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Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 99-08-20Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr>NEWS IN ENGLISHATHENS, GREECE, 20/08/1999 (ANA)MAIN HEADLINES
NEWS IN DETAILPM repeats goal of timely euro zone entryPrime Minister Costas Simitis yesterday repeated his government's target of taking the country into the European Union's euro zone by January 1, 2001. "The government's policy is unwaveringly oriented towards meeting the strategic goal of economic and monetary union in line with the timescale set," Mr. Simitis said. He was addressing a meeting with the Federation of Greek Industry's leaders that was also attended by Development Minister Evangelos Venizelos and the premier's economic adviser, Tassos Yiannitsis. Mr. Simitis also promised stability in government policy. Decisions to be taken in areas including tax relief, health and combatting cri-me would remain within the fra-mework of policy already announced, he said. Agreement was rea-ched at the meeting on policies ne-eded to achieve economic growth and maintaining competitiveness after euro zone entry. Priority should be given to tackling unemployment and improving the government's national action plan on employment; industry should continue to show pr ice restraint in order to aid the government's counter-inflation drive, the officials said. Deal signed for Olympics accomodation The 2004 Olympics organising committee yesterday signed an agreement worth 100 million dollars that will secure 25,000 rooms in Attica for visitors to the Olympiad hosted by Athens. The pact, forged under the aegis of the development ministry, was signed by the committee, the Greek National Tourism Organisation and the Union of Attica Hoteliers. Development Minister Evangelos Venizelos told reporters that the contract would be sent to parliament for ratification after hotels selected by the committee to take part in the arrangement had signed a commitment. Mr. Venizelos welcomed the agreement, saying that the issue of hospitality had been resolved five years before the start of the games. He added that an agreement would be reached in September to introduce an internationally recognised star categorisation system for Greek hotels. Turkey visibly moved by Greece's humanity The President of Turkey's National Assembly, Yadirim Akbulut, sent a letter to his Greek counterpart, Apostolos Kaklamanis, thanking him for the interest shown by the Greek Parliament in efforts to alleviate the repercussions of the devastating earthquake which has claimed thousands of lives in Turkey. In the letter, Mr. Akbulut expressed his appreciation "for the spirit of solidarity which the Greek Parliament has shown, particularly regarding the despatch of medical assistance for the victims of the earthquake". Greece was quick to send humanitarian assistance to neighbouring Turkey, including firefighting aircraft, foodstuffs, clothing, medical supplies and personnel and special teams with expertise in extricating quake victims from collapsed buildings. Athens Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos said that the response of the Athenians to his appeal for the collection of humanitarian aid for the quake victims was touching. The project for the collection of the humanitarian aid by the Athens municipality has been symbolically named "Greek Solidarity Operation" and includes food and clothing items, medicine and tents. Turkey's Ambassador to Athens Ali Tuygan in a letter to Mr. Avramopoulos expressed the gratitude and appreciation of the Turkish people and said that "it is particularly important and encouraging for people to discover that during tragic and diffucult times their neighbours and allies are standing by them extending a helping hand". Eastern Macedonia and Thrace regional governor Stavros Kambelis said that a Coordination Centre for humanitarian aid to Turkey was starting operation in Komotini, with the participation of all prefects and municipalities of Thrace and Eastern Macedonia. Meanwhile, the General Air Staff announced the departure for Istanbul on Thursday of another Greek C-130 transport aircraft carrying four Greek doctors, members of the "Doctors of the World" organisation, as well as a truckload of medical supplies. Kranidiotis tells Turkey to abandon nuclear reactor plans Foreign Undersecretary Yiannos Kranidiotis called on Turkey to abandon plans to build a nuclear reactor following the recent devastating earthquake that killed more than 4,000 people. " A nuclear power plant would pose a great danger because the site of the plant in Akkuyu, is in an earthquake-prone area," Mr. Kranidiotis said in a private radio interview yesterday. Theodorakis says he wants to withdraw from public life World renowned Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis yesterday said he has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and that he is preparing to withdraw from public life and become an ordinary Athenian citizen. Speaking at a press conference organised for the preparations of the "Prespes 99" Festival cultural events on August 27, 28 and 29, Mr. Theodorakis said that his participation in the events would be his penultimate public appearance, while the last one is to take place with the presentation of the "Ant igones" opera at the Athens Music Hall. The initiative to support the famous composer's candidacy for the Nobel Peace Prize has been taken by more than 200 intellectuals, he said. Mr. Theodorakis is scheduled to depart for the Eastern Aegean island of Ikaria today, 50 years after his exile th ere, because as he said "this is something I have to do". Patriarchate elects new Archbishop of America The Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul yesterday unanimously elected Dimitrios of Vreshteni as the new Archbishop of America, an ANA dispatch from Istanbul said. Earlier in the day the Synod had accepted the resignation sumbitted by the Archbishop of America Spyridon, who was elected to the post of the Metropolitan of Chaldea. The new Archbisop of America, who comes from the Church of Greece, is scheduled to arrive at the Fanar, the Seat of the Orthodox Church in Istambul today for the ceremony. Former Archbishop of America Spyridon earlier yesterday confirmed his resignation following a long period of tension among the Orthodox faithful in the Archdiocese of America, according to an ANA despatch from Montreal. In a laconic statement to the ANA, Mr. Spyridon said he hoped "the future decisions of the Mother Church will prove to be for the good of Orthodoxy and Hellenism of America". He said he was grateful for having been given the opportunity to contribute "to this holy cause" from his position as Archbishop of America. Mr. Spyridon declined to comment on the reasons for his resignation, but circles in the Greek-American community said the second change in just three years of the prelate holding the post would create further problems for the ethnic Greek community in A merica. The Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul had for some time been receiving reports from Greek-American groups condemning Spyridon's handling of affairs and claiming that he was "allied" with a particular section of the ethnic Greek commu nity. Earlier this year, Mr. Spyridon attributed the tension to "defamation" by a small group of his "enemies". The Ecumenical Patriarchate's Holy Synod unanimously elected Spyridon as Archbishop of America on July 30, 1996. The Synod is due to convene in Istanbul this eveninng to name Mr. Spyridon's replacement. Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Christodoulos said that the election of Mr. Dimitrios to the post "is an excelent choice and because of his spiritual, theological, practical and mental abilities it heralds a rebirth of the Greek-Orthod ox Church of America, with the help of God." Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Grigoris Niotis, responsible for issues concerning ex-patriate Greeks, called on Greeks in the United States to unite around their new church leader, thus securing the peace and the unity of Hellenism and Orthodoxy. He added that "it is an autonomous and final decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the of the Holy Synod, which was arrived at following a responsible way of weighing all elements." Police nab 300 illegal aliens in Athens swoop Scores of police and riot-squad officers yesterday conducted a surprise operation in Athens which produced 300 arrests of aliens who did not have the required official documentation with them. The operation took place in central Athens Syntagma square and the neighbourhoods of Kypseli and Kallithea. Hyatt Regency to launch IPO August 31 Hyatt Regency Hotels and Tourism (Thessaloniki) SA is to begin an initial public offer (IPO) on August 31 for entry into the Athens bourse's main market. The company is seeking to tap the market for 7.0 billion drachmas through the issue of one million shares at 7,000 drachmas each. At the same time, its main shareholder, Hellenic Casinos Company, will sell 3.5 million shares in a public offer and another 225,000 shares to staff through a private placement, also at 7,000 drachmas per share. Hyatt Regency will use the IPO proceeds to pay off bank loans, install 211 new slot machines at its Thessaloniki casino, and boost operating capital. The company owns the casino and the Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki, a luxury hotel that opened in April. The casino, the firm's main source of revenue, reported pre-tax profits of 5.6 billion drachmas in the first half of the year, more than double the previous year's figure for the same period. Hyatt Regency said that it had invested 43 billion drachmas in northern Greece. It plans to build a luxury hotel in Athens next to the Olympic Stadium. Stocks end lower in profit-taking Equity prices succumbed to profit-taking to end substantially lower yesterday, ending a 12-session record rally which pushed the market 15 percent higher. Dealers said the fall was a normal correction in prices and a necessary move before the next attempt to break the 5,000 point level, possibly next week. Analysts expect the market to fall to 4,700 points during its current correction. The general index ended 1.48 percent lower at 4,885.56 points, off the day's lows. Blue chip stocks in the banking and industrial sectors came under heavy pressure, while stocks in the investment and leasing sectors attracted heavy demand. A total of 140 shares ended at their highest levels in 1999. Sector indices ended as follows: Banks (-1.94 pct), Insurance (-1.88 pct), Construction (+0.78 pct), Miscellaneous (-2.21 pct), Leasing (+5.33 pct), Investment (+1.93 pct), Industrials (-1.53 pct) and Holding (-1.97 pct). The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended 0.16 percent higher while the FTSE/ASE 20 index fell 2.0 percent to 2,697.17 points. Turnover was 278.076 billion drachmas with 36,970,333 shares changing hands. Broadly, advancers led decliners by 161 to 127 with another nine issues unchanged. A total of 37 shares ended at the day's 8.0 percent limit up. Unifon and Ergo Invest were the most heavily traded stocks while Unifon, National Bank, Hellenic Telecoms and Mytilineos led the day's turnover. National Bank of Greece ended at 22,200 drachmas, Alpha Credit Bank at 22, 620, Commercial Bank at 27,100, Ergobank at 30,860, Titan Cement at 34,750, Hellenic Petroleum at 3,150, Intracom at 22,605, Minoan Lines at 7,200, Panafon at 8,670 and Hellenic Telecoms at 6,520. Budgetary spending within annual target Budgetary spending increased 4.1 percent in the seven month period from January to July 1999, down substantially from a rise of 12.9 percent in the corresponding period of last year, and below a target for annual growth of 5.5 percent, the finance ministr y said yesterday. The ministry said in a statement that growth in primary budget spending also slowed to 4.1 percent in the first seven months of the year compared with an increase of 12.2 percent in the same period of 1998. More spectacular was a decline in the growth of public debt interest payments to 9.9 percent in the seven-month period, compared with 16 percent and 26.5 percent in the first six- and five-month periods of the year respectively. The government has set a target for an annual growth rate of 2.4 percent for public debt interest payments this year. Budgetary revenue increased by 12.4 percent in January to July, up from an annual target of 6.1 percent. Strintzis Lines posts H1 profit jump Strintzis Lines, a listed passenger shipper, yesterday reported that net profits jumped by 187 percent to 768 million drachmas in the first half from 267 million drachmas in the same period of 1998. First half turnover rose to 8.9 billion drachmas from 7.4 billion drachmas a year earlier, marking a rise of 21 percent. The company is currently carrying out an investment plan of 95 billion drachmas. WEATHERHot, sunny weather with high temperatures is forecast throughout the country today. Winds weak and in the Aegean northerly to moderate. Athens will be sunny and hot with temperatures between 25-40c. Same in Thessaloniki with temperatures from 23-3C.FOREIGN EXCHANGEFriday's rates (buying) U.S. dollar 307.867 Pound sterling 493.341 Japanese yen (100) 275.895 French franc 49.403 German mark 165.688 Italian lira (100) 16.736 Irish Punt 411.467 Belgian franc 8.033 Finnish mark 54.502 Dutch guilder 147.050 Danish kr. 43.579 Austrian sch. 23.550 Spanish peseta 1.947 Swedish kr. 37.053 Norwegian kr. 39.501 Swiss franc 202.556 Port. Escudo 1.616 Can. dollar 206.832 Aus. dollar 195.712 Cyprus pound 561.313 Euro 324.057(C.E.) Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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