Aleksandar Vlahovic

Belgrade, July 19 (Beta) - The Serbian government programme for the status and organizational transformation and strategic consolidation of the Zastava Group was presented in Kragujevac on Thursday, designed to provide independence for a number of the Zastava Group enterprises and to reduce the number of employees.

The Head of the Serbian government |Expert Group Nikola Zelic told the press conference that the programme envisaged for 29 out of 45 enterprises within the Zastava Group to become independent, whereas the implementation of the programme would result in redundancy of 15,000 workers, which constitutes a half of the total number of the employees.

According to Zelic, the Government has prepared a programme of help to redundant workers. As it is foreseen by the programme, part of employees will take over the enterprise named "Zastava - employment and education", with an average remuneration of YUD2, 200.

Anther option provided for by the programme is for the workers to leave employment and receive a YUD2, 300 allowance for a period of two years at a maximum. A third option is for the workers to be terminated with a DM4, 000 severance pay to be paid out in three installments.

The Serb Minister of Finance and Economy Bozidar Djelic said that the remaining 16 enterprises of the Zastava Group would be reduced to the Zastava Vehicles Group to be backed by the Serbian government until a strategic partner takes over.

He said that over the next six months the Serbian government would be investing DM4m a month in production and help to redundant workers. A total of DM 1,5 billion will be earmarked for the whole programme.

Djelic said that the funds would be collected from the taxes paid by Serbian citizens and he estimated that that would mean the whole nation was making efforts to help "Zastava."

In the course of the press conference several thousand workers of the "Zastava Automobile" and "Zastava Transport" enterprises rallied outside the municipal assembly building and demanded to be addressed by Djelic and the Minister of Economy and Privatisation Aleksandar Vlahovic.

After the press conference the ministers tried to leave the municipal assembly building by a side entrance, but they were intercepted by the workers. After he had answered repeated heckling, the workers assaulted Aleksandar Vlahovic. The police intervened and prevented a graver incident, and Vlahovic returned to the municipal assembly building.

The workers then broke the windscreen on the car in which Vlahovic had arrived. A little later, however, the ministers managed to address the workers and a second press conference was held.

According to TV Kragujevac, Vlahovic told the press conference that the government's aim was not to throw employees out of work and that it was the Trade Union's job to inform the workers of the government programme. He remarked that it was obvious that there was no market for 200,000 automobiles and that new workplaces had to be created.

The President of the Municipal Assembly Vlatko Rajkovic gave his unqualified support to the government programme, describing it as an "optimal solution", and he accused the representatives of certain trade unions of Zastava of "irresponsible conduct."