Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 17-01-31

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

CONTENTS

[01] Pavlopoulos:Turkey must respect Greece's borders, Europe's borders and the Treaty of Lausanne

[02] Pavlopoulos: Austerity a dead-end policy, contrary to EU's founding principles

[03] Pavlopoulos: Eurogroup is not an EU institution based on ECJ judgements

[04] Tsipras to 'Politika': Only mutual respect can built sound bilateral relations

[05] EU authorities informed about European borders' violation, Deputy FM Amanatidis says

[06] PM Tsipras to speak on the phone with Chancellor Merkel

[07] Moscovici repeats conviction that Greece and institutions 'not far' from concluding 2nd review

[08] European Commission works for the conclusion of the second review as soon as possible, says Breidthardt

[09] ND leader Mitsotakis suggests calmness against Turkish provocations

[10] ND leader to visit Lesvos on Friday

[11] Mouzalas calls for a swift probe into Moria deaths

[12] U.S. want to see growth and stability in Greece, says U.S. ambassador

[13] Farmers break through police cordon, arrive at Evzones customs post

[14] Farmers block Athens-Thessaloniki national highway at Nikea junction

[15] ERT to stop broadcasting Golden Dawn speeches live

[16] Greek Parliament sends letter of condolence for victims of Quebec mosque attack

[17] 2016 primary surplus expected to reach 2 pct, Fiscal Policy GenSec tells 'Naftemporiki'

[18] Taxpayers' arrears to the state up 1.278 bln euros in Dec

[19] Second review delay "credit negative' for Greek banks

[20] Out-of-court compromise procedure to be offered to all enterprises

[21] Greek commerce wants reduction of bank charges on POS

[22] Greece present in NYT Travel Show

[23] Interamerican launches new "Sales Point" network

[24] Intrasoft supports MITEF Startup Competition

[25] Greek wine industry needs specialized professionals

[26] Vouchers and prepaid cards in lieu of pay a form of tax and contribution evasion, private employees union says

[27] Mihalis Sallas a strategic investor in Pancretan Bank

[28] Emirates in discussions with MedCruise to boost cruises in the Mediterranean

[29] Greek PPI up 5.1 pct in Dec

[30] Apollo Investment Holdco raises stake in Astir Palace to 95.05 pct

[31] Greek stocks end sharply down

[32] Greek bond market closing report

[33] ADEX closing report

[34] Top court deputy prosecutor appeals against 2013 court ruling on Artemis Sorras

[35] New finds on Keros confirm its important role in antiquity

[36] Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds to play at Ejekt Festival in Athens, organisers say

[37] Roman road remains on Crete to be relocated to different site

[38] Third man dies in Moria hotspot

[39] Atomic energy body says no public health risk from radioactive material detected in garbage

[40] Minor quake jolts Lesvos island

[41] Partly cloudy on Tuesday

[42] The Monday edition of Athens dailies at a glance Politics

[01] Pavlopoulos:Turkey must respect Greece's borders, Europe's borders and the Treaty of Lausanne

"Today's violation was a very serious one because it was not only the Greek maritime borders that were violated but the borders of Europe too. The Treaty of Lausanne was violated," Pavlopoulos, who is paying an official visit to Portugal, said.

"I hope that there will be no other violation in the future because this will not only affect the bilateral relations but also Turkey's relations with Europe," said the President.

Moreover, he stressed the need to change the austerity policy in Europe because the current austerity policy causes problems such as higher debt, inequalities, unemployment. We have to persuade our European partners, he added, to change the specific austerity policy. Greece will remain in the eurozone and the European Union, he underlined.

Pavlopoulos will meet his Portuguese counterpart Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa later on Monday.

[02] Pavlopoulos: Austerity a dead-end policy, contrary to EU's founding principles

The European Union needs to shift away from dead-end austerity policies, which are shrinking the GDP of most EU member-states and enlarging their debt, while negatively affecting both sustainable growth and social cohesion in the EU, President of the Hellenic Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos said on Monday.

Pavlopoulos made the statement during a meeting with his Portuguese counterpart Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa at the University of Coimbra, one of the oldest in Europe.

Replying to an ANA question during a joint press conference with de Sousa, Pavlopoulos also referred to the creditors demand that Greece pass legislation for "preventive measures" taking effect in 2019, after the end of the current bailout programme. Such a demand was "unprecedented" in European history, he said, while such pressures were incompatible with European ideals.

According to Greece's president, the current austerity policies must be replaced by an economic policy that harmoniously combines action to eliminate deficits and wasteful spending and to tackle the debt crisis with achieving sustainable growth.

"This policy must support the necessary reforms and the appropriate investments, as well as a rationally designed boost to liquidity and demand. Such a policies will also support the fundamental gains of European democracy and European culture; in other words, the social state of law," Pavlopoulos added.

He also noted that the meeting with his Portuguese counterpart was taking place at a time when their countries and the EU as a whole were being tested by a double crisis: the refugee crisis and economic crisis.

"Our countries and our people have suffered - and continue to be subjected to - the repercussions of a specific economic austerity policy, which not only leads nowhere but is also contrary to the principles and values on which the European edifice was founded," he said. "These are the reasons why Greece and Portugal must work together closely and with determination in order to overcome this crisis that I mentioned as soon as possible and thus defend not only our own countries and people but also our great European family," Pavlopoulos added.

Regarding the refugee crisis, he noted that this could not be tackled without the immediate and final end of the war in Syria and surrounding regions while noting that the EU must act in accordance with international and European law and "not phobic syndromes."

[03] Pavlopoulos: Eurogroup is not an EU institution based on ECJ judgements

The Eurogroup is not a European Union institution according to European Court of Justice rulings, President of the Hellenic Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos said on Monday, as he accepted an honorary doctorate from the University of Coimbra in Portugal, one of the oldest universities in Europe.

Pavlopoulos, who is on an official visit to Portugal, noted that the Eurogroup was an informal forum of Eurozone finance ministers without "institutional significance," even though it took all the decisions for the implementation of bailout programmes and the stiff sanctions to be imposed if their implementation was considered to fall short.

He had earlier referred to recent ECJ rulings on actions by Cypriot depositors challenging the Cyprus bank "bail-in" and calling for the annulment of a March 2013 decision to seize bank deposits as part of Cyprus' bailout agreement. In September 2016, the ECJ upheld earlier judgements that had dismissed these actions as inadmissible.

Pavlopoulos said the ECJ's judgements had "significant added value" by extension, regarding the nature of the Memorandum of Understanding between the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and the Cyprus Republic and the Eurogroup statement, as well as the responsibility of the European Commission and European Central Bank acting on behalf of the ESM.

As part of its reasoning, Pavlopoulos noted, the ECJ held that the ESM could not be regarded as forming part of the institutions of the European Union, that the Eurogroup statement could not be imputed to the Commission or the ECB, that the statement was not capable of producing legal effects with respect to third parties, and that, as such, it could not be contested in EU courts.

To dispel any lingering uncertainty on this score, Pavlopoulos added, the ECJ had then referred to the Eurogroup as an informal meeting or discussion forum of ministers in member-states using the euro "and not a decision-making organ!"

According to Pavlopoulos, given a situation where the Eurogroup was at once informal and simultaneously took some of the most critical decisions taken in the EU, ECJ case law was inevitably led to the conclusion that the Eurogroup had the role of an "?minence grise". This was not entirely the fault of the court, he added, but a result of a "lack of effective rules of economic governance within the Eurozone, which deepen the 'democratic gap' in the EU as a whole."

[04] Tsipras to 'Politika': Only mutual respect can built sound bilateral relations

Good bilateral relations between countries can only be established on the basis of mutual respect, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was reported as telling Serbian newspaper "Politika", in an exclusive interview on Monday, ahead of his official visit to Belgrade on Tuesday.

The paper asked Tsipras about the problems facing Greece with three of its neighbours - Turkey, Albania and FYROM - the first of which is "claiming the revision of the Lausanne Treaty and is not abandoning its aspirations towards the Greek islands."

"Greece has specific and fixed positions on foreign policy, particularly with regard to relations with neighboring countries. We actively promote peace and cooperation but, at the same time, we firmly maintain our sovereign rights based on international law. Only on the basis of mutual respect can we built sound bilateral relations," he was quoted as saying.

"A revival of nationalism by questioning, among other things, international treaties on which our diplomatic relations have been established, undermines our structural efforts over the years to strengthen good neighborly relations and regional cooperation," he added.

Asked about the unfinished second program review, Tsipras said Greece has fulfilled its commitments deriving from the bailout agreement and even exceeded its targets and pointed to some of the country's creditors for the delay.

"We now have negotiations underway to complete successfully as soon as possible the second program review. This is delaying because of some irrational demands for additional austerity measures on which some of our creditors are insisting upon," he told the paper.

"I'm convinced that this pending issue will be resolved as it is a common view that the Greek economy is performing above expectations and that it is entering a phase of recovery. Nobody in Europe can afford a new revival of the Greek problem. It should be made clear that the Greek people have made sacrifices in previous years and that it is now at the end of a difficult journey, and it is now seeing prospects. For this reason, it must not be undermined by anyone, but rather it must be enhanced and all sides must help," he added.

[05] EU authorities informed about European borders' violation, Deputy FM Amanatidis says

"Our country has met its commitments," he underlined adding that now it is Europe's turn to meet its own commitments.

Referring to the Turkish provocations, he said that they were addressed with calmness, readiness, sobriety and vigilance. "We have made the necessary movements. The European authorities have been informed about the violation of the EU borders," the Deputy Foreign Minister noted and expressed the hope that Turkey will not escalate its acts after the ruling of the Supreme Court not to extradite the eight Turkish offices that fled to Greece after the July attempted coup.

[06] PM Tsipras to speak on the phone with Chancellor Merkel

[07] Moscovici repeats conviction that Greece and institutions 'not far' from concluding 2nd review

European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici on Monday repeated his conviction that Athens and the European institutions were "not far" from being able to conclude the second review of Greece's adjustment programme. Moscovici was speaking in the European Parliament in Brussels, during a discussion with MPs and MEPs on the upcoming six months in Europe.

Moscovici said the European Commission wants to work with Greek authorities for a conclusion of the second review as soon as possible and desires a resolution of the debt issue. He also noted that Greece was "a source of concern" for the Commission, which was doing its utmost to keep the country in the Eurozone.

The Commission "supports the integrity of the Eurozone," he added, noting the need for comprehensive solutions and a "reformed Greece with growth and jobs."

The convergence of Eurozone economies was very important for its stability and impetus, he said and admitted that the divergence of economies was a problem. For this reason, he added, the European Commission wanted to address the issue of macroeconomic imbalances and urged the countries with sufficient fiscal margins, such as Germany and the Netherlands, to make use of them.

[08] European Commission works for the conclusion of the second review as soon as possible, says Breidthardt

The European Commission remains "committed" to the conclusion of the second review of the Greek programme as soon as possible, said European Commission responsible for Financial Issues Annika Breidthardt during a press briefing on Monday.

"We are working closely with the Greek authorities and the other partners for the conclusion of the review" she noted adding that "we continue to be working on all the open issues."

Asked to comment on IMF's report calling the Greek debt "extremely non sustainable", Breidthardt said that "the European Commission welcomes the short-term measures" adopted by ESM. "Europe has committed to support Greece with additional measures after the end of the programme if necessary and on the condition that Greece has implemented all the reforms," she stressed.

European Commission's representative underlined that Greece and Europe have agreed on an 'ambitious' and 'credible' reform agenda as well as on a respective fiscal course during the programme.

Concluding, Breidthardt reiterated ESM's view that there is no reason for scaremongering over tthe condition or the the debt in Greece.

[09] ND leader Mitsotakis suggests calmness against Turkish provocations

"Greece continues to send a message of friendship and good neighborly relations with Turkey, but at the same time, the message must include the respect for international law and international treaties as well as the informal rules of good neighborly relations between two countries that need to coexist in a sensitive area," he underlined.

Referring to the decision not to extradite to Turkey the eight Turkish military officers that fled to Greece after the July attempted coup, he said that it is an issue that concerns the rule of law and not an issue of foreign policy. The Greek Justice acts independently; Greece is a European country with institutions and authorities, and these authorities, these institutions, cannot be challenged by anyone, he stated adding that Turkey's agreement (on the refugee issue) is not only with Greece but with the European Union and has financial scope for Turkey.

It is an agreement signed in an emergency situation as a necessary tool to stop the flows of refugees and migrants from Turkey to Greece, he noted and added: This agreement has been partially efficient and one of the reasons why the agreement is not working as it ought to do has to do with the fact that unfortunately the Greek government has failed, due to administrative incompetence, to rapidly process asylum applications so that those that they are not entitled to asylum return to Turkey.

[10] ND leader to visit Lesvos on Friday

During his visit, Mitsotakis will have a series of meetings and will be briefed on the island's problems.

At 18:00 he will deliver as speech at an open event at the Municipal Theatre of Mytilene.

[11] Mouzalas calls for a swift probe into Moria deaths

"We have to investigate quickly the causes of the deaths in Moria and to proceed with action that will make the situation more manageable," the minister said noting that the incidents are linked to the over-crowdedness facing the camp.

He also said the ministry will wait for the results of the forensic reports before making further statements.

[12] U.S. want to see growth and stability in Greece, says U.S. ambassador

"Our priority in the US, is to see a growing, creative, stable Greece in a difficult region," the ambassador said, noting the country received former president Barack Obama's "strong commitment" when he visited Athens. "We continue with this momentum," he added.

At the same event, the president of the Chamber, Simos Anastasopoulos expressed concern about the delay in the completion of the second program review.

"We ask for a minimum political consensus to complete the review, by overcoming obsessions, such as collective redundancies which do not concern the Greek entrepreneur-ship," he said.

[13] Farmers break through police cordon, arrive at Evzones customs post

Talking to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA), farmer Giorgos Terzis said that farmers were now organising their tractors and would decide what their next move within the hour.

Earlier, reports had said that more and more farmers were reinforcing a roadblock set up one kilometre from the Idomeni junction and 1.5 kilometres from the border, with new farmers arriving from Kilkis, Giannitsa, Halkidona and elsewhere. A police cordon stationed across the Thessaloniki-Evzones national highway to prevent them reaching the border was taken by surprise and allowed them to get through.

[14] Farmers block Athens-Thessaloniki national highway at Nikea junction

The protesters closed off the Thessaloniki-bound direction as part of their announced plans to block major roads daily for two hours. The nationalhighway leading to Athens is blocked indefinitely since last Thursday when farmers from Thessaly parked their tractors at the Nikea junction.

[15] ERT to stop broadcasting Golden Dawn speeches live

The decision comes after the furore caused over the weekend by the broadcast a Golden Dawn event to mark the Imia crisis of 1996.

"ERT had sent a query to the National Council for Radio and Television (NCRTV) on whether it is obliged to broadcast Golden Dawn's speeches and events. The NCRTV decided that under Article 15 of the Constitution, ERT is required to observe, on the one hand, the principle of proportional equality, but on the other, not to broadcast racist and xenophobic events, which however are legal concepts which 'have not yet been legaly processed and specialized'," ERT president Dionysis Tsaknis said, responding to the criticism.

"Therefore, the management of ERT decided that: 1) Golden Dawn speeches will not broadcast live and 2) a committee will decide on whether the recorded material can be broadcast or not," he added.

On its side, the NCRTV - the TV regulator- has not reacted to ERT's decision and said it will review the material and make recommendations -if deemed necessary - to the public television channel.

[16] Greek Parliament sends letter of condolence for victims of Quebec mosque attack

"We unequivocally condemn every terrorist act and request that you convey our deepest condolences to the families of the victims," he said.

Financial News

[17] 2016 primary surplus expected to reach 2 pct, Fiscal Policy GenSec tells 'Naftemporiki'

Koutentakis said that this development was setting new more positive data in the development of fiscal figures not only in 2016 but in the coming years as well. "We will have to wait for the figures from the general government to have a more clear view of the result. But we do not expect any negative surprise, which means that the primary surplus could reach around 2.0 pct. The final verdict of course belongs to Hellenic Statistical Authority and Eurostat which will announce the official result under the prevailing methodology," he noted.

"We have no reason to expect a worsening next year so it is possible to see revenues surpassing targets again in 2017," Koutentakis said, adding that a significant part of 2016 performance was of a permanent nature, which means that the 2018 gap was reducing. "This is what elementary economic rationale dictates and I hope that the institutions will accept it. It is incomprehensible that they insist on a fiscal gap and demand additional measures when all official figures show exactly the opposite. I hope this time they will not ignore reality and will review their forecasts," he said. Commenting on the risk of a big delay in concluding the second review, Koutentakis said: "I do not think it is possible to have such a long delay, unless some of the creditors wish to undermine the government and the programme. In such a case, I would worry more about the impact on the real economy and less about cash needs."

"Voting precautionary fiscal measures for 2019 was an unprecedented political demand which obviously surpassed what has been agreed and does not serve any fundamental necessity. In any case, the government deals with this situation calmly and negotiates to find a mutually acceptable solution. I am optimistic that such a solution will be found soon, for the benefit of Greek citizens and to save any political decency left to European institutions," he noted.

[18] Taxpayers' arrears to the state up 1.278 bln euros in Dec

[19] Second review delay "credit negative' for Greek banks

Moody's said that a continuing delay in concluding a second review was credit negative for Greek banks since it put at risk their restructuring programes, including their basic axis to reduce NPEs by around 40 pct by the end of 2019. It added that a timely implementation of Greek support programe was of crucial importance for economic growth in the period 2017-2019 and to gradually restore depositors' and investors' confidence in the country and its banking system.

The credit rating agency noted that a delay in concluding a second review was focusing on Greece's disagreement to legislate new fiscal measures for the period after August 2018, when a third economic adjustment programe ends. This raised the danger of abandoning banks' strategic planning, as the crisis-hit economy was possible to be negatively affected by a possible freeze in new investments and a credit crunch in the market, Moody's said.

Greek banks want the government to conclude a review of a framework on the management of non-performing loans, expecting this tools to help them to resolve this problem, Moody's said in its Credit Outlook report, adding that concluding the review was also important in allowing Greek banks to improve their funding profile by raising deposits and reducing dependence from the ELA borrowing mechanism.

The credit rating agency said that a long-awaited inclusion of Greek bonds in an ECB's QE programe, expected sometime this spring, also depended on concluding the second review. "A reduction of ELA and higher deposits will contribute to lowering banks' funding cost and boost their profits," Moody's said.

Moody's warned that any further delay in the second review had the risk of not allowing banks to implement their restructuring plans and to return to profitability. "Such a scenario could place banks into a more vulnerable position ahead of a new round of stress tests to be conducted by ECB in 2018, significantly raising risks for creditors and depositors," Moody's noted.

[20] Out-of-court compromise procedure to be offered to all enterprises

The sources said that this is an integrated, quick and economical solution offered for the first time with an out-of-court procedure, allowing a company tosettle all debts to all creditors, ie banks, tax agency, insurance funds and suppliers.

With the consent of the majority of creditors a company can achieve a sustainable solution that is imposed on the minority.

Also with a clever but indirect way (with a minimum quorum) banks are forced to come to the negotiation table and to find durable solutions. Arrangements and debt write-offs are also envisaged to the public, ie tax authorities and social security funds, to the benefit of both businesses which will continue to operate, and the public which will continue to collect debts from viable enterprises that will avoid bankruptcy. Also for the first time the actual company's repayment ability is assessed and a repayment plan of all debts will be formed based on this (and not vice versa as hitherto in practice). The law may benefit all small, medium and large companies and individual businesses, but not part self-employed professional, since they have the opportunity to qualify for the benefits of a Katseli law.

Economy ministry sources said that with regard to banking executives and civil servants involved in debt settlement procedures the new bill will not offer immunity, but protection from lawsuits. Each complaint will be checked by the general inspector of Public Administration for civil servants and the Bank of Greece for bank employees.

[21] Greek commerce wants reduction of bank charges on POS

ESEE president Vasilis Korkidis, ahead of the obligatory introduction of payment card use from February 1, 2017, asked members of the Confederation to be careful and to select POS providers from the Greek market, avoiding the use of POS from foreign banks to have settlement of their electronic transactions outside the country. "These practices are sliding over capital controls therefore are illegal and bring enterprises face-to-face with huge fines, multiple of the benefit they could have from the use of such POS," Korkidis said.

"The commerce community of the country wants the expanded use of electronic payments by card but it demands a loosening of bank changes and commissions impose on these transactions. Complaints from all over Greece over excessive bank charges, are constantly rising and in several cases the cost of this charge is putting a break on expanding electronic transactions in the country," Korkidis said.

[22] Greece present in NYT Travel Show

Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura inaugurated the Greek pavillion. The general secretary of GNTO, Dimitris Trifonopoulos, the Consul General of Greece in New York, Constantinos Koutras, the consul general of Cyprus, Vassilis Philippou, the President of the Federation of Greek Societies of Greater New York, Peter Galatoulas, the President of the American Hellenic Institute, Nick Laryngakis and representatives of the Diaspora and the Diaspora media participated in the event.

Kountoura presented Greece as a global top destination throughout the year and called on the American people to visit Greece.

The Greek Tourism Minister and the general secretary of GNTO had a series of meetings with tour operators and travel agencies with the view to boosting tourist packages in 2017 and 2018.

[23] Interamerican launches new "Sales Point" network

The "Sales Point" introduces a flexible way of personal communication between a partner and the customer, based on the speed of information and serive, creating a model benchmark center in insurance intermediation. The company has already launched its first "Sales Point" in the Athens Tower square in Ambelokipi. The insurance pavillion offers a wide range of services to customers.

The "Genesis" plan achieved in adding 685 new certified partners in Interamerican's sales network.

Manolis Koutis, head of administration and associated sales offices and in charge of teh first "Sales Point", said Interamerican sought to make it easier to communicate with partners and customers, adding value to its competitive advantages.

[24] Intrasoft supports MITEF Startup Competition

The competition, held for the third time in Greece, offers the opportunity to participants to obtain business know-how through guidance and special laboratories in business skills and to seek partnerships of special importance for their growth course in international markets.

Intrasoft will create a specially planned programe offering services, know-how and networking with the market for one of the companies which will be among the 10 finalists of the competition, focusing on sectors such as Big Data, Internet of Things and Smart Cities.

The company will be selected according to its grades and will be announced in July 2017.

Alexandros Manos, Intrasoft International CEO, said that joining forces with MIT Enterprise Forum Greece was a basic pylon in the framework of Intrasoft's actions for 2017 - Innovation Year.

[25] Greek wine industry needs specialized professionals

"The developing -quantitative but mainly qualitative- wine sector in Greece, needs to find highly educated skilled professionals," says Mr. Iatridis, "who will transfer their knowledge on exports and the promotion of wine, to those who will attend the training course by the Economic University of Athens on "Entrepreneurship in winemaking."

Referring to the importance of the program, where experienced University teachers, as well as top executives and entrepreneurs from the winemaking community, will provide their expertise in the field of Wine Business, Mr. Iatridis observes: "The specialized expertise of people in the wine industry, credited on its work and especially its results, it is necessary to be diffuse to the new generation so as to form a high-level professional basis within universities. It is necessary because global competition demands that a company in the wine industry to adapt to a constantly changing environment. "

For the situation in the export business sector, Mr. Iatridis highlights the remarkable increase exports observed in the "most competitive market in the world, that of North America." "In particular in the US market, there is a significant rise in exports in value (8,226,408 euros/2014 - 10,503,671 euros/2015) by 27.68%, while notable is the increase in export volumes by 16.22% (1,909,945 lt/2014 - 2,219,653 lt/2015)?, he said.

[26] Vouchers and prepaid cards in lieu of pay a form of tax and contribution evasion, private employees union says

It also criticised the companies accepting such vouchers, which it said were chiefly used to replace various categories of overtime pay.

It equally condemned the newly-introduced tactic where companies that had transferred their base to Bulgaria then hired employees in Greece as a foreign firm, with pay arriving in the form of a prepaid card linked to a Bulgarian bank account, thus sidestepping Greek social insurance payments entirely.

[27] Mihalis Sallas a strategic investor in Pancretan Bank

Lyktos Participations participated in a share capital increase plan by Pancretan Bank, after concluding a due diligence - AQR based on a memorandum of understanding signed between the two parties in November 29, 2016.

Pancretan Bank's board unanimously accepted the strategic investor's participation in the bank. This agreement is expected to signal a new dynamic course of Pancretan Cooperative Bank in the future.

[28] Emirates in discussions with MedCruise to boost cruises in the Mediterranean

Piraeus Port Organisation (OLP) along with Cosco will participate in this effort of expansion to the Chinese market.

The Croatian president of MedCruise, Kristijan Pavic, stated that the efforts of boosting the cruise sector will bring results in 2018 and onwards adding that time is needed to organise the market and prepare cruise ships for hosting Asian customers.

He also said that an important problem of the cruise sector is the situation in Turkey as terror attacks along with political instability have hit the sector.

[29] Greek PPI up 5.1 pct in Dec

The statistics service, in a report, attributed this development to a 2.9 pct increase in the domestic market index and a 12.7 pct jump in the external market index in December.

The producer's price index grew 3.3 pct in December from November 2016, from a decline of 3.0 pct recorded in the 2015 period.

The average index in the 12-month period from January 2016 to December 2016 fell 5.7 pct compared with the same period in 2015.

[30] Apollo Investment Holdco raises stake in Astir Palace to 95.05 pct

[31] Greek stocks end sharply down

The composite index of the market dropped 3.53 pct to end at 614.08 points, off the day's lows of 612.59 points. The index lost 7.03 pct in the last two sessions, while the Bank index dropped 13.70 pct over the same period.

The Large Cap index fell 3.67 pct and the Mid Cap index ended 2.40 pct lower. Turnover was an improved 63.42 million euros in volume of 114,336,808 shares.

Sarantis Group was the only blue chip stock to end higher (1.45 pct), while Eurobank (9.25 pct), Piraeus Bank (8.16 pct), PPC (6.37 pct), National Bank (5.86 pct) and Alpha Bank (5.62 pct) suffered the heaviest percentage losses of the day. All sectors ended lower, led by Banks (6.82 pct), Utilities (4.63 pct), Travel (3.61 pct) and Financial Services (3.55 pct). National Bank and Piraeus Bank were the most heavily traded securities of the day. Broadly, decliners led advancers by 76 to 26 with another 30 issues unchanged. Medicon (20 pct), Sidma (19.91 pct) and Lavipharm (10.67 pct) were top gainers, while Kekrops (28.75 pct), AXON Holdings (18.75 pct) and Progressive (17.86 pct) were top losers.

[32] Greek bond market closing report

In interbank markets, interest rates were largely unchanged. The 12-month rate was -0.1 pct from -0.101 pct, the nine-month rate fell to -0.160 pct from -0.159 pct, the six-month rate was -0.244 pct, the three-month rate was -0.328 pct and the one-month rate was -0.372 pct.

[33] ADEX closing report

General News

[34] Top court deputy prosecutor appeals against 2013 court ruling on Artemis Sorras

Sorras is currently facing charges under anti-racism legislation for comments regarding Paralympic athletes and is under investigation for encouraging citizens not to pay their debts to the tax office and social insurance funds.

However, the decision which will be issued will not have legal consequences - that is, it will not annul or alter the 2013 decision because too much time has lapsed. Instead, it will serve as a case law and will prevent Sorras from citing it, if the decision is against him.

Deputy prosecutor Efstathia Spyropoulou also decided that the original ruling lacked detailed justification and had a flawed reasoning, while it also interpreted wrongly article 191 of the penal code on disseminating fake news.

[35] New finds on Keros confirm its important role in antiquity

"The world's earliest maritime sanctuary" as described by British archaeologist Sir Colin Renfrew lies on the remote and uninhabited island of Keros in the southern Cyclades, between the larger centres of Naxos and Santorini, which were also important in the Bronze Age. Kavos is a stony, scrub-covered hillside, Dhaskalio a rocky islet just offshore linked by a now-submerged causeway.

Where the causeway meets the steep slope at Kavos, the most recent excavations have uncovered the stairway, mounting the hillside towards the two areas of "ritual depositions".

Thousands of fragmented parts of cycladic figurines as well as basins and ceramic vessels were found. The most impressive is that no whole figurine has been found or parts that 'fit' together meaning that the parts arrived to Kavos already fragmented.

Moreover none of the over 500 figurine parts or of the 2,500 strange parts of marble basins have not found its other part in any cycladic object found elsewhere.

In 2008 were found on Daskalio the remnants of a 16m-long stone sanctuary dated between 2,500 and 2,400 BC which had been abandoned in 2,000 BC. According to Renfrew it is the largest known building of Early-Cycladic Period which has the most impressive public architecture in Cyclades that is found nowhere else in the wider region of the Aegean Sea.

It was the most important ritual center in the Cyclades in the middle of the Aegean from early 3,000 BC , 500 years earlier that any other ritual center in the prehistoric Aegean, said professor Renfrew.

[36] Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds to play at Ejekt Festival in Athens, organisers say

The last time Cave played in Greece was in 2011, with Grinderman, and before that in 2008 to promote the album "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!" recorded with the Bad Seeds. This year, Cave is touring to promote the album "Skeleton Tree" released in September, 2016.

[37] Roman road remains on Crete to be relocated to different site

Arnaoutakis noted that the contract, with a total budget of 322,500 euros, allows both the protection of cultural heritage and the hospital's expansion. The project will be financed using EU National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) funds.

He announced that a tender for the expansion of the hospital, which will improve health services on the island, is expected to take place in May or June.

[38] Third man dies in Moria hotspot

On Saturday a 45-year old man from Syria was found dead outside his tent in Moria and on Tuesday 24 January a 22 year-old man from Egypt died in Moria.

In both cases the initial autopsy was not able to find the causes of the two men's death. A histological and a toxicological examination was ordered to examine the possibility of fumes or other gases poisoning.

[39] Atomic energy body says no public health risk from radioactive material detected in garbage

The commission said the radioactivity likely came from the excretions of a person who has recently undergone medical treatment involving radioactive ingredients (e.g. treatment of tumors in the thyroid gland), which ended up as household waste.

Attica's waste management organization, which found the radioactive waste, said the first quantity was detected in a garbage truck entering Fylis's waste management unit last Friday. The isotope detected was Iodine-131, at a quantity of 10mSv/h (when the limit is 5mSv/h). A seperate garbage truck unloading at Metamorfosi was found to be carrying radioisotope Indium-111 at a quantity of 19mSv/h (limit is 5mSv/h).

In both cases, the relevant authorities of the environment ministry were notified and EEAE said it has given instructions for the management of this waste which has been isolated in a secure area.

[40] Minor quake jolts Lesvos island

The quake's epicentre was located on the opposite Turkish coasts north of Lesvos in the Edremit (Adramyttium) Gulf between Lesvos and the Turkish coasts.

The seismic activity observed in the region in the last period does not worry the seismologists.

Weather forecast

[41] Partly cloudy on Tuesday

[42] The Monday edition of Athens dailies at a glance

ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: A theatre of provocations in the Aegean

ESTIA: Critical period for Greece

EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: 10 billion euro hole is putting pressure on pensions

TA NEA: Playing with the fire

NAFTEMPORIKI: The impasse brings scenarios for elections

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