TDA To Provide Hungary With More than $550,000 In Early Assistance For Three Key Infrastructure Projects

For Immediate Release

Washington, DC (12 July 1999) - U.S. Ambassador to Hungary Peter Tufo today announced that the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA) has provided $558,286 in feasibility study assistance on three priority infrastructure projects in the information technology and environmental sectors.

One grant will provide $160,380 to the Hungarian National Council of Justice to structure the technical specifications for the computerization and networking of the national courts system. Updating the system from the current manual filing system is critically important to improve the Court's effectiveness and efficiency. This project will be implemented in a series of phases over the next five years, expanding both from a functional point of view and in the number of locations served.

In a second grant, TDA has provided $118,310 to Eurotel, Rt., an emerging Hungarian communications company, for a feasibility study to assess its plans to expand the company's network to provide voice and data telephony services. Through its existing network, Eurotel provides leased line and data communications services to large businesses and commercial banks. In order to remain competitive, the company is committed to expanding its services.

In the environmental sector, TDA has provided $279,596 to MOL, a private Hungarian oil company, to partially fund a feasibility study on a water discharge processes project at two of the company's refineries. The study will determine the exact environmental standards the company will target, identify flow reduction and wastewater treatment alternatives and provide a conceptual design to serve as the basis of a competitive tender. Faced with the increasing likelihood of huge fines under new Hungarian environmental legislation, improving standards at the refineries is a top priority for MOL.

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency, an agency of the U.S. Government, helps form mutually beneficial relationships between U.S. private sector companies and overseas project sponsors. Last year, TDA provided assistance in 62 nations around the world.

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