Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-04-28

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

CONTENTS

[01] Tsipras: Greece is exiting the default chaos; technical agreement to close

[02] Tzanakopoulos: We have reasons to believe there will be white smoke by Sunday

[03] Tsipras sentenced Greece with fourth memorandum, says ND spokesman

[04] Eupalinos Tunnel, a masterpiece of ancient engineering opens to public

[05] SETE: Greek hotel industry will not lose its national identity

[01] Tsipras: Greece is exiting the default chaos; technical agreement to close

Tsipras underlined that since April 7 (New Democracy leader Kyriakos) Mitsotakis and his party have been in a constant vertigo. The prime minister stressed that the political agreement closed and the technical agreement will also close.

[02] Tzanakopoulos: We have reasons to believe there will be white smoke by Sunday

He underlined that the issues remaining to be solved are technical, adding that "we are very close to finding solutions."

Asked whether there will be white smoke on the issue of the programme review, he said that this is the target and "we are working towards that direction."

"We have reasons to believe that the text of the supplementary memorandum and the agreement with the IMF will have closed by Sunday so that we can then conclude the draft bill with the prior actions, submit it to parliament and vote it. The compliance report must be then written by the institutions and submitted at the Eurogroup on 22 May," he said.

He underlined that with the conclusion of the agreement on Sunday the negotiations on the mid-term measures on the Greek debt will intensify.

He pointed out that what is being discussed now is the mid-term measures to be implemented after the end of the programme. He underlined that the IMF is asking for a more specific description of the measures, which will be implemented once the programme has been successfully completed. "In this regard, I think there will be a political solution," he underlined. He added that all sides are working in that direction and he estimated "the chances are high".

He stressed that "this is why we are focused on this target, because the country's entry into the quantitative easing program of the ECB depends on this development ".

[03] Tsipras sentenced Greece with fourth memorandum, says ND spokesman

Kikilias presented ND leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis' vision for the country's exit from the crisis underlining the need for the deregulation of the economy and the support of the small and medium sized enterprises along with the, at all costs, tax deduction which will bring new quality job positions in Greece.

ND spokesman sets again the early elections issue and accused the government that with its henchmen are building the political state, are dissolving the entrepreneurship, the private economy and the professionals.

[04] Eupalinos Tunnel, a masterpiece of ancient engineering opens to public

The Culture Ministry announced that the main part of the maintenance, restoration and promotion project of the Eupaline Tunnel that was approved by the Ministry, namely the tunnel in which were the clay water pipes. "The acquaintance with the Eupaline Tunnel is a life experience," said Culture Minister Lydia Koniordou.

The Eupalinian aqueduct was designed and built in 550 BC by the engineer Eupalinos from Megara when Samos was ruled by tyrant Polycrates. It continued to supply the ancient town of Pythagorio with fresh water for 1,100 years.

Eupalinos used what are now well-known principles of geometry, which were codified by Euclid several centuries later. With a length of 1,036 metres (3,399 ft), the Eupalinian subterranean aqueduct is famous today as one of the masterpieces of ancient engineering. Eupalinos used mathematics and geometry not only to align the excavations before they met, but also to "manipulate" the alignment of the tunnel in order to avoid adverse geological conditions. Mutatis mutandis, the basic principle behind the method of Eupalinos, has been used again long after the Renaissance of Europe (early 18th century), and it is still in use in modern tunnelling.

The Eupalinian aqueduct or ditch, is cited by Herodotus (Histories 3.60), without whom it would not have been discovered:

And about the Samians I have spoken at greater length, because they have three works which are greater than any others that have been made by Hellenes: first a passage beginning from below and open at both ends, dug through a mountain not less than a hundred and fifty orguia in height; the length of the passage is seven stadia and the height and breadth each eight feet, and throughout the whole of it another passage has been dug twenty cubits in depth and three feet in breadth, through which the water is conducted and comes by the pipes to the city, brought from an abundant spring: and the designer of this work was a Megarian, Eupalinos the son of Naustrophos.

In 1992, the Eupalinian ditch was included in UNESCO's world cultural heritage list.

[05] SETE: Greek hotel industry will not lose its national identity

Andreadis said that Greek hotels' total bank debt was 7.2 billion euros, of which 3.6 billion were non-performing and noted that around 600 million euros of NPLs have been rescheduled. He stressed that the tourism sector was not indebted compared with its annual revenue of 13 billion euros and its outlook for the domestic economy, while he said that from the sector's non-performing loans around 1.0 billion euros represented debt of five over-indebted large tourism enterprises.

He also stated that tourism is now recognized by society as the most potent pillar of the Greek economy.

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