No. 228, 27 November 1992

SUCCESSOR STATES TO THE USSR

HEADS ROLL IN RUSSIAN CABINET. Russian Deputy Prime Minister
Mikhail Poltoranin has resigned, as he said, "in order to protect
the president from mounting attacks from an opposition bent on
revenge," ITAR-TASS reported on 25 November. Russian President
Boris Yeltsin also abolished the position of State Secretary,
and named Gennadii Burbulis, who had held that position, to head
a newly created group of presidential advisers, ITAR-TASS reported
on 26 November. Poltoranin told Ekho Moskvy on that day that
Yeltsin is also thinking about replacing Foreign Minister Andrei
Kozyrev; however, ITAR-TASS reported that Kozyrev denied on the
same day that he was going to resign. The resignations of Poltoranin,
Burbulis and Kozyrev, the most radical-reformist politicians
in Russia, has been demanded by the centrist Civic Union as a
condition for its supporting Yeltsin at the upcoming Congress
of People's Deputies. (Alexander Rahr)

CIVIC UNION REVERSES POSITION, DROPS SUPPORT FOR GAIDAR. While
President Yeltsin was meeting Civic Union demands for changes
in the cabinet, the Civic Union suddenly departed from an accord
reached earlier with Acting Prime Minister Egor Gaidar, saying
that it will not back the government's economic program, ITAR-TASS
stated on 26-November. The leader of the Civic Union, Arkadii
Volsky, complained that the program which Gaidar presented to
the parliament was not identical to the program worked out by
the government and the Civic Union previously. Gaidar made clear
that the government had adopted "the most practical points" made
by the Civic Union, but would not compromise on several other
points. (Alexander Rahr)

GAIDAR PRESENTS ANTI-CRISIS PROGRAM. The economic program Gaidar
presented to parliament shows little evidence of compromise with
the more conservative economic policies of the Civic Union. Although
promising additional limited support to industry, Gaidar stressed
that the government would not accede to key aspects of the industrialists'
positions: wage and price freezes, centralized state allocation
of important commodities, more expansionary fiscal and monetary
policies, and fixing the ruble at an artificially high rate of
exchange with foreign currencies. Gaidar was more vague concerning
what support the government was willing grant to industry, but
it included tax incentives, long-term credit for investment,
and measures to promote exports as well as some limited subsidies
to critically troubled enterprises, according to Russian and
Western news sources. (Erik Whitlock)

RUTSKOI, KHASBULATOV MANEUVER FOR POWER ON EVE OF CONGRESS. Vice
President Aleksandr Rutskoi said that a power struggle within
the Yeltsin administration has hindered reform, according to
Interfax on 25 November. He stressed that Russia needed a "normal
team that would not struggle to [gain] influence with the president
but would be busy with real deeds." Rutskoi claimed that the
Civic Union is the "only political force that can ensure transformations
necessary to society." Meanwhile, parliamentary speaker Ruslan
Khasbulatov told President Yeltsin that he could ensure Congress'
support for reform if Yeltsin grants him more power. Khasbulatov
indicated that he wants to be included in the Security Council,
Izvestiya reported on 26-November.(Alexander Rahr)

YELTSIN, BURBULIS, CONSERVATIVES REACT TO CHANGES. President
Yeltsin said that the government changes so far have been done
according to plan and not under pressure from conservative forces,
ITAR-TASS reported on 26 November. Gennadii Burbulis told Ekaterinburg
TV on the same day that he will continue to support Yeltsin in
his efforts to eliminate the totalitarian thinking still present
in Russia. Conservatives were dissatisfied with Yeltsin's shift
of Burbulis from the position of State Secretary to that of head
of Yeltsin's advisory council. The leader of the Christian Democrats,
Viktor Aksyuchits, called the move "more of Yeltsin's intrigues."
The head of the banned National Salvation Front, Ilya Konstantinov,
said the move was "insufficient." (Alexander Rahr)

MALASHENKO APPOINTED ACTING HEAD OF OSTANKINO. Egor Yakovlev's
first deputy at the Ostankino Radio and TV Broadcasting Company,
Igor Malashenko, has been appointed acting chairman of the company
following Yakovlev's dismissal, ITAR-TASS reported on 25-November.
In the past, Malashenko was an official at the CPSU Central Committee
apparatus, but his colleagues from Ostankino have characterized
his performance at Ostankino as positive. Meanwhile, the Moscow
Union of Journalists urged the Russian president to withdraw
his decree on Yakovlev's dismissal. The union also called for
the reinstatement of Mikhail Poltoranin as minister of information.
On 25 November, the People's Party of Free Russia, led by Vice
President Rutskoi, issued a protest against the dismissal of
Yakovlev. This party is a member of the Civic Union, which, while
supporting Yakovlev, has demanded the ouster of Poltoranin. (Vera
Tolz)

US TEMPORARILY SUSPENDS FOOD EXPORT PROGRAM. On 24 November the
U.S. Agriculture Department suspended for the first time Russia's
credit guarantees which allow it to borrow from commercial banks
to purchase food imports from the United States, according to
Reuters and the Wall Street Journal on 25 November. Credit rights
were suspended due to Russia's failure to fulfill repayment obligations
on time, but were re- established on Wednesday after the late
payments finally came through. The US Agriculture Department
has a program providing five billion dollars in credit guarantees
for commercial bank loans to Russia, and this was the first time
that Russia had defaulted on payment. Russia failed to pay 10.9
million dollars due on 13-November to four banking institutions,
and is due to pay another $10 million this week. Russia has had
trouble recently in paying on time for food imports from Canada
and Europe, but will clearly have to rely on credits for some
time, since its agricultural sector is still in chaos. (Sheila
Marnie & Robert Lyle)

GAIDAR SUGGESTS RUSSIA MAY LEAVE RUBLE ZONE. In his speech to
parliament on 26-November Prime Minister Gaidar announced that
Russia may establish exchange rates between the Russian ruble
and the ruble used in other CIS states. The move implies the
creation of a new Russian currency and the end of Russia's membership
in the ruble zone. Gaidar said the action may be necessary to
gain adequate independence from the economic policies of other
countries in the zone. He hinted that the new exchange rates
may be introduced as early as 1-January. (Erik Whitlock)

UKRAINE TO DELAY START RATIFICATION? The speaker of the Ukrainian
Supreme Soviet, Leonid Plyushch, at a news conference on 25 November,
apparently contradicted President Kravchuk's recent assurances
to visiting US senators that Ukraine would ratify the START treaty
by January. Plyushch warned that the process could be delayed
because of the lengthy documentation that parliamentarians needed
to study before voting. Furthermore, Plyushch called for Ukrainian
control over the dismantling process, more concrete information
and assurances from the US concerning aid for the dismantling,
and raised questions concerning security guarantees. These conditions,
if insisted upon, could further delay and complicate the ratification
process. Plyushch's remarks were reported by Western news agencies.
(John Lepingwell)

LATEST SQUABBLES OVER BLACK SEA FLEET. Ukraine has protested
to Russia that the Russian defense ministry has promoted three
senior officers in the former Soviet Black Sea Fleet, and charged
that Russians have been "pilfering" and selling-off the fleet's
assets. As reported by Interfax on 26 November, the Ukrainians
regard the promotions as a direct violation of the Yalta agreement
wherein the presidents of Russia and Ukraine agreed to share
control of the fleet. The Ukrainian foreign ministry made an
official protest to its Russian counterpart over the alleged
sale by the Russian defense ministry of equipment of the Black
Sea Fleet stored at bases in Bulgaria. (Doug Clarke)

NUNN AND LUGAR CALL FOR US ATTENTION TO CIS NUCLEAR PROBLEMS.
In Washington after their tour of the former Soviet nuclear weapons
states, Senators Nunn and Lugar emphasized that US policy towards
the CIS must not be allowed to drift during the transition period.
In a press conference on 25 November that was covered by Western
press agencies, they emphasized the need to push forward with
attempts to get Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus to ratify the
START treaty and to complete the START II agreement. Senator
Nunn also noted the danger of instability in the nuclear-armed
regions, and the increasing risk from attempts to smuggle nuclear
materials out of the CIS. According to the Washington Post of
26 November, Russian negotiators recently provided the US with
draft proposals aimed at solving outstanding issues in the START
II negotiations, and a US State Department official indicated
that the issues could be resolved before the end of the Bush
administration. (John Lepingwell)

MORE ALLEGED WEAPONS-GRADE URANIUM SEIZED. According to an AFP
report of 26-November, Bavarian police seized 307 grams of uranium
from a Romanian-born German citizen. According to the report
the material may have been stolen from a CANDU nuclear reactor
in Cernavoda, Romania. (The material was in the form of 21 tablets,
apparently consisting of uranium oxide.) However, CANDU reactors
use natural uranium, which is not suitable for weapons use. In
the past, reports of "weapons grade uranium" being seized have
turned out to be false, although slightly enriched reactor fuel
and other radioactive materials have been seized. (John Lepingwell)


CHINA SHOWS INCREASED INTEREST IN RUSSIAN ARMS. According to
a 24 November report by AFP, the Chinese government is showing
strong interest in purchasing Russian arms. Russian Deputy Prime
Minister Alexander Shokhin is in China this week discussing possible
deals with the Chinese government, although details of the discussions
have not been released. China has already agreed to purchase
Su-27 long-range fighter-interceptors from Russia, and reportedly
wants to purchase MiG-31 interceptors as well. China's interest
in the arms has been strengthened by recent decisions in Taiwan
to purchase both F-16 and Mirage-2000 fighters. (John Lepingwell)


RUSSIAN ACADEMIC ON US PRESSURE, RUSSIAN INTERESTS IN CUBA. Viktor
Volsky, the director of the Russian Institute for Latin America,
told the Mexican news agency Notimex on 25 November that the
United States was pressuring the Russian government to abandon
its relations with Cuba. He cited the unilateral and unconditional
withdrawal of Russian troops from Cuba as an example. Volsky
claimed that the U.S. was also putting pressure on Russia to
abandon the electronic listening-post near Havana, but said that
this effort had not succeeded because there were people in the
Russian government "who understand that it is not convenient
to lose positions in Cuba where we have strategic interests."
Volsky was quoted as supporting the maintenance of friendly relations
with Cuba and other socialist countries. "Neither the United
States nor Russia," he said, "has the right to deprive Cuba of
its social experiments." (Doug Clarke)

RUSSIAN CONSCRIPTION LAGGING. Russian Defense Minister General
Pavel Grachev on 25-November told a meeting of the leaders of
Russian military-patriotic clubs that the Fall conscription turnout
was far short of the military's requirements. According to Interfax,
he said that only 18% of the vacancies had been filled with only
one month remaining in the conscription season. He also told
the meeting that the planned reductions in the Russian armed
forces would not be a repeat of the abrupt reductions made by
former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. The current effort, he
said, would be "gradual and thoroughly considered." (Doug Clarke)


APPARENT CEASEFIRE IN TAJIKISTAN. Field commanders of factions
involved in the Tajik civil war signed a ceasefire agreement
on 25 November, Interfax and Khovar-TASS reported. Sangak Safarov,
leader of the pro-Communist Kulyab Popular Movement, showed little
sign of wanting a reconciliation with anti-Communist forces,
whom he accused of being responsible for the fighting. The Kulyab
faction earlier used the same argument to violate ceasefire agreements.
This time Safarov also blamed the Supreme Soviet for allowing
Islamic leaders to enter the political arena. Two commanders
of the anti-Communist forces were quoted by Interfax on 26-November
as saying that they are prepared to accept the new government
of Tajikistan, but that they blame pro-Communist officials for
the war. (Bess Brown)

RUSSIAN PLAN TO TRANSFER 14TH ARMY UNITS TO "DNIESTER REPUBLIC."
Following the Russian-Moldovan negotiations on 20 November in
Chisinau concerning the withdrawal of Russia's 14th Army from
Moldova, the chief Russian delegate, Col. General Eduard Vorobev,
told "Dniester republic" leaders in Tiraspol-and Lt. General
Aleksandr Lebed, the commander of Russia's 14th Army in eastern
Moldova, told Tiraspol TV-that units slated for withdrawal would
be "disbanded" on the left bank of the Dniester (i.e. facilitating
personnel transfers to the "Dniester" forces); that assets of
such units would be turned over to the "Dniester republic"; and
that Russia would link the Army's ultimate withdrawal to Moldova
granting the "Dniester republic" a political status (which Russia
defines as republican status). Vorobev's and Lebed's remarks
were reported by DR-Press and Basapress on 21 November. (Vladimir
Socor)

JEWISH, ISRAELI OFFICIALS ON ETHNIC ISSUES IN MOLDOVA. Menakhem
Loebel, a senior official of Israel's Ministry of Education,
inspecting Jewish schools in Moldova, expressed in the Chisinau
weekly Faclia of 20 November "gratitude for the favorable atmosphere
created in Moldova for the rebirth of Jewish culture." The president
of Moldova's Federation of Jewish Communities, Theodor Magder,
told Basapress on 23 November that "there is no antisemitism
in Moldova either as a state policy or as a social phenomenon...
The Moldovan government goes to great lengths to meet the Jewish
community's needs...While Moldova may rank at the bottom economically,
it ranks at the top with regard to the consideration its leadership
shows to the ethnic minorities." (Vladimir Socor)

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

PARLIAMENT APPROVES DIVISION OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA. After two unsuccessful
tries, the Czechoslovak Federal Assembly eventually approved
legislation providing the legal basis for the federation's split
by a very narrow majority (183 votes of 300-3-more than necessary)
on 25 November. The adoption of the law, which was designed to
prevent a chaotic and unconstitutional split of the country,
was praised by the Czech and Slovak prime ministers, Vaclav Klaus
and Vladimir Meciar, as a "calming gesture to the whole world."
Former Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel said that a rejection
of the draft would have dramatically complicated the situation
of the two republics. (Jan Obrman)

BRAZAUSKAS ELECTED SEIMAS CHAIRMAN. On 25 November in its first
session the Seimas elected Lithuanian Democratic Labor Party
Chairman Algirdas Brazauskas as its chairman and acting president
by a vote of 81 to 4, Radio Lithuania reports. His opponent,
Social Democratic Party Chairman Aloyzas Sakalas, received only
7 votes. Ceslovas Jursenas of the LDLP was elected Seimas deputy
chairman. The right-of-center deputies did not participate in
the vote since no hearings have as yet been held on the accusations
that Jursenas, as well as five other Seimas deputies, cooperated
with the KGB. At the second day's Seimas session on 26 November,
Prime Minister Aleksandras Abisala announced the resignation
of his government. Brazauskas accepted the resignation, but asked
Abisala to carry on until a new cabinet is formed. State Comptroller-General
Kazimieras Uoka also resigned. Three factions normally registered
in the Seimas: the Christian Democrats with 10-members under
chairman Povilas Katilius, Sajudis with 20-members without a
chairman as yet, and Citizens' Charter with 10 members and Saulius
Saltenis as chairman. The chairmen of two other factions, Sakalas
of the LSDP and Justinas Karosas of the LDLP, also made statements
although their factions have not yet officially registered. (Saulius
Girnius)

RELIGIOUS LEADERS IN EX-YUGOSLAVIA MEET. The 27 November Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung reports that Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Pavle,
Roman Catholic Cardinal Franjo Kuharic, and Muslim Reis ul-ulema
Jakub Selimoski met in Zurich. The three issued a joint declaration
calling for an end to the Bosnian bloodshed and urge people around
the world to observe 23 December as a day of prayer and solidarity
with the Bosnian war victims. On 26-November a UN relief convoy
succeed in reaching Gorazde but Serbs continued to prevent a
second convoy from arriving in Srebrenica. The UN has halted
aid to Serb communities as long as Serbs continue to block relief
for the two mainly Muslim towns in eastern Bosnia near the Serbian
border. (Patrick Moore)

FROSTY RECEPTION FOR PANIC IN GERMANY. German TV reported on
26 November that Milan Panic, prime minister of Serbia-Montenegro,
came to Bonn at his own request. Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Foreign
Minister Klaus Kinkel met Panic, but Kohl refused to be photographed
with him. Government spokesmen said that Kohl and Kinkel agreed
to the meeting only so as not to miss any possible chance to
promote peace in the former Yugoslavia. In what were described
as brutally frank talks, the Germans told the Serbs that it is
not enough for Panic to talk about peace, and that now the world
expects concrete deeds from him. Elsewhere on the diplomatic
scene, Western agencies report that Greece has opened a new diplomatic
offensive to block EC recognition of Macedonia. The conviction
has been generally growing in Europe that Macedonia cannot be
left isolated indefinitely if peace is to be preserved there,
and that Greece's objections must be overruled by the majority.
(Patrick Moore)

ALBANIA PREPARED FOR WAR OVER KOSOVO? The 18 November Split weekly
Nedjeljna Dalmacija carried an interview with Albanian Col. Fluturak
Germenji, the editor of the Albanian military's journal. He said
that Tirana and the Albanian leadership in Kosovo have held consultations
about possible joint action in the event of a war over Kosovo,
and that the Albanian military is well prepared for such a conflict.
Germenji said that war could be provoked if the Serbs were to
launch a wave of ethnic cleansing in Kosovo and sent refugees
streaming into Albania. The colonel added that women and children
from Kosovo would receive sanctuary in his country while Albanian
men from both sides of the frontier fought the Serbs. Germenji
told the Croat paper that Albania is in touch with NATO, the
CSCE, and the UN about Kosovo, and predicted that a war in Kosovo
would lead to a general Balkan conflagration. (Patrick Moore)


SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE CSURKA PROBLEM. At it weekly
meeting on 25-November, the presidium of the Hungarian Democratic
Forum unanimously decided to ask Prime Minister Jozsef Antall
to set up a special committee to investigate and to make recommendations
concerning HDF vice president Istvan Csurka, whose essay criticizing
the leadership style of the forum caused a political storm in
Hungary because of its anti-Semitic overtones. Shortly before
the presidium meeting, Csurka issued a statement to MTI expressing
regret that his statements offended many Hungarian Jews. He stressed
that the Jews he criticized were Hungarian communist officials
like Matyas Rakosi, Bela Kun, and Gyorgy Aczel, who betrayed
not only Hungarians but Jews as well by harming Hungarian national
interests and denying their Jewish faith. Csurka said that he
does not see a universal Jewish conspiracy but he does see the
danger of communists returning to power. The report was carried
by MTI. (Judith Pataki)

ROMANIAN PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION VISITS MOLDOVA. Adrian Nastase,
the chairman of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies, arrived in
Chisinau on 25 November for a three-day visit at the head of
a parliamentary delegation that represents all political groups
in the chamber. Radio Bucharest and Rompres said that Nastase
called for the coordination of legislation and that a joint Moldovan-Romanian
parliamentary commission was established. Addressing the Moldovan
parliament, Nastase said that the time of "mere statements of
[mutual] love" has passed and priority should now be given to
the stepped-up economic integration of the two countries as a
means of doing away with the consequences of the Ribbentrop-Molotov
pact. On 26-November Nastase also held talks with Moldovan Foreign
Minister Nicolae Tiu, Prime Minister Andrei Sanghieli, and President
Mircea Snegur. (Michael Shafir)

ILIESCU ATTACKS RUSSIAN-HUNGARIAN AGREEMENT ON MINORITIES. At
a press conference carried live by Radio Bucharest on 26 November,
President Ion Iliescu criticized the joint Russian-Hungarian
statement on national minorities signed during Boris Yeltsin's
visit to Budapest in mid-November. Iliescu said the statement
showed a nostalgia of the two states for their lost empires and
said the joint statement "did not comply with international norms."
It is very dangerous for Europe, he said, if one state pretends
it has the right to protect its ethnic minorities living on the
territory of another. (Michael Shafir).

CONSTANTINESCU TO HEAD DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION. The Democratic
Convention of Romania (DCR), an umbrella organization uniting
the main forces of the opposition, has elected its presidential
candidate, Emil Constantinescu, as chairman. The media announced
on 26 November that Constantinescu replaces Corneliu Coposu,
the leader of the National Peasant Party Christian Democratic.
At a press conference the Party of Civic Alliance, a member of
the DCR lately rumored to be considering leaving the convention,
said it supports the continued unity of the DCR but favors its
reorganization. At another press conference on the same day,
Petre Roman, leader of the National Salvation Front, said his
party will oppose any attempt to block the economic reform. On
another matter, Roman said the time was not ripe for the publication
of the files of the former secret police. (Michael Shafir).

UNGA ENDORSES RUSSIAN TROOP PULLOUT. On 25 November the UN General
Assembly approved, without a vote, a resolution introduced by
Latvian Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis to help achieve a speedy
and complete withdrawal of Russian troops from Estonia, Latvia,
and Lithuania. Depicting the troop presence as a threat to international
peace and security, Godmanis added that the Baltic States also
seek assurances that their sovereignty, independence, and territorial
integrity are respected. The Balts are willing to negotiate with
Russia, he said, but they will not grant the troops legal status
in their countries, an RFE/RL correspondent in New York reports.
Russia had been previously consulted on the consensus resolution.
Ambassador Yulii Vorontsov said that an orderly withdrawal is
not possible without agreements on "social protection" of Russian-speaking
populations in the area. (Dzintra Bungs)

POLISH DEFENSE MINISTER ON KALININGRAD. Janusz Onyszkiewicz told
PAP on 26-November that Poland will strive for a reduction of
the Russian military presence in Kaliningrad Oblast. He defended
himself against accusations in the Russian press of "political
tactlessness" and explained that, while Poland understands the
reasons for such a concentration of forces it will, nonetheless,
prefer that this be a transitional situation. (Anna Sabbat-Swidlicka)


RUSSIA'S ELECTRIC BILL. BNS reported on 25-November that Russian
army units stationed in Latvia owe the local authorities some
83 million rubles for electricity; the sum covers the period
since February 1992, when Russia assumed jurisdiction over the
Soviet forces in Latvia. In addition the army also owes large
sums for land taxes that it has not been paying to Latvia. (Dzintra
Bungs)

SLOVAKIA WANTS TO SELL TANKS TO PAKISTAN. Slovakia is planning
to bid for the sale of 300 T-72 tanks to Pakistan, Reuters reported
on 26-November. The agency quoted Slovak Foreign Ministry spokesman
Roman Buzek as saying that the possibility of tank exports was
discussed during a visit to Pakistan three weeks ago by Slovak
Deputy Foreign Minister Anton Rakicky. Another spokesman for
the Slovak government said that the deal would be carried out
after the division of Czechoslovakia on 1 January 1993, when
the authority to license arms exports is transferred to the individual
republics. The volume of Czechoslovak arms exports decreased
from 27 billion koruny ($1-billion) in 1987 to less than 6 billion
koruny ($222 million) in 1991, but Slovakia has recently developed
efforts to open new markets for its arms industry. (Jan Obrman)


BULGARIAN ARMS INDUSTRY WORKERS STEP UP PROTESTS. Having stopped
nearly all railway traffic through the city for six days, arms
industry workers in Kazanlak went on to block a main highway
on 26 November , BTA reports. By extending the blockade, the
workers sought to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with a decision
of the National Assembly the previous day not to deal directly
with the problems of the arms industry but referring the issue
to a special commission. Since this summer, workers in the Arsenal
factory in Kazanlak have called on the government to assume the
debts of Bulgarian arms companies and promote arms export. The
blockade has already caused severe transport problems in central
Bulgaria. There have been signs that employees in other arms
companies, which employ a total of some 140,000 workers, are
supporting the actions. (Kjell Engelbrekt)

FIVE POLES EXTRADITED TO US. Five Polish citizens involved in
the sale of arms to Iran in violation of a UN embargo and arrested
in Frankfurt in March were extradited to the US on 25 November,
PAP reports. The case of a sixth Pole, Rajmund Szwonder, director
of a Polish arms factory, has yet to be decided by the German
Constitutional Tribunal. The Polish Foreign Ministry had tried
to have the six sent back to Poland and made diplomatic representations
on Szwonder's behalf on humanitarian and health grounds. In Poland
Szwonder is seen as having acted in the best interest of the
company and its work force. (Anna Sabbat-Swidlicka)

POLISH STATE FARMS IN DEBT. Polish state farms are indebted to
the tune of 17 trillion zloty ($1.1 billion). At a press conference
on 26 November representatives of the Agricultural Property Agency,
which is taking over the 2,500 farms, said that only 800 are
creditworthy. There will be no blanket debt reduction but the
financial prospects of each farm will be analyzed individually
and those that are salvageable will have their debts rescheduled.
(Anna Sabbat-Swidlicka)

HUNGARIAN BUSINESS BRIEFS. Domestic and foreign media report
that the German auto maker Audi, a subsidiary of Volkswagen,
has decided to build an engine plant in Hungary. Hungary was
chosen over eastern Germany because of its lower wage costs.
Meanwhile, a report in Nepszabadsag says that the Italian firm
Alitalia may soon buy a 35% ownership interest in Malev, the
Hungarian state airlines. Official confirmation was not forthcoming
from either side, although a final decision is expected in a
few weeks. The other major competitor, Lufthansa, dropped out
of the bidding due to its own financial difficulties. (Judith
Pataki & Charles Trumbull) [As of 1200 CET] Compiled by Hal Kosiba
& Charles Trumbull