WAITING FOR THINGS TO GET BETTER

Subject : economy in Dalmatia

AIM, SPLIT, April 10, 1995

With a one-hour strike of warning, the Independent Trade Union of Split enterprise called "Diokom Holding" announced new trade union activities, since all possibilities of negotiations with the management have been exhausted. But, how ever dissatisfied the employees may be, their directors feel nothing better. Some time before that, the journalists were told that each day "Diokom" (formerly well known as "Jugoplastika") does not work, it makes a loss of a 100 thousand German marks. At the time, the firm stood idle for 24 hours because its power supply had been cut off due to a debt of 600 thousand German marks to the Croat Electric Company. Despite all efforts, the management team had not succeeded to pay the debt for January and February, and the Croat Electric Company cut off power supply to the Split part of the company which employs four of the total five thousand employees.

The enterprise has managed to make export deals worth 20-million German marks in the past period, but, as management of "Diokom" assesses, due to an overestimated exchange rate of the national currency, kuna, this deal meant a loss of about seven million marks. Under such conditions, they say, it is difficult to work, especially when not a single measure has been introduced to protect the domestic industries. For instance, it is necessary to provide eight million kunas each month - for the salaries, which in February amounted to 1450 kunas (cca 400 DEM) on the average, and for the regular monthly dues to the state. What is most interesting is that business is good, but it is very difficult to explain to the foreign partners, who they sign fixed contracts with, that power supply has been cut off.

"Diokom" is mostly state-owned, and the attempts to privatize it have brought no results. The reasons for it are quite understandable. An interest for the premises and the location of the enterprise does exist, but not for the employees and the machinery. And that is how "Diokom", constantly worried with everyday business problems and under permanent social pressure, continues its struggle for survival, expecting assistance even from the very top of state authorities.

This example of what once used to be one of the most significant Split enterprises famous for mass employment and social care, is just one in a row of those which verify of anaemic condition of Dalmatian economy. Badly stricken by the war, partly directly devastated and partly suffering from consequences of the war, the economy of Dalmatia was interrupted in its development. Loss of market, communication isolation of the region, absence of tourism as one of the most prominent fields of economy, have begun to show, and what is even more painful for the majority of enterprises, the end of the depression is nowhere in sight.

Among the districts, the situation is with no doubt the worst in the territory of Sibenik. Before the war, the district of Sibenik out of its 100 thousand inhabitants, had 30 thousand employed workers, and this figure is nowadays reduced down to 18 thousand. Out of that number, three thousand are on leave, the so-called "waiting"-for-the-job leave, and out of the remaining number of those who are working, two thousand either do not receive their pay, or they are paid in coupons. More than 16 thousand displaced persons and refugees are living in the territory of this district, and more than 7.5 thousand unemployed have beed registered. As much as 12 thousand citizens survive only thanks to social welfare, and the retired persons from Sibenik do not fare well either, with their pensions of just 648 kunas (180 DEM) on the average.

The greatest enterprises in Sibenik are at their last breath nowadays. The question how to shut down TEF (factory of electrodes and ferrous alloys) has appeared repeatedly on the agenda, since its losses amount to about 40 million German marks. According to claims coming from the Croat Electric Company, who was charged by the Government to take care of the future of several factories, large consumers of electric power, TEF is definitely going bankrupt with defined status of all its creditors. The destiny of TLM is also uncertain, since Government aid of about a hundred million kunas has obviously not been sufficient to resolve enormous problems of this enterprise which used to be among the great ones.

The names of firms which are dealing with pronounced difficulties follow each other in a long row, and among them large trading enterprises were the first to feel the effects of unfavourable winds: "Sibenka", "Koteks", "Dalma", "Jadrantekstil"... Shelves of their department stores were emptied, and the debts piled up. Some of them tried to find a solution by renting their premises and stands to private owners, but even that does not always fulfil their expectations. The worst situation at the moment is in "Dalma" which has about a thousand workers on strike in Split Kopilica since July last year. "Dalma" is now employing about three thousand workers, and a considerable part of them are on "waiting" leave while the salaries are paid with considerable delay.

Shipbuilding in Dalmatia which was always the main shaft of economic development, is also having a hard time. The greatest problem of shipbuilding companies is not how to contract business deals, but how to find money for financing current operation. To cut a long story short, almost every municipality has at least one, and often several enterprises which are having problems to make ends meet. According to the information of the Split branch office of the Institution for Payment Operations, in January just 49 enterprises with paid their 510 employees salaries which exceeded three thousand kunas, i.e. 800 German marks. In that same month, 1150 legal entities with the total of 12,540 employees were late with paying salaries, and in about 200 illiquid enterprises, 4000 employees have not received salaries for seven or eight months.

There is no such thing as a true social program, so all workers in such enterprises cope with the situation the best they can. Most frequently they resort to grey economy and survive thanks to it while waiting for things to get better. Change for the better might come with the return of tourism, since last summer brought promising results. Tourists have started to return to Dalmatia, which is a good sign for other supporting activities too. But, a lot remains to be endured before a prosperous foreign currency harvest is reaped.

MARIO BOZIC