OMRI DAILY DIGEST

No. 237, Part II, 7 December 1995
HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES MAIN POINTS OF 1996 BUDGET. The Hungarian
parliament, in a marathon session on 6 December, approved setting the
1996 budget deficit at 132.6 billion forint ($1 billion)--3 billion
forint more than originally planned--and the state sector deficit at
below 4% of GDP, Hungarian media reported. Deputies approved, among
other things, allocating 15 billion forint for a wage increase for
state-sector employees and a 2 billion forint subsidy for Budapest
public transportation. The vote on the 1996 budget came in the wake of
the passage on 5 December of an amendment to the law defining tax
brackets. In 1996, a 48% tax will be levied on annual gross incomes over
900,000 forint. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

MAX VAN DER STOEL IN BUDAPEST. OSCE High Commissioner on National
Minorities Max van der Stoel arrived in Budapest on 6 December on a
fact-finding mission to investigate the status of Hungarian minorities
in Slovakia, Romania, and Serbia. Van der Stoel held talks with Csaba
Tabajdi, state secretary at the Prime Minister's Office, who stressed
that international organizations must consider how to stop the
increasingly grave trends in the situation of Eastern Europe's
minorities. Tabajdi also asked Van der Stoel to use his good offices to
ensure that the Slovak language law takes effect simultaneously with a
minority language law offsetting some of the discriminatory provisions
of the law. The high commissioner later told reporters that he would
visit Bratislava in January to discuss the minority issue with Slovak
government officials in light of the contentious language law and
pending minority bill. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave


OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 238, 8 December 1995

RUSSIA RETURNS TO THE WORLD GRAIN MARKET. According to a spokesman for
the Russian Agriculture Ministry, Roskhleboprodukt (a private company
linked with one of the largest Russian commercial banks, ONEKSIMbank)
has paid about $300 million for 1.5 million tons of wheat and corn from
Austria, Hungary, and the U.S., Reuters reported on 7 December. The deal
raised expectations that Russian firms will make further purchases on
the European and world grain markets and boosted Chicago wheat futures
prices above $5 per bushel. The ministry's spokesman stressed that the
Russian government, which has neither cash nor credit lines to buy
wheat, will not finance grain imports this year. -- Natalia Gurushina

OSCE CHAIRMAN-IN-OFFICE ON OSCE TASKS. Hungarian Foreign Minister and
OSCE Chairman-in-Office Laszlo Kovacs, in a keynote speech to the two-
day conference of OSCE foreign ministers in Budapest, voiced concerns
about the situation of non-Serbs in several Serbian regions,
international and Hungarian media reported on 8 December. Kovacs
stressed that the OSCE should continue to look at the human rights
situation in Kosovo, the Sandzak, northeastern Montenegro and Vojvodina,
which are all multiethnic regions. He added that the OSCE hopes to
establish a long-term presence in Croatia, where it would assist central
and local authorities in building democracy, protecting human and
minority rights, and promoting the safe return of refugees. --  Zsofia
Szilagyi

"OILGATE" SCANDAL IN HUNGARY. As the privatization of the Hungarian Oil
company MOL continues, a scandal has erupted in Hungary that domestic
media have dubbed "Oilgate." The opposition has accused socialist
ministers and deputies of involvement in controversial oil deals with
Russia over the past few years. Minister of Industry and Trade Imre
Dunai and his predecessor Laszlo Pal are charged with helping private
companies with close ties to the Socialist Party to benefit from oil
deals related to Russia's repayment of its $900 million debt to Hungary.
Following the accusations earlier this week, Dunai removed Otto Hujber
of the Socialist Party from an inter-ministry commission on Russia's
debt and oil shipments. Hujber previously had been in a position to
decide which companies could take part in oil deals and was also
chairman of one of the companies involved. Prime Minister Gyula Horn has
ordered an investigation into the case. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

ROMANIAN PRESIDENT ON ROMANIAN-HUNGARIAN RELATIONS . . . Presidential
spokesman Traian Chebeleu told a press conference in Bucharest that
"anti-reconciliation attitudes" are being constantly expressed both in
Hungary and among leaders of the Hungarian minority in Romania, Romanian
media reported on 7-8 December. Chebeleu said "extremist voices are
emerging, as if coordinated, to undermine" President Ion Iliescu's
proposal for a historic reconciliation with Hungary. As an example, he
quoted Bela Pomogats, chairman of the Writers' Union of Hungary, as
saying "the initiative is wrong and inopportune" and makes only empty
promises. The Hungarian minority's claim to have Church properties
restituted is viewed by Iliescu as "an aberration," he noted. -- Matyas
Szabo

[As of 1200 CET]

Compiled by Victor Gomez
Compiled by Jan Cleave

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                             All rights reserved. ISSN 1211-1570