THE AIR ONLY FOR HDZ

AIM ZAGREB, 15 February, 1997

Considering all that had happened with radio stations in Croatia in the last five years and the time it took for the Law on Telecommunications to be adopted, it can be easily said that the ruling party knew very well how to use the time it gained by not adopting and persistently postponing the adoption of this Law. Everything unwelcome, liberal, uncommitted, and what is more, any personnel from the opposition parties - was in the course of these five years systematically removed and thrown out from the radio, both state and local. Those stations that could not be disciplined, i.e. reduced to mere servants of the HDZ clique, were destroyed by the application of the Law on Telecommunications which was, with many objections, adopted in 1995 at the session of the District Chamber of the RH Assembly, attended only by the HDZ representatives.

Immediately after the adoption of the Law, Miroslav Beluzic, the newly appointed State Inspector for Telecommunications, started his tour of Croatia, visiting, punishing and closing down radio stations. Obviously aware of the liberty vested upon him by the Law on Telecommunications, Beluzic did not shrink from climbing transmitters and seizing their equipment so that after that a slogan spread through radio stations that no radio remained in Beluzic's wake.

Probably the most remarkable Beluzic's climbing was the one in Varazdin, where he cancelled the North-West Radio whose co-owner was the leader of the Croatian National Party, Radimir Cacic. Beluzic did not mind that the competition for the allocation of frequencies for the city of Varazdin was still in progress at that time, and that the decision of the Council for Telecommunications on the allocation of frequencies was yet to be brought. Later on, it turned out that Beluzic moved ahead of the Council's decision - the concession was anyway given to Radio 042 whose owners are the outstanding HDZ members in the District of Varazdin.

Still, the ugliest instances with local radio stations in Croatia happened during transformation. According to the provisions of the Law on Telecommunications, each radio station which applies for the competition for a concession, irrespective of the level - municipal, district or state - either for a profitable or unprofitable programme, has to submit documentation proving its ownership structure. The Law does not allow any person - either legal or physical - to own over 25 percent of shares in the radio, i.e. at least four persons are necessary for the establishment of a radio station.

The infamous Croatian model of privatization (or transformation, depending on the case) did not bypass radio stations. The greatest and the longest lasting dispute was the one with the Home Radio (Domovinski radio) in Delnice. In addition to changing its name several times, this radio also changed its ownership structure, until the time one Mario Mihaljevic, under the protection of Tomislav Mercep, barged into the radio station and with his team took over the whole equipment and continued broadcasting the programme as if nothing had happened. The strikes and dismissals that ensued after this, as well as the still unclarified transformation, have ended up before the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia, while the denouement is expected only after the pending local elections in Croatia.

In December last year the HRT Karlovac was granted a concession at the district level, but the municipal deputies objected that it meant the depriving of the city of the radio it had established, and not the district. Nevertheless, the decision was not altered, and later on the papers published an information on the suspension of the municipal concession because as it was expected that Miroslav Kutle, a famous Croatian tycoon and owner of the "Slobodna Dalmacija", as well as twenty other firms would acquire the equipment and start broadcasting the programme. According to the available information, that would be Kutle's sixth station. True, with the distribution of radio stations he owns, Kutle has already violated the Law on Telecommunications, but good relations with the state top (HDZ) are protecting him from sanctions.

A major stain upon Croatia's reputation in the world was cast by the closing down of the Radio Labin Art Express (LAE). Behind this plot was again the mentioned inspector Beluzic and, as it turned out later, the only ones to benefit from this were the HDZ members from Labin and its surroundings. The concession withdrawn from the Radio LAE was allocated to the enterprise "FFI Commerce", and after a break into the flat of the father of Dean Zahtila, one of the founders and co-owners of the Radio LAE, the police investigation determined that the burglary was organized by the Director of "FFI Commerce". The person in question was never criminally prosecuted.

Beluzic and his accompanying team also took away parts of the Vinkovac Radio VFM transmitter, in the value of approximately DM 15,000. The explanation offered by Beluzic was that the radio was involved in economic crime! When subsequently informed of these events, Zeljko Luzavec, Minister of the Navy, Transport and Communications stated that "he had nothing to do with this affair", i.e. that the man who, on behalf of his Ministry, was taking down transmitters, was obviously not answerable to him.

During the war conflicts in Lika, the Ministry of Defence took over the patronage of the radio station Otocac, increased its audibility and improved the quality of its programme, which was followed by the settlement of ownership relations and ended up with bankruptcy. What is most interesting is that this radio was granted a permission to place its transmitter on Mt.Um which at that time belonged to the Republic of Serbian Krajina! After the operation "Storm" the transmitter was mounted on the envisaged location, while Assistant Minister Dominik Filipovic promised Radio Otocac a district concession.

In the meantime, President Tudjman visited Gospic and in his speech emphasized that this town was to become the center of economic and political power, which the Council for Telecommunications first showed by allocating a district concession to Radio Gospic. As a consolation, Radio Otocac was granted a concession for "the greater city area", but even this could not prevent a schism within the HDZ and a conflict between Otocac and Gospic. It was later found out that this was all done with the aim of silencing the Mayor of Otocac Drazen Bobinac, who is not much loved in his party (HDZ) as he does not observe party discipline.

As for Radio Samobor the story is that it had to compete against itself for a concession. At the time of the allocation of concessions, Radio Samobor operated within the then Information Center, but was denied a concession. It was granted to the enterprise "Sezna", the co-owner of which is Boris Lackovic, the Director of Information Center which also applied for a concession, but did not get it. From that time the opposition could not get on the Samobor air, and the greatest credit for such unravelling of the situation should go to the Samobor Mayor Ivan Bedenicic, a man whom the Croatian President holds in high esteem, but who became famous in the Croatian public for his meaningless explanation of the reasons for the withdrawal of concession from "Radio 101".

For the time being "Radio 101" has a concession, but is now waiting to sign the contract (the procedure envisaged by the Law). Its temporary licence, i.e. the deadline for the signing of the concessionary contract expires in October

1. "Well placed sources" claim that the "101" will not get the contract signed by that time, but that this is only a continuation of this radio's agony aimed at pacifying the electorate until the district and presidential elections, which are scheduled for March i.e. August this year, are over. Everybody agrees on one thing - "Radio 101" came under fire after the former radio management was relieved of duty (composed mostly of Herzegovanians who destroyed the programme, equipment and the staff), and after Stjepan Tudjman, President's younger son was rejected as a co-owner in the course of transformation.

Where the son failed to get a free radio station, the nephew managed to get two. Darko Tudjman, President's nephew is the owner of "Radio Eurostar" in Buje and "Radio Krugoval" 90.3 in Umag. Naturally, the Law on Telecommunications prohibits the ownership of radio stations in the neighbouring territorial units, but despite all public confessions of the President's nephew, who did not hesitate to admit that he managed to get around the Law, no one did anything, Beluzic least of all, although it was his duty.

In Rovinj, the concessionaire is the father of Toni and Matteo Cetinski, Mirko Cetinski. Still, the fact that his sons are entertainers did not get him the concession, but rather the fact that his wife Vinka is in the Ministry of Tourism. In contrast to this (clear) situation, it seems that there is no end to the cloning of the "Radio Velika Gorica" on the district "Family Radio", the city (Zagreb) "Radio Plavi 9", as well as the state "Radio Kravata". Naturally, "Radio Velika Gorica" is still in operation, which is to say that in only one year, one (HDZ) radio produced another three, but judging by the approved frequency, much more important radio stations. The Council for Telecommunications, which knows full well who are the owners of these four radios, did not take this into account when allocating concessions.

In the infinite series of radio cases, one should recall Tudjman's mention of the Osijek "Radio Baranja", after which the local hoodlums took charge of things and on the new year's eve beat up the editorial staff of this station. And, again, no one reacted to the fact that all this was done at Tudjman's hint.

The problem of radio stations, the one party composition of the Council for Telecommunications (out of nine members seven are from the HDZ), its incompetence, as well as the restrictiveness of the Law on Telecommunications should have their epilogue in the Assembly where a group of citizens has launched a debate on these problems. However, it is very hard to forecast whether the debate and conclusions will be successful and useful. The HDZ, whose deputies are the ones who made all this possible, still has the main say in the Assembly.

MILIVOJ DjILAS