The prime ministers of the Czech Republic and Slovakia Oct. 10 agreed to begin negotiations to resolve $18.3 billion worth of property disputes left over from the split-up of Czechoslovakia in 1993.

Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus and his Slovak counterpart Vladimir Meciar made the announcement after a six-hour meeting in the Slovak spa of Piestany. The countries agreed to split former state assets under a formula giving the Czechs two-thirds and Slovaks one-third of the property.