Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 97-10-30

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr>

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 30/10/1997 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

• It's a Balkan - not Greek-Turkish - summit, Athens stresses
• Tension at Thessaloniki symposium
• Money market unrest will not change Greek monetary policy
• Current account deficit up 6.4 pct Jan-July
• Tanker captain charged with negligence
• Medieval maps prove Macedonia is Greek
• Capodistrias local gov't bill in Parliament next week
• Illegal immigrants arrested on Samos
• Greek military chief attends Turkish embassy reception
• Northern Greek industries post 34.2 drop in 1996 profit
• Parmenion '97 military exercise begins tomorrow
• Taller Greeks confuse Australian scientists
• Weather
• Foreign exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas stressed the Balkan nature of the summit to be held on Crete early next week, reiterating that the meeting would not be overshadowed by Greek-Turkish issues.

Reppas said Greece would like the summit to end with the signing of a declaration containing references underlining the importance of respect for existing borders, adherence to international treaties, respect for international law and making use of procedures within the framework of the International Court.

Replying to questions, Reppas ruled out any connection between Turkey's possible signing of the declaration and developments in Greek-Turkish relations.

In particular, he ruled out the possibility of Greece lifting its veto of EU funds to Turkey under the financial protocol, saying Athens would do so only if Ankara had recourse to the International Court at the Hague over the Imia issue.

The spokesman said it would be a positive step if Turkey indeed signed the declaration, while stressing that what was important was what Ankara did in practice.

"And in this respect, Turkey certainly does not confirm its respect for international law," he said.

Reppas said although the summit on Crete would "inaugurate Balkan co- operation", it did not mean that the countries of the region were forming some organisation.

He also clarified that the agenda did not contain any issues pertaining to military co-operation.

The issues to be discussed on Crete, he continued, were economic co- operation, joint business activity, transport, communications and the development of infrastructures.

Reppas meanwhile described as "inflammatory" claims by Turkish Deputy Premier Bulent Ecevit that Greece was planning a serious incident.

"Such statements do not help the normalisation of relations," Reppas said, underlining that it was Ankara which was maintaining the tension.

Tension at Thessaloniki symposium

About 500 people shouting anti-Turkish slogans have gathered outside the Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the venue for a Greek- Turkish symposium dedicated to statesmen Eleftherios Venizelos and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk which was due to begin this afternoon.

In addition to anti-Turkish slogans, the crowd of protesters also chanted slogans against the Greek participants and organisers of the symposium.

Greek and Turkish businessmen, university lecturers and historians are scheduled to take part in the symposium.

The protesters are threatening to prevent the symposium from opening and at one point broke through the police cordon around the Chamber building and threw eggs and stones.

The Turkish delegation is currently at a safe distance from the building and consultations are in progress to decide whether or not to go ahead with the symposium.

Money market unrest will not change Greek monetary policy

Greek National Economy and Finance Minister Yiannos Papantoniou said today that the government would stick to its economic policy despite recent turmoil in international and domestic markets.

"There is no reason to change our economic policy. A stable drachma is the cornerstone of this policy and the government is determined, as in the past, to defend it at any cost," Papantoniou said.

He noted that an international monetary turmoil was having negative effects on European and the Greek economy through changes in international investors' portfolios.

"It is obvious that these phenomena have nothing to do with developments and prospects of the Greek economy. Our economic performance is the best in the last decade, with public deficits and inflation at a 25-year low and the economy steadily rebounding," Papantoniou told reporters.

Replying to questions over the impact of higher interest rates on the economy, the minister said that a rise in money market rates was not a pleasant development but necessary under the prevailing conditions.

He forecast however that any rises in domestic interest rates would be limited and short-lived.

Papantoniou described a plunge in stock market prices as a correction, reflecting a change in market positions by foreign investors.

Greek equities remained under heavy pressure for the third consecutive session on the Athens Stock Exchange to end sharply lower in record turnover boosted by two block trades.

The general index closed 3.37 percent down at 1,550.85 points and off the day's lows, after plunging 7.90 percent early in the session.

A concerted intervention by brokerages belonging to state banks helped the market to a partial recovery at the end of the session.

Trading hit a new all-time record with turnover at 97.5 billion drachmas, including block trades of two million shares in Mortgage Bank and 1.8 million shares in ETEBA together worth 60 billion drachmas.

All sector indices plunged. Banks fell 3.53 percent, Insurance eaed 3.16 percent, Leasing was 3.76 percent off, Investment dropped 5.57 percent, Construction fell 5.19 percent, Industrials were 5.67 percent down, Miscellaneous eased 3.71 percent and Holding was 1.72 percent off.

The parallel market index for small cap companies fell 3.61 percent.

Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said a plunge by the Athens Stock Exchange lasting several sessions was temporary, reflecting turmoil in international markets.

He said the crisis was not linked to the course of the economy, which was marking steady growth.

Reppas stressed that the pressure on stocks would not lead to a deadlock and current losses were well within the economy's tolerance limits.

He acknowledged that money market rates were pushing higher and predicted that interbank rates would increase by 1.1 percent.

Current account deficit up 6.4 pct Jan-July

Greece's current account deficit rose by 6.4 percent to 3.891 billion dollars in January-July from 3.656 billion dollars in the corresponding period last year.

According to figures released by the Bank of Greece, the current account deficit in July fell by 17 percent to 448 million dollars against 539 million dollars in July 1996.

Tanker captain charged with negligence

The captain of the small tanker which ran aground near Araxos on the eastern Peloponnese coast was arrested today charged with causing a shipwreck through negligence and pollution of the sea.

Also arrested with the captain Constantine Anevlavis, 43, were the second mate, Christos Nikiforos, 50 and seaman Theodoros Naftsidis, 38.

The three appeared briefly before a public prosecutor and were then released pending the outcome of an investigation ordered by the proseuctor.

Meanwhile, the tanker "Serifos" remained aground at Cape Pappas, near Araxos after the failure of efforts made since Tuesday to dislodge the 988- tonne tanker.

Due to gale force winds, the vessel has been repeatedly buffeted against the rocks, resulting in a number of cracks in the hull, some below the waterline.

Part of the vessel's cargo of 1,800 tonnes of petrol has already spilled into the sea.

Floating booms placed around the Serifos have proved ineffective in containing the petrol leaking from the vessel and fears have been expressed for a nearby fish-farm.

None of the ship's nine-man crew are currently on board.

Medieval maps prove Macedonia is Greek

Maps dating from the 15th to the 19th century proving that Macedonia is Greek are to be put on exhibition in December by the National Map Depository and the National Centre for Maps and Cartographical Heritage.

The venue for the exhibition will be the building in which the centre is to be housed, in the Municipality of Kalamaria, Thessaloniki.

The National Map Depository was set up at the beginning of summer on the initiative of the Macedonia-Thrace Ministry.

Announcing the exhibition, Macedonia-Thrace Minister Philippos Petsalnikos said the first collection of 22 maps of Greece, Macedonia and the Aegean acquired by the depository all showed the region of northern Greece as it is today, that is, with Greek place names.

Capodistrias local gov't bill in Parliament next week

The "Capodistrias" bill containing the government's plans to streamline the structure of local government through the merger of small communities and municipalities will be tabled in Parliament for debate and voting next Tuesday, Interior Minister Alekos Papadopoulos announced today.

Papadopoulos said that his ministry would be open to proposals for the amendment of provisions concerning the statutory framework of the bill.

The bill has triggered widespread protests throughout Greece by local residents concerned that the identity of their communities will be lost.

It has also been criticised by opposition parties.

Illegal immigrants arrested on Samos

Another 18 Iraqi illegal immigrants of Kurdish origin were arrested by police today on the island of Samos.

The 17 men and one woman were picked up at the Kambos Vourlioton beach after being disembarked there by a Turkish immigrant-smuggler, who fled the area on his speedboat.

The detainees were taken to the Samos police precinct, where they are being held with another 109 Iraqi Kurds smuggled to Samos over the past two weeks, mostly by Turkish boat-runners.

Greek military chief attends Turkish embassy reception

National Defence General Staff Chief Gen. Athanasios Tzoganis yesterday attended a reception at the Turkish embassy in Athens for the double occasion of the neighbouring country's national day and the forthcoming departure of Turkish Ambassador Umit Pamir .

Gen. Tzoganis told reporters afterwards that his presence signalled the desire of the Greek people and their armed forces for broad cooperation with all nations, while reiterating that "the armed forces are ready and resolved to defend the country's territorial integrity".

Mr. Pamir expressed optimism over the forthcoming Simitis-Yilmaz meeting on Crete this Monday, noting that the Turkish prime minister is coming to the Balkan leaders' summit with a positive spirit and with a constructive disposition.

He expressed the hope that Greek-Turkish relations, the framework of which was quite fragile, would normalised, as the two peoples have to co- exist.

Northern Greek industries post 34.2 drop in 1996 profit

Northern Greece industries posted an average 34.2 percent profit drop in 1996 but an anticipated expansion into the Balkans could help to boost revenue, ICAP, a private statistics agency, said in a survey.

The survey was conducted in Macedonia and Thrace in September based on published balance sheets by 1,260 companies in the region.

Its results were presented in Thessaloniki yesterday by ICAP's managing director, Dimitris Maniatakis.

The sharp drop in profits was attributed to stagnant sales and a nine percent rise in production costs, a trend which had made several profitable medium-sized industries loss-making.

However, industry representatives expressed their optimism for future financial results, helped by a planned expansion of northern Greek industries into the Balkans.

The survey showed that commercial firms' profits rose by 13 percent last year helped by an 18.2 percent rise in sales.

Enhancing northern Greek companies within overall Greek industry, ICAP said that according to cumulative figures from 4,997 industries, profits marked a 1.7 percent nominal increase.

Parmenion '97 military exercise begins tomorrow

A combined large-scale military exercise codenamed "Parmenion '97" begins tomorrow in the Evros region and the eastern Aegean, with the participation of the three branches of the armed forces, the coast guard, intelligence services and the ministries of foreign affairs, press, public order and merchant marine.

The aim of the exercise, which is held annually, is to train staff officers and military units in the planning and execution of joint operations in a modern warfare environment and in general to enhance the combat efficiency of the armed forces.

The exercise will be directed by the Chief of the National Defence General Staff, General (Air) Athanasios Tzoganis.

The scenario of the exercise is a national crisis on the eastern borders which erupts into conflict after increasing tension.

The final phase of the exercise will be held in Evros and the island of Lesvos and watched by the President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos, the political and military leadership of the national defence ministry and, possibly, members of the Parliament's foreign and defence committees.

Taller Greeks confuse Australian scientists

Greeks are among the Europeans showing a sudden upsurge in their height but Australian scientists are at a loss as to why.

Studies at Australian universities have shown that Europeans are growing taller at a faster rate than Australians and South Africans over the past few decades but diet does not appear to be the primary factor.

Greeks, Italians and the British are amongst those that have shot up significantly in the 20th century, the studies say. Britons have grown an average 11cms during the past 100 years.

The tallest Europeans are the Dutch and Norwegians.

WEATHER

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

(M.P.)

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