DONORS' CONFERENCE FOR CROATIA TO TAKE PLACE IN LATE OCTOBER

( Editorial: --> 1156 ) ZAGREB, Sept 17 (Hina) - A donors' conference on the reconstruction and development of Croatia will most probably take place at the end of October, assistant Reconstruction and Development Minister Stjepan Sterc announced in Zagreb on Thursday. A possible postponement of a week or two would not represent a political issue, but a technical issue, he added. "It is our opinion that it is not important whether the donors' conference takes place on the second half of October or in the first half of November. It is a technical, not a political issue," Sterc told reporters. The final reconstruction plan, which is a basis for the donors' conference, has not been adopted yet because of the large "amount of work", but a draft of the plan was completed several days ago and submitted to the international community to review. Head of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Croatia, Robert Robinson, stressed it was more important for the final plan of reconstruction to be a good document, than for it to be drawn up in an hurry. It is unrealistic for the international community to comment the reconstruction plan in such a short time, Robinson said. He expressed hope that the basic conditions set by the international community had been fulfilled, primarily the need for the plan to be useful for all citizens, notwithstanding their nationality. Spokesman for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Mark Thompson, stressed he could not say when the OSCE would express its opinion of the plan. Croatia hopes to receive a significant amount at the conference. An estimate says that a total of US$2.4 billion is necessary for the problem of reconstruction to be resolved within the next five years, Sterc said. With the help from the international community, the reconstruction will last for a shorter period of time, he said, but refused to specify the amount Croatia expects from the international community. The reconstruction plan concerns the whole of Croatia, he added. We consider it as very important that the reconstruction plan concerns the entire country, Robinson said. He added that it was also important for the allocation of funds to be a transparent and open process. (hina) lml 171802 MET sep 98