The blockades of major highways and bridges have continued, with no permanent agreement reached with the Serbian government. Even though some media suggested that some of the blockades were lifted on Friday, the latest reports indicate that most of the roadblocks are still in place, at least on the Belgrade-Zagreb highway and the Sabac bridge over the Sava river.

The first protest is against the slow privatisation procedure of the Erdevik company, which is still not completed. As long as the sale of the company is stalled, its employees cannot rely on improvement of their financial condition, as wages have not been disbursed over the last couple of months.

The other protest is of tobacco producers, which demand payment for last year’s crops. According to their estimations, the government has to pay out approximately YUD 64mn (EUR 1mn) for delivered raw tobacco in 2002.

Negotiations between the protestors and government representatives are likely to resume today.

(IntelliNews 11.viii.03)