OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 8, 11 January 1996

UKRAINE ALLOWS RUSSIAN OIL THROUGH PIPELINES. Ukraine on 10 January
allowed Russian oil to flow through the Druzhba pipeline to the Czech
Republic and Slovakia, ITAR-TASS reported. The pipeline was closed on 1
January after Russia refused to pay $5.23 (an increase of 70 cents) for
pumping one ton of oil through 100 km of Ukraine's territory. Two days
later, oil supplies resumed to Hungary, but not to other countries.
Slovakia grew concerned that its economy would suffer if supplies were
not resumed, since Russia is its only supplier of crude. Russian oil
exporters stand to lose up to $20 million because of the tariff dispute.
The Russian Fuel and Energy Ministry has not decided whether to accept
the new transportation rate, which would make Russian oil more expensive
on the Central and West European markets. -- Ustina Markus

SLOVAK PRIME MINISTERS MEETS WITH OSCE OFFICIAL. Vladimir Meciar on 10
January met with OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Max van
der Stoel at the end of his three-day visit to Slovakia. Van der Stoel
recommended that the government approve a law on the use of minority
languages to accompany the state language law approved in November,
Pravda reported.  Meciar noted that he would like to receive a report on
the situation of minorities in EU countries, adding that "if the results
show that there is a higher level of minority rights in other countries,
we will be glad to adapt." Meciar assured Van der Stoel that the Slovak
parliament will pass the Slovak-Hungarian treaty in January or February
with the support of deputies from the government coalition, TASR
reported. -- Sharon Fisher

HUNGARIAN PRESIDENT SIGNS MEDIA LAW. Arpad Goncz on 10 January signed
Hungary's long awaited media bill, which was passed by the parliament
last month, Hungarian media reported. Magyar Hirlap reported that the
law will take effect on 1 February. Four parliamentary parties have
agreed to meet to prepare parliamentary and governmental measures on the
implementation of the law. The opposition Smallholders and Christian
Democrats declined to take part in the talks. Among the most pressing
tasks are reportedly establishing public service foundations and
electing the 31 members of the National Radio and Television Committee.
Parliamentary commissioners may be appointed to supervise the operations
of Hungarian TV and Hungarian Radio. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

HUNGARY'S CONSTITUTIONAL COURT ASKED TO RULE ON NATO REFERENDUM
PETITION. The extra-parliamentary Hungarian Workers' Party on 10 January
appealed to the Constitutional Court to overturn what it called the
parliament's unconstitutional rejection last month of its petition
calling for a referendum on Hungary's NATO membership, Hungarian dailies
reported. The party said the parliament used an arbitrary interpretation
of the law on referendums to reject the petition. The party had
collected 142,000 signatures endorsing a referendum on NATO membership
(100,000 are required by the constitution) but the parliamentary
Constitutional Committee subsequently rejected the petition.  Government
officials said it was to early to call a referendum since the country
had not yet been invited to join the alliance. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave