BAN ON OIL TRANSPORT BY ROAD GOES INTO FORCE AT MIDNIGHT

ZAGREB, Jan 15 (Hina) - Implementing the Interior Ministry's new regulations on the transport of hazardous substances by road, Croatia at midnight introduces a ban on road transport of oil and oil products. Officials in the Interior Ministry say the ban is being introduced due to environmental concerns. Under the amended regulations, as of midnight oil in Croatia will be transported only via pipelines and by railway, sea and river. Slovene transporter drivers, who transport oil in cisterns to the third countries through Croatia, will probably be most affected by the new regulations. Slovenia yesterday forwarded an official protest note to Croatia, saying the measure was contrary to the accepted international agreements which were binding for Croatia as well as to the principles of good neighbourly relations. Interior Ministry spokeswoman Zinka Bardic would not comment on the Slovene protest note or the request of the Bosnian Chamber of Commerce that the authorities in Sarajevo try to persuade Croatia to cancel the new regulations. She said the Government and the Foreign Ministry should be asked for comment, not the Interior Ministry, which, she said, adopted the regulations in line with legal procedure and with the consent of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Communications. Interior Ministry officials have said the regulations are not anything new in Europe and that, for example, Austria has similar regulations. (hina) sb rml