Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-09-07

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

CONTENTS

[01] Serious flooding in Evrotas River valley and Messinia as heavy rains sweep Greece

[02] PM meets trade and industry association reps ahead of TIF

[03] Merkel and Greek PM to speak on the phone ahead of Bratislava summit

[04] VAT revenues sharply up in Mykonos, Santorini as tax raids take effect

[01] Serious flooding in Evrotas River valley and Messinia as heavy rains sweep Greece

A meeting attended by a government delegation in Kalamata, in Messinia, decided to implement the same set of relief measures used in the wake of disasters at Megalopolis two months earlier and on the island of Skopelos.

General Secretary for Civil Protection Yiannis Kapakis has declared a state of emergency in Kalamata and other flood-stricken areas of Messinia for six months, while the meeting also discussed the extensive damages in Lakonia, after a dam burst on the Evrotas River.

A state of emergency has also been declared in Thessaloniki in the north, where flooding on Tuesday claimed four lives, while one woman has gone missing, possibly swept away by floodwater.

The fire brigade has more than 1000 calls for assistance in the last 24 hours, more than half in Thessaloniki, and rescue workers have extricated 24 people trapped by flood water in Thessaloniki, 29 in Lakonia and 21 in Messinia.

Accumulated flood water has also blocked the Athens-Tripoli-Kalamata highway at 222nd kilometre, where traffic is being diverted onto the old national road, while the Asprohoma-Pylos road in Messinia is also closed to traffic at two points.

In Lakonia, the villages Taxiarchis, Elos and Leimonas are still cut off due to the water spilling out onto the Evrotas valley, while several roads in the area are closed to traffic.

A six-month state of emergency was also declared in Thessaloniki's Thermaikos municipality.

[02] PM meets trade and industry association reps ahead of TIF

The discussion focused on the problems faced by businesses, economic growth, attracting investments, improving the business environment and investment climate and ways to boost employment and protect labour rights. They also exchanged views on the progress of the Greek economy.

The talks with the Athens Chamber of Tradesmen focused on issues affecting small and medium-sized enterprises and ways in which these might be resolved.

Both sides expressed a desire for ongoing and constant dialogue in order to best deal with the problems facing Greek businesses, both large and small.

[03] Merkel and Greek PM to speak on the phone ahead of Bratislava summit

An invitation was also extended to Tsipras to visit next Sunday but the Greek prime minister was unable to attend due to his prior engagements at the Thessaloniki International Fair, which opens this week. It was therefore decided that they should speak on the telephone before the Bratislava summit.

[04] VAT revenues sharply up in Mykonos, Santorini as tax raids take effect

"In Santorini, during the first seven months, there has been an increase in relation to the budget by 82 pct for VAT revenues and in the Mykonos tax office by 45 pct," Melachrinos reported.

By contrast, he pointed out, revenues from VAT in the first seven months of 2014 came to just 5.2 million euros in Santorini, whereas this number had now almost doubled to reach 10 million euros. In Mykonos, the increase relative to 2014 was nearly 60 pct.

Collection of VAT, compared with the first seven months of VAT, had been above budget targets throughout the country, reaching nearly 8 pct, he added, disproving the main opposition's claims that budget targets were not being met.

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