From hungary-report-owner Mon Jan 8 08:40:06 1996 Received: from localhost (daemon@localhost) (fnord) by nando.yak.net (8.6.5/8.6.5) id IAA16600; Mon, 8 Jan 1996 08:40:06 -0800 Received: from localhost (daemon@localhost) (fnord) by nando.yak.net (8.6.5/8.6.5) id IAA16589; Mon, 8 Jan 1996 08:39:51 -0800 Received: from jbrown@isys.hu () via =-=-=-=-=-= for hungary-report@hungary.yak.net (16587) Received: from kingzog.isys.hu (KingZog.iSYS.hu [194.24.160.4]) (fnord) by nando (8.6.5/8.6.5) with ESMTP id IAA16582 for ; Mon, 8 Jan 1996 08:38:50 -0800 Received: from [194.24.161.32] (hrep.dial.isys.hu [194.24.161.32]) by kingzog.isys.hu (8.7.Beta.11/8.7.Beta.11) with SMTP id RAA21339 for ; Mon, 8 Jan 1996 17:38:01 +0100 (MET) Date: Mon, 8 Jan 1996 17:38:01 +0100 (MET) X-Sender: jbrown@mail.isys.hu Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable To: hungary-report@hungary.yak.net From: jbrown@isys.hu (Jennifer Brown) Subject: The Hungary Report 1.32 Sender: owner-hungary-report@hungary.yak.net Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hungary-report@hungary.yak.net =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D The Hungary Report Direct from Budapest, every week Also available on the World Wide Web (http://www.isys.hu/hrep/) No. 1.32, January 8, 1996 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D SPONSORED BY: iSYS Kft., providing full Internet solutions for companies and individuals in Hungary. For further information, send e-mail to , view our World Wide Web home page (http://www.isys.hu) or call (+36-1) 266-6090. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D CONTENTS BRIEFS Hungary and Romania move toward reconciliation Protection plans for IFOR's Hungarian unit wins approval Hungarian broadcast media open to investors NATO praises Hungary's IFOR contribution Slovaks delay signing of basic treaty Voivodina Hungarians propose autonomy Credit agreement reached with IMF 1995 capital investment totals $4 billion Government debating on spending surplus revenues Budapest Bank deal finalized with GE Capital Prices hiked in 1996 Hungarian invention draws unwanted attention in Hawaii NUMBERS CRUNCHED Illegal entries last year Capital flow in '95 Drugs confiscated by Hungary's customs guards Political dissatisfaction in 1995 Foreign criminals caught in Hungary FEATURE STORY Keeping art above water The Hungary Report is also supported in part by: MTI-, a daily English-language financial news service. For on-line (fee-based) subscription information, contact the Internet address: <->. (It's not automated -- write a nice note.) =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D BRIEFS By Jennifer C. Brown Copyright (c) 1995 ------------ GENERAL NEWS Hungary and Romania move toward reconciliation Reconciliation between Hungary and Romania progressed in late December when the Hungarian government sent its official response to Romanian President Ion Iliescu's proposal for a historical reconciliation between Hungary and Romania, the Budapest Week reports The implementation of an agreement, however, may be delayed because Hungary's response included items that weren't considered in the original proposal sent by Bucharest, according to a Romanian government official at a press conference held in Bucharest. While the Hungarian government's statement was not released, the government has said before that it will not enter into an agreement with Romania that doesn't guarantee rights for ethnic Hungarians rights in Transylvania. Protection report for IFOR's Hungarian unit wins approval Parliament's defense committee yesterday approved Defense Minister Gyorgy Keleti and Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs's report on preparing Hungarian military forces for their preparation in the military operation in Bosnia, reports Magyar Hirlap. Democratic Forum MPs Jeno Poda and Lajos Fur were reported to have opposed the plan on grounds that Keleti didn't have guarantees from NATO for the protection of Hungarian troops. Kovacs stated that the British embassy said British armed forces will protect the units in their zone. Soon it will be known to what extent the British IFOR forces will protect the Hungarian contingent. Keleti said that during a recent meeting in Vienna, a senior official of the Bosnian Serb army expressed that he has no problem with Hungarians being used for technical assignments on Bosnian Serb territory. A special advance team of the Hungarian contingent is slated to leave for Bosnia on Jan. 17 with the main operations beginning in February, according to Commander of the Armed Forces Janos Deak. --------------------- BUSINESS & ECONOMICS Hungarian broadcast media open to investors After four and a half years of heated political debate over the broadcast airwaves in Hungary, Parliament finally voted on a media law that allows for private investors to put their mark on the Hungarian airwaves and for the first time, competition in the state-monopolized airwaves, reports the Budapest Week. In November, leaders from the six major parties drafted a compromise bill. The bill received approval in December and was passed on Dec. 21. The law gives private operators 10-year concessions for Channel 2, the former Soviet channel 58 and Radio Danubius. It also allows Parliament to grant new licenses for broadcast frequencies. Hungary's largest channel MTV 1 and Duna TV will remain in state hands. Investors such as former U.S. ambassador Mark Palmer is reported to be preparing to take advantage of the new investment opportunities, reports the Budapest Sun. His Central European Development Corp. is financed by U.S. billionaire Ronald Lauder, who operates a commercial television station in Prague called Nova TV . The Sun quotes Palmer saying that a commercial station in Hungary will cost US$ 50 million to establish. The Sun also mentioned Hungarian firm MTM Communications as another possible media investor. The company submitted a tender several months ago with the Scandinavian Broadcasting System and a pledge of US$ 20 million to set up a private television station. ------------ SHORT TAKES HUNGARY RECEIVED PRAISE FOR ITS COOPERATION WITH NATO peacekeeping operations last week by U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry during his visit to Kaposvar and Tazar last week with chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. John Shalikasvili. Meanwhile, poor weather plagued southern Hungary last week, reports the Budapest Sun, slowing down transportation of personnel and equipment from Germany to Hungary. Other problems facing the operation have included inadequate, overcrowded, Soviet-style military bases and vehicle accidents on the road from the Tazar air base to Kaposvar. Some 6,000 U.S. troops are currently stationed in Kaposvar. Over half are a part of a permanent support staff for the combat forces in Bosnia and the rest are continuing on to Bosnia. THE SLOVAK PARLIAMENT POSTPONED THE SIGNING OF A BASIC treaty between Slovakia and Hungary until later this month. The treaty's creators expected a signing before the end of last year but according to the Budapest Week, the Parliament needed more time to sort out the compatibility between the treaty and a newer language law that limits the use of the Hungarian language in Slovakia. The law, which was received negatively in Hungary, is currently under review by the Council of Europe. THE ASSOCIATION OF VOIVODINA HUNGARIANS (VMSZ) HAS DRAFTED an autonomy plan for the northern Serbian province and will soon be discussed by the Council of the Federation, reports Magyar Hirlap. The draft program is said to be in accordance with international norms and will not come into conflict with the Yugoslav federation. According to the federation, the proposal meets interests of ethnic Hungarians. HUNGARY AND THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND REACHED an agreement on the conditions for a standby loan in late December worth millions of dollars in credit. Hungary is obliged to reform the debt-ridden social security system before receiving the loan. While Hungary isn't expected to draw on the loan, it is viewed as a vote of confidence Hungary's improved economy and in Finance Minister Lajos Bokros's austerity measures implemented last March. 1995 BROUGHT IN $4 BILLION IN CAPITAL, ACCORDING TO Vilaggazdasag. This year is expected to bring in even more operating capital due to new investor-friendly measures such as a 50% five-year tax allowance for investments in depressed areas. Companies can also apply for assistance and loans to develop foreign exchange related services. The state will help finance some projects and will donate facilities in some cases. THE GOVERNMENT WILL SOON DECIDE ON HOW TO SPEND extra privatization revenues, according to Prime Minister Gyula Horn during an interview with Kossuth Radio last week. Horn said he extra revenues left over from the HUF 435 billion to go toward budget deficit reductions and infrastructure development. But MP's are now squabbling over where exactly the money should be spent. One side led by Finance Minister Lajos Bokros wants the money to go toward financing the state debt but liberals, led by Socialist MP and former labor minister Magda Kovacs Kosa said the money should be allotted to social programs and development. AMERICAN COMPANY GE CAPITAL HAS PURCHASED 60% OF BUDAPEST BANK, along with its partner, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The bank avoided having to repay a HUF 12 million government loan by signing the deal by the Dec. 29 deadline. The privatization of Budapest Bank is the first one in which the government has sold a majority stake in a bank to foreign investors. The government will retain a minority share in the bank and operational control will go to GE Capital. Budapest Bank is Hungary's fifth largest bank. A NEW YEAR BROUGHT AN AVERAGE OF 28.7% PRICE INCREASES TO HUNGARY. Petrol prices went up by an average of HUF 10-12 per liter. Postal services went up 21%, telephone calls by 24% and medicines by 25%. Hungarian State Railways (MAV) raised its ticket prices 17.5% and inter-country bus rides went up by 22%. Utilities went up too. Water now costs HUF 25 more while sewage rose by HUF 30 per cubic meter. ---------------- NUMBERS CRUNCHED Number of people entering Hungary illegally last year (Magyar Hirlap): 22,000 Amount of working capital that flowed into Hungary in 1995 (Vilaggazdasag): $4 billion. Amount of drugs confiscated by Hungary's customs guards in 1995 (Cologne's Customs Criminology Office): 861 Percentage of people polled who say their attitude towards government soured in 1995 (Magyar Nemzet): 75% Number of foreign criminals caught in Hungary last year (Prosecutor General's Office): 5,643 -------------- EXCHANGE RATE January 5, 1995 (National Bank of Hungary) US dollar - $140.25 (buying), $141.50 (selling) Deutschemark - DM 96.96 (buying), DM 97.92 (selling) --------------- WACKY AS USUAL =46rom the people that brought you such nifty inventions as the ball point pen and Rubik's Cube also comes a foolproof way to keep marijuana plants under cover...well, almost. Drug Enforcement officials in Hilo, Hawaii discovered that six Hungarian citizens invented a method of storing and distributing marijuana on mobile platforms, something they had never encountered before. The Hungarians suspected of setting up the operation would roll out the platforms when the marijuana plants needed sunshine and back in again to keep them out of sight. Investigators caught onto the system and eventually gathered enough evidence to arrest the suspects. Police confiscated over 3,800 plants and luxury goods such as a Ferrari, a Mercedes, a Porsche and several recreational vehicles. Editor's note: Thanks to Mark Haas mark@haas.com http://www.haas.com for the Wacky As Usual tip-off! =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =46EATURE STORY Keeping art above water By Emmanuelle Richard Copyright (c) 1996 She's old, frail and isolated. Nevertheless, graphic designer Jeno Levay, 37, is in love. "It was love at first sight between this building and me," he says with a shy smile. Since the artist came across this unused transporter bridge in the middle of the Danube two years ago, his life has taken another turn. Levay now nurses one of Hungary's most unusual cultural projects ever undertaken. He plans to transform this unique construction into a kind of stock exchange for art. "This loading station was used for stockpiling coal and loading it onto barges," explains Levay. "Instead of coal, I would like to transfer art," he says. This strange contraption on stilts, which is unique in Central Europe, was built in 1927 not far from Esztergom, 37 kilometers north of Budapest. It had been neglected for more than 30 years when L=E9vay came across it during an excursion. "I found this place so magical that I immediately thought about living there," he recalls, with a romantic sparkle in his eyes. But the artist was moved when he thought about all the labor that thousands of workers had put in around the station: "Their aura still fills the inner space with spiritual radiations," he muses. For that reason, Levay gave up the idea of moving in. Or maybe it was because the boarding station is only accessible by craft and has no floor. If not a place to live, the building could be a haven for work, Levay thought. With a palette full of ideas and much determination, he set about realizing his vision. =46ree Democrat MP Laszlo Rajk is a long-time acquaintance of Levay's, describing the artist as a "nice, smiling, mild person, but in some part of him, he's hard as a diamond. Sort of a lone ranger." Rajk explains how Levay was so determined to possess the neglected fortress that he not only tracked down a former miner who once worked there, but through the miner was able to find the company who owned it, Dorog Cole Rt. Levay then created the Valtoter (exchange square) =46oundation, to whom Dorog Coal gladly donated the building. On December 1994, on Saint Borbala day (the patron saint of miners), Levay gathered more than 150 artists and art lovers to celebrate the christening of his project. As Levay plans, there will be three steps. First, his foundation will publish a book about the current art situation in Hungary, "hopefully" before the end the year. Next, the graphic designer would like to start renovating of the boarding station, following the examples set by the Kunstlerwerkstadt group in Munich and the Ajlakcsoport in Budapest. "These groups of artists own industrial premises that they restore little by little, as they have exhibitions," he explains. Finally, Levay wants to set an "art stock exchange". Like any stock exchange, shares would be bought and sold. But according to Levay, these shares represent not percentages of a company but... ideas. "Any cultural ideas," he stresses, such as concepts for paintings, sculptures, music, short stories or poems that have yet to be realized. Anyone interested in the idea can buy it. Levay envisions filing the loading station with computers displaying lists of prices going up and down and a connection with the internet allowing artists and art lovers all over the world to communicate as if in a forum. It is here where they would buy, sell or exchange their "idea shares" (Gondolat reszveny) according to an unusual pricing structure. Value would be reversed. The more well-known an artist is, the less his shares would be worth, while an unknown creator introducing an original and interesting idea would be favored on the market. Pricing won't reflect the traditional art market tendencies but the "current public opinion", explains Levay. He adds that if the disposable lighter had been created in our times, it would have a high value in his so-called Stock Exchange Island ("szigettozsde"). Why an art stock exchange? Many local artists and art enthusiasts feel that galleries are dictating public taste and ignoring real creativity in the process. "The galleries are telling us what art is. This exchange could be a pragmatic approach. A nice mixture of the information highway and an industrialist monument," says MP Rajk, who is also a respected architect and supporter of the project. Standing at the heart of the matter, however, like most stock exchanges, is money. Levay feels artists must be financially supported to be able to obtain the most from their talents. He openly admits to be wistful for the days of the Medicis, the famous Florentine family of bankers who generously subsidized European artists during the Renaissance. "I hope in the long term my project will inspire modern patrons," he says. Already, some notable potential patrons have been inspired. The Soros foundation has agreed to sponsor the publishing of his book. And since December 1994, the date of the first application for shares, Levay has collected contributions from nearly 250 people, in order to create the stock exchange's "metaphorical" fund. Some donations are in connection with the transfer station. An architect gave his project of renovation, a historian offered a collection of old pictures of the building when in service, and the politician (also architect) Laszlo Rajk made a gift of a diagram to measure the time of sunshine of the construction. Still, more practical questions remain. How will Levay find the necessary financial backing to rebuild the boarding station's floor, an essential requirement to say the least. And can such a nonconformist art stock exchange catch the much-needed attention of well-known artists throughout the world? Levay's answer is just the eternal smile of an artist in love. * * * Emannuelle Richard works for French Radio and regularly contributes to the Budapest Week =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =46INAL BLURB The Hungary Report is free to readers. 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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 directly by email to inquire about resale rights. * * * =46or information on becoming a corporate sponsor of The Hungary Report, contact Steve Carlson by email. =46eedback is welcome. Rick E. Bruner, Creator <74774.2442@compuserve.com> Steven Carlson, Publisher Jennifer C. Brown, Co-editor Tibor Vidos, Parliament Watch Attila Beno, Magyar Net Watch * * * =46or its briefs, The Hungary Report regularly consults the news sources listed below -- for information about subscriptions, contact them by email: The Budapest Business Journal <100263.213@compuserve.com> & Budapest Sun <100275.456@compuserve.com> Budapest Week <100324.141@compuserve.com> Central Europe Today (free online) , as well as most Hungarian-language media (e-mail addresses to come). =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D END TRANSMISSION