Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 99-04-08

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

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 08/04/1999 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

• Kyprianou leaves for Belgrade to seek release of US servicemen
• Greece backs EU presidency's recommendation on Kosovo
• Simitis meets with opposition leaders on Kosovo crisis
• Farmakis says cloud of "NATO material" not a health hazard
• Government replies to questions on Milosevic's property in Greece
• US ambassador says no travel advisory issued citing Greece
• Equity prices continue moving higher
• Capital markets upbeat
• March inflation slows to 3.4 pct from 3.7 pct
• Brokerage turnover totals Dr 6.9 trillion in March
• Panafon reports 91 pct jump in subscribers
• Important Notice: New ANA Services
• Weather
• Foreign exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

Cyprus House Speaker Spyros Kyprianou left Athens at 4 pm local time on Thursday for Belgrade, where he will have talks with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on the release of the three US servicemen.

"We must all help. I hope that my mission brings positive results," Kyprianou said shortly before boarding a Hellenic Air Force C-130 aircraft.

Asked if he believed he would return with the three US troops, Kyprianou replied: "I hope so".

Sources earlier told the ANA that ongoing NATO bombing had caused a "negative climate for Mr. Kyprianou's mission and diplomatic efforts were being made to overcome the obstacles that have arisen."

One these obstacles, the sources said, was the destruction of the runaway at Belgrade airport.

Greece backs EU presidency's recommendation on Kosovo

Greece said on Thursday that it agreed with and supported the recommendation of the European Union's German presidency to the six-nation Contact Group on Yugoslavia concerning efforts to resolve the crisis in Kosovo.

Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said the EU presidency would again put forward the recommendation at the forthcoming General Affairs Council.

Reppas said the recommendation provides for the cessation of ethnic cleansing operations, the withdrawal of the Yugoslav army and security forces from Kosovo, the return of refugees and the convening of the UN Security Council leading to a resolution on the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force.

The spokesman said NATO foreign ministers would hold an informal meeting on Monday to review developments in Kosovo and put forward views regarding the settlement of the problem and how best to tackle the refugee issue.

For the first time, Reppas said, thoughts may be expressed about the use of ground troops, which Greece opposes.

Simitis meets with opposition leaders on Kosovo crisis

Coalition of the Left Nikos Konstantopoulos on Thursday asked Prime Minister Costas Simitis to ensure that Greece did not become entangled in any military operations by NATO ground forces in Yugoslavia.

Speaking to reporters after talks with the premier, Konstantopoulos, who had talks in Belgrade earlier this week with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, said Greece must within the framework of NATO reject any escalation of the conflict such as the commencement of ground operations against Serb forces.

In addition, he said, Greece should refuse facilities and the passage of NATO troops through the northern port city of Thessaloniki.

Konstantopoulos said Greece should back political and diplomatic initiatives aimed at a peaceful settlement of the Kosovo crisis and itself undertake such initiatives.

Democratic Social Movement (DHKKI) leader Dimitris Tsovolas also had talks today with Simitis, during which he asked the premier to convene a meeting of political party leaders chaired by President Kostis Stephanopoulos to examine developments in Kosovo.

Tsovolas told reporters after the meeting that under no circumstances should Greece agree to NATO embarking on ground operations, nor should it provide any facilities "since this would make it part of the problem".

Farmakis says cloud of "NATO material" not a health hazard

Health Undersecretary Nikos Farmakis said on Thursday that a cloud observed over the island of Euboea in central Greece over the past few days consisted of material used by NATO forces to interfere with Serb radar during the bombing of targets in Yugoslavia.

Assuring Greeks that the material was completely harmless, he said the particles had already settled on the ground, but he did not rule out the reappearance of the cloud over parts of Greece if the NATO bombing continues in combination with certain weather conditions.

Farmakis said the material was non-radioactive and non-toxic. He added that the particles could not be inhaled because their relatively large size meant they could not enter the respiratory system.

Stressing that there was no need for any special measures to be taken, Farmakis said the only thing which would ensure that the cloud did not reappear over Greece was for the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia to stop.

Government replies to questions on Milosevic's property in Greece

The Greek government said on Thursday with respect to Yugovlav President Slobodan Milosevic that any foreigner was entitled to own property in Greece provided such ownership was not in violation of the country's laws.

Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas made the statement when replying to reporters' questions about Milosevic's assets in Greece.

The questions followed accusations on Wednesday by British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook that Milosevic had "sucked out" wealth from Serbia "during the same years (the Serb people) have been impoverished".

"Tell them how much you have in foreign banks... Show the people the photographs of the villas you and your family own in Athens, Corfu and Crete. Let them see the luxury yacht you keep in Greece while they struggle to make ends meet...," Cook challenged Milosevic.

US ambassador says no travel advisory issued citing Greece

US ambassador in Athens Nicholas Burns yesterday assured Development Minister Evangelos Venizelos that Washington has not issued any travel advisory or other official negative recommendation referring to Greece.

He did cite a "misunderstanding", saying the US embassy in Greece has not issued a travel advisory calling on American citizens to avoid travelling at present to Greece.

"There was no reason to do so under the current conditions," Mr. Burns said.

"We just corrected our Internet site following violent demonstrations outside our embassy in Athens and our consulate in Thessaloniki, and threats against our diplomatic staff here.

"We have the responsibility of informing the American public of the reality here, but we did not recommend against travelling to Greece".

He noted that there were many Americans currently in Greece who "were having a great time", and many Greek-Americans arriving for the Easter holiday.

Commenting on a decision to postpone an international tourism conference organised by the US embassy - scheduled for late April in Thessaloniki - Mr. Burns said the decision was based on the fact that due to the current situation in Kosovo, the climate was inappropriate for such a conference.

The conference is likely to be held in the autumn.

He added, however, that the US administration wanted to promote American tourism to Greece and vice versa.

Mr. Venizelos expressed satisfaction after the meeting with the US ambassador.

He said that during their meeting Mr. Burns noted that "Greece is a European country, completely safe as a travel destination".

The Greek minister added that neither Italy nor France had issued travel advisories against Greece.

Equity prices continue moving higher

Equity prices continued moving higher for the second consecutive session on the Athens Stock Exchange supported by hopes of a political solution in the Kosovo crisis.

The general index ended 2.43 percent higher to 3,621.53 points, off the day's highs. Its losses since the beginning of NATO air strikes in Yugoslavia were now cut back to 3.79 percent compared with 13.0 percent a week ago.

Turnover was 134.215 billion drachmas and volume 22,804,539 shares.

Traders expect the market to gradually become more stable following its recent wild swings.

Sector indices scored gains. Banks rose 2.82 percent, Leasing ended 2.35 percent higher, Insurance increased 1.65 percent, Investment jumped 3.43 percent, Construction rose 3.51 percent, Industrials were 1.75 percent up, Miscellaneous ended 2.28 percent higher and Holding rose 0.52 percent.

The parallel market index for small cap companies rose 3.7 percent with 16 stocks hitting the day's 8.0 percent limit up.

Broadly, advancers led decliners by 247 to 33 with another 12 issues unchanged.

Capital markets upbeat

Domestic capital markets regained their optimistic mood on Thursday supported by hopes of an end to the war in Yugoslavia.

Traders said the market has discounted positive developments in Kosovo and started opening new positions in the Greek currency and state securities.

Long-term bond prices rose by 50-60 basis points pushing the Greek/German bond spread to 186 basis points, down from 192 bp the previous day.

In the domestic foreign exchange market the drachma rose against the euro to 324.580 drachmas per euro, from 326.960 on Wednesday. The US dollar was fixed at 300.080 drachmas from 300.740 the previous day.

In the interbank market, most money rates remained stable with the exception of one-month and 12-month rates which fell to 10.0 and 9.30 percent respectively.

March inflation slows to 3.4 pct from 3.7 pct

Consumer price inflation slowed to 3.4 percent in March year-on-year from 3.7 percent in February, the National Statistics Service said yesterday. The consumer price index rose 2.2 percent on a monthly basis in March reflecting price rises in olive oil, fruit, cigarettes, heating oil and car service and maintenance. March year-on-year inflation stood at 4.6 percent and 6.0 percent in March 1998 and March 1997 respectively. NSS secretary general Nikos Karavitis said he expected consumer price inflation to drop significantly in April. The government aims to lower inflation to 2.0 percent by mid-summer.

Brokerage turnover totals Dr 6.9 trillion in March

The country's 67 stock brokerages posted total turnover of 6.9 trillion drachmas in March.

Topping the list were Alpha Brokerage (8.86 percent), Sigma Securities (5.10 percent) and National Securities (4.92 percent). Excluding block trades and stock buybacks, turnover was 6.0 billion drachmas.

Ranking top were Sigma Securities, Alpha Brokerage and Hellenic Securities.

Panafon reports 91 pct jump in subscribers

Panafon, one of the country's three mobile phone operators, yesterday reported a 90.9 percent rise in subscribers to 1,190,838 on March 31 against the same date last year.

In January-March, the rise was 58.6 percent from 122,206 new subscribers against the same period of 1998.

Panafon's services are sold in over 2,000 retail outlets around the country. More than 500 outlets of the total were added in the first three months of the year.

Important Notice: New ANA Services

Following the conversion of the Athens News Agency (ANA) into a Societe Anonyme (A.E.) earlier this year, which rendered it an independent organisation, the ANA will from now on welcome professional half-page or full-page advertisements in its daily Eng lish and French Bulletin.

Advertisements will be accepted from embassies, banks, commercial and maritime companies, chambers of commerce, advertising companies, airlines, organisations, professional associations, educational and research institutions in Greece and abroad as well as international bodies.

Also, for a small fee, the above groups may channel their Press Releases (PRs), announcements or photographs - in Greek, English or French - to the ANA's more than 100 media subscribers throughout Greece and Cyprus via the recently introduced ANA on-line PR's service.

For details on and arrangements for the advertising and/or PRs on-line service, please contact the ANA Marketing Department, tel: 6400580, or 6400560 (ext. 825), between 10:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

WEATHER

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

Thursday's rates (buying)
U.S. dollar          298.334
Pound sterling       476.220
Japanese yen (100)   246.125
French franc          49.144
German mark          164.822
Italian lira (100)    16.649
Irish Punt           409.313
Belgian franc          7.991
Luxembourg franc       7.991
Finnish mark          54.217
Dutch guilder        146.280
Danish kr.            43.382
Austrian sch.         23.427
Spanish peseta         1.937
Swedish kr.           36.079
Norwegian kr.         38.519
Swiss franc          201.971
Port. Escudo           1.608
Aus. dollar          187.280
Can. dollar          197.666
Cyprus pound         558.298
Euro                 322.360

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