DONORS PLEDGE $30 MILLION FOR RECONSTRUCTION OF EASTERN CROATIA

ZAGREB, Dec 6 (Hina) - Potential donors for the reconstruction of UN-administered eastern Croatia met in Zagreb on Friday and pledged to invest more than USD 30 million in the reconstruction and development of the region in 1997. After the meeting organized by the UN Transitional Administration for the region (UNTAES), UN Deputy Transitional Administrator Derek Boothby expressed satisfaction with the results of the meeting which gathered about 150 representatives of UNTAES, Croatian government, local Serb authorities, international humanitarian agencies and non-governmental organizations. Besides USD 30 million pledged by donors, reconstruction projects in the region would also be financed by a World Bank loan, Boothby said. Croatian Reconstruction and Development Minister Jure Radic thanked UNTAES for organizing the meeting, noting that it would help step up the process of peaceful reintegration of the region into Croatia's constitutional and administrative system. The reconstruction programme required lots of funds since overall war damage in the country totalled over 150 billion kuna (about USD 27 billion), Radic said. Croatia had so far earmarked over five billion kuna ( USD 910 million) for all reconstruction projects, and the 1997 budget provided for an additional two billion kuna (USD 360 million) for this purpose, he added. Organizers expressed a hope that this meeting was the first in a series of similar meetings to raise financial support for the process of reconstruction and the return of refugees. (hina) vm jn. 061633 MET dec 96