Athens News Agency: News in English, 03-06-18

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greek candidate to head IMO for first time ever

[02] Shipping exchange inflows up 9.4 percent in 2002

[03] CD ROM of late PM Andreas Papandreou officially unveiled

[04] 'Sacred Music' events to be held in Greece from July 4-13

[05] New budget airline launches flights to Athens, Thessaloniki

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates - Thursday

[07] Weather Forecast: Unsettled on Thursday

[08] Greek stocks fall on profit taking

[01] Greek candidate to head IMO for first time ever

Efthimios Mitropoulos will head the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the first time that Greece was represented in this significant position, after winning a vote held on Wednesday morning.

The Greek candidancy raised 32 votes, ahead of the Nigerian candidate Monica Bafano (eight votes) and Iceland's Magnus Johansson who received no votes.

Wednesday's edition of Lloyds' List was discounting Mr Mitropoulos' victory and was making very positive comments for the Greek candidate.

IMO is a United Nations' agency, fully responsible to impose regulations on the shipping industry and protecting the sea environment.

An IMO's general assembly in six months is expected to approve Mr Mitropoulos' election victory. IMO has 167 member-states with Greece being a member since 1958.

[02] Shipping exchange inflows up 9.4 percent in 2002

Shipping exchange inflows to Greece totalled 1.337 billion US dollars in 2002 from 1.221 billion dollars in the previous year, an increase of 9.4 percent, Merchant Marine Minister George Anomeritis said on Wednesday.

The Greek minister, speaking to reporters, announced that a total of 1,055 shipping companies, employing 10,922 seamen of which 9,644 were Greeks and 1,278 foreigners, reported foreign exchange inflows, down from 1,084 companies in 2001.

Mr Anomeritis said that shipping management companies in Greece totalled 640 in 2002 with 3,212 vessels under management, while shipping brokerage firms totalled 440.

The Greek minister also said that 96.7 percent of the country's shipping capacity and 94.3 percent of vessels were distributed under nine national flags (Greece, Malta, Cyprus, Panama, Bahamas, Liberia, Marshall Islands, St Vincent and Cayman Islands).

[03] CD ROM of late PM Andreas Papandreou officially unveiled

A historical documentary with the speeches of late prime minister Andreas Papandreou in multi-media CD ROM form was presented on Wednesday in the Athens Concert Hall, in light of the CD ROM's publication along with the ''TA NEA'' daily newspaper on Saturday.

The CD ROM includes speeches from the 1960's ''Unyielding Struggle'' to the post-dictatorship era and was published along with the newspaper in cooperation with the Andreas Papandreou Foundation.

[04] 'Sacred Music' events to be held in Greece from July 4-13

Under the title ''Sacred Music'', The Cultural Olympiad will present events in Athens, Thessaloniki, Kalamata an in 30 holy places throughout Greece from July 4-13, the aim of which is to show the converge and interaction of cultures, over and above national and religious differences.

Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos said on Wednesday ''religious rituals express the deeper need of mankind to invoke good, repulse evil, communicate with God and be connected with the deeper essence of nature and the mystery of life.''

Major international personalities, such as gospel singer Barbara Hendrix and guitarist Paco Pena will come to Greece on the occasion of the event which the minister described as ''the most important event of the Cultural Olympiad.''

[05] New budget airline launches flights to Athens, Thessaloniki

Germanwings, a new budget airline, on Wednesday launched flights from Cologne to Athens and Thessaloniki, company officials told a news conference.

The Cologne-based airline, a subsidiary ofEurowings of Germany, flies to destinations in western Europe, the officials said.

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates - Thursday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.179

Pound sterling 0.702

Danish kroner 7.483

Swedish kroner 9.140

Japanese yen 139.8

Swiss franc 1.558

Norwegian kroner 8.243

Cyprus pound 0.591

Canadian dollar 1.585

Australian dollar 1.759

[07] Weather Forecast: Unsettled on Thursday

Unsettled weather is forecast in many parts of the country, with cloud, showers and storms on the mainland, in the Ionian and in the northern Aegean, especially in the afternoon on the mainland. The rest of the country can expect scattered cloud. Winds northerly, light to moderate, turning strong in the Aegean. In the north, temperatures will range from 19C to 29C; on the rest of the mainland from 21C to 33C; and in the islands from 23C to 30C. Temperatures in Athens between 22C and 32C; and in Thessaloniki from 21C to 29C.

[08] Greek stocks fall on profit taking

Greek stocks ended Wednesday's session slightly lower as investors preferred to take profits after several days of advance in the Athens Stock Exchange.

The general index ended 0.23 percent lower at 1,950.44 points, after moving in tight ranges throughout the session (1,944-1,965). Turnover was a heavy 199.2 million euros.

The Insurnace, Retail and IT Solution sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses of the day (3.92 percent, 2.01 percent and 1.99 percent lower), while the Wholesale, Textile and Food-Beverage sectors scored the biggest percentage gains (2.03 percent, 1.75 percent and 1.36 percent respectively).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks fell 0.49 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index rose 0.14 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index ended 0.59 percent higher.

Broadly, advancers led decliners by 178 to 150 with another 37 issues unchanged.

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