Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 12-07-16

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

CONTENTS

[01] PM urges drastic changes to State, Public Administration

[02] Four FYROM citizens returning home from wedding in Turkey killed in road accident in N. Greece

[03] Athens' newspaper headlines at a glance on Monday

[04] Environmental survey cleared for Greek-Bulgarian gas pipeline

[05] Acropolis to close early on Monday due to scorching heat

[01] PM urges drastic changes to State, Public Administration

In the letter, Samaras stresses the need for rationalization of cost and upgrading of services provided and called for coordinated cooperation among the Cabinet members.

"One of the fundamental changes our government must introduce is reform of the State and Public Administration. Our chief aspiration is the creation of an efficient and functional administration that is rid of its chronic problems and which will contribute to the country's growth and be close to the citizen, a Public Administration worthy of an EU member-state," Samaras said in his letter.

He noted that the Administrative Reform and eGovernance ministry, in collaboration with the European Commission Task Force on Greece "and the precious contribution of our own personnel", would in the next few days begin an evaluation of the structures of the ministries and the agencies they oversee, aimed at their restructure.

"Thus, we will pinpoint and neutralize the weaknesses and dysfunctions in the Public Administration. The result of the evaluation will be the restructure of the services through the merger of abolition of inactive units and services, with the aim being the rationalization of the operation of the ministries and the curtailment of unnecessary expenditures," he wrote.

[02] Four FYROM citizens returning home from wedding in Turkey killed in road accident in N. Greece

Four people were killed, one of them a small child, and five more (including three minors) were injured in a road accident on the Kavala-Thessaloniki section of the Egnatia Odos highway on Sunday evening at 7:00 p.m. The crash occurred after the Ofrynio junction when the driver of a mini-van they were in, with Bulgarian licence plates, lost control of the vehicle, which veered off course and overturned.

According to Thessaloniki traffic police, there were nine people on board the mini-van when it overturned while the initial evidence showed that the accident occurred because the 46-year-old driver fell asleep.

It was made known on Monday morning that the victims, including a six-year-old girl, were members of two families from FYROM that were returning home in the van after attending a wedding in Turkey.

The five injured people, among them three minors, were taken to Kavala hospital where they are reported to be in good condition.

The victims were a 42-year-old man, his 6-year-old daughter and his 68-year-old mother, as well as the driver's 38-year-old wife.

[03] Athens' newspaper headlines at a glance on Monday

Finance Minister Yiannis Stournaras' meetings with ministers, the extraordinary real estate surtax collected via the PPC

electricity bills and changes to the corporate tax regime were the main items in Athens' dailies on Monday.

ADESMEFTOS TYPOS: "Clash with the 'labor-fathers' (trade unions' leaders) and the Opposition".

AVRIANI: "Gang of extortionists behind group of Reuters' correspondents".

DIMOKRATIA: "Massacre of the benefits".

ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: "Summer holidays a victim of the Memorandum".

ELLADA: "Turkish business interest in 12 Greek ports"

ESTIA: "Samaras' big opportunity".

ETHNOS: "Foreclosures for the extraordinary surtax on real estate - The special surtax to come with PPC bill in end July".

IMERISSIA: "Plan to reduce taxes on stock dividends".

NAFTEMPORIKI: "Recession and Troika bring new measures beyond the 11.5 billion euros".

TA NEA: "The lost billions of development".

VRADYNI: "Pensions: All the changes in IKA, DEKO (public utilities) and banks"

[04] Environmental survey cleared for Greek-Bulgarian gas pipeline

The 180-km pipeline will link the Greek city of Komotini with the Bulgarian city of Stara Zagora and will have a transportation capability of 3.0 billion cubic metres of gas annually, with an option of rising 5.0 billion. A metric station will be built in Komotini.

The project will be build by Interconnector Greece Bulgaria (ICGB) company, comprising of IGI Poseidon (a joint venture by DEPA and Italy's Edison) and Bulgarian Energy Holding.

Construction of the Greek-Bulgarian pipeline is considered of strategic importance for the country and the wider region as will enable gas supplies to Bulgaria and Romania from third sources beyond Russia's Gazprom which is currently the main supplier of the Balkans.

The ministry report said that construction of the pipeline will have limited environmental consequences in the region, short-term and reversible.

[05] Acropolis to close early on Monday due to scorching heat

The monument will close at 14:00 on Monday, while the issue of tickets will stop half an hour earlier, at 13:30, "to protect visitors and employees alike" from the current heatwave, which will peak at 41-42 degrees Centigrade on Monday.

The decision was taken unanimously at an emergency meeting of the Panhellenic Association of Antiquities Guards' executive committee and briefing of the culture and tourism ministry.

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