Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2001-05-29
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, May 29, 2001
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
TITLES
[Á] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] MILITARY CHOPPER CRASHES IN AEGEAN, PILOT DEAD
[02] ATHENS 2004 IN THESSALONIKI FOR COLLABORATION
[03] GREEK FM ATTENDS NATO CONFERENCE IN BUDAPEST
[04] PM VOWS: MINIMUM PENSIONS GUARANTEED FOR ALL
[05] QUAKE OF 5.1 RICHTER JOLTS ISLAND OF RHODES
[06] YOUNGER GREEKS REVERSE PRIOR EDUCATION TRENDS
[07] EVENT ON BYZANTINE MONUMENTS IN THESSALONIKI
[08] UNDOCUMENTED FOREIGNERS GET "SECOND CHANCE"
[09] SPEAKER CONDEMNS TURKISH PRISON CONDITIONS
[10] GREEK SHIPS SAFE, SAYS GERMAN EXPERT FIRM
[11] LOCAL WORKERS GROUP RALLIES FOR TVX OPERATION
[12] "HYMN TO LIBERTY" ORIGINAL EDITION AT AUCTION
[13] SE EUROPEAN DEFENSE MINISTERS MEETING
[14] GREEK BANKS CONTROL 15% OF THE BULGARIAN MARKET
[15] BIG LOSSES IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
[16] KAKLAMANIS ON GREECE'S RELATIONS WITH FRY AND MOROCCO
[17] EUREKO BV GOT 79.38% OF INTERAMERICAN LIFE
[18] GREECE'S RESPONSE TO ECEVIT'S PROPOSAL ON CYPRUS
[19] THE UPGRADING OF THE GREEK STOCK MARKET IS POSITIVE
[20] GREEK-CHINESE PROTOCOL OF COOPERATION
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[21] PAPANDREOU-CEM MEETING IN BUDAPEST
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] MILITARY CHOPPER CRASHES IN AEGEAN, PILOT DEAD
A military helicopter crashed late Monday night into the sea
area west of the central Aegean island of Skyros, after having
undergone mechanical failure.
A 'Super Puma' search and rescue helicopter rushed to the
area of the accident and rescued two of the three-member crew,
while the body of 33-year-old pilot Sotiris Tserketzopoulos, who
was trapped in the cockpit, was recovered two hours later.
The helicopter was participating in military training
maneuvers. The general army staff is conducting an investigation
into the causes of the accident.
[02] ATHENS 2004 IN THESSALONIKI FOR COLLABORATION
A memorandum of understanding and cooperation is to be signed
in Thessaloniki today between the city's Chamber of Industry &
Commerce and Athens 2004 Olympics Organizing Committee.
The memorandum is to be signed by the Chamber's president
Dimitris Bakatselos, and 2004 Olympics Committee president Gianna
Angelopoulos-Daskalaki.
The Minister of Culture Evangelos Venizelos is to also attend
the event which will be held at the Macedonia Palace hotel.
[03] GREEK FM ATTENDS NATO CONFERENCE IN BUDAPEST
Foreign Minister George Papandreou is presently in Budapest
to represent Greece at the two-day meeting of NATO foreign
ministers that opens today.
During the meeting, Alliance foreign ministers are slated to
discuss developments in the Balkans, with the focus on FYROM,
Kosovo and Bosnia, as well as EU-NATO relations in light of the
previous summit in Nice last December.
NATO foreign ministers will also examine a request by Turkey
that it participate in the taking of decisions in the framework of
boosting the European defense and security identity.
While in Budapest, Mr. Papandreou will hold separate sideline
meetings with several NATO counterparts, including Yugoslav
Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic.
[04] PM VOWS: MINIMUM PENSIONS GUARANTEED FOR ALL
The government will not reduce the lowest pension levels and
it will guarantee minimum levels for all workers, Prime Minister
Costas Simitis vowed yesterday after the ruling PASOK party's
Executive Bureau convened to prepare the Central Committee's
upcoming meeting on social policy.
According to Mr. Simitis, the decision taken at the meeting
was unanimous and it concerns the social policy framework and
measures aiming at improving the quality of life of all Greeks.
The Premier stressed that the social state continues to
constitute PASOK's ideological foundation and added that dialogue
will take place without preconditions and on a zero basis.
A report approved during the meeting will be released by
Central Committee secretary Costas Skandalides today.
[05] QUAKE OF 5.1 RICHTER JOLTS ISLAND OF RHODES
An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale jolted the
island of Rhodes at 7.44 am today, causing no damages or injuries.
According to seismologists, tremors of such magnitude are a
routine phenomenon in the quake-prone area.
The earthquake occurred at a distance of 440 kilometers
southeast of Athens, with its epicenter in the seabed south of
Rhodes.
[06] YOUNGER GREEKS REVERSE PRIOR EDUCATION TRENDS
Only one of every two Greeks between the ages of 25 and 64
has finished high school, while three of four between the ages of
25-29 are high school graduates, according to a Eurostat report
published yesterday.
In comparison, the percentage of citizens between the ages of
25 and 64 that completed high school in Portugal stood at 21.2 per
cent, in Spain 34.9 per cent and in Italy 43.2 per cent. On the
other end of the scale, Germany tops the list with 79.9%, followed
by Denmark (79.6%) and Sweden (77%).
Higher education title holders in Greece account for 17 per
cent of the population between the ages of 25-64, while the
European Union average stood at 21 per cent.
[07] EVENT ON BYZANTINE MONUMENTS IN THESSALONIKI
Thessaloniki's Museum of Byzantine Culture is presently
hosting an exhibition containing works from the 14th to 19th
centuries, ranging from all schools and trends in Orthodox
painting, ceramics, coins, religious objects, religious
engravings, and documents.
The works in the exhibition, which was inaugurated by Culture
Minister Evangelos Venizelos, are donations from the Ikonomopoulos
and Papastratou private collections.
Also, at the Byzantine and Christian Museum of Athens
yesterday, President Kostis Stephanopoulos inaugurated the
exhibition titled "Great and Paradoxical Mystery" in the framework
of events celebrating 2000 years since the birth of Christ. Two
hundred rare icons depicting Jesus Christ are on display at the
exhibition.
[08] UNDOCUMENTED FOREIGNERS GET "SECOND CHANCE"
Undocumented foreigners who have been living in Greece for
the past 12 months can now apply for residency and temporary work
permits, through a "second chance" program enacted by the Interior
Ministry.
Illegal aliens must submit, between June 2 and August 2,
their applications for legalization to the municipality or
community where they are living, along with a 50,000-drachma
administration fee.
Eligible are aliens who have completed at least one year of
residency in Greece by June 2, when the new immigration
legislation takes effect.
This also applies to aliens whose green or white card has
expired, aliens who have taken recourse to the Manpower Employment
Organization (OAED) and wish to abandon their recourse, and all
those who have submitted applications for obtaining a residency
permit for humanitarian reasons.
The application must be accompanied by two recent color
pictures, and a certified copy of their passport, other travel
document, birth certificate, or identification card. The passport
will also serve as proof of the one-year residency. In the event
the alien is unable to produce a passport verifying the duration
of residency, he or she must submit other proof, such as a lease
or utility bills for the period in question.
If an alien lives in a small municipality or community of
fewer than 20,000 inhabitants, a decision of the municipal or
community council may serve as proof of the length of residency in
Greece. The family members (dependents) of the illegal alien may
also submit applications for residency permits under the same
procedures, provided the illegal alien has a residency permit or
working permit and has lived in Greece for at least two years as
of June 2.
In terms of acquiring a permanent residency and employment
permit after the six-month permit expires, another set of fees
have been enacted, based on the duration that a now-legalized
foreign national would request to remain in the country. S
Specifically, according to Article 71 of the legalization
bill, a one- to two-year residency permit will cost 100,000
drachmas; 150,000 drachmas for between two to six years, and
finally, 300,000 drachmas for more than six years.
Interior and Public Administration Minister Vasso Papandreou
anticipates that 300,000-400,000 undocumented foreigners will
take advantage of the program.
[09] SPEAKER CONDEMNS TURKISH PRISON CONDITIONS
The President of the Hellenic Parliament Apostolos Kaklamanis
condemns human rights violations in Turkish prisons, in a letter
forwarded to each of his counterparts in Europe and the
parliamentary assemblies of the Council of Europe, the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the
Western European Union (WEU).
The Greek Speaker notes that the hunger strikes among
prisoners but also their relatives outside prison are continuing
and that 22 people have died so far as a result of the ""inhuman,
raw and brutal way in which fundamental human rights and civil
liberties are being violated in Turkey."
[10] GREEK SHIPS SAFE, SAYS GERMAN EXPERT FIRM
Greek passenger ferries are safe according to Germany's
largest company in the provision of tourism services and drivers'
insurance (ADAC), but the same endorsement was not given to crew
performance.
ADAC conducted reviews on 22 ships in the Mediterranean, ten
of which were Greek, in order to compile a safety report for
tourists who plan to vacation in the area.
[11] LOCAL WORKERS GROUP RALLIES FOR TVX OPERATION
A rally in support of the unhindered operation of the TVX-
Hellas gold mine project in northern Greece's Halkidiki peninsula
is to be organized by a local Employees and Laborers Center in
Thessaloniki on June 6.
The rally, which will commence in front of Thessaloniki's
landmark White Tower and will culminate at the Ministry of
Macedonia-Thrace, is to coincide with a 24-hour strike throughout
the Halkidiki prefecture.
According to the Center, the $248-million project should not
be obstructed, since it would provide a solution to the area's
massive unemployment rate and will greatly boost local economy and
improve living standards.
TVX, a Toronto-based mining company, wants to expand its gold
mining operations in the area and to build a processing metal
plant at the Olympiada site.
Its polymetallic gold project aims to develop 254,000 ounces
of gold on an annual basis, along with 2.3 million ounces of
silver, 21,500 tons of zinc and 22,500 tons of lead over the first
five years of production.
Prior to gaining the state's approval of its environmental
impact report last year, TVX was subject to a series of protests
and obstructive action from various local groups.
[12] "HYMN TO LIBERTY" ORIGINAL EDITION AT AUCTION
On of the original editions of the Greek national anthem
"Hymn to Liberty", written by national poet Dionysios Solomos, is
to be sold at an auction tomorrow, marking the first sale of a
document printed during the siege of Mesologhi 1825.
Only 25 copies of the "Hymn to Freedom" remain to date,
having been "rescued" from the besieged city, all other original
editions having been lost along with Solomos' most important work,
the "Free Besieged".
The auction is to take place at 6.30 this evening at the
Grand Bretagne Hotel in Athens.
[13] SE EUROPEAN DEFENSE MINISTERS MEETING
The armed clashes in FYROM and the situation in south Serbia,
Kosovo and the Balkans in general will be discussed in the
informal southeastern European defense ministers summit meeting
that will be held in Thessaloniki on June 5-6.
Their previous summit meeting had been held in Skopje and
they had agreed then on a declaration condemning extremist actions
and offering support to the FYROM government efforts aimed at
safeguarding territorial integrity and the existing borders. They
had decided to take measures for more intense and effective
controls at the FYROM-Kosovo borders to stop the movement of armed
groups and the trafficking of guns and drugs. Disagreements had
been expressed on the role the Balkan Brigade should undertake
within the framework of the initiatives aimed at dealing with the
crisis in FYROM and the guarding of the borders with Kosovo and
they decided to deal with the issue in the Thessaloniki Summit.
As it was made known, among those attending June's meeting in
Thessaloniki will be the defense ministers of Greece, Albania,
Bulgaria, FYROM, Italy, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, Ukraine,
Turkey and the United States.
[14] GREEK BANKS CONTROL 15% OF THE BULGARIAN MARKET
Four Greek banks control about 15% of Bulgaria's financial
sector. The "flagship" is the United Bulgarian Bank (UBB), 90% of
which was bought out by the National Bank of Greece. The UBB
itself controlled over 10% of the Bulgarian market. The rest 5% is
controlled by the Commercial Bank, Alpha Bank and the Bank of
Piraeus.
The prospects for the further growth of Greek banks in
Bulgaria are very favorable as they are regarded as reliable and
serious, stated to MPA Bulgarian National Bank governor Svetoslav
Gavriski.
He stated that the percentage controlled by the Greek banks
in the Bulgarian market is very good especially, if it is compared
with that controlled by other countries like Turkey, which has
only two banks in Bulgaria namely, Demir Bank and the state-run
Ziraat Bank.
Meanwhile, the privatization of Bulgaria's financial sector
continues with a quick pace. It is indicative that 82% of its
banks are already in the hands of private investors and 75% of
them belong to foreign investors.
[15] BIG LOSSES IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE
Big losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today.
The general index dropped to -2.17% at 3.1332,41 points, while the
volume of transactions was at 183.4 million Euro or 62.5 billion
drachmas.
Of the stocks trading today 67 recorded gains and 260 had
losses, while the value of 53 stocks remained stable.
[16] KAKLAMANIS ON GREECE'S RELATIONS WITH FRY AND MOROCCO
Greek parliament president Apostolos Kaklamanis and Yugoslav
ambassador to Athens Dusan Vatakovic met in Athens today and
reaffirmed the close relations shared by Greece and Yugoslavia.
Mr. Kaklamanis conveyed the feelings of love and support of
the Greeks to the suffering Yugoslav people and expressed the wish
that the peaceful course toward the consolidation of democracy in
Yugoslavia will not be undermined.
Mr. Vatakovic thanked Mr. Kaklamanis for the economic
assistance offered by the Greek parliament for the reconstruction
works in the federal parliament building in Belgrade and invited
Mr. Kaklamanis to visit Yugoslavia.
Mr. Kaklamanis also received the new ambassador of Morocco to
Athens Mohamed Lofti Aouad and expressed the certainty that he
will contribute to the further strengthening and effectiveness of
the already good relations shared by the two countries.
[17] EUREKO BV GOT 79.38% OF INTERAMERICAN LIFE
The Portuguese company EUREKO BV got the majority package of
INTERAMERICAN Life, the parent company of the INTERAMERICAN
financial group.
Based on the new deal that has been reached EUREKO BV, a
subsidiary of the Portuguese bank Banco Comercial Portugues and
the Dutch Achmea, got 54.38% of the parent company for the sum of
333 billion drachmas. EUREKO BV already owned 25% of the
company.
The buyout of the majority package of INTERAMERICAN Life by
EUREKO constitutes the first buyout of a domestic company by a
foreign one, which is active in the same sector.
It should be noted that INTERAMERICAN Life controls every
activity of the group namely, insurance, mutual funds and banks as
well as, activities in the sector of real estate and health,
through a number of subsidiary companies. INTERAMERICAN Life
controls the majority package, 55%, of the brokerage firm
Intertrust and 30% of Nova Bank.
[18] GREECE'S RESPONSE TO ECEVIT'S PROPOSAL ON CYPRUS
Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas gave a strong
response to the statements made by Turkish prime minister Bulent
Ecevit, who suggested that a Chechoslovakia model should be
considered in the case of Cyprus.
Mr. Reppas stated that the Cyprus problem was created because
of Turkey, which invaded and occupied Cypriot territory, adding
that Turkey is the one that plays a decisive role in the Cyprus
problem. He said that Cyprus is a UN member and the international
organization has issued a number of resolutions that determine the
framework for the solution of the Cyprus problem, stressing that
this framework is accepted by everybody, except from Turkey.
The Greek government spokesman said that the only solution
for Cyprus is a federal state with one nationality and a single
international personality and called on Turkey to respect this
framework for a solution to be found.
[19] THE UPGRADING OF THE GREEK STOCK MARKET IS POSITIVE
The belief that the upgrading of the Athens Stock Exchange
will introduce greater stability to the market as international
investors in mature markets have a more long-term horizon, was
expressed today by Greek national economy minister Yiannos
Papantoniou.
In a press conference he underlined that the upgrading will
bring stricter evaluation criteria of the companies trading in the
stock market and this is expected to act as a protection shield
for investors.
Referring to the institutional framework, he stressed that it
has already been completed and the only thing left is the revision
of the monitoring system. He also said that the Common Financial
Transactions Intermediary institution will be established before
the end of the year and will deal with complaints lodged by the
people against banks, insurance companies and the Athens Stock
Exchange.
[20] GREEK-CHINESE PROTOCOL OF COOPERATION
A protocol of cooperation in the sector of geothermics,
mineral wealth and water resources was signed today by Greece and
China during a meeting in the development ministry in Athens.
In the meeting of Greek undersecretary of development
Alexandros Kalafatis and Chinese undersecretary of natural
resources Shou Jiahua were discussed issues concerning bilateral
cooperation in the sector of mineral wealth and energy producing
raw materials.
The protocol signed provides for cooperation in the sectors
of solid fuel, geothermics, water resources, environment, computer
applications, geosciences and others.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[21] PAPANDREOU-CEM MEETING IN BUDAPEST
Greek foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou will meet with his
Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem today on the sidelines of the two-
day NATO foreign ministers summit meeting that got underway in
Budapest today.
The Greek side expects a positive outcome from the talks held
by the two ministers.
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