Athens News Agency: News in English, 04-01-07

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

CONTENTS

[01] PM announces elections for March 7, new PASOK leader

[02] Parliament expected to be dissolved during first 10 days of February

[03] Panel of judges to try ELA terrorism case announced

[04] Weather Forecast: Rain, sleet on Thursday

[05] Foreign Exchange Rates: Thursday

[06] Early elections call pushes Greek stocks 1.92% higher

[01] PM announces elections for March 7, new PASOK leader

Two-term Greek Prime Minister and ruling PASOK leader Costas Simitis on Wednesday opened the way for his succession ahead of upcoming general elections, which he called for March 7, bringing to a climax weeks of accelerated political developments and maneuvering within the ruling party.

Simitis, 67, said he would remain prime minister until the March 7 poll, whereas a new president of PASOK which by all accounts will be Foreign Minister George Papandreou will assume the governments reins if PASOK wins the election, five months before the 2004 Olympic Games of Athens.

The reason Simitis cited for his decision not to run for a third term was Cyprus full membership in the European Union on May 1, which he said called for a fresh Greek government mandate in the face of efforts to unite the island republic prior to EU accession.

Greece's constitution calls for elections no later than May.

PASOKs central committee will convene on Thursday to focus on the election of a new party president, with Papandreou expected to be the only candidate.

No official statement was made, by press time, on if and when Papandreou would leave the foreign ministry or who his successor would be.

[02] Parliament expected to be dissolved during first 10 days of February

Parliament is expected to be dissolved during the first 10 days of February, given that elections will be held on March 7, and the relevant Presidential Decree must be issued after February 6, 2004.

According to article 41 of the constitution, ''the decree on the dissolution of Parliament must include, at the same time, the proclamation of elections within a period of 30 days and the convening of the new Parliament within a period of another 30 days after the elections.''

It is reminded that according to article 41, ''the President of the Republic dissolves Parliament with a proposal by the government for a renewal of the popular mandate to handle a national issue of exceptional importance.''

This issue, as the prime minister said in his message, is the issue of Cyprus, also in light of its formal accession to the European Union on May 1, for which the government needs ''fresh election'' from the people.

[03] Panel of judges to try ELA terrorism case announced

The panel of judges and reserve judges for the Three-Member Criminal Appeals Court that will try five suspected terrorists, allegedly members of the Revolutionary People's Struggle (ELA), was announced on Wednesday.

The names were drawn by lots from a pre-selected number of justices.

Presiding judge will be justice Elisavet Mougakou-Brilli, with reserve presiding judge Grigoris Mamalis. The other two justices on the panel will be Zoi Kobotiati and Dimitris Moustakas, with reserve judges Constantinos Fragos and Giorgos Adamopoulos.

Eleftherios Patsis will be bench prosecutor, with Constantinos Vobiris as his replacement.

The trial will begin on February 9.

[04] Weather Forecast: Rain, sleet on Thursday

Rain or sleet are forecast in the southwest and Crete. Winds northerly light. Temperatures in Athens 0C to 7C and in Thessaloniki from -6C to 3C.

[05] Foreign Exchange Rates: Thursday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.278

Pound sterling 0.703

Danish kroner 7.507

Swedish kroner 9.178

Japanese yen 135.7

Swiss franc 1.580

Norwegian kroner 8.638

Cyprus pound 0.591

Canadian dollar 1.644

Australian dollar 1.664

[06] Early elections call pushes Greek stocks 1.92% higher

News of an early general election in the country, ending the uncertainty of a long pre-election period, improved sentiment in the Athens Stock Exchange on Wednesday and pushed share prices higher for the sixth consecutive session and turnover above the 300-million-euro mark for the first time in months.

Analysts said that the Greek market could move further up ahead of the elections in March 7 helped by the fact that current market valuations significanlty lagged the high levels of the previous election in 2000.

The general index jumped 1.92 percent to end at 2,391.35 points, reflecting gains in telecommunication shares (OTE up 4.55%, Cosmote rose 6.17% and Panafon rose 0.32%).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 1.82% higher, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index rose 1.33%, the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index ended 1.05% up and the wider FTSE/ASE 140 index rose 1.68%.

Sector indices ended as follows:

Banks: 4,478.66 +1.80%

Telecoms: 951.02 +3.90%

Insurance: 753.23 +0.21%

Investment: 859.20 +1.22%

Constructions: 898.35 0.74%

Textiles: 367.21 +2.75%

Industrials: 1,244.28 +2.51%

Holding: 1,447.04 +1.20%

Base Metals: 465.25 +3.08%

Minerals: 775.73 +0.35%

Publications: 486.27 0.36%

Retail: 1,175.78 +0.79%

IT: 465.43 +0.49%

IT Solutions: 283.83 +0.83%

Wholesale: 545.38 +1.38%

Food-Beverage: 503.89 +1.37%

Paralell Market: 164.41 +0.78%

Refineries: 1,132.17 +5.10%

Real Estate: 863.18 0.46%

Broadly, advancers led decliners by 204 to 118 with another 44 issues unchanged.

Korfil (+11.95%), Viosol (+11.11%), Bank of Cyprus (+10.79%), Alysida (+10.12%), Multirama (+7.43%) and Sanyo Hellas (+6.67%) led the list of the day's percentage gainers, while Karamolegos (-6.38%), European Credit (-6.34%), Ergas (-6.25%), Ideal (-5.08%) and Kekrops (-3.77%) were the biggest losers.

Turnover totalled 309.9 million euros, of which 19.15 million were pre-agreed transactions.

Hellenic Telecoms, Vodafone, Alma-Atermon, Bank of Cyprus and Hellenic Petroleum were the most heavily traded stocks.

Share prices of companies included in the MSCI index ended as follows (in euros):

Álpha Bank: 24.76

Coca Cola: 17.84

Eurobank: 16.42

Panafon: 6.20

Aluminium of Greece: 17.08

Viohalco: 5.16

Public Power Corporation: 20.02

National Bank: 21.92

Hellenic Petroleum: 7.40

Hellenic Technodomiki: 4.98

Emporiki Bank: 20.22

Attica Enterprises:4.36

Athens Water: 6.90

Intracom: 5.88

Duty Free Shops: 17.20

Hellenic Telecoms: 11.96

Olympic Technical: 4.32

Piraeus Bank: 10.04

Titan Cement: 32.38

Ìotor Oil: 7.08

Foli-Follie: 24.02

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