PM RACAN ADDRESSES INT. CONFERENCE ON CORRUPTION IN DUBROVNIK

DUBROVNIK, June 19 (Hina) - Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan on Monday said Croatia's government was aware of the corruption issue, and that it was the government's task to demonstrate how it is possible to have relatively fast a government free of corruption which will battle organised crime in an organised manner. Racan addressed an international conference on advancing data exchange in preventing corruption and organised crime, taking place in the southern Croatian port of Dubrovnik. The conference was organised by the Council of Europe, the European Commission, and Croatia's Ministry of Justice, Government and Local Self-Government, as part of EC's anti-crime programme Octopus 2. In attendance are about 100 delegates from 18 European countries. The prime minister said connecting on the international scale was important in preventing corruption because of valuable experience and information exchange on all issues. "In the recent past, we had in Croatia a privatisation which was marked by corruption and pillage which, understandably, caused great dissatisfaction among this country's residents," said Racan. Croatian Justice Minister Stjepan Ivanisevic said Croatia was near the top of a list of 35 countries according to corruption. He added it was poor comfort to know that Yugoslavia, Albania, and Russia were ahead of us. Croatia's Interior Minister Sime Lucin said Croatia had been devastated by the war, but also that it was born out of a multi-state conglomerate which, he pointed out, facilitated corruption and organised crime. EC Ambassador to Croatia Per Vinther in his address supported the efforts the Croatian government was making to prevent corruption and organised crime. (hina) ha jn