Macedonian Press of Agency: News in English, 99-09-29
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, September 29, 1999
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] NEW MEASURES TO BE DRAWN IN ATHENS BOURSE
[02] GREECE'S OLYMPIAKOS BEATS NORWAY'S MOLDE 3-
1
[03] GREECE'S PER CAPITA GDP IS LOWEST AMONG EU
MEMBERS
[04] JAPANESE BUSINESS DELEGATION TO VISIT
THRACE NEXT WEEK
[05] PRESIDENT OF UGANDA CONDUCTS OFFICIAL VISIT
TO GREECE
[06] ECONOMY MINISTER TO MEET WITH ARCHBISHOP OF
AMERICA
[07] COMMUNIST PARTY MPS INQUIRE OVER EPISODE
WITH BRITISH TROOPS
[08] MAIN OPPOSITION PARTY LEADER TRAVELS TO
BRUSSELS FOR EPP
[09] REPPAS: THE US AND THE G8 UNDERTOOK
INITIATIVES ON CYPRUS
[10] THE POLICE PATROLS WILL BE INCREASED IN
URBAN AREAS
[11] THE DRAFT BILL ON THE PRIVATIZATION OF THE
STATE-RUN ATHENS-PIRAEUS WATER SUPPLY COMPANY
WAS VOTED THROUGH
[12] STABILIZATION TRENDS IN THE ATHENS STOCK
EXCHANGE
[13] 67.9% IN FAVOR OF THE RE-ELECTION OF KOSTIS
STEPHANOPOULOS TO THE PRESIDENCY
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[14] GREECE IS READY FOR EMU ACCESSION, ECONOMY
MINISTER SAYS
[15] TURKEY'S PM DISCUSSES G/T RELATIONS WITH
PRESIDENT CLINTON
[16] US PRESIDENT CLINTON OPTIMISTIC OVER
BREAKTHROUGH IN CYPRUS
[17] UNITED STATES PRESIDENT CLINTON TO VISIT
GREECE IN NOVEMBER
[18] GERMAN CHANCELLOR SCHROEDER TO CONDUCT
VISIT TO ATHENS
[19] ATHENS-SKOPJE TWICE A WEEK WITH OLYMPIC
AIRWAYS FLIGHT
[20] UKRAINE WILL PAY DAMAGES TO NEXT OF KIN OF
YAKOVLEV CRASH
[21] BELGRADE-THESSALONIKI RAILWAY ROUTE TO
OPERATE AGAIN
[22] GIORGOS PAPANDREOU WILL GIVE LECTURES IN
ISTANBUL
[23] 2.400.000 CHILDREN DIE EACH YEAR FROM LACK
OF DRINKING WATER
[24] THE GREEK AND TURKISH RESCUE TEAMS, EMAK
AND AKUT, WERE HONORED BY BUSINESSMEN ACTIVE IN
THE SECTOR OF TOURISM
[25] NEW STRONG EARTHQUAKE IN TURKEY
[26] STOYANOV: GREECE AND TURKEY ARE THE MOST
ACTIVE SUPPORTERS OF BULGARIA'S BID FOR NATO
MEMBERSHIP
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NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] NEW MEASURES TO BE DRAWN IN ATHENS BOURSE
In an effort to ensure transparency in
bourse transactions, the Bank of Greece and the
capital markets committee are to permit direct
loans from the stock companies to the private
investors.
Moreover, the Bank of Greece is planning to
drop interest rates in the first half of
October, a development which is expected to lead
the way for other banks as well and, hence,
significantly boost the bourse's investing
sectors.
The Bank of Greece will proceed to lowering
interest rates, fuelled by the belief that
inflation will be reduced and maintained at
below the coveted two-percent level, thus
facilitating the country's accession to the
Economic and Monetary Union.
[02] GREECE'S OLYMPIAKOS BEATS NORWAY'S MOLDE 3-
1
Greece's Olympiakos last night beat
Norway's Molde FK 3-1 at Athens' Olympic
Stadium, in a match for Group E of the European
Champions League.
Scorers: Olympiakos: Giovanni 15, 69,
Luciano 77 Molde: Lund 58.
[03] GREECE'S PER CAPITA GDP IS LOWEST AMONG EU
MEMBERS
Greece's per capita income as a proportion
of gross domestic product is the lowest in the
European Union, representing 68 percent of the
15-nation bloc's average, according to an EU
survey recently released.
Per capita GDP in Greece is approximately
equal to that of Slovenia, at 67 percent of the
EU average, and the Czech Republic, at 65
percent of the average, said the Eurostat's
survey, which includes the 10 eastern and
central European countries being considered for
EU entry.
The region in the EU's member states with
the lowest per capita GDP is Epirus at 44
percent of the EU average.
[04] JAPANESE BUSINESS DELEGATION TO VISIT
THRACE NEXT WEEK
A delegation of Japanese businessmen is to
visit Thrace, in Northern Greece, next month,
in order to look into the opportunities for
economic and trade liaisons with local ventures.
The Japanese guests, comprising officials
from the embassy of Japan and their country's
Foreign Trade Organization, are to visit Thrace
on October 4-5 upon the invitation of the Rodopi-
Evros local administration, the Bureaus of
Industrial Change and the European Information
Center.
During their two-day stay, the visitors
will become acquainted with the region's
economic profile and the investment
opportunities.
The event will also feature the
participation of officials from the Northern
Greece Industries Association and the "Hermes"
European program for strengthening ties between
the European Union and Japan.
[05] PRESIDENT OF UGANDA CONDUCTS OFFICIAL VISIT
TO GREECE
The president of the Republic of Uganda,
Yoweri Keguta Museveni, is embarking on an
official visit to Greece today upon the
invitation of the President of the Hellenic
Republic Costis Stephanopoulos.
During his stay, the Ugandan President will
meet with his Greek counterpart, Premier Costas
Simitis and the Archbishop of Athens and all of
Greece Christodoulos.
Greek and Ugandan defence officials signed
an agreement yesterday that opens the way for
Ugandan cadets to train at military schools
here. The deal was signed by Greek Deputy
Defence Minister Dimitris Apostolakis and his
Ugandan counterpart, Steven Ê. Kavuma.
[06] ECONOMY MINISTER TO MEET WITH ARCHBISHOP OF
AMERICA
National Economy and Finance Minister
Yiannos Papantoniou, presently in Washington,
will be received by the Archbishop of America
Demetrios tomorrow morning.
Today he is to address the delegates at
the first-ever meeting between the International
Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
[07] COMMUNIST PARTY MPS INQUIRE OVER EPISODE
WITH BRITISH TROOPS
Communist Party of Greece (KKE) deputies
have made an inquiry over the development of the
recent episodes caused by four British troops in
Thessaloniki, who were arrested on charges of
public intoxication and harassment on September
25.
The KKE deputies, Orestis Kolozov, Babis
Agourakis and Stavros Panayiotou tabled the
inquiry with the ministers of public order,
justice and national defense, wanting to find
out why the foreign troops, serving in KFOR's
army unit stationed at Thessaloniki's port, were
released upon the district attorney's order,
"even though they had behaved as common
criminals", and who instructed the D.A. to do
so.
The four soldiers, aged 19-27, were
arrested on Saturday night after reportedly
shouting obscenities at passers-by in front of
the phone company's headquarters in
Thessaloniki.
Apparently undaunted by the arrest and its
repercussions, the servicemen continued to shout
obscenities, this time against Greece, its
citizens and the policemen while, when they were
taken to the police station, they began doing
callisthenics on the floor. One of the four, 24-
year-old Lee Stephen Burrows, reportedly punched
one of the police officers, while 27-year-old
Peter James Barker was slightly wounded in the
arm while being handcuffed.
[08] MAIN OPPOSITION PARTY LEADER TRAVELS TO
BRUSSELS FOR EPP
The leader of Greece's main opposition
party, New Democracy's Kostas Karamanlis, will
travel to Brussels today in order to participate
in the European People's Parry session.
Meanwhile, following Mr. Karamanlis' recent
remark that it expects Athens Mayor Dimitris
Avramopoulos to enlist in New Democracy, the
latter announced yesterday that he will not run
for mayor again.
[09] REPPAS: THE US AND THE G8 UNDERTOOK
INITIATIVES ON CYPRUS
Initiatives for the solution of the Cyprus
problem have been undertaken both by the United
States and the G8, stressed Greek government
spokesman Dimitris Reppas and added that this is
the right period for Turkey to contribute to the
solution of the problem with direct talks
without pre-conditions and commitments.
Mr. Reppas also underlined that such a
development is to the interest of Turkey itself
as well.
[10] THE POLICE PATROLS WILL BE INCREASED IN
URBAN AREAS
Minister of public order Michalis
Chrisochoidis stated that police patrols will be
implemented to all urban areas in the country in
order to achieve a further decline of the crime
rate.
Mr. Chrisochoidis stated that since the
measure was put into effect in Athens the thefts
and break-ins have dropped by 20%. He also
pointed out that the number of illegal
immigrants has also dropped as a result of the
more effective guarding of the borders.
[11] THE DRAFT BILL ON THE PRIVATIZATION OF THE
STATE-RUN ATHENS-PIRAEUS WATER SUPPLY COMPANY
WAS VOTED THROUGH
The draft bill for the privatization of the
state-run Athens-Piraeus Water Supply Company
was voted through in principle with 51 votes in
favor and 41 against.
Absent from the voting were governing
socialist party of PASOK parliament deputies
Anastasios Peponis, Lefteris Verivakis, Pantelis
Economou and Nora Katseli who had expressed
their opposition to the government decisions.
Similar disagreement had been expressed by PASOK
parliament deputies Kimon Koulouris, Dimitris
Piperias and Thanasis Tsouras. In favor of the
draft bill voted independent parliament deputy
Vasilis Kontoyianopoulos.
The draft bill provides that 49% of the
company will be given to private individuals and
it will be traded in the Athens Stock Exchange.
[12] STABILIZATION TRENDS IN THE ATHENS STOCK
EXCHANGE
Stabilization trends prevailed in the
Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index
closed at 5.596,84 increased by 0.10%.
The volume of transactions reached 385.7
billion drachmas and the market showed a dynamic
increase which initially reached 2.57% but later
it dropped and closed with a slight change. It
should be noted that the purchase interest today
for shares which until yesterday were locked to
limit-down contributed positively to the
improvement of the psychology of investors.
[13] 67.9% IN FAVOR OF THE RE-ELECTION OF KOSTIS
STEPHANOPOULOS TO THE PRESIDENCY
The majority, of those who replied to a
questionnaire presented by the Martel polling
company, are in favor of the re-election of
Kostis Stephanopoulos to the Greek presidency
and against the likelihood of early elections in
March. The results of the opinion poll were
published today in the magazine "Money and
Life".
According to the opinion poll results,
67.9% of those questioned want Mr.
Stephanopoulos to renew his term to the Greek
presidency, while in the second place is
Konstantinos Mitsotakis with 5%, followed by
Leonidas Kirkos 1.9%, Dimitris Avramopoulos 1.6%
and Mikis Theodorakis with 1%.
Among the followers of the governing
socialist party of PASOK, Mr. Stephanopoulos has
the approval of 87.2%, while among the New
Democracy party faithful Mr. Stephanopoulos has
the approval of 58.7% compared to Konstantinos
Mitsotakis with 12.4%.
To the question of early elections in
March, 28.7% responded in favor of such
likelihood, while 63.3% were against.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[14] GREECE IS READY FOR EMU ACCESSION, ECONOMY
MINISTER SAYS
The Greek government will follow a tight
fiscal policy during the two-year period of 2000-
01, stated the Minister of National Economy and
Finance Yiannos Papantoniou during an interview
with CNN yesterday.
Mr. Papantoniou further stated that Greece
is ready to accede the Economic and Monetary
Union, stressing that the long-term interest
rates are to be lowered next year in order to
align them with the average EU rate.
[15] TURKEY'S PM DISCUSSES G/T RELATIONS WITH
PRESIDENT CLINTON
Greek-Turkish relations have apparently
began to improve, stated the Prime Minister of
Turkey Bulent Ecevit following his meeting
yesterday with United States President Bill
Clinton at the White House.
While Mr. Ecevit stated that the dialogue
between the foreign ministers of Greece and
Turkey, George Papandreou and Ismael Cem
respectively, is very promising, he did add that
Ankara's position on the Cyprus issue remains
the same, i.e. there are two independent,
sovereign states on the island.
[16] US PRESIDENT CLINTON OPTIMISTIC OVER
BREAKTHROUGH IN CYPRUS
United States President Bill Clinton,
following his meeting at the White House with
Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, expressed
his optimism that the discussion would hopefully
contribute to a resumption of inter-communal
talks on the
Cyprus issue.
"What we've been working for all along is
the resumption of UN-sponsored talks (on Cyprus)
without preconditions, and we hope that somehow
we can find a way to get there," he told
reporters during the reception of Mr. Ecevit at
the Oval Office.
The US president also said he was satisfied
with the progress recorded in recent weeks in
relations between Greece and Turkey.
Regarding Turkey's relations with the EU,
Mr. Clinton noted a certain progress, with a
change of attitudes in some European capitals.
He expressed a view that "the moves which have
been made for an improvement of Greek-Turkish
relations have helped, and I believe greater
mobility in these directions will eventually get
to the result that Turkey wants".
[17] UNITED STATES PRESIDENT CLINTON TO VISIT
GREECE IN NOVEMBER
United States President Bill Clinton will
conduct an official visit to Greece between
November 22-24, as part of a tour that includes
Turkey, Bulgaria and Italy.
Mr. Clinton's first stop will be Sofia,
followed by Ankara, where he will conduct
bilateral contacts with the Turkish government,
and afterwards Istanbul where he will attend an
Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe summit.
The US president will make his next stop in
Italy to attend the conference of the "third
path" group, organised by Italian Prime Minister
Massimo D'Alema on November 21-22.
Finally, Mr. Clinton will conclude his tour
of the region with a visit to Greece.
[18] GERMAN CHANCELLOR SCHROEDER TO CONDUCT
VISIT TO ATHENS
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will
conduct a working visit to Athens on October 4
and 5, where he will meet with the President of
the Hellenic Repuiblic Kostis Stephanopoulos and
other officials.
Mr. Schroeder will have talks with Prime
Minister Costas Simitis on a wide range of
European issues while in the evening of the same
day the two leaders will attend an event
celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Greek-
German Chamber of Commerce.
[19] ATHENS-SKOPJE TWICE A WEEK WITH OLYMPIC
AIRWAYS FLIGHT
Greece's Transportation and Communications
Minister Tasos Mantelis yesterday inaugurated
the Olympic Airways flight to FYROM, during a
ceremony held in Skopje.
OA will now have regular flights from
Athens to Skopje twice a week, every Tuesday
at 11 a.m. and every Saturday at 9 a.m.
The flights will become more
frequent as of October 30, to be held three
times a week, every Monday, Wednesday and
Saturday at 7:30 a.m.
[20] UKRAINE WILL PAY DAMAGES TO NEXT OF KIN OF
YAKOVLEV CRASH
The Ukrainian government will award limited
compensation to the relatives of the passengers
of Yakovlev plane that crashed in a ravine near
Mt. Olympus in December of 1997, in offset to
the pecuniary damages sought by the plaintiffs
in court.
Greece's Minister of Transportation and
Communications Tasos Mantelis and his Ukrainian
counterpart further agreed that extensive checks
be performed on the flight security system of
Aerosweet (the airline which used the fateful
Yakovlev-47 passenger plane) in Kiev.
If these controls bear satisfactory
results, then Greece will reconsider permitting
the Ukrainian airline to conduct flights to
Greece.
[21] BELGRADE-THESSALONIKI RAILWAY ROUTE TO
OPERATE AGAIN
The "Hellas Express" railway route
connecting Belgrade with Thessaloniki is to
begin operating again as of tomorrow, following
an agreement signed between the railway
organizations of Greece and Yugoslavia.
According to press reports, a meeting of
Greek and Yugoslav railway officials is to be
held in Athens next week, in order to review
bilateral cooperation and ways to expand it.
The directors of Balkan railway
organizations, as well as S.E. Europe's railway
officials, are to meet in Belgrade on October 14-
15.
[22] GIORGOS PAPANDREOU WILL GIVE LECTURES IN
ISTANBUL
Greek foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou
will give a lecture in the University of
Istanbul in early October.
According to the Turkish news agency
Anadolu, Mr. Papandreou will go to Istanbul to
give two lectures one will be given in October 3
within the framework of the "Meetings in Taksim"
events and will refer to the Greek-Turkish
relations and another one will be given in the
University of Istanbul on October 4 in the
formal ceremony for the opening of the new
academic year.
Greek foreign ministry sources confirmed
that Mr. Papandreou will give a lecture in
Istanbul saying that the exact date will be
announced shortly.
[23] 2.400.000 CHILDREN DIE EACH YEAR FROM LACK
OF DRINKING WATER
The poor of the earth have increased by
100.000.000 in the past decade, while 2.400.000
children die each year from lack of drinking
water and in addition life expectancy has
dropped by 17 years in the African countries
because of AIDS.
The above facts, concerning the developing
countries, were presented by the World Bank
president in the summit meeting of the
International Monetary Fund that is being held
in Washington warning that if no immediate
measures are taken the goals set by the
international organizations will not be
achieved.
The World Bank president also warned that
the lack of drinking water could lead even to
armed conflicts in the next years.
[24] THE GREEK AND TURKISH RESCUE TEAMS, EMAK
AND AKUT, WERE HONORED BY BUSINESSMEN ACTIVE IN
THE SECTOR OF TOURISM
The SKAL organization of businessmen active
in the sector of tourism honored the Greek and
Turkish rescue teams of EMAK and AKUT for the
efforts they made to save tens of people who
were buried alive under the collapsed buildings
that were left behind by the two devastating
earthquakes that hit the two countries.
SKAL is a club of international cooperation
and solidarity that seeks the cooperation in the
sector of tourism and the solution of existing
problems. The award ceremony was held within the
framework of an event organized by SKAL with the
participation of young Greeks and Turks.
[25] NEW STRONG EARTHQUAKE IN TURKEY
A new strong earthquake measuring 4.8 on
the Richter scale rocked north-west Turkey at
3:12am this morning and its epicenter was
located in the region of the city of Yalova,
according to Kantili Seismology Institute in
Istanbul.
The earthquake was felt in Istanbul, Ankara
and the Black Sea coasts causing panic among the
people according to Turkish radio reports. The
Turkish mass media have reported that a woman
was killed when she jumped out of a second-floor
window.
The region has not stopped shacking after
the devastating earthquake of August 17 that
killed 15.550 people and leveled many regions in
north-western Turkey.
[26] STOYANOV: GREECE AND TURKEY ARE THE MOST
ACTIVE SUPPORTERS OF BULGARIA'S BID FOR NATO
MEMBERSHIP
Greece and Turkey are the most active
supporters of Bulgaria's bid for NATO
membership, stressed Bulgarian president Petar
Stoyanov in a formal dinner given in his honor
in Washington by the United Jewish Communities
Conference in the United States.
Mr. Stoyanov stated that the cornerstone of
Bulgaria's foreign policy is the development of
friendly relations with the neighboring
countries, adding that Sofia has excellent
relations with Romania and has settled its
differences with FYROM.
The Bulgarian president, who is in the
United States on the occasion of the 54th UN
General Assembly, also said that Bulgaria is one
of the Balkan countries where democracy is the
winner.
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