Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-01-14

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

CONTENTS

[01] Eurogroup: Lot of work has been done, Greece must send plan for pension system reforms

[02] Greek tourism thrives in 2015 recording a 5.7 pct rise in arrivals

[03] Labour minister: Pension reform bill to be voted in early February

[04] Tax authority slaps provisional 3.3-mln-euro fine to aide of former PM

[05] Supreme Court orders retrial for 36 acquitted in 1999 'bubble stocks' case

[01] Eurogroup: Lot of work has been done, Greece must send plan for pension system reforms

Speaking to a joint press conference along with European Stability Mechanism Managing Director Klaus Regling after the Eurogroup meeting, the two officials stressed that these proposals should be sent "soon" from the Greek authorities so that teams of the institutions may visit Athens and start the first program review.

Dijsselbloem described the first review as "crucial", noting that apart from the social security reforms, there are other fiscal issues left open.

Moscovici said we are still in the beginning as far as the social security reforms are concerned which is a main issue for the first review. He reiterated that the climate of trust has been significantly improved concerning Greece after the implementation of many reforms by the Greek government.

On the same tone, the head of the Eurogroup said that the Greek prime minister and the finance minister are focused on implementing the program and that a lot of progress has been made since the summer.

On his side, Regling said that Greece's debt service needs will reach 4 billion euros in the first quarter of 2016, which means the completion of the first review must take place as soon as possible.

[02] Greek tourism thrives in 2015 recording a 5.7 pct rise in arrivals

According to the report, 843,000 more tourists came to Greece in 2015, with the total number of airport arrivals reaching 15.5 million. In December, Athens maintained its robust numbers with a 15.5 pct rise in arrivals compared to the same period of 2014, while for the entire year the Greek capital achieved an impressive 22.6 pct jump.

For the rest of the country, the Ionian and Cycladic islands secured the lion's share of tourists in 2015 recording a 3.7 pct and 15 pct boost in international arrivals respectively, while the Dodecanese, Crete and the Peloponnese showed a drop of 2 pct, 0.8 pct and 12.3 pct respectively for the same period.

Excluding Athens, the country as a whole recorded a slight drop in arrivals (about 1,000 less) in December of 2015, compared to the same period in 2014, but an increase (about 77,000 more passengers) for the full year.

[03] Labour minister: Pension reform bill to be voted in early February

"We don't have time for the end of January," he told journalists at the sidelines of an OECD meeting in Paris. "Because you need to have a discussion; a serious bill like this cannot be submitted [to parliament] with an emergency procedure. We intend to table it in January, so the vote may take place in the first ten days of February," he added.

Katrougalos also expressed his optimism that the bill will be approved without any problems for the government. "In my opinion, there's no chance the parliamentary majority will not be solid. On the contrary, we hope we will widen it," he said.

[04] Tax authority slaps provisional 3.3-mln-euro fine to aide of former PM

Last year, Papastavrou and his mother, who is also listed as one of the account holders along with Papastavrou's now deceased father, was summoned before a financial prosecutor to explain how they gained possession of some 5.4 million euros held in the account. The charges against them include those of tax evasion and money laundering.

The ongoing investigation into the "Lagarde list" revealed that the bank account belongs to Papastavrou and his parents and the prosecutor ruled after an extensive tax audit that he has to pay 3.3 million for the years 2000-2012.

Papastavrou denied the charges and argued that he's a "political target" and that authorities "are trying to condemn him with evidence of unknown origin or with no evidence at all".

[05] Supreme Court orders retrial for 36 acquitted in 1999 'bubble stocks' case

The 36 defendants in the case were business people, investors, brokers and ship owners that allegedly colluded to manipulate the Athens exchange and create 'bubble stocks' in 1999. They faced charges of fraud and money-laundering.

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