Athens News Agency: News in English, 08-05-26

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

CONTENTS

[01] Shipping companies invited to ASE

[02] Health minister in Moscow

[01] Shipping companies invited to ASE

The Greek minister, addressing a working lunch, stressed that the listing of healthy ocean shipping enterprises in the Athens Stock Exchange would offer an internationalized boost to the Greek capital market and noted that the government believed it was to the benefit of the shipping community, the national economy and banks to list healthy ocean shipping companies in the Athens bourse and not in foreign markets.

He cited five reasons for listing in the Athens Stock Exchange:

-modern Greek shipping companies have little in common with shipping firms of the past,

-higher security levels in the shipping industry,

-higher investor confidence towards shipping companies,

-Greek shipping accounts for 17 pct of the world fleet, 20 pct of the bulk ship fleet and 23 pct of tanker fleet worldwide and,

-efforts made by both the stock market and the Merchant Marine ministry to create the necessary conditions, procedures and preconditions to attract ocean-shipping companies in the market.

The Greek minister added that the first messages of this procedure were positive and expressed his optimism that Greek-interest shipping companies based in London, UK, would relocate to Greece.

The president of the Athens Stock Exchange, Spyros Kapralos, said the Greek market was ready to welcome Greek shipping companies. ?It is an exceptional time, a period when all market factors agreed we must attract ocean-shipping companies in the Greek capital market,? Kapralos said, adding that shipping companies could enjoy the same favourable tax status even after their listing in the Athens bourse.

Kapralos said foreign investors showed increased confidence in the Greek capital market, holding more than 50 pct of the marketās capitalization and accounting for more than 65 pct of daily transactions. Net capital inflow in the Greek market exceeded 15 billion euros in the last three years, he said.

[02] Health minister in Moscow

"Greece is opening to this hospitable for us and interesting investments scene in Russia and in the sector of pharmaceuticals as well," Health Minister and former Athens mayor Avramopoulos said at the end of talks with the "good friend from the past" Yuri Luzhkov, stressing that the bilateral, inter-state agreement that is being promoted "will really provide new possibilities for the Greek pharmaceutical industry, and in general for officials from the Greek health sector."

Avramopoulos also pointed to the current conjuncture since Moscow's market has great needs, and that has about 15 million inhabitants, while the reforming of Russia's health system is also under way.

Luzhkov described as a "priority of the industry in the city of Moscow" cooperation with Greek pharmaceutical companies, noting that "we are discussing an increase in the quantities of pharmaceuticals that the city is being supplied with and joint production programmes in Greece and in Moscow."

The mayor termed the discussion that took place during consultations with the Greek delegation interesting, announcing in advance Tuesday's "big roundtable, where business issues will be discussed."

The Moscow mayor called on Greek businessmen to pay greater attention to Russia, a "very lucrative country from the point of view of investments," referring in particular to the sectors of the importation of food products that are not produced in Russia, to cooperation in the tourism sector and to "advanced industrial sectors of Greece, that can meet the needs of our country."

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