CROATIAN MINISTER SIGNS CONVENTION ON INLAND WATERWAYS

ZAGREB, June 25 (Hina) - Croatian Maritime Affairs, transport and Communications Alojz Tusek signed a Convention on the Contract for the Carriage of Goods by Inland Waterway (CMNI) in Budapest today, the Ministry reported. The convention has so far been signed by ten other countries (Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Belgium, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Germany, France, Portugal and Bulgaria). The signing of the convention is the first step towards the harmonisation of regulations on the Reine and Danube waterway which encompasses more than 4,000 kilometres from the North Sea to the Black Sea. The application of the convention will facilitate the drawing up and executing the contract on the carriage of goods by internal waterway and directing goods to carriage by internal waterway which, in relation to other land transport branches, has both ecological and economic advantages. Tusek and the transport ministers of Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Austria and Italy also signed a resolution giving further incentive to a CEATS project (Central European Air Traffic Services). The project, EUROCONTROL, is the central organisation for air transport safety in Europe, and its main goal is to establish unified flight control over the countries' territories above 9,000 metres, and enable the fastest and most economical flights over Central Europe, the Ministry said in the statement. (hina) lml sb