Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 99-08-04

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Greece expresses support for Robertson candidacy to head NATO

[02] Tax squad finds major violations by SA firms

[03] Merchant fleet gains tonnage

[04] Petzetakis shows profit jump

[05] ELVAL deal with Dubai Investment group

[06] Athens Foreign Exchange

[07] Athens 2004 committee lauds Avramopoulos initiative to create complimentary body

[08] Kranidiotis in Israel

[09] Hellenic Petroleum on Skopje refinery issue

[01] Greece expresses support for Robertson candidacy to head NATO

"Mr. Robertson is a known personality and we believe that he will appropriately meet his responsibilities, with the difficulties he will face during this exceptionally difficult period for NATO," Mr. Apostolakis told the BBC.

The deputy defence minister said he hoped the other NATO member-states would consent to the Robertson candidacy in order to secure the necessary unanimity required for the British minister's appointment to "this particularly demanding office, now that t he alliance is going through a reconstruction and redefinition phase".

"After the recent crisis in the Balkans there will be numerous decisions to be taken, and we believe that Mr. Robertson will contribute so that these decisions are correct," Mr. Apostolakis said.

Replying to a question about Athens' expectations from Mr. Robertson concerning the Greek-Turkish relations, the deputy defence minister said "we will press on, so that the requirements, also set forth by NATO regarding good relations between the two countries are met, and so that no NATO me mber-state is threatened by an ally in any way, and so that the democratic and human rights principles prevail."

Finally, replying to a question on whether there were any reassurances by Mr. Robertson on such a clear NATO position, the Greek minister said there were none at the moment, adding: "these are NATO's avowed positions and they are projected as positions and values that must be understood and followed by everyone and consequently they must exist and be supported P if not enforced P on relations among all NATO member-states."

In a related development, a Reuters dispatch noted that Paris also reportedly favours Mr. Robertson's candidacy. Athens News Agency

[02] Tax squad finds major violations by SA firms

The companies in Athens and Thessaloniki were found to have obtained fraudulent invoices and entered them in their books in order to beef up expenses, thereby reducing income tax and value added tax liabilities.

"The findings of the tax squad's checks demonstrate the government's determination to combat tax evasion. The state now possesses effective control mechanisms to ensure proper enforcement of tax legislation, protecting honest taxpay-ers," National Econo my and Finance Minister Yiannos Papantoniou told reporters.

The drachma figure given by the financial crimes squad is an estimate from the checks so far, comprising the value of violations plus fines and surcharges.

Audits of the company's books are continuing and the grand total for violations may be much higher than the current one, the finance ministry said in a statement.

Three SA companies alone accounted for 3,074,396,898 drachmas' worth of fake invoices, about half of the total, the ministry said.

It added that the names of the companies would be placed on a register of tax offenders along with any individuals linked to the issue or receipt of false invoices, so that tax-paying members of the public were warned.

In addition, the national economy ministry would release the names of the companies in November at the same time as the country's budget, an established practice.

Of the 335 companies, 125 had SA status and accounted for 3.6 billion drachmas' worth of fake invoices. Another 76 were limited liability companies, and the remainder smaller enterprises.

The tax squad found a total of 1,375 violations for 1989-1997.

By the end of August, the findings of the checks on the companies will have been sent to their tax offices in order to impose fines on the offenders, and launch court action, the statement said.

The receipt of fraudulent invoices is punishable by imprisonment of three or more months and the closure of the enterprise for up to a month if the fraudulent tax data exceeds 80 million drachmas.

The main culprit in the issue of the fake invoices was named as Theodoros Kalamaras, who was already known to the financial crimes squad, the ministry said. Stocks creep up in directionless trade: -- Equities ended slightly higher yesterday in the wake of seven straight declines but trade was directionless as players await the outcome this week of a takeover bid for Ergobank, a blue chip on the bourse.

The general index ended 0.38 percent higher at 4,328.79 points from 4, 312.25 points in the previous session.

Turnover was 156.593 billion drachmas from 159.974 billion drachmas a day earlier.

Changing hands were 26,884,926 stocks. Sector indices ended as follows: Banks (+0.71 pct), Leasing (+0.43 pct), Insurance (+5.19 pct), Investment (+0.08 pct), Construction (+0.68 pct), Industrials (+0.35 pct), Miscellaneous (-0.36 pct) and Holding (-3. 00 pct).

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended 2.56 percent higher. The FTSE/ASE 20 index for heavily traded stocks and blue chips rose 0.21 percent to finish at 2,478.20 points.

Of 284 shares traded, advances outpaced declines at 162 to 120 with 12 issues unchanged.

National Bank of Greece ended at 21,250 drachmas, Alpha Credit Bank at 21, 450, Bank of Piraeus at 8,670, Ergobank at 30,045, Titan Cement (commom) at 30,450, Hellenic Petroleum at 2,820 and Intracom (common) at 20,190 drachmas. Bonds plunge again in active trade: -- Secondary market bond prices shed 25 to 130 basis points in active trade yesterday after losing 120 basis points in the previous session in a mass-sell off triggered by declining sentiment in Europe.

Electronic trade was 162 billion drachmas from 58 billion drachmas in the previous session and around 14 billion drachmas in the two sessions before that. Sell orders accounted for most of yesterday's turnover.

The benchmark 10 year bond was trading below par and showed a yield of 6.74 percent from 6.67 percent a day earlier and 6.54 percent on Friday.

The yield spread above German bunds was 184 basis points from 170- -172 basis points in the previous session and 173-175 basis points on Friday.

Market players also sold off floating rate notes for the first time in a while.

At the central bank's daily fix, the euro crept up against the drachma. It was set at 325.600 drachmas from 325.500 drachmas in the previous session.

Also at the fix, the dollar edged up versus the drachma, in line with the US currency's ascent in markets abroad.

The greenback was set at 305.750 drachmas from 305.060 drachmas a day earlier. Sanyo Hellas to produce digital technology: -- Sanyo Hellas Holding SA announced yesterday that it was creating a subsidiary, named Mellon SA, to produce digital technology multi-application plastic cards, entry tickets carrying a magnetic tape and blank CDs.

The cards can be modified for applications including smart cards and cards for ATM transactions.

Sanyo will have a 90 percent stake in the new Komotini-based company, investing three billion drachmas. Mutual fund assets total Dr 10.4 trillion in July: -- Assets of the country's 190 mutual funds totalled 10.4 trillion drachmas in July, up 2.7 per cent on the previous month, the Union of Institutional Investors said yesterday.

Contributing to the rise was an increase in the assets of domestic equity funds by 312.22 percent since the beginning of the year, the union said in a statement. Athens News Agency

[03] Merchant fleet gains tonnage

Joining the Greek flag were six vessels, while four ships departed the register, leading to a net gain.

It was the second straight monthly rise for the fleet, the ministry said in a statement. Athens News Agency

[04] Petzetakis shows profit jump

The group's gross profits represented 37.3 percent of sales. The debt-to- equity ratio was 1.44, and is expected to improve further after a planned share capital increase pending shareholders' approval.

Athens News Agency

[05] ELVAL deal with Dubai Investment group

According to a Reuters dispach, the 160-million-dollar investment will be completed by the year 2002.

The same reports stated that the new rolling mill will use primary aluminium from local sources, as Dubai and other states in the Persian Gulf region are major aluminium producers.

According to the dispach, the semi-products will be sold in markets of the region, mainly for packaging.

Dubai Investments was established in 1995 and has major stakes in several industrial and food sector activities. Athens News Agency

[06] Athens Foreign Exchange

US Dollar 303.304 310.336 Can.Dollar 202.051 206.735 Australian Dlr 197.954 202.543 Pound Sterling 490.246 501.613 Irish Punt 410.120 419.628 Pound Cyprus 559.131 572.095 Pound Malta 706.725 736.172 Turkish pound (100) 0.063 0.066 French franc 49.240 50.382 Swiss franc 202.046 206.730 Belgian franc 8.007 8.192 German Mark 165.145 168.974 Finnish Mark 54.324 55.583 Dutch Guilder 146.569 149.967 Danish Kr. 43.396 44.402 Swedish Kr. 36.906 37.762 Norwegian Kr. 39.122 40.030 Austrian Sh. 23.473 24.017 Italian lira (100) 16.681 17.068 Yen (100) 262.741 268.833 Spanish Peseta 1.941 1.986 Port. Escudo 1.611 1.648

Foreign Exchange Buying Selling New York 303.304 310.336 Montreal 202.051 206.735 Sydney 197.954 202.543 London 490.246 501.613 Dublin 410.120 419.628 Nicosia 559.131 572.095 Paris 49.240 50.382 Zurich 202.046 206.730 Brussels 8.007 8.192 Frankfurt 165.145 168.974 Helsinki 54.324 55.583 Amsterdam 146.569 149.967 Copenhagen 43.396 44.402 Stockholm 36.906 37.762 Oslo 39.122 40.030 Vienna 23.473 24.017 Milasn 16.681 17.068 Tokyo 262.741 268.833 Madrid 1.941 1.986 Lisbon 1.611 1.648

[07] Athens 2004 committee lauds Avramopoulos initiative to create complimentary body

The new president of the organising committee, Panayiotis Thomopoulos, and managing director Costas Bakouris issued a joint press release welcoming the creation of the new body.

"We welcome the decision of the Mayor of Athens activate himself on a personal level and to contribute to the upgrade of Athens and the success of the Olympic Games of 2004," the press release noted.

"We always look forward to as we did in the past to a constructive dialogue between all inistitutional partners, who are expressed and represented by the organising committee of the Olympic Games 'Athens 2004', which is the only responsible agency to th e International Olympic Committee.

"We express our satisfaction that the proposals of the Mayor of Athens totally reflect the spirit of 'Athens 2004' as they are expressed in the specific programmes of our strategic plan.

"We believe that those proposals, as well as all those submitted by other municipalities and other agencies and through the multiministirial creative consideration by the revant bodies they will contribute to the success of the aim, the aim of all Gree ks," they concluded.

On Monday, Mr. Avramopoulos announced the creation of the "Athens-Third Millennium" in efforts to complement the "Athens 2004 Games" organising committee with which the municipality of Athens will continue its constructive cooperation. Athens News Agency

[08] Kranidiotis in Israel

Athens News Agency

[09] Hellenic Petroleum on Skopje refinery issue

Hellenic Petroleum said its expressed policy is to tap into energy sector investment opportunities in SE Europe, and that within this strategy, the group purchased a majority stake in the OKTA refinery and decided on the construction of a Thessaloniki-S kopje oil pipeline.

"It should be understood that the aim of Hellenic Petroleum is the creation of such investment structures, which will ensure the development of the energy market in the region," the press release stated.

Athens News Agency

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