as he characterized the social package, while he noted that there is consent in foreign policy, but he accused the Prime Minister of setting extortionate dilemmas. The government characterized Mr. Karamnalis views as "recital of vagueness".

Meanwhile, the draft on property audit for politicians will be published on September 18, according to a recent statement made by Mr. Scandalidis. Regarding regional reconstruction, the Minister of the Interior is moving to the processing of the final pr oposal which is expected to be presented by the Cabinet.

The 36-year-old woman was found in the seat next to the driver's seat at 9pm, while her car was parked on the intersection of Ag. Dimitriou and Alki Argyriadi in the Brachami area.

Although according to the police Kyriaki showed no signs of having been attacked, nor is there any other evidence pointing to criminal action. However a coroner was expected at the scene to discern a cause of death.

The only surviving members of the Grigorakou family are now the second daughter Zoe and the mother.

He appreciated that the elections will be held at the end of the four-year term, and until then the government has a significant period of time to continue and complete a major project covering the whole country.

In an interview to the "Ethnos" newspaper, he stressed that the social measures announced by the Prime Minister, respond to the governmental program, and he underlined: "Major businesses and banks are not the only ones contributing to the production of n ational wealth. Farmers, small and medium businessmen, civil servants with children studying away from home, even pensioners all contribute. PASOK, as government and as a party, has the obligation to socially and financially defend all these social strata . And that is what we are doing."

"Greece is strengthening its presence in a highly competitive field, that of space", said Mr. Simitis, and he stressed that related policies are a commitment on the side of the government in the framework of the Convergence Charter, which was presented a

few days ago.

"In August 2004 this satellite will send images of the Olympics all over the world", stressed the Prime Minister, and made more specific mention of the role a communications satellite would have in a series of more modern services in the field of communi cations. Mr. Simitis pointed out that Greece's positive image in the world is being strengthened, since, as he said, the satellite that was recently put into orbit was a decisive step for our country to become a member of the society of information and th e society of knowledge, more quickly.

Specifically, the direct Greek investments that took place in the first trimester of the year in Bulgaria brought the total Greek invested capital in the country to US$634.3 million compared to Germany's US$637.6 million.

Until the year 2000, Greece was usually at the third or fourth place on the list of the major foreign investors in Bulgaria, according to the electronic data base of Bulgaria's Foreign Investments Organization.

Citing the Greek National Statistics Agency figures given to publicity today, Mr. Christodoulakis pointed out that social protection spending records a steady increase in the past few years.

He added that in 2001 spending in this sector was at 27.2% of the GDP, while in the year 2000 it was at 26.1% of the GDP. Based on the latest available figures, (concerning the year 2000) social spending in the European Union was at 27.3% of the GDP.

Of the stocks trading today, the overwhelming majority of 316 had losses and 21 had gains, while the value of 46 remained unchanged.

Mr. Protopapas reiterated that Yasser Arafat is the legal representative of the Palestinian people and Israel's decision puts the peace process at risk. He called on all sides to undertake a commitment to materialize the "road map" and assume their respo nsibilities. Mr. Protopapas pointed out that the Palestinian authorities should control the organizations that engage in terrorist acts and Israel should avoid putting the region at greater risk through its decisions.

Greek Transportation and Telecommunications Minister Christos Verelis made the statement speaking in an event on the occasion of the delivery of the first Greek-Cypriot satellite that took place today at the ministry building in the presence of Prime Min ister Kostas Simitis and Cypriot Transportation Minister Kiriakos Kazamias.

Mr. Verelis stressed, among others, that the goal of "Hellas Sat" is to become the major means of communication between the Greeks living abroad, Greece and Cyprus. He also said that it is expected to play a decisive role in the 2004 Olympics when it wil l cover the needs of numerous foreign radio-television networks and telecommunications organizations.

Mr. Verelis said that it is a Greek satellite built by Greek companies and its major owner is the Greek Telecommunications Organization, OTE. He also stressed that the satellite was designed by Yiannis Karras, himself a Greek living abroad.

The satellite will cover the telecommunications needs in Greece, Cyprus and other 25 countries in the region and it will include telephone communication applications, Internet, telemedicine, defense and digital television.

In Greece, 40% of the deadly car accidents are attributed to alcohol abuse, while the annual per capita alcohol consumption reached 8.9 litres in 1999.

The figures mentioned above were given to publicity today during the opening of a two-day conference in Athens on the social, psychiatric and genetic dimensions of alcoholism and toxic drugs addiction.

The main issues to be discussed include the security agenda of the Olympics as well as issues of bilateral relations and regional and international policies.

Specifically, public deficit in the Euro-zone countries increased to 2.2% of the GDP compared to 1.6% in 2001, while for the 15 member states increased from 0.9% to 1.9%. Germany (3.5%) and France (3.1%) have the biggest public deficit, while Finland (4. 2%) and Luxembourg (2.5%) have the biggest public surplus.

In the Euro-zone countries, public debt is at 69% of the GDP while in Greece, Belgium and Italy is at 100%. A total of nine member states were able to bring their public debt down in 2002.

In the Euro-zone countries, public spending in 2002 was at 48.3% of the GDP and revenues at 46.1%. The relevant figures for the member states were at 47.4% and 45.4% respectively.

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