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Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-08-04Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] Court acquits supermarket of building collapse that killed sevenA mixed jury court on Thursday cleared the owners of the supermarket chain Dia Hellas, as well as the civil engineers representing the chain, of all responsibility for the collapse of a building during the 1999 earthquake in Athens, in which seven people died and one was seriously injured.According to the indictment, the collapse of the Nea Philadelphia building had been caused by structural modifications carried out by the supermarket occupying the ground floor of the building, which made it less earthquake-proof. After lengthy proceedings lasting several months, the court acquitted all the accused, either unanimously or by majority vote. [02] Greek govt tables draft bill on joint cooperation between public and private sectorsBoth public and private agencies were showing increased interest in a government-sponsored plan to promote closer cooperation in small and medium-sized projects in the country, Economy and Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis said on Thursday.Speaking to reporters, after tabling the draft bill to parliament, Alogoskoufis said the plan aimed to support creation of new infrastructure and offering more services to citizens. The Greek minister underlined 12 points of the new draft legislation, such as naming the public agencies eligible to participating in joint ventures with private companies, private enterprises were undertaking a substantial part of risks related to funding and construction of necessary infrastructure, projects could not exceed 200 million euros in budget, funding would be ensured by private companies, excluding national defence, law enforcement and justice activities from the plan, and setting up an inter-ministerial commission to draft the government policy on the issue. Alogoskoufis said the government has taken a series of initiatives and actions, during the last 16 months, aimed to boost business activity, improve productivity and supporting economic competitiveness. The Greek minister announced that a total of 372 investment projects, worth 873.1 million euros, have been submitted with ministry agencies since the introduction of a new investment law. Alogoskoufis said the ministry has approved 123 investment plans, worth 222.5 million euros, envisaging the creation of 1,171 direct full time job positions. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |