Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-06-19

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

CONTENTS

[01] U.S.-Greece-Navy Chief

[02] Athens Bourse-Internet

[03] Orthodoxy-Assembly-Patmos

[04] Athens 2004 - Budget - Increase

[05] Greece - Belgium - Royal visit

[06] Weather Forecast: Unsettled weather on Wednesday

[07] Greek stocks remain under pressure

[08] Sports roundup

[01] U.S.-Greece-Navy Chief

WASHINGTON (ANA - T. Ellis) - Greek Navy General Staff Chief George Theodoroulakis concluded an eight-day official visit to the United States on Monday, at the invitation of his American counterpart Vernon Clark.

Theodoroulakis visited U.S. Navy installations at Newport, Rhode Island, Virginia, Texas and California. He also met in Washington with Clark and senior U.S. Navy officers and laid a wreath at the Arlington national cemetery.

During his stay in the American capital, Theodoroulakis gave an interview to the defence magazine "Defense News", saying that Greece and the Greek Navy desire closer cooperation with the U.S. and the American armed forces.

[02] Athens Bourse-Internet

The Athens Stock Exchange announced that its new, improved website (www.ase.gr) could be accessed from Wednesday.

The upgraded site includes more corporate news along with an expanded help desk service, the bourse said in a statement on Tuesday.

[03] Orthodoxy-Assembly-Patmos

The Annual General Assembly of the "European Interparliamentary Orthodoxy Assembly" will take place on the island of Patmos between June 28 and July 2.

The Orthodoxy Assembly is an interparliamentary body created at the initiative of Greece's Parliament and is headquartered in Athens.

The idea for its creation appeared in 1993 at a conference organised in the Halkidiki area in northern Greece by the Greek Parliament's Orthodoxy and Religions Committee and was based on the issue of "Orthodoxy in the New European Reality."

The founding assembly was held in Athens in November 1994 with the participation of parliamentary representatives from European countries having Orthodox populations.

The Orthodoxy Assembly, among others, aims at registering and assessing changes taking place in Europe and the promotion of Orthodoxy's role in the framework of the European Union.

[04] Athens 2004 - Budget - Increase

The latest figure for holding the 2004 Olympics Games was set at approximately 1.5 trillion drachmas (about 4.4 billion euros) by the Greek government on Tuesday, increased by 7.5 percent from an initial budget released last September.

The budget was unveiled on Tuesday after an inter-ministerial meeting chaired by Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis, who cautioned relevant ministers to strictly monitor spending, ?now we have a precise idea over the cost ... so, we must adhere to these numbers.?

Specifically, the new budget stands at 1.493 trillion drachmas.

Conversely, a handful of major infrastructure projects set for the greater Athens area prior to the Games have not been included in the 2004 Games budget, including a new tram network and a widely expected a suburban rail-line both of which are expecting funding from the EUs Third Community Support Framework.

[05] Greece - Belgium - Royal visit

Belgiums royal couple, King Albert II and Queen Paola, began a three-day official visit to Greece on Tuesday -- the first by a Belgian monarch to the modern Greek state.

Besides a series of meetings with Greek leadership and opposition politicians, the Belgian royal couple will also tour a handful of well-known Greek archaeological sites, including the all-marble Panathenian Stadium in downtown Athens the site for the first modern Olympics in 1896 and the Macedonian Royal Tombs at the Vergina tumulus in northern Greece.

Greek President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos will host a reception in honour of the Belgian monarch in the evening at the presidential mansion.

[06] Weather Forecast: Unsettled weather on Wednesday

Scattered cloud is forecast throughout the country on Wednesday, turning to showers or storms on the mainland and in the Ionian and northern Aegean. Winds variable, moderate to strong. In the north, temperatures will range from 15C to 26C; in the west from 17C to 29C; and in the rest of the country from 16C to 31C. Unsettled weather in Athens, with temperatures between 18C and 29C. Showers or storms are expected, especially from evening. Same in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 16C to 25C.

[07] Greek stocks remain under pressure

Equity prices remained under pressure for one more session on the Athens Stock Exchange on Tuesday but the general index managed to hold above the technical support levels of 2,820-2,830 points.

Traders said that selective buying in smaller capitalisation stocks lifted the day's turnover slightly and offered support to the market.

The general index ended 0.37 percent lower at 2,832.97 points, off the day's lows of 2,825.17 points. Turnover was a low 99.79 million euros, or 34 billion drachmas.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended at 1,644.96 points, off 0.48 percent, the FTSE/ASE 40 index fell 0.89 percent to 324.94 points, and the FTSE/ASE SMALLCAP 80 index eased 0.26 percent to 908.11 points.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended at 271.84 points, unchanged from Monday.

[08] Sports roundup

Speculation swirls over Konstantinou trade to PAO

Panathinaikos Athens is reportedly very close to acquiring promising Iraklis Thessaloniki striker Mihalis Konstantinou. The Thessaloniki club circulated a press release on Monday saying the two sides were edging towards a final deal, although certain ?major and substantive? details remained unresolved.

Press speculation has put the total trade package at more than five billion drachmas. (One euro equals 340.750 drachmas)

In unveiling his own personal website last week www.konstantinou.gr -- the 21-year-old Cypriot international referred to what he called a satisfactory offer by the Athens team.

Second sample from AEK player tests positive

A second urine sample taken from an AEK Athens player has also tested positive for higher than normal levels of testosterone, an Athens anti-doping laboratory announced on Monday.

AEK defender Rodrigo ?Ferougem? Ramos had initially tested positive for steroid use after a Greek national division game in early May against Panathinaikos Athens. The Brazilian under-21 international did not play in AEKs 1-0 away victory at the time.

Ferougem is the second AEK player to test positive for the substance over a span of three and a half months.

In an earlier incident, a local sports court in late April cleared Greek national team captain and AEK star midfielder Thodoris Zagorakis of doping charges. The court ruled that increased levels of testosterone detected in two separate urine samples taken from Zagorakis, a former Leicester player, was the product of ?natural causes?.

If found guilty Zagorakis could have been banned for up to two years from league play, the same penalty Ramos now faces.

Meanwhile, in other related developments, the teams new owner announced the popular Athens clubs latest coach on Sunday, with one-time Porto coach Fernando Santos given a three-year contract.

OFI, Panahaiki remain in natl division

OFI Crete and Panahaiki Patra will remain in the Greek national division next season, as the two clubs won their ?best of three? playoff series with PAS Yiannena and Paniliakos Pyrgos, respectively, and thereby avoid relegation. Despite being banned from its home field, OFI downed PAS 2-0 on the island of Rhodes on Sunday in their third matchup, while Panahaiki posted the same score against its Peloponnese rival Paniliakos a few hundred kilometres away.

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