The Macedonian Parliament at its session Tuesday elected the new Deputy Ministers.

Rizvan Sulejmani is elected for Deputy Minister of Defence, Fatmir Dehari is Deputy Minister of Interior Affairs, Meri Mladenovska - Gjorgjievska is Deputy Minister of Justice, Dimko Kokarovski is Deputy Minister of Finance, Xheladin Satku is Deputy Minister of Economy, Besir Jashari is Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Supply, Nikola Panovski is Deputy Minister of Health, Tale Geramitcioski is Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Maksud Ali is Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Tanja Altandzieva is Deputy Minister of Local Self-Government, Melpomeni Korneti is Deputy Minister of Culture, Dejan Kosutic is Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications and Dragoljub Matovski is Deputy Minister of Environment and Urban Planning.

Parliament Speaker Nikola Popovski informed that in accordance with the Articles 6 and 101 from the Law on Election of the Members of Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia, the mandate of Xheladin Satku and Tale Geramitcioski for members of the parliament was terminated due to their election for the deputy ministers.

MPs approved the draft decision for establishment of permanent parliamentary working bodies and delegations, parliamentary groups and other forms of international co-operation of the Parliament, delegation for co-operation with the European Parliament and of the Committee of Inter-Community Relations.

MPs elected Aleksandar Novakoski for the Secretary General of the Macedonian Parliament.

With 68 votes "for" the Macedonian Parliament has appointed Gordana Stosic for General Director of the public enterprise Macedonian Radio Television.

The Parliament also discussed the proposal for dismissing Public Prosecutor Stavre Dzikov.

In his expose, Dzikov said that he has found out about his dismissal on Monday, emphasizing that he should have been notified earlier about the governmental and parliamentary procedure.

He suggested establishing a State - Legal Council, which would appoint the judges and the prosecutors and would be independent from the legislative and executive authority, adding that he has suggested this concept earlier, but the proposal was not reviewed neither by the Government nor the Parliament.

The Parliament concluded that the main precondition for dismissing the Macedonian Public Prosecutor was met, and the conclusion would be submitted to the Government.

The judge in the Supreme Court Fidanco Stoev and the judge in the Elementary Court - Radovis Lazar Georgickov were also dismissed as they met the retirement criteria.

The deputies supported the draft-decision for announcing the election of judges in the Appellate Courts in Bitola, Skopje and Stip and judges in the Elementary Courts in Kriva Palanka, Radovis, Gostivar, Prilep, Skopje - 1, Skopje - 2 and Tetovo.

The third session of the Macedonian Parliament has ended Tuesday afternoon with the appointment of members of the State Anticorruption Commission and of the Health Insurance Fund Steering Board.

With 67 votes "for" and three "against," the Parliament has elected the members of the Anticorruption Commission: Slgjana Taseva, from the non-governmental organization "Transparency;" Vanja Mihajlova, lawyer and former assistant minister of finance; Dragan Malinovski, lawyer; Jovan Trpenovski, lawyer; Mihajlo Manevski, deputy public prosecutor as well as Sami Asani and Nervet Hismani.

The Parliament previously verified the mandates of the MPs that come as replacement of the newly appointed ministers and the two deputies that have resigned.

New MPs are: Zamir Dika, Abduladi Vejseli, Vesna Borozan, Blagorodna Mingova-Krepieva, Nelko Stojanovski, Kiro Dojcinovski, Saso Dohcev, Emilija Kostadinova, Blagoja Gesoski, Nedim Memisoski and Gajur Sarac.

Minister without portfolio Musa Xhaferi took an oath at the beginning of the session.

 

In 1885 Bulgarian troops entered the town of Tsaribrod in the Serbo-Bulgarian war.

In 1897 King Ferdinand issued a decree to establish a Naval unit in Varna. Thus the now naval base was set up. The Navy divided into the Danube Fleet, headquartered in Rousse, and Naval unit, headquartered in Varna.

 

 

 

Two survivors of the four-member crew of the Bulgarian yacht "Joseph and Anna" that was wrecked in the Annaba Bay in the Mediterranean Sea 600 miles off the coast of Algeria, are expected in Sofia November 12. November 10 Roussi Rachev and Alexander Velikov took an Algerian Airlines flight to Paris, where the Bulgarian Embassy took care of them. Medical examinations found them in good condition. They are flying to Sofia November 12, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ljubomir Todorov said. Two other sailors, Dimitar Dimitrov and Ognyan Balevski are still missing. The yacht was wrecked November 8. Rachev (25) and Velikov (29) reached the shore swimming, but Dimitrov (52) and Balevski (43) went missing and are still unaccounted for. The Bulgarian Embassy in Algeria is permanently in touch with the authorities in Annaba and are kept updated about the ongoing search and rescue operation. The Algerian authorities fear that gale-force winds had blown the boat kilometers away from the location of the wreck and the chances of finding the two missing sailors alive and in good health are minimal.

 

 

Standartnews
Belcho Tsanev

The national flag carrier is in want of money.

Balkan has money to fly for no more than 2 or 3 days, former receiver Hristo Mollov said yesterday. If the government doesn't provide money immediately, Balkan will land for good, he said further. Only a week ago the former receivers promoted a plan on a financial security of the flights in November and December, Deputy-Transport Minister Zlatolina Moukova retorted. The brazenness of ex-receivers Olga Milenkova and Hristo Mollov went beyond limits.

 

 

Romanian Defence Minister Ioan Pascu Arrives on a Visit.

 

Sofia, November 12 (BTA) - Romanian Defence Minister Ioan Mircea Pascu arrived on a two-day official visit at the invitation of his Bulgarian counterpart Nikolai Svinarov.

The guest was welcomed with military honours at the Monument to the Unknown Warrior, where he laid a wreath.

Later on a memorandum of understanding is expected to be signed between the two defence ministries. It will apply to the defence of strategic sites and sites of special importance near the common border against aerial terrorist attacks.

Pascu will meet with President Georgi Purvanov, who is also Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and Foreign Minister Solomon Passy. Pascu will give a talk at the invitation of the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria.

On Wednesday Pascu will attend a quadrilateral meeting with his counterparts from Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey in Plovdiv.

 

 

Terem Military Repair Works Has New CEO.

Sofia, November 12 (BTA) - Peter Kazandjiev is the new executive director of Terem EAD, the press attache of the Defence Ministry told BTA.

On Monday, Defence Minister Nikolai Svinarov replaced the Managing Board and the executive director of the military repair works over breaches of foreign trade rules.

Until now Kazandjiev, 55, was deputy head of the Logistics and Trade Department of the Defence Ministry. The Managing Board will include representatives of the Security Service with the Defence Ministry.

Terem has a contract for the export of spare parts with a foreign company, which is not an Arab one, and which has always been a loyal partner of the company, Strougarova, the press attache, said. However, the spare parts are of possible dual use. There are no data showing that the end receiver is Iraq but a check is being made to find out who will actually get the spare parts.

The Bulgarian Government has been applying strict measures to prevent the deliveries of dual-use goods and to punish the culprits, the Council of Ministers declared on Monday evening. Specific steps will be taken to avoid such cases, the Government information directorate said.

 

 

Jean Lemierre: EBRD Ready to Invest 200-260 Mln Euros Annually in Bulgarian Private Sector.

Sofia, November 12 (BTA) - The EBRD is ready to invest between 200 and 260 million euros a year in Bulgaria's private sector, which is very important for its accession to the EU, EBRD President Jean Lemierre said in an interview with BTA. He is on his first visit to Bulgaria.

The bank is ready to invest 200 million euros from this year, Lemierre said.

The economic situation in Bulgaria is good, the macroeconomic parameters are improving, there is external and domestic stability, which is a good sign, the EBRD president said.

The EBRD is receiving clear messages from Bulgaria: this is a country which is good to invest in, and it has said so to many investors. They should come and relocate their business to Bulgaria, Lemierre said.

The bank need not change its investment plans for Bulgaria just because of the changes in the government, according to Lemierre. He said political debates and changes in the government were normal for all countries. The general trends are what matters, and they are quite clear: a stable macroeconomic policy and a wish to join the EU as soon as possible, which is the country's motive force.

What Bulgaria should do is improve the judiciary and the legal framework, which is very important for foreign investors, Lemierre said. The greatest challenge to Bulgaria is to be able to attract foreign investment. If this is done, jobs will be created, there will be production and budget revenues, and this will help Bulgaria's accession to the EU.

The bank considers 2007 a realistic accession date for Bulgaria, but the EBRD is not the decision-making institution. Lemierre expressed hope that the matter would be clarified after the Copenhagen European Council.

Asked how the EBRD views the debate on financial decentralization and the budget, Lemierre said he saw no reason why this should cause a problem. Every country holds discussions on the budget bills. The IMF's evaluation is positive for the country, he said. As to decentralization, it is extremely important, he added.

The municipalities' problems are very important. Clearly, improvements at the municipal level will be needed in the next few years in order to raise living standards. Financial decentralization forms a basis for this, the EBRD president said. Therefore this debate is extremely important. The Bulgarian institutions should find the right approach.

Bulgaria can build a better future and eliminate poverty, according to Lemierre. His message to the government is: improve life. The EBRD would be proud to be part of this.

It is a challenge to the EBRD to support investment in Bulgaria. The bank has concentrated on investing in small and medium-sized enterprises, which work hard, make investments and try to improve product quality, Lemierre said.

Some infrastructure projects nd privatization in Bulgaria should be completed, according to Lemierre.

The EBRD president reaffirmed the bank's interest in projects including Maritza East 3, the telecom sector in general and the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company in particular. They will be discussed at his meetings with the president and the prime minister on Tuesday. His message to them is that the bank is ready to provide assistance for the transparent management of these sectors.

Asked to comment on the situation around Bulgartabac's privatization, Lemierre said he was not sure he should do so. This is a specific problem, in which the EBRD is not involved. The bank is accustomed to such problems: it works in many countries and Lemierre is not used to making a mountain out of a molehill.

 

 

Standartnews
Krasimira Slavcheva

 

A sixteen-meter high monument of Our Lady is to be erected near Haskovo next year. The monument made of stone and glass is to be seen from all the entry roads to the town. An almost ruined monument from the totalitarian age is to serve as a base for the imposing statue. The separate parts of the figure will be made in one of the workshops of the local 'Himmach' plant. Some 250,000 levs are needed for the realization of the project.

 

 

It is not clear if Petrov was detained or summoned for inquiry. The press office of the Cabinet broke the news yesterday late at night, confirming the dismissal of all the Terem managers by Defense Minister Svinarov. "The Cabinet is explicit that no criminal activities will be tolerated," Foreign Minister Solomon Passy elaborated on the scandal. "We have to work hard every single day until the Prague summit in order to work out our NATO membership," Passy said further. Recently Bulgaria's No. 1 Diplomat warned that Bulgaria may not be extended an invitation to join NATO if getting involved in a weapon scandal.

 

 

Trafficking in small arms hurts the economy by fueling conflicts, thereby scaring away investors, Foreign Minister Solomon Passy said at a meeting aiming to curb smuggling of light weapons. Passy urged participants in a seminar organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to help stem the flow of illegal arms because of their "obvious links to international terrorism." The two-day meeting focuses on small arms trafficking and its economic impact. The trade of illicit pistols, assault rifles, machine-guns and other light weapons that are easy to carry and hide is estimated to be worth dlrs 1 billion annually, said Peter Batchelor of the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. "Small arms make big holes - in bodies, in families, but in the economy as well," said Daan Everts, representative of incoming Dutch chairmanship of OSCE. "Trafficking in small arms poses a major threat to stability and development anywhere and anytime." Participants in the meeting plan to draft recommendations aiming to reduce the small arms and light weapons trade before adjourning the session Tuesday. It will be followed by a seminar on trafficking in human beings to be held in Greece and another meeting on drug smuggling to be held in Uzbekistan. The combined results of the three meetings are to be presented at the OSCE's Economic Forum, to be held in May in Prague.

 

Chechen separatist Akhmed Zakaev will be under arrest two more weeks.

The Copenhagen court decided that Akhmed Zakayev, who calls himself Chechen leader's Aslan Maskhadov's emissary would be under arrest two more weeks.

Tuesday was the last day of Zakayev's arrest according to the first decision of the Copenhagen court taken on October 30th. He is now in a prison of the Copenhagen police department.

The grounds for Zakayev's arrest was a procedure of his extradition to Russia and materials proving his involvement in terrorist activities submitted by the Russian side.

On October 31st, Moscow sent an official request on Zakayev's extradition to Copenhagen. The Danish Justice Ministry studied the materials handed over by the Russian side late in October and asked to give additional information proving the charges brought against Zakayev.

On November 5th, the Russian General Prosecutor's Office provided Danish Justice Minister Lene Espersen visiting Moscow with additional materials proving Zakayev's involvement in terrorist activities.

In particular, Zakayev is charged with setting-up illegal armed formation that contained 200 to 1,500 rebels and carried out terrorist attacks and committed crimes.