1.   His replacement is former privatisation minister Ivan Penic.

2.   Horn earlier reiterated before the group meeting that he was planning to appoint a privatisation minister.

3.   Bekesi resigned partly because Premier Gyula Horn said he wanted to name a privatisation minister, a proposal not discussed in the privatisation draft.

4.   The victory was achieved despite an attempt by the Yugoslav police minister to handcuff Serb privatisation minister Aleksandar Vlahovic, Blic reported.

5.   Privatisation minister Arun Shourie said he hoped to implement the privatisation of most of the firms by January or February.

6.   The casualties have included privatisation minister Anatoly Chubais and foreign minister Andrei Kozyrev, who was popular abroad but criticised within his own country for being too pro-West.