Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 05-12-02

Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

CONTENTS

[01] PALEOKRASSAS RESIGNED

[02] THE 17N CASE TO THE COURT OF APPEALS

[03] THE TUNNEL AT EXOHI DRAMA OPENS NEXT FRIDAY

[04] RIES: HISTORY CANNOT CHANGE

[05] PALEOKRASSAS' RESIGNATION LETTER GOES TO THE PROSECUTOR

[06] CONFERENCE OF ELECTED LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS OF GREEK ORIGIN IN

[07] ADDITIONAL FUNDS OF USD 3 MILLION TO AZERBAIJAN BY BSTDB

[08] THE US AMBASSADOR'S LECTURE WAS POSTPONED

[09] THE EURO-MIDDLE EAST FORUM OPENS TODAY

[01] PALEOKRASSAS RESIGNED

Yiannis Paleokrassas submitted in writing his resignation from the position of the Public Power Corporation S.A. (PPC S.A.) president today after the uproar caused by his allegations concerning involvement of high ranking company executives in corruption.

The resignation of Mr. Paleokrassas was announced yesterday after a telephone communication he had with Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis while earlier he had a meeting with Minister of Development Dimitris Sioufas.

Mr. Sioufas asked him to present to the prosecutor all evidence at his possession by 6 pm yesterday afternoon or else submit his resignation as he finally did.

For the record, Mr. Paleokrassas in an interview he had given he had referred to high ranking government ministry officials alleging that they were involved in corruption while he had also spoken of a unique kind of mafia. In statements he had made two days ago he had insisted that all these concerned the present.

PPC S.A. managing director Dimitris Maniatakis is acting company president based on the founding charter of the company until a new president is appointed.

[02] THE 17N CASE TO THE COURT OF APPEALS

Court of Appeals presiding judge Dionisis Vertelis opened proceedings on the terrorist group 17 November case calling on all parties in the trial to help in maintaining a low-key atmosphere in order to approach in the best possible way any errors that could have been made in the first instance court ruling.

Since early in the morning, tens of witnesses, relatives and friends of the defendants, reporters, photographers, television crews and others have flooded the area in front of the Koridallos Prison women's wing in the presence of tens of police officers.

Security measures, like in the first instance trial, are draconian.

[03] THE TUNNEL AT EXOHI DRAMA OPENS NEXT FRIDAY

The tunnel constructed to facilitate the opening of the new border crossing between Greece and Bulgaria at Exohi Drama will be inaugurated on Friday, December 9 by Hellenic Republic President Karolos Papoulias and his Bulgarian counterpart Georgi Parvanov.

They will meet halfway inside the tunnel, while earlier Deputy Foreign Minister Evripidis Stilianidis will sign the relevant inter-state agreement with his Bulgarian counterpart.

The new Iliden-Exohi border crossing will link the north Greek city of Drama with the Bulgarian city Gotce Delchev and the construction of the tunnel was necessary for the protection of a rare bear species living in the region.

Environmentalists had opposed the initial plans for the construction of a motorway without a tunnel maintaining that it would have negative effects on the reproduction of the bears living in Rodopi. The construction of a 10-million-euro tunnel funded by the EU was the solution to the problem. The initial agreement for the opening of the border crossing was reached in 1995.

[04] RIES: HISTORY CANNOT CHANGE

There is nothing done by my government that can change the history and the great civilization that existed here, stated US ambassador to Athens Charles Ries responding to a question by ANA-MPA after his visit to the Vergina Museum accepting an invitation by Minister of Macedonia-Thrace Nikos Tsiartsionis.

My government recognized the nation living north of this country to preserve its stability as a multiethnic state, said Mr. Ries, reiterating that the United States continue to support "the UN effort for a mutually acceptable name Greece and Macedonia will use both in bilateral and international relations". If there is agreement on any other name we will respect it, stated Mr. Ries, stressing that he did not visit the museum for policy reasons but to pay homage to history.

On his part, Mr. Tsiartsionis stated that the Greek Macedonia of culture is an unchanging reality that has no relation to what is being claimed today expressing joy because through this visit Mr. Ries had the opportunity to better understand history.

The US ambassador signed the guest book commenting that it is an exciting museum dedicated to one of the greatest kings of antiquity and thanked the Ministry of Culture for the excellent preservation of the exhibits. He pointed out that he enjoyed the visit and vowed to return with his family. He also said that he was impressed by the priceless findings exhibited in the museum. Standing next to the remains of those people is like recapturing the history of Phillip II and his assassination, said Mr. Ries.

Mr. Tsiartsionis wrote in the guest book that the Greeks of Macedonia are an integral part of the Greek civilization.

[05] PALEOKRASSAS' RESIGNATION LETTER GOES TO THE PROSECUTOR

Former Public Power Corporation S.A. (PPC S.A.) president Yiannis Paleokrassas' written resignation was submitted to the Prime Minister.

In his resignation letter, Mr. Paleokrassas reiterates his allegations and stresses that illegal dealings in PPC S.A. have caused direct damages of tens of millions of euros as well as other, even bigger, indirect damages the Greek people will be called to pay for decades to come.

Minister of Economy and Finance Giorgos Alogoskoufis and Minister of Development Dimitris Sioufas after receiving the resignation letter by Mr. Paleokrassas issued a statement according to which, they forwarded the letter to the Supreme Court prosecutor given the fact that it included allegations and references on issues of major public interest that might need further court investigation.

[06] CONFERENCE OF ELECTED LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS OF GREEK ORIGIN IN EUROPE

The multidimensional role of the network of elected local government officials of Greek origin in Europe and the need to further support and develop it, was stressed in all the speeches delivered in the opening of the network's 3rd conference held in Thessaloniki with the participation of more than 140 Greeks living abroad elected to municipalities and prefectures across Europe.

Deputy Foreign Minister Panagiotis Skandalakis, responsible for issues of Greeks living abroad, conveyed to the conference participants a message by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis characterizing the elected local government officials of Greek origin as Greece's ambassadors in the countries where they live and get elected.

On the sidelines of the conference, Mr. Skandalakis met with mayors of Greek origin from France, Hungary and Bulgaria and accepted invitations to visit their cities.

The conference proceedings continue on issues concerning the Greek education in European countries, alternative tourism and local government, development assistance, the Balkans and former Soviet Union countries etc.

Later this evening, the outgoing Coordinating Committee will present an assessment of its activities and proposals will be submitted on the amendment of the network's charter.

[07] ADDITIONAL FUNDS OF USD 3 MILLION TO AZERBAIJAN BY BSTDB

The Black Sea Trade & Development Bank will extend a USD 3 million revolving trade finance credit line to Unibank CB (Azerbaijan). The credit line will be used to finance sub-loans with a tenor up to one year extended by Unibank CB to exporting and importing companies in Azerbaijan.

Unibank is the first private commercial bank selected by BSTDB as financial intermediary in Azerbaijan. BSTDB continues its cooperation with the International Bank of Azerbaijan, which started implementing BSTDB's trade finance program in 2002. The operations financed through the International Bank of Azerbaijan under BSTDB trade finance program reached to USD 8,5 million. Apart from the trade financing, BSTDB provides project finance facilities and supports small business development through the Mircofinance Bank of Azerbaijan. The total amount of financing provided by BSTDB to Azerbaijan is over USD 20 million.

The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) is an international financial institution established by Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. The BSTDB headquarters is in Thessaloniki, Greece. With an authorized capital of SDR 1 billion (approx. USD 1,45 billion), the Bank supports economic development and regional cooperation by providing financing, guarantees, and equity for projects in the public and private sectors in its member countries. BSTDB has an active portfolio of 66 operations to the total amount of USD 740 million. BSTDB is rated Long Term Baa2 and Short Term P2 by Moody's.

[08] THE US AMBASSADOR'S LECTURE WAS POSTPONED

The lecture US ambassador to Athens Charles Ries was scheduled to give at the Joint War College in Thessaloniki was postponed because his flight was unable to land in Thessaloniki due to thick fog. It landed at the airport of Kavala, northeast Greece, and the US ambassador will travel by car to the archaeological site of Vergina for his scheduled visit.

Mr. Ries was going to give a lecture on Transatlantic cooperation through NATO at the invitation of the college's administration. The lecture will be rescheduled to a later date.

[09] THE EURO-MIDDLE EAST FORUM OPENS TODAY

The Euro-Middle East Forum of Leftist Parties under the theme: Changing the Middle East: Challenges and goals for the promotion of peace, independence and democracy, opens today with a salutation by Coalition President Alekos Alavanos.

Coalition hosts the proceedings organized by the European New Left Forum in cooperation with the Left in the Euro-Parliament.

The goal of the forum is to examine the issues of peace, development, democracy and security in the Middle East, as well as its relations with Europe in a comprehensive manner and discuss the likelihood of a regional system of multidimensional security and cooperation.

Macedonian Press Agency: Brief News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article