Monday, 16 October 1995
Volume 2, Issue 202


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

**NATO UNDERTAKES JOINT EXERCISES IN HUNGARY**

        NATO is preparing former Warsaw pact nations for possible
        involvement in any future NATO peacekeeping force in the
        former Yugoslavia. Saturday the alliance kicked off
        Cooperative Light '95 -- a six-day joint military exercise in
        Hungary.  Unlike previous Partnership for Peace, or PFP,
        exercises, Cooperative Light involves mainly officers, from
        six NATO nations and five PFP countries.  The scenario for the
        exercise sounds a lot like the current situation in the former
        Yugoslavia.  It involves two fictitious ethnic minorities
        who've been at war but have just agreed to a truce. which NATO
        will oversee.  The similarities to Bosnia aren't lost on
        General Marinus Wilmink, the commander of NATO land forces in
        Central Europe.  He's leading the exercise and addressed his
        troops at the opening ceremony:

        "Many of your comrades and maybe some of you here may go one
        day to  Bosnia or undertake a similar operation.  Pass on the
        lessons."

        Those lessons will include how to deal with non governmental
        organizations, refugees and minefields, all while speaking
        english, NATO's official language.   NATO officials say
        communication is proving to be their biggest challenge with
        former Soviet bloc nations.

        Hungarian President Arpad Goncz may have had that in mind when
        he addressed the  troops at the opening ceremony.

        "Practice communication which is necessary for joint activity.
        Study signs and signals used in NATO.  Please get acquainted
        with everything that has been in use in nato for long, long
        years.   The modern procedures, the functioning mechanism of
        different organizations.  Study all questions pertaining to
        joint staff work.  Study everything from principles down to
        logistical support."

        This is the first time Hungary has hosted a multilateral NATO
        exercise, and it's only the second NATO/Partnership for Peace
        exercise to be held in Eastern Europe.

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

**HUNGARY TO FINALIZE IMF LOAN**

        Hungarian Finance Minister Lajos Bokros said over the weekend
        that his country could finalize an 18-month standby loan
        agreement with the International Monetary Fund early next
        year.  Bokros won't say how much money is involved.   He did
        say Hungary has eight and a half billion dollars in hard
        currency reserves. which could cover seven months worth of
        imports.  The next IMF delegation is due in Hungary in
        December.  By then Parliament will have passed the budget bill
        for 1996.  Also the ruling Socialist Party will have held a
        crucial congress which is scheduled for the last weekend of
        November.  The congress is expected to extend or revoke
        support for the government's austerity measures.  Bokros says
        he brought home a letter from the IMF, which stipulates for
        the first time the conditions Hungary has to meet for the
        standby loan.  In a clear reference to attacks on the
        government's austerity measures, Bokros emphasized that the
        IMF letter doesn't call for major changes in the government's
        existing economic policies.

ABOUT CET ON-LINE
-----------------

* CET On-Line is Copyright (c) 1995 Word Up! Inc., New Media
  Group, all rights reserved.  Not-for-profit redistribution of
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  copyright notice, and all other copyright and by-line
  information contained in this publication is included.
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  contained herein is strictly prohibited without the express
  written permission of Word Up! Inc., New Media Group.  These
  conditions are subject to change without notice.  For further
  information, contact Zoltan Nagy at >

  Some portions of the news provided by special agreement with
  Reuters.  For information on Reuters news and information
  products, contact your local Reuters office.


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OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 202, 17 October 1995

HUNGARY BEGINS PRIVATIZING ELECTRIC ENERGY SECTOR. The Hungarian State
Privatization and Holding Company (APV Rt.) on 16 October launched the
privatization of Hungary's $4.5 billion electric energy sector, AFP
reported the same day. Executive director of APV Rt. Bela Kunszler said
Hungary wants to sell 24% of the Hungarian Electricity Works (MVM Rt.),
as well as stakes of between 46.15% and 49.23% in six regional
electricity supply companies and holdings of between 34% and 49.7% in
seven power stations. Hungary's sole nuclear power station and the
National Electricity Distribution Company will continue to be 100% owned
by MVM Rt. Bids are to be submitted by the end of November, and APV Rt.
hopes that sale contracts can be signed within 20 days. -- Zsofia
Szilagyi

HUNGARIAN PREMIER MEETS WITH AMERICAN INVESTORS. Gyula Horn on 16
October met with representatives of Emerging Markets Managements, a
group of American investors, who acknowledged Hungary's current reforms
and ensured Horn of their readiness to make further investments in the
country, Magyar Hirlap reported the next day. Horn told the group of
investors, whose total investments in Hungary to date total some $70
million, that economic indicators were improving and that the leadership
is determined to continue with its economic stabilization plan.
Meanwhile, Horn told the parliament on 16 October that he will visit
Croatia and Serbia in the near future to help start economic
reconstruction efforts there. He noted that the former Yugoslavia's
economic reconstruction is of great importance for Hungary, whose
economy has suffered large losses since the outbreak of war in the
region. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

SZUROS DENIES STATEMENT QUOTED BY REUTERS. Matyas Szuros, leader of the
Hungarian delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Union conference in
Bucharest last week, denied that he had referred to "Szekler enclaves"
in eastern Transylvania in an interview with Reuters (see OMRI Daily
Digest, 11 October 1995), Romanian dailies reported on 16-17 October.
Szuros said the mistake was the result of a translation error,
explaining that "territorial autonomy" was translated as "enclave". In a
separate development, officials from the Romanian and Hungarian defense
ministries met in Romania to discuss NATO expansion in Eastern Europe
and bilateral relations, Radio Bucharest reported. -- Matyas Szabo

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave


Thursday 17 October 1995
Volume 2, Issue 203


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

**SOROS TO FUND GYPSY NEWS AGENCY**
        Hungarian Gypsies are going to set up their own news agency to
        counter prejudice and improve information about the country's
        biggest minority.  The  Roma News agency will start
        distributing stories on social, economic, cultural and
        political issues starting next month.  It will be supported by
        the Soros Foundation and local Gypsy support groups.

ABOUT CET ON-LINE
-----------------

* CET On-Line is Copyright (c) 1995 Word Up! Inc., New Media
  Group, all rights reserved.  Not-for-profit redistribution of
  CET On-Line in electronic format is allowed only if our
  copyright notice, and all other copyright and by-line
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  For-profit distribution of this publication or the information
  contained herein is strictly prohibited without the express
  written permission of Word Up! Inc., New Media Group.  These
  conditions are subject to change without notice.  For further
  information, contact Zoltan Nagy at >

  Some portions of the news provided by special agreement with
  Reuters.  For information on Reuters news and information
  products, contact your local Reuters office.


* All "Letters to the Editor" and other comments about
  editorial content should be directed to Duncan Shiels at
  >.  Any comments about distribution or
  production should be directed to Zoltan Nagy at
  >.


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  Publication.  The New Media Group also publishes the Prague
  Financial Monitor on-line.  For more information on the Prague
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#+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
#|    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  124-128     133-135    <      Rates of commercial banks       |
#| DEM   88-90       94-96     <                (HUF)                 |
#+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
#
# VALUTA; KOZEP; VETEL; ELADAS; EGYSEG; MEGJEGYZES
# TYPE;   MEAN;  BUY;   SELL;   UNIT;   REMARKS
DATE=1995-OCT-16
UNIT=HUF
SOURCE='NAPI Gazdasag, 1995-OCT-17, p.16'
GBP;  211.16;  208.94;  213.18;    1;  angol font (skot es eszakir is)
AUD;  101.38;  100.50;  102.54;    1;  ausztral dollar
BEF;  458.31;  453.41;  462.55;  100;  belga (es luxemburgi) frank(100)
DKK;   24.32;   24.05;   24.53;    1;  dan korona
FIM;   31.12;   30.90;   31.52;    1;  finn marka
FRF;   27.07;   26.82;   27.36;    1;  francia frank
GRD;    0.00;   56.93;   58.07;  100;  gorog drachma(100) (kozepar nincs)
NLG;   84.20;   83.26;   84.94;    1;  holland forint
IEP;  215.89;  213.66;  217.98;    1;  ir font
JPY;  133.34;  132.04;  134.72;  100;  japan jen(100)
CAD;   99.96;   98.96;  100.96;    1;  kanadai dollar
KWD;  446.40;  442.21;  451.15;    1;  kuvaiti dinar
DEM;   94.25;   93.24;   95.12;    1;  nemet marka
NOK;   21.49;   21.26;   21.68;    1;  norveg korona
ITL;   83.62;   82.95;   84.61; 1000;  olasz lira(1000)
ATS;   13.39;   13.25;   13.51;    1;  osztrak schilling
PTE;   89.67;   88.84;   90.64;  100;  portugal escudo(100)
ESP;  109.35;  108.14;  110.30;  100;  spanyol peseta(100)
CHF;  116.48;  115.24;  117.58;    1;  svajci frank
SEK;   19.26;   19.17;   19.55;    1;  sved korona
USD;  134.01;  132.71;  135.39;    1;  USA-dollar
XEU;  173.65;  171.89;  175.35;    1;  European Currency Unit (ECU)