MINISTRY: GOVERNMENT'S 'CHALLENGER' HAS NOT BEEN SOLD YET

ZAGREB, Jan 19 (Hina) - The government's Challenger plane has still not been sold and until the Ministry of Public Works, Reconstruction and Construction receives the money from its sale it will be able to use budgetary funds for the removal of rubble and the reconstruction of Vukovar's infrastructure, Deputy Minister Venko Curlin said on Friday. The first decision on the sale of the Challenger was made at a government session in March last year. At a session held in May in Vukovar, the government decided to use the money from the sale for the reconstruction of the eastern Croatian town. In October the government announced that the plane would be sold for US$15,025,000 to the US company DDH Aviatio from Texas. It was said that the selling price would be higher than the price at which the plane had been bought and that, once overhaul costs were deducted from the selling price, 14.2 million dollars would be paid for the reconstruction of Vukovar. Late last year, Reconstruction Minister Radimir Cacic said the plane would not be sold for another month or two. He said the government had raised the price to US$15 million and that the money from the sale would also be used for the reconstruction of facilities in Vukovar which were being reconstructed by other Croatian counties and those facilities which the town judged particularly important. (hina) rml