Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-09-17

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

CONTENTS

[01] Line 3 of Metro project ready before Olympic Games

[02] First woman 'N17' suspect re-arrested

[03] Vivodi launches fixed-line telephone service

[04] Consumer group cites sales drop in fruit & veg boycott

[05] Weather Forecast: Mostly sunny on Wednesday

[06] Joint Greek-Turkish bid for Euro 2008 discussed in Istanbul

[07] ASE marks three-year decline on Tuesday

[01] Line 3 of Metro project ready before Olympic Games

Tunnelling to extend the Athens Metro from the defence ministry to Stavros at Agia Paraskevi has reached the location where a station will be created at the national mint on Mesoghion avenue two days ahead of schedule.

Environment, Town Planning and Public Works Minister Vasso Papandreou reiterated on Tuesday that this extension will be opened to the public in June, 2004.

She said this extension will be linked to the suburban railway network and, consequently, the Metro will reach Eleftherios Venizelos airport.

In addition, it has been decided that three additional Metro stations will be created gradually over this period at the national mint, Holargos and Agia Paraskevi.

Papandreou said line 3 of the Metro leading to the airport will be ready before the Olympic Games (due to be held in the summer of 2004) and pointed out that the project is huge while the funds have been secured.

[02] First woman 'N17' suspect re-arrested

Authorities have re-arrested the first woman officially implicated with the ?November 17? urban terrorist only hours after an appellate court council intervened in a judicial dispute that initially freed her after two days in custody, thus siding with a prosecutors recommendation that she be jailed pending trial.

Angeliki Sotiropoulou, 40, was arrested in downtown Athens in the early afternoon on Tuesday at a pre-arranged location following her attorneys consultation with police, according to reports.

The appellate council had earlier ruled that Sotiropoulou should be jailed, countering a decision by the examining magistrate overseeing the unprecedented ?N17? investigation, appeals court prosecutor Leonidas Zervobeakos. The appeals court council concluded that evidence against Sotiropoulou gave rise to ?enough indications of guilt? to justify keeping her in custody.

The self-described homemaker and mother of one was released late Saturday night after two days in custody.

[03] Vivodi launches fixed-line telephone service

Vivodi Telecommunications SA announced on Tuesday that it had launched a fixed-line telephone service.

Rates for local calls under the Vivodi Home service are 8.0 percent cheaper than competitors and calls to European Union countries and the US 27 percent cheaper, the company claimed in a statement.

[04] Consumer group cites sales drop in fruit & veg boycott

A consumer watchdog said on Tuesday that retail sales of fruit and vegetables had fallen by up to 70 percent on the second day of a boycott it called to protest against steep price hikes in the market.

In addition, wholesale turnover dropped by 40 percent in the Athens central fruit and vegetable market, the Consumer Institute (INKA) said in a statement.

The watchdog had asked the public to refrain from buying fruit and vegetables from September 16 to September 19 in a protest against steep price hikes.

On Monday, the first day of the boycott, sales of fruit and vegetables fell by 70 percent. The number of shoppers purchasing the produce dropped by 40-60 percent, and purchases were cut to a minimum, bringing a 70 percent drop in turnover.

Items bought were mainly one that had begun to show a decline in prices, which accounted for about 60 percent of fruit and vegetables, INKA said.

Despite a falling trend in fruit and vegetable prices on Tuesday, tomatoes remained highly priced.

On a weekly basis tomatoes had risen by about 10 percent, and on an annual basis by 63.5 percent. Lettuce has increased in price by 59.01 percent annually, Golden Delicious apples by 36.3 percent, and grapes by 19.26 percent.

[05] Weather Forecast: Mostly sunny on Wednesday

Sunshine is forecast in most parts of the country, with showers or storms possible in the northeast. Winds northerly, light to moderate. In the north, temperatures will range from 11C to 24C; on the rest of the mainland and in the Ionian from 14C to 28C; and in the Aegean islands from 19C to 27C. Temperatures in Athens between 17C and 28C; and in Thessaloniki from 14C to 24C.

[06] Joint Greek-Turkish bid for Euro 2008 discussed in Istanbul

ISTANBUL (ANA - A. Kourkoulas) A high-profile bid by the Greek and Turkish soccer federations to jointly host the 2008 European Cup was the focus of Greek Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos contacts here on Monday with UEFA vice-president and honorary Turkish soccer federation president Senes Erzik.

?This bid sends a very significant political message, a message of Greek-Turkish friendship; cooperation between the two federations and between the two peoples,? he told reporters after the meeting.

Erzik, who also serves on FIFAs executive committee, said he briefed the Greek minister on the situation in Turkey and other European countries vis-a-vis television revenue and broadcast rights for football matches. Ten out of 16 Greek first division teams were left without TV broadcast contract last week after one of two digital subscriber networks in the country folded.

Venizelos continued his contacts Istanbul on Monday after arriving over the weekend to attend an UNESCO-sponsored meeting of some 80 culture ministers from around the world.

[07] ASE marks three-year decline on Tuesday

The Athens Stock Exchange on Tuesday completed three consecutive years of decline, after soaring to an all-time high of 6,355 points in September 17, 1999, to end up more than 70 percent lower.

The general index fell 0.39 percent to end at 1,933,18 points, unable to benefit from a recovery in European markets, leading analysts and investors to fear or further weakness in the Greek bourse.

Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation's share price fell 1.97 percent to end below 12 euros per share, dragging the rest of the market's blue chips lower.

The Construction, Telecommunications and Holding sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses of the day (1.84 percent, 1.53 percent and 1.51 percent, respectively), while the Textile, Investment and Retail sectors scored gains (0.94 percent, 0.28 percent and 0.04 percent).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks fell 0.64 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index ended 0.67 percent lower and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index rose 0.14 percent.

Turnover a low 70.7 million euros. Broadly, decliners led advancers by 203 to 113 with another 43 issues unchanged.

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