STATE WANTS TO PRIVATISE STATE-OWNED COMPANIES IN DANUBE REGION

VUKOVAR, May 29 (Hina) - "The state wants to privatise state-owned companies in the Danube region over the next year," Deputy Prime Minister Slavko Linic said in Vukovar on Monday. "We will see that companies with good prospects are backed by commercial banks," Linic said at an economic forum on the prospects of economy in Vukovar-Srijem County. According to Linic, the Government will create conditions for successful operation and it expects business people to offer high-quality projects and new jobs in return. The forum was also attended by Prime Minister Ivica Racan, his first deputy Goran Granic and Deputy Prime Minister Zeljka Antunovic. In a debate on reconstruction, the Minister of Public Works, Reconstruction and Construction, Radimir Cacic, said his ministry would invest more than DM200 million in reconstruction projects in Vukovar County this year. A total of 910 housing units, whose reconstruction started in October last year, should be repaired by the beginning of the school year. Another 1,050 houses will be reconstructed by the end of this year, which should result in a 20-percent higher reconstruction rate, Cacic said. A feasibility study for the port of Vukovar was presented at the forum as well. (hina) mm rml