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Sunday, 24 November 2024
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Athens News Agency: News in English, 10-12-13Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] Strikes on Tuesday, WednesdayWork stoppages and strikes looked set to bring the country to a virtual standstill on Tuesday and Wednesday as more and more trade unions announced their intention to participate in labour action announced by the large umbrella trade union groups in Greece, the General Confederation of Employees of Greece (GSEE) and the civil servants' union federation ADEDY.The two union federations, which between them represent the majority of the Greek workforce have called strikes and rallies to protest against the government plans to abolish labour entitlements, beginning with a three-hour work stoppage throughout Attica on Tuesday between 12:00 and 15:00 and a rally at Syntagma Square opposite Parliament at 13:00 the same day. Action will escalate with a 24-hour general strike on Wednesday and a rally on the same day at 11:00 at Pedio tou Areos in central Athens. Hundreds of flights into and out of Athens international airport will be cancelled, as air-traffic controllers have decided to join Wednesday's strike, which will also affect hospitals and health services, public services, banks, all forms of public transport including ferries and taxis, pharmacies, public utilities, courts and the media. More details on the subscriber's page of ANA-MPA | Subscription request form  [02] Hellenic-Russian SocietyThe future prospects in relations shared by Russia, Greece and Cyprus were underlined in the Hellenic-Russian Society Conference on "Russia-Greece-Cyprus: Political Economic and Cultural Partnerships, Present and Future" held on Monday under the auspices of the Greek foreign ministry.The importance of the materialization of the South Stream pipeline and the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline in the current difficult conjuncture was highlighted in a message by Republic President Karolos Papoulias read in the opening of the conference. President Papouliasâ message referred to the close relations shared by the two peoples reflected in their centuries-old ties. Speaking in the conference, government vice-president Theodoros Pangalos stated that Greeceâs relations with Russia are of major and strategic importance and referred to tourism, stressing that in a period of crisis, tourist arrivals from Russia increased 50 pct, predicting a further increase in the coming year. He criticized Bulgaria as regards the issue of the construction of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline, stressing that it is a project of major importance for the Greek government. Referring to the stance adopted by the Bulgarian government, he said that implementing the project appears to be difficult. He maintained that pressures are being exerted by oil companies trying to block the construction of the oil pipeline adding, however, that the dead end is not insurmountable. "The Bulgarian leadership should realize that it is against the interest of the Bulgarian people to adopt a policy that isolates the country," he stressed. On behalf of main opposition New Democracy (ND) party, the conference was addressed by Hellenic-Russian Society 2nd vice-president MP Simos Kedikoglou, who stressed that the Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline is an environmentally-friendly project contributing to a reduction in oil-tanker traffic in the Dardanelles Strait, underlining that this argument should be taken under serious consideration. The conference was addressed representatives of the opposition Popular Orthodox Rally (LA.O.S) and Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) parties, the ambassadors of Russia and Cyprus to Athens, a Russian Duma representative and other Russian officials. According to Culture and Tourism Minister George Nikitiadis, meanwhile, Greece could well become the top European destinations for Russian tourists in the next two years, following Greek initiatives to hasten the issue of visas to visiting Russians and policies to attract Russian tourists to Greece. More details on the subscriber's page of ANA-MPA | Subscription request form  [03] Stocks end 0.46 pct lowerStocks ended slightly lower on the Athens bourse on Monday, after a day of jittery trade within a narrow range of just 16 points. The General Share Price Index closed 0.46 percent lower at 1,499.39 points, with turnover at 87.96 million euro.The Big Cap index dropped 0.84 pct, the Mid Cap index was down 0.34 pct and the Small Cap index dropped by 1.85 pct. The biggest gains during the session were posted by the Travel index (1.61 pct), Foodstuffs (1.45 pct) and Utilities (1.34 pct) while the biggest losses were in Health (-4.00 pct) and Media (-3.01 pct) and Chemicals (-2.93 pct). Broadly, advancers trailed decliners by 52 to 108 with another 41 issues unchanged. More details on the subscriber's page of ANA-MPA | Subscription request form Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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