CRO AND HUNGARIAN TRANSPORT MINISTERS HOLD TALKS IN BUDAPEST ( Editorial: --> 2131 )

( Editorial: --> 2131 ) BUDAPEST, Nov 19 (Hina) - Croatian transport minister Zeljko Luzavec and his Hungarian counterpart Karly Lotz on Wednesday held talks in Budapest on cooperation between the two countries' railways, a prompter construction of a highway between Zagreb and Budapest and possibilities for better use of the Croatian port of Rijeka. Luzavec is heading a Croatian government delegation on a one-day visit to Budapest. He said Croatia and Hungary intended to adjust their rates policy so that the railroad connecting Rijeka with the Ukraine, via Hungary and Slovakia, could compete with other railway lines. A container-train would run between Rijeka and Hungary starting January 9, 1998, Luzavec said, adding it had been proposed that the container-train should run all the way to the Ukraine, via Budapest. In June, Croatia and Hungary signed an agreement on connecting highways in the Gorican/Letenye region. Croatia planned to finish the section between Zagreb and the Hungarian border by 2000, while the Hungarian section of the highway, from Siofok to the Croatian border, should be finished by 2004, Luzavec concluded. (hina) ha 191814 MET nov 97