Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 99-10-30

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

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 30/10/1999 (ANA)

NEWS IN ENGLISH

MAIN HEADLINES

• Hellenic Petroleum eyes electricity before deregulation
• Papandreou, Fischer begins talks on EU Balkan policy
• Mild tremor in Parnitha
• WEU conference praises Greece's role in Balkans
• Greece and Turkey are taking positive steps in ongoing dialogue
• President calls on Ankara to change its position on Cyprus issue
• Gov't says no hitch in Clinton visit preparations
• Alexander the Great gold coin found in Turkey
• Kritikos denies Turkish TV claim he visited northern Iraq Oct. 21
• Central bank releases money supply figures
• Bank of Greece governor optimistic over course of inflation
• Equities end week moderately higher
• Weather
• Foreign exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

THESSALONIKI (ANA) - Hellenic Petroleum, a heavily traded stock on the Athens bourse, is to enter the electricity market ahead of liberalisation of the sector.

Development Minister Evangelos Venizelos told a news conference on Friday that the state-owned corporation planned to build a 15-billion-drachma electricity station with a capacity of 50 megawatts in the Thessaloniki area.

The plant will power Hellenic Petroleum's own installations with the surplus for sale on the open market when deregulation occurs.

Mr. Venizelos, who was inaugurating construction of a polypropylene plant for Hellenic Petroleum, also announced that a bill allowing liberalisation of the electricity market in line with European Union rules will be submitted to parliament in coming da ys.

In another investment, Hellenic Petroleum is to modernise its Thessaloniki refinery at a cost of 150 billion drachmas.

"The refinery is badly lagging the company's Aspropyrgos refinery (near Piraeus) and should now overtake it," the minister said.

He added that the two investments were designed to protect the environment. A working group would be set up by Hellenic Petroleum and local authorities to handle environmental questions.

The two investments are to be funded under the European Union's 3rd Community Support Framework and development ministry programmes.

The polypropylene plant Mr. Venizelos inaugurated cost 49.6 billion drachmas to build. It forms part of a 75-billion-drachma project to achieve vertical integration.

Workers staged a protest at the plant during the inauguration ceremony. They were objecting the the planned closure of an ethlyene unit in the first quarter of 2000 and a reduction in the operations of a caustic soda plant. The minister pledged to look into their grievances.

Finally, Mr. Venizelos said in reply to a reporter's question that Hellenic Petroleum had expressed interest in becoming a strategic investor in Romania's Petrom.

It was seeking an alliance with a sector firm from a European Union country in order to carry out the project, he added.

Papandreou, Fischer begins talks on EU Balkan policy

BERLIN (ANA) - Foreign Minister George Papandreou began talks here on Friday with his German counterpart Joschka Fischer focusing on the European Union`s Balkan policy.

The issue of Turkey`s candidacy for EU accession, in conjunction with safeguarding Cyprus` accession prospects, will be discussed during the "marathon" private talks the two ministers were due to have until final consultations between the two countries' delegations.

After their meeting, the two ministers referred only to the general outline of issues preoccupying them in light of the EU summit in Helsinki in December and, according to Mr. Fischer, a "great degree of convergence" was ascertained.

Mr. Papandreou underlined the role the EU has to play for stability and the establishment of democratic institutions in the Balkans.

Replying to a relevant question by the Athens News Agency, Mr. Fischer assured that it has been made clear to Ankara that "the problems of an EU member-state are collective problems of the EU" and that "the principle of EU solidarity has effect."

"The improvement of relations between Greece and Turkey constitutes an improvement in relations not only between the two countries but an improvement in relations between the EU and Turkey," Mr. Fischer said.

On the question of Cyprus, Mr. Fischer wished "a consenting solution to the problem safeguarded by treaties" in the framework of an overall defusion of tensions in the eastern Mediterranean.

The issue of safeguarding Cyprus' unimpeded accession to the EU is a major issue in the two men's talks in the coming hours.

Mild tremor in Parnitha

A tremor measuring 3.7 on the Richter scale was recorded in Parnitha on Saturday, located in the same area as the epicentre of a major earthquake that hit Athens on September 7.

The Geodynamic Institute of the Athens National Observatory and Thessaloniki University's Geophysics Laboratory both said the tremor, a mild aftershock of the main quake, occurred at 4.54 in the morning.

No damage or injuries were reported.

WEU conference praises Greece's role in Balkans

The conclusions of a conference on the security situation in Southeast Europe that ended in Chania, Crete on Friday contained praise of Greece's role in helping to consolidate peace in the Balkans. The conference, which opened on Wednesday, was organised by the political and defence committees of the Western European Union (WEU). In a resolution adopted by a majority, the members of the WEU Parliamentary Assembly urged the international community to work for the inviolability of existing borders in the Balkans, the protection of minorities in the region with no discrimination and the consolidation of democracy in all Balkan countries. Parliamentary Assembly president Luis Maria de Puig said Greece was the strongest country in the Balkans, both politically and economically, and had already contributed greatly to restoring peace in the region.

Greece and Turkey are taking positive steps in ongoing dialogue

Foreign Minister George Papandreou and his Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem met in Thessaloniki on Wednesday afternoon on the sidelines of a Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) pact foreign ministers conference and expressed satisfaction over the progress made in the talks between senior foreign ministry officials of the two countries. The two men agreed that positive steps have been made and appeared determined to advance the process of Greek-Turkish dialogue. Assessing the course of the discussions which have taken place between the commissions of the two ministries, Mr. Papandreou said "I can say that we are satisfied with the course of these discussions" and that this was an indication that there are many sectors of common interest which could conclude in agreements.

President calls on Ankara to change its position on Cyprus issue

President Kostis Stephanopoulos called on Ankara to take specific steps such as changing its position on the Cyprus issue and accepting UN Security Council resolutions in order for Greece to consent to Turkey's European rapprochement. Speaking in Thessaloniki at the traditional dinner given in his honour by the Commander of the 3rd Army Corps on Wednesday night, on the eve of the traditional military parade for the celebration of the October 28 1940 anniversary, President Stephanopoulos said that "sentiment should not prevail in the country's national interests when, indeed, the neighbouring country is the first to follow this example". He expressed the hope that the European Union will request from Turkey, as a precondition for its candidacy and for Greece's consent for this candidacy, to recognise the importance of human rights and democratic processes applied in the western world.

Gov't says no hitch in Clinton visit preparations

The Greek government on Friday said that no hitch had arisen in preparations for US President Bill Clinton's visit to the country next month. Replying to reporters' questions, government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said Athens had not been the recipient of any expression of concern of any kind from Washington. Asked whether the government intended to take measures to prevent any possible demonstrations, Reppas replied that Greek citizens had the right to freely express their views. "It is the government's belief that the visit should proceed smoothly and for this reason, as always happens in such cases, the competent services take the necessary measures to maintain order," Reppas said, adding that this too would be the case with regard to Clinton's visit to Greece.

Alexander the Great gold coin found in Turkey

A gold coin dating back to the era of Alexander the Great was found in Bodrum, Turkey, during renovation work taking place on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of the Ottoman Empire at the "Ottoman Tower" in the region. According to an announcement by the Turkish mobile telephone company Turksel, which has undertaken to fund the works, "it is a coin from the era immediately after the enthronement of Alexander the Great." The director of Bodrum's museum Oyuz Alpozen told the Turkish news agency Anadolu that one side of the coin, estimated as belonging to the year 336 and weighing 8.6 grams, depicts Athena and the other the name of Alexander written in Greek."

Kritikos denies Turkish TV claim he visited northern Iraq Oct. 21

Parliament vice-president Panayotis Kritikos on Wednesday denied, as "sordidness of Turkish propaganda", claims by a private Turkish television station alleging he had visited northern Iraq on October 21 and met with leading members of the Kurdistan Worke rs' Party. "I do not reply to such kinds of provocations," Mr. Kritikos said of the claims aired by the Turkish private television station NTV. "My presence in Greece on the said date is proved by the Minutes of Parliament, the session of which I attended on the cited date," Mr. Kritikos added. He blasted the claims as "crass, provocative actions".

Central Bank releases money supply figures

Total money supply fell by 237 billion drachmas in September although the M4N index rose to 6.9 percent from 5.6 percent in August to remain below the 7-9 percent target increase for the year, the Bank of Greece said today. The M4N index was running at 7.9 percent in July. The central bank said a fall in money circulation reflected a change in investment patterns in the month and helped to restrain credit expansion in domestic money markets. The money circulation index rose 11.2 percent year-on-year in September, up from 10.5 percent in August. Credits to the private sector accelerated to 16.4 percent from 9.8 percent, in the two months respectively.

Bank of Greece governor optimistic over course of inflation

Bank of Greece's governor, Lucas Papademos, said he was optimistic over the course of inflation. Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Prime Minister Costas Simitis, Mr. Papademos noted that the harmonised consumer price index (to be used in evaluating Greece's progress in fulfilling the inflation criterion) was moving smoothly. He said that harmonised inflation figures were moving within ranges that ensured fulfillment of the Maastricht criterion. He attributed recent pressures on the inflation rate, based on the national consumer price index, to temporary phenomena.

Equities end week moderately higher

A rebound in international markets helped Greek equities to end a volatile week moderately higher on Friday but failed to restore confidence in the Athens Stock Exchange.

The general index ended 0.96 percent higher at 5,442.14 points, off the day's highs of 5,540. Traders said investors remained cautious and preferred to take early profits.

Turnover was a moderate 298 billion drachmas.

Sector indices ended as follows: Banks (+2.17 pct), Leasing (-0.50 pct), Insurance (-2.57 pct), Investment (-0.37 pct), Construction (+3.03 pct), Industrials (+0.82 pct), Miscellaneous (+0.37 pct) and Holding (-1.43 pct).

Broadly, advancers led decliners by 202 to 99 with another 19 issues unchanged.

A total of 30 issues ended at the day's 8.0 percent limit, while Techniki Olympiaki, Doudos and Barba Stathis ended at the day's limit down.

WEATHER

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

Monday's rates (buying)

(C.S.)

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