Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-04-24

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

CONTENTS

[01] Blue Circle-Heracles

[02] Secondary Bond Market-Close

[03] Foreign Exchange Market-Close

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates-Tuesday

[05] Weather Forecast-Tuesday

[06] Vote - Confidence - Parliament

[07] Turkish military - Chief - Aegean

[08] Minoan Flying Dolphins-ASE listing

[09] ASE-close

[01] Blue Circle-Heracles

Blue Circle Industries (BCI) Plc of the United Kingdom on Monday welcomed a decision by Greece's fair competition committee to endorse its takeover of Calcemento International, the majority owner of Greek cement makers Aget Heracles and Halkis Cement.

"We are to proceed immediately with signature of the final contract after which we will announce changes to the company's (the Heracles Group's) management," Michael Schofield, BCI's regional director for Europe and Africa, said in a statement.

[02] Secondary Bond Market-Close

Bond prices in the domestic secondary market rose in thin trade on Monday with interest focused mainly on 10-year paper.

The Greek benchmark 10-year bond showed a yield of 6.13 percent from 6.02 percent in the last two sessions, 6.06 percent for the two sessions before that and 6.11 percent on Monday.

[03] Foreign Exchange Market-Close

The drachma on Monday fell against the euro and edged up versus the US dollar in the domestic foreign exchange market.

The Bank of Greece did not intervene, traders said.

At the central bank's daily fixing, the euro was set at 335.600 drachmas from 335.550 drachmas a trading day earlier and 335.450 drachmas on Thursday.

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates-Tuesday

Following are indicative foreign exchange rates for commercial banks released by the central bank for the next working day.

Tuesday's rates (buying)

Euro 332.915

U.S. dollar 354.213

[05] Weather Forecast-Tuesday

The day will start cloudy throughout the country on Tuesday, gradually turning to rain.

Winds variable, moderate to strong.

[06] Vote - Confidence - Parliament

The customary vote of confidence for the newly elected Simitis government is expected to come late Monday evening during a roll call vote in Greece's 300-member Parliament.

Premier Costas Simitis unveiled his new government's policy statements on Saturday, followed by two days of speeches by ministers and deputies. The Greek PM is scheduled to address the floor following the vote of confidence.

Simitis and his PASOK party edged main opposition New Democracy by roughly one percentage point during the April 9 general election.

[07] Turkish military - Chief - Aegean

ISTANBUL (ANA A. Kourkoulas) Turkeys powerful military chief cautioned on Sunday that ?a positive result cant be achieved if the two sides refer to different things? when asked to comment on the possibility of upcoming Greek-Turkish talks focusing on the Aegean.

Turkish general staff chief Gen. Hussein Kivrikoglu also stated that ?the Greek side is only referring to the issue of the (Aegean) continental shelf, while we are referring to four or five problems.?

?Weve already proposed bilateral meetings on the military level in order to reduce tension in the Aegean, as well as the holding of joint (military) exercises,? Kivrikoglu said during a reception at the Turkish national assembly, before adding: ?The Greek side said it would answer, but we havent as yet received its reply.?

Athens has long maintained that the only difference separating Greece and Turkey in the Aegean is the issue of the seas continental shelf, a matter it holds must be adjudicated by the International Court of Justice at The Hague. The Greek side also counters that the provisions of specific international treaties and agreements nullify demands Ankara has raised over the past 27 years dealing with air space, territorial waters and uninhabited islets, among others.

Meanwhile, in a related development, Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem was quoted in a Turkish mass daily as saying that contacts between Athens and Ankara over the Aegean are expected to start in the coming period.

?After the elections in Greece were able now to deal with Aegean-related issues,? Cem was quoted in a ?Milliyet? article as saying.

[08] Minoan Flying Dolphins-ASE listing

Minoan Flying Dolphins (MFD), Greece's largest coastal shipping company, will seek listing on the Athens Stock Exchange in the last quarter of 2000, its vice-chairman Pantelis Sfinias told a news conference on Monday.

Sfinias said MFD will show its best performance to investors after October, following the summer season results. The company expects its passenger capacity to exceed seven million this year.

He dismissed allegations that the company has transformed into a monopoly and stressed that Greek coastal shipowners have joined forces to face the challenge of January 1, 2004 when Greece's is expected to lift its cabotage policy in domestic shipping lines.

Sfinias reiterated that coastal shipping fares remain frozen since 1998.

Minoan Flying Dolphins' fleet totals 85 ferry ships following a barrage of merger and takeovers the previous year.

[09] ASE-close

Equity prices ended lower on the Athens Stock Exchange on Monday reversing a three-day rally in the previous week which pushed the general index 11.23 percent higher.

Dealers said Monday's fall reflected lack of buying interest as investors reacted cautiously to the prime minister's policy statement on Saturday.

The general index ended at 4,362.79 points, down 0.74 percent, after moving between a range of 4,445-4,343 points throughout the session. Dealers said the market could soon test the 4,500 level if it can hold the 4,300 support level in the short-term. Turnover was a low 100 billion drachmas.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended at 2,473.80 points, off 0.57 percent and the FTSE/ASE 40 index dropped 1.56 percent to 585.26 points.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended at 761.37 points, off 2.76 percent.

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