Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-07-31

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greece - Turkey - Foreign Ministers

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates-Tuesday

[03] Weather Forecast-Tuesday

[04] Greek contingent - Albania - Departure

[05] Greece-PPC-denial

[06] Hellatex-share capital increase

[07] Greece-tourism-funds

[08] ASE-close

[09] Greece-structural programme

[10] Attica Bank-new branch

[01] Greece - Turkey - Foreign Ministers

A meeting between the Greek and Turkish foreign ministers, George Papandreou and Ismail Cem, tentatively scheduled for the end of August, has been called off, diplomatic circles said on Monday.

The cancellation is attributed to the need for better preparation for the meeting, which is now expected to take place on the sidelines of the annual General Assembly of the United Nations in New York in September.

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates-Tuesday

Following are indicative rates released by the central bank for the next working day.

Tuesdays rates (buying)

Euro 334.552

U.S. dollar 362.100

German mark 171.054

[03] Weather Forecast-Tuesday

Scattered cloud is expected in most parts of Greece on Tuesday. The west will be clear. Winds will be northerly, moderate to very strong, turning gale force in the Aegean.

[04] Greek contingent - Albania - Departure

TIRANA (ANA) Greeces military presence in neighbouring Albania officially ends at 5 a.m. on Tuesday with the departure of around 200 officers and NCOs from a military base outside the Albanian capital.

The redeployment comes after a three-year stay during which Greek army units assisted in the reorganisation of Albanias military and the rebuilding of several camps, following a violent political uprising in the country during the spring of 1997.

Out of the Greek contingent, however, some 87 men are expected to return to Albania to join NATO and KFOR forces based in Durres, a port town in the countrys north, whereas 12 officers will transfer to a Greek army unit stationed in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo.

[05] Greece-PPC-denial

Development Minister Nikos Christodoulakis and the Public Power Corporation on Monday dismissed press reports the government was planning the sale of PPC's units.

"The reports do not reflect the reality. PPC's restructuring and the deregulation of the energy market is not made in secret. When someone moves towards a deregulated market he has to ensure transparency and information. All these alleged secret plans to sell PPC's power units are baseless," Christodoulakis said.

A Public Power Corporation announcement also rejected these reports.

[06] Hellatex-share capital increase

Hellatex SA, a listed Greek synthetic fibres manufacturer, on Monday announced a share capital increase plan, worth 1.4 billion drachmas, a move designed to combine with a merger plan with Polyetma, a subsidiary of ETMA Group of companies.

An Hellatex general shareholders' meeting approved the merger terms and the share capital increase plan which envisages issuing of 6,314,705 common shares of a nominal value of 223 drachmas each.

After the plan, Hellatex's equity capital will total 2.265 billion drachmas.

The merger plan, under which Hellatex will absord Polyetma, envisages an one-for-1.144578 share swap transaction between the two companies.

Hellatex said first half profits were around 200 million drachmas, while turnover was steady at last year's levels.

The company recently acquired Ronaltex, a French company, in a move to expand activities in European Union markets.

[07] Greece-tourism-funds

The Greek government will earmark 750 billion drachmas in direct and indirect support funding to the country's tourism sector by the year 2006, or 25 percent of the total national and regional programmes for competitiveness and growth, Develoment Minister Nikos Christodoulakis said on Monday.

Speaking to reporters during a press conference, Christodoulakis said that funding will be secured from a Third Community Support Framework.

He said the tourism sector would also benefit from investments in other sectors (energy, transport, environment, culture) that would affect the quality and the composition of the country's tourist product.

Christodoulakis said the biggest part of public spending for tourism, around 80 percent, will be earmarked for private investments, a sign of the government's determination to improve the sector's competitiveness and boost employment.

[08] ASE-close

A decision by the US investment bank Morgan Stanely to include the Greek stock market in its league of mature markets by May 31, 2001, failed to excited investors on the Athens Stock Exchange on Monday.

Dealers said investors initially reacted positively to the news but looked disappointed by the end of the session as they had expected the upgrading of the market to take place within the year.

Analysts, however, said that the move by Morgan Stanley lifted a cloud of uncertainty that hung over the market in recent months in anticipation of its upgrading to a mature market.

The general index ended at 3,988.28 points, down 0.24 percent, but off the day's highs of 4,065.04 points. Turnover was a low 68 billion drachmas.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended at 2,225.07 points, off 0.30 percent and the FTSE/ASE 40 index fell 0.62 percent to 559.43 points.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended 0.48 percent lower at 746.23 points.

[09] Greece-structural programme

The Greek government's structural programme for the period 2000-2006 will total 17.5 trillion drachmas, with the participation of the private sector estimated at 4 trillion drachmas, National Economy and Finance Minister Yiannos Papantoniou said on Monday.

Papantoniou said that 80 percent of total funds would be earmarked for regional projects in the country.

Presenting the government's plan to reporters, Papantoniou said that the structural programme, and the Third Community Support Framework in particular, would create 150,000 net new jobs in the country.

"We are completing productive infrastructures, the basic productive factor of the economy. These include road and rail networks, both improving the country's access to big European markets. Our products will have speedier access with lower cost, they will become more competitive. Tourism will also benefit and we expect the private sector to participate in full force not only in the construction but in the funding of such projects as well," he said.

Papantoniou said the structural programme also envisaged measures to improve the country's competitiveness, restructuring of the farm sector, supporting the country's transition into the new economy and ensuring the improvement of living standards.

The programme also includes measures to upgrade the country's workforce and supporting regional Greece through the implementation of integrated regional programmes.

[10] Attica Bank-new branch

Attica Bank on Monday launched its new branch in the island of Corfu, raising its total network to 48 branches.

The bank plans to open two more branches in northern Greece.

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