FIRST CONCRETE STEPS FORWARD IN SUCCESSION TALKS MADE

BRUSSELS, April 10 (Hina) - The first concrete steps forward in the division of ex-Yugoslavia's property have been made, according to unofficial reports from the second day of the latest rounds of negotiations in Brussels on succession to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). Sources close to the negotiations say international mediator Arthur Watts should state that an agreement has been reached as to the division of SFRY gold in the Basel-based Bank for International Settlements (BIS), which stores 46 tonnes of gold, 8,000 bonds, and part of the former federation's cash. Watts should make the statement at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon, at the end of the three-day negotiating round. Agreement has also been reached on the division of the first part of property SRFY owned abroad. This refers to embassies whose total value is $30-40 million, it has been said. The chief of the Yugoslav negotiating team, Dobroslav Mitrovic, told Belgrade-based news agency Beta on Tuesday evening the delegations of the five successor states had reached an agreement on the division of gold reserves in the BIS according to an International Monetary Fund key. Macedonia and Bosnia have requested additional time to obtain their governments' consent to sign the agreement. Yugoslavia has requested to be allocated six of SFRY's former embassy buildings abroad, that three be given to Croatia, and two each to the other three successors, Mitrovic said. Speaking about archives, he said Yugoslavia's motion to allocate them to Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Macedonia according to international standards, and keep the rest in Yugoslavia was yet to be debated. The chief of the Slovene delegation, Miran Mejak, confirmed in a special statement to Beta an agreement on the gold reserves had been initialled. (hina) ha