Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 97-11-26
NEWS IN ENGLISH
Athens, Greece, 26/11/1997 (ANA)
MAIN HEADLINES
- Athens studying Turkish experts report on relations
- Tension at gold mine continues
- Minister confident Athens Metro ready by 1999
- Weak earthquake recorded in Aegean
- Protestors occupy Bank of Greece building
- PM stresses need to keep drachma stable and aim for EMU
- SE European firms to discuss creation of trade chamber, lobby
- Athens to host seminar on marketing in Eastern Europe
- Minoan Lines seeks to join bourse
- Petsalnikos receives Israeli, European and US chief rabbis
- Weather
- Foreign exchange
NEWS IN DETAIL
Athens studying Turkish experts report on relations
Proposals sent by the Turkish committee of experts on Greek-Turkish
relations to the Greek government two days ago did not change the situation
between the two countries as it stands, according to a statement by
government spokesman Dimitris Reppas today.
He added, however, that the government would be studying the report and
deciding if and how the process would be continued.
Reppas did confirm that the Turkish experts proposed a meeting with their
Greek counterparts on December 10. The Turks also suggested that each side
state the issues in which they believed some rapprochement could be
achieved.
In addition, they propose that the establishment of confidence building
measures begin at once.
With regard to threats made by Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and his
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem regarding Cyprus' eventual accession to the
European Union, the spokesman advised Turkey to meet the conditions set out
by the European Union rather than making such statements which were not in
the best interests of the Turkish people.
Reppas denied that a meeting was scheduled to take place in Paris between
Yilmaz and his Greek counterpart Costas Simitis, saying that such a meeting
would be premature.
Tension at gold mine continues
Tension mounted today at a gold processing plant in Halkidiki, northern
Greece, as more than 20 villagers armed with hunting rifles opened fire on
police cars outside the plant, causing damage but no injuries, police
said.
The two patrol cars and a private car belonging to a policeman were parked
just outside the village Olympiada at a small distance from the plant,
which has been cordoned off by a strong police contingent for the past few
days to prevent further disturbances after destruction of some of the TVX
Hellas plant's equipment and clashes between protesting local residents and
police two weeks ago.
TVX Hellas, a subsidiary of the Toronto-based TVX Gold company, received a
concession for exploitation of the Cassandra gold mines in March 1995 after
international tendering. Under the privatisation agreement signed in
December 1995, the 67 billion drachma investment is expected to create some
617 jobs.
The Olympiada community denied the incident and accused the police of
unprovoked intervention against the village. Community president Nikos
Mitsiou told the ANA that police from the protection force had thrown
firecrackers and chemicals at two young locals who were returning to their
homes, enraging the villagers and prompting a demonstration in the
village's central square.
The president of the union of Halkidiki police Athanassios Kyparissis
accused the Olympiada community president and residents of disinformation
and unprovoked attacks agasint the police.
"They are trying to turn their problem with TVX into a disagreement with
the police," he said.
The residents of the six villages in the vicinity of the gold mines and
plant claim that the mining activities would have serious repercussions on
the environment and tourism to the region.
Minister confident Athens Metro ready by 1999
Environment, Town Planning and Public Works Minister Costas Laliotis today
anticipated that the Athens Metro would be completed in 1999, as 62 percent
of the entire project and 82 percent of the civil engineering works --
tunnels and stations -- had already been completed.
Speaking at a ceremony welcoming the arrival of Jason the Metro-mouse --
the giant French-made tunnel boring machine (TBM) -- at Syntagma Square,
Laliotis said construction of 18 (of the total 21) stations had been
completed, of which 16 were in the final stages of installation of the
basic mechanical equipment.
Traffic circulation had also been restored above 9 of the stations,
Laliotis said.
The Minister said that in the next 10 days the Ministry would announce the
specifics on the extensions of Line 2 from Sepolia to Peristeri and Line 3
from Kerameikos to Egaleo. It would also announce at that time how the Line
3 section from Syntagma to Kerameikos would be constructed given the
problems there due to unsteady soil and antiquities.
The Sepolia-Peristeri extention provided for 2.5 kilometres fo tunnel and
three stations, while the Kermeikos-Egaleo extention comprised 3.4
kilometres of tunnel, another three stations, and a depot.
He said 66 percent of the tunnel boring had been completed, representing 12
of the total 18 kilometres of the project, with 50 percent of Line 3's
tracks and 16 percent of Line 2's tracks already in place.
Laliotis said Jason had covered the distance from the Athens Academy
station to Syntagma square in a record 22 days without running into
problems such as the land subsidence on Panepistimou street that had slowed
up the project last month.
After a few days rest for maintenance work, Jason would start boring
towards the next station, under the remains of the temple of the Olympian
Zeus at the beginning of Syngrou avenue, Laliotis said.
Weak earthquake recorded in Aegean
A moderate earthquake measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale jolted the highly
seismic southeastern Aegean early this morning, and first police reports
said there were no damages or casualties.
The Geophysics Laboratory of Thessaloniki's Aristotelion University said
the tremor's epicentre was the sea region between the island's of Skyros
and Aghios Efstratios, which gave a 7.1 Richter quake in 1981.
Vassilis Karakostas, a seismologist at the Laboratory, told the ANA the
tremor was no cause for concern as tremors of such a magnitude were
commonplace in earthquake-prone areas.
Protestors occupy Bank of Greece building
Representatives of three manufacturers and merchants unions occupied the
Bank of Greece building in Thessaloniki for two hours this morning in a
symbolic gesture of protest against the 1998 state budget.
The protest was organised by the Federation of Manufacturers' Unions of
Thessaloniki, the Federation of Small Business Owners of Thessaloniki and
the city's Historic Centre Small Businesses' Association.
Their demands include the abolition of objective tax criteria, a reduction
in bank interest rates along with an abolition of penalty rates on overdue
loans and more "humane" opening hours for shops.
They are also asking for solutions to problems such as funding and
protection from unfair competition from department stores and the black
market.
PM stresses need to keep drachma stable and aim for EMU
Prime Minister Costas Simitis reiterated late last night his government's
steadfast adherence to the stability of the drachma, which he said was
"tantamount to the stability of the economy as a whole" and that the
current exchange policy would provide the best results for the economy,
businesses and consumers.
He told the Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of
Greek Industries (SEB) that normality was returning after the recent
currency crisis, and that stricter combination of fiscal, monetary and
incomes policies, apart from the positive results, would also boost
confidence in the economy and the national currency.
Simitis said that the economy was now entering "the most delicate and
decisive phase of its adjustment" to the requirements for Greece's
participation in the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).
"This phase, just like the preceding ones, will not be easy, and it
requires greater resoluteness, responsibility and particularly collective
confidence," he said.
"We cannot stand in the middle of the road and negotiate whether we shall
proceed or not, the attainment of our strategic options is a duty for us.
Otherwise, we shall suffer the consequences of destabilisation, regression
and undermining of the accumulated sacrifices of many years," he continued.
The prime minister said that next year's aims were the attainment of the
criteria of the fiscal deficit and the scaling down of inflation to 2 per
cent at the end of 1999, so that Greece would be able to join EMU in 2001,
before the launching of the single currency.
"If we do not want to be the failed child of European unification and
suffer the consequences, it is necessary to cover the gap separating us
from the European Union," he said.
Replying to criticism of the sacrifices being made by the Greek people,
Simitis noted that "societies with problems such as ours require 6-7 years
to reverse inertia, attitudes and relationships and to transform structures
in order to succesfully keep in step with the rapid international
developments".
SE European firms to discuss creation of trade chamber, lobby
Southeast European companies will send representatives to a meeting in
Washington in March to discuss setting up a Balkan chamber of trade.
The meeting was proposed by Hellenic-American trade chambers belonging to
the Hellenic-American National Council, in cooperation with the US
department of commerce.
"We are creating the conditions for peace and economic cooperation in the
sensitive southeast European region, which is why the conference is
entitled 'Peace in southeastern Europe'," said Thanasis Spyropoulos,
president of the national council and orga niser of the meeting.
Due to attend are representatives of firms from Greece, Albania, Yugoslavia,
the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine,
Turkey and Cyprus.
The representatives will have the chance to meet officials from the US
State Department and department of commerce in order to discuss creating a
southeast European lobby.
Athens to host seminar on marketing in Eastern Europe
Marketing in the developing economies of eastern Europe will be the subject
of a seminar to be held in Athens December 3.
The seminar is organised by the Hellenic Marketing Institute and is
addressed to company executives and exporters operating in the Balkans and
eastern Europe.
The purpose of the seminar is to present companies with investment
opportunities in Europe's emerging economies and cooperation prospects with
businesses in the region.
Minoan Lines seeks to join bourse
Minoan Lines, a Greek passenger shipping company, will seek to gain listing
on the Athens Stock Exchange following approval by the firm's shareholders.
Shareholders voted 83.39 percent in favour of the proposal which signals a
new era in the development and modernisation of the company.
A company statement said yesterday that listing on the Athens bourse would
enable Minoan Lines to raise low-cost funds in order to finance investment
programmes.
Petsalnikos receives Israeli, European and US chief rabbis
Minister for Macedonia and Thrace Philippos Petsalnikos yesterday received
the Chief Rabbis of Israel, Paris, New York, Thessaloniki and the former
chief rabbi of London, all of whom attended the unveiling of the "Monument
to the Jewish Martyrs" in Thessa loniki by President of the Republic Kostis
Stephanopoulos last Sunday.
The monument was dedicated to the 50,000 Greek Jews who lost their lives in
Nazi concentration camps during World War Two.
The minister referred to the monument as the "duty of both Thessaloniki and
Greece, a duty which should have been done many years ago", and stressed
the significant role the Jewish community had played in the development of
the city.
Although there have been Jews in Greece since ancient times, most of the
city's Jewish community were descendants of Sephardic Jews who had fled the
Spanish Inquisition in 1492.
WEATHER
Cloudiness and rain will continue throughout Greece today, particularly in
the west and south. Winds moderate to strong. Clouds and light rain in
Athens with temperatures between 12-17C. Similar weather in Thessaloniki
with temperatures from 8-15C.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Tuesday's closing rates - buying US dlr. 270.905
Pound sterling 457.510 Cyprus pd 529.728
French franc 46.445 Swiss franc 192.359
German mark 155.471 Italian lira (100) 15.857
Yen (100) 213.141 Canadian dlr. 190.246
Australian dlr. 186.675 Irish Punt 405.926
Belgian franc 7.537 Finnish mark 51.505
Dutch guilder 137.982 Danish kr. 40.845
Swedish kr. 35.593 Norwegian kr. 38.202
Austrian sch. 22.097 Spanish peseta 1.840
Port. Escudo 1.524
(M.P.)
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