Macedonia's position on the use of its constitutional name is known, Foreign Minister Ilinka Mitreva stressed at her meeting with her Greek counterpart Dora Bakoyannis in Thessaloniki yesterday, in the margins of the Summit of the Process for Cooperation in Southeastern Europe. The two foreign ministers also stated that the talks on the name would continue in the United Nations after the elections.

Kosovo interim Government Prime Minister Agim Ceku will pay an official visit to Macedonia on Friday (5 May), following his softening of his positions on the issue of demarcation of the border.

Industrial production in March 2006 increased by 1.7 percent from the average of 2003 as a result of the increase in the groups of energy by 19.4 percent and intermediate goods, except energy, by 13.4 percent.

Macedonia, Albania, and Croatia expect a message from NATO's summit in Riga this fall that they would receive an invitation for membership in NATO as soon as possible. This message was conveyed by these three countries' foreign ministers and defense ministers at yesterday's meeting on Brioni, Croatia.

The conditions for taking loans by AD ELEM from KfW of Frankfurt for provision of equipment for the Brod-Gneotino opencut mine are unfavorable, according to the members of the parliamentary committee for financing and budget. They asked that the law on taking loans by ELEM be taken off the Parliament's meeting agenda.

Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski stated today that he received information from the Macedonian delegation that attended the consultations with ING representatives in Amsterdam that there is a new offer for Postenska Banka, which will be assessed by the Macedonian Government over the next few days.

 

The IMF Board of directors approved the first review of the standby arrangement with Macedonia late last night. The three-year arrangement of $73 million was approved to Macedonia on 31 August year 2005.

In its first statement to the public, the Albanian National Movement for Ilirida (NADI) expresses concern about the discrimination against the Albanians on their ethnic territories. This nonprofit, non-party, and nongovernmental organization demands that the Macedonian Assembly holds an emergency session at which it would freeze the parliamentary elections and introduce amendments to the Constitution by proclaiming Macedonia a union of two equal peoples or new state union Macedonia-Ilirida.

Assembly Chairman Ljupco Jordanovski stated today that the parliamentary elections would be held on July 5. He explained that he would officially call the elections by the end of this week.

The Government decided that the parliamentary elections would be held on 5 July. At a secret meeting held on Saturday (15 April) the SDSM leadership assessed that the holding of the elections on the first regular date has numerous advantages for them and that their chances for victory are quite certain, "Utrinski Vesnik" reports. An agreement on this date was allegedly reached between coalition partners SDSM leader Vlado Buckovski and BDI leader Ali Ahmeti.

Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski and Ambassador Frank Wisner, US special envoy to the negotiations on Kosovo's status, agreed that the issue of demarcation of Macedonia's border toward Kosovo should be closed prior to the resolving of this province's final status.

After a long fight for his life, the man injured by a hand bomb on the Naroden Front Street in Skopje died last night. The Interior Ministry officially reported that the bomb exploded following the quarrel of the deceased and another two persons. He promised them jobs and had been paid for it, but failed to keep his promise. The police investigation continues.

One man was heavilly injured in a bomb explosion today at 14.30 hrs in the center of Skopje near a few famous restaurants on the Naroden Front Street (Kapistec). Eyewitnesses claim the blast happened following a quarrel between two groups where one man took out a bomb that went off in his hand.

"The road to joining the EU is long and the drawbacks that you should overcome are numerous. A Spaniard is telling you this. But what is more important for you today is that the road has already been traced," said the President of the European Parliament, Josep Borrell Fontelles, in his address to the Macedonian Parliament on Monday.

The international tender for selling the steam power plant TEC Negotino was published in The Financial Times. The companies interested to race for the tender will have to prove that they have assets of over 300 million euros, income of over 200 million euros in the last two fiscal years and profit of more than 20 million euros. Consortiums, including at least one company meeting these requirements, will also be able to participate in the tender.

Finance Minister Nikola Popovski stated this weekend that there would be no problems on the way to Macedonia's full-fledged membership of the EU.

The future of your country is in the European Union. The rate of your further progress will depend on your achievements and the European Commission will continue to assist you in achieving this goal, reads the letter of European Commission's President Jose Manuel Barroso to Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski, the Macedonian Information Agency reports.

Macedonia is not an immigration risk for the countries of the European Union, yet Macedonian citizens are exposed to humiliating and undignified treatment in the embassies of the European countries. This will be one of the arguments of the Macedonian experts, who on 28 March will begin the talks on liberalization of the visa regime with experts of the European Commission.

Macedonia is disturbed by the statement of Albanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Besnik Mustafaj for TV Alsat that Albania cannot guarantee the inviolability of the border to "the Albanian part of Macedonia if Kosovo is divided," Macedonia asked Tirana for an official explanation.

The financial bids for the power distribution utility (ESM) will be opened at 9.00 hrs on Thursday in the Government of the Republic of Macedonia. The deadline for providing the bids has been set for this afternoon, the Ministry of Economy stated.

The bids that will be submitted by 16.00 hrs today will be sealed off in a special box to be then taken to the Government and placed in a safe in a sealed room.

The Ministry of Economy is going to search for a new owner of the lead and zinc mines Zletovo and Toranica although it has not yet decided how to get out of the sales agreement with the US company Xeminex, which failed to invest anything since taking over the mines two years ago. It is also unknown if Xeminex will be asked to pay damages and when the new tender will be announced.

The Government is going to rent roads, rail infrastructure and the two airports - in Skopje and Ohrid - to provide money for the construction of Corridor VIII, said Transport Minister Xhemali Mehazi at the meeting with his counterparts from Italy, Albania and Bulgaria in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, at which they signed the declaration on accelerating the construction of Corridor VIII.