The targets of the international market are being pursued The government’s new decision will come into force the day after tomorrow Here is how fuel prices will change: DIESEL From 25 lek per liter to 38 lek per liter DOMESTIC GASOLINE From 34 lek per liter to 46 lek per liter IMPORTED GASOLINE From 62 lek per liter to 82 lek per liter NATURAL AND ASSOCIATED GAS From 3,000 lek per 1,000 cubic meters to 6,300 lek per cubic meter CRUDE OIL From 4,500 lek per ton to 6,800 lek per ton TIRANË — The day after tomorrow, fuel in Albania will be sold at higher prices. It is a decision by the Council of Ministers that has brought about this change, on the basis of a proposal submitted by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Mineral and Energy Resources. There are many reasons that have forced the government to take such a step. “There is a program,” Niko Rexo, director of the Finance Directorate at the Ministry of Mineral and Energy Resources, told Gazeta Shqiptare, “according to which the prices of oil and its by-products will be gradually aligned with those of the countries in the region.” Thus, he said, the price of crude oil is intended to reach 80 dollars per ton in the future. “One of the main reasons is the urgent need for the oil sector to become profitable. That is essential in current conditions, when the state no longer subsidizes this sector. It is not the functioning of the market economy that is forcing the rise in the price of natural gas. Until now it has been kept low in order to stimulate fertilizer production. But with the liberalization of raw-material prices, gas production began to run at a loss, making this government measure necessary. Meanwhile, the rise in the price of diesel will also serve as an incentive for imports, which will remain a positive factor as long as domestic production does not meet the country’s needs. In any case, measures to protect domestic production have not been forgotten. For imported gasoline, businesses are required to pay into the state budget — in addition to excise duty and customs tax — also a price differential. An.St

Stopped in Vlorë after a mysterious roundabout trip Was it meant to feed smuggling? TIRANË — Another ship loaded with fuel has been added to the long list of blockades and seizures carried out by Albanian customs. This time the “victim” is the Greek ship “Valios”. Loaded with 1,500 tons of fuel, officials at the General Directorate of the Financial Police told Gazeta Shqiptare, it had been circulating for days in the waters near the Port of Vlorë, apparently in a failed attempt to contact the recipients of the cargo. All this aroused the suspicions of Albanian customs officers, who then took action. For some time now Albanian ports have become coveted by foreign ships loaded with fuel, which were supposed to supply smuggling routes to Montenegro and Serbia. A few days earlier, another Italian ship, “fanta[?]em”, had been intercepted in a mediation mission. Loaded with 90,000 tons of oil, it sought to anchor in the Port of Durrës in order to unload 10,000 tons of this cargo. When the Durrës naval authorities accused it of heading for the Port of Vlorë, it sailed away and was never seen again in Albanian waters. Suspicions had always existed about whether this ship, “Valios”, might be supplying smuggling routes to Montenegro. In recent days several other ships suspected of smuggling have also been blocked. The fine? — it seems destined to feed illegal trafficking. Now, after many months of the United Nations embargo against Serbia, the seizures and blockades carried out by Albanian customs and the Financial Police against fuel smuggling are taking their toll. After the passage of a large ship into the Kosovar and maritime route, fuels have been transported in a highly mysterious way in tanker trucks toward its north, where the border with Montenegro and Serbia lies. Using classical forms of translation, this kind of smuggling was among the tasks of the pursuit. There is still movement in the background of this traffic, with Vlorë as the point of observation. Andrea Stefani

“My successor will also have a lot to do” The Minister of Health changes TIRANË — The news has been circulating in Aleksandër Meksi’s government. This time the change concerns the Minister of Health: I am leaving the ministerial post — Tritan Shehu explains to Gazeta Shqiptare — because I must move to the new, delicate role of Secretary General of the Party. Is there an incompatibility between the two roles? “The Secretary General of the Party is a functionary, so there is no incompatibility. Then it is a matter of commitment: the new role requires a lot of time and I could no longer perform both duties equally well. When, one month ago, during the National Assembly of the Democratic Party, I accepted the candidacy for Secretary General, I was already foreseeing the possibility of reaching this appointment.” What lies ahead for you is certainly a major political commitment. What kind of work? “In two years of work at the Ministry of Health I believe many important things have been done, even if much still remains to be done. I am leaving it in good order. It is up to my deputy to continue the ministry’s work, and later he will succeed me.” Are you happy that the Minister of Health is leaving? “No minister is eternal. A minister is a politician, and political roles can change.” Minister of Health Tritan Shehu At the time of writing, the name of the minister who will replace Tritan Shehu in Health has not yet been made official. The one most often mentioned is Maksim Cikuli, 42 years old, currently Director of the University Hospital Center in Tiranë. Shehu neither confirms nor denies: “It is up to Prime Minister Meksi to choose the new collaborator, to whom the post will then be formally entrusted by decree of the President of the Republic.” Tan Shehu is the eighth minister to change in Meksi’s government in two years in office. c. bo. Other cases TIRANË — The number of ministers who have left — within the span of two years — from the Meksi Government has reached eight. And all of them, except the newly departed Minister Shehu, were replaced during 1993. Most were replaced, while only three resigned. First to open the list were Rexhep Uka and Bashkim Kopliku, who gave up their posts to Petrit Kalkula in the Ministry of Agriculture and Agron Musaraj in the Ministry of Public Order. Then came Osman Shehu, Minister of Tourism, who was replaced by Edmond Spaho. After that, the line of replacements continued in the Ministry of Education. Xhezair Veliu took over Ylli Vejsi’s post. And after this change came the first resignation. It is precisely Petrit Kalkula, minister in two positions in the Meksi government — for only a few months — who left of his own accord. Particularly separate is the case of the Minister of Trade and Economic Relations with Foreign Countries, Artan Hoxha. It was the restructuring of several ministries — in November 1993 — that left him without a post. In the same month came the second resignation. This time it was Genc Ruli — the seventh minister — who left the Finance portfolio.

MEDALS “FOR ACTS OF BRAVERY” FOR 11 FORMER STUDENTS. — There are 11 former students, participants in the democratic movement of December 1990, who are being awarded the medal “For acts of bravery.” These medals were granted to them by the President of the Republic. The decoration ceremony was held in the premises of the Student Cultural Palace, precisely where the hunger strike also took place in February 1991. The ceremony was presented in the form of a show. A MURDERER ARRESTED IN FIER — An 18-year-old accused of murder is arrested in Fier. On 7 January, as a result of an argument, the young man had fired an automatic weapon and killed A. S., a 25-year-old from the village of Boçovë. The weapon used by the killer had been stolen from a military unit near the area. Only two days later, Public Order officers managed to detain the person in question. AID FROM THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE TROPOJË DISTRICT — The English government has decided to send some aid to the district of Tropojë. It consists of plastic coverings for the dried trees and the schools of this district. This aid became possible after 70 days of a response with work from Brussels in the village of Madhe in the Tropojë area. IN DURRËS, JUST THIS YEAR, 12,000 PASSPORTS HAVE BEEN BURNED — Twelve thousand passports issued this year alone in the district of Durrës have been destroyed. Most of them — according to specialists’ data — were requested for everyday countries and less for Greece and the East.

— The serious road accident in Hotolisht, tragic for the Librazhd-Prrenjas route. This time the victims were two Bulgarian citizens, one of whom died. While Leon Bangu — president of the “Shtra?e” hydroelectric plant — suffered a broken back and was taken to Librazhd Hospital, the Volkswagen driven by the Bulgarian driver, after losing control, plunged into the Shkumbin River and slid 40 meters downward. According to specialists from the road sector, the accident may have been caused by excessive speed and movement. After the first measures, the victim Stefanov was transported to the morgue in Tiranë. e.l.

Police have detained two people This is the second case uncovered in 1994 POGRADEC — Young children are becoming targets of kidnappings by different individuals. In the first days of January alone, police authorities have twice managed to detain people who tried to kidnap very young minors. This time in Pogradec, Bashir Halo and Viktor Laska were detained, persons suspected of trying to abduct a 10-year-old child from the village of Mbrostar-Ura. Although the investigations have not yet yielded results — according to the police report — it is suspected that the child Altin Tabaku was kidnapped in order to be taken later to Greece. In any case, Public Order officers — after detaining the two people — immediately forwarded the materials to the District Prosecutor’s Office. Both Hilo, 38, and Laska, 24, were residents of nearby local villages. Will the suspicions be removed concerning his mother? The second round? “In the case of the kidnapping in Korçë.” Police have put several others wanted for the next stage of the “investigation”. The child Elena Karaj, from the village of N. Niko in Këlcyrë, was taken by the kidnappers near “21 dhjetori”, not far from the center of the capital. Thus — and since the police have managed to detain the kidnappers — the problem of child abductions returns to the scene once again. The tragedy of the Hoxha family in Tiranë — which they have already lived through a year and a half earlier after the kidnapping of little Julije — served public opinion as one of the most striking cases, giving the first sign of this phenomenon. The suspicions of the judiciary — which had also been considered for thought — now officially bring the problem of children to the forefront. The kidnappers now once again return to their macabre desire to profit from the lives of the little ones. Only twice — at least so far — have their attempts been neutralized by the police. pr.

Mysterious phone call to the newsroom of our newspaper “Bomb in bank” But false alarm TIRANË — A false alarm was triggered on Wednesday afternoon in the center of the capital, after an anonymous phone call to the Gazeta Shqiptare newsroom, in which a woman reported the explosion of a bomb in front of the headquarters of the Italo-Albanian Bank. “We are ready, we have one hour from Fatos Nano — the voice said on the phone — this is the last time we are warning you before the attack.” The exact time was 15:06. An alarm was immediately raised with the police, which sent numerous forces to the scene. The bank staff was evacuated and the area was sealed off. Police checks showed that it was a false alarm and after about an hour everything calmed down. Investigations have now been opened in order to identify the anonymous caller, especially to verify the truth. “We are not dealing with a staged joke —”. The headquarters of the Italo-Albanian Bank surrounded by police (photo A. Babani) The headquarters of the Italo-Albanian Bank surrounded by police (photo A. Babani)

The imam himself files the report with Public Order authorities. The stolen items had been donated by the Islamic Association of Kuwait All sound equipment stolen from the mosque ELBASAN — The thieves have gone in and managed to “lower” the sound of Muslim chants and rites in Elbasan mosque. The holy place of the “Megjel stairs” has been without its sound system since Monday morning. The first to discover the missing equipment was the imam of this mosque himself, Kastriot Diu ka, who also filed the complaint with Public Order authorities. “Some unidentified individuals have stolen the mosque.” The investigation specialists who immediately verified the imam’s report established that the mosque had indeed been broken into, in order to steal all the sound-system equipment used for prayers and religious chants, as well as a tape recorder. Believers in the area still have not been able to understand the real reasons that led the thieves to break the mosque’s door and take everything that had been donated to it by the Islamic Association of Kuwait. Although the relevant authorities have begun criminal investigations, for a few more hours the Muslim rites in the mosque of the “Megjel stairs” will still be heard only faintly. The interior of the Elbasan mosque E.A.La.

Interviewed 100 high school students Boring holidays They want discos and sports centers ON PAGE 3 European Super Cup Milan defeats Parma Papin scored, return leg on 2 February ON PAGE 2