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Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 99-08-04Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr>NEWS IN ENGLISHAthens, Greece, 04/08/1999 (ANA)MAIN HEADLINES
NEWS IN DETAILGreece expresses support for Robertson candidacy to head NATODeputy Defence Minister Dimitris Apostolakis on Tuesday stated Greece's support for the candidacy of British Defence Minister George Robertson to the post of NATO Secretary General, while at the same time refuting recent British and German press reports citing alleged reservations by Athens. "Mr. Robertson is a known personality and we believe that he will appropriately meet his responsibilities, with the difficulties he will face during this exceptionally difficult period for NATO," Mr. Apostolakis told the BBC. The deputy defence minister said he hoped the other NATO member-states would consent to the Robertson candidacy in order to secure the necessary unanimity required for the British minister's appointment to "this particularly demanding office, now that t he alliance is going through a reconstruction and redefinition phase". Kranidiotis begins talks in Israel Alternate Foreign Minister Yiannos Kranidiotis, who arrived on an official visit in Israel Tuesday, is scheduled to meet today with counterpart David Levy and the minister to the prime minister's office, Chaim Ramon, for talks on bilateral relations, conditions in the region and an upcoming Israeli-Palestinian meeting in Athens. He is also expected to meet with the President of the Palestinian Authority Yasser Arafat. Soccer offices firebombed A fire-bomb exploded outside the offices of the Union of Soccer Clubs in the port city of Piraeus at dawn on Wednesday, causing extensive damage but no injuries. The bomb, comprising propane cannisters, had been planted at the entrance of the Union's first-floor offices in an apartment building. The ensuing fire quickly engulfed the offices, causing widespread damage in a matter of minutes, before being extinguished by the Fire Brigade. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Romanian crushed to death in theft attempt A Romanian lorry driver who tried to strip a German truck of its tyres was crushed to death when the vehicle fell on him, police said on Wednesday. The accident occurred shortly after midnight in the northern Greek port city of Thessaloniki. Police said Nicolae Marin, 31, was found dead this morning under the truck with German licence plates. The Romanian's truck, which had other stolen tyres inside, was parked right next to the German vehicle. See nature's "black-out" on the Black Sea Greece's biggest cruise ship company, Royal Olympic Cruises, announced on Wednesday that it would be putting on special cruises in the Black Sea on the occasion of a total eclipse of the sun next week. The company said four of its vessels would carry passengers to the Black Sea, an area where the last total eclipse of the millennium on August 11 will be total. Scientists from NASA, specifically astronauts Scott Carpenter and Ronald Parise, who will be aboard one of the cruise ships - "Olympic Countess" - with special equipment, will transmit clips of the eclipse on the Internet (http://www.eclipse99.nasa.gov). Tax squad finds major violations by SA firms The government's financial crimes squad reported yesterday that spot checks on 335 companies had uncovered tax violations totalling more than 13 billion drachmas. The companies in Athens and Thessaloniki were found to have obtained fraudulent invoices and entered them in their books in order to beef up expenses, thereby reducing income tax and value added tax liabilities. "The findings of the tax squad's checks demonstrate the government's determination to combat tax evasion. The state now possesses effective control mechanisms to ensure proper enforcement of tax legislation, protecting honest taxpay-ers," National Economy and Finance Minister Yiannos Papantoniou told reporters. Stocks creep up in directionless trade Equities ended slightly higher yesterday in the wake of seven straight declines but trade was directionless as players await the outcome this week of a takeover bid for Ergobank, a blue chip on the bourse. The general index ended 0.38 percent higher at 4,328.79 points from 4, 312.25 points in the previous session. Turnover was 156.593 billion drachmas from 159.974 billion drachmas a day earlier. Changing hands were 26,884,926 stocks. Sector indices ended as follows: Banks (+0.71 pct), Leasing (+0.43 pct), Insurance (+5.19 pct), Investment (+0.08 pct), Construction (+0.68 pct), Industrials (+0.35 pct), Miscellaneous (-0.36 pct) and Holding (-3. 00 pct). The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended 2.56 percent higher. The FTSE/ASE 20 index for heavily traded stocks and blue chips rose 0.21 percent to finish at 2,478.20 points. Of 284 shares traded, advances outpaced declines at 162 to 120 with 12 issues unchanged. National Bank of Greece ended at 21,250 drachmas, Alpha Credit Bank at 21, 450, Bank of Piraeus at 8,670, Ergobank at 30,045, Titan Cement (commom) at 30,450, Hellenic Petroleum at 2,820 and Intracom (common) at 20,190 drachmas. Mutual fund assets total Dr 10.4 trillion in July Assets of the country's 190 mutual funds totalled 10.4 trillion drachmas in July, up 2.7 per cent on the previous month, the Union of Institutional Investors said on Tuesday. Contributing to the rise was an increase in the assets of domestic equity funds by 312.22 percent since the beginning of the year, the union said in a statement. Merchant fleet gains tonnage The country's merchant fleet gained 70,000 tonnes in July, the merchant marine ministry said on Tuesday. Joining the Greek flag were six vessels, while four ships departed the register, leading to a net gain. It was the second straight monthly rise for the fleet, the ministry said in a statement. Petzetakis shows profit jump The Petzetakis plastics group has more than doubled consolidated profits to 959 million drachmas in the first half from 413 million drachmas in the same period last year, despite provisions of 750 million drachmas for contingencies and increased depreciat ion. The group's gross profits represented 37.3 percent of sales. The debt-to- equity ratio was 1.44, and is expected to improve further after a planned share capital increase pending shareholders' approval. Hellenic Petroleum on Skopje refinery issue Following recent press reports on the issue, Hellenic Petroleum S.A. yesterday issued a press release outlining its policy goals for Skopje's OKTA oil refinery, of which it recently acquired control. Hellenic Petroleum said its expressed policy is to tap into energy sector investment opportunities in SE Europe, and that within this strategy, the group purchased a majority stake in the OKTA refinery and decided on the construction of a Thessaloniki-S kopje oil pipeline. "It should be understood that the aim of Hellenic Petroleum is the creation of such investment structures, which will ensure the development of the energy market in the region," the press release stated. WEATHERFair weather is forecast throughout most of the country today, but clouds are expected towards evening with rain and storms mainly in the north. Winds will be northerly, light to moderate and strong in the Aegean. Athens will be sunny with few clouds in the evening and temperatures ranging from 22-33C. Fair weather in Thessaloniki and cloudy with rain or storms in the evening with temperatures from 21-31C.FOREIGN EXCHANGEWednesday's rates (buying) U.S. dollar 303.304 Pound sterling 490.246 Japanese yen (100) 262.741 French franc 49.240 German mark 165.145 Italian lira (100) 16.681 Irish Punt 410.120 Belgian franc 8.007 Finnish mark 54.324 Dutch guilder 146.569 Danish kr. 43.396 Austrian sch. 23.437 Spanish peseta 1.941 Swedish kr. 36.906 Norwegian kr. 38.122 Swiss franc 202.046 Port. Escudo 1.611 Can. dollar 202.051 Aus. dollar 197.954 Cyprus pound 559.131 Euro 322.955(S.S.) Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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