PM SANADER RECEIVES VITTORINO COLOMBO AWARD
ZAGREB, Oct 22 (Hina) - Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader received the prestigious international award Vittorino Colombo in Milan on Sunday, government spokesman Ratko Macek said from the Italian city.The award, which the Vittorino Colombo Foundation has been giving for the past 10 years, is named after a former president of the Italian Senate and prominent Catholic politician. It is given for contributions to democracy and the spreading of authentic values of a policy focusing on solidarity and cooperation among peoples.
Sanader was unanimously chosen for this year's recipient, a statement said, adding that he was a man of peace and a man of Europe, a man who opened Croatia's doors towards Europe, who launched economic reforms and contributed to democratic processes and solidarity.
Previous recipients of the award include former Czech President Vaclav Havel, former Holy See State Secretary Cardinal Angelo Sodano, former UN Secretary-General Butros-Butros Gali, and former Polish PM Jerzy Busek.
Last night Sanader gave a talk on Croatia on the road to Euro-Atlantic integration for some 200 eminent business people and politicians from the Milan area.
He spoke of Croatia's road to the European Union, democratic, economic and social standards as values Croatia already had and which he said were common values in united Europe and other Euro-Atlantic structures, such as NATO.
The Croatian premier also answered numerous questions from business people regarding the economic situation and possibilities of investing in Croatia, for which there is a lot of interest among Italians, Macek said.
GLAVAS ACCUSES SENIOR POLICE, JUDICIAL OFFICIALS OF PRESSURING LOWER OFFICIALS
OSIJEK, Oct 22 (Hina) - Independent member of parliament Branimir Glavas, who is suspected of having committed war crimes in late 1991 in Osijek, and his lawyers held a news conference in that eastern city on Sunday to express their conviction that the current chief of Osijek County Police, Vladimir Faber, and the Chief State Prosecutor, Mladen Bajic, are exerting pressure through a part of the press on investigating judge Zdenko Posavec ahead of tomorrow's decision whether Glavas should be taken to custody or not.Lawyer Drazen Matijasevic said that today's daily Vecernji List with the headline "Glavas, however, must be detained" and the daily "Jutarnji List" with "Glavas Implicated in Six Murders" were aimed at exerting pressure on the investigating judge, assessing that this was dangerous for the media.
The lawyer said that yesterday's press release issued from a news conference of the Osijek County Police made no mention of Glavas in the context of the arrest of six former members of a company called in Croatian Samostalna Uskocka Satnija on suspicion of war crimes against Serb civilians in Osijek in late 1991 and early 1992.
Therefore Glavas's defence team describes media articles as "a calculated and orchestrated act of pressure by public media on the investigating judge".
Glavas told the news conference that today he will send a letter to all embassies of European Union member states about the fact that on 17 July this year he pressed charges against Krunoslav Fehir for the murder of Serb civilians given that Fehir himself publicly admitted to the crime. In the meantime, the Croatian judiciary accused other people of the crime in question which made Glavas conclude that both the judiciary and the police were under the political grip.
Glavas went on to say that this must be reported to the EU.
He and Fehir are suspected of having committed war crimes in Osijek in 1991. Glavas is charged with ordering the killing and torture of Serb civilians, specifically that he is responsible for the maltreatment and killing of Cedomir Vuckovic and Djordje Petkovic, whose body has not yet been found, and for the torture of Nikola Vasic and Snezana Beric. Fehir is charged with torturing Vuckovic. Fehir and another soldier allegedly forced Vuckovic to drink battery acid, after which Fehir shot him. Fehir, a former member of the First Osijek Battalion, which was under Glavas's command in 1991, previously admitted having shot a prisoner and had testified about Glavas's alleged involvement in the murders of Serb civilians.
CROATIA - FOURTH-RANKED ON WORLD LIST OF LP GAS CONSUMPTION GROWTH
ZAGREB, Oct 22 (Hina) - Croatia is the fourth-ranked on a world list according to the growth of the consumption of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).During the recent 19th world forum of the World LP Gas Association (WLPGA) in Chicago, Croatia was proclaimed as one of the most propulsive markets regarding the application of this form of energy, the Croatian Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association reported on 18 October.
Last year, Croatia's consumption of LP Gas climbed by 69 percent from 2003.
The top three countries are India with an increase of 148 percent, Germany (104%) and Norway (100%).
In 2004, Croatia's consumption of LP Gas came to 138,000 tonnes, with household consumption accounting for 43 percent. The industry's consumption made up 31 percent and consumption by cars 12 percent, Furthermore, gasworks consumed 12 percent and the consumption of this energy in agriculture accounted for five percent.
Croatia's plants for production of LP Gas - the two refineries in Rijeka and Sisak and the plant in Ivanic Grad - annually produce 380,000 tonnes, which means that the rest of 242,000 tonnes is exported
WLPGA is a professional, not-for-profit association located in Paris. It has 150 members from 50 countries and represents the industrial LP Gas chain worldwide. WLPGA"s mission is to promote LP Gas around the globe. It regularly publishes reports on the economic, social and environmental advantages of LP Gas.
BUDGETARY REVENUES UP 11 PER CENT
ZAGREB, Oct 22(Hina) - Budgetary revenues this year so far were about 11 per cent higher than at the same time in 2005, while expenditure was as planned.The state's arrears currently amount to 1.2 billion kuna, of which one billion refers to the health sector, according to Finance Ministry figures.
The amount of arrears due for payment is stable and expected, but an increase of 300 million kuna is possible due to lateness with the health reform, the Ministry said.
Given that at the end of last year the amount of arrears was about one billion kuna, every amount above that, including the aforementioned 300 million, is included in this year's budgetary deficit.
Under a modified accounting principle, which was introduced in 2002 and was agreed within a stand-by arrangement with the International Monetary Fund in February 2003, the deficit includes annual changes in arrears.
At the end of 2003 arrears amounted to one billion kuna, at the end of 2004 they were 1.3 billion and at the end of last year they stood at one billion kuna.
Changes in arrears affect the deficit, so that an increase during one year becomes part of that year's deficit, but only the amount of the increase.
By explaining the accounting of the deficit, the Finance Ministry answered last week's criticisms from the deputies of the strongest opposition party, the Social Democrats, who, during a parliamentary debate on the execution of the budget in this year's first half, criticised the government for covering up negative economic indicators, including the growth of inflation, insolvency and the deficit.
Finance Ministry figures show that the general government deficit, according to the modified accounting principle, amounted to 12.2 billion kuna in 2003, or 6.2 per cent of GDP. The deficit planned for this year is 7.3 billion kuna or three per cent of GDP.
The Ministry declined to comment on reports of 10.3 billion kuna claimed from the state in damages, saying it had not yet received any information that it had to pay something or plan it as budgetary expenditure.
STUDY ON AUSTRIAN-CROATIAN TIES TO BE PROMOTED IN VIENNA
VIENNA, Oct 22 (Hina) - A 64-page study on Austria and Croatia as friends in Europe, prepared by the Institute for Danubean and Central European Affairs (IDM) in Vienna, will be launched in the Austrian capital on Monday in the offices of th European Commission.The study contains articles written by prominent people from the political and economic sector of the two countries, including Croatia's President Stjepan Mesic, Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and others.
The articles are focused on the friendship between the two countries and on Croatia's bid to join the European Union.
BOSNIAN POLICE CONFIRM JUBILEE CROSS ABOVE MOSTAR UNDER SURVEILLANCE
MOSTAR, Oct 22 (Hina) - The Interior Ministry of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton has confirmed that the Jubilee Cross above the southern Bosnian city of Mostar is under police surveillance, without revealing the type of threat.The Bosnian Vecernji List daily said on Sunday that the Cross and some other sacral objects in western Herzegovina were supposed to be blown up by terrorists.
"The Cross is under constant surveillance," the head of the Interior Ministry's Information Office, Srecko Bosnjak, told Hina. He could neither confirm nor refute media allegations about plans to blow up the Cross, adding that he had officially received confirmation about the Cross being under surveillance.
Vecernji List said that the 33 metre Cross on Hum hill between the majority Muslim eastern part of Mostar and the majority Croat western part was being supervised by special police since Friday evening.
The media have alleged that 25 kilos of explosive have been prepared to mine the Cross and other religious objects.
According to unofficial reports, Bosnian security services were informed about a jeep transporting the explosive by the European Union peacekeepers in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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