Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 99-08-21

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 21/08/1999 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

• Greece sends more aid to quake-stricken Turkey
• Kranidiotis calls on Turkey to abandon nuclear reactor plans
• Initiative to counter overcharging of taxi passengers
• Patriarchate elects new Archbishop of America
• Arrest for kidnap of Polish woman
• Hyatt Regency to launch IPO August 31
• Equities end week with gains
• Bond auction next week
• Weather
• Foreign exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

Two more Greek air force C-130 aircraft left Elefsina on Friday for Istanbul with 14 nurses of the Hellenic Red Cross and a three-member "Doctors of the World" team to help quake relief efforts.

The aircraft are also carrying 15 tonnes of humanitarian aid, including medical supplies, bedding, tents, two mini-buses and three tonnes of flame retarding agent to be used in the fire at Turkey's biggest refinery in Izmit.

A group from the "Doctors of the World" organisation today called on Turkish Ambassador in Athens, Ali Tuygan, who expressed the gratitude of the Turkish people for their valuable support.

Tuygan described the quake which hit northwest Turkey early on Tuesday as "the biggest catastrophe of the century".

Kranidiotis calls on 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.

Initiative to counter overcharging of taxi passengers

A tax association in the northern city of Thessaloniki on Friday announced an initiative aimed at informing visitors about the correct fare they should pay in order to prevent them being swindled by unscrupulous drivers.

As of Saturday, a large map of northern Greece showing the major cities, ports, archaeological sites and border posts with the distances in kilometres from "Macedonia" international airport in Thessaloniki will be on display at the airport.

Next to it will be a schedule of taxi fares to these destinations.

The initiative belongs to the "Hermes" taxi association, which created the map in cooperation with Thessaloniki prefectural authorities as part of an effort to counter gross overcharging by a handful of taxi drivers.

It is also within the framework of a campaign by Thessaloniki prefecture and the Greek National Tourism Organisation to boost tourism to Thessaloniki and northern Greece in general.

Presenting the map at a news conference in Thessaloniki, "Hermes" president Paris Kissas told a news conference that his association would propose to the Transport Ministry that the map initiative be adopted also in other cities, including Athens.

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.

Arrest for kidnap of Polish woman

The police on Saturday announced the arrest of a Greek man who is to be charged with kidnapping in a sordid case involving a Polish woman who disappeared one week ago.

A Polish friend of the victim, Christostov Tabor, had informed police that Monika-Anetta Sagratsuk, 34, disappeared on August 15 after going to the beach with a Romanian girlfriend.

Soon after, Sagratsuk telephoned the bar where she worked in Koukaki and clearly distressed, told the owner, Theologos Tsandiris, that she had been kidnapped.

A man then took the phone and told Tsandiris that he wanted 250,000 drachmas ransom to release Sagratsuk or he would kill her.

According to the police, on August 17 the kidnappers 'sold' Sagratsuk to Michail Diakoumakos, owner of a bar in Areopolis, Laconia, for 300,000 drachmas.

Sagratsuk was then taken to Areopolis in a taxi driven by Drakoulis Kalapotharakos, together with two foreign women from Romania and Moldova.

Kalapotharakos handed the passports of the three women to Diakoumakos who took them to his home in Charia, Laconia.

Diakoumakos then decided that Sagratsuk was not 'suitable' for bar work and phoned Tsandiris, demanding 300,000 drachmas.

A meeting was set up and Sagratsuk was released after Tsandiris had handed over 200,000 drachmas, promising Diakoumakos that he would pay the rest on August 23.

The police then arrested Kalapotharakos at the home of Diakoumakos, but the latter managed to escape after hitting one of the arresting officers.

At the home of Diakoumakos, the police found four hand grenades, five handguns, one semi-automatic weapon, knives, handcuffs and a shotgun.

The police also found five foreign women at the house, three from Moldova and two from Romania, who said they were being kept against their will.

Kalapotharakos is due to appear before a public prosecutor in Athens.

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.

Equities end week with gains

Equity prices ended the week with gains resuming their upward trend following Thursday's correction fall.

The general index surpassed the 4,900 level once again, ending 1.10 percent higher at 4,939.69 points. Turnover was 289.208 billion drachmas.

Dealers said persistent high liquidity helped the market to easily overcome any profit-taking move. Analysts expect the market to break the 5,000 level sometime next week.

Sector indices ended as follows: Banks (-0.12 pct), Insurance (+6.42 pct), Construction (+6.65 pct), Miscellaneous (+1.90 pct), Leasing (+7.06 pct), Holding (+2.03 pct), Investment (+6.49 pct) and Industrials (+0.74 pct).

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks rose 3.66 percent while the FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 0.13 percent off at 2,693.63 points.

Broadly, advancers led decliners by 235 to 55 with another seven issues unchanged.

A total of 82 shares ended at the day's 8.0 percent limit up, while only one (Agrinio Metaplastics) ended at the day's limit down.

Ergo Invest and Hellenic Petroleum were the most heavily traded stocks.

National Bank of Greece ended at 22,200 drachmas, Alpha Credit Bank at 22, 750, Commercial Bank at 27,060, Ergobank at 30,200, Titan Cement at 34,990, Hellenic Petroleum at 3,010, Intracom at 22,740, Minoan Lines 7,090, Panafon at 8,470 and Hellenic Telecoms at 6,430.

Bond auction next week

The finance ministry will auction a seven-year bond issue, worth 120 billion drachmas, in paperless form next Tuesday, August 24.

The issue pays an annual coupon of 6.0 percent. The auction will be held in the domestic market of primary dealers.

WEATHER

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

Monday's rates (buying)
U.S. dollar          304.276
Pound sterling       491.873
Japanese yen (100)   272.145
French franc          49.420
German mark          165.748
Italian lira (100)    16.742
Irish Punt           411.618
Belgian franc          8.036
Finnish mark          54.522
Dutch guilder        147.105
Danish kr.            43.588
Austrian sch.         23.559
Spanish peseta         1.948
Swedish kr.           36.942
Norwegian kr.         39.263
Swiss franc          202.904
Port. Escudo           1.617
Can. dollar          203.062
Aus. dollar          193.103
Cyprus pound         561.412
Euro                 325.810

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article