Kraljevica shipyard.
A number of financial measures are envisaged to tackle the problems
in the shipbuilding industry, including the transfer of loans for
consolidation into the public debt, the transfer of loans for
technological reconstruction into the budget, and the transfer of
credit obligations for loans for which the government gave
guarantees. The measures total 2.8 billion kuna.
The government also envisages other measures, one of them being
entrusting the Economy Ministry with controlling together with the
Croatian Shipbuilding Industry - Jadranbrod, a state-owned
company, if the shipyards are carrying out their business plans.
The government will today also adopt new gas and electricity
tariffs.
(hina) rml