Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-10-30

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

CONTENTS

[01] Turkish Embassy-Reception

[02] Drugs dealer-Arrest

[03] Weather Forecast-Tuesday

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates-Tuesday

[05] Olympic - Projects - Costs

[06] Attica Bank-nine month results

[07] Greece-dual pricing system

[08] Greece-building costs' index

[09] Alpha Real Estate-results

[10] Autohellas-Hertz-results

[11] ASE-close

[01] Turkish Embassy-Reception

Justice Minister Mihalis Stathopoulos represented the government at a reception given by Turkish Ambassador to Athens Ali Tuigan on Monday on the occasion of the 77th anniversary of the declaration of the Turkish republic.

Also present, among others, were main opposition New Democracy (ND) party deputies, Foreign Ministry officials and businessmen.

Meanwhile, the Greek-Turkish Business Council will convene in Athens on Thursday and Friday.

Earlier on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Panos Beglitis reassured that the procedure for the ratification of the Greek-Turkish agreements on the so-called low-key issues will proceed as soon as possible.

Beglitis underlined that "the Greek government attributes particular importance to the speedy ratification of the nine agreements which have already been signed between the two countries".

[02] Drugs dealer-Arrest

A Spanish drugs dealer was arrested early Monday by Attica police at a hotel in Halkida, north of Athens.

The arrest came following a tip-off by the Spanish authorities and extensive searches throughout Greece.

The man was identified as Laureano Oubina Pineiro, 54, who at the time of his arrest, was in possession of a false passport.

There were three international warrants for his arrest, for the transportation of three cargos of hashish, totalling 28 tonnes in weight.

[03] Weather Forecast-Tuesday

Scattered cloud is forecast throughout the country on Tuesday, turning to showers chiefly in the northwest. Winds southerly, light to strong. Temperatures in the north will range from 9C to 21C; in the west from 14C to 22C; and in the rest of the country from 11C to 24C. Light cloud over Athens, with light winds and temperatures between 14C and 22C. Same in Thessaloniki with some mist in the early morning and temperatures from 13C to 20C.

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates-Tuesday

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

Tuesday's rates (buying)

Euro 336.903

U.S. dollar 395.421

German mark 172.256

French franc 051.361

Pound sterling 579.566

Irish punt 427.778

Belgian franc 008.352

Luxembourg franc 008.352

Dutch guilder 152.880

Italian lira (100) 017.400

Austrian schilling 024.484

Danish kroner 045.263

Swedish kroner 039.640

Finnish mark 056.663

Spanish peseta 002.025

Portuguese escudo 001.680

Japanese yen (100) 365.096

Swiss franc 220.789

Norwegian kroner 042.448

Cyprus pound 588.633

Canadian dollar 258.535

Australian dollar 208.037

[05] Olympic - Projects - Costs

Construction costs for five crucial Olympic projects may exceed initial estimates, Greeces public works ministry stated in a recently submitted report on 2004 preparations that was handed over to the Greek prime minister.

According to the report, ?imperfections and oversights? in initial studies could lead to supplementary works for five Olympic venues originally dubbed the ?orphaned projects? by local media because of certain delays in formulating and assigning their construction contracts. The public works ministry was finally given the nod to build the projects.

[06] Attica Bank-nine month results

Attica Bank on Monday reported a 15 percent increase in its nine-month pre-tax profits to 4.8 billion drachmas.

The bank's assets increased by 41 percent to a total of 428.2 billion drachmas, while deposits and repos totalled 288 billion, up 48 percent compared with the same period last year.

Loans totalled 188.5 billion drachmas, up 28.5 percent from 1999, while provisions totalled 1.4 billion drachmas.

Attica Bank's network rose by 10 new branches in the January-September period to a total of 48 branches.

[07] Greece-dual pricing system

Greece on Monday unveiled a detailed plan for a dual pricing system ahead of the introduction of the euro currency in the country.

Development Deputy Minister Milena Apostolaki and Finance Deputy Minister Apostolos Fotiadis signed a joint ministerial decision envisaging that Greek companies, including banks, were obliged to a dual pricing of their products and services from January 1, 2001.

Private sector companies with a workforce of less than 10 people would be obliged to a dual pricing system from March 1, 2001.

The conversion of savings from drachmas to euros will be made by the end of next year, unless a bilater agreement was made for a quicker implementation. All savings transactions will be made in euros from January 1, 2002.

[08] Greece-building costs' index

Greece's new home building costs' index rose 0.6 percent in the third quarter 2000 compared with the previous quarter with year-on-year growth slowing to 1.8 percent from 2.9 and 6.5 percent in the same periods of 1999 and 1998, National Statistics Service said on Monday.

The index had risen 0.6 percent and 1.7 percent in the same periods in 1999 and 1998 on a quarterly basis, respectively.

[09] Alpha Real Estate-results

Alpha Real Estate on Monday reported a 25 percent increase in its nine-month turnover to 2.716 billion drachmas, while net profits totalled 1.246 billion drachmas over the same period.

[10] Autohellas-Hertz-results

Autohellas-Hertz on Monday reported a 27 percent increase in its pre-tax profits for the first nine months of 2000 to 2.6 billion drachmas, from 2.06 billion the same period last year.

The company's turnover totalled 18.74 billion drachmas in the January-September period, up 24 percent from 1999.

Autohellas-Hertz's investment programme exceeded 17 billion drachmas in the first nine months of the year, covering the purchase of 5,000 vehicles and expanding its network to a total of 100 branches.

The company has recently signed a pre-agreement for the purchase of a majority stake in Manos Travel.

Autohellas-Hertz's fleet surpassed 14,000 vehicles in August.

[11] ASE-close

Equity prices ended Monday's session with minor changes reflecting subdued trading conditions and low liquidity on the Athens Stock Exchange.

Traders said investors remained on the sidelines despite the fact that several stocks shares were trading at very attractive P/E levels.

The general index fell 0.01 percent to 3,762.46 points, with turnover a low 39.18 billion drachmas.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks eased 0.06 percent to 2,194.46 points, and the FTSE/ASE 40 index ended at 429.67 points, off 0.33 percent.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended 1.11 percent higher at 408.93 points.

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