Tourist arrivals expected to rebound in '97
NEWS IN DETAIL
Seamen end strike as workers begin a 24-hour stoppage
Greek seamen and dock workers today ended a 10-day strike after intensive
all-night negotiations between the government and the Panhellenic Seamen's
Federation. Sailings to the Greek islands resumed normally, a Merchant
Marine spokesman said.
The stoppage, which paralysed transport and caused hardships to the Greek
islands, involved all ships with Greek crews and kept vessels moored at
port stranding thousands of angry passengers and hundreds of local and
foreign lorries in Greek and Italian ports.
A federation spokesman said their union has accepted "improved government
proposals submitted to them by a committee headed by Merchant Marine
Minister Stavros Soumakis."
The seamen's main demands was preservation of a special tax status for them
since 1955 which the government changed in its tax legislation.
But as the seamen ended their stoppage, Greece's labour unions began a 24-
hour strike called by the Confederation of Greek workers (GSEE) protesting
the government's taxation policies.
The walkout is expected to affect the country's private and public sectors,
including banks, with widespread disruptions in transportation services.
The main demands put by GSEE are the index-linking of tax brackets to
inflation and the increase - to 2 million drachmas - of tax-free income.
Romanian FM in Athens today
Romanian Foreign Minister Adrian Severin will be in Athens today to meet
with his Greek counterpart, Theodoros Pangalos.
Bilateral relations and the situation in the Balkans will be discussed.
Greece to assume command of S-FOR unit containing Greek contingent
Greece will assume command of a unit which includes its contingent in
NATO's Stabilization Force (S-FOR) in Bosnia at the beginning of March,
sources said yesterday.
This will take place after the withdrawal of the Belgian contingent which
heads the unit now. The unit also comprises contingents from Austria and
Luxembourg.
The Greek contingent will be further strengthened, the same sources
added.
Gen. Tzoganis to visit Albania next month
The Chief of the National Defence General Staff Gen. Athanasios Tzoganis
will visit Albania next month for talks expected to lead to a broadening of
an existing Greek-Albanian military accord, defence ministry sources said
yesterday.
Meanwhile, the same sources said that the all-service map exercise code-
named "Alexandros" will be held in early February, and last seven days. The
sources added that Greece and Israel might hold joint military exercises
during the year following a grad ual strengthening in relations between the
armed forces of the two countries.
FM employees on strike today
Foreign ministry employees will go on strike today to protest a government-
planned abolition of a special bonus for staff working in Greek embassies
and consulates abroad. Members of the Diplomatic Employees Union will not
participate in the strike.
New improved cigarette filter to be introduced on Feb. 1
Three Athens-based researchers yesterday formally presented a "revolutionary"
cigarette filter they claim will make smoking less harmful for hundreds of
millions of smokers around the world.
The three university professors unveiled their discovery to Greek and
foreign newsmen at a press conference organised by the Greek Cooperative
Tobacco Industry (SEKAP), the first cigarette producer in the world to
introduce the "bio-filter" in its brands - expected for release on Feb.
1.
The researchers had announced details of their discovery at an international
symposium last week.
The "bio-filter" resembles conventional cigarette filters in appearance,
but its reportedly more innovative design screens out short-lived
carcinogens that ordinary filters do not.
Berisha visit to Athens in March confirmed
Greece's newly appointed Ambassador to Albania, Constantine Prevedourakis,
told reporters yesterday that Greece "is the best advocate of Albania's
approach to Europe," and confirmed news of a forthcoming visit by Albanian
P resident Sali Berisha to Greece.
According to Mr. Prevedourakis, Mr. Berisha is due to visit Greece in
March. His visit follows President Kostis Stephanopoulos' visit to Albania
last March.
Noting that Athens wished that Mr. Berisha could visit Greece at an earlier
date, Mr. Prevedourakis said the Albanian president's visit to Greece "is
serious, and a serious outcome is expected of it."
He noted that Prime Minister Costas Simitis will also visit Tirana.
Reiterating that Greek-Albanian relations were undergoing "a period of
grace," Mr. Prevedourakis also stressed the need to reinforce relations
between the two countries.
EU considers compensation for slaughtered livestock excessive
Greece may be called upon to return hundreds of millions of drachmas to the
European Union, as the Union reportedly considers compensation to Thrace
region farmers whose livestock were slaughtered following outbreaks of
cowpox and foot-and-mouth disease a s too high.
The EU may also implement sanctions on individuals who assessed the damage
and seek a continuation of the "quarantine."
Thousands of livestock animals have been slaughtered in the prefectures of
Kavala, Xanthi, Rhodopi, and Evros.
Drachma slide eases against foreign currencies in 1996
The drachma depreciated in 1996 against all foreign currencies by 0.04 per
cent and against European currencies by 0.36 per cent, according to the
monthly bulletin of weighted parity indices compiled by the Exports
Research and Studies Centre (KEEM).
The corresponding depreciation figures for 1994 were 5.0 per cent and 5.6
per cent respectively, while in 1995, 3.36 per cent and 4.35 per cent.
According to KEEM, the drachma depreciated against all EU member-state
currencies in December 1996 compared to the previous month.
The extent of the drachma's loss in value ranged between 0.02 (Swedish
krona) and 3.5 per cent (pound sterling).
Athens Metro ready by 2000, if problems are timely solved
Representatives of the Olympic consortium, which is overseeing the
construction of Athens' underground metro, yesterday stressed that the
project will be ready before 2000, if delays stemming from recent
archaeological finds in the Metropolitan Cathedral and Keramikos areas are
quickly solved.
The metro officials also said that any differences between the Greek
government and the consortium will be dealt with within the framework of
the existing agreement.
According to the representatives, prior to determining additional costs,
technical solutions must be found to these problems. They added that they
believe the added costs will be equally shared by the consortium and the
state.
Xenia '97 opens
Merchant Marine Minister Stavros Soumakis yesterday evening opened the
"Xenia '97" tourism trade exhibition, noting that the event has contributed
to better promotion of Greece's tourism sector.
Mr. Soumakis said his ministry contributed actively in the nation's tourism
development through efforts to upgrade ports around the country.
Xenia '97 is held under the auspices of the development ministry and the
Greek Tourism Organisation.
Prospects for Athens bourse outlined
Prospects for the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) was the focus of a speech by
Alexis Pilavios, chairman of the Association of Institutional Investors and
Managing Director of "Alpha Investments" at a meeting in Athens yesterday,
sponsored by Delos Communicat ions.
Some of the problems still facing the ASE, he said, included a lack of
specialised, experienced personnel on the administrative committee,as well
as delays in distributing information on companies' financial status. In
addition, the fact that there are a large number of companies (230) with
small numbers of shares has resulted in a lower liquidation of shares,
which translates into a large gap between buying and selling prices. This,
he added, was not representative of the existing supply and demand.
Moreover, the market had been given a bad name by the considerable
speculation resulting from the small number of liquidations, combined with
the existence of unjustified fluctuations of trading of shares (plus or
minus 8 per cent).
However, with a larger number of specialist personnel joining its
management, along with the distribution of quarterly financial reports to
begin in fall 1997, Mr. Pilavios felt the ASE's prospects would improve.
"With an improvement of the infrastructure of the (ASE), higher liquidity
and lower interest rates, a new market will emerge which will attract
growth companies," he predicted, noting the importance of the entrance of
shipping and insurance companies to the future of the bourse.
In the long-term, Mr. Pilavios believes that after the introduction of the
Euro, larger European companies will be attracted to the idea of a unified
European stock market, with smaller companies joining regional stock
exchanges with limited investments .
"The Greek stock exchange seems secure as long as the Greek economy is able
to catch up with the rest of the economies of other European Union members,
" he concluded.
Ouzo producer sold to French multi-national
The sale of the Lesvos-based Epom company, which produces the ouzo brands
Mini, Lesvos and Fimi, to the multi-national Pernod-Ricard group was
officially announced on the eastern Aegean island yesterday.
"The administrations of the Pernod-Ricard group and the Epom company
announce that a cooperation agreement has been concluded in principle and
in the framework of which the Pernod-Ricard group, through its subsidiary
SEGM, will participate in the share capital of Epom, and at the same time
it will proceed through its international distribution network to develop
the company's ouzo products, and in particular, the ouzo Mini..." an
announcement read.
The announcement further said that the only obstacle remaining to finalise
the deal is its approval by the development ministry's competition
committee.
The company's pricetag, according to reports, was approximately five
billion drachmas, while the entire deal was concluded only two days ago
when representatives of the French multinational company visited installations
in Mytilene.
Tourist arrivals expected to rebound in '97
The second quarterly report of the newly established Institute of Tourist
Research and Forecasts (ITEP) forecasts a significant recovery in Greece's
tourism sector this year.
On the basis of conservative estimates, ITEP, which belongs to the
Hoteliers' Chamber of Greece and is headed by Athens University professor
Panayiotis Pavlopoulos, says the increase in tourist arrivals will be in
the order of 8 to 10 per cent in relati on to 1996.
If realised, it is estimated that the corresponding increase in foreign
exchange receipts will amount to US$500 million, with a 1 per cent increase
in national income - about one-third of the expected GDP increase.
It is also projected that tourists from the emerging markets of central and
eastern Europe will especially contribute to the increase, while the
lifting of the embargo on the former Yugoslavia alone could result in a 5
per cent (roughly 500,000) rise in arrivals.
WEATHER
Fair weather is forecast for most of Greece today with some clouds in
central and eastern Greece, Thessaly, northern Crete and eastern parts of
the Peloponnese. Athens will be sunny to partly cloudy and temperatures
between 7-12C. Same for Thessaloniki with temperatures between 1-9C.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
(closing rates - buying) US dlr. 254.636
Pound sterling 421.580 Cyprus pd 518.816
French franc 45.943 Swiss franc 177.563
German mark 154.901 Italian lira (100) 15.964
Yen (100) 213.885 Canadian dlr. 190.028
Australian dlr. 196.857 Irish Punt 410.688
Belgian franc 7.514 Finnish mark 53.014
Dutch guilder 137.967 Danish kr. 40.672
Swedish kr. 35.627 Norwegian kr. 38.946
Austrian sh. 22.064 Spanish peseta 1.865
Portuguese escudo 1.559
(C.E.)
