OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 85, 30 April 1996

Newly published OMRI Analytical Briefs:
No. 89: "Central European Forum Holds Inaugural Conference in Hungary," by
         Peter Rutland
No. 90: "Russian-Kazakhstani Relations from the Chinese Border to the
         Caspian Sea," by Roger Kangas
No. 91: "Caspian Pipeline Consortium Reborn," by Lowell Bezanis and Liz Fuller

Available on the World Wide Web:
http://www.omri.cz/Publications/Analytical/Index.html

BELARUS MISSES SECOND CFE DEADLINE. Belarus failed to destroy all its
excess conventional weapons by the extended deadline of 26 April,
Belapan reported the same day. The original deadline to meet the
requirements of the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty had been
16 November 1995. Belarus was granted an extension, but when this second
deadline passed, Belarus still had 104 armored combat vehicles to
destroy. An official of the Defense Ministry, Maj.-Gen. Yuryy Partnow,
said that Belarus will be in full compliance with the treaty by the mid-
May review conference in Vienna. He also said that Belarus was
considering transferring this excess equipment to other countries, as it
had done when it supplied 100 T-72 tanks to Hungary. -- Doug Clarke

NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL BEGINS VISIT TO SLOVAKIA. Javier Solana on 29
April arrived in Bratislava for a 24-hour visit to discuss NATO
expansion, Slovak media reported. A bill on NATO enlargement drafted by
the U.S. Congress mentions only the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary
as member candidates, however, Solana told Slovak TV that "a consensus
of all 16 members" will ultimately determine new NATO membership. He
stressed that no country has been deleted from the list of candidates,
but he called on Slovakia to prove that it is "a democratic country"
that respects the same values as NATO member states. -- Sharon Fisher

FORMER U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE IN HUNGARY. Richard Holbrooke,
during a private visit to Hungary, met on 29 April with Hungarian Prime
Minister Gyula Horn, international media reported. Discussions focused
on regional security issues and Hungary's role in Bosnian peace efforts.
Holbrooke, who continues to serve as an advisor to U.S. President Bill
Clinton, gave Horn a report on discussions between the U.S. and Russia
on NATO expansion in Central and Eastern Europe, RFE/RL reported. They
discussed the option to restrict new NATO members to an undefined
"political" wing of the organization with no military connections. The
talks were part of on-going consultations with all countries that have
applied for membership. -- Sharon Fisher

HUNGARIAN NATIONAL BANK TO CUT PRIME RATE. The Hungarian National Bank
on 29 April announced a 1% cut in the prime interest rate effective on 1
May, Hungarian media reported. The bank said economic and financial
developments have allowed the reduction, from 27% to 26%. In other news,
a Central Statistical Office report showed that consumer prices rose at
an annual rate of 27.6% in the first quarter of this year. -- Sharon
Fisher

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave


Tuesday, 30 April 1996
Volume 1, Issue 339


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


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

> --------------------------------------------
Eximbank Says Hungary Could Increase Exports
> --------------------------------------------
  The Hungarian Export-Import Bank (Eximbank) said yesterday that
  Hungary could increase its exports by up to six billion
  dollars annually, once the economy learns to use the
  institutions set up recently to encourage exports.  According
  to reports, there were three to six billion dollars per year
  worth of exports that were not carried out for lack of
  funding.

  The bank's head stated that the government supplies his bank
  and the Hungarian Export Credit Insurance Rt (MEHIB) with
  sufficient funds to finance exports, but Hungarian enterprises
  do not yet know how to exploit what the two institutions
  offer.  Eximbank and MEHIB were founded two years ago to help
  finance foreign trade, but began full operation only last
  year.

  The news conference was held after Eximbank and MEHIB concluded
  a cooperation agreement with ITDH Rt, a government agency
  aimed at stimulating international trade.  ITDH undertook to
  coordinate information between small and medium size
  enterprises around the country with the Budapest based
  Eximbank and MEHIB.

  "The problem is that export production is not centered in the
  capital but export financing is," Nyiri, the head of Eximbank,
  said.

  He added that the Hungarian government, like other ex-Communist
  countries, still has a long way to go towards effectively
  distributing marketing and other information as well as funds
  to support export production. Because the producers lack
  money, many agricultural products leave the country
  unprocessed, while other companies are unable to import raw
  materials to make exportable products, Nyiri continued.

  Hungary, like other countries in the region, is struggling with
  large annual trade deficits.  Exports amounted to 12.81
  billion dollars last year, below imports by 2.44 billion.


-----------------------------
Hungarian Company On the Rise
-----------------------------
  Hungarian pharmaceutical company Egis Gyogyszergyar will
  increase its profitability by 18 percent in 1996 and by 23
  percent in 1997 with the help of its French majority owner
  Servier.

  A report released yesterday stated that Servier can help the
  Hungarian pharmaceutical firm in conquering westerm markets
  with its intensive marketing policy, as well as helping to
  expand Egis' product range in its traditional eastern European
  markets.  Serviar also reccomended Egis shares to investors.

  Egis, which accounts for 13 percent of the Hungarian
  pharmaceutical market, sells 55 percent of its products in
  Hungary, 24 percent in Eastern Europe and 21 percent in the
  western regions of the continent.

  The study added that Egis is not yet threatened by any
  competitors, although Bristol-Myers Squibb, which recently
  acquired the Hungarian company Pharmavit, will soon enter the
  market. This may cause some problems for Egis, althogh Egis
  should be able to retain its market positions.


--------------------------
Hungarian Aluminum Co. Sold
--------------------------
  The Hungarian State Privatization Agency will sell the rest of
  the national aluminum company to the Aluminum Company of
  America, Alcoa, according to yesterday's announcement.

  Alcoa already owns just over 50 percent of the Hungarian
  aluminum producer, and will buy the remaining shares for an
  undisclosed amount. Hungary's aluminum comes out of the
  boomtown of Sekesfehervar and supplies European producers in
  east and west.


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OMRI SPECIAL REPORT: PURSUING BALKAN PEACE
Vol. 1, No. 17, 30 April 1996

FIRST POST-WAR BOSNIAN TRADE FAIR IN TUZLA. And yet even bigger projects
are underway for Bosnia's development. Tuzla from 23 to 27 April hosted
the republic's first post-war international trade fair, AFP reported on
23 April. The Promo Fair 96, sponsored by the government of the
Federation, included seminars and hundreds of business meetings. More
than 400 companies from Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Denmark,
Hungary, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, and the U.S. attended the
fair. Prime Minister Muratovic, who opened the event, expressed his hope
that it will encourage Bosnian entrepreneurs to restart business
activities, and foreign companies to engage in trade with Bosnia.
Finance Minister Mirsad Kikanovic said the fair "confirms the war is
over here and no one expects it to start again." A World Bank spokesman
called the fair a "marvelous thing" and "pretty impressive." On the
sidelines of the fair, theater performances, concerts, and other
cultural events took place. -- Stefan Krause

Compiled by Patrick Moore

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Copyright (c) 1996 Open Media Research Institute, Inc.
                             All rights reserved.
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------


#+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
#|    A Magyar Nemzeti Bank hivatalos deviza- es valutaarfolyamai     |
#|      Official exchange rates of the Hungarian National Bank        |
#|    Az adatok tajekoztato jelleguek, felelosseget nem vallalok.     |
#| Az esetleges hibakert elnezest kerek. Velemenyeket es javitasokat  |
#|                       szivesen fogadok.                            |
#|     FYI, no responsibility. Opinions, corrections are welcome.     |
#+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
#|     vetel/BUY  eladas/SELL  < A kereskedelmi bankok arfolyamsavjai |
#| USD  137-145     149-152    <      Rates of commercial banks       |
#| DEM   91-94       98-99     <                (HUF)                 |
#+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
#
# VALUTA; KOZEP; VETEL; ELADAS; EGYSEG; MEGJEGYZES
# TYPE;   MEAN;  BUY;   SELL;   UNIT;   REMARKS
DATE=1996-APR-26
UNIT=HUF
SOURCE='NAPI Gazdasag, 1996-APR-27, p.16'
GBP;  227.26;  225.20;  229.64;    1;  angol font (skot es eszakir is)
AUD;  119.20;  118.13;  120.33;    1;  ausztral dollar
BEF;  478.93;  474.14;  483.72;  100;  belga (es luxemburgi) frank(100)
DKK;   25.52;   25.27;   25.79;    1;  dan korona
FIM;   31.06;   30.87;   31.51;    1;  finn marka
FRF;   29.16;   28.89;   29.47;    1;  francia frank
GRD;    0.00;   61.25;   62.45;  100;  gorog drachma(100) (kozepar nincs)
NLG;   87.90;   87.04;   88.80;    1;  holland forint
IEP;  234.34;  232.42;  236.98;    1;  ir font
JPY;  141.30;  140.27;  143.03;  100;  japan jen(100)
CAD;  110.60;  109.74;  111.84;    1;  kanadai dollar
KWD;  502.40;  498.03;  507.71;    1;  kuvaiti dinar
DEM;   98.38;   97.43;   99.39;    1;  nemet marka
NOK;   22.92;   22.70;   23.16;    1;  norveg korona
ITL;   96.30;   95.57;   97.43; 1000;  olasz lira(1000)
ATS;   13.98;   13.85;   14.13;    1;  osztrak schilling
PTE;   96.24;   95.51;   97.41;  100;  portugal escudo(100)
ESP;  118.75;  117.66;  120.00;  100;  spanyol peseta(100)
CHF;  121.91;  120.74;  123.16;    1;  svajci frank
SEK;   22.12;   21.96;   22.40;    1;  sved korona
USD;  150.72;  149.46;  152.36;    1;  USA-dollar
XEU;  185.17;  183.26;  186.90;    1;  European Currency Unit (ECU)