Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-11-21

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

CONTENTS

[01] Mad Cows- Measures-Greece

[02] Vartholomeos-US-Nepal-India

[03] Christodoulakis-electric vehicles

[04] Greece - Yugoslavia - FMs meeting in Athens

[05] Greece - Yugoslavia - Kostunica visit

[06] Greece-mutual funds-report

[07] Lampsa SA-plans

[08] Business Logic-network expansion

[09] Dromeas-ASE listing

[10] ASE-close

[11] Greece - Armenia - Kocharyan visit

[12] FORTHnet-Telecom Italia-deal

[13] Greece-bond auction results

[14] Greece-foreign exchange

[01] Mad Cows- Measures-Greece

Greece on Tuesday decided to follow suit with several other European Union member-states in undertaking measures to prevent ?mad cow? disease contaminated meet from reaching the market.

Agriculture Minister George Anomeritis, Development Minister Nikos Christodoulakis and Healthcare Deputy Minister Christina Spiraki decided on a series of measures banning T-bone stakes imports from France, while they ordered all existing stock to be destroyed.

They also decided to ban importation and sales of animal feed containing suspect ingredients, the importation of animals over 2 years old, sperm or other byproducts of animals.

The measures are expected to be in force as of Wednesday.

[02] Vartholomeos-US-Nepal-India

ISTANBUL (ANA A. Kourkoulas) Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Vartholomeos on Tuesday returned to Istanbul, following his visit to the United States, Nepal and India.

During his visit in the US Vartholomeos was awarded the Scenic Hudson ecology award, in Nepal he addressed the international conference of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Katmandu and in Malabar, India visited the Syrian Orthodox mission.

[03] Christodoulakis-electric vehicles

Development Minister Nikos Christodoulakis on Tuesday presented four electric cars and two buses fueled by natural gas to the municipality of Marousi, northern Athens suburb, initiating a European Union pilot programme for the use of such vehicles in Athens.

The "Themis" European Union programme begun with Marousi as the location where most of the Olympic Games will take place in 2004.

[04] Greece - Yugoslavia - FMs meeting in Athens

The need for Balkan countries to find a "common voice" and overcome past differences was stressed once again by Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou, after a meeting with his Yugoslav counterpart Goran Svilanovic in Athens on Tuesday.

The meeting had focused on bilateral and regional cooperation, especially Greece's contribution to Yugoslavia's reconstruction and its rapprochement with Europe.

In statements afterward, Svilanovic announced that he would be visiting Sarajevo on Wednesday to discuss restoring bilateral ties with the Bosnia-Herzegovina government and the implementation of the Dayton Treaty.

[05] Greece - Yugoslavia - Kostunica visit

BELGRADE (ANA M. Mouratidis) New Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica has reportedly accepted an offer to visit a monastery on Mount Athos, a semi-autonomous monastic community in northern Greece, in early December.

According to reports, Kostunica will travel to the Serb Orthodox Hilindariou monastery on Mount Athos to attend an all-night religious service.

Press reports from the Yugoslav capital also noted that Kostunica, the politician who ended Slobodan Milosevics reign, may travel to the nearby northern Greek port city of Thessaloniki in order to lay a wreath at a World War I memorial honouring Serbias war dead.

[06] Greece-mutual funds-report

Greece's domestic equity mutual funds suffer heavily from a sharp downward correction of prices on the Athens Stock Exchange so far this year, with several funds losing up to 60 percent of their initially invested capital in 2000.

Fund managers and investors are currently seeking to limit their losses for the year, a move mainly connected with efforts for a recovery of prices on the Athens bourse.

There are currently 75 domestic equity mutual funds operating in Greece, of which 53 were offered to investors from the start of the year and the remaining 22 were launched during the year.

All 53 mutual funds were showing losses for the year, with an average negative return of 43.74 percent, with losses ranging from -31.16 to -60 percent.

Combined domestic mutual funds show an average return of -24.2 percent this year, with only one from a total of 25 funds in the category showing a positive return of 6.22 percent.

Analysts, however, predict that this negative climate would be reversed. They based this prediction to the fact that private investors have not yet started to liquidate their positions in the mutual funds market.

[07] Lampsa SA-plans

Greek Hotels Company Lampsa SA on Tuesday announced it has withdrawn its interest for King George hotel, following fruitless negotiations with Eurobank group, owners of the hotel.

A company statement said it preferred to seek an autonomous development of Grande Bretagne hotel, a move likely to better service its shareholders.

Lampsa is expected to present its plans for the development of Grande Bretagne hotel aiming to become Athens' "most luxurious hotel".

[08] Business Logic-network expansion

Business Logic, a member of LogicDis Group, seeks to expand activities around the country following the signing of a strategic partnership deal with Telestet to jointly promote B Best Telestet products in Greece.

The company has launched an information campaign to present its activities to Greek businesses.

The company was founded in early 2000 with the aim to cover business needs in information and telecommunications infrastructure on the basis of research, application and support.

Business Logic already has 35 franchising representatives around the country and aims to report a turnover of 5.0 billion drachmas this year.

[09] Dromeas-ASE listing

Dromeas SA, an office furniture company, will make its debut on the Athens Stock Exchange on Friday, November 24.

The company has started a three-year investment programme, worth 10 billion drachmas, envisaging the upgrading of machinery equipment and facilities.

Dromeas reported sales and profits of 4.6 billion and 1.1 billion drachmas in 1999, respectively, and expects this year's results to total 5.5 billion and 1.6 billion, respectively.

[10] ASE-close

Equity prices dramatically changed direction on the Athens Stock Exchange on Tuesday, as a coordinated intervention by institutional investors helped Greek stocks to a spectacular recovery, ending a 13-session sharp decline.

The general index ended 2.07 percent higher at 3,407.16 points, after a 1.55 percent fall to 3,286.20 points early in the session. Traders said buying intervention focused on blue chip stocks in the banks sector.

Turnover was a low 45.71 billion drachmas. The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 2.42 percent higher at 1,949.29 points, and the FTSE/ASE 40 index rose 2.64 percent to 414.04 points.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended 3.40 percent higher at 364.72 points.

[11] Greece - Armenia - Kocharyan visit

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan arrived in Athens on Tuesday for a series of contacts with Greek leadership and the signing of a bilateral agreement.

Shortly before the end of a meeting in Athens, Kocharyan and his Greek counterpart Kostis Stephanopoulos signed a bilateral treaty on judicial cooperation.

?This is a very significant treaty that strengthens the spirit of cooperation between Greece and Armenia,? Stephanopoulos told reporters afterwards, before stressing the traditionally good relations the two peoples have had over time.

[12] FORTHnet-Telecom Italia-deal

FORTHnet, a Greek listed internet services company, on Tuesday announced a strategic partnership deal with Telecom Italia on broad-band telecommunication services.

The deal, signed with STET International Nederland-S.I.N. (a holding company, 100 percent owned by Telecom Italia), envisages creation of Mediterranean Broadband Services, a company with a 40-60 percent ownership, respectively.

The new company is already participating in a wireless fixed-telephony license auction by the Greek authorities, scheduled for December 4.

[13] Greece-bond auction results

Greek treasury bill yields fell substantially during a regular weekly auction of state securities by the Public Debt Management Organisation on Tuesday.

The average weighed yield of a 12-month bills issue, worth 50 billion drachmas, fell to 5.26 percent from 5.54 percent in the previous auction of same securities on October 24.

Bids submitted totalled 154.2 billion drachmas, three times more than the asked sum.

The organisation also auctioned a three-month treasury bill issue, worth 25 billion drachmas. The average weighed yield fell to 5.66 percent, sharply down from the previous auction average yield of 6.55 percent. Bids submitted totalled 114.7 billion drachmas, 4.6 times more than the asked sum.

[14] Greece-foreign exchange

The drachma was stable against the US dollar on the domestic foreign exchange market on Tuesday.

The US dollar/drachma rate was 400.340 drachmas per dollar at the day's fixing, slightly up from 400.520 the previous day.

The drachma fell against the euro currency at 340.250 drachmas per euro, from 340.210 on Monday.

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