Athens News Agency: News in English (AM), 97-06-17
NEWS IN ENGLISH
Athens, Greece, 17/06/1997 (ANA)
MAIN HEADLINES
- Premier says EU summit decisions on employment a turning point
- Economy minister: 'no ease-up on economic policy'
- OTE finalises share prices, issues new ones
- Kranidiotis in US for talks on Greek-Turkish relations
- Whitsun holiday death toll hits highs again
- Turkish experts report cites 30 points of dispute
- Parliament President: 'Turkey must stop provocations'
- Young Greek artist receives Biennale prize
- Actor Marlon Brando due in Athens
- Greek athletes shine in Mediterranean Games
- 2004 Olympic Games in Europe, says Samaranch
- Weather
- Foreign exchange
NEWS IN DETAIL
Premier says EU summit decisions on employment a turning point
Prime Minister Costas Simitis said the decisions taken by the EU summit in
Amsterdam yesterday were an important intervention in the European Union's
(EU) policy on employment and the economy.
Mr. Simitis was referring to decisions concerning the inclusion of a
special chapter on employment and the convening of an extraordinary summit
in autumn to discuss the problem.
He attributed these decisions to the "wider majority formulated within the
framework of the EU", following political changes in France and Britain,
where the majority which prevailed after recent elections, have employment
as their focal point.
Mr. Simitis said the EU's 15 member-states decided to outline special
policies to fight unemployment by closer coordination, intensifying of
efforts in providing training for working people, the use of tax measures
and contributions, the creation of a special committee to monitor
developments in the labour market, the reconsideration of old programmes
through renewed funding by the European Investment Bank and the intensifying
of social dialogue.
He said that with these decisions the EU proved that it wants to preoccupy
itself with the problem of unemployment, adding that the Summit Council had
decided to assign ECOFIN with examining the process of political control
over the Central European Bank.
Mr. Simitis said the message was clear in that to date, the EU had
proceeded in the primary direction of stability which, however, was not
enough and an effort must also be made in the direction of development and
employment. He said developments were very sastisfactory, adding that an
important big step was made, but pointed out that "much work is still
required."
Economy minister: 'no ease-up on economic policy'
National Economy Minister Yiannos Papantoniou said there was no question of
easing up economic policy in any European country, adding that the
socialists accept that "economic stability and fiscal restructuring
constitute its foundations".
However, he stressed that these measures were not enough and for this
reason the 15 EU members took the historic decision yesterday of strengthening
employment policy and letting placing political features prevail in
exercising economic policy.
Referring to the decision to assign ECOFIN with submitting a proposal at
the next Summit Council on political control of the Central European Bank,
Mr. Papantoniou said that in all the countries of Europe the central banks
are independent but operate within the framework of parliamentary
institutions and democratic governments.
Mr. Papantoniou added that this cannot take place in the EU and for this
reason it was decided that ECOFIN will elaborate a special plan and submit
it to the Summit in Luxembourg.
Mr. Papantoniou explained that in the framework of employment policy there
is no question of reallocating funds in the EU budget.
Meanwhile, the ECOFIN Council said in a resolution issued yesterday that
the question of employment should remain high on the European Union's (EU)
political agenda.
"It is a priority to give a push towards keeping the issue of employment
steadfastly at the top of the European Union's political agenda," the
resolution said.
"The Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the Stability Pact will
strengthen the internal market and encourage an anti-inflationary
macroeconomic environment with low interest rates, which will strengthen
conditions for economic development and job opp ortunities," it said.
OTE finalises share prices, issues new ones
The final price for shares of the Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation
(OTE) offered on sale last week was settled at 6,600 and 6,400 drachmas for
institutional and private investors respectively, the National Bank of
Greece, Salomon Brothers,and the HSBC Investment Bank announced yesterday.
Due to the strong demand for the new 45-million share issue, which was
oversubscribed three times, the state will issue an additional 2,109,970
shares. An extra 6,330,000 shares will be made available under option
rights to the lead managers. The total issue will amount to 53,439,970
shares.
Demand from domestic private investors amounted to 50 million shares, from
domestic institutional investors to 17.5 million, and from foreign
investors to 82 million, of which 45 per cent came from the US, 23 per cent
from Britain, and 32 per cent from the rest of the world. Domestic private
and institutional investors will receive 35 and 17 per cent of the shares
respectively, and foreign institutional investors 48 per cent.
Meanwhile, at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting held on Saturday, the
board of OTE proposed an increase in the organisation's share capital
amounting to 23,737,436,250 drachmas.
The equity capital increase will take place between June 18 and July 18,
with six new shares for every 80 old ones. A total of 31,649,915 new shares
will be made available to old shareholders at 750 drachmas per share.
The capital to be accumulated by issuing new shares is expected to fund
OTE's investment programme. Over the period covering 1997-2000, OTE plans
to continue modernising the telephone network through an investment
programme amounting to about 1.2 trillion drachmas. It also intends to
invest about 612.5 billion drachmas, or over 50 per cent of the total
investment programme, to convert the existing network to digital.
OTE's investment programme also includes investments in the international
telecommunications network and overall international activities amounting
to 154 billion drachmas.
Kranidiotis in US for talks on Greek-Turkish relations
Foreign Undersecretary Yiannos Kranidiotis will hold talks in Washington on
the Cyprus issue and Greek-Turkish relations with prominent Clinton
administration officials and members of the US Congress.
His scheduled contacts include his US counterpart Thomas Pickering, members
of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Paul Sarbanes (D) and Richard
Lugar (R), and the chairman and members of the House of Representatives
Foreign Relations Committee, Ben Gilman and Lee Hamilton respectively. Mr.
Kranidiotis will also discuss Greek-Turkish relations with National
Security Council director of European Affairs Alexander Versbau.
Mr. Kranidiotis arrived in Washington from Atlanta, where he attended the
sessions of the Bildenberg Club.
Meanwhile, in an interview with the international TV network CNN yesterday,
Mr. Kranidiotis said that a settlement to the protracted Cyprus problem
constituted a prerequisite for the normalisation in Greek-Turkish
relations.
He also expressed the view that now existed an opportunity to resolve the
problem through the European Union's decision to include Cyprus in the next
phase of its enlargement, underlining that the US and the EU had the
responsibility of helping achieve a just and viable solution.
He said that the prevailing political instability in Turkey was a negative
factor in Greece's effort to find a reliable interlocutor on the Turkish
side.
Answering a question on NATO's planned enlargement, he said Greece believed
that enlargement should include Balkan countries in order to secure peace
and stability in this sensitive region.
Whitsun holiday death toll hits highs again
Twenty-two people died and 325 were injured, 17 seriously, in road
accidents over the three-day weekend marking the Whitsun holiday, the
Public Order Ministry said late last night.
Figures since the Friday mass exodus from big cities, showed that there
were 244 car accidents on national and main highways.
Turkish experts report cites 30 points of dispute
The Turkish experts committee report on Greek-Turkish differences mentions
30 points of disagreement between the two countries, Turkish sources said
yesterday.
The report is part of an initiative by Dutch Foreign Minister Hans van
Mierlo, who is presiding over the European Union (EU) Foreign Ministers
Council, calling on Greece and Turkey to submit separate reports of
disputed issues as a means of working towa rds solutions.
In Turkish press reports, the sources critised the Greek committee report,
while a high-ranking Turkish Foreign Ministry official has allegedly stated
that Greece is hampering efforts towards resolving differences between the
two.
Sources also attributed the failure of a recent visit to Athens by Turkish
Undersecretary Onur Oymen and the "freezing" of meetings between Oymen and
Greece's Alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou to a "Greek
manoeuvre".
Parliament President: 'Turkey must stop provocations'
Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis warned Turkey to stop its
provocations towards Cyprus, Thrace and the Aegean, during a visit to the
northern city of Xanthi on Sunday to unveil a monument for Greek refugees.
"We are making it clear to all that no sovereign right of Greece is
negotiable and we are ready to support this decision by any means," he
said.
Referring to the region of Thrace, Mr. Kaklamanis said the state must
intensify its efforts to promote solutions on a series of issues such as
high unemployment and the settlement in Thrace of Pontic Greeks returning
to Greece from other countries.
Young Greek artist receives Biennale prize
The youngest artist in the Greek delegation to the Biennale in Venice,
Alexandros Psychoulis, 31, was awarded the "Prize of sponsors."
His contribution to the exhibition was a multi-media presentation of a
combination of words and images titled 'Black Box".
The prize was given by Italian Culture Minister Valter Veltroni in the
presence of Greek Culture Secretary General Evgenios Yiannakopoulos, Greek
Ambassador to Italy Mr. Frangoulis, art historian Efi Strouza and other
artists.
Alexandros Psychoulis has also participated in the Biennale for Young
Artists in Marseilles in 1990 and in Valencia in 1992.
Actor Marlon Brando due in Athens
American actor Marlon Brando will be the key speaker at a meeting on the
protection of the environment on June 23 in Athens.
Mr. Brando, who has been invited by Eurobank, will speak on the theme
"Environmental dilemmas of our times". Mr. Brando has in recent years shown
great interest in the urgent need for environmental protection.
Greek athletes shine in Mediterranean Games
Greek athletes won a total of five gold, five silver and one bronze medals
in individual sports on the third day of the 13th Mediterranean Games in
Bari, Italy, yesterday.
The gold medals were won by Costas Gatsioudis in the javelin with a throw
of 89 metres and 22 centimetres (a Panhellenic and Mediterranean Games
record and the best performance in the world this year), Katerina Thanou in
the women's 100-metre race who c locked 11 seconds and 13/100 (a Mediterranean
Games record), Angelos Pavlakakis in the men's 100-metre race with 10.13 (a
Panhellenic and Mediterranean Games record), Anastasia Kelesidou in the
discus with a throw of 66 metres and 18/100 (a Panhellenic re cord and the
3rd best performance in the world this year) and Niki Xanthou in the long
jump with a jump of 6 metres and 72 centimetres.
Silver medals were won by Christos Polymerou in the javelin with 77 metres
and 88 centimetres, Leonidas Kokkas in the 91-kg category who lifted 160 kg
in the snatch, the swimmer Dimitris Manganas in the 200-metre freestyle
race with 1:52.89, Stella Tsik ouna in the javelin with 61 metres and 96
centimetres and Dimitris Meletoglou in the triple jump with 16 metres and
50 centimetres. The sole bronze medal was won by Leonidas Kokkas who lifted
197.5 kg in the jerk.
In team events, the Greek soccer team beat San Marino 4-1, while the men's
handball team lost to Croatia 30-24.
In all individual and team efforts, Greece won 25 medals in total -- 11
gold, 9 silver and 5 bronze.
2004 Olympic Games in Europe, says Samaranch
Africa and South America do not seem as likely candidates for hosting the
2004 Olympic Games, Chairman of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
Juan Antonio Samaranch said on Saturday, hinting that the games would be
hosted by a European city.
"Africa and South America do not seem to me to be ready as yet," Mr.
Samaranch said while on a visit to Finland, for celebrations marking the
centennial since the birth of legendary Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi.
Mr. Samaranch declined to name the city favoured to host the 2004 Olympic
Games, saying that he doesn't even take part in the voting by the
Committee.
Athens is one of the bidding European cities, along with Rome and
Stockholm.
WEATHER
Sunny weather with some local clouds, moderate northerly winds and a slight
drop in temperatures is forecast for most parts of Greece today. Athens
will be sunny and cooler with temperatures between 21-33C. Thessaloniki
will also be sunny with few local clouds with temperatures from 19-
32C.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Friday's closing rates - buying
US dlr. 271.927 Pound sterling 443.305
Cyprus pd 527.486 French franc 46.584
Swiss franc 188.311 German mark 157.172
Italian lira (100) 15.993 Yen (100) 237.574
Canadian dlr. 196.515 Australian dlr. 204.491
Irish Punt 413.565 Belgian franc 7.619
Finnish mark 52.530 Dutch guilder 139.743
Danish kr. 41.303 Swedish kr. 35.083
Norwegian kr. 37.662 Austrian sch. 22.348
Spanish peseta 1.860 Port. Escudo 1.554
(C.E.)
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