WHEAT HARVEST GOES ACCORDING TO PLAN - SAYS AGRICULTURE MINISTER

( Editorial: --> 8799 ) ZAGREB, July 20 (Hina) - The wheat harvest has been progressing positively and if the weather remains good it is likely to be completed mid-week, Croatian Agriculture and Forestry Minister Zlatko Dominikovic said on Monday. The harvesting has been completed on more than 75 per cent of land. It was fully completed in Slavonsko-Brodska and Pozesko-Slavonska Counties in eastern Croatia. The purchase of the most important bread grain is progressing according to the agreed tempo, the Minister said, adding he believed all offered quantities would be purchased. The paying has also begun and what the Government has promised is going according to plan, Dominikovic said. Under a Government decision, the state will this summer purchase 200,000 tonnes of wheat at a guaranteed price of US$0.17, with payment within 15 days. The state will buy an additional 200,000 to 300,000 tonnes at a guaranteed price and payment in instalments by October 1. This will make the state the dominant buyer of the offered quantities of wheat, believed to amount between 400,000 and 450,000 tonnes. (hina) ha jn 201616 MET jul 98