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Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 97-11-26

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 26/11/1997 (ANA)


MAIN HEADLINES

  • Athens studying Turkish experts report on relations
  • Tension at gold mine continues
  • Minister confident Athens Metro ready by 1999
  • Weak earthquake recorded in Aegean
  • Protestors occupy Bank of Greece building
  • PM stresses need to keep drachma stable and aim for EMU
  • SE European firms to discuss creation of trade chamber, lobby
  • Athens to host seminar on marketing in Eastern Europe
  • Minoan Lines seeks to join bourse
  • Petsalnikos receives Israeli, European and US chief rabbis
  • Weather
  • Foreign exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

Athens studying Turkish experts report on relations

Proposals sent by the Turkish committee of experts on Greek-Turkish relations to the Greek government two days ago did not change the situation between the two countries as it stands, according to a statement by government spokesman Dimitris Reppas today.

He added, however, that the government would be studying the report and deciding if and how the process would be continued.

Reppas did confirm that the Turkish experts proposed a meeting with their Greek counterparts on December 10. The Turks also suggested that each side state the issues in which they believed some rapprochement could be achieved.

In addition, they propose that the establishment of confidence building measures begin at once.

With regard to threats made by Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and his Foreign Minister Ismail Cem regarding Cyprus' eventual accession to the European Union, the spokesman advised Turkey to meet the conditions set out by the European Union rather than making such statements which were not in the best interests of the Turkish people.

Reppas denied that a meeting was scheduled to take place in Paris between Yilmaz and his Greek counterpart Costas Simitis, saying that such a meeting would be premature.

Tension at gold mine continues

Tension mounted today at a gold processing plant in Halkidiki, northern Greece, as more than 20 villagers armed with hunting rifles opened fire on police cars outside the plant, causing damage but no injuries, police said.

The two patrol cars and a private car belonging to a policeman were parked just outside the village Olympiada at a small distance from the plant, which has been cordoned off by a strong police contingent for the past few days to prevent further disturbances after destruction of some of the TVX Hellas plant's equipment and clashes between protesting local residents and police two weeks ago.

TVX Hellas, a subsidiary of the Toronto-based TVX Gold company, received a concession for exploitation of the Cassandra gold mines in March 1995 after international tendering. Under the privatisation agreement signed in December 1995, the 67 billion drachma investment is expected to create some 617 jobs.

The Olympiada community denied the incident and accused the police of unprovoked intervention against the village. Community president Nikos Mitsiou told the ANA that police from the protection force had thrown firecrackers and chemicals at two young locals who were returning to their homes, enraging the villagers and prompting a demonstration in the village's central square.

The president of the union of Halkidiki police Athanassios Kyparissis accused the Olympiada community president and residents of disinformation and unprovoked attacks agasint the police.

"They are trying to turn their problem with TVX into a disagreement with the police," he said.

The residents of the six villages in the vicinity of the gold mines and plant claim that the mining activities would have serious repercussions on the environment and tourism to the region.

Minister confident Athens Metro ready by 1999

Environment, Town Planning and Public Works Minister Costas Laliotis today anticipated that the Athens Metro would be completed in 1999, as 62 percent of the entire project and 82 percent of the civil engineering works -- tunnels and stations -- had already been completed.

Speaking at a ceremony welcoming the arrival of Jason the Metro-mouse -- the giant French-made tunnel boring machine (TBM) -- at Syntagma Square, Laliotis said construction of 18 (of the total 21) stations had been completed, of which 16 were in the final stages of installation of the basic mechanical equipment.

Traffic circulation had also been restored above 9 of the stations, Laliotis said.

The Minister said that in the next 10 days the Ministry would announce the specifics on the extensions of Line 2 from Sepolia to Peristeri and Line 3 from Kerameikos to Egaleo. It would also announce at that time how the Line 3 section from Syntagma to Kerameikos would be constructed given the problems there due to unsteady soil and antiquities.

The Sepolia-Peristeri extention provided for 2.5 kilometres fo tunnel and three stations, while the Kermeikos-Egaleo extention comprised 3.4 kilometres of tunnel, another three stations, and a depot.

He said 66 percent of the tunnel boring had been completed, representing 12 of the total 18 kilometres of the project, with 50 percent of Line 3's tracks and 16 percent of Line 2's tracks already in place.

Laliotis said Jason had covered the distance from the Athens Academy station to Syntagma square in a record 22 days without running into problems such as the land subsidence on Panepistimou street that had slowed up the project last month.

After a few days rest for maintenance work, Jason would start boring towards the next station, under the remains of the temple of the Olympian Zeus at the beginning of Syngrou avenue, Laliotis said.

Weak earthquake recorded in Aegean

A moderate earthquake measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale jolted the highly seismic southeastern Aegean early this morning, and first police reports said there were no damages or casualties.

The Geophysics Laboratory of Thessaloniki's Aristotelion University said the tremor's epicentre was the sea region between the island's of Skyros and Aghios Efstratios, which gave a 7.1 Richter quake in 1981.

Vassilis Karakostas, a seismologist at the Laboratory, told the ANA the tremor was no cause for concern as tremors of such a magnitude were commonplace in earthquake-prone areas.

Protestors occupy Bank of Greece building

Representatives of three manufacturers and merchants unions occupied the Bank of Greece building in Thessaloniki for two hours this morning in a symbolic gesture of protest against the 1998 state budget.

The protest was organised by the Federation of Manufacturers' Unions of Thessaloniki, the Federation of Small Business Owners of Thessaloniki and the city's Historic Centre Small Businesses' Association.

Their demands include the abolition of objective tax criteria, a reduction in bank interest rates along with an abolition of penalty rates on overdue loans and more "humane" opening hours for shops.

They are also asking for solutions to problems such as funding and protection from unfair competition from department stores and the black market.

PM stresses need to keep drachma stable and aim for EMU

Prime Minister Costas Simitis reiterated late last night his government's steadfast adherence to the stability of the drachma, which he said was "tantamount to the stability of the economy as a whole" and that the current exchange policy would provide the best results for the economy, businesses and consumers.

He told the Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Greek Industries (SEB) that normality was returning after the recent currency crisis, and that stricter combination of fiscal, monetary and incomes policies, apart from the positive results, would also boost confidence in the economy and the national currency.

Simitis said that the economy was now entering "the most delicate and decisive phase of its adjustment" to the requirements for Greece's participation in the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

"This phase, just like the preceding ones, will not be easy, and it requires greater resoluteness, responsibility and particularly collective confidence," he said.

"We cannot stand in the middle of the road and negotiate whether we shall proceed or not, the attainment of our strategic options is a duty for us. Otherwise, we shall suffer the consequences of destabilisation, regression and undermining of the accumulated sacrifices of many years," he continued.

The prime minister said that next year's aims were the attainment of the criteria of the fiscal deficit and the scaling down of inflation to 2 per cent at the end of 1999, so that Greece would be able to join EMU in 2001, before the launching of the single currency.

"If we do not want to be the failed child of European unification and suffer the consequences, it is necessary to cover the gap separating us from the European Union," he said.

Replying to criticism of the sacrifices being made by the Greek people, Simitis noted that "societies with problems such as ours require 6-7 years to reverse inertia, attitudes and relationships and to transform structures in order to succesfully keep in step with the rapid international developments".

SE European firms to discuss creation of trade chamber, lobby

Southeast European companies will send representatives to a meeting in Washington in March to discuss setting up a Balkan chamber of trade.

The meeting was proposed by Hellenic-American trade chambers belonging to the Hellenic-American National Council, in cooperation with the US department of commerce.

"We are creating the conditions for peace and economic cooperation in the sensitive southeast European region, which is why the conference is entitled 'Peace in southeastern Europe'," said Thanasis Spyropoulos, president of the national council and orga niser of the meeting.

Due to attend are representatives of firms from Greece, Albania, Yugoslavia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Turkey and Cyprus.

The representatives will have the chance to meet officials from the US State Department and department of commerce in order to discuss creating a southeast European lobby.

Athens to host seminar on marketing in Eastern Europe

Marketing in the developing economies of eastern Europe will be the subject of a seminar to be held in Athens December 3.

The seminar is organised by the Hellenic Marketing Institute and is addressed to company executives and exporters operating in the Balkans and eastern Europe.

The purpose of the seminar is to present companies with investment opportunities in Europe's emerging economies and cooperation prospects with businesses in the region.

Minoan Lines seeks to join bourse

Minoan Lines, a Greek passenger shipping company, will seek to gain listing on the Athens Stock Exchange following approval by the firm's shareholders.

Shareholders voted 83.39 percent in favour of the proposal which signals a new era in the development and modernisation of the company.

A company statement said yesterday that listing on the Athens bourse would enable Minoan Lines to raise low-cost funds in order to finance investment programmes.

Petsalnikos receives Israeli, European and US chief rabbis

Minister for Macedonia and Thrace Philippos Petsalnikos yesterday received the Chief Rabbis of Israel, Paris, New York, Thessaloniki and the former chief rabbi of London, all of whom attended the unveiling of the "Monument to the Jewish Martyrs" in Thessa loniki by President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos last Sunday.

The monument was dedicated to the 50,000 Greek Jews who lost their lives in Nazi concentration camps during World War Two.

The minister referred to the monument as the "duty of both Thessaloniki and Greece, a duty which should have been done many years ago", and stressed the significant role the Jewish community had played in the development of the city.

Although there have been Jews in Greece since ancient times, most of the city's Jewish community were descendants of Sephardic Jews who had fled the Spanish Inquisition in 1492.

WEATHER

Cloudiness and rain will continue throughout Greece today, particularly in the west and south. Winds moderate to strong. Clouds and light rain in Athens with temperatures between 12-17C. Similar weather in Thessaloniki with temperatures from 8-15C.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

Tuesday's closing rates - buying US dlr. 270.905 Pound sterling 457.510 Cyprus pd 529.728 French franc 46.445 Swiss franc 192.359 German mark 155.471 Italian lira (100) 15.857 Yen (100) 213.141 Canadian dlr. 190.246 Australian dlr. 186.675 Irish Punt 405.926 Belgian franc 7.537 Finnish mark 51.505 Dutch guilder 137.982 Danish kr. 40.845 Swedish kr. 35.593 Norwegian kr. 38.202 Austrian sch. 22.097 Spanish peseta 1.840 Port. Escudo 1.524

(M.P.)


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