On the occasion of August 18 - the Day of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia, yesterday in the Hall of the Army in Skopje, Defence Minister Blagoy Handziski organized a reception for the highest state leaders, the diplomatic corps and military attaches, accredited in Macedonia.
In congratulating the great holiday to the soldiers, officers, civilians serving in the Army and the employees in the Defence Ministry, minister Handziski stressed that all the structures of the Defence Ministry and the Macedonian Army are functioning fully, that the Macedonian army is led by officers with exceptional knowledge and expertise, that a civilian model of defence is being built, compatible with the defence models of the countries with long-lasting parliamentary tradition and in particular the member-states of the collective defence systems.
"We have created possibilities for wide international cooperation on the field of defence with a number of countries in the region, member-states of the European Union, the U.S.A. and the Russian Federation. We are giving special attention to the cooperation with the neighboring countries with which we have built trust and the preservation of the peace and stability in the region," minister Handziski said.
According to Handziski, the implementation of the unjust embargo on the import and export of military means decimate the capacities of the Macedonian factories for specialized production and usurps the right to equip the Army with modern military means. Handziski expressed the hope that with the understanding of the whole international community and especially the members of the Security Council, Macedonia will be restored this right from the UN Charter.
The President of Macedonia Kiro Gligorov also congratulated this holiday to the Army, who, in retrospective of the past couple of years of its formation, emphasized that the Macedonian Army presents a factor of peace and stability of our country, it has managed to establish a very fruitful cooperation with influential western countries and slowly, but surely, it fulfills the conditions for acceptance in the collective security systems.
"I believe in this army, as all the citizens believe in it. I believe that a basis for all the citizens of Macedonia has been created, for all the nationalities to have the right and obligation to keep and defend this fatherland to us all. Therefore, that feeling that the army belongs to all those living in Macedonia is one of the important conditions for the stability of our country, for our outside stability and our defence," Gligorov stressed at the end.
The Commander of the Military Air Force and Anti- aircraft Defence of the Macedonian Army Mile Manolev said in the latest issue of the weekly "Focus," that the "theses which appeared in some information means that Macedonia is a small area and that there are no conditions for aircraft to fly in it, are arbitrary assertions which are unsustainable."
"Every state, if it wants to respect what has been outlined in the decrees of the United Nations, must be capable of defending itself. This means that in order to keep the sovereignty of the air space, there have to be means which, after the failure of international procedures, will embark on the elimination of the 'perpetrator'," Manolev says.
Dragisha Miletich, president of the Democratic Party of the Serbs in Macedonia, has waged a bitter attack against the Macedonia authorities for not condemning the Croatian aggression against Kraina, stating that "the Macedonian authorities are absolutely inside the network of the U.S.A.." In replying to the question to comment the presence of the U.S. army in Macedonia, he said that "the U.S. army, wherever it shows up, is hostile. They support all the destructive and fascist powers in Europe. What Hitler wanted to do, but failed, is what the U.S.A. is doing with the help of the Army."
In the interview for the latest issue of "Focus," Miletich reiterated his statement from two years ago and said that no one can guarantee the safety of the U.S. soldiers in Macedonia, stressing that this is not a threat but a warning as to what could happen.
60 tones of humanitarian aid for the refugees from Kraina, donated by the Red Cross of Macedonia, left Skopje yesterday, en route to Vranje. The help consists of food, clothing, blankets, hygienic means and other products intended for the couple of thousand refugees who are sheltered on the territory of Vranje.
Otherwise, this is the first humanitarian convoy. The next one is expected in ten days.
Finance Minister Jane Miljovski, mainly because of the empty budget treasury, has offered some solutions as to ways of collecting taxes faster, more specifically, the sales and import tax.
According to the minister, it's not a case of increasing the tax rates, but changing the procedure of collecting them. According to the offered solutions, it is proposed, upon the import, to calculate together with the duty, the sales tax on the products which are intended for further sale and which would be carried out by the customs officers.
With the domestic products, the solutions from the retail trade are turning toward the producers. Namely, from now on, the producer will have to pay sales tax upon the sale of his products. The basic reason for this lies in the fact that a smaller number of companies will be controlled with this. The taxes will be calculated both with the producer and wholesaler, and the price difference will be taxed, which will bring the tax system closer to value added taxation (VAT).
The import tax on the coffee, cigarettes, petrol and alcoholic beverages will also be charged in the customs houses.
As to the cigarettes, there are changes here regarding the sale. Upon the payment of the import tax, control stamps will have to be affixed on them, which will be bought in the Ministry. The stamps will also have to be affixed on the cigarettes intended for export.
In the period January - June, 1995, the following data has been recorded with the prices and living costs: the prices of the producers of industrial products in the period January-June, 1995, compared to the same period last year note a 7.7% increase, the retail prices - 19.7%, the living costs - 20.3% and the prices of the catering services - 24%.
In the period January-June, 1995, compared to December, 1994, the prices of the producers of industrial products notes a 1.6% increase, the retail prices - 2.7%, the living costs - 2.4% and the prices of catering services - 5.6%.
In June, 1995, compared to December, 1994, the prices of the producers of industrial products went up 1.6%, the retail prices - 2.9%, the living costs - 2.2% and the prices of the catering services - 9.3%.
The number of employees in the companies and other legal entities of all branches of ownership in the Republic of Macedonia, in the period January-May, 1995 totals 381,847, and in comparison to the same period last year, it has dropped 5.9%. In the field of economic activities, that adds up to 296,493 people, which presents a 7.8% reduction, while in the non-economic activities it totals 85,354 people, and notes a 1.5% increase.
The average number of people looking for jobs, in the period January-May, 1995 is 205,919, whereby in the same period last year, a 14% jump is recorded. The average number of persons previously employed is 45,785, and the increase with them is 20.4%, while the number of persons who are looking for a job for the first time is 160,134, and it has increased 12.3%.