OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 240, 13 December 1996

TATARSTAN EXPANDS REGIONAL, INTERNATIONAL TIES. The State Council of
Tatarstan on 12 December signed a protocol on interparliamentary
cooperation with the Legislative Assembly of Ulyanovsk Oblast, RIA
Novosti reported. The chairman of Tatarstan's legislature, Vasilii
Likhachev, said 10 similar agreements have already been signed with the
legislatures of neighboring republics and regions as well as with the
parliaments of some CIS states, Canada, Turkey, and Hungary. Tatarstan's
legislature also plans to sign such treaties with Amur and Khabarovsk
oblasts, Primorskii Krai, and the Jewish Autonomous Oblast to foster
better economic ties. -- Nikolai Iakoubovski

HUNGARIAN UPDATE. The Hungarian government on 12 December accepted a
draft of a new pension system which should take effect in January 1998,
Hungarian media reported. Before putting the bill up for parliamentary
debate, the cabinet wants to hold consultations with parliamentary
parties and interest groups . The cabinet also decided to increase the
equity of national broadcaster Antenna Hungaria by 2.5 billion forints
($15.8 million). In other news, Viktor Orban, Chairman of the opposition
Young Democrats said "March 1997 is the final date for [achieving]
opposition cohesion," adding that the opposition will lose the 1998
general elections if it doesn't unite. -- Zsofia Szilagyi

[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Victor Gomez
Compiled by Sava Tatic