Among the measures approved by the 10th Plenum of the Central Committee of the Party and the People's Assembly for the further improvement of the economic mechanism, prices occupy an important place. They aim to further refine the criteria for setting prices throughout the system and to transfer powers gradually from the higher bodies to those at the grassroots. This will put prices more effectively at the service of managing enterprises with independent accounts. For example, the new approach to setting procurement prices on the basis of costs and revenues on land with low fertility, and their division into four zones (or, more precisely, four categories), takes better account of the interests of producers and the economy, the natural factors of soil fertility, costs and revenues per unit of production, climate and microclimate, the distance of cooperatives from roads and processing centers, and political and social factors. The aim is thus to provide economic support for the development of production in the northeastern areas and in other cooperatives operating under difficult conditions. Procurement prices will better harmonize profitability, with the aim of covering costs and ensuring cooperatives net income for expanded reproduction. To achieve these objectives, procurement prices will be increased and differentiated for grain in the mountainous and northeastern areas; for cattle, small livestock and pork in all areas; and for beans, milk, grapes for processing, and certain other products. Here is how prices for the sale of industrial products, consumer goods and services will be set. For important products whose prices are centrally set by the state, including means of production, machinery and equipment, investments, etc., the objective is for wholesale prices to come closer to value, while taking concrete conditions into account, etc. In foreign-trade relations, prices will be more dynamic and will be reviewed every year, rather than once every five years as has been done until now. As a result, producers will also feel changes in market conditions, both for exports and imports. Setting price limits for certain export products, such as medicinal, essential-oil and tannin-bearing plants, and others, in accordance with market conditions and profitability, and having these prices revised not by central bodies but by foreign-trade enterprises and agricultural economies, will further strengthen their initiative and activity. The law and the Council of Ministers’ decision on prices envisage important improvements in the powers of state and economic bodies to set them as well. Thus, for example, food enterprises and trading enterprises will set the prices of vegetables and fruit in contracts with agricultural economies, within the maximum limit approved by the Government. In setting these prices, account will be taken of type, quality, earliness and lateness, while trading enterprises will set retail prices themselves. In agreement with agricultural economies, they will further strengthen their initiative and activity. Requests will be made reciprocally. This practice will also be followed for garments, footwear, products of NPA enterprises, plastics, etc., whose prices will be set by the producing and purchasing enterprises in agreement with one another. For goods that enterprises sell in their own shops, they will decide the price level and reductions themselves, within the designation assigned to them. Producing and trading enterprises will be entitled to set the prices themselves for goods damaged during production (substandard), in warehouses or in the retail network, regardless of their designation. As has been emphasized, the retail prices of the main products and goods, and tariffs that are basic to the people’s standard of living—such as bread, flour, pasta, rice, sugar, meat, sausages, fats, milk, housing rents, etc.—which also make up the largest and most significant share of people’s expenditure, will not change. Price-setting according to value and their adjustment in response to supply and demand will mainly cover those goods mentioned above that are dynamic in terms of type, quality, earliness, lateness, etc., with the aim of increasing the producer’s and buyer’s interest and responsibility, and combating standardization and the slow turnover of goods. For this purpose, enterprises will be given approved maximum rates for expenses and revenues, profitability, net income (for groups of products or individual products), and trade regulation. They will calculate for themselves the costs of living and materialized labor, and [the costs] of living and materialized labor for living labor…[?] for selective breeding. With grain in mountainous and northeastern areas, beef, small livestock and pork in all areas, beans, milk, grapes for industrial processing, and certain other products. Exceeding the state delivery plan will be better incentivized, with a premium of 20 to 50 percent above the base procurement price, depending on the degree of interest and benefit these products hold for the economy. Two important elements are being improved in wholesale prices. The minimum profitability rate is being replaced by optimal profitability, which corresponds to the needs— [Text continues:] set the prices of vegetables and fruit in the contracts they will conclude with agricultural economies. Their prices will take into account the type, quality, earliness and “out-of-season” status, while trading enterprises will set the retail selling price themselves. In agreement with agricultural economies, they will determine the delivery location, schedules, quality conditions, advance payments, means of transport and coverage of expenses. Artistic enterprises will set retail selling prices in agreement with trading enterprises, which will now be more directly responsible for quality and usefulness, and will ensure that these goods are sold rather than left in stock. In this way, there will be an increase— To this end, enterprises will be given approved maximum rates for indirect costs, and the trade discount. They will calculate the costs of both living and materialized labor themselves and will thereby be placed in economic competition to produce at the lowest possible cost, with greater variety and higher quality. This is precisely where the economic essence of the new economic mechanism lies. MYNYR MASKA director at the State Planning Commission

The “Persefoni Todhri” poultry-farming enterprise in Elbasan is distinguished by its steady fulfillment of the egg-production plan. (Photo: L. Lika ATSH)

Where there is cleanliness, there is health - KORÇË - A traditional Korçë home is hard to imagine without its many kinds of roses, carnations, lilies and tulips. “As a doctor, but also as a citizen,” Petrika Dragoti tells us at the health-education center, “this makes a great impression on me. I would mention three homes, as a reminder of the dozens: that of veteran actor Dhimitër Trajçe, retired teacher Stavri Botka, mechanical engineer Rafail Kosta, and others. Even master gardeners can learn something in the yards of their homes. But I am not talking about flowers. I mean something broader. A cultured environment is a reflection of a cultured person. Where there is culture, both inside and outside the home, there is also health. In this case, health education is given its fullest concrete expression. The tradition in Korçë is not a relic preserved on two or three streets. Today it is spoken of on a broad scale. It is no coincidence that this is also an initiative of our women comrades. But there is a contradiction: Korçë is all of it, old and new. It is all of it—its streets, squares, two-storey houses and apartment buildings. Yet this is where it stops. Not in every apartment-block neighborhood do you enjoy the streets of Korçë. In the neighborhoods on the outskirts of Korçë, such as the Sporti, Radanec and Unaza areas, the eye finds no pleasure. Here and there, you still find bare earth. Who is to blame? The first responsibility lies with the municipal enterprises. Although there is now an enterprise specializing in cleanliness and greenery in the city, several years have passed and its hand has still not been noticeably felt. It is not normal, for example, for pedestrians alongside the new apartment buildings to … while they are expanding their area, and the same goes for paving. Last year, through a collective work campaign, they built as— (Continued on page 2)

Working with mobilization and a campaign spirit to put the decisions of the 10th Plenum of the Party into effect, many workers’ collectives in the district of Kukës have achieved a high pace. Working with mobilization and a campaign spirit to put the decisions of the 10th Plenum of the Party into effect, many workers’ collectives in the district of Kukës have achieved a high pace in completing, ahead of schedule, the tasks for the January–May period. At the forefront are the miners of Kalimash, who have so far extracted 5,500 tons of chromium ore more than the five-month plan, while also fulfilling the quality target 100 percent. Fifty percent of this overfulfillment has been achieved by underground-sector workers, among whom the “Tetori” and “29 Nëntori” brigades have stood out, exceeding the daily norm by an average of 5 percent. The mining works targets have also been met, securing new work faces. Mainly through an increase in productivity of around 2 percent above the planned target and the effective use of working time, they managed to produce 500 tons more chromium concentrate than planned. (According to ATSH)

— OBSERVATION FROM GJIROKASTRA — Gjirokastra is renowned for the cleanliness, orderliness and culture of its way of life. Before it can be seen in the home, this is evident in courtyards, in front of courtyards and in the streets. This tradition is still preserved. It seems that it is not so. Qafa e Pazarit. If there were another possibility, another solution, it would be «covered» for cars and other vehicles. But the city’s layout no longer allows this. So greater care must be taken with cleanliness. Yet there are plenty of occasions and days when you see coal dumped here and there by those who use it, mainly enterprises in the trade system, all kinds of building materials that are an eyesore, mortar, lime and water running off the sides of vehicles. Such things are unacceptable in any city, let alone Gjirokastra. The sense of responsibility, as well as moral and cultural awareness, is low among production and specialized enterprises, such as municipal enterprises. In neighborhoods near the center, and especially in those on the outskirts, whole piles of earth need to be removed. They spoil the beauty of the museum-city. What should be done? Nothing can be achieved through moral appeals. The city’s Executive Committee and the neighborhood people’s councils must hold those responsible, including the specialist managers, accountable. If they do not have sufficient authority, they should also call upon the considerable force of public opinion.

In terms of greenery, Librazhdi perhaps ranks among the foremost Albanian cities. The city center, too…

cities in the country. The city center and streets, as well as institutions and enterprises, have green surroundings. This has become a «norm» and a rule for everyone, not to mention the hospital, museum, forestry enterprise, construction enterprise and N.P.J.D., which stand out for their passion for greenery, which is also a form of culture. This is so tangible that even at the «Çermenika» confectionery, for more than 20 years, the two veteran counter attendants, Shqipja and Hajrjia, have created a micro-environment that is both pleasant and refreshing, and much admired, full of flowers and climbing plants. - Here in Librazhd, the idea has never been that protecting the city’s environment and its greenery should (Continued on page 2)

At the invitation of comrade Foto Çami, chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs of the People’s Assembly, a delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament, headed by its chairman, Flaminio Pikoli, arrived in our country yesterday for an official and friendly visit. At Rinas Airport, the delegation was welcomed by Affairs of the People’s Assembly, deputies and other comrades. Also present was Xhorxhio de Andreis, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Italian Republic to the People’s Socialist Republic of Albania. (ATSH)

Yesterday, delegations arrived in Tirana to take part in the meeting of the energy ministers of the Balkan states, which will hold its proceedings on May 29–30 at the Palace of Congresses: the delegation of the People’s Republic of Bulgaria, headed by Nikolla Todoriev, minister and chairman of the Energy Committee; the delegation of the Hellenic Republic, headed by Georgios Apostolakis, secretary-general of the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Technology; the delegation of Romania, headed by Adrian Georgescu, Minister of Electric Power; the delegation of the Republic of Turkey, headed by Fehrettin Kurt, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources; and the delegation of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, headed by Stevan Santo, member of the Federal Executive Committee and Federal Secretary for Energy and Industry. The heads of the delegations were welcomed by Besnik Bekteshi, Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy of the PSR of Albania. After welcoming them to our country, he expressed his conviction that this meeting would give fresh impetus to the development of multilateral industrial, technical and scientific cooperation in the field of energy, and would contribute to further strengthening the spirit of understanding and friendship among the peoples and countries of the Balkan Peninsula. Deputy Foreign Minister Muhamet Kapllani was also present at the welcoming ceremony. On this occasion, comrade Besnik Bekteshi hosted a reception in honor of the delegations at the «Dajti» Hotel. (ATSH)

Yesterday afternoon, Affairs of the People’s Assembly, received the delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee in one of the halls of the Palace of Congresses. Welcoming them, he expressed his own pleasure, and that of his colleagues on the Foreign Affairs Committee of the People’s Assembly, at this visit by Italian friends to our country. “We,” he said, “value the initiative and efforts of Mr. Pikoli, as well as those of other political parties in Italy, to organize this visit, which will mark an advance in relations between the parliaments of our two countries.” For his part, Flaminio Pikoli, speaking also on behalf of his colleagues, speaking also on behalf of his colleagues, said that q po shoqërojnë nja sa jemi lë... [?] mbushur me besim se kjo vizitë do n a hapë një faqe të re në marrëdhëniet midis dy vendeve tona që janë midis dy hapave larg njëri tjetrit, që ... [?] ... nga 1 mijë [?] vjet, dhe që jetojnë ngushtë nga popull i ka bërë shumë për ... [?] one another. He also said that our visit is very important and will be followed by many other visits in the future. The chairman of the Italian parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee thanked them for the warm welcome and for the majority of what they had done. Comrade Foto Çami, after speaking about the traditional friendship between our two peoples, praised the act of the Italian soldiers during the war, who fought side by side with our partisans against fascism. These are the historical foundations, rooted in the past and the present, that create opportunities to further expand relations between our two countries and peoples. Despite the problems that exist, every opportunity is available to increase and further give concrete form to cooperation between Albania and Italy in all fields, particularly in the economic sphere. Answering questions from the Italian guests about the new developments in Albania, Comrade Foto Çami said that they reflected our stage of development and the changes that had taken place in the world. He told them about the measures recently taken to implement the tasks of the 10th Plenum of the Party’s Central Committee, measures that were formalized in specific laws at the latest session of the People’s Assembly. Flaminio Pikoli told Comrade Foto Çami that they supported the new developments in Albania. “Our delegation is confident that during these two days we will do good and fruitful work. Our parliamentary committee has been working for a long time to make this visit, a visit to which we attach great importance.” Continuing, Comrade Foto Çami said that they would have not only the goodwill of the Albanian side and government, but also the support of the Albanian people. He said that, as a European country, Albania was interested in peace and friendship among the peoples of our continent. We have expressed our willingness to be recognized by and participate in European political and economic organizations. He also pointed out the support— (Continued on page 4)

Yesterday, American Congressman Tom Lantos arrived in our country for a friendly visit, together with former Congressman Xhozef Dioguardi, etc. Coming from Prishtina, they were welcomed at the Qafë Morinë border crossing by Jorgo Melica, chairman of the Albanian Committee for Cultural and Friendly Relations with the Outside World, Muharrem Mezin, chairman of the Executive Committee of the People’s Council of the Kukës district, etc., who welcomed them. From there they went to Shkodër, where they visited the city and «Rozafa» Castle. In their honor, Bashkim Sylja, chairman of the district People’s Council Executive Committee, hosted a dinner. (ATSH)

A high-level delegation headed by Ismail Ahmeti, Minister of Construction, departed for Algeria to take part in the Interministerial Conference «On the Water Resources of the Mediterranean Countries». To see the delegation off at Rinas Airport were Enver Haili, Minister of Justice, and other comrades. Also present was Mohamed Lemkami, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria to our country.

The “Naim Frashëri” Publishing House and the “Lasgush Poradeci” House of Culture and Folk Creativity in the city of Pogradec presented the book “Lasgush Poradeci - Literary Works” on Sunday in one of the premises of this institution. Writers and artists, literary scholars, musicologists, family members, people from the arts and culture, and other invited guests took part in the event. Also present were the chairman of the Committee for Culture and the Arts, Prof. Alfred Uçi, the first secretary of the District Party Committee, Bardh Lulo, and other comrades. The writer Miraš Ma-ku spoke about the life and literary activity of Lasgush Poradeci, one of the greatest lyric poets in Albanian poetry. (According to ATSH)