Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 15-09-24

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

CONTENTS

[01] Juncker-Tsipras meeting focused on refugee issue and reforms, sources say

[02] EU must share the burdens from the refugee crisis, Greek PM says on arriving at EU Council

[03] PM Tsipras meets S&D party leader Pittella in Brussels

[04] ND leader Meimarakis: 'The refugee crisis is a time bomb for Greece'

[05] Hungarian PM suggests Greece should let other EU states guard its borders

[06] European Commission to disburse 1.7 billion euros to tackle refugee crisis

[07] EU Commissioner Avramopoulos stresses need for implementation of EU Interior Ministers' decision

[08] Over 5,000 refugees arrive at Piraeus port in the last 24h

[09] Gov't Vice President: Our horizon is not the memorandum

[10] We are here to work hard, with responsibility, gov't spokeswoman says

[11] Greeks gave us a strong 4-year mandate, Defence Min Kammenos says

[12] Ministers' statements before swearing in ceremony

[13] Government of responsibility and battle, gov't spokeswoman Gerovassili tells ANA-MPA

[14] PASOK and KKE on new government

[15] Infrastructure minister rejects racism, anti-Semitism allegations after social media backlash

[16] PM Tsipras may fire minister over alleged anti-Semitic, homophobic tweet row

[17] Committee of Wise Men on pension reform to speed up its work, labour minister announces

[18] Minister heads to Skopelos to evaluate damages from floods

[19] Konstantopoulou says Parliament's Debt Truth Commitee will continue work until Oct. 2

[20] Foreign Ministry's Twitter ranks fifth in EU

[21] EIB disburses 300 mln euros for Greece's NSRF program

[22] Finance ministry will re-examine 100-installment schemes but 'not shoot itself in the foot', Alt. FinMin tells ANA-MPA

[23] Waste to Energy - Energy exploitation of organic waste event to be held in Thessaloniki

[24] Building materials' prices down 1.8 pct in Aug

[25] ASE, CSE sign MOU on clearing services

[26] Greek stocks fall for third successive session

[27] Greek bond market closing report

[28] ADEX closing report

[29] Rhodes airport reopens after restoration of large pothole on runway

[30] Olympic Air cancels flights to Kastellorizo due to 'technical problems' at local airport

[31] 2015 Athens International Film Festival Opening Nights on Sept 23-Oct 4

[32] Cloudy on Thursday

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

[01] Juncker-Tsipras meeting focused on refugee issue and reforms, sources say

A meeting on Wednesday between Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker focused mainly on the European Council to discuss the refugee crisis and the need for a common European solution, EU sources said.

The meeting was held before the European leaders' summit at the Commission's headquarters in Brussels and was attended on the Greek side by Minister of State Nikos Pappas, Alternate Minister for Migration Policy Yiannis Mouzalas and Alternate Foreign Minister for European Affairs Nikos Xydakis.

According to the same sources, the two men held a detailed discussion on operational, financial and legal measures proposed by the Commission and agreed that Greece and the Commission must work together to address the refugee issue.

They also discussed the Greek programme and the points raised by Juncker in his recent letter, congratulating Tsipras on his election victory and calling for a swift implementation of agreed reforms. The meeting was also attended by Dutch economist Maarten Verwey, the new head of the Commission's EU Task Force for Greece.

[02] EU must share the burdens from the refugee crisis, Greek PM says on arriving at EU Council

Arriving for the European Council on ways to solve the refugee crisis held here on Wednesday, Greece's newly-elected Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras stressed that EU countries must share the burdens and responsibilities:

"United Europe means first of all sharing, sharing our responsibility, sharing of burdens, sharing of capabilities, sharing of our common future," he said in a brief doorstep statement before entering the meeting.

According to a press release issued by the prime minister's office, he plans to raise the European dimensions of the problem and insist that a solution must be European while addressing his counterparts at the summit. Among others, Tsipras will place emphasis on reinstallation, relocation within the EU and readmission agreements with origin and transit countries. He is also expected to highlight the need for adequate financing and technical support.

"Europe's united stance, a combination of taking responsibility with solidarity, is a condition for solving the issue," Tsipras said.

In meetings on the sidelines of Wednesday's summit, Tsipras held talks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann and the head of the European Parliament group Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats Gianni Pittella.

[03] PM Tsipras meets S&D party leader Pittella in Brussels

According to party sources, the two men discussed economic policy, the Greek debt and ways to involve the European Parliament in the Greek program.

[04] ND leader Meimarakis: 'The refugee crisis is a time bomb for Greece'

"It's a time bomb ready to explode. Greece, Italy and other countries have a huge problem. I analysed those issues at the meeting and they were fully understood," he told journalists, adding that everyone admitted it is a big problem.

He also said this evening's EU summit meeting must conclude with a recommendation so that "we can all together develop a European policy which will deal with the problem effectively."

[05] Hungarian PM suggests Greece should let other EU states guard its borders

If Greece cannot guard its borders then it should allow other EU states to do so, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told the media as he arrived for the EU summit on the refugee crisis on Wednesday.

"If Greece cannot defend its borders we should ask kindly, since it is a sovereign country, to let other countries police the border," he said.

[06] European Commission to disburse 1.7 billion euros to tackle refugee crisis

The European Commission decided on Wednesday to earmark 1.7 billion euros from the European budget to tackle the refugee crisis, ahead of the summit meeting on the issue later today.

"We have taken a decision to propose an additional 1.7 billion euros," EU budget commissioner Kristalina Georgieva told a press conference in Brussels.

She said the funds will be used inside the European Union "to improve emergency reception facilities and the capacity of the most overburdened countries to cope," and to help refugees outside the European Union, primarily via the World Food Programme, the UNHCR and the ICRC (Red Cross) but also other humanitarian organisations, "especially those who put their people at risk" operating inside Syria and Iraq.

Georgieva also said that the Commission will spend in total 9.2 billion for the refugee crisis reaching, as she said, "the ceiling" of funds that may be used for helping "host countries, neighborhood countries and refugees themselves".

The summit tonight is will discuss the need to increase the money spend by member-states for this purpose, she told the press, adding that it will also be important to increase the staff working in Frontex and the European Asylum Support Office.

[07] EU Commissioner Avramopoulos stresses need for implementation of EU Interior Ministers' decision

EU Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos stressed the need for the direct implementation of the EU Interior Ministers' decision on the relocation of 120,000 refugees mainly from Greece and Italy upon his arrival at the EU Commissioners' Council on Wednesday.

He underlined that all member states must implement the decision. "There was a qualified majority that allows us to impose what we agreed on all countries," he stated adding that EU countries have proved that when they talk about responsibility and solidarity, they really mean it.

He stressed the need to set terms on who is really entitled to international protection (political refugees) and who are those who choose to come to Europe following illegal paths and who need to return home.

"Europe is not prepared to deal with that situation. A comprehensive migration policy is needed," Avramopoulos underlined adding that there is a new European agenda on migration which has already started to be implemented.

"We must continue to work, to explain, and of course to have open communication and consultation corridors with all those that draft the migration policy in Europe," Avramopoulos said.

Finally, he added that the EU is determined to defend its external borders and also to demonstrate that it can effectively manage this difficult and complex situation, which, as he estimated, it will continue for many years.

[08] Over 5,000 refugees arrive at Piraeus port in the last 24h

Earlier on Wednesday, the ferry "Ariadne" docked at Piraeus carrying 1,300 refugees from Mytilene port.

On Tuesday, the ferry Blue Star Patmos brought 1,922 refugees from Lesvos to the port of Piraeus.

[09] Gov't Vice President: Our horizon is not the memorandum

Asked on the harsh measures of the new memorandum, Dragasakis said: "The memorandum is not our horizon. The memorandum is something we must do. After that, our horizon is a plan for the society."

[10] We are here to work hard, with responsibility, gov't spokeswoman says

"We are here to work hard, with responsibility," she added.

[11] Greeks gave us a strong 4-year mandate, Defence Min Kammenos says

"The Greek people gave us a strong mandate for four-year tenure; we are better prepared compared to January and without problems we can work together with all Greeks in a government of national consensus, in a government that wants to unite the Greeks and the country's powers," he added.

[12] Ministers' statements before swearing in ceremony

Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias underlined that we must work in order to take care of the country and the people.

Alternate Sports Minister Stavros Kontonis stressed the need for catharsis in the sports sector. On his part, Alternate Environment Minister Yiannis Tsironis expressed his optimism adding that he will work hard.

"I think we can proceed immediately," State Minister Nikos Pappas noted. "Our priority is exiting the crisis and combatting corruption," Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister Terens Quick stated.

The new government is as follows:

Prime Minister: Alexis Tsipras

Government Vice-President: Ioannis Dragasakis

Interior and Administration Reconstruction Minister: Panos Kouroumblis

Deputy Minister: Yiannis Balafas

Alternate Minister for Administrative Reform: Christoforos Vernardakis

Alternate Minister for Civil Protection: Nikos Toskas

Alternate Minister for Migration Policy: Yiannis Mouzalas

Deputy Minister for Macedonia-Thrace Issues: Maria Kollia-Tsarouha

Economy, Development and Tourism Minister: Giorgos Stathakis

Alternate Minister for Tourism: Elena Kountoura

Deputy Minister for NSRF Issues: Alexis Charitsis

Deputy Minister for Industry: Theodora Tzakri

National Defence Minister: Panos Kammenos

Alternate Minister: Dimitris Vitsas

Education, Research and Religious Affairs Minister: Nikos Filis

Alternate Minister: Sia Anagnostopoulou

Alternate Minister for Research and Innovation: Costas Fotakis

Deputy Minister: Theodossis Pelegrinis

Foreign Minister: Nikos Kotzias

Alternate Minister for European Affairs: Nikos Xydakis

Deputy Minister: Dimitris Mardas

Deputy Minister: Yiannis Amanatidis

Justice, Transparency and Human Rights Minister: Nikos Paraskevopoulos

Alternate Minister for Corruption Issues: Dimitris Papangelopoulos

Labour, Social Insurance and Social Solidarity Minister: George Katrougalos

Alternate Minister for Social Solidarity: Theano Fotiou

Alternate Minister for Combatting Unemployment: Rania Antonopoulou

Deputy Minister for Social Insurance Issues: Anastasios Petropoulos

Health Minister: Andreas Xanthos

Alternate Minister: Pavlos Polakis

Culture and Sports Ministry: Aristidis Baltas

Deputy Minister for Sports: Stavros Kontonis

Finance Minister: Euclid Tsakalotos

Alternate Minister: Tryfon Alexiadis

Alternate Minister: Giorgos Chouliarakis

Environment and Energy Minister: Panos Skourletis

Alternate Minister for the Environment: Yiannis Tsironis

Infrastructure, Transport and Networks Minister: Christos Spirtzis

Deputy Minister: Dimitris Kammenos

Shipping and Island Policy Minister: Thodoris Dritsas

Rural Development and Food Minister: Vangelis Apostolou

Alternate Minister: Markos Bolaris

Minister of State: Nikos Pappas

Minister of State for Coordinating Government Operations: Alekos Flambouraris

Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister: Terens Quick

Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister and Government spokeswoman: Olga Gerovasili

[13] Government of responsibility and battle, gov't spokeswoman Gerovassili tells ANA-MPA

She added that it is a four-year government and stressed the need to respond to the demands of the difficult times we are experiencing and the popular demand for hard work.

[14] PASOK and KKE on new government

On its part, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) said that the "aim of the new government is the rapid and unobstracted implementation of the antisocial measures of the third memorandum".

[15] Infrastructure minister rejects racism, anti-Semitism allegations after social media backlash

The Independent Greeks (ANEL) MP came under fire after he was apointed minister after social media users pointing at comments he had posted mainly on his Twitter account - which has now been deleted - against Jews, homosexuals and foreigners. The comments were reproduced by users who had screen-saved them.

"Regarding the content of statements in social media under my name, for many of them I bear no personal responsibility and I inform you that my accounts have been compromised more than four times. To prove my point, my Facebook account has been blocked since the eve of elections by unknown hackers," Kammenos said in a statement.

He also said his social media accounts are managed by "more than 15 associates" and he went on to apologize for any offence caused by the content of these accounts, saying he "condemns racism, homophobia and anti-Semitism."

[16] PM Tsipras may fire minister over alleged anti-Semitic, homophobic tweet row

In a phone call to the leader of ANEL, Tsipras, who is currently in Brussels to attend the EU summit on the refugee crisis, asked him to investigate the authenticity of the tweets and if they're authentic to consider replacing the minister, noting that the final decision rests with the prime minister.

Sources from Maximos Mansion said these comments "cannot be consistent with the values and ethics of the coalition government."

[17] Committee of Wise Men on pension reform to speed up its work, labour minister announces

According to ministry sources, the committee will reconvene on Monday and deliver its report in about 10 days. This is working on four alternative scenarios, all of which call for a drastic unification of pension funds, harmonisation of contributions and benefits and changes in the way pensions are calculated. The aim is a system that falls somewhere between a salary-based system and the New Zealand model.

In his speech at the handover ceremony, Katrougalos underlined the need for drastic reforms to the pension system, noting that the current system was "unequal, fragmented and unfair," especially in terms of the lowest pensions. He sped to reassure the public that the changes would neither demolish society nor turn pensions into chump change.

[18] Minister heads to Skopelos to evaluate damages from floods

Spirtzis briefed earlier Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who's in Brussels for the summit meeting on migration, on the problems facing the island.

[19] Konstantopoulou says Parliament's Debt Truth Commitee will continue work until Oct. 2

Konstantopoulou stressed that the committee's preliminary report was a valuable tool for uncovering the truth and supporting the rights of the Greek people. She also claimed that some people were seeking to undermine confidence in the committee's conclusions by spreading "disinformation, slander and slinging mud."

She said its work had proved that the country's lenders had acted in bad faith and "cynically chose to condemn a people to misery, anguish and marginalisation in order to save the private banks of Germany, France and Greece that have intertwined interests with the governments of our country and other European countries."

[20] Foreign Ministry's Twitter ranks fifth in EU

Today, @GreeceMFA has the fifth largest number of followers among the 28 EU Foreign Ministries after the Foreign Ministries of Great Britain, Germany, France and Spain. It is also included in the first 25 Foreign Ministries worldwide.

Financial News

[21] EIB disburses 300 mln euros for Greece's NSRF program

The loan tranche is part of a 1-billion-euro loan the country signed with EIB at the end of August and it is double the amount which is usually disbursed, as the bank agreed on the immediate need to increase the liquidity of those programs.

It was also agreed to increase by 50 million euros the existing loan for the implementation of the 2007-2013 ESPA.

"Building on the work of previous eight months, I am confident that we will succeed in completing successfully the 2007-13 NSRF programs and in launching those of the new programming period, providing valuable impetus in the economy to return to growth," Economy Minister Giorgos Stathakis commented on the news. "Our goal is, by the end of the year, to channel funds of 4.5 billion euros in the real economy through EIB," he added.

On the same issue, Deputy Economy Minister, responsible for the NSRF programs, Alexis Haritsis, said: "We're starting right where we stopped because there's no time to waste."

[22] Finance ministry will re-examine 100-installment schemes but 'not shoot itself in the foot', Alt. FinMin tells ANA-MPA

"There is no chance that we will create problems and no chance that the finance ministry will shoot itself in the foot," Alexiadis said on the air, in an interview with the ANA-MPA radio station "Praktorio 104.9".

A "dogmatic" approach that would increase overdue debts to the public sector would not help the Greek economy, he pointed out.

"This measure was directed at a very large portion of the population...exceeding one million Tax Registration Numbers....We found that there were both mistakes and some exaggerations. We found, in other words, that people with the ability to pay had used the measure not to service their debts but to take advantage of the public sector," he explained.

The terms of the scheme would be "fine-tuned" to exclude those that had access to sufficient funds to pay their overdue debts to the state, he added.

Alexiadis said that tax-payers need not fear a "tax storm", noting that the government "will continue to fight for the implementation of the constitution, in other words the just distribution of tax burdens," within the framework of the agreement with the country's lenders.

As a part of this effort, the ministry intended to redouble efforts to crack down on tax evasion and contraband trade in order to generate additional revenues, he said. "What many critics forget to mention is that the agreement includes a clause stipulating that VAT rates will be re-examined in 2016 if we are able to exceed targets for catching tax evasion," he pointed out.

Finally, he promised that the ministry will be "realistic" in its approach to collecting tax from businesses: "If you have a business that you choke in debt to the tax office and banks, you will shut it down. In which case, you cannot collect even what is already owed. Even the hardest and most unfeeling economist cannot recommend this."

[23] Waste to Energy - Energy exploitation of organic waste event to be held in Thessaloniki

The companies will participate in an event entitled "Waste to Energy - Energy exploitation of organic waste, mainly through biogas."

The field of energy exploitation of organic waste is a new area for Greece, which has many investment and research opportunities. After the drop recorded in the photovoltaic sector as a result of the absence of financial incentives, the biogas sector is estimated that could participate more effectively in the energy mix of the country. Moreover, Greece has strong agricultural activity, while the organic waste of the sector remains unexploited, as the majority of Greek producers do not have proper information on the exploitation of these possibilities. The German-Greek Chamber, seeing the business opportunities in the industry, has developed a range of actions, including the event "Waste to Energy".

[24] Building materials' prices down 1.8 pct in Aug

The statistics service, in a report, said that diesel oil prices fell 15.4 pct in the month, window prices were down 5.8 pct, steel pipes fell 4.9 pct, interior door prices eased 3.0 pct, lift prices fell 2.6 pct, wooden floor prices eased 2.3 pct, cement prices were down 2.3 pct and tiles fell 2.2 pct, while on the other hand brick prices rose 2.7 pct and electricity prices rose 0.7 pct.

The new home building materials' price composite index fell 1.8 pct in August compared with the same month last year, and eased 0.2 pct compared with July 2015.

[25] ASE, CSE sign MOU on clearing services

The signing of the MoU is the continuation of a 10-year successful cooperation in the context of introducing a common platform. Provided that the two exchanges reach an agreement, this will signifiy the next phase of the cooperation that offers to Cyprus Stock Exchange the advantage of upgrading the clearing of their markets and products, as well as the opportunity to attract new investors and intermediaries since their markets and products will become more internationally recognizable with regard to their status of clearing and risk management.

The initiative is expected to create significant scale economies for both markets and participants, reducing their cost of adjustment to the new competitive environment of the European Union. Within the directly foreseeable future, executives of ATHEXClear and CSE will mutually commence the implementation process of the said endeavor, Hellenic Exchanges said in an announcement.

[26] Greek stocks fall for third successive session

The composite index of the market fell 1.32 pct to end at 668.54 points, off the day's lows of 2.12 pct, for a decline of 4.16 pct in the last three sessions. The Large Cap index fell 1.48 pct and the Mid Cap index ended 0.04 pct lower.

Turnover was a low 30.810 million euros, with volume of 162,040,807.

Coca Cola HBC (2.35 pct), GEK Terna (1.81 pct) and Ellaktor (1.41 pct) scored the biggest percentage gains among blue chip stocks, while Piraeus Bank (10.68 pct), Alpha Bank (10.56 pct) and Eurobank (8.82 pct) suffered heavy losses.

Among market sectors, Food (2.35 pct), Chemicals (1.50 pct) and Real Estate (0.71 pct) scored big gains, while Banks (7.98 pct), Health (3.88 pct) and Travel (3.55 pct) suffered heavy losses.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 52 to 32 with another 11 issues unchanged. Audiovisual (19.44 pct), AEGEK (15 pct) and Progressive (15 pct) were top gainers, while Attica Bank (12.82 pct), Piraeus Bank (10.68 pct) and Alpha Bank (10.56 pct) were top losers.

[27] Greek bond market closing report

In interbank markets, interest rates continued moving lower. The 12-month rate fell to 0.14 pct from 0.15 pct, the nine-month rate eased to 0.083 pct from 0.085 pct, the six-month rate eased to 0.033 pct from 0.034 pct, the three-month rate was unchanged at -0.039 pct and the one-month rate fell to -0.107 pct from -0.103 pct.

[28] ADEX closing report

General News

[29] Rhodes airport reopens after restoration of large pothole on runway

The airport had closed late Tuesday afternoon for security reasons when a large pothole opened in the middle of the runway due to the continuous rain. The closure was deemed necessary because the eight-meter-wide pothole was preventing the taxiing of aircraft. Authorities said a crack that existed at the same spot had been fixed, but the torrential rain in the last few hours re-opened it.

The landing of 25 flights with destination Rhodes was cancelled and some of them landed on Kos, some others on Crete and the others returned to the Athens International Airport.

[30] Olympic Air cancels flights to Kastellorizo due to 'technical problems' at local airport

For additional information, passengers can visit Olympic Air's website www.olympicair.com or the phone lines: 801 11 20000 (from a land line), 210 6261000 (from a mobile).

[31] 2015 Athens International Film Festival Opening Nights on Sept 23-Oct 4

Two years after his Oscar-winning film "The Great Beauty", director Paolo Sorrentino returns with his second English-language effort "Youth", which screened in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

The festival will feature more than 180 films from all over the world, including Greece, three competition sections, including "Music and Film", one of the few music documentary competitive programs in the world. The festival also includes special tributes, documentaries and some of the best homegrown Greek shorts around.

The festival, to be held from September 23 to October 4, is complemented by a series of sidebar events, workshops and lectures, parties and an armful of surprises, especially conceived for this year's edition.

Weather forecast

[32] Cloudy on Thursday

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

DIMOKRATIA: New Democracy is looking for a leader

EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: 46 government members in a 'mission impossible'

ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: All the background information for the leadership of New Democracy

ESTIA: New Democracy's search for identity

ETHNOS: A group for 'missions impossible'

IMERISSIA: Economic staff in a special mission

KATHIMERINI: The battle for New Democracy leadership starts

NAFTEMPORIKI: Battle for the prior actions

RIZOSPASTIS: Rally against the migration policy of government-EU

TA NEA: (Prime Minister Alexis) Tsipras seals the ministerial scheme

36, TSOCHA ST. ATHENS 115 21 GREECE * TEL: 210 64.00.560-63 * FAX: 210 64.00.581-2 INTERNET ADDRESS: http://www.ana.gr * e-mail: anabul@ana gr * GENERAL DIRECTOR: MICHALIS PSILOS

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