Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 12-05-01

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

CONTENTS

[01] May Day rallies, mobilisations

[02] Public transport to run throughout the day on Tuesday

[03] PASOK party leader Venizelos chairs election campaign committee meeting

[04] ND party leader Samaras says 'our party is the only one that can take the country out of the crisis'

[05] KKE will not participate in coalition government, Papariga says in Thessaloniki

[06] SYRIZA party leader Tsipras appeals to undecided to vote for the party

[07] Bakoyannis attacks all parties during Dem. Alliance main pre-election press conference

[08] DIMAR leader campaign speech in Athens

[09] Regional authorities on election procedure-related delays

[10] Financial prosecutor not recused from CDS investigation

[11] Tsohatzopoulos warns: Will make revelations

[12] Vicky Stamati begins hunger strike

[13] New head of jurists, prosecutors union announced

[14] Commission dismisses report of a massive 'Marshall Plan' for Eurozone

[15] Greek mutual funds assets down 16.4 pct in Jan-Apr

[16] Passenger traffic in Greek port 3.7 pct down in Q3 2011

[17] Stocks end April with 3.98 pct loss

[18] Foreign Exchange rates - Monday

[19] Makis Psomiadis turned over to Greek authorities

[20] Two more instances of HIV+ prostitutes reported

[21] ASPIS' Pavlos Psomiadis receives 8-year sentence

[22] Publisher Kouris' trial to open on June 29

[23] Municipality files injunction objecting to illegal migrant detention centre

[24] Road accidents causing fatalities or injuries down 25.9 pct in Feb. 2012

[25] Kavala Police investigation into firebomb attacks

[26] Bear rescue hotline in Kastoria, NW Greece

[27] Fair on Tuesday

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

[01] May Day rallies, mobilisations

The two federations also called on the workers in Greece to attend the May Day rallies in all the urban centers throughout the country.

The GSEE-ADEDY rally will begin at 10:00 on Tuesday morning in Kotzia Square, while the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) affiliated PAME labour organisation will hold a parallel rally at the Hellenic Steel plant, whose employees have been on strike for more than six months.

Ships will remain docked at ports on Tuesday due to a 24-hour strike called by merchant marine engineers, while mass transit employees will hold stoppages early in the day and late at night, so that public transport will be running throughout the day to facilitate the public in attending the May Day rallies.

[02] Public transport to run throughout the day on Tuesday

The Athens Metro, ISAP train and Tram services will operate normally from 8:00 in the morning to the end of the night shift, while Athens buses will run from 7:30 in the morning to 10:00 at night and the Trolleys will run from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

The Hellenic Rail employees and Proastiakos suburban railway will be observing a 24-hour strike, and thus the Metro trains will stop at the Doukissis Plakentias station and not continue to Athens Airport, which section is served by the Proastiakos.

[03] PASOK party leader Venizelos chairs election campaign committee meeting

According to reports, PASOK will focus its efforts on rallying undecided voters, particularly those that voted for it in the previous elections and who, as its president has repeatedly stressed, "can maintain their criticism and their objections for the mistakes that have taken place", but must rally round the "democratic party and participate in the national alert."

Also according to reports, PASOK will move over the last pre-election week against the "loose" vote, since the party will point out that "nothing is a given fact on May 7" and that in any case there must be a clear popular mandate for the country's course.

In another development, PASOK spokeswoman Fofi Yenni-mata told a press conference that "next Sunday the citizens are deciding on the fate of the country and their future and that of their children", adding that "we have past the biggest part of a difficult course and in three years at the most 'self-sufficient Greece' can become a fact, provided that we find all that unites us and not all that divides us."

Yennimata referred to the presentation by PASOK of the National Reconstruction Plan and stressed that "we commit ourselves, we guarantee we can achieve the cooperation of all the pro-European forces of responsibility and of progressive reforms, to be present in the change of correlations in Europe, to protect the sacrifices that the citizens made and are making."

Yennimata also said that PASOK "commits itself, guarantees and can see that there shall neither be new taxes nor decreases for low salary earners and low pension earners nor horizontal salary and pension cuts."

[04] ND party leader Samaras says 'our party is the only one that can take the country out of the crisis'

Samaras added that "they are not offering an exit. They are not explaining what they shall do. They are denouncing all the rest. They are also denouncing each other. We want the country to overcome the crisis."

The ND leader referred at length to the immigration issue, stressing that "you in Patra have a very bad experience", adding that "for years, PASOK and the Left abused whoever even dared to mention it. They did not even allow the word to be heard. The first law of the last PASOK government was the Rangoussis law. That made Greece a 'magnet' for the illegal immigrants. With the Rangoussis law they sent the message that here we give easily and automatically Greek citizenship to whatever foreigner crosses our borders."

As regards ND, Samaras stressed that "the first decision of our government shall be to abolish the Rangoussis law. And we shall do it. Greece cannot be a 'free-for-all'."

[05] KKE will not participate in coalition government, Papariga says in Thessaloniki

Papariga citicised all the other parties, from ND leader Antonis Samaras to Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) Parliamentary Group leader Alexis Tsipras of "concealing the truth from the people" and stressed that ND and PASOK deputies left their parties when "the ship started to sink."

She also stated that KKE will not enter the "fold", it will not participate in a coalition government and once again rejected the proposal for cooperation among all the leftist forces extended by SYRIZA.

[06] SYRIZA party leader Tsipras appeals to undecided to vote for the party

Tsipras criticised New Democracy (ND) party leader Antonis Samaras and PASOK party leader Evangelos Venizelos, saying that "their panic is evident because they have one nightmare alone, a government of the left," adding that "the one fears us of getting an exploratory mandate and the other is chewing over absurd arguments to rally his supporters. We reply to them: whatever you say you can no longer hide."

[07] Bakoyannis attacks all parties during Dem. Alliance main pre-election press conference

"By voting for the Democratic Alliance you send a message to the system's two incorrigibles, without playing with the future of the country and knowing that your vote will count," she said, noting that her party was a force for stability that reinforced the 'euro' front and Greece's European prospects while "counterbalancing" what she called rising trend toward extreme populism.

She also slammed the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) for protests that shut down ports and hotels, criticised the position adopted by Independent Greeks leader Panos Kammenos for the abolition of the debt as damaging for the negotiations for the amount Greece will receive, accused the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) of secretly condoning violence and the far-right Golden Dawn of openly adopted it. She said Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS) leader George Karatzaferis was "sliding back" into populism and said Democratic Left leader Fotis Kouvelis was hoping to be voted by keeping quiet and not saying anything that might offend anyone.

Concerning her own party's stance after the elections, Bakoyannis said the Democratic Alliance was prepared to participate in a coalition government "based on policies rather than people". Among the policies supported by her party, she listed the privatisation of all state-sector enterprises, public-sector lay-offs based on evaluation, taxation of Church property and above all, seeking to overcome the crisis within the framework of the Eurozone and Europe.

Asked about the memorandum, Bakoyannis said the agreements signed by PASOK and New Democracy leaders had to be honoured but suggested that certain aspects might be renegotiated, such as reducing taxation. On illegal migration, she called for migrant reception centres to be set up in neighbouring Turkey and for Europe to support the guarding of Greece's borders by using Frontex.

[08] DIMAR leader campaign speech in Athens

He reiterated that DIMAR will not provide an alibi to a PASOK-New Democracy (ND) co-governance and noted that the country needs substantial reforms, which must proceed regardless of the Memorandum, such as the restructure and modernisation of the public sector without, however, dissolving the public sector.

Concluding, Kouvelis underlined that a vote for his party will help transfer the axis of the political life from the deep conservative position in which is today to a substantially progressive direction.

[09] Regional authorities on election procedure-related delays

Normally, political party ballots cast by voters in polling stations have to be printed and ready to be delivered to deputy regional governors no later than eight days before the election date.

The regional authorities are called on to be "understanding" in the event of a delay, considering the short election campaign period and pressing deadlines, and accept the ballots that will arrive within a reasonable time after the expiration of the deadline.

[10] Financial prosecutor not recused from CDS investigation

His request was denied, since the council opined that the "prosecutor is independent and not influenced".

A case concerning allegations that Andreas A. Papandreou, the brother of the former prime minister George Papandreou, was an executive in a company that invested in CDS against a credit event in Greece has been shelved. An investigation is continuing concerning claims of an organised and orchestrated speculative attack on Greece, made in a complaint filed by a lawyer and economist in April 2010.

Meanwhile, it was announced that the financial prosecutors Peponis and Spiros Mouzakitis intend to look into instances where tax rebates exceeded 50,000 euro for possible corruption by the tax officials involved, as part of an investigation of reports of widespread corruption in tax offices.

Mouzakitis has asked all large tax offices to hand over the files of tax payers - mainly companies - that received tax rebates above 50,000 in 2010-2011, in some cases running into tens of millions of euros.

The investigation was launched after former IT systems general secretary Diomidis Spinellis publicly charged that tax officials 'arranged' tax payments on the "4-4-2" ratio, with 40 percent being the 'discount' they gave the tax payer, 40 percent being cashed by the tax official and the remaining 20 percent going into state coffers.

[11] Tsohatzopoulos warns: Will make revelations

Stamati was remanded in custody by order of the public prosecutor and examining magistrate in charge of the case on Friday. The decision made her the seventh person to land in jail as the sensational bribery and money-laundering case approaches trial.

She joined Tsohatzopoulos, the former politician's daughter Areti Tsohatzopoulou and his cousin Nikos Zigras, who all face charges in connection with the case.

Tsohatzopoulos himself was remanded in custody before Orthodox Easter after appearing before magistrate Gabriel Mallis to answer to charges of money laundering, and specifically charges of kickbacks that he received in order to approve the purchase of the Russian-made TOR-M1 missile systems and German-designed (HDW) submarines for the Hellenic Navy.

The chief prosecutor's decision also concerns the bank accounts that belong to Asterios Economidis.

Economidis is the major shareholder of a construction company that did renovation work at the former minister's luxurious house on Dionyssios Areopagitis Street near the Acropolis and sold an apartment to Tsohatzopoulos' daughter located in Athens' upscale Kolonaki district.

Stamati denied the charges against her and claimed that the couple's financial affairs were handled exclusively by her husband, while the loan to buy the property near the Acropolis was taken out in her name because her husband was too old to take out a loan.

Her defence lawyers criticised the decision to remand her in custody as unusually harsh and 'unfair', pointing out that their client was the mother of a young child whose parents were now both in jail.

[12] Vicky Stamati begins hunger strike

[13] New head of jurists, prosecutors union announced

Mazarakis was chosen by the body's administrative council.

Financial News

[14] Commission dismisses report of a massive 'Marshall Plan' for Eurozone

The European Commission on Monday dismissed as unfounded and speculation a report published by Spanish daily newspaper 'El Pais' alleging that the European Commission was examining a massive Marshall plan to boost economic growth in the Eurozone, worth 200 billion euros.

An European Union's executive spokeswoman, speaking to reporters here, rejected the report and noted that the Commission has already a plan to boost growth in the EU, the Europe 2020 strategy, which was proposed in 2010 and approved by all member-states and the European Parliament. "Our first priority is supporting growth and employment. This issue is not new to us," the spokeswoman said.

She told reporters that the Commission has also proposed a capital strengthening of the European Investment Bank and promoting project euro bonds as a way to raise more capital to attracting investment in the euro area.

[15] Greek mutual funds assets down 16.4 pct in Jan-Apr

The sector's assets totaled 5.2 billion euros in the first four months of 2011.

From a total of 22 mutual funds asset management companies operating in Greece, the top three managed more than 55 pct of total assets, while several mutual fund asset management companies operated with market shares of less than 1.0 pct.

[16] Passenger traffic in Greek port 3.7 pct down in Q3 2011

The statistics service, in a report, said cargo traffic in Greek ports rose by 12.5 pct in the third quarter of 2011 in comparison with the same period in 2010, after a decline of 2.8 pct recorded in the same period in 2009.

[17] Stocks end April with 3.98 pct loss

699.91 points, with turnover shrank to its second lowest level in 2012 (15 million euros). The index ended April with a 3.98 pct loss, while the bank sector ended 7.15 pct lower in the month.

The Big Cap index rose 0.30 pct, the Mid Cap index ended 0.55 pct higher and the Small Cap index rose 0.51 pct. The Food (2.82 pct), Personal Products (0.94 pct) and Telecoms (0.82 pct) were top gainers, while Utilities (0.98 pct) and Constructions (0.93 pct) suffered losses.

Coca-Cola 3E (2.95 pct), Motor Oil (0.16 pct), Hellenic Postbank (4.44 pct) and Jumbo (0.55 pct) were top gainers among blue chip stocks, while MIG (3.27 pct), Cyprus Popular Bank (1.94 pct) and Eurobank (1.15 pct) suffered the heaviest percentage losses of the day.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 60 to 52 and 22 remained unchanged.

AXON Holdings (20 pct), Altec (18.18 pct) and AEGEK (17.44 pct) were top gainers, while Euroholdings (19.44 pct), Lambrakis Press (18.06 pct) and Mohlos (13.75 pct) were top losers.

Sector indices ended as follows:

Industrials: +0.89%

Commercial: +0.07%

Construction: -0.93%

Oil & Gas: -0.04%

Personal & Household: +0.94%

Raw Materials: -0.05%

Travel & Leisure: -0.56%

Technology: -0.84%

Telecoms: +0.82%

Banks: -0.01%

Food & Beverages: +2.82%

Health: +0.27%

Utilities: -0.98%

Chemicals: +0.34%

Financial Services: -1.58%

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

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

Alpha Bank: 1.06

Public Power Corp (PPC): 2.54

HBC Coca Cola: 15.00

Hellenic Petroleum: 5.55

National Bank of Greece: 1.68

EFG Eurobank Ergasias: 0.60

OPAP: 6.75

OTE: 2.47

Bank of Piraeus: 0.26

Titan: 14.65

[18] Foreign Exchange rates - Monday

U.S. dollar 1.341

Pound sterling 0.825

Danish kroner 7.550

Swedish kroner 9.052

Japanese yen 107.44

Swiss franc 1.219

Norwegian kroner 7.701

Canadian dollar 1.318

Australian dollar 1.287

General News

[19] Makis Psomiadis turned over to Greek authorities

His extradition was approved after five and a half months and the handover took place in no-man's land between the two border posts in Evzones. The 56-year-old Greek businessman was then put in an Interpol car that is now heading for Athens. He is first due at central police headquarters in Athens and will then be taken to the Athens prosecutors' office so that a warrant ordering his temporary incarceration can be carried out.

The charges against him, linked to an investigation on match-fixing launched last summer, include running a criminal organisation, money laundering, extortion and fraud.

Psomiadis was first arrested by Greek authorities last September in Anavyssos, Attica for the match-fixing charge and was then released pending trial because the prosecutor and examining magistrate could not agree on whether he should be remanded in custody. An order for his temporary incarceration was then issued by the Athens first-instance judges' council but the 56-year-old had already fled the country and taken refuge in neighbouring FYROM.

Authorities in the neighbouring country caught up with him at a Skopje cafe and arrested him based on a tip-off provided by Greek police and the Greek secret service. A local magistrate ordered that he be remanded in custody and Greece has been seeking his extradition since that time.

[20] Two more instances of HIV+ prostitutes reported

According to an announcement by the Centre for the Control and Prevention of Diseases (KEEL.PNO), "in the first health check in public spaces where streetwalkers operate (24 people were checked), one prostitute was found positive with the HIV virus (near Omonia square)."

KEEL.PNO units are carrying out checks in brothels, in public areas frequented by streetwalkers and seedy downtown apartments frequented by illegal migrants.

Later in the day, a third woman was found positive with the HIV virus.

She was identified as a Bulgarian national.

A Russian national, 22, was arrested on Saturday at an illegal brothel in central Athens and was later found to be HIV+.

[21] ASPIS' Pavlos Psomiadis receives 8-year sentence

Psomiadis and his fugitive associate Andreas Loizos were both found guilty of forgery, with Loizos receiving a 7-year sentence.

The case concerns a fake letter of guarantee for the amount of 550 million euro Psomiadis submitted to the Commission to ensure that the Aspis Pronoia insurance firm, belonging to the Aspis group, could continue operating and avoid going through with a 203-million-euro share capital increase as requested by the competent bodies.

Psomiadis is already in custody and currently on trial for the ASPIS CAPITAL investors' fraud case.

[22] Publisher Kouris' trial to open on June 29

The attorneys of the defendant, who did not appear in court, maintained that a procedure is underway to settle their client's debts. The court adjourned until June 29 to allow defence attorneys to gather the necessary documents verifying that the procedure is indeed underway.

Kouris is publisher of the Athens daily Avriani and a shareholder of Alter television station that stopped broadcasting earlier this year.

[23] Municipality files injunction objecting to illegal migrant detention centre

The municipal authorities are also considering "evicting" the police academy from the Amygdalesa facilities, which host the centre.

A formal notification dated April 12, signed by Acharnes Mayor Sotiris Douros and addressed to the prime minister's office, the ministry of finance and the ministry of the environment, stressed that the Amygdalesa site is the property of the municipality and therefore, a prior approval by the Acharnes city council is necessary ahead of any action.

On April 12, the municipality called on the citizen protection ministry to comply within five days and refrain from any action that would affect the Acharnes municipality property rights.

For the record, the first 56 illegal migrants were transferred to the facility on Sunday. The ministry announced that a total of 220 illegal migrants will be led to the centre by May 15. The centre's capacity is 1,000-1,200 people.

[24] Road accidents causing fatalities or injuries down 25.9 pct in Feb. 2012

The total number of such accidents in the month came to 681 and resulted in 64 deaths (a 7.2 percent decline relative to 2011), 88 serious injuries (11.1 percent decline relative to 2011) and 727 lighter injuries (27.9 percent decline relative to 2011).

[25] Kavala Police investigation into firebomb attacks

Authorities are looking for 10 individuals, three of whom used firebombs to attack parked police cars causing limited damage to four of them.

[26] Bear rescue hotline in Kastoria, NW Greece

People can dial the number 24670-82300 for advice on how to handle instances of bear sightings close to villages or to report any material damage caused by them to local farm production.

The public can also call in to report road accidents involving bears for the immediate intervention by a special rescue team.

Weather forecast

[27] Fair on Tuesday

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

ADESMEFTOS TYPOS: "How many votes a candidate MP needs to be elected".

AVGHI: "Government of the Left in order to annul the Memorandum and restructure society".

ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: "PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos' mockery".

ESTIA: "The continuous elections dissolved the economy".

ETHNOS: "Six days battle for the undecided voters".

NAFTEMPORIKI: "Activation of 200 billion euros for development in Europe".

TA NEA: "200 billion euros for development!".

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