Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 99-07-09

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Inner Cabinet meeting focuses on health, education, employment issues

[02] Inflation slows to 2.1 pct in June

[03] Response to `Wall Street Journal` editorial on Greek-Turkish issues

[04] Athens continues efforts for release of 2 Australians jailed in Yugoslavia

[05] Gov't maintains operation permit for Spata airport not a given

[06] Karamanlis on Greece's role in the Balkans

[07] Gov't steadfast on policy to curb illegal immigration

[08] Laliotis denies rumours of reshuffle, `Olympics portfolio`

[09] Gov't on fuel increases

[10] Stocks slump on profit-taking

[11] EFG Eurobank blasts Ergobank

[12] Industry improves again in 1998

[13] Gov't bill aims to improve sea tourism

[14] Agricultural Bank to enter bourse in 2001

[15] Aspis Bank shows H1 profit jump

[16] Dorian Bank suspended on bourse after merger

[17] Athens Foreign Exchange

[01] Inner Cabinet meeting focuses on health, education, employment issues

Athens, 09/07/1999 (ANA)

Apart from the inner Cabinet's regular participants, the health, labour, education and agriculture ministers were also present.

Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said efforts will be continued, while the inner Cabinet will convene again with an enlarged composition next Friday to examine issues concerning the development and transport ministries, among others.

In addition, Mr. Simitis is expected to announce specific economic measures concerning tax reliefs and other issues at the annual Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) in September.

Mr. Reppas said government policy in the sectors discussed yesterday remains the same, generally speaking, while it was evaluated that work accomplished in all sectors is quite important.

The dominating issues in the health sector were the smooth operation of public hospitals and the tackling of their accumulated debts was discussed.

It was also disclosed that the finished but still inactive Papageorgiou Hospital in Thessaloniki must open soon, as well as new hospitals in Larisa, Hania and Rhodes. Replying to a question on the Papageorgiou Hospital, Mr. Reppas said it is expected to operate by the end of October.

The main issued discussed concerning the education ministry was reform in the sector. It was assessed that its implementation constitutes a major political issue and is developing satisfactorily.

In the agricultural sector, it was decided that all compensation and subsidies delayed so far will be paid by the end of 1999. The settlement of farmers' debts which occurred recently and the restructuring of the Agricultural Bank were also discussed.

The issue of unemployment was the main topic of talks focusing on the labour sector. According to the assessments of government cadres, unemployment is fuelled by three factors - economic refugees, the movement of "new forces" from rural areas to the cities and the crisis faced by small and medium-size enterprises.

Mr. Reppas said it was assessed that the level of unemployment is under control, while employment has increased at the same time.

Athens News Agency

[02] Inflation slows to 2.1 pct in June

Athens, 09/07/1999 (ANA)

NSS secretary general Nikos Karavitis said the trend in coming months would depend on the impact of rising fuel prices in international markets. Price levels in other sectors were satisfactory, particularly fruit and vegetables, Mr. Karavitis said.

Average inflation so far this year is 3.8 percent, higher than a rate of 2.2 percent or 2.3 percent needed towards the end of the year to allow Greece's entry into the euro zone.

Athens News Agency

[03] Response to `Wall Street Journal` editorial on Greek-Turkish issues

NEW YORK, 09/07/1999 (ANA - M. Georgiadou)

"The cause of the Kurdish problem has nothing to do with Greece, which has always condemned all forms of terrorism and which has cooperated with all international organizations in combating this menace. Greece recognizes that the Kurdish problem is a serious human-rights issue and wishes its solution through peaceful means," Dimitris Gemelos wrote in a letter to the editor, carried in yesterday's "WSJ" issue.

Mr. Gemelos also defended Athens' attitude towards Ankara's relations with the European Union.

"Greece has consistently declared that it favors its neighbor's European orientation provided it meets the criteria for all candidate-states. So far, Turkey has failed to comply to these fundamental criteria, including respect for international law and international treaties and a good record in human rights. You cannot blame Greece for that," he added.

Athens News Agency

[04] Athens continues efforts for release of 2 Australians jailed in Yugoslavia

Athens, 09/07/1999 (ANA)

Mr. Kaklamanis spoke after meeting with the Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives Neil Andrew.

Mr. Andrew, who was also received by President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos and FM George Papandreou later in the day, thanked Athens for its continuing efforts to have the two freed.

Steve Pratt and Peter Wallace, part of Care Australia's refugee relief programme in Yugoslavia, were convicted of spying after they were detained on Yugoslavia's border with Croatia on March 31.

Australia branded the charges as preposterous.

Pratt, who was shown 'confessing' to intelligence-gathering activities for NATO on Serbian television, was jailed for 12 years after being found guilty by a five-member military court in Belgrade of passing on military secrets.

Wallace was jailed for four years and Yugoslav CARE Australia worker Branko Jelen for six years.

In April, Greece appealed to Yugoslavia to release the two as a humanitarian measure.

Athens News Agency

[05] Gov't maintains operation permit for Spata airport not a given

Athens, 09/07/1999 (ANA)

"The government has repeatedly made it clear that the role of Olympic (Airways) in Spata is not limited to serving its own needs but in providing handling services for third parties as well," the minister said.

Athens News Agency

[06] Karamanlis on Greece's role in the Balkans

Athens, 09/07/1999 (ANA)

Mr. Karamanlis said his party has undertaken specific initiatives, while he underlined the danger of Greece and Thessaloniki being pushed aside on the issue.

Athens News Agency Athens 09/07/1999 (ANA)

A blue whale was reportedly spotted in the gulf of Kavala headed southwest, according to fishermen who said they almost collided with the large sea mammal.

The crew of a local fishing vessel told port authorities in Kavala that they last spotted the whale on Wednesday moving between the Gulf of Strymonicos and Cape Athos, while they claimed the whale measured more than 20 metres in length.

Athens News Agency

[07] Gov't steadfast on policy to curb illegal immigration

Athens, 09/07/1999 (ANA)

Mr. Reppas, speaking after an inner Cabinet meeting, stressed that the only changes to this policy are procedures to incorporate such individuals on an accelerated and more effective basis.

The government has provided economic refugees and illegal immigrants with an opportunity to register for residency and work documents. Those who have not taken up the opportunity stand to be deported.

Police have begun conducting ID checks in various areas where large numbers of illegal immigrants congregate. Those found without legitimate documents are now being deported.

Mr. Reppas told reporters that many economic refugees were contributing to the country's economic progress, although this did not mean that those who had no right to residency could remain.

All economic refugees and illegal immigrants have to be registered and their presence here must be legalised so that they can compete equally with Greek citizens for positions in the job market, he said.

He noted that police were not targetting those who had received residency papers, but those who had refused to register and those who had been prevented from registering by their employers.

The police checks were also concentrating on detecting forgeries of such papers, he added.

Chrysohoidis : Meanwhile, at a news conference yesterday, Public Order Minister Mihalis Chrysohoidis defended police actions during the recent ID checks and sweeps.

He said documents were also being checked for authenticity and denied that the police action was motivated by racism.

"Both foreigners and Greeks have a fair share of the blame in criminal activity," he said. "We are trying to put a stop to people taking the law into their own hands...racism and xenophobia."

Mr. Chrysohoidis also said a draft bill concerning the establishment of a Greek Police headquarters will be tabled in Parliament on Monday.

The establishment of a police headquarters, as well as of regional services with decisive duties, was considered necessary to achieve the necessary administrative and operational independence of Greek Police.

The draft bill creates a coordinating and planning policy council for public order for the first time.

Deportations in June : About 1,000 Albanian illegals were deported in June, almost the same number as in the first four months of the year, police officials stated.

The total figure for the first four months of the year is 1,153.

The announcement said more deportations began to be carried out in May - in which 918 Albanians were deported - when police began implementing daily checks to determine whether foreigners held residency papers.

A deadline for registration expired on April 30.

Another 214 Albanian nationals were held as illegal immigrants on Wednesday and were due to be deported. Also to be deported are four nationals from Georgia, eight from Bulgaria, five from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), two from Roma nia, three from Armenia, eight from Iraq, and one each from Morocco and Tunisia.

Athens News Agency

[08] Laliotis denies rumours of reshuffle, `Olympics portfolio`

Athens, 09/07/1999 (ANA)

"I repeat once again, as I have done many times in the past, that scenaria referring to the Olympic Games, the 2004 organising committee and myself do not interest me and do not concern me," he said.

A front-page article in the Athens daily "Apogevmatini" yesterday said Stratis Stratigis' resignation as president of the Athens 2004 organising committee this week had laid the groundwork for a sweeping cabinet reshuffle and the introduction of a "mini stry for the Olympic Games", which Mr. Laliotis would head.

Mr. Stratigis' resignation was announced on Tuesday, with "personal reasons" cited as his motivation.

Prime Minister Costas Simitis personally appointed the 65-year-old Stratigis, an attorney and former New Democracy and Democratic Renewal Party MP, to head the organising committee in January 1998. Press reports have widely attributed the resignation to Mr. Stratigis' reported desire to attend the London wedding one of the ex-king's children, which the government reportedly forbade him to do.

A section of the press has also speculated that the reasons behind the resignation were more deep-seated, citing alleged poor relations and disagreements with other 2004 committee members over delays in the Olympics- related projects, claiming that the wedding was simply a pretext.

Following the recent expulsion of an ND cadre by the party's disciplinary council for statements he made at the funeral last week of one-time dictator Georgios Papadopoulos, there was heightened press speculation that more expulsions would follow of ultra-right wing or royalist ND cadres daring to attend the wedding.

On his part, ND leader Costas Karamanlis said he would not penalise party cadres for attending "religious ceremonies" provided their presence was not "provocative" and did not take on a "political meaning".

Synaspismos : Coalition for the Left and Progress (Synaspismos) leader Nikos Constantopoulos, meanwhile, said two of the six years available for necessary 2004 preparations were "lost in the hallways of governmental handling".

Synaspismos, Mr. Constantopoulos said, was against Athens' bid for the Games, as it had expressed fears over the impact they would have on the environment, the Greek economy and decentralisation.

He added that Synaspismos could not imagine the size of the "disasterous impact the Games may have, which may even reach the point of scandal."

Athens News Agency

[09] Gov't on fuel increases

Athens, 09/07/1999 (ANA)

Following a meeting with company representatives, Development Minister Evangelos Venizelos said wholesalers have made efforts to contain prices, adding that the price range issued by the ministry is attainable.

International crude oil prices rebounded over the last week and surpassed the milestone figure of US18 dollars.

Athens News Agency Athens 09/07/1999 (ANA)

Police on the holiday island of Mykonos were continuing a search yesterday for an Australian national missing since Tuesday, after he report edly went for a night jog and swim. Port and police authorities said wealthy entrepreneur John Andreson, 52, probably had an accident, although they were not ruling out drowning, as the missing man's wife said he had a heart condition.

Athens News Agency

[10] Stocks slump on profit-taking

Athens, 09/07/1999 (ANA)

Traders said banks were hit by heavy profit-taking, reflecting uncertainty over the outcome of a battle for the acquisition of blue chip Ergobank.

The general index ended 0.94 percent lower at 4,245.34 points, off the day's lows.

Turnover was 185.718 billion drachmas with 33,710,610 shares changing hands.

The Insurance, Miscellaneous and Holding sectors outperformed the market, respectively ending 3.57, 0.59 and 3.20 percent higher. Other sector indices ended as follows: Banks (-2.21 pct), Leasing (-2.24 pct), Investments (-3.03 pct), Construction (- 0.29 pct) and Industrials (-0.05 pct).

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended 0.17 percent higher while the FTSE/ASE 20 index for heavily traded stocks and blue chips fell 1.48 percent to 2,487.01 points.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 153 to 138 with another six issues unchanged.

Intracom, Ergo Invest and Bank of Piraeus were the most heavily traded stocks while Intracom, Ergobank and Bank of Piraeus led the day's turnover.

A total of 19 shares ended at the day's 8.0 percent limit up.

National Bank of Greece ended at 20,620 drachmas, Alpha Credit Bank at 20, 610, Ergobank at 39,000, Bank of Piraeus at 9,740, Titan Cement at 31,200, Hellenic Petroleum at 2,880, Intracom at 18,900, Minoan Lines at 5,840, Panafon at 8,095 and Hellenic Telecoms at 6,785.

Bonds plunge in brisk trade : Bond prices in the secondary market yesterday lost up to 200 basis points before staging a minor rally later in the session on limited buying interest.

Electronic trade totalled 114 billion drachmas from 44.5 billion drachmas in the previous session and 48 billion drachmas on Tuesday. Sell orders accounted for around 80 billion drachmas of yesterday's turnover.

The ten-year bond showed a yield of 6.55 percent against the equivalent German bund's 4.81 percent.

The yield spread over German bunds was 175 basis points from between 165 and 169 basis points in the previous session and 161 basis on Tuesday.

At the central bank's daily fix, the euro edged up against the drachma. It was set at 325.550 drachmas from 325.340 drachmas in the previous session.

Athens News Agency

[11] EFG Eurobank blasts Ergobank

Athens, 09/07/1999 (ANA)

Bank of Piraeus made the merger offer to Ergobank in the wake of EFG Eurobank's attempt to buy control of Ergobank through a direct share swap offer to shareholders, which the target bank's management then opposed.

Ergobank's board supports the merger with Bank of Piraeus, which would also include Macedonia-Thrace Bank and Xiosbank, which are already members of the Bank of Piraeus Group.

All the banks involved are listed on the Athens bourse.

In a statement, EFG Eurobank said that Piraeus' offer was nebulous, and based on non-binding commitments that could be overturned with no warning.

It said that information given to Ergobank's shareholders in the form of a comparison between EFG's takeover bid and Piraeus' merger offer was misleading.

Athens News Agency

[12] Industry improves again in 1998

Athens, 09/07/1999 (ANA)

Citing the findings of its survey on a sample of 3,470 firms in 1997-1998, ICAP said in a statement that a 3.4 percent rise in manufacturing output last year, more than triple the previous year's figure, was also due to more favourable macro-economic factors in the economy.

Ranking top in terms of sales was Hellenic Petroleum, which is listed on the Athens bourse. Its turnover was 456.5 billion drachmas in 1998.

The firm also ranked top in profitability, showing earnings of 34.1 billion drachmas.

Athens News Agency

[13] Gov't bill aims to improve sea tourism

Athens, 09/07/1999 (ANA)

The terms of the bill include improving standards for services,eliminating non-professionals from a trade yachting register, and imposing severe penalties for violations.

Athens News Agaency

[14] Agricultural Bank to enter bourse in 2001

Athens, 09/07/1999 (ANA)

He said a convertible bond would be issued, allowing the acquisition of shares in the bank. Registered farmers would be given first option on the paper.

Agricultural Bank of Greece's profits were forecast at 45 billion drachmas in 2001, Mr. Christodoulakis added.

He also said that Hellenic Industrial Development Bank would seek listing on the Athens bourse this year.

The deputy minister was addressing parliament on the last day of debate on new bourse legislation.

Athens News Agency

[15] Aspis Bank shows H1 profit jump

Athens, 09/07/1999 (ANA)

Profits totalled 376 million drachmas, up from 179 million in the period January-June 1998, while consolidated profits totalled 896 million drachmas, Aspis Bank said in a statement.

Athens News Agency

[16] Dorian Bank suspended on bourse after merger

Athens, 09/07/1999 (ANA)

ASE chairman Spyros Kouniakis said the decision, made at Dorian's request, was taken in order to protect investors' interests.

A new share price is due to be set for the bank based on total equity capital following its merger with Telesis Securities.

Market players are following the case with interest to see how a new law will be implemented on the abolition of existing shareholders' rights in share capital increases linked to mergers or acquisitions.

Dorian Bank's share price would have been cut by roughly half if the stock had been allowed to trade yesterday, leading to a severe decline in the assets of the bank's shareholders.

The stock exchange is expected to allow Dorian Bank to resume trade today at Wednesday's closing price of 12,690 drachmas, with the reduction likely to be made on Monday.

Dorian Bank has reportedly asked the bourse to temporarily scrap the 8.0 percent daily volatility limit on its stock.

The bank is also studying whether it can keep the share price at its existing level by retaining rights for shareholders.

Athens News Agency

[17] Athens Foreign Exchange

Athens, 09/07/1999 (ANA)

Parities in Drachmas

Banknotes             Buying  Selling
US Dollar             316.785 324.130
Can.Dollar            215.105 220.093
Australian Dlr        210.701 215.586
Pound Sterling        493.322 504.759
Irish Punt            410.056 419.563
Pound Cyprus          560.282 573.272
Pound Malta           738.137 768.893
Turkish pound (100)     0.065   0.068
French franc           49.233  50.374
Swiss franc           201.436 206.106
Belgian franc           8.006   8.191
German Mark           165.119 168.948
Finnish Mark           54.316  55.575
Dutch Guilder         146.546 149.944
Danish Kr.             43.440  44.447
Swedish Kr.            37.146  38.008
Norwegian Kr.          39.918  40.844
Austrian Sh.           23.470  24.014
Italian lira (100)     16.678  17.065
Yen (100)             258.466 264.458
Spanish Peseta          1.941   1.986
Port. Escudo            1.611   1.648

Foreign Exchange      Buying  Selling
New York              316.785 324.130
Montreal              215.105 220.093
Sydney                210.701 215.586
London                493.322 504.759
Dublin                410.056 419.563
Nicosia               560.282 573.272
Paris                  49.233  50.374
Zurich                201.436 206.106
Brussels                8.006   8.191
Frankfurt             165.119 168.948
Helsinki               54.316  55.575
Amsterdam             146.546 149.944
Copenhagen             43.440  44.447
Stockholm              37.146  38.008
Oslo                   39.918  40.844
Vienna                 23.470  24.014
Milan                  16.678  17.065
Tokyo                 258.466 264.458
Madrid                  1.941   1.986
Lisbon                  1.611   1.648

Athens News Agency

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