YUGOSLAVIA AND CROATIA NEGOTIATE ON TRADE

BELGRADE, Sep 1 (Hina) - Negotiations on an agreement on the trade cooperation between Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) commenced in Belgrade on Monday. Delegations of the two countries were headed by an assistant to Croatian Foreign Minister, Spomenka Cek, and an assistant to Yugoslav Minister of Foreign Trade, Miodrag Bogdanovic. Monday's meeting was the first meeting of the two countries' experts who are holding negotiations on trade cooperation on the basis of the agreement on normalisation of relations between Croatia and the FRY. The two delegations reached agreement in principle regarding activities in cooperation in trade, the banking and commercial operations, Spomenka Cek said adding that the two countries' economic co-ordinating bodies would have to partly work on issues of succession and other issues concerning interests and needs of markets of the two countries. A trade agreement should regulate import and export conditions and trade via third countries or bank guarantors only in convertible currencies. Negotiations of the two delegations would resume in the end of September or in the beginning of October, Cek added. (hina) jn mš 012053 MET sep 97