Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 03-07-25

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

CONTENTS

[01] THE RESPONSIBILITY OF DEMOCRACY

[02] LARGE PROFIT INCREASE FOR NATIONAL BANK

[03] THEY COULDN'T MAKE IT IN THE END

[04] THE GREAT EXODUS: SHIPS 100% FULL

[05] TOURING THE PROJECTS

[06] SIMITIS TO PROMOTE ACTIONS FOR N. GREECE

[07] CRUCIAL AUGUST FOR 2008 EXPO

[08] CONCERN OVER OIL TRANSFER IN THE AEGEAN

[09] WORLD LANGUAGE CONFERENCE

[10] DIRECTION FOR THESSALONIKI WORKS

[01] THE RESPONSIBILITY OF DEMOCRACY

Each one of us must, on all occasions think about what we say and avoid whatever is bad for democracy, said the President of the Republic Costis Stefanopoulos, in his short speech at the reception in celebration of the 29th anniversary since the restoration of Democracy in Greece. The President of the Republic rebutted the views of those asking for the celebration to be done away with, considering it a society event, noting that tonight we are celebrating, as we do every year, both the restoration of Democracy as well as Democracy itself. The President called all Greeks to join a common effort and action for the country's progress, and he stated that he was optimistic regarding the development of Democracy in Greece and the course of the country itself.

[02] LARGE PROFIT INCREASE FOR NATIONAL BANK

An increase of 14% was noted during the first half of 2003 in the pretax profits of the Group of the National Bank of Greece, which came to 261.6 million euro. The organizational profits of the Group during the first 6 months of 2003 came to 183.5 million euro, increased by 88% when compared to the first half of 2002. Profits also increased for the second quarter of 2003 in comparison to the previous one, with pretax profits coming to 148.6 million euro, 33% higher than the first quarter.

[03] THEY COULDN'T MAKE IT IN THE END

The Greek national water polo team will compete for third place in the world championship, as it lost to Hungary in the semi-finals with a score of 9-8 in overtime. The normal duration of the game, in which Greece was constantly ahead, ended with a score of 6-6, and in overtime the gold-medal team of the Sidney Olympics, Hungary, fell behind twice, but won in the end. In any case, the participation in the small final is the most important success in the history of the Greek national water polo team.

[04] THE GREAT EXODUS: SHIPS 100% FULL

The last vacationers of July are leaving major urban centers today. There has been increased traffic since early this morning in all of the country's ports, especially Piraeus and Rafina, while ships departing are almost 100% full.

The traffic police have programmed special measures for the facilitation of traffic. Wherever it is deemed necessary, extra traffic lanes will be given. The traffic police would like to remind drivers to observe traffic laws, wear seatbelts while in their cars and helmets while on their motorcycles, and not to drive under the influence of alcohol.

[05] TOURING THE PROJECTS

A direction for all Thessaloniki works to be promoted, including the underground, was given by Prime Minister Costas Simitis to government and party officials participating in the broad meeting on the preparations for the Prime Minister's upcoming visit to the Thessaloniki International Fair. The total budget of works in the city has come to 4.5 billion euro. Mr. Simitis will take a tour of the important incisions and interventions in the city's infrastructure, said Minister of Macedonia-Thrace Haris Paschalidis. The Prime Minister will open a historically and culturally very important exhibit, Cyprus 1700-2000, possibly in the presence of the President of the Cypriot Republic.

[06] SIMITIS TO PROMOTE ACTIONS FOR N. GREECE

The presence of Prime Minister Costas Simitis at the 68th TIF, is an attempt to promote two things: To sum up governmental action in Thessaloniki and the broader region in a direct, aggressive and clear way, and give the programming priorities for the pre-election period and mainly the post-election period, underlined Minister of Macedonia-Thrace Haris Kastanidis, during an press conference held at the Ministry today.

As he mentioned characteristically: These are the programming priorities that will fully confirm the principle of supporting the financially weaker classes and the principle of social justice. It will be an overall confirmation in the presence of the Prime Minister, the sources that feed the Center-Left and modern democratic government.

[07] CRUCIAL AUGUST FOR 2008 EXPO

The coming month will be crucial for the preparations of the Executive Secretariat of the Coordinating Committee for the Contest of the 2008 EXPO, while by the end of September the Contest Coordination Committee and the Foreign Ministry will attempt a full briefing of the countries participating in the World Fair Bureau, at the assembly of the UN.

"Our concentration and the city's flag for the next few years will be contesting the exhibit. Therefore I attribute absolute priority and importance to the completeness of the preparations in order for the venture to be successful in December 2004. Preparations must be complete as far as our file at the end of 2003 is concerned", underlined the Minister of Macedonia-Thrace, Haris Paschalidis.

According to the Minister's announcements, the competition will be completed within August and a communications consultant to support the Committee's work will be chosen.

Also, there was a unanimous decision for the competition to be held in August, and a decision to be reached at the same time on a legal-financial consultant bureau to prepare a full draft describing the body organizing the 2008 World Fair by this fall, or at the latest early winter.

[08] CONCERN OVER OIL TRANSFER IN THE AEGEAN

Concern has been caused by the news of 2 million barrels of crude oil to be transferred from small tankers to a supertanker in August within the Aegean off the Greek shores.

This troubling news comes from Moscow, where it was published in the Moscow Times. The transfer procedure, which is taking place due to the ban on large tankers passing through the Bosporos, is being organized by the Russian Yukos company, on behalf of Exxon Mobil.

The quantity to be transferred is unusually large and a leak near beaches and islands could cause irreparable damage to our seas and beaches. It should be noted that the Exxon Valdez accident in Alaska was caused by a quantity of 240,000 barrels.

The transfer, according to the Avgi newspaper, will take place in the Aegean, and according to information circulating in marine circles the dock at Kithira will probably be used. It is unknown if the Greek authorities have given their permission for the transfer or whether precautionary measures have been taken or not.

Regardless of the permission, the major issue is how to secure the country and the marine environment from any accident that could prove detrimental to the Aegean in the long term.

Taking into account that the transfer is supposed to take place on August 22, the Ministry of the Merchant Marine should clarify on the issue.

A related question was made in Parliament yesterday by Coalition MP P. Lafazanis, asking to be informed on what measures are being taken.

[09] WORLD LANGUAGE CONFERENCE

The World Federation for the Dispersion-Internationalization of the Greek Language and the Federation of Greek Speaking Municipalities of Magna Grecia are the organizers of the 6th World Language Conference to be held in 2005, on: The dialectological forms of the Greek language from ancient times to the present.

The conference will be held from September 15 to September 17 2005 in Coriliano of Otranto in Apulia (southern Italy), in the restored medieval castle.

Invitations have been extended to university professors of classical and modern Greek studies. The speakers will be provided with full hospitality for the duration of the conference.

The speakers must send their speech in Greek and English by January 31, 2005, as well as a short CV, the exact title of their speech and an ID photo for the minutes. For further information, interested parties can visit the ODEG website, at www.odeg.gr.

[10] DIRECTION FOR THESSALONIKI WORKS

A direction for all Thessaloniki works to be promoted, including the underground, was given by Prime Minister Costas Simitis to government and party officials participating in the broad meeting on the preparations for the Prime Minister's upcoming visit to the Thessaloniki International Fair. All the Ministers will be prepared to make a very cohesive presentation of their ministries' work in Thessaloniki. At the same time they looked into the interventions being made in Perea.

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