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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 99-08-05

Macedonian Press Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.


MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, August 5, 1999

SECTIONS

  • [A] NATIONAL NEWS
  • [B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

  • NEWS HEADLINES

    [A] NATIONAL NEWS

  • [01] FUEL PRICES DROP AS STATE REDUCES CONSUMPTION TARIFF
  • [02] STATE TO IMPOSE FINES ON ILLEGAL BUILDINGS
  • [03] LATSIS-OWNED EFG BANK GROUP ACQUIRES ERGOBANK
  • [04] PRINCE CHARLES AND SONS HOLIDAY IN GREECE
  • [05] MINISTER OF INTERIOR HOLDS UNSCHEDULED MEETING WITH PREMIER
  • [06] CIVIL EMPLOYEES PROTEST TO MANDATORY TRANSFERS
  • [B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

  • [07] T.WESTON NAMED US SPECIAL COORDINATOR FOR THE CYPRUS ISSUE
  • [08] GREECE, BULGARIA WORK TOGETHER TO COMBAT EPIZOOTIC DISEASE
  • [09] YELTSIN IS BETTER KNOWN AMONG AMERICANS THAN ALBRIGHT
  • [10] DINI REGRETS THAT KFOR CANNOT SECURE PUBLIC ORDER IN KOSOVO
  • [11] PAVAROTTI TO HOLD CONCERT IN BUCHAREST DURING SOLAR ECLIPSE
  • [12] TWO SERBIAN OPPOSITION PARTIES TO ABSTAIN FROM RESHUFFLE
  • [13] TURKEY DETAINS 203 REFUGEES TRYING TO ENTER GREECE
  • [14] PKK TO CONFORM TO OCALAN'S APPEAL FOR END OF AGGRESSION

  • NEWS IN DETAIL

    [A] NATIONAL NEWS

    [01] FUEL PRICES DROP AS STATE REDUCES CONSUMPTION TARIFF

    Fuel prices dropped by three drachmas as of midnight today, a result of the state's reduction of consumption tariffs in order to combat inflation. The tariff reduction will be into effect until June 30, 2000.

    The Ministry of Development has issued a list of suggested prices per region, with Thessaloniki and Attica being at GRD218.7 per liter for leaded and GRD 200.7 for unleaded.

    [02] STATE TO IMPOSE FINES ON ILLEGAL BUILDINGS

    The Ministry of Environment, Planning and Public Works has ordered the imposition of fines on all illegal buildings, with penalties ranging from GRD5,000-30,000 per square meter and in accordance with the category and use of the said buildings.

    For example, the fine for an illegal tourist facility will be GRD30,000 per sq. meter, while the fine for a residence will be GRD20,000.

    The Ministry expects to amass up to GRD250 billion from these fines.

    [03] LATSIS-OWNED EFG BANK GROUP ACQUIRES ERGOBANK

    The Latsis-owned EFG Bank Group has acquired a 50.1 percent stake in Ergobank following the completion of its offer to the target bank's shareholders.

    The offer to shareholders was made through Consolidated Eurofinance Holdings (CEH), the parent of EFG Eurobank, which is to merge with Ergobank under the terms of the deal.

    CEH, which already owns 20.57 percent of Ergobank, will acquire 12,025,000 further shares in order to secure the controlling stake, the EFG Bank Group said in a statement.

    [04] PRINCE CHARLES AND SONS HOLIDAY IN GREECE

    Prince Charles and his two sons, Princes William, 17, and Harry, 13, arrived separately at Athens airport yesterday evening.

    They are being hosted by the Latsis shipowning family and will tour the Greek islands aboard the 140-meter-long luxury yacht Alexander, which has 40 suites.

    [05] MINISTER OF INTERIOR HOLDS UNSCHEDULED MEETING WITH PREMIER

    The Minister of Interior Vaso Papandreou flew by helicopter to the island of Sifnos where she held an unexpected meeting with the Prime Minister Costas Simitis, where the latter is vacationing.

    Immediately upon her return to Athens, Ms. Papandreou went to the Parliament where the debate on collective bargaining and negotiations in the public sector is currently being held.

    In statements she made, Ms. Papandreou denied that her visit to Sifnos was related to a possible government reshuffle and stated that her meeting with the Premier concerned the course of the government's work and the continuance thereof.

    [06] CIVIL EMPLOYEES PROTEST TO MANDATORY TRANSFERS

    The Civil Workers Union (ADEDY) is holding a 24-hour strike today, in protest to the mandatory transfers being imposed by the state on employees.

    The Union is demanding that the said clause be withdrawn from the relevant legislation concerning collective bargaining which was submitted to parliament by the Ministry of the Interior. The staff, specifically those assigned to prefectures and ministries, are also staging a protest outside parliament today.

    [B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

    [07] T.WESTON NAMED US SPECIAL COORDINATOR FOR THE CYPRUS ISSUE

    Thomas Weston, a 30-year State Department official has been named as the United States Special coordinator for the Cyprus issue.

    His predecessor Thomas Miler has been assigned tot he ambassador's post in Bosnia.

    In announcing Mr. Weston's appointment, the State Department also assured that it will work for a fair and viable solution to the Cyprus issue and stressed that the matter continues to be among the Clinton Administration's priorities.

    [08] GREECE, BULGARIA WORK TOGETHER TO COMBAT EPIZOOTIC DISEASE

    Greece and Bulgaria are to draw a joint strategy for combating an epizootic disease epidemic which broke out in SE Bulgaria and has already caused hundreds of animals to be slaughtered.

    In a meeting held in Sofia yesterday by the general directors of the Greek and Bulgarian veterinary services, the officials agreed to set up a joint group of experts to coordinate efforts to curb the spread of the disease.

    Although only a few cases of the disease have been reported in Greece, Athens responded immediately to the Bulgarian invitation to attend the meeting.

    The Bulgarian officials expressed their satisfaction over the "excellent" cooperation between the Greek and Bulgarian services.

    [09] YELTSIN IS BETTER KNOWN AMONG AMERICANS THAN ALBRIGHT

    Russian President Boris Yeltsin is better known in the United States than all foreign and many American politicians, according to a recent poll conducted in the US.

    According to the Harris public poll, 69 percent of respondents correctly replied to the question about his post.

    At the same time, the poll confirmed a distressingly low level of Americans' knowledge about "who is who" in their own country and in the world. Less than 50 percent of the polled know that Madeleine Albright occupies the post of state secretary in the U.S. administration.

    [10] DINI REGRETS THAT KFOR CANNOT SECURE PUBLIC ORDER IN KOSOVO

    It is regrettable that KFOR, or the peace force for Kosovo, cannot fully secure public order in Kosovo and prevent persecutions of Serbs, Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini stated today during a joint press conference with Vuk Draskovic, chairman of the Serbian Renewal Movement, who is visiting Rome.

    According to the Russian news agency Itar-Tass, Mr. Draskovic said Albanian terrorists had not been disarmed by the international force until now and had been continuing "to kill and rape" in Kosovo.

    He laid out to Mr. Dini a plan of forming a provisional government in Yugoslavia and of conducting free elections.

    [11] PAVAROTTI TO HOLD CONCERT IN BUCHAREST DURING SOLAR ECLIPSE

    ''It was not at all difficult for me to make up my mind and come to Romania and I am quite delighted I am to hold a concert in Bucharest'', the famous Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti told the Bucharest daily Ziarul Financiar today.

    According to the Romanian news agency Rompress, Mr. Pavarotti is to hold a concert in Bucharest, on August 11, the total solar eclipse day.

    It was not only this impressive phenomenon that made Mr. Pavarotti to forego his holiday and come to Romania but also the fact that "the Romanian musicians are very talented and generous and the Romanian audience is warm and open."

    [12] TWO SERBIAN OPPOSITION PARTIES TO ABSTAIN FROM RESHUFFLE

    Two of Serbia's parliamentary opposition groups refused any role in a forthcoming government reshuffle, the parties' leaders announced yesterday.

    According to the French news agency AFP, Milan Mikovic, parliamentary leader of Vuk Draskovic's Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO), said: "We made it clear we had no intention of taking part in any possible reshuffled government."

    The opposition Party of Vojvodina's Hungarians (SVM) took the same position in an hour's talks with Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Marjanovic.

    "We feel Serbia can only get out of the impasse it is in through free elections," said SVM President Jozsef Kasza.

    Democratic Party (DS) leader Zoran Djindjic was not invited to the consultations: his party has no parliamentary seats, having boycotted the last legislative elections.

    Montenegrin president Milo Djukanovic's Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) announced they were boycotting the consultations earlier yesterday.

    [13] TURKEY DETAINS 203 REFUGEES TRYING TO ENTER GREECE

    Turkish police detained 203 refugees, most of them Iraqis, trying to cross the border into Greece, Turkey's Anatolia news agency reported yesterday.

    The refugees were intercepted by border patrols as they prepared to cross near the towns of Meric and Ipsala in eastern Thrace, Anatolia reported, without specifying when the operation took place. Turkey is a popular transit point for immigrants trying to reach prosperous European Union countries.

    [14] PKK TO CONFORM TO OCALAN'S APPEAL FOR END OF AGGRESSION

    The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) gave full backing today to convicted leader Abdullah Ocalan's call for rebel forces to be withdrawn outside Turkey.

    The support came as the country's chief prosecutor called today for the death sentence on the PKK leader on treason charges to be upheld.

    In his statement, distributed by his lawyers, Ocalan had called on PKK forces to lay down their arms and move outside Turkey's borders in a bid to resolve the 15-year bloody conflict between the Turkish army and rebels in pursuit of Kurdish self-rule.

    In the declaration issued from prison, Ocalan called on the PKK to end the armed struggle and withdraw its forces from Turkish territory for the sake of peace from September 1, 1999.


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