News about Greece 13/4/95 - 5/5/95

From: Thanos Tsekouras <thanost@MIT.EDU>

May 4, 1995, Thursday, BC cycle

SECTION: Bonds Capital Market.

LENGTH: 157 words

HEADLINE: GREEK STOCK EXCHANGE BILL GOES TO PARLIAMENT

DATELINE: ATHENS, MAY 4

BODY:

A Greek government bill revising existing stock exchange legislation was

submitted to parliament yesterday and should begin its committee stage next

week, parliament officials said.

The bill changes the Athens stock exchange into a corporation having the

state as its sole shareholder with the right to appoint three members to its

nine-member board of directors.

The legislative overhaul, among other changes, provides for brokers'

commission liberalisation and allows securities firms to go public and be listed

on the exchange.

It also allows the operation of trading terminals outside the bourse's

trading floor.

Other significant changes featured in the draft bill include limits on

private placements that coincide with initial public offerings.

The watchdog capital markets committee is also affected by the revisions that

aim at a more substantial supervisory role.

-- George Georgiopoulos, Athens Newsroom +301 3311813-4

Source: Reuter Textline

Lloyds List

May 5, 1995

LENGTH: 787 words

HEADLINE: GREECE: JUST TWO BIDS FOR HELLENIC SHIPYARDS

BYLINE: By Nigel Lowry,

BODY:

Athens Correspondent

HELLENIC Shipyards attracted just two offers at the closure of a third

public tender Greece has held to privatise the troubled yard.

Of these, only one appeared to match the government's aspirations of finding

a private entrepreneur to directly take over up to 100% of Hellenic.

Venefina Holding S. A., a Luxembourg-registered member of the Michael

Peraticos group of companies, offered Dr16.5bn ($ 73m) for the yard and its

assets.

If successful, the group said it would guarantee 2,100 jobs - retaining

about two-thirds of the existing work force - while it has submitted a six-year

business plan which envisages spending of Dr25bn to update the yard.

A spokesman for the group, which also controls the neighbouring Elefsis

Shipyards, said Dr10.2bn would come from its own funds with the remainder

hopefully being funnelled through EU schemes. The purchase price would be paid

in installments spread over 12 years.

Venefina is also prepared to ensure completion of two frigates Hellenic is

currently building for the Greek navy and it is understood that Germany's

Ferrostahl/HDW group may take a participation in the owning company if the bid

prevails.

In addition, the business plan includes using part of Hellenic's land at

Skaramanga to construct and operate a major private container terminal.

Competition to the Peraticos package comes from the UK-based John Faraclas,

who has bid unsuccessfully for the yard twice before.

According to his offer, Mr Faraclas is seeking to participate in an

ambitious two-stage rights issue which would give Hellenic a wide ownership base

and raise a total Dr200bn in capital.

The lack of more offers clearly shook officials at the Hellenic Industrial

Development Bank (ETBA) which owns the yard on the state's behalf.

Hopes had been raised for a crowded field of bidders after 15 companies

declared their interest at a preliminary stage of the procedure four months ago.

Severall well-known foreign names including Daewoo, the Korean Engineering

and shipyard group, and Sweden's Kockum Submarine Systems AB, had been among the

candidates, but may well have been scared off by the stance of the yard's labour

force, which has clashed bitterly with the government over the sale.

Yesterday, angry workers thronged outside the ETBA building in Athens to

protest once again at the intended sale.

(c) of Lloyd's of London Press Limited 1995.

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LLOYD'S LIST, May 5, 1995

Copyright 1995 The Financial Times Limited;

Financial Times

April 13, 1995, Thursday

SECTION: Pg. 2

LENGTH: 702 words

HEADLINE: Greeks break with past over motorway: Road along an ancient Roman

route will test new approach to infrastructure projects

BYLINE: By KERIN HOPE and PETER MARSH

BODY:

Plans by Greece to recreate the ancient Via Egnatia as a motorway linking

the Adriatic with Istanbul will be the first test of the Socialist government's

new approach to carrying out large infrastructure projects backed by the

European Union.

Under pressure from the European Commission, the public works ministry has

overhauled tendering procedures for Greek construction companies, agreed to

appoint international project managers to supervise large projects, and

established an independent agency to supervise construction of the Egnatia

highway.

Greece is due to receive about Ecu8bn (Dollars 10.48bn) in European Union

grants to modernise its outdated roads, railways and port facilities over the

next five years, while the government is to provide Ecu4bn in matching funds.

Another Ecu5.6bn will be covered by the European Investment Bank and the

private sector, which will finance some highway construction in return for

operating toll concessions for up to 30 years.

However, disbursement of the EU funds, which was due to start last summer,

was held up because of inefficient Greek tendering procedures which allowed

road-building contracts to be split up and awarded to a large number of local

construction companies, often at unrealistically low prices.

One Athens banker said: 'Tendering was based on criteria dating from the

1960s. It was carried out on the basis of inadequate studies and companies were

offering price discounts of up to 80 per cent in order to secure a contract. The

result was frequent cost overruns and poor quality construction.'

With new legislation in place and bidding under way to find an international

project manager for the Egnatia highway, the Commission has given the go-ahead

to release more than Ecu2bn of funding. This includes grants for construction of

the 700km highway and for upgrading to motorway standard the 750km road from

Patras in western Greece to Athens and Thessaloniki.

A Commission official said Greece had made good progress on meeting EU

requirements on setting up new management structures for crucial parts of the

modernisation programme, which was now moving 'smoothly but slowly'.

However, problems over raising private sector finance for the two highway

projects appear likely to cause further delays because of uncertainties over the

volume of traffic they would carry.

The Egnatia highway would link the north-western Greek port of Igoumenitsa

with Thessaloniki and the Turkish border, following part of the route of the

ancient Roman road across the Balkans. It is budgeted at Ecu2.8bn, of which

Ecu1.5bn would be covered out of EU and government funds.

But the project carries a high financial risk, as much of the modern route

would cross sparsely populated, mountainous areas with few prospects for

increasing traffic through tourist development, leaving a toll operator

dependent for income on international transit traffic.

The risk factor is less for the Patras to Thessaloniki road, used by most

international trucks travelling through Greece and by more than 1m tourists

yearly, who travel on ferries from Italy. Its upgrading would cost Ecu2.5bn,

with Ecu1bn to be provided by the EU and the government.

A study carried out for the government by Barclays de Zoete Wedd, the UK

investment bank, and Trademco, a Greek consultancy, proposes that, to ensure an

adequate investment return, private road-builders should finance sections of

motorway near large cities - where there is heavy local traffic - while the

public sector takes responsibility for sections in remote areas.

One possibility being considered by the Commission is for EU cash already

earmarked for busier sections of the Athens-Thessaloniki motorway to be

withdrawn and replaced by private funding. The extra money would be transferred

to the Egnatia project to build sections through the remote Pindos mountains.

A senior Greek official said: 'It's a matter of careful restructuring of the

project, to get the right allocation of public sector and EU funds. As well as

some delay, we may have to accept scaling down part of the Egnatia road to just

two lanes', leaving room for expansion in the next century.

Copyright 1995 Focus Magazin Verlag GmbH

Focus Magazin

April 29, 1995

SECTION: Deutschland; No.18; Pg.67

LENGTH: 507 words

HEADLINE: MENSCHENRECHTE;

AErger mit Griechenland

HIGHLIGHT:

Politischer Sprengstoff: Die tuerkische Minderheit in Westthrakien erkor

Deutschland zur Protestplattform

BODY:

Die Tuerken im griechischen Westthrakien leben zum Grossteil in einer zum

militaerischen Sperrgebiet erklaerten Zone und sind in ihrer Bewegungsfreiheit

beschraenkt", klagt Taner Mustafaoglu, 29. Der Vorsitzende des Westthrakischen

Solidaritaetskomitees in Istanbul traegt die "Menschenrechtsverletzungen der

Athener Regierung an den rund 150 000 tuerkischsprechenden Griechen" in die

Welt hinaus. Gestuetzt auf Berichte von Menschenrechtsorganisationen wie

"Helsinki Watch".

Das Zentrum der westthrakischen Aufklaerungsarbeit soll Deutschland sein,

beschloss jetzt der Istanbuler Kongress der tuerkischstaemmigen Griechen.

Hierzulande leben etwa 20 000 Westthraker.

Eine Entscheidung mit po-litischem Sprengstoff. Eine Konfrontation mit dem

EU -Partner Griechenland, der Menschenrechtsverstoesse bestreitet, prophezeit

der Europaabgeordnete Werner Langen (CDU). "Es kann doch nicht angehen, dass

eine durchweg friedliche Minderheit kulturell unterdrueckt wird und in Europa

kein Gehoer findet", sagt der Vorsitzende des ueberparteilichen

"Freundschaftskreises Tuerkei im Europaeischen Parlament".

Brisant ist der Vorstoss auch aus Sicherheitsgruenden. Vergangenen Sommer

brannten Unbekannte das Muenchner Kulturzentrum der Westthraker eines von 23 in

Deutschland nieder. Langen: "Verschiedene Kreise scheinen daran interessiert zu

sein, diese Menschen mundtot zu machen."

WESTTHRAKIEN EIN VERGESSENER BALKANKONFLIKT

THRAKIEN besteht aus einem westlichen (Griechenland) und einem oestlichen

Teil (Tuerkei).

150 000 Thraker tuerkischer Abstammung (Muslime) leben im Westteil als

griechische Buerger.

DER VERTRAG von Lausanne (1923) regelte: Tuerken in Griechenland siedeln in

die Tuerkei ueber, Griechen in der Tuerkei gehen ebenfalls ins Heimatland.

Ausnahme: Tuerken in West-thrakien durften bleiben, sie erhielten auf dem Papier

volle Buergerrechte.

GRAPHIC: MAP;Illustration;

ANSCHLAGSZIEL THRAKER-ZENTRUM: Drei Molotowcocktails brannten am 4. August 1994

das Kulturzentrum der westthrakischen Tuer-ken in Muenchen nieder. Die Taeter

entkamen unerkannt. Auch das Motiv liegt im dunkeln;

EURO-HILFE: Abgeordneter Langen

Copyright 1995 Jane's Information Group Limited,

All Rights Reserved

Jane's Defence Weekly

April 29, 1995

SECTION: HEADLINE NEWS; Vol. 23; No. 17; Pg. 3

LENGTH: 260 words

HEADLINE: Greek Cypriots turn to Russia for tank buy

BYLINE: James Bruce

DATELINE: Middle East

BODY:

Cyprus may buy T-80 MBTs from Russia after France reportedly blocked

a plan to transfer 50 AMX-30s from Greece to Greek Cypriot armed

forces on the divided island, according to sources in Athens and

Paris.

The Greek tanks are an older model of the AMX-30B-2 acquired by

Cyprus from France for its National Guard, the Greek Cypriots' Army.

They are among 156 AMX-30s that have been in storage for some time

as Greece acquires new equipment. The condition of the mothballed

vehicles is questionable.

The Cypriots were to get them free of charge under a 1993 joint

defence doctrine with Athens. Another 50 AMXs were to be bought from

France for an estimated $100 million. Cyprus has 52 AMX-30Bs, all

purchased from France over the last few years.

It was not clear why France blocked the Greek transfer. Officials in

Paris denied halting the transfer and said no request had been

received.

However, sources in Athens said that as a result of French

intervention, the Cypriots have turned to Russia, from whom they had

already planned to buy APCs, and have signed a preliminary agreement

to buy T-80s. Last week, Cyprus was reported to have finalized plans

to buy 43 Russian BMP-3 vehicles.

The Greek Cypriots last year took delivery of 24 MM-40 Block 2

Exocet coastal defence missiles, a deal that Paris was forced to

admit last month (Jane's Defence Weekly 15 April).

The MBT acquisition would triple the armour fleet, but the Greek

Cypriots remain heavily outnumbered by 30000-32000 Turkish troops.

Source: Reuter Textline

Agence Europe

May 4, 1995

LENGTH: 227 words

HEADLINE: WESTERN EUROPE: WEU LOOKS AT GREEK POSITION

BODY:

03/05/1995 (Agence Europe) - In a written question to the Council of the

WEU, Mr Cuco, member of the WEU Assembly, expressed surprise that a statement

made on 10 June 1994 by the Greek Foreign Minister, Mr Papoulias, during the

ratification of the protocol of accession of Greece to the amended Treaty of

Brussels was not forwarded to the Assembly. The Minister said that he recognized

the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice, adding that:

"Nevertheless, the Greek Government excludes from the Court's competence all the

differences relating to the adoption by the Greek Republic of military measures

of a defensive nature for reasons of "national defence". According to Mr Cuco,

this "reservation" should have found its place in the protocol of accession

itself and therefore required the approval of all the other members of the WEU.

(c) Agence EUROPE, Brussels 1995.

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