Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-02-17

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

CONTENTS

[01] ING Hellas-Website

[02] Greece-FYROM-exhibition-trade

[03] Greece-Turkey

[04] Olympic Village-Parliament-Bill

[05] Rubbish - strike

[06] Magic - arrest

[07] Art -loan

[08] Fraud - arrest

[09] Building cost index-January

[10] ASE-close

[11] Astir Hotel-ASE listing

[01] ING Hellas-Website

The ING Hellas Group has launched a website carrying information on its banking, investment and insurance services.

Appearing on the new site are the Nationale Nederlanden Life and General Insurance Group, Nationale Nederlanden mutual fund managers, and ING Bank.

The site, on www.ing.gr, also allows access to the Group's sales network.

[02] Greece-FYROM-exhibition-trade

SKOPJE (ANA · B. Yiannakidis) - Macedonia-Thrace Minister Yiannis Magriotis and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) Deputy Prime Minister Vasil Tupurkovski on Thursday inaugurated the 3rd Exhibition of Greek Enterprises.

The exhibition was organised by the International Thessaloniki Trade Fair and is taking place at the Skopje exhibition centre, with the participation of more than 100 Greek enterprises.

[03] Greece-Turkey

The mayors of Athens and Istanbul on Thursday signed a protocol of friendship and cooperation in the Turkish city, a further indication of warming ties between the two countries.

"This is a historical event which seals the first cycle of contacts between the two cities which began with the earthquakes in Greece and Turkey," Athens Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos said, referring to the twin quakes which caused an outpouring of sympathy and support from both countries to the other in August and September.

Avramopoulos said the protocol created an institutional framework which would lead to strengthening of ties between the two cities and that it had the blessing of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

"The people have shown the way of friendship, the cities have responded, it is now time for governments to continue," Ali Mufit Gurduna, his Turkish counterpart, said.

"Our friendship began in difficult times and this is why it is a steady and sincere friendship."

[04] Olympic Village-Parliament-Bill

A bill granting the coveted construction contract for the all-important Olympic Village to a Workersą Housing Organisation (OEK) affiliated company was tabled in Parliament on Thursday.

The bill, submitted jointly by the labour and culture ministries, projects construction of the Olympic Village at the Lekanes site, located in the municipality of Acharnes, northwest of central Athens.

[05] Rubbish - strike

Municipal workers began a 48-hour strike on Thursday, expected to cause a major headache for garbage collection in the Greek capital.

The strikers, who are demanding a range of pay-related demands, marched to the interior ministry on Thursday morning.

In a related development, the municipality of Athens called an administrative inquiry into the summary closure of the Ano Liosia landfill by municipal workers.

[06] Magic - arrest

Police on Thursday said they had arrested a 49-year-old Keratsini woman for peddling magic charms and offering to solve an array of personal problems through spells.

Panayiota Zafeiropoulo, also known as "Yiota the best medium in Keratsini", was arrested on Wednesday after an undercover policeman paid her 300,000 drachmas to buy various charms which would help "fix" her family problem.

Police found in Zafeiropoulo's house dozens of small wax figurines, decks of cards, bones thought to belong to small animals, a variety of herbs and plants, an air gun, 468,000 drachmas and $US 130.

[07] Art -loan

The Greek state will act as guarantor to a 14 billion drachma (approx. $US40 million)loan to purchase half of the famed Russian avant-garde art collected earlier this century by a Greek collector.

The loan is being taken out by the State Museum of Modern Art of Thessaloniki. The museum on Wednesday called on six banks - National Bank of Greece, Commercial Bank of Greece, Agricultural Bank of Greece, EFG Eurobank, Alpha Credit Bank and ETVA Bank - to put forward terms and conditions.

The approval for the loan to go ahead was taken at a meeting on Wednesday by the national economy and finance, culture and deputy finance ministers.

The 10-year loan will be for some $US35 million and 2.5 billion drachmas

[08] Fraud - arrest

Police said on Thursday that a young Greek man would be charged with fraud, forgery and intent to commit fraud in connection with a scam to deprive Albanian immigrants of their savings.

Stamatic Dafnis, 31, unemployed,is accused of defrauding the immigrants of their savings by promising to procure for them a visa to go to the United States.

Police said Dafnis had stolen about 4.5 million drachmas and $US 12,000 (approx. four million drachmas) in this fashion. He was apprehended after one of his victims informed the police.

[09] Building cost index-January

Greece's building materials price index was unchnaged in January from the previous month, National Statistics Services said on Thursday.

The NSS said that the index rose 2.1 percent in January compared with the the same month last year.

[10] ASE-close

Equity prices remained under heavy pressure for the fourth consecutive session on the Athens Stock Exchange on Thursday pushing the general index to the support level of 5,200 points.

Lack of fresh capital combined with worries over the impact of rising oil prices in international markets discouraged sentiment in the market, with analysts unable to explain Thursday's extent of losses.

The general index ended at 5,222.78 points, off 105.71 points or 1.98 percent. The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks fell 1.83 percent to 2,822.40 while the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index dropped 2.13 percent to 859.83 points.

Turnover was a low 197.6 billion drachmas.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended at 1,392.80 points, off 2.05 percent.

[11] Astir Hotel-ASE listing

Astir Hotel Vouliagmeni, a member of National Bank of Greece Group, will seek listing on the Athens Stock Exchange next month, its chief executive and general manager Alexios Kimissis said on Thursday.

Presenting the 1999 results, Kimissis said Astir Hotel Vouliagmeni was implementing an investment programme envisaging the refurbishment of self-contained units (bungalows), landscaping of the hotel's beach front, creating an ecological park and the reopening of the Muses night-club.

The hotel's turnover totalled 8.45 billion drachmas last year, up 11.4 percent from 1998, while gross profit rose 24 percent to 2.34 billion drachmas.

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