Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 09-10-01

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

CONTENTS

[01] KKE leader Papariga addresses Athens rally

[02] PM Karamanlis addresses rally in Thessaloniki

[03] PM: PASOK avoiding debate, issues

[04] Papandreou pledges smaller gov't if elected

[05] Tsipras tours Rodopi

[06] Karatzaferis press con'f

[07] Defence minister in Cyprus on Thursday

[08] NBG successfully auctions 1.5-bln-euro covered bond issue

[09] Eurobank Properties buys 3 shop buildings for 46 mln euros

[10] Greek Cables issue 10-mln-euro bond loan

[11] Greek retail sales volume index down 10.2 pct in July

[12] Major case of 'carousel' VAT fraud uncovered

[13] Stocks end slightly lower

[14] ADEX closing report

[15] Greek bond market closing report

[16] Foreign Exchange rates -Thursday

[17] Inoculation of population against new flu virus to begin in 20 days, health minister says

[18] Gov't order creates Helmos-Vouraikos National Park

[19] Government gives one-year extension to deadline for licence applications by private colleges

[20] 3 urban terrorist suspects remanded in custody

[21] Police dismantle human trafficking ring exploiting disabled people

[22] Traffic measures for Athens political rallies

[23] The Wednesday edition of Athens' dailies at a glance Politics

[01] KKE leader Papariga addresses Athens rally

Papariga said that the wager in the elections is that those who caused the crisis must pay economically and politically for it in the elections "and not which of the two (mainstream) parties will get the gold and which the silver medal."

She further said that the two mainstream parties have taken no position on the demands of the industrialists and bankers, as well as on the European Union's decisions, that concern new radical restructuring in the labour market, social security and the state.

Papariga accused the New Democracy and PASOK parties of raising extortionate and terrorising dilemmas for the working classes, "because they want new sacrifices, they want subdued people with bowed heads." Lastly, Papariga appealed to young people from working clases who will vote for the first time to vote for KKE "to make a start against the wave of discipline, consensus, subjection and submission to the powerful."

[02] PM Karamanlis addresses rally in Thessaloniki

"The leader of PASOK has disappeared lately. Wherever there are difficult questions Mr. Papandreou is absent. He refuses to give interviews face-to-face," Karamanlis said and accused PASOK's leader of avoiding to reply to questions on what he will do with the economy, because he lacks any plan.

The prime minister aso criticised Papandreou for his position on national issues, calling on him to retract all that he has said about the Burgas-Alexandroupoli oil pipeline and saying "we neither forget Imia, nor Madrid, nor Ocalan, nor the pressures on the Greek Cypriots for the Annan plan."

Referring to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Karamanlis said that Greece will not take even one step back from the red line that it has set.

As regards Turkey, the prime minister called on it to cease to harbour modern-day slave drivers, to respect the agreement on the repatriation of illegal immigrants, he stressed that the wall of force must fall in Cyrus and Turkish occupation must come to an end and, regarding its European perspective, he stressed that the principle "full compliance, full accession" is valid.

Karamanlis urged the voters of the New Democracy party to rally in light of the elections so that no vote is lost, no vote is given away and expressed his conviction that "victory is in our hands."

[03] PM: PASOK avoiding debate, issues

Referring to PASOK leader George Papandreou in particular, the prime minister said "he is avoiding dialogue because he cannot reply (He is avoiding) not only with a second (one-on-one) debate but with all the face-to-face interviews with news anchors on television as well. He has imposed a complete blackout and is hiding in it."

Focusing on recent PASOK campaign statements about the Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline, privatised Olympic Air and the Hellenic Telecoms (OTE), Karamanlis said Papandreou is not saying anything specific and that "he doesn't dare to reveal any of the unpleasant measures that he would take if he came to power."

Lastly, Karamanlis said the government's plan has a specific content and a clear horizon, while PASOK is not presenting any plan and "behind their half-words and prophecies two things appear: The swelling of debts and an increase in taxes.

"The decision is yours. Take developments into your hands. No one must be absent on Sunday. Not even one vote must be lost on Sunday," he concluded.

[04] Papandreou pledges smaller gov't if elected

After presenting his ideas, PASOK's president noted that many of his suggestions were considered self-evident in many other countries but constituted a "small revolution" for Greece, requiring the support of the people in order to succeed. He appealed to voters to back his party and ensure that it had a strong Parliamentary majority "and the strength to show that we can progress differently in this country".

Papandreou spoke of plans for a compact cabinet having a smaller number of members, which would be flexible and able to work collectively, while the prime minister's office would monitor the various programmes based on predetermined schedules and deadlines.

He also announced plans for an autonomous finance ministry to monitor fiscal policy and the restructuring of the economy, with assistance and support from internationally acclaimed economists that Papandreou had personally come into contact with, whose prestige would also work in favour of Greece at international markets.

Other changes announced by Papandreou were the creation of a 'civilian protection ministry' that would supervise law enforcement, the fire brigade and civil protection agencies and an 'infrastructure ministry' to take over the work of the current public works and communications ministries.

PASOK's leader pledged to ensure that jobs in public administration were awarded based on ability rather than party allegiances, by publishing proclamations and inviting applications for all available positions even at the very highest levels, such as ministry general secretaries or the boards of public utilities, state companies and regional hospitals.

Another principle announced by PASOK's president was that of barring party officials from simultaneously holding a state-sector position, stressing that anyone wishing to take up a public-sector job would first have to resign from party organs in which he or she was a member.

Papandreou announced that a summary presentation of PASOK's policy platform will be posted on the Internet on Thursday.

[05] Tsipras tours Rodopi

Tsipras made the statements while touring Rodopi to campaign on behalf of the left-wing party alliance Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA), in which SYN is the largest component member.

During the visit, he met textile factory workers working in the area and repeated SYRIZA's proposal that the Lanara Group be nationalised, promising to fight for this within and outside Parliament. He also met workers of the Rodopi Agricultural Cooperatives Union, who said they had not been paid for the last 18 months.

[06] Karatzaferis press con'f

Karatzaferis, a former ND deputy who fell out with today's ruling party to start his own right-of-centre party 2002, charged that the Siemens affair, national issues are being "swept under the carpet", whereas both ND and PASOK are giving only cursory attention to the heated illegal immigration problem.

"Have you ever seen a previous campaign agenda that was dominated by one issue? Only the economy?" he asked during the press conference at the Zappeion Hall in downtown Athens.

"We're headed to the ballot boxes without knowing the receivers of the 100 million euros from Siemens. Germany has already issued a judicial ruling that considers them as accomplices in a crime. One would expect from (PASOK leader George) Papandreou to show sensitivity and assume the share of responsibility ... What did we hear from Mr. Papandreou regarding national issues? He (Papandreou) should clarify what he meant when he said that we can't have problems with Turkey over a few stremmata (1,000 square metres is one stremma)," he said, adding:

"At this moment the Cyprus issue is in its worst phase and (Premier) Mr. Karamanlis is lying when he said he said 'no' to the Annan peace plan".

Asked about the issue of illegal immigration, a major rallying point for the Parliament-represented LA.OS, Karatzaferis repeated his proposal for maintaining a quota system in the country, referring to what he called the "Lafontaine model" in Germany. He also underlined that any new Greek government must increase pressure on the European Union to assist in better guarding Greek borders from the illegal immigration wave.

In other matters, Karatzaferis said he foresees that a first-place PASOK will not garner enough votes to form a self-sufficient government, whereas he said he hoped the leftist SYRIZA alliance re-enters Parliament.

Finally, asked if the Church of Greece should be taxed, he stated: "whatever creates wealth should be taxed, and the Church should not be an entrepreneur."

[07] Defence minister in Cyprus on Thursday

Financial News

[08] NBG successfully auctions 1.5-bln-euro covered bond issue

The bank said the 1.5-bln-euro bond issue was four times oversubscribed, with bids submitted totalling 6.0 billion euros. National Bank priced its 2016 bond issue - which pays a coupon of 3.875 pct -- at 99.238, with a yield spread of 90 basis points over the seven-year swaps.

[09] Eurobank Properties buys 3 shop buildings for 46 mln euros

The company said the three shop buildings were located in the northwest Athens district of Metamorphosi, Larissa and Patras.

All three buildings are have long-term lease contracts (ending in 2020 and 2026) by Praktiker Hellas. An evaluation made by independent auditors put the value of the three properties at 47.4 million euros. Net leasing return was 8.3 pct.

[10] Greek Cables issue 10-mln-euro bond loan

[11] Greek retail sales volume index down 10.2 pct in July

The statistics service in a report attributed this decline to a 3.8 pct drop in foodstore sales, a 14.6 pct decline in fuel and lubricants sales and a 14.4 pct fall in other shop sales.

The turnover index in the retail sales (current prices), including fuel and lubricants, fell 9.1 pct in July, after an increase of 4.2 pct recorded in July 2008.

[12] Major case of 'carousel' VAT fraud uncovered

During its investigation, the Special Audits Service discovered that the companies carried out fake imports of nonexistent goods from foreign countries that were then "stored" by the logistics company on behalf of the pharmaceutical firms. The nonexistent goods were then sold several times within the country, before they were once again sent to the logistics firms for storage and then "re-exported" abroad.

Also involved in the 2008 scam were companies from Spain, Cyprus, Latvia, Romania and Hungary. The fake VAT payments claimed as a result of the various transactions are estimated to have reached 29 million euros.

The logistics company alone is expected to have to pay a fine of 58 million euros for the fraud, while each of the other companies involved will pay an estimated fine of 29 million euros once the relevant files are forwarded to local tax offices. Those involved also face penal liablity, due to the nature of the offences.

The Special Audits Service has additionally sought the assistance of its counterparts in other countries where companies involved in the fraud are based.

[13] Stocks end slightly lower

Sector indices ended mixed with the Utilities (2.83 pct), Travel (0.68 pct) and Food/Beverage (0.36 pct) scoring the biggest percentage gains of the day, while Media (6.51 pct), Technology (3.76 pct), Raw Materials (3.41 pct) and Financial Services (3.24 pct) suffered losses.

The FTSE 20 index eased 0.46 pct, the FTSE 40 index ended 1.49 pct down and the FTSE 80 index fell 1.90 pct. Broadly, decliners led advancers by 161 to 53 with another 48 issues unchanged.

Sector indices ended as follows:

Insurance: -1.18%

Industrials: -2.10%

Commercial: -1.81%

Construction: -0.97%

Media: -6.51%

Oil & Gas: -0.20%

Personal & Household: -1.34%

Raw Materials: -3.41%

Travel & Leisure: +0.68%

Technology: -3.76%

Telecoms: -0.88%

Banks: -0.50%

Food & Beverages: +0.36%

Health: -2.00%

Utilities: +2.83%

Chemicals: -1.98%

Financial Services: -3.24%

The stocks with the highest turnover were National Bank, Eurobank, OPAP and Alpha Bank.

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

Alpha Bank: 12.60

ATEbank: 1.55

Public Power Corp (PPC): 15.21

HBC Coca Cola: 18.19

Hellenic Petroleum: 7.76

National Bank of Greece: 24.50

EFG Eurobank Ergasias: 10.75

Intralot: 4.71

OPAP: 17.62

OTE: 11.30

Bank of Piraeus: 12.67

Titan: 23.60

[14] ADEX closing report

Volume in futures contracts on equities totaled 18,548 contracts worth 17.243 million euros, with investment interest focusing on MIG's contracts (3,591), followed by Eurobank (955), PPC (759), Piraeus Bank (1,525), National Bank (2,653), Alpha Bank (742), Intracom (533), Marfin Popular Bank (2,667), Cyprus Bank (1,660) and ATEbank (506).

[15] Greek bond market closing report

The 10-year benchmark bond (July 19, 2019) was the most heavily traded security with a turnover of 1.411 billion euros. The yield spread between the 10-year Greek and German benchmark bonds widened to 130 basis points with the Greek bond yielding 4.50 pct and the German Bund 3.20 pct.

In interbank markets, interest rates were largely unchanged. The 12-month Euribor rate was 1.23 percent, the six-month rate 1.02 pct, the three-month rate 0.74 pct and the one-month rate 0.44 pct.

[16] Foreign Exchange rates -Thursday

U.S. dollar 1.476

Pound sterling 0.916

Danish kroner 7.503

Swedish kroner 10.313

Japanese yen 132.12

Swiss franc 1.519

Norwegian kroner 8.527

Canadian dollar 1.583

Australian dollar 1.672

General News

[17] Inoculation of population against new flu virus to begin in 20 days, health minister says

The government recently announced that the entire population, including foreign nationals, will be inoculated.

Avramopoulos said that 100,000 vaccines have already been imported, and are stored at the National Health Center facilities in Vari, outside Athens, noting that the European Commission has already given the thumbs up to the pharmaceutical companies Novartis and Glaxo, which produce the new vaccine, to dispense in a large number of European countries, including Greece.

Another 100,000 vaccines are due to arrive next week, according to ministry estimations.

The vaccine will initially be administered to the vulnerable, or high risk, population groups, which are estimated at nearly 2.5 million people.

Referring to the temporary closure earlier in the week of two highschools in two districts of Athens after several pupils contracted the virus, Avramopoulos explained that this had been a readiness exercise for the ministry and the authorities in general, which proved the effectiveness and success of the procedural protocol which has been set out by the ministry, when the problem arose in those schools.

Following assessment of the situation in the two highschools, in Melissia and Haidari, where cases of the new flu were confirmed, the closure of all classes of the schools for seven days were recommended to Athens prefect Yiannis Sgouros, as per the procedural protocol.

The health ministry also informed the education ministry, and assured that there was no cause for concern as the instructions given by the World Health Organisation (WHO) are being strictly adhered to.

[18] Gov't order creates Helmos-Vouraikos National Park

The minister said that the new created "Helmos-Vouraikos National Park" covered a total expanse of 54,400 hectares, in which there were restrictions on the activities and land uses allowed.

The area is considered a habitat of international importance and interest, one of the richest in Europe, in which a number of species of plants, animals and birds live and breed.

In the immediate and wider region of the new national park, which includes regions of Mount Helmos, Stygos Waters, Bouraikos Gorge and the Kalavryta Forest, there are 12 types of biotopes of high ecological value and high biodiversity.

Among these species the high-priority European otter, as well as 17 other species of vertebrates included in the Red Book of Endangered Species in Greece and several species of endemic and migratory birds.

The order signed by Souflias on Wednesday divides the park into three protection zones and various individual areas in which only expressly stated activities and usages of land are allowed. It also included the formation of a body to manage the park, funded by the ministry.

[19] Government gives one-year extension to deadline for licence applications by private colleges

[20] 3 urban terrorist suspects remanded in custody

The fourth detainee, Myrto Panteloglou, was released under restrictive conditions.

Emmanuil Yiospas, 20, was remanded in custody after marathon testimony that lasted well into the early morning hours of Thursday, while Panayiotis Masouras and Harilaos Hatzimichelakis testified on Thursday afternoon and were later jailed.

Authorities have linked the suspects to the particularly active "Conspiracy of Fire Cells" urban terrorist group, described as an anti-state anarchist cell.

The four have been indicted on several counts of felony and misdemeanour charges, including participation in a criminal organisation, procurement and possession of explosive materials, two counts of causing explosions and thus endangering human lives, grand larceny, violation of the law on explosives and procurement and possession of narcotic substances for own use.

[21] Police dismantle human trafficking ring exploiting disabled people

An announcement issued by the city's human trafficking squad on Tuesday morning reported the arrest in Thessaloniki's Harilaou district of a 36-year-old Bulgarian and a 42-year-old Greek as they were dropping off a 62-year-old disabled Bulgarian national in front of a church in order to beg.

A police investigation revealed that another four people with motor disabilities from Bulgaria had fallen victim to the two men arrested.

[22] Traffic measures for Athens political rallies

Police warned that parking and stopping will be forbidden in roads surrounding the rally site from 8:00 a.m. and until the rallies are concluded, based on traffic conditions.

The ban extends along Patission Street between Panepistimiou and Kaftantzoglou streets, as well as all intersecting roads until the first junction, and all down Alexandras Avenue and the roads that intersect this up until the first junction, as well as several roads in the city centre, such as Omonia Square, Stadiou Street, Panepistimiou Street until Harilaou Trikoupi Street, Pireos Street from Omonia to Iera Odos, Agiou Konstantinou Street and Athinas Street from Sofokleous Street.

[23] The Wednesday edition of Athens' dailies at a glance

ADESMEFTOS TYPOS: "Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis 'debate' with citizens - Direct dialogue with the people in Athens' districts".

APOGEVMATINI: "Main opposition PASOK's games on the COSCO contract for the Piraeus port container stations annoyed China's government".

AVGHI: "The Left is the power of hope in Greece and Europe - Dynamic turnout at SYRIZA rally in Athens".

AVRIANI: "Storm after the elections - EU demands severe measures and structural changes".

CHORA: "Fatal mistakes before the finish line - Actions and suicidal statements are shattering ND".

ELEFTHEROS: "How PASOK legitimised corruption in 12 scams - What Papandreou is forgetting".

ELEFTHEROTYPIA: "The state coffers are empty - ND and PASOK blame each other on the deficit, borrowing and of secret agendas".

ESTIA: "The minimum required percentage for a self-sufficient government is lower in comparison with the 2007 general elections".

ETHNOS: "Cockfights and gaffes in ruling New Democracy (ND) - In state of disintegration four days before elections".

KATHIMERINI: "Eurogroup president Jean Claude Juncker anticipates low growth rate and implementation of a tight fiscal policy in the EU".

LOGOS: "The battle of the numbers dominates ND's campaign".

NIKI: "Papandreou's proposals for borrowers and banks put an end to lawlessness".

RIZOSPASTIS: "Communist Party of Greece (KKE) main campaign rally today in Athens".

TA NEA: "Vertigo in ND".

TO VIMA: "Papandreou: «I pledge to make radical changes in the state and the economy".

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