WAR DAMAGE TO BE ASSESSED ON CULTURAL MONUMENTS IN DANUBIAN AREA NEXT

AREA NEXT $ WEEK VUKOVAR, Sept 24 (Hina) - Representatives of the Croatian Culture Ministry and the Croatian Museum Council on Wednesday visited Vukovar (under UNTAES authority), where they held talks with the town's mayor and director of the Centre for Reconstruction of the Danubian area about the reconstruction of cultural objects in the region. President of the Museum Council, Vinko Ukrajincek, said after the meeting that the renovation of the Eltz castle in Vukovar would begin soon. The renovation of the roof will take 450,000 kuna, (about US$ 71,000) and the work will be finished by New Year's. Ukrajincek said that experts of the State Administration for the Protection of Cultural Heritage had completed the first assessment of churches in the Danubian area, and had established that all of the 44 Catholic churches in the area had been damaged or completely devastated, whereas 32 Serb Orthodox churches were mostly intact. The state commission for the registration and assessment of war damage on cultural monuments should begin to draft a list and assessment of war damages in the Danubian area, Ukrajincek announced. Head of the exiled Vukovar Town Museum, Ruza Maric, announced that the museum would move into Vukovar soon. It would be temporarily situated in the building with offices of the town administration and the Centre for the Reconstruction and Development of the Danubian area. The art would be retrieved gradually, depending on the space available. Art looted during the Serb aggression would be requested back by the Croatian government from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. (hina) lm jn 241536 MET sep 97