Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-01-09

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greece-US-Cyprus problem

[02] NovaBank-network expansion

[03] Cosmote-customer base

[04] Reppas - Cyprus talks - Denktash

[05] Panafon-report

[06] ASE-close

[07] Bond auction-results

[08] Greece-inflation figures

[09] Greece-credit expansion

[10] Greece-Postal Savings Bank

[01] Greece-US-Cyprus problem

The United States will continue ongoing efforts to resolve the protracted Cyprus problem as they have done for some decades, Alfred Moses, US Presidential Emissary for Cyprus, said on Tuesday, following his meeting with Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou in Athens.

Moses and State Department Cyprus Coordinator Thomas Weston, arrived in Greece on Tuesday following a one-day working visit to Cyprus and before their visit to Turkey.

Following the meeting, Papandreou said that they discussed the steps that should be taken to advance the process of resolving the Cyprus problem, adding that this process should continue.

He thanked Moses for his efforts and expressed the wish for him to continue being active in the efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem, saying, ?I believe he feels for the Cyprus issue as much as us?.

[02] NovaBank-network expansion

NovaBank on Tuesday announced a network expansion plan in regional Greece with the aim to increase its total network to 90 branches from 48 currently.

The bank said it plans to open new branches in regional Greece to attract a bigger market share.

NovaBank is a partnership between Interamerican Group and Portuguese bank BCP.

[03] Cosmote-customer base

Cosmote, a Greek listed mobile operator, on Tuesday reported a spectacular 96.6 percent jump in its customer base to 2,061,011 last year, compared with 1999, attracting a record 1,012,659 new customers in the previous 12 months.

A company statement said contract customers totalled 1,205,065, up 78 percent from 1999, and non-contract users totalled 855,946, up 131 percent over the same period.

Cosmote reported 298,935 new customers in the fourt quarter of 2000, with 173,304 of them as contract users.

The company said that in net annual connections, one in two new customers in the mobile telephony in Greece chose Cosmote.

Total mobile telephony users in Greece exceeded six million, with Cosmote raising its market share to more than 34 percent last year, from 27 percent in 1999.

Cosmote also reported a spectacular 161 percent increase in its customer base in Albania last year through its subsidiary AMC.

[04] Reppas - Cyprus talks - Denktash

The international community should consider imposing sanctions of Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash over his stance to efforts to resolve the Cyprus issue, government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said on Tuesday.

Reppas was commenting on Denktash's refusal to take part in a new round of UN-sponsored Cyprus proximity talks to find a solution to the Cyprus problem.

The spokesman described Denktash's attitude as "absolutely negative" and said this had been noted by the international community. He added, however, that simply noting was perhaps no longer enough and that it was time for sanctions to be imposed on the party that was responsible for the current situation, who should be called on to face his responsibilities.

He concluded by saying that it was not possible for Cyprus to continue to be held hostage by a small group or an occupation regime and for the international community to tolerate this.

[05] Panafon-report

Panafon, a Greek listed mobile operator, on Tuesday reported a 34 percent increase in its customer base last December, totalling 2,226,000, compared with the same period in 1999.

A company statement said that non-contract users accounted for 67 percent of its customer base last year, reflecting the success of its new product CU to mobile telephony users.

Panafon is currently implementing a restructuring programme on its retail sales network, based on the merger of all its retail partners and creation of a new retail store chain Panafon-Vodafone in the country.

This reorganisation would lead to significant scale economies, exploit synergies at a management level and significantly reduct cost at its distribution network, the company said.

[06] ASE-close

The nightmare of plunging stock shares continued for one more session on the Athens Stock Exchange pushing the general index below the 3,100 level on Tuesday.

Analysts said that the market was currently in an "oversold" area.

The general index fell for the fifth consecutive session, ending 1.50 percent lower at 3,097.74 points, with turnover a low 162.297 million euros, or 55.302 billion drachmas.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 1.20 percent lower at 1,799.10 points and the FTSE/ASE 40 index dropped 3.15 percent to 345.87 points.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended 4.20 percent lower at 270.23 points.

[07] Bond auction-results

Greece's first auction of euro state securities was met with heavy demand by domestic and foreign investors on Tuesdsay.

Bids submitted for a five-year bond issue, worth 1.4 billion euros and paying an annual coupon of 6.0 percent, totalled 6.959 billion drachmas, almost five times more than the asked sum.

The finance ministry finally accepted bids totalling 1.680 billion euros.

The average weighed interest rate of the issue fell to 4.88 percent from 6.83 percent in the previous auction last November.

[08] Greece-inflation figures

Consumer price inflation eased to 3.9 percent in December year-on-year from 4.2 percent in November, the National Statistics Service (NSS) said on Tuesday.

Greek inflation was 2.7 percent in December 1999, year-on-year.

The consumer price index rose 0.3 percent from the previous month, reflecting a 0.9 percent increase in food and non-alcoholic beverages' prices, a 4.0 percent rise in hotel-restaurant prices, and a 2.0 percent increase in goods and services.

NSS also published Greece's harmonised inflation figures, used for comparisons with other EU member-states.

The harmonised consumer price index eased to 3.7 percent in December from 4.0 percent in November, for an average year-on-year rate of 2.9 percent.

[09] Greece-credit expansion

Greece's credit expansion growth was unchanged in October, year-on-year, although growth in consumer and mortgage loans accelerated, according the figures released by the Bank of Greece on Tuesday.

Mortgage credits increased by 31 percent in October, up from a 30.4 percent increase the previous month, while consumer loans rose 35.1 percent, from 32 percent in September.

Credit expansion growth was steady at 18.8 percent in October 2000 from the same month the previous year, compared with 18.6 percent in September.

The central bank said credit figures were affected by a sharp appreciation in the US dollar and the Japanese yen rates, which account for about 50 percent foreign exchange loans to the private sector in Greece.

Credit expansion to the private sector rose by 21.5 percent in October, while credit expansion to the public sector increased by 15.2 percent.

[10] Greece-Postal Savings Bank

Hellenic Post and Greece's Postal Savings Bank on Tuesday signed an agreement envisaging the business and operating cooperation of the organisations in the financial services sector.

The agreement was signed by Hellenic Post chief executive Panos Kyriakopoulos and Postal Savings Bank chairman Androniki Boumi in the presence of National Economy and Finance Minister Yiannos Papantoniou and Communications and Trasport Minister Christos Verelis.

The two ministers, speaking to reporters, said the agreement would form a framework to developing and benefiting small depositors, who were suffering from a sharp decline in savings interest rates by commercial banks in the country.

The Postal Savings Bank has currently 4.5 million customers with deposits exceeding 2.5 trillion drachmas, or 12 percent of total savings in the country, and credits totalling 300 billion drachmas, a 2.0 percent share in the market.

They also said that the agreement would offer online links between all branches and that the Postal Savings Bank could be listed on the Athens Stock Exchange in the next two years.

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