Foreign exchange
NEWS IN DETAIL
Gov't pledges reforestation of fire-devastated land
Agriculture minister Stephanos Tzoumakas said today his ministry would
finance a massive project for reforestation of the hundreds of thousands of
acres of forestland denuded by raging fires the past week.
Tzoumakas said after a 90-minute meeting with prime minister Costas Simitis
that financing the reforestation fell under the jurisdiction of the
agriculture ministry, adding that the first step would be to secure the
denuded expanses with mesh to contain land erosion.
Expanses that had burned for a second time would undergo artificial
reforestation, while land burnt for the first time would be reforested
naturally.
Forestry service officials told the ANA an estimated 800,000 stremma of
forest and bush had burned since the latest wave of forest fires broke out
Sunday.
The figure is expected to go up, however, as a number of fire fronts were
still blazing and several others that had been contained were rekindled
early Wednesday, fanned by strong winds.
The government, and Tzoumakas personally, have been severely criticised by
the opposition for transferring forest fire-fighting authorities from the
forestry service to the fire brigade.
Tzoumakas defended the decision today, saying that "now, one (service) is
in control".
He also attributed his no-show at an urgent government meeting last night
to a "misunderstanding".
Strong winds this morning rekindled the fires at Stamata and Dionyssos, in
northeastern Attica, while another front at Aghia Marina near Nea Makri was
blazing out of control.
A new fire broke out at Rema, on the outskirts of the northern suburb of
Halandri, in a small pine-wooded area in an inhabited district, threatening
two petrol stations.
A state of emergency was declared and 15 fire trucks with 50 firefighters
were rushed to the area, who were able to place the blaze under control.
Dozens of cars, 120 homes, a factory, numerous warehouses and livestock
have burned in Attica in addition to trees.
Environment, Town Planning and Public Works Minister Costas Laliotis also
said that all areas destroyed by fire would automatically be designated for
reforestation, while victims of the fires would be compensated in
accordance with provisions for natural disasters.
"I have already given instructions for the burned areas to be photographed
from the air," Laliotis said, ruling out any change in the use of the land
or the expansion of town planning boundaries into areas destroyed by
fires.
Laliotis spoke in terms of an "organised plan" by arsonists and described
the situation as critical.
Two farmers die after forest fire, blaze nears Patras suburbs
The bodies of two farmers were taken to a mortuary in Kalamata for an
autopsy today after being found dead near their property which had been
destroyed by another fire in the southern Peloponnese.
The police believe that Dimitris Tzortzis, 43 and Stavros Tasiopoulos, 48,
residents of Anthousa Meligala in Messinia died, possibly of heart attacks,
when they saw that their farms had been burned.
A fire with a front stretching for many kilometres is meanwhile threatening
the northern suburbs of the western port city of Patras.
The blaze is fast moving towards houses at Sychaina which is just outside
the limits of Patras municipality, as well as towards the villages of
Aghios Vassilios, Psathopyrgos and Drepano.
According to initial reports, a number of homes and business premises have
already been evacuated and the electricity supply in several areas has been
cut off.
Prince Charles arrives in Greece for holiday
Charles, the Prince of Wales, escorted by his two children and a 20-member
party, arrived in Greece last night as a guest of the Latsis and Lemos
families to cruise around the Greek islands.
World Basketball Championship
The second round of the World Basketball Championship ended in Athens last
night with a match going into overtime. Spain and Lithuania were level 75-
75 at full-time, with the Spaniards finally clinching victory 86-80 in
overtime. Results:
Russia-Canada 81-72 Italy-Puerto Rico 68-63
Greece-Yugoslavia 56-70 Spain-Lithuania 86-80
Argentina-Brazil 86-76 US-Australia 96-78
Drachma jumps against foreign currencies for second month
The drachma rose sharply against foreign currencies in July against June,
maintaining its impetus for the second straight month, analysts said
yesterday.
The Ecu dropped 1.83 percent against the drachma in July.
The central bank's average Ecu/drachma fixing rate in July compared to the
Ecu's central parity of 357.000 drachmas in the European Union's exchange
rate mechanism showed the Ecu slumping 7.8 percent against the Greek
currency.
The German mark fell 1.84 percent against the drachma in July against June;
the French franc dropped 1.83 percent; and the pound sterling shed 1.83
percent against the national currency.
The drachma gained 1.55 percent on the US dollar and 1.8 percent against
the Japanese yen.
Passenger ferry drifted off Chios in power failure
Some 1,700 passengers aboard the ferry-boat "Mytilene" had a fright early
this morning when a general electricity failure resulted in the vessel
drifting without power for one hour.
The problem developed at 2.30 local time this morning in the engine's fuel
gauge while the ferry was sailing between the islet of Venetiko and Cape
Masticho, Chios.
The fault was eventually repaired by the crew and the vessel was able to
sail into Chios unassisted. Following an inspection, the ferry-boat was
allowed to sail for Mytilene.
The vessel had sailed from Piraeus for Chios, Mytilene and Limnos.
Greece, Albania to launch maritime border patrol
A Greek-Albanian cooperation protocol providing for joint patrols along the
common sea border of the two countries aimed at more effectively policing
the region goes into effect on Monday.
A special ceremony will be held at Corfu harbour to mark commencement of
the cooperation on Monday, to be attended by Merchant Marine Minister
Stavros Soumakis and Albanian Interior Minister Neritan Ceka.
The cooperation aims at combatting illegal immigration, drug trafficking
and unlawful fishing.
Twenty-seven injured in crash between bus, truck
Twenty-seven people were injured, eight seriously, when an Athens urban
transport (OASA) bus crashed into into a truck in the seaside resort of
Voula today.
According to the police, the driver of the truck caused the crash when he
ignored a red light and went into the lane of oncoming traffic.
The drivers of the truck, Nikos Darzentas, 45 and the bus, George Matakias,
52 were both seriously injured in the collision.
Nineteen of the bus passengers were allowed home after being treated for
minor cuts and bruises at the Asklipio hospital in Voula, where doctors
said the condition of the other injured passengers was not life threatening.
Spending on advertising in Jan-Jul rises by 10.38 pct
Total spending on advertising in domestic media totalled 205.1 billion
drachmas in January-July, marking a 10.38 percent rise over the same period
a year earlier, Media Services SA said yesterday.
Most of the cash was spent on television advertisements at 95.8 billion
drachmas, accounting for 46.71 percent of the whole, followed by magazines,
newspapers and radio.
In July, expenditure on advertising was 24.7 billion drachmas with 9.5
billion of the total spent on television, accounting for 38.4 percent.
OPE regional offices to become on-line
The regional offices of the Hellenic External Trade Organisation (OPE) are
scheduled to become on-line with the Organisation's headquarters within the
next few months.
OPE regional offices are operating in Komotini, Florina, Kastoria and
Ioannina (northern Greece), in Heraklion (Crete) and in Magnesia and Patras
(Peloponnese).
Underwater oil drilling starts off Thassos
The first underwater oil drilling operations west of the island of Thassos
in northern Greece have started under the code name "South Prinos
C".
This new drilling is taking place in specific anticlines, one of the four
spotted last October by "WESTERN PRIDE", the special seismic activity
registration vessel.
A second underwater drilling will follow in accordance with the time
schedule set by the consortium comprising the Northern Aegean Petroleum Co.
(NAPC) and the Greek state.
Provided the results of the drilling operations are considered satisfactory
by NAPC, the consortium will proceed with two more drillings in the same
underwater area, located at a distance of 2.5-3 nautical miles from the
"parent" deposit of the "Prinos" field.
The entire project is projected for completion within the next two years,
based on assumed NAPC contractual obligations to the Greek state.
WEATHER
Hot, sunny weather is forecast throughout the country tomorrow with
variable light to strong winds. Temperatures in Athens ranging from 28C to
39C; and in Thessaloniki from 24C to 38C.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Tuesday's rates (buying) U.S. dollar 293.632
British pound 478.759 Japanese yen (100) 203.013
French franc 49.173 German mark 164.821
Italian lira (100) 16.706 Irish Punt 414.656
Belgian franc 7.991 Finnish mark 54.209
Dutch guilder 146.151 Danish kr. 43.247
Austrian sch. 23.421 Spanish peseta 1.941
Swedish kr. 36.734 Norwegian kr. 38.678
Swiss franc 195.736 Port. Escudo 1.610
Aus. dollar 177.955 Can. dollar 194.115
Cyprus pound 559.488
(C.S.)
