Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-05-11

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

CONTENTS

[01] About one in six Greek businesses are late payers, says central banker

[02] Fourteen arrested robbery suspects charged and detained

[01] About one in six Greek businesses are late payers, says central banker

Stournaras said it is urgent to address the problem of non-performing loans (NPLs), saying it should be a priority among the reforms discussed between Greece and its lenders, as it is a very significant obstacle to economic recovery.

"This is the biggest challenge facing today, not just the banking system but the Greek economy," he said, adding that according to a conservative estimate based on a sample of 13,000 businesses with loans over one million euros, an average of one in six has the characteristics of a bad payer.

He said there are indications that the analogy is significantly higher for smaller businesses and households.

"But this will change in the immediate future with a series of initiatives that have already underway to address the aforementioned causes and which have hindered banks' efforts to resolve the problem for years," he said.

Stournaras also expressed confidence that the approval of the prior actions by the parliament agreed during the second program review will open the way for the disbursement of the next loan tranche from the Eurogroup on May 22.

"The financial markets are already expecting this result," he said.

[02] Fourteen arrested robbery suspects charged and detained

The accused, 14 ethnic Greeks from eastern countries and one Albanian, were arrested last week in a coordinated police operation in Kallithea, Aspropyrgos and the settlement of the Kapota military camp in Menidi, where, according to the case file, was the area where the gang was based.

The suspects, among whom a minor, are allegedly involved in dozens of robberies, attempted robberies of companies and houses, break-ins and attempted break-ins in companies, thefts and car arsons. According to police information, the overall haul from the gang's known crimes exceeds 10 million euros. Authorities are searching for five more gang members.

The investigative magistrate and the prosecutor handling the case unanimously decide to detain the suspects, among which they believe are four who had a leading role in the gang. The charges include forming a criminal organization, robberies, aggravated robberies, forgery, repeated forgery of certificates, arson, and violations of gun laws. One suspect was released on conditions.

According to information, most suspects rejected the charges, while some of them admitted secondary crimes, while the minor is said to have stated he is not ready to speak to authorities.

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