Athens News Agency: News in English, 08-07-07

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

CONTENTS

[01] PM calls for creation of Crossparty C'tte on transparency

[02] Medication profits up 33.8%

[01] PM calls for creation of Crossparty C'tte on transparency

The prime minister said in his letter that "as I had stated during the off-the-agenda discussion in Parliament, on 27.6.2008, a series of proposals that we submitted during the process on the Revision of the Constitution on the consolidation of transparency in the public sector and in public life, particularly with regard to the shielding of parties and the stricter control of so-called 'political' money were not able to be turned into a constitutional mandate due to the opposition's refusal to cooperate."

Karamanlis further said "I call on you to go ahead, in the framework of your duties, with the creation of a Crossparty Committee that will process all the above issues, prepare and submit an integrated legislative initiative proposal that will move, as it is self-evident, in the limits determined by the Constitution. We propose that the main objective of the Crossparty Committee be the issues that concern the internal functioning of parties and specifically the transparency of their operational and electoral expenditures."

The prime minister further noted that "we believe that similar arrangements must also be anticipated for deputies and for candidate deputies."

Lastly, Karamanlis said in his letter that "it is self-evident in the framework of the Crossparty Committee that proposals that have been tabled must be taken into consideration, as well as proposals that will be tabled by all parties. We call for the cooperation of all the Parliamentary Parties, to enable us to jointly reach the most suitable arrangements for the further shielding of public life and of the public sector."

Parliament President Sioufas distributed the letter to the Parliamentary parties, together with the observation that an Crossparty Committee cannot be created with the limited composition of Parliament's summer committees, but in October when the Plenum will be functioning.

Gov't

Earlier in the day, Government Spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos announced the initiative by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis to establish the inter-party committee that will propose measures to strengthen the institutional framework regarding the financing of political parties, a timely issue amid the ongoing Siemens furor.

Speaking during a regular press briefing Roussopoulos said the move proves ruling ND party's commitment to its pre-election positions, while scolding main opposition PASOK for declining to participate in the recent constitutional revision process, as he said.

The development comes amid the ongoing judicial investigation and widespread press scrutiny involving the Siemens subsidiary in Greece, and allegations that the latter provided tens of millions of euros in kickbacks to curry favor for winning state contracts. Recent attention, particularly by the opposition and the press has focused on an alleged "football junket" provided by Siemens to then transport and communications minister Mihalis Liapis in June 2005, today the culture minister.

Moreover, a one million D-mark Siemens "campaign donation" to then ruling PASOK party in late 1999 is the most prominent instance of the German multinational's questionable involvement with the local political world.

Roussopoulos also read out PM Costas Karamanlis' letter to the Parliament president requesting the establishment of such a committee, while calling on the opposition parties to ready their positions on the matter.

In response to another barrage of press questions involving Siemens and Liapis, Roussopoulos, among others, said Greece must operate within national and EU law when asked if the multinational will be "blacklisted" from state tenders, as he referred to a recent decision by a non-EU European country (Norway) to ban Siemens from contracts there.

[02] Medication profits up 33.8%

The report, based on the results of the leading 172 pharmaceutical companies, said a rising trend in results was not a temporary phenomenon, since enterprises in the sector reported higher results in the last two years.

Stat Bank said sales totaled 8.09 billion euros in 2006, rising to 9.36 billion in 2007, for an increase of 15.8 percent. Most pharmaceutical companies were profitable last year (154) with only 18 reporting losses. A 67.4 pct of the sample improved their financial performance in 2007, while 56 saw their results worsen during the same year.

The report also said the net profits of the 74 largest cosmetics companies in the country were up 25 percent in 2007, with pre-tax profits totaling 181 million euros. Sales grew around 10 pct to 2.84 billion euros, with the companies in the sector reporting an average net profit margin of 6.4 pct.

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