ILOK, SID MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS DISCUSS REGIONAL COOPERATION

ILOK, March 14 (Hina) - Representatives of the eastern Croatian town of Ilok and neighbouring Yugoslav municipality of Sid on Wednesday discussed the improvement of regional cooperation, traffic links and economic cooperation. The two delegations, led by Ilok mayor Stipan Kraljevic and the president of the Sid Municipal Assembly Executive Council, Zvonko Hnatka, agreed that cooperation possibilities existed on both sides. The readiness to cooperate is not questionable but some problems standing in the way of cooperation must be resolved first, they said. Ilok mayor Kraljevic said that a major obstacle to the establishment of cooperation was the damaged state of a bridge linking Ilok and the Yugoslav municipality of Backa Palanka. Another problem are high insurance fees for vehicles entering Yugoslavia, he added. Sid's Hnatka said many problems obstructing a closer cooperation between the two municipalities would be solved only on the state level. Sid is very interested in the installation of a gas-supply system via neighbouring Croatian municipality Tovarnik. The two sides agreed that business people should be invited to future meetings so that economic cooperation could be established as soon as possible. Over the past month, Ilok municipal representatives also held talks on a closer regional cooperation with the leaders of the northern Yugoslav province of Vojvodina and the municipality of Backa Palanka. (hina) rml