Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 00-03-15

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

CONTENTS

[01] MR. SIMITIS' PRESS CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL POLICY

[02] OPEN HEART SURGERY BY SAE'S MEDICAL TEAM

[03] THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE HAD MARGINAL GAINS OF O.24%

[04] PAPANTONIOU: THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE COURSE WILL BE POSITIVE

[05] THE GREEK-TURKISH FORUM WILL BE HELD IN APRIL

[06] THE POPULARITY OF THE GREEK POLITICAL LEADERS

[07] GREECE IS AT THE 37TH PLACE ON FIFA'S CLASSIFICATION LIST

[08] A BRITISH SOLDIER WAS FOUND DEAD AT CYPRUS' "GREEN LINE"

[09] MASS MEDIA MERGER IN THE UNITED STATES

[01] MR. SIMITIS' PRESS CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL POLICY

The main element of the governing socialist party of PASOK was and will be the social policy stated prime minister and PASOK leader Kostas Simitis in a press conference he gave in Athens today to present the social policy program for the next four years.

The prime minister announced measures of 45 trillion drachmas for the strengthening of the social state emphasizing the reform of the national health system, ways to limit unemployment, the expansion of the welfare state and the social security issue. He also said that there will be no surprises in the social security issue and announced the establishment of the ombudsman institution on issues of health as well as, the creation of 300.000 new job positions in the next four years.

The prime minister underlined that PASOK met the commitments it had undertaken in 1996 and combined the goals for economic stability with those for social stability and cohesion.

[02] OPEN HEART SURGERY BY SAE'S MEDICAL TEAM

The World Council of Hellenes Abroad, SAE, medical team performed other 7 open heart operations for free on Greeks living in the former soviet republic of Georgia. The operations were performed by a medical team under Dr. Charls Kanakis in its third visit to Georgia aimed at promoting the training of local doctors in modern surgery techniques and performing scheduled operations for free.

The SAE medical team has already performed a total of 28 operations. The team is made up by Dr. Janis Clink, by-pass technique specialist Dr. Stanley Slonina and nurse Jacklin Hoffman.

[03] THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE HAD MARGINAL GAINS OF O.24%

Intense fluctuations were recorded in today's session of the Athens Stock Exchange but in spite of the heavy losses the main index partly compensated the investors when it recorded small gains during the speech of prime minister Kostas Simitis on social policy issues that was delivered in Zappion building in Athens at noon.

The main index that dropped to -6% at some point recovered large part of the lost ground half an hour before the end of the session and closed at 4.553,76 points, recording gains of 0.24%. The volume of transactions was 226 billion drachmas, while 63 stocks had gains, 262 recorded losses and 36 remained stable.

The strange behavior of the Athens Stock Exchange caused outrage among small investors and hundreds of them gathered outside the stock market building this morning. When the main index dropped to -6% certain of them made an unsuccessful attempt to break the police line and enter the building.

[04] PAPANTONIOU: THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE COURSE WILL BE POSITIVE

The belief that regardless of the fluctuations which are affected by the existing circumstances the course of the Athens Stock Exchange will be positive reflecting the course and the prospects of the Greek economy, was expressed by minister of national economy Yiannos Papantoniou speaking in the annual general assembly of the Greek Banks Association.

Mr. Papantoniou stressed that the institution of the stock market is the main lever for the development of businesses by offering sources of healthy capital and safeguarding transparency in transactions. He said characteristically that both the strengthening of investment banks and the backing of the business capital institution contribute toward this direction.

From his side, Bank of Greece governor Theodoros Karatzas pointed out that the course of the stock market is positive and reflects the course of the economy, stressing that the stock market is not a pendulum swinging between extreme enthusiasm and panic and it must balance as close to the truth as possible.

[05] THE GREEK-TURKISH FORUM WILL BE HELD IN APRIL

The first Greek-Turkish forum of business cooperation will take place in Athens on April 20-23 at the initiative of the Greek-Turkish Business Council, while a similar event has been scheduled to be held in Istanbul in 2001 during which the Greek products will be presented.

A conference will be held during the forum for the discussion of issues concerning trade, tourism, industry and the insurance and banking sectors, while an exhibition of Turkish products will also be held as well as, a fashion show by fashion designers Michalis Aslanis and Cemil Ipekci.

The goal of the forum is to exploit the capabilities of the two countries and the improvement of cooperation between Greek and Turkish businessmen aimed at making significant investments.

[06] THE POPULARITY OF THE GREEK POLITICAL LEADERS

An opinion poll, conducted on a daily basis by the polling company ALCO in the region of Athens on behalf of the Athens radio station "ALPHA-NEWS" measuring the popularity of the political party leaders, showed that leading the list with 55.4% is Coalition of the Left leader Nikos Konstantopoulos, while prime minister and governing socialist party of PASOK leader Kostas Simitis has 55.1% and he is still ahead from right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy leader Kostas Karamanlis with 42.7%.

Democratic and Social Movement leader Dimitris Tsovolas has 41.6% and Communist Party general secretary Aleka Papariga 23.5%. According to yesterday's results, 12.9% of those questioned stated that they are undecided.

[07] GREECE IS AT THE 37TH PLACE ON FIFA'S CLASSIFICATION LIST

Greece is 37th on FIFA's ranking list for the month of March namely, one place lower compared to last month continuing its downward course with 576 points.

In the top places things remain unchanged, as Brazil tops the list with 834 points, followed by the Czech Republic, France, Spain and Germany. Cyprus dropped three places to the 64th place.

[08] A BRITISH SOLDIER WAS FOUND DEAD AT CYPRUS' "GREEN LINE"

A British soldier of the UN forces was found dead today in a "green line" outpost in Cyprus, according to statements made by a UN official.

The body of the soldier bears wounds inflicted by his own gun but the conditions of his death remain unclear.

The UN forces in Cyprus are made up of 1.200 men among them, 350 British soldiers.

[09] MASS MEDIA MERGER IN THE UNITED STATES

Washington will soon have to face the issue of the legislation that bars companies from being the owners of daily newspapers and television stations in the same city after the new colossal merger announced recently in the area of the American media.

The Chicago based Tribune Co bought out the Los Angeles based Times Mirror Corp. creating a giant in the sector of communications with 22 television stations and 11 daily newspapers, among them two of the largest US newspapers namely, The Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. Also, they own 4 radio stations and a baseball team covering an area of more than one states in violation of the existing legislation.

The Wall Street Journal wrote that the existing legislation must be reviewed in order to be determined whether such prohibitions serve the rapidly developing mass media market.

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