Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-08-30

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

CONTENTS

[01] Elton John to play in Greece

[02] Greek-Turkish FMs Meeting (Recasts)

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates-Thursday

[04] Weather Forecast-Thursday

[05] Greece - Turkey - Foreign ministers

[06] Wildfires - Summer tally - Damage

[07] ASE-close

[08] Olympic Airways-privatisation

[01] Elton John to play in Greece

British pop star Elton John will be in Greece for two concerts at the Herod Atticus Odeon, the ancient open-air theatre at the foot of the Acropolis, on September 9-10.

The world-famous artist was booked by the Hellenic Festival following tough negotiations and will arrive on the day of his first concert.

Tickets for the September 10 performance have already been sold out, while ticket sales for the September 9 date will begin at the Hellenic Festival's offices on Friday. Prices will range between 10,000 drachmas and 35,000 drachmas.

Elton John's last performance in Greece took place a few year's ago, when he sang at a private party given by the Latsis shipping family.

[02] Greek-Turkish FMs Meeting (Recasts)

Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou will hold a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem between September 10-17, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Greek foreign ministry sources said on Wednesday.

The two ministers had agreed in July to meet in New York during this period, on the occasion of their presence there for the General Assembly.

Papandreou and Cem will have the opportunity to discuss the course of Greek-Turkish relations over the past year, while Papandreou will also raise the Cyprus issue.

On the sidelines of the United Nations' General Assembly, the Greek foreign minister will have contacts with all his Balkan counterparts. Along with his 14 European counterparts, he will also meet U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.

Earlier on Wednesday, an ANA dispatch from Istanbul said the Turkish foreign ministry announced that Papandreou and Cem will meet on the sidelinesof the UN's General Assembly in New York early next month.

According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, the two ministers agreed to meet in New York for talks on the latest developments in Greek-Turkish relations.

During a phone conversation between the two men, the same press release added, Cem offered Ankaras assistance to help extinguish a series of wildfires that devastated rural Greece much of last week.

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates-Thursday

Indicative rates released by the central bank for the next working day.

Thursdays rates (buying)

Euro 334.919

U.S. dollar 377.069

[04] Weather Forecast-Thursday

Sunny weather is forecast throughout the country on Thursday. Winds northerly, light to moderate, turning strong in parts of the southeastern Aegean.

[05] Greece - Turkey - Foreign ministers

ISTANBUL (ANA) Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou will reportedly meet with his Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly in New York early next month, the Turkish foreign ministry announced on Wednesday.

According to the Turkish ministry, the two ministers agreed to meet in New York for talks on the latest developments in Greek-Turkish relations.

[06] Wildfires - Summer tally - Damage

More than 100,000 hectares of land have been scorched by wildfires throughout Greece over this past summer season, the government announced on Wednesday.

Specifically, 116,500 hectares were burned, of which roughly 33,200 hectares were crops; 28,000 hectares were listed as forestland, with the remaining described as brush and pastureland.

[07] ASE-close

Equity prices continued their free-fall course on the Athens Stock Exchange with the market unable to find support at the 3,500-point technical resistance level on Wednesday.

Traders said the Greek market was undermined by a severe crisis of investors' confidence and noted that the market's capitalisation has shrunk by 25 trillion drachmas since the beginning of 2000.

The general index ended 3,429.64 points, off 2.68 percent, its lowest close since April 27, 1999. Turnover was an improved 112.1 billion drachmas. The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 2.87 percent lower at 1,936.42 points and the FTSE/ASE 40 index closed at 465.51 points.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended at 571.76 points, off 2.75 percent.

[08] Olympic Airways-privatisation

The government intends to sell up to 65 percent of Olympic Airways to private investors, Transport and Communication Minister Christos Verelis told Prime Minister Costas Simitis, sources said on Wednesday.

Verelis briefed the prime minister the ministry's activities and noted that the market was not interested in buying a minority stake in the national carrier but a stake of more than 51 percent.

He presented a plan for splitting Olympic Airways into two separate companies, one of which will undertake all of OA's debt and the other to operate the company, according to PriceWaterhouse's recommendations, in an effort to present a more credible image of the national carrier.

Verelis said that plan would envisage selling the operator company to save money to cover OA's debts.

Sources said the transport minister told Simitis that a draft bill envisaging the deregulation of the communications market in Greece would be tabled to parliament in the next two weeks.

Verelis said that Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation was in a process of finding a strategic partner, they said.

He also presented a plan to build a tram transport system in Athens using the expertise of "Attico Metro", the operator of a new underground train in the capital, to be ready by 2004. The plan was adopted by the prime minister, sources said.

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