Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-02-08

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

CONTENTS

[01] Papandreou-Mikhailova

[02] Haidemenos-Clear Channel-New Company

[03] Athens Olympics-Sponsors-Banks-Breweries

[04] Derivatives Market-Close

[05] Gov't-Infotech

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates-Friday

[07] Greece-Syria-Transport

[08] Weather Forecast-Friday

[09] ASE-close

[01] Papandreou-Mikhailova

Foreign Minister George Papandreou and his Bulgarian counterpart Nadezhda Mikhailova on Thursday discussed bilateral issues, the situation prevailing in the Balkans and the Alexandroupolis-Burgas oil pipeline.

Papandreou underlined the excellent cooperation currently existing between Greece and Bulgaria on bilateral issues and on regional ones as well on which there is an identity of views, saying that friendship between them "is not only historical but timely as well."

He said he discussed issues concerning European Union and NATO enlargement with his Bulgarian counterpart, hailed progress achieved by Bulgaria regarding its accession to Euroatlantic institutions and added that Greece "will always be at its side."

Papandreou further said that a large part of their discussions was devoted to the crisis in southern Serbia and a joint initiative was agreed to have it included among top priority issues at the Interbalkan summit on February 22-23 in Skopje (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia).

Talks on bilateral issues focused on the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, the course of economic cooperation and cooperation in the transport sector.

[02] Haidemenos-Clear Channel-New Company

Clear Channel Communications of the US and the Haidemenos printing group are to set up a joint company named Clear Channel Haidemenos Media SA, the two firms said in a statement on Thursday.

The new enterprise will handle open-air advertising, operating in Greece, Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Yugoslavia, Montenegro and Cyprus.

Its paid-up capital totals 1,180 million drachmas with Clear Channel taking 51 percent stake and Haidemenos with 49 percent, the statement said.

[03] Athens Olympics-Sponsors-Banks-Breweries

Private Alpha Bank, a blue chip on the Athens bourse, has been chosen as the national sponsor in the banking sector for the 2004 Olympics to be hosted by the Greek capital, the head of the event's organisers said on Thursday.

Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki told a news conference that Alpha's bid of 25.2 billion drachmas was the highest yet in the overall sponsorship programme.

The Alpha Bank Group's president, Yiannis Kostopoulos, presented Daskalaki with a cheque for 1.85 billion drachmas, an advance payment on the total.

The other bidders in the bank sponsorship tender were National Bank of Greece, Commercial Bank of Greece, Bank of Cyprus and EFG Eurobank Ergasias.

Winning the breweries sponsorship section was Athenian Brewery SA.

[04] Derivatives Market-Close

Equity futures traded on the Athens Derivatives Exchange finished higher on Thursday, in line with the bourse indices on which they are based, traders said.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index closed 0.93 percent up, and the FTSE/ASE 40 ended 1.98 percent higher.

Turnover was 51.2 million euros on 7,410 contracts traded, the dealers said.

[05] Gov't-Infotech

Around 11,000 companies nationwide have applied to join the development ministry's Networking programme, which subsidises the purchase cost of basic computer hardware, an internet connection and the creation of a web page for small and medium sized enterprises.

The ministry said in a statement on Thursday that one in four applications came from firms in Attica, one in five from central Macedonia, and one in 10 from Crete. Interest from islands except Crete accounted for 12 percent of the total.

The programme has an initial budget of 31.5 billion drachmas, the statement said.

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates-Friday

Friday's buying rates

U.S. dollar 366.634

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 531.898

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 45.303

Swedish kroner 38.067

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 316.006

Swiss franc 220.764

Norwegian kroner 41.366

Cyprus pound 583.436

Canadian dollar 242.907

Australian dollar 199.071

[07] Greece-Syria-Transport

Greece and Syria are to sign an agreement on deregulating bilateral road transportation permits when Transport Minister Christos Verelis pays an official visit to Damascus on March 21-24.

Inviting Verelis is his Syrian counterpart, Makram Obeid, who came to Athens in December.

The transport permits pact was initialled in Damascus last week by Greek and Syrian officials, who also discussed the possibility of commissioning a viability study on making ports in the two countries compatible through the creation of facilities for Ra-Ra and Ro-Ro ferries, container traffic and rail links.

The officials will discuss the project at a fresh meeting in Athens in October or November.

[08] Weather Forecast-Friday

Scattered cloud is forecast throughout Greece on Friday, turning to rain in the west. Visibility will be limited early in the morning. Winds south-southeasterly, light to strong. In the north, temperatures will range from 2C to 19C; in the west from 5C to 18C; and in the rest of the country from 4C to 20C. Light cloud in Athens, with temperatures between 8C and 19C. Same in Thessaloniki with temperatures from 7C to 17C.

[09] ASE-close

Selective buying in bank shares during the last half hour of the session, combined with a notable rise in turnover, pushed the general index above the 3,150-point level on the Athens Stock Exchange on Thursday.

Traders said buying interest focused on National Bank and Alpha Bank shares, while telecommunications shares came under pressure.

The general index ended 0.88 percent higher at 3,157.52 points, with turnover an improved 91.66 million euros, or 31.23 billion drachmas.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 0.93 percent higher at 1,843.23 points, and the FTSE/ASE 40 index jumped 1.98 percent to 332.05 points.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks surged 4.28 percent to 253.65 points.

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