Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-07-26

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

CONTENTS

[01] Angelopoulos may succeed Rogge in 2009, British columnist says

[02] Santorini ranks as most popular island in Europe-poll

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates: Friday

[04] Amendment allows state to sell majority of Hellenic Petroleum

[05] Weather Forecast: Mostly sunny on Friday

[06] Athens Bourse Close: Stocks rise, break through resistance

[07] Chrysohoidis testifies regarding alleged list of Genoa activists

[01] Angelopoulos may succeed Rogge in 2009, British columnist says

LONDON (ANA) - Athens 2004 Olympic Games Organizing Committee President Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki may be the next International Olympic Committee (IOC) president, if she becomes a member of the committee, argued an article of the British daily "Independent" on Thursday.

Alan Hubbard in the article entitled "Angelopoulos, remember the name" argued Angelopoulos-Daskalaki made quite an poignant appearance at the recent IOC meeting in Moscow.

So impressive in fact, says the reporter, that she might just succeed Belgiums Jacques Rogge in 2009 as the next president of IOC.

?If Mrs. Angelopoulos becomes a member of the IOC, do not bet against her succeeding Jacques Rogge? commented the British columnist.

[02] Santorini ranks as most popular island in Europe-poll

Santorini was chosen as the most popular island in Europe for 2001 by readers of Travel & Leisure, an international magazine belonging to American Express.

The Greek National Tourism Organisation said on Thursday that in the same poll, Crete ranked as fourth most popular island, followed by Rhodes in fifth place.

Santorini also came seventh among the most popular islands in the world, the only European island to rank among the category's top ten, the GNTO said in a statement.

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates: Friday

Indicative buying rates for Friday

U.S. dollar 385.682

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 549.987

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 45.400

Swedish kroner 36.343

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 311.300

Swiss franc 223.750

Norwegian kroner 042.187

Cyprus pound 588.799

Canadian dollar 251.031

Australian dollar 196.070

[04] Amendment allows state to sell majority of Hellenic Petroleum

The government on Thursday submitted a legal amendment to parliament that will allow it to privatise a majority holding in Hellenic Petroleum SA, relinquishing control of the listed energy group to private owners.

Under the amendment, the floor for the government's stake in the company, a heavily traded stock on the Athens Stock Exchange, would drop to 35 percent from 75 percent through a change in Hellenic Petroleum's statutes.

Earlier this month, the country's largest trade union umbrella group called on the government to scrap its plan to sell a fresh 15-30 percent stake in the firm, which would mean a loss of state control.

The request by the General Confederation of Labour of Greece, which represents nearly a million workers in the private and public sectors, was made in a letter to National Economy Minister Yiannos Papantoniou and Development Minister Nikos Christodoulakis.

Previously, Christodoulakis had said that the shares would be sold to a strategic investor in the same sector, and that the move would allow Hellenic Petroleum to go global, also reinforcing its presence in the Balkans.

Appointed to sound out the market for the new round of privatisation were UBS Warburg and National Bank of Greece, the minister said.

[05] Weather Forecast: Mostly sunny on Friday

Mostly sunny weather is forecast throughout the country on Friday, with cloud over on the central and northern mainland that may lead to isolated storms in the north. Winds northerly, light to moderate, turning strong at sea in the west and south. On the mainland, temperatures will range from 20C to 37C; and in the islands from 23C to 33C. Hot and sunny in Athens with temperatures between 24C and 36C. Same in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 23C to 34C.

[06] Athens Bourse Close: Stocks rise, break through resistance

Equities finished with gains on Thursday, breaking through resistance at 2,640 points in a bid to consolidate higher after nearly two weeks of mostly sharp increases and declines.

The Athens general share index gained 1.57 percent to end at 2,662.75 points, with turnover at 1.0 billion euros, including a block trade of 977.4 million euros, the acquisition of insurer Interamerican by Eureko of the Netherlands.

The FTSE/ASE-20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks ended 1.41 percent higher; the FTSE/ASE-40 for medium capitalisation paper 1.61 percent up; and the FTSE/ASE-80 for small cap equities gained 2.21 percent.

Advancers led decliners at 279 to 47 with 51 issues remaining unchanged.

A week ago on Monday the bourse had shed nearly five percent in a session as part of a lasting slump after buyers resolutely stayed out of the market, with small capitalisation shares the worst hit.

Since then, the market has posted roller coaster closes day by day with players buying back into blue chips, and then small and medium sized paper.

[07] Chrysohoidis testifies regarding alleged list of Genoa activists

Public Order Minister Michalis Chrysohoidis once again denied on Thursday that Greek authorities had supplied information to Italy regarding Greek activists headed for the G8 summit protests in Genoa.

In testimony to a Parliamentary Committee convened at the request of Coalition of the Left leader Nikos Constantopoulos, the minister underlined the government's sensitivity to "issues of democratic rights." He said his ministry, in collaboration with the Greek foreign ministry, would be lodging a demarche over the three busloads of Greek protestors that were refused entry into Italy.

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