SUGAR BEET SHIPMENT ARRIVES IN OSIJEK FROM EASTERN SLAVONIA

OSIJEK, Nov 14 (Hina) - For the first time after the Serb occupation of the Danube river region of eastern Croatia, 500 tonnes of sugar beet arrived at Osijek's sugar factory on Wednesday from the Eastern Slavonia town of Tovarnik, factory director Miroslav Kos said on Thursday. Under an agreement with the "Ratarstvo" company of Tovarnik, a shipment of 3,000 tonnes of beet would be sent to Osijek and there were good prospects for a contract on the sowing of sugar beet next year, Kos told Hina. "Although it is a symbolic amount, because the Osijek sugar factory processes more than 6,000 tonnes a day, it is important that the factory has returned to the Croatian Danube river region, traditionally the best for beet production," Kos said, adding that the beet dispatched on Wednesday was of high quality. The head of the government office for restoration of Croatian authority in the region, Ivica Vrkic, told Hina that the event marked a new aspect of the peaceful reintegration process during which conditions would be created to enable Osijek, as an industrial centre, to use raw materials provided by surrounding areas. (hina) vm mm 141306 MET nov 96