Athens News Agency: News in English, 11-07-07

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

CONTENTS

[01] Omnibus bill on energy policy

[02] ELPE merger with Petrola

[03] ASE opening: Decline

[04] Athens Newspaper Headlines

[01] Omnibus bill on energy policy

The omnibus bill will include the deregulation of the energy market, the agency and the hycrocarbons research framework, the pipelines for the transfer of hydrocarbons and other arrangements such as issues regarding geothermy, renewable energy sources, Ai Stratis- "green" island, quarries, etc.

The cabinet meeting discussed the creation of an agency for the exploitation of hydrocarbons and the research framework. In parallel, with the tabling of this bill, existing legislation gives the government the possibility to proceed with the proclamation of a tender for the carrying out of seismic research in the Ionian Sea as far as the south of the island of Crete.

The region in question has a surface of 230,000 square kilometres and already, according to reports, great interest has been shown by international companies which, according to the same reports, include the three biggest internationally and which finance these research operations.ana-mpa

This proclamation has also been sent to the International Union of Seismic Research Companies headquartered in the US, in which 150 companies are participating, while observations on the improvement of the proclamation were also requested by the Union.ana-mpa

According to government sources "what we know until now is that there might be 3-4 'Prinos' in the region." From "Prinos" 120 million barrels have been pumped over the 25 years of its operation, the entire cost of the investment over this period has amounted to 1.5 billion dollars, while it has yielded about 7 billion dollars, of which the public sector's revenues amount to 3 billion dollars.

Government sources stressed, however, that these amounts have been assessed with different prices and with energy needs equally different.

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[02] ELPE merger with Petrola

Petrola is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Athens-listed ELPE.

ELPE controls three of the country's four refineries -- in Aspropyrgos, Elefsina and Thessaloniki -- and more than 60 percent of the market.

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[03] ASE opening: Decline

Individual sector indices were moving downward with the biggest gains in Personal and Household Goods, up 0.53 percent, and Raw Materials, up 0.35 percent.

The biggest losses were in Banks, down 1.62 percent; and Food and Beverages down 1.50 percent.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks was down 0.75 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index was down 0.52 percent, and the FTSE/ASE-80 small cap index was down 0.26 percent.

Of the stocks traded, 12 were up, 29 were down, and 23 were unchanged.

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[04] Athens Newspaper Headlines

Government vice president and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos' talks with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble in Berlin, the decrease in pensions and the supernumerary staff in the public sector, mostly dominated the headlines on Thursday in Athens' newspapers.

ADESMEFTOS TYPOS: "192,000 insured without pension - List grows of IKA (state Social Security Foundation) insured retirees awaiting formalisation of their pensions, some of them up to a year and a half".

AVGHI: "Prime Minister George Papandreou fears Universities and Plazas (Indignants) movement".

AVRIANI: "Turkish tycoon to buy Greek islets".

ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: "Government admits layoffs in public sector - Lies about the cuts in pensions".

ELEFTHEROTYPIA: "Tax bureaus are not collecting revenues".

ESTIA: "National crime with the economy".

ETHNOS: " 'Not collecting' movement in Tax Bureaus".

IMERISSIA: "Dirty games - Debt war raging".

KATHIMERINI: "Rekindling of fears of spread of debt crisis".

NAFTEMPORIKI: "Plan for Eurobond issue again on the table".

RIZOSPASTIS: "Popular vigilance and struggle against the intensifying state suppression".

TA NEA: "Dinner in Berlin with privatisations as the first course".

VRADYNI: "The cuts in salaries also reducing the pensions".

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