GOVT: COMMUNICATION WITH DEUTSCHE TELECOM IS VERY GOOD

ZAGREB, July 24 (Hina) - The Croatian Government considers its communication with Deutsche Telecom very good, read a statement issued by the Government's Public Relations Office, dismissing media claims about the second stage of privatisation of Croatian Telecom (HT) and the alleged dissatisfaction of Deutsche Telecom with the quality of its communication with the Croatian government. According to the statement, Deutsche Telecom has requested talks and last week First Deputy Prime Minister Goran Granic met Deutsche Telecom representatives. The German company has demonstrated interest in the further purchase of HT shares and it was agreed that it would issue a statement about it. The Croatian government received the statement this afternoon and will consider it carefully, read the government statement. According to an article in today's issue of 'Vecernji List' daily, Deutsche Telecom, which owns 35 percent of Croatian Telecom, is ready to pay a huge premium in order to buy the majority package in the HT - as much as US$600 million for 16 percent of HT shares. However, according to the article, the company was not certain if the outcome of negotiations would be positive primarily because it was unable to establish good communication with the Croatian government. (hina) mm rml