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Thursday, 21 November 2024
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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 13-11-14Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] Work stoppage in public sector on Thursday; media joins for 3 hoursANA-MPA -- A nationwide work stoppage in the public sector will be held on Thursday from 12:00 noon until the end of the day shift to protest layoffs and transfers.Public sector umbrella union ADEDY called a protest rally at 13:00 in central Athens at the Propylaia of Athens University. ADEDY also decided to continue the mobilisation against the mobility scheme. In support, the Athens Journalists Union (ESIEA) has also declared a three-hour work stoppage on Thursday from 12:00 noon to 15:00. ANA-MPA will participate in the work stoppage and will not transmit news between 12:00 and 15:00. [02] Stournaras in Eurogroup, troika to return FridayANA-MPA -- The progress of negotiations on the fiscal adjustment programme will be one of the topics discussed on Thursday in Brussels at the Eurogroup meeting, which Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras is attending.The representatives of the troika of Greece's lenders, also attending the meeting, will return to Athens on Friday to continue their review, while Stournaras will attend the Ecofin meeting and return on Saturday. According to sources, Greece and the troika will aim to complete the new round of talks before November 21, when the draft budget needs to be tabled in Parliament. Meanwhile, in Athens on Wednesday, government Vice President and Foreign minister Evangelos Venizelos, speaking at parliament's committees of European and Foreign Affairs, criticised the troika's negotiating manner. "The country is wronged by the debate that has opened on the economic negotiation, which disparages the sacrifices by the Greek people, while at the same time pretending that it ignores the fiscal achievements," Venizelos said during a briefing of the committees' members on Greece's priorities ahead of undertaking the EU rotating presidency on January 1, 2014. "We are not asking for political negotiation, but for reliable political interlocutors to carry out a financial negotiation, who would be able to grasp the realities and the dynamics of figures," Venizelos added. [File photo, Stournaras (L) speaking to Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem] [03] EIB to participate in Hellenic Investment Fund projectANA-MPA -- European Investment Bank (EIB) on Wednesday agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding with Greece for its participation in a government plan to set up an Hellenic Investment Fund. The agreement was reached during a meeting between Greek Development and Competitiveness Minister Costis Hatzidakis and EIB's president Werner Hoyer. Greece has a already signed a memorandum of understanding with the German bank KfW to participate in the Fund, while other organizations such as the Onassis Foundation have pledged to participate in the project. "We asked for EIB's support and I believe we will get it very soon. We recommended to sign a memorandum of understanding, as with KfW, and it was accepted. This is positive news for Greece, for liquidity and for small- and medium-sized enterprises," Hatzidakis said. EIB's president said negotiations were currently under way with the Greek government to sign a memorandum of understanding, although he stressed it was too early to determine EIB's participation in the project. He revealed, however, that other agencies, including organizations from France, have expressed interest in participating in teh Fund, which he said would be a driving force for Greece's real economy. The Hellenic Investment Fund will fund and offer guarantess for funding of small- and medium-sized enterprises and infrastructure projects. Hoyer said EIB's funding program to Greece will total 1.5 billion euros this year, from 550 million euros in 2012 and urged banks to accelerate trade finance operations, a funding tool introduced by EIB for the first time in Greece and aimed at facilitating import and export trade. "I know several sucessful Greek enterprises that need this. We are the bridge between these enterprises and international and Greek banks," he noted. "We emphasize on SMEs because they will create new job positions," Hoyer said. Hatzidakis said that from the 1,44 billion euros of funds available for Greek SMEs through EIB's funding tools, a total of 635 million euros could have been disbursed by the end of the year and the remaining 800 million euros would be disbursed in 2014. Hoyer said that works on national road projects have begun or were about to begin, which was a great success for Greece, while Hatzidakis noted that without the contribution of EIB restarting of these projects would be impossible and underlined that EIB invested in Greece and had confidence on the government's policy.Normal 0 false false false EL X-NONE X-NONE DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99" /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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