CROATIA, YUGOSLAVIA ESTABLISH RAILWAY TRAFFIC

ZAGREB, 21 Oct (Hina) - The representatives of the Croatian and Yugoslav railways met in Zagreb Tuesday and signed an agreement on the establishment of railway traffic between the Croatian town of Vinkovci and two border towns in Serbia - Sid and Bogojevo. The two sides also signed Joint Provisions regulating border traffic on those railway lines. The railway lines will be open for traffic as of 11 November this year. The agreement regulates many technical and technological, legal and business particulars relating to the proper performance and functioning of border railway traffic, the status of employees of one railway company on the territory of the other railway company, border control on border railway stations, procedure in case of unforeseen events etc. According to this year's timetable, two pairs of passenger trains will travel between Vinkovci and Sid, via Tovarnik (in the U.N.- administered area), with connections to the interior of both countries; there will also be four cargo trains running along this railway line. The agreement also envisages that finance and employees will be secured by the Croatian Railways. Two pairs of local passenger trains and two cargo trains will travel along the second railway line, from Vinkovci to Bogojevo via Erdut (under U.N.. transitional administration). The director of the Croatian Railways, Marjan Klaric, said that representatives of two railway companies had agreed that two express trains would travel next year along the Munich-Zagreb- Belgrade line, with a possibility of changing trains for Geneva, while two trains will travel along the Zurich-Zagreb-Belgrade line. Answering reporters' questions, Klaric said that the two delegations were holding negotiations on the establishment of direct traffic on the line Zagreb-Belgrade. The signing of the agreement has created conditions for normal functioning of railway traffic, which is important not only for the two railways and states but for the Balkans and Europe as well, said the head of the Yugoslav Railways, Svetolik Kostadinovic. This would considerably influence transport and improve the course of economic cooperation. The railway direction is also important as it is part of Corridor 10 - Salzburg-Zagreb-Thessaloniki, he added. Croatia's Assistant Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Communications, Dragutin Subat, said that the agreement continued the implementation of normalisation policy between the two countries, adding that talks on river and air traffic would start soon. Yugoslavia's Ambassador to Croatia, Veljko Knezevic, stressed that the two countries had so far signed eight agreements. The signing of a trade and finance agreement could be expected soon, he said, adding one could also expect cooperation in the field of interior affairs, environmental protection, river and air traffic etc. Other countries were showing serious interest in widened normalisation of relations between Croatia and Yugoslavia, Knezevic said. (hina) jn rm 211700 MET oct 97