P. M. BRIEFING : Soviets Cut Hungarian Oil 30%

Hungary has been informed it will suffer a 30% reduction in Soviet crude oil deliveries and will have to look for other suppliers to fend off fuel shortages, a government spokesman said today.

Spokesman Balazs Laszlo told a press conference a Hungarian negotiating party, which went to Moscow to try to persuade the Soviets to adhere to the current Soviet-Hungarian trade agreement, had been informed of the cuts Thursday.

The negotiating team had gone to Moscow after Soviet Prime Minister Nikolai Ryzhkov announced a 7 million ton--or 5%--cut in Soviet oil exports overall.

Laszlo said the Soviet cuts came in the wake of “the gradual depletion the established oil fields in the Soviet Union.” He added, “The Soviet economy showed signs of a general collapse.”