Athens News Agency: News in English, 10-05-26

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

CONTENTS

[01] US Deputy Secretary of State at Greek and Cypriot Leadership conference

[02] Air Force chief to attend NATO SEAC conference in Plovdiv

[03] Serb President in Athens next week.

[04] Anafi, a getaway island in the Cyclades

[05] Trade balance deficit down

[06] ASE opening: Rise

[01] US Deputy Secretary of State at Greek and Cypriot Leadership conference

Steinberg, who was honoured by the expatriates for his contribution, said that both he, in the many contacts that he had recently with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and US President Barack Obama in his meetings with the Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, have communicated to Ankara that it must utilise the great influence that it has in the Turkish Cypriot community so that there can be progress and ultimately a solution to the Cyprus issue.

At the same time, after speaking of the great opportunity appearing this year, he stressed that the recent change in the Turkish Cypriots' leadership must not function adversely in the continuation of the effort.

[02] Air Force chief to attend NATO SEAC conference in Plovdiv

The conference, which opens Thursday, will be attended by the air force chiefs of the southern wing of NATO, namely Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Portugal and Turkey.

The theme of the conference this year is NATO's transformation and its effects on the airforce environment in the wider region.

[03] Serb President in Athens next week.

According to an announcement by the office of the President of the Republic, Tadic will pay an official visit to Greece from June 1 to 3, arriving in Athens on Tuesday.

[04] Anafi, a getaway island in the Cyclades

According to ancient Greek mythology, the god Apollo ordered Anafi to rise from the sea to provide refuge to Jason and the Argonauts during a fierce storm.

The island is ideal for tourists who like quiet vacations and because of its small size everything is within walking distance. Visitors are welcomed by the beautiful beaches of Klissidi, Roukouna and Aghii Anargiri, by picturesque villages with unique architecture, the ancient ruins of the Temple of Apollo and the monastery of Panagia Kalamiotissa (The Virgin Mary of Kalamos), also know as Zoodochos Pigi (Virgin Mary the Giver of Life). The monastery of Kalamiotissa is built on the monolithic peak of Kalamos, one of the highest in the Mediterranean, at 584 meters, second only to the Rock of Gibraltar.

Anafi is of archaeological as well as mythological interest. At the monastery of Panagia Kalamiotissa, there are ruins of a temple built as an offering to Apollo Aegletus.

Ruins are also found at Kasteli, and most of the findings, such as statues, are now housed in the small Archaeological Museum in Chora, the island's capital town.

Another attraction for tourists is the local architecture, with the distinctive built furnaces (fourni).

The first inhabitants of the Anafiotika neighborhood, at the foot of the Acropolis hill in Athens, were the extremely skilled craftsmen from Anafi, who were invited by King Otto in the 1830s to build him a new palace. Because they stayed in Athens for a long time they built their homes under the Acropolis to resemble their homes back in Anafi.

[05] Trade balance deficit down

The deficit of the Trade Balance for the 3-month time period of January-March 2010 amounted to 6220.6 million euros (8541.3 million dollars) against 7672.1 million euros (9918.4 million dollars) for the same time period of the year 2009, recording a drop of 18.9%. Excluding the oil products the deficit of the trade balance recorded a decrease of 208.1 million euros or 3.4% in comparison with the corresponding time period of the year 2009, ELSTAT said.

In a report on the Commercial Transactions of Greece for March 2010, ELSTAT said that the total value of imports-arrivals in March amounted to 3945.8 million euros (5337.9 million dollars) against 3841.6 million euros (4998.1 million dollars) in March 2009, recording an increase of 2.7%. The total value of imports-arrivals excluding the oil products recorded an increase of 335.2 million euros or 10.0% in comparison with the corresponding month of 2009.

The total value of exports-dispatches in March amounted to 1407.0 million euros (1914.8 million dollars) against 1208.4 million euros (1581.7 million dollars) in March 2009, recording an increase of 16.4%. The total value of exports-dispatches excluding the oil products recorded an increase of 178.0 million euros or 15.9% in comparison with the corresponding month of 2009.

According to provisional data, the deficit of the trade balance in March amounted to 2538.8 million euros (3423.1 million dollars) against 2633.2 million euros (3416.4 million dollars) in March 2009 recording a drop of 3.6%. Excluding the oil products the deficit of the trade balance recorded an increase of 157.2 million euros or 7.1% in comparison with the corresponding month of the year 2009.

The total value of exports-dispatches for the 3-month time period of January-March 2010 amounted to 3416.0 million euros (4729.0 million dollars) against 3379.3 million euros (4400.4 million dollars) for the same time period of 2009, recording an increase of 1.1%. The total value of exports-dispatches excluding the oil products recorded an increase of 80.5 million euros or 2.6% in comparison with the corresponding time period of 2009.

The total value of imports-arrivals for the 3-month time period of January-March 2010 amounted to 9636.6 million euros (13270.3 million dollars) against 11051.4 million euros (14318.8 million dollars) for the same time period of 2009, recording a drop of 12.8%. The total value of imports-arrivals excluding the oil products recorded a decrease of 127.6 million euros or 1.4% in comparison with the corresponding time period of 2009.

The deficit of the Trade Balance for the 3-month time period of January-March 2010 amounted to 6220.6 million euros (8541.3 million dollars) against 7672.1 million euros (9918.4 million dollars) for the same time period of the year 2009, recording a drop of 18.9%. Excluding the oil products the deficit of the trade balance recorded a decrease of 208.1 million euros or 3.4% in comparison with the corresponding time period of the year 2009.

It is pointed out that the above-mentioned data concern only the commercial transactions, and do not include the transactions of services and the non-registered transactions which with the commercial transactions are taken into account for the compilation of the tables of the National Accounts.

[06] ASE opening: Rise

Individual sector indices were moving mostly upward, with the biggest gains in Banks, up 2.85 percent; and Telecoms, up 2.33 percent.

The biggest losses were in Oil & Gas, down 1.49 percent; and Chemicals, down 1.59 percent.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks was up 1.20 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index was up 0.73 percent, and the FTSE/ASE-80 small cap index was up 0.73 percent.

Of the stocks traded, 65 were up, 14 were down, and 16 were unchanged.

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