Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-07-12

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

CONTENTS

[01] Second review of Greek programme will proceed rapidly, Greek Finmin predicts

[02] Labour Minister Katrougalos rules out further wage cuts

[03] President expresses sorrow over death of renowned scholar Dimitris Maronitis

[04] Power utility PPC launches tender for sale of 24 pct in grid operator ADMIE

[01] Second review of Greek programme will proceed rapidly, Greek Finmin predicts

"I am confident that we will proceed very quickly at this time," he said, noting that he expected each review to be easier than the one before, as was the case with other countries.

"Greece stands to gain by rapidly implementing the programme," Tsakalotos commented when asked whether Greece was ready to implement the prior actions that will unlock 2.8 billion euros in loans in the autumn and begin the second review. Delaying the process would profit Greece nothing, he added, and Athens must not be seen to be the culprit if there are delays.

Regarding a letter that he had recently sent to the institutions on how to improve cooperation between the Greek authorities and the staff-level teams, Tsakalotos said that this mainly referred to procedural issues that will be discussed in a preparatory discussion with the institutions ahead of the second review.

On the decisions taken by the ECOFIN Council on Tuesday to launch excessive deficit procedures for Portugal and Spain, Tsakalotos said that Greece had argued against this. Noting that both countries showed improved performance and were "on the right track", Athens said it was not the right time for an EDP, either economically or politically but this view did not have a sufficiently large majority to block the European Commission recommendation.

[02] Labour Minister Katrougalos rules out further wage cuts

Katrougalos ruled out the possibility of further salary cuts.

"We believe that during the negotiation in September we will be able to take the big step and help Greece return to a European social model so as to strengthen the labour rights," he underlined.

[03] President expresses sorrow over death of renowned scholar Dimitris Maronitis

"With the death of Dimitris Maronitis, Greek spirit and Greek civilization in general lose … a valuable supporting pillar of their pediment," Pavlopoulos said in a statement. "I hope his descendants – and he made sure as a true Teacher to create many – rise to his own, truly great intellectual stature," he added.

Maronitis death was announced by his daughter on social media this morning. He was born in Thessaloniki in 1929 and studied at the philosophy at the city's Aristotle University. He then pursued postgraduate studies in Germany on a scholarship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. In 1962 he received his PhD from Aristotle University where he taught ancient Greek from 1963 to 1968 as an Assistant Professor.

After the fall of the Junta, during which he was fired and jailed, he worked as a visiting professor at universities in the US, Cyprus, Austria and Germany.

He became known as a philologist, essayist, and translator of ancient writers. His translations include Homer's "Odyssey" and the "Iliad" and also wrote books, monographs and articles on Homer, Hesiod, Sophocles, Herodotus, Alcaeus, Sappho. He also studied and published essays on Modern Greek poets, mainly representatives of the first post-war generation.

Maronitis's funeral will take place on Thursday at Athens's First Cemetery at 11:00.

[04] Power utility PPC launches tender for sale of 24 pct in grid operator ADMIE

The invitation to express interest in the tender was posted on PPC's website and describes the framework and the process of the tender. In a first phase, a selection of candidates will be made and in a second phase binding offers will be submitted.

A strategic investor will be selected based exclusively on its financial offer. A deadline to express interest in the tender ends on July 26, selection will be completed by October 31. HSBC Bank, Citigroup Global Markets and NBG Securities will act as financial advisors to the sale.

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