Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 99-08-12

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

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 12/08/1999 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

• Greece experiences last solar eclipse of the millenium
• Onassis Foundation not to appeal court Swiss court ruling
• Army denies faulty parachute claims
• Explosion at nightclub
• Soccer star Georgatos transfers to Inter in 2.5 bln dr deal
• Equity prices surge to new heights
• Minoan Lines ship orders
• Record number of tourists in Rhodes
• Bonds flat in dull trade
• Weather
• Foreign exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

After 63 years, one month and 22 days, Greece experienced again a total solar eclipse, the last of the millenium, which swung across much of the northern hemisphere yesterday.

The previous total solar eclipse visible by the residents of Greece was in June 19, 1936, while the next one will be on March 19, 2006, visible here only from the island of Kastelorizo.

The phenomenon was visible in Greece beginning at the Ionian island of Corfu at 12.40 pm and ended at 3.34 pm.

Maximum shielding of the sun by the moon was 95 per cent at the northeastern town of Didymoteicho.

In Athens it was 82 per cent at 2.10 pm.

"Solar eclipses do not have any other influence on the earth beyond the shadow and a small temperature drop," Athens National Observatory researchers said, adding that "no particular activity or radiation increase is noted, the reason being the sun's great distance from the moon which prevents it from affecting any traction or gravity forces."

The scientific significance of the phenomenon is owed to the interest for decoding the sun's secrets contained in the solar diadem, which is normally overshadowed by the one-million-times more powerful light of the solar centre.

The National Observatory on Mt. Penteli used a video-camera, a solar telescope and a special light screen to register and photograph the phenomenon, while at the highest point of the solar eclipse by 82% at 2.10 p.m. the temperature inside the room with the solar telescope dropped by two degrees Celcius.

Nevertheless, despite studies of the solar eclipses by the ancient Babylonians and the Chinese, only the ancient Greek astronomers and physicists like Aristarchos, as far back as the 2nd century B.C., correctly characterised the phenomenon as natural.

Onassis Foundation not to appeal court Swiss court ruling

The Athens-based trustees of the fortune to be inherited by the only heir to the Onassis shipping fortune issued an announcement yesterday stating their decision not to continue an eleven-year long legal battle concerning the administration of the vast as sets.

The only heir to the Onassis ship-ping fortune, 14-year-old Athina Roussel, will inherit an estimated US$600 million on her 18th birthday.

The teenager - the only child of Onassis' late daughter Christina and her ex-husband, French businessman Thierry Roussel - lives in Switzerland with her father, his Swedish wife and their three children.

The four Greek trustees who sit on the 15-member board of directors of the Alexander Onassis Public Benefit Foundation and Roussel, have long been at odds over the management of the assets.

In March this year, the Guardianship Authority of Oberengadine, Switzerland decided to remove administration of the patrimony from the board of trustees and assign it to Lucerne-based auditing firm KPMG Fides.

In doing so, the Guardianship Authority also decided to respect the last wishes of Christina Onassis in her handwritten will, namely that Thierry Roussel be excluded from the administration of the minor's assets. The grounds for the Authority's decisio n was that Athina's patrimony was at risk "because of serious disputes between the Greek members of the board and Roussel" which created a conflict of interest.

The Athens-based trustees responded by accusing the Authority of "unjustified enmity towards Greece, the Foundation and the Greek administrators".

The trustees on March 15 filed an appeal with a Swiss first instance court against the decision of the Guardianship Authority which was subsequently rejected.

In yesterday's statement, the trustees said they had filed the appeal in order to establish KPMG's suitability to administer the fortune. "Our investigation showed that, contrary to artfully circulated press reports, KPMG is not a corporate giant with e normous capital and a huge turnover, but a small company which has bought the title "KPMG" and states that it applies its methods... This is why we persisted with our appeal, which however was rejected. The fact remains that KPMG lacks the ability in law to exercise administration or even take responsible decisions.

Administration will be exercised by some unknown third party who will be free to make irresponsible decisions, while KPMG will merely provide advice with no responsibility," the statement said.

The trustees said the basis of the Swiss Authority's decision was erroneous, adding that according to Christina Onassis' will, decisions relating to the administration of the fortune were to be taken by majority and "Roussel never occupied himself with the administration and moreover proved to be unsuitable in administering even his own businesses".

They also criticised the first instance court's view that since administration of the fortune had been removed from the trustees, the latter had no right to judge their replacement.

"On matters regarding the assets of minors, courts should ex officio take into account all the evidence presented. The (Swiss) court did not," the trustees said.

"Under these conditions," the statement continued, "the members of the board of directors of the Onassis Foundation expressed the wish that we discontinue the unenviable and fruitless legal battle". For this reason, the trustees added, "we decid ed unanimously not to file an appeal" (against the ruling of the Swiss first instance court).

"Following these developments, we have given the necessary instructions for the smooth handing over of the assets... As of August 2, 1999 responsibility for the administration has been undertaken by KPMG Lucerne," the statement said.

Army denies faulty parachute claims

The General Army Staff on Thursday categorically denied a newspaper report claiming that the Greek military were using parachutes whose useful life had expired.

The report was prompted by an accident on Tuesday when one officer was killed and another seriously injured during a routine parachute training exercise at Pachi, Megara in central Greece.

The General Army Staff said in an announcement that all parachutes used by military personnel had a useful life which was set by the manufacturer, usually at between 10 and 14 years or in terms of number of jumps performed, 100 to 120.

The announcement said a record was kept showing the history of each parachute in use. In addition, parachutes were stored in special areas in accordance with specific storage conditions.

The army said all parachutes being used by the military were within the useful life date and number of jumps specified by the manufacturer and their maintenance was scholastic.

Concluding its announcement, the General Army Staff rejected the press report as "inaccurate and bearing no relation to reality".

Explosion at nightclub

A strong explosion at dawn Thursday caused extensive damage to a nightclub in the Athens residential district of Exarchia, but no injuries were reported.

Police said the explosion was caused by a home-made bomb planted at the entrance of the Boemissa club, which was closed at the time.

The explosion caused damage to the entrance of the club and neighbouring shops and apartment buildings and to cars parked nearby.

Police believe the bomb was placed by a gang of extortionists offering "protection" to nightclubs for stiff fees.

Soccer star Georgatos transfers to Inter in 2.5 bln dr deal

Olympiakos Piraeus soccer club yesterday announced the transfer of international Grigoris Georgatos to Italian giants Inter Milan in a deal worth 2.5 billion drachmas to the Greek club. The talented 27-year-old midfielder will be signing a four-y ear contract with Inter for what is reported to be an annual salary of 400 million drachmas.

In addition, Olympiakos will receive the proceeds from a friendly game with the Italian team.

It is the highest ever transfer fee for a Greek soccer player to a foreign club.

Equity prices surge to new heights

Equity prices surged to new records on Thursday supported by strong buying interest in blue chips stocks.

Dealers said a rally in international stock markets combined with high liquidity in the domestic market, encouraged trading.

The general index ended 2.30 percent up at 4,696.91 points, its 37th record closing this year.

Turnover was 240.277 billion drachmas with 39,023,352 shares changing hands.

The Banks and Industrials sectors outperformed the market ending 2.62 and 2.93 percent higher respectively, while the Construction and Leasing sectors suffered losses (down 2.76 and 1.37 percent respectively).

Other sector indices ended as follows: Insurance (+1.84 pct), Investment (+3.19 pct), Miscellaneous (+2.95 pct) and Holding (+0.92 pct).

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks dropped 2.71 percent reflecting pressures in peripheral stocks following moves by market authorities to monitor <wild> volatility stocks.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 2.38 percent up at 2,635.15 points.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 146 to 138 with another 10 issues unchanged.

A total of 22 shares ended at the day's 8.0 percent limit up, while another 26 ended at the day's limit down.

Hellenic Petroleum and Hellenic Telecoms were the most heavily traded stocks, while Hellenic Petroleum, Hellenic Telecoms and Eurobank led the day's turnover.

National Bank of Greece ended at 22,165 drachmas, Alpha Credit Bank at 21, 650, Commercial Bank at 33,800, Ergobank at 30,400, Titan Cement at 32,290, Hellenic Petroleum at 3,070, Intracom at 22,830, Minoan Lines at 5,820, Panafon at 8,005 and Hellenic Telecoms at 6,700.

Minoan Lines ship orders

Minoan Flying Dolphins yesterday announced the placement of an option order of two more highspeed ferries with Australian shipyards Austal. The new ships will be delivered in 2001.

Minoan Flying Dolphins has already signed a contract for the construction of three highspeed ferries with Austal shipyards and the new option order was due to be finalised by March 2000.

The new order would enable the company to expand its services in the Aegean Sea, a company statement said. Delivery of the first highspeed ferry was expected in April 2000, three months ahead of schedule.

Minoan Flying Dolphins said the new ship would be put in service in the Cyclades islands before next Easter. The ship will carry 620 passengers and 75 vehicles at a maximum travelling speed of 45 knots.

The two other highspeed ferries were expected in June 2000 in time to become operational for the next tourist season. The biggest ferry will have a length of 92 metres (the largest in Mediterranean) and could carry 1,050 passengers and 200 vehicles.

The cost of the investment will total 86.4 million US dollars. Minoan Flying Dolphins also said it examined its expansion in the Adriatic Sea routes with new highspeed ferries travelling at more than 40 knots.

Record number of tourists in Rhodes

A record number of tourists have arrived on the southeastern Aegean island of Rhodes and a further increase is expected, the Greek National Tourism Organisation (EOT) reported yesterday.

Specifically, official data collected by EOT show that 82,953 tourists are at this time on the island, compared to 77,441 during the same period last year, while 110 charter flights are expected over the next few days.

Of the 82,953 tourist only 4,729 are Greeks as their numbers have declined from last year's 5,348 of a 77,441 total. The reason for the decline sited was the poor ferryboat service and lack of planning on the part of Greek tourists.

This seven per cent increase regards only those tourists being hosted in facilities were EOT collects data, however unofficial data indicate that the number of tourists vacationing on Rhodes at this time exceed 120, 000.

Bonds flat in dull trade

Secondary market bond prices ended flat in light trade yesterday, with turnover reaching just 10 billion drachmas. The benchmark 10 year bond showed a yield of 6.78 - 6.80 percent, with the spread above German bunds ranging between 182 and 184 basis poin ts.

At the central bank's daily fix, the drachma crept up against the euro, being set 326.66 from 326.85 in the previous session. Also at the fix, the dollar rose to 305.46 from 303.90 a day earlier.

WEATHER

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

Thursday's rates (buying)
U.S. dollar          301.469
Pound sterling       486.338
Japanese yen (100)   262.682
French franc          49.429
German mark          165.779
Italian lira (100)    16.745
Irish Punt           411.694
Belgian franc          8.038
Finnish mark          54.532
Dutch guilder        147.131
Danish kr.            43.565
Austrian sch.         23.563
Spanish peseta         1.948
Swedish kr.           36.708
Norwegian kr.         39.158
Swiss franc          202.353
Port. Escudo           1.617
Can. dollar          200.424
Aus. dollar          196.019
Cyprus pound         558.238
Euro                 324.235

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