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Albanian Times, 96-09-17
Albanian Times
September 17, 1996
CONTENTS
[01] Albanian Unions Stage General Strike
[02] Court Sentences Communist Party Founders
[03] Paper Alleges on Berisha-PAD Secret Deal
[04] Officials Pledge Fair Play in October Polls
[05] Nebex Resources LTD Trades on Stock Exchange
[06] Berisha Rejects Vote Postponement Call
[07] Albanians besiege Greek Consulate for visas
[08] Defense Official Receives Greek Ambassador
[09] Officials Hope Airport To Meet Standards By 1997
[10] EBRD Confirms Support for Albania
[01] Albanian Unions Stage General Strike
TIRANA, Sept 16 - Tens of thousands of Albanian public sector workers
staged a one-hour warning strike on Monday, demanding full compensation
from the government for recent price hikes in basic goods and rising
inflation. ``The aim of the strike is to draw the attention of the
government to our problems, not to hurt the economy,'' representatives of
the Independent Trade Union (ITU) said. Workers wanted compensation for
increased bread, gas and kerosene prices after those were liberalised by
the government of in July. They also want to be reimbursed for inflation
gains after the introduction of a new tariff system and value-added
tax. Strikers met with government officials Monday and received assurances
that the problems would be solved on a step-by-step basis. Officials said
workers' demands were justified but they needed to study them carefully in
order to meet them. Union leaders have express determination to resume
their strike in four days if no progress is achieved. Bread prices have
been a sensitive issue since Albania toppled its hardline communist regime
in 1990. Workers in the areas of education, energy, health care,
telecommunications, transport and in Albania's light industry participated
in Monday's protests, organised by the ITU jointly with the Confederation
of Albanian Trade Unions. Union officials said the participation was almost
100 percent. The strike was especially massive in Berat and Tropoja. The
strike coincided with the first day of school at the country's secondary
schools, affecting more than 700,000 pupils, officials said. There were no
reports of power outages or unusual disruptions in the public transport
network. The government supplements the income of all public sector
employees and pensioners with subsidies of 150-250 leks (about $17-28) per
month to compensate for increased bread prices, but trade unions say that
was not enough. Union leaders said they wanted 100 percent compensation.
Imported wheat and flour are still excluded from both customs tariffs and
value-added tax while bakeries continue to receive subsidies for
electricity, water and fuel, but the introduction VAT and a new customs law
has significantly increased most other prices in the small Balkan nation.
Albania's consumer prices rose 16.1 percent in August from the same month a
year ago and were up 1.9 percent from July. The government still controls
prices of electricity, petrol and water. (Albanian Times/Radio
Tirana/Reuters)
[02] Court Sentences Communist Party Founders
TIRANA, Sept 16 - An Albanian court on Monday sentenced four men to a
maximum of 2 and a half years in prison for forming a communist party and
conspiring to overthrow the government. Presiding Judge Gjergji Pojani said
Sami Meta, Timoshenko Pekmezi, Kristaq Mosko and Tare Isufi had continued
the illegal activity of the communist party in contravention of Albania's
constitution. ``The communist party has been outlawed but the defendants
have continued its activity in secret,'' Pojani said. "Their aim was to
take power with violence, overthrow the constitutional order and establish
the dictatorship of the proletariat,'' he added. Sami Meta, 62, received
21/2 years, Timoshenko Pekmezi, 54, two years and Tare Isufi, 73, and
Kristaq Mosko, 45 got one year each. The four, who admitted founding a
communist party, said they would appeal the verdict. (Albanian Times/Radio
Tirana/Reuters)
[03] Paper Alleges on Berisha-PAD Secret Deal
TIRANA, Sept 13 - An Albanian daily has alleged that the opposition
Democratic Alliance has embarked on secret deals with President Berisha, in
pursuit of a new power sharing structure. In its Friday issue, the Koha
Jone daily published a large photograph of an apparently confidential chat
between President Berisha and the co-founder of the Democratic Alliance
Prec Zogaj. The Democratic Alliance splintered from the ruling Democratic
Party in 1992 and found itself in fierce opposition with Berisha's
party. The Alliance had been resisting calls to drop the boycott of the
upcoming local elections and has demanded the postponement of the vote
scheduled for October 20. (Albanian Times)
[04] Officials Pledge Fair Play in October Polls
Albania's Election officials have pledged fair play in the upcoming local
elections. The head of central election commission, Nestor Therecka told
reporters foreign observers will be created all necessary conditions to
monitor the vote. Authorities are struggling to issue identification cards
to thousands of potential voters who do not possess them. They are also
reviewing the number of polling stations accross the country, which they
say may change due to population shifts since the controversial May 26
election. (Albanian Times)
[05] Nebex Resources LTD Trades on Stock Exchange
TORONTO, Sept 16 - The common shares and common share purchase warrants of
NEBEX Resources Ltd. began trading on The Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday,
September 16, 1996. NEBEX Resources Ltd. concentrates on gold and base
metal exploration. It operates in the Northwest Territories, New Brunswick
and Albania. The head office of the company is located at Suite 310,
441-5th Avenue S.W., Calgary, Alberta, T2P 2V1. The telephone number is
(403) 262-6064. The President and C.E.O. is Mr. Brian D. Douglas.
(Albanian Times)
[06] Berisha Rejects Vote Postponement Call
TIRANA, Sept 13 - Albanian President Sali Berisha said a call by opposition
parties to postpone nationwide local elections scheduled for October 20 was
unconstitutional. ``The date of the local elections will remain at where it
has been set. It will not be changed, because that would be
unconstitutional,'' Berisha told state television, adding he invited all
parties to start their electoral campaigns now. Berisha bowed to Western
pressure last week and gave the opposition parties a bigger role in the
polls, but seven of them on Thursday said his concessions had not gone far
enough. Berisha had decreed the post of vice chairman in all electoral
commissions must be occupied by a member of the opposition and agreed to
amend a controversial law that bars former communist officials from public
office until 2001. While pledging not to boycott the poll, the opposition
demanded the elections be postponed until it was guaranteed they would be
free and fair. ``The main conclusion of the meeting was a call to postpone
local elections until democratic standards are guaranteed,'' Gaqo Apostoli,
a Social Democrat leader, said. Opposition parties have also attacked a new
law according to which members of local electoral commissions who boycott
the polls while voting is still under way could be sentenced with up to
three years in jail. Berisha's ruling Democratic Party rejected the
opposition's calls and said its demands were a sign of the deep crisis the
main Socialist opposition party was facing. ``We think the period until
October 20 is sufficient for all necessary procedures to be completed,''
the Democrats said in a statement. The Democrats won 122 seats in
Albania's 140-member assembly. The main opposition Socialists refused to
take up the few seats they won.
[07] Albanians besiege Greek Consulate for visas
GJIROKASTRA, Sept 12 - Hundreds of Albanians again besieged the Greek
Consulate General in Gjirokastra to apply for entry visas to Greece. A
strong police presence averted any repeat of last week's incidents when a
crowd of Albanians waiting for visas besieged the building. Visa hopefuls
began queuing at the building at 5 AM. (Albanian Times/ANA)
[08] Defense Official Receives Greek Ambassador
TIRANA, Sept 14 - Albanian Defense Minister Safet Zhulali has again called
on Greece to support Albania's eventual membership to NATO and the European
Union. "As a member of the Euro-Atlantic bodies, (Greece) may support
Albania's membership in them," Zhulali said. Greece has promised to sponsor
Albania's membership in the Alliance during Zhulali's visit to Greece Last
May. Relations between the two countries have greatly improved recently
after high profiled visits by Greek leaders in Albania. (Albanian Times)
[09] Officials Hope Airport To Meet Standards By 1997
TIRANA, Sept 16 - Albanian officials said they hope the nation's biggest
airport would meet European standards by 1997. Ilir Kurti, Director of
Albtransport described as justified most of the complaints by foreign air
companies flying to Tirana. Albanian officials hope to start work for the
renew of the runway while the airport building is expected to be completed
by January next year. "If we don't take into account a few procedurial
delays, I can say that work is going very well," Kurti was quoted by ATA.
One of the contracting company, Siemens has started building operation in
July and the equipment have arrived at the airport. The outdated airport
at Rinas is dealing with a 6-10 times higher workload than just a few years
ago while legislation concerning the airport operations has not been
consolidated yet, Kurti said. The number of passengers at Rinas airport is
increasing at 50,000 a year, according to the Albtransport
official. (Albanian Times)
[10] EBRD Confirms Support for Albania
TIRANA, Sept 12 - European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
has expressed support for Albania, the state run news agency ATA reported.
Oliver Descamps, Head of EBRD South-Eastern Division said the bank has
eight programs ready for Albania, an estimated investment of $75 million.
"Albania in one of the main partners of the bank in the region," Descamps
was quoted as saying. He said promoting Albania's achievements is
indispensable to attract foreign investments. (Albanian Times/ATA)
This material was reprinted with permission of AlbAmerica Trade & Consulting
International. For more information on ATCI and the Albanian Times, please
write to AlbaTimes@aol.com
Copyright © ATCI, 1996
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