OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 83, 26 April 1996

ZHIRINOVSKY CELEBRATES 50TH BIRTHDAY. Well-wishers offered gifts, drank
Zhirinovsky-brand vodka, and lavishly praised Liberal Democratic Party
of Russia (LDPR) leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky on the occasion of his 50th
birthday, Russian media reported on 25 April. The North Ossetiyan branch
of the LDPR presented Zhirinovsky with a race horse. On the same day,
the LDPR hosted an "international congress of patriotic parties and
movements" in the party's State Duma offices. Members of right-wing
groups from Austria, Germany, Greece, Belarus, Ukraine, Hungary, and
Serbia discussed plans to create an international "patrintern" of
patriotic parties before adjourning to the birthday celebrations, ITAR-
TASS reported. -- Laura Belin

CZECH PREMIER'S PARTY EMBROILED IN FINANCIAL SCANDAL. Leaders of the
Civic Democratic Party (ODS) on 25 April admitted they do not know the
origin of two donations of 3.75 million crowns ($135,000) each made to
the ODS last year, Czech media reported. In the party's list of sponsors
submitted to the parliament, one amount was registered under the name of
a Hungarian who died 14 years ago and the other allegedly came from a
citizen of Mauritius. "We will obviously try to determine who this
sponsor is," Prime Minister and ODS Chairman Vaclav Klaus said. ODS
Executive Deputy Chairman Libor Novak said party officials could not
find documents about the donations, admitting that "it was possibly our
stupidity" not to have checked their origin. According to the law on
political parties, all donations of more than 100,000 crowns ($3,600)
must be declared with the real name and address of the donor. -- Steve
Kettle

HUNGARIAN UPDATE. The cabinet on 25 April approved a health care bill
that would eliminate 10,000 hospital beds this year, Hungarian media
reported. Some 15,000 health care employees would be affected. The
cabinet also opted to grant additional subsidies worth a total of 2.5
billion forints ($16.8 million) to Hungarian TV and Radio and Duna
Television to compensate for arrears in broadcasting fees and lost
revenues from unpaid subscription fees. Finally, the cabinet decided to
use loans from West European sources for highway construction in eastern
Hungary. -- Sharon Fisher

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave
Compiled by Victor Gomez


Friday, 26 April 1996
Volume 1, Issue 337


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


-----------------------------------
HUNGARY ANNOUNCES HOSPITAL CUTBACKS
-----------------------------------
  Hungarian Welfare Minister Gyorgy Szabo said yesterday the
  government will reduce the number of its hospital beds by
  10,000 this year. The government estimates that 400 doctors
  and 5,000 administrative, maintenance and support staff will
  lose their jobs.  Most nurses are likely to find new jobs, as
  there is a shortage of nursing staff. The costs of the
  reduction are estimated at four billion forint, while yearly
  savings thereafter will be 15 billion forint.



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


> ------------------------------------------------
HUNGARIAN OIL AND GAS EXPECTS PROFITABLE QUARTER
> ------------------------------------------------
  Hungary's oil and gas company MOL, which is the fifth largest
  oil company in the world, is expected to report a net profit
  for the first quarter.  This increase is despite its
  dependence on imported natural gas, on which it loses money.

  The London-based Nomura Research Institute expects MOL to post
  a profit of eight billion forint in the first quarter on
  sales of 118 billion.  However, forecasts in the second and
  third quarters are lower due to the seasonal nature of the
  business.

  Hungary imports nearly all of its natural gas from Russia.
  According to a MOL spokesman, Russian price fixing makes it
  impossible for the Hungarian company to turn a profit on
  natural gas.


---------------------------
DOLLAR PANIC WEAKENS FORINT
---------------------------
  A spate of panic dollar buying yesterday on the interbank
  market weakened the Hungarian currency, dealers said.  The
  forint ended at 147.3 to one dollar, compared with its opening
   of 146.9.  ING Bank's Attila Behan says the panic snowballed
  after dealers started selling dollars in the morning but were
  caught short in the afternoon.  He says a further weakening
  might cause the National Bank of Hungary (NBH) to intervene.


----------------------------------
HUNGARIAN BANK APPLIES FOR LISTING
----------------------------------
  Hungarian Postabank plans to apply for listing on the Budapest
  bourse. The bank's president made the announcement yesterday,
  although he gave no deadline for the plan.  Hungarian bank
  shares are among the most actively traded stocks on the
  Hungarian over-the-counter (OTC) market, but the fact that
  most of them are not bourse listed undermines their value.



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