Athens News Agency: News in English, 09-10-30

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

CONTENTS

[01] Papandreou addresses Euro Socialist leaders

[02] ND proposal for a new founding charter

[03] Producer's Price Index down 7.7% in Sept

[04] Retail sales volume down 4.5% in Aug.

[05] Metka signs 450-mln-euro energy project in Turkey

[06] Construction firm appeal against CoS decision on Votanikos site

[07] Stocks recover slightly on Fri.

[01] Papandreou addresses Euro Socialist leaders

Papandreou stressed that the aims of European socialists were to support policies that created jobs for all, supported smaller businesses and created a people-centred society.

Another issue underlined by Greece's premier was that of promoting green development, noting that this and the major decisions that must be taken during the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen would act as a lever and an opportunity for socialists to take important intiatives and decisions.

Such decisions would concern the future of growth and create jobs, as well as social cohesion and a more humane and social Europe, he added.

The PES leaders' summit was held to coordinate the policy of Europe's socialist leaders in terms of the priorities to be raised at the EU summit. The main issues discussed were European policies for employment during the economic crisis, priorities for the reforms to international financial institutions and the Lisbon Treaty.

Shortly after the PES meeting, Papandreou is scheduled to have a brief, informal first meeting with the premier of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) Nikola Gruevski.

The Greek prime minister will then participate in the European Council meeting and then join other European leaders at a working dinner. The EU leaders' summit is scheduled to end by Friday afternoon.

[02] ND proposal for a new founding charter

The final proposal to be presented to the party congress, that will reach a definite decision next Saturday, is likely to be approved by a committee vote, in case no new agreement is reached by the candidates running for the post.

According to the proposal, the party president will be elected by the party's rank and file through a secret ballot. The candidate elected to the post will have to garner the absolute majority of the valid votes cast. The election will be repeated as soon as possible between the two candidates that won most of the votes in case no absolutely majority is established in the first round of the vote. The candidate that garners most of the votes in the second round will be elected party president.

The election of the new president by the party's grass roots will be organised by the central returning board.

The candidates that will run for party president will be those who have submitted their candidacy to the Nov. 7 congress organisational committee by Oct. 22, 2009 and were approved after found to be legitimate and within the deadline set.

The election of the party president is held on the same day for the voters living in Greece and the members of the Greek expatriate party organizations abroad. In this election process will participate the Greek expatriates in Europe specifically, Germany, UK, France, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Austria and Cyprus.

The central returning board is responsible for the organizing of all procedures concerning the election of the party president with the assistance of the General Director, the Secretariats and party bodies.

[03] Producer's Price Index down 7.7% in Sept

[04] Retail sales volume down 4.5% in Aug.

The statistics service, in a report, attributed the decline of the index to a 2.6-pct fall in the foodstore index, a 0.6-pct drop in the fuel category and an 8.8-pct-decline in the other department category in the month.

[05] Metka signs 450-mln-euro energy project in Turkey

The newly set-up joint venture was formed by RWE AG and Turcas Elektrik Uretim AS, a subsidiary of Turcas Petrol AS.

Greek-listed Metka will build the project using a Siemens (SGT5-4000F gas turbine technology). The project is expected to be ready by the end of 2012 and has an initial budget of 450 million euros.

[06] Construction firm appeal against CoS decision on Votanikos site

The appeal was filed following the publication of a CoS plenum ruling that allows construction of the stadium but orders the irrevocable cessation of works for the construction of an adjacent multiple purpose commercial complex designed to host Athens municipality services and a large shopping mall.

The firm underlined, in a relative statement, that the appeal is in agreement with the management's belief that the two projects (stadium and shopping mall) are "indissolubly associated", in addition to the fact that the twin urban regeneration project constitutes the only solution both for Votanikos and the environmental upgrading of Ambelokipi district in downtown Athens, where Panathinaikos' old and disused pitch and stands are located today.

[07] Stocks recover slightly on Fri.

Sector indices ended mixed, with the Construction (2.95 pct), Oil (1.78 pct), Food/Beverage (1.65 pct) and Industrial Products (1.40 pct) scoring the biggest percentage gains of the day, while Media (4.93 pct), Telecoms (3.93 pct), Raw Materials (1.78 pct) and Health (1.77 pct) suffered losses.

The FTSE 20 index rose 0.58 pct, the FTSE 40 index ended 0.02 pct higher and the FTSE 80 index dropped 0.46 pct.

Broadly, advancers led decliners by 121 to 88 with another 51 issues unchanged.

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