Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 08-07-15

Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greece slams FYROM PM's letter as provocation

[02] U.S. Senator Snowe on FYROM 'name issue'

[03] Karamanlis-Erdogan meeting in Paris

[04] OTE CEO to stay, government says

[05] PASOK comments on 'Germanos' case, market watchdog

[06] Culture ministry management case to Parliament

[07] Two fire-fighting planes head for Albania

[08] Greek, Australian universities sign cooperation memo

[09] Greek unemployment falls to 7.7 pct in April

[10] FinMin Sec-Gen meeting with GSEE chief, Lanaras Group employees

[11] Provopoulos in favour of focused interventions to support weaker groups

[12] National Bank to finance new section at Athens hospital

[13] ICTS Hellas contract with Emirates, Singapore Airlines

[14] Greek stocks end moderately up

[15] ADEX closing report

[16] Greek bond market closing report

[17] Foreign Exchange rates: Tuesday

[18] Train crash near Lamia, five injured

[19] WWII shells discovered in Souda Bay harbour

[20] Beijing 2008-related concert in Athens on Tuesday

[21] Hot on Tuesday

[22] The Monday edition of Athens' dailies at a glance

[23] House President satisfied with President Christofias-UN SG meeting

[01] Greece slams FYROM PM's letter as provocation

Commenting on an official letter sent to Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis by his FYROM counterpart Nikola Gruevski, government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos said the latter "repeated the well-known and unacceptable statements regarding non-existent minorities etc., while he (Gruevski) also attempted to raise new obstacles to the ongoing negotiating process on the 'name dispute', taking place in the framework of the United Nations".

"Instead of engaging in this kind of provocative activity and maneuvering, one that leads lengthy negotiating efforts to a deadlock, (the government of) Skopje ought to be trying to convince, through their actions, that they desire to resolve the problem and build good-neighbourly ties with Greece, a neighbouring country that is a member of the European Union and NATO, two institutions that FYROM hopes to join," he added.

The Greek government spokesman underlined that Athens would not be drawn into or participate in any attempt to "divert negotiations from their objective, which is none other than to find a mutually acceptable solution to the name issue."

The prime minister will send a reply to Gruevski's letter within a week, he concluded.

PASOK response

On his part, a spokesman for the main opposition PASOK party called the Gruevski letter to Greece's prime minister as "unworthy of comment", while charging that the Skopje government is merely continuing its pre-election delirium.

Spokesman George Papaconstantinou said the Greek side, including PASOK, had hoped that for a more productive stance by the neighbouring country so that negotiations on the only outstanding issue, namely, the "name dispute", would continue.

Concluding he said Greece should remain adamant over the position of a name with a geographic determinant for all uses.

[02] U.S. Senator Snowe on FYROM 'name issue'

U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), who is of Greek origin, has asked, in a letter sent to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, from the Bush administration to eventually recognise the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) under a name which will be the result of UN-sponsored negotiations between Greece and the landlocked republic, for the finding of a solution to the latter country's "name issue".

The U.S. senator also criticises the Bush administration for its untimely recognition of FYROM under its present constitutional name -which Greece objects to invoking irredentist designs on the part of its norhern neighbour against its northern province Macedonia- and requests from Rice that Washington encourage the FYROM government to put an end to its irredentist actions and collaborate in a constructive manner with Greece towards finding a solution.

[03] Karamanlis-Erdogan meeting in Paris

Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a brief meeting that was described as "social" on the sidelines of a dinner given by French President Nicolas Sarkozy for the leaders of countries participating in the Mediterranean Union summit. The meeting took place on Sunday night in Paris.

On Monday morning, the Greek premier attended a military parade held in Paris to celebrate Bastille Day, accompanied by his wife Natasha. He then attended a dinner given by Sarkozy.

According to reports, meanwhile, Karamanlis has received a letter from the prime minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) Nikola Gruevski, to which he intends to reply.

[04] OTE CEO to stay, government says

"Nothing has changed," the spokesman replied when asked whether Vourloumis will remain by a reporter who pointed to Monday's headlines revealing that Vourloumis had now been implicated in two outstanding investigations by justice into potential felonies.

Roussopoulos clarified that the second judicial investigation reported in the press had begun roughly a year ago and concer-ned contracts originally signed under PASOK governments that were renewed in 2004.

He also denied that a statement by Economy and Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis - who earlier said that he could not understand the reasoning behind the charges pressed in connection with Cosmote's acquisition of Germanos - in any way indicated a lack of confidence in justice.

"We have faith in justice and we await the results [of the judicial process]," he stressed, while at the same time attacking main opposition PASOK for inconsistency on this issue.

"PASOK is using justice ad hoc," the spokesman claimed, pointing to the appearance on the same day of a PASOK poster attacking justice as statements by PASOK officials saying that justice was doing a "good job" in connection with the OTE investigation.

Roussopoulos also pointed out that the charges essentially disproved the main opposition party's accusations that justice was being manipulated by the government, adding that PASOK "was judging others by its own standards".

He also pointed out that the prosecution over the Germanos acquisition did not refer to specific people but the actions, while the reference to OTE's board was made because OTE was the supervisory body over Cosmote, which in any case had its own independent management and a CEO appointed under PASOK governments that had retained his post after 2004.

A first-instance court prosecutor last Friday filed felony charges regarding the acquisition of the electronics retail chain Germanos S.A. by the mobile phone operator Cosmote in 2006, following claims by main opposition PASOK that the Germanos shares were acquired at a price roughly four times the retail chain's market value.

The charges were filed against senior Cosmote executives and board members, who were accused of breach of trust, the founder of Germanos who was charged with complicity, Germanos board members charged with money laundering and other individuals accused of insider trading.

[05] PASOK comments on 'Germanos' case, market watchdog

"The management of the Competition Commission is either unable to exercise supervision or does not act independently as it ought but instead obeys orders and suggestions from above. In either case, through its lapse it has irreparably damaged the confidence of investors," she stressed.

She also pointed a finger of blame at the ruling New Democracy party over the repercussions that such manipulation might have on the development and smooth operation of the market, noting that it had taken the capital markets commission two years to arrive at a conclusion, after which it had imposed extremely small fines and had attempted to conceal the insider trading element but focused only on the "boosting of the stock price" in order to ensure that the culprits got off lightly.

The MP also noted that the market watchdog had not assigned any responsibility to the managements of Cosmote and Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (OTE), which today found themselves up against breach of faith charges over the affair.

[06] Culture ministry management case to Parliament

The report, which concerns both the financial and administrative handling of the ministry's affairs, is signed by first-instance court public prosecutors Panagiotis Athanassiou and Eleni Raikou, who carried out the preliminary inquiry. It is not accompanied by any penal assessment regarding the various grants paid out from the ministry's Special Account.

According to a justice ministry announcement, the grants issued from this account were given "to cover payment of benefits, over-time and wages of ministry contract workers that could not be paid in any other way because of a lack of a special legislative measure and concerned the periods when the minister's post was occupied by Evangelos Venizelos (statute-barred), Fani Palli-Petralia, George Voulgarakis and Mihalis Liapis".

The announcement was also highly critical of main opposition PASOK for what is said were dozens of unjust accusations made over the past six months regarding the administration of the culture ministry and a series of allegations regarding favouritism and unjustified grants, fixed recruitment exams and other irregularities.

"All these were investigated thoroughly by justice, with the examination of dozens of witnesses and the assistance of the appropriate state inspection services and proved to be groundless and irresponsible," the announcement noted.

It also condemned an "immoral attack by PASOK MPs last Wednesday (one day before the report on this case was made public) against the investigator in the 'Germanos' case Eleni Raikou" and PASOK's claims that she formed part of a group of public prosecutors "controlled" by the government.

The announcement levelled accusations of inconsistency against the main opposition, noting that it was in the habit of applauding judicial decisions that suited its purposes and then accusing judges and prosecutors of being "manipulated" and "directed" whenever their decisions and findings did not favour PASOK.

[07] Two fire-fighting planes head for Albania

[08] Greek, Australian universities sign cooperation memo

The memo, signed by the Australian institution's Vice-Chancellor Prof. Helen Garnett and the Greek university's deputy deans Hryssi Vitsilaki and I. Gialas, provides for the exchange of academic and administrative personnel, joint research programmes and cooperation in under-graduate and post-graduate studies.

Financial News

[09] Greek unemployment falls to 7.7 pct in April

The statistics service said the number employed people totaled 4,572,840 in April, while the number of unemployed people totaled 380,775 and the number of financially non-active population totaled 4,273,989.

The number unemployed people is steadily falling since 2004, the statistics service said. The unemployment rate among men was 4.8 pct in April and 11.8 pct among women. Unemployment in the age group between 15-24 years old was 20.4 pct in April and 11.4 pct in the age group 25-34.

The Ionian islands recorded the highest unemployment rate amongst Greek regions in April (17.1 pct), while northern Aegean (3.4 pct) the lowest unemployment rate.

[10] FinMin Sec-Gen meeting with GSEE chief, Lanaras Group employees

No statements were made after the meeting.

[11] Provopoulos in favour of focused interventions to support weaker groups

In his first speech since he took over as Bank of Greece governor last month, Provopoulos underlined the need that social benefits should not derail a fiscal consolidation program and urged that policy makers should not repeat the mistakes made during the first two oil crises in 1970 and 1980 of loose fiscal, monetary and incomes policy.

The Greek central banker said that enterprises and households should realize that income losses suffered from rising oil prices could be replaced only in the long-term and with interventions aimed at boosting productivity and competition. Provopoulos warned that no one would benefit if enterprises and households blamed each other for any income losses.

Commenting on a current credit crisis, Provopoulos said it was in full swing and stressed it was uncertain how much time would be needed to return to full credit normality. Uncertainties over the global economy is affecting the Greek economy as well and he did not exclude any downward revision of estimates over the global, Eurozone and Greek economic growth this year.

Provopoulos called for more efforts to deal effectively with macro-economic imbalances, responsible for a huge current accounts deficit, a big public debt, high inflation and unemployment rates.

"Our duty is to ensure that now that our economy suffers from external shocks we limit the negative impact of domestic factors, such as macro-economic imbalances and structural weaknesses," he said.

Provopoulos said a decision by the European Central Bank to raise its refinance rate by 25 basis points was successful and noted that inflationary expectations were halted in the first few days after the interest rate increase.

[12] National Bank to finance new section at Athens hospital

The cost of the new building, scheduled to be ready in four years, will amount to 30 million euros.

The National Bank's funding of the project falls in the framework of the bank's Programme of Corporate Responsi-bility, which also includes sponsorships for the construction and equipment of schools, nurseries, holiday camps and support to foundations for children with special needs etc.

[13] ICTS Hellas contract with Emirates, Singapore Airlines

Specifically, ICTS Hellas will undertake security services at Athens' Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport in managing planes, access of passengers and luggage distribution, as regards Emirates, while it will offer services in managing passengers' access, crews and security for planes operated by Singapore Airlines.

[14] Greek stocks end moderately up

Most sectors moved higher with the Utilities (3.41 pct), Telecommunications (1.73 pct), Banks (1.63 pct) and Financial Services (1.14 pct) scoring the biggest percentage gains of the day, while Insurance (2.60 pct), Food/Beverage (2.32 pct), Media (2.17 pct) and Personal/Products (1.11 pct) were top losers.

The FTSE 20 index rose 1.32 pct, the FTSE 40 index ended 0.87 pct lower and the FTSE 80 index ended 0.17 pct up. Broadly, decliners led advancers by 145 to 87 with another 46 issues unchanged.

Sector indices ended as follows:

Insurance: -2.60%

Industrials: +0.47%

Commercial: -0.73%

Construction: -0.06%

Media: -2.17%

Oil & Gas: +0.28%

Personal & Household: -1.11%

Raw Materials: -1.21%

Travel & Leisure: +0.17%

Technology: +0.87%

Telecoms: +1.73%

Banks: +1.63%

Food & Beverages: -2.32%

Health: +0.24%

Utilities: +3.41%

Chemicals: -1.10%

Financial Services: +1.14%

The stocks with the highest turnover were National Bank, EFG Eurobank Ergasias, Cyprus Bank and OTE.

Selected shares from the FTSE/ASE-20 index closed in euros as follows:

Alpha Bank: 18.72

ATEbank: 2.11

Public Power Corp (PPC): 20.42

HBC Coca Cola: 17.22

Hellenic Petroleum: 8.68

National Bank of Greece: 27.00

EFG Eurobank Ergasias: 14.68

Intralot: 9.10

OPAP: 22.96

OTE: 15.26

Piraeus Bank: 17.86

Titan Cement Company: 22.26

[15] ADEX closing report

Volume in futures contracts on the Big Cap index totaled 7,623 contracts worth 68.267 million euros, with 33,554 open positions in the market, while on the Mid Cap index volume was 14 contracts worth 287,056 euros with 117 open positions.

Volume in futures contracts on equities totaled 6,008 contracts worth 7.829 million euros with investment interest focusing on Marfin Popular Bank's contracts (1,192), followed by OTE (979), National Bank (950), Intracom (224), ATEbank (165) and Hellenic Exchanges (322).

[16] Greek bond market closing report

In money markets, interest rates were largely unchanged. The 12-month Euribor rate was 5.38 percent, the six-month rate was 5.14 pct, the three-month rate was 4.96 pct and the one-month rate 4.46 pct.

[17] Foreign Exchange rates: Tuesday

U.S. dollar 1.597

Pound sterling 0.803

Danish kroner 7.520

Swedish kroner 9.543

Japanese yen 170.59

Swiss franc 1.636

Norwegian kroner 8.116

Canadian dollar 1.612

Australian dollar 1.65

General News

[18] Train crash near Lamia, five injured

According to eyewitnesses, four passengers were injured in the crash that occurred at 4 a.m., while it took 90 minutes for emergency crews to free the driver from the locomotive.

Hundreds of passengers on board the train were placed on OSE buses for the remainder of the trip to Athens.

According to initial reports, the train engineer is in critical condition. In a related development, the two engineers aboard the preceding cargo train have been detained at the Fthiotida prefecture police headquarters for questioning.

[19] WWII shells discovered in Souda Bay harbour

The coast guard was alerted and an army bomb squad was brought in to disarm the shells, which were dragged out and then detonated in controlled explosions. The shells included one 8-inch tank shell and three 155-mm artillery shells, all German made.

Beijing Olympic Games

[20] Beijing 2008-related concert in Athens on Tuesday

The event is co-sponsored by the Chinese embassy in Greece, part of continuing initiatives ahead of the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and efforts to "celebrate Olympic ties with Greece".

Weather Forecast

[21] Hot on Tuesday

[22] The Monday edition of Athens' dailies at a glance

ADESMEFTOS TYPOS: "New working positions (in private sector) for 22,079 unemployed women" under subsidized employment program planned and being materialised by the General Secretariat for Gender Equality, budgeted at 133,000 euros for each of the 130 SMEs and large companies participating in the 'Affirmative Action for Women' program.

APOGEVMATINI: "Vindication for graduates of colleges collaborating with European universities (KES, liberal studies centers) - The expectations for regulation of their professional rights becoming reality".

AVRIANI: "PASOK to table charges against judges and prosecutors - It's terrorizing Justice in order to block indictments".

CHORA: "TETRA scandal: Athens was at the mercy of terrorists in 2004 (Athens Olympic Games) thanks to Simitis (then PASOK prime minister)", adding that a confidential document from the minutes of a meeting of all agencies involved had noted that the installation of the TETRA subsystem of the C4I Olympic Games 2004 security system could not be completed before the Games, which resulted in "radio silence" among the Greek Police, Fire Department and all the security corps, and noting that "this unbelievable situation was faced by ND (the ensuing government of New Democracy which took over the helm of the country just five months before the 2004 Games) officials who took over the task of completing the Olympic Games security system".

ELEFTHERI ORA: "The people believe that both the two mainstream parties (ruling New Democracy and main opposition PASOK) have received kickbacks, and consequently catharsis will not take place".

ELEFTHEROS: "Pangalos (high-profile PASOK MP and former minister) 'uncovers' the KKE (Communist Party of Greece) - Perissos (KKE headquarters) played a part in Cosmote's acquisition of the Germanos company", adding that the acquisition issue was taking on new dimensions, with all indications showing that the KKE will become embroiled in the war raging between the government and PASOK.

ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: "Social taxes for 'those who have' - Alogoskoufis (economy and finance minister) intimates, in interview with ET, at package of package of tax measures on the horizon based on capital".

ELEFTHEROTYPIA: "Hostage of the 'Germans' (Siemens and Germanos affairs) - Government paralyzed, without plan, simply watches on".

ESTIA: "The global economic crisis - Rapid growth in China and India the cause", adding that while the Greek mass media were dealing almost exclusively with the Siemens kickbacks, illegal financing of political parties and ministers' trips -- which it said were naturally also serious matters -- the major issue occupying the rest of the planet was the global economic crisis, which comes first.

ETHNOS: "Mass exodus of teachers into retirement - The appointments program for the coming school year thrown into turmoil".

TA NEA: "Charges against Vourloumis (OTE president and CEO) Panayiotis Vourloumis on 2nd felony as well - They kept it secret for a year", adding that the second indictment concerns "overpriced technical support contracts" signed by OTE in 2005 with Siemens and other companies.

VRADYNI: "Initiatives for exodus from the crisis - Four moves by Karamanlis for reversal of the (political) climate".

Cyprus Affairs

[23] House President satisfied with President Christofias-UN SG meeting

Cyprus House President, Acting President of the Republic Marios Garoyian expressed Monday his ''absolute agreement'' with the positions expressed by President of Republic Demetris Christofias on the Cyprus problem, during his meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Paris Sunday.

In statements to the press, Garoyian reiterated his party view against the imposition of tight timeframes for the solution of the problem, adding that a possible solution should be based on the discussions among the leaders of the two communities in Cyprus, without serving the interests of Turkey.

''Undoubtedly the role of the UN should be facilitative,'' he said.

Replying to questions regarding Tuesday's meeting between Ban and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat in Berlin, Garoyian recalled that the Cyprus President insists on principled positions which are consistent with the international law, the UN Charter as well as the EU values, which, according to Garoyian, form the process within which the process for a Cyprus should move.

Christofias and Talat will meet for the fourth time on July 25. Working groups and technical committees were set up after their first meeting in March this year with a view to prepare the ground for direct fully fledged negotiations between the two sides, to reach a settlement of the problem of Cyprus, divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory.

36, TSOCHA ST. ATHENS 115 21 GREECE * TEL: 64.00.560-63 * FAX: 64.00.581-2 INTERNET ADDRESS: http://www.ana.gr * e-mail: anabul@ana gr * GENERAL DIRECTOR: GEORGE TAMBAKOPOULOS

Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article