OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 188, 27 September 1995

ROMANIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH CLINTON. Ion Iliescu met with U.S.
President Bill Clinton in the White House on 26 September, international
agencies reported. They discussed, among other things, bilateral
economic relations, the granting of permanent most-favored-nation status
to Romania, and the prospects for its admission to NATO. Iliescu said
after the talks that Clinton praised Romania's economic reforms so far,
its democratization process, and its initiative for a "historic
reconciliation" with Hungary. But a senior U.S. official was quoted by
Reuters as saying that while the White House's attitude on MFN was
"positive," the granting of permanent status was still conditional on
continued progress on several issues, including fair treatment of the
country's Hungarian minority. Defense Secretary William Perry stressed
after meeting with Iliescu that one of the five conditions for the
former communist countries' admission to NATO was the settlement of
conflicts with neighbors. -- Michael Shafir and Matyas Szabo, OMRI, Inc.

ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT TO AMEND PROPERTY RESTITUTION LAW. The Chamber of
Deputies on 26 September voted to accept a Constitutional Court ruling
that two articles of the property restitution law passed by the
parliament earlier this year violate the country's basic law. Radio
Bucharest reported that the Liberal Party '93 and the Hungarian
Democratic Federation of Romania did not vote in protest at what they
called the Constitutional Court's muted criticism of the law. The court
ruled that the article limiting restitution to Romanian citizens
resident in the country restricted the freedom of movement. It also
objected to an article that made no distinction between property legally
or illegally confiscated. In the case of the latter, the property would
have to be returned to the owner after the parliament reformulated the
law. While the legislation now extends the right of compensation to all
Romanian citizens, regardless of where they reside, it limits
restitution to one apartment and provides only minimal compensation for
other confiscated property. -- Michael Shafir, OMRI, Inc.

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave


Wednesday, 27 September 1995
Volume 2, Issue 187


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

**A BUDAPEST-NEW YORK METRO**
  New York Governor George Pataki is hoping Hungary will be able
  to help his state fight organized crime and create new
  business opportunities for companies based in the state.
  Yesterday was the fourth day of the governor's visit to
  Hungary and was dominated by talk of business and crime.  In
  the morning the governor toured a Pepsi plant in Budapest.
  Pepsi is one of the most visible New York companies with
  operations in Hungary and has sunk $10 million into Hungary.
  Pataki said he and Budapest Mayor Gabor Demszky discussed how
  to get other New York companies involved in Hungary.
  Specifically, they talked about an investment conference for
  entrepreneurs Demszky is planning for late next year.

  "New York City and Budapest are sister cities with the aim to
  have New York companies actively participate in seeking new
  investment opportunities that can be mutually beneficial to
  the state of New York, the companies of New York and to the
  people of Hungary and Budapest."

  Pataki said New York and Hungary can also work together on the
  problem of organized crime.  Russian mobsters were recently
  arrested in the New York City area and Russian organized crime
  is exerting more and more influence in the region.   Pataki
  said an FBI-run training center for law enforcement officials
  throughout central and eastern Europe that was opened in
  Budapest last spring will also be helpful.  But Pataki's
  stance on another aspect of crime, the death penalty, is
  causing concern in Hungary and other parts of Europe.  A small
  group of death penalty opponents held a press conference
  Tuesday asking that Pataki change his mind and no longer
  support the death penalty.  Italian opponents of capital
  punishment will stage a protest outside Pataki's hotel in Rome
  on Thursday.  The governor said they won't sway him.

  "If you look at the rate of violent crime in Hungary, Rome or
  Italy and compare it to the rate of violent crime and homicide
  in New York.  There's no comparison.  It isn't something where
  you stand up and cheer because we have the death penalty but I
  believe we need it."

  Rome is the final stop on Pataki's trip.  He'll finish up his
  visit to Hungary today by addressing the American Chamber of
  Commerce in Hungary.  Pataki's trip is being paid for by the
  Hungarian and Italian Chambers of Commerce.  It's costing an
  estimated 12,000 per day.


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

**HUNGARY SHAKES THE MONEY TREE**
  Hungarian Prime Minister Gyula Horn will also be talking
  economics during his upcoming visit to Germany.  Horn is
  expected to raise the issue of a $695 million credit line
  during his trip, which starts October 1.  Horn will meet with
  German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, President Roman Herzog and
  Finance Minister Theo Weigel.  He'll be briefing them about
  the credit line situation and Hungary's general political and
  economic development and the problems it needs to solve.   The
  credit line is linked to an agreement that has yet to be
  nailed down between Hungary and the International Monetary
  Fund.  Last week Hungary and the IMF ended their current round
  of talks without reaching agreement on a standby loan
  facility.


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(Elnezest az esetleges kisbetukert, de az eredeti szoveg csupa
nagybetuvel volt irva, amit at kellett cserelnem.)

Buchwald Amy

*****************************************************************

date=9/26/95
type=correspondent report
number=2-185941
title=U-S Romania (s only)
byline=David Borgida
dateline=White House
content=
voiced at:

Intro:  Visiting Romanian President Ion Iliescu has pressed his
country's case for permanent preferential U-S trading benefits.
White House correspondent David Borgida reports the Romanian
leader met with President Clinton Tuesday at the White House.

Text:  The U-S congress decides each year whether to renew
Most-Favored-Nation trading status for Romania.  Tuesday, after
his first official meeting with President Clinton, President
Iliescu said he delivered this message:

                       /// Iliescu act ///

         We have stressed our interest to see the permanent
         status of the M-F-N for Romania.

                         /// End act ///

Conferring permanent status is done by a vote of congress.
Senior U-S officials are saying that would be based on continued
progress by Romania on economic reform and on fair treatment of
the nation's two-million Hungarians.

M-F-N status allows a country to export its goods to the United
States under the lowest possible tariffs.

Generally, President Iliescu said he is satisfied with the
evolution of the bilateral relationship on the political,
military, and economic fronts.

Administration officials say the two leaders talked about
Romania's integration into the European community and Romanian
efforts to complete agreements with the World Bank and the
International Monetary Funds.   (Signed)

neb/Borg/ltj/rae

26-Sep-95 2:37 pm edt (1837 utc)
nnnn

source: Voice of America


#+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
#|    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  124-126     131-134    <      Rates of commercial banks       |
#| DEM   86-88       92-95     <                (HUF)                 |
#+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
#
# VALUTA; KOZEP; VETEL; ELADAS; EGYSEG; MEGJEGYZES
# TYPE;   MEAN;  BUY;   SELL;   UNIT;   REMARKS
DATE=1995-SEP-22
UNIT=HUF
SOURCE='NAPI Gazdasag, 1995-SEP-23, p.20'
GBP;  208.69;  207.09;  210.97;    1;  angol font (skot es eszakir is)
AUD;   99.08;   98.28;  100.08;    1;  ausztral dollar
BEF;  450.52;  444.74;  453.34;  100;  belga (es luxemburgi) frank(100)
DKK;   23.88;   23.62;   24.08;    1;  dan korona
FIM;   30.85;   30.52;   31.10;    1;  finn marka
FRF;   26.78;   26.56;   27.06;    1;  francia frank
GRD;    0.00;   56.61;   57.69;  100;  gorog drachma(100) (kozepar nincs)
NLG;   82.82;   81.88;   83.46;    1;  holland forint
IEP;  213.46;  212.98;  216.94;    1;  ir font
JPY;  133.54;  129.82;  132.74;  100;  japan jen(100)      (!!!!)
CAD;   97.86;   97.03;   98.81;    1;  kanadai dollar
KWD;  442.02;  436.45;  444.71;    1;  kuvaiti dinar
DEM;   92.86;   91.75;   93.53;    1;  nemet marka
NOK;   21.10;   20.92;   21.32;    1;  norveg korona
ITL;   82.30;   81.84;   83.32; 1000;  olasz lira(1000)
ATS;   13.20;   13.04;   13.30;    1;  osztrak schilling
PTE;   88.36;   87.64;   89.30;  100;  portugal escudo(100)
ESP;  106.83;  105.90;  107.90;  100;  spanyol peseta(100)
CHF;  115.23;  114.76;  116.90;    1;  svajci frank
SEK;   18.79;   18.61;   18.95;    1;  sved korona
USD;  132.34;  130.92;  133.34;    1;  USA-dollar
XEU;  172.21;  170.70;  173.94;    1;  European Currency Unit (ECU)