Athens News Agency: News in English (AM), 98-06-18

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

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 18/06/1998 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

• Gov't says: Clinton call to Simitis simply "friendly"
• Clinton call made at request of Blair
• Greece expresses support for permanent int'l criminal court
• Orthodox churches meet to consider year 2000 celebrations
• Simitis criticises KKE over teachers' protests
• Greece casts doubt on British care of Parthenon Marbles
• Athens court refuses to bar bank workers from shareholders meeting
• Greek stocks surge in bank-led blue chip rally
• EFG Eurobank completes bourse buyout of Bank of Athens
• Gov't determined to privatise Piraeus Port Authority
• Conference on Greek financial markets begins in Athens
• Crete to host development conference
• Karatzas predicts slipping interest rates towards end of summer
• First phase of urban natural gas tender completed
• New Delta Airlines holiday package for US destinations
• Gasoline prices up, diesel down
• Trinidad's Ato Boldon wins 100 metres dash at Tsiklitiria
• Weather
• Foreign exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

Greece said yesterday that a telephone call earlier this week from US President Bill Clinton to Prime Minister Costas Simitis concerning Athens' relations with Ankara did not constitute pressure or intervention.

"It was of the nature of friendly advice which reflects the interest of the United States about developments in the region," government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said. Mr. Simitis on Tuesday disclosed that he had received a telephone call from Mr. Clinton on Monday night, requesting that Athens consent to the strengthening of the European Union's relations with Turkey, since this would allow Washington to exercise all its influence on Ankara towards normalising Greek-Turkish relations. He made the disclosure at a press conference at the end of a two-day EU summit in Cardiff.

Mr. Simitis said he had told Mr. Clinton it was not possible for Greece to accept any rewording of the Luxembourg summit decisions regarding the EU's relations with Turkey.

"I told President Clinton that his approach to EU-Turkey relations was not correct and that Greece's position could not be changed," Mr. Simitis said.

"It is Turkey which must change its stance, accepting for instance Greece's proposal that Ankara refer its claims regarding the Imia islets to the International Court at The Hague," Mr. Simitis said.

He also said that if tension arose as a result of Greece's refusal to change its stand, as Mr. Clinton suggested, the basic responsibility would lay with Turkey.

Clinton call made at request of Blair

US White House spokesman Mike McCurry revealed yesterday that US President Bill Clinton's telephone call to Prime Minister Costas Simitis during the Cardiff summit was made at the request of British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Mr. Clinton asked the Greek premier for a revision of Athens' stand towards Ankara.

"Prime Minister Blair thought the president's exchange of views with the Greek premier would be helpful to achieve a desirable outcome of the meeting in Wales," he said.

Greece expresses support for permanent int'l criminal court

Foreign Undersecretary Yiannos Kranidiotis expressed support yesterday for the creation of a permanent international criminal court, having jurisdiction for adjudicating major offences - genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and serious violations of the Geneva humanitarian conventions.

Addressing a diplomatic conference in Rome, Mr. Kranidiotis said that Greece has every interest in supporting the creation and independent operation of such a court and its authorisation with the widest possible jurisdictions.

He added that what is of particular importance for Greece among war crimes are those concerning the use of force to change the composition of a population in occupied territory, as well as crimes against monuments of religious and cultural heritage.

Orthodox Churches meet to consider year 2000 celebrations

Representatives of Orthodox Churches met in Thessaloniki yesterday within the framework of preparations to celebrate the year 2000.

In a written address by Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos, read out at the meeting, it was stressed that celebrations for the year 2000, apart from their Orthodox and Christian dimension in general, constitute an important opportunity for the promotion of the milleniums of Hellenism.

Simitis criticises KKE over teachers' protests

Prime Minister Costas Simitis yesterday used strong language to criticise attitudes of protesting substitute teachers over recent exami-nations for permanent appointments to public schools, as well as their clashes with police.

"No one has the right to illegality, as well as trying to impose their views on the majority. Such behaviour does not promote democracy, but fascism," he said in reply to a Parliament question tabled by Communist Party of Greece deputy Orestis Kolozov.

The premier said the gradual abolition of the system of permanent appointments based on seniority in graduation aims at recruiting educators eager to work. "This is a measure that will help pupils," he added.

Greece casts doubt on British care of Parthenon Marbles

Greece yesterday cast doubt on Britain's controversial stewardship of the Parthenon Marbles and stepped up d emands for an independent inquiry into damage caused during a 1930s cleaning operation.

Alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou visited the 5th Century B.C. friezes, taken from the Parthenon about 200 years ago, in order to see for himself the result of overzealous scrubbing by British Museum staff 60 years ago.

Mr. Papandreou said a book published this month by British historian William St. Clair, claiming the cleaning had damaged the ancient honey- coloured patina of the marbles, had "created a sense of concern from our government and the Greek people as well as historians and archaeologists around the world.

But Greece wants an independent inquiry involving the British and Greek governments.

Dr. D. Williams, the head of the museum's Greek and Roman antiquities who guided Mr. Papandreou, told reporters that the sculptures had indeed been damaged, but that damage was not as great as described by Mr. St. Clair.

Athens court refuses to bar bank workers from shareholders meeting

An Athens court yesterday rejected a petition by state-owned Commercial Bank of Greece seeking to limit attendance by bank employees at a shareholders meeting that was called to endorse the sale of Ionian Bank, its subsidiary.

Commercial Bank's management filed the petition in order to contain any disruption of the meeting tomorrow by bank employees attending in their capacity as shareholders. They are expected to oppose Ionian's sale.

Workers at Ionian Bank have staged a rolling strike since May 11 to protest the privatisation, despite court rulings declaring the strike illegal; and other banks have held one-off stoppages in solidarity.

Brushing off protests, the government has pledged to stick to its wide- ranging privatisation programme in order to aid entry into the European Union's economic and monetary union by 2001.

The same court is due to rule today on two actions brought by Ionian's management to have strikes last Tuesday and Friday ruled illegal.

Greek stocks surge in bank-led blue chip rally

Greek equities ended sharply higher yesterday for the second consecutive session, recovering after a crisis in Asian financial markets that sparked a mass sell-off on the bourse.

The general index ended 2.23 percent higher at 2,426.63 points with most sector indices scoring gains. Trading was active with turnover at 65.2 billion drachmas.

Traders said that investors, foreign and domestic, had returned to the market seeking blue-chips, reflecting their optimism in the Greek bourse's prospects. Banks led the rally, jumping 3.21 percent.

Analysts said that a plunge on Monday had triggered bargain hunting by many investors in yesterday's session and on Tuesday, when the market gained 3.81 percent.

Banks surged 3.21 percent, Leasing soared 8.0 percent, Industrials were 0.84 percent up, Construction ended 2.83 percent higher, Miscellaneous rose 1.05 percent, Holding jumped 3.66 percent, but Insurance and Investment bucked the trend to end 0.56 and 0.85 percent down respectively.

The parallel market index for small cap companies ended 2.13 percent higher. The FTSE/ASE 20 index increased 2.83 percent to 1,448.38 points.

National Bank of Greece ended at 40,350 drachmas, Ergobank at 26,060, Alpha Credit Bank at 27,490, Delta Dairy at 4,000, Titan Cement at 18,875, Intracom at 11,440 and Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation at 8, 250.

EFG Eurobank completes bourse buyout of Bank of Athens

EFG Eurobank, a member of the Latsis Group,yesterday completed its buyout of a majority stake in Bank of Athens through a transfer of shares on the bourse.

Sold through the Athens Stock Exchange in a previously arranged sale were 58.08 percent of Bank of Athens' common shares, which were previously held by Korea's Hanwa group.

Also transferred to private EFG Eurobank were 51 percent of Bank of Athens' preferred shares, which belonged to state-run National Bank of Greece.

Total stock sold was 1,083,902 common shares at 8,228 drachmas each, worth 8.9 billion drachmas; and 138,265 preferred shares at 11,675 drachmas, worth 1.6 billion drachmas.

Gov't determined to privatise Piraeus Port Authority

Merchant Marine Minister Stavros Soumakis said yesterday that the government would keep to its plan to change the ownership status of Piraeus Port Authority by converting it into an S.A. company ahead of privatisation.

Mr. Soumakis described as exaggerated a 48-hour strike called today by port workers to protest the changes.

Mr. Soumakis said the port risked losing contracts worth millions of dollars with major shipping companies, and other firms that had expressed interest in operating from Piraeus might call off their plans.

Conference on Greek financial markets begins in Athens

A two-day conference focusing on Greek financial markets began in Athens yesterday organised by Delos Communications with FTSE International and the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE).

The event is sponsored by National Bank of Greece and Sigma Securities.

Included on the agenda are debate on financial and economic changes in Greece and Europe, the outlook for financial markets, and the impact of markets abroad on the Greek bourse.

Finance Undersecretary Nikos Christodoulakis told delegates that the investment climate in Greece had improved following the drachma's entry into the European Union's exchange rate mechanism on March 14, accompanied by a realignment of the national cur rency against the Ecu.

Crete to host development conference

A development conference will be held in Heraklio, Crete on June 19-21 to discuss the Greek island's development strategy in the new millennium.

The conference's agenda includes discussion of new partnerships, capitalising on Crete's geographical position as part of the European Union's expansion in the southeast Mediterranean, and promoting the island's participation in central and east Europe an states.

Karatzas predicts slipping interest rates towards end of summer

National Bank of Greece Governor Theodoros Karatzas yesterday predicted a decrease in interest rates towards the end of summer. Mr. Karatzas, speaking at a press conference in Hania at the start of a tour of Crete, referred to the bank's targets, prospect s and policy. He appeared optimistic over the National Bank's course which, as he said, is ready to tackle future challenges with success. He also referred to efforts to modernise the bank and touched on the recent merger with National Mortgage Bank, which increased the number of National Bank branches to 600.

Mr. Karatzas further mentioned the bank's intention for involvement throughout the Balkans, Cyprus and the Mediterranean.

First phase of urban natural gas tender completed

The first phase of a tender for the natural gas network in the Attica region, Thessaloniki and Thessaly was completed yesterday.

A total of 17 tenders were submitted, by consortiums and companies. Several major European and US companies are competing, including: Houston Industries, Pacific Int., Ital Gas, Ruhr Gas, Tractebel, BC Gas, SPP, Gelsen Wasser, Gajpron-Promitheas, Vew w ith Deloitte Touche, Over Gas, AMGA, AEM, CPL Concoria, Seabo, Gas de France and MCN Emer Group.

New Delta Airlines holiday package for US destinations

Delta Airlines presented a new vacations package for travel to the United States at a press conference in Athens yesterday.

The package will be made available in Greece under the name "Delta Vacations," and will offer about 15 versions for 13 destinations in the US.

Greece is the third European country in which Delta has created similar programmes. A Delta official in Greece said that "the Greek market's recreation sector has huge development potential".

Gasoline prices up, diesel down

Petrol prices will increase slightly as of today and for a week. According to announcements by the Public Petroleum Corp. (DEP) and the development ministry, the retail sales prices of gasoline will increase by 0.40 drachmas per litre, while diesel will decrease by 0.70 drachmas per litre. Heating oil will also decre ase by 0.90 drachmas per litre.

Trinidad's Ato Boldon wins 100 metres dash at Tsiklitiria

World 200 metres champion Ato Boldon of Trinidad equalled the third fastest time over the 100 metres when he clocked 9.86 seconds at an international meeting here yesterday.

Only Olympic champion Donovan Bailey of Canada, who set the world record of 9.84 at the 1996 Atlanta Games and American Leroy Burrell, who set the previous world mark of 9.85 in Lausanne four years, have run faster.

The Trinidad and Tobago native finished 0.07 of a second ahead of Namibia's Frankie Fredericks.

Colin Jackson, Britain's world 110 metres hurdles record holder, clocked 10.31 in the 100 metres sprint and won his specialty event in 13.15.

WEATHER

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

(C.E.)

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