POWER SUPPLY SYSTEM IN DANUBE RIVER REGION REINTEGRATED INTO CROATIAN POWER INDUSTRY

CROATIAN POWER INDUSTRY VUKOVAR, 22 July (Hina) - The representatives of the Croatian Power Industry (HEP), local Serbs and the U.N. Transitional Administration in Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES) signed an agreement on the reintegration of the power supply and distribution system in the Croatian Danube river region into HEP. HEP General Director Damir Begovic, who signed the agreement on behalf of the HEP, said that the agreement was a big step forward in the peaceful reintegration of the Danube river region. As of today, the HEP completely takes over the responsibility of regularly supplying the area with power, Begovic said, adding that this would enable a speedier economic recovery of the area. Begovic also said that the HEP would soon transport 50-megawatt diesel power plants from Dalmatia to the Danube river region. Those power plants would continually supply the whole area with power until the war-destroyed electric grids Valpovo-Beli Manastir and Vinkovci- Vukovar were made operational. The reconstruction of those two grids would take a lot of time and money, Begovic said. The area would initially be supplied with power from Vojvodina, Begovic added. According to Begovic, the reconstruction of one of the most important power plants in the area, the power plant in Ernestinovo, whose damage was estimated to some 50 million German marks, would last about 2,5 years, Begovic said. U.N. Transitional Administrator for Eastern Slavonia, Jacques Paul Klein, a signatory to the agreement, expressed satisfaction with the reintegration of the area's power production and supply system into the HEP. He added that it would speed up the reconstruction and economic development of the area, as well as the return of Croat displaced. Begovic stressed the importance of HEP taking over all employees in the local power production companies. The president of the Joint Council of Municipalities of Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srijem, Milos Vojnovic, who signed the agreement on behalf of local Serbs, expressed satisfaction with the agreement, adding he hoped that the power supply to the Danube river region would be good. The residents of the Danube river region would pay electric power costs according to prices which are valid for the whole of Croatia. After the signing ceremony in the UNTAES headquarters, HEP General Director Begovic unveiled a plaque bearing the name of the Croatian Power Industry on the HEP building in Vukovar. (hina) rm mm 221532 MET jul 97