MEETING TO BE HELD TODAY ON KRSKO NUCLEAR POWER PLANT ISSUE: NOTA

( Editorial: --> 0897 ) ZAGREB, July 31 (Hina) - Croatia's Assistant Economy Minister for Energy Roman Nota last night announced that a meeting would be held on Friday to discuss problems which have emerged surrounding the Krsko nuclear power plant. The meeting has been called following Thursday's decision by Slovenia's power distributor to shut down two transmission lines from Krsko, located in Slovenia, which deliver electricity to Croatia. Even though the nuclear power plant is jointly owned by Croatia and Slovenia, there is a dispute over the amount of money Croatian power supplier HEP owes Krsko. Nota told the Croatian Television current affairs show "Motrista" on Thursday night that the Croatian side "in a definite sense was surprised that instead of continuing discussions and resolving all open issues over the Nuclear Power Plant Krsko, Slovene representatives offered a radicalisation of problems which they, it is true, already announced earlier". "We were ready for this and for now there are not any consequences for the providing of electrical energy to Croatia," Nota, who is also the deputy chairman of Krsko's operations board, said. He believed that HEP through the efforts of its workers would guarantee sufficient electricity and there were no fears, neither in the short-term nor in the long-term, that Croatian consumers would suffer because relations over Krsko remained unresolved. "We offered the Slovene side the signing of new documents, new inter-state agreements and the resolution of legal and other issues related to this problem, and I can say that they offered to meet us sometime tomorrow (Friday) to discuss the problems which have arisen," the Assistant Economy Minister said. (Hina) mbr 311134 MET jul 98