Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 16-06-16

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

CONTENTS

[01] 'Greek economy needs 80 bln euros to recover,' Stathakis tells Parliament, during debate on new development law

[02] Greek Parliament to vote on the new development law on Wednesday

[03] Development is created not ordered, says ND leader Mitsotakis

[04] Debt relief measures must be specified, Bank of Greece says

[05] Greece needs debt relief before 2018, German MP Sven Kindler tells ANA-MPA; Schaeuble 'did not want to admit his line failed,' he says

[06] Brussels does not have a magic wand to solve the terrorism problem, EU Commissioner Avramopoulos says

[07] Greece favours NATO's operation in the Aegean which has cut refugee flows, says defence minister

[08] Brief Eurogroup meeting without Greece on the agenda

[09] UN's Ban Ki-moon to meet Tsipras in Athens and visit Lesvos on June 18

[10] FM Kotzias discusses bilateral cooperation with Indian counterpart

[11] Ecumenical Patriach's plea to Churches to participate in Panorthodox Synod

[12] Security of participants in Orthodox Church Council is ensured, says foreign ministry

[13] Parliamentary hearing for public prosecutor Georgia Tsatani postponed for a week

[14] Rally calling for the government to resign concludes in Athens

[15] President Pavlopoulos meets his predecessor Papoulias

[16] Stournaras submits central bank's monetary policy report to Parliament president

[17] Actual arrears to the state at 15 bln euros, Economy Min Stathakis says

[18] Liberalisation key to restarting the economy, Eurobank's chairman says

[19] National Bank completes sale of Finansbank to Qatar National Bank

[20] Central European Fair Alliance two-day meeting in Thessaloniki

[21] Economic prosecutor asks banks to submit data of businesspeople with NPLs

[22] Greece raises 1.3 bln euros from T-bill auction

[23] Greek import price index down 7.9 pct in April

[24] Wage employment flows positive in May

[25] Employment index down 0.4 pct in Q1

[26] Visitors, revenues in museums down in February

[27] Greek stocks end 3.02 pct lower

[28] Greek bond market closing report

[29] ADEX closing report

[30] Athens protesters rally in solidarity with Orlando shooting victims

[31] Acropolis Museum turns 7, counts 9.5 million visitors

[32] Actor Theo James visits refugee camps in Greece, meets with families

[33] Fire department urges citizens to be careful ahead of heat wave

[34] ELSTAT survey shows that seven in 10 Greeks don't smoke, decline in tobacco use

[35] Dead whale found on islet near Ierapetra

[36] Chinese tourist drowns at Navaghio beach on Zakynthos

[37] Strikes on all rail transport after 21:00 on Wednesday, no rail access to Athens Airport

[38] 56,701 identified migrants and refugees in Greece on Wednesday

[39] Sunny on Thursday

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

[01] 'Greek economy needs 80 bln euros to recover,' Stathakis tells Parliament, during debate on new development law

He contradicted Hatzidakis' claim that the new law only offered 480 million euros in financing when the country needed 100-120 billion, noting that the money available under the new law, combined with tax exemptions it offers, actually amounted to 3.6 billion euros. Of this, he added, 2.6 billion euros would go toward the investment programmes of the previous laws.

"Yesterday you said 100 billion euros [were needed]. Today it's 120 billion. Make up your mind," Stathakis told ND's vice-president, outlining where the 80 billion will come from. "There are the public investments, about 20 billion euros from the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), 20 billion euros from private enterprise and bank loans and the financing tools of the European Investment Bank," he pointed out.

The government had also reduced the red tape needed to set up a new business and included 42 mature projects in the Juncker plan, the minister repeated.

Hatzidakis also criticised the draft law for failing to provide incentives for new investments but raising obstacles instead, such as restrictions on bank transactions, overtaxation, a freeze on business licences and public-private partnerships, while absorption of NSRF funds had falled to a minimal 2 pct.

Addressing Parliament earlier, Stathakis had noted that only 15 billion of a nominal 80 billion euro in overdue taxpayers' debt to the state were the actual arrears; the remaining 65 billion euros were debts owed by companies that have closed or persons dead since the 1980s.

Stathakis denied that exports had fallen, noting that the data included oil products and that skewed the final result because of the fall in their prices.

The discussion in Parliament on the new development law will be concluded late on Wednesday, followed by the voting procedure.

[02] Greek Parliament to vote on the new development law on Wednesday

The representatives of political parties on Tuesday leveled harsh criticism over the law.

Main opposition New Democracy parliamentary spokesman Nikos Dendias claimed that the new law does not constitute a development tool and does not include a development proposal. Golden Dawn spokesman Yiannis Lagos said that there is no provision for SMEs. The spokesman of Democratic Coalition Yiannis Maniatis asked to accept the amendments tabled by the party and ensure the viability of the development law. On its part, Communist party KKE parliamentary spokesman Nikos Karathanasopoulos said that the new development law gives privileges and greater tax immunity to the capital.

Meanwhile, an amendment on the refugee issue was tabled on Tuesday by Alternate Minister for Migration Policy Yiannis Mouzalas. New Democracy spokeswoman Anna Asimakopoulou and other party spokesmen asked for the withdrawal of the amendment on the grounds that the rules of the parliamentary procedure are not followed.

Economy Minister Giorgos Stathakis accepted the request of the opposition parties and withdrew the amendment.

[03] Development is created not ordered, says ND leader Mitsotakis

Mitsotakis accused the government of "specific parliamentary authoritarianism" and asked the government's arbitrariness to stop .

Referring to the social security law, he said that the government is faced with the impasses that it has created and nothing can change the reality. "In 2017 we will return to the condition we were in 2014," he said.

Moreover, he explained that companies are not asking for a development law, but reforms as well as overcoming the obstacles raised by a state and a party nomenclature that are against entrepreneurship. "You need to understand that development is not ordered, but created. It is against your political DNA," he underlined.

[04] Debt relief measures must be specified, Bank of Greece says

The central bank, in its Monetary Policy Report 2015-2016 submitted to Parliament, noted that the public debt problem was not dealt with in the current favorable environment of very low interest rates, but rather was postponed to be re-examined in the post-programme period. The final decision on debt are conditional on a positive final assessment of programme implementation and the outcome of an updated debt sustainability analysis to be produced in 2018.

The Bank of Greece considers that there are important reasons to act now. First, global interest rates are at historical lows and the term structure is relatively flat, implying that, at the same cost, debt relief now could be much more beneficial to Greece than a few years down the road, when global interest rates might be higher. Second, debt relief now will contribute to improved confidence of international investors in the country, hence, to lower risk premia, lower cost of financing, stronger investment and improved growth prospects for the Greek economy.

Sensible debt relief measures may include (a) extension of maturities; (b) smoothing of interest payments over time; (c) restoration of transfers of ANFA and SMP profits; (d) swap of IMF loans with ESM loans.

On the basis of an analysis presented in this report, debt relief measures should be accompanied by a lower medium-term fiscal target. Specifically, the final target for a general government primary surplus of 3.5 pct of GDP could be reduced to 2 pct of GDP after 2018, enabling a faster return of the Greek economy to robust and sustainable growth rates. Besides, past experience has shown that only few countries have been able to maintain high primary surpluses of 3.5 pct of GDP for relatively long periods, as required in the case of Greece from 2018 onwards. Public debt sustainability scenarios explored by the staff of the Economic Analysis and Research Department of the Bank of Greece show that primary surpluses of 2 pct of GDP from 2018 onwards are consistent with public debt sustainability assuming (a) an extension of loan maturities by 20 years and (b) smoothing of capitalised deferred interest payments over a 20-year period.

Moreover, the easing of fiscal targets will allow a lowering of taxation, which is currently high. This would alleviate the consequences for the real economy, thereby strengthening growth in the medium-to-longer term, which could speed up the reduction of public debt, the central bank said in its monetary policy report.

As discussed in the present report, the completion of the first review is expected to restore confidence and boost liquidity and should improve the investment environment in the second half of 2016. According to Bank of Greece estimates, for 2016 as a whole the GDP growth rate should turn out marginally negative, at -0.3 pct, as the positive growth rates expected for the third and fourth quarters of 2016 should partly offset the negative outcome of the first half of the year. Nevertheless, risks to the outlook of the Greek economy remain. The greatest risk relates to the excessive " as the Bank of Greece sees it " emphasis on tax increases as decided in the context of the first review in order to cover the fiscal gap of 2016-2018: a stronger than expected recessionary effect from the higher tax burden could imply, as an indirect impact, a shortfall against revenue targets. Furthermore, any delay in the implementation of reforms and privatisations envisaged in the programme would dampen economic growth, thereby refuelling uncertainty, undermining confidence and weakening the prospects of a definitive exit from the crisis. In addition, an exacerbation of the refugee crisis could hurt tourism and trade, slowing economic recovery. At the same time, risks and uncertainties about the course of the global economy and the outcome of the upcoming British referendum still exist, which could slow the recovery of the Greek economy.

A prospect of liquidity improvement as a result of the completion of the first review and ECB initiatives to stave off deflation in the euro area

The completion of the review would largely dispel the remaining uncertainties. Combined with the anticipated exit of the Greek economy from the recession onto a path of sustained growth as adjustment and reforms bear fruit, reduced uncertainty should lead to a return of deposits to Greek banks and improved access of domestic credit institutions, as well as of healthy extrovert Greek businesses, to international financial markets.

Moreover, the completion of the review would trigger a decision to accept Greek government securities as eligible collateral for open market operations, through which the Eurosystem refinances euro area banks on highly favourable terms.

The major problem facing the Greek banking system today is the high stock of non-performing loans in bank portfolios. Tackling this problem, together with the recent recapitalisation of the domestic banking system and the expected increase in liquidity following the completion of the review, will enhance the ability of credit institutions to provide financing and thus support economic growth. Indeed, in 2015 Greek banks had to set aside considerably higher provisions for credit risk and, as a result, their losses rose to 9 billion euros. The quality of loan portfolios of domestic credit institutions worsened, with the ratio of non-performing exposures to total exposures rising from 39.9 pct in December 2014 to 44.2 pct in December 2015. This ratio, on the basis of provisional data, rose further to 45.2 pct in March 2016, although this seems to stem mainly from a lower denominator, as the creation of new non-performing loans is showing signs of weakening. On a positive note, however, the provision coverage ratio slightly exceeds 50 pct, and capital adequacy ratios for the Greek banking system as a whole, following the recapitalisation, increased to more than 16 pct in 2015. Meanwhile, a number of improvements have been introduced recently to the regulatory framework, which promote a more efficient management of banks' troubled assets. Important legislation has also been adopted aimed to speed up enforcement procedures and, more generally, court proceedings, to address the issue of overindebted households and to simplify the resolution and special liquidation of businesses.

The initiatives planned for the next months are seen as crucial for the structure of the Greek banking system and the restructuring of domestic banks. More specifically, the follow-ing initiatives must be implemented soon:

developing a secondary market for loans (performing or non-performing), in order to increase the number of participants and benefit from expertise in bad loan handling;

reforming the out-of-court debt settlement framework to ensure fast, effective and transparent settlement of debts to private creditors and to public sector entities;

improving the infrastructure of the judicial system and the specialised know-how of judges;

addressing long-standing issues relating to the tax treatment of loan write-offs and provisioning for both borrowers and lenders;

introducing provisions to engage shareholders in the efforts of banks to restructure firms

The completion of the first review creates positive prospects for the recovery of the Greek economy in the second half of 2016, a development already anticipated by markets as reflected in falling Greek government bond yields. At the same time, the commitment of our European partners to take action in order to ensure the sustainability of public debt in the short and medium-to-long term is a positive step forward. However, the issue of public debt is not dealt with decisively and in a frontloaded manner in the context of the current very favourable environment of very low global interest rates, but is postponed to be re-examined in the future.

Against this backdrop, the Bank of Greece is of the view that the envisaged measures for the management of public debt need to be specified, quantified and frontloaded. This would lead to a further decline in the country's risk premium in the course of the current year and improve the credibility and acceptance of the policies pursued, thereby further enhancing confidence and strengthening economic recovery.

Moreover, the Bank of Greece believes that a return of the Greek economy to realistic and sustainable rates of growth would be further supported by a lowering of the medium-term fiscal target for a primary surplus of 3.5% of GDP from 2018 onwards to 2% of GDP, without affecting public debt sustainability prospects. This would allow for lower taxation and free up resources to support economic activity.

From now on, the Greek authorities should turn their attention to the crucial issues that constrain the country's growth potential and feed the vicious circle of recession. In this respect, the following are necessary:

? implementation of reforms included in the programme;

? acceleration of the programme of privatisations and utilisation of public property;

? drastic action to deal with banks' non-performing exposures;

? alleviation of the tax burden with simultaneous cuts in the non-productive expenditures of the general government.

These actions will attract foreign investment and set in motion a virtuous circle that would signal the definitive exit from the crisis and a sustainable increase in total productivity of the Greek economy over the medium-to-long term.

[05] Greece needs debt relief before 2018, German MP Sven Kindler tells ANA-MPA; Schaeuble 'did not want to admit his line failed,' he says

Germany took a "wrong path" during the crisis and imposed a failed policy of "austerity to the death," according to the German Green Party's MP in the federal Parliament's Budget Committee Sven-Christian Kindler. In an exclusive interview to the ANA-MPA on Wednesday, Kindler expressed his satisfaction with the Budget Committee's decision to approve the disbursement of loans to Greece but noted that postponing discussion on debt relief until after 2018 did not offer Greece much-needed stability.

"The German government was forced to abandon its stance of blocking this and there is finally a discussion on debt relief. The problem is that we will talk about substantive, therefore broad, debt relief as of 2018. This comes too late and is too unclear in order to give Greece what it needs most: stability. The result will be more poverty and unemployment in Greece," he said.

The lack of clarity was extending the crisis in Greece, since there was no steady framework for investments, Kindler noted and for this reason the Greens had asked for steps to reduce the debt before 2018. The reason why Wolfgang Schaeuble wanted to postpone the discussion on the debt until after the German elections, he added, was not to give the German government the necessary democratic legitimacy but the "divided" CDU/CSU Parliamentary group and the fact "that he doesn't want to publicly admit that his line failed."

"The previous years have shown this: the policy of austerity to the death has failed. To 'continue as is' will not get Greece out of the crisis," he added, noting that a sustainable solution for Greece would come about through fairer and reasonable reforms, investments along the lines of a "Green New Deal" and a "socio-ecological" clean-up of the budget.

Kindler also commented on the Bundestag vote recognising the Armenian Genocide, which was strongly promoted by the Greens, and his shock at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's reaction, saying that Turkey was growing in the wrong direction under his leadership.

With respect to the refugee crisis, Kindler said he was in favour of changes to the Dublin treaty system and called for European decisions that do not abandon Greece in the face of challenges, while rejecting a "quid-pro-quo" attitude and the linking of the refugee to the economic crisis as "cynical and wrong".

[06] Brussels does not have a magic wand to solve the terrorism problem, EU Commissioner Avramopoulos says

The fact that these persons are European citizens, who have been radicalised and turned against their fellow citizens and our values within the EU indicates the pathogenies of the social structures of our societies and the imperative need to strengthen their cohesion, said Avramopoulos adding that "our anwers to radicalisation and the recruitment of terrorists must be holistic. European Commission must support the the member states because it provides liable fuctional tools and security measures.

The issue of those terrorists that return to Europe from conflict areas is alarming and we will propose the review of the Shenghen Information System (SIS) as well as systematic controls at the external borders for whoever enters or leaves, either European citizen or not.

Dealing with radicalisation is not simple or easy. Brussels does not have a magic wand that will solve the problem nor can we work isolated at local or national level. The effective way of dealing with radicalisation will come through a combination of actions and cooperations.

On our part, we clearly state that we are here to assist and support with all possible means, said Avramopoulos.

[07] Greece favours NATO's operation in the Aegean which has cut refugee flows, says defence minister

Greece is in favour of NATO's operation in the Aegean which has tackled refugee flows, as well as in favour of the organization's cooperation with the EU in the operations "Sophia" and "Endeavour" for security in the Mediterranean, Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said on Tuesday, at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.

Today's meeting is important because it will prepare a critical NATO summit in Warsaw on July 8-9, where decisions will be taken on the organization's east and south defence strategy.

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the meeting, Kammenos focused on the southern strategy, saying the situation in Libya, the refugee crisis and the increasing uncertainty in the Middle East highlighted the importance of Greece as a pillar of stability.

[08] Brief Eurogroup meeting without Greece on the agenda

A brief Eurogroup meeting will be held without the Greek issue on the agenda, a senior eurozone official announced on Wednesday.

"It is the first press briefing that I do not need to speak about Greece," he said in Brussels.

Asked on the ratification of the conclusion of the programme review and the approval of the disbursement of the 7.5 billion euro loan tranche by the ESM, he said that the ESM meeting on Thursday will be "smooth" without surprises.

Regarding the disbursement of the next sub-tranche in autumn, he said that there are some prior actions that need to be met and gave an appointment after summer when everyone will have more energy.

[09] UN's Ban Ki-moon to meet Tsipras in Athens and visit Lesvos on June 18

Earlier on Saturday (09:30 local), Ban will meet with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias at Maximos Mansion in Athens. Statements to the press will follow.

[10] FM Kotzias discusses bilateral cooperation with Indian counterpart

The two ministers also looked at issues of bilateral interest and agreed to schedule reciprocal visits, with the aim of further promoting relations. Swaraj also thanked Kotzias for Greece's support for India in international organizations.

[11] Ecumenical Patriach's plea to Churches to participate in Panorthodox Synod

Bartholomew said they do not honour the Geneva agreement.

The Panorthodox Synod, which constitutes the most important meeting of the Orthodox Church in the last 1,300 years, will start on Thursday at Chania and attracts the attention of the whole world. It is the first meeting of the heads of the Orthodox Churches after the Schism of 1054.

[12] Security of participants in Orthodox Church Council is ensured, says foreign ministry

The ministry said Greece has the "historic privilege of hosting on its territory the first meeting of all of the Orthodox primates and bishops since the Schism of 1054 AD", adding that Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias will visit Crete on Thursday where he will host a dinner at 20: 00, in honor of the Orthodox Primates.

[13] Parliamentary hearing for public prosecutor Georgia Tsatani postponed for a week

The committee declined her request to have her lawyer present, which Tsatani said would help back up her allegations through documents in the lawyer's possession, but agreed that Tsatani should be allowed to bring an aide to the next hearing to assist her with the management of documents and to avoid showing the prosecutor's face on camera, as far as possible, since she also handles terrorism-related cases.

[14] Rally calling for the government to resign concludes in Athens

Hundreds of protesters chanted slogans against the government and held Greek and European Union flags in a rally that was organized through social media.

A minor incident occurred when a 30-year-old man who claimed he was an anarchist tried to burn an EU flag and was pushed away by the crowd.

In Thessaloniki, the rally continued in front of the White Tower where protesters held banners with the slogans "Resign" and "No parties, no colours, no unions, just citizens". Others had set up speakers though which demands of the movement were interspersed with music and held out a symbolic "red card" to the government.

"We demand a cut in state waste, immediate reforms in all sectors of everyday life, a drastic cut of VAT and the new direct, indirect taxes with which we are burdened because of the illusions of the irresponsible government," said the person reading out the demands through the speakers.

"We say no to divisions and to the creation of fake enemies abroad and inside the country, because the position of our country in the eurozone is not negotiable," it was added.

[15] President Pavlopoulos meets his predecessor Papoulias

The meeting is part of Pavlopoulos' contacts with politicians who held his post in the past.

Financial News

[16] Stournaras submits central bank's monetary policy report to Parliament president

In the report, the central bank called for a reduction of primary surplus targets from 3.5 pct of GDP to 2 pct of GDP, combined with a debt restructuring "that will not impose losses on the creditors but will be a situation where both the borrower, in other words Greece, and the lenders stand to gain."

The central banker also invited the government to work with the BoG to address the issue of non-performing loans and commercial banks, noting that this was "a great problem but also a great opportunity."

"We hope that with the help of the BoG ...we will quickly find good solutions supporting the socially weakest," Voutsis said, receiving the report. The Parliament president also raised the issue of ending capital controls and creating a road map for achieving this as quickly as possible.

"With the economic team, we must find which factors create growth now and what are the obstacles to growth," Stournaras replied, noting that there were still dangers ahead of Greece, including the refugee crisis, a possible 'Brexit' and the course of taxation in Greece.

"We have to see how we can offset the recessionary repercussions of these dangers, if they transpire," he said, adding that the BoG was at the disposal of the Parliament and government to discuss and take measures.

According to Voutsis, Europe as a whole was facing problems and issues - such as the secret deliberations on the TTIP and CETA agreements - "that create a framework of danger and risk for the European acquis, not just on the level of the economy." These came to be added to the problems already caused by the austerity policies imposed on Greece, he added, noting that the country "must exit this noose very quickly, with the help of all."

On his part, Stournaras noted that Greece must be ready with counter-proposals to measures it does not like and for this reason the Greek central bank had for some time proposed smaller primary surpluses and a debt restructuring that would benefit "the architecture of the Eurozone, not just Greece." He also agreed with Voutsis and noted that things were now being discussed that "we didn't even think" 18 months ago, while describing cooperation between the government and central bank as "flawless".

[17] Actual arrears to the state at 15 bln euros, Economy Min Stathakis says

Stathakis also said that exports have not reduced because data include oil products which due to the reduction in prices create a wrong image.

Meanwhile, main opposition New Democracy parliamentary spokesman Nikos Dendias asked the government to bring the relevant data in parliament.

[18] Liberalisation key to restarting the economy, Eurobank's chairman says

The Greek banker noted that economic growth will not come with over-taxation, high real interest rates and without a flourishing of the private economy, adding that "it was important to combine a strict implementation of an agreement with the institutions with a forward-moving plan of radical development initiatives and brave institutional reforms." These reforms, Karamouzis said, should promote privatisations, encourage private investments, economic extroversion, inflow of international capital, covering a significant investment and savings gap, leading to a smaller and more efficient state, promoting the upgrade and modernisation of justice, lowering tax rates and limiting tax evasion. These reforms should also improve liquidity conditions, lifting capital controls, implementing large infrastructure projects and exploiting significant EU funds and international funding lines.

Eurobank's chief executive, Fokion Karavias, told shareholders that Eurobank's goal for 2016 was to return to profitability and stressed that first quarter results laid the foundations to achieve this goal for the whole of the year. "Returning to profitability was of strategic importance for the bank," Karavias said, adding that this development will highlight the bank's ability to produce positive results, to enhance the bank's image and credibility against European and national regulatory authorities, markets and customers, confirming the adequacy and dynamism of the bank's equity capital and the credibility of its business plan. It will also strengthened confidence among the bank's staff to the bank's outlook. Returning to profitability will improve the bank's access to international capital markets to drain capital and for the return of deposits," Karavias said.

"In our basic estimate for the Greek economy this year we expected that pre-provision revenue will rise more than 15 pct, provisions will be less than 2.0 pct of our loans and the rate of new non-performing loans to be close to zero for the whole of the year," the Greek banker said.

Returning to profitability needed three basic preconditions, he said: efficient management of NPLs, return of deposits and gradually restoring access to international capital markets and finally expanding activities.

[19] National Bank completes sale of Finansbank to Qatar National Bank

Following completion of the transaction, National Bank's pro forma CET1 index grew by around 740 bp in the first quarter to 21.8 pct. This capital boost will pave the way for the repayment of a 2.0-billion-euro CoCos issued by National Bank in December 2015.

National Bank, in an announcement, said that it will use this money to significantly reduce costs and noted that the sale of Finansbank underlined the bank's devotion to successfully implement a restructuring programme.

Leonidas Fragiadakis, chief executive of National Bank, commenting on the transaction said the sale "reflected the determination of the bank to create value for its shareholders and to adhere to its commitments. National Bank is today the strongest bank in Greece on capital adequacy and liquidity terms."

[20] Central European Fair Alliance two-day meeting in Thessaloniki

Presidents and managing directors of 21 exhibition organisations from all over Europe and particularly Germany, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Fyrom, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia and Czech Republic will be present at the congress.

CEFA's think tank will convene on Thrusday where the future trends that influnce the world exhibition industry will be analysed. The general assembly will convene on Friday chaired by TIF-Helexpo managing director Kyriakos Pozrikidis.

The internalisation of TIF-Helexpo's activities that is directly linked with the Greek businesses extroversion will also be presented at the imminent 81th TIF (10-12 September 2016) where Russia will be the honoured country.

[21] Economic prosecutor asks banks to submit data of businesspeople with NPLs

The request, which concerns NPLs dating from 2009, aims at examining whether any of these loans were moved to private or other bank accounts abroad. According to evidence collected so far, it seems some businesspeople appear to be unable to repay their loans in Greece, yet they have stored large sums abroad.

The banks have been given five days to respond to the request.

[22] Greece raises 1.3 bln euros from T-bill auction

[23] Greek import price index down 7.9 pct in April

The statistics service, in a report, attributed this development in the so-called imported inflation to a 0.9 pct decline in the import price index from Eurozone countries and a 14.1 pct drop in the index from countries outside Eurozone.

The index was up 1.3 pct in April from March.

[24] Wage employment flows positive in May

A report by the "Ergani" IT system of the Labor ministry, showed that new hirings totaled 230,965 in May, while dismissals totaled 154,374 in the month. The report showed that compared with the May 2015, the balance of hiring/dismissals was lower by 9,555 job positions. May was the fourth successive month with a positive balance in wage employment flows in the private sector and the second highest performance in May since 2001.

In the January-May period, new hirings totaled 824,017 job positions, while dismissals amounted to 622,961, leaving a surplus of 201,056 job positions -the highest five-month performance since 2001.

[25] Employment index down 0.4 pct in Q1

The statistics service, in a report, said that the working hour index fell 1.5 pct in the first three months of the year, compared with the same period in 2015, and was down 4.4 pct from the fourth quarter 2015. The wage index eased 0.4 pct and 23.4 pct over the same periods, respectively.

The seasonally-adjusted employment composite index fell 0.2 pct in the first quarter, compared with the same period last year, while the working hour index eased 0.7 pct and wage index rose 0.5 pct.

[26] Visitors, revenues in museums down in February

The number of free admission visitors in February increased by 26.4 percent.

Visitors to archaeological sites posted a 12.1 percent increase, however, revenues fell 4.4 percent compared to the same month in 2015. Free admission tickets increased by 49.9 percent increase.

A decrease of 10.6 percent was observed in their receipts, in comparison with the corresponding month of 2015.

[27] Greek stocks end 3.02 pct lower

Athens Water (0.35 pct) was the only blue chip stock to end higher, while Titan (7.14 pct), Alpha Bank (6.50 pct), OTE (5.45 pct), Piraeus Bank (5.26 pct) and Mytilineos (5.11 pct) suffered the heaviest percentage losses of the day.

Among market sectors, only Chemicals moved higher (3.68 pct), while Constructions (6.06 pct), Telecoms (5.45 pct) and Raw Materials (5.11 pct) suffered heavy losses. National Bank and Piraeus Bank were the most heavily traded securities of the day.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 65 to 28 with another 14 issues unchanged. Dionic (19.44 pct), National Pangaea (18.54 pct) and Europaiki Pisti (11.43 pct) were top gainers, while Lazaridis Estate (29.82 pct), Douros (19.79 pct) and Boutaris (19.40 pct) were top losers.

[28] Greek bond market closing report

In interbank markets, interest rates were mixed. The 12-month rate was -0.021 pct, the nine-month rate rose to -0.089 pct from -0.090 pct, the six-month rate rose to -0.159 pct from -0.161 pct, the three-month rate rose to -0.262 pct from -0.267 pct and the one-month rate was -0.353 pct.

[29] ADEX closing report

General News

[30] Athens protesters rally in solidarity with Orlando shooting victims

Chanting slogans such as "No more hate" and "End to intolerance", protesters held rainbow flags and candles as they walked towards the U.S. embassy in Athens to lay flowers and candles for the victims.

"This is a tragic blow to democracy and freedom. It's an attack on human rights more widely, not only against LGBTQI people," Giorgos Kounanis, of the department of sexual orientation and gender identity for the Greek Helsinki Monitor, told ANA-MPA.

"After such an attack, our freedoms can certainly be questioned and possibly many people will start to think twice whether it is free to express themselves in a public place, whether they are capable of having fun. This is a broader terrorist attack on individual freedom," he added.

"The dead and injured of this attack are our brothers. Their experiences are ours too. A day after the 'Pride' festival and we are called to mourn for the loss of young people who fought, like us, for visibility and pride," another participant added.

Others said the call was open to anyone who wants to see an end to the criminal turn that homophobia and intolerance have taken once again, and called on all organizations and citizens to take a stand.

[31] Acropolis Museum turns 7, counts 9.5 million visitors

According to the data, the museum has welcomed 9.5 million visitors since 2009 and aspires to exceed 10 million by autumn. Only the last year (May 2025-June 2016), the Acropolis Museum opened its doors to 1,425,100 visitors. The majority of those are Greeks, followed by Americans, French, British, Italians, Australians, Spaniards, Canadians and Chinese.

"There's stability in [the number of] visits and we have been able to retain the numbers since the first year," Pandermalis said, presenting the museum's annual results. The main aims for the seventh year of operation have been maintaining the high level of services to visitors, increasing digital applications in exhibition halls and introducing an innovative program for temporary exhibitions, he added.

The Acropolis Museum was built to house every object that has been found on the rock of the Acropolis and the surrounding area, which cover a wide period from the Mycenaean period to Roman and Early Christian Athens.

[32] Actor Theo James visits refugee camps in Greece, meets with families

James met with families and individuals from refugee camp sites in Alexandreia and Langadikia, close to Thessaloniki in northern Greece, as well as with refugees staying in Piraeus and Marathonas.

"These are people like you and me fleeing their country out of total necessity. The only other option for them is war and death. UNHCR's work with its partners, the Greek government and its people is imperative to the millions of refugees and their legacy," he said.

The actor has a very personal story that connects him to the refugee situation. His grandfather, Dr. Nicholas Taptiklis, fled Greece during the Second World War, making his way by boat and then overland through Turkey to Damascus, Syria. Immediately after the war ended, Dr. Taptiklis worked in Gottingen, Germany with the organisation that was the precursor to the UN Refugee Agency, fighting typhoid and tuberculosis in the refugee camps.

UNHCR asks citizens to sign its #WithRefugees petition to send a message to governments that they must act with solidarity and shared responsibility. The link to the petition is here: http://www.unhcr.org/refugeeday/cy/petition/

[33] Fire department urges citizens to be careful ahead of heat wave

According to its press release, 56 fires broke out in the last 24 hours throughout Greece, most of which were put out during the day, with five of them in Attica alone. Three of those in western Attica have been put out and two are in remission.

[34] ELSTAT survey shows that seven in 10 Greeks don't smoke, decline in tobacco use

The report found that just under three in 10 Greeks (27.3 pct) under the age of 15 smoke daily, one in 20 (5.3 pct) smoke occasionally and just under seven in 10 (67.4 pct) don't smoke at all. Of the non-smokers, 51.4 pct have never smoked in their life and 16 pct are former smokers that have given up for more than six months.

The number of regular smokers has fallen by 14.4 pct since 2009, dropping from 31.9 pct of the population over 15 to 27.3 pct, while the number of "occasional smokers" has dropped 11.7 pct, from 6 pct in 2009 to 5.3 pct in 2014.

Men continue to smoke more than women, however, with four in 10 (39.4 pct) of men over 15 smoking compared to less than three in 10 women (26.4 pct).

[35] Dead whale found on islet near Ierapetra

According to estimations, the whale weighed approximately for tons and found in state of total decomposition.

The carcass will be transferred to Ierapetra to be examined and buried.

[36] Chinese tourist drowns at Navaghio beach on Zakynthos

The reasons of his death are unknown. Zakynthos port authority is conducting an investigation.

[37] Strikes on all rail transport after 21:00 on Wednesday, no rail access to Athens Airport

Workers on all Greek railway companies (OSE, TRAINOSE, Proastiakos) are continuing with a series of three-hour work stoppages, taking place from 5:00-8:00, 13:00-16:00 and 21:00-24:00 on Wednesday and Thursday. Strikes by Proastiakos also affect metro services to the Athens airport.

Strike action will be joined on Monday by Civil Aviation Authority staff, who have announced a five-day strike ending at midnight the following Friday.

Staff held the strikes in protest against plans to transfer the state transport companies to a new privatisation fund.

[38] 56,701 identified migrants and refugees in Greece on Wednesday

According to the Refugee Crisis Management Coordination Body's figures, 23,837 of the refugees are in northern Greece, 9,943 are hosted in the region of Attica, 8,442 on the Greek islands and 2,482 are hosted in different areas in central and southern Greece. 5,602 refugees and migrants are hosted in several facilities rented by the UNHCR, 4,915 are staying in non-organised facilities while approximately 1,500 persons are living outside organised facilities.

Weather forecast

[39] Sunny on Thursday

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

DIMOKRATIA: Bank of Greece governor Yannis Stournaras' "landmine" on debt solution

EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: Mass protests in Paris against anti-labour measures

ETHNOS: The bill sent to 667,229 farmers

IMERISSIA: Real estate objective values to freeze

KATHIMERINI: 1.5 billion euro investments in the air

NAFTEMPORIKI: Debate over professional funds

TA NEA: Red card from the society

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