Tritan Shehu argues the importance and necessity of the joint PS-PASOK declaration. Not many months have passed since the senior leaders of the DP once again repeated their accusations against the joint PS-PASOK declaration, the very declaration they themselves had discussed at the negotiating table with senior leaders of the Greek Socialist Party. According to their press sources, the DP Secretary Shehu and the chairman of the parliamentary group Spahia, during their visit to Greece, also met and held talks with senior PASOK leaders, including its Secretary General Xoakopulos and Mr. Papulias. At these meetings, Shehu described PDSH-PASOK relations as important for strengthening relations between the two countries, saying that they should serve as an example in the region and beyond. He also emphasized the idea that PDSH is open to cooperation with all Greek political forces, while Mr. Spahia, on behalf of the DP parliamentary group, said that their group considers these relations important... That is what their comments say, conveying the message that there should be understanding, friendship and cooperation among the ancient peoples of the Balkans, and that all political forces should contribute to this... In this context, the delegation’s visit marks a serious effort to cooperate with neighboring countries and others in the region. With this, the DP embodies a new political stance regarding relations with its neighbors, aiming to resolve disagreements and achieve fruitful cooperation in the... All these brief questions: What more did that declaration contain than what the DP leaders discussed in Athens two days ago? The declaration is an important document, and its signing was a concrete step toward consolidating relations with our neighbors. The declaration called for cooperation between the two countries and parties, seeking concrete ways forward, aiming to preserve national integrity and peace and security, and expressing concern about the tense situation in the region while calling for everyone’s commitment to resolving it. But simply because it was signed by the PS and Fatos Nano, it was subjected to attacks and vilification of the lowest kind, with calls for it to be rejected. Naturally, the PS, acting within the framework of its principles, program and national interests, defended it, argued its case and republished it. The DP was troubled by the strength of the arguments with which the Socialist Party presented itself and sought to resolve problems, alarmed by the PS’s recognition on the international stage and by its being placed on an equal footing with the other parties of European democratic socialism. By signing such a document on an equal footing, the PS showed and affirmed that it was capable of carrying out important tasks, demonstrating that it was complete, emancipated, capable and prepared, with a precise strategy. And ironically, after attacking it on this very point for a long time, the DP begins seeking to take up… “there is no demand for this property,” at a time when their own request has already become a fait accompli. 2. ... According to the Reconciliation Report of the AKP with the district Treasury branch dated 8 December... SAMİ CARA, District Councillor

Without comment Just a few facts from the “iceberg” of the plunder of national wealth - Valuation cuts of up to 33 percent in the value of state-owned properties. - Who proposes and who orders? - To show the Albanian people what privatization has achieved up to the point when “securities” are brought into play, we offer just two pieces of information taken from the Inspection Report of the State Audit Service at the Dibër Prefecture, during an inspection carried out at the National Privatization Agency branch in the district of Bulqizë. 1. ...The total value of the properties put up for sale was 14,949,779 lekë (new lekë), while a reduction in the VAM (current value according to the initial valuation) was proposed at 2,501,579 lekë. That is 33 percent of the initial value. This proposal by the District Council was approved with great “speed” by the Ministry of Finance on 6.10.1994 and by the National Privatization Agency on 7.10.1994, without any change to the request submitted by the Bulqizë District Council. This reduction in VAM was made in violation of the requirements of Council of Ministers Decision No. 47 of 7.2.1994, point 9, because: the District Council’s request to reduce the VAM was made on the claim that “there is no demand for these properties,” at a time when their request had 8.12.1994, 9,505,629 lekë had been paid into the budget for the January-November period. Then... The first question is: when did the District Council meet and request a reduction in the VAM of these properties, or did the District Presidium—the body to which they are answerable under the law—decide this? On whose behalf was the request urgently sent to Tirana and then approved with such “speed”? The following can answer publicly: Një Klozhenzi, Director General of the National Privatization Agency; Agron Gjoki, Director of the Privatization Commission at the Ministry of Finance; and Bashkim Lami, Chairman of the Bulqizë District Council, who, with their signatures, “speedily” approved a total loss of 7 million new lekë to the national economy. The second question: when will the total privatization proceeds be paid, when we are nearing the end of the first month of 1995? These were just a few pieces of the iceberg of the “tireless” work to privatize the national economy in the district of Bulqizë, carried out by the PD administration from the center down to the grassroots. SAMI CARA District Councillor Safet Zhulali, Minister of Defense, who has held this post since the PD came to power, has been repeatedly rumored to have been involved, through the ministry he heads and by exploiting his official position, in various scandals involving hundreds of millions of dollars. Could the story of the ship “Vela Luka,” the one called Sotirios, the mysterious losses in Polican, the hundreds of millions of dollars that went to Bulgaria—or the others—have been journalists’ fantasies, or do they have a real basis, with corruption at their core, spreading like a fever through all the leadership structures of the ruling party? To answer that question, it is enough to note briefly that 3 million and 170 thousand cartridges have been stolen in recent days from Polican, at the arms-production plant. Their value is over 125 thousand dollars. In Polican, people know very well that those responsible for this major theft, which is being kept secret at all costs, are not among the residents of the small, quiet town. This is how local Confederation leaders put it: “The little fish are here, while the sharks are in Tirana.” The poor citizen could hardly put it more bluntly. You deserve to be spoken to this way, you who are our state council and insist at all costs on protecting Minister Zhulali, even making him an example of “moral purity,” since he left his immunity hanging in the People’s Assembly hall, accepting that he be subjected to any kind of investigative scrutiny. We all saw his gesture of waiving immunity on TV. What has been done since then by the oversight bodies, from the State Audit Service to the Prosecutor General’s Office? Nothing. But an interview published yesterday in the newspaper RD comes to our aid, with the headline: “Our Ministry of Defense won the case for 300 thousand dollars,” bringing us back once again to the question of how clean the corruption is and how blind those who should fight it are. More than two years ago, the Ministry of Defense signed a contract with the Bulgarian company “Bolid” 1990 Petrov, under which it was to buy 200 IFA trucks for 3,500 dollars apiece, for which the Bulgarian company was paid 300 thousand dollars in cash. The same, with “dek (Continued on page 2)

Yesterday, Parliament convened in plenary session, beginning its work by approving several draft laws previously reviewed by the relevant committees. First, two agreements with the government of the Russian Federation were ratified. The first was “on the ratification of the Convention between the Republic of Albania and the government of the Russian Federation for the avoidance of double taxation with respect to taxes on income and capit...” The People’s Assembly then discussed and approved the law on the pre-university education system. The draft law had previously been discussed in the Education Committee, where amendments to about 26 articles had also been requested. All deputies from the parliamentary groups described the draft law as completing the entire legal framework of Albania’s education system. Meanwhile, they criticized the government and the parliamentary presidium, since this and many other draft laws were being delayed in Parliament, significantly hindering their implementation in practice. Individual deputies sought clarification about the establishment of private schools, the difficulties that would arise with vocational schools, multigrade classes, etc. After the specialists had provided explanations, the deputies discussed the draft law article by article and approved it. Most deputies described this law as modern and of international standards. Correspondent of “Zëri i Popullit”

Last night, the Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic, Jozef Zieleniec, arrived in Tirana for an official visit. During his stay in Albania, he is expected to meet with the highest Albanian authorities, including President Berisha, Prime Minister Meksi and the Speaker of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, Arbnori, and to hold official talks with his Albanian counterpart, Alfred Serreqi. The two foreign ministers are expected to sign an agreement abolishing double taxation on imports and exports between the two countries.

- DOES THE “ZHULALI SCANDAL” EXIST? - A “won” lawsuit does not mean 300 thousand dollars have been returned to the coffers. - A little history about 300 thousand dollars lost. - Safet Zhulali, Minister of Defense, who has held this post since the DP came to power, has been repeatedly rumored to have been involved, through the ministry he heads and by exploiting his official position, in various scandals involving hundreds of thousands of dollars. since the DP official position, in various scandals involving hundreds of thousands of dollars. Could it have been journalists’ imagination? Who knows—the state of ours, which insists at all costs on protecting Minister Zhulali and even turning him into subjected to any kind of investigative scrutiny.

As part of the assistance and aid activities that the French Republic has granted to Albanian institutions... As part of the assistance and aid activities that the French Republic has granted to Albanian institutions, FRANCE-TELECOM and the Paris Institute for Research and Teaching in Telecommunications (Institut de Recherche et d’Enseignement Telecom Paris-Lignes) donated a set of electronic telecommunications equipment to the Electronics Department at the Polytechnic University of Tirana, for this department’s laboratory, worth more than 100,000 US dollars. In addition, a team of two engineers from France-Telecom will come to Albania to work with the staff of the Polytechnic University on installing and commissioning this equipment, and to begin relations and cooperation with the university’s Electronics Department and with other Albanian institutions in this field. During a visit by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Albania, Mr. Louis DOMINICI, to the Rector of the Polytechnic University of Tirana, Prof. Gëzim Karapici, the latter expressed his thanks to the Ambassador. Among other things, he said: “...Continuing the friendly relations and cooperation between the French Embassy and Albanian higher education institutions, this material gift is the most important ever made to our university, and we wish to take this opportunity to broaden the scope of scientific and pedagogical relations with equivalent French institutions.”

There are 125 fishermen employed by the fishing enterprise in Shkodër who have stopped work and gone on strike since Monday because they disagree with the way this enterprise is being privatized. They demand that Dajlani and the Buna River, the main fishing grounds in Lake Shkodër, be given to them and not to someone else. The dispute over this has been going on for three years. The fishermen have now exhausted every level of appeal, from Shkodër all the way to the President of the Republic, Sali Berisha, without obtaining the solution they wanted, and have decided to stop work and go on strike. They say the President told us, “I assure you that you will become the true owners of your enterprise, just like all the fishermen of Albania.” The fishermen spend the entire day gathered on the premises of the enterprise. The strike is led by a committee they set up themselves specifically for this purpose. The banners displayed at the strike venue read: “Corrupt authorities,” “Dajlani is ours,” “We want bread,” “President, help us,” etc. On Tuesday, representatives of the fishermen went to Tirana, where they met with the Deputy Minister of Agriculture. They received confirmation that the ministry supports the fishermen’s demands for the complete privatization of the enterprise. For this purpose, yesterday they were expecting Mr. Hasan Halili to arrive in Shkodër. The fishermen say they are determined very soon to move from a work stoppage to a hunger strike if our legitimate demands are not taken into account within the deadlines we have set. could hardly put it more bluntly. But

The factory has been completely restructured. It has been brought up to the standards of Western factories... The factory has been completely restructured. It has been brought up to the standards of Western factories. Every day, 100,000 bottles of beer are put on the market. Work will soon begin on setting up the new department for producing carbonated drinking water. So far, revenues for the state treasury have reached 30,000 dollars. Workers earn an average monthly wage of 13,000–18,000 lek (new lek). This is one of the cases—undoubtedly among the most important—that demonstrates that the management and organizational skills in this sector have made the few efforts undertaken by the state count, and that initiatives have been revived. And we find just such a case at the Tirana brewery. The production figures and the very good state of its financial indicators are a powerful argument and an open accusation against the state officials who allowed the economy to reach the point of total collapse. But for those seeking an answer to the question, “Who brought the economy down to zero?”, we would like to compare what has been achieved at the brewery in Tirana and, beyond that, calculate the colossal revenues that have been lost and continue to be lost because of incompetent governance. As the experience of the market economy has shown, investment is impossible without financial resources. Earn, invest, earn, invest, and so on, like the links in a chain. This opportunity was available to all production units, including the small and large departments of the powerful combine. The brewery’s management team is putting it into practice. (Continued on page 2)

The day before yesterday, a heinous criminal incident took place in the municipality of Vranisht, in the district of Vlora. The municipality chairman’s driver, Fatmir Veshi, was stabbed twice, and the municipality’s car, state property, was set on fire. This act has caused concern among the municipality’s residents. The driver is in hospital.

“Shkodra Culture Week,” taking place from June 22 to 27, is expected to be packed with a variety of activities. It is being organized over the course of a week through cooperation among the district’s cultural, artistic, research, and sports institutions, under the auspices of the municipality. It is dedicated to “Summer Day,” the second seminar (“Shkodra Through the Centuries”), and the 70th anniversary of Albania’s first cycling club. Today, the first day, six events are scheduled, including the international seminar “Shkodra Through the Centuries,” which will conclude with a concert of Shkodran urban folk songs, held at 21:30 at “Rozafa” Castle. There are five activities on the second day. One of these is dedicated to the commemorative gathering “70 Years of Cycling” of the “Vllaznia” club. The third day will also have five activities. The fifth day has four activities, while two activities are planned for the sixth day, marking the end of Culture Week. The program of these events is varied. It includes research topics, concerts, artistic events, exhibitions, variety shows, sports activities such as cycling, football, and equestrianism, as well as entertainment at the “Rinia” disco, especially throughout the nights of this week. The central event of the week, however, is considered to be the international seminar “Shkodra Through the Centuries,” organized by the city museum and “Luigj Gurakuqi” University. This is the second seminar to be held during this celebration. Its papers will be presented on June 22 and 23. The seminar is divided into 13 sections, beginning with the history section and ending with the sports section. A total of 167 papers will be presented across these sections. The vast majority of the papers have been prepared by Albanian researchers from Albania and Albanian regions in the former Yugoslavia, as well as from Turkey, the USA, and the Czech Republic. Foreign researchers from Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic, Turkey, and Montenegro are also taking part. Correspondent of “Zëri i Popullit”