RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol 3, No. 38, 24 February 1999

HUNGARY'S TOP BANKING SUPERVISORS RESIGN. Imre Tarafas,
president of the State Banking and Capital Markets
Supervision (APTF), and his deputy, Rezso Nyers,
resigned on 23 February, saying their "rapidly
deteriorating relationship" with the government was
jeopardizing the country's financial sector. Prime
Minister Viktor Orban and Finance Minister Zsigmond
Jarai last week demanded Tarafas's resignation for
failing to take action to prevent the bankruptcy of
Realbank and the Globex brokerage and for the
difficulties encountered by Postabank. Following the
resignations, the government withdrew its accusations,
saying that the APTF did everything possible to maintain
the financial sector's stability. As the APTF leadership
was appointed by the previous government, the conflict
is viewed by media as political in nature. MSZ

BULGARIA, ROMANIA DISAGREE OVER DANUBE TUNNEL. A
Romanian project to build a tunnel under the Danube
River between Giurgiu and Russe has met with sharp
criticism in Bulgaria, dpa reports, citing the daily
"Trud." Giurgiu and Russe are already linked by a
bridge. The daily says the Romanian plan is aimed at
preventing the construction of a second bridge over the
river. The two governments have long disagreed over the
construction of a second bridge: Bulgaria insists that
it span the river between Vidin and Calafat, while
Bucharest wants the bridge to be built further east.
Bulgarian experts say Romanian opposition to the Vidin-
Calafat project stems from non-economic, political
motives and that Bucharest wants to prevent an economic
boom in Transylvania, where Romania's ethnic Hungarian
minority is concentrated. MS

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