Athens News Agency: News in English (AM), 97-05-07
NEWS IN ENGLISH
Athens, Greece, 07/05/1997 (ANA)
MAIN HEADLINES
- Inflation continues to drop, Papantoniou says
- US-Greek defence cooperation talks get under way
- US welcomes the setting up of 'committee of experts'
- Athens to get electric-powered buses
- Interpol conference focuses on child abuse
- Parliament chief notes BSEC's significance
- Greek Europarliament VP criticises Santer on equality issue
- Air Greece acquires another airplane
- Measures to help Perama shipyards unveiled
- Turnover, prices buoyant on the Athens Stock Exchange
- Two new museums planned for northern Greece
- Increased participation at World Athletics Championship
- Weather
- Foreign exchange
NEWS IN DETAIL
Inflation continues to drop, Papantoniou says
Inflation fell to below the 6.0 per cent mark in April, while tax revenues
marked an impressive rise, according to a statement by National Economy
Minister Yiannos Papantoniou yesterday after his regular briefing of Prime
Minister Costas Simitis.
The minister said that positive tendencies that had appeared earlier in the
year were being confirmed, and that the government was "steadily following
the course mapped out". He added that the budget was being adhered to,
while European Union funds were being absorbed at a satisfactory rate.
According to sources, inflation in April fell to 5.8 per cent from 6 per
cent in March, raising hopes that the government's target of 4.5 per cent
for 1997 can be attained.
Mr. Papantoniou said also there was a good possibility that the balance of
payments would be "much better than what we estimated up to now", since the
figures from the customs authorities and the National Statistics Service
(ESYE) were much improved compared to the foreign exchanage figures of the
Bank of Greece.
US-Greek defence cooperation talks get under way
The annual US-Greece defence cooperation conference began yesterday in
Crete with a discussion of military supplies and the two countries'
relations with the Balkans and the southeastern Mediterranean, issues of
particular interest to the United States.
The US delegation is led by Principal Assistant Deputy Secretary of Defence
Jan Lodal, with the participation of US State Department southern bureau
chief Carey Cavanaugh and other military and diplomatic officials.
At a joint press conference on Monday night, Defence Undersecretary
Dimitris Apostolakis, heading the Greek side, reiterated that under no
circumstances would Greece agree to discuss issues affecting its national
integrity or independence. Nor would Greece discuss disarming its air force
planes in flights over the Aegean "as it is an area linking national
territory, while for the Turkish planes the issue was quite different" said
Mr. Apostolakis, recommending the Papoulias-Yilmaz memorandum drawn up in
Athens in 1988 as a good basis for reducing tension.
Mr. Lodal expressed agreement with the latter recommendation, although he
said it would be extremely difficult to resolve the problem of flights over
the Aegean "as there is very little room between national and international
air space".
US welcomes the setting up of 'committee of experts'
The United States yesterday welcomed the forming of a "committee of
experts" from Greece and Turkey in order to discuss relations between the
two countries. During the US-European Union conference on fostering trans-
Atlantic relations, Deputy US Secretary of State Strobe Talbott referred
extensively to the role he said Turkey has to play in a "united Europe".
Mr. Talbott also strongly defended Turkey's participation in the EU. He
expressed the understanding of the US for reactions to the violation of
human rights in Turkey and problems with Greece, but added that "these
difficulties do not make Turkey any le ss European.
He went on to say that the US "welcomes the forming, just last week, of a
committee of experts which will look into the issues which have caused so
much tension between Greece and Turkey."
Athens to get electric-powered buses
Ten electric-powered buses will be put into service in the Greek capital in
February next year, Athens Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos announced yesterday
on the occasion of a European conference on renewable energy sources.
The three-day European Congress on Renewable Energy Implementation was
inaugurated on Monday by Development Minister Vasso Papandreou.
At noon yesterday, members of the environmental organisation "Greenpeace"
presented an electric-powered vehicle in the centre of Athens.
The vehicle was also driven by Greece's EU Energy Commissioner Christos
Papoutsis, under whose auspices the congress is being held.
Built by Greek scientists at the Centre for Renewable Energy Sources, the
vehicle operates on batteries which must be recharged every 10 hours.
With a maximum range of 100 kilometres on fully-charged batteries, the
vehicle can reach a top speed of 70kph.
Interpol conference focuses on child abuse
An Interpol conference being held in Thessaloniki on crimes against
children yesterday discussed the proliferation of child pornography through
the Internet.
Police are proposing to set up a special network in cyberspace in order to
deal with the problem, said Anne Chrisine Olsen, president of Interpol's
permanent working group concerning crimes against children.
According to the meeting, child pornography on the Internet usually takes
the form of the electronic transmission of photographs or short films,
while on occasions, meetings are set up with young children. During his
speech at the conference, the Secret ary General of the Public Order
Ministry, Ioannis Papadogiannakis, said no organised child pornography
rings have been found in Greece, although isolated instances of abuse by
parents appear to be on the increase.
Mr. Papadogiannakis stressed that Greek police are cooperating with
Interpol in efforts to combat child pornography.
Parliament chief notes BSEC's significance
Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis yesterday said Greece attributed
great importance to the future prospects of the Black Sea Economic
Cooperation pact.
Addressing the 14th meeting of the presidium of the organisation's
Parliamentary Assembly (PABSEC), which was held in Athens under Greek
presidency, Mr. Kaklamanis said the BSEC had an immense strategic, economic
and cultural interest and prospects for the peoples in the region.
He assured the meeting of Greece's participation in procedures aiming at a
peaceful, creative and better future for the region, while stressing
Greece's role as the link between the European Union countries and the
BSEC.
Specifically, he referred to the Black Sea Cooperation Bank and its future
role in the region. The Thessaloniki-based bank was inaugurated recently.
Greek Europarliament VP criticises Santer on equality issue
The Greek vice-president of the European Parliament, George Anastasopoulos,
lashed out against European Commission President Jacques Santer yesterday,
accusing him of limited progress in the issue of equality between the sexes,
during a Europarliament session yesterday.
Mr. Anastasopoulos was commenting on an announcement put out by Mr. Santer
regarding Commission activities on the issue.
"Has Mr. Santer realised how limited this progress is in relation to the
problem's dimensions?" Mr. Anastasopoulos said.
"Even in Europe, where women in decision-making centres account for more
than 50 per cent, progress is very limited," he added, urging for more
ground-breaking measures.
According to Mr. Anastasopoulos, women deputies account for 6.3 per cent in
the Greek Parliament, whereas in France and in Britain they account for 6.4
per cent and 9.5 per cent, respectively. Mr. Santer admitted that pro-gress
had not been satisfactory but stressed the issue of reforms in the IGC
agreements, designed to bring about greater equality between the sexes.
Air Greece acquires another airplane
The chairman of the private airline Air Greece announced in Thessaloniki
yesterday that the company had acquired a third 70-seat turbo-prop "ATR 72"
aircraft.
The plane is of the same type as the airline's other two aircraft and was
acquired last month. It will be named "Macedonia" and will be based at
Thessaloniki's airport.
"Following the complete deregulation of air transport in the European Union
as of April 1, we are all called on to face a new situation in the sector,"
Constantinos Bandouvas said.
He said the company's revenues were "outstanding" in 1996, adding that the
company's two aircraft carried 258,618 passengers and its turnover amounted
to 3.5 billion drachmas.
Measures to help Perama shipyards unveiled
A government delegation yesterday presented measures for the viability of
the Perama area shipyards in Piraeus, as well as a brief report on its
activities over the past two years.
The measures were presented in a tense atmosphere in Perama, where
attending workers shouted slogans against ministers.
Perama Mayor Yiannis Patsilinakos and the president of the Metal Syndicate,
Iordanis Pountidis called for a clear time-frame for the measures.
They also requested explanations as to who will undertake the shipyards'
modernisation and reduction of unemployment, which has greatly affected the
sector in recent years.
The measures include the entry of the yards into the "Business Programme
for Industry" and the EU initiative on small- and medium-sized enterprises,
the introduction of incentives for the building of new technology ships,
and creation of a register of businesses and of workers.
Turnover, prices buoyant on the Athens Stock Exchange
The volume of trade on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) has seen a dramatic
rise in the first four months of the year, with turnover activity improving
more than 100 percent over the same period last year.
At the same time, there has been a significant increase in stock prices,
according to initial reports from the ASE.
The latest figures show turnover in January-March reaching 938 billion
drachmas, in comparison to 444 billion drachmas in the same period last
year, an increase of 111.31 percent.
Sources at the bourse described the first quarter "the golden quarter",
despite the fact that in February the steady increase was abruptly
interrupted, with a subsequent slide in stock prices.
The biggest gains during the period were noted in telecommunications and
bank shares. Hotels and wine and beverages, on the other hand, lost their
footing.
The bourse's positive prospect, as well as the fall in inflation (which is
predicted at 5.8 percent in April) and interest rate cuts, are creating a
positive climate for investors.
Two new museums planned for northern Greece
Two new big museums are to be built in northern Greece, it was announced in
Alexandroupolis yesterday by Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos during a
tour by the Central ArchaeologicalCouncil of the prefectures of Evros,
Rhodopi, Xanthi and Thasos. An archaeological museum is to be built in
Alexandroupolis and a Byzantine museum in Didimoticho.
The Council's plans for the region include restoration work on the ancient
theatre on the island of Thasos, budgeted at 400 million drachmas, and to
repair the second basilica at the ancient site of Philippi. In addition,
extensions are to be made to the Komotini archaeological museum at a cost
of one billion drachmas.
Increased participation at World Athletics Championships
The number of countries participating in the sixth World Athletics
Championships to be held at the Athens Olympic Stadium over the first 10
days in August has reached 154, after the Palestinian self-rule authority
notified the organising committee of its participation.
El Salvador will participate with one athlete in the marathon race;
Colombia with four male and six female athletes, and Yugoslavia with six
men and three women.
The organisers were certain that the number of countries participating in
the event will exceed 191.
WEATHER
Fine weather with some humidity is forecast for most parts of Greece today
except in the northwestern regions where it will be cloudy with the
possibility of light rainfall starting in the afternoon. Winds will be
south-southwesterly, light to moderate, turning strong in the Ionian.
Athens will be hot and humid with temperatures between 16-28C. Similar
weather in Thessaloniki with temperatures between 14-27C.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Tuesday's closing rates - buying US dlr. 272.393
Pound sterling 443.761 Cyprus pd 529.232
French franc 46.697 Swiss franc 185.097
German mark 157.559 Italian lira (100) 15.924
Yen (100) 216.504 Canadian dlr. 197.785
Australian dlr. 211.574 Irish Punt 409.398
Belgian franc 7.641 Finnish mark 52.290
Dutch guilder 140.075 Danish kr. 41.358
Swedish kr. 34.579 Norwegian kr. 38.204
Austrian sch. 22.389 Spanish peseta 1.867
Port. Escudo 1.567
(C.E.)
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