Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-08-22

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

CONTENTS

[01] ASE - President

[02] IOC delegation in Athens

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates-Wednesday

[04] Germany - Greece - Tank sale

[05] Weather Forecast-Wednesday

[06] Stock Market-Close

[07] Greek PM - Putin - Kursk

[01] ASE - President

Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) President Panagiotis Alexakis on Tuesday set out new measures designed to upgrade stock trading, during a session of a parliamentary committee which approved his recent appointment.

The measures include the introduction of a book building procedure with fair prices in all new listings, a provision whereby the managers of the issues support the price of a stock at public subscription levels for a six-month period, and publication at regular intervals of the changes in the size of the interest of basic shareholders.

[02] IOC delegation in Athens

A delegation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headed by Vice-President Jacques Rogge will be arriving in Athens on Wednesday to assess progress in preparations for the 2004 Olympics.

The IOC delegates will have successive meetings with the leadership of the "Athens 2004" Olympics Organising Committee, Culture Minister Theodoros Pangalos and other members of government, and will inspect sites of Olympic projects.

On Wednesday morning, meanwhile, Prime Minister Costas Simitis will chair a ministerial meeting for the Olympics.

Meanwhile, Public Works Minister Costas Laliotis, whose ministry has undertaken the construction of five major Olympics projects, on Tuesday told "Flash" radio station that "great leaps were needed to make up for lost time," in preparations for the Olympics.

He said the timetable for the works which he unveiled to reporters on Monday were very specific because they were linked to specific tasks and actions that had to be carried out at regular intervals and could therefore be monitored. He also pledged to give three-monthly progress reports for each project.

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates-Wednesday

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

Wednesdays rates (buying)

Euro 334.681

U.S. dollar 372.476

German mark 171.120

[04] Germany - Greece - Tank sale

BERLIN (ANA) The finance ministry here on Tuesday confirmed that a ?confidential briefing report? outlining Berlins intention to provide Greece with credits towards the purchase of new German-made tanks has been tabled with a relevant Bundestag committee.

Greece is apparently in the final stages of selecting a new main battle tank (MBT) for its armed forces, a deal that could be worth more than $1.8 billion, and with Germany's Leopard 2A5 as one of the main contenders. Others candidates for the Greek order include the US-made M1-A2 Abrams, Britain's Challenger 2E and France's Leclerc, while previous reports have put the number of tanks to be purchased at around 250, along with 24 recovery vehicles and 12 bridge layers.

[05] Weather Forecast-Wednesday

Sunny weather is forecast throughout the country on Wednesday. Winds will be northerly, light to strong, turning very strong in parts of the Aegean.

[06] Stock Market-Close

Stocks edged up on the Athens Stock Exchange on Tuesday with buying in state-owned companies bolstering the market and sector indices finishing mixed.

The general index rose 0.16 percent to finish at 3,758.34 points. Turnover was 61.6 billion drachmas.

[07] Greek PM - Putin - Kursk

Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis on Tuesday issued his condolences towards Russian President Vladimir Putin over the sinking of the nuclear-powered submarine ?Kursk? and the loss of its crew.

The government spokesman informed reporters of the Greek PMs letter during a daily press briefing.

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