Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 02-03-02

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

CONTENTS

[01] A. ANTONIADIS IS THE NEW NAVY CHIEF OF STAFF

[02] SIMITIS LEAVES FOR JAPAN TODAY

[03] FEWER GREEKS ON THIS YEAR'S FORBES LIST

[04] IMPRESSIVE FIGURES ON THE DIET OF THE ATHENS OLYMPIC GAMES ATHLETES

[05] PAPANDREOU AND BAKOYIANNI LEAD THE SUCCESSION RACE

[01] A. ANTONIADIS IS THE NEW NAVY CHIEF OF STAFF

The Ministry of Defense in a statement it has issued on the occasion of the resignation of Navy Chief of Staff Theodoroulakis mentioned that the procedure provided by the country's Constitution and laws is fully observed in the assessment of Navy officers made for their promotion to higher ranks.

In the statement it is stressed that the procedure was followed and in this year's assessment of Army, Navy and Air Force officers.

The Ministry of Defense statement stresses that Navy Chief of Staff Theodoroulakis had participated and cosigned the decisions reached by the General Chiefs of Staff Council before they were submitted to the Defense Minister for approval. However, later on he submitted his resignation maintaining that he disagreed with certain of those decisions.

Defense Minister Yiannos Papantoniou accepted his resignation and suggested that Fleet Commander vice-admiral Antonios Antoniadis should be promoted to the post.

[02] SIMITIS LEAVES FOR JAPAN TODAY

Prime Minister Kostas Simitis departs for a six-day visit to Japan today accompanied by deputy Foreign Minister Tasos Yiannitsis, undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Andreas Loverdos and a business delegation.

Mr. Simitis will be received in Tokyo by the Emperor of Japan and have talks with the political leadership of the country, its Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. Mr. Simitis will also visit the cities of Kyoto and Osaka.

The main goal of his visit will be the further improvement of bilateral economic relations.

[03] FEWER GREEKS ON THIS YEAR'S FORBES LIST

Fewer Greeks are included in this year's list of the 497 richest people on the planet issued on an annual basis by FORBES magazine.

The list is topped for eight years in a row by the guru of Microsoft Bill Gates. The Greeks included in the list are Spiros Latsis and Stelios Hatziioannou, while Socratis Kokkalis was left outside.

Spiros Latsis, with a fortune of US$3.4 billion, is 106th namely, several places lower on the list compared to last year when he was 79th. On the contrary, Stelios Hatziioannou, the owner of EasyJet Airline, is nine places higher compared to last year, at the 327th place with a fortune of US$1.4 billion.

Socratis Kokkalis was left outside the list as, according to the magazine, his fortune is estimated at US$860 million and in order to be put on the list one has to have a fortune of at least US$1 billion.

[04] IMPRESSIVE FIGURES ON THE DIET OF THE ATHENS OLYMPIC GAMES ATHLETES

Over 50.000 meals will be consumed daily in the Olympic Village, namely over 100 tons of food, while 600 meals will be prepared on an hourly basis.

A total of 2.500 people of different specialties will work in the catering service among them, 250 cooks and 250 assistant cooks.

According to estimates by the Athens 2004 Organization catering office, a total of 300.000 eggs, 150.000 litres of milk, 3 million cans of beverages, 2 million litres of drinking water, 120 tons of meat, 85 tons of sea food, 35 tons of poultry, 300 tons of fruit and vegetables and 25 tons of dairy products will be consumed during the games.

[05] PAPANDREOU AND BAKOYIANNI LEAD THE SUCCESSION RACE

Giorgos Papandreou and Dora Bakoyianni lead the succession race in the two main political parties in Greece, the governing Socialist Party of PASOK and right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy respectively.

According to an opinion poll conducted by the polling company Metron Analysis on behalf of the Athens newspaper Imerisia, Mr. Papandreou leads with 43.2% among the PASOK voters and with 35.5% in the electorate as a whole. Those participating in the opinion poll responded to the question who do you think must be PASOK's new leader in case the party loses the next elections.

To a similar question concerning the leadership of New Democracy, 36.7% of the New Democracy voters responded in favor of Ms. Bakoyianni, while she also enjoys the support of 34.7% of the electorate as a whole.

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