Croatia, Slovenia Settle Nuclear Plant IssueCroatia and Slovenia on Saturday reached agreement concerning the ownership of a jointly owned nuclear plant in Krsko, Slovenia, clearing a major stumbling block to bilateral relations.Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan and his Slovenian counterpart, Janez Drnovsek, made the announcement after a meeting in the northern Adriatic city of Rijeka, saying only some technical issues remain to be settled before a final agreement could be signed on July 20. The two leaders agreed on equal ownership of the Krsko plant, joint responsibility for the nuclear waste, and the compensation of mutual claims. The joint management of the plant begins on January 1, 2002 and the plant is expected to start supplying Croatia with electricity by July 1, 2002 at the latest, they said. Headway was also made in two other major issues concerning bilateral relations. On the border issue between the two former Yugoslav republics, the two leaders agreed that another meeting on the matter should be held in two to three weeks after additional consultations with experts from both states. They decided to resolve the debt problem in negotiations on asset distribution of the former Yugoslavia and in bilateral talks on improving economic and financial relations. Slovenia's Ljubljanska Banka owes a debt to Croatian depositors. |
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