USAID TO HELP RECONSTRUCTION OF DANUBE REGION

OSIJEK, 9 July (Hina) - Tom Dine, Deputy Head for Europe at the US government Agency for International Development (USAID) and Dr. Charles Aaneson, the agency's representative for Croatia, discussed today in Osijek aid programmes for the Croatian Danube region with Branimir Glavas and Vlado Osust, prefects of Croatian counties under temporary UN administration, as well as with Mirko Tankosic, deputy head of the Government Office for Transitional Administration. During the following days and weeks USAID will organize special training in the USA for 13 Croat businessmen from small and medium size companies in the Danube region. Furthermore, the agency is working on short and medium term loans, ranging from US dollars 500 to US dollars 20,000 for local small companies, and on plans for the restructuring of the bank system, said Dine. USAID would like to see the area remaining "a multiethnic society with a market economy" after the departure of UNTAES, said he. (Hina) mr/jn 092139 MET jul 96