Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 99-10-02

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

CONTENTS

[01] Athens and Nicosia aim to reinforce Cyprus defence, Tsohatzopoulos says

[02] OTE, KPN to acquire Bulgarian telecom in two weeks

[03] Olympics organisers say there is no cause for concern

[04] Schroeder voices support for Greece`s efforts to join euro zone in 2001

[05] Pollster shows PASOK - ND gap narrows

[06] Athens September quake left far more damage than origianally thought

[07] Diamantopoulou forecasts rise in EU unemployment

[08] Economic News

[01] Athens and Nicosia aim to reinforce Cyprus defence, Tsohatzopoulos says

NICOSIA, 2/10/1999 (ANA)

Mr. Hasikos told reporters after the meeting that so long as the Turkish occupation forces remained on the island republic, Cyprus was obliged to strengthen its defence in the framework of the Greece-Cyprus joint defence doctrine.

Mr. Tsohatzopoulos, who arrived in Nicosia Thursday night on an official visit, and Mr. Hasikos discussed matters concerning the joint defence doctrine and Cyprus' defence. The Greek minister discussed the same topics with Cyprus President Glafcos Cleri des earlier in the day, while he also attended a military parade marking Cyprus' Independence Day.

"We had the opportunity to exchange some views concerning the reinforcement of our defence. So long as there is an occupation force opposite us we are obliged to reinforce our defence within the framework of the joint defence doctrine," Mr. Hasikos said .

Mr. Tsohatzopoulos said he and his Cypriot counterpart discussed the specific issues concerning their ministries, which are responsible for implementation of the joint defence doctrine policy, in order to "pro-perly advance a series of individual regulati ons on matters or prospects in development because the strengthening of the Republic of Cyprus' defence capability and adequacy and the joint defence doctrine against any external threat is of strategic importance".

He said he and Mr. Hasikos had ascertained progress on a series of issues, with substantive results which were becoming increasingly visible.

"The purpose of our policy is to reinforce the Cyprus Republic, and we are happy that its deterrent capability is becoming increasingly more powerful, with an increasing range and efficiency, through the work of the defence ministry," Mr. Tsohatzopoulos said.

The Greek defence minister also met yesterday with opposition left wing AKEL party leader Dimitris Christofias and ruling Democratic Rally party President Nikos Anastasiades.

Athens News Agency

[02] OTE, KPN to acquire Bulgarian telecom in two weeks

SOFIA, 2/10/1999 (ANA/B.Borisov)

Making the announcement were Visiting Deputy Transport and Communications Minister Nikolaos Salayiannis and Bulgarian Deputy Premier Evgeni Bakartziev, who is taking part in negotiations for the joint acquisition.

Mr. Bakartziev told reporters that the sale of the majority stake in Bulgarian Telecommunications Organisation was the country's largest privatisation to date. The two officials agreed that outstanding technical points in the sale arrangement would be resolved by October 15.

Mr. Salayiannis told the Athens News Agency that the points for debate were secondary, and mostly comprised linguistic problems of translation from English and Greek into Bulgarian.

The two officials attended the inauguration of an operations room for a telecoms fibre optic cable that is to link Greece, Bulgaria and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Undertaking the project was Intracom, a blue chip on the Athens bourse.

Athens News Agency

[03] Olympics organisers say there is no cause for concern

Athens, 2/10/1999 (ANA)

"No valuable time has been lost in the area of the projects. The most important aspect of the projects is the preliminary stages. Now the administrative and bureaucratic issues have been surpassed, which is a great advantage," Vice-President of the Orga nising Committee Niki Tzavella told a news conference yesterday.

Managing director Costas Bacouris said that the decision to place the construction of the Olympic Village - the biggest project - with the Workers Housing Organisation (OEK) had led to a shorter time needed to construct the village.

Procedures to expropriate land will begin in October and will be completed by the third quarter of 2000, he said.

"Construction work will begin in March 2001 and end in February 2004. In this way we will have the necessary time ahead of us to make any changes," he said.

Referring to the transfer in location of the racing track, Mr. Bacouris said that this would occur in August 2001 and said special care had been taken over the environmental aspects.

"The Olympic Village constructions will be friendly to the environment," he said.

The final stage of talks in radio and television access issues had been reached and the organisation structure is expected to be finalised by the end of the year, he said.

The organisers were being advised on the procedure by the IOC, President Panayotis Thomopoulos said, adding that Greek channels would also receive rights.

Athens News Agency

[04] Schroeder voices support for Greece`s efforts to join euro zone in 2001

Athens, 2/10/1999 (ANA)

Mr. Schroeder will be in Athens to mark the 75th anniversary of the German- Greek chamber of commerce and industry.

Greek-German relations are excellent and efforts will continue to improve them, the chancellor says. "This close friendship will be maintained in the future in the context of the European Union and this will deepen cooperation in all sectors."

Mr. Schroeder called the leading role Greece was playing in consolidating stability in southeast Europe "invaluable".

German businesses have long acknowledged the importance of the Greek market as a springboard to closer cooperation in the entire region, he says.

"The latest developments in the region have shown that cooperation between European states must become even tighter," he said.

Prime Minister Costas Simitis, in the same newspaper, says that Mr. Schroeder's visit "confirms once more the close cooperation Greece and Germany have on all levels and seals the friendly sentiments between the people of the two countries."

"The two countries are united above all by the attempt to build a united European home. They are united by the attempt to respond to the great challenges facing Europe, at the most decisive point in developments, on the threshold of 2000," he said.

He said solidarity should provide the basis for the seeking of effective answers to issues of vital importance and that joint positions and joint action should provide the answer for the European Union on critical matters such as foreign policy. He sai d he was optimistic that a new Europe of peace, democracy, freedom, prosperity and social justice was being born.

"Greece and Germany have and will continue to have a definitive contribution to winning this wager with the future," he said.

Athens News Agency

[05] Pollster shows PASOK - ND gap narrows

Athens, 2/10/1999 (ANA)

Although ND continues to lead PASOK, with 30.7% of voters giving it their preferences, compared to 30.1% for PASOK, the gap has narrowed considerably compared to the results of June's European Parliament elections. The opposition Communist Party and De mocratic Social Movement were stable with 5.4% and 5.7% of voters' preferences, while the Coalition of the Left garnered 2.8% of the vote.

Another poll, by V-PRC and published in Ta Nea daily, showed Costas Simitis considered more suitable for the job of prime minister than ND leader Costas Karamanlis, 41% to 31.8%. Mr. Simitis also beat out Mr. Karamanlis in the popularity stakes, 56.9% t o 52%.

Mr. Simitis had, unsurprisingly, the support of 83.1% of PASOK voters, but 30% of opposition New Democracy supporters also found him appealing. The poll also showed that the majority of PASOK voters (57%), a significant percentage of ND voters (14.2%) a nd about 20% of other party voters believed the government was doing a good job.

Athens News Agency

[06] Athens September quake left far more damage than origianally thought

Athens, 2/10/1999 (ANA)

Mr. Reppas was speaking after the inner cabinet went through a thorough review of damage and quake relief efforts.

He said 33% of the 185,000 buildings inspected throughout Attica needed repair work and seven percent needed to be pulled down.

School buildings had been particularly adversely affected, he said.

Of the 2,465 buildings inspected, 427 needed repair and two were to be demolished.

This meant between 35,000-40,000 students needed to be provided with alternative school buildings, he said.

Of those buildings needing repair, 175 were to be completed in November, 125 in a longer period of time and 45 would not open this school year.

Of the 209 commercial buildings inspected, authorities had that 72 could not be used for commercial purposes.

Historical buildings and sites were not overly affected, expect for some Byzantine-era buildings, most notably the Daphne Monastery.

An investigation is under way into the fate of alleged missing files of the buildings that collapsed, Mr. Reppas said.

Environment, Town Planning and Public Works Minister Costas Laliotis told the inner cabinet meeting that town planning authorities had requested the history of 30 buildings which had collapsed, most of which had been built in the 70s. The file s that have been delivered appear to be missing some documentation, while others have been destroyed through time.

The number of files yet to be found are very few but cross checks will overcome this problem, he added. Mr. Reppas said that the government was happy with the results of its efforts so far and that it had met problems in a satisfactory manner.

Athens News Agency

[07] Diamantopoulou forecasts rise in EU unemployment

Athens, 2/10/1999 (ANA)

Speaking afterwards, Ms. Papariga expressed pessimism over unemployment in Europe, forecasting that it would not decrease but, on the contrary, would increase dramatically. She said overall developments were leading there and criticised European governm ents over their policy on the problem of unemployment.

Ms. Papariga predicted that developments in the sectors of social policy in Europe would become even more negative in the future.

Ms. Diamantopoulou said her discussion with Mr. Constantopoulos concerned the issues of employment, social exclusion, welfare, equality of the genders and policies which the EU has launched at present.

The second phase of her briefing regarded relations between the Commission and the European Parliament and her own cooperation with the Greek Eurodeputies.

On his part, Mr. Constantopoulos said the briefing was substantive and positive, adding that Ms. Diamantopoulou stressed certain problems which will be the object of continuous communication with her.

Ms. Diamantopoulou promised to brief party leaders on a permanent basis.

Athens News Agency

[08] Economic News

Athens, 2/10/1999 (ANA)

"Greece is now moving in a virtuous cycle with low deficits, low inflation and high growth," Mr. Papantoniou told a luncheon in New York held by Capital Link.

The country's budget deficit is currently at 1.5 percent of gross domestic product against 13.8 percent of GDP in 1993, and inflation has declined to 2.0 percent from 14.0 percent in 1993.

In addition, growth rates over the last three years have risen to 3.5 percent, well above the EU average.

"The major forces that have created this virtuous cycle are increased policy credibility, deficit reduction, widespread structural reforms, a significant fall in real lending rates and an expansionary public investment program, partly supported by EU fu nds," Mr. Papantoniou said.

At the same time, the government plan's to take Greece into the euro zone by January 1, 2001 was aimed at more than nominal qualification.

"We want to ensure that Greece will embark on monetary union in a strong position and fully reap its benefits," the minister said.

Attaining a robust economy would also enable Greece to take advantage of investment opportunities in southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean, as well as contribute to growth in the two regions.

Economic and monetary policies combining a mix of stability, sustainable growth and supply-side reforms had laid the foundations for a sound overall economy and resilient financial markets.

Further spurring investment would be the 2004 Olympics to be hosted by Athens, Mr. Papantoniou said.

The minister was in the U.S. to attend a recent annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

Stocks nose down in jittery trade: Equities yesterday finished slightly lower in nervous trade marred by extreme volatility.

The general index ended 0.62 percent lower at 5,632.27 points from 5,667.60 points in the previous session.

Turnover was 482.122 billion drachmas from 340.796 billion drachmas a day earlier with 45,318,000 shares changing hands.

In a roller coaster session, prices jumped 2.40 percent in early trade on buying across the board, focusing on construction and smaller capitalisation stocks.

Near the end of the trading day, the index shed 2.0 percent on profit- taking, including banks, only to rebound just before the close on a surge of buying in heavily weighted stocks listed on the TSE/ASE 20.

Interest in what traders call marginal stocks had revived in the previous two sessions after retail investors, their main buyers, had shunned the paper for a time on doubts of the viability of some of the companies.

The market is seeking to consolidate around 5,600 points in a phase of extreme shifts. Analysts are still reluctant to forecast the short-term outlook.

Sector indices ended as follows: Banking (-1.56 pct), Insurance (-5.65 pct), Construction (+1.01 pct), Miscellaneous (+3.59 pct), Leasing (-4.46 pct), Investment (-0.23 pct), Industrials (+0.04 pct) and Holding (+0.48 pct).

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks gained 2.90 percent while the FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chips and heavily traded stocks shed 0.97 percent to finish at 2,954.79 points.

Of 307 stocks traded, advances outpaced declines at 160 to 141 with six shares remaining unchanged.

Among shares to end at the daily 8.0 percent upper volatility limit were Heracles, Avax and Technical Olympic.

Stocks finishing at the 8.0 percent lower volatility limit included Emborikos Desmos, Daring and Viosol.

The day's most heavily traded stocks were Halyvdofyllon and Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation.

National Bank of Greece ended at 24,400 drachmas, Commercial Bank of Greece at 27,900, Alpha Credit Bank at 24,450, Minoan Lines at 8,120, Intracom (common) at 26,640, Titan Cement (common) at 35,995, Hellenic Petroleum at 5,990, Hellenic Telecommmunica tions Organisation at 7,150 and Panafon at 7, 950 drachmas.

Bonds drop in light trade, drachma calm again: Secondary market bond prices dropped again yesterday, but the drachma was unruffled in the wake of strong pressure in the previous session that was quashed by central bank intervention.

Electronic trade totalled 30 billion drachmas from 29 billion drachmas a day earlier and 8.0 billion drachmas in the two previous sessions. Of yesterday's turnover, sell orders accounted for the entire sum.

The benchmark 10-year bond, which was still trading below par, shed around sixty basis points after losing 30 to 40 basis points a session earlier to show a yield of 6.80 percent from 6.73 percent a day earlier and 6.67 percent on Wednesday.

The 10-year paper's yield spread over German bunds was 163 basis points from 161 basis points in the previous session and 158 basis points in the two trading days before that.

Drachma ends flat vs euro: In the foreign exchange market, the drachma was untroubled yesterday after a phase of sporadic pressure culminating in heavier speculative attacks in the previous session.

Traders had attributed the pressure on the drachma versus the euro to sales of the national currency linked to a recent slump on the Athens Stock Exchange and institutional investors abroad closing their positions.

On Thursday, the Bank of Greece had again intervened in the market to prop up the drachma, selling around 570 million euros when the European currency hit 329.20 drachmas.

It was the highest recent intervention.

The central bank, which stepped into the market a number of times over a week, was sending a signal to players that it had no intention of allowing a rapid, unbridled depreciation of the drachma, which is due eventually to slide to its central parity of

353.1 to the euro in the European Union's exchange rate mechanism II. At the central bank's daily fix yesterday, the euro was flat against the drachma.

The European currency again was set at 328.600 drachmas, the same as the previous day, from 328.320 drachmas on Wednesday and 327.900 drachmas on Tuesday.

The dollar dropped versus the drachma.

At the fix, it was set at 306.340 drachmas from 308.270 drachmas a day earlier and 311.290 drachmas on Wednesday.

IOBE to hold news conference on economy report: The Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE) is to hold a news conference on Wednesday to present its latest quarterly report on the Greek economy. The news conference will be held at 12 noon at the Foreign Press Association, IOBE said in a statement.

Banknotes Buying Selling
US Dollar 303.889 310.935
Can.Dollar 207.507 212.318
Australian Dlr 199.700 204.330
Pound Sterling 501.039 512.656
Irish Punt 413.898 423.495
Pound Cyprus 561.770 574.794
Pound Malta 712.486 742.173
Turkish pound (100) 0.060 0.063
French franc 49.694 50.846
Swiss franc 204.040 208.770
Belgian franc 8.081 8.268
German Mark 166.667 170.531
Finnish Mark 54.825 56.096
Dutch Guilder 147.919 151.349
Danish Kr. 43.846 44.863
Swedish Kr. 37.361 38.227
Norwegian Kr. 39.561 40.478
Austrian Sh. 23.689 24.238
Italian lira (100) 16.835 17.226
Yen (100) 287.095 293.751
Spanish Peseta 1.959 2.005
Port. Escudo 1.626 1.664

Foreign Exchange Buying Selling New York 303.889 310.935 Montreal 207.507 212.318 Sydney 199.700 204.330 London 501.039 512.656 Dublin 413.898 423.495 Nicosia 561.770 574.794 Paris 49.694 50.846 Zurich 204.040 208.770 Brussels 8.081 8.268 Frankfurt 166.667 170.531 Helsinki 54.825 56.096 Amsterdam 147.919 151.349 Copenhagen 43.846 44.863 Stockholm 37.361 38.227 Oslo 39.561 40.478 Vienna 23.689 24.238 Milan 16.835 17.226 Tokyo 287.095 293.751 Madrid 1.959 2.005 Lisbon 1.626 1.664

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