Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-02-16

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

CONTENTS

[01] Awards - President of the Republic

[02] Maillis-IPO-Romania

[03] ETBAbank-Full Privatisation

[04] Weather Forecast-Saturday

[05] ASE-close

[06] 2004 Olympics - IOC assessment

[01] Awards - President of the Republic

President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos on Friday presented the ?Hope 2001? awards of the Greek Society of Friends of Children with Cancer to Cancer League member prof. Herbert Jungers and medical doctor Christine Janine of the ?Every one has their own Everest? organisation.

Both scientists were chosen on the basis of their work against cancer occurring in young children.

Daphne Simitis, Prime Minister Costas Simitis wife, and the Greek Society of Friends of Children with Cancer President Marianna Vardinoyianni were among those who attended the ceremony.

At the end of the ceremony, Vardinoyianni announced that on June 19 and 20, world famous electronic music composer Jean-Michel Jarre will perform in Athens for a UNESCO benefit, premiering his composition ?The Hymn to Acropolis and the Ancient Greek Spirit.?

[02] Maillis-IPO-Romania

MI Maillis (Romania), a subsidiary of the listed Greek firm of the same name, has successfully completed an initial public offer in Romania to enter its stock exchange, the parent company said on Friday.

The subsidiary tapped the market for the equivalent of 1.46 million US dollars, which will be used to help fund its investment plan, Maillis said in a statement.

Maillis Romania will become the first firm from abroad to gain listing on the Bucharest bourse through a public offer, the statement added.

The IPO advisor was Alpha Finance Romania, a member of the Greek Alpha Bank Group.

[03] ETBAbank-Full Privatisation

The government intends to wholly privatise listed ETBAbank, in which it currently holds a controlling 65.5 percent stake, Development Minister Nikos Christodoulakis said on Friday.

Addressing the investment bank's shareholders, Christodoulakis said that a financial consultant would sound out the market to decide on the timing and method of sale.

A tender to find a consultant will be called next week with a deadline for bids of March 20, he added.

[04] Weather Forecast-Saturday

Fair weather is forecast throughout the country on Saturday, with scattered cloud in the Cyclades islands and northern Crete. Winds northerly, light to moderate, turning strong in the southern Aegean. In the north, temperatures will range from -5C to 11C; on the rest of the mainland from -2C to 15C; and in the islands from 2C to 14C. Mostly sunny in Athens, with temperatures between 3C and 12C. Same in in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from -2C to 11C.

[05] ASE-close

Equity prices continued moving higher for the seventh consecutive session on the Athens Stock Exchange on Friday with turnover improving significantly, a sign of improved investors' sentiment in the market.

Traders said a wave of profit taking in Alpha Bank, following disappointing results for the previous year, initially pushed the general index to 3,182.24 points, but strong buying interest for smaller capitalisation stocks finally pushed the index higher at the end of the session.

The general index ended 0.52 percent higher at 3,221.37 points, with turnover at 241.32 million euros, or 82.229 billion drachmas.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 0.15 percent higher at 1,858.14 points, and the FTSE/ASE 40 index jumped 2.97 percent to 373.24 points.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks soared 6.65 percent to 292.87 points.

[06] 2004 Olympics - IOC assessment

The IOC pointed directly at getting uncompleted venues for the Athens 2004 Games underway in the next six months as its greatest concern, as one of its top executives reiterated here that most other preparations are running smoothly.

?We need to begin construction in the next few months. This is the most important issue, the rest is going fine,? IOC vice-president Jacques Rogge told a press conference in Athens on Friday.

The powerful International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive arrived in Athens this week at the head of an IOC delegation to gauge progress for the Games, his second official visit in less than four months.

Rogge clearly emphasised that the next six months would determine the quality of the 2004 Olympics, ?as there is no issue of moving the Games? to another country.

He downplayed local press reports of dissention between the Athens organisers (ATHOC) and the government, saying he was pleased by the cooperation amongst organizers, the government and amongst individual ministries and that he ?discerned no sign of conflict?. He also emphasized that ?all thats humanly possible is being done? in terms of security for the Games.

?We were totally reassured by the information we received,? he said, one day after holding more than half a dozen meetings with top Greek officials, including the prime minister.

?We had a very good discussion on security, and as you know, that is our (IOC) No. 1 concern,? he added.

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