Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-03-08

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greece - FYROM - Bulgaria

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates-Friday

[03] HSBC-Barclays-Acquisition

[04] Weather Forecast-Friday

[05] Greece - Bulgaria - FYROM - PMs phone call

[06] ASE-close

[07] Parliament - Damanaki - women in army

[01] Greece - FYROM - Bulgaria

Greece and Bulgaria have apparently ruled out the idea of offering military support to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) in light of recent attacks by Kosovo-based Albanian extremists on that country's northern frontier.

The issue was discussed on Thursday by Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis and his Bulgarian counterpart Ivan Kostov during phone consultations between Athens and Sofia.

Both prime ministers reportedly agreed that no military action should be taken in FYROM by a neighbouring country, but instead, attacks by the Kosovo-based gunmen and accompanying destabilisation should be dealt with through the United Nations.

On his part, Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou stressed from Athens that the European Union, NATO, the Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) as well as governments in SE Europe thoroughly back FYROMs territorial integrity.

?No one doubts that there are problems and issues related to democracy, as well as participation by the Albanian populations in certain parts of the Balkans ? but these problems can be solved only through peaceful and democratic means,? he said.

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates-Friday

Friday's buying rates

U.S. dollar 363.002

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 532.821

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 45.290

Swedish kroner 37.345

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 303.482

Swiss franc 219.244

Norwegian kroner 41.117

Cyprus pound 583.665

Canadian dollar 233.903

Australian dollar 184.498

[03] HSBC-Barclays-Acquisition

HSBC in Greece, which acquired Barclays' Greek operations in February, expects the merger to be completed in six to seven months.

The final stage in joining the two UK-based banks in Greece will be integration of their information technology systems, HSBC's domestic general director, Lefteris Hiliadakis, told a news conference on Thursday.

Barclays' 13 branches in Greece have already been renamed HSBC, soon after a final agreement for the acquisition was signed on February 28, Hiliadakis added.

The new HSBC has a network of 29 branches with 650 staff and more than 60,000 customers.

[04] Weather Forecast-Friday

Scattered cloud is forecast throughout the country on Friday, probably turning to rain in the northwest from late afternoon. Winds will be variable, light to strong. In the north, temperatures will range from -2C to 16C; on the rest of the mainland and in the Ionian from 1C to 18C; and in the Aegean islands from 5C to 16C. Mostly sunny in Athens, with temperatures between 7C and 17C. Same in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 4C to 15C.

[05] Greece - Bulgaria - FYROM - PMs phone call

The latest developments in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), concerning the attacks by Albanian extremists on the republic's northern border with Kosovo, were discussed over the phone on Thursday by Prime Minister Costas Simitis and his Bulgarian counterpart Ivan Kostov.

The two prime ministers agreed that no military action should be taken in FYROM by a neighbouring country on the basis of a bilateral agreement and that the whole issue should be dealt with through the United Nations.

According to an earlier ANA dispatch from Sofia, the Bulgarian Parliament had unanimously decided not to send troops into FYROM to guard the FYROM-Yugoslav border or for any other reason.

The Bulgarian Parliament's decision pledged to strictly observe international commitments arising from UN Security Council decisions to guarantee peace and security in southeast Europe, as well as condemning the "irresponsible actions of Albanian extremists that aim to trigger off a new conflict in the area, obstructing efforts to normalise the situation in Kosovo."

[06] ASE-close

Equity prices soared 3.21 percent on Thursday on the Athens Stock Exchange reflecting market euphoria following a positive report by Morgan Stanley over the Greek bourse's prospects.

Traders said buying spread this time to blue chip sectors, banks and telecommunications, which ended sharply higher, with textiles, wholesale, IT, insurance, investment and holdings attractive heavy demand and leasing suffering small losses.

The general index broke to the 3,200 level to end at 3,276.25 points, up 3.21 percent, or 102.04 points. Turnover was an improved 307.3 million euros, or 104.7 billion drachmas, of which 29.47 million were pre-agreed trades.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks jumped 2.98 percent to 1,861.5 points and the FTSE/ASE 40 index soared 4.1 percent to 388.96 points.

Sector indices ended as follows:

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended at 362.63 points, up 3.46 percent.

[07] Parliament - Damanaki - women in army

The percentage of women entering the Greek Armed Forces' officer-training academies would be set by the Defence Ministry's next omnibus bill, or in a bill regulating the core professional army Greece intends to create, Deputy Defence Minister Dimitris Apostolakis said on Thursday in Parliament.

He was responding to a question by Coalition of the Left deputy for Athens Maria Damanaki.

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