Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-05-11

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

CONTENTS

[01] Australian General Governor-Visit

[02] ND-Deputy expulsion-reactions

[03] IRO-Liquidation

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates-Friday

[05] Weather Forecast-Friday

[06] Gov't - NATO - Exercise

[07] ADEx-close

[08] Atlantic Bank of NY-new head

[09] Youth - Penis reattached - Machinery accident

[10] ASE-close

[11] Wholesale prices-March figures

[12] Building activity-January figures

[01] Australian General Governor-Visit

Australia's General Governor William Patrick Dean, currently on a two-day visit to Greece, held consecutive meetings on Thursday with President Kostis Stephanopoulos, Prime Minister Costas Simitis, Parliament President Apostolos Kaklamanis and main opposition New Democracy party leader Costas Karamanlis.

In the evening, Dean attended an official dinner given in his honour by President Stephanopoulos who placed emphasis on close ties between Greece and Australia. He referred to the Greeks living in Australia, the fact that the two peoples fought together in the two world wars and said the two countries maintain an excellent climate in their political relations and wish to expand their cooperation in the economic sector as well.

President Stephanopoulos outlined the role played by Greece as a political and economic force in the region of southeastern Europe and, referring to Greek-Turkish relations and the Cyprus issue, expressed hope that the neighbouring country will contribute decisively towards finding a solution to the national issue.

[02] ND-Deputy expulsion-reactions

Former main opposition New Democracy (ND) president Miltiades Evert on Thursday defended the decision of current ND President Costas Karamanlis to expel deputy Giorgos Karatzaferis from the partys parliamentary group.

In a written statement, Evert noted that Karatzaferis statements over time damaged ND, adding that Karatzaferis insistence to making statements against party policy forced his expulsion.

?It is unthinkable for officials and members of ND to accept the unacceptable accusation, that there was collusion, against the Greek people, so that we do not win the April 9 elections,? Evert said.

?How are we going to look in the eyes of 2.5 million people, who with faith, selflessness and with great cost supported and support ND? It is apparent that these statements do not only insult ND, but they insult our democratic political system and critically damage our parliamentary system,? he added.

[03] IRO-Liquidation

The development and finance ministries on Thursday signed a document that allows liquidation of the Industrial Reconstruction Organisation (IRO), an agency set up in 1983 to rescue ailing companies, Development Minister Nikos Christodoulakis said.

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates-Friday

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

Fridays rates (buying)

Euro 333.639

U.S. dollar 366.951

German mark 170.587

[05] Weather Forecast-Friday

Light cloud is forecast throughout the country on Friday, turning to showers or storms in the north from late afternoon.

Visibility will be limited in the morning. Winds northerly, light to moderate.

[06] Gov't - NATO - Exercise

The Greek government on Thursday stressed that there was no issue of a NE Aegean islands exclusion from a NATO exercise this month, instead noting that multinational air-sea maneuvers will take place in the southern Aegean.

Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas was responding to a press question in relation to the holding of NATOs ?Dynamic Mix 2000?, set between May 20 and June 10 mostly in south-southeastern Greece.

[07] ADEx-close

Derivatives prices ended higher on the Athens Derivatives Exchange on Thursday reflecting gains in the two benchmark indices, FTSE/ASE 20 and FTSE/ASE 40.

Trade was brisk with 3,675 futures contracts changing hands, worth 11.6 billion drachmas.

A total of 1,143 contracts were traded on the FTSE/ASE 20 index, with a turnover of 5.5 billion drachmas. The May expiring contract ended at 2,475 points, the June at 2,480, the July at 2,475 and the September contract at 2,513 points.

A total of 2,532 contracts were traded on the FTSE/ASE 40 index, with a turnover of 6.1 billion drachmas. The May expiring contract ended at 630.25 points, the June at 623.25 points and the July contract at 623 points.

[08] Atlantic Bank of NY-new head

Thomas M. O'Brien was officially appointed new chief executive at the Atlantic Bank of New York, National Bank of Greece's affiliate in the US.

National Bank's governor Theodore Karatzas, addressing a ceremony to mark the occasion said that Atlantic Bank of New York was already in a phase of a new dynamic growth course.

Atlantic Bank of NY was founded in 1926 and is currently the fourth more rapidly growing bank from the 25 largest commercial banks operating in the New York region, offering a complete range of financial services to businesses and consumers.

The bank operates a branch network in New York, Boston and Chicago and its assets exceed 1.8 billion US dollars.

Thomas M. O'Brien was a former vice-president at North Fork Bancorporation.

[09] Youth - Penis reattached - Machinery accident

Surgeons in northern Greece on Thursday reattached the penis of a 13-year-old youth that was torn off the previous day in a freak machinery accident.

According to reports surrounding the unprecedented incident, the youth was grazing his familys flock of sheep when he ventured too close to fenced-off machinery located at a sewage treatment plant outside his village, located in rural Halkidiki prefecture, east of the port city of Thessaloniki. He told authorities that his clothing became entangled in the machinery before he felt an excruciating pain in his groin area.

Despite the pain and hemorrhaging, the youth walked back to his village clutching his detached penis, reports state.

Officials at a Thessaloniki hospital said the 10-hour operation was successful, while tests over the next few days would apparently show whether the organs functions will fully recover.

A team of physicians and nurses, including a pediatric surgeon and two plastic surgeons, operated on the youth whose name was not released.

According to reports, other such micro-surgical reattachments of human appendages have successfully been undertaken at the same hospital in the past, identified as the 'Georgios Yennimatas' facility of Thessaloniki.

[10] ASE-close

Equity prices ended higher on the Athens Stock Exchange on Thursday supported by heavy demand and an improved turnover.

Dealers said the Greek market largely ignored a negative picture in international markets which were hit by fears of a large interest rate increase by the US Federal Reserve next week.

Analysts said that the market has found a new support level at 4,500 points, after several failed attempts earlier in the week.

The general index ended at 4,527.71 points, up 0.61 percent, off the day's highs of 4,549.07 points. Turnover was 195 billion drachmas.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended at 2,503.53 points, up 0.23 percent and the FTSE/ASE 40 index rose 2.37 percent to end at 642.11 points.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended at 863.83 points, up 2.55 percent.

[11] Wholesale prices-March figures

The wholesale prices index rose 0.9 percent in March from the previous month, the National Statistics Service said on Thursday.

The index has recorded rises of 0.4 percent and 2.2 percent in the same months of 1999 and 1998, respectively.

Wholesale price inflation rose 7.8 percent year-on-year in March, down from rises of 1.0 percent and 4.5 percent the same months in 1999 and 1998, respectively.

[12] Building activity-January figures

The volume of building activity fell 20.5 percent in January from the same month last year, National Statistics Service said on Thursday.

The NSS said that building activity, based on building permits issued by the country's town planning authorities, fell 23 percent in the Attica region and by 19.2 percent in the rest of the country.

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