CROATIAN COMPANIES REPORT LOSSES DUE TO RAILMEN'S STRIKE

OSIJEK/BELISCE, Dec 1 (Hina) - Croatian three companies on Sunday sent letters of support to the Croatian Railways (HZ) management for efforts to bring an end to the current strike of railmen, and asked the HZ management to do its utmost in order to ensure the normal resumption of train services. The Osijek-based sugar refinery voiced fear that "the unjustified strike may jeopardize success of this year's campaign of the sugar beet processing" and that it might also result in making sugar beet become rotten in wagons that were staying at the stations. The another Osijek-based company 'Transit', that is currently trading building material, said in a letter that they were not able to fulfill their commitments to buyers of 20,000 tonnes of the material, due to the railmen's strike. A wood-processing and paper mill 'Belisce' informed the HZ management that they were being faced with huge problems as they could not receive raw material and transport their products and stressed that "over 1,500 tonnes of (their) products are waiting in Belisce for being transported abroad." The Croatian Railway Workers' Union members, that began the work stoppage last Thursday (November 28), are still on strike. (hina) mš 011945 MET dec 96