Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-05-02

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

CONTENTS

[01] Holbrooke-Greece-Turkey-Cyprus

[02] Prince Charles - Mount Athos- leadall

[03] Plesio Computers-Cosmote

[04] HSBC-Rates

[05] OA-Libya

[06] Soccer- Greek First Division-Result

[07] Alpha Bank-Ionian Bank-New Shares

[08] Secondary Bond Market-Close

[09] Foreign Exchange Market-Close

[10] Papandreou-Cem-New York

[11] Foreign Exchange Rates-Wednesday

[12] Weather Forecast-Wednesday

[13] ADEX-close

[14] Ferry - Routes - Kos - Bodrum

[15] Electrocooperative AEBE-ASE listing

[16] ASE-close

[17] Hashish - Kastoria - Seized

[18] Papantoniou-Greece-EMU entry

[01] Holbrooke-Greece-Turkey-Cyprus

NEW YORK (ANA M. Georgiadou) The Cyprus problem dominated discussions between US Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbooke and the Foreign Ministers of Greece and Turkey, George Papandreou and Ismail Cem, respectively, according to press reports.

The same reports said that during the dinner hosted by Holbrooke for the two ministers,on Tuesday, Holbrooke noted repeatedly the need for a resolution to the protracted Cyprus problem, stressing US President Bill Clintons willingness to do all he can for the resolution of the problem down to the last hour of his presidency.

Holbrooke was said to have indirectly noted that he might be personally involved with the Cyprus problem at some point. Discussions also alluded to Turkeys obligation to soon deal with this problem, so as to have a genuine and not an ostensible progress in the third round of UN-led proximity talks in New York in late May between Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.

[02] Prince Charles - Mount Athos- leadall

Britain's Prince Charles, who arrived in Greece unexpectedly on Monday, landed on the all-male monastic community of Mount Athos at noon on Tuesday and decided to extend his visit there by 24 hours.

Initially the prince, who arrived by boat to Orthodoxys autonomous community, was to stay for only three hours but later decided to extend his visit to 24 hours, so as to follow the activities of ?a full monastic day?.

He had already participated in the vespers service and expressed his wish to also participate in the morning Orthros service.

Charles, who is on a cruise aboard one of prolific Greek shipowner Yannis Latsis' yachts, arrived at the Monastery of Vatopedi in a speedboat. The yacht anchored off the Mount Athos peninsula, in northern Greece, after arriving from the northeastern Aegean island of Limnos.

Charles has been active in supporting the activities of ?The Friends of Mount Athos? in Britain. He and his father Phillip, have been active supporters of efforts to preserve the unique animal and plant wildlife of the peninsula.

The Prince of Wales, accompanied by four bodyguards, was greeted by the monastery's monks before being taken on a brief tour of the renowned monastery's premises and viewing several of the priceless religious artifacts stored within its crypts.

[03] Plesio Computers-Cosmote

Plesio Computers said on Tuesday that it had made 25,000 contracts between the public and mobile operator Cosmote over the last 12 months.

Its eight retail outlets now held a roughly 5.0 percent market share of Cosmote's new subscribers, Plesio said in a statement.

[04] HSBC-Rates

HSBC announced on Tuesday that it had cut the interest rate on its floating rate housing loan in drachmas.

The rate now stands at 9.50 percent after dropping by 1.25 percentage points, the bank said in a statement.

HSBC also announced that it would shortly be opening five new branches in Greece.

[05] OA-Libya

National carrier Olympic Airways has resumed flights to Libya after the United Nations lifted an embargo on the country in place since 1990.

OA now runs three flights a week to Benghazi - on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

[06] Soccer- Greek First Division-Result

Kalamata made a decisive step towards managing to stay in the Greek first division soccer championship after beating Kavala 1-0 away on Tuesday. Kavala, on the other hand, is now threatened with relegation to the second division.

After the 30th round, Kalamata is in 11th place with 35 points and Kavala 15th with 30.

For the remaining games of the 30th round, seven matches will be played on Wednesday and one on Thursday.

[07] Alpha Bank-Ionian Bank-New Shares

Shareholders of the former Ionian Bank, now absorbed by Alpha Bank, will receive their stock on May 4 in the new single bank to emerge, Alpha said in a statement on Tuesday.

The new stock is to begin trading on the Athens Stock Exchange on the same day, the statement said.

[08] Secondary Bond Market-Close

Bond prices in the domestic secondary market fell in light trade on Tuesday with the action focusing on the state's two 10-year issues.

[09] Foreign Exchange Market-Close

The drachma on Tuesday fell against the euro and dropped sharply against the rampant US dollar in the domestic foreign exchange market.

[10] Papandreou-Cem-New York

NEW YORK (ANA M. Georgiadou) Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou and his Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem met late Monday evening here for their latest round of face-to-face talks, as trilateral contacts with US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright are also set for Tuesday.

[11] Foreign Exchange Rates-Wednesday

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

Wednesday's rates (buying)

Euro 333.550

U.S. dollar 366.494

[12] Weather Forecast-Wednesday

Cloudy weather is forecast throughout the country on Wednesday, turning to rain in many areas. Storms are expected in the Aegean.

[13] ADEX-close

Derivatives prices ended sharply up on the Athens Derivatives Exchange following big gains in the two benchmark indices, FTSE/ASE 20 and FTSE/ASE 40. Turnover was a subdued 1,121 contracts worth 3.8 billion drachmas.

A total of 594 futures contracts were traded on the FTSE/ASE 20 index, worth 2.7 billion drachmas. The May expiring contract ended at 2,473 points, the June at 2,466.50 and the July contract at 2,462 points.

A total of 527 futures contracts were traded on the FTSE/ASE 40 index, worth 1.1 billion drachmas. The May expiring contract ended at 580 points and the June contract at 583 points.

[14] Ferry - Routes - Kos - Bodrum

ISTANBUL (ANA) According to the semi-official Turkish news agency Anadolu, regular ferry boat connections between the Greek island of Kos, in the Dodecanese, and the port of Bodrum (ancient Halicarnassus) on the Asia Minor coast will be scheduled daily over the upcoming summer. Monday, Wednesday and Friday routes are reportedly planned for the off-season months.

[15] Electrocooperative AEBE-ASE listing

Electrocooperative AEBE, an Electra Importing subsidiary, on Tuesday announced a share capital increase plan worth 523 million drachmas to prepare for its listing on the parallel market for smaller capitalisation stocks of the Athens Stock Exchange.

The company will issue 20,110 new shares at 26,000 drachmas each.

Electrocooperative, a contractors-electricians company based in Heraclion, Crete, operates a five-stores network in Crete and had a turnover of 1.65 billion drachmas in 1999.

Its parent, Electra Importing, has already covered 30 percent of the capital increase plan, worth 153 million drachmas, and will hold 10 percent in Electrocooperative's equity capital.

Electra Importing reported a 41 percent increase in net profits to 463 million drachmas last year compared with 1998, while sales totalled 2.0 billion drachmas, up 15.6 percent.

[16] ASE-close

Equity prices ended sharply higher on Tuesday after a four-day Easter holiday on the Athens Stock Exchange. Traders said sentiment was encouraged by optimism over positive reports on the Greek economy to be published on Wednesday by the European Central Bank and the European Commission, paving the way for the country's EMU membership.

Trading conditions, however, remained extremely subdued with analysts doubting that a rally of prices could be sustained.

Analysts expect the market to test the 4,400 level on Wednesday, a psychologically critical barrier for the Greek bourse.

The general index ended at 4,368.21 points, up 2.79 percent. Turnover was 193.6 billion drachmas, reflecting a block trade in Eurobank's shares, worth 120 billion drachmas.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 2.29 percent higher at 2,461.11 points and the FTSE/ASE 40 index jumped 3.41 percent to 582.24 points.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended at 749.72 points, up 4.80 percent.

[17] Hashish - Kastoria - Seized

Two large hashish hauls were intercepted and five smugglers arrested in two separate instances on the Greek-Albanian frontier near Kastoria over the weekend, authorities announced on Tuesday.

During the first incident early Sunday, four out of six suspected Albanian illegal immigrants were apprehended at the Kolokynthos, Kastoria site on charges of drug smuggling, while 96 kilos of cannabis allegedly abandoned by the suspects as they attempted to dodge a border patrol were recovered, according to reports.

One Albanian national was arrested and roughly 36 kilos of hashish were confiscated at the Hionato, Kastoria site at around midnight Tuesday morning, with another four smugglers believed to have escaped another border patrol.

According to police in the northern Greek town of Kastoria, some 1,785 Albanian illegal immigrants and three migrant smugglers were detained and deported to the neighbouring country between Thursday and Monday, a period overlapping the holiday Easter week in predominately Orthodox Christian Greece.

[18] Papantoniou-Greece-EMU entry

An EU summit in Lisbon, June 19, will formally approve Greece's participation in EMU, National Economy and Finance Minister Yiannos Papantoniou said on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters on the eve of the publishing of assessment reports on the Greek economy by the European Central Bank and the European Commission, Papantoniou said that the country has completed its participation in membership procedures and that it now faced two milestones: first, an ECOFIN Council meeting on June 5 and the final decision on Greece's EMU membership by an EU summit in Lisbon, June 19.

"It's up to EU governments now," Papantoniou said.

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