Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-03-09

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

CONTENTS

[01] Progress has been made in talks with Greece but many differences remain, says IMF spox

[02] FM Kotzias visits Armenia, agrees on actions designed to enhance bilateral relations

[03] EBRD approves up to 300 mln euros for renewable energy projects in Greece

[04] OLTH head sees all four investors submitting binding bids for port

[01] Progress has been made in talks with Greece but many differences remain, says IMF spox

"There has been progress in important areas and we welcome it. However differences remain in important areas. I will not comment on which. It is too early to speculate on when an agreement will be achieved. There's still a lot of work to be done," he told journalists.

Asked if he's referring to the staff-level agreement or the IMF's overall program for Greece, Rice clarified he is referring to the ongoing talks.

Concerning Greek debt and a statement by IMF head Christine Lagarde that to make it sustainable it should be reduced both in terms of its servicing and its size, the spokesman reiterated that there are many ways to provide debt relief and that the Fund is not asking for a haircut.

[02] FM Kotzias visits Armenia, agrees on actions designed to enhance bilateral relations

In order for this to happen, Kotzias said, three asymmetries had to be addressed: the gap between the mutual friendly feelings of the two peoples and the level of bilateral relations, the gap between the very highly developed political relations and the level of economic relations and the gap between the will to promote cooperation and the implementation of agreements made.

In this context, they agreed to form a joint committee supervised by the foreign ministries of the two countries to examine the existing legal framework and decide what needs to be updated or replaced, as well as identify areas where new agreements might be signed. The aim is that the legal framework will reflect the excellent cooperation between the two sides and the prospects for expanding this cooperation in the future.

In relation to economic cooperation, they agreed that a business forum should take place in Yerevan in the second half of 2017 and the most promising areas for economic cooperation identified. The two sides additionally highlighted the importance of cooperation in cultural issues, promising to fully exploit existing possibilities and take such cooperation one step further.

Kotzias also proposed closer cooperation on a foreign ministry level to enhance political dialogue, as well as the transfer of Greek knowhow to assist Armenia's efforts for closer cooperation with the EU.

Karapetyan welcomed the Greek foreign minister's proposals, saying that Armenia gives great weight to Greece's contribution in efforts for closer dialogue between the EU and the Euroasiatic economic community.

Earlier on Thursday, Kotzias met Armenian Parliament Speaker Galust Sahakyan, in the presence of the Parliament's Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov, and the two sides again expressed a desire for closer cooperation, especially between the respective Parliaments of the two countries, with emphasis on economic and trade ties.

Kotzias also presented an invitation to the Armenian Parliament Speaker from Greek Parliament President Nikos Voutsis to visit Greece after the upcoming elections in Armenia.

Finally, in a working dinner with Armenian Defence Minister Vigen Sargsyan, Kotzias discussed security issues and cooperation in training between the two countries. He concluded a round of meetings on the first day of his visit by meeting Catholicos Karekin II, the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

[03] EBRD approves up to 300 mln euros for renewable energy projects in Greece

The amount will finance investments in electricity generation from renewable sources and in electricity distribution and transmission capacity to improve efficiency, reduce losses and enable the integration of renewables into the grid.

The framework is expected to result in annual emissions savings of 500,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, while it will lessen Greece's dependence on fossil fuels and imports.

One of the first renewable energy projects that EBRD is considering financing under the new framework subject to Board approval, is a 43 MW wind farm project developed by Volterra S.A., a Greek renewable energy developer and electricity operator fully owned by the Greek construction company J&P Avax.

"This framework marks a milestone in our engagement in Greece. It provides us with the opportunity to play an important role in ensuring that the country's new renewables scheme is successful and thus supporting Greece's energy security and carbon-reduction goals," said Harry Boyd-Carpenter, the EBRD's new Director for Power and Energy.

"The EBRD renewable energy framework will make the Greek economy greener, more resilient and more competitive."

Sub-projects under the framework will have to be 100 percent compliant with the EBRD Green Economy Transition approach.

The decision follows the establishment by Greece in 2016 of a new, more market-based, renewable-energy support scheme that introduces competitive auctions to replace fixed-price feed-in tariffs. It will also contribute to the country's target of adding 2.4 GW of new green-energy generation capacity by 2020.

The EBRD started investing in Greece on a temporary basis in 2015 to support the country's economic recovery. To date, the Bank has invested some 850 million euros in 17 projects in the financial, energy, infrastructure and agribusiness sectors of the Greek economy.

[04] OLTH head sees all four investors submitting binding bids for port

Speaking to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA), Konstantinos Mellios said he believed this could be the first international tender of the last five years in which more than one investor participates and expressed hope the interested consortia will make offers "worthy of the real value of the port".

Mellios said he believed a positive outcome in the tender will bolster Greece's international image as "a reliable partner".

Asked about the decision not to extend again the deadline for the submission of the binding bids requested by three out of the four consortia, he said "it was decided that the time they had available was enough".

Potential investors include Philippines-based International Container Terminal Services ICTS, Dubai-based P&O Steam Navigation Company (DP World), Japan's Mitsui & Co and, as of recently, France's CMA CGM, which has agreed to take part through its Terminal Link subsidiary, joining forces with Deutsche Invest Equity Partners and Russian-Greek investor Ivan Savvidis group.

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