BRIEF NEWS BULLETIN IN ENGLISH

HR-VISIT-Politika BRIEF NEWS BULLETIN IN ENGLISH BRIEF NEWS BULLETIN IN ENGLISH NO. 4592HINA Zagreb, April 17, 2002CROATIA, RUSSIA DISCUSS FREE TRADE AGREEMENTMOSCOW/ZAGREB, April 17 (Hina) - Croatian Economy Minister Hrvoje Vojkovic and Russia's Deputy Minister for Economic Development Rodlya Ferdinandovich Piskoppel negotiated a free trade agreement in Moscow on Wednesday, the Croatian Economy Ministry said in a statement. Vojkovic, who is visiting Russia as part of a Croatian state delegation led by President Stjepan Mesic, and Piskoppel discussed the signing of a new agreement on the stimulation and protection of investments, the statement said. Trade between Russia and Croatia in 2001 amounted to US$756 million. New possibilities of increasing the two countries' trade lie in the shipbuilding industry, mechanical engineering, building industry and tourism. The two officials also discussed the settling of Russia's clearing debt to Croatia in the form of energy products, the statemen