Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-12-07

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

CONTENTS

[01] Soccer-UEFA-PAOK-Defeat

[02] Greece-Strike-Unions

[03] Christodoulakis-SELPE-Retail trade

[04] Greece-EU-European Conference

[05] Lavipharm-US-Phasex

[06] Sports roundup

[07] Commercial Bank - Credit Agricole - share transfer

[01] Soccer-UEFA-PAOK-Defeat

PAOK Thessaloniki lost 1-0 to Eindhoven of the Netherlands in a third round second leg match played for the UEFA soccer Cup at Toumba stadium in Thessaloniki on Thursday night and was eliminated from the competition.

The only goal was scored by Arnold Bruging in the 43rd minute. Eindhoven had also won 3-0 in the first leg.

[02] Greece-Strike-Unions

The General Confederation of Workers of Greece (GSEE), called its Thursday strike a success, saying that air, rail and road transport ground to a halt as public servants and private sector workers protested against planned labour reforms being discussed in parliament.

The strike begun on after midnight Wednesday and its public sector sister ADEDY joined in Thursday morning to protest changes in labour relations introduced in the bill drafted by Labour Minister Tassos Yiannitsis.

ADEDYs action amounted to a work stoppage that begun at 11 am to the end of the work day.

The unions also organised a rally in central Athens that was followed by a march to the Parliament building, where a delegation handed their demands to Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis.

[03] Christodoulakis-SELPE-Retail trade

Development Minister Nikos Christodoulakis said on Thursday the course of the Greek economy will not be stopped despite the relatively unfavourable international conjuncture, adding that this is so because development in Greece was supported and will continue to be supported by indigenous factors, whose reserves have not yet been fully developed.

Christodoulakis, who was addressing a dinner organised by the Federation of Retail Sales Eterprises of Greece (SELPE), said trade occupies a considerable part of economic activity in the European Union, representing 30 percent of enterprises, 16 percent of employment and over 13 percent of its GDP. In the middle of the '90s, about five million enterprises produced 640 billion ecu and provided 21.5 million jobs in the sector.

[04] Greece-EU-European Conference

NICE (ANA S. Sideris) Greece supports the speedy accession to the European Union of those candidate member-states that have assimilated the principles and rules of the Union, Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou said on Friday.

Papandreous statements came after the meeting of the European Conference of the Union member-states and the 13 candidate member-states leaderships, where Germany and Italy proposed that an new European Conference begin at 2004.

Papandreou noted that this proposal raised concern among the leaders of the 13 candidate member-states, since it could mean the postponement of their accession to the Union.

[05] Lavipharm-US-Phasex

The Lavipharm group has bought out 30 percent of the American Phasex company's share capital. In parallel, it has bought out the exclusive rights to use supercritical fluids technology in which Phasex is specialised, as well as its patents, trade signs and know-how.

The Lavipharm group is already cooperating with multinational companies such as Novartis, Knoll, SmithKline Beecham and Chattem.

[06] Sports roundup

AEK Athens beat Bayer-Leverkusen of Germany 2-0 in a UEFA Cup third round match on Thursday and qualified for the next round.

AEK Athens scored four goals in Germany against high-flying Bayer Leverkusen, for a 4-4 draw, allowing for an AEK Athens win 6-4 on aggregate.

Scorers of the match were Fernando Navas on the 17 minute of the match and Vassilis Tsartas on the 49 minute, attended by 32,200 fans.

[07] Commercial Bank - Credit Agricole - share transfer

The transfer of 6.7 per cent of the Commercial Bank of Greece shares to France's Credit Agricole was carried out on Thursday via a block trade on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE).

The 5.7 million shares transferred belonged to Commercial Bank subsidiaries Phoenix and Commercial Capital, who received roughly 94 billion drachmas.

In addition, the board of Commercial Bank convened to discuss its reconstitution. All board members tendered their resignations and four were accepted. Credit Agricole representatives Jacques Luc Perron and Christian Besse will sit on the new board, along with OGA director George Moutsopoulos and Commercial Bank general director Dimitris Fraggetis.

The strategic deal between the two banks was concluded in June.

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