Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 00-07-19

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From: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.

CONTENTS

[01] REPPAS COMMENTS ON THE ISSUE OF GERMAN REPARATIONS

[02] SIMITIS AND ANGELOPOULOU MEET TO DISCUSS OLYMPICS

[03] REPPAS COMMENTS ON ARTICLES ABOUT OLYMPICS

[04] CULTURE MINISTER EXPRESSES CONFIDENCE OVER 2004 OLYMPICS

[05] THE GREEK LABOR MINISTER MET WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GREEK GENERAL

[06] FIVE COMPANIES ENTERED THE SECOND ROUND OF THE TENDER FOR THE ATHENS

[07] A 4TH CENTURY BC TOMB WAS FOUND NEAR THESSALONIKI

[08] LOSSES OF 1.42% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE

[09] THE BLACK SEA BANK GRANTED A 1.5 BILLION DRACHMAS LOAN TO THE BANK OF

[10] THE SEARCH OF THE MISSING PASSENGERS OF A SMALL PRIVATE PLANE CONTINUES

[11] THE EUROPEAN SOCIALISTS ON THE STATUS QUO VIOLATION IN STROVILIA

[12] BIG PROTEST RALLY AGAINST DENKTASH AND ANKARA IN THE OCCUPIED

[13] THE GREEK NATIONAL THEATER COMPANY IS IN ITALY

[01] REPPAS COMMENTS ON THE ISSUE OF GERMAN REPARATIONS

Greek government representative Dimitris Reppas insisted that the Greek government has made its position quite clear. We will not budge on this issue, during a statement made in relation to issue of German war reparations.

Mr Reppas added that the German side has 15 days from the day the seizures begin to proceed with a legal caveat against the compensation seizures. We will act accordingly following a German reaction he remarked. When asked if the seizures will end in the case of the German government applying for a caveat, Mr Reppas replied that the court will deal with this caveat, bearing in mind article 923 of the Civil Legal Procedure Code.

When asked to comment on the statement made by the Greek minister of Justice, Michalis Stathopoulos, concerning Greek-German relations, during an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel, Mr Reppas claimed that Mr Stathopoulos reiterated what has already been said.

He stressed that this is a major issue of great political importance. Political moves must be made. It is in fact a political issue and not one for the courts, precisely because it concerns our country's relations with another country that we co-exist with in the European Union, Mr Reppas maintained.

inally, Mr Reppas reiterated the fact that it is a political matter and should therefore be dealt with likewise, adding that all action concerning this issue must be completed to bring the matter to a new level.

[02] SIMITIS AND ANGELOPOULOU MEET TO DISCUSS OLYMPICS

Yianna Angelopoulou, head of the five-member Administration Committee for the Olympic Races, visited Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis at the Maximos Mansion.

The Committee is due to arrive in Lausanne tomorrow, where it will meet with Juan Antonio Samarang and with other members of the International Olympic Committee.

Ms Angelopoulou relayed her opinions and plans to the Prime Minister, concerning the effective organisation of the Races, resulting from her experience in the presidency of the Administration Committee.

Furthermore, she stated that the situation to the present day was reviewed during her meeting with Mr Simitis, before they discussed her trip to Lausanne tomorrow and her collaboration with Juan Antonio Samarang and Jacques Raug.

We discussed all the issues that have preoccupied us recently, with the ultimate aim of outlining our short-term plan, concerning the arrival of the Coordination Committee, due to visit Greece towards the end of August to discuss the major issues facing us, said Ms Angelopoulou.

We are pin-pointing all the difficulties decisively and are hoping to solve all existing problems, stressed Ms Angelopoulou. She went on to maintain that there will be loose ends for the entire duration of the preparation period and that the success of the Races should be judged when the event is over, before deciding whether there were any loose ends or not.

[03] REPPAS COMMENTS ON ARTICLES ABOUT OLYMPICS

Government representative Dimitris Reppas referred to the authors of certain articles on the 2004 Olympics as political prophets who are always proved wrong.

The articles questioned our country's ability to safely and successfully organise this important event.

[04] CULTURE MINISTER EXPRESSES CONFIDENCE OVER 2004 OLYMPICS

The Greek minister of Culture, Theodoros Pangalos, is confident that progress is being made in the preparations and organisation of the Olympic Races and maintains that the problems and malfunctioning elements pointed out by the International Olympic Committee have either been solved or are in the process of being solved.

Mr Pangalos also responded to criticisms recently made by the opposition party, New Democracy, concerning the preparations and the relations between those responsible for them.

As far as recent publications referring to the responsibilities taken on by Ms Angelopoulou are concerned, the minister of Culture made it clear that Ms Angelopoulou is cooperating with the Greek government. Therefore, the question of who is in charge is not an issue, as she is the president of an independent organisation and not an employee.

[05] THE GREEK LABOR MINISTER MET WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GREEK GENERAL CONFEDERATION OF LABOR

Minister of labor Tasos Yiannitsis met with the representatives of the Greek General Confederation of Labor.

After the meeting Mr. Yiannitsis stated to reporters that they defined nine areas for discussion that include the macro-economic policies, the structural policies, the 3rd Community Framework of Support funds, institutional issues on the labor force, issues concerning the upgrading of the tools used to achieve those goals and a number of other issues.

Responding to the question on whether the 35hour week can be implemented in Greece the labor minister stated that if the General Confederation of Labor believes that it can be up for discussion it could be one of the points that will be examined in a dialogue.

The Greek General Confederation of Labor will not discuss a settlement of the work time, the issue of group lay-offs and the further flexibility of the job market, according to statements made by its president Christos Polizogopoulos after his meeting with the minister of labor.

Mr. Polizogopoulos said that the 35hour week is a basic demand and it can be used to the benefit of both the workers and the unemployed, adding that for years now the workers have been proposing cuts in the overtime.

[06] FIVE COMPANIES ENTERED THE SECOND ROUND OF THE TENDER FOR THE ATHENS NATURAL GAS NETWORK

Five of the seven companies that had expressed interest in bidding for the contract for the construction of the natural gas network in Athens have entered its second phase.

The companies that did not make it to the second round are the Greek-Russian joint venture Promitheas Gas and the Belgian Tratebel. Those that entered the second phase are the Slovak SPP, the Canadian BC Gas, the Irish Board Geis, the American Synergy and the French Gaz de France.

These five companies will be called to present their economic offers for the undertaking of the management and the buyout of 49% of the Attiki Gas Supply Company.

[07] A 4TH CENTURY BC TOMB WAS FOUND NEAR THESSALONIKI

The ancient findings in the 4th century BC tomb that was unearthed recently in the area where the ancient city of Kalindion was located and the fossilized bones of hippopotamus, dears and horses that lived 1 million years ago and were found in the region of Zagliveri, near Thessaloniki will be presented to the public for the first time in the village of Kalamoto on Sunday.

The two-floor, 6x3meters tomb is covered by 11 marble plates and is decorated with sculptures and paintings. Based on the findings in the tomb, it belonged to a local official.

[08] LOSSES OF 1.42% IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE

Losses of 1.42% were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today and the general index was at 4.044, 13 points, while the volume of transactions was small at 74.1 billion drachmas.

The course of the session was not satisfactory and of the stocks trading only 30 recorded gains, 309 had losses and 26 remained stable.

[09] THE BLACK SEA BANK GRANTED A 1.5 BILLION DRACHMAS LOAN TO THE BANK OF GEORGIA

The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank will grant a 1.5 billion drachmas loan to the Bank of Georgia to back the former soviet republic's exports. An agreement on the loan has already been signed in Tblisi by BSTDB governor Ersoy Volkan and Georgia Bank governor Vladimir Pateishvili.

The loan will be used for short-term funding programs concerning trade transactions of an added value. The specific trade activities will back the exports of goods aimed at boosting productivity and the inflow of foreign currency to the country.

The Bank of Georgia is a developing bank with many branches across the country, while it cooperates with EBRD, the World Bank and other important foreign banks active in the financing of exports.

[10] THE SEARCH OF THE MISSING PASSENGERS OF A SMALL PRIVATE PLANE CONTINUES

The all-night search conducted by the Coast Guard for the location of the two missing passengers of a small one-engine private plane that had to make an emergency touch-down on the sea, 12 nautical miles north of the island of Dia at Iraklion Bay in Crete, was fruitless.

The TB-9 private plane that belonged to the Iraklion Aviation Club had taken off from the island of Santorini with four friends on board and the pilot reported a mechanical problem that forced him to make an emergency touch-down on the sea a few miles before reaching the airport.

Two of the passengers, a 30yearold woman and her 34yearold fiancee, were rescued, while the search continues for the location of the pilot and another young woman, who are still missing.

[11] THE EUROPEAN SOCIALISTS ON THE STATUS QUO VIOLATION IN STROVILIA

The European Socialists regard as an extremely serious issue the status quo violation in the region of Strovilia in Cyprus, according to a reply letter by the Socialist Group president in the European Parliament that was addressed to Social-democratic Movement deputy president in Cyprus, Yiannakis Omirou.

The president of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament assures the Cypriot Social-democrats that if there is no change in the situation in Strovilia the European Socialists will take further action with the opening of the European Parliament's new session at the end of the summer.

[12] BIG PROTEST RALLY AGAINST DENKTASH AND ANKARA IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES IN CYPRUS

An unprecedented protest rally against Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash and the involvement of Ankara in the internal affairs of the Turkish occupied territories in Cyprus was held in the occupied part of Nicosia last night.

In the protest rally participated over 10.000 Turkish Cypriots chanting slogans against Denktash and his intransigence in the negotiations with the Greek Cypriot side calling for his immediate resignation.

The protesters expressed their anger against Ankara because of the tough economic measures proposed by the Turkish government to be in effect in the occupied territories.

[13] THE GREEK NATIONAL THEATER COMPANY IS IN ITALY

The opening of the ancient Greek tragedy "Oedipus" at Rome's Colosseum tomorrow was front-page news in all the Italian newspapers.

The tickets for the three performances of the Greek National Theater Company have been sold out and the opening performance will be watched by the Italian president, the prime minister and the culture minister, while from Greece's side present will be culture minister Theodoros Pangalos and Greek National Theater managing director Nikos Kourkoulos.

The play is directed by Vasilis Papavasiliou and the leading role is played by Grigoris Valtinos.

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