CRO GOVT SLAMS SLOVENE REGULATION FOR KRSKO NUCLEAR PLANT

( Editorial: --> 3304 ) ZAGREB, Aug 12 (Hina) - The Croatian Government has condemned unilateral Slovene moves to reorganise the Krsko nuclear power plant, which is located in Slovenia but owned by both countries. At its meeting on Wednesday the Government criticised a Slovene regulation on transforming Krsko Nuclear Power Plant Inc into a public enterprise, to be known as Krsko Nuclear Power Plant Ltd. Croatia assessed that through this July 30 decision, the Slovene Government had overstepped the rights which belonged to the Slovene side as the legal successor to the original Slovene co-founder. The plant was established in 1981. As a result the Croatian Government condemns such a step taken by the Slovene Government, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mate Granic told reporters after the meeting. He said his government believed such a move by the Slovene Government was against international customs and good neighbourly relations, as well as an unsatisfactory way of resolving open issues between the two countries. Such steps remove the possibilities of reaching agreement and practically leads towards arbitration, Granic said. The Croatian Foreign Minister distributed a government statement to reporters which said that with "such an action the Republic of Slovenia is directly encroaching upon contractual relations which regulate the activities of the Krsko Nuclear Power Plant, thereby violating the rights of the Croatian side, as well as agreements between the electricity suppliers and the economy ministries of both states". "Since the rights and obligations of the contractual parties, that is their legal successors, are regulated in the contract, those rights and obligations can be changed only through subsequent agreement, but never through a one-sided act by a state," the statement said. It emphasised that up to now the Slovene side had not responded to Croatia's proposed text of a new inter-state agreement on Krsko, which was presented to Slovenia back in April. Despite the Slovene Government's one-sided action narrowing the space for negotiations and forcing the Croatian side to consider a possible resolution through arbitration, the Croatian Government once again emphasises the importance of negotiations as the most appropriate way of resolving bilateral issues between the two countries, the statement emphasises. The Government believes in the possibility of reaching agreement and will soon propose a meeting between the ministers for foreign affairs and the economy of the two states, after which the Croatian Government will deliver its final decision and the most appropriate measures, Granic said. Croatia holds that the dispute over Krsko is not only a property- legal dispute but also an inter-state one, so therefore it insists the foreign ministers take part in discussions, Granic said. (Hina) mbr 121955 MET aug 98