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Athens News Agency: News in English (AM), 99-09-21Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr>NEWS IN ENGLISHATHENS, GREECE, 21/09/1999 (ANA)MAIN HEADLINES
NEWS IN DETAILPapandreou-Cem discuss joint initiative to tackle natural disastersForeign Minister George Papandreou and his Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem yesterday discussed in New York preparations for a joint initiative based on the two countries' recent experience with earthquakes. The initiative aims at gaining the adoption by the United Nations of a resolution regarding the speedy tackling of natural disasters by the international community. The two ministers will set out their positions during their addresses to the UN General Assembly. Meanwhile, they appointed representatives who will work together ahead of a common statement on the initiative tomorrow. They also discussed various details yesterday pertaining to the ongoing dialogue between officials of the two countries' foreign ministers regarding cooperation on secondary issues. Mr. Papandreou is also scheduled to meet separately with US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Thursday. Speaking to reporters on other issues, the Greek FM denied several Greek press reports claiming that Washington is pressuring Athens on the issue of terrorism. Athens, Istanbul mayors to sign bilateral cooperation protocol Athens Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos and his visiting Istanbul counterpart Ali Mufit Gurduna yesterday agreed to sign a cooperation protocol between the two cities in the sectors of culture, trade and business ties, tourism and technical support. Speaking at a joint press conference at the Athens Town Hall after their meeting, both men underlined what they called the "new paths of friendship" opened to the two peoples in the wake of the devastating earthquakes which struck northwestern Turkey in mid August and the greater Athens area earlier this month. Mr. Gurduna stressed what he termed "a new era of cooperation, understanding and solidarity between the two peoples", adding: "the best cure for pain is love which does not know borders of nationality, religion and other things which separate people." Thessaloniki, Izmir universities sign cooperation accord The universities of Thessaloniki and Izmir have signed a cooperation agreement regarding ecology and the environment in the Aegean, according to a statement. The statement notes that the agreement was signed on the sidelines of the 8th pan-European Ecological Conference "Eureco '99", currently being held in Halkidiki. The agreement is expected to be sent to the prime ministers of both countries so that proposals can be implemented at a government level. The agreement foresees joint research programmes, financed by the European Union, the holding of summer seminars and the creation of a network for information campaigns over protection of the environment. "The aim of the two universities is the study of ecological problems in the Aegean area, both territorial and marine ecosystems," the statement read. Interest rates to remain unchanged, central bank says Interest rates will remain stable in the near future, Bank of Greece governor Lucas Papademos said yesterday. Speaking to reporters after a meeting with National Economy and Finance Minister Yiannos Papantoniou to review monetary policy ahead of an International Monetary Fund meeting, Mr. Papademos said that interest rates would be adjusted when "a sustainable fall in the inflation rate below 2.0 percent", was ensured. The crucial word was sustainability and that would take more time, he added. Mr. Papademos expressed his satisfaction at the stock market's spectacular performance, a development which supported economic growth but underlined the risk of excesses. Simitis: All quake-stricken persons to be housed before winter Prime Minister Costas Simitis yesterday reiterated that all displaced persons from the recent earthquake that struck the greater Athens region will be adequately housed before the onset of winter. "Quake-stricken victims will be housed in pre-fabric ated dwellings and caravans in two months at the latest, in order to face winter. This is a transitional stage, and procedures regarding approval of loans for restoration and repair of quake-stricken houses have already got underway and are being simplifi ed," he said during a visit to several quake-stricken west Athens neighbourhoods, at the head of a ministerial delegation. He stressed that the emergency plan was being applied correctly, while the environment ministry had already placed the orders for the new dwellings. Referring to instances of profiteering in rent prices, Mr. Simitis said controls would be intensified and culprits appropriately sanctioned. Magriotis meets with SAE European region members Macedonia-Thrace Minister Yiannis Magriotis expressed his ministry's support yesterday for the Council of Overseas Hellenes-European Region (SAE) initiatives and efforts during a meeting with members of SAE's and expatriate youth of Europe's administratio ns yesterday. The president of SAE's European youth, Dimitris Pechlivanidis, presented the minister with the Council's activities programme concerning hospitality for 6,000 young expatriate people from Europe at Skotina, Pieria prefecture, the possibility of their ho sting through the exchange programme of the municipalities of Greece and the linking of expatriate young people with youth organisations in Greece. Referring to the hospitality programme in Skotina, which has already got underway, he said that it can be expanded as of the year 2000 and reach 50, 000 expatriate guests. Mantelis to remain at ministry, prosecutor probes Falcon accident The government reiterated yesterday that there was no issue of Transport Minister Tassos Mantelis resigning in the wake of last week's freak air accident over Romania that cost the lives of Alternate FM Yannos Kranidiotis and six others. Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said the premier had instructed Mr. Mantelis to carry on with his duties, as well as the additional task of completing the investigation into the causes of the accident. Meanwhile, Athens public prosecutor Isidoros Dogiakos is continuing his investigation into the circumstances surrounding the accident. The prosecutor may also take additional depositions from the two pilots after the findings from the plane's flight data recorder are released. The French-made plane's "black box" has been sent to Germany for analysis, results of which are expected later this week. The prosecutor is expected to release his findings in 20-25 days' time. Rokofyllos appointed as new alternate foreign minister Christos Rokofyllos, a PASOK deputy for Aetoloakarnania prefecture and former minister, has been appointed as the new alternate foreign minister to replace the late Yannos Kranidiotis, the government spokesman announced yesterday. Spokesman Dimitris Reppas said a swearing in ceremony is scheduled for today. Kranidiotis died in a freak air accident early last week as the prime ministerial Falcon executive jet approached Bucharest airport. Mr. Rokofyllos was born in 1931 and is married with a son and a daughter. A fluent French speaker, he studied law at the universities of Athens and Paris. Mr. Rokofyllos was one of the founding members of the resistance group "Democratic Defence", created in opposition to the advent of the colonels in April 1967. One of his associates in the group was Costas Simitis. Throughout the seven-year dictatorship, he acted as defence lawyer for various resistance figures, while he was first arrested in October 1967 and jailed in isolation. Arrested a second time in June 1969, he was again held in isolation for three months and then detained for a further six months. In 1974, upon the fall of the junta, he was elected to the administrative board of Democratic Defence, which then agreed to join forces with the fledgling PASOK party led by Andreas Papandreou. In 1977, Mr. Rokofyllos was elected to Parliament for the first time from Aetoloakarnania. In October 1981 he was appointed governor of the Agricultural Bank of Greece and a year later, in 1982, ambassador to France. He was elected to PASOK's central committee on Sept. 24, 1990, and named PASOK parliamentary spokesman following the 1993 elections. He was first appointed to government in 1994, when he took over as alternate industry minister, a post he held until 1995. He lost his parliamentary seat in the 1996 elections but returned to the legislature to replace another MP stripped of his seat. In 1997, he was appointed head of the Greek parliamentary representation to NATO and, in April 1999, secretary of the party's foreign affairs and defence department. Successful heart transplantr at Onassion A successful heart transplant was performed on a patient at the Onassion Cardiosurgical Centre on Sunday. The identity of the female patient, aged 43, has been kept anonymous, while physicians said her condition is satisfactory. The donor was listed as a 33-year-old woman who died in a traffic accident. This is the 16th successful heart transplant operation to be carried out at the Athens hospital. Major shareholders to declare transactions Major shareholders will in future be obliged to declare their transactions on the Athens bourse, government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said yesterday. The ruling comes under a government amendment for debate in parliament. Mr. Reppas said that both major shareholders and listed companies should have to declare their transactions so that the daily workings of the bourse became more visible. He added that the Athens Stock Exchange operated autonomously with no government intervention, and that the bourse's president was a government appointee. Bourse authorities debate reforms The board of the Athens Stock Exchange met yesterday to debate changes to rules governing the operation of the bourse. No decisions were taken. Among proposals that could help to improve transparency were the following: Companies should obtain cerfitication from their auditors that funds raised from a share capital increase have been spent as originally announced Companies should inform the Athens bourse of their financial performance. The bourse would notify the public and other media through the Athens News Agency The floor for block trades should rise to 200 million drachmas from 100 million drachmas Companies should inform the bourse of any change in the structure of their share capital The closing share price should represent a weighted average of the stock's price over the last 30 minutes of trade Companies whose stock shows unusual fluctuations should provide the bourse with additional information on their activities. The shares in question would be grouped into a category that is under supervision, which would also include firms who failed to meet their commitments to the bourse or investors. Their share price and method of trading would also differ from other companies. Harmonised inflation drops to 1.6 pct Greece's harmonised annual inflation rate fell to 1.6 percent in August year on year from 1.8 percent in July, the National Statistics Service said yesterday. The harmonised rate has not replaced the national consumer price index but offers figures comparable with those in the European Union. It is also used in the evaluation of the EU convergence criterion and price stability in the euro zone. It differs from the national inflation rate in that it does not include health and education services. Stocks edge down, interrupting rapid ascent Equity prices ended lower yesterday halting a five-day record rally on the Athens Stock Exchange. Warnings by bankers of the dangers of rapidly rising stocks whose ascent was unwarranted by financial performance undermined sentiment in smaller capitalisation stocks and led investors into the safety of blue chips. The general index ended 0.37 percent lower at 6,331.80 points, off the day's lows of 6,307. The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks, however, increased 0.97 percent. Turnover was 500 billion drachmas. Sector indices ended as follows: Banks (+2.54 pct), Insurance (-0.12 pct), Construction (-6.86 pct), Miscellaneous (-3.37 pct), Leasing (-5.37 pct), Investment (+0.23 pct), Industrials (-1.14 pct) and Holding (-5.47 pct). National Bank of Greece ended at 28,295 drachmas, Commercial Bank at 31,300, Alpha Credit Bank at 28,200, Minoan Lines at 9,600, Intracom at 29,000, Titan Cement at 40,000, Hellenic Petroleum at 6,484, Hellenic Telecoms at 7, 700 and Panafon at 9,490. WEATHEROvercast weather will prevail in most parts of the country today with scattered showers in the northern Ionian Sea, Epirus, western, central Greece and Macedonia. Winds variable, moderate to strong. Mostly sunny in Athens with temperatures from 20-30C. Partly cloudy in Thessaloniki with temperatures between 17-28C.FOREIGN EXCHANGETuesday's rates (buying) U.S. dollar 310.784 Pound sterling 504.253 Japanese yen (100) 288.126 French franc 49.387 German mark 165.637 Italian lira (100) 16.731 Irish Punt 411.341 Belgian franc 8.031 Finnish mark 54.486 Dutch guilder 147.005 Danish kr. 43.594 Austrian sch. 23.543 Spanish peseta 1.947 Swedish kr. 37.732 Norwegian kr. 39.603 Swiss franc 201.892 Port. Escudo 1.616 Can. dollar 210.800 Aus. dollar 199.873 Cyprus pound 561.631 Euro 323.957(C.E.) Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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