MPA NEWS IN ENGLISH (13/09/1996)

From: Macedonian Press Agency <mpa@philippos.mpa.gr>

Macedonian Press Agency News in English Directory

MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH

Thessaloniki, September 13, 1996

NEWS IN ENGLISH

[A] NATIONAL NEWS

[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

TITLES

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[A] NATIONAL NEWS

[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

NEWS IN DETAIL

[A] NATIONAL NEWS

[01] PASOK AND NEW DEMOCRACY LEADERS CROSS SWORDS IN TELEVISED DEBATE

The Imia crisis was a result of Turkey's strategic aim to embroil Greece into an internal warring situation in order to achieve its much-desired negotiations, stated the Prime Minister and PASOK President Kostas Simitis during tonight's televised debate with main opposition party New Democracy leader Miltiades Evert.

Fielding a series of thirty questions spanning Greece' national and foreign issues, the two leaders unswervingly defended their parties' policies.

On a question regarding last January's Imia crisis with Turkey, Mr. Simitis emphatically stated that "Imia was and is a Greek island.

"Imia is an island, according to international accords, the Lausannes Treaty, the Treaty which Turkey has signed with Italy, the Treaty which Greece has signed in Paris with Italy, it belongs to Greece and that continues to stand."

On the same matter, New Democracy leader Miltiades Evert criticised the Premier for wrongful handling of foreign policy matters and added that there were a series of mistakes made by the PASOK government.

"The situation that night was bought and sold," Mr. Evert stated. We would never have allowed for the (Greek) flag to be lowered, that's for sure."

Mr. Simitis, responding to criticism for his expression of gratitude to the United States government the night of the Imia crisis, stated that "the Premier of a country must be grateful when he has to and must condemn when he has to, all in the name of defending the country's interests.

"That is why, even in future occasions, I will continue to thank and continue to condemn when the country's interests oblige me to do so" Mr. Simitis maintained.

In turn, Mr. Evert criticised the Prime Minister as having failed in the past during his post as Minister of National Economy, because he "lowered the drachma's value, 'froze' the salaries and raised the taxes."

Mr. Evert added that Mr. Simitis' second mistake was when he was removed from the Cabinet of former Prime Minister and PASOK President the late Andreas Papandreou "because he had the lowest absorption rate of European Union projects and because his privatization policies failed."

Mr. Simitis countered that New Democracy failed in the first year of the convergence program and, as such, PASOK was forced to re-negotiate the program.

On the matter of Cyprus, specifically on the likelihood of a Dayton-like solution to the problem of the divided island, Mr. Evert stated that according to the European Parliament President, Cyprus will gain accession to the EU within six months after the intergovernmental conference and foresaw that the various pressures Greece is subjected to from its European allies will ease after the elections.

Mr. Simitis stated that the negotiations for Cyprus' EU accession are an achievement to be attributed to PASOK, reminding that there are no magical solutions. Instead, the Prime Minister reiterated the need for a multi-level diplomatic effort in order to force Turkey into accepting the solutions.

[02] POLITICAL LEADERS PRE-ELECTION DEBATE WAS THE FIRST IN GREECE'S HISTORY

For the first time in Greece's political scenery, two rivaling party leaders made a joint television appearance where they debated each other's strengths and weaknesses.

Prime Minister and PASOK President Kostas Simitis was pitted against main opposition leader, New Democracy's Miltiades Evert, in a televised debate that was marked by intense juxtaposing and one upmanship.

The two leaders fielded 30 questions posed by three appointed jounalists and were given two minutes to answer each question.

The debate was broadcast live at 9.00 p.m. local time by ERT and re-transmitted by virtually all of the country's television networks. The Macedonian Press Agency provided live sound and video coverage through the Internet.

[03] M.P.A. PRESENTS SIMITIS-EVERT DEBATE VIA INTERNET WITH SOUND AND VIDEO

In an effort to provide the mass media of the Greeks living abroad with immediate access to election information, the Macedonian Press Agency electronically transmitted, via sound and video, the most significant excerpts from the first televised debate held between the country's leading political parties.

Shortly after the end of the discussion, M.P.A.'s server (http://www.mpa.gr/gr/ekloges96) featured excerpts from the debate and a brief video of the televised duel.

For a faster transmittance of these data, these files were mirrored in Athens at the server of the National Technical University of Athens (http://www.ntua.gr/gr/ekloges96) and in the United States were mirrored on the server of the Hellenic Research Institute (http://hri.org/MPA/gr/ekloges96).

M.P.A.'s server features an election special edition where one can find each political party's positions on foreign policy and overseas-Hellenism policies, the MP candidates, all supplied with color photographs amd brief resumes. Also, M.P.A.'s server provides a history of election outcomes since 1974, the Prime Ministers and the Presidents of the Republic.

The Macedonian Press Agency will broadcast through the Internet the election outcomes.

[04] PASOK AND NEW DEMOCRACY LEADERS TO PIT THEIR STRENGTHS IN DEBATE

For the first time in Greece's political history, two rivaling party leaders will make a joint television appearance where they will debate each other's strengths and weaknesses.

Prime Minister and PASOK President Kostas Simitis will be pitted against main opposition leader, New Democracy's Miltiades Evert, in a televised debate to be broadcast live at 9.00 p.m. local time by ERT and re-transmitted by virtually all of the country's television networks.

The two leaders will field 12 questions posed by journalists and will be given two minutes to answer each question.

[05] POLITICAL LEADERS CONTINUE RACE, PRE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN FEVER INTENSIFIES

Prime Minister and PASOK President Kostas Simitis has expressed his certainty and confidence of the Socialist Movement's victory in the upcoming elections of September 22.

Yesterday, Mr. Simitis stated that from the data and reports that his party has gathered so far, he has concluded that a very positive climate is apparent.

"We believe that everything forecasts a victory," he said.

Main opposition party leader, New Democracy's Mitliades Evert will arrive in Thessaloniki on Saturday evening where he will present his conservative party's economic policy and its basic axes.

On Sunday morning, Mr. Evert will visit the premises of Thessaloniki's International Trade Fair and will give a press conference in the afternoon at the city's "Macedonia Palace" hotel.

Minor opposition party leader, Political Spring's Antonis Samaras, will give a press conference in Thessaloniki this afternoon. Speaking in the city of Serres last night, Mr. Samaras criticised both Mr. Simitis and Mr. Evert and stated "they have put Grece's national issues up for auction."

Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Secretary-General Aleka Paparega will meet with university deans in Athens today.

Coalition of the Left and Progress (Synaspismos) leader Nikos Konstantopoulos will tour Serres today. Yesterday, Mr. Konstantopoulos spoke at an open rally in Thessaloniki and emphasized that his party must enter the Parliament while he stated that he is opposed to bipartisanism.

President of the Democratic and Social Movement (DHKKI) Dimitris Tsovolas has a speaking engagement in Nikaia this evening.

[06] LEADERS OF THE TWO MAIN POLITICAL PARTIES PREPARE FOR TELEVISED DEBATE

The leaders of PASOK and New Democracy, Kostas Simitis and Miltiadis Evert are getting ready for their televised debate that will be held at 9pm tonight.

Minister of Defence, Gerasimos Arsenis stated that the televised debate will be for PASOK a significant step closer to its election victory, while Minister of National Economy, Yiannos Papantoniou stated that it will have a certain impact on the election results.

New Democracy spokesman, Prokopis Pavlopoulos stated that the televised debate will play a significant role in the outcome of the elections. He said that mr.Evert will outline in detail the positions of his party in order to convince the electorate on the effectiveness and feasibility of the main opposition party's proposals.

[07] SMALL POLITICAL PARTIES REACT NEGATIVELY TO HOW THE DEBATE WILL BE HELD

The small political parties reacted negatively to the way the televised debate between the leaders of PASOK and New Democracy will be held.

Political Spring Parliament candidate, Andreas Lentakis described it as a "theatrical performance", while Communist party spokesman, Makis Kopsidis said that it is "fake juxtaposition between the advertising companies hired by the two main parties".

Coalition of the Left candidate, Panagiotis Lafazanis made indirect comments on the selection of the three journalists chosen to ask the questions in the debate, while Democratic Social Movement candidate, Giorgos Papasimos stated that it is a hypocritical effort aimed at covering up the fact that there is a lack of political proposals.

[08] LEADER OF POLITICAL SPRING PRESENTS HIS PARTY'S ECONOMIC PROGRAMME

Political Spring party leader, Antonis Samaras presented his party's economic programme in a press conference held in Thessaloniki today.

Mr.Samaras stressed that the policy followed by PASOK and New Democracy, which has as basic economic axes the hard drachma, tax collecting measures and austerity, has totally failed emphasizing that his party has prepared a development programme based on inter- regional programmes.

The Political Spring party leader proposed among others, the reduction by 15% of the social security contributions for farmers and workers, economic growth rate of 5%, package of relief measures for farmers, abolition of the objective criteria taxation system and imposition of a 10% tax on state bonds.

Referring to the Simitis-Evert televised debate, mr.Samaras stated that it is an "unsightly theater" and a "political comedy for two".

[09] COMMUNIST PARTY SECRETARY-GENERAL MEETS WITH UNIVERSITY DEANS

Communist party General Secretary, Aleka Papariga met today with a delegation of University Deans.

Ms.Papariga appealed to the rest political parties to take a position on the issues concerning the establishment of a multi- national NATO force, the Maastricht Treaty revision and the role of the US base in Souda on the island of Crete.

The Communist party General Secretary also described the Simitis-Evert televised debate as a theatrical performance.

[10] COALITION OF THE LEFT LEADER: AGRICULTURE SECTOR SHOULD BE STRENGTHENED

Coalition of the Left leader, Nikos Konstantopoulos stressed from the northern city of Serres the need for the strengthening of the argiculture sector and criticized PASOK and New Democracy for their policy concering the sector.

Mr.Konstantopoulos underlined the need for a change in the way the state operates and suggested that the local administration should have more responsibilities while he proposed the establishment of a new debt regulating system.

Referring to the Simitis-Evert televised debate he said that it is "a provocative redicule of political dialogue" and called the two main political parties to accept the Coalition of the Left proposal for dialogue in which will participate all the political party leaders.

[11] GREEK STATE TELEVISION TO BROADCAST A SIX-HOUR PROGRAMME FOR THE GREEKS ABROAD ON THE DAY OF THE ELECTIONS

Caretaker Minister of Press, Dimitris Konstas announced today that the greek state television, ERT, will broadcast an election programme for the greek communities in the United States and Canada on September 22.

The programme aims at informing the greeks living abroad on the developments concerning the elections and will begin at 7pm on election day, while there are plans to be broadcast in Europe and Australia as well.

Mr.Konstas also stated that the Ministry of Press and Mass Media had no involvement in the procedures for the organizing of tonight's televised debate underlining that anything contributing to the electorate's better information, without violating the law, is positive.

[12] GREEK GOVERNMENT EXPRESSED HOPE THAT THE SITUATION IN BOSNIA WILL BE NORMALIZED AFTER TOMORROW'S ELECTIONS

Caretaker Minister of Press, Dimitris Konstas expressed the greek government's hope that tomorrow's elections in Bosnia will create the conditions needed to overcome the problems in this country and will lead to the normalization of the situation in Bosnia and the wider region.

[13] GREECE RATIFIED THE PROTOCOL FOR THE AMENDMENT OF THE SOCIAL CHARTER

Greece ratified today the protocol for the amendment of the Social Charter, through its permanent representative in the Council of Europe, ambassador Antonis Exarchos.

The protocol, which will be put into effect as soon as it is ratified by all the states participating in the European Social Charter, guarantees 19 basic economic and social rights.

[14] THE GREEK INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION INCREASED BY 0,9%

In the first half of 1996, the greek industrial production increased by 0,9% compared to the same period last year.

Meanwhile, according to a report published today by the official EU Statistics Agency, Eurostat, on the average industrial production in the European Union remained stagnant, while the industry index in the United States increased by 2,3% and in Japan 0,8%.

The biggest drop in industrial production was recorded in Luxemburg and Spain with 3,1% and 3% respectivelly, followed by Germany (-1,2%) and by Italy and Belgium with -0,7% each.

In Holland, industrial production increased by 4,9%, while an increase was recorded in Sweden (1,8%), Britain (1,5%), Finland (0,8%) and Portugal with 0,3%.

[15] FRANCE'S PRIME MINISTER ALAIN JUPPE ARRIVES IN GREECE TOMORROW

France's Prime Minister Alain Juppe will arrive in Greece tomorrow for a two-day official visit, to commemmorate the 150th anniversary of the founding of the French Archaeological School in Athens.

On Saturday, Mr. Juppe will meet with Greek Prime Kostas Simitis and is scheduled to visit Delphi where he will be proclaimed an honorary citizen.

Mr. Juppe will return to Athens on Sunday evening where he will meet with main opposition party leader, New Democracy's Miltiades Evert and will attend the school's celebrations.

[16] BLOCK FUNDING TO TURKEY, SUSPEND CUSTOMS UNION, SAYS GREEK EURO-MEP

Mr. Alavanos' proposal regarding human rights and the recent developments in Turkey, which was adopted by the EP's Group "European United Left" condemns the recent murders of the two Greek-Cypriot men Tasos Isaac and Solomos Solomou, and demands the arrest and punishment of all those responsible for the murders.

Moreover, Mr. Alavanos' proposal condemns Turkey's plans to create "security zones" in northern Iraq, an act which, as he stated, "would constitute a blatant violation of the Lausanne Treaty."

[17] PRESIDENT OF DEMOCRATIC SOCIAL MOVEMENT IN THESSALONIKI TOMORROW

Dimitris Tsovolas, the President of the newly-created Democratic Social Movement (DHKKI) will visit Thessaloniki tomorrow both on the account of the city's International Trade Fair and the upcoming elections.

Mr. Tsovolas is expected to arrive at Thessaloniki's "Macedonia" airport at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning and in turn will tour various municipalities prior to meeting with the laid-off workers of the Goodyear tire-making factory that closed last month.

In the evening, Mr. Tsovolas will visit the ITF wherein he will give a press conference, prior to speaking at an open rally in Thessaloniki's Aristotle Square.

On Sunday morning Mr. Tsovolas will travel to Skydra where he has a speaking engagement.

[18] THE ALBANIAN PRESIDENT EXPRESSED SATISFACTION FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE GREEK-ALBANIAN RELATIONS

Albanian President, Sali Berisha underlined the improved level of the greek-albanian relations in the meeting he had with Greece's new ambassador to Tirana, Konstantinos Prevedourakis, who presented his credentials to the albanian President.

Mr.Berisha stated that the greek-albanian relations are strengthening the spirit of friendship existing between the two peoples and have a positive effect on the region, while he foresaw a "bright future" for their development.

The greek ambassador stressed the positive role of the Friedship and Cooperation agreement signed by the two countries, while he underlined that the development of bilateral relations constitutes a strategic target for the greek government.

Satisfaction over the improvement of greek-albanian relations was expressed to the greek ambassador and by the albanian Foreign Minister, who underlined that the relations between the two countries must be further strengthened and promoted for the benefit of the two peoples and also for the benefit of peace and stability in the wider region.

[19] ANDREAS PAPANDREOU'S SON-IN-LAW WILL DISPUTE THE WILL WRITTEN BY THE LATE POLITICIAN

Andreas Papandreou's son-in-law, Theodoros Katsanevas is going to dispute the will written by the late politician himself, after maintaining today that the will's text was not written by the deceased PASOK leader.

Mr.Katsanevas pointed out that there is no personal rivalry between himself and Papandreou's wife, Dimitra.

[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

[20] TURKEY TO GLADLY PARTICIPATE IN THESSALONIKI'S "CULTURAL CAPITAL 97"

Turkey has been called on to participate in the year-long cultural events of "Thessaloniki: Cultural Capital of Europe 1997" and the invitation was gladly received by the Consul-General in Thessaloniki, Ertan Tezgior.

Mr. Terzgior met today with the artistic director of the Organization of Cultural Capital, Panos Theodorides and other local officials and was briefed on the event's procedures and preparations.

Turkey's choices on what events it will promote will be finalized shortly and will be included in the list of over thirty countries that are due to participate in next year's Cultural Capital program.

[21] PAKISTANI BUSINESSMEN VISIT THESSALONIKI'S INTERNATIONAL TRADE FAIR

Ten Pakistani businessmen visited Thessaloniki's 61st International Trade Fair today, participating in a mission organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Trade of Karatji, the capital of Pakistan.

Heading the delegation was the Pakistani Chamber's trade official Abdul Mahid Suleiman who noted that his country is interested in cooperating with the Greek industry, pointing out that his country has an ambundance of agricultural products available at low cost.

The trade attache of the Pakistani Embassy in Athens, Ali Mardar Rahugu, also issued an invitation to HELEXPO, the organization in charge of the ITF, to participate at Karatji's comparable fair in 1997. Pakistan will officially be represented in next year's ITF in Thessaloniki.

[22] THERE ARE NO FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE OUTBREAKS IN BULGARIA, SAYS SOFIA

Bulgarian Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Christio Tredafilov assured his country's Parliament that currently there is an absence of foot and mouth disease in Bulgaria, the illness that debilitates cattle and sheep.

According to Mr. Tredafilov, the import or export of livestock at the border regions have been strickly forbidden, given the recent reports of outbreaks, in an effort to contain the disease.

Bulgaria has received 16,000ECU in funding for preventive measures aimed at nipping the spread of foot and mouth.

[23] CONSUMER PROTECTION SEMINAR HELD IN BULGARIA, GREECE IS CO- ORGANIZER

Thessaloniki's Consumer Protection Center in conjuction with the Federation of Consumers in Bulgaria are organizing their second seminar -within the framework of a Greek-Bulgarian plan "Consumer Protection- legislation, activities and funding" which has been approved by the European Union and is funded by the PHARE program.

Participating in the seminar are speakers from Greece, Bulgaria, France and the Federated Republic of Yugoslavia. Topics of discussion will include price controls, food quality and new technologies that promote consumer protection. The event in being held at Bulgaria's St. Constantine resort, near the city of Varna.

[24] BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA TO HOLD FREE ELECTIONS FOR THE FIRST TIME AFTER WAR

Free elections for the first time after the four-year war will be held in Bosnia-Herzegovina tomorrow where the 2.9 millions of the war-torn country's electorate body will be called to vote on a tripartite, rotating presidium and to form a parliament.

Late last evening, United States Under-Secretary of State John Kornblum met with the Serb Republic's acting Premier Biljiana Plavcic and, according to reports, discussed the application of the Dayton peace agreement as well as the imminent elections.

Mr. Kornblum will likely travel to Belgrade on Sunday where he will relay to Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic the final lift of sanctions imposed on the Yugoslav Federated Republic. According to the Dayton agreement, these sanctions must be raised ten days after the elections.

[25] OSCE REGIONAL DIRECTOR: ALL IS READY FOR SMOOTH ELECTIONS IN BOSNIA

The regional director of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Benjamin Karakonstanoglou, stated today that the international community and organizations have been long readied to carry through with tomorrow's elections in Bosnia.

Speaking to the Macedonian Press Agency, Mr. Karakonstanoglou stated that the polling stations will open tomorrow at 7 a.m. local time, (8 a.m. Greek time) and will close 12 hours later, although there is a possibility that voting may be carried over to Sunday if a high number of voters still has not cast a vote.

So far, registered voters number 2.9 million, of whom 600,000 have already voted from abroad while another 120,000 persons are expected to turn up from Yugoslavia.

Over 2,500 persons from various international organizations have been assigned to supervise the election process, in addition to the staff already stationed in Bosnia.

According to Mr. Karakonstanoglou, voting centers have been established in both of Bosnia's communities for persons coming from one community into the other. These centers have been stationed near motorways which will be policed by the United Nations peacekeeping forces.

[26] THE MAYORS OF EASTERN EUROPEAN CAPITALS UNDERLINED THEIR SUPPORT TO THE REUNIFICATION OF NICOSIA

The mayors of eastern European capitals underlined their support to the reunification of Nicosia in their 2nd Conference held in Vienna on September 5-6.

In the conference participated mayor of Nicosia, Lellos Dimitriadis and mayor of Athens, Dimitris Avramopoulos, who presented the problem underlining that Nicosia is the only divided capital in Europe.

Mr.Dimitriadis, referring to the bloody incidents in Derinia and the killing of the two greek-cypriots, stressed that with its recent actions Turkey has showed that its behaviour is less than european.

[27] MANY CULTURAL EVENTS WILL BE HELD PARALLEL TO THE EXHIBITION ON MACEDONIA AND ALEXANDER THE GREAT IN FLORIDA, USA

Many cultural events will take place parallel to the exhibition of archaeological findings, which has as a theme Macedonia and Alexander the Great, and will be held in the International Museum of St.Petersberg in Florida, USA from October 1, 1996 to March 1, 1997.

The exhibition consists of two parts. The first has the title "Macedons, the northern greeks" and is organized by the greek Culture Ministry, while the second part has the title "Alexander the Great, History and Legend" and is organized by Rome's "Fontazione Memo" group.

The events that will be held parallel to the exhibition are organized by the Pan-Macedonian Association of US-Canada in cooperation with the Federation of Greek Associations in Florida, the local association Alexander the Great and Tampa's Chamber of Commerce.

Among the planned cultural events will be a greek song and dance folk festival, theater performances, painting exhibitions, exhibitions of byzantine icons and jewellery and also, a greek music and poetry night dedicated to greek poets Giorgos Seferis, Odiseas Elitis and Yiannis Ritsos.

[28] BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA TO HOLD FREE ELECTIONS FOR THE FIRST TIME AFTER WAR

Free elections for the first time after the four-year war will be held in Bosnia-Herzegovina tomorrow where the 2.9 millions of the war-torn country's electorate body will be called to vote on a tripartite, rotating presidium and to form a parliament.

Late last evening, United States Under-Secretary of State John Kornblum met with the Serb Republic's acting Premier Biljiana Plavcic and, according to reports, discussed the application of the Dayton peace agreement as well as the imminent elections.

Mr. Kornblum will likely travel to Belgrade on Sunday where he will relay to Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic the final lift of sanctions imposed on the Yugoslav Federated Republic. According to the Dayton agreement, these sanctions must be raised ten days after the elections.

The legislative and executive bodies of the newly-formed state will be primarily composed by the three-member presidium of the Bosnia-Herzegovina union, which will comprise three representatives, a Serb, a Muslim and a Croat. The presidency will be on a rotating, six-month basis and among the likeliest candidates are Bosnia's current President Alia Izetbegobic, a Muslim; Croat Krezimir Zubac, current President of the Mulsim- Croatian Federation; and Serb Momcilo Krisnik, current President of the Bosnianserb Parliament.

The Common Representatives Body will be made up by 42 parliamentarians, 14 from the Serb Republic and 28 from the Muslim- Croatian Federation.

The Muslim-Croat Federation Parliament, will be composed by 120 MPs and expected to take a lead are Alia Izetbegobic's SDA, the Party of the Democratic Action, and the Croat Democratic Union (HDZ) which is led by the like-named party of the Croatian President Franjo Tudjman. Main opponents of these two parties are considered to be the Union for Bosnia-Herzegovina of former Premier Haris Silaigic, and Rasim Kadic's Liberal Alliance.

The Serb Republic's Parliament will be made up by 83 Bosnianserb parliamentarians. It is almost certain that the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) will prevail, led by Radovan Karadic. The Coalition for Peace and Progress led by the Socialist Party and supported by President of Serbia Slobodan Milocevic and the Democratic Patriotic Bloc, led by Banja Luca's former mayor Predrag Radic have also increased their chances of entering parliament, although they're lagging far behind the ruling SDS.

The Serb Republic's Presidency, which up to date has been steered by the acting President Plavcic, is likely to gain majority appeal by the Bosnianserbs. However, one cannot doubt the outcome if in Plavcic's seat was Radovan Karadic who, this summer succumbed to the international community's profound pressure to withdraw from Bosnia's political proscenium. Nevertheless, Karadic's candidature as SDS party leader is so heavily promoted in the region, that local authorities have formally protested to the Serb Republic for not observing the pre-election campaign policies.

[29] ALBANIA'S FIRST PRIVATE BANK "TIRANA" IS GREEK-OWNED

The Bank of Albania yesterday approved the permit to establish the country's first privately-owned bank "Tirana", which has Greek proprietorship.

According to the Albanian state-owned radio station, the Bank, whose initial capital is two million USD, will manage all banking transactions, such as deposits, loans, money orders, etc.

The director of the Bank of Albania exhalted the new bank's significance and announced that other permits are expected to be issued soon for other privately-owned banking institutions in order to expedite the privatization process of the country's banking system.

The "Tirana Bank"'s general manager Byron Pitsilides expressed his optimism for the Bank's course and emphasized that its function will contribute to the development of the Albanian banking sustem not only by providing quality and productive services but also through its cooperation with the country's other banks.

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