Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 01-07-26

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greece deplores attack on Embassy press office in FYROM

[02] FYROM gov't spokesman says no anti-Greek climate in country

[03] Defense and foreign ministers discuss developments in FYROM

[04] Gov't spokesman announces release of second Greek protestor in Italy

[05] Reppas lets fly at ND over Genoa 'list' accusations

[06] Papandreou to address 55th UN General Assembly

[07] PASOK party's Executive Bureau examines political developments and run-up to October congress

[08] PM, Interior minister discuss problems faced by Greek society

[09] Greek defense minister to visit Turkey in September, Turkish press says

[10] US envoy pays farewell visit to Culture minister

[11] ND accuses Papantoniou of 'fixing' budget surplus

[12] ND economic affairs committee has three-hour meeting

[13] NY Governor sanctions Remembrance Day for Turkish invasion in Cyprus

[14] Avramopoulos to speak at 79th AHEPA congress in Puerto Rico

[15] Greece to get enlargement funds from the EU

[16] Farm minister focuses on farmers and structural programs

[17] OTE signs memorandum of understanding with Athens Olympic Broadcasting

[18] Natural gas provider being set up for Attica

[19] Program for 20,000 new parking spaces in Athens, Thessaloniki

[20] Thessaloniki Port Authority to hold IPO on July 27-August 1

[21] Stocks, turnover mark slight rise

[22] State approves funds to protect, restore Kavala forests

[23] Greek authorities in position to meet requirements of wastewater directive

[24] Novelists to represent Greece at Frankfurt's book festival

[25] Greek and Turkish orchestras to perform in Ephesus

[26] Justice minister inaugurates modern correctional facility in Fokida

[27] Government meeting focuses on action plan for Paralympic Games in Athens, in 2004

[01] Greece deplores attack on Embassy press office in FYROM

Athens, 26/07/2001 (ANA)

Foreign ministry spokesman Panos Beglitis condemned Tuesday night's attack by "extremist elements" against the embassy press office in the FYROM capital.

A group of FYROM nationalist elements attempted to raid the Press Office of the Greek liaison office in Skopje on Tuesday evening during a demonstration at the parliament in Skopje, pelting the Greek press office with stones, shattering its windows and removing the Greek flag from its post before being dispersed by police.

Greek Ambassador to Skopje Kaklikis lodged a complaint with the FYROM authorities immediately after the event.

Beglitis called on the FYROM authorities to "take all the necessary measures for the protection of the Greek diplomatic mission".

He said the incident would not negatively influence the "good climate in relations between Greece and FYROM".

Reppas: Greece condemned the actions of extremist elements operating in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on Wednesday, which succeeded in smashing a fragile truce in that country.

Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas reiterated that Greece wants the neighboring state to remain unified and current borders to stay the same.

The spokesman also condemned an attack by nationalists against the press office of the Greek Embassy in Skopje on Tuesday, expressing regret over the fact that the Skopje government had not met its obligation to ensure the safety of employees in a Greek service.

[02] FYROM gov't spokesman says no anti-Greek climate in country

SKOPJE, 26/07/2001 (ANA - M. Vichou)

In a statement to the Athens News Agency (ANA), FYROM's government spokesman Antonio Milosevski said the incident "does not constitute the manifestation of an anti-Greek atmosphere and is not linked to the sentiments felt by the majority of the population towards Greece."

Milosevski termed the incidents as "the act of a few idiots who, in these difficult conditions, do not understand who is our friend and who is our enemy."

He added that "tougher measures will be taken to protect the building and that the Greek flag should be hoisted at a higher position so that it will not be easy for anyone, even with an ordinary lighter, to light a fire."

[03] Defense and foreign ministers discuss developments in FYROM

Athens, 26/07/2001 (ANA)

Following the meeting, Papandreou called current developments in the small neighboring country "unpleasant", noting the intense conflictive attitude existing between the two ethnic groups of the country, the Albanians and the Slavs.

He stressed that the conflict was not a positive omen for the negotiations between them.

Papandreou reiterated that violence is not a method to resolve problems in the Balkans and FYROM, "ways should be found for political dialogue to function aiming at a political solution that would maintain the cohesion of FYROM's society and would secure the territorial integrity of the country".

"Greece support and will support the territorial integrity of FYROM," Papandreou reiterated.

The two ministers also discussed European defense issues, Greek-Turkish relations, European relations and the course of the Cyprus issue.

The foreign minister also said that he and the defense minister discussed issues regarding the October ruling PASOK party congress.

"We all intend for PASOK to have a course forward in unity through a new dynamic, which will allow for solutions to the important problems of everyday life," he said.

[04] Gov't spokesman announces release of second Greek protestor in Italy

Athens, 26/07/2001 (ANA)

Reppas added that Panayiotis Sideriadis is staying in Italy for hospital treatment and not as a detainee.

Reppas also sharply criticized the main opposition New Democracy party which, as he said, was "disproved by reality when it invoked statements" by the Italian interior minister.

He said ND made a "second mistake to cover up its first", accusing the government of not protecting the rights of the Greek citizens who visited Italy to demonstrate in Genoa.

Reppas further said the government had watched from the beginning and closely the state of health and the conditions of detention of the two Greeks with representations and interventions, which yielded a favorable outcome.

[05] Reppas lets fly at ND over Genoa 'list' accusations

Athens, 26/07/2001 (ANA)

Roussopoulos had demanded on Tuesday that the government answer to charges that Greek agencies had supplied information on Greek activists to Italy, describing this as a "major moral and political issue".

Reppas accused the main opposition of using slander to fight the government without caring whether this harmed the image and interests of the country.

The spokesman added that the government would gladly take part in a discussion in Parliament on this issue, since it wanted to present its positions and had nothing to hide.

Reppas also commented on the Greek protestor who was arrested by Italian authorities, Panagiotis Sideriadis, and is still being held after undergoing an operation in a Genoa hospital.

He said that the government was doing everything in its power to secure the Greek protestor's release and return to Greece.

[06] Papandreou to address 55th UN General Assembly

NEW YORK, 26/07/2001 (ANA - M. Georgiadou)

The special 55th General assembly began in September 2000, following the Special Millennium Summit and will wrap up procedures this autumn with a "Special Summit" dedicated to the youths of the world.

The opening of the plenary session of the 56th General Assembly has been determined for September 24th, and Papandreou is scheduled to be the first speaker in the afternoon session on Friday, September 28th.

[07] PASOK party's Executive Bureau examines political developments and run-up to October congress

Athens, 26/07/2001 (ANA)

It was the last meeting before the summer holidays.

"A full briefing was made on the functioning of committees and for texts," he said, adding that "it is evident that all issues are raised for discussion at PASOK's congress (due to take place in October) to enable us to go to a really political congress."

"We raised issues related to political developments immediately after August, beginning with the Central Committee, the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF), preparation of the draft budget, in accordance with the constitutional mandate on October 1, and, of course, the holding of PASOK's congress," Skandalidis also said.

He said he always had the feeling that PASOK can emerge united and strong from the congress and now had the hope will go to the congress united and emerge even stronger from it.

"I believe there is a common anxiety and a common concern. And, regardless of whatever differences, our party's cadres are determined to proceed together," Skandalidis said.

[08] PM, Interior minister discuss problems faced by Greek society

Athens, 26/07/2001 (ANA)

After the more than two-hour meeting, Papandreou told reporters they had discussed all the problems in Greek society, adding that the upcoming PASOK congress in October would be one of unity and prospects to strengthen the ruling party and enable it to tackle those problems.

"The problems are our enemy, and there is no room for personal strategies and introversion if we are to tackle them. Our target is modernization and social justice," Papandreou said.

She also said in reply to press questions that there was "no leadership issue" in PASOK, adding that the leadership had been elected by the Greek people.

To other questions, she replied that the congress would be one of political positions "in order to change policy where needed and for us to proceed all together with the materialization of the government's work".

[09] Greek defense minister to visit Turkey in September, Turkish press says

ISTANBUL, 26/07/2001 (ANA - A. Kourkoulas)

Tsohatzopoulos will be the first ever Greek defense minister to visit Turkey.

Tsohatzopoulos, who accepted the invitation in principle, will be visiting the IDEF exhibition.

[10] US envoy pays farewell visit to Culture minister

Athens, 26/07/2001 (ANA)

Also discussed were the activities of American cultural institutes in Greece and a bilateral agreement for the protection of cultural goods that is being negotiated.

This was Burns' farewell visit to the culture minister before he leaves for Brussels, where he is to take over as the US permanent representative to NATO.

[11] ND accuses Papantoniou of 'fixing' budget surplus

Athens, 26/07/2001 (ANA)

In a joint announcement, the general secretary of ND's Parliamentary Group Dimitris Sioufas and the Coordinator of the party's Economic Affairs Committee also blame Papantoniou for the Greek stock market slump, urging him to "resign the responsible position he irresponsibly fills."

[12] ND economic affairs committee has three-hour meeting

Athens, 26/07/2001 (ANA)

Political analysts say this reflects the added importance that ND will place emphasis on economic issues in the run up to the Thessaloniki International Fair in September.

[13] NY Governor sanctions Remembrance Day for Turkish invasion in Cyprus

NEW YORK, 26/07/2001 (ANA M. Georgiadou)

He noted that he would hand the declaration to Greek Orthodox Church leaders and Greek-American community leaders.

Pataki did not hand the declaration, as called for, to Archbishop of North and South America Dimitrios, since the latter was expected to attend the AHEPA proceedings in Puerto Rico.

The declaration is to be given at a special ceremony on July 27th at the governor's office in New York in the presence of Cypriot and Greek-American officials, the President of the Cyprus Federation of North America Savvas Tsivikos, as well as members of the US congress.

[14] Avramopoulos to speak at 79th AHEPA congress in Puerto Rico

Athens, 26/07/2001 (ANA)

Avramopoulos, who is also leader of the newly founded Movement of Free Citizens party, will speak on: "The role of World Hellenism and the New Leadership of the 3rd Millennium".

[15] Greece to get enlargement funds from the EU

Athens, 26/07/2001 (ANA)

The five Greek regions receiving the funds to aid cohesion, cooperation and competitiveness are eastern Macedonia-Thrace, central Macedonia, the northern Aegean, the southern Aegean and Crete.

[16] Farm minister focuses on farmers and structural programs

Athens, 26/07/2001 (ANA)

Anomeritis, who was speaking at a press conference, said this is a decision taken by the European Union's STAR committee, which is responsible for issues related to interventions of a structural character in the sector of regional development.

The decision to amend the relevant regulation was taken as recognition of European bureaucracy's responsibility for the delay in the 3rd Community Support Framework's (CSF) ratification, following a request by Greece, Italy and Spain.

Anomeritis also announced the restructuring of the agriculture ministry's civil leadership levels, by which the ministry will now have two general secretariats instead of the four it had, as well as two special secretariats.

In another development, Agriculture and Fisheries Commissioner Franz Fischler will visit Greece officially from September 7-10. He will visit the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) and meet Prime Minister Costas Simitis, the agriculture ministry's leadership and social partner representatives.

[17] OTE signs memorandum of understanding with Athens Olympic Broadcasting

Athens, 26/07/2001 (ANA)

The framework agreement, or MoU, signed on July 20 by OTE chief technical officer George Argyropoulos and AOB managing director Manolo Romero concerns all services relating to television and radio coverage of the Olympics, which will be used both by AOB and RHBs (Rights Holding Broadcasters) that will distribute the signals to the world.

Under the terms of the agreement, for the audiovisual coverage, OTE will provide the basic transmission network linking the various venues to the International Broadcasting Center, while AOB will provide the terminal equipment.

Also, OTE and AOB will work closely together to identify the services required at the various venues as well as the Rate Card for Broadcast Telecommunication Services in order to offer the best international distribution services of video, audio and data lines.

[18] Natural gas provider being set up for Attica

Athens, 26/07/2001 (ANA)

The Attica Gas Supply Company, managed by the consortium, will eventually provide around 810,000 households in Attica with energy, leading to sales of about 1.1 billion cubic meters of gas annually.

Cinergy and Shell will own 49 percent of the new company, with the Public Gas Corporation retaining control with 51 percent of stock.

[19] Program for 20,000 new parking spaces in Athens, Thessaloniki

Athens, 26/07/2001 (ANA)

The plan provides for the creation of 56 new parking areas in the Attica and Thessaloniki prefectures, with the cost of construction estimated at 80 billion drachmas.

Laliotis said the program, slated for completion by 2004, provides for 28 new parking stations in Athens, with a total capacity of 12,200 vehicles, and another 28 in central Thessaloniki with a total capacity of 7,650 vehicles.

He said all the parking areas would be underground, constructed beneath public areas such as squares, and would be constructed in line with the most up-to-date specifications for such projects.

The extensive program would substantively upgrade the quality of life in the country's two biggest urban centers and allow for better and more systematic policing of illegal parking, thus improving traffic circulation and facilitating public transport, Laliotis said.

Construction of parking areas beneath central Kannigos square, Rizari, Egipto and Pedon squares and the Hippocration hospital in Athens and beneath the Thessaloniki Concert Hall, totalling 3,158 parking spaces in the capital and 1,000 spaces in Thessaloniki would begin by the end of the year, the minister explained.

Laliotis said his ministry had taken already taken a series of steps to simplify procedures for the construction of parking areas by private concerns, the most significant of which was the doubling of the subsidy of 600,000 drachma per parking space foreseen under development law 2601/98 to 1.4 million dr. per parking space via Article 15 of law 2819/2000.

Replying to questions on the parking areas currently located near the Metro stations in Athens, Laliotis noted that the parking lots that provided parking free of charge were full to capacity, but that was not the case with the parking lots where a fee was charged.

[20] Thessaloniki Port Authority to hold IPO on July 27-August 1

Athens, 26/07/2001 (ANA)

The final price of stock will be set through book building within a range of 674 euros to 740 euros, the statement said.

On sale are 2,400,000 existing common bearer shares with another 120,000 stocks destined for private placement with company staff.

Privatization bonds that have been sold by the government are convertible into the port authority's stock, the statement said.

The port is implementing an investment plan between 2001 and 2005 totalling 10 billion drachmas to modernize its installations, it added.

[21] Stocks, turnover mark slight rise

Athens, 26/07/2001 (ANA)

The Athens general share index gained 0.22 percent to end at 2,621.64 points, with turnover at 134.8 million euros, including block trades of 7.7 million euros.

The FTSE/ASE-20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks ended 0.12 percent higher; the FTSE/ASE-40 for medium capitalization paper 0.67 percent up; and the FTSE/ASE-80 for small cap equities gained 1.08 percent.

Advancers led decliners at 214 to 110 with 53 issues remaining unchanged.

A week ago on Monday the bourse had shed nearly five percent in a session as part of a lasting slump after buyers resolutely stayed out of the market, with small capitalization shares the worst hit.

Since then, the market has posted roller coaster closes day by day with players recently buying back into blue chips.

The most heavily traded stocks were Hellenic Telecommunications Organization, National Bank of Greece, Alpha Bank, Fitco and Intracom.

Equity futures end higher: Equity futures traded on the Athens Derivatives Exchange ended higher in jittery trade on Wednesday, recouping a discount early in the session.

Traded were 8,762 contracts on turnover of 59.4 million euros, traders said.

Bond prices drop in moderate trade: Bond prices in the domestic secondary market on Wednesday finished lower in moderate trade.

The Greek benchmark 10-year bond showed a yield of 5.46 percent, and the yield spread over German bunds was 49 basis points.

Turnover through the central bank's electronic system totalled 650 million euros (221.4 billion drachmas).

Sell orders accounted for the bulk of turnover.

[22] State approves funds to protect, restore Kavala forests

Athens, 26/07/2001 (ANA)

Eastern Macedonia and Thrace general secretary Aris Papadopoulos also approved road works to improve the Kavala-Drama national road budgeted at 2.5 billion drachmas.

[23] Greek authorities in position to meet requirements of wastewater directive

Athens, 26/07/2001 (ANA)

On Tuesday, the European Commission had announced that it will be sending "reasoned opinions" to Greece over its failure to incorporate revised EU directives on the quality of drinking water on the one hand and failing to comply with EU standards for wastewater treatment on the other.

The European Commission claims that the wastewater treatment plant at Psyttalia, which serves the Athens area, fails to remove enough nutrient substances, which end up in the Saronic Gulf and make it eutrophic (a state in which algal and bacterial organisms grow uncontrollably and literally "choke" life by using up all available oxygen).

Reasoned opinions are a country's second warning, after which the European Commission may refer the case to the European Court of Justice.

The Greek ministry's announcement said the Greek authorities propose that all existing evidence be brought up in a dialogue, as well as possible different scientific views and evaluations.

The announcement further said that, in the case of the Saronic Gulf, the Greek authorities would be in a position to meet the requirements emanating from the directive and to fully cover even the stiffest specifications.

[24] Novelists to represent Greece at Frankfurt's book festival

Athens, 26/07/2001 (ANA)

The presence of Greece at the "53rd International Book Exhibition" in Frankfurt, was organized by the "Working Group Frankfurt 2001" and the Executive Committee of the National Book Center of Greece (E.KE.BI.).

Both groups on Wednesday unanimously agreed on the recommendation by the Council Committee on which novelists should be allowed to participate at the events "New Roads for Ithaca".

Leading the list of novelists is Thanasis Valtinos, Vasilis Vasilikos and Rea Galanaki, while the poets chosen to participate include lyrists Katerina Angelaki-Rouk, Manolis Anagnostopoulos and Nasos Vagenas.

[25] Greek and Turkish orchestras to perform in Ephesus

Athens, 26/07/2001 (ANA)

The concert, which is being organized by the mayors of Thessaloniki and Ephesus together with the Istanbul Philharmonic Company, is set in the backdrop of strengthening relations between the two nations through cultural exchanges and events.

[26] Justice minister inaugurates modern correctional facility in Fokida

Athens, 26/07/2001 (ANA)

The new penitentiary has operated on a pilot basis for the past two weeks with 50 prisoners, and is to steer the construction of a further 17 similar buildings that are to be built in the framework of a wider correctional reform policy.

The new reform package is to span over a period of 15 years throughout the country, as well as confront the issue of overcrowding in prisons.

"The creation of a suitable foundation for the living conditions of detained citizens, is a necessary term for the protection of human integrity," the minister said.

He said it also strengthens the self-respect and sense of social responsibility of all prisoners, with the ultimate result being the facilitation of smooth rehabilitation into society.

The ultra-modern penitentiary, constructed in an area spanning some 15.25 acres, is 14.600 sq. meters in size and it is able to host some 280 prisoners. It is estimated to have cost about five billion drachmas.

Prisoners will be monitored through a central computer complex that will control 710 armed doors, while 170 cameras and monitors complete the security system together with metal and drug detecting machinery.

[27] Government meeting focuses on action plan for Paralympic Games in Athens, in 2004

Athens, 26/07/2001 (ANA)

Following the meeting, Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos said that the meeting dealt in depth with the action plan for the Paralympic Games, in order to best prepare for those Games as well.

He added that by focusing on the Paralympics, the government was sending a message to society regarding handicapped people, saying that the recent amendments to the Constitution took into account the necessary measures to protect the rights of the handicapped.

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