From hungary-report-owner Sun Jul 30 15:37:48 1995 Received: from localhost (daemon@localhost) (fnord) by nando.yak.net (8.6.5/8.6.5) id PAA01042; Sun, 30 Jul 1995 15:37:48 -0700 Received: from localhost (daemon@localhost) (fnord) by nando.yak.net (8.6.5/8.6.5) id PAA01026; Sun, 30 Jul 1995 15:37:19 -0700 Received: from bruner@ind.eunet.hu () via =-=-=-=-=-= for hungary-report@hungary.yak.net (1024) Received: from gwarn.versant.com (gwarn.versant.com [192.70.173.14]) (fnord) by nando (8.6.5/8.6.5) with ESMTP id PAA01019 for ; Sun, 30 Jul 1995 15:36:39 -0700 Received: from ind.eunet.hu (ind.eunet.hu [192.84.225.42]) by gwarn.versant.com (8.6.9/8.6.9) with SMTP id JAA16076 for ; Sun, 30 Jul 1995 09:54:45 -0700 Received: from [192.84.226.92] (bruner.dial.eunet.hu) by ind.eunet.hu with SMTP id AA19241 (5.67a8/SZTAKI-4.01 for ); Sun, 30 Jul 1995 18:49:47 +0200 X-Sender: pop029@ind.eunet.hu (Unverified) Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Date: Sun, 30 Jul 1995 18:48:09 +0100 To: hungary-report@hungary.yak.net From: bruner@ind.eunet.hu (Rick Bruner) Subject: Hungary Report 1.18 X-Charset: US X-Char-Esc: 0 Sender: owner-hungary-report@hungary.yak.net Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hungary-report@hungary.yak.net ======================== The Hungary Report Direct from Budapest, every week No. 1.18, July 30, 1995 ======================== The Hungary Report is supported in part by: MTI-Econews, a daily English-language financial news service. For online (fee-based) subscription information, contact (not automated -- write a nice note). ======== CONTENTS BRIEFS House Speaker's accident continues to complicate Cop arrested, top cop quits, after suspect beaten to death Hungary may aid NATO retreat Bokros announces new rate hikes, spending cuts, tax changes Economic reforms taking effect slower than hoped Cucumber Season: farmers have bad harvests German couple murdered in their car Police capture 7 in Sri Lankan smuggling tragedy US rejects Hungary's Lenin Marriott front manager napped for embezzling Lake Balaton suffers mass eel die-off again Rolling Stones sell 60,000+ tickets for Budapest concert Foreign investors to put HUF 3 billion in Tokaj That little church in the sky Great News: everything's fine in the Balkans thanks to communism NUMBERS CRUNCHED Percentage of population paying 35% on utility bills Price of sidewalk terrace space for downtown Budapest cafes Breakdown of $9 billion direct foreign capital investment Amount of money Magyars cashed in of hard currency limit FEATURE STORY Forgotten drama of Broadway playwright revived as musical ====== BRIEFS Copyright (c) 1995, by Rick E. Bruner ------------ GENERAL NEWS House Speaker's accident continues to complicate Details of Speaker of Parliament Zoltan Gal's serious car accident of two weeks ago Monday continue to emerge. Police now say the politician's Mercedes was in the left-hand lane overtaking a previously unmentioned fourth vehicle, a van, when the MP's motorcycle escort crashed into an on-coming Trabant, killing the motor-cop and Gal's two guards in the front seat. The woman driving the Trabant, a 20-year-old newlywed, has remained in a coma since the accident, but doctors say her condition has stabilized. Only Gal was not seriously injured. Meanwhile, the National Police have withdrawn from service all of their type Yamaha XJ 600 motorcycles following numerous complaints from cops that the bikes are unstable. Gal's escort was riding the same bike, but police say the recall wasn't prompted by the accident. Cop arrested, captain quits, after suspect beaten to death A police sergeant major, one Gyula K., is under arrest and captain of the Nograd County police, Col. Karoly Rafael, has resigned after a suspect was beaten to death in the northern town of Paszto on July 15. Five officers, including the sergeant major, entered the home of the suspect, Laszlo Almasi, and allegedly tried to force a confession from him regarding a recent bar burglary. The police allegedly punched Almasi in the face and otherwise abused him, after which time he died of internal bleeding, according to the coroner's report. The county police captain, Rafael, characterized the incident -- the first police killing by interrogation on record in 20 years -- as an aberration, but said he accepted ethical responsibility. He said his resignation "is how it should go in a democracy," according to Hungary Around the Clock. Hungary may aid NATO retreat Not only is Hungary bracing itself for a surge of refugees in the face of increased fighting in Bosnia, but officials acknowledge they're prepared to play a role in facilitating the flight of UN "blue helmets," were the so-called world powers to surprise us all and actually make a decision about anything regarding the war zone at Hungary's southern border. The Budapest Sun quotes a foreign ministry spokesman saying "NATO officials indicated to me in Brussels that Hungary may be needed for the pullout." Other than retreat via the Adriatic sea, Hungary (with borders on Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia, and only a few dozen kilometers north of Bosnia) is the most strategic route for the considered withdrawal of the some 22,500 UN troops stationed in the former Yugoslavia. ------------------ BUSINESS & ECONOMY Bokros announces new rate hikes, spending cuts, tax changes Doggedly determined not to rise in popularity polls, Finance Minister Lajos Bokros came out swinging both fists after a special two-day cabinet meeting last week, announcing new drastic austerity measures to make up the HUF 12 billion recently blocked by the Constitutional Court from the government's 4-month-old economic reform plans. First, natural gas and electricity prices will rise 8% from September 1, the 25% value-added tax from which will make up most of the HUF 12 billion shortfall. With two more hikes in store next year, energy rates will rise a total of 100% by 1997, as previously planned according to the energy sector's privatization strategy. The cabinet also found places to cut spending to municipal governments, a new university project in Lanymanyos (Budapest) and other cultural institutions. Budapest's renowned Eotvos Lorand University (ELTE) will lose 677 employees from September, mostly teachers and researchers, due to state budget cuts, while the Kossuth Lajos University of Arts and Sciences in Debrecen will let go 340 employees this school year. Bokros has also proposed eliminating the zero personal income tax bracket, instead taxing citizens 20% on the first HUF 150,000 ($1,200) earned. Reforms taking effect slower than hoped Meanwhile, recent economic analyses of the first half of 1995 is only mildly encouraging about the effects of the massive March 12 budget reform package. In general, economic indicators show positive trends in the 2nd versus the 1st quarter of this year, but many targeted year-end projections have already been surpassed. The state budget deficit stood at HUF 191.7 billion by the end of June, despite its year-end target being HUF 156 billion. The respected independent economic institute GKI Rt predicts the central budget deficit will end the year closer to HUF 250 billion, or 7.5% of gross domestic product (GDP), without taking into account privatization revenues. Privatization revenues so far have amounted to only HUF 50 billion of the year's targeted HUF 150 billion. GKI sees a maximum 1% growth in GDP for this year. Despite an 8% across-the-board import duty applied in March, the trade deficit has risen to $2.3 billion, and the current account deficit is up to $3.2 billion, against official year-end projections of $2.5 billion. GKI predicts both will settle around $3 billion for the year. ----------- SHORT TAKES CUCUMBER SEASON is the phrase Hungarians use to describe the slowdown in events and news during the hot summer months here. And indeed, cucumbers were big in the news this week. No less authority than the Gerkin Product Council (according to Econews) has the government on cuke-alert, after a disastrously huge harvest has sent cucumber prices tumbling; farmers are seeking financial aid from the state. Fruit producers had an opposite misfortune, late frost having severely damaged crops this year. Fruit processors are asking the state to exempt them from high import duties on fruit (e.g. apples, 72%; sour cherries, 56%) so they can meet juice and jam exports targets. A GERMAN COUPLE WAS KILLED IN THEIR CAR last Tuesday near the northern town of Szajol. The couple (he, 70; she, 60) were shot and their valuables stolen. Police are still investigating. BULGARIAN POLICE HAVE ARRESTED 7 SUSPECTS IN THE SRI LANKAN SMUGGLING TRAGEDY. Those in custody, allegedly including Bulgarian and Sri Lankan nationals, includes the driver of the trunk in the back of which 18 Sri Lankans, who'd paid for transport to Germany, died of suffocation and dehydration and were abandoned in western Hungary, near Gyor two weeks ago. More arrests may follow, with international police on the trail of a human smuggling ring with tentacles stretching across Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Bulgaria and Romania. A TATABANYA STATUE OF LENIN WAS REJECTED BY US park officials, who had originally requested the statue for a kitsch new commie theme park, Freedom Park, outside Washington DC. Closer to the "real thing," the park will take a Lenin statue from St. Petersburg, Russia. According to Hungary Around the Clock, the dejected Hungarian Lenin remains wrapped up and ready to go in -- appropriately enough -- the town's welfare center. MARRIOTT HOTEL'S GERMAN FRONT OFFICE MANAGER WAS FIRED FOR EMBEZZLING. According to Nepszabadsag, Henrik Hesselman was dismissed for defrauding the hotel of "millions of forints," having rigged the computer system to count cash payments as credit card payments, allowing him to clean out the till. Investigators first suspected Hungarian employees before identifying Hesselman as the culprit. LAKE BALATON IS ONCE AGAIN EEL SOUP. As with the summer of 1992 and '93, the slimy creatures are dying by the dumpster-full, about 1,000 kilograms' worth in the last week. Scientists put the cause of death mostly due to high temperatures and overproduction of algae, draining the water of oxygen. That and chemical dumping. As if that weren't stomach-turning enough, 70 people, mostly children, were stricken by salmonella poisoning from bad mayonnaise at a lake resort in the town of Balatonvilagos. All in all, the lake's tourism's still doing fine this year, reports Hungary Around the Clock. MORE THAN 60,000 TICKETS HAVE SOLD FOR THE ROLLING STONES CONCERT, to take place at Budapest's Nepstadion on August 8. Ticket prices run from HUF 4,000 ($32) upwards. Budapest Week says the band has sent a "wish list" to organizers for 45,000 liters of water, orange juice and Bordeux wine, plus 30 interpreters, wild rice and enough electricity to crank the 310 loud speakers enough to be heard across the city on Gellert Hill. A GROUP OF MOSTLY FOREIGN INVESTORS WILL SPEND HUF 3 BILLION ON TOKAJI WINE. The 11 members of the Tokaj Renaissance Association, dominated by French, Spanish and British investors, have announced plans to double the amount they've respectively already spent developing viticulture in the region since 1992. ---------------- NUMBERS CRUNCHED * Portion of population who will by paying 35% of their incomes towards housing utilities, once present energy rates are doubled by 1997 (economic institute GKI, Budapest Business Journal): 1/3 * Budapest City Council's new rent demand for one square meter (10.7 sq feet) of sidewalk terrace space in District Five (BBJ): HUF 3,000 ($24) * Breakdown of $9 billion in direct foreign capital investment in Hungary, by top contributing nations (Ministry of Industry & Trade, Econews): US, 40%; Germany, 25%; Austria, 12-15%; France and Italy (each), 7%. * Amount of money in the first six months of 1995 Hungarians have purchased in hard currency with their individual tourism allowance of $800 a year (National Bank of Hungary): $470 million. ------------- EXCHANGE RATE July 27, 1995 (National Bank of Hungary) US dollar - 125.38 (buying), 127.80 (selling) Deutschemark - 90.41 (buying), 92.19 (selling) -------------- WACKY AS USUAL (Seems like there's too much to chose from for this section sometimes... ;) Getting closer to God Laszlo Lipp, a Catholic priest in Gazdagret, took his new church for an inaugural flight this week. The 12-seat biplane "Air Church" will serve as a house of the holy for weddings and pilgrimages, with Lipp himself both flying the plane and heading all religious ceremonies on board. God, as Hungary Around the Clock points out, will doubtless be his co-pilot. From the "Believing Your Own Lies" department... Hungary's behind-the-times president of the (communist) Workers' Party, Gyula Thurmer -- whose party has no seats in Parliament -- met with a celebrated regional head of state last week, Slobodan Milosevic, president of the FR Yugoslavia (Serbia), whose party is likewise of the unreformed socialist variety. The forum where two such self-deceivers found their common ground? A conference in Belgrade, "Balkans: the Region of Stability and Cooperation." Um....no comment. ============= FEATURE STORY Forgotten drama of Broadway playwright revived as musical By John Nadler Copyright (c) 1995 Many of the works of Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnar (1878-1952) possessed an appeal that brought success on New York's Great White Way. Molnar's "Liliom" became the smash Broadway musical "Carousel," and later the US 1956 film of the same name. Molnar was famous for light, hopeful, and upbeat comedies. In 1923, however, Molnar departed from the optimistic, and showed his true Magyar dark humor in staging the drama "The Scarlet Mill" (or "The Devil's Tragedy"). A brooding exploration of human vice, the play is set almost exclusively in Hell. The production created it's own purgatory. The stage play bombed with audiences of the day and was never produced again. That is, until now. After 70 years of oblivion, Budapest's Madach Theater recently resurrected "The Scarlet Mill" into a new incarnation: it is now an electrifying musical, replete with rap, techno, folk, and classical styles. And it's drawing Hungarian audiences and international attention. "If you consider what a flop this play was before, just the audience reaction to it now shows that this version works," explained Peter Linka, an Australian-born actor who is translating the musical into English. "It's a huge effort. It's a huge success." "The Scarlet Mill" is selling out in Budapest. A representative of New York theatrical interests recently traveled to Hungary, and left with CD recordings of the musical's soundtrack and a promise to bring this Molnar incubus to the American stage. The upshot: a failure in the 1920s, the revised musical version of "The Scarlet Mill" appears perfectly suited for the '90s and could mark Molnar's return to Broadway. But why is this forgotten script now garnering attention? The time is ripe. Considering the popularity of the book and movie "Interview with the Vampire," Francis Ford Coppola's film "Dracula," Kenneth Branagh's current version of "Frankenstein," the undead seem to be experiencing a rebirth in modern culture. And its theme is "timeless," mused composer Tibor Kocsak. "Most of Molnar's work can transcend to the modern day. This play was not successful originally because audiences were not expecting this type of thing from [Molnar]. They were expecting something much lighter." Light "The Scarlet Mill" is not. The musical opens in Hell where a ranking demon, the operator of a machine (or mill) able to compel anyone to sin, is given an assignment from none other than the wife of Satan. The task: find the world's most virtuous man, and compromise him. Ultimately, these devils find human virtue personified in a simple Hungarian peasant. The peasant is kidnapped, and driven by the "mill" to transgress. Respect is paid to the original play by retaining its uniquely Hungarian symbols: references to cabbage dishes (kaposzta), Austro-Hungarian cavalry officers and Transylvanian shepherds. But the production transcends these parochial Hungarian icons by the power of its music which includes rap and techno styles. "Rap is very conducive to prose," explained composer Kocsak. "It's descriptive. I used rap to emphasize Hell." The compatibility of Molnar's 70-year-old prose with modern music has bred an eerie theory. According to some, it is as if fate had ordained Molnar to write "The Scarlet Mill" in the 1920s as the first step in a collaboration that would be completed 70 years later. As a stage play, "The Scarlet Mill" had been doomed. Its long monologues confused audiences. Not surprisingly, acting students at Budapest's Academy of Dramatic Arts were assigned passages of the play as speech exercises. Then at a Molnar festival at the drama school in March 1994, a few of these scenes were performed. In the audience were key members of the Madach theater company. "We all came out of there with our hair on fire," Peter Linka recalled. "Someone said, 'Wouldn't it be better if this were a musical. You wouldn't have to speak these words. You could sing them.' It was a great idea." The Madach theater seized the opportunity. Beginning last summer, director Imre Kerenyi, composer Kocsak, and lyricist Tibor Miklos attacked the original script. Lyricist Miklos trimmed and honed the writing, but fought to retain Molnar's flavor. Kocsak composed a score. Kerenyi rebuilt the second act. In the final moments of the musical, our hero -- the compromised peasant -- is forced by the mill to commit the most heinous of crimes: murder. But in the end, good prevails. And this, despite the musical's devilish backdrop, is the true moral of the story. "The last scene tells us that no matter how evil a person gets, there is still a pebble of goodness in him that evil cannot conquer," said Kocsak. With evil so prolific in the nearby Balkans, it is no small wonder this is a theme Hungarians in the 1990s can finally and readily appreciate. =================== NO PARLIAMENT WATCH Tibor Vidos was unavailable to write his usual political column this week. It will resume next week. =========== FINAL BLURB The Hungary Report is free to readers. To subscribe, send an email message to the following Internet address: hungary-report-request@hungary.yak.net containing (in the body of the message, not in the headers) the single word subscribe Conversely, to stop receiving Hungary Report, simply send to the same address (in the body of the message) the single word unsubscribe Please note: all mailing lists suffer from frequent "error" addresses. If we have problems with sending to your address more than one week in a row, we will remove you from the list. If you haven't received the report for more than one week, feel free to enquire directly to Rick Bruner (but please wait for at least a week, as we're also just famously late in getting the thing out sometimes :) * * * Back issues of The Hungary Report are available on the World-Wide Web http://www.yak.net/hungary-report/ and via FTP host: ftp.yak.net directory: /pub/hungary-report/ login name: "ftp" password: your email address) * * * The entire contents of The Hungary Report is copyrighted by the authors. Permission is granted for not-for-profit, electronic redistribution and storage of the material. If readers redistribute any part of The Hungary Report by itself, PLEASE RESPECT AUTHORS' BY-LINES and copyright notices. Reprinting and resale of the material is strictly prohibited without explicit prior consent by the authors. Please contact the authors directy by email to enquire about resale rights. * * * For information on becoming a corporate sponsor of The Hungary Report, contact Rick E. Bruner by email. Feedback is welcome. Rick E. Bruner John Nadler Tibor Vidos or * * * For its briefs, The Hungary Report regularly consults the news sources listed below -- for information about subsriptions, contact them by email: The Budapest Business Journal <100263.213@compuserve.com> (and tell them what dwads they are for making us pay for issues at the newsstand); Budapest Sun <100275.456@compuserve.com>; Budapest Week and Hungary Around the Clock (same email address) <100324.141@compuserve.com>, and Central Europe Today (free online) . ================ END TRANSMISSION