HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------1. Yugoslavia to shut Socialist era Banks
2. Yugoslav protesters stage lock-down occupations at Banks
3. German to become Kosovo's newest Governor
4. Hackers in Yugoslavia under threat of draconian new legislation
Yugoslavia decides to shut down four big banks
BELGRADE, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Yugoslavia decided on Thursday to shut down four troubled banks as part of World Bank-sponsored reforms of its communist-era financial sector -- the first such major closure in the impoverished Balkan country.
The country's Bank Rehabilitation Agency said it would not be feasible to overhaul Beobanka, Jugobanka, Beogradska banka and Investbanka -- the four largest banks in old socialist Yugoslavia.
"The budgets do not have the resources required for this operation and no domestic or foreign banks are willing to take over the four banks in question. The clients of these banks are being transferred to the Postal Savings Office," it said.
The agency said in a statement the banks, employing some 9,000 people, should be put under receivership. Asked whether this meant the closure of the banks, plagued by a mountain of old debt and low public confidence, Serbian Finance Minister Bozidar Djelic told a news conference it did.
The move came despite weeks of protests by bank trade unions, warning that the closures could spark wider social tension.
08:18 01-03-02
Yugoslavia stands firm on bank closures
By Gordana Filipovic
BELGRADE, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Hundreds of employees barricaded themselves inside four Yugoslav banks on Friday in protest at a government decision to close them, the country's largest such corporate shutdown ever, affecting 8,500 people.
Federal Finance Minister Jovan Rankovic announced his resignation after voicing criticism of the closures.
But Yugoslav officials showed no sign of bowing to pressure to reverse Thursday's decision to close Beogradska Banka, Beobanka, Investbanka and Jugobanka as part of World Bank-sponsored reform of its fragile financial system.
"There is a freedom to protest, there will be no force used to stop them, but these banks are not working any longer," Yugoslav central bank governor Mladjan Dinkic told reporters.
Analysts say closing inefficient socialist-era companies is inevitable by authorities introducing a Western-style market economy following the 2000 ouster of authoritarian leader Slobodan Milosevic.
Once relatively prosperous in communist eastern and central Europe, Yugoslavia plunged into poverty in the 1990s as a result of war and Western sanctions against Milosevic's government.
KOSTUNICA SIDES WITH REFORMERS-SOURCES
Bank unions had appealed to Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica to block the bank closures, but sources said he sided with the reformers at a meeting lasting several hours on Friday.
"He personally agreed this was inevitable," a source close to the talks told Reuters.
Earlier on Friday, around 200 staff stormed the main office of Beogradska Banka in downtown Belgrade, Beta news agency said.
Workers at the other banks to be closed have also locked themselves inside central offices, fearing for their future in a country with an official jobless rate of 30 percent.
"We are not going to give up on our bank," read a hand-written placard placed on the outside wall of the Beogradska Banka building.
The Bank Rehabilitation Agency said on Thursday it was not feasible to rescue the banks, plagued by a mountain of debt and low public confidence, as it would cost up to a third of the country's gross domestic product of $10.0 billion.
Government ministers said around half of affected employees could find new jobs in one of four new financial institutions to be set up, including an investment bank.
They said household depositors and other domestic creditors would be compensated fully, but not foreign creditors that had granted 3.5 billion marks ($1.7 billion) in loans to Yugoslav firms via the banks without state guarantees.
They include Greek metallurgy and engineering group Mytilineos and Italian automotive giant Fiat.
In Friday's meeting, reformist ministers assured Kostunica the closures would be the last to hit the banking sector.
"In the future, banks which are not competitive will have to merge with stronger institutions. There will be no more radical cuts like this one," Dinkic, the central bank governor, said.
15:24 01-04-02
Germany ready and willing to take U.N. Kosovo post
By Andrew Gray
PRISTINA, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Germany may expand its growing international profile by filling the challenging top job in Kosovo's U.N. administration after the abrupt departure of its current head, diplomats say.
The administration -- set up in June 1999 to establish self-government in the Yugoslav province after NATO bombing ended Serb repression of the ethnic Albanian majority -- is one of the United Nations' biggest and most ambitious missions.
As extremists in the Balkans have a record of exploiting uncertainty to cause trouble, diplomats are anxious to see a new U.N. governor named quickly to succeed Denmark's Hans Haekkerup, particularly as Kosovo's political scene is in limbo at present.
Michael Steiner, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's foreign policy adviser until November, is being mentioned in diplomatic circles as one possible candidate, according to sources in Pristina, in the European Union and at U.N. headquarters in New York.
In Berlin, German government spokesman Bela Anda said Schroeder would back a possible Steiner candidacy,
"The chancellor would support his candidacy," Anda told Reuters. "He always valued the work of Mr Steiner and will continue to hold him in high regard."
The appointment of a German would be another sign of Berlin's increasing willingness to take on high-profile tasks abroad after years of reticence stemming from its Nazi past.
Western diplomats in Pristina say Germany has expressed interest and, as it does not occupy any of the other international posts in the region, Schroeder's government has a strong claim.
"I think there's a good chance there will be a German candidate," one Western diplomat in the Kosovo capital said.
"The Germans are pushing," said another. "I'm guessing that consensus will form fairly rapidly around someone like Steiner."
REPUTATION FOR CONTROVERSY
Steiner has a track record of service in the Balkans and is widely respected as a diplomatic heavyweight.
But one factor which could count against him is a reputation for controversy and a strong temperament. He quit his last post amid accusations he had insulted German soldiers and demanded they serve him caviar as he waited for a flight in Moscow.
If Steiner does not become an official candidate, other Germans including Klaus Reinhardt -- a retired general and former commander of Kosovo's NATO-led peacekeeping force -- have been mentioned as possible alternatives.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan appoints the head of the administration, but the European Union has a strong say as it contributes most to Kosovo's reconstruction and development.
The appointee will have little time to adjust. Haekkerup, whose wife is expecting a baby, announced he would not renew his contract just three days before it expired on December 31.
The last-minute nature of his decision has caused some irritation and bafflement among U.N. staffers, and speculation that the personal reasons he cited may not be the full story. But the United Nations has stuck to the official line.
Haekkerup has left Kosovo in double limbo -- without a U.N. Special Representative and without a new government having been formed following a historic general election last November.
Under a self-governing framework drawn up by Haekkerup, a new assembly and government are meant to take over much of the day-to-day business while the U.N. retains overall authority and control of some key areas such as law enforcement.
But the main political parties have so far failed to agree a coalition deal.
The U.N. governor would be expected to help break the deadlock if the parties have still not agreed by the time of his or her arrival, and to help the new set-up to work in practice.
The new chief will also have to push forward efforts to establish law and order in the province, where violence against minorities is a major problem, organised crime is rife and instability can spill over into Macedonia and southern Serbia.
The U.N. administration, which employs more than 5,000 people and has a budget of $400 million, is in the temporary charge of U.S. diplomat Charles Brayshaw, who arrived just a few months ago to became Haekkerup's deputy.
(Additional reporting by Reuters bureaux in Berlin, Brussels, New York and Washington.)
11:03 01-04-02
SERBIAN HACKERS FACE CRACKDOWN
Serbia's emergence from international isolation is bad news for the
country's computer hackers
By Katarina Bugajski from Belgrade
Yugoslavia intends to adopt new laws to curb Internet hackers this month,
drastically curtailing what until recently was a thriving trade in web
theft.
While the country languished under Western sanctions, the theft of Viagra
packets, chocolate boxes, digital cameras and watches, T-shirts and Cuban
cigars went unpunished.
Forging credit card numbers, the hackers left a trail of devastation on the
web, plundering companies throughout the US and Western Europe.
The motive was partly to avenge the West for isolating Yugoslavia and partly
for sheer entertainment. But the main incentive was financial gain.
"From a single box of Viagra I used to pay my rent," one Serbian web thief
said, with a smile. "Stealing Viagra was a real hit, as it arrived in small
packages and with no customs."
The fall of Slobodan Milosevic last year wiped the smile off the hackers'
faces. Since his overthrow, Yugoslavia has rejoined the international police
network, Interpol, while the new laws against web theft will curb the
hackers' activities.
The draft legislation lists eight computer-related crimes now liable for
prosecution. They include unauthorised use of computers and spreading
computer viruses. Those found guilty face up to 12 years in jail.
Yugoslavia's international isolation under Milosevic contributed to the
growth of this criminal trade. One experienced web thief explained how the
system worked. "All you needed was a valid number from some credit card," he
said.
The hackers used programs found on certain illegal sites, which generate
forged credit card numbers. If some were spotted, others were not. "You just
had to try another number. One would certainly succeed," he said.
When plundered sites refused to deliver any more books, videos, DVD
cassettes and CDs to Yugoslavia, the hackers responded by replacing
"Yugoslavia" with "Serbia" as the country of destination.
Another ploy was to request a delivery to an address in Serbia and write
"Hungary" or "Greece" as the country of destination. When the goods reached
those countries, their post offices redirected the mail to the address in
Serbia.
During NATO's bombardment of Yugoslavia in 1999, the hackers deliberately
created chaos on the net. Justifying their work as "patriotic theft", they
stole exclusively from sites in the US and other states taking part in the
campaign.
After the fall of Milosevic, the hackers started covering up their traces,
knowing the new authorities would soon re-establish ties with the West. They
changed both the computers and the Internet service providers they had used.
Two months ago, the police duly announced that the international community
expected Serbia to crack down on web thieves, after various companies had
submitted details of theft and the credit card numbers they had used.
Few of the old web thieves are worried, as they covered their tracks well -
and the value of most individual thefts rarely exceeded 100 US dollars,
making court cases improbable.
More important than prosecuting hackers is legislation to limit their scope
for activity in the future. The authorities hope the new laws will achieve
just that.
Katarina Bugajski is a regular IWPR contributor
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