Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 00-08-06

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

CONTENTS

[01] GREECES INTERNET MARKET DOUBLES WITHIN A YEAR

[02] APOLOGY CONCERT IN DISTOMO BY GERMAN CHOIR

[03] ECONOMIC CRIME SQUAD ON THE LOOKOUT FOR FRAUD

[04] HUNT FOR TREASURES STOLEN BY NAZIS ON HOLD

[05] PREMIER VACATIONING IN CRETE, HAILS DEVELOPMENT

[06] GREEK LANGUAGE SUMMER COURSE AT U OF IOANNINA

[07] COSMOTE AIMS AT BOURSE LISTING BY OCTOBER

[08] ECONOMY MINISTER: TIGHT NATIONAL BUDGETS AHEAD

[09] GREEK COMPANIES ACCUSED OF CAUSING PROBLEMS IN DURRES

[10] PROXIMITY TALKS IN DEADLOCK, TO RESUME IN SEPT.

[11] ARCHBISHOP DEMETRIOS AT REPUBLICAN CONVENTION

[12] GREEK-AMERICAN APPOINTED CO-PRESIDENT OF FOX

[01] GREECES INTERNET MARKET DOUBLES WITHIN A YEAR

Greece's Internet service providers is a fast growing market, having doubled its volume within a one-year period by reaching 22 billion drachmas in 1999.

According to a study by Strategic International/ K. Kataras S.A., reported by the Express daily, the aforementioned figure is a two-fold increase from 1998's 11 billion volume in the country's information and telecommunications technologies market, which comprises services such as Internet access, web hosting, web design/maintenance, e-consulting, electronic publishing, etc.

According to the Express, Greece's Internet market is expected to reach unprecedented growth dimensions within the next four years, aided by the fact that the state plans to implement the Net throughout its ministries, organizations and services.

A.F.

[02] APOLOGY CONCERT IN DISTOMO BY GERMAN CHOIR

A 62-member children's choir from Germany performed an "apology concert" on Friday night at Distomo, the site of a wartime Nazi atrocity in central Greece.

The concert, whose members are between the ages of 6-18, was organized by Helmut Weiss who said the event was also aimed at raising awareness among Germany's youth about Nazi crimes committed during World War II.

According to Mr. Weiss, many of the children didn't even know that Germany had been at war with Greece.

The children, aged six to 18, played a German song honoring the dead before laying a wreath of silk flowers at the site.

Nazi troops killed nearly half of the village's 500 residents as a "reprisal'' for guerrilla activities in the area, and the victims' families are still fighting for compensation from Germany.

The massacre took place on June 10, 1944 when Gestapo and SS troops opened fire against every Greek they met on their way to Distomo. They were ambushed by Greek freedom fighters who killed 18 of the Germans.

With their ire provoked, the German troops then marched into Distomo and embarked on the systematic execution of the villagers.

Distomo Mayor Loukas Papachristos welcomed the concert, stating that "the (children) saw what happened with their own eyes and that is very important for us."

A.F.

[03] ECONOMIC CRIME SQUAD ON THE LOOKOUT FOR FRAUD

The Economic Crime Squad (SDOE) is on the lookout for fraudulent or tax evading practices that usually run rampant during the summer holiday season, having already cited 35 percent of the tourism-related businesses reviewed so far.

Meanwhile, tourism proves to be Greece's hottest commodity, with approximately 12 million of foreigners having opted for the country's sandy beaches so far in the season.

Hoteliers in the Halkidiki peninsula are satisfied with the turnout, although things aren't as rosy in some islands such as Paros and Syros which have already reported losses of about 10-15 percent. As for Samos, which has been devastated by a series of massive forest fires, the tourism industry in reporting a decline that touches on 50 percent.

A.F.

[04] HUNT FOR TREASURES STOLEN BY NAZIS ON HOLD

An international team of divers is to conduct a search for the gold and diamonds the Nazis forcefully took from Greek Jews, although the operation won't begin until next week when a supervising committee is formed.

The treasure, estimated at more than two billion dollars, is believed to be lying on the seabed off the southern Peloponnese where divers will search for a fishing skiff believed to have been sunk by SS officer Max Merten somewhere off the coast of Methoni in 1943.

According to reports, Merten extorted vast sums from the members of the city's then-flourishing Jewish community in order to save them from forced labor or deportation to German concentration camps - where over 90 percent of Thessaloniki's 80,000 Jews died.

The SS officer is said to have siphoned off large amounts of gold bullion, sovereigns, diamonds and jewels, which he sent by submarine to Katakolo in the western Peloponnese. He then loaded the treasure on a skiff which he sank off Methoni, with the intention of returning after the war to raise it. But he died in Germany in 1976, after being briefly jailed in Greece in 1958.

A.F.

[05] PREMIER VACATIONING IN CRETE, HAILS DEVELOPMENT

Prime Minister Costas Simitis, presently vacationing with his wife Daphne at Crete's Elounda Bay, stated that the island's development is a fine example of coupling tradition with the promotion of cultural and natural environments.

When asked by reporters if a government reshuffle is in line for September, Mr. Simitis merely smiled.

A.F.

[06] GREEK LANGUAGE SUMMER COURSE AT U OF IOANNINA

Continuing a ten-year-old program, the University of Ioannina is offering Greek-language courses this summer for non-native college students from universities from around the world.

More than 10,000 students -- mostly scholars in Greek, archaeology and literature -- have attended the special University of Ioannina courses in the past 10 years, while 300 individuals from 20 nations have completed the entire Greek-language program.

A.F.

[07] COSMOTE AIMS AT BOURSE LISTING BY OCTOBER

The state-owned telecommunications company OTE has announced plans to list its mobile telephone services subsidiary Cosmote on the Athens Stock Exchange and foreign exchanges by October.

According to company reports, Cosmote will offer up to 48.75 million common shares with 17.5 million to be sold by Cosmote and 31.25 million by the shareholders of Cosmote, including OTE.

The public offering will comprise an international share offering directly or in the form of global depository shares to institutional investors outside the U.S., including Greece, and to qualified institutional buyers in the U.S., OTE said.

A.F.

[08] ECONOMY MINISTER: TIGHT NATIONAL BUDGETS AHEAD

The Minister of National Economy and Finance Yiannos Papantoniou has announced that tight national budgets lay ahead for the for years to come aimed at maintaining low inflation.

In an interview with the Sunday edition of Eleftherotypia, Mr. Papantoniou stated that no slackening will be allowed and said that he plans to implement a restrained incomes policy.

Meanwhile, inflation rose to 2.7 percent year-on-year at the end of July from 2.5 percent a month ago, defying expectations of a slight drop.

Attributed to higher vegetable prices, the slight increase is not expected to affect core inflation figures. The National Economy Ministry is considering revising its initial estimate for average inflation in 2000 upwards to 2.4 percent from 2.1 percent.

A.F.

[09] GREEK COMPANIES ACCUSED OF CAUSING PROBLEMS IN DURRES

"Three Greek companies endanger American investment in the port of Durres" is the front page title emblazoned across today's edition of Albanian newspaper "Rilidia Demokratike".

According to the article, "three Greek companies based at the port of Durres, ignored the order issued for the suspension of works in the field of fuel storage" and goes on to say that "the construction works that take place at the port of Durres without permission prevent the loan awarded by the World Bank and American investment, estimated at 100 million dollars, from being given.

[10] PROXIMITY TALKS IN DEADLOCK, TO RESUME IN SEPT.

The third round of United Nations-led proximity talks on the Cyprus issue ended in an apparent deadlock on Friday, although the two sides of the divided island, Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, are to resume their talks in September.

The UN Secretary General's Special Adviser on Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, who conducted the talks, said that he has not given the two sides any ideas to consider until the talks resume in New York on September 12, but underlined one should not be discouraged as the process underway is on-going and aims at a comprehensive settlement.

"Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed", he told a press conference at the end of the meetings, adding that the fact he did not have an important announcement to make "should not disappoint you".

Asked if a demand by the Turkish Cypriot leader for a settlement leading to a confederation of two states, contrary to UN resolutions stipulating a bizonal, bicommunal federation with one international character, is being discussed, de Soto said "a great variety of issues are raised and both sides come talking from their own script or hymn book". He said the four core issues under discussion (constitution, territory, security and refugees-property) have been set out by UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, "but the Security Council itself has made clear its wish that talks should be open in the sense that all issues should be on the table".

Cypriot government spokesperson Papapetrou said that although President of the Republic of Cyprus Glafcos Clerides tried to break the deadlock, the Turkish side appeared fixed on its positions.

He added that if Denktash insists on his unacceptable positions, then "there will be no progress" in efforts to reach a settlement.

A.F.

[11] ARCHBISHOP DEMETRIOS AT REPUBLICAN CONVENTION

Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America attended the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia on Wednesday, where he greeted U.S. former President George Bush.

"We offer heartfelt prayers for Your (God's) faithful servants, Governor George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, who have been called to become the dynamic leaders of this party and the champions of American democracy," said Archbishop Demetrios in his benediction of the Republican Party.

A.F.

[12] GREEK-AMERICAN APPOINTED CO-PRESIDENT OF FOX

Yet another Greek has followed in the footsteps of Spyros Skouras, taking over the major Hollywood film studio, Fox Filmed Entertainment.

According to a local newspaper, Jim Yiannopoulos was appointed co-President of Fox, together with Tom Rothman. He was chosen from the News Comp Board of Directors, head of which is press mogul Rupert Murdoch, as part of an attempt to create a strong management team in the studio.

Spyros Skouras was President of Fox in the early sixties and went on to become one of Hollywood's biggest players. He was the first Greek-American to reach such a high rung on the American film industry ladder.

Mr Yiannopoulos was previously President of Twentieth Century Fox International, where he was responsible for movie distribution outside North America. He and Rothman will now be responsible for managing production, succeedýng Bill Mechanin who was removed from the position of studýo manager last month.

It remains to be seen whether or not Yiannopoulos and Rothman will divide responsibilities within their new position.

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