Athens News Agency: News in English (AM), 98-05-20

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

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 20/05/1998 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

• Greece rejects idea of 'package deal' on Cyprus, Aegean
• National Bank of Greece shares sell well
• Tsohatzopoulos ends visit to Sweden after wideranging talks
• Spanish royals due in Athens on Monday
• Pontians commemorate 80th anniversary of genocide
• New drug treatment centre in Athens
• Educational reforms announced
• Family agency plans to bring down abortion figures
• Greek participation in US-EU exhibition
• De Silguy refers to improved indicators in Greek economy
• Gov't again vows not to backtrack on Ionian Bank sale
• Government mulls use of Balladur bonds in privatisation
• Government releases public debt breakdown
• Greek stocks slip in edgy trade
• State to issue debt paper this month
• Greece to host international fur congress
• Industrial production rises slightly
• EOT domestic tourism programme
• Weather
• Foreign exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

Greece yesterday, through Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos, categorically rejected the idea of a "package deal" solution of Greek-Turkish relations and the protracted Cyprus problem.

Commenting on statements by US President Bill Clinton, in London on Monday, suggesting that "we will have to proceed on many fronts at once" and that "both the Turks and Greeks will have to make difficult decisions", Mr. Pangalos stressed the Greek side could make no new concessions for a Cyprus settlement. "There never was and there could never be a package deal for these two major issues (the Cyprus problem and Greek-Turkish relations)", he stressed.

He also said that Mr. Clinton's statements linking the Cyprus issue, Greek- Turkish problems in the Aegean and Turkey's European vocation contained certain contradictions.

National Bank of Greece shares sell well

National Bank of Greece, the country's largest bank, has successfully completed a private placement of 2.5 million shares to Greek and foreign institutional investors at 46,900 drachmas per share, near to its closing price last Friday.

National Bank Governor Theodoros Karatazas yesterday told a joint news conference with Finance Undersecretary Nikos Christodoulakis that the success of the offering reflected confidence in the bank.

The bank's share price rocketed to 51,995 drachmas on the Athens Stock Exchange yesterday, gaining 2,245 drachmas. The stock was heavily traded with volume at 124,000 shares.

International investment banks Merrill Lynch and SBC Warburg Dillon Read were the chief underwriters for the offering, with HSBC also acting as underwriter.

Foreign investors covered 90 percent of the issue, with the remaining 10 percent offered to domestic funds.

Tsohatzopoulos ends visit to Sweden after wideranging talks

National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos described his visit here as "useful and beneficial for both countries," shortly before leaving yesterday afternoon.

"We agreed on a common study by the two (military general) staffs, with a view to signing agreements similar to ones we signed with other countries that will give us the possibility for multifold military and arms industry cooperation," he told Greek re porters.

Referring to an exhibition of defence industry hardware which he attended, Mr. Tsohatzopoulos said Greece would not buy equipment without applying political and strategic criteria beforehand, or without analysing the economic, technological and operatio nal aspects of the items to be purchased.

Spanish royals due in Athens on Monday

King of Spain Juan Carlos and his wife Sophia are expected in Athens on Monday for a four-day official visit at the invitation of the President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos.

The Greek president will host a dinner in honour of the Spanish royals on Monday night, while the couple will also inaugurate the "Classic Greece in Spain" exhibition.

Pontians commemorate 80th anniversary of genocide

The National Federation of Black Sea Greeks (Pontians) yesterday commemorated the 80th anniversary of the 1918 hiatus of the extermination of approximately 353,000 Pontians by the Young Turk movement and the subsequent Turkish regimes.

Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis, who addressed the event in Thessaloniki, condemned the policies of Turkish leadership, which continue to disregard international justice and morality, as he said.

Mr. Kaklamanis added that the holocaust of the Pontian Greeks has not yet been totally understood and thus continues to be a source of national agony.

Addressing a large gathering at Agia Sophia cathedral, he cited what he called the civilised world's shame for standing idly by while "massacres such as that of the Pontians, the Armenians and the Cypriot peoples, as well as that of the Kurds today" occur unabated.

He called on Turkey to "recognise, finally, these crimes and in following the example of Germany...apologise publicly."

New drug treatment centre in Athens

A fourth methadone centre for detoxification of drug users was inaugurated yesterday evening in Athens by Prime Minister Costas Simitis.

At the moment, the centre's capacity is for 200 patients, with the number to rise to 300.

The methadone programme is aimed at offering high quality psychological support services to drug users, especially heroin addicts.

The prime minister said that in the fall a similar centre will open for prisoners.

However, an even more important announcement by Mr Simitis was that the government will soon submit a draft bill in Parliament aimed at differentiating between major drug dealers and small-time peddlers, usually users, arrested for drug trafficking.

Educational reforms announced

Education Minister Gerasimos Arsenis yesterday unveiled reforms dealing with the evaluation of the unified high school system and nationwide college entrance requirements.

The basic changes include division of the school year into two four-month semesters instead of three trimesters, as was the case with the old system.

According to an announcement, the general examination for college entrance will be based on the cumulative grade of the unified HS diploma by 70 per cent.

The new system will also have five major areas of study -humanities and social sciences, natural sciences, health sciences, technical sciences as well as business administration and finance.

Finally, a relevant presidential decree states that the final exams of the two last HS grades will be evaluated by two educators at centres based at prefectural capitals.

Family agency plans to bring down abortion figures

Greek hospitals perform 150,000 abortions a year and the Greek family planning council said yesterday it was launching a campaign to reduce that number by a third by the end of the century and bolster Greece's falling birthrate.

In 1996, the mortality rate outpaced the birthrate with 100,740 deaths to 100,718 births, the head of the family planning council A. Sotiriadou said.

Greece's falling birthrate will be the major issue on the agenda of this month's first national family planning conference in Athens May 21-23. Ms. Sotiriadou said the incidence of abortion appeared to be declining in comparison with mid-80s fig ures although Greece is probably the country with the lowest use of the contraceptive pill and other contraceptive methods.

Greek participation in US-EU exhibition

About 20 Greek firms active in the foodstuffs industry, bio-technology as well as electronic and industrial machinery will be selected for participation in the "US-EU Partenariat" exhibition to be held in Chicago this October.

In the context of business cooperation between the EU and the US, the European Chamber has undertaken to select 200 companies from EU countries.

Another 450 SMEs will take part in the exhibition.

Greek firms fulfilling criteria can apply for participation by early August 1998, after contacting the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EBEA), which has been assigned the role of the national advisory body.

De Silguy refers to improved indicators in Greek economy

European Commissioner Yves-Thibault de Silguy has referred to an improvement of the Greek economy's basic indicators in 1997, and fully endorsed the plan for participation of the drachma in the euro as of Jan. 1, 2001.

The EU Commissioner made the statement during yesterday's meeting of the EU finance ministers' council (ECOFIN), where he presented the 'major orientations" of the economic policies of member-states in 1998.

He laid particular emphasis on the reduction of the public deficit in Greece, from 7.5 per cent of GDP in 1996 to 4 per cent in 1997, compared to the 4.2 per cent envisaged in the convergence programme.

The council adopted the text of a recommendation to Greece for a reduction of the public deficit below 3 per cent, which is the criterion for participation in EMU.

Gov't again vows not to backtrack on Ionian Bank sale

The government will not back down over its plan to sell Ionian Bank despite a wave of bank strikes, spokesman Dimitris Reppas told a news conference yesterday.

The method and timing of the sale were the only factors that had yet to be decided, said Mr. Reppas in reply to a reporter's question.

Workers of Ionian Bank are staging an indefinite strike, and have occupied its computer centre, disrupting ATM operations.

Other banks are staging rolling strikes with the Bank of Greece expected to stage a 24-hour strike tomorrow and private Alpha Credit Bank on Friday.

Today, all banks will hold a four-hour stoppage at 1200-1600 hours.

Government mulls use of Balladur bonds in privatisation

The government will decide by the end of May whether it will use Balladur bonds in order to float public enterprises, Finance Undersecretary Nikos Christodoulakis said yesterday.

Replying to a reporter's question, Mr. Christodoulakis said that if the government decided to go ahead with the convertible Balladur bond, the extent of their use would also have to be decided.

The French model of convertible bond may be used to cover up to half the stock to be sold, but not the whole amount, he said.

The Balladur is a state security that gives holders the option of exchanging the original bond for stock in public enterprises.

Government releases public debt breakdown

The government yesterday released a breakdown for the public debt as it stood on February 28, 1998.

The breakdown of the debt is as follows:

• Central Administration
  Domestic, 77.33 percent
  Foreign, 20.23 percent
  Armed Forces, 2.44 percent
• Domestic
  Bonds, 64.30 percent
  Treasury Bills, 21.71 percent
  Bank of Greece loans, 13.32 percent
  Contributions to international organisations, 0.67 percent
• External by Currency
  Japanese Yen, 31.16 percent
  US dollar, 28.07 percent
  German mark, 22.26 percent
  Ecu, 5.58 percent
  Swiss franc, 3.29 percent
  Pound sterling, 1.03 percent
  Other, 8.61 percent

Greek stocks slip in edgy trade

Greek equities ended a nervous session slightly lower yesterday as profit- taking reversed an early advance. Traders said investors showed interest in banks with National Bank of Greece the focus of attention. Its share price rose 2,245 drachmas to 51,99 5 in a heavy volume of 124,000 issues.

The general index ended 0.27 percent lower at 2,493.70 points after showing a 1.30 percent gain early in the session.

Sector indices were mixed. Banks rose 0.37 percent, Insurance fell 0.66 percent, Investment was 0.45 percent off, Leasing dropped 2.42 percent, Industrials eased 0.68 percent, Construction plunged 3.21 percent, Miscellaneous rose 0.39 percent and Holding fell 1.66 percent.

The parallel market index for small cap companies gained 0.46 percent.

Trading was moderate with turnover at 51.1 billion drachmas.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 149 to 93 with another 24 issues unchanged.

Intracom, Etma, Vernikos Yachts, Lavipharm, Boutaris, Korasidis and Lampsa scored the biggest percentage gains hitting the day's 8.0 percent limit up.

Balkan Export, Viokarpet, Ideal, Alte, Ekter, Klaoudatos, Ippotour and Attica Aluminium suffered the heaviest losses.

Ergobank ended at 26,400 drachmas, Alpha Credit Bank at 31,000, Delta Dairy at 4,700, Titan Cement at 23,800, Intracom at 15,930 and Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation at 8,920.

State to issue debt paper this month

The government will hold two issues of state paper by the end of May, Finance Undersecretary Nikos Christodoulakis said yesterday.

The issues are as follows:

• Three-year bonds on May 25
• 12-month treasury bills on May 29.

Greece to host international fur congress

Delegates from 12 countries including Russia, the US and China will take part in an international fur congress to be held in the northwestern Greek city of Kastoria on May 29-31.

The Siatista area and prefecture of Kastoria, with a long tradition in fur production from breeding to the finished product, accounts for approximately six percent of total foreign exchange inflows into Greece annually.

Kastoria is the country's second largest prefecture in terms of secondary sector employment in western Macedonia.

It has 2,700 fur producing enterprises,1,700 of which are exclusively export-oriented. Russia and the Far East are evolving into the industry's major importers. According to official data, the fur industry in the region employs 13,000 people.

Fur exports to eastern European markets alone were 60 billion drachmas in 1996, up from an estimated 80 billion drachmas in 1997, according to the Greek Fur Centre.

Greek furriers treat 8.5 percent of world fur and leather production, and produce 30 percent of fur products worldwide.

Large delegations from Russia, Ukraine, China,the Czech Republic, Romania, Spain, Austria, Denmark, Hungary, Italy and the US will be attending the launch of the international fur congress.

Industrial production rises slightly

Industrial production rose by 1.4 per cent during January and February compared to the same period in 1997, while the total industry-related production rose by 1.3 per cent, the National Statistical Service announced.

EOT domestic tourism programme

This year's domestic tourism programme by the Greek National Tourism Organisation (EOT) will run from May to April 1999.

In an announcement yesterday, EOT said it places great importance on the programme's development, aspiring to bring citizens closer with the country's provinces. The programme also aims at making the tourist season longer and at a better distribution of Greek tourists around the country.

Accommodation under the scheme is offered at a discount of 30 to 50 per cent from going rates, by 236 affiliated hotels, studios, rooms and camp sites, while various cruise agencies are also participating in the programme.

Eligibility is granted to groups of four people making a minimum reservation for two overnight stays.

WEATHER

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

(C.E.)

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