"NAMA" EMPLOYEES FINISH PROTEST RALLY

ZAGREB, April 20 (Hina) - A protest rally which "Nama" workers held on Thursday morning in front of the Government's building, was over after a unionist, Mario Ivekovic, informed the protesters of results of his talks with a Croatian Deputy Prime Minister, Slavko Linic, and Economy Minister Goranko Fizulic. According to Ivekovic, they scheduled another meeting on this chain of stores for next Thursday or Friday. The meeting should draw Economy Ministry officials, the Nama management and employees and supplier and contractors that support a rehabilitation programme drafted by the Nama management. Minister Fizulic told reporters that after the scheduled meeting next week it would be clear how to settle the case of Nama. Fizulic added that to date no plan for its recovery had been submitted to the Government. Mario Ivekovic, a leader of the Croatian Association of Unions (HUS) said the coming meeting should show how much suppliers were ready to back the rehabilitation programme. Only after that meeting it is possible for initiating a bankruptcy procedure in Nama, he said. He explained that today's talks did not mean that there would be no bankruptcy, but that in the case of bankruptcy, all dismissed workers would receive redundancy pay. Ivekovic said Deputy Prime Minister Linic told him that he was sorry that bankruptcy had not before been initiated as this would ensure the job for 900 employees with Nama. "We can accept it, but the future should be ensured for remaining 1,000 workers," the unionist said. A trade union of Croatian shop assistants and tradesman did not take part in Thursday's rally as it holds that the best solution for "Nama" is to file for bankruptcy. (hina) jn ms