Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-09-25

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

CONTENTS

[01] Veteran Greek athletes host dinner in honour of Rogge

[02] Athina Onassis invited to World Show Jumping Cup in Athens

[03] Bus drivers to stage work stoppage on Wednesday

[04] IOC President Jacques Rogge arrives in Athens

[05] Athens Bourse Close: Stocks nose up, led by blue chips

[06] Floridis promises prompt completion of Olympics projects

[07] Projects in port of Piraeus to be ready for 2004 Olympics

[08] Foreign Exchange Rates - Wednesday

[09] Athens bourse trading hours to be agreed weekly

[10] Greek defence minister postpones visit to Turkey

[11] Casino workers oppose privatisation on grounds of corruption

[12] Commercial Bank to issue euro cheque books Oct 1

[13] Weather Forecast: Mostly sunny on Wednesday

[01] Veteran Greek athletes host dinner in honour of Rogge

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge was the guest of honour at an unofficial dinner hosted by Greek Olympic sailing medallist Tassos Bountouris at the Naval Club of Greece on Tuesday night.

Also present at the dinner were other veteran athletes of the event.

The Belgian IOC president said "I believe that Greece will organise successful Olympic Games because all have understood the spirit of the Games. I will try at every opportunity to be among my old fellow-athletes. I am particularly moved by their invitation."

[02] Athina Onassis invited to World Show Jumping Cup in Athens

The Greek Show Jumping Federation has extended an official invitation to Athina Onassis, granddaughter of the late Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, to participate for Greece in the World Show Jumping Cup CSIO-W 2001 to be held in the Athens district of Goudi.

The invitation mentions that in the event she is not completely ready to compete she may come and watch the event together with her family.

A total of 60 male and female riders from 13 countries have declared participation in the Athens CSIO-W 2001 event so far.

[03] Bus drivers to stage work stoppage on Wednesday

Athens bus drivers will stage a work stoppage on Wednesday from 1100 to 1500, the second strike in less than a week.

The drivers of the capital's blue buses are protesting against a lack of hygiene at bus depots and inadequate protection on the job.

They will hold a general assembly during to strike to decide on further action.

[04] IOC President Jacques Rogge arrives in Athens

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge arrived in Athens on Tuesday afternoon under draconian security measures.

The IOC delegation includes Coordinating Committee President Dennis Oswald.

They made no statements on their arrival and left for their hotel with the accompaniment of five police patrol cars and two police motorcyclists.

Rogge is due to attend a dinner given by the president of the world Olympic gold medallists' society, Tasos Bountouris and Greek Olympic gold medallists on Tuesday night.

Rogge is due to meet Prime Minister Costas Simitis on Wednesday morning and leave the country in the evening. Oswald will be leaving on Friday.

[05] Athens Bourse Close: Stocks nose up, led by blue chips

The Athens bourse finished slightly higher on Tuesday with blue chips and heavily traded stocks outperforming the rest of the market.

A bomb hoax near the end of the session did not disrupt trade as transactions are mostly conducted from brokerage offices.

The general share index gained 0.67 percent to end at 2,163.45 points. Turnover was 147 million euros.

The FTSE/ASE-20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks ended 0.72 percent higher; the FTSE/ASE-40 for medium capitalisation paper 0.26 percent up; and the FTSE/ASE-80 for small cap equities slipped 0.36 percent.

Declines led advances at 173 to 145 with 51 issues remaining unchanged.

[06] Floridis promises prompt completion of Olympics projects

All Olympic projects supervised by the government's sports secretariat will be delivered on time, Deputy Sports Minister George Floridis pledged on Tuesday.

The minister promised that present delays in starting Olympic projects would be absorbed in their construction time, without additional cost.

He admitted that the General Sports Secretariat had been over-ambitious regarding the starting dates it had originally supplied to the International Olympic Committee for the projects, several of which were now behind schedule.

Among these are indoor facilities for rhythmic gymnastics and table tennis in Galatsi, a wrestling and judo venue in Ano Liosia, a weightlifting centre in Nikea, and facilities for equestrian events and shooting in Markopoulos.

[07] Projects in port of Piraeus to be ready for 2004 Olympics

Merchant Marine Minister Christos Papoutsis said on Tuesday that projects to upgrade the port of Piraeus would be ready in time for the 2004 Olympics in Athens when more visitors will use the facility.

Papoutsis was addressing a signing ceremony for an agreement involving his ministry, Piraeus Port Authority, and the Athens Olympics organisers headed by Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, who said the infrastructure works would also benefit the port city.

The minister added that training in security measures for the Harbour Corps would be intensified in the wake of terrorist attacks in the US that have led to fears of worldwide violence.

[08] Foreign Exchange Rates - Wednesday

Indicative tourist buying rates

U.S. dollar 368.378

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 538.684

Irish punt 429.202

Belgian franc 008.379

Luxembourg franc 008.379

Dutch guilder 153.389

Italian lira (100) 017.457

Austrian schilling 024.565

Danish kroner 45.444

Swedish kroner 34.373

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 314.345

Swiss franc 231.519

Norwegian kroner 042.016

Cyprus pound 589.135

Canadian dollar 235.032

Australian dollar 181.636

[09] Athens bourse trading hours to be agreed weekly

Trading hours for the Athens Stock Exchange are to be set each Friday for the following week after members of a committee established to work out an expanded schedule for the bourse failed to reach agreement.

The committee, which met for the first time on Wednesday, comprises representatives of the Athens bourse, member stockbrokers, institutional investors and bank workers.

Against longer trading hours were bank union representatives and several institutionals.

As a result, bourse authorities will decide each week on trading hours in line with events abroad, until a final decision is taken, probably early next year, after introduction of the euro as a physical currency.

The bourse has currently been operating later in order to synchronise with European markets after terrorist attacks in the US on September 11 brought markets down.

Bank workers have yet to reach agreement with employers on how extended trading hours would affect their shifts and pay.

[10] Greek defence minister postpones visit to Turkey

Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos postponed his scheduled visit to Turkey, according to an announcement on Tuesday.

Tsohatzopoulos was to visit Turkey in light of a military equipment exhibition in Ankara.

The defence minister informed his Turkish counterpart Sabahattin Cakmakoglu, his trip to the Turkish capital was not possible at this time due to international developments, following the terrorist attacks in the United States.

The ministers, however, will have the opportunity to meet on Wednesday during the informal NATO defence ministers' conference in Brussels.

[11] Casino workers oppose privatisation on grounds of corruption

Casino workers said on Tuesday that they were opposed to the privatisation of the Mount Parnes and Corfu operations because their removal from state hands could attract organised crime, protection rackets, money laundering, drug trafficking and rigged games.

"The (denationalisation) policy is like a noose around the neck of local communities where private casinos operate," union leaders told a news conference.

The trade unionists also said that Greece had too many casinos for the size of its population.

In addition, they called on judicial authorities to investigate allegations of unconstitutional practices in private casinos that should be punished.

The government has received a total of 37 expressions of interest from Greece and abroad in a tender to privatise the Mount Parnes Casino near Athens.

According to Hellenic Tourism Real Estate, the state's representative in the sale, major companies from the US and Europe were among those to express interest in the purchase of an equity stake in the casino, and its management.

Among the groups were London Club International, Universal Casino Consultants Ltd and Aspinalis Club Ltd, all of the UK; Mandalay Resort Group, Visvis Gaming Associates, Sun International with GEK of Greece, and Hyatt Regency (its Greek subsidiary with Hellenic Technodomiki), all of the US; and Accor Casinos of France.

Greek consortiums included Porto Carras Casino, Aegean Casino and CIS Sarantopoulos.

Of the 37 bidders, 19 said they held a casino operating licence; eight that had experience in the sector; and 10 that they intended to ally with licence holders.

[12] Commercial Bank to issue euro cheque books Oct 1

Commercial Bank of Greece, the country's second largest public sector banking group, said on Tuesday that it would begin issuing euro-denominated cheque books on October 1.

The new cheque books will circulate in parallel with drachma cheque books, the bank said in a statement.

From January 1, 2002, when the euro is introduced in physical form, all cheques will be denominated in the euro zone's single currency, the statement said.

Until the end of the year, conversion of drachma bank accounts into euros is optional, it added.

The drachma will circulate with the euro in cash form until February 28, 2002.

[13] Weather Forecast: Mostly sunny on Wednesday

The weather will be mostly sunny on Wednesday. The northern Ionian, Epirus, Macedonia and Thrace will be stormy later in the day. Winds northwesterly, moderate. In the north and west, temperatures will range from 16C to 28C; and in the rest of the country from 18C to 33C. Scattered cloud in Athens, with temperatures between 22C and 32C. Light cloud over Thessaloniki that may turn to rain or a storm, with temperatures from 18C to 27C.

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