English Translation

with the agreement of the Federal Foreign Office, have so far been conducted directly between the German State Ministry of Prague and the Slo=Wakish Ministry of Finance. The status of these negotiations is based on the documents attached. I note the following: l./ The division of the assets of organizations entrusted with the management of alcohol depends on the decision on a claim of 8.45 million K, which the Spiritusverband in Prague asserts against the association of the Slovak cooperatives in Bratislava. In the year 1935, the Spiritus Association in Prague granted a loan of 8.45 million K to the Association of Slovak Cooperatives in Bratislava. The former Czechoslovak State has taken over the guarantee for this loan. Slovak authorities want to repay only 2.3 million K. They refer the Spiritus Association in Prague with the rest of his claim to a warehouse cooperative in today's Hungarian territory, to which the Slovak cooperative lent the money at the time.The Spiritus association in Prague has no claims against the Hungarian cooperative; the negotiations with Hungarian unions therefore promise no success. All the German proposals for comparisons were rejected by the Slovak authorities, and the negotiations which took place in Vienna on 28 and 29 April 1944 have therefore failed. There is a reasonable prospect that the Slovak Cooperative Association will be judged for payment. Therefore, a further German approach is not justified at the present time. It could only be at the expense of the Spiritus Association in Prag, which, with regard to the guarantee of the former Czechoslovak State, would claim compensation against the Protectorate Fund. It is unlikely that the Slovak authorities will be prepared to take further action before the dispute has been settled. Any new negotiations will, however, fail as well as the previous ones, unless the protectorate is expected to yield further. However, it appears that the chairman of the German Government Committee is in favour of a regulation of the question at this stage, because otherwise he fears that his negotiations on goods and payments will be affected. This assumption is justified in particular because the chairperson of the Slovak Government Committee, Minister Dr.Polyak, is also the chair of the Slovakian Association of Spirits and is therefore interested in the matter. 2./ Determination of the sales value for the Slovak branch = operation of the company Sublimá in Bressnitz: In the negotiations which took place in the period from 22. to 29.Fe= bruar l944 in Bratislava and