AT LEAST 1,000 WORKERS TO REMAIN AT NAMA - GOVT. OFFICIAL

ZAGREB, July 18 (Hina) - Of former 1,900-strong work-force at NAMA, at least 1,000 workers will still be employed with this chain of shops, announced an assistant to Croatian Economy Minister, Kamilo Vrana, on Tuesday. Addressing a news conference held at the NAMA department store in the downtown Zagreb, Vrana explained that the Government's announcement that 1,000 jobs will be preserved after the company undergoes the bankruptcy procedure, thus came true. Those 1,000 workers should be directly employed with NAMA by the end of this year. Besides, a part of workers should get jobs in NAMA department stores that will be rented to foreign firms, the bankruptcy commissioner for NAMA, Mladen Jedlicko told the press conference adding that eventually NAMA would run a business in five stores. He said encouraging negotiations with suppliers were under way and asserted that there was no supplier who would decline to display their commodities in NAMA shops located at attractive sites. A leader of NAMA shop assistants' union, Dragica Petrinjak, was more cautious and said they should wait for results of the first hearing in the bankruptcy procedure, set for October when creditors, led by the Privredna Bank Zagreb (PBZ), should see whether the bankruptcy commissioner's optimistic broadcasts suit their interests. (hina) ms