- What is the total number of people who will benefit from the wage increase, and by how much? - What are the sources of funding for the wage increase? - When will the impact of this measure begin to be felt? - What will the real wage increase be? The Government's draft decision on increasing wages and pensions, partly by 30 and 15 percent respectively, has aroused great interest in public opinion in the country. This is not only because the social groups expected to benefit from this measure had been calling for a higher wage increase, but also because, since the day of the official announcement of this draft decision, apart from an evasive withdrawal by the Minister of Labour and Emigration, the explanations surrounding it have been shrouded in a thick veil of uncertainty. Mr. Shehi's statement that this week there will be time for consultations with the unions and various social groups, apparently understood by specialists in the ministries that will be responsible for implementing this measure as “silence” and a complete information blockade[-]! It is very difficult, through the words of specialists from the Ministry of Labour and Emigration, with the doors closed and the responsibility passed on to specialists from the Ministry of Finance, “one sends you to the other and so the work[-]pong” is created, while responsibility continues. Why is there hesitation to give the exact number of people who will benefit from the wage increase in the budgetary sectors? Should we think that 1994 will come with further restrictions on the number of employees in this sector? Or are the official statistics in such a state that they cannot calculate this number? And what is the total amount that will correspond to the wage increase at present? The government draft decision states that the financial effect will be covered by the state budget for 1994. So the budget is not yet so pressed that it needs to worry. We do not know for sure whether it will be the only source... ... of the additional money that will be injected into circulation, but in any case it is clear that the chances of upsetting the inflation status quo will increase. From the Ministry of Labour and Emigration, a specialist explains that “the wage increase has therefore been set at only 30 percent so as not to clash with inflation.” Meanwhile, a source from this ministry, Mr. Dhamin Shehi, quoted in Gazeta Shqiptare, states that “an inflationary effect is expected for psychological reasons, but the wage increase will be larger.” In short, even if only psychologically, inflation will expand because of the wage increase. We say “psychological” bearing in mind the Government's Adjustment Programme which, without any ... warns of tax and levy increases, one of the “drivers” of the fight against inflation. But senior government officials declare that “there will be no tax increases.” In this situation of uncertainty, where the statements of government officials cancel one another out, the date on which citizens will begin to feel the effects of the wage increase has not yet been specified. The salaries for the first month have not yet been distributed in a way that reflects the average 30 percent across the salary pyramid, nor is it known what the countermeasures to this step will be. In addition to inflation as a cofactor in every wage increase, output prices, especially industrial prices, remain frozen; effects are also expected from some sudden increase in prices, a phenomenon that is very well known and familiar. In the absence of ceiling prices or price increases, the cycle of over 30 percent will once again be brought up, it seems that the transformation into a premonitory shock is inevitable. It is expected that in the consultations with government representatives there will be pressure both on the measure itself and on the way the average 30 percent wage increase is to be distributed across its 22 levels. Assuming an understanding in these consultations, people expect that the 30 percent will be a real wage increase. How generous and economical this measure is, people will judge when they feel its effects. We hope that the wage increase will be a real solution in the sense of “more prosperous,” and not a policy of governing citizens of the country. Otherwise, it will soon turn into a failed political tool. No one would be interested in that happening. SOKOL GRUDA

The President of the Republic guaranteed the PS delegation his unwavering respect for the opposition The Amnesty International report, whose rapporteurs are cited by the entire world regarding the human rights situation, best confirms the above words. Unwavering respect for the opposition is this statement made by the President of the Republic at the end of last year, which was interpreted as a recognition by opposition deputies that the new Parliament assigned the opposition tasks... Unwavering respect for the opposition is this statement made by the President of the Republic at the end of last year, which was interpreted as a recognition by opposition deputies that the new Parliament assigned the opposition tasks and the space of this Parliament, the task of the mirror in which the opposition would see itself. And for nearly a year and a half the opposition played this role. Perhaps for this reason it should have reflected. For a year and a half it praised the image of the government, giving a little light to the somewhat dark figure that is always there and for which they do not make a balance of the concentrated power in the diplomas and in the work of the US sex. Then the improvisation traded off and after pressure gained following a government arrest, 1.6 million dollars were released in the name of a governor who ended up in the Tirana prison, after a separate trial in a separate cell, unsupported by law. In the mirror there also appeared two foreigners in whose name 1.6 million dollars had been released, placing them in a “high decoration”. The President of the Republic. Behind them in the mirror also passed 360 thousand dollars that stand like a black cloud over the head of the honest Albanian, which would again appear in the mirror with an order to declare undesirable the citizens of a Greek ship with smuggled cigarettes, blocked in the port of Vlorë by the Albanian Financial Police. And again in the mirror this Ministry, charged with responsibility for the non-implementation of the em- (Continues on page 3)

While PD continues to live on, the youth created a completely different organization from its March 22 electorate; the socialists have now found themselves after the shock they experienced for a short time from the slogan of those days: “Let’s try PD once, and we tried it. Maybe it’s better to do it.” Meanwhile PD continues to puff itself up silently under its own cover, with the “successes and exaltation” achieved in its entry into the political and governing scene, and especially in recent times the balloon of the “shmijtë” of its ranks with fresh blood, especially with intellectuals. It is strange to hear these self-praises from the leaders of PD, while it still does not have a proper social base. Quite the opposite is happening with PS, which has clearly established the alternative of democratic socialism and people are increasingly turning to this alternative. Just a few days ago in the village of Çërravë in the district of Pogradec, formed with 27 members and in order not to create any leaflet as is happening with the ruling Party, we have attached to this article also our names. We ask, if we think, the newspaper “RD” to give a list of the members of PD in this village, not those who entered accidentally on the eve of the PD Congress, because there are none such, but those who remained. Fiqiri Serjani, Myskë Muçi Besnik Kapa Kujtim Kapa Fation Besholli Dashnor Besholli, Gazmend Besholli, Agron etj Besholli Pajoë? Adri Agon Muçi, Tomorr Kapa Përrim Besholli, Ali Albert Muçi Nazar Muçi Safet Muçi Bektash Çoci Luan Besholli Muçjt Kapa Bujar Besholli Astrit Muçi Ilir Besholli Gjylden Hamolli, Erzen Besholli Idajet Besholli Nesim Ne Kapa Albert Jonuzi Përrim Kapa

- Ramadan Ibrahim Mustafa, 25, killed in Zapod, Kukës, and Hamit Ram Sallaku, 20, killed in the Tropojë area. Two Albanians killed on the Albanian-Serbian border: this is the news given by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday through a protest statement. : this is the news given by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday through a protest statement. According to it, on 3 January 1994 at 20 minutes past 8 in Piraj, between D14-18 in Zapod, Kukës, Yugoslav border guards killed the citizen Ramadan Ibrahim Mustafa, 25, who was 5.5 meters inside Yugoslav territory. According to another statement, on the same date, 3 January 1994, at 3 p.m., in the border area of the district of Tropojë, Serbian forces fired from Yugoslav territory and seriously wounded on Albanian soil the Albanian citizen Hamit Ram Sallaku, 20 years old. Together with these two killed, the total number of victims since the beginning of 1993 killed by Serbian border guards has reached 21 people. Correspondent of “Zëri i Popullit”

Russia's Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, who has accused radical reformers of causing great damage in the country, said yesterday in an interview with the parliamentary newspaper “Izvestija” that the era of “shock reforms” will not return. “There will be no more shock reforms in the country,” Chernomyrdin declared at a meeting of independent deputies in the Lower House of the new Federal Assembly. He also added that the government will try to abandon populist economic measures, but he did not go into detail. He promised to avoid extreme political changes, declaring that agreements between politicians cannot be allowed, especially in the economy...

A few days ago in the village of Koplik i Sipërm in the district of Malësia e Madhe, the mosque in this village was broken into and robbed by persons still unidentified. The carpets that had been laid out, the prayer rugs, various decorative objects and others were stolen. The believers are deeply indignant over this disgraceful act. How can a mosque in the middle of a village be stolen from? You know that objects in which religious rites are performed are considered sacred; whoever lays a hand on them lays a hand on God. Thus at least in the believer’s room! They expressed suspicion that certain persons, driven by religious motives or even enemies, may also attack these objects. And this is not the first case. Some time ago the church bell was also stolen in another village of this area. Apparently, the perpetrators of this religious act will be forced to place guards at the places where religious rites are performed, such as mosques and churches, in order to prevent such thefts and attacks against them. However, in this way, if we have not fallen, it should not be their duty to do so, but rather that of the villagers, the guards. Correspondent of “Zëri i Popullit”

- By Dr. Sherif Bundo - The number of firms and companies that have emerged in the last three years in our country is large. In addition, new firms are born every day, beginning to operate under the conditions of the Albanian market economy. The business spectrum becomes more complete and the range of subjects in this economy broader. The general trend of their activity is success, growth, and capital accumulation. Yet it is clear that when businesses are not successful, the laws of the market have their own rules and punishment is often very severe. In different human environments, failure must be accepted and, by extension, the possibility of bankruptcy. But bankruptcy means a loss of property and it affects the company itself. It also affects the life of the firm. In our country, until now the risk and the bankruptcy itself have not been widely felt on a full scale. But in fact the very environment in which firms actively live is aggressive. There are other relations and interest ties between firms and banks. Likewise, one can no longer think of the relations between the state and intermediaries as before. Firms themselves see each other in a different light, just as alcohols do with their own and as clients of the public as a whole, and the worker. Firms are ready to fail within a whole. It is by no means surprising that the success of one may lead to the failure of another. This is the power of money. Otherwise the law of today is not the law. Otherwise there will always be many victims. According to data from the French national statistics institute, today in the world on average 8-7 percent of firms go bankrupt. This level was almost twice as low in the post-World War II period, because of the rapid economic recovery. In our country, according to some calculations that were made, and which it is understood may not be 100 percent accurate and which have been drawn up approximately, around 1 percent, that means 110 firms out of a total of 10,000 go bankrupt. This is undoubtedly a relatively high level and is the result of the action of many factors that provoke and lead to bankruptcy. This level of bankruptcy offers financial management experts two pieces of information. The first is linked to the profit rate. In an environment with a high level of bankruptcy, there is a high level of profit. This is very true. In some sectors of the Albanian economy the annual profit rate exceeds 50 percent a year; something that happens very rarely, not to say not at all, in the economies of Western countries. There the average annual profit rate fluctuates around the average interest rate. It is precisely the high profit rate that attracts foreign capital to enter Albania. Capital is not foreign; it flies freely from one country to another in order to settle where the rate of profit is higher, and where it presents a lower risk. In an economy with high trade there is also high risk and vice versa; this market, economy can be very much and be much. This is the law of capital that operates objectively. It is precisely the material interests of foreign owners that push them to invest in Albania. They invest for their own interests and not to do us a favor. Despite all this, all businessmen in the country and abroad fear bankruptcy, the risk of bankruptcy, which in Albania is very high. Naturally the question arises: What are the causes of bankruptcy in Albania? Here, only the classic factors of bankruptcy do not operate; they are characteristic of an economy (Continues on page 2)