FINANCE, DEVELOPMENT MINISTERS MEET WORLD BANK REPS

ZAGREB, Sept 16 (Hina) - Croatian Finance Minister Bozo Prka met World Bank representatives, led by European Department director Jean Michel Severino, in Zagreb on Monday. The talks focused on the reconstruction of Eastern Slavonia and credits for the reconstruction of the region's road and railway infrastructure and waterworks. Also discussed were structural adjustment loans for bank rehabilitation, the next stage of reform of the pension and health care systems and a new type of loans directed at the development of small and medium-sized companies, according to Prka. "Also, we discussed for the first time today the opening of a World Bank subsidiary in Croatia, given that Croatia is going through a period of intensive post-war reconstruction, as indicated by its current level of indebtedness - US$ 307 million," Prka said. "The objective of my first visit to Croatia is to gather information on the country's needs and the wishes of the Croatian Government," Jean Michel Severino said after the talks. "We will also discuss the allocation of World Bank loan proceeds," he said. "The cooperation between Croatia and the World Bank is defined by the strategy of annual indebtedness of US$ 200 to 250 million," Prka said. "The stable political environment and the macroeconomic framework are favourable to the World Bank's presence in Croatia - hence, the current strategy of cooperation between the Croatian Government and the World Bank need not be changed, but redirected to fit new circumstances," Severino concluded. The World Bank delegation also met the Development and Reconstruction Minister, Jure Radic, to discuss in detail the projects for the reconstruction of the Croatian Danubian area. According to Radic, the direct war damage to eastern Slavonian infrastructure has been assessed at US$ 27 billion. Indirect damage totalled twice that amount, Radic said. (hina) jn as 161805 MET sep 96