Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-01-17

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

CONTENTS

[01] Simitis-Constitutional amendments-Parliament

[02] Chandris Hotels-Athens Bourse-Application

[03] Greece-Voting rights to non-EU foreigners-Poll

[04] Greece - Bulgaria - Defence cooperation - Kosovo

[05] Nuclear weapons - Air base - Removal

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates-Thursday

[07] ECB: Euro-Dollar-Drachma

[08] British Airways-Athens-new route

[09] Intrasoft-Turkey-strategic deal

[10] Commercial Bank-board meeting

[11] ASE-close

[01] Simitis-Constitutional amendments-Parliament

Prime Minister Costas Simitis on Wednesday signaled the end of the ?post dictatorship era? and called for the end of the ?paternalistic state of the past?, delivering the opening address to Parliaments session for the discussion of the proposed amendments to the constitution.

?The end of the post-dictatorship era calls us to organise a new political system free from the weights of the past. That is exactly what we are aiming for with the amendments to the constitution,? Simitis said, adding that the new constitution ?will prove to be a great weapon against those who insist in refusing progress, to those that feel accommodated in the ruins of the old state powers."

?The amendments are focused on two targets: the strengthening of the rights of citizens and the rule of law, and the consolidation of the credibility of democracy,? he said, adding ?the new rights for the participation in the information era, for the protection of private personal information, for the protection in light of the developments of bio-medicine, express in the best possible way the strengthening of the individual rights the new constitution wants to safeguard?.

He called the proposed amendments to the Constitution one of the most important initiatives of the PASOK government since its election victory in 1993, and closed his address noting that he and his government were fully conscious of their historic responsibility to apply the principles of the new constitution in every day life.

[02] Chandris Hotels-Athens Bourse-Application

Chandris Hotels (Hellas) SA on Wednesday applied to join the main market of the Athens Stock Exchange, the company said in a statement.

Completing an extensive refurbishing of its hotels, the chain plans to launch the next phase of its investment programme to further boost operations in the hotels and tourism sector.

It would use the bulk of proceeds from a successful initial public offer (IPO) to help fund the new activities, the statement said.

The application to hold an IPO for bourse entry was submitted to stock market authorities and to the capital markets commission.

Chandris has four units: one in Athens, one in Chios and two hotel complexes in Corfu. The Athens Chandris has been renamed the Metropolitan Hotel.

The chain reported turnover of 7,810 million drachmas in 2000, up 18.3 percent from 6,600 million drachmas a year earlier.

Pre-tax profits last year totalled 680 million drachmas from 274 million drachmas in 1999, showing a jump of 148 percent.

[03] Greece-Voting rights to non-EU foreigners-Poll

BRUSSELS (ANA-G. Zitouniati) - Greeks are among the most ?cautious? Europeans regarding the granting of voting rights to foreigners that live in the European Union, but originate in non-Union countries, according to a poll taken by the European organisation ?Letter of the Citizen?.

Only 26 per cent of Greeks were positive toward the granting of voting rights to non-Union foreign nationals, compared to an EU-wide positive response of 45 per cent.

Greece, however, trailed Denmark where citizens positive responses amounted to only 15 per cent.

Spain with 62 per cent and Portugal with 59 per cent lead the positive vote.

[04] Greece - Bulgaria - Defence cooperation - Kosovo

Depleted uranium (DU) contamination in the Balkans as well as the issue of Bulgarias prospects for joining NATO surfaced at Wednesdays meeting here between the Greek and Bulgarian defence ministers.

Bilateral defence cooperation between the two Balkan neighbours was also discussed during talks Greek defence minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos had with his visiting Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Noev.

Regarding DU contamination, especially in the troubled province of Kosovo, both men reiterated that their defence ministries have taken all the necessary safety measures for their troops there, while calling for ?greater transparency? by international organisations regarding the issue that burst onto the international limelight this year.

[05] Nuclear weapons - Air base - Removal

The removal of ageing US nuclear weapons from their storage at a Hellenic Air Force Base at Araxos, in the western Peloponnese, began on Wednesday under draconian security measures, reports stated.

The weapons were being loaded onto transport aircraft for relocation to a US base in Aviano, Italy, according to defence sources.

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates-Thursday

Thursday's buying rates

U.S. dollar 359.744

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 530.986

Irish punt 429.202

Belgian franc 008.379

Luxembourg franc 008.379

Dutch guilder 153.389

Italian lira (100) 017.457

Austrian schilling 024.565

Danish kroner 045.271

Swedish kroner 037.844

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 305.632

Swiss franc 219.867

Norwegian kroner 041.107

Cyprus pound 585.320

Canadian dollar 238.653

Australian dollar 200.311

[07] ECB: Euro-Dollar-Drachma

The euro on Wednesday fell to 93.96 cents against the dollar from 94.12 cents in the previous session, according to reference rates released by the European Central Bank (ECB).

The parity gives an implied rate of 362.65 drachmas vs the US currency, the ECB said in a routine statement.

Greece joined the euro zone on January 1.

[08] British Airways-Athens-new route

British Airways will launch a twice daily flight from Athens to Rome aiming to attract more passengers after a 13 percent increase in the Athens-Rome flights last year.

Flights will begin next Monday. BA said it planned to add one more daily flight to the Athens-Rome schedule from April 1 to meet increased summer demand.

BA's regional manager for Greece and Cyprus, Vassilis Dallaris, said the Athens-Rome flights will be serviced with BA's partner airline, National Jet Italia, using BAe's 146-300 aircraft. Cabin crew will be both Greek and Italian.

Dallaris said prices will be competitive compared with other airlines, but said that higher fees at a new Athens airport at Spata would lead to higher airline tickets.

[09] Intrasoft-Turkey-strategic deal

Intrasoft, a listed member of Intracom Group, on Wednesday announced the signing of a strategic partnership deal with Turkey's Gantek Technologies, an IT group with activities focusing on telecommunications, industry, energy, natural gas, financial services, defence, education, retail and health services.

The deal, which was announced during a press conference in Istanbul, will help both companies to jointly expand activities both in their domestic markets and abroad, especially in southeast Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Socrates Kokkalis, Intracom's chairman, speaking to reporters stressed that he has started an effort, more than four years ago, to underline the significance of Greek-Turkish business cooperation, noting Greece's duty to support Turkey in its effort to fully acknowledge its European potential.

[10] Commercial Bank-board meeting

Commercial Bank will hold its first board meeting with the participation of two representatives from Credit Agricole, which has a 6.7 percent equity stake in the Greek bank, on Thursday.

The meeting will discuss the first steps of the strategic alliance between the two banks in the fields of bankassurance, investment banking and money management.

The board will also examine plans to expand the alliance in the retail banking with focus on consumer credit.

Credit Agricole, with a network of 8,000 and 86,000 employees, is the biggest bank in France and one of the largest in the world with activities in more than 60 countries.

[11] ASE-close

A wave of buying for blue chip stocks, such as Alpha Bank, National Bank, Hellenic Telecoms and Panafon, led Greek stocks to a substantial rebound on Wednesday on the Athens Stock Exchange.

The general index surpassed the 3,200 technical resistance level, reversing a two-day sharp decline that pushed the index 5.46 percent lower.

Traders, however, said it was too early to talk of a steady recovery in the market.

Shares in the construction, holding and leasing sectors scored the biggest percentage gains.

The general index ended 2.29 percent higher at 3,205.01 points, with turnover an improved 127.47 million euros, or 43.43 billion drachmas.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 2.38 percent higher at 1,882.44 points, and the FTSE/ASE 40 index rose 2.60 percent to 339.03 points.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended at 256.72 points, up 1.56 percent.

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