Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-09-28

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greece-Russia ministerial meeting ends with signature of cooperation protocol

[02] Greece's role as energy channel debated in US

[01] Greece-Russia ministerial meeting ends with signature of cooperation protocol

Stylianidis stressed that the protocol laid the foundations for future cooperation between Greece and Russia and to a great extent implemented a Joint Action Plan agreed by Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Moscow last December.

The ministerial meeting began in Moscow on Wednesday alongside a Greek-Russian business forum taking place the same day, attended by the largest Greek business delegation ever to venture outside Greece.

In a statement to the ANA, Gordeyev stressed the "great warmth" during Wednesday's meeting and said this was a guarantee for the "further successful development of our relations".

Stylianidis said the two sides had agreed to set up working groups to look into bilateral trade arrangements and to convene joint committees to discuss issues concerning agriculture, transport and tourism.

In the energy sector, the two sides achieved a positive outcome concerning plans for the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline and also set in motion cooperation in the natgas and electricity sectors.

During the meeting, the Russians promised to move faster for the ratification of an agreement for avoiding double taxation, which will in turn allow implementation of a bilateral maritime agreement that has been stalled since 2001. The Greek side, in turn, committed itself to participation with a Greek pavilion in 10 trade exhibitions taking place in Russia next year.

Arrangements were also made for a meeting between the Greek delegation and Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov on Thursday to discuss cooperation in construction projects.

On the sidelines of the ministerial, an agreement was also signed by the Union of Greek Industries (SEB) and the Russian Business and Industry Association, which will create a Business Council to act as a bridge between the Greek and Russian business communities and give a new boost to their relations.

Also participating in the ministerial meeting, which was chaired by Stylianidis and Gordeyev, were Deputy Finance Minister Christos Folias and Agricultural Minister Evangelos Basiakos, who stressed in a statement that Greece "looked to the large Russian market" for high-quality Greek agricultural products like olive oil, wine, honey and others, as well as processed and packaged Greek agricultural products with higher added value that were competitive worldwide.

[02] Greece's role as energy channel debated in US

"We analysed the rise in the country's status in energy affairs, especially major pipeline networks underway in our country - natural gas and oil - and especially the Greek-Turkish and Greek-Italian natural gas pipelines, and the Burgas-Alexandroupoli oil pipeline," Sioufas said.

In an interview to ERT, Greece's state radio and television broadcaster, the minister said another item on the agenda for talks was the creation on October 25 in Athens of a southeast European energy community.

"This is one of the most important conventions to be signed in Greece on energy matters for the entire region, and Greece's decisive role in this," he noted.

The talks with Sell also covered bilateral cooperation and discussion of the global rise in oil prices.

"All we can do is to seek support from the public, ask the public to join the energy-saving effort," the minister said.

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