Ah-ha, we are getting to the knub of the issue now
- is this what the fightings all about?... Bill.
----- Original Message -----
From: Mine Aysen Doyran <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>;
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Saturday, September 30, 2000 3:01 AM
Subject: [CrashList] SERBIA OPPOSES PRIVATIZATION, SAYS POLL
>From a bourgeois source, Mine:)
--
http://www.suc.org/news/flash/archive_e/nov98/11_17_98_1.html
SERBIA OPPOSES PRIVATIZATION, SAYS POLL
BELGRADE, Nov. 17, 1998 -- (Reuters) - A poll of some 300 companies
here indicated on Monday that there was no enthusiasm for Serbia to
start privatization. Privatization is unwanted by the state, company
managers and workers and the status quo suits both the state and the
private sector, the head of IZIT Institute for Market Research, Jovo
Todorovic, told the Serbian Chamber of Commerce. "The most frequent
impression is that the state itself is not interested in privatization
as any change in the ownership structure would inevitably modify the
structure of its electorate," Todorovic told the Chamber's board of
directors. "State-run companies are prisoners of the political
establishment and their managers work either for the state or a
political party," he added. Private firms were also opposed to
privatization because they had developed close business ties with the
state-run sector, while workers feared privatization would lead to mass
layoffs, he said. So far, no company has been privatized under Serbia's
new 12-month-old ownership transformation law. Under the law, firms must
first distribute up to 60 percent of their capital free of charge in the
form of shares to their workers and the rest can be sold to cash
investors. Todorovic's criticism came amidst fresh complaints by top
Serbian managers that the business climate was not right for
privatization. They cited unfavorable conditions and problems including
surplus labor and huge debts to banks in the last non-privatized economy
in Europe. The vice-president of the Chamber's board of directors,
Milivoje Miletic, said any delay in privatization would lead to further
capital meltdown in non-privatized firms. "To avoid that, it is vital to
create a strategy of economic development and attract foreign capital
through tax and other incentives... Only a clear ownership structure can
secure inflow of domestic and foreign capital needed for better
performance and development of local firms," he said. After hearing all
the complaints, Serbian privatization minister Jorgovanka Tabakovic said
the law was not perfect but represented no major obstacle to practical
privatization. "Instead of criticizing the government, you should read
the law and use your imagination to get the process started," she told
the managers. (end note)
Copyright © 1997 Flash News, Banja Luka, Republic of Srpska
--
Mine Aysen Doyran
PhD Student
Department of Political Science
SUNY at Albany
Nelson A. Rockefeller College
135 Western Ave.; Milne 102
Albany, NY 12222
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