Businesspeople protest: Where are the promises? Investors’ Association in the protest city still waiting for assistance Association: If there is no investment, speedboats and poverty will continue VLORA - Investors from Vlora complain about the Nano Government. “So far, nothing but words, nothing concrete for Vlora.” It is the “New Vlora” union, established after months of unrest in the southern city, that is calling on today’s officials to make a greater commitment to helping rebuild the devastated city. “We have held many meetings with officials,” Dritan Çela, the Union’s director, tells Gazeta, “but nothing is being done to revive Vlora’s economy after its destruction by the pyramid schemes.” Investors are asking that their opinions also be taken into account in the investment projects for Vlora, which, they say, nobody knows anything about so far. One of their key demands is the opening of an Italian consulate in Vlora, which would greatly facilitate their business and provide all-round assistance to the city as well. They have raised the matter with and had appealed to Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini, who replied that there are currently no funds to open the consulate. Investors are calling for an Italian consulate to be opened in the city of Vlora “The Government should keep the promises it made to the people of Vlora. So far, nothing but words.” Vlora Municipality, destroyed during the unrest, being repaired On page 6

Linda Spahila. Newspapers risked their place in the market today. Some may have missed them, some may have felt at ease without them, but in general everyone thinks they are “a necessary evil.” This time their absence was not the result of some kind of extraordinary event. The newspapers, at least once, went on strike for themselves. The many taxes have turned newspapers into an unprofitable business, making survival difficult for many of them. Numerous titles have appeared and disappeared from the market as a result of excessively heavy fiscal burdens. Newspapers paid customs duties on imported paper, computers and essential equipment. On the other income generated by sales, publishers had to pay the state 30 percent. You can see with your own eyes [the rest of the text has been cut off] And if today no newspaper pays the profit tax, it is because none has ever been licensed for it. For advertisements published in their pages, newspapers paid the state 20 percent VAT. A telephone call from the editorial office is charged at business rates. For printing at printing houses, in addition to the cost of printing, 20 percent VAT is also paid. To meet these substantial expenses, newspapers have been forced to raise their prices and have been unable to afford investments to expand and strengthen themselves. The economic factor has turned many independent newspapers into “carts.” All of this forced newspapers to go on strike for themselves for once, so they could safeguard their day-to-day work: providing information. The press’s requests to remove the taxes had been made known to Parliament and the Government months ago, but until the print media strike they had received no response. The midnight agreement reached on Wednesday between representatives of the country’s main daily newspapers: Shemptim Nа-zarko, Dalip Greca and Ylli Rakipi, and Government representatives Bashkim Fino, Arben Malaj and Deputy Prime Minister Ben Blushi, meets some of the main demands. For the next three years, journalists will be exempt from the obligation to pay profit tax; it is not to be imposed on the press. One of a newspaper’s telephone lines will be charged at residential rather than business rates. The untaxed subsidy for the press will be increased from 4 to 10 percent. New investments, including computers and other equipment, will not be subject to customs duties. The editorial office hopes that the volume of a newspaper will no longer be monopolized, but distributed among all newspapers according to a formula determined by the publishers themselves. Advertising in the print press will be charged at the standard professional rate. After these demands were met, press representatives asked the Government to sign the decisions, which are to be implemented in 4 days. Today there will be no shortage at this printing house at the outset. There is not much hope that all of this will be achieved as it should. But if it were achieved (Therefore) [ ? ] radio and writes about it.

Beauties of the Year Hygerta Sako, Miss Albania ’95 Miss Albania: 30 contestants compete for one crown TIRANA - The 30 finalists for the Albanian beauty crown ’97 have been selected. The selection committee has decided to send 17 beauties from the capital and 13 from other cities, including Peja in Kosovo, through to the “night of beauty.” They will all join the Radio-Television team to begin preparations for the spectacular Miss Albania ’97. Today, the newspaper presents their names and details. On page 4

SHKODER Heavy rainfall PD boycotts the roundtable “The administration has stolen the money” Police surround Constitution:

Constitution: “See you in December, then” TIRANE — The Commission for drafting the Constitution has got underway. But one of the PD and its allies was absent. “We’ll send them another invitation,” Godo assured, according to whom PD will take part in the next meeting at the beginning of December. But there was also a firm response from the Democratic camp: “Don’t expect us at the table; you know our position.” The Democrats reiterated their options yesterday, according to which they agree with the content but have reservations about the procedure. A day earlier, Berisha himself had sent the signal that the roundtable would be boycotted. Meanwhile, Europe has reminded PD that it must participate actively in the process of drafting the Constitution and in dialogue with the government. On page 2

“The administration has stolen the money” MEMALIAJ — After blocking all the offices, they did not allow anyone from the administration to get inside. A torrent of accusations and grievances against the enterprise’s leaders has brought work to a halt, while the enterprise’s officials have tried to find an immediate solution. “The money has been stolen; we don’t know what has happened to a fund of 140 million lek allocated by the government last month; fictitious employees are being paid, and the enterprise needs to be managed transparently.” On page 5

BERAT — Police occupy the village of Rerez. Around 80 police officers arrived to disarm the villagers, who had been living in seclusion for some time because of blood feuds. The longstanding vendettas between the Çale and Yzeiri families, which have claimed many lives so far, finally prompted Berat police to mobilize and intervene in the village. A whole arsenal of weapons was found in the empty houses of the two clans, as the men had left long ago. On page 5

SHKODER “Madmen” against the madhouse Masked men attack the psychiatric hospital SHKODER — The insane attack the insane. It could hardly have been otherwise with the most frightening trend in crime in Albania in recent months: masked men. They appeared in the city of Shkodër for the first—and, so far, last—time at the psychiatric hospital, robbing and raping a patient. In the early hours after midnight on Monday, a group of armed, masked men appeared on the hospital premises and stole everything. According to the director, Liljana Agolli, they raped one of the patients admitted to the neurosis ward. It was a night of terror for the doctors on duty and for everyone admitted to the hospital. The masked men mistreated them, threatening them with the weapons they carried. No one was able to react or alert the police. According to members of the night-shift staff, the exact number of masked men is unknown, as they scattered in different directions through the patients’ rooms. They searched the entire hospital, taking valuables and money. This possible assault on the patients led the patients to suspend work for the entire following day, demanding security while carrying out their service. Meanwhile, the deputy police directorate says its response was substantial and that some members of the gang have been detained, which may help lead to the group’s discovery. The masked men had not appeared in Shkodër before; this is the first time they have come onto the scene after all the months of unrest. The psychiatric hospital is on the outskirts of the city, in the Skënderbeg neighborhood, where other hospitals are also located; perhaps this was one of the reasons for their attack. The doctors have submitted a petition requesting that hospital police also be stationed there to protect their lives while they are on duty. In fact, Shkodër doctors have several times been victims of violence by armed groups or gangs that have entered the hospital; one of them even lost his life. On page 5 Merita Ndoka

SHKODER On page 6

TIRANA On page 5

TEPELENE On page 5