ZAGREB, Oct 14 (Hina) - The war damage Croatia suffered as a result of the Serb aggression earlier this decade totalled DM65.3 billion, the Croatian government concluded on Thursday while adopting a final report on war damage. The
damage refers to the period between 15 August 1990, the beginning of the Serb aggression, and 31 August 1995, when Croatia liberated the Serb-occupied parts of its territory. The total war damage however also includes the damage the aggressor did through 15 January 1998, when the Danube River Region in eastern Croatia was peacefully reintegrated with the rest of the territory. Premier Zlatko Matesa said the aggression and the war had consumed one and a half Gross National Product. Croatia had to eliminate practically on its own what had been destroyed in the aggression, while simultaneously undergoing transition, as other post-Communist countries which however
ZAGREB, Oct 14 (Hina) - The war damage Croatia suffered as a result
of the Serb aggression earlier this decade totalled DM65.3 billion,
the Croatian government concluded on Thursday while adopting a
final report on war damage.
The damage refers to the period between 15 August 1990, the
beginning of the Serb aggression, and 31 August 1995, when Croatia
liberated the Serb-occupied parts of its territory. The total war
damage however also includes the damage the aggressor did through
15 January 1998, when the Danube River Region in eastern Croatia was
peacefully reintegrated with the rest of the territory.
Premier Zlatko Matesa said the aggression and the war had consumed
one and a half Gross National Product. Croatia had to eliminate
practically on its own what had been destroyed in the aggression,
while simultaneously undergoing transition, as other post-
Communist countries which however underwent a "normal"
development, he said.
The premier pointed out the damage had a long-term effect on
conditions in Croatia, the state of its finances and the state
budget. Had there been no war damage, the Value Added Tax rate would
be between 12 and 14 percent, he said, dismissing remarks that since
the war was over it should no longer affect the situation in the
country.
Forty percent of the entire war damage refers to material damage, 26
percent to the costs of war and the non-maintenance of farms, and
33.7 percent to the costs of living and health.
Even though Croatia suffered enormous economic damage, the
demographic loss was also huge. Data on population trends show
Croatia's direct and indirect losses in this respect amounted to
270,000 persons.
According to Ivan Novacic, president of the Commission for
Recording and Evaluating War Damage, up to 20,000 persons were
killed or had gone missing during the aggression.
Vukovar-Srijem County in eastern-most Croatia suffered the most
damage in the war, 17.6 percent of the entire figure. Following are
Sisak-Moslavina County in central Croatia, Osijek-Baranja County
in the east, and Zadar County, central coastal area. These four
counties account for 55 percent of the entire damage.
The town of Vukovar and nearby Sotin, eastern-most Croatia,
suffered damage worth DM2.6 billion.
Premier Matesa and his deputy Jure Radic reminded that Croatia had
received only two percent of international assistance in
reconstruction. Data put forward today show that in the past five
years, Croatia had earmarked DM10.4 billion from the state budget
to eliminate the war damage.
Novacic said dealing with the consequences of the damage would take
another eight to ten years.
During a debate on the final report on war damage it was pointed out
the report would be used as a supplement to the indictment Croatia
raised against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia before the
International Court of Justice in The Hague, and in negotiations on
compensation for the damage.
Members of the government agreed the report should be translated
and forwarded to foreign ambassadors in Zagreb, the United Nations,
the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, to all
who, according to Matesa, know very well how they should behave, but
are insufficiently willing to assist in eliminating the war
damage.
(hina) ha mm/jn