Athens News Agency: News in English, 07-05-29

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

CONTENTS

[01] Ôransfer of old Acropolis museum artifacts in Sept.

[02] PM receives Russian energy minister

[01] Ôransfer of old Acropolis museum artifacts in Sept.

Archaeology service officials in the Greek capital on Tuesday said that 340 priceless artifacts, loaded into special metallic crates, will be lowered by three large-scale construction cranes from atop the Acropolis for a short 400-metre journey to the new museum -- a modern glass-&-steel structure that Greek officials and philhellenes around the world hope will soon host part or all of the Parthenon Marbles.

The entire operation is expected to last until the end of the year, as the new Acropolis museum is scheduled to open in early 2008.

Exhibits housed in the current, cramped and outdated museum atop the Acropolis will be joined by numerous detached pieces of the Parthenon's spectacular friezes that remain out-of-sight in various museum warehouses due to insufficient and lackluster exhibition space in the Greek capital.

According to Culture Minister George Voulgarakis, the entire task of transporting the artifacts down from the Acropolis will cost 2.5 million euros.

Caption: A view of the interior of the under construction Acropolis Museum in Athens on Tuesday, May 29, 2007. ANA-MPA / STR

[02] PM receives Russian energy minister

Afterwards, Sioufas underlined the importance of the Russian minister's visit, 75 days after the signature of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline agreement between Greece, Bulgaria and Russia. He said ratification of the agreement by the Russian Duma and the Bulgarian Parliament was expected to take place over the coming days, while the Greek Parliament had already ratified the agreement.

Sioufas also noted that representatives of the three countries will soon be meeting in order to set up the international company that will construct and operate the pipeline.

According to the development minister, progress was also being made in a discussion on extending an agreement for the supply of natural gas from Russia to Greece until 2040, while noting that collaboration on this front so far had been good and reliable.

Asked why the meeting with the premier had lasted an unusually long time and whether any "kinks" had arisen in the deal, Sioufas underlined that there were "absolutely no kinks" and that the prime minister had been fully briefed on the issues, which he was following personally.

Khristenko, on his part, stated that relations between the two countries were at a very "high political level" and stressed that cooperation was important and also contributed to the resolution of Europe's energy problems.

Asked if he had conveyed a message to Karamanlis from Russian President Vladimir Putin, Khristenko said that he had conveyed the Russian president's best wishes and said that the Russia side looks forward to the official visit by Greek President Karolos Papoulias, that is due to begin on Wednesday.

He also noted that there was an invitation from President Putin to Karamanlis to visit Russia.

Earlier on, there had been a meeting just between Sioufas and the Russian minister to discuss the oil pipeline deal and extending the natgas agreement after 2016, after which Sioufas had expressed satisfaction with the progress in drafting the text of an agreement for the construction of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline.

He also announced that the three countries will be holding a meeting in Moscow in early June to discuss details of the contract, which was confirmed by Khristenko.

Earlier, Sioufas expressed his satisfaction over progress in works to draft an interstate agreement text for the Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline project.

Speaking to reporters, Sioufas noted that the Greek Parliament has already ratified a tri-party agreement between Greece, Russia and Bulgaria and that a similar process was expected to be completed in Russia and Bulgaria over the next few days.

The three countries will hold a meeting in Moscow, in early June, to discuss details of the project.

Caption: Development Minister Dimitris Sioufas (R) greets Russian Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko (L) in Athens on Tuesday, May 29, 2007. ANA-MPA / G. ANTONIOU.

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