FIRST WEEK OF COUPON PRIVATISATION PASSES AS EXPECTED

( Editorial: --> 6759 ) ZAGREB, Jan 23 (Hina) - The seven associations administering investment funds and taking part in coupon privatisation on Friday said they were very satisfied with the number of coupons gathered in the first week. According to the privatisation law, more than 230,000 Croatian citizens have access to the coupons. The total worth of investment points on the coupons is 1.7 billion. Associations which fail to gather 100 million investment points, or 12,000-15,000 investors, will not be able to establish a privatisation investment fund. Coupon-owners have shares of 462 companies at their disposal, the total worth being 3.5 billion German marks. Coupons may be exchanged for the companies' or investment funds' shares. The behaviour standards of privatisation funds were today discussed by the grouping of investment funds administration associations, which operates within the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, and the Securities Commission. They concluded that no additional promises could be made in order to attract coupon-owners other than those listed in the companies' brochures, as instances of credit-offering and insurances have been noticed. (hina) ha jn 231735 MET jan 98