N E W S L E T T E R

from the Daily Bulletin of the Hungarian News Agency MTI
distributed by the Department for Press and International Information
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Hungary

H-1394, Budapest P.O.B. 423.
Telephone: 36 (1) 156-8000
Telefax: 36 (1) 156-3801
No. 166                                  05 September 1995


Esztergom-Sturovo Danube Bridge to Be Rebuilt

        Budapest, September 4 (MTI) - There appear to be no more
obstacles in
the way of
reconstructing the Maria Valeria bridge, which spans the River Danube
between
Esztergom in Hungary
and Sturovo in Slovakia. An international document on the project will
be signed
in the two towns on
September 28.

        Hungarian and Slovak experts on the committee preparing the
construction
work recently agreed
that the bridge should be open to cars, buses, small lorries, cyclists
and
pedestrians for 24 hours a day.
The passport and customs checkpoints will be on the Slovak side.

        The agreement on rebuilding the bridge was made by the
Hungarian and
Slovak prime ministers
in the middle of July, following the Hungarian-Austrian-Slovak prime
ministerial
meeting. Subsequently,
the Hungarian and Slovak transport ministers discussed the matter, and
a
committee of experts was set
up.

        The European Union said recently that it was ready to provide
50 or
possibly 60 per cent of the
HUF 1.6 billion needed to finance the project, in the form of aid.
Hungarian and
Slovak experts will
soon present the EU with a study on the international importance of
the venture.

        Experts have also agreed that the Hungarian and Slovak
transport
ministries will each contribute
HUF 300 million to the cost of construction. To support the project,
money-raising campaigns have been
organized in Hungary and abroad with the help of voluntary
organizations.

        The Maria Valeria bridge is the only bridge across the Danube
that has
not been rebuilt, 50
years after the end of the Second World War. After this year's
preparations, its
reconstruction will  begin
next year and finish in 1997. The 100-year-old bridge was blown up by
the
retreating German army in
1944.

Tourism Balance Improves

        Budapest, September 4 (MTI) - The tourism balance of the
National Bank
of Hungary showed a
surplus of USD 34.4 million at the end of June, the first time it has
been in
the black this year.

        In the first half of the year, revenues from tourism amounted
to USD 671.
8 million, 24 per cent
up on the same period of last year. Expenditures were USD 637.4
million
(financing personal purchases
of foreign currency for tourism), an increase of 62 per cent over last
year.
However, this striking growth
originated in the first quarter, when USD 411 million were sold during
a rush to
buy foreign currency
for tourism purposes. This was three times the figure for the first
three months
of last year.

        At the end of June 1994, the tourism surplus was USD 145.7
million,
resulting from revenues
of USD 539.7 million and expenditure of USD 394 million. With revenue
rising
fast and expenditures
already falling, the tourist trade is expected to have produced a
healthy
surplus by the end of the year.

Hungarian Privatization Minister Meets the Press

        Budapest, September 4 (MTI) - "Foreign investors are showing
increasing
interest in Hungary,"
Tamas Suchmann, Minister without Portfolio in charge of privatization,
told a
news conference in
Budapest on Monday.

        Talking about the six months which have elapsed since he took
office,
the minister said that
under his guidance the legal conditions for accelerating privatization
had been
created and an effective
organization, the Hungarian Privatization and State Holding Company
(HPSHC), had
been established.

        Suchmann stressed his belief that the crisis of the ruling
coalition
would not influence the aims
and timetable of privatization, although political instability could
reduce the
interest of investors.

        So far this year, revenues of about HUF 50 billion have come
from
privatization, with a further
HUF 100 billion expected by the end of the year, the minister said.

        He pointed out that the last six months have also seen the
creation of
legislation needed to
launch the privatization of firms of strategic importance. The foreign
capital
market has responded
vigorously to the privatization of the electricity and gas supply
companies,
with 180 enterprises inquiring
about assets worth some HUF 100 billion, Suchmann said.

        HPSHC director Bela Kunszler reported that when the tender
privatizing
the Hungarian
Elecricity Works was announced investors from several Western European
countries,
 mainly Austria,
Germany, France and Britain, as well as from North America, said they
were
interested. As for the
privatization of gas supply companies, there is considerable interest
in the
United States, Germany,
Britain, France, Italy and Austria, Kunszler said.

Schroder-Horn Meeting

        Budapest, September 4 (MTI) - "The social security of workers
must be
kept in view throughout
the privatisation of the energy sector - this was what Prime Minister
Gyula Horn
and Privatisation
Minister Tamas Suchman stressed most during our talks," said Gerhard
Schroder,
minister-president of
Lower Saxony, in summing up Monday's high-level talks in an interview
given to
MTI before his
departure.

        During the discussion, the two sides reviewed the economic
links of
Hungary and Lower Saxony
and agreed to prepare a list of concrete projects by next March.

        Lower Saxon firms mainly want to take part in privatising the
energy
sector in Hungary, e.g.
Preussen Electra AG. is interested in buying some part of the
electricity sector.
 The talks also mentioned
duties of future owners like staff re-training.

PM's Speach in Parliament

        Budapest, September 4 (MTI) - Monday's meeting of Hungarian
Parliament,
the first workday
of the autumn session, began with Prime Minister Gyula Horn's
pre-business
contribution.

        Also present was President Arpad Goncz.

        First the prime minister gave his view on the dispute between
the two
government coalition
partners, the Hungarian Socialist Party (HSP) and the Alliance of Free
Democrats
(AFD).

        Horn said he had consciously started a debate to help settle
problems in
the coalition. The two
parties' negotiations, which will be resumed on Tuesday, are for this.
The
Socialist parliamentary group
is determined to reach a decision on all the open issues within a
limited period
of time, the prime
minister said, adding he was for agreement.

        Positive effects of the austerity measures are becoming
apparent:
financial decline has slowed
and some results have been achieved which may enable economic growth,
Horn said.

        Hungary is still the most favoured investment target in the
region. This
year the monthly
average investment has been USD 200 million, partly in corporate
loans.

        The prime minister stressed there was need for sensible
dialogue between
the government, the
coalition and the opposition. This is the reason why he held talks
with the
opposition parties in the
summer, he explained. The government also has to maintain a dialogue
with the
trade unions, workers,
churches, and non-political groups, he added.

        The prime minister said Hungary - after the French-German
model - is
striving to reach a
historic reconciliation with Romania.

        Hungary's relations with Slovakia are developing well, Horn
continued.
He said he had found
Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar is "a man who keeps his word". (Loudly
disputed
by the opposition.)

        Thanks to help from Meciar, the Hungarian region of Szigetkoz
now gets
enough water from the
Danube (diverted by the Slovaks to supply the Gabcikovo power plant)
to restore
its ecology.

        This week expert talks will begin on the other issues related
to the
Gabcikovo hydroelectric
plant in the hope that the two countries ill be able to agree
alongside
proceedings now at The Hague.

        The prime minister assured MPs that the government would sign
no accord
with Slovakia
without approval from Parliament.

        Horn said his talks with Slovak counterpart last week touched
on the
Slovak language law and
the building of the Sturovo-Esztergom Danube bridge. The government is
not
forgetting Hungarians
living in Slovakia - the improvement of the two countries' relations
will also
serve their interests, the
prime minister said.

State Secretary on Alleged NATO View

        Budapest, September 4 (MTI) - The Hungarian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs
has no knowledge of
any official or coordinated view held by the NATO countries'
ambassadors to
Hungary regarding the
dispute in the Hungarian government coalition, said Istvan
Szent-Ivanyi,
parliamentary state secretary for
foreign affairs, in an interview with MTI on Monday.

Mentioning an article published in the weekly "Szines Vasarnap"
(Colour Sunday)
and a Hungarian
Radio report on it, that NATO ambassadors in Hungary would do their
best to help
maintain the
Socialist-Free-Democrat coalition, Szent-Ivanyi said one opinion
cannot be
regarded as interference in
Hungary's home affairs.

        The state secretary said that he believed there were no
grounds for
questioning anybody. Every
ambassador follows what goes on in the country where he is on duty and
they have
the right to form a
personal view of events. No improper pressure had been applied by NATO
ambassadors, he said. Gyorgy
Giczy, chairman of the opposition Christian Democratic People's Party,
overstated the case by calling for
an investigation, the state secretary claimed.

State Secretary of Foreign Affairs Visits South Africa

        Pretoria, September 4 (MTI) - Ferenc Somogyi, administrative
state
secretary at the Hungarian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, recently visited the Republic of South
Africa. He
had talks, among others,
with Rusty Evars, chief director at the South African Ministry of
Foreign
Affairs, and with the heads of
the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Tourism.

        Talks centered on developing economic relations, and ways to
involve
South African capital in
Hungarian privatisation.

        Somogyi had a discussion with the deputy speaker of the South
African
parliament, the Foreign
Affairs Committee, and representatives of major business groups of
South Africa.

        During Somogyi's stay in Pretoria, it was announced that the
Johannesburg-based Anglo
American Corporation has become an investor in Hungary by purchasing a
paper
mill at Szolnok.

        Somogyi has travelled on to Lagos.

N E W S L E T T E R

from the Daily Bulletin of the Hungarian News Agency MTI
distributed by the Department for Press and International Information
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Hungary

H-1394, Budapest P.O.B. 423.
Telephone: 36 (1) 156-8000
Telefax: 36 (1) 156-3801
No. 167                                         07 September 1995.


   Finance Ministry's Medium-Term Economic Strategy

        Budapest, September 6 (MTI) - The principal aim of the
government's
economic programme
is economic growth at a rate that is sustainable and can be financed
steadily
and without risk, said
deputy state secretary Tamas Tetenyi at a press briefing here today.

        A blueprint sketching a medium-term economic strategy,
accepted by the
government as a
discussion document, was presented to newsmen today.

        It was always the aim of the Finance Ministry to promote
economic growth,
 he stressed.
However, a prerequisite of this is that the economy should be
stabilized and the
increase in foreign
debt should be halted.

        According to the strategy, the net debt servicing of Hungary
will
increase to USD 21.5
billion this year, but will not exceed USD 21 billion in 1997 and
1998.

        The strategy places the main emphasis on stopping the internal
indebtedness of public
finances. A reform of this sector will be absolutely necessary to
achieve this
goal.

        A transfer of income from individuals to the business sector,
already
begun this year, is also
indispensable for carrying out the strategy successfully.


French Nuclear Tests - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

        Budapest, September 6 (MTI) - The Hungarian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs
on Wednesday
expressed in a statement its position on the resumption of French
nuclear
testing:

        "Hungary is an internationally acknowledged, steady advocate
of the
cause of non-
proliferation and the overall banning of nuclear testing.

        "On the basis of this conceptual position, it was with great
sorrow that
we learned of
France's renewal of nuclear testing, which could hinder the
maintenance of
international agreements
and the elaboration of new ones.

        "We hope that this kind of testing will soon end, and the
Geneva talks
aimed at an overall
Non-Proliferation Treaty will be achieved in the shortest possible
period.

        "Accordingly, we welcome France's readiness to sign a future
treaty
completely banning
nuclear testing."


Vietnamese Parliamentary Delegation in Hungary

        Budapest, September 6 (MTI) - Speaker of Hungarian Parliament
Zoltan Gal
on Wednesday
received a delegation of the Vietnamese national assembly headed by
Vice-Chairman Phung Van Tuu
on its official visit to Hungary.

        According to the press department of Parliament, the two
politicians
agreed their countries
could build on their traditionally good relations in the future, and
mold them
into a new type of
mutually advantageous cooperation.

        XXX

        Attila Karoly Soos, state secretary at the Hungarian Ministry
of
Industry and Trade, met the
Vietnamese delegates on Wednesday.

        The two sides stated their satisfaction that bilateral trade
will
expectedly total USD 40 million
this year, as against USD 1.5 million in 1991.

        Seventy per cent of Hungarian exports are medicines and
pharmaceutical
appliances, and 30
per cent are industrial and consumer goods. Fifty per cent of imports
are
textile and textile garment
products, with the other half comprising agricultural products,
primarily rice.

        The negotiations also touched on Vietnam's 280-million-rouble
debt to
Hungary, which had
accumulated until 1991. Discussions on repayment of this will begin
soon.
Vietnam is most likely to
repay its debt with goods.


Talks on Gabcikovo Barrage Begin

        Bratislava, September 6 (MTI) - The talks held in Bratislava
on
Wednesday on the
hydroelectric plant of Gabcikovo were aimed at settling the dispute
between
Hungary and Slovakia
without help from the International Court of The Hague, said Slovak
State
Secretary of Foreign
Affairs Jozef Sestak after the first round of talks.

        Negotiations will continue at a political level, but both
delegations
will request experts to
state their views on the debated issues, said Sestak.

        The renewal of talks is the result of discussions held by
prime
ministers Vladimir Meciar of
Slovakia and Gyula Horn of Hungary in Budapest in January, and in the
High
Tatras at the end of
August.

        Gabor Gobolyos, head of the Hungarian delegation and foreign
affairs
adviser to Horn, said
in answer to journalists that the resumption of talks was not the
victory of a
Hungarian water
management or technical lobby, but that of common sense.

        As the problem has many substantial and complex sub-issues,
the partial
results of the
negotiations will not be published, he added.

        Sestak underlined that the beginning of the talks will not
change the
international legal
standing of either side. "In the event we cannot come to terms, the
lawsuit will
be carried out as if
nothing had occurred," Sestak added.


N E W S L E T T E R

from the Daily Bulletin of the Hungarian News Agency MTI
distributed by the Department for Press and International Information
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Hungary

H-1394, Budapest P.O.B. 423.
Telephone: 36 (1) 156-8000
Telefax: 36 (1) 156-3801
No. 168                                           08 September 95

Women's World Conference - Hungarian Contribution

        Beijing, September 7 (MTI) - Without the equality of women
there is no
democracy or social
justice. However, from legal equality a long way leads to a point
where women
are not discriminated
against, said Hungarian Minister of Labour Magda Kovacs Kosa, head of
the
Hungarian delegation, in a
speech at the Women's Fourth World Conference, in Beijing today.

        Hungary highly appreciates the projects with which the
European Union,
the World Bank and
the International Labour Organization have striven to reduce
inequalities and
develop human resources.

        She said Hungary owes thanks for the support that she has
received in
promoting vocational
training of women and reducing female unemployment.

Press Briefing on Cabinet Meeting

        Budapest, September 7 (MTI) - On first reading, the government
approved
the 1996 draft
budget, announced Elemer Kiss, state secretary at the Prime Minister's
Office,
at a press conference held
after Thursday's cabinet meeting.

        The draft proposes a budget deficit of HUF 120.8 billion: HUF
2053.2
billion spending and
HUF 1825.4 billion income. This does not include debt repayment costs.
This will
enable the state
finances to meet the prime criteria to keep the budget deficit, not
counting
privatisation incomes, below 4
per cent of GDP. The draft will be shortly discussed in the Interest
Coordination Council and is expected
to be finalised by the government on September 28, so that it can be
passed on
to Parliament before the
end of the month.

        One of the priorities of the budget policy is to significantly
reduce
the state finances' central re-
distribution function, and to set strict limits to growth in costs.
This will be
ensured by the launching of
the state finances reform. Next year's budget aims at promoting
economic growth.
Resources for
investment in infrastucture will increase considerably.

        The government approved the foreign exchange bill which will
be put to
Parliament on Friday.
The views of the International Monetary Fund and the Organisation for
Economic
Cooperation and
Development (OECD) have been taken into consideration by the makers of
the
document. The
modifications have affected the wording of the text, but not its
principles.
According to the draft, in the
future the only foreign exchange authority will be the central bank -
the
Ministry of Finance's previous
foreign exchange authority will cease. Foreign exchange transactions
will be
easier for business people as
well as for individuals. It was a major aspect held in view when the
draft was
prepared that the
liberalisation of foreign exchange management is a basic criterion for
membership of some international
organisations, e.g. in the OECD. The proposal would allow Hungarians
to buy
convertible currency and
their obligation to keep it on account would end. But the government
will keep
the power to set a
maximum foreign exchange allowance for citizens.

        If Parliament approves the foreign exchange bill, Hungarian
tourists
will be able to transfer
abroad foreign currencies for services carried out by foreign firms,
from forint
accounts in Hungary.
Access to foreign currencies will be broadened. Firms will not have to
offer
their foreign currency for
sale but will still have to transfer them to Hungary. Foreigners will
not need
foreign exchange permits in
future to buy residential property. Foreigners working legally in
Hungary will
be allowed to exchange
for convertible currency, or to transfer abroad, some of their
incomes, as well
as their already exchanged
unspent forints.

        Kiss announced that the government will submit a bill to
revise the
penal code, excluding torture
and inhuman treatment. It excludes, or limits, the employment of some
enforcement actions against
women, juveniles, and compulsorily treated patients.

        The cabinet discussed Siemens's and Bayerische Landesbank's
offer to
produce medical
appliances and technical equipment in Hungary. The proposal was handed
to Prime
Minister Gyula Horn
during his visit to Germany last December. On the basis of ministry
reports, the
cabinet decided to turn
down the proposal.

        The government will sign an agreement to exchange trainee
clerks with
the Swiss Federal
Council. Every year 100 Hungarians between 18 and 30 will have the
chance to
develop job and
language skills by working in Switzerland. The only condition for this
is that
the applicants should have
some kind of professional qualification.


        Hungarian-Danish Talks

        Budapest, September 7 (MTI) - Europe needs to be united and
secure, said
Danish Economic
Minister Marianne Jelved in talks with Hungarian Parliament Speaker
Zoltan Gal,
in Budapest on
Thursday.

        The Danish politician confirmed that Denmark supports
Hungary's
admission to the European
Union (EU). She said the North European states all held the view that
it was
essential to enlarge the
Union. This can be expected around 2000, she added.

        The Danish guest stated the view that Hungary had the best
chances for
joining the EU as the
idea of reform appeared in Hungarian public life already in 1968.
However, she
underlined that Hungary
must carry through its stabilisation programme first.

        Gal said there was a solid political will in Hungary to carry
out the
stabilisation programme and
that all parliamentary parties were advocates of integration into
mainstream
Europe. Legislative work in
the autumn session of Parliament has started and will continue with
the economy
continually in view,
said Gal.

Hungarian-French Talks

        Budapest, September 7 (MTI) - France is open towards expanding
the
European Union (EU).
Paris is not hindering but promoting the process, parliamentary State
Secretary
of Agriculture Zoltan Kis
told MTI after talks with Pierre Lepetit, deputy secretary-general of
the French
Inter-Ministerial
Commmittee on European Cooperation Affairs, in Budapest on Thursday.

        Kis said the talks were a success. An agreement was reached
that
hungarian agriculturalists
working in the state administration would receive professional
training in
France.


OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 177, 12 September 1995

CEFTA SUMMIT AGREES ON EXPANSION AND REDUCTION OF TARIFFS . . . The
prime ministers of the four countries of the Central European Free Trade
Agreement (Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary), meeting
in Brno on 11 September, agreed to further liberalize trade between
their countries and to expand the membership of CEFTA, Czech and
international media reported. Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus said all
four members agreed on the admission soon of Slovenia and on opening the
door also to Romania, Bulgaria, and the Baltic States. The prime
ministers of Slovenia, Romania, and Bulgaria as well as the Lithuanian
foreign minister attended the summit. The CEFTA members agreed to cut
back the list of so-called "sensitive items" in industrial and
agricultural trade that are still protected. They also mandated Czech
officials to prepare plans for liberalization of trade in services and
authorized Poland to take the same steps for financial transactions. But
Czech ministers rejected a Slovak proposal to create a permanent CEFTA
Secretariat in Bratislava. -- Steve Kettle, OMRI, Inc.

HUNGARY TO RECEIVE LOAN. The Hungarian National Bank on 11 September
signed an accord with an international bank consortium granting it a
$200 million loan with a five-year maturity, international media
reported. Experts said the HNB was granted better conditions than in the
case of previous loans owing to the country's improving image on
international financial markets. Hungary's foreign debts have been
restructured so that only 75% of its total debt obligations currently
fall on the state, HNB Vice President Frigyes Harshegyi said. According
to Harshegyi, Hungary's current account deficit will remain below $3
billion in 1995. -- Zsofia Szilagyi, OMRI, Inc.

ETHNIC HUNGARIANS PROTEST ROMANIAN EDUCATION LAW. Members of the
Federation of Hungarian Democratic Youth of Romania--a component member
of the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR)--left on
bicycles for Strasbourg on 8 September to protest to the European
Council against Romania's new controversial education law, Radio
Bucharest announced the same day. Reuters on 11 September reported that
the group was received that day at the Hungarian parliament. The UDMR on
8 September organized a meeting to protest the law in the Transylvanian
town of Miercurea Ciuc. Local UDMR branch leader Erno Borbely said that
although there will be no boycott of the opening of the new school year,
the UDMR will initiate other protests. -- Michael Shafir, OMRI, Inc.


[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave


Tuesday, 12 September 1995
Volume 2, Issue 176


REGIONAL NEWS
-------------

**INVITATION FOR EU HOPEFULS**
  An influential European Union commissioner is calling for east
  European countries who want to join the EU to be given some
  say next year when the organization maps out its future.  In a
  speech in Berlin yesterday, Sir Leon Brittan said he wants
  countries like Poland and Hungary to sit in during the EU's
  1996 inter-governmental conference.  Brittan also thinks they
  should be given a non-voting role as conference observers. The
  conference is expected to begin next spring.  It's a review of
  EU treaties and institutions, designed in part to prepare the
  EU for an influx of new members over the next 10 years.
  Brittan said formal talks on membership should begin
  immediately after the conference negotiations have finished.
  Although the conference is open-ended, few EU leaders want it
  to go on for more than a year.  It's expected to conclude
  toward the middle or end of 1997.


**PEDDLING IN PROTEST**
  Ten young ethnic Hungarian Romanians are riding their bicycles
  to Strasbourg to protest Romania's new education bill.  They
  left Cluj in Transylvania on Friday evening.  They plan to
  present the European Parliament in Strasbourg with their
  objections to the new law which they say restricts their right
  to education in their mother tongue and attempts to assimilate
  Romania's Hungarian minority.  The cyclists arrived in
  Budapest yesterday on the first stage of their journey.  The
  group of hardy young men are back in the sale again today with
  a long road still ahead of them.  They'll have crossed several
  mountain ranges and passed through six countries by the time
  they arrive in Strasbourg.  The cyclists are carrying a copy
  of a petition, signed by nearly 500,000 people, demanding
  amendments to the education law which was passed in June by
  the Romanian Parliament.  They say the law aims to wipe out
  education in the Hungarian language and want to have
  guarantees of their right to an education in their mother
  tongue written into it.  The group is being joined along the
  road by supporters from Hungary and Slovakia.  A similar bill
  there threatens to make Slovak the only official state
  language and erode Hungarian language schooling. --Lucy
  Hooker



BUSINESS NEWS
-------------

**OUT OF THE CABINET AND INTO THE BOARDROOM**
  The Hungarian privatization agency has named controversial
  former Trade and Industry Minister Laszlo Pal to head the state
  oil company MOL.  Pal is now a Socialist member of parliament.
  Pal's appointment could cause an uproar since he was fired by
  Prime Minister Gyula Horn earlier this year for opposing rapid
  privatization of energy companies like MOL.  In fact, Pal's
  appointment comes just as Hungary is getting ready to sell 25
  percent of the company.  The government's junior coalition
  partner, the Alliance of Free Democrats, isn't happy with the
  appointment for a different reason.  The Free Democrats say it
  sends the wrong message because conflict of interest
  legislation now under consideration in parliament would ban
  MPs from heading state run companies.  But APV spokesman Adam
  Dudits insists Pal will carry out the government's
  privatization plans, calling him an internationally respected,
  dynamic expert. --David Fink


**SAMSONITE UNPACKS IN HUNGARY**
  Hungary's Samsonite Hungaria, the fully-owned subsidiary of
  Belgium-based luggage maker Samsonite Europe, said it's opened
  an enlarged factory in Szekszard, about 90 miles south of
  Budapest.  Samsonite Hungaria has invested almost $2 million
  in its building in Szekszard and about $150,000 in machinery
  which was needed for the expansion.  Samsonite said it's
  increased its production and warehouse space by 20 percent.
  Right now, Samsonite's Szekszard plant is producing 22 percent
  of the softside products distributed in Europe.


**SLOVENIA JOINS THE CLUB**
  The Central European Free Trade Area, or CEFTA, has agreed to
  admit Slovenia.  The four CEFTA members: Poland, Hungary, the
  Czech Republic and Slovakia held a one day summit yesterday in
  the Czech city of Brno.  A final statement signed by the
  leaders of all the CEFTA nations said Slovenia will be
  admitted by the end of this year.  Still, all is not well with
  the trading bloc.  Prime ministers from the four CEFTA member
  nations attended the meeting.  Among them: Poland's Jozef
  Oleksy.  Oleksy isn't happy with CEFTA.  He said there are
  still too many trade barriers within it.  Oleksy said Poland's
  CEFTA partners account for just 5 percent of its total foreign
  trade.  Oleksy also said more needs to be done to knock down
  protectionist barriers in agriculture.  Hungary is also
  unhappy with CEFTA.  Budapest ran a $113 million deficit with
  the trading bloc during the first half of this year and a $330
  million deficit for all of last year.  Yesterday's meeting was
  called to discuss these problems and to determine how duties
  on most industrial goods and some agricultural products can be
  lifted by 1997.  Also on the agenda: adding new members.
  Slovenia is expected to join by the beginning of next year.
  --Robert Gray



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