MINISTER CACIC AND BECHTEL SPOKESMAN ON IMPORT OF LABOUR

ZAGREB, April 10 (Hina) - Croatian Minister for Reconstruction, Building and Public Works Radimir Cacic said on Tuesday he and United States company Bechtel, which is in charge of the building of the Zagreb-Split highway, agreed to import only expert labour and expert trainers, while other workers would have to be exclusively from Croatia. Cacic told this to Hina commenting on newspapers headlines under which Bechtel plans to import 1,500 workers from Turkey. Bechtel spokesman Damir Vucic, however, denied Cacic's statement. When asked whether an agreement has been reached with Minister Cacic, Vucic said no, adding that an old agreement, signed by Cacic's predecessor Jure Radic, was still in force. Vucic also stressed Bechtel had problems with hiring Croatian workers. On April 3, Bechtel hired a total of 829 workers, of whom 667 were Croatian citizens and 162 (namely 20 percent) were foreigners. Labour was divided into four categories -- 104 workers in the administration (half were Croatian and half were foreigners), 250 direct workers of whom 140 were Croatian and 110 were foreigners. All manufacturers, namely 416, as well as all project bearers, namely 59, were from Croatia. (hina) it