OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 193,  4 October 1996

HUNGARIAN PRIVATIZATION SCANDAL CONTINUES. The Hungarian press has
identified the man hired by the State Privatization and Holding Company
(APV) and paid a record fee of 300 million forints ($2 million) to
negotiate certain privatization deals (see OMRI Daily Digest, 30
September 1996). Marta Tocsik, who is not a lawyer, was hired to
negotiate deals involving municipal land with local governments,
Hungarian dailies reported on 4 October. Jozsef Torgyan, leader of the
opposition Smallholders Party, alleged that Tocsik's fee was later
transferred to the Socialist Party's election funds. The scandal is
being investigated by the APV's supervisory board and is expected to
result in the firings of top APV officials as well as a drop in the
coalition parties' popularity. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT RATIFIES TREATIES WITH BUDAPEST, BELGRADE. The
Romanian Chamber of Deputies ratified basic treaties with Hungary and
the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on 3 October, Romanian media
reported. The chamber adopted the treaty with Hungary by 159 votes to 1.
The main political organization representing Romania's Hungarian
minority, the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania (UDMR),
abstained, and the ultra-nationalist Party of Romanian National Unity
(PUNR) and extremist Greater Romania Party (PRM) did not participate in
the vote. The treaty with Belgrade passed with only two abstentions. The
Senate had previously ratified both treaties. -- Zsolt Mato

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Tom Warner