HDZ SUPPORTS PRIVATISATION MODEL, REJECTS FRAUD ALLEGATIONS

ZAGREB, Nov 16 (Hina) - The newly-elected HDZ secretary-general, Zlatko Canjuga, today rejected allegations of large-scale fraud in the privatisation process as "unfounded". "The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) supports the present privatisation model and the whole course of the ownership transformation process," Canjuga told a news conference, detailing conclusions reached at yesterday's HDZ central committee meeting devoted to ownership transformation and privatisation. HDZ central committee member Ivic Pasalic said only seven of the 97 people charged with privatisation-related fraud were HDZ members. "Of the four thousand shareholders whose share exceeds DEM 100,000, HDZ members account for only 6.7 percent," he specified. "The facts speak for themselves. Allegations that the ruling party has walked off with the whole privatisation caboodle are a half-baked machination by certain petty politicians hell-bent on deposing the HDZ and seizing the power without parliamentary elections," Pasalic said. (hina) jn as 161725 MET nov 94