Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 01-01-05

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

CONTENTS

[01] EMU entry signals start of a new era, Simitis says

[02] Gov't focuses on 'Balkan syndrome' threat to Greek troops, no infections reported

[03] PASOK Central Committee secretary says no question of dual leadership for party

[04] ND leader calls for parliament to investigate airplane accident

[05] Greek stocks continued losing ground on ASE

[06] Top gov't committee briefed on OA sale potential

[07] Athens International Airport company submits application for operating license of new international airport at Spata

[08] Greek flag gains 55 ships in 2000

[09] Money supply grows in November

[10] Athens 2004 business portal completed

[11] Mutual fund assets down for the year

[12] Athens Water to auction two hydroelectric projects

[13] Patras merchants go 'back to school' for euro-training

[14] 23.5 tons of foodstuffs collected by companies delivered to camps in Serbia

[15] Three suspects arrested in Mexico in Costas Giannitsis killing, one admits to stabbing

[16] Greek woman ecologist stops ship to prevent unloading of genetically modified food for animals

[17] Seven officers charged with abuse of authority

[18] Forty members of Athens Academy decry replacement of Greek with Latin letters

[19] ABNA seminar/workshop on 'Sports and the Olympic Games in the Digital Era" in Athens next week

[20] British High Commissioner holds meetings in occupied areas over Tziakourmas abduction

[01] EMU entry signals start of a new era, Simitis says

Athens, 05/01/2001 (ANA)

Addressing a special event to celebrate the country's participation in the eurozone, held at the Zappeion Hall in the presence of President of the Republic Costis Stephanopoulos, government ministers and diplomatic officials, Simitis said that "our wider aim is to achieve real convergence in every growth sector with the rest of EU."

"We need to reach that level," he said.

In his message Simitis noted that EMU participation was the beginning of a new stability and development period that would offer creative and growth opportunities.

"Greece upgrades its political status in an international scene, strengthens its ability to influence decision-making, acquires new possibilities and strengthens its economy. The introduction of the euro currency would help in greater transparency in prices, lesser bureaucracy and more simple transactions," Simitis said.

"These changes would be felt mostly by early 2002 when national banknotes and coins would be replaced by euro notes and coins," he said.

"We turn a page in the country's history, we leave behind us an era of lost opportunities and underdevelopment and we move ahead seeking for the better with a vision for a more developed Greece, a fairer society. We are conscious of the problems and challenges, but our course shows that when we plan something we succeed," he noted.

National Economy and Finance Minister Yiannos Papantoniou, inaugurating the event said Greece's participation in the eurozone offered the chance to upgrade the country's public administration and to succeed in an effort for social convergence.

[02] Gov't focuses on 'Balkan syndrome' threat to Greek troops, no infections reported

Athens, 05/01/2001 (ANA)

Among others, Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis said the government is monitoring the health of all military personnel who serve or have served in Kosovo as part of NATO's multinational force (KFOR).

He also added that necessary measures would be taken to ensure that the health of Greece's troops in Kosovo, deployed mainly around the southern town of Urosevac. Another meeting, with the participation of several ministers, is scheduled for the afternoon to consider the same matter.

On Wednesday, Greece's alternate defense minister reiterated while on a visit to Kosovo that measured radiation levels in areas of the Yugoslav province patrolled by Greek troops - both by Greek and US services -- remained within the "normal range".

Minister Dimitris Apostolakis, a retired army general, arrived in Kosovo to inspect Greek units participating in the multinational force. His comments came in light of Italy's request towards NATO for an investigation into claims that the deaths of six Italians who served in the Balkans were caused by exposure to depleted uranium.

The country's national defense general staff command (GEETHA) echoed Apostolakis' statements on Thursday, reiterating that there "are no indications that cause concern, as no infection (involving radiation) has been recorded while no officer or enlisted person that serves or has served in Kosovo has been diagnosed with DU infection," it said in a statement.

Along those lines, two medical facilities in the northern port city of Thessaloniki on Thursday denied recent local press reports claiming that two Greek soldiers, allegedly diagnosed with the so-called "Balkan Syndrome", are currently being treated in their wards.

The facilities in question are the 424 military hospitals and the "Georgios Papanikolaou" hospital.

In a brief press statement, the military hospital's deputy director noted that "no military personnel diagnosed with leukemia are being treated presently" at the hospital, while referring to earlier defense ministry announcements when asked about the previous period.

Papanikolaou's administration simply noted that a Greek student in the Yugoslav city of Nis is being treated for leukemia.

On his part, Communist Party of Greece (KKE) deputy Orestis Kolozov called for the immediate return of Greek troops from Bosnia and Kosovo.

He emphasized that the government's "reassuring words" cannot downgrade the problem, but instead "are a provocation and deception, more so now that charges are increasing that Greek soldiers have already been infected by side-effects created by NATO's bombs."

KKE was a vocal opponent of NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia and the stationing of multinational forces in Kosovo.

Italian concerns: Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato emphasized that point this week in an interview published on Wednesday.

Amato told the "La Repubblica" daily that alarm in Italy over the so-called "Balkan syndrome" was "more than legitimate". He added that he has also ordered Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini to ask NATO to open a probe into the cases.

Military sources at Greece's defense ministry noted on Wednesday that no suspicious health problems (leukemia, brain cancer etc.) have been recorded amongst Greek personnel serving in the Kosovo. An army health team in March took samples in areas patrolled by Greek troops to measure radiation levels, finding nothing unusual, the same sources said while also citing similar tests by US military scientists.

Greek military sources noted that Armour-piercing shells containing depleted uranium, "souvenirs" from NATO's massive airborne bombardment of Yugoslav armored vehicles in the province, were mostly fired in western Kosovo, an area where Italian and German troops have been deployed.

According to the Greek military, 1,481 men and women serve in the Greek contingent based in Kosovo, while specific orders have been given to keep safe distances from suspected contaminated sites, such as destroyed tanks.

Similar investigations have been commenced in Belgium, Portugal and Turkey, while an ANA dispatch from Sofia noted that the Bulgarian government has sent a special medical team to Kosovo to check the health of its 39 peacekeepers and the general environment where they serve, according to the Bulgarian defense minister.

Coalition attributes 'criminal responsibilities' to NATO and Greek government over 'Balkan Syndrome': The Coalition of the Left and Progress party on Thursday attributed "criminal responsibilities" for the use of "depleted uranium" bombs in Yugoslavia to NATO, as well as to the Greek government "since it was aware of the magnitude of the disaster taking place and of the risks to which it also exposed the Greek military mission."

"NATO's allied forces did not hesitate to spread death during the bombings, as well as for many years afterwards," the Coalition said and called on the Greek government to request explanations and a full briefing from NATO and to reconsider the issue of the Greek military mission's stay.

Commenting on the same issue, a spokesman for the Democratic Social Movement (DHKKI) party said, "the repeated cases concerning lethal illnesses of NATO soldiers participating in the attack against Yugoslavia prove once again the crime perpetrated against mankind on the altar of the New World Order. Only that nature makes no discriminations and is punishing the perpetrators in its own way."

He also raises the question of the health of 1,500 Greek troops who are participating in the peace force in Kosovo at the Greek government's responsibility.

[03] PASOK Central Committee secretary says no question of dual leadership for party

Athens, 05/01/2001 (ANA)

Skandalidis delivered his proposal to Simitis on PASOK's new organizing structure and, as he said, the prime minister will bring it before the party's Executive Bureau to enable a discussion to start on the issue.

Issues concerning PASOK's preparation for the municipal elections were also discussed, while Skandalidis said a Panhellenic conference on local and prefectural administration will be taking place on March 16-17.

On the question of candidates, Skandalidis said policies come first and then people.

Meanwhile, PASOK's organizing department sent a circular to all party prefectural committees on Thursday, defining the process for the elections to take place in the party on February 11 and expected to involve about 200,000 party members.

[04] ND leader calls for parliament to investigate airplane accident

Athens, 05/01/2001 (ANA)

In a letter to Simitis, Karamanlis said that if the premier will not take the initiative to call for the convening of the committee then ND would table a new proposal to that effect.

[05] Greek stocks continued losing ground on ASE

Athens, 05/01/2001 (ANA)

Traders said the Greek bourse ignored a spectacular rebound of prices in international markets, spurred by a surprise decision by the US Federal Reserve to cut interest rates by 50 basis points on Wednesday.

The general index ended 1.42 percent lower at 3,312.79 points, off the day's lows of 3,286.33 points. The index jumped 1.88 percent early in the session but lack of follow-through buying reversed the trend.

Turnover was a low 104.93 million euros, or 35.756 billion drachmas.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 1.76 percent down at 1,902.87 points and the FTSE/ASE 40 index ended at 385.47 points, off 1.30 percent.

Sector indices ended as follows: Banks: 7,180.87 -1.78% Leasing: 533.33 +1.46% Insurance: 1,411.53 +0.63% Investment: 1,337.49 -0.26% Construction: 1,209.15 -1.19% Industrials: 2,039.16 -0.79% Miscellaneous: 2,763.41 -2.65% Holding: 3,817.50 -1.56%

The parallel market index for smaller capitalization stocks ended 1.85 percent lower at 303.12 points.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 226 to 95 with another 33 issues unchanged.

Alpha Bank, National Bank, Hellenic Telecoms and Panafon were the most heavily traded stocks.

Leading shares' closing prices (in euros): National Bank: 39.74 Alpha Bank: 35.10 Commercial Bank: 50.74 Eurobank: 21.02 Piraeus Bank: 16.32 Lambrakis Press: 14,00 Altec: 7.38 Titan Cement (c): 40.98 Hellenic Telecoms: 15.26 Panafon: 7.44 Hellenic Petroleum: 10.10 Attica Enterprises: 8.14 Intracom: 22.84 Minoan Lines: 5.68 Viohalco: 11.82 Hellenic Bottling: 17.84

Equity futures end session lower: Equity futures traded on the Athens Derivatives Exchange finished the day on Thursday lower, in line with the bourse indices on which they are based.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index closed 1.76 percent lower, and the FTSE/ASE 40 ended 1.30 percent lower.

Turnover was 48.4 million euros.

A total of 4,411 contracts were traded on the FTSE/ASE 20 with turnover at 42.8 million euros.

On the FTSE/ASE 40 index 1,417 contracts changed hands on turnover of 5.5 million euros.

Bond prices mixed in heavy trade: Bond prices in the domestic secondary market on Thursday finished with mixed results in heavy trade.

The Greek benchmark 10-year bond showed a yield of 5.286 percent from 5.266 percent in the previous session.

The Greek paper's yield spread over German bunds was 54 basis points unchanged from the previous session.

Turnover through the central bank's electronic system totalled 1,48 billion euros down from 2.7 billion euros in the session before.

Euro gains on the dollar: The euro gained ground against the dollar on Thursday as the fixing rate of the euro was set by the European Central bank at 0.94 dollars, compared to 0.93 on Wednesday.

The Commercial Bank of Greece offers a base price of 360.277 drachmas per dollar.

The fixed exchange rate until the full replacement of the currency was set at 340.75 drachmas per one euro.

[06] Top gov't committee briefed on OA sale potential

Athens, 05/01/2001 (ANA)

A deadline for interested parties -- ostensibly listed as five -- to submit operational plans for the purchase of OA ends on Jan. 31.

Transport Minister Christos Verelis, who briefed the meeting's participants on the issue, is scheduled to present submitted bids to the government on March 31.

Additionally, Verelis denied that any potential buyer would be obliged to pay some $590 million (200 billion drachmas) in OA debts purportedly detailed by the European Commission, saying such reports are "blatant lies" spread by circles that don't want the airline to be sold and to survive.

Government spokesman says five agencies have submitted business plans for the purchase of Olympic Airways: Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said on Thursday, speaking after an inner cabinet meeting examining the privatization of Olympic Airways, "five interested agencies have submitted their business plans so far, while more are expected to participate in the process."

Reppas said after the submission of business plans by January 31, 2001, the public sector will announce all the information which might be of interest to private investors to enable them to submit their binding offers.

"In this way, we shall pass to the final stage of negotiations with those private investors who will show a relative interest and so the sale of Olympic Airways will be completed," he said.

Reppas said Olympic Airways has many advantages, adding that it has well-trained staff and it has secured and consolidated rights at international airports, regarding arrivals and departures, while it is a company which carries over five million citizens every year with safety with its various flights.

[07] Athens International Airport company submits application for operating license of new international airport at Spata

Athens, 05/01/2001 (ANA)

The airport company assures the minister that the airport can handle current air traffic with safety on a 24-hour basis.

The new airport has an annual capacity of 16 million passengers and can serve 65 aircraft an hour with two parallel runways.

According to reports, Verelis said that Olympic Airways, the country's national carrier, would be active at Spata in March. The application for the operating license was submitted within anticipated time limits in accordance with the airport development contract.

[08] Greek flag gains 55 ships in 2000

Athens, 05/01/2001 (ANA)

More specifically, a total of 143 ships representing 4,173,094 gross registered tones (grt) joined the Greek Registry in 2000, against 88 ships representing 2,406,055 grt that withdrew, meaning a gain of 55 ships and 1,767,039 grt for the Greek flag, according to figures released by the Ministry.

In the month of December, the number of vessels enrolled with the Registry remained unchanged as nine vessels hoisted the Greek flag and an equal number withdrew, but it grew by 12,281 grt.

The nine ships that withdrew from the Greek Registry transferred to the registries of the US, Cyprus, Germany, Sweden and Liberia.

[09] Money supply grows in November

Athens, 05/01/2001 (ANA)

Repos posted a 100 per cent rise in November on a year-on-year basis, reaching 6.5 trillion drachmas, private deposits in drachmas and foreign currency also rose, the Bank of Greece said in a statement.

Attention should be paid to the overall figure and not to changes in the separate categories of the M4N indicator as the shifts in cash were largely from one to another, the statement added.

[10] Athens 2004 business portal completed

Athens, 05/01/2001 (ANA)

Exodus, the vertical portal's "constructor", used the e.Centric platform to base the operations of the portal, which may be found at the Internet address www.business2005.gr.

[11] Mutual fund assets down for the year

Athens, 05/01/2001 (ANA)

The mutual funds declined in comparison to October's total of 10.99 trillion drachmas and from September's 11.36 trillion.

[12] Athens Water to auction two hydroelectric projects

Athens, 05/01/2001 (ANA)

The two hydroelectric projects are aimed to exploit energy produced from waterfalls at the Mornos reservoir.

The first project is to be built at the village of Kleidi, in Viotia prefect, at a total cost of 583.5 million drachmas. The power station will have a power of 630 KW with an estimated annual electricity energy production of 2,650 MWh.

The second station is to be built at Mandra, Attica, with a cost of 787 million drachmas. The station will have a power capacity of 680 KW with an estimated annual production of 5,250 MWh.

Both projects will be funded by European Union funds by up to 50 percent.

[13] Patras merchants go 'back to school' for euro-training

Athens, 05/01/2001 (ANA)

The Federation of Merchant Associations of the Peloponnese is inaugurating on January 15 a series of informational courses for its members.

The Patras merchants will attend 'classes' every Monday and Wednesday evenings -- when shops are closed -- from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Federation's offices on Kanakari street.

Greek companies have already started the transition from drachma to euro, and are pricing goods in both currencies. Large-scale businesses have by the end of January to add equivalent euro prices to their drachma price tags, while smaller enterprises must follow suit by March this year.

Euro notes will begin circulating in Greece in January 2002, and both currencies will be in circulation for the first three months of the year as the drachma is gradually phased out by March 2002.

[14] 23.5 tons of foodstuffs collected by companies delivered to camps in Serbia

Athens, 05/01/2001 (ANA)

Representatives of the business, professional and academic community of Thessaloniki participated in the mission and supervised the distribution of foodstuffs at refugee camps.

The camps and foundations visited by the members of the mission in the wider area of Belgrade are Pim Standard (a refugee camp), Draguvi Filipovic (a foundation for orphaned children), Drica Pavlovic (a foundation for orphaned children), Detinje Rakovic (a refugee camp), Kresca (a foundation for children with special needs), Graci Escovic (a foundation for orphaned children) and Mosa Piante (a refugee camp).

[15] Three suspects arrested in Mexico in Costas Giannitsis killing, one admits to stabbing

MEXICO CITY, 05/01/2001 (ANA)

Constantine Giannitsis, 27, the son of Greek labor minister Tassos Giannitsis and a post-graduate student at MIT in the US city of Boston, had gone to Mexico with a group of friends for the holiday break, but was alone when he was attacked by a group of muggers as he was taking snapshots of a church in downtown Taxco, a popular tourist site some 185 km southwest of Mexico City, on New Year's Eve. Constantine put up a fight and was stabbed several times in the chest. He died en route to hospital.

The Attorney General's Office in the state of Guerrero, where Taxco is located, told a press conference that three suspects aged 15-17 had been arrested, identifying them as Louis Alberto Gonzalez Rejes, 16, Guillermo Ocampo, 15, and Guillermo Garcia, 17.

They said Gonzalez Rejes was arrested on charges of stabbing Giannitsis, while the other two were being held as accomplices in the mugging.

Press sources said that Gonzalez Rejes publicly admitted to stabbing Constantine Giannitsis after his arrest. "I killed him," Gonzalez Rejes said, but refused to answer questions by reporters.

The three suspects also admitted that they had taken nine dollars from Giannitsis and his passport, which was not recovered.

The three youths are members of a gang called "Los Migueles", named after the San Miguel shantytown they live in outside Taxco, while Gonzalez Rejes was said to be a cocaine addict.

The three suspects will be held in a juvenile reformatory until their trial in juvenile court.

Sources said it was highly possible that after conviction the three would be incarcerated in juvenile prison but released as soon as they turned 18 years of age, under Mexico's lax legislation for crimes committed by youths.

Body of Costas Giannitsis arrives at Elefsina military airport: The body of Costas Giannitsis arrived at Elefsina military airport on Thursday night on board a Greek government aircraft.

Tassos Giannitsis had left Mexico City in the morning with an Air France flight, accompanying his son's body, which later arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. From there the voyage was continued to Greece with the Greek government's aircraft. Costas Giannitsis, will be buried at the Athens First Cemetery at 12.30 noon on Friday in the presence of his family alone.

[16] Greek woman ecologist stops ship to prevent unloading of genetically modified food for animals

MELBOURNE, 05/01/2001 (ANA - S. Hatzimanolis)

She is also the sister of Stavros Lambrinidis, a former Overseas Hellenism secretary general and the current general director of the Olympic Truce Center.

Lambrinidou scrambled up the ship's anchor while the crew were removing it from the seabed, as her colleagues commandeered cranes and other parts of the vessel, delaying its entry to the port for hours.

Her boldness amazed the ship's crew and the strong police force summoned by port authorities. While TV stations broadcast scenes all over the world, police waited patiently to arrest the demonstrators, both men and women, who gave themselves up several hours later.

Lambrinidou and her colleagues were released on bail and will appear before a court in Oakland on January 8.

[17] Seven officers charged with abuse of authority

Athens, 05/01/2001 (ANA)

Prosecution concerns Attica security director Georgios Angelakos (the former director of the illegal narcotics squad), Ioannis Rachovitsas, Christos Tsovolas, Sotiris Sotiropoulos, G. Skoularikis, G. Kastanis and E. Nikolopoulou.

[18] Forty members of Athens Academy decry replacement of Greek with Latin letters

Athens, 05/01/2001 (ANA)

"This tendency becomes obvious particularly in texts produced on computers - often by users in state services and even universities - and shown on television as well as through urgings by foreign radio stations.

"It's noteworthy that this effort, which will produce a deathblow to Greek thinking and all the concepts of Hellenic civilization as expressed through written texts along with most humanities, has reached the point of being taken up by the press and has led to deputies' questions directed at the minister of education and religious affairs," the proclamation reads.

The 40 members of the Academy add:

"The Greek language ... the language that enriched not only Latin but the primary European languages, and which is indissolubly tied to its alphabet, cannot endure abatement with the abolition by none other than ourselves," the announcement concludes.

[19] ABNA seminar/workshop on 'Sports and the Olympic Games in the Digital Era" in Athens next week

Athens, 05/01/2001 (ANA)

The ABNA seminar/workshop takes place January 8-9 at the Divani-Caravel Hotel in downtown Athens, with the participation of the general directors and 25 other officials from the ABNA member agencies from Albania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Greece, Moldova, FYROM, Romania and Turkey, as well as from Australia, venue of the recent 2000 Games.

Greece's Deputy Sports Minister George Floridis will address the seminar, while Athens 2004 Olympics coordinating committee (ATHOC) President Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki will be the keynote speaker at the official luncheon on Monday.

Speakers at the two-day seminar include the chief of the Sports Department at the French news agency AFP Jean-Pierre Gallois, the Australian news agency AAP's organizer of the Sydney Olympic Games coverage John Coomber, the deputy head of the sports desk at German news agency DPA Hans-Mermann Madler, the sports editor at Britain's Press Association (PA) Andy Elliott, the assignment manager and chief photographer at EPA (European Photographic Agency) Anja Niedringhaus, and ATHOC press office director Serapheim Kotrotsos.

The purpose of the seminar is to develop conditions for joint coverage of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens by ABNA members as well as to provide constant, reliable and adequate information to the people in the region in the run-up to and during the Games.

On Tuesday afternoon, ABNA will hold its annual General Assembly.

ABNA was established in June 1995, during a meeting of Balkan news agency directors in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, where the association's archives are housed.

[20] British High Commissioner holds meetings in occupied areas over Tziakourmas abduction

NICOSIA, 05/01/2001 (CNA/ANA)

According to a British High Commission spokesman, Clay raised strong concerns regarding Tziakourmas' continued "detention".

The spokesman refrained from giving more details on Clay's visit to the occupied north.

Tziakourmas, a building contractor, who is a diabetic, was abducted on December 13, 2000, as he sat in his car waiting to collect Turkish Cypriot workers and drive them to their workplace. He was parked within one of the military bases Britain has retained since Cyprus gained its independence in 1960. The Dekelia Base borders the Turkish-occupied northern part of the Republic.

An illegal court in occupied Cyprus "ordered" his detention until a so-called trial takes place. He is to face drug possession "charges", in view of claims that drugs were found in his car. The British Bases police that conducted their own investigation into the case have found no evidence to suggest Tziakourmas had any drugs in his possession.

This is not the first time the self-styled Turkish Cypriot regime in occupied Cyprus has abducted Greek Cypriots. This is the first time they have done so from within the British Bases area in what appears to be a retaliatory move following the arrest of a Turkish Cypriot red-handed, in possession of drugs.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third.

In a related development, the American Hellenic Institute stresses that the abduction of the Greek Cypriot Panicos Tziakourmas is a deliberate political act, violating international law, and is not consistent with the spirit of good will needed for finding a solution to the Cyprus problem.

In a letter to US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, the Institute urges the Administration of the United States to take immediate high-level action with Turkey in the Tziakourmas' case, demanding his release so that he could return to his family.

"There is no doubt Mr. Tziakourmas' abduction is a deliberate act of provocation by the Turkish Cypriot authorities acting under orders form Turkey", the Institute notes, adding that "the kidnapping violates international law and flies in the face of the spirit of good will needed if progress on the Cyprus problem is to be possible".

"Mr. Tziakourmas is held as a hostage, just as Americans were once held hostage in the Middle East", according to the Institute, which underlines that "as such the act demands a forceful response from the United States".

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